Pc Tech Support

[Si-man]

Regarding the Virgin internet, make sure that you flash your wireless router with the latest firmware from the brand i.e. netgear, belkin etc. One they put on it is full of shit from vigin and slow it down. Had the engineer out the other day, he flashed ours (D link, 50mb connection) and now its running spot on. Used to get 20mb/s, now get pretty much what we pay for..

Told me as well that the upload for virgin is going up to 5mb/s, should make a massive difference.

Also had a problem with ours always dropping out, found out the cable was stuck on a carpet gripper rod, kept shorting the line out haha!

Edited January 8, 2011 by Si-man

[MadManMike]

So, just stuck a third SATA drive in.

Went to disc management and made it good to go - it shows in My Computer and everything, "H: MediaBackup"

I try and copy stuff to it and my PC freezes. Any ideas why?

I've tried an 80mb mix to 11gb of Photos... No joy with any of them.

[MadManMike]

Never mind, looks like it was the 3rd SATA port that's dodgy. Plugged it into SATA 4 and it works.

Cheap shitty motherboard...

[Matt Vandart]

Trying to access you tube but I get this:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

This only occured after I linked my email to you tube as requested, f**kin arse.

Any ideas?

[CurtisRider]

Got a ps2 that i would like to hook up to one of my monitors (i run 2x19s), however i am a little confused as to what i need to do this. There is no direct lead that goes straight to vga or dvi.

There are seemingly 3 options:

Phono to usb adaptor, however i dont understand what i would then need to view the playstation via my computer. They go for about £8 onwards on ebay

Tv card with phono input (apparently can lead to lag issues from a little research but thats with older pcs from what i gathered) these go for £10-15 onwards on ebay

XGA box. These go from about £25 on ebay

I have a dell xps, quad core with 4gb ram and a 512mb graphics card, so i would assume that it would cope with having a tv card and a ps2 connected to that? Its not like it struggles with anything else anyway. Tv card seems my favourite option right now as itd be nice to have a tv too!

Any help would be great

[DrDoom]

http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

[ManxTrialSpaz]

Just had a peek at my router logs after a few d/cs and saw a large number (100+) of lines of

[UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.0.2, Monday, Jan 10,2011 15:16:54

The reason this concerns me is (aside from not seeing this before) my Hotmail started sending spam early in the morning when my pc was off. Did run a full scan with nod32 which didn't pick anything up

Anyone know what 'UPnP set event' is? Perhaps the router's just gone batshit insane? (Netgear DGN834G)

Bit of a proper Google search suggests it might be legitimate and caused by Steam

Edited January 11, 2011 by ManxTrialSpaz

[anzo]

Just had a peek at my router logs after a few d/cs and saw a large number (100+) of lines of

[UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.0.2, Monday, Jan 10,2011 15:16:54

The reason this concerns me is (aside from not seeing this before) my Hotmail started sending spam early in the morning when my pc was off. Did run a full scan with nod32 which didn't pick anything up

Anyone know what 'UPnP set event' is? Perhaps the router's just gone batshit insane? (Netgear DGN834G)

Bit of a proper Google search suggests it might be legitimate and caused by Steam

This could be Steam that is causing this - however the risk is high if you're reporting that your Hotmail account is sending out Spam. Firstly, change your password to hotmail, internet banking and any other important accounts.

UPnP is good, however its only ever as secure as the client, so if you're running some dodgy application, malware, it can open ports and lead on all sorts of nasty things.

My advice, as a precaution, would be to disable UPnP on the router, change all passwords, full malware scan of your system using muliple tools and scanners. Turning off UPnP may mean that any P2P applications or Steam may not work - however I'd rather have a safer network then those two

If you feel safe enough you could turn on UPnP again, however I'd recommend Port Triggering or forwarding if the network has been compromised by a rogue application

[ManxTrialSpaz]

This could be Steam that is causing this - however the risk is high if you're reporting that your Hotmail account is sending out Spam. Firstly, change your password to hotmail, internet banking and any other important accounts.

UPnP is good, however its only ever as secure as the client, so if you're running some dodgy application, malware, it can open ports and lead on all sorts of nasty things.

My advice, as a precaution, would be to disable UPnP on the router, change all passwords, full malware scan of your system using muliple tools and scanners. Turning off UPnP may mean that any P2P applications or Steam may not work - however I'd rather have a safer network then those two

If you feel safe enough you could turn on UPnP again, however I'd recommend Port Triggering or forwarding if the network has been compromised by a rogue application

fuuuu

Just checked the logs again and the same thing's been happening and Steam isn't running.

What I forgot to mention is that the IP address in these events is my machine. What exactly is 'UPnP set event'? Is that a case of my machine d/cing and reconnecting to the router? Or a special request to the router originating from my machine? E.g. allowing traffic directly in/out of my rig?

