I've suspected for a long time that my hard drive was really, really slow, so today I finally bothered to download some benchmark software, and discovered it's transferring at a ridiculous 4 MB/s!
Are there any hardware settings I should check before shelling out the cash for a new drive?
Hard drive speed depends on a few factors:
1)Rotational speed: The faster the drive spins, the better. Most desktop hard drives are 7200 RPM.
2)What kind of interface you're using. With an IDE interface 133 megabits/sec is the highest rated speed you can get, and in practice you'll get less. Serial ATA will be around 150 megabits/sec for older drives, much higher for newer ones. Odds are you probably have IDE (sometimes referred to as ATA or "Parallel ATA").
3)What kind of cable you're using. IDE drives run on 40-wire or 80-wire cables; 80-wire cables have every other wire "dead" to eliminate crosstalk (signal leakage from one wire into the next wire) and therefore result in better throughput.
4)There are some settings in your OS (depending on what you're running) that can affect hard drive speed. If DMA (direct memory access, a way by which hard disk drivers can push data from the drive directly into RAM circumventing the CPU) isn't working, you can see a slowdown in throughput. This happens a lot with Linux, esp. older distributions.
5)Your drive could be heavily fragmented. If the heads are having to jump around a lot to get a full copy of a file, it will slow down your access time. If you haven't already tried this, you definitely should.
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I am no longer on MTGS staff, so please don't contact me asking me to do staff things. :|
After a recent install of Ubuntu, with no problems (that I know of), the only slight hitch I've come across is that after installing Opera and when I am prompted to install Adobe Flash Player to view content on certain websites, the download links (found here) don't seem to work, and just generate errors when downloaded.
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
I'm trying to install Photoshop Elements 2.0 from a CD on my Ubuntu system (with WINE installed, of course). The setup.exe file opens for a few seconds and then tells me that I need MIcrosoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later installed for it to work (no idea why). So I've downloaded and installed IEs4LInux, but the setup.exe file still tells me that I need IE, even though it's installed.
If anyone could help with either this or the previous problem, that'd be great.
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop itself, both absolutely detest WINE and won't detect an IEs4linux install. You'll want to get Crossover Office, install IE6 in a bottle, and then install PS into that bottle.
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Hey all... I'm retired, not dead. Check out what I'm doing these days (and beg me to come back if you want):
I have an MSI P4M890M motherboard. I can't access my second hard disk.
According to the manual, in order to configure the SATA RAID BIOS, I have to press <tab> during the POST. However, pressing <tab> does nothing, while pressing just brings me to the BIOS setup (which isn't the SATA RAID BIOS). Anyone know what to do?
MSI forums haven't been very useful -- heir suggestions was to download the updated driver (which I have)... but this doesn't help because even if I do download the driver I still need to access the SATA RAID BIOS during POST, which is way before any drivers are loaded.
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"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
I have an MSI P4M890M motherboard. I can't access my second hard disk.
According to the manual, in order to configure the SATA RAID BIOS, I have to press <tab> during the POST. However, pressing <tab> does nothing, while pressing just brings me to the BIOS setup (which isn't the SATA RAID BIOS). Anyone know what to do?
MSI forums haven't been very useful -- heir suggestions was to download the updated driver (which I have)... but this doesn't help because even if I do download the driver I still need to access the SATA RAID BIOS during POST, which is way before any drivers are loaded.
With the SATA RAID motherboards that I've used, you often have to push the key for the RAID bios at a different time than you would access the normal BIOS. Do you get a text-mode screen re: your SATA configuration before booting into whatever OS you're using? That's usually when to push the key to access its BIOS.
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I am no longer on MTGS staff, so please don't contact me asking me to do staff things. :|
With the SATA RAID motherboards that I've used, you often have to push the key for the RAID bios at a different time than you would access the normal BIOS. Do you get a text-mode screen re: your SATA configuration before booting into whatever OS you're using? That's usually when to push the key to access its BIOS.
When turn on the PC, most of the time it just shows me windows startup (no screen between turning on and os bootup). Sometimes i get an MSI/American megatrends screen, but there's no "press tab to enter SATA RAID BIOS" (which is the screenshot in the manual). In order to access BIOS (with or without the MSI startup screen), I just keep tapping on del as it turns on, but tapping tab doesn't get me into SATA RAID.
