Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting - 1st Edition

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Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting - 1st Edition


    Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting
      Edition #1

    Collected from PCBUILD, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

    Compiled by Max Timchenko, 2000-01
       NOSPIN Group, Senior Staff Editor

    Version 1.00, released 30th January, 2001, posts cover 1st January - 20th August 2000

    by the way, it is very recommended to search the database by entering keywords, and not simply looking for the right post..

    Posts by (in alphabetical order as in mail headers):

Alexandre Breveglieri 
Art Cassel   
Arthur Young
Bill Cohane
Bill Kapelas
Bjorn Simonsen
Bob Wright
Boyd Ramsay
Brad Boutwell
Brad Loomis
Brendhan Horne
Bryan S. Tyson
Byron Wolter
Carlos Diaz
Carroll Grigsby
Chris Hayes
Chuck Watters
Daniel Wysocki
Dave Gillett
Dave Jones
David Nasser
Deborah Anderson
Dennis Noble
Don Kendrew
Don Penlington
Donald Gaither
Donna Cook
Doug Simmons
Earl Truss
Eric Greenberg
Ernie Goens
Frank R. Brown
Frank Suszka
Guido Piraino     


   

Guido S. Piraino
Herbert Graf
James Ritchie
Jeff McConnell
Jim Griffin
Jim Meagher
Jim Woodford, Jr
Joe Baire
John Chin
Joseph Hallare
Jun Qian
Kees Kouwen
Kenneth Alan
Boyd Ramsay
Kyle Elmblade
Larry  Fisk
Mark Rode
Martin Kurr
Mary Wolden
Matthew Ballard
Oscar Viסas
Patricia Osborne
Patrick Black
Paul Mailhiot
Paul Traynor
Peter Hogan
Peter Shkabara
Richard Tabas
Rick Glazier
Roger Griffiths
Russ Poffenberger
Russell Smith
Steve Wolfe
Sunil Bector
Susan Stubbs
Wanda Irby
Yui Shin



     

    BIOS - All but keyboard

     

    Any reason for some bios motherboards to have as default stopping at errors "ALL BUT KEYBOARD"?

     Actually, there is a purpose for this.  It is not uncommon for someone to want a server or workstation set up to be able to boot without a keyboard. In most cases it's a server that you do not want to dedicate a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to.  You boot it without these and all works fine. However, if the BIOS is set to stop on the error of no keyboard, there is no way to completely boot the machine without having one attached.

    - Kyle Elmblade

     BIOS - Beeps on POST

     If a PC repeatedly beeps that is a sign of the BIOS there is a hardware problem you can even figure out by the "sort" of beeping which hardware problem for more information go to this site:

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     - Kees Kouwen

    BIOS - Entering BIOS in Compaq Prolinea 575

     Hi,

            When the computer starts to boot up, there is a point where a small white box blinks in the upper right hand corner.  Hit F10 when you see the box.

    - Donald Gaither

     BIOS - Tweaking and Reference

    For those who may be interested in finding out more about "Bios Tweaks", I have these sites book marked for use when building or repairing computers.

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     CAUTION!

    As with anything you do to a computer you must use caution. Changing certain settings may cause your system to balk on start up or not start at all. If you need to change the settings, make a log of what the settings are at the present time so you will have a backup in case something doesn't work. When you do change something, write down what you changed. <smile> In a panic you will probably not remember what you changed or why.

     - Frank Suszka

     CD-ROM - Audio CD - D/A Output

     The 2 pin connector that you refer to is for Digital audio (SPDIF) from your cd rom.

     If you have a sound card that supports digital audio, you can connect your cd rom to the sound card digitally, which according to SB is supposed to keep the digital sound signal pure until it is converted to analog for your speakers.  If you also have digital speakers then the sound is never converted to analog.

     The sound Blaster Live series supports Digital audio, but not all cd roms that have the SPDIF Digital connection truly support the SPDIF connection.  SB used to have a place on their site where they had tested different cd roms and told you which ones did support SPDIF connections.

    - Mary Wolden

     CD-ROM - Cleaning

    I was able to resurrect a dead cd rom using this cd rom cleaning fact.  It explains exactly how to clean the inside of your cd rom drive.  I figured I had nothing to lose by trying.

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     - Mary Wolden

    There are several sites you might want to try. I use this one when I'm in need.

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    The other two,

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    are very helpful if you are a tech. I hope that one of these sites will answer your question and get your son back on the road... As far as computing goes.

     You didn't mention how old the system or CD-ROM was. If it is an older version, it may not be worth trying to fix.

     - Frank Suszka

    CD-ROM - Not recognized on cold boot

     Try setting your Bios for the IDE CDROMs, to None, or CDROM, instead of using Autodetect! I have found this option to work with problem ATAPI devices.

     

    -  Steve Wolfe

     

    CD-ROM - Troubleshooting - Read Errors

     

    > I have mounted the drive above my CD-RW drive. Could this cause a heat problem as I notice that drive was quit warm when it crashed? There is no room between the drives for air circulation.

     

    You will see heat problem. There should be at least an empty bay between your CD-RW and CD drive, and possible extra fan should be used to avoid heat problem. If you can feel the heat from CD drive when it crash, it is heat problem. I have seen a true story about how a CD-RW burned itself because the user mounted CD-RW and CD drive next each other. About two years ago, I had heat problem (when play games, very similar to your situation - I ran a game for 4 hours, I almost burned the CD), now I have left a 5" bay open (I removed the cover), and have an extra case fan.

