Plastic Nev

Hi, If I can add regarding the Panasonic software, if it came with the camera I think you may find it is not compatible with Windows 7 64bit. I know mine isn't and had to acquire other video editing software, I would check with the Panasonic website regarding that. For quality video editing, regardless of which editing program you use, the 8GB of RAM machine is the one to go for or similar, the more RAM the better, also if you can afford it a quad core processor. They may seem to be a little over the top for normal video editing, but if you intend at some stage going for HD or High definition, you will certainly need it then. Hope that is of help. Nev.

And a happy new year to all, may your computer problems be as little as possible, and have a trouble free 2012 in everything you do, not just computers. Nev.

A handy fault diagnosis tool Having problems with audio or video drop outs during playback? Other applications sometimes stopping and starting? this could be due to a system driver problem which is causing too high a DPC latency. DPC stands for Deferred Procedure Calls. A quote from the website is "If any kernel-mode device driver in your Windows system is implemented improperly and causes excessive latencies of Deferred Procedure Calls (DPCs) then probably drop-outs will occur when you use real-time audio or video streaming applications." The DPC Latency checker can be used in conjunction with the device manager to isolate which device is giving problems, possibly task manager could help too. For more information on what it is, how to use it, and where to download this useful small and free application have a look here= http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml Be sure to read everything on the page before downloading, so that you know if it is a tool you need. Take heed of the warnings regarding devices that should not ever be stopped or disabled. Disable the wrong one, and you may never get the computer to run again without a major repair or re-install. Nev

Hi, it does indeed look like a hard drive problem now. most laptops there is a cover, usually at the edge underneath the laptop, remove the cover and the hard drive should pull out easy enough. You will need then an enclosure or adapter to connect the drive to a USB port on a working computer, as per the link Bluesplayer gave earlier which mentions an enclosure, though you can get just adapter cables. Once that is done, and providing the working computer recognises and can access what is on the suspect drive, you can save any data onto the working computer, and also we can ask you to run a few tests which will help determine if it is a faulty drive or operating system. Once we have got that far, we will be better positioned as to what can be recommended next. Nev.

HI have you tried getting into safe mode? from start up tap the F8 key, select "safe mode" and click enter, does the keyboard work in safe mode? If so we can possibly go from there. If not let us know and we may have more to try. Nev.

Hi, can you let us know as much as possible about the computer and its specifications, make model number or motherboard and graphics, also which games are they. It sounds like they may be too intensive for your computer and maybe making it overheat or overload in some other way. Nev.

Not uncommon is that sort of fluff build up, however I will urge a little caution when dealing with it, when the fluff is not of your origins such as in this case. You have no idea of the hygiene of the previous owner, and that fluff can be harbouring some pretty nasty biology. Wear a dustmask, handle with rubber disposable gloves, and if possible do it outside where natural wind and air movement can remove it from your environment and dilute the volume of it. Nev.

Malwarebytes have issued a new update for the program version which is now 1.60.0.1800. There is a change in the layout of the scan logs which makes them seem a little shorter, but does have some extra information. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a change of layout has happened in the presentation of the log.

Hi again, OK to save actually going inside to look, we may get the motherboard information from one of these free downloads. First is Speccy, which is reasonably good at finding hardware details and numbers which you can download from here= http://www.piriform.com/speccy The other one is Belarc Advisor, which gives a much more in depth analysis of your system here= http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html Both handy things to have anyway as they can give useful info for other purposes too. Try Speccy first and let us know what that tells us about the motherboard, we may also ask for other details from what speccy can tell us. Nev.

Hi that is a healthy dose of mains hum isn't it. The real secret is to change the lead, it may also help to shorten it. That of course will mean possible soldering job at each end. Unless it is a separate lead that has a connector into the bottom of the microphone, though if a desktop type of microphone, I doubt it. That is the trouble with some of the cheaper microphones, sold for use with a computer where they are designed to be at low boost, but right up to the face and speaking fairly loudly. Mainly aimed at VOIP use such as messenger or Skype and certainly not intended as Hi Fi microphones. You can try different settings of microphone input levels against different levels of boost or gain if your sound system can do that. Or if willing to try changing the lead, you need ideally proper microphone cable with twin wire screened cable, and only long enough to be of use with not too much extra length. Otherwise a trip to a musical instrument and equipment specialist shop, and buy a higher quality microphone and lead. Nev.

This is a friendly reminder about drinking and driving over the festive period. I went out last night, had quite few beers, then left my car at the pub and took the bus home. I am very proud of myself this morning as I have never driven a bus before!

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Can you please post details of the make and model of your computer, or if a built to order machine the motherboard make and model number, those details will help enormously in helping you and finding what is best for the machine. Yes, to the question do you need a graphics card, the integrated graphics are basic at best, usually OK for normal document handling and viewing video or other media, but for games it is best to get a card. I would also suggest an upgrade of memory too, but that depends on knowing your machine specs as to what can be installed. Nev.

