The SSMB PC Troubleshooting and Discussion Thread

[Diz]

The first thing I want to do is disagree with further use of the HDD for backup and important data. If anything, your priority should be to copy data from that HDD to another, as it is no longer a reliable device. Continuing usage of a damaged HDD is your own risc to take. Sometimes they work well for a long time, while at other times they fail much sooner than you would ever expect.

 

Thing is, when I tried to make this latest back-up, it mentioned a "bad sector" and said it might not work if I continued. So, I looked up what a bad sector was; needless to say, I was a bit freaked out about it. I tried using the disk checker Windows has to look at it and fix it. It didn't find anything, so I tried making that back-up, again. Still got the bad sector message. Worried it might be a "hard" bad sector, I moved all the files I knew I needed to keep directly onto my computer.

 

If the in-built disk file system checker chkdsk does not find anything, you should verify that it is configured to look for bad sectors and not just look for file system errors. There should be a switch for this in the disk checker GUI. I am not sure what you mean by hard and soft bad sectors. If by soft bad sectors you mean file system errors which are not caused by physical damage, then the disk checker should have picked up on it regardless, unless it was running in read-only mode, in which it might not always detect things. If not attempted already, you could run the check through an elevated command prompt.

chkdsk driveletter /r

Example: chkdsk d: /r

If you are asked to dismount the volume first, hit Y and then enter. This check will not only repair file system errors, but it will also look for bad sectors within the specified partition and mark them in the file system to prevent Windows from using the damaged sectors.

 

So, my questions are: is there a good way of finding out whether this is a "soft" or "hard" bad sector? And, if it is the former, are there any programs or other methods anyone could recommend to fix it?

 

A bad sector on an HDD is always "hard", but to make sure, you can download and install the free edition of HD Tune (not HD Tune Pro). You can use the Error Scan tab to scan for bad sectors. Dead areas on the HDD are represented through red squares.

 

chkdsk can often compensate for bad sectors on a soft level through marking known dead areas as inaccessible. Most HDDs can also compensate for bad sectors on a hard level through reallocation to reserve sectors. This should happen automatically over time and often by coincidence, depending on read/write operations. You can also use certain programs, like HDAT2, to force sector reallocation, but I rather recommend the chkdsk /r option in your case before doing anything else. There is however no way to permanently fix the problem, and it should only be viewed upon as a short-term solution, as the bad sectors are going to spread sooner or later, and the HDD is slowly dying no matter what you do or how you look at it. Thus, if the backup is important, you should never use a damaged HDD, as you never know when it will fail completely.

 

In conclusion, run HD Tune (be sure to select the correct drive from the drop-down menu), perform a scan through the Error Scan tab (will take a very long time to complete), and if it turns out there are any red spots, run chkdsk /r as shown in the code tag to attempt marking bad sectors in the HDDs file system for extended usage. Also note that if the chart is all-green after scan is complete, the HDD may have reallocated and is using a spare sector in its place as a temporary solution, in which case, attempt chkdsk driveletter /b for bad sector marking evaluation (Windows Vista and later) and then attempt backup again. However if damage is detected, I highly recommend saving up for a new HDD. It is better to have a reliable backup than to lose it to an HDD crash.

 

I hope any of this helps. Good luck.

 

Edit: I realized I might have typed this in a haste. I would recommend running two instances of HD Tune error checking. Run one on your external HDD and also run one on the internal HDD inside your computer. You should be able to do these scans simultaneously, however note that if you use your computer during the internal scan, your computer is likely going to be very slow, and doing heavy things like gaming will not be an option throughout the error scan. This is to verify that the bad sector error is coming from the external HDD and not the internal HDD.

[Da Blu Hedgie]

Alright I've been dealing with this for 2 days now. If AVG attempts to quarantine me printconfig, deny it or you will lose all audio playback. If you are unable to then go into your virus vault and search for "ms printconfig". I've read that that works, but I didn't see that result first. My computer also slowed down massively.

