General Technical Help

[maitreya]

Ey, do you guys know of any sound editor program out there? Something like photoshop for sounds. Preferably downloadable (or at least could be found in torrents =P). I'm still searching. Thanks

[Sforza]

Try exact audio copy's sound editor.

It does its job, and it's free, and EAC is a very good ripping program.

[Grim]

<!--QuoteBegin-maitreya+September 01, 2007 09:49 am--><div class='codebox_title'>QUOTE (maitreya @ September 01, 2007 09:49 am)</div><div class='codebox'><div id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Ey, do you guys know of any sound editor program out there? Something like photoshop for sounds. Preferably downloadable (or at least could be found in torrents =P). I'm still searching. Thanks [/quote:77328eb402]
<a href='http://audacity.sourceforge.net/' target='_blank'>Audacity</a> is pretty well known among the open-source people. Pretty small and somewhat basic, but it gets the job done.

[maitreya]

Thanks guys. I'll check'em out.

[clonezero]

sorry to bring up an old matter but about the boiling your cd thingie what kind of clothes are none static and the like...

[Sforza]

A few days ago my laptop's HD got fried because of faulty drivers. I've had to change the HD because of this. Since I had to change the HD, I also plan on upgrading from 256mb ram to 1.25gb ram and from a 35gb HD to 120gb.

The question is, will the increased ram result in better overall performance of everyday programs like firefox and MS office?

I'm asking because the video card can't be changed, and it's (only) a 32mb motherboard-integrated graphics controller (IGP) and not a video card. Before, it could play RO and Warcraft 3 just fine but had a hell of a hard time with games like Lineage II.

[NiX]

I'm no expert, but yes from what I know, RAM can compensate for several other hardware shortcomings.

[cabs]

<!--QuoteBegin-sforzando+September 12, 2007 01:33 am--><div class='codebox_title'>QUOTE (sforzando @ September 12, 2007 01:33 am)</div><div class='codebox'><div id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->A few days ago my laptop's HD got fried because of faulty drivers. I've had to change the HD because of this. Since I had to change the HD, I also plan on upgrading from 256mb ram to 1.25gb ram and from a 35gb HD to 120gb.

The question is, will the increased ram result in better overall performance of everyday programs like firefox and MS office?

I'm asking because the video card can't be changed, and it's (only) a 32mb motherboard-integrated graphics controller (IGP) and not a video card. Before, it could play RO and Warcraft 3 just fine but had a hell of a hard time with games like Lineage II.[/quote:1df5d24d2a]
Yup, an additional 1Gb RAM and a bigger HDD might do the trick

Having an on-board graphics controller means that it leeches its memory
on your ram which lessens the available space for other programs to use.

Bigger ram means a larger space for programs to dump their components
for faster execution and less file swapping.

Having a freshly installed OS will also make a difference.

Some tips that might help:
- try to give your OS a dedicated partition (makes if easier to defrag)
- try adjusting your hdd page file size (aka swap file partition)
- try disabling seldomly used programs that pre-loads their components during startup
- try to disable the function of some programs that automatically connects
to the internet (some are better to be done manually)
- disable windows update (well its up to you)
- try using system restore or other programs with the same function on your
OS partition (saves you a lot of effort in undoing wrong installations)

Hope this helps

[Sforza]

Ah, thank you for all of those suggestions! I'll most probably follow every single one.

A weird thing happened today when I brought the new hard drive to be installed. It got rejected by the motherboard because it was "too powerful". Some input/output error came out during OS installation =_=

...

So tomorrow, I'll have to go and trade in the 120gb HD for an 80gb one. This is silly because it's the second time that it's happened to me. Had to downgrade the processing power of my desktop's P4 from 2.4 to 2.0 because the motherboard couldn't supply the power it needed. Gads.

[NiX]

Okay here's a great tip for everybody. It's what I do to speed up startup and computing in general:

(for Win XP)
1. Open the start menu
2. Click "run"
3. type "msconfig" and press enter
4. A window called "System Configuration Utility" will pop up.
5. On the "General" tab, select "Selective startup"
6. On the "Services" and "Startup" tabs, uncheck the boxes for everything that isn't necessary for normal windows operation.
7. To find out if it's safe to disable a particular process, check here: <a href='http://www.processlibrary.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.processlibrary.com/</a>
8. Restart your PC.
9. A window should pop up. Just check the box that says that you don't want it to pop up again.

Works for vista too except for some variations. Enjoy.

[Grim]

<!--QuoteBegin-sforzando+September 12, 2007 06:52 pm--><div class='codebox_title'>QUOTE (sforzando @ September 12, 2007 06:52 pm)</div><div class='codebox'><div id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> So tomorrow, I'll have to go and trade in the 120gb HD for an 80gb one. This is silly because it's the second time that it's happened to me. Had to downgrade the processing power of my desktop's P4 from 2.4 to 2.0 because the motherboard couldn't supply the power it needed. Gads. [/quote:b3be87651b]
When getting new stuff (video card, hard drives, etc.), you also have to check if the current power supply in your tower is enough. It's one of the things people seriously overlook when buying shiny new upgrades, and it often leads to disappointment. Well, that aside from motherboard issues.

My suggestion is, if you have an extra day or two, keep the 120GB HD, and just get a new power supply and slap that on. As for the details, I hope Google can be of greater help in than I am.

[cabs]

<!--QuoteBegin-sforzando+September 12, 2007 07:52 pm--><div class='codebox_title'>QUOTE (sforzando @ September 12, 2007 07:52 pm)</div><div class='codebox'><div id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> A weird thing happened today when I brought the new hard drive to be installed. It got rejected by the motherboard because it was "too powerful". Some input/output error came out during OS installation =_=

[/quote:ac574a43b4]
hmm... about the hdd issue, what installer are you using?
try using a bootable windows xp service pack 2 when installing windows,
this might provide the proper drivers needed for large size hdds.

[Lord_Leperman]

My PC's sound output became very weak just recently. I diagnosed it as a hardware problem in my PC since I maxed out the settings in the audio control options and maxed out the volume of the speakers with no significant effect (The sound is still very soft), and I tried the speakers on my dad's laptop and they worked fine. Now, I'm not too good with computer hardware to warrant a DIY (Do It Yourself) compared to a PS2, so I'm asking if anyone knows what the problem is and if anyone can offer a solution?

Help! I can't watch Gundam 00 without sound!

[Grim]

Hmm, let's see. Try using headphones to see if it's your sound card or your speakers that has the problem.

If you hear pretty much normal sounds using headphones, then get new speakers.

[Lord_Leperman]

I tried already, they didn't help. So its prolly the sound card.... O gads, I don't know how to do this now.