Author Topic: I have computer related questions. Can you help? (Read 149301 times)

Wah · « **Reply #525 on:** February 25, 2016, 06:19:57 PM »

want to know what's the difference between a 32-bit os and a 64-bit os?

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #526 on:** February 25, 2016, 07:54:42 PM »

Mainly, at least for end users, it comes down to how much memory your PC can use (assuming it's Windows). A 32-bit Windows system can only use 4GB RAM, because 2^32 (32 bits) = 4294967296 bits = 4GB, so that's the most memory that can be mapped (to a process in Linux, or to the entire OS in most version of Windows). A 64-bit system can theoretically have up to 1.84 x 10^19 bits of RAM (16 Exabytes - or 16 billion gigabytes) - which is about 17 times as much RAM as there was on the entire planet in 1981). 64-bit programs are more efficient, assuming they make use of the memory space, and they can only be run on 64-bit OSes. There's more to it than that, but those are the basics of it.

Wah · « **Reply #527 on:** February 25, 2016, 07:56:32 PM »

Because with my 32-bit I cant play subnautica or MGS:V, fallout 4

well time to save up for a new pc

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #528 on:** March 07, 2016, 02:50:57 AM »

Well, aint this some ****....

I come home to see my computer finally having it's go at the Win 10 update i've been avoiding since it' was being force advertised on my perfectly fine Win 8.1 computer. I disabled auto-updates a long time ago too... I didn't want this upgrade to happen.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #529 on:** July 10, 2016, 11:16:45 PM »

Got an issue... could use some advice.

Win 10 (against my will)
Malware Bytes was active and using Win Defender for virus protection.

about a month or 2 ago, my computer would start randomly restarting, or going to sleep and need me to physically push a button on the case to wake it up (as opposed to just moving the mouse or hitting a button on the keyboard)

I kinda shrugged it off as Win10 issues, as it stopped happening as frequently recently,
but for the last 3 or so weeks, I've now been getting random popup tabs when I click on links.
All the links are related to "fixing Win 10", "clean reinstall for Win 10" and other such related topics.
I sometimes have to close these window/tabs 2-3 times (w/ pop up windows confirming I want to leave the page) before I'm able to open the link I selected.

I recently installed a Chrome App - Free VPN for um... reasons. and i tried to only use it when ... um reasons applied... but I would sometimes forget and leave it running for extended periods of time.
Problems may have started before this, or after, I don't really remember, but I've uninstalled the VPN and installed Norton. My Malwarebytes also expired during this time, but it has since been renewed.
They both keep finding issues, and removing them, but they always come back.
I've run them both in safe mode as well.

What program should I run to attempt to fix this?
and I'm not 100% against a fresh Win 10 install... but I'm not even sure how to do that, as I never had the installation stuff for it in the first place.

ShyGuy · « **Reply #530 on:** July 11, 2016, 12:16:51 AM »

You're in my wheelhouse!

Quick and Dirty, Scan with Hitman Pro, follow up with a Malware Bytes re-check. www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro

Time to get serious, move onto Combofix, it's a little more involved. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/combofix/

Need more? an oldie buy goodie is Super Anti Spyware. http://www.superantispyware.com/

Scan in safe mode with network support if needed.

If you know the name of what plagues you, checkout Bleeping Computer virus removal guides http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #531 on:** July 11, 2016, 02:27:10 AM »

I'm running down your list now.

I remember superantispyware. does that do something different than Malwarebyte?
I'm currently running the malware re-check and have the Combofix page up and ready for step 3.

while I'm doing that, is there a good Free VPN?
I was just using ZenMate VPN off the chrome store.

Also have Hola installed.
should I stick w/ one of those or delete them both and try something different?

edit:
HitmanPro discovered about 2 dozen tracking cookies....
Malwarebytes was ran, but computer started freezing up again once I ran HitmanPro, so I didn't see the results.

I tried to run Combofix, but it doesn't support Win 10 yet.
so I guess I can try SAS, but I always thought that was to MWB as McAfee was to Norton
I guess it may catch something different, and therefore worth a shot.

ShyGuy · « **Reply #532 on:** July 11, 2016, 11:27:31 PM »

With a serious investation, They can all catch something different.

Hitman Pro is a fast scan, trying running it again.

If things are too messed up, you can try making an Eset disk. http://www.eset.com/sg/support/sysrescue/

I don't use much in the way of VPN, I've used Hola with mixed results. I use TOR if I need to be anonymous, but It's not good for streaming in my experience.

It's possible you have hardware issues going on as well with the restarts, but I would verify all the malware is gone to know for sure.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #533 on:** July 12, 2016, 10:33:46 PM »

nothing seems to be working, and I'm not logging into my usual websites for shopping and bill pay on this computer (my main computer) till it's fixed, so it looks like a clean install of Win 10 will be happening this weekend.

many minor things have been screwed up since the forced Win 10 upgrade anyway, so maybe this is for the best....

ShyGuy · « **Reply #534 on:** July 13, 2016, 12:37:13 AM »

Sometimes that is the quicker solution. I once fought with an infected computer for 24 hours...

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #535 on:** July 13, 2016, 03:42:13 AM »

I reinstalled FF, and it seemed to work just fine, so I'm deleting chrome for now, restarting, running virus checks, then reinstalling if everything is still good.

FF isn't getting the random pop-ups, but damn is this browser choppy.... it keeps stalling and then jerking. it loads slow, and I'm watching my resources that are barely being used... so it must be the browser right?