And thanks for the extensive reply anzo!

Edited January 12, 2011 by ManxTrialSpaz

[anzo]

It could be that your computer (0.2) is requesting access to the router - the router knows your address is local and then permits it as required.

UPnP logs can be common when using P2P applications so it could just be that. My inital concern is your email sending out spam, which could mean that you have an unrequired port open and your computer is basically being controlled by another system - which can occur from malware operating though UPnP.

Sooo, its a bit of an awkward one; may be harmless and could just be the computer registering with the router - or it could even be another system spoofing the IP of your computer and opening ports.

1. Can you post up some more of the log surronding the UPnP issue.

2. Stop any P2P software, don't use it for a day and see what happens - remember to stop it in the services too (Run > services.msc) to prevent it running in the background or at start up (turn it to Manual, not Automatic).

3. After a day without P2P apps, have a look at the logs and see if it stops, if so, there is your problem. If not, it could be something more dodgy

4. In the logs are there any references to DDoS attacks?

[ManxTrialSpaz]

Just started looking at the logs without Steam running. The router wasn't (is now) logging router operations or DoS attacks/port scans, so there's not much to show in that case.

The logs atm are fairly straight forward, as I've rebooted the router and it wiped the logs - although I have a copy of yesterday's.

But this morning this is what there is

[Admin login] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:12:00

[UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:03:52

[Internet connected] IP address: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:01:04

[Internet disconnected] Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:00:00

[UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:03:13

[Internet connected] IP address: 80.65.243.225, Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:01:04

[UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:03:11

[Internet connected] IP address: 80.65.242.71, Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:00:45

[Internet disconnected] Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:00:38

[Internet connected] IP address: 92.39.199.37, Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:00:33

[Internet disconnected] Wednesday, Jan 01,2003 00:00:00

[DHCP IP: (192.168.0.2)] to MAC address 70:F1:A1:C8:C8:17, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:34:25

[DHCP IP: (192.168.0.2)] to MAC address 70:F1:A1:C8:C8:17, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:31:18

[DHCP IP: (192.168.0.2)] to MAC address 70:F1:A1:C8:C8:17, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:27:22

[Admin login] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:25:35

[DHCP IP: (192.168.0.2)] to MAC address 70:F1:A1:C8:C8:17, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:24:18

[DHCP IP: (192.168.0.2)] to MAC address 70:F1:A1:C8:C8:17, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:19:20

[DHCP IP: (192.168.0.2)] to MAC address 70:F1:A1:C8:C8:17, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:13:37

[DHCP IP: (192.168.0.2)] to MAC address 70:F1:A1:C8:C8:17, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:10:33

[UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:06:36

[DHCP IP: (192.168.0.2)] to MAC address 70:F1:A1:C8:C8:17, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:04:27

[Time synchronized with NTP server] Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:04:21

[UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:04:18

[Internet connected] IP address: 178.16.3.171, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:04:11

[Admin login] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:04:02

[UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.0.4, Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:03:46

[Initialized, firmware version: V1.6.01.34] Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:03:33

[System boot up] Wednesday, Jan 12,2011 10:03:33

Can see that at some point the router's lost connection and reset the date/time.

There's a few UPnP events originating from my IP (.04) and a laptop appearing on (.02)

AFAIK there's no p2p service running at all - the only thing connecting is Firefox, iTunes and Windows Live Messenger but I looked at the logs when these three things were launched and a few mins after launch, with nothing being logged. Although I have just stopped Punkbuster from running in the background, which may be triggering the logs.

I'll leave my PC on and see how it goes.

[ManxTrialSpaz]

It's still happening a lot. Just got a stream of those events from this morning when I turned my pc on but didn't use/touch it. Just gonna do a fresh install of Windows to be super safe. It's getting a bit cluttered anyway.

Thanks for the help Anzo.

[crashbanggg]

How do I know whether or not I can upgrade my processor? / How much (roughly) would it be to do?

I've currently got 1.9 dual core celeron and was wanting to bump it up to 2 Ghz+, this is mainly so I can use programs like Sony Vegas a bit more because as it stands it takes ages to render things and is a bit slow in general.

This is my laptop if it makes any difference?

Cheers

Chris

[Muel]

Doing any kind of video editing on a laptop is not gonna be an easy task to be honest, they're limited by the cooling options so they'll never be as fast as a similarly priced desktop. AFAIK you can't upgrade the CPU in most laptops, as it's built into the motherboard.

Basically unless I'm muddled/wrong, you haven't got any options beyond getting either a desktop or a very expensive laptop.

[crashbanggg]

Doing any kind of video editing on a laptop is not gonna be an easy task to be honest, they're limited by the cooling options so they'll never be as fast as a similarly priced desktop. AFAIK you can't upgrade the CPU in most laptops, as it's built into the motherboard.

