Author Topic: The PC thread  (Read 101285 times)

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Offline reneranucci

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #175 on: August 19, 2015, 07:56:40 AM »
Thank you everybody for the answers! @faizoff, this is the model I'm looking at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YR6BMS2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I think I'm going this way. Another thing I learned is that I can clone my current hard drive into the new HD instead of manually transferring all my files and documents, having to re-install programs, etc., so this is another skill I will develop. Just one question, if I clone my HD into the internal 1TB I will add, it will clone Windows 7 into it. The pre-installed SSD already comes with Windows 8.1. How can I manage to clone my current drive without the OS? I looked online and really didn't find a tutorial for this.

Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #176 on: August 19, 2015, 08:00:17 AM »
If you don't need the OS, then wouldn't you just do a plain copy of your folders across the drives? In my experience the only real need for cloning a drive is for the OS.
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Offline reneranucci

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #177 on: August 19, 2015, 08:10:57 AM »
If you don't need the OS, then wouldn't you just do a plain copy of your folders across the drives? In my experience the only real need for cloning a drive is for the OS.
Ok, I don't really have any experience so I think what you're saying makes sense. I have some software I didn't want to reinstall and I have MS Office in my HD but I've lost the install DVDs and the key, so I wanted to migrate that to my new HD to save some money.

Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #178 on: August 19, 2015, 08:16:49 AM »
If you don't need the OS, then wouldn't you just do a plain copy of your folders across the drives? In my experience the only real need for cloning a drive is for the OS.
Ok, I don't really have any experience so I think what you're saying makes sense. I have some software I didn't want to reinstall and I have MS Office in my HD but I've lost the install DVDs and the key, so I wanted to migrate that to my new HD to save some money.

Unless you're copying it along with the entire OS you installed it for, I doubt the software would work, or at the very least would require re-activation with your key. Some free programs may work, but those would be easy enough to reinstall anyhow.
I would suggest Open Office as a great free alternative to MS Office. I used to have Office, but also no longer had the installation discs, so switched over.
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Online faizoff

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #179 on: August 19, 2015, 10:24:19 AM »
That's a great looking laptop @reneranucci! The specs on paper look great and it should run really well.


First, if you're cloning the HD (that has win 7 and programs, etc..) from your current laptop and want that clone to be on your new laptop it's going to be very tricky to get it working and I'm not sure you can do it without issues. Reason being the hardware on the new laptop is going to be different from your current laptop and will need different drivers and have to be reconfigured.

This is a pain to do and I think I tried it several years ago and in the win 98-XP days and of course didn't work and I spend hours and hours with no real success.

I might be wrong in how HD cloning is done these days as I haven't tried it in recent years but a clean install of the OS or just using what's already there is always going to be better.

Second, if it's only Office you're trying to install, you can use a free program called Belarc and extract the Office key from your current installation. Then download the same trial version of Office from MS or wherever they're hosted to the new laptop and use the key. That works and I've done this with several of my installed programs that needs keys and don't have the installation disks.

If there are other programs that need to be installed then you'll have to find the installation files from somewhere and just use the keys extracted.

Also are you sure you can install a separate 1 TB HD on that laptop? I may have missed it but it doesn't look you can install a second disk on it.
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Online faizoff

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #180 on: August 19, 2015, 10:30:20 AM »
I just read some comments on that laptop that there have been users who added a second hard drive and that there's an expansion bay. Thats cool then.
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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #181 on: August 19, 2015, 10:43:54 AM »
I used Acronis Migration Software some years ago with great success.

What I did was use the program to migrate the contents of my old HD to the new HD. Once I booted into the operating system, Windows Update took care of the hardware differences and drivers after a few reboots. Then I upgraded the operating system with the install disc that came with the new computer. All of my programs ran fine without having to be reactivated.

That being said, I did all this in Windows XP to Windows Vista. Your mileage may vary but it may be worth looking into.
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Offline reneranucci

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #182 on: August 19, 2015, 01:03:45 PM »
I just read some comments on that laptop that there have been users who added a second hard drive and that there's an expansion bay. Thats cool then.
Yes, I'm kinda relying on the review from a guy named ESVK who was cool enough to take pictures of the open laptop and explain how he installed the internal hard drive.

