Search results

  1. S

    64 bit gaming

    Improvements are likely to be in the graphics as shown here
  2. S

    For the love of god, or computers, or whatever - someone please help me determine DirectX compliance in a sound card

    Any SB16 compatible sound card should suffice. No point in buying the brand name for a Win98 machine. You can get a Sweex sound card which has all the benefits of the Soundblaster for a third of the price. The one in the link costs about £5 in the UK. Illustrated manual for it here
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    For the love of god, or computers, or whatever - someone please help me determine DirectX compliance in a sound card

    Well, strictly speaking, a "DirectX compatible sound card" is a contradiction in terms because DirectX is a graphics accelerator and silent as a grave. The audio component is called "DirectSound 3D" which is what you'll see referred to most often on sound card sites. A good gaming soundcard...
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    Data-life on SATA Hard Drives

    All the big names i.e. Seagate, Western Digital, Maxtor etc., offer a five year warranty. So at least that.
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    I got nailed

    Well, prevention is better than cure, so follow the advice mentioned here as the best means of avoiding infection.
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    3D Gaming still stuttery

    Correct driver installation order If you install your graphics drivers before you install DirectX, the 3D controller won't function properly.
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    I got nailed

    OK Doctor Penguin, you know best. :D Just as a small addition to all the other advice in this thread and that concerns a setting in the Advanced menu of IE Properties. If you disable the option called "Enable Install On Demand (Internet Explorer)", you'll get a prompt if a web page attempts...
  8. S

    DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

    What sort of RAID setup are you running? And over how many hard disks? Symtdi.sys is part of the Symantec Client Security package. More info on that one here (do a CTRL+F to spring directly to it).
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    I got nailed

    Well, if you've got one of the ones listed here then that's a possibility. but I would imagine that it wouldn't apply to most of the ones recommended by contributors to this board. ;)
  10. S

    partitioning

    Yes, it's a much better idea to have a second partition where you store everything you create yourself or download from the web. That way, if you do have to reformat and reinstall the OS, all your private data remains intact.
  11. S

    DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

    That error is actually mentioned on their site @ Agnitum.com but was supposedly fixed in build #292/307
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    I got nailed

    You would be correct in saying that "nail.exe" is spyware, but that's just a component of the main body which is a Trojan/virus, or at least that's the impression I get from various docs around the web i.e. this site
  13. S

    Long recovery from Hibernation and momentary strange noise

    If it's preventing you from getting a good night's sleep, download Western Digital's HDD diags from here ;)
  14. S

    PC died and/or dying...any ideas?

    When you first install the OS, it creates a hardware hash based on certain components in the system. If you change a major component like the CPU, then the checksum no longer matches and the OS will think it's running on a different machine. If you don't reactivate within 3 days, the anti-piracy...
  15. S

    Long recovery from Hibernation and momentary strange noise

    Do a cold boot (wait 60 secs before you power on again). If you don't power off occasionally, the memory never gets flushed.
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    Hard graphics lock-up

    OK, that would be the correct refresh rate if you're running at 1600x1200. But by reducing the resolution to say 1280x1024, you could enable it to run at 100Mhz. That's also a lot less taxing on your graphics card. You could also try setting DirectX to run at a 75Mhz if you want to stick to...
  17. S

    Help needed in removing VX2/Aurora spyware

    VX2 Finder removal
  18. S

    Monitor woes

    Disconnect/reconnect cable from the monitor to the graphics card. Also, depending on the monitor type, there might be a "BND/D-sub" selector (button) somewhere. Hit that. Your monitor manual should have a diagram showing the location of all the control options.
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    I got nailed

    Online scanner here Disable System Restore before you run it because there will be backup copies of the malware in there too. Instructions here
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    Hard graphics lock-up

    Pity. Perhaps you should try and eliminate WoW as the cause of the problem. You could d/l a demo from avault if you haven't go any other games that are likely to tax your system. By the way, have you got a flat panel or a CRT montior? If it's the latter, what refresh rate are you running...
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    Hard graphics lock-up

    OK, there are a few issues that affect WoW using the 5.5. Catalyst drivers, but none of them relate to the problem you're experiencing. Release notes here. WoW also documents the problem on their tech support site and suggests running the game in OpenGL mode, details here
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    Hard graphics lock-up

    Which game is it?
  23. S

    Books for beginners?

