the hopeless computer question thread

[F8]

I ask too many dumb questions. So I'll just use this as the official thread for my computer questions.


Is this http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=Samsung the same as this http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SAMSUNG-1GB-PC3 ... dZViewItem ?? And if so, why the huge price differential? It's only like $40 on ebay, even with shipping factored in?


Also, what is the deal with RAM timing (ie. 2 + 2 + 2 + 5) or whatever? And what does that mean?

And...tad-dah....why overclock your RAM? I don't understand this. How does it differ from overclocking your CPU?

[F8]

Don't all rush at once. Another one: Can I use my existing fan and heatsink (if I have one) with the new x2 CPU cuz it's OEM and it came with nothing. I've never replaced a CPU by myself before. Or do I have to buy a special fan and heatsink for the new CPU model?


Also, the clock has been consistently falling behind on my PC lately. Does that mean I need to replace the battery on the motherboard? And if so, will it erase anything if I remove the battery?

[melancholy]

Don't all rush at once. Another one: Can I use my existing fan and heatsink (if I have one) with the new x2 CPU cuz it's OEM and it came with nothing. I've never replaced a CPU by myself before. Or do I have to buy a special fan and heatsink for the new CPU model?

This is about the only question I can answer. Assuming we are still talking about your 939 board, then yes, the heatsink and fan from the old processor should fit the new one. However, I would definitely monitor the temperatures for the first week or two because the new processor might generate more heat than the old one. I doubt you will have a problem, but it's good to watch. Definitely make sure you get some new silver thermal paste, though.

Also, the clock has been consistently falling behind on my PC lately. Does that mean I need to replace the battery on the motherboard? And if so, will it erase anything if I remove the battery?

Wouldn't hurt. I don't know if this is the problem, but losing time is always an indication. As for what will be erased, basically it's going to screw up your BIOS settings. However, I believe that so long as you don't leave your computer without the battery for more than 2 minutes, the settings will stay intact. So just have the new one ready to go when you replace it, switch them out quickly, and you should be fine.

[F8]

Ok...thanks.

Another question: I just bought a 1 gig stick of Samsung Ram PC3200 DDR 184 pin to go along w/ my other two 512 Samsung PC3200 DDR 184 pin ram....for a combined total of 2 gigs.

At first, it booted fine and everything loaded as normal. After about a minute of Win XP being on, it suddenly reset itself....then offered the various boot-up options (ie. last known good configuration, safe mode, safe mode w/ networking, normal mode, etc). Long story short, no mode worked...not even safe mode. It just said some error crap after attempting to load XP....and would freeze. Despite this, in BIOS I could see that the computer was detecting 2 gigs of ram. My only option at this point was to remove the extra ram, and voila....the computer booted into XP fine as normal.

Is it maybe cuz I just need a completely fresh install of XP w/ the added ram now? Or is it corrupted ram? Or a registry conflict? Or a BIOS setting I'm unaware of? Any suggestions?? Otherwise I blew $80 on ram I dunno what to do with.

[Zealous zerotype]

I've heard that mixing diffrent sizes of ram can be bad. So, that is probally it. If you think it just might be bad ram then you can run boot up disc that run ram checks (i believe one is called memtest).

[melancholy]

First off, take out your existing RAM and just place in the new stick by itself. If you still get the errors, the stick is bad. If it runs fine, then your motherboard might have a dual channel layout that requires RAM to be placed in a certain order. Placing two different sticks in a dual channel setting will cause tons of conflicts.

[F8]

Anyone know: Is there any way to save all your email msgs in Outlook? For example, before reformatting the HD and reinstalling a clean copy of XP, is there a way to back up all my outlook emails? I'm a pack-rat, so to speak, and keep all my emails; sometimes they can come in handy. Ideas?

[Quzar]

Also, what is the deal with RAM timing (ie. 2 + 2 + 2 + 5) or whatever? And what does that mean?

And...tad-dah....why overclock your RAM? I don't understand this. How does it differ from overclocking your CPU?

The timings refer to how many clock cycles it takes to do certain commands, to read/write individual blocks of data. Basically if you have 400mhz ram that has 4-4-4-4 timing, it will be similar in speed to 200mhz ram with 2-2-2-2 timing (ok, not really, but all else equal it would be close).

Overclocking ram usually yeilds better results than overclocking CPU speed due to the relative speeds of each. Almost always CPUs can process data MUCH faster than memory can supply new data.

[Hawke]

Anyone know: Is there any way to save all your email msgs in Outlook? For example, before reformatting the HD and reinstalling a clean copy of XP, is there a way to back up all my outlook emails? I'm a pack-rat, so to speak, and keep all my emails; sometimes they can come in handy. Ideas?

I'd actually also like to know the answer to this - lol.

Many a time I've needed to reformat the parents pc in order to reinstall windows, but they complain because I don't backup their e-mails and addresses.

Damn outlook. Webmail 4tw!

[Sir Savant]

Anyone know: Is there any way to save all your email msgs in Outlook? For example, before reformatting the HD and reinstalling a clean copy of XP, is there a way to back up all my outlook emails? I'm a pack-rat, so to speak, and keep all my emails; sometimes they can come in handy. Ideas?

I'd actually also like to know the answer to this - lol.

Many a time I've needed to reformat the parents pc in order to reinstall windows, but they complain because I don't backup their e-mails and addresses.

Damn outlook. Webmail 4tw!

You could try and going into their Profile folder under "C:\Documents and Settings\%Username%\Application Data" and recover anything you need out of there. I think that is the folder, but it might be "Local Settings". Either way, you can just copy paste into the equivalent location on a new install and you are done with Email at least.

[Hawke]

Windows won't allow you to replace or rename the folder of that name. A few times I've re-installed windows and wated to keep c:\Documents and Setttings\%username%\ folder and replace it when I do a fresh install, but other than slaving the HDD in another machine and doing it, is there some way to do it within windows?

[Sir Savant]

Just copy the specific Outlook folders to a usb stick and back after you are done. I don't think there is any other way to do it, and you can't just stick the whole profile folder back and expect it to work either.

[F8]

Anyone know how I can see my CPU load and temps? Is there a windows command or a diagnostic tool I can download?