     

    - Jun Qian

     

    CD-ROM - Vertical switch

     

    I just noticed on my CD drive that I have a vertical switch, which is currently in the off position. What is this?

     

    The switch, when turned on, is to allow you to use the drive in a vertical position, or turned side ways.  Although most people use the drive horizontally...   if you were to turn the tower on it's side, (assuming it is in a tower case and not a desktop), this would allow you to slide the CDs in to the drive and have them function.  These drives and other build specifically and tested specifically to be mounted vertically are often also used in Rackmount cases where nearly all drives are mounted vertically in the front.

     

    - Bob Wright

     

    CD-RW - Installing

     

    I just ordered an Internal CD-RW. I have never installed or used a CD-RW but I have installed other hardware such as hard drives, CD-ROM, video, and sound cards. I would like to know of any caveats that I should be aware of with the installation and/or use of this new hardware.

     

    When first plugged in, the CD drive will "look like" a normal CD drive to the system.  To burn anything, you will have to install at least one program. Your drive will no doubt come with at least two programs. They may (or may not be) "stripped down" versions of  full retail products.

     

    One "type" of program allows you to burn Audio and Data CDs of both the write once and the erasable type. Another program will allow you to use the CD-RW drive as a hard drive with removable media.  It is important to understand the difference. After that, it is a virtual "minefield" filled with lots of new and sometimes difficult questions. One thing people forget is that cheap media is just that, in some cases. Get a few name brand CD-RW disks and play with the software for awhile and get used to it before you start turning out "write once" CD-R disks. Note that if you want to play music in a normal CD player it must be recorded in Audio CD format, and "generally" (for compatibility reasons) will work better if a CD-R disk is used.  You can put music on a CD as data, but almost nothing other than a computer will be able to play it.

     

    When buying CD disks, 74 minute disks will work with all drives. To use 80 minute disks, you must have a drive and burning software that will support them.

     

    - Rick Glazier

     

     

    For the hardware, nothing special than a normal CDROM, however I did see some CDRW/DVD don't like to be slave drive (may caused by software however).

     

    You may have problem running the software. I have a sence that you are going to use Adaptec software. In my exp, it is buggy (unless you have the latest version with lastet patch), and I don't like its DirectCD, I would recommand to use Nero or some thing else rather than Adaptec. If you have no other option than Adaptec, for your own good, when you do the installation, do a custom install - install Easy CD Creator only! Avoid DirectCD as possible as you can.

     

    - Jun Qian

     

    CPU - Cooling - Fans, connectors w/ 2 or 3 pins

     

    The extra wire is for the RPM sensor. Your motherboard probaby doesn't support it. You can plug it in just fine. If you ever get a motherboard that has the monitoring chip, you will be able to read the fan RPM, either through the BIOS, or through one of the Windows based hardware monitoring programs available.

     

    - Russ Poffenberger

     

    CPU - Intel - 80486 - L2 cache performance

     

    > Does anybody remember any hard data as to performance with or without a L2 cache on a 486 ?

     

         From what I have experienced L2 cache does not supply as huge a performance boost as people tend to believe. At higher clock speeds where the core runs 4 or 5 times the speed of the memory bus L2 certainly becomes more important (in cases where the L2 runs at either core or close to core speeds) but in 486 class machines L2 cache has never in my experience supplied more than about a 5 to 10% boost. L1 cache is much more important. Now again, it does depend, some tasks benefit from L2 more than others. A lack of L2 cache will not impede the additional performance of additional RAM and processing speed. I myself ran a 486DX4/120 (overclocked from 100) with 16MB and it "managed" win95 OK, not stellar but usable as a backup system. I have found that Linux is very good at getting every last bit of performance out of a machine. While X might be a little sluggish on that machine I am sure that it will run quite well. If you forgo X it will fly pretty well.

     

    - Herbert Graf

     

    CPU - Intel - Difference between PPGA / FCPGA

     

    The FC-PGA package is used on Pentium® III processors, and is referred to as the Flip Chip Pin Grid Array package. The PPGA package is used on Intel® Celeronâ,,¢ processors, and is referred to as the Plastic Pin Grid Array package.

     

    The PPGA package used on the Intel® Celeronâ,,¢ processors has the actual silicon core facing down towards the motherboard. The silicon core is covered by a heat slug helping to dissipate heat from the core. The heat

    slug transfers heat from the core to the heatsink. As processors get smaller and faster, the ability to dissipate heat from the processor core is become more and more critical. The FC-PGA package, flips the silicon core over

    facing up. The core sits on top of the actual package and is exposed. The silicon die is exposed and makes direct contact with the heatsink.

     

    They are all in the Socket 370 style of sockets, just how the die is possitioned is the difference in PPGA vs. FC-PGA.

     

    - Patrick Black

     

    CPU - Intel - Pentium II - Verifying authenticity

     

    Visit the Intel site below to find a utility to give information on CPU family, model and stepping.  Look under the heading "Processor Authentication" and subheading "Verifying a processor purchase and current operating speed".

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    - Joe Baire

     

    CPU - Intel - Pentium III - E, B, and EB explained

     

     

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    Look at figure 1...half way down the page.

     

    Basically, there are the "E" and the "B" and the "EB", and there are the "no letter after the speed" Pentium III processors.

