Archived CalgaryPuck Computer Help Thread

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by photon

what files do you have inside the unzipped file that you downloaded?

S3GAMCHS, S3GAMDAN, S3GAMENU, S3GAMFIN, S3GAMITA, S3GAMKOR, S3GAMMA.DLL, S3GAMNOR, S3GAMSVE, S3MICD.DLL, S3SAVG4, (that's the one I can right-click and install which doesn't seem to do anything,) S3SAVG4M, S3SW2CHT, S3SW2DEA, S3SW2ESP, S3SW2FIN, S3SW2ITA, S3SW2KOR, S3SW2NOR, S2SW2SVE, S3SWTCH2.CFG, S3UNINST, S3SWTCH2.DLL, S3SW2THA, S3SW2PTB, S3SW2NLD, S3SW2JPN, S3SW2FRA, S3SW2EXT.CFG, S3SW2ENU, S3SW2DAN, S3SW2CHS, S3SAVG4.DLL, S3SAVG4, S3GAMTHA, S3GAMPTB, S3GAMNLD, S3GAMMA.CFG, S3GAMJPN, S3GAMFRA, S3GAMESP, S3GAMDEU, S3GAMCHT.

I think that's all.

[photon]

Hm.. Well the other way to install the video drivers is to right click on my computer and choose manage, click the device manager on the left, find the display devices on the right and expand it and select the device. Right click on it and one of the options is upgrade driver (or double click on it and choose upgrade driver under the driver tab).

Once that starts, if it wants to go to windows update say no, and you want to eventually point it at the directory where you unzipped all the files (can't recall all the screens that pop up).

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by photon

Hm.. Well the other way to install the video drivers is to right click on my computer and choose manage, click the device manager on the left, find the display devices on the right and expand it and select the device. Right click on it and one of the options is upgrade driver (or double click on it and choose upgrade driver under the driver tab).

Once that starts, if it wants to go to windows update say no, and you want to eventually point it at the directory where you unzipped all the files (can't recall all the screens that pop up).

I think that did it.... we'll see what happens. Thanks for all your help!

[Cowperson]

A question . . . . I'd like a recommendation for some design software, specifically one I can use to design a roughly 60 page daytimer illustrated with photo's/artwork, then be able to e-mail or burn a dvd of the whole thing. So far, I've been to lazy to go looking myself . . . .

Comments?

Cowperson

[photon]

The heavy hitters in the page layout software are Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress. Those of course are quite expensive.

Cheaper alternatives would be Microsoft Publisher or Serif PagePlus (http://www.serif.com/PagePlus/PagePlus11/index.asp).

All would allow you to burn the files to DVD, though the person on the other end would need the same software to open them. To get around that you could generate a PDF with the final document and then the other person would only need Acrobat Reader. To get them professionally printed, most print shops will accept a wide range of file formats.

I assume the person on the receiving end is supposed to print it out?

[red '00]

I've been having some problems downloading Windows Updates onto my computer as of late. This has been appearing everytime I go to shutdown for about the last two weeks now:

http://img312.imageshack.us/img312/4...opscrne2hs.jpg

Normally, I can click shutdown and the updates will download automatically before the computer turns off. But I don't think that has been getting done as I can't get rid of the little Win Update icon you see there.

I also notice that there is always this updates icon shown here:

http://img307.imageshack.us/img307/6...pscrne22pq.jpg

Any help? I tried to download the updates manually, it said it worked, but apparently it didn't. Then again, it also says it downloaded them everytime I shutdown...

[Ro]

Hi all, another computer issue for somebody to help me solve.

My computer has been overheating like crazy once again. Although this time, after recently replacing the heatsink, graphics card (fan was faulty), adding a second fan, and directing my oscillating floor fan directly at my computer box 24 HRS a day (whether or not the thing is on), it is overheating right when I power the thing on.

It usually happens in the first 3-5 minutes after Windows starts running. I can get away with opening Firefox and surfing, but if I open WMP or Winamp, any of my poker clients, and almost any other software, she gets really hot (Speedfan reading is 100+ Celsius) and shuts down. I then have to wait at least 30 minutes before starting it up again, or it won't even get past the black Windows XP "loading" screen during start-up.

So today I wait the 30 minutes, and hit ctrl-alt-del, and decide to try and shut down some of the programs running in the background that might heat things up. I closed down 3 or 4 random .exe ones that didn't seem to important to a knob like me (ha ha, a logitech one, something "tray," and a couple others) and instantly the temp. reading dropped down to the low 80's, which is unheard of lately.

So my question is, does anyone think the background programs that load during start-up could be the problem? And if so, is there a utility or FAQ or somewhere I can go to find out which ones I need, which ones I have the option of shutting down, and which ones are useless?

Thanks again.

[fredr123]

I started a thread in the Off Topic forum before CP was haxored by some script kiddie in which I asked about document management systems. A colleague suggested something called SUPERtext (an sql database thinger for organizing, indexing and searching documents). For the life of me, however, I've been unable to find out anything about the product. Google searches usually just return a bunch of links to text twister games and such. If someone could provide a link to the software's website or someplace that provides more information, that would be awesome.

[photon]

If its heating up that much that fast, then there's a physical problem not a software problem. No processor should be running that hot no matter what load.

