What are you doing right now, (keep it clean)

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anavidfan

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I dont know a lot about computers, just enough to have gotten myself into trouble enough to have learned from experience. I used to fear computers until I worked with a wonderful man named Bruce. He did a lot of desktop custom builds and he maintained all the computers where we worked. He was a grumpy, grouchy hard man to "love" but he and I got on great.

I would watch with fascination and he didnt mind me looking over his shoulder. He was mostly self taught and took basic classes on web design etc. He helped me get over the computer fear. I learned to install memory, hard drives, most any video cards, change power supplies, fans most anything.

Laptops, now those are a whole world to me. Basic memory add on, change out, fans, but my poor Alienware laptop sits unused for over a year because on of the video cards took a dive. I dont know if its just that one of the fans cut out or one or if I can disable one of the cards.

I loved that Laptop.
 
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rojo

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Pris, sometimes laptops overheat and the video chipset desolders itself from the mainboard. (This happens especially often if a laptop is actually used on a lap and it can't breathe.) Chances are, nothing is actually fried, and the laptop is fixable.

If you have a heat gun and can remove the mainboard, try warming the entire board evenly, bit-by-bit, gradually concentrating more closely around the video chipset until you see the solder points on the video chip's surrounding components start to liquefy. Then heat the video chip directly for 5 seconds or so. Don't touch the chip, though. Just let gravity do the work. If your video chip got desoldered, that should reseat it.

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raqball

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Learning from scratch how to clean reinstall Windows 7 for my girlfriend's laptop. Somehow got through life never performing one. I hope I will be able to keep all of the hardware drivers intact.

I have a BAS in Computer Science so if you need any help just PM me.

Make sure you backup or copy all important info before you format. If you have an external drive that would be best. Photos, documents ect as all will be lost when you format the main drive of the PC.

Some PC's make it very simple these days. They have an option / single button click to backup and an option single button click to restore windows back to factory specs.

The drivers for the most part are a non issue as Windows will configure and install just about every driver you need all by itself. Other drivers can be downloaded and installed form the manufacturers website.

Your files and data are more important than the drivers IMHO.

Anywho, PM me if you need help.

Good luck and have fun!
 

Cucco

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I dont know a lot about computers, just enough to have gotten myself into trouble enough to have learned from experience. I used to fear computers until I worked with a wonderful man named Bruce. He did a lot of desktop custom builds and he maintained all the computers where we worked. He was a grumpy, grouchy hard man to "love" but he and I got on great.

I would watch with fascination and he didnt mind me looking over his shoulder. He was mostly self taught and took basic classes on web design etc. He helped me get over the computer fear. I learned to install memory, hard drives, most any video cards, change power supplies, fans most anything.

Laptops, now those are a whole world to me. Basic memory add on, change out, fans, but my poor Alienware laptop sits unused for over a year because on of the video cards took a dive. I dont know if its just that one of the fans cut out or one or if I can disable one of the cards.

I loved that Laptop.

I used to be in IT. Primarily, the software end. But, back then, you had to do it all. Later, the IT world changed over the years, and you hired defined personnel for hardware/software/databases/etc..

I used to build/and work on my own home computers. Eventually, life was way too busy, so I would get staff to work on my home computers. Now, with my retired brain/stroke brain, I don't trust myself anymore. Anything big goes wrong, I think I would have to hire someone. Funny you mentioned Alienware. Right now, I am using my Alienware. She needs a fan! I have external fans blowing on her as we speak! :)
 

anavidfan

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I bought my Alienware before Dell took them over. I wish I would have waited just a couple months. Great laptop but horrible aftercare. I had a problem with optical drive. I sent it in and it was returned minus the optical drive and a nick on the screen?

Nightmare, finnaly had to wait forever for a new upgraded one , used it for years, ran photohop snd video rendering.

I like full sized workstation laptops., I would get a Malibal . Expensive but great for photoshop and video rendering.


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WOW, look at my spelling. I hate typing on a cellphone, gives me a headache and loose all my spelling sense. I have bad eyesight.
 