[Junko]

[The Deleter]

So I'm looking into buying/making a PC to play games on and do other graphics-intensive stuff. I don't know much about computers besides the very, very basic basics, but I think I was looking for something along the same lines as the $750 build in OP. Only problem is, my parents bought a $2,000 iMac pretty recently. Would converting that iMac into a PC through bootcamp make an equal or even more powerful PC than the $750 one in the thread's OP, or not? And is bootcamp completely equal with windows, or does it have pitfalls in comparison?

[Kaze no Klonoa]

If you believe that the PC's build is stronger or you want to have much more flexibility on how strong you want it to be, then you're better off looking into the PC. However, Bootcamp has a lot of pros that weigh over it's somewhat small cons, use this ref when deciding to use a separate program to get a Windows OS on a Mac: http://www.eos.ncsu.edu/soc/support/wom/decide.php

 

EDIT: Btw that controller is really dang sweet

[Dizcrybe]

I have no idea where to put this, and a status update is only going to get ignored, so here it is.

Chrome does this thing it likes to do when it just stops playing videos on youtube completely, and the only way to fix that is to restart Chrome. But once that's done, Chrome is muted somehow. Everything on my volume mixer is turned all the way up. I've cleared my cache and cookies (meaning I how have to login to every site I have an account on for nothing, woo), I'm using the latest versions of Flash and Chrome. Is there a fix for this that doesn't involve the slow, slow process of restarting my computer?

[Your Vest Friend]

Quite frankly, I'm afraid I don't think there is. I've had the issue more than a few times, and only sometimes has a cache clearance solved it. Not even Updating Chrome solves it all the time (and it's asking to update now, so maybe I'll run into this issue again sooner rather than later).

Edited July 26, 2015 by VEDJ-F

[Diz]

Chrome has in-built flash support, and if you have a flash plugin installed visible in the Control Panel, you should remove this, not that it likely is the root source of the problem, but for flash playback in Chrome it is neither needed nor used.

I can only think of completely resetting Chrome. I believe there is an option for this in the settings somewhere? There may be a conflicting plugin or modification causing the issue, that is if you have done something third-party like with your Chrome.

You should also try to do a complete wipe-and-install of Chrome, especially if you have not made any important or personal adjustments that you do not want to lose. You should try this by uninstalling Chrome from the Control Panel, but make sure to backup any important bookmarks and make note of any important settings. If reinstalling it this way does not work, you can try it again by using Revo Uninstaller Free (not Revo Uninstaller Pro), which will first remove the Web browser from your computer and then clean out any settings or remains which Windows Installer can tend to skip, before installing Chrome again.

Is there a fix for this that doesn't involve the slow, slow process of restarting my computer?

Often in the computer world, roots to problems can be caused by something that seems completely unrelated. A horribly slow start-up time can indicate other issues, despite Windows Vista, but I would try the other steps before venturing into that.

Last, but not least, I will be merging your content into The SSMB PC Troubleshooting and Discussion Thread, currently in the Video Games section, so that users more easily can see computer-related calls for help and to have a single portal for various computer assistance and troubleshooting purposes. Do not be afraid to update us on the situation if the problem persists or changes. Best of luck.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Diz
Topic Merge: No sound in Chrome (Vista) -> The SSMB PC Troubleshooting and Discussion Thread

[Dizcrybe]

Argh, I was wondering where this thread was.

[Strickerx5]

Wow, this topic got completely buried. Weird since there are a bunch of pc users here… Let me try and revive it a bit here.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been acting on a project I’ve been planning for a couple of months now…

The Windowtosh (name courtesy of @Spinny)

This has been my computer for the past two years. Coming off of a straight Mac life, it was quite the change. It’s a great laptop and has served me very well. It’s able to reach into the high-very high settings in most games and is just, overall, very reliable.

Though, I was always interested in something a bit higher in terms of specs. I had been researching on possible upgrades for a while now but had come to the conclusion back in the spring that I’d be good with this for a while mainly due to me not having the spending funds at the time for something substantial that would be future proof for the most part. Then… I got accepted into an internship which I’m currently at now.

The pay is… gooood to say the least. So, I suddenly found myself with some spending money. I think the tipping point came right after E3 when the Doom beta was released. I had been interested in the game so I decided to download the pc version of the demo and give it a shot… the results, opened my eyes a bit.

