Evil voodoo box, your days are numbered!

[evlgt85]

That's right...the increasingly hateful computer I'm using will soon be no more. I'm starting to order stuff that will become my new machine. This means I'll actually be able to do stuff to the site with more regularity.

Over the past months, my computer has locked up unexpectedly (okay, after a while, I pretty much expected it) on me with increasing frequency. Now I am experiencing multiple lock ups and reboots (not me rebooting, mind you...) every day. This makes it impossible to get anything done.

ALSO, we will soon be getting a cable modem here at home base. This means I'll be able to upload large files again. Currently, I'm stuck with 1-2k upload speeds. Pair impossibly slow upload speeds with a computer that'll lock up at the drop of a hat and you have something that just isn't going to work for anything of import.

I'll have pics of my silly computer stuff eventually. Can't wait to get started!

[85 Notchback]

Sweet...Updates rule! Way to go Skye w00t!!

[BetterDays]

Over the past months, my computer has locked up unexpectedly (okay, after a while, I pretty much expected it) on me with increasing frequency. Now I am experiencing multiple lock ups and reboots (not me rebooting, mind you...) every day. This makes it impossible to get anything done.


Sounds like either the STINGER or BLASTER Virus...

I think STINGER....

[evlgt85]

I am virus and spyware free. I don't go to pr0n sites or any others that would be likely to have malicious intent nor do I open emails with attachments. I've run different virus scans just being paranoid, all is clean.

[negusm]

Have you tried backing off your memory frequency or processor frequency?

I have a bad memory module in my PC...it rebooted randomly and I backed the speed off....it runs fine now.

I'm sure you've heard a million suggestions.

Stupid computers.

-Mike

[evlrs84]

I've tried all sorts of fidgeting. The thing has never really acted right, and it just seems as though all of its problems have intensified and accelerated. Once I have my new machine up and running we might fiddle with the old one some more and see what we can see. Probably turn it into a garage machine or something.

It's been through a few HDs and one PS. I've run memory tests. Lots of things have been done with little or no effect over the past two years. Time to start from scratch. :)

[50 Proof]

That's right...the increasingly hateful computer I'm using will soon be no more. I'm starting to order stuff that will become my new machine. This means I'll actually be able to do stuff to the site with more regularity.


sweet, upgrades are always fun. I just built myself a new computer a few months ago. I got a killer deal on a P4 2.8ghz processor with 800mhz front side bus(hyperthreading processsor) and 512mb of ram, new case and mobo for right about 3 bills.

[white1983GT]

good deal, maybe i can get a new machine myself one of these days

[FoxChassis]

I'm building one right now too.

My old tower crappped out (won't even power up - I'm not bothering to fix it since it's a Deskpro PII 350) so I'm using an old laptop (Versa PII 266) to get me by until the new rig is done. The only component I have right now is the case:

http://www.ahanix.com/items/noblesse/noblesse_01.jpg
http://www.ahanix.com/items/noblesse/noblesse_13.jpg

Picked it up for $62 (shipped) from ajump.com.

I just won two Panaflo fans (120mm with RPM sense) on ebay. I'm watching or looking for power supplies, sleeve kits, molex connectors, pins, and tools, and some 80mm RPM sense Panaflos right now. Going to rewire the PSU and stealth all the wires. I'll eventually be running a Barton core AMD, w/ ~200 GB HDD, at least 512 RAM, a fan controller (for about a half dozen fans), DVD-RW/CD-RW, etc. I'm even trying to figure out if I can make some Mustang related fan grills. :lol:

I've found a new hobby. :) I'ts just going sloooooow, kinda like my '83 GT.

[futurexdesign]

Ive said it once, and I will say it again. Use a real nice, High quality Power Supply on any build. Antec and PC Power And Cooling make exceptional units. You wouldnet go and put a cheap Fuel pump on your Highperfomance EFI car would you? (okay bad analogy!) 350 Watt's from a High quality power supply is usaly more than enough for most users.

I cant wait to hear about the new machine Skye, you deserve it already!

Later

Kevin (ahum, the Geek!)

[FoxChassis]

The Compaq Deskpro of mine that crapped out has the proprietary PSU. I don't know if that's the problem and I don't care anymore. The machine is old and useless.

