Whew! I was sweating bullets! I'm still mourning the destruction of your old OS disks!

*mALX weeps into hanky...*

Project, part one:

Due to a change in weather forecast that moved the start of rain/storms back an hour I was able to get in an exercise-walk, leaving home circa 0530. Heart reading almost immediate after return: Blood Pressure 109/69, Pulse 89.

Email from NewEgg with info on my recently placed order shows its expected delivery date as Monday, 26 Jun. Had hoped for this Saturday, maybe even Friday, but whatever. The date given is well within NewEgg's window of delivery for free shipping.

Not sure what I'll attempt to do today, project wise. What with predicted heavy rains and all, any project will almost surely be confined to installing more software on the new PC, further reorganizing data within the i7-930 PC's various partitions, and/or trying to figure out a workable way to keep all three PCs functional at the same time within the very limited space available in my computer room. At some point I need to configure the latest version of tes4ll's ini to accept my many additional coordinates, housed in numerous files of their own.

Pre-lunch addendum:
Finished trashing all I intended to of the old productivity & utility PC software housed on shelves in my computer room. Trashed a few unwanted old non PC books housed on different shelves in the computer room. Transferred ancient photo negatives in prints from stacks on the floor to the now almost empty computer room shelves. Moved most remaining books in computer room to the shelves that had held software.

The reason for all this trashing and re-shelving is that one set of shelves needs to be cleared so it can be moved to the living room. Once that's done I can move an old-style roll-top desk one foot (the most it can move before blocking the computer room window) to make more space for the two PCs that will be housed in that area of the room. (My primary PC is kept at the other end of the same wall.) A potential stumbling block; I no longer possess the physical strength to easily move that old desk. Worse come to worst I'll have my brother help me with it during his next visit. Even with the desk moved there isn't room to house those computers without making one hard to access. Maybe a better solution will dawn me later on.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Jun 22 2017, 04:11 PM

New project; getting the fan and heater in Cavator to work.Unfortunately that means involving someone else and getting him to Get Over Here™ is a project in itself

Though we didn't get nearly as much rain as predicted, it's rained enough, and continues to rain, so that my street is covered by standing water. There will be an hours long break later on, but even should streets dry sufficiently in that time, by then it'll be too hot and muggy to get in an exercise-walk today.

Only project tackled since my last report was gutting an old super thick binder of its contents...a wealth of no longer needed Everquest and Everyquest2 data...and substituting printed Oblivion data in its place. Up until now my Oblivion printouts were housed in a too-narrow binder bursting at the seems with info. It could not hold more than it did, and in truth held more than it should have. The transfer gives me lots of space to expand, which will come in handy as I continue adding to my Experimental Oblivion Build on the new PC.

Pre-lunch addendum:
Moved computer room shelves recently cleared of items to the living room. Restored misc books to those shelves, plus added a few from my fantasy/fiction library...all ASOIAF entries, my hardback Guy Gavriel Kay collection (I have many of his novels as paperbacks, which stay where they are for now), the Henryk Sienkiewicz four-book "Trilogy", a couple of hardback Tolkiens. Can't move the roll-top desk just yet, ever should I find the physical strength for it, which is doubtful, coz its new location will cover the one electrical outlet along that wall. (No matter how I arrange things in the computer room, there are compromises.) I need to buy another multi outlet surge protector first. Once that's in place the outlet can remain buried forever, or until I need to replace the surge protector, whichever comes first.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Jun 23 2017, 03:43 PM

The 'Cavator is sick again?

Two related pre supper projects:

1) Called my Senator's local office and let him know what I think of their newly revealed "healthcare" proposal. (Calling their Washington offices is best. But I'm on a dial-up plan without "free" long-distance so would have to pay, which ain't gonna happen except in the direst of circumstances. You would think a representative's D.C. phone number would be toll-free, but that's America for you.) I mention this because the call serves as yet another reminder, as if more are needed, of the effects of aging. I knew the gist of what I intended to say as I dialed. Yet when his answering service kicked in I could recall not of it. I started stammering out a message of sorts, full of stops and starts and making no sense. I finally just stated that they knew what was in the proposal as well as anyone (my Senator is on the committee that drafted it) and told them how I expect the Senator to vote when the time comes. What an embarrassment! I gotta remember to NOT make this sort of phone call again. Not this lifetime at any rate. Yeah, I should have typed something out beforehand and read it verbatim over the phone. Hindsight is 20-20, as they say.

2) Emailed BOTH congressmen about the healthcare proposal. That turned out better, as I could take the time to write something halfway understandable before clicking SEND.

Otherwise, it's been a more or less vegetative afternoon. I intended to install more a few productivity programs on the new PC, and download texture packs for the experimental Oblivion install. In the end I was so groggy I spend much of the time in bed either napping or so mentally exhausted I might as well have been napping.