Thank you for your excellent reply, BTW. I'll definitely follow your advice regarding the MS Office key. I'm not really looking to clone my HD specifically, but I'm just trying to find a way to migrate all my documents, music, and videos to the new laptop. This would be my n00b way to do it:
- Connect my 500 GB external HD to my old laptop's USB port
- Copy/paste my documents from my hard drive to the external device
- Copy/paste my documents from my external device to the new laptop

Based on my experience, this can take the whole day because the speed of the external Hard Drive interface with the USB port is very slow. There's always a risk that the copy/paste process will freeze and I'll have to start over. I'm sure there has to be more efficient way to migrate my files. Based on some videos I've watched, my plan is to:

- Open my old laptop and extract the Hard Drive
- Connect the old Hard Drive to my new laptop's USB 3.0 port using converter cables like these ones: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQJME7Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A29Y8OP2GPR7PE
- Use some software to migrate the files from old Hard Drive to new Hard Drive

Does this make any sense? My thesis is that the Old HD -> USB -> New HD interface will be faster than the Old HD ->USB ->external HD->USB-> New HD interface. Is this true? Is there a more efficient way to complete this simple, but time-consuming task?

Offline cramx3

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #183 on: August 19, 2015, 01:29:25 PM »
I personally think you are asking for trouble moving a hard drive with installed applications to a new OS with regards to those applications working. Obviously people in this thread say they have done so with success, but my opinion is to not do that.  Go for the clean install on the new OS.

Offline reneranucci

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #184 on: August 19, 2015, 02:02:55 PM »
I personally think you are asking for trouble moving a hard drive with installed applications to a new OS with regards to those applications working. Obviously people in this thread say they have done so with success, but my opinion is to not do that.  Go for the clean install on the new OS.
Agreed, I'm not doing that anymore. I'm just trying to find an efficient way to migrate my documents (not the OS or installed programs)

Online faizoff

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #185 on: August 19, 2015, 02:14:43 PM »
I think your approach will work. Even if you won't get full USB 3.0 speeds with that cable you posted, it will still be much faster than if you were to do it first way you mentioned. 500 GB seems like chump change to me lol. I have drives that total 14 TB on my desktop and a few times I had to move some things over or make backups and it was in around 300 GB or so and I don't remember it taking too much time. But then again it was between sata 3 interfaces.

But yeah I would do it the same way you listed.
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Online Podaar

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #186 on: August 19, 2015, 02:36:43 PM »
Yeah, in spite of my previous post. I don't think I'd do it again.

Your current approach is sound, me thinks.
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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #187 on: August 20, 2015, 06:17:57 AM »
On another note, I figured out yesterday why I was getting so many random lockups after a BIOS update. It was due to disabling APM on my Seagate HDD through Hard Disk Sentinel. At first I thought it might've been the SSD I just got. Or something in win 10 as that just had an update. Or enabling VT-x in the BIOS. But nope turned out that uninstalling Hard Disk Sentinel was the answer.
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Offline jasc15

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #188 on: August 31, 2015, 02:14:45 PM »
Anyone know how fast an HDD read/write head moves?  I thought it was constantly sweeping back and forth across the full width of the platter, but apparently that's not true; the head can stay in place over one track.  However, I'd like to figure out how fast it might move and how far, since I am trying to calculate the g-force acting on the head.

Offline jasc15

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #189 on: September 03, 2015, 08:19:49 AM »
Further back in this thread I posted about a problem i was having with my USB mouse and keyboard failing simultaneously.  I have unplugged just the mouse and the problem has not reappeared.  Looks like I just need a new mouse then.

Reading about "quality" mice, all discussions seem to be about gaming mice with adjustable sensitivity, etc, which I have no use for.  Any recommendations for a good quality mouse that won't fail in a year or 2 (my current one is 13 years old)?

