PC Tech Thread

or do i just come here !!

I wouldn't have thought so - but most things you post on here we can help out with.

well i pulled the trigger and purchased ... zoostorm to arrive on saturday ...anything i should watch out for ? switiching it on for the first time should i do anything specific to ensure it doesn't meltdown
the box comes with basic mouse and keyboard
i need a screen
have an old crt screen from a previous computer. is there a converter to convert the signal from the back of the box into a crt type monitor or should i just bite the bullet and purchase a flat screen ?
i haven't had a proper look at the connections will try the crt and see if there is a connection for it round the back .. surely maplins does something like this

any suggestions for a screen just in case ... doesn't have to be too fancy or wide screen or anything like that just bog standard led or lcd

^ no need to get a new screen as it comes with a VGA port on the motherboard.

woop woop
i'm ready for action saturday morning then
it's like a late xmas
should i leave mince pies and a shot of whisky for the courier / van driver !

should have 100 or so CD's ripped by late evening

So I've been trying to clear out my SSD, but when I look at it with a Disk analyzer, its still showing the files :(
Is there any software I can use to expunge these properly? (They are not showing in the file structure, and are not hidden, and the folders have become files, if that makes sense, collected into a single 'item')

if you want to blank it totally, dans boot n nuke is quite good

Ah, oops. Turns out that you have to manually tell it to re-analise the disk. Doh!
The reason I hadn't noticed was that I'd just installed Windows 8, and it copies all your settings etc into a folder which was almost the exact same size

If you're not fussed about the gaming side and want Intel, something prebuilt like this could work:

http://www.ebuyer.com/395297-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-0436

Plenty of storage and computing power to do what you need. Tower is nowhere near as ugly either :)

well I've got the pc sitting in front of me right now all has gone swimmingly so far, old crt although a bit small works fine
I need some tech assistance as i'm bit of a luddite at heart
I am looking to rip my cd's in flac format but from what I can see windows doesn't support flac
I don't really want to download a programme to convert windows to flac unless it is 100% safe and works fine
what options do I have to store my music on line ? free service preferable, or even something I can use top store the files on my pc would be better

media monkey seems to come up in searches and winamp

For free music try google music think its up to 20k songs for free.

As for flac I can't help- can you rip from wmp to flac?

This might be quite useful. I can't vouch for the software, but it looks simple enough.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15577/how-to-rip-an-audio-cd-to-flac-with-foobar2000/

Got to say I've looked at foobar a couple of times but got a bit confused and gave up! I always use EAC for ripping to flac

I use DB Power Amp for FLAC. It's got a free trial for a few weeks I think.

EAC is the recommend option of a ... site I use.

It can be a bit of effort to set up (i.e. time, not challenge) and once you get it right its set and forget.

Advice here on settings:
http://www.torrent-invites.com/audio-video/174264-how-setup-eac-rip-perfect-flac-music-files.html

Not really PC tech, but close enough.

I have acquired an old Epson HX-20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson_HX-20

I've had this up and running.

and a Sinclair QL

Which I haven't tried plugging in.

I don't really have any desire to keep them, and I'm not sure what use they could possibly be.
Anyone got any idea what I can do with them?

Anyone got any idea what I can do with them?

Own supercool old hardware?

I don't have anything cool, but I still have an old TI-99/4A, a Commodore 64, and a Commodore 128.

I don't have the space to hoard old computers that weren't any good in the first place.
I allow myself the indulgence of keeping a 1984 Mac, but that's it.

If anyone else wants them then talk to me.

To be fair, mine are in my parents' attic and I haven't used them for a very long time.

I have a Dell 8100 Desktop I want rid of... needs new HDD... anyone?

^ Parallel printer port! 0_o

^^ Creative SoundBlaster with Serial port, mid 90s?

It's old but it meant the bloke didn't have to spend £50 on a USB-stereo serial adapter to use his Computrainer. Any places that would take it for recycling?

After a recent update Avast antivirus has been crashy and has slowed down my PC so much that it is completely unusable. I know it was Avast because I removed it and everything started working again.
I am now installing MS Security Essentials instead. Let's hope it doesn't do the same.

This is an i7 with 24 Gb RAM and terrabytes of storage. There is no fucking way it should be anything other than lightning fast.

And what do you know. This morning, lightning fast again.
Good riddance Avast, though I will miss your pirate voice, I would rather have a computer that works.