A thread for boring computer questions.

basically

i mean, depends on what you need to do with it, but

you're probably not gonna go wrong following silby's advice re the macbook air

it will cost a lot more than a typical laptop tho

$_$

yeah the main thing i need out of a new computer is for it to not cost more than a refurbished dell

we're talking like over a thousand for new mba

i've never even heard of a thousand dollars

me either

i actually have zero dollars in my wallet right now

it's empty

there are some coins in other rooms

zachlyon, if you're in the US, check out http://slickdeals.net

For word processing stuff, core i3 is probably enough. Video/audio/multimedia stuff, you're probably better off with a core i5 (~$500-700).

Check that link, there are specials all the time.

But like markers said, depends what you want to do with it.

Guy I need serious help; this is the first time in many many years I've not been able to self-diagnose a computer porblem.

SYMPTOMS:

BSOD's when the computer falls asleep (DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE, error 9f I think)
I cannot connect to my home WiFi network
I can connect to the one at the coffee shop, and I can also connect via Ethernet, but a lot of images load corrupted (weird stripey neon colors) and a lot of pages load as giant blocks of text code (also some downloads download corruptedly too)

I've already updated bios and done a system restore. I'm thinking it may be a network driver but I don't understand why it'd also be fucking up over WiFi AND Ethernet. I really need my computer to function. Any suggestions?

have you tried a liveCD to see if it's hardware or software problem?

No; I will look into that

Any one in particular?

i used xubuntu recently for an older laptop but i bet most livecds will do fine. some are also quite small so you won't have to wait for a long download.

I can't even download a live cd because every file I download is corrupted

can you get at another computer? if the ram is easy to remove, i'd try removing one of the sticks if there are more than one.

(if you're near an apple store, i might surreptitiously bring a blank CD-R and burn one from there, or maybe ask the perky employees if it's OK if you do)

Those types of issues are always such a pain to try to solve over forums/Internet, instead of in person.

Throwing some (semi-random) ideas:

try to download on different browsers (chrome, firefox, ie)
clear your cache
if you can, don't connect through router/hub, but directly
i believe you can request an livecd from ubuntu?

do you download small files okay? or both large and small are affected?

That should read: I believe you can request a mailed copy of Ubuntu's liveCD

What were you doing right before the machine started acting up?

I moved; it worked fine in my old house and is not working now so I'm terrified it's a damaged hardware issue

All sized files are affected (as small as 500k), have tried different browsers and also emptying the cache (in Chrome at least)

My roommate has a computer so when he gets home imma download a bunch of drivers and live cd building stuffs and try to work it out

FUUUCK

I uninstalled and reinstalled the wireless driver and now I can connect to the Internet but files/pages are still corrupted. I am cooking a Ubuntu Live USB key now.

I am posting this from Ubuntu! Everything works flawlessly!! I WANT TO JUST RUN THIS AND NEVER GO BACK EVER UGGGHHHH WHY WON'T WINDOWS WORK WHYYYYY

If you have a copy of it, you might as well format your HDD and re-install Windoze.

oh my god fuck no

also I totally do not

Fair enough.

Unfortunately, I still have to use Windoze for certain things, so I have *nix on a partition.

Okay, so reinstalling the driver did *something* because I can now connect to my home network and I don't get blue screens when the computer goes to sleep, BUT

I am still getting corrupted data/images/pages/downloads sometimes, both over WiFi and Ethernet. Could it be a TCP/IP thing?

this might be a crummy workaround but since networking works on your livecd
You could install Linux, and access your windows stuff from there using wine.
could it be a virus do you think?

it totally sounds like a hardware issue, especially as its happening in different browsers. but you're saying it works on Linux... very strange. it does sound like a possible virus

the best solution if you're set on windows is to wipe and reinstall

I know but like backing up all my files and settings and all sorts of things and reinstalling would be the biggest fucking pain in the ass of all time

I just reset TCP/IP again and booted in Safe Mode w/ Networking but I'm still getting the same issues (that is, the Internet is 95% functional but with the occasional streaky/corrupted image and p much all file downloads winding up corrupted and YouTube videos not really loading). I have, however, fixed the BSoD's by updating the wireless driver. And yes, the Ubuntu LiveCD makes everything work: pages are formatted correctly, images are fresh and clean, YouTube works, file downloads are successful.

ALSO OF NOTE: BitTorrent downloads seem to work fine. What does it all mean???!!!???

BitTorrent has checking mechanisms in place so it might be downloading multiple times to make sure you got things right

I tried running AVG but nothing came up. Should I boot in Ubuntu and download Microsoft Security Essentials and/or Ad-Aware New Spiffy Mega Antivirus+ 2015? And if so should I uninstall AVG bcz iirc multiple virus scanners fight like the dickens.

here's the script for removing malware, if you suspect that

http://www.metafilter.com/user/77879

Have you tried a different browser also?

windows man... it's wipe time

Yeah, data's fucked up in all browsers

Might be that something in your Win registry is corrupt?

Downgrade drivers to an old version?

Try defragging?

If you still have the problem, create a recovery/repair disk, preferably from another Windows machine (make sure you have the right version and stuff). Run the repair kit?

If that doesn't work, do you do backups? Revert to a last working system. Should override stuff.

Also, this might sound nuts, but ensure everything inside your tower is securely plugged. Push everything in and stuff. Give it a clean if it's dusty. Now plug it in to a DIFFERENT outlet. In fact, if you can, don't plug it to a power strip, but directly to the wall. And try plugging it to different ones, if possible.

I'm not much of a hardware guy, but this is what comes to mind.

I'm kind of out of ideas.

(network drivers, that is)

What do you need to preserve on your windows setup?
Most Linux distros are set up to access existing windows partitions and can sometimes run a lot of the software too

guh I think it might have been a conflict with AVG to be honest, will investigate further and report back

got so bad that I'm now referring to using a proxy site to view any youtube vids. It's not bad, apart from losing a lot of YT functionality like playlists and signing in, but meh as long as I can watch a damn video without it stopping.

― Ste, Sunday, May 26, 2013 7:16 AM (2 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Argh, this is happening to me now too. I can't get through a fucking 3-minute youtube without it stopping. What's the best proxy site to avoid this?

It's probably your ISP. There's a bit of a peering war going on. There's a good story about it doing the rounds, which I can't seem to find argh

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/07/the-secret-deals-that-mean-you-have-to-wait-for-youtube-to-buffer/

My Youtube is totally fine now, has been for a while. I used ProxFree.com which worked fine as a replacement though.

thinking of swapping out 250gb hdd for a smaller ssd- not tied down to a particular size, could go for straight swap and use it normally or install a much smaller drive just for running and OS purposes and have all my main data/files external

you will have had thoughts and experience and i will have them from you, now