Computer issues, Viruses, trojans, crashes, install problems etc Options

[Dark Reaper]

The folly of PC gaming; constant upgrades and replacements.

But you get the sharpest graphics and smoothest gameplay .

[mirocu]

The folly of PC gaming; constant upgrades and replacements.

But you get the sharpest graphics and smoothest gameplay .

You also get that by playing games that are donkey's years old

[Decrepit]

Can't for the life of me find some ancient midi files I created decades ago. I ought to have transferred them with each new computer build. But no, they're not on any of my primary or secondary PC drives. They won't be on my ancient third PC, coz those drives got pruned of almost everything non-essential. Nor can I find the files among my many backup CDs.

However, I spotted what might be them buried in my rows of backup floppy disks. Problem there is, my last PC to house floppy drives was donated to GoodWill years ago.

Cut to the chase. I've ordered a USB external floppy drive off Amazon. Dirt cheap, so if it proves to be a potato I'm not out enough to care.

In other PC related news, I ordered a 55" long PC desk off NewEgg. It was heavily discounted. I paid roughly $39US plus tax. It's a very simple desk, as you might expect for the price. Still, it'll serve me well as a desk for the secondary PC. At the moment its monitor rests atop a bar stool. Its mouse rests on a narrow night stand. Its keyboard sits atop a folding TV tray.

The desk arrived day before yesterday. I've been too lazy to assemble it. That's not likely to change any time soon. Or will it?

This post has been edited by Decrepit: May 21 2021, 11:08 PM

[SubRosa]

A usb floppy drive. Wow. That exists.

[mirocu]

My main puter is acting up. It keeps "forgetting" what year and time it is, much like my Millennium does. At least I have everything backed up with all the to-day latest savegames and pics and if need be I can go to my backup one. Don't want to of course, but at least I won't be stranded.

I also have another issue that's been going on a bit longer hwere I need to pick one of two choices at startup. Something I've never needed to do before. It says something about a USB and I can choose to go to settings or use the default. I choose default and then it starts up normally, although now I also have that date/time issue. And to think, this puter is only 12 years old

[macole]

My main puter is acting up. It keeps "forgetting" what year and time it is, much like my Millennium does. At least I have everything backed up with all the to-day latest savegames and pics and if need be I can go to my backup one. Don't want to of course, but at least I won't be stranded.

I also have another issue that's been going on a bit longer hwere I need to pick one of two choices at startup. Something I've never needed to do before. It says something about a USB and I can choose to go to settings or use the default. I choose default and then it starts up normally, although now I also have that date/time issue. And to think, this puter is only 12 years old

For the date/time issue check the motherboard for a coin cell battery. Twelve years old, the Real-Time-Clock (RTC) or CMOS battery probably needs to be replaced.
I have had to to this at least once over the years.
Not sure but the two issues may be related.

This post has been edited by macole: May 26 2021, 05:51 PM

[mirocu]

Thanks, macole! I'll check it with my local computer tech


Edit: Just talked to him on the copper landline phone thing and he said the same thing so I'm rolling with it!

This post has been edited by mirocu: May 26 2021, 08:59 PM

[macole]

hopefully a relatively cheap fix.

[Decrepit]

Aye, sounds like a dying PC battery for sure. And yup, it's a cheap and simple fix. (Well, I assume yours will be simple to replace. They almost always are.)

[mirocu]

Well, the battery does seem to have been the issue. I even replaced it in my Millennium and it now keeps time and date again, something it hasn't been able to do for many a year


--------------------------

Since Firefox doesn't work with my bank anymore I'm now using Chrome for that.

This post has been edited by mirocu: Jun 24 2021, 02:03 PM

[Decrepit]

Since Firefox 'updated' to v89, its New Tab page search bar has been worthless. Soon as I begin typing in it, I'm automatically transferred to the Address Search Bar. If I want to search via that bar, I'll do so, thank you. Thankfully, an easy solution has been found, via Firefox' own 'about:config' function. Here's a detailed explanation:

(link) [Fix] Restore Real Working Search Box on New Tab Page in Firefox 89 and Later (link)

[Decrepit]

Yikes!
My primary PC is, according to Microsoft, unable to run Windows 11. Meaning it will be obsolete when they discontinue support for Win10 during 2025. Not good!

The compatibility utility I ran shows the culprit to likely be my Intel i7 7700k. Looks like it's one generation too old. The 8000 series is compatible, but not the 7000 series.

Best case (cheapest) scenario for me is to replace motherboard, CPU and memory. Sort of a drag, as what I'd really 'like' to replace is the GPU...if that was economically possible to do so, which it isn't.

Also, Windows 11 has made Microsoft Account a requirement. Who didn't see that coming???


In some sense this is much ado about little or nothing. By 2025 I'm likely going to be ready to build a new primary PC, if I've not already done so. But then ya never know. Even assuming I remain able to assemble a PC in 2025, I won't be able to use my current primary PC as a secondary PC. That'll be a first. I can of course convert it to a Linux machine, but it's sort of overkill for that: 32GB of ram, two M2NVME drives, SoundBlaster chip built into the motherboard, and so on.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Jun 28 2021, 04:59 PM

[mirocu]

Yikes!
My primary PC is, according to Microsoft, unable to run Windows 11. Meaning it will be obsolete when they discontinue support for Win10 during 2025. Not good!

