Darth Santa Fe Motley: It's a very high end with 4(Quad) processors that I overclocked to 4.5GHz. I also have dual video cards and 12G of RAM. 4.5GHz!? You must have a pretty good water cooling setup to get speeds like that? I also have a quad core (2.4GHz stock), but I've only overclocked it to 3GHz because I don't want to spend much on top-end cooling or do a whole lot of fiddling with the BIOS settings. Now we're getting off topic on a topic that started out off topic. TRAINS!! I like model trains!! Almost finished now with my Tenshodo GP20.
Motley: It's a very high end with 4(Quad) processors that I overclocked to 4.5GHz. I also have dual video cards and 12G of RAM.
4.5GHz!? You must have a pretty good water cooling setup to get speeds like that? I also have a quad core (2.4GHz stock), but I've only overclocked it to 3GHz because I don't want to spend much on top-end cooling or do a whole lot of fiddling with the BIOS settings.
Now we're getting off topic on a topic that started out off topic.
TRAINS!! I like model trains!! Almost finished now with my Tenshodo GP20.
Oops, that's a typo. I meant 3.5GHz, I have an air cooled setup. It's the Intel Core i7 920 processor. Cooling is a Thermalright 120, EVGA motherboard, SLI EVGA 260 Video Cards.
Oh ya, I love those model trains too, so much that I forgot about my killer gaming PC.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
MotleyIt's a very high end with 4(Quad) processors that I overclocked to 4.5GHz. I also have dual video cards and 12G of RAM.
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Geesh, actually before I started back in the hobby and been building my layout for the last year, I haven't even hardly touched my gaming PC. It's a very high end with 4(Quad) processors that I overclocked to 4.5GHz. I also have dual video cards and 12G of RAM.
I haven't played a game in about a year, and I always like the Call of Duty games. I did here the new one is good though.
Darth Santa Fe Unless you're doing more than surfing, I wouldn't think there's any reason to get a new computer. If it's working smoothly for your needs, why spend another $500-$600? I like to play 3D games and stuff on my computer, and sometimes do some video editing that requires extra power. So I built my own a couple years back: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=54284I've since added a nice sound card. The whole computer (minus the speakers, monitor, keyboard and mouse) cost me less than $900. I always get yesterday's technology to save money. If I had bought my processor and video card new, I would've spent an extra $700 or so!
Unless you're doing more than surfing, I wouldn't think there's any reason to get a new computer. If it's working smoothly for your needs, why spend another $500-$600?
I like to play 3D games and stuff on my computer, and sometimes do some video editing that requires extra power. So I built my own a couple years back: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=54284I've since added a nice sound card. The whole computer (minus the speakers, monitor, keyboard and mouse) cost me less than $900. I always get yesterday's technology to save money. If I had bought my processor and video card new, I would've spent an extra $700 or so!
Speaking of computer games, has anybody bought “Call of Duty: Black Ops” yet?
Alton Junction
IMPORTANT-----MAKE SURE YOU ARE RUNNING SERVICE XP PACK 3, ALL PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF XP ARE NO LONGER SUPPORTED.
If you can, get a new computer. 512 of memory will be non supportable in the near future. You can now purchase a desktop at a fairly cheap price, cheaper than a laptop. Check the on line stores and local brick & morter stores. The coming holiday season is forecast to be excellent for buying computers.
Ken,
Reading through all these posts was very interesting. I'm glad your problem is gone and I see a lot of fellow members recommended going with a new machine. When you do, and if you want to take your current HD with you, in order to use it in the new machine, you'll have to disable GoBack. I pieced this info from various pieces of info I found deep within a lot of computer boards like Tom's Hardware, Microsoft, PC Mag, PC World, ad nauseum. I read a lot of geeky stuff!
My old desktop died and I wanted to save the files stored on the HD. I took the HD from the dead computer, installed it in an open bay of my good desktop, configured it as the non booting slave, and couldn't read it. I thought it was trashed. In all the digging and piecing of info, it turns out GoBack hinders the process of putting an old drive in a new machine. Since the old machine was dead, I had to disconnect the current HD, boot from the old HD and immediately stop GoBack so I could disable it. I reconnected it as the slave and all is good. I think people without GoBack can just hook up and go.
Emman
Geesh, kind of an interesting thread but way too long and it is not even about model railroading. LOL
I've seen threads locked on the CTT forum after only three or four posts when we all started talking about blood test results, herbal remedies etc. LOL again.
