Quick [tech] Questions Thread

[SnakeCharmer]

I'll check it when I get home and let you know

[Sheepherder]

I'm guessing motherboard, if you're not getting beep codes.

[Salamok]

So repartition, reformat (full) and reinstall XP, forgot to backup 1 directory with some photo's in it.  I realize that if any portion of the disk that contained a file has been overwritten with something else there is nothing that can be done but since the new install is smaller than the old install and the image folder in question was somewhat recent this may be unlikely...

Currently looking at:
http://www.easeus-photorecovery.com/

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Lantyssa]

As long as things haven't over-written it, any data recovery tool should work.  If possible, download it on another disk and install it on a CD.  (The chance is small, but having the data recovery program sitting on the sectors of your data is the height of painful irony.)

It's old now, and can be clunky, but the program I last used successfully was: Drive Rescue.  I'm not sure what's the most current, unfortunately.  (Or maybe fortunately for myself...)

[Strazos]

Suggestions on a free/CHEAP registry cleaner for someone who doesn't want to get into the weeds of their registry?

[Yegolev]

FDISK

[Engels]

Ccleaner. Allows you to make a backup before you erase the invalid entries, in case you need to roll back your changes.

[SnakeCharmer]

Can you check to see if your BIOS has a built in volt meter for the 3, 5, and 12 volt rails? Maybe post the readings here? A certain degree of fluctuation is normal, but over a certain amount is considered sing of a failing PSU.

After finally getting a response from MSI, I've got to RMA the board.  Not entirely happy with being without my gaming rig for a week or two, but better than having to buy a new mobo.

[Rasix]

Ok, I'm having some intermittent networking issues.

Network goes down (can't connect to the internet).  I have to unplug the cable modem, unplug the router and replug everything back in.  Then it usually comes back online.   This last time it took a while for me to get everything working again.

This happens perhaps 3-5 times a week and can be annoying when it kicks me out of a game or interrupts work.  Could my router be starting to fail or is it just Comcast? I don't think it's interference since both the wireless and wired connections go down.

[Engels]

Do you have another computer to see if the connection is computer specific? You didn't clarify if the wireless/wired connection are on the same machine or not.

Routers -rarely- break. You may want to do a factory reset, and if that doesn't work, see if there's an available firmware update, but proceed with caution, since there may be comcast user account settings that need to be reentered after a reset.

[Rasix]

I have my home PC sitting right next to my work laptop.  First is wired, second is wireless.

Just curious because this is happening a lot lately when previous connection interruptions would only happen very infrequently (maybe once every few months).   

The light for "Activity" is usually solid when this happens.  I've been lazy a few times and a reset of the router has solved it on it's own without having to go to the standard Comcast way of fixing your connection (modem and router off, plug in modem, wait, plug in router).

[Engels]

Hmm. Next time it happens, just plug in the computer straight into the comcast modem and see if you're still blocked. If you are, well, then its not the router, but something wonky with the comcast modem.

[Chimpy]

Have you changed the default username/password on your router? There are a couple of DNS poisoning viruses now that specifially target consumer grade routers that use default username/pw strings to access them and then load into memory.

If you are having to reboot your modem, it may be a dying modem (if you lease the modem from Comcast their techs will replace it if you get a service call even if it is not the issue) or your modem is not getting good enough signal. I would call Comcast when it stops working and let them take a look at their CMTS to determine if your modem is having connection issues.

[SnakeCharmer]

Odd question...

I've been using an ethernet cable that is about 10 inches long between my modem and router.  I heard/read something somewhere today that said that the signal might be too strong, and it's hurting my connection speed/ping.  Is that possible?

[Salamok]

Sounds like BS to me.  I seriously doubt the specifications for transmit and receive for those ports would require the minuscule amount of resistance provided by an extra foot of cable to avoid damage.

[Chimpy]

Odd question...

I've been using an ethernet cable that is about 10 inches long between my modem and router.  I heard/read something somewhere today that said that the signal might be too strong, and it's hurting my connection speed/ping.  Is that possible?

That is total BS.

You can have too hot a signal on wireless which can cause drops and retransmits if your computer is too close to an AP that is screaming, but ethernet does not have that issue.

[SnakeCharmer]

Thanks.  I thought it was a crazy, bullshit statement but wanted to be sure.

[Murgos]

Thanks.  I thought it was a crazy, bullshit statement but wanted to be sure.

Ethernet uses differential signaling which pretty much negates signal noise.  Basically, the signal is transmitted on two wires with one being the exact inverse of the other.  You raise the signal on wire A and the receiver lowers the signal on wire B, since this is proportional the the difference is always maintained at spec.  Effectively this means that difference between high (1) and low (0) is always maintained.  Shortness of the cable isn't really an issue.  Once you get over a certain length the signal does start to attenuate and the reflection of the signal from the terminus (it bounces back and forth on the line at a weaker strength but eventually that's strong enough) can cause the signal to be indistinct but that's at like 120 meters or so (depending on cable spec).

If one side were transmitting out of spec (over 3.5 mA I think for ethernet) then you could burn out the receiver but, uh, not likely.   If the transmitter were too weak you would actually want a shorter wire as a longer one would cause more attenuation of the signal.

