I might suddenly vanish for a while

[fragger]

Thanks for your input chaps, much appreciated

PZ, it could be something like that (nothing would surprise me anymore) but it seems awfully coincidental that all this started when I swapped over the power supply. How doing that could lead to what appears to be a display problem I don't know, but I don't believe in those sorts of coincidences. Maybe there was a surge when the old power unit conked out and something got zapped or corrupted, or when I put the new one in, even though I took proper precautions. Who knows.

It's working fine this morning, but it worked fine yesterday morning as well until it suddenly didn't So it could happen at any time, it seems. I hate not being able to trust my machine.

BinnZ, good idea about consulting the old site for tips and tricks with W10. I remember some of you guys discussing turning off some options, I will re-read the topic. MS won't keep supporting W7 forever anyway, so I might as well take the opportunity to upgrade the OS.

[LowPolyOWG]

I've just been poking around online to see what kind of pre-built machines may be available hereabouts. There is a nationwide chain of computer and appliance stores in Oz called Bing Lee who are very reputable (I've dealt with them many a time) and they are offering a fairly decent rig for $1899 AUD, with free 2-year warranty. It's called a Medion P5370 E (never heard of that brand before, but I believe it's a German one. Ring any bells, Art?) PCGamer Australia gave it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars, for what that's worth. That price is for the base unit only, no peripherals.

Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700, 3.4 - 4.0 GHz (I currently have Intel Core i7-2600, 3.4 GHz)
RAM: 16 GB DDR4
HDD: 256 GB SSD + 2 TB HDD
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (I currently have GeForce GT 545)
OS: Windows 10 Home (pre-installed, I assume)
USB Ports: 6 x USB 3.0 (2 front + 4 rear), 2 x USB 2.0 (somewhere)
Card Readers: SD, MS, MMC, xD
DVD: Super Multidrive

Looks very good spec wise. I wouldn't mind if you could get a Ryzen based system (More CPU value there) with the GTX 1070 and the rest, if it's possible for the same price. I would recommend at least the Ryzen R7 1700. The GTX 1070 run games on my laptop at 60+ fps on max settings, 1080p resolution. CoD WW2/Destiny 2 runs at 80-100 fps, depending on what's going on screen

[fragger]

The PC comes as is. If I want to mix and match different brands, I'd have to go to a custom build and it would end up costing me more.

Anyway, I bought it already. I picked one up this afternoon. It's still in the box because I have to back up some more stuff, plus I'm doing some research into the compatibility of some of my software titles like Bryce and Hexagon with W10. At this stage, I don't foresee too many problems there. It's a bit late here to start setting it all up and there's heavy storms due to hit the area (again, we're really copping it lately) so I might make a start tomorrow. It'll probably take me a couple of days to reinstall all my imaging and 3D titles and set them all up, then copy all my graphics files back over. Then I'll get around to reinstalling a few games - I want to get the imaging programs done first. I also have to get acquainted with W10, so don't expect any gaming reports from me for a little while just yet

Speaking of imaging software (well, I sort of was), I was thinking about finally upgrading from Photoshop 7 as it doesn't play as well as it should with W10, apparently. Besides, P7 has that stupid "scratch disk" issue, which has always driven me nuts. When trying to install, it won't recognize drives with more than 1TB of free space for the installation of its scratch disk (a space on a drive it uses for temporary storage). Having been created before there were any such things as one or greater terabyte drives, and due to a shameful lack of foresight by its devs, P7 equates any space greater than 1TB with no space at all, so since it can't "find" space to put its scratch disk in, it won't install. This necessitates the user having to have a drive on hand with less than 1TB of free space to tell Photoshop to use as the scratch - even though the .exe itself will happily install on a >1TB drive without a problem. So I have to have a small external <1TB USB drive plugged in whenever I want to use P7 or it chucks a hissy fit. And because P7 can't "see" space greater than a terabyte, I can't save files directly from Photoshop to my C: drive, because once again it will decide that the drive is full. I have to save files to the external drive, then later copy the file(s) over to C: via Windows Explorer. it's a really, really stupid issue, and a right pain in the arse.