*looks at Windows 7*


Yes. Totally not good. How ever will we manage?

[Decrepit]

Color me confused.

Watched an informative YT video on Win11 'secure boot' and 'TPM2.0' requirements. Learned that Win10 has an easy means to check TPM status. All you need to do is type 'tpm.msc' into Windows Search Bar. I did so. To my surprise, it tells me that yes, my PC has TPM2.0! Don't know why I can't find a settling for it in my BIOS. Well, other than a setting that says I don't have it. But...I now realize the setting in question tells me I don't have a TPM MODULE plugged into its TPM motherboard socket, not that I don't have TPM by some other means.

And of course TPM is, for the moment, beside the point as MS insists on excluding Intel 7xxx series CPUs from upgrading to Win11.

[Adella]

I am no PC guru….nor yet even one of the worshiping acolytes…..but it seems to me M$ are moving toward an Apple business support model. You know….the bit where you must have constant updates or the device slows down due to their chicanery and sabotaging packaged into ‘essential updates’ which can’t be prevented.

For this to gradually cripple your machine AND provide the means to uncripple it at a cost….the OS must be internet dependent.

Windows 11 is a great stride forward….for M$ that is. How long before, like their office package, the OS itself becomes a subscription service. Don’t pay your monthly sub?…the PC won’t fire up!

How close we are right now to that dystopia.…I don’t know….but it’s the path they are on.

Just a (chilling) thought

A.

[treydog]

Pushing people like me to Linux. And I have a feeling some enterprising soul out there will come out with a nominally-priced Linux install package for those who do not feel comfortable with DIY OS changes.

[Renee]

*looks at Windows 7*

Yes. Totally not good. How ever will we manage?

I agree, sort of. My auxiliary computer (typing on now) is Windows 8, and my gaming comp 8.1. Never had any problems. Why upgrade if everything runs super-fast and has been for years?

But that's not why I'm here. I am here to ask folks what they prefer for their backup drive? Both my computers are 8 and 7 years old respectively; I've been lucky so far. I never back anything up, which I know is stupid. But that's why I'm here.

[Decrepit]

*looks at Windows 7*

Yes. Totally not good. How ever will we manage?

I agree, sort of. My auxiliary computer (typing on now) is Windows 8, and my gaming comp 8.1. Never had any problems. Why upgrade if everything runs super-fast and has been for years?

But that's not why I'm here. I am here to ask folks what they prefer for their backup drive? Both my computers are 8 and 7 years old respectively; I've been lucky so far. I never back anything up, which I know is stupid. But that's why I'm here.

I have a 5TB external conventional hard drive, connected to my PC via USB as needed. Putting anything on that drive is ultra s.l.o.w. compared to SSD. But I can't afford SSDs of that capacity. I recommend external for backups as those offer better protection should you get attacked by malware, ransomware, and so on. So long as you remember to keep them disconnected when not performing backups.

Like you, I am VERY remiss about backing up my partitions. My current backups are hopelessly out of date. My backup software likely is too.

[treydog]

It depends on how much "stuff" you have, to use the technical term. 1 or 2 Terabyte external USB 3.0 hard drives can be purchased for a relatively modest price. Those are useful if you are backing up large amounts of data (pictures and video come to mind). Advantage- lots of space for a small cost, portable.

If you mostly have such things as documents, genealogy files, saved games- a reasonable size (32 to 128 Gigabyte) USB "flash drive/memory stick" will suffice. Those can be purchased from reputable sellers for less the 20$ U.S. Advantage- super easy to use, cheap, portable

Either one has the advantage of being portable- you can keep your backup somewhere other than where your computer sits.

Another remote storage possibility is using cloud storage, which is offered by quite a few vendors (Amazon for example). If your PC suffers a catastrophe, your backed up files are out there on the vendor's server, ready for you to bring them back. Of course, if the VENDOR suffers a failure (or a hack or ransomware attack).... Or maybe just goes out of business... Advantage- storage is absolutely "off-site"- so if your house burns or floods or is attacked by rampaging yeti and you survive to get a new PC- you can retrieve your files. (As long as you remember how to log in to your cloud storage account).

The more technical option (for which I would recommend an external hard drive) is to pay for some sort of imaging or "mirroring" software, which can create a copy of your entire hard drive, programs, OS, and files included. The downside of most of those is that they are somewhat difficult to use, and not inexpensive.

As for the root of the issue "Support for this OS will be ending- run in circles, scream and shout, wave your arms and race about".... The only "problem" is Microsquash will stop issuing official patches and updates. But- if you exercise reasonable care- such as a good anti-virus program updated regularly- that is not a deal-breaker.

[SubRosa]

As for the root of the issue "Support for this OS will be ending- run in circles, scream and shout, wave your arms and race about".... The only "problem" is Microsquash will stop issuing official patches and updates. But- if you exercise reasonable care- such as a good anti-virus program updated regularly- that is not a deal-breaker.

Yeah, I did that with Windows 7 for quite a while. You will be fine without updates so long as you take care in avoiding sites and downloads that might be malware susceptible. The only real stumbling block might be that Microstone will also stop making software that works on the older operating systems / versions of Direct X. For example Direct X 12 only works on Windows 10. So you can only play a DX12 game on Win10. I eventually did upgrade my gaming PC to Windows 10 because of that.