Edit: Also, no wireless mice.

Offline cramx3

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #190 on: September 03, 2015, 08:22:23 AM »
Further back in this thread I posted about a problem i was having with my USB mouse and keyboard failing simultaneously.  I have unplugged just the mouse and the problem has not reappeared.  Looks like I just need a new mouse then.

Reading about "quality" mice, all discussions seem to be about gaming mice with adjustable sensitivity, etc, which I have no use for.  Any recommendations for a good quality mouse that won't fail in a year or 2 (my current one is 13 years old)?

Cant say I've ever experienced mouse software issues, usually just wear and tear that physically makes the mouse bad.  My only recommendation would be on gaming mice since I don't know much about the differences in standard USB mice.

Offline Genowyn

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #191 on: September 04, 2015, 06:24:03 PM »
Hope someone can help me out with this issue:

I'm running Windows 7 and have two harddrives in my computer. The OS is installed on an SSD, all of my files and programs are installed on the second harddrive.

I recently replaced the SSD with a newer one with more space, and reinstalled the OS on there. The problem is since then Windows doesn't think I'm the administrator of the second harddrive. So, it prevents me from saving files there, prevents me from letting a program like WinRAR create a new folder there, etc. It's mostly an annoyance, just means I have to do things on the SSD and then copy them to the harddrive (which it lets me do for some reason).

Also only certain programs seem to have this problem? uTorrent seems to be able to save to the D drive just fine, but Chrome and WinRAR complain about it.

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Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #192 on: September 04, 2015, 09:52:13 PM »
If you check the root folder properties, you should be able to change the owner of them in permissions or something. I had something similar when I first upgraded to Windows 7.
Like this?
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/take-ownership-windows-8
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Offline Genowyn

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #193 on: September 04, 2015, 11:54:16 PM »
Alright so, now it seems like this problem is actually only occurring in my Music folder? I made myself the owner, but now trying to set the permissions, when I try to set myself full control, it goes through each and every folder saying I don't have permission. I sincerely hope I won't have to manually set myself as owner of each of the subfolders because there are hundreds D:


Aaaaand even setting myself as the owner of the individual folders, it gives me access is denied when I try to give myself full control permissions.

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Offline MrBoom_shack-a-lack

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #194 on: September 05, 2015, 01:13:38 AM »
Yea I recognise that problem. I had to manually change the ownership on every file and folder but like you, it only effected certain folders and files so luckily for me it wasn't that many but it's damn annoying.
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Offline splent

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #195 on: September 10, 2015, 05:22:09 PM »
OK so my computer doesn't have bluetooth hardware on it (it's about 2 1/2 years old, I thought bluetooth was standard at that point but obviously not; my mother-in-law bought it on QVC). I recently upgraded to Windows 10 (no i'm not switching back to windows 8, i HATED windows 8 and this is seemingly running better than 8 did). Anyways, I purchased a bluetooth speaker ($5 at Five Below; yes it's cheap but it gets the job done) to play music in the classroom from my computer so I don't have to worry about hooking up a speaker (hence my discovery that my computer didn't have bluetooth hardware).

If i purchase a bluetooth usb thing, will my speaker work? I really don't want to spend a lot of money if I don't have to, because I don't have a lot to begin with.
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Online faizoff

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #196 on: September 11, 2015, 08:32:27 AM »
That's right, if you get a bluetooth dongle/adapter for your computer and plug it in, it should allow you to pair the speakers. It's quite painless in win 10.
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Offline jasc15

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #197 on: September 11, 2015, 09:05:38 AM »
I'm moving to a new apartment, and the computer will be approximately 50 feet from the cable line, so I need to add wireless capability to my desktop. (not interested in running ethernet or coaxial through the whole apartment.)

Looking at the following wireless adapters, ranging in price from $12 to $94, what the hell is really the difference?






Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #198 on: September 11, 2015, 09:20:02 AM »
More expensive ones will probably be more powerful (longer range, better through walls n stuff), and have faster wireless speeds. 50ft is probably about the limit of what I've managed for a wireless device on my network, but that was a smartphone, not a PC, so I'm not sure if that will be an issue.

