PC Tech Thread

I use the free version of this
https://www.partitionwizard.com/
for doing that. Nice easy GUI to sort stuff out.

But given it is pretty small I'd back it up first.

What do you want to do with the recovery partition? That's the key here, as until you move/delete it, you don't have anywhere to expand your C: to.

Delete the recovery partition and you can expand into the free space. You can recover from a usb of you need to

Thanks all.

I was under the impression that these third party tools allow you to move partitions, so should be able to swap the recovery and unallocated space.

Windows disk management won't let you do anything with the recovery partition. Only thing in the right-click menu is 'help'.

Ignoring space/size for a minute, is it more cost effective to (a) buy a new desktop or laptop and (b) buy a complete desktop or spec your own OR spec and build your own? I haven't bought a new PC for... 15 years starting from scratch.

Use case is family computer, but I have no doubt I'll want to game (Cities Skylines etc). Not asking anyone to spec a machine, but just in case it effects the above!

Building your own is unlikely to be cheaper, but you get to do things like spec a power supply that hopefully won't shit the bed if you want to upgrade the graphics card in future.

Pre-built systems from the likes of Scan are probably the next best option in terms of value vs upgradability. You should at least get comprehensive details of the components.

Worst in this respect are the Dell, HP etc. Lots of proprietary stuff for the sake of keeping cost down and anything other than upgrading RAM or storage could well be problematic.

Windows won't let you delete really important stuff on your live OS disc for good reason. All the tools will exit Windows to do the key steps. And you can do it with MS tools as well.

Thank you!

pretty sure you can do it within Windows, with CMD and diskpart, although it's been a while since I last had to do it.

Obviously extreme caution needs to be used to make sure you delete the recovery partition and not a different one that you want to keep

I'd prefer to move the recovery partition rather than delete it. According to google that isn't possible with diskpart.

Waiting until the weekend before messing about with it anyway.

No it won't be

I've used GParted loads of times. Albeit not in the last 5 years, but it's very straightforward to use
https://gparted.org/

At the risk of someone saying “UTFS”, what’s the best way of going about speccing a new build PC? I have been using Mac laptops for years, and have a windows laptop for work. My MacBook Pro has done very well given it’s 12 years old now, but it struggles for any meaningful photo or video editing and I don’t feel like I’ve got the grunt for the newest features in creative cloud. I also want something with enough oomph for running decent data analysis/data vis tasks (tableau/powerBI/python/BiqQuery etc) that I can’t push to the cloud.

I’ve seen comments about Scan for pre-builds, and work uses Novatech and it looks like you can configure pre-builds using all standard parts. This is a sample build from Novatech with my (fairly) basic knowledge of mid range components but I’d love to have some pointers on where costs can be cut or better components should be considered. I know I’ve gone for more RAM and an overclockable CPU which could be places to start if it’s not really needed? https://www.novatech.co.uk/savedbuild/3837cb80-f852-41d0-8173-8541ddf06c5b

A similar build from Scan came to about the same price, so assume this is what it is really without going second hand for a GPU (as that seems to be where things can get really pricy)

this is also a good starting point, but it assumes you're building it yourself
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/

though if you've been using a Mac for the last 12 years, worth considering a Mac Studio, unless you also want to game?

Thanks, I’d come across PCPP but wasn’t sure on compatability between various parts and felt editing/customising a pre build a safer bet to ensure it all works!

I did consider a studio, but most of the data via software I use most often is Windows only which limits things a bit. Did consider running parallels but thought it’s be a compromise overall

PCPP will tell you about any compatability issues

I like PCSpecialist - spec parts & have it built & tested too.

Yep, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/ is what I'd use too. After you start choosing components it will filter down to only those that are compatible.

Building is pretty easy in my experience, although more than once I've forgotten some cable that is essential.

For my last build I got motherboard, RAM and CPU from here as a bundle and they come assembled and tested which makes things a little easier.
https://www.awd-it.co.uk/

How can I find out my Imgur password? The Imgur recovery procedure does nothing. Imgur support is overwhelmed and doesn't reply to emails. I use Chrome and a Google account for almost everything. I recently deleted all browsing data from my Google account. This removed my Imgur password from the Google password lists on my W11 desktop and my W10 laptop. Now I can't login to Imgur on the desktop. But my laptop just happened to be logged in to Imgur when I did the browsing data delete. Every time I power it on, the Chrome session is restored and it logs into Imgur. So it must have the password saved somewhere. But I can't get at it. I have the SavePassword extension but it's no help. Very occasionally I use Firefox or Bing, but they haven't stored it.

Can you reset it from your logged in device?

If it was logged in and open then it won’t necessarily have saved the password, just the security/authentication session token that imgur would look for to prove it’s a valid authenticated session

Do you mean the normal reset procedure? Log out then click on 'forgot password'?

I guess they mean going to your account settings while logged in on the laptop and trying to change the password there.

Wouldn't be surprised if that still asks for your current one tho'.

I'll try it. Maybe ShowPassword will reveal what's beneath the asterisks.

Yeah as @Brun said, whilst you’re logged in can you change it from your account settings. I wouldn’t log out! (Or if so try forgot password on a different device just in case)

Nothing works.