     

    The "no letter" 600 and below are fabricated using .25 Micron technology. (The smaller the number, the better. Because the transistors are smaller, a die can hold more of them and the processor will use less power when running). These .25 micron processors have 512 KB of off die (half speed) L2 cache....just like Pentium II processors.

     

    The "E" versions are the ones that are .18 Micron and have 256 KB of on-die L2 cache that runs at full processor speed. If the processor is faster than 600, they don't bother adding the "E". In other words, they're all "E" after 600 MHz. so they stopped specifying it.

     

    The "B" versions run with a 133 MHz. FSB systems. In other words, the Pentium III "B" processors are half integer devisable by 133. (If dividing by 66 or 133 gives approximately an integer, it *may* be a "B".)

     

    The "EB" versions are .18 Micron, have the 256 KB of L2 cache, and run at 133 MHz front side bus. If faster than 600, they don't bother adding the "E" to the name.

     

    An example: 800 MHz divided by 133 MHz. is 6.01 (close enough to 6) and there are both 800 and 800B. (I'd say 800E and 800EB, but everything over 600 is an E.) There are both 800 = 8 X 100 and 800B = 6 X 133. (6 and 8 are the multipliers, 100 and 133 are the FSB frequencies.)

     

    Finally, there are both slot one and 370 pin versions of many Pentium III processors. (Check the link above to see what versions come in slot one and which are socketed.)

     

    There is a slot one 800, and a 370 pin 800, and a slot one 800B, and a 370 pin 800B.

     

    The place where it really gets confusing is with 600 MHz processor because there are so many versions of the 600 MHz Pentium III: 600, 600E, 600B, 600EB...all in both slot one and 370 pin versions. There are eight different versions of the 600 MHz. Pentium III.

     

    - Bill Cohane

     

    CPU - Intel - Slot 1 to PPGA connector

     

    > I have a Soyo socket 370 MB 7WI/L or something like this, can't remember, but I would like to install a celeron 300a slot 1 cpu I have on hand in it. Is there an adaptor made to do this?  I know there is the 370 to slot 1

     

    AFAIK, no. It would be too expensive, too physically unstable, and the adapter probably wouldn't be electrically stable either (because of the lengthy path runs on some traces and not on others).

     

    - Herbert Graf

     

    CPU - Intel vs. Athlon

     

    from the CPU side: athlon 700 is much much faster than P3-550. If you use some programs that specify to ONLY use P-3 SSE instruction set, the programs gain performance increase from P3, but AMD will be still faster. However, when you talk about whole system, there are lot of other issues. I can list some here, you may need to give more details on these components:

    1) which mobo is used (in both system)

    2) if graphics performance is important to you (for graphics, games ...), which video card in used (in both system)

    3) which operation system you are going to use, windows 2000 may have hardware related issues.

    4) what programs are you going to use. "bad" designed software can make good system looks bad, eg. some video driver could work better under Intel than AMD system (this kind of problem should be fixed when there are update available).

     

    Personally, I would go for AMD.

     

    - Jun Qian

     

    I can tell you that I was at a presentation a few weeks ago demonstrating the speed of the new Athlon CPU's. We were shown 2 identical system, (not quite identical, as the Athlon uses the AMD and Via Chipset, and the PIII uses intel.) But, these 2 machines were sitting side by side, both running 600mhz CPU's, one PIII- 600 the other the Athlon 600.

     

    The two machines were started with a mouse click to run the Latest version of WinBench. All I can say is the Athlon Blew Away the PIII, as it finished the test almost 3-minutes faster than the PIII. I was impressed enough, that I now am the proud new owner of an Athlon 700, and love it. It is fast, and runs solid as a rock! Not a single crash or lockup in over 2 weeks.

     

    Hope this answers your question, and doesn't seem too Biased  :-)

     

    - Steve Wolfe

     

    While several factors affect the performance of a system, assuming that the two systems are as close to identical except for processor, an AMD700 with BLOW AWAY a PIII500, chances are an AMD700 is faster than a PIII 700. AMD really has something with the Athlon, I hope that more MB manufacturers

    start producing high quality boards.

     

    - Herbert Graf

     

    CPU - Multiprocessor System

     

    We have at least three dual processor systems in the Network Operations Center here at The NOSPIN Group.  I know that we definitely did not realize a 100% increase in processing over a single chip system of the same speed, although the systems are certainly faster.

     

    One significant issue is with the programs that you run.  For an application to take advantage of multiple processors, it has to be "multithreaded", that is, it has to have the capability to be "split" into multiple parts that can run simultaneously or almost simultaneously.  You'll probably find that most programs that you use aren't multithreaded, although a lot of new graphically challenging games (like Quake III and others like it) are.

     

    All is not lost, though, because most multiprocessor operating systems (including Windows 2000) can use multiple processors efficiently by assigning different tasks to different processors, in effect "balancing" the processing load between processors.  In our situation in the NOC, that's generally where we see the most improvement in performance.

     

    Without knowing exactly what applications you'll be using, if they are non-multithreaded, you could see as much as a 50% increase in performance. If the applications are multithreaded, then you might see something approaching a 100% increase, depending upon what other areas of your system those applications impact.  As a seat of the pants estimate, I'd say that our web server runs about 50% faster and the mail server is around 75% faster than before.  But those are systems that perform no graphical operations and have relatively slow processors (366MHz and 233MHz respectively), so they are not bound by video or disk bottlenecks.  If your applications are video or disk intensive, you may see lower performance increases.

