Plastic Nev

Hi, what about any ordinary programs, without trying the internet and a browser, can you open a program and actually use it, even if only Windows media player and play some music or a CD. Let's see if we can nail this to an internet problem, or something else. Nev.

Dimm1 and dimm2 are the designation of which port they were originally in, Dimm 1 should be the one underneath with Dimm 2 on the top. However if both are identical and the same size it shouldn't really matter. What I meant by taking note of speed, sorry I should have said just through normal running, for instance how long it takes to open a program, what sort of playback when running a video and that sort of thing, though 2GB on its own, possibly won't show much of a difference to the full 4GB when they were both in before it went wrong. However if one stick is definitely faulty, you will see problems when that one is in. Also try one at a time again but in the top port, not the bottom one and see if it will run then, it may just be a faulty port. However, if no obvious problem with them one at a time, in either port as well, the next thing will be a Memory check, which is a download, but we will look at that after you have tried things first. Nev.

Hi, I am no expert, so if this is no good please hang on till another member sees this. Firstly have you tried using Internet Explorer? If so and still no access, how old is the router? I ask that because sometimes setting the computers date back to a date and time when you could access the router sometimes works. I have a rather old Edimax which needs that doing to get into it. Nev.

It certainly looks like the RAM, and possibly either a mismatch, or one is slightly faulty. Sorry to ask you to take them both out again but can you check all the numbers and names on both sticks, see if they match each other, there will of course be differences in serial numbers, but that should be all unless one is a different size than the other. Let us know what the numbers and make are on each please. If they are the same make and number, run for a while with just one, try and take note of speed of operation. If one is a smaller size in GB, then there will be a great difference in operation speeds but I am hoping they are both the same size. Nev.

Hi Silva and welcome back. That warning notification is to do with I Tunes and other Apple applications, do you have these? Rather than write a long thing quoting someone else any way, have a look at JasonH's answer for someone with the same problem here :- http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140131143030AAe5vEb If after removal you want to re-install everything, remember to right click on the installation file and select "Run as admin" Nev.

Hi, no the RAM is separate, however do as he did and remove the battery and power/charging plug. He only took out the hard drive as it is part of a full strip down, you only need the cover off for the RAM at the moment. The clips for the RAM just ease out sideways as he showed. Give the contacts a clean and replace just one if you have two, put the battery back and power plug and try it, if no change try the other RAM stick. Let us know if anything at all is improved. Nev.

Hi Flyder, Having done a factory reset I think we can rule out the operating system being at fault so that leaves us with possible hardware faults, this could be the RAM memory or the hard drive itself. Is this computer a laptop or desktop? Can you please tell us that and the make and model will be useful to know. If you know how to get to it, the RAM sticks or modules can be looked at first, if only one, take it out, clean the contacts on the edge, preferably using a pencil eraser first, then wipe off with a soft cloth and then replace it or them, if more than one stick just put one in and try it, if no change take that one out and try another. Any problem with knowing what to look for, let us know, and whether a laptop or desktop. Nev.

What sort of office or document handling software do you have? Is it the Microsoft Office or Microsoft Works or one of the other and free software? In any sort of word processing software you can create an ordinary document page with the letterhead and store it just as that, when wanting to use it, open the document in the word processor, either type or copy and paste your text into it and then print it. Simple as that really. Nev.

Thanks Starbuck for the move, a good idea. Firstly, the argument for and against free or paid. My take on it from experience is that paid for software is not always better than free, however in most cases it is. I have quite a lot of different programs covering different area's with a quite even mix of paid and free, which I can say in most cases the paid for does a lot more than the free stuff. However there are odd instances where the free does just one thing better than the equivalent paid for does, an example being in some of the music notation software I have, of which there are two paid for and three free. In general, the free is not as comprehensive, and doesn't have the tools that the paid for does. You can still carry out the same tasks, but for some parts of the task, it may take longer, or you have to use a work round to achieve something in the free, where the paid for is a couple of clicks and job done. That applies to most softwares. However, there is always the odd task that a basic free program does a better job and sometimes easier and quicker. For instance, I have the American made, "Finale" by Make Music .Inc. That is a quite expensive music notation program, for composing, or rewriting music on the staff. It is up at the top of the ladder and used by some of the major music composers, like most creative software, it is only limited by your imagination for creating new music, however, it has a minor drawback, it can sometimes be poor at rendering a MIDI file to something you can work on. The free Anvil Studio does a much better job of doing that. Now for image, photographic or general graphics handling programs, again I have several. Wellies mentioned Photoscape, a lovely free and basic photo editing program and easy to use, it also has a brilliant animation capability which I have used to good effect, as it is a quite simple feature which makes it fairly quick to create animations from a series of still images. However, the same can be done in Photoshop Elements, I have version 11. However, being a more complex software, it takes a bit longer to do a simple animation in Elements. I also have and have used to very good effect, Photofiltre, a software available as a basic and free version or you can buy the slightly more complex pro version, I have only the free version. Elements takes a small amount of time for the program to open, then if all you wish to do is resize a picture, you need to open the image handling dialogue to select the resize tool, then enter the new size. No really big deal, yet with Photofiltre, the program is nearly instant to open, then to resize, you just right click on the image which gives you instant access to the resize tools, much quicker for a simple task. So, in conclusion, whatever your interests, if requiring deep and complex work, as in some of the out of bounds creations I have done, the paid for software is often better, but for simple work, the free software is often quicker, and easier to use. So in any recommendations I have in an ideal world, I will say to look at both sides and have a mixture of free and paid for softwares to do the job you want. Nev.

