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& Thanks for the info I will have to think about things.
The computer is quite old (at least 5 years or so I think) and we are having a mini heatwave at the moment in the UK. What specifically happened was that I was playing World of Warcraft when the computer shut itself off. It then tried starting itself up again two or three times. The last couple of times produced small sparks then a some flames that I blew out immediately. When I took it out there were scorch marks on the card at the end in an area less than a centimetre in diameter.
Figure of Hourai
If you have another computer and want to recover data, there's also a far easier choice if this new computer has a spare drive bay and SATA port: just take the harddrive out of the old PC and stick it into the new one. Done, your new PC now has access to all the old data *and* more storage space.
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Formerly G.G.
I really hate how the warranty is finished for my HP 15 laptop but I hope to buy the care pack, I need help with my speakers.
"Thanos is a happy guy! Just look at the smile in his face!"
rollin' on dubs
Can the speakers be repaired? Consider the cost of the "care package" and the cost of out of warranty repairs.
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be a case on The First 48
Dread Pirate Captain
Well, my country (or at least my ISP) seems to have blocked TV Tropes. Then again, they have also blocked stuff like imgur, vimeo, reddit, and tumblr, so I'm not surprised at this act of stupidity. I'm posting this through my campus Wi Fi, by the way - it let me open the aforementioned blocked sites just fine.
How do I go about this problem? I believe modifying the hosts file may do it (the same way I could use it to block ad sites), but I'm not sure how.
edited 22nd May '18 9:35:15 PM by DarkDestruction
Don't stop, just proceed, 'cause this is what you need-proceed, just proceed, 'cause this is what you need!
There's a similar situation with site blockages where I am from (though TV Tropes isn't blocked. Yet.) so I'd say that VPN is your new best friend. There are a couple of free VPN services out there, though I'm not sure if listing or linking to them is within the forum rules. You can always Google it if that's the case.
Spiral out, keep going.
Figure of Hourai
Why would VPNs be against the rules? There's nothing shady about them.
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They're often used for shady things though, much like torrent clients are.
More importantly, the free ones are extremely frequently highly shady towards their users.
Lost in Space
Broadly speaking, we block the creation of accounts from proxy or VPN IPs, but once you have an account, we don't worry about it unless there's a problem. We more or less assume that anyone registering with a proxy has ill intent, something borne out with long experience.
Also, please note that using proxy software on public computers can get you in trouble with the responsible authorities.
edited 23rd May '18 4:13:49 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
rollin' on dubs
And so the "Creators Update" for Windows 10 BRICKED MY PC -
- GONE is all my app data -minecraft, mozilla, waterfox, etc.
- DESTROYED AND WIPED was my recovery volume
- '$100.00 US and a trip to Geek Squad later I had windows reloaded and my wallet is lighter - no pizza or dead pool 2 this weekend -oh no, I have to reinstall all my fav programs. AGAIN!
And why did this happen? Because I was running AVG. How dare I run another anti-virus instead of being naked with windows defender.
BLUF: FUCK MICROSOFT, FUCK THEIR PROGRAMS, FUCK BALMER AND THEIR CURRENT CEO WITH A CACTUS INSERTED SIDEWAYS.
edited 26th May '18 1:17:37 AM by TairaMai
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be a case on The First 48
Looks like it's the fault of Avast/AVG doing shit it shouldn't
Proprietary antimalware software beyond that integrated into the system is itself such a risk to stability and security.
edited 26th May '18 2:49:33 AM by Sixthhokage1
Oh, bother.
When installing an update it is generally a good idea to temporarily shut down antivirus stuff.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Disasturbator
Another reason not to use Avast/AVG
New theme music also a box
Weirdly I was able to install build 1803 onto two different systems with Avast running without issue.
"Yup. That tasted purple."
rollin' on dubs
I'm going to run windows defender for awhile with malwarebytes
Always a good idea to run AV software, but Windows (and Micro$oft) dev teams and their corporate staff seem to be trying to FORCE people to use Windows Defender even though it has FAILED on some tests
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be a case on The First 48
Figure of Hourai
Antivirus software calling kernel functions and digging itself deeper into the system than it reasonably should is not Microsoft's fault. Better protection that comes at a risk of catastrophic system failure is never a good thing. There's some examples here of how badly AV can fuck up.
Personally, I've been happy with Bitdefender for years, even the free version. Low performance impact, seems to avoid catastrophic trouble, generally one of the best detection rates around. It's a solid choice.
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Lately, my desktop's having issues when turning it on. It shows the BIOS, a few seconds of the Windows 10 logo, then gives up and turns off. The second time in a row I try to turn it on always works. Any ideas?
MINE!
Maybe an issue with the BIOS battery?
if its getting to the windows logo, that indicates a windows issue, see if you can use the disk to repair the instalation.
rollin' on dubs
It's taken the better part of two days but my baby, my HP Envy is almost back!
- had to reinstall Adobe to view PDF's and Tracker Software's PDF-X-Change suite.
- VLC runs butter smooth without all the previous versions.
- HP Driveguard is a POS. I never plan on moving my laptop since it's a desktop replacement. It was actually increasing boot times.
- HP has improved their printer software -even if it still has that MacOS inspired "fischer price"feel (dammit I've been using compys for many years, bring back the windows 95/3.1 interface where I can SEE options).
- Nvidia can be forced to run on games that the "Geforce" experience can't detect.
All in all instead of a Chernobyl, I had a 3 Mile Island........
Micro$oft has know for years that 3rd party vendors will do stupid s__t. Instead of planning around it, they just say "oh well, looks like you have to re-install windows!"
BYTE ME
edited 27th May '18 1:23:10 PM by TairaMai
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be a case on The First 48
Figure of Hourai
Of course it can. All that means is that the computer has no idea what settings to prepare or that it needs to be graphically accelerated in the first place because the executable hasn't been recognised. Hell, if you couldn't, Desktop PC's couldn't run any application not recognised by software, so...
And see, MS can try to safeguard against third party vendors doing dumb shit. Updates running on shutdown and startup when third party software hasn't loaded, for instance; and system restore backups. What it can't do is defend against antivirus software doing the exact same stuff that actual viruses do and making it impossible for the system to cleanly operate.
Which is the only way for an update to get so badly corrupted that a system is unusable short of shutting it down mid file-write.
edited 27th May '18 1:34:57 PM by RainehDaze
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I can't remember the last time anyone used "M$" to refer to Microsoft.
Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
Probaly because there only real compeditor is apple.... which is worse.
As bad as microsoft can be on days, Apple just cant be matched on the front of fucking over the customer.
If you only want to get data off it, just remove the video card. Almost all modern Mobos come with onboard gfx and while they are never good they can at least display windows, videos, some games depending on the mobo.
The caught fire thing is strange, overheated maybe if the fan was worn out and or the thermal compound went out but straight fire?
edited 20th Apr '18 10:13:24 AM by Memers