     

    - Drew Dunn

     

    Floppy drive - Troubleshooting

     

    A floppy drive is not all that sturdy a device. If you open one up and take a look at the heads you will see that they are on a pretty flimsy mount that can easily become misaliged if you insert a floppy with a bent metal slider. The heads can also become dirty.There are <cleaning > floppies that can be used to clean the heads. If the heads have been moved out of position you might be able to realign them but you could never really trust them to work without errors.

     

    It has been my experience that once a floppy starts to give you problems and if you can not immediately rectify it with a  cleaning floppy or by re-seating the cableing then it is time to replace it. A new Teac 3.5 inch floppy drive can be purchased from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login for as little as 15 dollars.

     

    - Mark Rode

     

    General - Backup - The Best Way

     

    Can anyone tell me what is the easiest way to set up automatic or almost-automatic backups of data.  Zip drive, Cd-R, tape?   We're looking for the easiest solution.

     

    Depends on what you want your backup system to do for you.  The three major contenders are removable drives like the Zip drive, CD-RW and tape.

     

    With the larger size of hard drives these days, Zip disks, even at 250MB are too small, medium expense per disk ($8-10) but many needed - too many disk swaps to backup a lot of data and they are not very fast.  Can only transport disks to another system with a Zip drive ($80-160) or requires moving the drive with you.  On the positive side, it is usually quite fast to recover a small number of files.  Backups can be done in background.   Most backup programs will use removable drives.

     

    CD-RWs are bigger and faster and cheaper ($1-3)  but still may require backing up chunks that fit on a CD (640MB) or swapping a few disks. Usually quite fast to recover a small number of files due to the speed and size of the disk.  Most systems these days have CD-ROM drives but many older CD-ROMs will not read CD-RWs.  Backups usually require dedicated time due to chance of causing problems with writing disk caused by multi-tasking.  CD-RWs are more versitile and can be used for many other purposes besides backups.  Backup programs that will use CD-RW are not common.

     

    Tape is expensive ($20 per tape and $100 and up for drive) but you may only need one tape because they will hold several gigabyte each. Cheaper tape drives are very slow - faster drives are very expensive. Tape drives are like Zip drives in that not many people have them and you would need to move the drive with you to move files to another system.  Backups are easily and usually done in background or can be scheduled to run at night.  Almost all backup programs will use tape of one kind or another.

     

    I use tape because of the amount of data that can be written without swapping and because of scheduled night-time backups.

     

    - Earl Truss

     

     

    I have a contender for a fourth type backup that I use all the time.  I use an external parallel port hard drive with Ghost software.  It has the advantage of being portable, can fit the entire hard drive contents, can restore my entire hard drive, or file by file with Symantec's Ghost Explorer, and is cheap.  I use one of the DataTank external hard drive boxes that has a DOS driver.  My 3 gig hard drive takes about 45 minutes to make a complete copy in the Fast Compression mode. I use a DOS boot disk with the hard drive driver and can then use the hard drive as if it were installed in my machine. Something else to consider.

     

    - Doug Simmons

     

     

    For automatic backups? Tape by a LARGE margin. While ZIP drives and CDR are great, they are just too small for backing up hard drives. If on the other hand you are just backing up a few MBs then ZIP drives are a nice choice. CDR and CDRW are OK but a little too error prone for me to consider them a automatic backup solutions. For manual backing up they are great though. TTYL

     

    - Herbert Graf

     

    General - Cleaning your PC

     

    First of all be careful of using a standard vaccuum cleaner as it could cause an electrical arc and damage some of the components, becase they are usually not shielded. Sometimes you can buy mini attachments which are

    plastic and then you're a bit safer in terms of using a regular vaccuum.

     

    Second, a cheap investment is a can of compressed air. Turn your computer off and blast away (carefully).

     

    Third, a small brush to dust away the inards is always a safe bet.

    Hope these suggestions find you well.

     

    - Guido Piraino

     

    I have used a bicycle pump before, the kind with a flexible hose, although it takes to people (one to pump and one to point).  Also, "canned air" is available from many stores (make sure you keep canned air upright while

    spraying, though).

     

    - Martin Kurr

     

    General - Finding a free IRQ

     

    If you are running win98/95:

    Right click on "my computer", click "device manager", double click "computer", there you go, you can see if there is an IRQ free.

    I think you will see there is no free IRQ left, but as you can see, IRQ is able to be shared (some devices don't like to share IRQ with others, some do). Even you don't have free IRQ left, there should be no problem to add an exteral modem (it uses IRQ for com port which it attached to), just be careful with internal modem, you should not go for a "soft modem" or "Win Modem" in this configuration. Hardware based modem does not mess up your system and they can be removed easily.

     

    - Jun Qian

     

     

    At a DOS prompt, enter MSD (then Q) on Windows 3-plus systems. This should show you what you want, and more - without risk.

     

    - Boyd Ramsay

     

    General - Lightning strike

     

    A good friend just called me this morning saying his computer (an HP Pavilion Pentium III) won't start. There was a whopper of a lightning storm last night. You've heard the story before, right?

     

    Start by checking the power supply fuse. And any other fuse elsewhere. You may get lucky; most likely not, but try the cheap stuff first. If the modem was plugged into the phone, you may get "lucky" that the phone was an expensive fuse for the modem. Try another power supply if replacing the fuse doesn't work. Go to a basic system: power supply, mobo, CPU, ram. Add the other stuff in the obvious order. Do the cheap fixes first.