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"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
A friend of mine and I have been playing Warcraft III on hamachi for a while now. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, he suddenly cannot connect to battle.net or connect via hamachi. Strangely, we can still play games on Magic Workstation over hamachi with no problems. Any bright ideas would be great. We don't think he changed anything, but evidently SOMETHING changed. Yes, he has uninstalled and reinstalled. Thanks for your help. We also have legit versions of the game.
My desktop has crashed, and Windows XP just starts loading, then goes straight to the "unable to start" screen and asks me if I want to retry to boot it with last working settings, safe mode (with or w/o networking), or regularly. However, none of these work, and until my computer person comes out, I need to access files on it to work on.
My question is does anyone know of a good CD-bootable Linux I could use? I am pretty adept with computers, but my mother has to use it too. So, ease of use is a must. Also, I am going to get the Hard Disk recovered professionally, so whatever Linux I boot cannot alter the hard drive. Any suggestions are much appreciated.
Thanks,
Spirit
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"Life is not here to pollute to Earth. It is here to make a difference." ~Anon.
"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." ~Henry Ford
Grab the latest Knoppix distro, burn it, and look for a quick howto on how to use it.
You may also be able to use a Windows preinstall environment boot CD like BartPE. I can't quite give you a link on this, though, I don't remember where to get it.
Also... we have a Tech Support thread. Thus, I'm merging this into the Tech Support thread.
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Hey all... I'm retired, not dead. Check out what I'm doing these days (and beg me to come back if you want):
Nearly all Linux OS require quite a bit of PC knowledge. There are commands and other things you have to know some are a bit easier but most are still rather difficult.
There are plenty though that are CD boot-able I also recommend backing up important files from time to time.
If you are writing a novel per'se leaving that only on the hard drive of the computer is a bit dumb.
I have used Unbuntu and it only uses the CD drive once you burn a copy of it. You can choose install but you don't have to.
Unfortunately, my computer has caught a virus. I'm running ad-aware and stinger right now, but what are some other anti virus/adware/spyware software i can download to help?
So I just got Office 2007, and the new "look" for word is driving me absolutely batty. Seeing as I'm not a big tech guy, I can't seem to figure it out.
Is there anyway to revert it back to the "old look" that 2004 and 2005 had?
Well, might as well list what i'm running first:
FireFox, (only have 3 add-on's) 5meg cable connection, running through 1 router. 2 comp's are hooked up to the router. As far as my comp specs, it's all fine and dandy, 2gig of ram, 2.8 ghz processor, plenty of hd space.
I'm only able to download at around 20kb/sec. It use to be a hell of a lot higher. I want to say around 200kb/sec or more.
I noticed this first on IE, figuring i'd just switch to FireFox, and it would be alright, but nothing really changed. I have no clue how to figure out how to get my speed back up.
It's just the downloading that i've noticed this with. I can run anything else on my computer just fine, so i know it's not some hardware issue.
Anyone got a clue how to solve this? just ask me if you need some other info that i'm sure i'm forgetting.
(mods, i put this in the wrong area, should go to water cooler talk...sorry about that)
Is it possible to install Linux on a USB external Hard Drive and choose to boot from there?
Should be possible. Just go into BIOS and change your boot order so that the USB hard drive comes first.Ran a quick web search for some easy to follow directions and found some here:
"You can change your boot sequence by going into your computer's BIOS (Basic Input Output System). On most computers, the BIOS can be activated by holding down either the DEL or the F2 key when you first turn your computer on. Normally there is a message displayed at the bottom (or top) of the screen to "Press XXX key to enter CMOS / System Utility", etc.
Once you're in the BIOS, look for a section that pertains to "Boot" or "Startup". Since not all BIOS's are the same, I can't give you explicit directions where to look, although on most Dell PC's it's the last menu option on the top right of the screen.
When you're in the Boot menu for the Dell PCs, you can adjust the boot sequence in a hierarchy by moving the cursor over top of an item and then by pressing the + or - key."
aight, thanx for the info calibretto.
Upon reading some reviews from fellow (company name here) members, i see that i'm not the only one who's noticed that My max speed will be fine during the day, but at night it just sux. This is a lot of helpful info from the sites. I'd recommend other's try this out if their having a similar problem.
