The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

Good Guy · 11-13-2013, 03:49 PM

Before you try to just reinstall windows. Have you tried just disabling and re-enabling (and or updating) the drivers associated with your keyboard and mouse? Maybe it'll fix itself.

Trollheart · 11-13-2013, 08:26 PM

Hmm. Problem is, if I uninstall the mouse drivers how then do I navigate? ANyway, it's pretty much down to reinstall now. Problem though (further one): Windows 7 tells me that basically it's going to format my drive --- don't remember tht happening before but it's been a while --- so now I have to find room for about 750 gigs of files to be transferred. So I think hey I remember I bought a 2 tb Western Digital external hdd about a year ago and never used it! The perfect opportunity!

Except...

The stupid ****ers have given me a two-pin round plug with it. It's Ireland, *******! We don't USE two-pin sockets here, and certainly not ****ing ROUND ones! So where's the adapter? There must be an adapter. They always give you an adapter for the plug.

There's no adapter.

Western Digital, famed for overpricing their disks, can't be bothered to throw in a few extra pieces of plastic and metal, a few euros worth at best, so now I'm stuck looking for alternative adapters I can use. No luck. WD don't DO standard, not even in the connections for their power leads! Too small for all the other three hdds I have! Christ!

Finally I find one that will fit, but now I'm a little worried. It's one off a ROKU, and though the general specs are the same, this is output 5.2 V whereas the official one is 12, and it's a 0.3 Amp output as opposed to a 0.6. Am I safe? This thing will be running overnight while I'm asleep. I'm kind of afraid to take the chance.

Does anyone know if this would be an acceptable risk, or any risk at all? And does anyone know if W7 really does format your main disk?

Finally, I'm considering investing in an ipad/tablet: anyone any thoughts, advice, warnings?

God I ****ing hate computers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plankton · 11-14-2013, 09:10 AM

You'll run the risk of frying something if you plug that in. I'd have thought it'd be a USB HD, but *shrug*.

As for installing W7 and reformatting of the drive, here's some fairly decent instructions:

Do I have to format my hard drive to reinstall windows 7 - Windows 7

Freebase Dali · 11-15-2013, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Hmm. Problem is, if I uninstall the mouse drivers how then do I navigate? ANyway, it's pretty much down to reinstall now. Problem though (further one): Windows 7 tells me that basically it's going to format my drive --- don't remember tht happening before but it's been a while --- so now I have to find room for about 750 gigs of files to be transferred. So I think hey I remember I bought a 2 tb Western Digital external hdd about a year ago and never used it! The perfect opportunity!

Except...

The stupid ****ers have given me a two-pin round plug with it. It's Ireland, *******! We don't USE two-pin sockets here, and certainly not ****ing ROUND ones! So where's the adapter? There must be an adapter. They always give you an adapter for the plug.

There's no adapter.

Western Digital, famed for overpricing their disks, can't be bothered to throw in a few extra pieces of plastic and metal, a few euros worth at best, so now I'm stuck looking for alternative adapters I can use. No luck. WD don't DO standard, not even in the connections for their power leads! Too small for all the other three hdds I have! Christ!

Finally I find one that will fit, but now I'm a little worried. It's one off a ROKU, and though the general specs are the same, this is output 5.2 V whereas the official one is 12, and it's a 0.3 Amp output as opposed to a 0.6. Am I safe? This thing will be running overnight while I'm asleep. I'm kind of afraid to take the chance.

Does anyone know if this would be an acceptable risk, or any risk at all? And does anyone know if W7 really does format your main disk?

Finally, I'm considering investing in an ipad/tablet: anyone any thoughts, advice, warnings?

God I ****ing hate computers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS RELEVANT TO YOU IF YOU HAVE THE ACTUAL WINDOWS 7 INSTALLATION DVD.
CRAP LIKE DELL RECOVERY DVDs WILL OVERWRITE EVERYTHING.

__________________________________________________ _________

You have the option to not format the disk when re-installing Windows.
Simply go through the options WITHOUT choosing to format the disk manually. Windows will put all your user files and folders in a "windows.old" folder, which you can access after the re-installation.

(I'm not sure how this works if you have files on your old installation's C drive at the root. If you have anything you want to save there, just move it to your desktop before starting this process just to be safe)

Here's a video walking you through the process:

If you want to be extra safe, you can still pull everything over to an external and just do an install with or without a format, but if you end up not being able to utilize your external, then you can still retain your files as above. You would just need to then pull everything from the old folders to the new folders, as shown in the video.

Trollheart · 11-17-2013, 06:21 AM

Thanks FD and Plankton, and everyone else who offered advice.
I have it sorted now. AFTER reinstalling Windows totally (you're right FD: it put all my original C drive files in a "Windows/old" directory: wish I'd known that before I backed up over 700 gig!) the problem persisted, unbelievably. I was ready to throw in the towel when my mate suggested removing the CMOS battery so everything would reset.

He was completely right. Once I took the battery out, left it out for a few minutes, reinserted and booted up again the problem was gone!

All that work for nothing, and now reinstallation of programs, links, themes etc. Gaaaahhhh!

At least now I know what to do if it happens again.

Thanks again guys!
TH

PS Plank, what do you mean by a USB hard drive? It is of course, but the power has to come from somewhere, which is what I was talking about with the adapter...

Caps14 · 11-18-2013, 04:53 PM

What can I do to become more competent with computers? I'm interested in knowing the parts and how they make the computer work. Also, I'd like to try my hand at programming just for fun.

