Tech/Computer advice from me

What's worse for your computer, porn or religion?

Apparently the answer is religion.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Porn-Religion-Symantec-Malware-drive-by,news-15093.html

Fear The Spear said:

Thanks, guys......if it's a matter of some random cord being loose, is there any harm that a novice like me could do, by going through the cords, one by one, and unplugging them, and then re-plugging them back firmly, as long as I'm reasonably careful ?
Or is there potential harm to be done to certain internal plugs that may be super-sensitive ?

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Nope, as long as you understand that 'reasonably careful' means not bending the pins on the plug

Stuff fits snug but easily together. If you find yourself forcing something, or something isn't going back together right, it's because something is wrong. You force it, you'll bend/break it.

Thanks again.
So, how do I discharge static electricity ?
I've heard you can easily fry a PC that way....
So, just don't wear socks when touching the PC, or don't drag it on the carpet ?

Fear The Spear said:

Thanks again.
So, how do I discharge static electricity ?
I've heard you can easily fry a PC that way....
So, just don't wear socks when touching the PC, or don't drag it on the carpet ?

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just touch something metal on the case before you start touching the parts, thats all you gotta do.

I see, so you could think of it as that extra battery cable that needs to clamp onto a metal engine part, when jump starting a car, huh ?

well, no.

the 'extra' battery cable is the negative cable and you clamp it to the car to ground the circuit. you have to complete the circuit to charge the battery, so your options are hook it to the negative terminal on the battery or metal on the car that is grounded.

when you connect it there is a risk for a spark, so if you connect it to the battery there is a risk of a spark next to the battery which could blow up the battery. it's rare, but it's certainly possible.

so people connect it to the frame of the car to keep any possible spark away from the battery.

with a computer you're just discharging static so you don't cause a short or blow something in the circuit board by inadvertently sending electricity down it (since they're designed to pass electricity around).

Wow man, you seem just as knowledgable about cars, as you are with computers.
Maybe you could start an "Ask a Mechanic" thread, as well

Hah. no i suck at cars

Here's another thing.

When I have my PC speakers on, I can faintly hear it pick up a radio station, whenever the volume is turned down all the way, or even if the volume is low. Is there any way to get rid of this ?

It's annoying, for 2 reasons. If I choose to listed to music on my PC at a low volume, I can still hear the radio station it's picking up in the background, so the audio overlaps and that's obviously frustrating.

Also, since I alternate between listening to music on my PC, and not listening to it, in order to avoid that interference when I'm not listening to MY music, I have to continually turn the speakers completely off and on. Any solution ?

Well, it's just picking up interference. It's caused by exposed or poorly shielded wiring, i imagine it is the wire running to the speaker. Check to see if the shielding is exposed anywhere, if it's not then you'd probably need a new speaker cable to fix it...

Should I "ground myself" again, before touching the wire ?

at some point in this thread i discuss vulnerable software and software security. i've said before that MS is a decade ahead of all the other big software companies (Apple, Oracle, Adobe, etc). people asked why i would recommend microsoft security essentials for antivirus.

well, here's an article to back up my claims:
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/201...skys-top-10-vulnerabilities-list/?fromcat=all

cliff notes - not one of the top 10 must vulnerable software is written by microsoft. that's a pretty big deal when you consider how much software MS produces; it is a lot.

it's also informative as to why you need to keep your software up to date. gives you some insite into what these vulnerabilities allow.

edit: also i feel validated in my utter disdain for adobe. i firmly believe they are the worst company in software; not one, but the worst.

So you're saying the Lightroom program I use from Adobe is something that should concern me? Because my living is really based on that program.

Elephant said:

So you're saying the Lightroom program I use from Adobe is something that should concern me? Because my living is really based on that program.

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No I don't think there's anything for you to be concerned about using lightroom, although to be fair i'm not very familiar with it.

oh, also from that article:

"28 percent of all mobile devices attacked run Android OS version 2.3.6, which was released in September 2011."

this is why you don't set your smart phone to just auto join whatever wireless network is offering services where you are.

tshile said:

No I don't think there's anything for you to be concerned about using lightroom, although to be fair i'm not very familiar with it.

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It's kinda like a more focused version of Photoshop.

And I need Reader for PDFs. Need Flash for viewing those vids as well.

I use Corel Paint Shop Pro though.

As a long time Ubuntu users, none, if any, of the above concerns me. However, if anyone is contemplating purchasing a custom rig, allocate the $200+ for an original copy of Windows. DO NOT have a copy installed by the vendor as it tends to be a pirated copy that they use for every installation.

Also, the fact that I use Ubuntu means I no longer have to waste my personal time fixing a Windows pc. I'll repair it by installing the latest Ubuntu release, but if that offer is declined, they have to take it to a tech and pay for the repairs. Not my problem.

Burgundy Burner said:

And I need Reader for PDFs. Need Flash for viewing those vids as well.

I use Corel Paint Shop Pro though.

Click to expand...

Go to a www.ninite.com and follow the instructions to install what you need. You'll get a downloader, then you just click on that and let the programs download and install.

I've used it on my wife's laptop, my SIL's desktop (my own desktop actually) and my mother's laptop. No need for me to use it as Ubuntu has it's own software installer.

I need to re-visit an issue I wrote about earlier in the thread.
I was having problems powering up my desktop PC, and it was suggested that I clean it out with compressed air and check all the inner connections.
I did so, and the problem continues to get worse.

I do not have any problems while the PC is running.
It's only when it's turned off, and then I try to power it on.
Previously, it was only hesitating, when I'd try to power up. But now, it's become virtually impossible to power up, after being turned off (or after a power surge cuts it off).
Example, last Thursday, at its worst, it would literally do nothing at all, when I hit the power - no power light comes on, no sound whatsoever, nothing on the monitor - nothing at all.

I would continually hit the power button over and over, and realized that after about 1 out of every 100 times I hit it, it would begin to power up, but only partially. I could hear it "churning", and the power light came on, however nothing comes up on the screen, and it never "gets past that 1st gear" so to speak. In fact, I realized that as soon as I let go of the power button, it would cut off. However, even if I hold the power button down, it will not complete the start up - it just makes that constant "churning" sound, but never goes on to the next step. It's almost like a car that wont start, when you hear the engine turning, but the car doesn't actually start up.

So, anyway, I literally went 4 days of this process - attempting to power it up, literally hundreds and hundreds of times a day, for several days. Again, about 99% of the time, absolutely nothing would happen - zero. The other 1% of the time, would be the situation I described above, with the power light coming on, and I only hear a churning sound, but absolutely nothing beyond that, and even that bit of churning stops, the moment I let go of the power button.

FINALLY, after 4 days of doing this, and being completely unable to start up the PC completely, it finally started up all the way. It's crazy, because it's so random, on whether it "starts up partially", or "starts up all the way", or the times when it does literally nothing.

If I remember correctly, someone in the thread, may have suggested the power supply going bad. However, I recently asked a computer-knowledgeable friend of mine about that possible diagnosis, and he replied that the "power supply either works, or it doesn't. There's no grey area". In other words, if my power supply was truly bad, I wouldn't be getting these "extreme partial start-ups". His theory (without actually seeing my PC in person) was that it was either my CPU or my Mother-board going bad.

Would you guys agree with that assessment at all ?