[SplashBeats]

so, i have this 160GB SATA drive and it's pretty full of stuff. my computer's been running a little sluggish lately, and i like to reinstall windows once every year or so to keep things fresh. now is the time for this!

i've decided to use this old 40GB IDE drive of mine for XP (and probably a *nix once i get around to it) and use the 160GB for the massive amount of music, video, and "backups" of my japanese rhythm games that i have (though those "backups" are going to be burned off later)

my problem is! i currently have XP installed on the 160GB, and i want to get rid of it, install XP on the 40, and erase as much of the glut as possible from the 160GB, while saving my "archive" folder, which i've piled all this crap into.

can i just toss XP onto the 40GB, set it to master, boot up, and manually delete the old XP install? will this work, or am i misguided?

[Panoptic]

Yeah, take the old drive out completely and install fresh onto the 40GB. Once that's done, put the SATA in (make sure to check in your BIOS that it doesn't take over the boot order). Once it boots into Windows off of the 40GB, you should be able to delete the Windows, Documents and Settings, and Program Files folders off of the SATA drive. If it gives you any problems (I.E. doesn't let you delete certain files), try doing it in Safe Mode (press Ctrl or F8 while Windows is booting for the menu).

[SplashBeats]

thank you! why is leaving the SATA connected a bad thing?

[Panoptic]

I like to have non-boot volumes disconnected during a Windows load for drive order reasons - if you don't delete the partition on the IDE drive, you'll be fine leaving the SATA drive in, however if you do delete the partition, it's possible that when you make a new one, it won't be "C:."

[SplashBeats]

ah. i suppose i need to rename that SATA to something other than C at some point.

[Panoptic]

If you unplug it and then complete your Windows load on the IDE drive it should handle that automatically for ya.

[SplashBeats]

gotcha. thanks a ton!

this is now the general computer help thread!

[DJ]

Okay:

I have a recurring problem in the graphics of many of my games. Basically, seams will show up where there shouldn't be seams, and overlapping textures will bleed through one another.

This isn't a graphics card problem: It's persisted across multiple cards, two motherboards, two power supplies, and lots of driver updates. It shows up (mildly) in everything from BioShock to WoW to Wolfenstien 3D.

This problem also only started once my computer arrived in California, after being mailed here.

I was recently informed that, while rare, it is possible that CPU damage can result in little glitches like that. Usually it's the graphics card and/or the power supply and/or the motherboard, but since all those things have been replaced with new components and the issue remains, it's becoming more and more likely that it is, in fact, mild CPU damage.If my machine got X-Rayed on the way over here, well, there you go.

Does this sound plausible? 'Cause I'm getting mixed reactions. Some people say "rare but yes" and other people say "rare to the point of basically impossible so don't waste your money on a replacement CPU chip."

I bought a new CPU anyway, mind. It's better than the one I have now, so even if that's not the problem at least I got my money's worth as an upgrade.
_________________

[Talbain]

I'm gonna say it's NOT your CPU, but probably a result of using more anti-aliasing or trying customize your graphics a bit too much. Tweaking's great and all, but if you're overclocking, that type of stuff is pretty common. If you're using certain types of CPUs with certain GPUs, this can occur as well, simply due to compatibility issues.

Lastly, it could just be the software. I still have problems with clipping to this day on my machine with WoW. Clipping and strange textures are just kind of the nature of 3D technology right now (Lair for the PS3 being the best example). It's not really as smooth as something like sprites, because you're just writing over layers. So yeah, whenever those problems occur, I tend to blame the software, not the hardware, assuming you're not running your computer too hard.

Of course, there's always the best way to tell, which is to simply replace the CPU with a new one; if that's not an option, well, a fix may be tough. It'd be nice though if you could give more information as to your graphics settings in each of the games as well as your settings of graphics card. Your CPU settings as well would be nice.
_________________

[DJ]

I'm 100% positive it isn't anything having to do with settings. The cards I use come overclocked out of the box, but a) I've used these cards for years and never got this effect, and b) the SAME CARD did not display these issues until after the move. Same game, same drivers, same settings, same everything. Computer in RI = no seams. Computer in Cali = seams.

Driver settings are at their default.

Eh, screw it. Here's my system specs:

--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Computer Type ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180 (IE 6.0 SP2)
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name SESTREN (The Bone Engine)
User Name Matt
Logon Domain SESTREN
Date / Time 2007-10-12 / 18:45

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4 550, 3400 MHz (17 x 200)
Motherboard Name Intel Battle Lake D915PBL (4 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset Intel Grantsdale i915P
System Memory 2048 MB (DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (09/26/06)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT (256 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Monitor Hannstar HW191D [19" LCD] (625GH30CA3676)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Realtek ALC880(D) @ Intel 82801FB ICH6 - High Definition Audio Controller [B-1]

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801FB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2652
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 266F
Disk Drive WDC WD2500JD-22HBB0 (232 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive LITE-ON DVDRW SHM-165H6S (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/24x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
Optical Drive LITE-ON DVDRW SHW-160P6S (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/24x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 238464 MB (194516 MB free)
Total Size 232.9 GB (190.0 GB free)

Input:
Keyboard Microsoft USB Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000 (IntelliType Pro)
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical
Game Controller Microsoft PC-joystick driver
_________________

[Talbain]

Mind if I ask if you know how hot your components run (CPU, GPU; while running said games and while running just the OS normally, if possible)?