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
Does not 'safely removing hardware' actually do any damage an external device at all?
The only damage I can see is if there's a data transfer in progress when you remove it. That could hose the data on the device and possibly cause you to have to reformat and reload it.
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Hey all... I'm retired, not dead. Check out what I'm doing these days (and beg me to come back if you want):
K, so, I'm trying to install WoW on my aunt's comp, but, I need DirectX 9.0c. I got the link for it at microsoft.com, and when I run the Installation file, it never gets past Copying Files. I left it on all night and it hasn't moved an inch.
"If I do go to heaven, I'll smack god across the face and tell him to get me a grilled-cheeses sandwhich and then say 'Yea what now god!? Say some'in! I dare you!' "
Wow. And here I've never been in this thread before, to realize it's for comp Tech Support. lol. For some dumb reason, I always thought it was Tech support for Sally.
Anywho, on topic:
I have Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. As I'm sure that everyone here does.
I can't run it smoothly though. I'm skipping frame rates like an old record cut with a razor.
Here's what I know of that I'm running:
250g HD with 68% free space.
Two 512mb DDR ram sticks. (400mhz was on the little sticker on both of them, dunno what that's for.)
AMD 2.4ghz Processor.
Windows XP media center Edition.
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 (integrated vid card)
(if someone needs more info, i might be able to help more)
Now, my 1st thought is I need a Great Video card to get this to work. The minimum specs on Oblivion for VC is 128mb Direct 3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver.
I'm figuring that I have to have some sort of vid card installed, and that this integrated one I have isn't working. So, if i have to get a Vid Card.... what should I go with? I'd like to stick with ATI, since i fear something wacky would happen if i used a NVIDIA GeForce in here. (could be i worry too much too)
If it's not the Vid Card, then I'm completely lost. On a side note, I have 2 slots for upgrading my ram, what ones should i get? I'd like to get some 1gig ram sticks, but I don't know if there is such a thing as "overkill" when it comes to ram.
Thanx for any help you all can give. I appreciate it, since i'm not too entirely computer savvy when it comes to hardware.
I'm having a problem with my Dell Inspiron 8500. My OS is Windows XP, and it was working fine until yesterday. I was watching a movie, and after I finished, I turned it off and set it down. I didn't have a fan on it while the movie was playing, if that matters in this case.
Later I turned it back on and let the system boot as normal. When the Windows XP logo goes away and it should go to my desktop, the screen shuts off. I know the computer is working because the start-up tune plays and I hear some normal things popping up, but stranger than that? It doesn't happen in safe mode, and the screen is fine before Windows starts up. I don't get what's going on, can someone please help?
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Getting the last word does not mean that you win the argument.
I was browsing MTGS when I accidentally hit some keys and triggered something infuriating. Now, my internet (or at least on MTGS) goes quite slow, my Firefox takes up more memory, and whenever I try and type something into a text box - only on MTGS - it goes slowly, one character every several seconds, like if it were lagging a ton (though copy-pasting works fine). The keys I hit were on/near the bottom-left side of the keyboard, and I definitely hit Ctrl. I think it also added a heading (like File, Edit, View, etc.) of History, which I don't think was there before, since I don't keep a history.
I'm having a problem with my Dell Inspiron 8500. My OS is Windows XP, and it was working fine until yesterday. I was watching a movie, and after I finished, I turned it off and set it down. I didn't have a fan on it while the movie was playing, if that matters in this case.
Later I turned it back on and let the system boot as normal. When the Windows XP logo goes away and it should go to my desktop, the screen shuts off. I know the computer is working because the start-up tune plays and I hear some normal things popping up, but stranger than that? It doesn't happen in safe mode, and the screen is fine before Windows starts up. I don't get what's going on, can someone please help?
i had this same problem at work on a bunch of brand new dell computers. after putting them on our network, and installing our required software and rebooting, the computer would come on and load just fine, but the monitor would go black. safe mode worked fine and tests on my vid card came back great. i contacted dell about it and they ended up replacing all the computers.
Hard drive speed depends on a few factors:
1)Rotational speed: The faster the drive spins, the better. Most desktop hard drives are 7200 RPM.