Just remembered I didn't post the one with the horse. Not quite as spectacular as the others, however it was done using Elements 11 as part of the learning how to use it, I now use nothing else as the free stuff is a bit too limited, OK for some simple things, however you get what you pay for. http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/plasticpig/Horseinwindow_zps76c524c8.jpg

Hi Dave, for a general discussion and even a grumble we do have a space, here :- http://extremetechsupport.com/forums/74-OFF-TOPIC-CIVILISED-DISCUSSION-WORLD-NEWS-ETC See you there if you want to discuss elements, or other image and graphics manipulation programs. If you want to post some of your work, we also have a photo section within the fun stuff forum as well. http://extremetechsupport.com/forums/72-FUN-STUFF Nev.

So, have you got your head round Windows 8.1? A rather funny tale of woe that just shows how bad it gets. If bill can't do it??

Hi Mithical, the stack of CD's cover will possibly be for access to the hard drive, if it has a symbol similar to an electronics chip is the usual one for the RAM. However, although my laptop is an Acer, the RAM and the hard drive are accessed from the same cover, it may be the case with yours. You can't do any harm taking the cover off and just taking a look, though I suspect it will be the other cover, not the one with the stack of disks. Sometimes the RAM modules are held in place by a spring clip either side, which you press out sideways to release the modules. Nev.

Hi, after looking through this thread and seeing that you did drop the laptop, I am a little suspicious that the heat sinks may have become dislodged and it is now overheating, to check that for us we need to see what the internal temperatures are after it has been running for a while, to get that information so that Ken may be able to work from it, can you please download and install "Speccy" from Piriform, from here :- NOTE, This link is a direct download link and it will start to download straight away! You may get the usual small window asking where to download to. http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download/standard Once installed, open the program and copy and paste into your reply the first main index or summary page please after the computer has been running for a while, but hopefully before it crashes, that should be enough as the CPU and other temperatures are displayed there. Nev.

A happy birthday to you old friend and hope you have a good one. http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/plasticpig/candle.gif

Personally, in these circumstances I would advise the phone. If his account has been taken over, as can happen, these hackers sometimes also change the password, so your friend may not even see any E Mail from you. Also if you have a Hotmail or other web based account, to prevent the same happening to you, make sure it is protected by a strong password, there are plenty of good advisory sites with idea's of how to create a strong password, but in essence, mixed letters and numbers and at least twelve characters long. Nev.

Thanks also from me, though it is seldom used these days I also have an old XP machine. One thing springs to mind here also, folks like myself and no doubt many more will have Revo uninstaller, or similar software installed. Considering that Revo, and no doubt other uninstaller software, first uses the programs own uninstaller, then searches for left over files and folders to uninstall a program. Due to the Conduits own uninstaller removing the wrong files, I must give a warning to not use Revo or other uininstaller software for that reason. As Starbuck said, use ADW cleaner or Junkware Removal tool. They can be downloaded from the links in Starbucks original post. Nev.

I wouldn't think the micro boards are any more prone to problems than full sized, it is just the problem of finding low profile cards to fit them when needed. Best of luck. Nev.

Hi, since you added the extra on there, I replied there. To avoid confusion, can you please stick with either here, or there please as other members could also be confused as they will not know where other answers are. Nev.

Hi, A shame we can't fix the noise, but as I said earlier there are so many different things that can cause it, including faults on the motherboard as you suspect. Considering it is an older system that you upgraded with installing W7, plus the fact it won't take the graphics card does also suggest it is the motherboard. So you may be better off in the end going for a refurbished machine. The so called mini towers do present some problems with fitting extras such as your graphics card due to size, and therefore the card won't go in, so be aware of that, otherwise there are some good bargains available in refurbished, and at least you will still have Windows 7. If you went for new, as well as the cost you will have the problem of learning how to cope with Windows 8 as on the surface it is quite different. Nev.

Hi, I answered you elsewhere however I can say that whatever device you use, computer or mobile, you and whoever you are talking to must have internet access. Have a look at Skype and what Skype offers before making a decision. Nev.

Hi, Do you still have the installation disk that came with the printer? If you do, it may be best to start from scratch to make sure there isn't a problem with the computers driver files. So first of all disconnect the printer from the computer, then go to control panel, and then programs, search out and uninstall everything related to the printer. Next first make sure the printer is still disconnected and insert the disk, it should prompt you to connect the printer near the end of the install, so do that then. See if that cures the problem. Nev.

Hi Ray thanks for that heads up and it is something seldom looked at is the cable, we all assume it must be OK as it's only a bit of wire with a plug at each end, yet the cable is sometimes the simple answer to a fault. I wish sometimes it was always that simple. In a lot of cases, and I have seen this with industrial electronic cables, the crimped connection to the pins in the plug or socket, sometimes is either not crimped tightly enough, or even over crimped and cut through the conductors. Nev.

Hi, you didn't say if you tried the old power supply, have you done so and any luck with that?

If you still have the older PSU and it still works, it is worth a try before you reinstall Windows. If it does turn out to be the PSU, that could explain why the graphics card wouldn't work if there is a fault on the thing. I know it is brand new, but there are always the Friday afternoon ones as they say. If none of this does change anything, and that includes a Windows reinstall of course. I can only suggest fully formatting the hard drive, then install Windows 7 and relevant drivers, then trying the sound straight after the reinstall, and if OK then, try installing your programs one at a time, check with each one. Crackling and other odd noises can sometimes be a devil to find what is causing it as there are so many alternatives. I went through it with my old XP machine a good few years ago and it turned out to be program I had tried, forget which it was now, but it was running in the background and causing random clicks, it was hard work finding it was that, as it seemed OK when I first installed it. Nev.