Computing Chat

OCZ Vertex 3 BSOD

2011-07-30T08:42:00.006+01:00

I am sharing this post for information - there is no solution.

OCZ Vertex 3

I bought an OCZ Vertex 3 120gig SSD when I upgraded my system.

Installed Windows 7 64bit on it and the next day I got my first BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). I rebooted the computer and it could not find a system disk. I had to go in to the BIOS and search for the drive then set as boot drive again.

I Google'd to see if I could find a solution - the option was to upgrade the firmware but people were complaining it slows the drive down.

Other options were to disable power saving on the drive which I did as the BSOD were only happening when the computer was inactive. However after a week the BSOD started coming if computer was active or idle.

The company (Over Clockers UK) that I bought the drive from told me to return it as it sounded as if it was faulty due to not being seen by the BIOS on reboot.

I replaced the drive with an Intel 510 Series 120 GB drive and have had no problems at all.

The OCZ Vertex 3 did have the edge on the Intel 510 - the OCZ scored 7.9 and the Intel scores 7.8. It is only very slightly noticeable but if compared to an old SATA II drive it is blistering fast.

Anyone thinking of upgrading should go for it but maybe read reviews if you are thinking about the OCZ or see if they have made some firmware that addresses the problem.

Tropico 3 Crash

2011-07-29T23:10:00.001+01:00

I recently bought Tropico 3 for the PC - installed fine but when I tried to run the game it kept crashing to the desktop. Screen go black cursor change to game pointer then get an error message.

I am running dual screen and the game will run fine with one screen disabled.

The solution was to set the games refresh rate to the same as my screen.

How to fix

Go to control panel and disable your 2nd display.
Run game -> go to graphics options -> set refresh rate to 60hz from 59hz.
Go back to control panel and enable 2nd display.
Game will run fine now.

PC wont boot with USB drive

2010-05-31T11:08:00.001+01:00

An external harddrive is a great way to back up all your system files but you may of attached one to your computer and found that it wont boot and hangs on the bios information screen.

To get around this unplug the power on the USB External harddrive and then reboot - when your computer turns on you need to enter the bios - to do this hit the del key when you see the screen that shows your post screen.

In the bios you need to find USB mass storage support and enable this - exit your bios saving the change this normally is by hitting the F10 key. Then say yes to save changes.

Reboot your computer with your USB external Harddrive plugged in and it should boot you in to windows.

Update: My computer stopped booting and again was haning on the BIOS screen - I unplugged my USB drive and moved it to another USB slot and rebooted this fixed the problem.

Rip DVD to iPod

2010-03-13T12:18:00.001Z

Ripped a DVD to a format that you can use on your iPod Touch is easy to do.

You will need 2 tools which are free to use, the first rips the DVD to your computer and the second converts the file format to MP4.

To copy a DVD to your computer you will need DVD Decrypter which can be downloaded here

To covert the file to MP4 you will need Videora which can be downloaded here

When you have installed Videora it will give you full instructions of what settings to use in DVD Decrypter and then give you a wizard to then convert your file to MP4.

iTunes Locked Windows 7

2010-02-15T22:59:00.005Z

The folder iTunes is on a locked disk or you do not have write permissions for this folder.

I got this error after changing folder locations on my computer that iTunes was set to use.

To get around this problem go to your 'iTunes folder' and right click on 'iTunes.exe' and choose 'Properties' - choose to 'Run As Administrator' - this should fix your error.

This isn't a permanent fix and you need to go through this process every time you want to load iTunes. Today I am going to look for a more permanent fix.

I have since (I do not recommend doing this btw) removed itunes and every itunes related entry on my computer inculding folders and reg entries.

I reinstalled iTunes and then had a new problem which was "This iPod cannot be used because the required software is not installed" I am running windows 7 64bit version and had installed iTunes 64bit version.

I googled that and found this post http://randomwindowstips.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/windows-7-itunes-9-software-is-not-installed/ - I followed these instructions and now everything works as it should. Thanks to the owner of Random Windows Tips for creating that post.

No sound firefox

2009-11-01T23:49:00.003Z

If you have no sound in firefox and you have tried to reinstall flash player then another solution could be ..

While running firefox and something such as You Tube or something that should have sound

1. Right Click on speaker icon in systray
2. Click on Open Volume Mixer
3. Turn the volume up for firefox if its turn down

Windows 7 Snap and Dual Screen

2009-10-29T12:54:00.006Z

Today I was trying to get 2 programs side by side as shown on the windows 7 advert on TV.

It didn't work, I could only get one program to snap to the outter edge but not the middle ..

There seems to be a bug if you are using dual screen, I guess because it assumes you want to move to a different screen when you drag to the side

A fix to snap windows side by side on dual screen

Click window you want to move to side - hold down the windows key and press either the left or right arrow button.

AC'97 Realtek Sound Issues Windows 7

2009-08-12T21:20:00.006+01:00

Read on if Windows 7 installed but no sound, can only select Realtek Digital Output in playback devices which uses Rear panel Optical Jack.

If you have installed Windows 7 64bit Ultimate on your system and have no option to select your speakers but have installed the latest drivers from Realtek.

Go here http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsview.aspx?langid=1&pnid=14&pfid=24&level=4&conn=3&downtypeid=3&getdown=false - You may need to click accept a couple of times first.

