On Computers

The BBQ Pit
21

Very slight hijack. We’ve purchased two Gateway computers (Pentium 3 processor and a Pentium 4 processor, respectively).

We have never had a serious problem with them. The couple of times we did have a problem, Gateway was johnny-on-spot with service. By the way, we have NEVER had to pay for the repairs.

Anubis my friend, you (or your Dad) were hosed. Get thee a name brand computer and make sure you have a minimum of 256 MBs of RAM. Diablo II will run much more smoothly, trust me. Our second computer now has 512 MB RAM. A kick-ass video card also helps. We’re running GeForce 4 video cards. There are much better cards out there, but these do the trick.

22

$2000?! I recently built a computer for $2000. Dual Xeon 2.4gHz 533 FSB, U320 SCSI, 36.7 gig SCSI, 44x24x44 SCSI CD-RW, IDE DVD-RW, Radeon 9500 128 MB DDR video card, 1024MB PC2100 DDR. Dude, you got ripped off big time.

23

Of COURSE they went out of business! They slapped together a hundred bucks worth of parts and sold it to some sucker for two grand! How do you stay open after pulling a scam like that? It’s all downhill from there.

24

32MB of RAM is better, but still not enough to run Microsoft bloatware. Hell, it is barely enough to run the graphical interface of a modern Linux distro. Of course, Linux is useful even without a graphical interface, whereas Microsoft, being horribly bloated, is not.

Anyway.

You got stuck with a crappy computer. You could systematically replace all of the substandard components and grab yourself more RAM, but once you get yourself up to a fully usable machine all you’ll have left of the original will be the case. It could be less expensive than buying a new machine outright, and it will certainly teach you more, but it’s up to you.

25

Dude, it’s called operator error. Get WinXP and have someone else install it for you.

26

What I’d like to know is how you just now bought a CyberMax. As far as I know, they’ve been out of business for over a year now.

I bought a computer from CyberMax about 2 years ago, and they failed about a year after that. Or maybe it was 3 years ago. But I never had any of the problems you’ve described. I think the only thing that went wrong with it was that (eventually) the floppy drive failed. But I was about to upgrade then, anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal to get another floppy drive (this time I mostly built my own–it was fun).

And computers are cheap these days. Even WalMart sells systems for about $300 or $400, so why is your family putting up with this?

27

yme soundes like a guy I used to work with in a copy room. Nearly every single problem with our machines was due to operator error according to him.

What we have here is at the very least insufficient memory. XP probably won’t even install on a system with just 32Meg! As others have suggested, get more memory or replace what is there already. RAM is dirt cheap these days. There could also be hardware conflicts. If this is a Windows machine, go into start -> settings -> control panel -> system and see if any exclamation points are listed. A new floppy drive might help. So might reinstalling the OS.

Better yet, just get a new system via eBay. I got an Athlon 1800 from wishstar about a year ago. You could pull the HD from your 2-grand POS and add it to the new one.

28

Yep, I am that guy. My current system is flawless, so were my previous systems. Also, when I build custom systems for people, they too are flawless, until a week later when I get the call; “My mouse button isn’t clicking the button when I click the clicker and now my screen flickers, what’s wrong?” Well, I would answer honestly, but you wouldn’t understand that either. “Try selecting the active window”, I tell them. "Huh?” I again reiterate what I’ve said. And still they do not get it.

I’m sorry, but some people just shouldn’t own a computer. I’m not saying that I know everything about computers, but for some reason, people think that I do. Sure I’m a computer nerd, I admit it. But let’s be serious here folks, you should at least know the basics by now, especially after I wrote you CUSTOM instructions for each specific task that you requested and you still don’t understand it.

If you have any OS under Win2K, you WILL GET MEMORY ERRORS NO MATTER HOW MUCH PHYSICAL MEMORY YOU HAVE!!! That is just a part of the earlier Windows versions that suck, (Ex. Win95-ME). Without going into detail, the memory handling of these versions are very poorly designed.

For some reason, I am one of the few people who rarely encounter such errors as described in the earlier posts. I running all kinds of apps simultaneously too. Now my father on the other hand, will almost ALWAYS encounter these errors. I have no idea why other than to attribute it to that famous “operator error” that you so often here from us computer nerds. Just what are you doing to cause such errors? It can’t be the downloading of porn, 'cuz I have lots of that. Is it the MP3’s? No. How about Bonzai Buddy? That’ll cause all kinds of shit to go wrong. Same goes for all those “Sign up now” icons on your desktop when you first get your pc. Do yourself a favor and do not for the love of God go near these icons. Find someone who knows what there’re doing and get that crap uninstalled and deleted permanently.