If you need some info on reformatting your computer or cleaning up the hard drive, go buy a copy of PC World.
Rich
Folks, my computer is now running great! (it will crash now that I posted this)
Getting rid of that last Norton File and Dumping the Charter Anti Virus has done the trick.
Ken
I hate Rust
NeO6874 can always upgrade your current setup to Linux seriously though -- a new PC will leave you better off than the same amount of money for the RDRAM...
can always upgrade your current setup to Linux
seriously though -- a new PC will leave you better off than the same amount of money for the RDRAM...
Or you could not...
-Morgan
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Ken: I highly recommend losing your present computer. There's no sense in dumping a lot of money into unpopular and rare memory sticks when the same money can get you a new computer with much more memory and up to date electronics as well as a more powerful processor. As for virus protection I use AVG version 10. It catches and kills spyware and malware as well.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
i totally agree that reformatting is not for the feint of heart. it doesn't take alot of time by itself but reinstalling the software, the email service, Internet connection and the rest can be a major pain, not to mention time consuming.
having said that the files you are looking for in Windows are the dot CAB files.
to fix startup issues hit the START button then RUN and type in msconfig
i also have to say that with RD-Ram sinking any more into that will not be much of a return on your investment . i mean you wouldn't put a 4 cylinder in a Cuda would you?
I've been running AVG on my Windows 7 computer for about a year now. I used to use Avast, but it developed a major conflict with my sound drivers, and stopped Windows from booting. AVG's been working perfectly, and I haven't gotten a single virus. It's not a big resource hog most of the time, either.
I also run Spyware Blaster on my PC. I'm happy to say that I've never gotten any spyware as long as I've been running it, and it's free too.
Like the majority, I've not had to reformat aside from mew doing something royally stupid. That may change if I can get ahold of a techie that knows his head from his ***. (my laptop has something puking its AMD driver when I try to play vid online)
I run a smorgasbord as recomended by Mom, who does tech for the local major Univeristy, IUPUI. So I trust her input. Symantec and flanked by a program called Malwarebytes and AdAware. We're debating loading the Superantispyware that Selector mentioned. They've played nicely with each other on all 150 comps that have been set p this way. A Dell tech did try to tell me tis was a bad idea, andhe may well be right, but the moron also tried to convince me I had a virus. No Dip****, those are tracking cookies from when YOU downloaded something else to my computer. I CAN read my own screen. Also, I reccomend a program called Secunia and is real good about tellign you when there's updates for nealry everything
AVG 2011 is now out, and I converted to it right away from the older version. 2011 had some 'issues', and was slower. But in the past week they must have cleared up some bugs because for the first time ever, no matter which anti-virus scanner I have used, AVG did the daily scan two days running in less than 3 minutes. Three minutes, and I have five years worth of crap on my computer. Not too shabby.
AVG 2011 freeware and Superantispyware (paid up when they flashed their lifetime special of $19 when I was using the freeware version) are all I use.
Crandell
Second that. Systems with RDRAM never caught on, it was limited to that one processor family and so was and still is (if you can even find any) way more expensive that SDRAM that everyone else used. You can get a new system that will blow that oen into the weeds for $500 or less, and it will have 2GB RAM, probably 10X the hard disk space, and Windows 7. The difference would be like a built Charger racing a Yugo.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Ken, I wouldn't dump any more money into that thing. My recommendation would be to buy a new laptop. You can get a nice quality laptop for about $500.
Also, you can get backup and restore software that will make the reformat and reinstall process very simple. What you do is start from a fresh install of your OS, install all your programs, etc.
Then get a software product like Norton Ghost, or a free one called Paragon Backup & Restore. It takes a "snapshot" of your system. You back that up to an external USB drive. Then after a year or so, when your system starts to slown down again. You just restore the entire system back to when it was backed up.
The process only takes maybe an hour or so. And you're backup and running will all your programs. If you install new programs since the last backup, of course you have to reinstall those.
Far as the AVG, i have tried downloading it a couple of times. It keeps locking up on me at up date 15? Maybe that I found the last Norton file it will download.
