AWKWARD ZOMBIE

they try to, but because it's such a weird program (especially after itunes10 released, holy mother of clusterfuck,) people will put in other ways to get around it

After Windows 7 auto-updated, my Skype is now no longer working. It crashes on start up. I've already tried a complete re-install. Any suggestions?

System Restore.

Once you've restored, block the update.

I'd prefer a less extreme solution if at all possible.

It's not really that drastic - If I ever notice anything like that happen after an update I do a System Restore and block the offending update(s). Over the course of about five years I've only had to block two updates which were causing problems. Later updates installed without any issues - so it's not like blocking one or two updates causes you any long-term problems.

Windows should really be creating a 'System Restore Point' every time it updates anyway - you've just got to select the most recent restore point - it shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes to perform, really - if that's your worry.

Also if you've got Windows set on auto-update you can change that in the update settings - I don't ever allow Windows to update without my approval because of these issues.


EDIT: If you do want to try uninstalling Skype again instead - make sure you delete everything to do with Skype; The Skype help pages have a full explanation of how to remove all traces of Skype from your computer - once you've done that you could try re-installing to see if it works.

A full System Restore and blocking the update seems like the best bet in my opinion though.

I already did a full Skype deletion the first time, guess I'll have to consider a system restore.

Edit: I fixed it by uninstalling the Internet Explorer update specifically through configuration panel->progams->view installed updates

So I had to reset my computer because I wanted to try and play the Sims 3 again and it crashed and burned as half expected. The start-up took ages and for the longest period of time my keyboard and mouse were useless when it was initializing. After logging in, I was greeted with a black screen for 10 minutes before I opened the task manager and it somehow all came together.


Attempting to access my external hard drive (1TB, F:\, as pictured) results in the above notification. Googling for solutions appears to yield nothing. Is there a way to get rid of this -- to access the hard drive without having to format it? I really don't want to reinstall my whole daisies steam library

HEYO

Financially capable of getting a decent desktop and get off my shitty laptop.

This is what my bro has, and it works pretty well.
I asked him to list the parts.

CASE: Coolermaster Elite LED
FANS: Coolermaster Sickleflow 120mm LED (came with case, plus 1 or 2 extras)
HDD: 750 GB
MOTHERBOARD: 970A-G46
PROCESSOR: AMD FX-4170 (he overclocked his slightly)
RAM: 8GB of Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz
GRAPHICS CARD: GeForce GTX 460 SE
POWER SUPPLY: "Piece of shit, get a different one."

I have a keyboard, monitor, and mouse. Would need some good speakers.

Can anybody recommend some upgrades/drastic changes and a power supply? Some exact compatible part names would be fantastic.

There's one thing that instantly strikes my eye and that's the 460 - no point in getting a 3+ year old GPU even if you could find a retailer that still sells them. Figure out a budget and look up Tom's Hardware's best bang/buck GPU list. The motherboard and CPU are likely older models as well, you don't really want hardware from 2010. As for the power supply, any 500w one will do, but don't get the cheapest no-brand one, you don't want it frying up your shit. The case is largely about personal preference, any $50 one should have what you need. Also, I'd recommend investing in an SSD for your OS + programs + games because regular hard drives are the slowest component in modern computers and best suited as redundant storage. SSDs are at $100/120GB at the moment.

I can't provide you with any exact models at the moment, I'm on my phone.

The speed of SSD's aren't really worth their price right now though in my opinion. Also they don't affect games all that much.

Yeah, my 7200 RPM drive is slow as balls, and I've still never had a pause longer than two seconds in a game for loading.

About the graphics card, though - I can't speak for the 460, but my 560 still runs just about every game out there at near max settings. It's old, but I've still only ever seen one game that had something faster listed in "recommended" and absolutely nothing that needed a faster card as minimum. The 460 is gonna be a bit slower, but I don't think you'd be shooting yourself in the foot as bad as people say. My friend Colin has a 460 and he hasn't got any complaints... except for being surprised that my faster card was way cheaper. If you're buying these parts, a 560 might be your best bet.

He'd be shooting himself in the foot because of the life of the card. It may meet minimum now but maybe not next year and likely not the year after that. Unless you've got cheddar to blow you purchase parts to last for a long while.

But it meets maximum in all but one case, assuming he goes with a 560. Shit, my old 9500GT still runs every game I own save for Hunted: The Demon's Forge. It certainly won't be current for long, but it'll be more than sufficient unless he wants to max out every game for the next three years.
I don't think the debatably useful extra power justifies the significantly higher prices of newer cards, personally. The other components will be a much larger bottleneck, and should be focused on first.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI ZH77A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($96.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $780.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-07 19:53 EDT-0400)


Okay so how's this system? What needs an upgrade? Changed? Budget is $900, preferably around $850ish.
Found this one on Tom's Hardware forums, changed it around a little bit.

Looks good to me. I have that GPU and recently bought that SSD for my laptop. Will you be building it yourself? If you're interested in better cooling and reduced noise, I'd recommend Hyper 212 Evo as an aftermarket cooler for the CPU. It's a world of difference between it and the stock cooler I had in my previous CPU, it's quiet even when my overclocked CPU is under stress.