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Upgrading System


Springheel

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Well, today is going to be a busy day. I'm upgrading my main system to 2.8CPU, 1 Gig of RAM and a 9800pro. Then my old primary system will be cannibalized to upgrade my secondary system. Then my secondary system will be cannibalized to upgrade my friend's system (so he can finally play T3).

 

On a sour note, I accidently left a new HD sitting in my car overnight. A temperate of probably -10 C. What are the chances I've totally ruined it? And is there any way to tell quickly? I don't want to spend hours installing stuff and have it crash tomorrow.

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On a sour note, I accidently left a new HD sitting in my car overnight. A temperate of probably -10 C. What are the chances I've totally ruined it? And is there any way to tell quickly? I don't want to spend hours installing stuff and have it crash tomorrow.

I hope some of you keep a slow system, because we will need this for testing and optimizing. :)

 

As for the drive. Such a tempreture shouldn't be a proboem, but to make sure you shuold look at the sheet that it is accomapnying(brlblrnjkfd). Or you might look at the manufacturer site.

Gerhard

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Hey Spar, I'm having a problem with this installation (big surprise).

 

I know you're a linux guy, but do you know anything about windows? I'm using WinXP Home edition. It came on my computer when I originally bought it about two years ago.

I transferred my Master HD from my old computer to this new one, but now when I try to boot it up, it goes into windows but then says Windows must be activated to log in. My only two options are to activate by phone or online.

 

When I try to activate online, it says it can't detect an internet connection and boots me out of windows (so how on earth can I set up my internet connection?)

 

When I try to activate by phone, the automated voice tells me my activation code (the one Windows GIVES me to punch in) isn't valid.

 

Man, I'd have an easier time with a bloody pirated version. I don't want to have to reinstal, as everything on the HD is just the way I like it.

 

I know it's a long shot, but any suggestions?

 

Why does Windows care that the HD is in a new computer??

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Why does Windows care that the HD is in a new computer??

Microsoft wants to track your every single move. Change YOUR computer? You have to get THEIR permission. And yet, we continue to deal with them...

 

Call up the telephone number and either stay on the line for assistance, or hit the "O" key or something, I can't remember which. When you speak to the representative, he will have you read your CD key and hit the "generate new code" button, and then he'll give you a new registration code. Simple and done. :) ...... :ph34r:

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I'll try that, Dave, thanks. I am really pissed at the moment. Not only am I having this annoyance with Microsoft, but I just discovered that there is only 512 RAM in the machine when I payed for a Gig, and the fan sounds like a bloody vacuum cleaner! I can hear it three rooms away! I am very annoyed

 

:angry:

 

edit: Hey thanks, Dave, it worked! Never once did it say you could press a button to talk to someone, so I didn't even try it before.

 

Now I just have to deal with the place I got it from....

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Man, I'd have an easier time with a bloody pirated version. I don't want to have to reinstal, as everything on the HD is just the way I like it.

 

I know it's a long shot, but any suggestions?

 

Why does Windows care that the HD is in a new computer??

Because that is the protection approach they take. You can change up to three components without re-registering.

 

That's exactly my point with Steam. They are going in a similar direction.

 

You can use a crack or you have to register by phone.

Gerhard

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I'll try that, Dave, thanks. I am really pissed at the moment. Not only am I having this annoyance with Microsoft, but I just discovered that there is only 512 RAM in the machine when I payed for a Gig, and the fan sounds like a bloody vacuum cleaner! I can hear it three rooms away! I am very annoyed

There can be several reasons. If your machine crashes frequently, then you might try to press a little bit on the RAM. Could be that it is loose.

 

Or the RAM doesn't get along with each other. But that would be strange if you bought it complete. Normaly this can happen when you buy an additional RAM later on.

Gerhard

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No they just decided not to put the other RAM chip in. Turns out they didn't charge me for it either, but still, it's annoying.

 

As it turns out I have to go back in anyway to replace this fan. It sounds almost like a small vacuum cleaner. It's ridiculous.

 

Anyway, I've got most stuff working again, but I'm still having one problem. I have a new slave HD. It's detected properly by bios, and when I look in the Device manager, it is listed as working properly. But when I use windows explorer, it doesn't show up. It only lists:

 

C: (master)

D: (cd-rom)

E: (dvd)

F (SAYS it's a DVD, but I only have one)

 

It also lists an A:, which I don't have anymore. Is there any special way to get explorer to see this HD? I don't understand why it would be in the device manager list but not here.

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working properly. But when I use windows explorer, it doesn't show up. It only lists:

I'm not sure, but don't you have to partition it first? Maybe it isn't. Dont remember if such drivers are not showing up in the Explorer. I never use it. BUt it would make sense because they have no drive letter assigned.

Gerhard

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How do you assign a drive letter? I though that was done automatically.

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How do you assign a drive letter? I though that was done automatically.

This is only done if the drive is partioned. If it is not then no drive letter will be assigned.

 

Don't know how this works in WXP but you can look at it. Open System control and look for something like maintenance. And there should be the disk paritioned in there. Sorry! But I don't know the english names for these icons.