So now I'm test Driving Opera (Dev version) for that free VPN access I was looking for.
I might try re-install chrome tomorrow .

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #536 on:** July 14, 2016, 04:22:07 AM »

all issues have ceased since I stopped running Malwarebytes and uninstalled Chrome.

Opera runs quick and smooth, and is currently set as my default browser.
auto ad-block and built in VPN (used with the click of a button) is certainly nice.

So chrome reinstall has hit a backburner for now. Opera is running the show for now.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #537 on:** August 18, 2016, 12:29:31 AM »

Windows did it's update in the background w/o my consent, yet again, even though I had the settings set to notify me to make arrangement (as that is apparently the lowest level setting I could choose from.)

Now Opera started acting weird. Mostly delayed with random pop-ups like what was happening to Chrome before I deleted it. So I reinstalled Chrome, worked perfectly fine for the 2 last days, but now I've gotten 2 random computer freezing glitches again like it used to do sometime ago (pre-post edit... I just scrolled back up and I was complaining about this ONLY 1 month ago. I thought it was longer now)

So I guess a Win 10 fresh install may happen next weekend when I have plenty of free time.
for a 3.3Ghz 6core 16GB Ram computer, I really shouldn't have problems surfing the internet while watching a video (stored locally or streaming from the internet) at the same time. It's just ridiculous.

If a fresh install doesn't work, then I will probably swap my other computer into this one's place, and see if the same issues arise with long term usage.

edit: I've actually been forced to use MS Edge in the meantime, as it's the only browser on my computer that doesn't grind everything to a halt... FML. LOL

ShyGuy · « **Reply #538 on:** August 18, 2016, 09:57:22 PM »

Something else is going on here...

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #539 on:** August 19, 2016, 12:01:48 AM »

All the safe mode virus checks turned up nothing. I haven't had these issues till Win 10 force stealth installed itself.

So either a clean install fixed most these issues, or it's hardware problems.
But the current situation is frustrating as all hell.

ShyGuy · « **Reply #540 on:** August 19, 2016, 01:06:47 AM »

If I were you, I would try a USB stick or Live CD of Linux and see if the problems go away.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #541 on:** August 19, 2016, 01:35:27 AM »

Quote from: ShyGuy on August 19, 2016, 01:06:47 AM

If I were you, I would try a USB stick or Live CD of Linux and see if the problems go away.

I'll look into that for next weekend when I have all day basically tear my computer down.

Stratos · « **Reply #542 on:** August 19, 2016, 07:37:59 PM »

Read an article today that the Widows 10 Anniversary Update broke a lot of features on a lot of people's computers. They just discovered it broke web cams on some systems.

Really hate that it forces the updates. Especially hate the fact it is pushing MS Edge. I worry that Windows 10 may eventually drain my battery faster on purpose in an effort to make me switch.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #543 on:** August 20, 2016, 11:59:52 AM »

Oh BTW... MS Edge browser is missing some features that I've grown used to in EVERY OTHER BROWSER I'VE USED for years. unless I just haven't figured out where they are....

for example, I can't right-click the back button to bring up a history of links to take me directly back to the beginning of whatever I've been clicking on.
I also can't right click an image and copy it's location, nor open it in another tab/window.

I almost can't wait to figure out how to do a fresh install and start this Win 10 thing from scratch.
Or maybe I'll just go back to Win 8.1, where I was before MS tricked my computer into upgrading when I wasn't around to say no.

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #544 on:** August 20, 2016, 12:37:54 PM »

I would never go back to 8.1 over 10. Then again, my only issues are horrendous boot times and the occasional mouse cursor disappearing (lock/unlock brings it back). I do hate some of the apps though, like the calculator...and I wish the ages-old sound recorder was still there. Oh well, time to move on to Linux.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #545 on:** August 20, 2016, 01:20:02 PM »

1 allowed to use my computer all ways I see fit... Win10 seems to be against that.

And now edge is becoming a laggy browser. Something is constantly holding up me typing this message. I have no idea what is loading every few seconds, and all my typing has a 1-10 second delay right now if the words even bother to type at all.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #546 on:** August 23, 2016, 03:38:52 AM »

so I was tryingto get my scanner to work, which hasn't worked since my forced Win10 "upgrade", and this is what I discovered.....

I should probably preface this with over the last 2 weeks or so, around 10:30-12:30am, my computer would suddenly "lose internet connection" but all other connected devices are wirelessly connected just fine. This computer is the only one physically plugged into the router, so no reason it should lose connection. But I know it's not the internet, because it's not just a matter of the internet not working, the entire computer becomes almost non-responsive unless I reboot.

so what does this mean, because I know this is far from normal

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #547 on:** August 23, 2016, 11:50:44 PM »

Quote from: ShyGuy on July 11, 2016, 11:27:31 PM

With a serious investation, They can all catch something different.

If things are too messed up, you can try making an Eset disk. http://www.eset.com/sg/support/sysrescue/

This is what it has come to.... last resort before a full system wipe and clean install.

Stratos · « **Reply #548 on:** August 24, 2016, 12:37:02 AM »

How did those all get there?

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #549 on:** August 24, 2016, 01:03:58 AM »

I have no idea. Had to hook up computer B, while computer A runs through some test.

**** was unbearable, almost usable, and completely untrustworthy. I don't want to type in any passwords for any site with financial info, and that image about was the final push to finally begin a deep cleansing of the computer.

News:

Author Topic: I have computer related questions. Can you help? (Read 149301 times)