But Adobe no longer sells Photoshop outright. If you want to own Photoshop, you now have to pay Adobe a monthly subscription fee (Photoshop Creative Cloud is the newest version of the suite) and it's not cheap - about $30 per month. Bugger that. So I've been looking at alternatives, and I've come across a fairly recently released title, Affinity Photo. For $80 - a flat, one-time retail price, not an ongoing subscription - you get a professional-level photo editing suite which is on par with Photoshop for power and functionality, and it's really giving Adobe a run for its money.

Many people have been put off by Adobe's monthly subscription policy, an outlay which a business could absorb but is rather steep for a casual user. AP has stepped in to fill this void. I've read about half a dozen professional reviews so far and they all have nothing but good things to say about it. AP regularly scores 5 or 4 1/2 stars, has everything a casual user of Photoshop would ever need and then some, and the only niggles relate to some aspects of the software that I will never use anyway. And of course it's fully compatible with W10 and it won't hamstring me with that ridiculous scratch disk problem, so I'm seriously considering it. It's about time someone stuck it to Adobe, the greedy sods.

So I might not vanish for as long as I thought. The old PC appears to be running just fine now - wouldn't you know it? But I'm not exactly unhappy with how things turned out

[LowPolyOWG]

The i7-6700K is still a great CPU. Congratz with a new PC

[Dweller_Benthos]

I see you've already moved on as I'm late to the party, but in situations like this, where the monitor obviously works, that also eliminates the cabling, so that leaves the video card and/or driver. If it worked before with that driver, then most cases, it's not the driver. As in, you've had that driver for a while, and one day it just doesn't w0#k, and nothing else significant has changed, it's probably not the driver. That leaves the video card. What you did in taking it out, dusting, the reinstalling it is the first thing you try, and seems it worked at least for a bit. That might be all you have to do and it will w0#k for years after that. Might have been that it wasn't 100% seated in the slot and either worked loose after a bit or dust got in there. The BIOS screen and Windows logo screen (at least the logo screen used to) run at a lower resolution than your full desktop, which is why they would w0#k but when the desktop comes up at full resolution, it doesn't show because of the mis-connection between the video card and the motherboard. This is also why safe mode works, that runs at a lower resolution that eliminates drivers and other video card related issues. That's why it's "safe".

If re-seating the card doesn't do it, and it sounds like the computer is otherwise running OK, then it's time to swap out the video card. If you have onboard graphics, then go to the BIOS and turn them on and reboot. Swap the monitor cable over the motherboard's video out and see if that works. If so, then get a new video card, or in your case, a completely new computer. heh. 

[Art Blade]

nice ending, D_B

Good news there, fragger -- once you're done with installing everything comes the hard part: configuring all the *bleep* that you've got on that rig. That's what is really time-consuming, boring, and at times annoying. And all the while you'll get to know windows 10

Alright, good luck with everything and keep a stiff upper lip, old chap

[BinnZ]

Well, the good thing is, that while you are waiting and waiting on all the installation- and configuration bars to fill up, you may use your old, still working rig to keep us posted

[Art Blade]

 

[Dweller_Benthos]

I think that's what is keeping me from upgrading to windows 10, all the little options and utilities I have set in various places. I go to do something, and nope, don't have that option set, gotta go trolling through the control panel to find it, figure out what I had it set on before, then figure out how to set that in the new OS. Then there's the utilities, of which I have many and once I've set them up, forget them as they just w0#k in the background doing whatever I wanted them to do. So it's off to the web to find if there's a new version for the new OS, install it, configure it, etc. And if there's not a version for the new OS, find out if there's an equivalent out there that does almost the same thing.

[PZ]

I think MS is much like Apple - planned obsolescence. My son had a Macbook Pro that was having problems with their endless updates. He went to the Apple store for help. To make a long story short, they told him to get a new computer because his Macbook was too old to update.

The computer was working fine because he only wanted to watch mp4 movies, music, etc. However, because of the forced update, he now has a useless device.

My wife experienced the same with her iPad - it did an update that basically ruined the functionality of the unit - you could not reset to factory any longer. I had to go through all kinds of machinations to get the iPad back to the state it was when she purchased it.

The bottom line is that we are at the mercy of these tech giants - do the updates/upgrades or be lost in the wind. The choice then becomes simple: do what they want, go rogue with some kind of Unix box, or stop using technology as a form of protest.

[fragger]

All too true, guys.