Didn't have problems until after a move huh? Hm... well, it's possible parts got damaged, or there may be emissions from other electronics that are causing it to happen... radio signals and such, but such a case would be extremely rare.
_________________

[CubaLibre]

Source games can get choppy or chop/freeze permanently (force program end in the Task Manager, at least it doesn't crash the OS) when there is a muzzle flare/spark/flash kind of effect. Happens an average of once every twenty or thirty minutes, although I've played Ep2 for as little as 30 seconds and for over and hour before it kicked in. TF2 does it too, even more often in fact.

Felix thought it was dx9/HDR related, so I force booted Ep2 in dx 8.1 and turned off HDR compeltely. The problem persists. Any ideas?

(Other than updating my video drivers, which I shouldn't have to do cause I just got this laptop like 3 weeks ago, but even so I'm not quite sure where/how to get my drivers because nVidia doesn't support mobile cards [the fuck is that?].)
_________________
Let's Play, starring me.

[bleak]

I could be way off base here, but that sounds like a hardware issue and not a software issue. It could easily be a conflict between the software and the hardware. Have you tried running benchmarks on it or playing any other games on it? Have you experienced any similar problems?

[Talbain]

[parkbench]

SPLASHBEATS HOW DO YOU HAVE A SATA DRIVE WORKING WITH XP

AGRGHH

i still have a 400 gig sata sitting there laughing at me.
_________________
metafilter vs. youtube comments

[Panoptic]

[SplashBeats]

[Felix]

if i was curious about linux, would i be ill-advised to just go ahead and try ubuntu? that seems to be a popular one.

[Talbain]

Ubuntu would probably be the best place to start.
_________________

[falsedan]

DeusJester, how does the ambient temperature/humidity/dust levels in California compare to Rhode Island?

CubaLibre check what version your video drivers are, companies aren't very good at updating their stock disk image everytime a new driver is released.
_________________

[DJ]

[Wilhelm scream*]

[Corinth]

[kael]

[DJ]

New CPU is a no-go, the mobo's oh-so-slightly too old to handle it (voltage is off).

Wanna talk about suck? Pull out your motherboard (which means unscrewing like half a trillion screws and pulling absolutely everything except the RAM out of it), desocket your old CPU, drop the new one in, get some thermal paste on there, get the heatsink just right on it, re-mount the whole thing, plug everything into it, triple-check it's all back in properly, hit the power switch, and stare in amazement as the power clicks on and then nothing happens and the thing won't even boot. Which means doing all that again to get your old chip back in there.

You guys remember the Bloodlust noise from Warcraft 2? I did that for real.

Suck.

I also managed to kill my speakers(?) somehow during this, though that may have been sheer coincidence. They didn't die until an hour after everything was back in, the headphone jack on them still works, and they were on their way out anyway.

Anyway the old problem remains, so I'll snap photos of it tonight.
_________________

[Panoptic]

You pulled your motherboard out just to swap a CPU? I thought your case had enough room to get around inside (unless, of course, you have some enormous heatsink).

[Felix]

so i burned ubuntu 7.1 to a CD and it booted up fine, although when i tried to install it i got the impression that it wanted to overwrite my windows partition (which is definitely not okay) so i panicked and gave up.

any advice?

[SplashBeats]

use something like partitionmagic in windows to make a linux partition, then install to that partition

the ubuntu installer's disk management functions are crap.

[Jeff Garneau]

[Felix]

i think ubuntu 7.1 incorporates ntfs to some degree, actually.

[BenoitRen]

As far as I know, Ubuntu can detect and resize your WinXP partition just fine, and make a partition for itself to install on.
_________________
Get Xenoblade Chronicles!

[Felix]

maybe it can; the installer was just scaring me, is all. in actual matter of fact i got the impression that it now supported NTFS and wanted to share my XP partition, but past a point i was not willing to click "next."

[Toptube]

deusjester, if your cpu fit into the mobo, then the mobo should work. processor companies don't make new incompatible processor generations without also changing the pin-out on the bottom.


you might need to just update your bios to support that processor. if I remember correctly, the mobo chipset you have (915p) was the last pentium 4 chipset, so it should support a lot of processors.

I suppose it could be a fluke case of unsupportedness, but, well what is your new processor?