I really don't think I need more ram, but I can take 2 more sticks. Micheal, feel free to chime in. The Ram I am using is RD Ram (not SRD Ram) two stick cost me $500.00 when I bought them like 6 years ago. Last time I looked about 2 years ago it was still $200.00 a stick. Also you can install 1 stick, 2 sticks or 4 sticks in the mother board, so installing one more would not work.
Far as Viruses I was clean when I ran the scan. When I was running 98 and went to cable I felt like I had a red dot on forehead. Man I was catching everything, That is when I went with XP Pro, sometimes the system would have a hick up, but nothing I could not fix.
Thanks again for all the answers.
It still is a major job to re-install all your drivers and programs. Particularly the ones that have been downloaded instead of installed from a disk, and programs that have been updated numerous times.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I have a dollar that says your hard drive is going south.
I format and reinstall once a year, its like spring cleaning, it's not the big deal some here claim it is. BTW, I would never let any idiot from the "Geek Squad" touch anything.
Trying to fix an issue like this with all of the "fix it" programs is a waste of time and money. I promise you, nothing works better than a fresh. clean install of your O.S. It only takes an afternoon.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
My experience is similar to yours, Randy.
The computer problem that I experienced was caused by a hardware failure. Unfortunately, the "IT professionals" at the Geek Squad formated my hard drives before they found the problem DVD drive and removed it. Since the computer had two of them, they didn't even replace it, they just removed it.
I really wish I knew what people do to their computers. I hve NEVER had to reformat and rebuild any of my computers EVER (other then hardware failures). I run AVG Free,have for several years now, but it never finds anything. I periodically run Malwarebytes to clean spyware, but all it ever finds are some tracking cookies.
Since building my latest computer with Windows 7, I don;t even defrag anymore - Windows 7 does this automatically now. I DO and always have periodically run disk cleanup to get rid of the horde of temp files that accumulate over time. I DO apply Windows updates, especially security ones. I do NOT have my computer connected directly to the cable modem, I have a firewall/router in between.
However, my previous computer, which has XP, and another one which I NEVER had a virus on, when I was using it - my GF now uses, and every couple of weeks I need to clean spyware off it with Malwarebytes. It too has AVG and doesn't get viruses, but whatever she does, she keeps getting spyware. She does play a lot of games on Facebook, something I don't do - I do have a facebook account but I don't play the games and I'm not updating my status every 10 minutes. Who knows. And I use IE8 exclusively on my machine, I never even installed an alternate browser on this system. I don;t have problems logging into the forums here, or any of the other issues people mention. I really wish I knew what I'm doing that other people aren't - I could make a fortune selling my technique and buy more trains.
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
If you have a dell, they have a factory spec's setting and you can always go to that and it will reformat all but that little section, it will be like a new computer every time, use it all the time for my sons computer (he autistic and doesn't pay attention to computer warnings).
I reformat and reinstall at least once a year. Windows gets slow after a while, and things get installed, downloaded, and what not.
It's a practice I've been doing for many years.
btw, I'm an IT guy, so it's easy for me.
I've used the free antivirus software from AVG and it has worked very well for about 2 years now. I've had zero problems or issues with it and it is a program you may want to consider.
Wayne
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.
The reformat and reinstall trick works but it will cost you. You will have to re install every single applicatio program (Microsoft Office, Firefox, Picassa, etc). If you cannot find (or never had) the original install disks you are out of luck. You will have to install the last 6 years worth of Microsoft patches which will take forever.
Was it me, I'd try to clean up your existing system. Do some weeding. Uninstall programs you never use, old versions, craplets, games. If you haven't used it in the last six months, you don't need it on your disk. You never know what's hiding out there and the more weeds you pull the easier it is to see the virus for the trees.
Backup up all your stuff, photos. music, memos, track plans, whatever. Once you have a solid backup, delete some of your older stuff from hard disk.
Do "disk cleanup"
Do "Disk cleanup", "Error Check" and defrag. You can get to these from "My Computer" , right click on the C drive icon, click on properties, then tools. Do cleanup FIRST. Do error check second. DON'T defrag unless error check passes. Defragging has been known to kill the odd virus.
Get a good antivirus are run it, run it twice. AVG works for me and it is free. Stay away from Norton and EZtrust and Computer Associates. Then run Spybot Search and Destroy and Lavasoft AdAware to catch the network invaders.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Far as the Norton well that could be it. As mentioned I thought I had it all uninstalled. But, when i was getting rid of the F Anti Virus, found the update installer was still there.