Hi, just to put your mind at rest, it is OK to copy and paste entire logs, it doesn't matter too much about page size taken up. It is the information on the log that can be important. Have a look at the logs posted in our malware and security section to see what a long log can look like. Yet all that information is vital to our security experts. Although Ken has mentioned we do not support registry cleaners, I support that as we have seen too many problems that were caused just by using them. I urge you to read this article by Ed Bott on this link here= http://www.edbott.com/weblog/2005/04/why-i-dont-use-registry-cleaners/ Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. It may be of help for us to know how you installed Windows 7. Was it the Microsoft upgrade or direct from a Windows 7 Disk? Nev.

I suspect it is my ISP/BT throttling things down during busy periods. I have 4GB DDR3, but sometimes see speeds as low as 80 KB. Doesn't matter who the service provider is though, if using the telephone network, every one I speak to in this town says it's the same or similar, so must be our local exchange needs an upgrade. I could go to cable. It is in the street, but for the use I need, I refuse to pay the extra for that service. Nev.

Hi, you are correct it is SATA, the small square four pin plug should be quite common as also the twenty four pin main to motherboard and also the molex other connectors. Existing extra jumper cables should remain in place. Any fan on the power supply is for the power supply only and should not influence the case cooling, which I see a fan for on the case side any way. Most modern power supplies at the wattages you are looking for, should have all the cables and plugs you need. Hope that helps. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Firstly I will ask you not to use the system mechanic, it is a registry cleaner which we do not advise anyone to use as they can cause serious damage to the registry. What you describe sounds more like an invasion by some form of malware or virus. I will pass this to one of our security people to look into for you. Please follow all their instructions in order to get this problem resolved. Nev.

You do need a USB drive that is clean, empty and ideally reformatted, providing you know the password I doubt that will cause a problem, but if you can find a drive of 4GB reasonably cheaply, it may be the best option. That way you can keep the password protected one for important stuff, and later use the new one for all other unimportant stuff after using it for the operating system. Nev.

By all means give that free for the first 1GB a try if you wish, but there is some recovery software that is totally free, and from folk who have used it, it works well, for the free download= http://www.piriform.com/recuva Bear in mind, the data may have been written over in some instances. From what you describe you may have inadvertently done so. Also, you may have to sort out what is what, as names or numbers of files will have been lost due to the delete process. Nev.

Hi, that is not very good, it may be OK at that time of day for most downloads such as Youtube video, but at times of net congestion during UK and European daytime, you will possibly see much lower figures, resulting in stop and go on Video downloads and slow speeds for file downloads. Although I see Virgin is the ISP, I assume it is provided by the ordinary telephone network which will be the reason. If I am wrong and you are on Virgin cable, then you should see much higher speeds than those, so a complaint to them would be in order. I am also on the telephone network and a reasonable distance from the exchange, therefore see a similar figure for speeds, but I accept the problems with the telephone line system as I have no cable. Nev.

Hi, further to Jelly Beans good advice, and if the BIOS option does not work because the disk drive is broken, you can use a USB flash or pen drive, providing you have access to a computer with a working CD/DVD drive. Jelly Bean herself wrote an excellent tutorial on how best to do this, mainly aimed at the smaller machines that don't have a disk drive any way, it will still work with any machine if the drive is broken. Here is her tutorial= http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/10305-How-to-install-Windows-using-a-USB-Pen-Drive-and-WinToFlash. Hope that helps and gets you up and running again. Nev.

Hi, if it is a problem due to download speeds it could be your connection at fault rather than anything in the computer. Get a speed test from here= http://www.speedtest.net/ Let us know the result of download speed, upload speed and most importantly the ping test result. Nev.

Although it is extra cost, the more sensible thing is to upgrade the power supply, go for a bit more than the 400 watts if you can afford it that way it will give more room for further expansion should you need it, also give a bit of leeway for age deterioration of the PSU too. I doubt you will find any graphics card that will do what you want but draws less power. Nev.

Having read through this thread twice, two things come to mind, both security related. Some security products can cause some very strange problems for some folks and not others and for various reasons, so can you tell us what you have installed in antivirus, firewall, antimallware, and especially if you have Rapporte on. Secondly, it could actually be a virus or malware causing this problem. Let us know what security you have first before we go further on that question. Nev.

OK, I am no expert, but judging by what little I know, the better of the two is the Radeon, however it does specify a minimum power requirement of 400Watts. That will be fine if your power supply is greater than 600Watts. The Asus card, rather worryingly does not specify what power it needs, plus written reviews lower down the page are not promising for game playing. However, I would hang on till someone more into games and the cards they need, is available to advise. As I say, I am no expert on graphics stuff, sound is my area. Nev. Edit to add, ignore me, Ken is the man, he posted while I was still writing.