I just have a cheapo USB dongle for my PC that cost me $20 (no antenna, just a small thing) and it works fine. It's only over a distance of about 5m/15ft though, through some wooden walls/floor. I have had some problems sustaining streaming video off of it to other devices, but otherwise it's adequate.
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Offline jasc15

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #199 on: September 11, 2015, 10:22:46 AM »
It doesnt make sense to me that different receiving antennas could be more powerful than others.  The quality of the signal is dependent on the transmitter, isn't it?

Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #200 on: September 11, 2015, 10:25:08 AM »
The quality would be dependent on both ends, both having a strong signal transmitted, and receiving it clearly with minimal interference/noise. And internet is two way communication, so it's not just a receiver.
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Offline jasc15

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #201 on: September 11, 2015, 10:28:21 AM »
And internet is two way communication, so it's not just a receiver.
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Offline Nick

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #202 on: September 11, 2015, 04:19:25 PM »
Not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but here it goes. I'm interested in playing music from my computer through my stereo head (with no streaming capabilities) if there is a cost effective way to stream at a decent quality. I honestly know very little about BT other than it's basic functions. I know they make BT receivers I can plug into the unit, but is the quality of those devices solid? Any other ways to do it?
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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #203 on: September 11, 2015, 05:15:45 PM »
Usually for little adapter projects I go here
https://www.monoprice.com/

They probably have something that will get the job done at a good price and the quality is better than the price would suggest.

Offline cramx3

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #204 on: September 12, 2015, 07:32:08 AM »
Splent and Nick, I'm not 100% sure this is what you are looking for, but this is a blue tooth receiver I recently purchased:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VV1DGX0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

It's cheap and it now allows my car to stream audio through bluetooth from my phone to my car stereo, replacing the AUX cable.  Easy to set up and streams the music fine with solid quality.

Offline Cyclopssss

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #205 on: September 23, 2015, 12:30:33 AM »
Well after an ultimate attempt to install Windows 10 on my home pc, it  now is well and truly fucked. Didn't reboot, wouldn't system reset to an earlier point. so I said fuck it, I'll just install windows 8 all over again. Workerd for about five minutes, was even able to check my mail and then it just didn't reboot anymore. Thank you Microsoft thank you fuckin very much#!  >:( :censored :censored
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Offline cramx3

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #206 on: September 23, 2015, 09:06:45 AM »
I wonder if you have a hardware issue then.  Seems odd that you can't get either OS to work, but Im not sure how to help without more info.

I installed windows 10 onto my laptop, it was super easy and fast.  Then I sold my laptop.  So my PC is still on 7, but I thought 10 was pretty cool so maybe one weekend when I have no plans and am bored I will upgrade my PC.

Offline Lucien

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #207 on: September 23, 2015, 10:20:52 AM »
I really don't get the hype about windows 10, I've removed all traces of that dumb OS's offers from my laptop
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Offline cramx3

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #208 on: September 23, 2015, 11:25:45 AM »
I really don't get the hype about windows 10, I've removed all traces of that dumb OS's offers from my laptop

Have you tried it?  And are you comparing to windows 7?  I think it's easier to call windows 10 dumb compared to 7, but 10 compared to 8 could then be genius with that thought process.  I really didnt mess around with it after upgrading my laptop, but it felt like a much better OS than 8 (which I really didnt enjoy).

Offline Lucien

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Re: The PC thread
« Reply #209 on: September 23, 2015, 12:41:29 PM »
I really don't get the hype about windows 10, I've removed all traces of that dumb OS's offers from my laptop

Have you tried it?  And are you comparing to windows 7?  I think it's easier to call windows 10 dumb compared to 7, but 10 compared to 8 could then be genius with that thought process.  I really didnt mess around with it after upgrading my laptop, but it felt like a much better OS than 8 (which I really didnt enjoy).

https://lifehacker.com/what-windows-10s-privacy-nightmare-settings-actually-1722267229 for starters
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