The "Quick Questions That Don't Deserve A Thread"...Thread. v5 - Hardware & Software

Hey sorry if this seems dumb. I just started using WinAmp as the default music player in contrast to previously using VLC. Can anyone explain to me why WinAmp's volume control/slider acts differently? For VLC I had a range of 0-100% (or so I thought) while for WinAmp, it still is a range of 0-100% but when I go to play the audio at 1% on WinAmp, it sounds louder than VLC playing the same audio file at like maybe 20% volume. I'm just confused and I'm not sure how to make it so it acts like VLC where it goes from 0-100% instead of 25%-100%, or rather where the jump from 0-1% acts like the audio's being played at 1% of it's normal volume rather than 20%. I don't know much about playing music files so I'm just wondering if someone could help me... sorry if this is dumb.

[QUOTE=t h e;49319324]Hey sorry if this seems dumb. I just started using WinAmp as the default music player in contrast to previously using VLC. Can anyone explain to me why WinAmp's volume control/slider acts differently? For VLC I had a range of 0-100% (or so I thought) while for WinAmp, it still is a range of 0-100% but when I go to play the audio at 1% on WinAmp, it sounds louder than VLC playing the same audio file at like maybe 20% volume. I'm just confused and I'm not sure how to make it so it acts like VLC where it goes from 0-100% instead of 25%-100%, or rather where the jump from 0-1% acts like the audio's being played at 1% of it's normal volume rather than 20%. I don't know much about playing music files so I'm just wondering if someone could help me... sorry if this is dumb.[/QUOTE] Different programs, just adjust accordingly. If shit is too loud for you then just turn it down.

Does anyone have good recommendations for an affordable low-lag 1080p monitor? I can live without 144hz, but I hear that lower refresh rate screens tend to have ghosting issues more often.

My graphics card may be dying on my laptop. It's from 2011 and I'm building a PC in like two weeks, but I still plan to use the laptop for school stuff. I've been afraid to run any games for a while, but web browsing is irritating - as I scroll, black boxes appear over entire chunks of the screen, and sometimes the boxes are full of mixed up parts of the web page, like when a NES cartridge has some dust in it and the textures are all repetitive. Also the shading is all fucked up on The Sims 2 which is from goddamn 2004 and it's framerate is extra low nowadays. Are these signs of a dying GPU?

when im putting my computer in sleep, the monitors turn off as if it's about to go to sleep, but it never does, moving the mouse/pressing the keyboard reactivates the display and everything is as if the comp went into idle why is this happening/how do i fix it? (been happening since the new install) [editline]16th December 2015[/editline] NEVERMIND turns out leaving folding@home open even if it's not folding prevents comp from sleeping

So my computer got a BSOD three times. The 1st time was after I had been using it for like 2 hours. The 2nd and 3rd times it BSOD'd right after startup. It hasn't done it a 4th time yet with normal operations. The bug check string I got all 3 times was SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION. The 1st crash was caused by ntoskrnl.exe, while the other 2 were caused by Ntfs.sys (and ntoskrnl.exe?). I ran the memory diagnostic tool and it didn't find any errors. I was able to run in safe mode with no BSODs. Something that is pretty suspicious is that Avast updated its virus definitions about a minute before the first BSOD happened.

Run hard drive checks ntfs.sys is a filesystem driver, and if it's the thing actually causing the BSODs, then either your filesystem is fucked (which is something you can recover from), or your hard drive is dead (not so recoverable). Either way, now is a good time to make sure backups are in place.

That's what I was afraid of... Well I've been using this computer almost non-stop since I made that post and haven't had any more BSODs yet. I'll still run some hard drive tests and definitely back up my shit.