The new rig is going to get no less than a 500W Antec, Thermaltake, or Zalman PSU. ;)

[mfpmax]

All properitary PC companies use sub par power supplies, HP seems to be the worse.

[50 Proof]

All properitary PC companies use sub par power supplies, HP seems to be the worse.

E-Machines is way down there too. The power supply on e-machines is also proprietary and designed specifically for e-machines. To replace it you have to buy one specific to an e-machine. To make things worse, their power supplies are actually designed to go out right before the warranty expires.

[mfpmax]

Those must be newer E-Machines. Older E-Machines are semi-standard MicroATX PIECES OF CRAP. But i've run into a few E-Machines and Power Supplies that lasted longer than Compaqs and HPs...despite E-machines being bottom of the barrel. Weird.

[1hot86gt]

ok sence were on the computer subject i will ask a question about mine .

ok it is a HP pavilion a305w. it has windows XP . i bought it right before christmas this year , and latley it has been runing very slow , not only the enternet , the the programs run slow . i cant play games on it anymore either ?. anyone know what could be causeing this ?

josh

[mfpmax]

Windows is full...feed it a laxitive and let it sit on the toliet for about a day.

Seriously...probably misc. software being loaded on boot up, or even the bad stuff...AdWare...

[1hot86gt]

what is this spyware and adware stuff , how do you get it and how do you know if you got it ? how to remove it ?

josh

[FoxChassis]

Here are my favorite (and FREE!) utilities:

Anti-Virus:
avast! --- http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html
*AVG --- http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2

Browsers:
Firefox (no email client) --- http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
*Mozilla (includes e-mail client) --- http://www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/

E-mail Clients:
Thunderbird --- http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

Firewalls:
Outpost --- http://www.agnitum.com/download/outpost1.html
Sygate --- http://smb.sygate.com/download_buy.htm
*Zone Alarm --- http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?lid=zaskulist_download

Spyware/Cleaners:
*Ad Aware --- http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download
*Spybot S&D --- http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
*Spyware Blaster --- http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
*Spyware Guard --- http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html

*Hijack This:
download --- http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html
tutorial --- http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
log file analysis --- http://www.hijackthis.de/index.php?langselect=english

*Freeware from GRC (Gibson Research Corporation):
http://www.grc.com/freepopular.htm

*What I currently use.

[goose]

Ha ha, I've just had a hell of a week at work with incoming dorm internet connections at the university and I drop by to think about Mustangs instead... and I see computer stuff!

Actually, it's one of my other hobbies, so it's ok. I have a custom-built computer put together by yours truly, and it's nice to see other people here doing the same thing. Not only does Foxchassis know mustangs, but also computers! Anyway, I also recommend Sypbot, AVG and ZoneAlarm. All three are examples of nice software. I also use Linux (Fedora core 2 at the moment).

Anyway, the hell-week at work was this: We had about 300 dorm network connections become active, since it's the first week of school. Of course, this always involves student computers with viruses and worms and adware/spyware. Yesterday I had to filter out traffic from half a dozen computers because they had some virus that was flooding the registration server I set up. It was a messy situation, but I managed to clean it up by yesterday afternoon. Windows XP is so incredibly vulnerable if you don't keep up with patches or have a firewall.

Enough rambling. Good luck with your new system Skye. I hope the cable access treats you better!

-gus

[FoxChassis]

Anybody using XP should visit the GRC.com link I provided and perform some fixes.

[FoxChassis]

What is this spyware and adware stuff? How do you get it?
http://simplythebest.net/info/spyware.html
http://www.spychecker.com/spyware.html
http://www.adware.info
http://cexx.org/adware.htm
http://www.malware.com
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/malware.html

How do you know if you got it? How to remove it?
Follow the links to removal software I provided previously or within the links above in some of those definitions. And for god sakes, get a firewall and some anti-virus software!

[mfpmax]

Anybody using XP should have their head examined.