You guys know any websites or books I can read to get started?

Plankton · 11-18-2013, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caps14

What can I do to become more competent with computers? I'm interested in knowing the parts and how they make the computer work. Also, I'd like to try my hand at programming just for fun.

You guys know any websites or books I can read to get started?

Some .NET programming:
Visual Studio Resources | MSDN

Begin your fantastic journey into electronics here:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/pc.htm

Neapolitan · 11-22-2013, 02:17 AM

When I log on to MB it doesn't automatically redirect me, which isn't much of a problem because I can use the hyperlink provided. But another thing is I can not log onto plug.dj using any of their three options. I'm guessing the two problems are related. Two days ago my brother uploaded an add blocker and adobe update, and yesterday I notice the problem. I don't know if a certain file or function was disabled or corrupted in the process uploading the new files (file extensions/updates).
(I hope I explain it using the right terms, I am not as computer savvy as most people.)

Does anyone know how to fix the problem?

Godsmack6 · 11-24-2013, 12:25 PM

So I found a motherboard specifically for music and creating music at best buy

Key · 11-25-2013, 12:26 AM

So i'm assuming all this is is due to the fact that I need a new computer mouse. I'll explain in the best way I can. When i'm playing games specifically FPS games, my left click on my mouse is for firing, and my right click is for zooming (if i'm a sniper), however it seems that my left and right click want to act as the same (both wanting to fire), while still acting as separate buttons (it sometimes zooms in for sniping). I may just need a new mouse altogether, because I've checked my system settings for my mouse, and it says everything is good, and i've looked at the controls on the games, and it seems good.

11-13-2013, 03:49 PM	#1421 (permalink)
Good Guy Groupie Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: NY Posts: 31	Before you try to just reinstall windows. Have you tried just disabling and re-enabling (and or updating) the drivers associated with your keyboard and mouse? Maybe it'll fix itself. Last edited by Good Guy; 11-13-2013 at 04:00 PM.

11-13-2013, 08:26 PM	#1422 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Hmm. Problem is, if I uninstall the mouse drivers how then do I navigate? ANyway, it's pretty much down to reinstall now. Problem though (further one): Windows 7 tells me that basically it's going to format my drive --- don't remember tht happening before but it's been a while --- so now I have to find room for about 750 gigs of files to be transferred. So I think hey I remember I bought a 2 tb Western Digital external hdd about a year ago and never used it! The perfect opportunity! Except... The stupid **ers have given me a two-pin round plug with it. It's Ireland, ***! We don't USE two-pin sockets here, and certainly not ing ROUND ones! So where's the adapter? There must be an adapter. They always give you an adapter for the plug. There's no adapter. Western Digital, famed for overpricing their disks, can't be bothered to throw in a few extra pieces of plastic and metal, a few euros worth at best, so now I'm stuck looking for alternative adapters I can use. No luck. WD don't DO standard, not even in the connections for their power leads! Too small for all the other three hdds I have! Christ! Finally I find one that will fit, but now I'm a little worried. It's one off a ROKU, and though the general specs are the same, this is output 5.2 V whereas the official one is 12, and it's a 0.3 Amp output as opposed to a 0.6. Am I safe? This thing will be running overnight while I'm asleep. I'm kind of afraid to take the chance. Does anyone know if this would be an acceptable risk, or any risk at all? And does anyone know if W7 really does format your main disk? Finally, I'm considering investing in an ipad/tablet: anyone any thoughts, advice, warnings? God I *ing hate computers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018*

11-14-2013, 09:10 AM	#1423 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	You'll run the risk of frying something if you plug that in. I'd have thought it'd be a USB HD, but shrug. As for installing W7 and reformatting of the drive, here's some fairly decent instructions: Do I have to format my hard drive to reinstall windows 7 - Windows 7 __________________ See location...

11-17-2013, 06:21 AM	#1425 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Thanks FD and Plankton, and everyone else who offered advice. I have it sorted now. AFTER reinstalling Windows totally (you're right FD: it put all my original C drive files in a "Windows/old" directory: wish I'd known that before I backed up over 700 gig!) the problem persisted, unbelievably. I was ready to throw in the towel when my mate suggested removing the CMOS battery so everything would reset. He was completely right. Once I took the battery out, left it out for a few minutes, reinserted and booted up again the problem was gone! All that work for nothing, and now reinstallation of programs, links, themes etc. Gaaaahhhh! At least now I know what to do if it happens again. Thanks again guys! TH PS Plank, what do you mean by a USB hard drive? It is of course, but the power has to come from somewhere, which is what I was talking about with the adapter... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-18-2013, 04:53 PM	#1426 (permalink)
Caps14 Groupie Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 11	What can I do to become more competent with computers? I'm interested in knowing the parts and how they make the computer work. Also, I'd like to try my hand at programming just for fun. You guys know any websites or books I can read to get started?

11-24-2013, 12:25 PM	#1429 (permalink)
Godsmack6 Groupie Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 0	So I found a motherboard specifically for music and creating music at best buy

11-25-2013, 12:26 AM	#1430 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	So i'm assuming all this is is due to the fact that I need a new computer mouse. I'll explain in the best way I can. When i'm playing games specifically FPS games, my left click on my mouse is for firing, and my right click is for zooming (if i'm a sniper), however it seems that my left and right click want to act as the same (both wanting to fire), while still acting as separate buttons (it sometimes zooms in for sniping). I may just need a new mouse altogether, because I've checked my system settings for my mouse, and it says everything is good, and i've looked at the controls on the games, and it seems good.