2)What kind of interface you're using. With an IDE interface 133 megabits/sec is the highest rated speed you can get, and in practice you'll get less. Serial ATA will be around 150 megabits/sec for older drives, much higher for newer ones. Odds are you probably have IDE (sometimes referred to as ATA or "Parallel ATA").
3)What kind of cable you're using. IDE drives run on 40-wire or 80-wire cables; 80-wire cables have every other wire "dead" to eliminate crosstalk (signal leakage from one wire into the next wire) and therefore result in better throughput.
4)There are some settings in your OS (depending on what you're running) that can affect hard drive speed. If DMA (direct memory access, a way by which hard disk drivers can push data from the drive directly into RAM circumventing the CPU) isn't working, you can see a slowdown in throughput. This happens a lot with Linux, esp. older distributions.
5)Your drive could be heavily fragmented. If the heads are having to jump around a lot to get a full copy of a file, it will slow down your access time. If you haven't already tried this, you definitely should.
Any ideas?
spanglegluppet dot com
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
I'm trying to install Photoshop Elements 2.0 from a CD on my Ubuntu system (with WINE installed, of course). The setup.exe file opens for a few seconds and then tells me that I need MIcrosoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later installed for it to work (no idea why). So I've downloaded and installed IEs4LInux, but the setup.exe file still tells me that I need IE, even though it's installed.
If anyone could help with either this or the previous problem, that'd be great.
spanglegluppet dot com
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
https://twitch.tv/annorax10 (classic retro speedruns & occasional MTGO/MTGA screwaround streams)
https://twitch.tv/SwiftorCasino (yes, my team and I run live dealer games for the baldman using his channel points as chips)
According to the manual, in order to configure the SATA RAID BIOS, I have to press <tab> during the POST. However, pressing <tab> does nothing, while pressing
just brings me to the BIOS setup (which isn't the SATA RAID BIOS). Anyone know what to do?
MSI forums haven't been very useful -- heir suggestions was to download the updated driver (which I have)... but this doesn't help because even if I do download the driver I still need to access the SATA RAID BIOS during POST, which is way before any drivers are loaded.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
With the SATA RAID motherboards that I've used, you often have to push the key for the RAID bios at a different time than you would access the normal BIOS. Do you get a text-mode screen re: your SATA configuration before booting into whatever OS you're using? That's usually when to push the key to access its BIOS.
When turn on the PC, most of the time it just shows me windows startup (no screen between turning on and os bootup). Sometimes i get an MSI/American megatrends screen, but there's no "press tab to enter SATA RAID BIOS" (which is the screenshot in the manual). In order to access BIOS (with or without the MSI startup screen), I just keep tapping on del as it turns on, but tapping tab doesn't get me into SATA RAID.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Magic Rules Advisor
How Creatures Die
Targets | Triggered Abilities | Priority and the Stack | Older Articles
My question is does anyone know of a good CD-bootable Linux I could use? I am pretty adept with computers, but my mother has to use it too. So, ease of use is a must. Also, I am going to get the Hard Disk recovered professionally, so whatever Linux I boot cannot alter the hard drive. Any suggestions are much appreciated.
Thanks,
Spirit
"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." ~Henry Ford
You may also be able to use a Windows preinstall environment boot CD like BartPE. I can't quite give you a link on this, though, I don't remember where to get it.
Also... we have a Tech Support thread. Thus, I'm merging this into the Tech Support thread.
https://twitch.tv/annorax10 (classic retro speedruns & occasional MTGO/MTGA screwaround streams)
https://twitch.tv/SwiftorCasino (yes, my team and I run live dealer games for the baldman using his channel points as chips)
There are plenty though that are CD boot-able I also recommend backing up important files from time to time.
If you are writing a novel per'se leaving that only on the hard drive of the computer is a bit dumb.
I have used Unbuntu and it only uses the CD drive once you burn a copy of it. You can choose install but you don't have to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_%28Linux_distribution%29
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
Merged into the Official Tech Support Thread —Rax
Modern: URStormUR|BRGW Jund BRGW|GWUB Gifts GWUB
Commander:XKarnX
Cubes: Level 1: Pauper
Is there anyway to revert it back to the "old look" that 2004 and 2005 had?
Thanks.