:lol: :lol: :lol: 8) ;)

[FoxChassis]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[50 Proof]

ok sence were on the computer subject i will ask a question about mine .

ok it is a HP pavilion a305w. it has windows XP . i bought it right before christmas this year , and latley it has been runing very slow , not only the enternet , the the programs run slow . i cant play games on it anymore either ?. anyone know what could be causeing this ?

josh

go to start, then run and type in "MSCONFIG"
Click on the startup tab and tell me how many programs are on your startup? You don't need microsoft office, aol and junk like that on your start up. If you have a lot of programs on your start up, your computer can slow down. Also download adaware. Go to www.download.com and download a free copy of adaware and scan your computer for spyware. If you open up internet explorer, go to tools then internet properties, how many "days to keep pages in history" do you have it set to? If you have something like 20 days, thats unnecessary, you can drop it down to 2 or even zero. How often do you clear out your temporary internet files? These kind of things can slow your internet down. You can always try to defrag your hard drive too. If you have TONS of icons all over your desktop, clean it up and make it so that you only have a few icons on your desktop. Try these things for now. Let me know if any of that worked or even helped

[mfpmax]

Does XP even have MSCONFIG?

I know Windows 98 does.

[50 Proof]

Does XP even have MSCONFIG?

I know Windows 98 does.

Yes. Winxp pro and home both have msconfig. Win98SE, winME and winXP all have msconfig. Win2000 does not.

[mfpmax]

DAMN YOU MICROSOFT!

[FoxChassis]

DAMN YOU MICROSOFT!
I also use Linux (Fedora core 2 at the moment).
Problem solved. :D

If all you use your PC for is E-mail and surfing the 'net., UNIX is perfect for you.

[mfpmax]

FREEBSD FOR LIFE!





Or Debian

[1hot86gt]

i counted 51 things on my start up , now im not a computer wize , but i can bet that that is not good .

about every week i will clear all cookies and temperay files . and every 2 weeks a disk clean up . i havent run a defrag in a month or too , so im sure im due one .

i have another question too . ok i am useing bellsouth internet , is it possible for the internet service to slow the whole computer down , even if your off line ?and i have read my hand book and it says i have a 56k modem , but internet speed is only 28.8 ???what with this , i have been expeting its the internet , its very slow and has no pop up blockers :evil: .

thanks for the help yall , ill get back to you after i clear some stuff out .

josh

[FoxChassis]

It seeems the later the OS is, the larger the list of tasks running is too. :lol: Fifty-one does seems very high though.

Now, just because you have a 56K modem doesn't mean your throughput is always going to be that high (when I used dial-up, my max. throughput ranged from 31.4K-32K on a 33.6K modem). Outside of your PC, max. speed is dependant upon two things: Which part of town you live in (some parts of town are faster than others), which number you're using to dial-in to the network, how much phone line 'traffic' there is, useage, age, technology, etc. of the network's equipment, etc. The FCC doesn't (or didn't used to - that may have changed by now) allow analog speeds any higher than around 51K

[evlgt85]

With luck, today the cable modem comes...

I might not be on much today, but once I am...it's hopefully going to be damned speedy.

[FoxChassis]

For you cable and DSL users:

http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

[Hissing Cobra]

That's good news Skye! You definitely deserve/need the new unit. That cable modem will be awesome too. That's what I have and I could never go back to dial-up. 8)

[50 Proof]

i counted 51 things on my start up , now im not a computer wize , but i can bet that that is not good .

about every week i will clear all cookies and temperay files . and every 2 weeks a disk clean up . i havent run a defrag in a month or too , so im sure im due one .

i have another question too . ok i am useing bellsouth internet , is it possible for the internet service to slow the whole computer down , even if your off line ?and i have read my hand book and it says i have a 56k modem , but internet speed is only 28.8 ???what with this , i have been expeting its the internet , its very slow and has no pop up blockers :evil: .

thanks for the help yall , ill get back to you after i clear some stuff out .

josh

51 things on your start up? Yes that is bad and that will slow down your computer. You have 51 programs that are setup to start when the computer starts, I'm willing to bet your computer takes for ever to start up too. If it's not to much trouble, what is on your startup? Otherwise, find whats important and remove everything else. After you've done that, let me know how fast your computer is. BTW I have 2 things on my startup. My DSL connection/modem and norton antivirus. If you have antivirus, leave that one. You don't need AOL on startup, or quicktime or real player or msn messenger or microsoft office on your startup.
Just because you have a 56k modem, doesn't mean you are going to connect at a speed of 56k or whatever. Depending on your area and how far away you are from the number you are connecting to. Sounds like your connecting at 28.8, which is normal for a 56k modem. The only problem with connecting at 28.8 is that it's seriously slow(makes looking at pr0n really boring :lol: )