     

    You're right that lightning is strange stuff when it comes to what was spared and what was fried. Truly an act of God. The weirdest lightning strike I had was a friend's Compaq Presario. Came in via phone line. Fried internal modem and all, count 'em all, user usable expansion slots -- the compaq video card and such are on the mobo. The rest of the computer worked fine. Put an external modem on a serial port and the computer runs just dandy, still, about six months later. Go figure.

     

    - Jim Griffin

     

     

    You are asking us to speculate without any symptoms beyond it will not start.  That is difficult to do in this case.   But, with that said, the odds are very great that it is a complete waste.  A small spark of static electricity is enough to fry most parts inside a PC, including the CPU, motherboard, ram, hard drives and so forth... the modem is probably the least of his worries if the lightning passed through the PC.

     

    Most home owner insurance policies will cover lightning damage to a PC, at least that is what I have found here in the US.  You might have him check to see if they have insurance.

     

    - Bob Wright

     

     

    There have been a lot of good comments on this topic but one recurring comment that concerns me is that people keep equating surge protection with lightening protection.

     

    Comparing electrical surges to lightening is like comparing a drip in the kitchen sink to a full blown, Mississippi River flood. Surge protectors and lightening arrestors are not the same thing.

     

    Do not rely on a UPS or a surge protector to save you from lightening.  If you value the equipment, unplug it.

     

    - Jim Meagher

     

    General - Overclocking - 75/83 MHz bus problem

     

    I have an LX chipset Soyo MB with bus speeds of 66,68,75 and 83.  CPU is celeron 300a which runs fine in a BH6 board @ 100 b us.  In the lx board it will only run properly at 68 bus.  At 75 it will boot up and run ok except for graphic programs, like PhotoDeluxe, etc, or internet pages, and will lock up...

     

    Well as you guess, your problem is your other devices. When you overclock to anything above 66 on that board, you also overclock the PCI bus. Some cards don't mind, other's do. The fact that it is crashing in graphics

    programs leads me to believe that your video card is the cause. It could be a heat problem, try throwing a cooling fan on the main chip of the video card and see if that helps.

     

    - Herbert Graf

     

     

     

    General - Overclocking - Why can't?

     

    > Using Softmenu, I have not been able to overclock this setup at all. Not even 400Mhz. It should clock upto 550 easily with the big cooling fan.

     

    While it is possible that the memory is PC66, the most likely thing is that the CPU just won't work at 100 MHz FSB.  In overclocking there are no guarantees.  While virtually all Celeron 300A's will work at 100 MHz, there are some that won't.  I got lucky, mine works flawlessly at default core voltage.  All other Celeron processors have a higher element of "risk."  I have a 366 that will only function at 550 with core voltage raised to the max, until CPU usage gets heavy, then it collapses.  I know others that have no problem at all running at default core voltage and FSB's exceeding 120MHz.  For a slight premium, you can purchase CPU's that have been tested at higher speed, but that really takes the "fun" out of overclocking.  Give it a shot at 75 and then 83MHz and see what happens.  It may be that you're going to have to settle for that.  BTW, did you make sure that your PCI was set to 2/3 on SoftMenu?

     

    - Art Cassel

     

    General - Overheating

     

    I have a AMD 233 mounted on a super 7 motherboard and a decent cooling fan and a layer of thermal paste in between. However, the 233 heats close to 61c and higher and then the system stops. What else, if anything, can I do to reduce this heat? The power supply fan works fine.

     

    Well the easiest way is to install another fan. I have 4 fans in my system, one in the power supply, one mounted on the CPU and two in the case, one at the front of the case and one in the middle. An alternative is to install and better heat sink/fan combo on the CPU, but my wind tunnel cools the whole system, not just the CPU.

     

    - Herbert Graf

     

     

    You should first verify the voltage is properly set for your AMD 233 on this motherboard.

     

    CPU cooling fans are rather deceptive. It really is not the fan itself that's most important, but the cooling fins on the fan. You need maximum air exposure (surface area to mass ratio), in a design that will dissipate heat synergistically with the cooling fan.

     

    You can also add an intake fan in front of the case, which would blow external air over the CPU.

     

    Check your case airflow, since you have an older system. Blow the dust off your motherboard, the components and the power supply (and its exhaust fan) with a can of air. Re-work the cabling so your airflow is improved. Sometimes taping closed some of the holes in the case will improve your airflow (increase the draft) over vital components.

     

    I would also remove the thermal paste and either (1) leave it paste-free; or (2) reapply new thermal paste. Some thermal paste applications may harden or lose conductivity with age, and sometimes are not properly applied (non-ceramic top AMD CPUs are difficult applications) . I quit using thermal paste myself.

     

    Most hard core computer enthusiasts leave part of the case off to access devices, but they also do this to keep the system cool. Some even point a external fan into the case to lower temperatures further.

     

    Even if a computer is running properly, within operational temperatures, reducing the heat by a few degrees will increase the life span of your electronic components.

     

    - John Chin

     

     

    General - PC/Motherboard Form Factors

     

    Last time I cared about motherboard form factors I knew about Baby-AT, Full-size AT, LPX, ATX, Micro-ATX, Flex-ATX, NLX, WTX and Backplane Systems. There are also many proprietary designs, of course.