Today I installed windows 7 and had the above problem and had already gone to the Realtek website and followed the download links to the latest AC'97 Codec but for some reason that logical link offers out of date drivers which didn't work dated back in March 09.

I Googled the problem and found a forum here http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/3756-latest-realtek-hd-audio-driver-version.html which links to the hidden page with the correct AC'97 drivers.

The driver I am successfully using is: Vista, Windows7 Driver (32/64 bits) Driver only (ZIP file) R2.30

What is a THM File

2009-02-05T09:26:00.003Z

If you have a digital video camera or a digital camera and use that for video and have transfered the files to your computer you may notice you have the actual movie file example.avi and another file called example.thm.

The .thm file is just a thumb nail and if you rename it to .jpg it will show as a small image.

Sharing drives and folders on Vista

2009-01-27T20:44:00.003Z

When I first tried to set up my network using Vista it didn't work like I was previously used to in Windows XP. I kept getting access denied messages when I tried to connect to another computers hard drives. So I hunted for a solution and this worked.

How to share folders over a network using Windows Vista

1. Browse to the folder
2. Right click on the folder and click on share
3. From the drop down box choose 'Everyone'
4. Click 'Add'
5. From the permission level choose 'Co-owner'
6. Click 'Share'
7. Click 'Done'

How to share a whole drive over a network using Windows Vista

Browse to the drive you want to share
Right click and choose 'Properties' then the 'Security' tab then click on 'Edit'
Choose 'Add'
Click on 'Advanced'
Click on 'Find Now'
From the search results down the bottom locate 'Everyone' then double click
Click 'Ok'
Then put a tick in 'Full Control' (for Everyone)
Click 'Ok'
Wait for the settings to change
Click 'Ok'

Uninstall Internet Explorer 8 Vista

2009-01-26T11:02:00.003Z

I wanted to try 'Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2' but it wouldn't let me install unless I uninstalled 'IE8 Beta 1'

I looked in Programs and Features and couldn't see an option to uninstall IE8 ..

I went to the folder where it was installed and there was no uninstall feature there ..

Microsoft has changed what Windows X users are used to in vista and renamed things.

I found how to do it eventually but a 2 min task had taken me about an hour!

How to uninstall Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) in Vista

Go to Start > Control Panel > Programs and features - Left hand menu choose updates - It's listed there ..

File header checksum

2009-01-26T10:33:00.004Z

The file header checksum does not match the computed checksum

I had this error after a blue screen. Computer would not boot in to windows after this. It would go through the bios screen then this message would appear. "The file header checksum does not match the computed checksum"

I did a lot of surfing to see if I could find a solution and there wasn't a fixed solution for the error.

I opened up my computer and found that a transmitter on the motherboard had blown. I contacted Over Clockers explained my situation and they sent me a new motherboard.

I fitted the new motherboard and still had errors, so I am not sure if the transmitter blowing contributed to my problem or was coincidence.

After the initial blue screen and system problems I put my C: drive in another computer to see if I could access files - the hard drive failed and would not boot on the other computer.

So I tried to install windows vista 64 bit on another hard drive I had in my computer. It wouldn't install so I swapped out my DVD drive for a new one which I had spare. This still didn't allow me to install windows. So this is when I opened my computer and discovered something had blown.

When I had the new motherboard and rebuilt and still couldn't install windows I tried a new IDE cable for my DVD drive and a new SATA cable for my hard drive with no joy.

So now my computer had a new motherboard, a new hard drive, a new DVD drive, a new SATA cable, a new IDE cable - also I had ram out of another computer.

At this point I was quite stressed out and thought I would go through each bit of hardware from a similar built computer I have.

I replaced the IDE cable again and this time it worked.

So I think I was unlucky in the fact I tried an IDE cable initially and it hadn't worked.

So I am not sure if the transmitter on the motherboard was my initial problem and it took out my hard drive and an IDE cable or it was just the IDE cable and the other hardware failure by some freak chance happened at the same time. I do not know how long the transmitter had been blown on the motherboard.

So if you get an error message "The file header checksum does not match the computed checksum" Try your IDE cable and if it doesn't work - Try another one!!

Dreamweaver on Vista 64 bit

2009-01-25T22:48:00.004Z

Dreamweaver 8.0.2 Update on Vista 64 bit

If you are using Vista 64 bit and running Dreamweaver 8 you may of noticed that when you try to connect to a website that you had previously put the FTP details in to Dreamweaver for, you can't because its lost the information.

You need to update your copy of Dreamweaver to the lastest 8 patch 8.0.2. However if you are using 64 bit vista you wont be able to.

The Dreamweaver 8.0.2 update will not install on a computer running Windows Vista 64 bit. You will get an error message saying 'The application was stopped and did not patch.'

If you are lucky enough to have another computer running Vista 32 bit you can get around this problem.

Install Dreamweaver 8 on the Vista 32 bit machine and patch it with the 8.0.2 update, then copy the whole installed directory to your Vista 64 bit computer and it will work !!

Before doing this I suggest you renamed the exisiting folder containing the unpatched Dreamweaver (incase it doesn't work for you) and then copy the patched installation to the same location as the old folder (i.e. same harddrive).