Merged into the Official Tech Support Thread —Rax
FireFox, (only have 3 add-on's) 5meg cable connection, running through 1 router. 2 comp's are hooked up to the router. As far as my comp specs, it's all fine and dandy, 2gig of ram, 2.8 ghz processor, plenty of hd space.
I'm only able to download at around 20kb/sec. It use to be a hell of a lot higher. I want to say around 200kb/sec or more.
I noticed this first on IE, figuring i'd just switch to FireFox, and it would be alright, but nothing really changed. I have no clue how to figure out how to get my speed back up.
It's just the downloading that i've noticed this with. I can run anything else on my computer just fine, so i know it's not some hardware issue.
Anyone got a clue how to solve this? just ask me if you need some other info that i'm sure i'm forgetting.
(mods, i put this in the wrong area, should go to water cooler talk...sorry about that)
Should be possible. Just go into BIOS and change your boot order so that the USB hard drive comes first.Ran a quick web search for some easy to follow directions and found some here:
"You can change your boot sequence by going into your computer's BIOS (Basic Input Output System). On most computers, the BIOS can be activated by holding down either the DEL or the F2 key when you first turn your computer on. Normally there is a message displayed at the bottom (or top) of the screen to "Press XXX key to enter CMOS / System Utility", etc.
Once you're in the BIOS, look for a section that pertains to "Boot" or "Startup". Since not all BIOS's are the same, I can't give you explicit directions where to look, although on most Dell PC's it's the last menu option on the top right of the screen.
When you're in the Boot menu for the Dell PCs, you can adjust the boot sequence in a hierarchy by moving the cursor over top of an item and then by pressing the + or - key."
go to http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php and install the patch for your operating system. if there's still a problem go to http://www.dslreports.com/tools and you can run a speed test or a tweak test that will analyze your connection and give feedback.
calibretto
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
Upon reading some reviews from fellow (company name here) members, i see that i'm not the only one who's noticed that My max speed will be fine during the day, but at night it just sux. This is a lot of helpful info from the sites. I'd recommend other's try this out if their having a similar problem.
spanglegluppet dot com
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
The only damage I can see is if there's a data transfer in progress when you remove it. That could hose the data on the device and possibly cause you to have to reformat and reload it.
https://twitch.tv/annorax10 (classic retro speedruns & occasional MTGO/MTGA screwaround streams)
https://twitch.tv/SwiftorCasino (yes, my team and I run live dealer games for the baldman using his channel points as chips)
Any help?
MTG Rules Advisor
Winner of Weekly Contest Week 39.
Anywho, on topic:
I have Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. As I'm sure that everyone here does.
I can't run it smoothly though. I'm skipping frame rates like an old record cut with a razor.
Here's what I know of that I'm running:
250g HD with 68% free space.
Two 512mb DDR ram sticks. (400mhz was on the little sticker on both of them, dunno what that's for.)
AMD 2.4ghz Processor.
Windows XP media center Edition.
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 (integrated vid card)
(if someone needs more info, i might be able to help more)
Now, my 1st thought is I need a Great Video card to get this to work. The minimum specs on Oblivion for VC is 128mb Direct 3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver.
I'm figuring that I have to have some sort of vid card installed, and that this integrated one I have isn't working. So, if i have to get a Vid Card.... what should I go with? I'd like to stick with ATI, since i fear something wacky would happen if i used a NVIDIA GeForce in here. (could be i worry too much too)
If it's not the Vid Card, then I'm completely lost. On a side note, I have 2 slots for upgrading my ram, what ones should i get? I'd like to get some 1gig ram sticks, but I don't know if there is such a thing as "overkill" when it comes to ram.
Thanx for any help you all can give. I appreciate it, since i'm not too entirely computer savvy when it comes to hardware.
Later I turned it back on and let the system boot as normal. When the Windows XP logo goes away and it should go to my desktop, the screen shuts off. I know the computer is working because the start-up tune plays and I hear some normal things popping up, but stranger than that? It doesn't happen in safe mode, and the screen is fine before Windows starts up. I don't get what's going on, can someone please help?
Help! How do I fix this?
i had this same problem at work on a bunch of brand new dell computers. after putting them on our network, and installing our required software and rebooting, the computer would come on and load just fine, but the monitor would go black. safe mode worked fine and tests on my vid card came back great. i contacted dell about it and they ended up replacing all the computers.
calibretto
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.