Search results

  1. C

    Notebook LCD 'noise'

    Hello, I've had my Lenovo T61p for about 2 years now (almost to the day). All of a sudden today the video (as in, what I see on the LCD) showed horizontal noise, almost as if the image was being stretched back/forth. This lasted for about 1 minute at which point I immediately shut down my...
  2. C

    Optimal partitioning for quick restore

    Ok, thank you for the info.
  3. C

    Optimal partitioning for quick restore

    Thanks for the input Nothinman. So what you're saying is that there's no replacement for a fresh format of the entire HD? I guess maybe what would be ideal is to have all my non-program data (ie my code, documents, pics, vids, etc) on a separate drive and my windows/programs on c:. That way...
  4. C

    Intermittent BSOD, High CPU usage but no programs

    Thanks for your reply stash. I've tried using PE, but it isn't proving very useful. The problem is that running ANY program will yield a heavy spike in CPU usage. I can open an instance of explorer.exe and usage goes from 1-70% in an instant, and then back down to 2%. If I click a link in...
  5. C

    Optimal partitioning for quick restore

    *sigh*, I knew someone would say that. :) My point was that it does for me, and I know it does for many others as well. Back on topic please...
  6. C

    Intermittent BSOD, High CPU usage but no programs

    Yes I am looking at all processes from all users. After using the Windows debugger, I saw that my external USB soundcard caused the last crash. I watched the CPU usage as I unplugged the USB cable and it went from 30 (no other progs were open) to 1. However, upon reboot, things aren't really...
  7. C

    Optimal partitioning for quick restore

    Hello, We all know that XP turns to crap after a year due to new programs, orphaned dll's and registry entries (etc etc). I'm just now doing a fresh format and wondering what you all think is the best way to partition a drive to allow for the quickest restore. That is, I don't want to...
  8. C

    Intermittent BSOD, High CPU usage but no programs

    When I sort by CPU, here are the top 2: System Idle - 99 taskmgr - 2-4 everything else is 2, yet CPU usage hovers at 25-30%. Strange, no?
  9. C

    Intermittent BSOD, High CPU usage but no programs

    Hello, My computer has been acting quite erratically as of late. I'm hoping some of you kind souls would take a few minutes to read my tale and offer any suggestions on what I could try next. Background It all started the other day when my computer just went black and restarted. Being an...
  10. C

    Sceptre 22" LCD strange pop noise when turned off

    I'm not sure if this is exclusive to this LCD (a brand new Sceptre x22wg-gamer 22"), but I own two others (Dell 21") and haven't heard of this kind of problem before. When the Sceptre is turned off but plugged in, it makes a soft pop sound every 2 seconds. It's not incredibly loud, but it's...
  11. C

    Ctrl/Alt + PrtScn not working anymore

    Strange, I guess it was Photoshop Elements (2.0) with the problem. Restarted that and it worked fine. Previously I had some PSD's open, but when I opened again with no PSD's, screenshot worked fine. Alt helps because you can just grab the active window, whereas on my dual 20" LCD setup, just...
  12. C

    Ctrl/Alt + PrtScn not working anymore

    Has anyone experienced an issue of not being able to capture a screenshot using Ctrl or Alt + PrtScn? It used to work just fine. Haven't installed any software between the time that it did / didn't work, so I have no idea what the heck is up. Tried rebooting, no difference. Any ideas?
  13. C

    'open with' box opens when i try to open an exe

    I just purchase a new Compaq Turion 64 laptop last night. Out of the box everything ran fine. I did the Microsoft Update and then went to bed. In the morning, all of a sudden most exe files I attempted to run opened up the "Open With" box: Choose the program you want to use to open this file...
  14. C

    External drive is/isn't loading

    I just bought a new Seagate drive (200GB Seagate) with an external enclosure (NSP-ED352). I set the jumper to Master and all the connections are setup properly. I can hear the hard drive purr when I turn the case on. In XP, it's a different issue. The drive shows up in Device Manager (Oxford...
  15. C

    6600 displays garbage

    I appreciate the advice, but that's in the past. Now I'm dealing with a video card that garbles the screen. If any of you have experience or any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks
  16. C

    6600 displays garbage

    How would you folks explain the fact that sometimes when I do a fresh video card install on the 6600, it sometimes loads up in 1280x1024 (native res is 1600x1200)? My Abit IS7 has no onboard vga, so surely it's going through the 6600, right? Also, during these times, there are no visual...
  17. C

    6600 displays garbage

    Not sure I follow? The zalman heatsink works just fine, I can see it power up. Plus, XP would be giving me heat warnings if the GPU got too hot, wouldn't it?
  18. C

