The Digital Surgery (computer questions/problems here)

Technology, computers, internet, websites, mobiles, cameras, audio and video.
SPONSORS: Hua Hin Web Design
Post Reply
User avatar
Big Boy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 45038
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 7:36 pm
Location: Bon Kai

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by Big Boy »

No, my friend did the same - removed Betternet, and all was well. Any Betternet freebie users, please be aware - you could be next.
Championship Plymouth Argyle 0 - 1 Preston NE :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Points 41; Position 18
User avatar
barrys
Legend
Legend
Posts: 2281
Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2005 1:52 pm
Location: Enjoying the sea air on a boat around Pak Nam Pran

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by barrys »

buksida wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2017 12:06 am But if you want something to last the next five years I'd go for the following ...
CPU: Intel i5 or AMD FX 9000 series
RAM: Kingston DDR4 16 GB
Hard Drive: SSD 256GB (keep your data on a portable hard drive)
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1050 or Radeon R9 285
PSU: Coolermaster or Thermaltake 700 watts or above

Of course your mainboard will depend on which combination of the above you go for, if you have deep pockets go for the i7 CPU. The solid state drive will be a lot faster than a regular hard disk and you'll get a noticeable performance boost out of it - your data should be kept off the system drive. With graphics cards the sky is the limit, the two I've listed are both very capable but you can spend thousands on them. Most people over look the power supply and use a cheapo one that comes with the case and cannot produce the juice for the top end hardware. You should spend at least 3,000 baht on a decent PSU

Hi Buksi
Thanks for all the advice.

The end result was that I had a system built for me based on your advice.

So I got a new case containing:
CPU - Intel(R)Core(TM)i7-2600 @ 3.40 GHz
RAM - 16 GB
Hard Drive SSD - Samsung MZ7TY256 HDHP-000L7 ATA
PSU - 750 watts
External hard drive - ADATA HV 100 1TB
Windows 10 Pro and MS Office pre-installed

All of that set me back the equivalent of THB18,928

I took the graphics card from my previous machine to run my 3 monitors. It's a Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti and the guy who built the new one said it was still ok - what d'you think?

I'm using the new system now and it's a joy. So, hopefully, that should do me for the next few year.
Thanks again for your help :cheers: :cheers:
User avatar
buksida
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 22525
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2002 12:25 pm
Location: south of sanity

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by buksida »

Good job, should last you a while. :thumb:
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
lomuamart
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9732
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2002 12:25 pm
Location: hua hin

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by lomuamart »

I've got a problem trying to get an Excel spreadsheet to transfer and work properly. Hopefully, I can explain the problem and someone can tell me where I'm going wrong.
So, I was sent the spreadsheet as an attachment. Gmail to gmail, attachment in Excel. Obviously, I'd like to be able to play around with this to work through any number of scenarios.
I've discovered that I can open the attachment in Google Sheets and that then I can enter and change any figures I want and the spreadsheet works it all through.
I saved that Google Sheet to my documents. However, when I try and open it in docs, it tries to do so in Explorer and fails - I get an error message (server error, I think).
OK, I can work with it from the email but as that dates back to 2015, I've got to search through pages of back mails to get there. For convenience sake, is there anything that I'm missing that that will allow me to get that attachment over to my docs and be able to work it from there?
Chok dii, in hope.
Homer
Rock Star
Rock Star
Posts: 3336
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:11 pm

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by Homer »

lomuamart wrote: Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:00 am... I can work with it from the email but as that dates back to 2015, I've got to search through pages of back mails to get there. ...
Computer nerds hate doing things the computer can do MUCH better. Like searching. Google on how to use search operators, which includes limiting your search to just emails with attachments:
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190?hl=en
Explanation from makeuseof.com. Their articles are usually good. This one is from 2013. Given the nature of search, it's likely to still be up to date.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quickly-fi ... nts-gmail/
Homer
Rock Star
Rock Star
Posts: 3336
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:11 pm

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by Homer »

Sandboxie is a sandbox program. It eliminates the need for common digital surgeries. It's like a condom for your computer. What's a sandbox? "A sandbox is a security mechanism for separating running programs. ... used to execute untested or untrusted programs or code, ... or websites, without risking harm to the host machine or operating system." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbox_( ... _security)

Sandboxie FAQ https://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?Fre ... dQuestions

Try Sandboxie for 1 year $20.95, or a lifetime license $34.95. Or use the free version, which has 2 limitations making it less convenient to use.

Sandboxie is 12 years old, now on it's third owner. They've released new versions since acquisition, the most recent one last month.
laser
Specialist
Specialist
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:17 pm
Location: here & there

Sandboxie

Post by laser »

Homer wrote: Fri Jul 07, 2017 10:42 am
Sandboxie... eliminates the need for common digital surgeries.
That's a quite agreeable statement considering Windows security (or lack thereof).