Walked circa 0700. Heart reading soon after return: Blood Pressure 96/64, Pulse 76.

Double checked on my NewEgg package. Page-top still listed it for Monday delivery. However, the details breakdown shows it out for delivery today. At the very least I'm make a project of installing the incoming HDD into my almost completely assembled new PC. Will prolly buy a second copy of Partition Master Pro for it. (I could transfer my license from the i7-930 PC to the new one, but EaseUS is running an online 65% off sale on Partition Master Pro with free lifetime updates this week. For the little I'll pay a second copy is worth the price.

Once the HDD is in place and partitioned I can at last begin the process of copying data files, downloads, BAIN package project directories to the new rig.

Well, it's nothing major. I can still use it just fine but I think having a functional fan and heater is kinda nice

Oh yeah, have to have the heat and fan working !!!!

HDD and CAT-7 cables arrived fifteen minutes prior to what would have been my lunchtime had I not elected to install the drive. Took somewhat longer than expected. The major stumbling block was inserting the drive's SATA cable into the motherboard. The port I intended to use was covered by the GTX1070. No biggie, I thought, I'll remove the GPU, snap in the drive cable, reinsert the GPU, and be good to go. Or so I thought.

As some undoubtedly know, most modern motherboards have a locking mechanism at one end of each PCIe socket to keep cards in place. It's normally a simple matter to depress the mechanism and remove the card. (Assuming rear retaining screws have already been taken care of.) In my case it wasn't quite that simple. The lower portion of a release mechanism's manipulation lever is quite often obscured by a GPU. The upper portion is normally more easily reached. Not so in my case. My huge Noctua CPU air cooler extends very close to the top of the GPU. So close I could not insert a finger between cooler and GPU to depress the lever. What I ultimately did was depress the level with a wood ruler. Worried that the ruler might slip and damage fragile traces on the mobo. That didn't happen.

Had a few other hassles, all surmountable.

Broke for lunch.

Moved the roll-top desk 11" on my own, which is as far as it needed to go.

Those 11" allowed to situate the two computer housed in that corner of the room in a more agreeable manner. The new arrangement is far from perfect, but as mentioned there are no perfect solutions in the that area.

Am now in the process of transferred all files from my i7-930's "Oblivion Work Project" partition to the i7-7700k via router. It's taking forever, but what ya gonna do?

I bought a new monitor today. It has been about six or seven years since I bought my last one. I was originally looking at an Acer Predator XB71HU. It looked good at first. But then I noticed on the store demo that it had a problem with this one particular moving image, where it was like the screen got dimmer around the graphic that was moving. Then it brightened up when the graphic was gone. So I decided against it.

I went to Best Buy not expecting to get anything. But I found a Samsung C27F591, with a 27" curved screen. It is not a gaming model like the Predator, and is only half the price. But it looks better. It is really bright, and the colors are much more vibrant than my old monitor. In fact I might have to turn the brightness down some. I am hoping the curved screen will help with sun glare. My tv is curved, and it handles glare much better than my old flat-screen tv did.

Ya, it's not necessary to buy a gaming monitor when a tv works just as well (or better), and costs less. Good find!

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Jun 25 2017, 02:32 AM

Holy cow, a curved TV and monitor? I have to see this, it sounds futuristic !!! (I see my son wanting one next, but that might be good because it might mean he would give me his huge flatscreen!)




This post has been edited by mALX: Jun 25 2017, 03:39 PM

Use the time to eat that lunch you held off eating to do all that work!

I downloaded all mine onto a "Passport" (USB connected external hard drive) then loaded it on the new computer from the Passport = it still takes time, but is much quicker (and no chance of data loss).



This post has been edited by mALX: Jun 25 2017, 03:57 PM

An USB external HDD is on my list of upcoming purchases. We're talking several months down the road at the earlier, I'm afraid. Speaking of which, I notice an appreciable speed increase transferring data to and from a USB-3 memory stick inserted in my i7-7700k's front panel USB-3 slot over that same stick plugged into the i7-930, which has only USB-2 front panel slots.

Spend almost all morning transferring data to the new rig. Much of the grunt work is done. (I could likely finishing all transfers were my brother not coming over this afternoon, assuming I stuck it out.) Right now I'm reorganizing my Docs & Data partition on the new PC. I let it become too disorganized over the year, so that it's hard to find things when I need 'em. I figure the time fix than is now, before apathy sets in, as it surely will once the new rig becomes my primary computer and I start concentrating on stuff I like to do rather than what I need to do.


Looked up an online review of that monitor. The verdict was very favorable, singling its bright, vibrant image for special praise. The only real ding was its limited viewing angle, something my Samsung TN-panel monitor suffers from. Mine also has somewhat washed out blacks, which I believe is due mainly to its backlighting. Prices must have come down a good bit since I last evaluated monitors. Was surprised that a VA screen of that size was so (relatively) inexpensive. Then again, 27" inch monitors are far more commonplace that when I bought my 23.5 inch Samsung.

