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The Tech Help Thread

Discussion in 'Technical Board' started by rei, Oct 19, 2009.

  1. Trakiel

    Trakiel
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    Call me Caitlyn. Got any cake?

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    So I have a computer that won't boot. If I try to boot it normally it just gives me a black screen. If I try to boot it into safe mode it'll scroll through a bunch of registry entries and hang up. I've tried booting it from a recovery disc and windows OS disk but it just gets hung up and stops responding. I'm at a loss on how to try to proceed from here.
     
  2. Nettdata

    Nettdata
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    Mr. Toast

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    Nuke it from orbit.

    I'd get a second drive, re-install everything onto it, and then mount your old disk in a remote enclosure to get all your old shit off of it. (This assumes that you don't have any backups... am I right?).

    Then low-level reformat it.

    Then switch to a non-registry based OS like Solaris.
     
  3. Trakiel

    Trakiel
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    Call me Caitlyn. Got any cake?

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    How do I do this? There's no data on the box that I need to recover, so a fresh start is a feasible option.
     
  4. Nettdata

    Nettdata
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    Mr. Toast

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    Usually, when you boot the computer, you can enter the BIOS mode and select some sort of disk utility function that will allow you to do a low level format/check of the drive. It can take a long time (couple of hours, depending on size/speed of the drive), but it'll recheck the drive and repopulate the bad block tables, etc.

    If it's a desktop, get a battery backup UPC for it. 99% of the time I've seen this it's been because of shit power, usually brownouts, and it fucks up the drive.
     
  5. Nettdata

    Nettdata
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    Mr. Toast

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    Browser question for you all:

    Every now and then I start to get a pop-up window that says "firefox re-indexing history". It pops up for about 2-3 seconds, says "updating categories", then closes.

    But it comes into focus, in the foreground, closes automatically when it's done, and is annoying as hell.

    Anyone else see this happen?

    Anyone know how to stop it?

    Can't find anything in the FF support forums, and my Google-Fu is week on this, apparently.

    FF version: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; rv:1.9.2.12) Gecko/20101026 Firefox/3.6.12


    And the FF support forum seems to be a bit useless: <a class="postlink" href="https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/761778" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/761778</a>
     
  6. audreymonroe

    audreymonroe
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    The most powerful cervix... in the world...

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    I found a cell phone (I'm pretty sure it's a Samsung Instinct) in a subway station yesterday. I took it with the full intention of getting it back to its owner. When I first picked it up, I was able to look through it and I decided to text "Wifey" to ask her how to get it back to its owner. She called me, got all suspicious, and then asked to call me back. After that, the phone locked.

    A few hours later she called me back and set up a place to meet her today. When I hung up I looked it up and discovered that it was really far away, but the phone was locked again so I couldn't call her back to pick a new place. I was feeling pretty noncommittal about it, but I completely forgot about it today and accidentally blew off our meeting. I think the phone has died because it hasn't gotten any new messages or calls. So now, basically, I'm stuck with this phone that I don't know how to work and can't get in to and have no idea what to do with it.

    So...what should I do with it? I guess the options are bring it to the police station, the Samsung store...or to try and sketchily sell it. Or hack into it and make it my own. Thoughts?
     
  7. Nettdata

    Nettdata
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    Mr. Toast

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    Personally, I'd drop it into a mailbox.

    For extra bonus points, attach various bits of pipes and wires to it.
     
  8. T0KEN

    T0KEN
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    Village Idiot

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    Hi all, i've developed the following problems on my laptop in the last week or two.

    Whenever I need to use a dropdown box in a web form, it quickly drops down and disappears immediately, leaving me no time to make a selection. I can get around this by using my arrow keys to navigate up or down.

    I use Firefox as my browser, when I type in the first few letters of an address, it autocompletes with the most likely addresses from my history. This is a very useful function for me, however now it has the same problem as above with the dropdown boxes. I can get around this by having my mouse cursor directly below the address bar, and if I have it positioned correctly, the box will stay down.

    In Windows windows (My Computer, Downloads, Documents etc..), if a scroll is required (either down or across), I try to do this, either by moving the bar or by using the scrollwheel of my mouse and it just returns to the top and/or the left. This also happens sometimes in frames in Firefox (but normal browsing is unaffected).

    I am at a complete loss, I ran a virus scan which came up clear. I think (but am not 100%) that it started happening after I did the last windows update.

    FWIW, I am running windows vista with the latest updates on a Dell laptop.

    Any help would be great.
     
  9. Eastcoaster

    Eastcoaster
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    Average Idiot

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    Anyone have any suggestions for how to get a copy of a video that's online, but the website wont allow downloads of it? I want a copy of this hockey game:

    <a class="postlink" href="http://www.ssncanada.ca/game/1817/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ssncanada.ca/game/1817/</a>

    Is there some sort of software to circumvent this?

    Many thanks
     
  10. Dcc001

    Dcc001
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    New Bitch On Top

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    Does anyone know how to take a video - say, one on youtube - and make an .mp3 file out of it?
     