[QUOTE=t h e;49319324]Hey sorry if this seems dumb. I just started using WinAmp as the default music player in contrast to previously using VLC. Can anyone explain to me why WinAmp's volume control/slider acts differently? For VLC I had a range of 0-100% (or so I thought) while for WinAmp, it still is a range of 0-100% but when I go to play the audio at 1% on WinAmp, it sounds louder than VLC playing the same audio file at like maybe 20% volume. I'm just confused and I'm not sure how to make it so it acts like VLC where it goes from 0-100% instead of 25%-100%, or rather where the jump from 0-1% acts like the audio's being played at 1% of it's normal volume rather than 20%. I don't know much about playing music files so I'm just wondering if someone could help me... sorry if this is dumb.[/QUOTE] I've had Winamp on my computer(s) every since I had a computer of my own, am 23 now. And Winamp, while great performance, usability and design wise, has ALWAYS had this weird non-linear volume quirk. I totally get what you're saying, and it's like that on mine as well. 1% volume? Naw, you must mean 99% right mate? It's pretty fucky, but just know that it's normal and been like that since the earlier versions. :V

[QUOTE=lavacano;49324799]Run hard drive checks ntfs.sys is a filesystem driver, and if it's the thing actually causing the BSODs, then either your filesystem is fucked (which is something you can recover from), or your hard drive is dead (not so recoverable). Either way, now is a good time to make sure backups are in place.[/QUOTE] So I ran CHKDSK and these are the results: [URL="http://pastebin.com/JWwg4sb1"]http://pastebin.com/JWwg4sb1[/URL]. Now that I'm thinking about it I have had some fucky things happen in the past due to the hard drive, at least 2 separate occasions (nothing severe that I didn't recover from). Anything else you guys would recommend? Thanks.

[QUOTE=Corewarp3;49325463]I've had Winamp on my computer(s) every since I had a computer of my own, am 23 now. And Winamp, while great performance, usability and design wise, has ALWAYS had this weird non-linear volume quirk. I totally get what you're saying, and it's like that on mine as well. 1% volume? Naw, you must mean 99% right mate? It's pretty fucky, but just know that it's normal and been like that since the earlier versions. :V[/QUOTE] Ah, strange. I suppose I'll stick with VLC then since it's quite bothersome for me and I don't mind VLC (although it really is not much of a music player, lol) edit: Thanks btw! Didn't realize I hadn't said it before.

[QUOTE=Cuon Alpinus;49322983]Does anyone have good recommendations for an affordable low-lag 1080p monitor? I can live without 144hz, but I hear that lower refresh rate screens tend to have ghosting issues more often.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.logicalincrements.com/peripherals/#standardscreen[/url] This should be a good jumping-off point.

What's the best airflow solution for a Carbide 200R? I have five fans and two dust filters and I'd like a setup that resists as much dog hair as possible [URL="http://i.imgur.com/BDfY79k.png"]fan locations here[/URL]

[QUOTE=BigJoeyLemons;49327784]What's the best airflow solution for a Carbide 200R? I have five fans and two dust filters and I'd like a setup that resists as much dog hair as possible[/QUOTE] Two top two front one rear. Top and front intake, rear exhaust. Play around with the filters. Do a month up front then a month up top and see which is better.

Good plan, the front fan spaces are kind of obscured and filtered by the case itself, so I'll just put the filters on top and call it a day. The positive pressure would also make hot air come out the sides, which will be real nice for my feet in the winter. Thanks for the input!

[QUOTE=crazymonkay;49325893]So I ran CHKDSK and these are the results: [URL="http://pastebin.com/JWwg4sb1"]http://pastebin.com/JWwg4sb1[/URL]. Now that I'm thinking about it I have had some fucky things happen in the past due to the hard drive, at least 2 separate occasions (nothing severe that I didn't recover from). Anything else you guys would recommend? Thanks.[/QUOTE] This part's unusual: [quote]CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the master file table (MFT) bitmap. CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap. Windows has made corrections to the file system.[/quote] but not fatal by any stretch. What you're going to want to do is grab [url=http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html]CrystalDiskInfo[/url] (the only difference between the Standard and Shizuku editions are the absence/presence of anime, respectively), and see what that reports. [editline]16th December 2015[/editline] if CrystalDiskInfo says everything's all good, then it may not actually be your hard drive itself, but a badly and/or maliciously programmed hard drive manipulator thingy (you did mention an Avast update)

My Dad is getting me stuff for Christmas and vice versa, should I ask for this? [url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMY16GX3M2A1866C9R-Vengeance-1866Mhz-Performance/dp/B00D5X8XT4[/url] I wouldn't mind swapping out my RAM but something else, I honestly have no fucking clue what my current pair is. (Who are Team Group Inc.?)