     

    The NLX specification was developed by Intel as a low-profile case and motherboard. NLX systems are designed to use ATX power supplies, even though

    the case and motherboard dimensions may be different. NLX computers use a riser board and the motherboard plugs into the riser (unlike LPX where the riser plugs into the motherboard). The power supply connects to the riser, as do the disk drives, front panel lights and switch connectors, etc. So the motherboard in an NLX system has no internal cables, cards or connectors attached to it. If you want to take out the motherboard, no boards or cables have to be removed. Simply slide it out the left side on rails. You can find more information about some motherboard form factors in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

     

    - Oscar Viסas

     

    General - Purchasing - Places to Shop

     

    I buy all my components from either www.buycomp.com  (buy.com) or www.mwave.com  (MultiWave Direct).  They both have killer prices and very courteous sales reps.  My only complaint is that MultiWave sometimes cannot ship my orders the same day I make them...

     

    - Brad Boutwell (BDB Design | Tulsa, OK)

     

    If you need a specific major component (i.e. a new hard drive) you might want to try the following strategy:

    1.) Go to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, locate the price/vendor list for the component. Maybe print a page or 2.

    2.) Start with the vendor with the lowest price. Go to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, look up the lo-price vendor, see how they rate. If they have a dubious customer service record or other problems are indicated, go back to the pricewatch list, try the next vendor. Continue until you find a vendor with a "good record".

     

    If you need minor components (i.e. little cables) you might want to locate a parts supply house in your area. Try the yellow pages.

     

    - David Nasser

     

    Try this site out. It's Canadian. It was once called MegaDepot, but it has changed. I have not ordered anything because the prices did go up slightly. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

     

    - Guido S. Piraino

     

    Try You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. I just placed an order with them and was quite pleased with the shipment.

     

    - Jim Woodford, Jr

     

    My favorite shopping site is You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. Not a glossy site but carries scads of computer-related products with excellent prices. Availability is well documented per item. Customer support is the **best** I have ever encountered. Highly recommended!

     

    - Patricia Osborne

     

    I might as well get into this fray with a few more sources:

     

    Ingrahm-Micro is one of the largest warehouse distributes in the US : You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

    You need to setup an account to access their web site, but they have a vast amount of hardware.  The catalogue they send me regularly is over 4 inches thick...  they really have everything.

     

    Merit Distributing in Seattle is also an excellent choice for the US west coast and once again you need to setup an account to access the web site deals : You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

     

    EBC Computers in Salt Lake City, Utah will sell to anyone over the phone or take your order online:  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. They have a limited inventory, but very good pricing

     

    Specialty hardware, mostly cases, cables and such...  try Cables Unlimited: http://www.cablesun.com    Once again, they require you setup an account and they have a minimum order requirement of $50...

     

    Micro Pro is in Illinois, US and they have an excellent line of computer components, often great pricing.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

     

    These are but a few of the places I have regularly used for sources when buying computer components.   I can recommend all of these from personal experience.

     

    - Bob Wright

     

    General - Troubleshooting - IRQ Conflict

     

    >   I've got a problem. On friend's PC, his Sound Blaster Live! and

    >   Rockwell PCI WinModem both take IRQ 12 and I can't change it (the

    >   Settings window shows Can't change this resource).

     

    (Solution 1/2)

     

    Hi, I just had a similar issue this morning involving a STB display adapter and a 3Com NIC. They were both sharing IRQ 11 and did not allow maual configuring of the settings in Device Manager. These cards also lacked jumpers for on-board settings.

     

    My fix was as follows:

         1.) I disabled(not removed) the STB in device manager, ( by disabling your device you can still save the settings.)

         2.) I removed the 3Com from device manager to be redetected.

         3.) After rebooting, I enabled plug & play in BIOS and reserved IRQ11 to get Windows to place the 3Com elsewhere.

         4.)Plug and Play placed the 3Com on IRQ10

         5.)I re-enabled the STB on its current settings which was IRQ11

         6.)One more reboot completed it.

     

    This won't work if you don't have any free IRQ's. And if you're using a newer BIOS you may be able to assign IRQ's as opposed to reserving themlike I did.

     

    This conflict may have occured because plug & play was disabled in BIOS. I've read Windows can not properly recognize what settings are being allocated in such a situation.

     

    On a final note you can always remove the cards and reinstall them one by one. I usually, install in this order: video, sound, modem, nic to ensure favorite settings are allocated. And of course this method works best on a mb/BIOS which has plug & play enabled.

     

    - Yui Shin

     

    (Solution 2/2)

     

    If you cannot modify either device's irq, I have solved this by removing one PCI device and putting it in another slot. I beleive some of the shared orq are detemined by the motherboard. ie PCI slots 1 and 3 will share an irq. If you force by changing the bios them to move they will move together and share another free irq. Thats PNP.

     

    - Bill Kapelas

     

    General - Troubleshooting - Won't Boot

     

    Open the case and check for loose connections and/or loose boards/cards.

     

    First and foremost ---- make sure the power cord is unplugged. (to protect you)  Second, make sure you are always holding the metal frame with one hand or the other. (to protect the electronics)

     

    Now GENTLY wiggle and push on each wire connector to make sure they are plugged in completely.  Do the same for each I/O card.

     

    Cleaning the edge connectors is a good idea too, but I prefer using denatured alcohol and a Q-tip.  Erasers are abrasive (just like sand paper) and will wear down the metal contact pad  - not a good idea, as you already surmised.