Does something seem strang about your desktop or programs? Take note: When going to uninstall something, please don’t go to the actual program folder and delete it’s contents. Try this instead: >Start button >Settings >Control Panel >Add remove programs. This will make your life and mine, a lot easier. I cannot count the number of times people have done this and wonder “What happend? I tried to uninstall it but now this other crap is screwed up.”

Me, “Did you use ‘add remove programs’?”
Them, “What’s that?”
Me, “Please customer, here’s a bucket of clues, take one.”

So you don’t know what’re doing. Look in ‘Help’ or find help. That’s how I’ve learned, and with some patience, you can too. Do just do something thinking it will work.

I’m not talking about those of you who get these errors, correct it and learn from it. I’m talking about the people who get the same errors everytime and I tell them how to deal with it and they still don’t get it. Just what are you doing to get these errors?

29

yme, you missed the most obvious operator error: Not destroying that boot sector virus your PC shipped with. Destroying Windows and installing Linux will solve all kinds of problems.

30

I’ve had computers that worked rather, oddly, out of box.

My iBook for instance, was quite unstable when new, but after I wiped the drive, it has been fine. You may wish to try that, just wipe the drive, and re-install everything.

Most all computer problems I have seen can be either solved by wiping the drive and re-installing everything, or by updating the drivers for various bits of hardware.

On the Mac side, most application problems seem to repair themselves when one trashes the preference file. Go figure.

31

oh, quick question. How old is your comp?

32

If it wasn’t bought today, it’s old.

33

Bad memory handling or no, my Win98SE has been running nearly perfect ever since scrapping AOL back in December.

BTW: I’m a computer geek too. I even assembled and sold PCs back when 286s were still too new to be considered the industry standard. Yes, there are people who bring their computer troubles down on themselves through their ignorace but please don’t assume everyone is one of them.

34

Off to the Pit.

35

Non-brand Pentium III 550 Mhz here. The componects are all brand stuff, it was just put together by someone who knew what he was doing. It’s 4 years old, and I’ve replaced the sound card and added memory (total 386 MB now). It was unreliable under Windows 98, but ever since I got Windows XP, it’s been nearly flawless (except for that one time when the fan got stuck, and it blew up its power supply :eek: ). The only thing that goes wrong occasionally is when it freezes up due to the video card: it’s an old Voodoo Banshee, and XP doesn’t have any official drivers for it. The third party stuff doesn’t cut it.

So, I’m either going to replace the video card (and maybe get the maximum spec 850 Mhz chip), or if that’s too expensive, I’ll just get a new one next year.

Anyway, it just goes to show that your PC doesn’t have to be bought at a brand store in order to work. This thing has done insane hours for over 4 years. I’d say I got my money’s worth: bought it for about $1100 (no monitor, no keyboard, no mouse) with pre-installed software in late 1998.

36

The OP’s litany of problems (which sucks) reminds me of an old joke graphic I received, which prior to Windows 2000 was almost accurate.

It was a Windows Critical Stop dialogue box, on which the error message read “The mouse has moved. You must restart your computer.”

Sorry, Anubis.

37

Oh, I did add a 40 Gig HD last year, and some other assorted things like better speakers, a webcam, that sort of thing.

38

You’re evidently talking about a extremely underpowered, relatively old system that is close to or at doorstop territory. Where the $ 2000. comes from in this context I can’t imagine unless we’re talking the purchase price in 1999 dollars or your father somehow got taken. I’m suprised it will even surf as current IE interations and many web pages require modules and applets that would have difficulty running efficiently on your PC and the memory you indicate you have available.

Why are you beating this poor old PC up?

39

Down at Best Buy, you can get 128 MB of RAM for something like $10 after rebate. I did it for my own computer, got a couple of chips, and it was a great deal.

My computer is dying now: if I turn it off, it gives me scary CMOS errors when I turn it back on. Soon I’ll replace the motherboard and chip, see if that fixes the problem. But I’ve gotten good use out of it lo these three years.

Daniel

40

$2000 for a computer??? I’d have expected to see you pay that ten years ago. For $2000 nowadays you can get a SCARY FAST computer. Perfectly okay ones go for about $1000. Your father got SCREWED. He could have gotten a better deal at someplace like Best Buy, even. Egad.

I have a four-year-old Gateway that has never ever given me a major problem, BTW. So far. patting her computer Nice computer. Atta computer…