You said you got a new heatsink. What kind of processor and what kind of heatsink? What kind of thermal material did you use?

For the windows update thing, try going to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and try installing the updates through there.

[RougeUnderoos]

Not a problem but a question.

Cheap wireless speaker package. What's a good one? I'm not into "it has to sound like I'm at Carnegie Hall" I just want to play music from my computer in another room and I want to do it on the cheap.

Sorry if this isn't a computer problem but technically it is so no sass please.

[Eddie Bronze]

Someone was nice enough to send me an early Christmas present in the form of a virus on MSN tonight. It appears to have effected a few things, Norton Anti-Virus being one and system restore being the other. My question is, does anyone know a good place to take your computer for service/repair for this sort of thing here in Calgary? I haven't needed to have it serviced since I moved to Calgary, so I'm not sure where the most trustworthy place to take it would be. And also, one that doesn't charge an arm and a leg, if that exists. If anyone can help me out here, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

[photon]

I'm pretty happy with Memory Express as far as service goes, though they can get very busy making turn around times a bit long.

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by fredr123

I started a thread in the Off Topic forum before CP was haxored by some script kiddie in which I asked about document management systems. A colleague suggested something called SUPERtext (an sql database thinger for organizing, indexing and searching documents). For the life of me, however, I've been unable to find out anything about the product. Google searches usually just return a bunch of links to text twister games and such. If someone could provide a link to the software's website or someplace that provides more information, that would be awesome.

Is this what you're looking for?
http://www.supergravity.com/html/products/sg_rsrch.htm

[Mango]

My cousin is having an issue with his computer. When he goes to reboot, he gets the following messages:

1) "windows cannot find 'C:\Windows\system32\zvjyoy\csrss.exe.' Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click start, then search.
2) Could not load or run 'C:\Windows\system32\zvjyoy\csrss.exe.' specified in the regisrty. Make sure the file exists.

He is running Windows XP home w/ service pack #2.

Any suggestions?

[photon]

There are viruses that name themselves csrss.exe even though Windows has a file named that as well. The real one lives in the system32 directory, so this one was probably a virus that was deleted by a virus scan.

To stop windows from trying to run it try this:

1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type regedit
   
   Then click OK.
3. Navigate to the key:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run
4. In the right pane, find the entry that matches the path of the errors:
   
   "something" = "%System%\zvjyoy\csrss.exe"
5. Delete that individual entry

Keep in mind that editing the registry is dangerous and doing the wrong thing can cause the system to not work properly, so if they're not comfortable doing it and the system is running fine otherwise you might want to wait until someone who's done this before has a chance to look at it.

[Mango]

Thanks photon - it's appreciated!

[Burninator]

test

[HelloHockeyFans]

I'm going to be on a plane trip for 5 hours or so tomorrow and I'm planning on watching a movie or two during my trip on my laptop.

Is there a viewer I should use which will conserve my battery for the trip?

I've heard that Windows Media Player uses a ton of memory and I'm assuming that would eat up the battery faster.

Also, can I put my laptop in some sort of battery conserve mode so it will last longer?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

I'm going to be on a plane trip for 5 hours or so tomorrow and I'm planning on watching a movie or two during my trip on my laptop.

Is there a viewer I should use which will conserve my battery for the trip?

I've heard that Windows Media Player uses a ton of memory and I'm assuming that would eat up the battery faster.

Also, can I put my laptop in some sort of battery conserve mode so it will last longer?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Depends on a lot of things. Most notebooks have automatic power-saving features that kick in by default when you have no power. They will turn down the speed on your CPU, disable some hardware, etc.

This will help, but probably not enough. There aren't a lot of laptops on the market that can play 5 straight hours of full screen video on a single battery, and there are a few reasons why:
- video is compressed, be it on DVD or a downloaded file. It takes a lot of CPU power to decompress this video and display it on your screen. This generates a lot of heat, and when the heat starts, the fans start.
- any moving parts take a lot of power. You'll save some battery power by copying the DVD to your hard disk before your flight, so your DVD drive doesn't have to run for hours. Fans will be running to keep things cool though, and there's really nothing you can do about that. Some laptops have very good heat dissipation without fans, but not many.
- LCD screens are also power hogs (any screen is). You can increase your battery life by turning down the brightness on your screen, but it still takes lots of juice to run a large (15"+) screen for 5 hours.

Anyway I doubt you'll get 5 hours, but you can do the following to get the most out of the battery
- disable EVERYTHING you aren't using. Disable your network cards, USB ports, ANYTHING you can get away with. Shut down any applications and system tray stuff that you don't need
- turn down LCD brightness
- don't run video from DVD/CD directly, copy it to hard disk

Not sure if using Media Player or not will make a lot of difference, but either way; you should be using VLC Media Player instead. It comes with its own codecs so it can do any type of video you can imagine, and it skips all the bells & whistles that make Windows Media Player such a hog. It's just better in pretty much every way.

Also, leave the laptop on the pull down table instead of your lap if possible, it will heat up quicker and be harder to cool down on your lap. You want the fans to be running as little as possible.

[HelloHockeyFans]

^^

Hey man, thanks for all that info!! Greatly appreciated!