For the last two or three days I've had trouble connecting to web pages. My Internet works otherwise pretty fine, there's no issues with voice chat, gaming or IRC. However on Facepunch for example in may need to reload a page a dozen times since it stops loading a few seconds after starting, and when it finally loads it can take five minute and not all images get loaded. This happens on other websites as well, only Google seems to work decently. I've tried the normal ipconfig release flushdns renew stuff, I've tried different browsers, I've tried calling my ISP and I've tried fucking with my router. The issue seems to be only this pc as the other computer in the house works fine. I've also tried changing my dns provider. Any quick ideas I should try before making a real thread?

anyone recommend cloning software for drives? Google searching just brings up a bunch of adverts for junkware

[QUOTE=Hamsterjuice;49243501]my sister was recently trying to reinstall windows through a USB and when she changed the boot priority the computer stopped responding to the screen. shes tried her monitor and two different TVs and none of them work [editline]4th December 2015[/editline] sorry if this is the wrong thread or if i've worded the question wrong, i don't normally post here[/QUOTE] can i get some more opinions on this? clearing the cmos didn't work

Was using my computer like usual, just browsing. Suddenly I hear a "foosh" sound and a bright light in the corner of my eye. Followed by an odd burnt smell coming from my computer. It didn't shut off, as if nothing has happened. But I shut it off and look around. Seems completely fine and turns back on like usual. But I'm still not sure what the fuck that was. Dust maybe? Not so much dust in the pc to warrant a flame though. Not even close. I'm sure it wasn't a spark either since it didn't sound like one and nor did the color of the light look like a spark either. I'm scared. :ohno:

So I'm having an unusual issue with my keyboard. I've got a Unicomp Classic and when I sat down this morning and my spacebar wouldn't work. After cleaning and trying to reseat the spacebar several times it still wasn't working. However I've found that if the keyboard is tilted slightly it works just fine. I've got a nickle sitting under one of the stands and it works fine, but if I remove the nickle it doesn't work. Is something just out of place inside the keyboard? I'd rather ask before taking the thing apart. This is all rather bizarre considering it was working just fine before I went to work last night. EDIT: Never mind I appear to have fixed it by just smacking the bottom, I guess my cat shook something loose.

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;49328778]Was using my computer like usual, just browsing. Suddenly I hear a "foosh" sound and a bright light in the corner of my eye. Followed by an odd burnt smell coming from my computer. It didn't shut off, as if nothing has happened. But I shut it off and look around. Seems completely fine and turns back on like usual. But I'm still not sure what the fuck that was. Dust maybe? Not so much dust in the pc to warrant a flame though. Not even close. I'm sure it wasn't a spark either since it didn't sound like one and nor did the color of the light look like a spark either. I'm scared. :ohno:[/QUOTE] Ohdear You open the case and look/smell around? What kind of burnt smell? Burnt copper/hot electronics or rank eggs/smelly pits? [editline]16th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Anderan;49328983]So I'm having an unusual issue with my keyboard. I've got a Unicomp Classic and when I sat down this morning and my spacebar wouldn't work. After cleaning and trying to reseat the spacebar several times it still wasn't working. However I've found that if the keyboard is tilted slightly it works just fine. I've got a nickle sitting under one of the stands and it works fine, but if I remove the nickle it doesn't work. Is something just out of place inside the keyboard? I'd rather ask before taking the thing apart. This is all rather bizarre considering it was working just fine before I went to work last night. EDIT: Never mind I appear to have fixed it by just smacking the bottom, I guess my cat shook something loose.[/QUOTE] Haaaa I had a keyboard that for the last two years I used it I'd have to occasionally pick it up a few inches and just drop it or half the keys would stop working.