    Wikipedia is a good site to learn about them. If you actually want to build one, then go here :)
  24. S

    Hard graphics lock-up

    It also reduces the clock frequency from around 412Mhz to 275Mhz. That would reduce the amount of heat it produces. But if it continues to run at a high temperature then my guess would be that the fan on the card is malfunctioning. "VPU Recover" which is programmed into the driver then kicks in...
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    white wire missing from main connector on power supply

    I believe the onboard sound won't work without it. That board has got an integrated Creative 24-bit chip. I looked at it as an option while I was building my new dream machine, but was put off by the n4 fan cooler which spins at 6,000rpm apparently and sounds like a 747 on takeoff. :D
  26. S

    P4 computer slow when printing

    Before you do, check these options out. ;)
  27. S

    DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

    What were you doing exactly when you got the Stop error (DRIVER_IRQL...etc.) ?
  28. S

    white wire missing from main connector on power supply

    Eh..not quite I'm afraid. You'll need it for the MSI K8N Diamond (mentioned in the footnote).
  29. S

    Firefox question

    I think that's a dangerous assumption. And I don't think anybody will be particularly enthused by the fact that Firefox still contains unpatched security holes dating back to the end of August 2004. :(
  30. S

    DVD drive doesn't show up in Windows

    What version of the BIOS are you running now? And did you clear CMOS after you flashed it?
  31. S

    Firefox question

    There are still a number of security vulnerabilities in Firefox that remain unpatched. I know this is a bit off topic, but if you're under the impression that FireFox is going to be more secure than IE, then I'm afraid you're mistaken. Details here
  32. S

    black screen

    Another possibility suddenly springs to mind. There's a small possibility that your monitor and your graphics card aren't talking to each other properly and one of them thinks it's got a flat panel connected to it rather than a CRT (and vice-versa). If you check your monitor manual, you should...
  33. S

    computer locks up whlie playing games

    Your motherboard is probably APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller) compliant (most of the latter day ones are) which means that Win XP creates a HAL (Hardware Extraction Layer) and talks to that when loading the OS. You'll be able to tell from Device Manager where you'll see 23 IRQs...
  34. S

    connecting front panel usb ports...

    Unfortunately ASUS has changed their website so that in order to access certain files, you have to register. That's really not practical for contributors to this forum. But if you go to the download section for your motherboard, the manual should be there in PDF format. Those files usually...
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    problems with new computer build

    Don't you have a friend with a PC who can download the BIOS file for you? There's a Microsoft doc that deals with a black screen when booting, but I don't think it applies to you since you presumably haven't even formatted the hard disk yet? Link here in case it is relevant.
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    problems with new computer build

    AMD reduced the voltage from 1.5v to 1.4v on the Venice core CPUs. Since the first edition of most motherboards are configured for older cores running at the higher voltage, you need to upgrade the BIOS on your MBD to at least v1007 in order for the system to configure the CPU properly. Details...
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    computer locks up whlie playing games

    OK, here's the link to the latest BIOS for your mobo. One of them mentions fixing an issue with Corsair RAM. The next thing to do is to eliminate power management as the cause of the problem. So follow instructions here first of all. If the system stills goes into Standby, then at least...
  38. S

    Outlook Express mail import issue

    Hope this helps. ;)
  39. S

    NTLDR is missing

    According to Microsoft you could possibly resolve the problem by using a boot floppy (mentioned in the last paragraph).
  40. S

    NTLDR is missing

    Is the drive visible in the BIOS?