     

    - Jim Meagher

     

     

    General - Tweaking - Case temperature

     

    My case is a full tower with a high performance, 4 inch, power supply fan blowing air out of the case and two high performance 3 inch fans blowing air into the case from below creating a positive pressure inside the case. The delta T from room to inside case temp is usually 5 ~ 8°F. Standard mid/mini towers that I have tests are usually 15 ~ 20°F.

     

    The tests I referred to earlier have been done on a number of systems over the last 2 years or so using different CPUs, coolers, cases, etc. with different cooling configurations. Additionally, the CPU was run for 20 minutes at idle and also at 100% utilization to insure stabilized results. The CPU temp was measured by a thermocouple on the top center of the CPU via a small hole in the heat sink to insure the greatest accuracy. Inside case temperatures were taken in several locations to insure a realistic mapping of the inside air temperature and gradient.

     

    Speaking of inside case temps, I think it was this mailing list that someone commented that the case was designed to work with the sides on for best cooling. This in theory is true. In reality, WRT most tower (all sizes), the temperature around the CPU cooler is lower if the sides are open because the usual one fan in the power supply can not flow enough air to keep it as cool as with out the sides. Even with most cases that have a second fan, this is true because there are not enough unrestricted air inlet/outlet resulting in a fan that operates at less than 50% CFM rating and/or actually recirculates internal air.

     

    - Daniel Wysocki

     

    General - What is OEM?

     

    I can help with the OEM part. It is an acronym for Original Equipment Manufacturer. In the world of computers, an OEM could be anyone from Dell or Compaq down to the local computer shop that builds PC's for resale. Component manufacturers -- the guys who make the motherboards, hard drives, CPU's, and all of the other bits and pieces that go in the box -- are able to reduce their prices to the OEM's by leaving out the fancy box, the instruction manual, and sometimes other stuff (see below). A lot of stores sell these components to their customers, and usually at pretty good prices. I buy most of my equipment that way.

     

    My interpretation of your posting is that the Thunderbird is only available as an OEM product; there is no retail version. If it's similar to other motherboards that I have seen, it will include a manual, some or all of the cables and connectors, and a disk (usually a CD-ROM) with drivers. Likewise, the multimedia kit comes in either a plain white box or a polyethylene bag, and probably doesn't have a lot of fancy full color brochures, or free software. It should, however, contain a technical manual and the essential drivers.

     

    There is one potential pitfall, however, and that concerns the manufacturer's warranties. They are often greatly reduced, or there may not even be any. The OEM (read "store") takes care of any defective goods in return for the lower price that he pays. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. My own dealer does a good job of informing his customers that the OEM stuff does not have the full manufacturer's warranty. Not all stores do. If you are willing to assume the risk, this can be a good way to save money. I've been fairly lucky -- well, until last week when a two-month old CPU in my son's computer died.

     

    Beware of the guys who sell OEM components but don't tell their customers. Avoid them -- if they lied to you when you bought it, they aren't going to start being honest when you have a problem.

     

    - Carroll Grigsby

     

     

    HDD - Adding a partition

     

    Is there a utility that will let me add another partition to my HD without losing the current single partition and its contents(which only use a small portion of the drives capacity)

     

    There is always a risk in using programs for this purpose, Partition Magic by PowerQuest will do what you want.

     

    - Matthew Ballard

     

    HDD - Choosing

     

    One of the best sites I have found for hard drive information is:

     

    You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

     

    - Peter Hogan

     

    HDD - How to copy?

     

    > Is there a way to copy one hard drive to another one? I am thinking about getting bigger drive but I don't want to reload the software to make it the primary drive.

     

    Download Ranish Partition manger, still free for personal use I believe, at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. The new beta (version 2.38) includes both a "copy partition" and "copy disk" feature. Just select source partition and press C for partition copy or D for disk copy, and it prompts you for the target. I'm  not sure if the "copy" feature is available in the previous final release(2.37), I don't think so. The target partition must be the same size or larger than the source. I've tried "copy partition", and it worked just fine for me. Fast too. The only thing that doesn't work quite as expected in the beta is the boot manger(*). The partition manager seems to work just fine though. Very useful partition Wizard in the new version as well.

     

    - Bjorn Simonsen

     

    HDD - Low Level Format

     

    >Could someone answer the following questions please.

    >1.  what is the purpose of a low level format?

    >2.  In what situations is such a technique required?.

    >3.  If special software is needed are there any freeware or shareware utilities to be found on the net?.

     

    First, we do not "low-level-format" IDE or ATA hard drives.  This term is a misnomer from the old MFM days when a drive could have the tracks and sectors defined using a low level format.

     

    The IDE or ATA drives we use today have all this information preset at the factory and a real low level format would destroy the drive or at least slow it down radically...   you cannot redefine the tracks and sectors on these drives with a true low level format.  Of course this is highly simplified for this discussion, but let us suffice to say that you cannot change the logical geometry of current IDE/ATA drives without destroying it...   since we have two different issues: physical geometry vs. logical geometry...   and they a quite different.

     

    Fdisk only writes to the Master Boot Record on the hard drive to create logical areas of the drive to divide the drive, even if it is only to set it as one large area.  These areas are defined as partitions.  So, FDISK does

    not perform a low level format, but only writes to one small area, the Master Boot Record or MBR, located in the boot sector of the drive.