Gerhard

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Well, my new drive isn't partitioned...but shouldn't it be given a drive letter anyway?

 

It seems like there are no end of troubles...I've noticed that the entire computer seems to be 'stuttering' as it processes stuff. Doesn't matter what game I load or what I test, every few seconds the computer seems to hang for half a second or so.

 

Could this be an overheating issue? The CPU and motherboard are both around 60 degrees Celcius. If it's not that then I have no idea what might cause such a thing across all applications. I'm getting pretty bummed out though...the system is worse now then I was before I upgraded. :(

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Well, my new drive isn't partitioned...but shouldn't it be given a drive letter anyway?

 

No. even if your drive has only one partition, spanning the entire drive, it is partitioned then. If it comes fresh from the manufacturer it is not partitioned. Normally when you by a computer complete then all drives are partitioned if you by it with an operating system installed. But considering what you told us about your RAM they might not have bothered with it. Strange company though. :)

 

It seems like there are no end of troubles...I've noticed that the entire computer seems to be 'stuttering' as it processes stuff.  Doesn't matter what game I load or what I test, every few seconds the computer seems to hang for half a second or so.

 

Sounds like a problem with your IDE controller. You should do some speedtesting. This often happens when the DMA transfer is not activated, though this would be pretty strange for such a new machine. Of course it can be something totally different. Hard to say from a distance. You should go to a friend who knows about hardware and let him test your machine.

 

Could this be an overheating issue?  The CPU and motherboard  are both around 60 degrees Celcius.

 

I'm not an expert with CPUs but 60 sounds normal to me. But don't rely on me in that case. Either post in some hardware forum on usenet or ask somebody who knows. What you said about your setup, I would trust your deal about as far as I could throw an elephant.

 

If it's not that then I have no idea what might cause such a thing across all applications.  I'm getting pretty bummed out though...the system is worse now then I was before I upgraded.  :(

 

Did you buy an entire system or did you upgrade some parts?

Gerhard

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Well, my new drive isn't partitioned...but shouldn't it be given a drive letter anyway?

 

It seems like there are no end of troubles...I've noticed that the entire computer seems to be 'stuttering' as it processes stuff.  Doesn't matter what game I load or what I test, every few seconds the computer seems to hang for half a second or so.

 

Could this be an overheating issue?  The CPU and motherboard  are both around 60 degrees Celcius.  If it's not that then I have no idea what might cause such a thing across all applications.  I'm getting pretty bummed out though...the system is worse now then I was before I upgraded.  :(

Could be an overheating issue or a psu issue. I thinnk the ideal temperature would be around 45 degrees C.

 

What's the brand and power rating on your psu? I fixed a similar problem when a new gfx card caused my system to become unstable due to the fact my old psu couldn't handle the power load.

Edited by ElusiveOutlaw
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It's an Enermax EG465P-Ve, 450 Watts. With two fans, apparently. I don't know which of them is making all of the racket. :(

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I found this power requirements calculator.

 

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

 

From your description, I calculate about 330 Watts. (assuming a 9800 pro ~ XT). A 450 W should in theory be okay but that doesn't necessarily mean that it really outputs 450 w because manufacturers tend to mislead about their true power output, which is sometimes a lot lower.

 

I'm not saying that is your problem, just something to think about.

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Well, just an update...my system finally seems to be settling into order. All the hardware is working, and other than a couple weird things happening in Photoshop, things are back to normal. Looking forward to seeing what D3 looks like now. :)

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Well, my brother showed me how to partition the new drive, and once I uninstalled the old graphics drivers and reinstalled, the stuttering problem was gone. Over at D3W, zeh told me that the reason my GUI editor wasn't working anymore was because I'd put anti-aliasing on in Doom. Apparently that's a no-no when you're editing.

 

So as of this moment, the only thing I can't explain is why my Photoshop image of the open book suddenly has a weird barcode spashed across it.

 

edit: I have another question though...I have winxp home on my secondary computer, and would like to upgrade it to xp Pro. Can I just install right over top? It's giving me the 'having two operating systems is not recommended' spash screen.

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So as of this moment, the only thing I can't explain is why my Photoshop image of the open book suddenly has a weird barcode spashed across it.

 

It's not a banknote by chance?

 

edit:  I have another question though...I have winxp home on my secondary computer, and would like to upgrade it to xp Pro.  Can I just install right over top?  It's giving me the 'having two operating systems is not recommended' spash screen.

 

The best way is to delete the old harddisk and create a new partition from scratch. That's the fastest way. Of coure it depends on your system setup. If you have everything on a single partition C: then you are scrwed. Many non-developers partition their jarddrive this way, but this is the crappiest way to setup your system.

 

So if you setup a complete new installation I suggest that you create bootpartition for your XP (mine is 4GB which is more then enough) and install all apps on another partition. This way you can easily recover after a system crash or when you need to setup your OS, which happens frequently with Windows. :)

 

but to answer your question. Normally it should be possible to install over an existing system. But it could be that you have old files intermingled with new files which CAN cause problems.

Gerhard

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