[BetterDays]

The only problem with connecting at 28.8 is that it's seriously slow(makes looking at pr0n really boring :lol: )

DISAGREE... Just takes longer!!!!! :lol:

[1hot86gt]

it wouldnt let me , copy and paste and i dont feel like typing all that . ill let yall know as soon as i get done remving/clean it up

josh

[Matt82GT]

The only problem with connecting at 28.8 is that it's seriously slow(makes looking at pr0n really boring :lol: )

DISAGREE... Just takes longer!!!!! :lol:What exactly takes longer? :lol:

[BetterDays]

The only problem with connecting at 28.8 is that it's seriously slow(makes looking at pr0n really boring :lol: )

DISAGREE... Just takes longer!!!!! :lol:What exactly takes longer? :lol:

Takes longer to see "things".... You have to be pickier with Dial Up, since the downloads take more time....

With Broadband, "open in new window" (times 30)... nice, close, wow -- nice, close, WTF???, close, close, close, looks like Alyssa Milano,

[Matt82GT]

I'm sorry,i forgot to mention your mind has to be in the gutter to understand my post,lol.

[50 Proof]

I'm sorry,i forgot to mention your mind has to be in the gutter to understand my post,lol.

lol, i picked up on it ;)

[1hot86gt]

corey , man thanks for your help , i took some stuff off my start up , and man it runs alot faster . i suspect it will run even faser after i get threw doing disk cleanup/defrag . again thanks

josh

[50 Proof]

corey , man thanks for your help , i took some stuff off my start up , and man it runs alot faster . i suspect it will run even faser after i get threw doing disk cleanup/defrag . again thanks

josh

cool, glad to hear it's running better. If you still have some stuff on your start up that your not sure about, don't be afraid to uncheck it. You can always recheck if you find out you really need it when the pc starts up.

[FoxChassis]

Well....I ordered just over $600 worth of parts today from ajump.com. Already have a case, fans, controller, a couple of auxillary drives (DVD-R/CD-RW and Zip - leftover from my last system), and tools. Gonna start modding (with my new Dremel XP-400 :D) and taking pictures along the way. Here are the specs of the parts:

Ahanix Noblesse black case
Antec NeoPower 480W PSU
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ CPU
Swiftech MCX462+ CPU cooler
Kingston 512MB PC3200/DDR400 SDRAM
Seagate 200GB S-ATA HDD
Sony DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive
Apacer 7-in-1 USB 2.0 card reader
Alps Electronics FDD
Enlight ComboSpy fan controller/system monitor
Panasonic Panaflo M1BX fans (5 @ 80mm)
Mesh fan filters
Wire fan grills
ConnectorZ PSU changeover kit
Techflex expandable wire sleeving kit

A few more small parts need to be ordered and then everything assembled. Looks like I'll have a very nice, new box for under $1000

[not-a-stang]

Viruses? Spyware? Reboots?

COMPUTERS?!!!



Thats why I like carburators.

[85_Capri_4v]

That's right...the increasingly hateful computer I'm using will soon be no more. I'm starting to order stuff that will become my new machine. This means I'll actually be able to do stuff to the site with more regularity.

Over the past months, my computer has locked up unexpectedly (okay, after a while, I pretty much expected it) on me with increasing frequency. Now I am experiencing multiple lock ups and reboots (not me rebooting, mind you...) every day. This makes it impossible to get anything done.

ALSO, we will soon be getting a cable modem here at home base. This means I'll be able to upload large files again. Currently, I'm stuck with 1-2k upload speeds. Pair impossibly slow upload speeds with a computer that'll lock up at the drop of a hat and you have something that just isn't going to work for anything of import.

I'll have pics of my silly computer stuff eventually. Can't wait to get started!

Will it be AMD or Intel based?