Brief note: I'm coming to you from my new machine, and already I've had to muck around trying to find my way around W10. I initially tried using MS Edge to browse, but I don't like it and very soon after downloaded and installed Firefox again, where I am now. I don't like the way Edge handles my email either, I much prefer it through Firefox. I couldn't even find a way to access my Junk Mail folder in Edge

The new machine is going well. Upon starting up for the first time though, there were the inevitable Windows updates - 4 GB of them. Took about three hours to w0#k through them all... But so far I'm happy with the PC. I haven't run anything demanding on it yet, but it's extremely quiet, as in essentially silent. I found a hot-swap cradle tucked away inside a front panel, which could be handy for an additional drive if needs be, and the PC actually did include a new mouse and keyboard. Just basic ones of course, but it's nice to have them.

Anyway, I'm going to play around some more before I start installing stuff. Just keeping you guys posted

[Art Blade]

excellent. I'm waiting for those "whoa, game <whatever> looks so cool now and runs so smoothly" comments, already 

[fragger]

They'll be coming soon

I've finally molded W10 into a form that I like. I didn't like how it would ask me for my Microsoft login every time I started up, but I have since circumvented that. Now it goes straight to the desktop when I fire up. I'm the only one here using the PC and I never store anything of a sensitive nature on it, so I'd just as soon do without the password, especially my MS one. I unpinned all that app *bleep* that comes up with the start menu and disabled that Cortana thing - not crazy about that. I've also tweaked a whole bunch of other stuff, now it's all pretty much how I want it.

Trickiest thing for me to get used to is no longer having the venerable Control Panel, but I've figured out how to access everything that used to be in there (right-click on the Start button for most of it).

The graphics programs are installing quite painlessly, thank heavens. So far I've installed Bryce, Poser 7, Poser 10 and Hexagon, and they all w0#k fine. Compatibility issues with those were my biggest concern, especially the older ones like Bryce and Hexagon which haven't been supported for some time, but they run in W10 just fine without having to stuff around with compatibility modes. Blender shouldn't be a problem as it's in ongoing development, so I imagine it will be fully compatible with W10. Then there'll only be the installation of Photoshop to complete my graphics suite, but I'm going to hold off on that until I've given Affinity Photo a look see - and if I like it, I'll kiss Photoshop goodbye. I'll have to wait until I get my next payment before I buy AP though. I've spent enough money this week There may be a trial or demo version of it available, I'll check.

I had a bit of an issue with my Winzip rego, but I got it sorted. That's a bit of a biggie for me as most downloadable content from 3D sites like Renderosity is in .zip format. No can unzip, no can use.

I rendered a quick test image in Poser10 and it did so super fast (compared to what I'm used to) so I can't wait to see what it will do with games. Next up on the to-do list though are all my graphics files (and fonts - I have quite a few of those), and when I do those I'm going to organize them all into a better filing arrangement. There's a few other software titles that I am still to re-install or re-download, like Stellarium, UV Mapper and Irfanview, but they don't take long.

And after that - let the games begin!

[LowPolyOWG]

 

[mandru]

Trickiest thing for me to get used to is no longer having the venerable Control Panel, but I've figured out how to access everything that used to be in there (right-click on the Start button for most of it)

I too repeatedly had trouble remembering where the Control Panel was hidden in Win10 but I've gotten around that by:

** Start Button and scrolling down to and clicking "Windows System"

** Selecting "Control Panel"

** In the address bar of the resulting Control Panel window drag and drop the words Control Panel to the Desk Top to create a short cut

Sure it adds to desk top clutter of icons but for ease of access on my system the first three icons (upper left reading down) are the Recycle Bin, This PC, and then Control Panel.


Cortana! *spits*

As an early forced update to Win10 from Win8 I had Cortana totally blocked from being on the Start Up menu. But subsequent updates have undone all that making it so I can't stop Cortana from loading on start up.  It's been hard coded in and I haven't been able to put a silver bullet into Cortana once and for all.

Even if Cortana isn't showing as running in the Task Bar if there is a microphone hooked anywhere to you computer Cortana is listening and regularly up loading everything said within ear shot in your home back (along with every key stroke you make) to its masters who are slobbering all over themselves at the thought of building your profile and selling your personal information. 

Win10 on the other hand has been possibly the most stable OS I've used.  Now if we could break it free of being a slave snitch subject to the whim of Microsoft.