(An aside. I used an old-style computing desk with hutch, which limits me to a 23.5-24" screen, depending on screen frame size. I don't plan to jettison the desk, or remove its hutch.)

[quote name='Decrepit' date='Jun 25 2017, 11:48 AM' post='284540']
I downloaded all mine onto a "Passport" (USB connected external hard drive) then loaded it on the new computer from the Passport = it still takes time, but is much quicker (and no chance of data loss).[/quote]
An USB external HDD is on my list of upcoming purchases. We're talking several months down the road at the earlier, I'm afraid.
[/quote]

It's been a real lifesaver for me, I keep everything vital on it = just in case.

This was the day I hoped to solve my final issue with the new PC, then swap locations between it and my i7-930 PC so that the i7-7700k could become my primary rig.

The issue to resolve pre swap was that the new PC would not go into sleep mode. You might recall that this happened once before. That time it was fixed by having the PC leave my homegroup. A not ideal solution, but workable. That didn't work this time. Worse, the monitor began waking within a second or two of sleep, which hadn't been a symptom before. I did a lot of web research on the matter. Found a wealth of advice, little of which applied to my particular situation, none of which helped. In the end I found and fixed problem on my own. I still want the new PC to sleep when part of my homegroup, but that can wait.

Made the swap right after lunch. In the process I swapped out an old CAT cable connecting my primary rig to the router for one of the CAT-7 cables ordered off NewEgg last week.

Boy do I wish the new rig's case had casters like the Cooler Master HAF!!!! I'm gonna have to do something about that before too long.

Configured the new rig to utilize my four speakers. Sound is not quite as good as with my Sound Blaster X-fi, but we're talking build-in motherboard sound vs a fairly top-of-the-line add-on audio card. I'd love to transfer the X-fi to the new rig, but it's a PCI card so not compatible with the latest generation of motherboards, which abandon PCI for PCIe. Still, I'm not terribly displeased. Fired up Oblivion long enough to hear fairly decent sound that pans to the appropriate channel as my avatar turns.

On a sad note, once the i7-930 was in its new location I had the disheartening task of switching it from X-fi sound to the PC monitor's absolutely retched built-in speakers. O how the mighty have fallen!

Disabled more of Win10's annoyances. My modem's activity light is active appreciably less often now.

Moved my beloved super cheap ancient ergonomic keyboard to the secondary PC. I'm auditioning a much newer MS Natural Ergonomic 4000 on the primary rig. The Natural is in theory a better keyboard. That may be, but I'm having a heck of a time getting used to the Natural, my right hand more so than the left.

O yeah. I ordered a few inexpensive items off Amazon. First in order of importance is a new mouse pad of the secondary PC. The one it uses now is the pits. It doesn't stick to the surface on which it lies worth a darn.
Conversely, mice do not glide smoothly on its upper surface. I'd have replaced it long ago expect that, like so much else, decent quality inexpensive mouse pads are not to be found locally. (The one I ordered is all of $4US.) Second in importance, an inexpensive six socket surge protector with flat wall plug, which will let me move the old roll-top desk closer to the wall. ($10US, if memory serves.) The other two items are inconsequential for the immediate future.

I suppose I should mention that I got in an exercise-walk this morning, with heart readings on par with my norm.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Jun 28 2017, 01:17 AM

Khajiit's pc case is a Cooler Master HAF 912. Love it

Forgot to install printer drivers and software on the new PC until too late last night. Did so first thing this morning. All went well until I made a test print of my most recent Amazon order invoice. Instead of printing both sides of the same piece of paper, as it did with that same printer attached to the i7-930, it printed as two separate sheets. I fiddled with printer settings. It didn’t help. I fired up the i7-930 and compared settings between the two. They match. In the end I (hopefully) solved the issue by enabling a setting not required by the i7-930. Leastwise that one invoice now prints front and back on a single sheet of paper. I need to do more testing, but as luck would have it am almost out of printer paper.

Doh! A new issue has reared its ugly head. Waking the computer after my daily walk, all opened Firefox tabs were solid black. Refreshing them did no good. Newly launched tabs were also solid black. Had to completely exit and restart the browser to set things right. This new rig has "not" done this before. No idea what caused it. Thanks Obama!


Mine's the 932, an old model lacking USB 3.0 ports on the front panel. Otherwise it seems outwardly identical to 932s offered today. I love mine too. A slight ding...the motherboard tray CPU cutout is too small to be useful. (The Phanteks Enthoo Pro is much better in that regard.) Another...no accommodation for SSDs, though this can be worked around. (I bought inexpensive adapters.) I suspect current models have rectified this. Had it been within my budget, I'd have been sorely tempted to buy a second 932 for the new PC.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Jun 28 2017, 01:31 PM