Even on low my pc wasn’t able to handle it at even a consistent 50fps. That was the point at which I realized that I was behind the curve. I couldn’t even think about getting the pc version of anything coming out this fall.

So, I basically decided that it was time for an upgrade. Everything sort of just fell into place after that. People at my internship directed me to some good places for parts and gave me some great tips. I stumbled across a pre-built pc that was $600 below msrp due to it being a display unit that the store literally forgot about (seriously though, the guy selling it seemed kind of mad that he didn’t spot it before me).

Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking. A pre-built pc? Who the hell even considers something like that nowadays? Well, let me say this. GTX 980, 2TB, 256ssd, intel-core i7-6700k, 16gb of ram, blu-ray drive, Windows 10, wireless adapter and Bluetooth built in, customizable led lighting, backlit keyboard and mouse included, and just enough room for my own tweaks, all for around $1100. Now, I’m still pretty new to this world but I did use Pc Part Picker to compare a build with the same parts and that came out to around $1500. So, I think that was a good starting point.

The only real problem that I can find with it is that it only has 1 gpu slot. Though, I had made the decision pretty early on that I wasn’t going to bother with things like sli due to the cost and the general fact that most of the games I play either A) Don’t need anything near that much power and/or don’t even have the functionality for it. Maybe in my next build but for the foreseeable future… it’s just not worth it to me.

After that, fortune continued to shine my way when a family member came across a down right spectacular deal. I won’t go too into detail but since one of my immediate family members is an employee recruiter for a bunch of tech companies, he was in the right place at the right time to land several GTX 1080s straight from Zotac. He offered a FE to me for $400. At that point, the argument of what type of 1080 to get can be damned. Nothing is going to beat that price for a long time.

Trust me when I say those cord were dealt with before I closed the case. I don't need the inside to look good, but I do need the airflow XD.

So I switched out the gpu along with the power supply because while a 500w was recommended and worked well, I didn’t want any chance of bottlenecks. Also, the psu in the build was by a brand named Delta which doesn’t have the best rack record from what I hear so I went with a 600w Corsair instead.

So, without further ado, I give you Lunar-Frigate. (What other name did you honestly expect from me? XD)

Add in a nice Asus monitor that I got for $200. Again, another blessing since it was actually going for around $30 more but the store messed up the price label and gave it to me. It’s only 1080p with a 60 refresh rate but it’s a 27 inch and the color on it is spectacular which is all I really cared about. I don’t plan on playing that many games that would truly benefit from a higher framerate. Also, I just couldn’t find a 4k monitor that looked good to me (especially for the price). Plus, this one has built in speakers!

Does it make the 1080 seem like overkill? Yes, but it goes back to what I said about future proofing. I can always take the gpu out and put it in a new system down the line. Also, some games like GTA V still makes it struggle at points when AA is applied even at 1080p.

Ok, so everything works and looks good but how does it perform you may ask… well:

Doom on Ultra at 2715X1527

I can put Overwatch at Epic and past 1920X1080 and it pretty much never drops below 60. I’ve cranked Far Cry 4 to it’s highest settings and it rarely ever dropped below 60. I can also now run just about every game I have on Dolphin.

Hell, Arkham Knight is running at a constant 60fps with the resolution above the set screen resolution (like Overwatch) with the smoke and broken Nvidia stuff on. I can do donuts in the batmobile in the middle of the city without a single frame dropping… and do I even need to mention the Sonic games on steam.

So yeah, overall I’m pretty pleased with it. I still have a bit of testing to do but I’m happy with the results so far. What I also love about this new, non-laptop, pc life is that I can totally take out, switch, and reuse parts when I’m ready for another upgrade or something. I’m also very happy with the price of it all. The build I had going on PC Part Picker for about the same stuff had me well past 2K. I was able to keep everything here far below that.

Anyways… now that everything is set up, all I can say is that the next Sonic game better have a pc port! XD Also, WHERE THE HELL IS MY UNLEASHED PC PORT SEGA!? LW wasn’t even good :V

[Dizcrybe]

For some reason, TV Tropes won't load on any of my browsers. All I get in as error message saying the connection timed out.