TLDR, on a short wire the if there is no fire the signal should be clear.

[Mosesandstick]

I'm having problem connecting to my college's VPN at home. I'm pretty sure it's a router/ISP issue as it's worked on and off before. Anybody have experience with these sort of issues?

[Yegolev]

PS3 died, "yellow light of death" issue.  Currently I am only really interested in getting my saves off of the hard disk, which you need the matching PS3 to do.  I don't find anything in a quick search about being able to read a PS3 disk with any other device/PC, so my only recourse seems to be to manage to get my PS3 to power on for at least an hour so I can make a new backup.  Anyone have any tips?

[Engels]

I'm having problem connecting to my college's VPN at home. I'm pretty sure it's a router/ISP issue as it's worked on and off before. Anybody have experience with these sort of issues?

We've recently had problems with our VPN's connectivity with faculty/staff that are on comcast or another ISP who's connectivity speed fluctuates depending on the traffic at their local hub. It didn't happen in the past, but we've gotten complaints recently. It doesn't seem to affect people on DSL or other services where there's a 'guaranteed' speed connection.

[Trippy]

Windows 7 question (maybe this was in Vista too, never used it):

So I've got a bunch of Windows Explorer windows open since I'm managing a bunch of files and I decide to drag one of those windows somewhere so I can reveal/see some stuff in another window and Windows fucking decides that what I really wanted to do in addition to dragging that one window is fucking minimize all the other Explorer windows. So now I have to figure out all the fucking Explorer windows I had open and bring those up one by one and pray to Ballmer that dragging another window doesn't fucking minimize all the other windows again.

How do I turn off that "feature"?

[Engels]

Well, there's the 'show desktop' thingie on the bottom right (in XP and vista, it was on the left side quicklaunch bar). Did you accidentally hit that? Cuz I have been using 7 for a while now and I haven't ever had all explorer windows minimize just from moving one of them. I'm not saying you must be wrong, but I'm wondering if there's some feature enabled in, for example, the 'Personalize' control panel.

[Trippy]

Well, there's the 'show desktop' thingie on the bottom right (in XP and vista, it was on the left side quicklaunch bar). Did you accidentally hit that?

Nope. I think it's part of the same feature where if you "push" a window against the top of the screen it'll maximize the window for you or if you push it to one of the corners it'll resize the window to "portrait" mode so you can have side-by-side windows.

[Yegolev]

I was not able to immediately duplicate the issue.

[Trippy]

You people are useless! Useless I say!

Video showing "feature" (sorry about the large file size): Stupid Windows 7 Tricks

This behavior happens with other types of windows as well (e.g. Firefox) not just Windows Explorer it's just with Explorer I usually have more windows of that type open so it happens more often with those. I don't know how to trigger the "minimize all other windows of that type" "feature" on demand, as you can see in the video, as I just randomly move things around until it happens but for me it happens *a lot*, hence my original post.

[K9]

If you click on the top of the window and shake it it minimises everything else. I just tested it.

[Ingmar]

Your video doesn't want to play for me, but it sounds like you're talking about the "shake" feature where if you take a window and "shake" it other windows minimize. You can disable it using the group policy editor:

From a command prompt, run gpedit.msc
Go to user config->administrative templates->desktop
set "turn off Aero shake window..." to enabled

You can do it with a registry hack as well but it involved adding new keys and such, easier to just use gpedit.

[Trippy]

Your video doesn't want to play for me, but it sounds like you're talking about the "shake" feature where if you take a window and "shake" it other windows minimize. You can disable it using the group policy editor:

From a command prompt, run gpedit.msc
Go to user config->administrative templates->desktop
set "turn off Aero shake window..." to enabled

You can do it with a registry hack as well but it involved adding new keys and such, easier to just use gpedit.

Thank you! You people aren't useless after all

And fuck MS for burying that setting.

[Viin]

Thank you! You people aren't useless after all

And fuck MS for burying that setting.

Stop shaking your fucking windows! Dumbass!

 

[Trippy]

My poor mouse hand is crippled thanks to years of, uh, mousing. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[Murgos]

Well, now we all know that Trippy mouses spastically.   

[Soln]

I want to send my Dad a couple of videos on a DVD -- what's the most common format(s) an industry standard, non-Blueray player might read?  For example, mpg4, avi, what?  I've burnt the files as a "data" DVD, so there's no homemade intro etc.  Thank ye.

[Chimpy]

I want to send my Dad a couple of videos on a DVD -- what's the most common format(s) an industry standard, non-Blueray player might read?  For example, mpg4, avi, what?  I've burnt the files as a "data" DVD, so there's no homemade intro etc.  Thank ye.

The only video format that you can be guaranteed will work on any DVD player is MPEG2, as that is the encoding used in the DVD video standard. A lot of players started supporting WMV and Divx encoded AVI files several years ago, but I would not say that you are guaranteed it will work without knowing what formats the player supports.

You may also want to make sure you burn it as a video disc and not a data disc as older players may not be able to view the videos if they do not see a file structure they recognize.

[Soln]

good advice and info, thanks