[QUOTE=GHOST!!!!;49328303]My Dad is getting me stuff for Christmas and vice versa, should I ask for this? [url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMY16GX3M2A1866C9R-Vengeance-1866Mhz-Performance/dp/B00D5X8XT4[/url] I wouldn't mind swapping out my RAM but something else, I honestly have no fucking clue what my current pair is. (Who are Team Group Inc.?)[/QUOTE] honestly with RAM what matters is the speed, size and cost you could probably find cheaper memory without the fuckhueg heatsinks on amazon for the same price

[QUOTE=lavacano;49328096]This part's unusual: but not fatal by any stretch. What you're going to want to do is grab [url=http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html]CrystalDiskInfo[/url] (the only difference between the Standard and Shizuku editions are the absence/presence of anime, respectively), and see what that reports. [editline]16th December 2015[/editline] if CrystalDiskInfo says everything's all good, then it may not actually be your hard drive itself, but a badly and/or maliciously programmed hard drive manipulator thingy (you did mention an Avast update)[/QUOTE] Well according to CrystalDiskInfo my hard drive is good. I was actually talking to my friend about this and he said that his computer also bluescreened when he was messing with avast. His didn't do it 3 times in a row though (Still haven't had any more bluescreens). I guess I'll run a virus scan tonight just in case and see if it finds anything.

[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;49329022]Ohdear You open the case and look/smell around? What kind of burnt smell? Burnt copper/hot electronics or rank eggs/smelly pits? [editline]16th December 2015[/editline] Haaaa I had a keyboard that for the last two years I used it I'd have to occasionally pick it up a few inches and just drop it or half the keys would stop working.[/QUOTE] It didn't smell like burnt electronics or anything. It smelt weird but I can't figure out what it was exactly. Which is why it might have been dust or something. But I'm still wary and will be keeping a close eye on my pc. No capacitors or anything looked burnt and the pc is operating like normal, no unusual noises or smells, nothing.

does lan-over-powerline suck? I want to get a Steam link for my living room but I want a more stable wired connection and I dont have an ethernet outlet anywhere near my TV. How does lan-over-powerline compare to N wifi? sending an internet signal over my home's power cables sounds extremely ghetto. [editline]16th December 2015[/editline] oh and my lan-over-powerline connection would have to pass through my house's fuse box and I hear this can cause problems (my router and TV are on seperate fuse breakers)

[QUOTE=Zezibesh;49328328]For the last two or three days I've had trouble connecting to web pages. My Internet works otherwise pretty fine, there's no issues with voice chat, gaming or IRC. However on Facepunch for example in may need to reload a page a dozen times since it stops loading a few seconds after starting, and when it finally loads it can take five minute and not all images get loaded. This happens on other websites as well, only Google seems to work decently. I've tried the normal ipconfig release flushdns renew stuff, I've tried different browsers, I've tried calling my ISP and I've tried fucking with my router. The issue seems to be only this pc as the other computer in the house works fine. I've also tried changing my dns provider. Any quick ideas I should try before making a real thread?[/QUOTE] netsh winsock reset fixes it for a while, but eventually my internet still dies (well, browser) and I need to reboot. At least I have a temporary fix, but I'd rather have something permanent.

[QUOTE=Zezibesh;49331534]netsh winsock reset fixes it for a while, but eventually my internet still dies (well, browser) and I need to reboot. At least I have a temporary fix, but I'd rather have something permanent.[/QUOTE] What antivirus do you have

[t]http://catpanic.eu/upl/2015-12-16_23-45-10.png[/t] Do I have to be worried that there's something in my motherboard that's 120 degrees, and something else that's -0.5 degrees? Or is it just OHM that gives strange readings?