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Riverboat

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Learning from scratch how to clean reinstall Windows 7 for my girlfriend's laptop. Somehow got through life never performing one. I hope I will be able to keep all of the hardware drivers intact. It might be a very long Saturday night for us tomorrow. I'm really glad I will have the ELA in hand! :)

And I grew up inhaling Kung Fu movies like any well-adjusted Asian-American child.

And you just blew my mind, Rojo. :shock:

I just had to do a fresh Windows 7 reinstall on my desktop recently ..........Once Windows 7 is reinstalled go to device manager and update all your drivers first....then the fun begins........Windows 7 updates..... You will need 5-7 hours depending how fast your internet speed is...after updates are done you can reload your programs.......
 

raqball

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I just had to do a fresh Windows 7 reinstall on my desktop recently ..........Once Windows 7 is reinstalled go to device manager and update all your drivers first....then the fun begins........Windows 7 updates..... You will need 5-7 hours depending how fast your internet speed is...after updates are done you can reload your programs.......

Ya gotta love Windows...

Or maybe not.. LOL

I haven't used windows in years and every time I help a friend out with their win box I have to ask --> why windows, why?

It's the most schizophrenic OS ever made..
 
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Cucco

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Ya gotta love Windows...

Or maybe not.. LOL

I haven't used windows in years and every time I help a friend out with their win box I have to ask --> why windows, why?

It's the most schizophrenic OS ever made..

I have always used Windows. I used to write business software. The corporate world was Windows. So............
 

main35tainer

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Not many people do it, not even myself, but it is possible to make a reinstall disc of Windows 7 from your current computer. That way it doesn't take forever to update, it just updates from whenever you made the image. Would be a good idea to do every few months.

I took a Linux Administrator job a few months ago to get away from the Windows nightmare. But within a few weeks they are like hey we got these Windows servers, you have experience in Windows, here you go. Then hey we need a couple Windows workstations,... you can build and harden those right. ... :mad:
 

rojo

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I view Linux, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, etc. as different tools for different tasks. I don't really fault anyone their choice of tool as long as it's a good tool for the job. (I don't believe desktop operating systems should be dumbed down to behave like a tablet or phone, though; but that's a rant best left for another time.)

Anyway, my HTPC ran either Mythbuntu or Debian for years until my ALSA sound drivers were deprecated in the kernel and excluded from the kernel builds available in the repos. I reluctantly resorted to a manual kernel config and compile until bugs (an incompatibility between udev and lirc?) caused my remote to behave incorrectly with no worthwhile fix. Rather than continuing to battle problem after problem, I switched my platform to XBMC on Windows. I now spend less time fixing and more time winning.

But I still have a small Ubuntu shell server for the tasks where Linux still bests Windows.

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anavidfan

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I view Linux, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, etc. as different tools for different tasks. I don't really fault anyone their choice of tool as long as it's a good tool for the job. (I don't believe desktop operating systems should be dumbed down to behave like a tablet or phone, though; but that's a rant best left for another time.)

Anyway, my HTPC ran either Mythbuntu or Debian for years until my ALSA sound drivers were deprecated in the kernel and excluded from the kernel builds available in the repos. I reluctantly resorted to a manual kernel config and compile until bugs (an incompatibility between udev and lirc?) caused my remote to behave incorrectly with no worthwhile fix. Rather than continuing to battle problem after problem, I switched my platform to XBMC on Windows. I now spend less time fixing and more time winning.

But I still have a small Ubuntu shell server for the tasks where Linux still bests Windows.

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2

 
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anavidfan

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Ive heard the term Kernels I think they are strings of code/info and they affect how the machine behaves or interprets information, but not sure exactly how. Ive been wanting to take some basic computer science classes. But these last few years I dont drive because Im shell shocked and have stupid panic attacks when I drive, I ve put it off.
 

rojo

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All the free courses you could ever want are available online from MIT. One of these days I'm going to break down and use it to teach myself Python. The computer science courses are in the business section, if I recall correctly.

The kernel is the core of the operating system, managing how the computer hardware and software interact with each other.

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raqball

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