  11. Maltob14

    Maltob14
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    Space Cadet

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  12. T0KEN

    T0KEN
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    Village Idiot

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    Also, when using the shift key for certain things (IE: renaming a file, selecting multiple files) it acts like an enter key and opens whatever file is highlighted.

    I also cannot scroll across multiple tabs, it has the same problem I mentioned above of returning to the starting position.

    Please help someone!
     
  13. Binary

    Binary
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    Does all of this only happen within firefox? Never when using other applications?
     
  14. T0KEN

    T0KEN
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    Village Idiot

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    No other programs seem affected, but I still have the issues I mentioned in Windows; Namely:

    If I click on the volume button of the toolbar, the volume just starts moving up by itself until I click out of it. It wont stop until it is at max volume, if you try and drag it back down, it fights it and keeps climbing. Here is a video:



    If I have a lot of files in a folder, and need to scroll down, it does much the same thing. Video:



    Here is a video of first a drop down box not working, and then the auto fill of the Firefox address bar not working unless I have the mouse in the exact correct position:



    Next is a problem I have when I use the shift key with files. If I try to rename a file and use the shift key, it opens the file. Also if I use the shift key to try and select multiple files, it will instead open the first video clicked. Watch the video, I select Xmen origins, then hold the shift key and click on Law Abiding Citizen. Instead of selecting all the files inbetween inclusive, it just opens Xmen:



    It even happens in the start menu! I scroll down to a folder without a problem, but as soon as I click one to open, it spazzes out and goes back to the top:



    A few other random things happen, but you get the idea that there is something fkn wrong with this. Any ideas? If I have been less than articulate, let me know and I will try and clarify.
     
    #454 T0KEN, Nov 10, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 27, 2015
  15. Binary

    Binary
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    Emotionally Jaded

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    So, it's very likely, since it's a laptop, that you've got either a short or some damage somewhere that's causing hardware problems.

    Do you have one of those trackpoint mice? My friend refers to them as a "clitoris mouse." I have one on my Thinkpad that occasionally will start moving on its own and I have to push hard on the nub and hold it to get it to stop, and then it'll act normally for a while. It's occasional enough that it's not aggravating but it is similar to one of your issues.

    You could try reinstalling your input drivers. Delete them out of device manager (right click on My Computer, Properties, hit Device Manager). Have an external mouse handy when you do this and use it to reboot the computer. The devices should be re-detected when it starts back up.

    If you're handy, and a little masochistic depending on your laptop brand, you could try removing the keyboard assembly and seeing if there is anything obviously wrong. Only attempt that if you're comfortable with it, though, as some brands are hard to remove and laptops are a bit delicate.
     
  16. Sherwood

    Sherwood
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    External hard drive question.

    A few years ago I switched to a laptop and had to store a bunch of files on an external hard drive. I got a really nice La Cie 500 GB one that worked fast and perfect.

    After not using it for a while, at some point last year I plugged it into the laptop and... nothing. wasn't recognized. The laptop at this point was on its last legs anyway (i bought cheap) so i dismissed it.

    today, I finally tried attaching it to my new computer via usb and... nothing. thinking it might be the connection, I tried attaching it via firewire and... nothing.


    I don't believe it's a data issue, it seems like a connection problem where there's no signal going from the hard drive to the computer. What can be done without paying a lot of money? I'm assuming i'm going to have to connect it directly to the computer, and I've actually done that with hard drives and desktops before, but i honestly have no idea how to accomplish that with a laptop.
     
  17. Binary

    Binary
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    Take apart the entire external drive, there's just a regular ol' drive in there.

    Easiest way is to use a desktop so you'll have the connections.

    Second easiest is while you're taking it apart, look for something obvious like a wire that got pulled off a solder joint or something.

    Third easiest is to buy something like this:

    <a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6812232002</a>

    Those are actually super handy. Make a friend give you $20 to recover his data next time a similar problem occurs and you'll have paid for it.
     
  18. joule_thief

    joule_thief
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    Emotionally Jaded

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    Can anyone recommend a program that captures video/audio that is being played one your computer? Specifically, one that has the ability to capture output from an application?

    Preferably said program would be open source or freeware, but I don't mind paying for an application if it is a good one.

    The reason behind the request is that my company has paid for a voucher for a training program for a company that does virtualization. It's good for 90 days, but I won't have time to study for it till sometime in January, which would only give me a couple of weeks to learn the material.

    I have a WebEx account, but would prefer a different method to accomplish this.
     
  19. joule_thief

    joule_thief
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    Emotionally Jaded

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    Forgot to mention what OS I am running:

    It can be for any of the following but would I would prefer Windows based as I am more familiar with them:

    XP
    Win7
    OS X 10.4 (G4 iBook if that makes a difference)
    Fedora 13
     
  20. Nettdata

    Nettdata
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    Mr. Toast

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    I've pre-recorded demos for clients using this on Mac OSX: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/</a>

    Works really well, and you can capture the entire screen or just a portion of it, including audio.

    Been quite happy with it.

    I know it's $70, but after using it for a bit, had no qualms about paying it. Reasonable price for a great piece of software.

    $0.02