     

    What is usually called a low level format is a utility that writes or refreshes the drive by over writing the drive to clear out all information.  This is actually a mid-level format or maybe more accurate a re-initializing of the

    drive.  The only recommended, factory recommended manner to do this is with utility programs supplied by each manufacturer.  You can download these software programs from the manufacturer's web site to clean out the drive and prepare it for a fresh partition.  Using these utilities will overwrite the entire drive and all data will be gone, including the MBR, (Master Boot Record).

     

    Once the drive has been re-initialized you will be required to build a new MBR using a partitioning program, such as Microsoft's FDISK.

     

    SO...  Why would you re-initialize a drive?

    1) To remove a virus located in the boot sector

    2)  The hard drive has developed a large number of bad sectors and they are increasing

    3)  You wish to change from one operating system to another

     

    Once this has been finished, you will need to repartition the drive, this is when FDISK can be used.   Finally, you use format or a high level format utility to prepare the drive to receive data in the manner the operating system requires.

     

    - Bob Wright

     

    HDD - Ultra DMA 66 Cables

     

    >I believe one can use these ribbon cables to connect to dma33 drives. Is there any condition where this may not be true or where there use coul daffect system functionality - ie Windows?

     

    The UDMA66 cable is backwardly compatible with all IDE devices and the motherboards today that support UDMA66 have over come the issue with data transfers reduced by slower drives on the a controller.  So,

    you can connect just about any IDE device to these cables.  There are some motherboards that have issues with some IDE devices on a UDMA66 controller, but these are rare.

     

    - Bob Wright

     

    In order to run at ULTRA 66 three things must be present.

    Your controller must support Ultra 66.

    You must use the special 80 wire ribbon cable to connect the controller to the drive. The blue end is connected to the motherboard.

    You must load the ULTRA 66 drivers for the operating system you are running.

     

    - Mark Rode

     

    >Which is it the difference between a cable ATA66 and ATA33?

     

    ATA 66 cable has 80 wires, 40 of them are ground wires. This is to reduce cross-talking.

     

    - Susan Stubbs

     

    Keyboard - Compatibility

     

    I was wondering how do you tell if a Microsoft keyboard from Gateway would be compatible with a Compac keyboard. I really like the Compac over the one I have now. It's like having to stomp on each key to get it to register.

     

    If both keyboards are standard (no special keys) then they are completely interchangeable.  Unfortunately,

    many PC makers are now building keyboards with unique and specialized keys (like a special key to load

    the web browser).  These new specialized keyboards might work, but those extra keys will not.

     

    - Jim Meagher

     

    A caveat on keyboards:  there are two kinds of plugs for keyboards, which means keyboards are not always physically interchangeable (although adapters are available for only a few dollars).

     

    - Martin Kurr

     

    Keyboard - Not working

     

    Some older machines don't have a USB bus, the only other alternative (I know of) for a keyboard.  I have had problems with some motherboards where the keyboard connector has parted from the motherboard. It sticks out from the MB and with the tugging and pulls, it is very vulnerable for this type damage. A solder job _may_ be able to fix the keyboard connector back to the motherboard and fix the problem. I have had mixed success in doing these repairs.

     

    - Doug Simmons

     

    Also, look for a "pico" fuse - looks like a 1/4 W resistor without the color bands.  Usually you can see a rating such as "2 A" printed on it.  Use a low-voltage ohmmeter or "beeper" to check continuity.  Something like a

    loose screw in the keyboard, or even fumbling the keyboard connection with the power on, could blow the fuse.

     

    - Kenneth Alan Boyd Ramsay

     

    LS-120 - Information

     

    The LS-120 is an IDE device. If you don't have BIOS and/or Windows 9X [LS-120] support, you have to use the drivers. The SUPERDISKs, as they are also known, are standard ATA (IDE-based) Removable Media Devices, so you have to configure them as a master or a slave on the IDE channel and connect them to a 40-pin IDE cable. You don't need to set any special CMOS settings.  You should not have any problems if you have a current system and use Windows 98 or later. Earlier versions of Windows 95 (and DOS) require the drivers.

     

    You can get more information, support and drivers at:

     

      You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

     

    You should retain the 1.44 MB floppy disk drive. Although some people use the LS-120 as an A: drive, you'll require L-120 support in BIOS for boot purposes. Replacing a floppy drive (a low-tech but mostly reliable/useful boot drive) with a LS-120 is not recommended and can be problematic.

     

    I installed LS-120 drives in all my computers and I have an external, Parallel Port LS-120. Works fine for my needs, which includes carting around a large number of often changing files, and backing up data from other people's PCs (the LS-120 real mode drivers/TSRs will fit on a 1.44 MB boot floppy).

     

    - John Chin

     

    Modem - Call freezes the PC

     

    > I have a Sportster Express external 56k modem. I'm using Windows 98 SE. My problem is that if the telephone rings my computer freezes. Ctrl-Alt-Del does nothing and I need to reset my computer.

     

            Sounds like the port your external modem is connected to is using an IRQ used by some other active device. Check what IRQ the com port the modem is connected too and see if any other device uses the same.

     

    - Herbert Graf

     

    Modem - Internal vs. External

     

    What are the pros and cons of external vs. internal modems?  If an external plugs into the serial port, does that mean some other device can't be used? I want a speakerphone to speak to people I call at their house (and I don't like headsets).  There sia 3com external faxmodem pro that comes witha highly