I honestly don't know what happened. It was working fine before I went to bed, and in the morning it just stopped loading.

The computers downstairs in the business center can load TV Tropes just fine; mine seems to be the only one affected.

I've looked for solutions online, and I've tried almost all of them, but to no avail. I'm at wit's end here. No matter what I do, I can't get it to load.

I'm running Windows 10 if that helps.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

So I have a question:

My computer is getting on in age, considering it's a Windows 7 with a:

Processor

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 650 @ 3.20GHz

 

Video Card

NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

 

RAM

8.0 GB

 

Operating System

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit

 

and I've been noticing that it's getting steadily slower or more difficult to run certain software, like Adobe Indesign or Photoshop (or at least a significant delay when doing so), especially compared to my Macbook Pro. I'm also noting that it's just slower in general, and I've been debating on upgrading either certain aspects of it, or just getting a new system eventually. I don't want to do the latter yet however until I'm sure my computer can't hold it's own anymore, so I want to upgrade some parts. That being said, I'm reluctant to upgrade to Windows 10 since I've heard that it doesn't work smoothly for older computers, especially during the actual updating.

 

The problem? I don't know anything about upgrading my computer and this is even after checking things up.

 

Thus my question for the tech savvy of the SSMB: What parts should i upgrade, or should I save up for a new system?

[Badnik Mechanic]

Is the machine just for Photoshoptype applications? Or are you also wanting high end games and video rendering?

 

Also what's the age of the system and how much love has it had?

[SenEDDtor Missile]

2 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

Is the machine just for Photoshoptype applications? Or are you also wanting high end games and video rendering?

 

Also what's the age of the system and how much love has it had?

It's mostly an all purpose computer, although considering I've been meaning to update to Sony Movie Studio Platinum 14, video rendering might be a nice thing to have. High end games aren't really a high priority for me.

As for age, about 5-6 years old and I keep it fairly clean and safe.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Honestly? The first step might be to just give the thing a good clean out with CCcleaner and a manual defrag.

If youve never done that. Do it then see if it improves any of the loading/response times.

8GB of RAM should be fine for what you want. Upgrading to 16GB really won't add much benefit that you'll see.

Whilst not the highest end processor, it should also be fine for what you want.

So.. Upgrade or replace? 

Well.... If you really are going to do a lot of high end video editing. I would replace the machine with video editing in mind.

So modern high end i5 or i7 processor and whatever is a 'decent' video card these days.

 

But if you wanted to try and do something on your current machine which you'll see an improvement of loading and response times. Get an SSD-Drive and also the operating system on there as well as Photoshop.

The loading and response times will be drastically reduced.... but processing and render times for media stuff probably won't improve.

 

I think though that the main issue is simply the age of the machine. It's a Windows machine, so 5-6 years will show signs of age. If the defrag and cleaner really doesn't help, I don't think it would be worth individual upgrades since to me it sounds more like the system is just old and a bit bloated.

[McGroose]

So I don't know if this is the appropriate place to discuss this, however, Nvidia is being really questionable at the moment.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/nvidia-gtx-1650-slight-upgrade-over-gtx-1050/
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1650-graphics-card-benchmark,38882.html

GTX 1650 specs are being leaked across the board. There is general consistency with these leaks, and considering one leak also said that the GTX 1660 will be released on March 14 (which it was, reviewer copies), I feel like these leaks seem legit. If they are legit, we should see this card around April 30th. It is barely an upgrade, if at all, from the GTX 1050 Ti. Well, what does it cost? $179... That is dumb AF. It's nearly consistent with the 1050 ti, which had an MSRP of $139 and you're adding an extra $40 for next to no additional performance? Who is going to buy this product? Why not just get the 1660 for 40 more bucks and get double the performance, or get an AMD card for the same price that's gonna be twice as good or close. This stupidity is on par with the GT 1030 DDR4. The 1650 should be the same MSRP as the 1050 Ti, maybe $149 at most.

I'm not buying this "mobile variant" shit. The leaked specs have been showing a consistent lack of improvement over the 1050 Ti pretty much always. I doubt all of those were for the mobile variant.