    6600 displays garbage

    I had uninstalled the 9700, yes. I didn't try the 6600 with the stock fan, it was new, so I just put the HSF on it.
  19. C

    6600 displays garbage

    Hello, I'm switching from a 9700 pro to a xfx 6600 gt agp with a zalman v700 heatsink. the problem is that when my comp uses the card to display gfx, the screen is garbled. that is, i can see the bios logo and recognize the bootup text, but rather than text chars, it is all garbled. same in...
  20. C

    GPU RAM Heatsinks

    Now XP loads with the 6600GT, but XP is garbled. I can make out enough to try and attempt an installation, but halfway through that, the computer restarts itself. Tried numerous tries with the same effect. Tried nVidia's drivers as well and got the same results. Any idea what might be going on?
  21. C

    GPU RAM Heatsinks

    I took the heatsinks off but now I have another problem. On bootup, the screen is garbled. I can see the BIOS logo and recognize the location of the text and even the "Loading XP" screen appears. However, everything is garbled instead of text. In XP the 6600GT won't install properly. It just...
  22. C

    GPU RAM Heatsinks

    Is it essential to have heatsinks on your GPU RAM? I bought a Zalman VF700 GPU cooler for my GF 6600 GT AGP. The problem is that the 4 RAM heatsinks get in the way of the GPU heatsink. I'm wondering if it's ok to remove a RAM heatsink or two? Or will this cause some sort of problem? The...
  23. C

    How to benchmark flash memory?

    Tried googling for the last hour to find the read/write speed of a Memory Stick PRO Duo that I have but I can't find anything. What app would allow you to benchmark the read/write speed of these? Tried Winbench 99 but that gave me a score of 107k/sec which doesn't sound right, nor does it...
  24. C

    Recommended keyboard?

    Hello, I'm currently using a MS Natural Multimedia Keyboard. It does the trick, but it's noisy as all hell, to the extent that my SO asks me to shut the door when I'm typing cuz she can't stand the click. Honestly, it is really noisy, and it doesn't serve any purpose. I've used old IBM keyboards...
  25. C

    NB / SYS Fan not on

    Hello, I'm noticing that my MoBo (IS7) currently has the NB Fan and SYS Fan turned off in Winbond Hardware Doctor. Physically, the NB Fan connector is plugged in, so it *should* be on. There is no connection for the SYS Fan though, where should that come from? Any ideas why the NB Fan...
  26. C

    Games that run on 8MB video card?

    Hello, I'm doing a set of benchmarks on a portable device which runs XP but only has an 8MB video card (1Ghz CPU). Can anyone suggest any games from the last few years that would run fine with this video card spec? Thank you kindly
  27. C

    can't boot from dvd-rom

    yes, i've tried that moon. captnkirk, unfortunately the unit is japanese, so it's doubtful that US Sony would provide support, and my japanese is a little rusty :( i have a feeling that only a proprietary sony drive will work, which strikes me as backwards, but that appears to be the only...
  28. C

    can't boot from dvd-rom

    there is no APCI option in bios :(
  29. C

    can't boot from dvd-rom

    well, floppy drive is an option in the boot sequence, but there's no indication that you can boot from usb. only network and firewire. i've already tried booting from usb floppy, no luck :(
  30. C

    can't boot from dvd-rom

    no, there are no other options for boot order. also, it doesn't say cd-rom, it says optical drive, but i assume this is the same thing?
  31. C

    can't boot from dvd-rom

    Hello, I'm attempting to do a boot install of SuSE 9.1, but am not having any luck. I tested the CD (burnt from ISO from suse.com) on two other comps and they both load up fine, so I know the problem isn't the CD. On this device (Sony U50 handtop), there are no internal devices, only a hard...
  32. C

    delayed write failed

    btw, i wasn't able to get any firm results when i googled 'mfg diag tools'. does it have another name?
  33. C

    delayed write failed

    uh oh, i wish i'd have read this PRIOR to reinstalling everything :( is there no way to do a surface scan while everything is already installed?
  34. C

    delayed write failed

    thanks for your help and suggestiosn, everyone. i setup a 2nd hard drive, formatted it with a fresh copy of XP, ran GetDataBack (highly recommended) and it found *all* of the important content i wanted, safe and sound. What a program. Will try to reinstall XP on the other drive tomorrow, but...
  35. C

    delayed write failed

    i've read the other delayed write failed error thread on this forum ( http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1330062 ), but haven't had any luck with the suggestions, as it seems that my drive is beyond the point that most of the users there got to. i can't safe...