I use Sandboxie for ages, and nothing else for Win security on 3 boxes nowadays. Even the free version is good enough for most users. The only alternative (replacement if Sophos would abandon Sandboxie) I trust and occasionally use is Shadow Defender.

The critical issues: (a) the PC must be fully/repeatedly checked and cleaned before using it; (b) only visit the Net within a sandbox, else will need to repeat (a). In return, one can kiss all 'anti' software, firewalls, HIPS, and of course the rogue Win updates goodbye.
User avatar
barrys
Legend
Legend
Posts: 2281
Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2005 1:52 pm
Location: Enjoying the sea air on a boat around Pak Nam Pran

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by barrys »

I'm running a brand new PC with an i7 processor and 16 GM RAM.
OS is Windows 10 pro.

I'm getting just about daily Blue Screen errors, mostly with the message "Memory Management" or sometimes with "Critical Structure Corruption". I've tried googling this but there are so many different explanations out there, some saying it's a software and some a hardware problem.

Anyone have any ideas please?
User avatar
404cameljockey
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1819
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 5:14 am

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by 404cameljockey »

barrys wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 8:52 pm I'm running a brand new PC with an i7 processor and 16 GM RAM.
OS is Windows 10 pro.

I'm getting just about daily Blue Screen errors, mostly with the message "Memory Management" or sometimes with "Critical Structure Corruption". I've tried googling this but there are so many different explanations out there, some saying it's a software and some a hardware problem.

Anyone have any ideas please?
My 10 Baht:
If it's brand new why not just let the retailer handler it? Alternatively the first thing to try would be to reinstall the OS (Win 10) as from what I can see it occurs after a Win 10 update (I refuse all updates for OSs until at least a couple of months after they come out, let other users find the bugs). Do backup your data first though please.
Then don't accept the update until after you researched good and hard online for problems that others have had with the update and whether Micro$h*t have patched it. If you have good antivirus software and don't visit dodgy websites you shouldn't worry about installing routine OS patches on 0 day.
Homer
Rock Star
Rock Star
Posts: 3336
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:11 pm

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by Homer »

404cameljockey wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 9:11 pmThen don't accept the update until after you researched good and hard online for problems that others have had with the update and whether Micro$h*t have patched it.
Best single source for 'is it safe to update' is http://www.askwoody.com/ . Turn automatic updating off, then don't update until he says it's safe.
User avatar
404cameljockey
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1819
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 5:14 am

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by 404cameljockey »

Homer wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 9:50 pm
404cameljockey wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 9:11 pmThen don't accept the update until after you researched good and hard online for problems that others have had with the update and whether Micro$h*t have patched it.
Best single source for 'is it safe to update' is http://www.askwoody.com/ . Turn automatic updating off, then don't update until he says it's safe.
Good call.
Jose
Specialist
Specialist
Posts: 249
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:46 am

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by Jose »

barrys wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 8:52 pm I'm running a brand new PC with an i7 processor and 16 GM RAM.
OS is Windows 10 pro.

I'm getting just about daily Blue Screen errors, mostly with the message "Memory Management" or sometimes with "Critical Structure Corruption". I've tried googling this but there are so many different explanations out there, some saying it's a software and some a hardware problem.

Anyone have any ideas please?
you could try removing one stick of ram and go down to 8gb ram , see if it fixes, try with both , one at a time.
if it is a memory issue this will help find out if one of your ram stick is faulty. If it is cheap ram modules this is highly likely.
User avatar
404cameljockey
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1819
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 5:14 am

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by 404cameljockey »

You didn't reply whether the box still under warranty or not? If it is then you should actually do nothing yourself unless you're happy to void the warranty. Also if you're not computer literate you should just take it back to the shop/builder anyway. :D
laser
Specialist
Specialist
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:17 pm
Location: here & there

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by laser »

Jose wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2017 6:22 pm you could try removing one stick of ram and go down to 8gb ram , see if it fixes, try with both , one at a time.
I'd agree, memory stick error is a very likely cause. The suggested hands-on method works well but may take 2-3 days to see the results with the reported symptoms. There's good & free utility at http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm that detects memory faults fast.

Software (typically graphic card drivers) also can cause such problems, hence it's worth trying later/updated drivers.
User avatar
404cameljockey
Ace
Ace
Posts: 1819
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 5:14 am

Re: The Digital Surgery

Post by 404cameljockey »

barrys doesn't seem as interested in this problem as we are.... :D
Post Reply