Basically unless I'm muddled/wrong, you haven't got any options beyond getting either a desktop or a very expensive laptop.

ahh gutted, thanks for that I guess I'll just have to be more patient

[shamus]

Two of our work machines have decided life is over. Mine ate it's motherboard and the other is showing strain from 6yrs of hard use. I'm using a knackered spare at the moment.

Our PC tech guy threw a roundabout figure of 600 each desktop, but he's been pretty slack recently so not sure.

We use big 3D AutoCAD models, 3D steel detailing software, 3D design/analysis software and all the PDF and windows app's typical of office work.

Have to be super-reliable, can sacrifice some speed for durability, as they are used hard 8.30 - 5 all week, with several of these app's running simultaneously.

Any suggestions of builds for around (preferably under) this budget would be great

Not too concerned about outputs, none of our monitors are modern/HD so it's not a concern.

Also they'll be hooked to a server network so storage doesn't need to be huge as our 5TB server holds all our work files and has a stand alone back-up system.

Edited January 25, 2011 by shamus

[ZeroMatt]

Build based around a 1055t, a Quadro FX 560 and 8-16gb ram should suffice and be under 600 quid.

Mind you certain bits of autocad still don't fully utilise multiple cores so could get away with an i3/565 build.

Edited January 26, 2011 by ZeroMatt

[JT!]

Can anyone suggest a good free wirless lan detector. Something that'll show what channels they're all on and signal strength plotting graph etc.

Tried net stumbler, didn't support my wireless card.

[anzo]

Two of our work machines have decided life is over. Mine ate it's motherboard and the other is showing strain from 6yrs of hard use. I'm using a knackered spare at the moment.

Our PC tech guy threw a roundabout figure of 600 each desktop, but he's been pretty slack recently so not sure.

We use big 3D AutoCAD models, 3D steel detailing software, 3D design/analysis software and all the PDF and windows app's typical of office work.

Have to be super-reliable, can sacrifice some speed for durability, as they are used hard 8.30 - 5 all week, with several of these app's running simultaneously.

Any suggestions of builds for around (preferably under) this budget would be great

Not too concerned about outputs, none of our monitors are modern/HD so it's not a concern.

Also they'll be hooked to a server network so storage doesn't need to be huge as our 5TB server holds all our work files and has a stand alone back-up system.

You would be better off writing down your requirements and possibly speaking to others a similar trade to see what they use.

I'm not sure on your current state, but building a desktop is simply not an option for business. Failure rate is too high for my liking, no warranty, no 3rd party support (most won't warrant a hardware support contract if the system is a home build).

Of course, just my opinion

Can anyone suggest a good free wirless lan detector. Something that'll show what channels they're all on and signal strength plotting graph etc.

Tried net stumbler, didn't support my wireless card.

IBM ThinkVantage Connections

Pretty handy, also shows scans on a chart by signal strength.

[Muel]

Two of our work machines have decided life is over. Mine ate it's motherboard and the other is showing strain from 6yrs of hard use. I'm using a knackered spare at the moment.

Our PC tech guy threw a roundabout figure of 600 each desktop, but he's been pretty slack recently so not sure.

We use big 3D AutoCAD models, 3D steel detailing software, 3D design/analysis software and all the PDF and windows app's typical of office work.

Have to be super-reliable, can sacrifice some speed for durability, as they are used hard 8.30 - 5 all week, with several of these app's running simultaneously.

Any suggestions of builds for around (preferably under) this budget would be great

Not too concerned about outputs, none of our monitors are modern/HD so it's not a concern.

Also they'll be hooked to a server network so storage doesn't need to be huge as our 5TB server holds all our work files and has a stand alone back-up system.

You could build something with a custom spec, but as Anzo said, it's not really a viable option for a business. My desktop for example has an AMD 965BE quad at 3.7ghz, 4gb of ram (soon to be 8), and two graphics cards. Everything that can be overclocked is, and it never stops breaking down. I must reinstall Windows 6 times a year because of driver issues and the like.

My two pence for anything business related? Stick with an Intel based pre-build. The drivers will probably be more stable because they're not releasing new ones every month to try and eak more performance out of the hardware, and the hardware itself will probably last longer because it's been assembled by someone who does it for a living.

Edited January 27, 2011 by Muel

[HayersToby]

Has anyone tried to fix there GFX card? Mine has started to put lines all over the screen

[MadManMike]

Has anyone tried to fix there GFX card? Mine has started to put lines all over the screen

That was very detailed. I can offer lots of advice, based on that.

Haha, seriously, you'll need to be more specific than "lines". When it occurs, colours, where on screen, horiz or vert, card brand & model number, more PC specs...

[Muel]

Has anyone tried to fix there GFX card? Mine has started to put lines all over the screen

No, never.

[JT!]

IBM ThinkVantage Connections

That did the job!

2 other people in my area on the same channel number.

[anzo]

That did the job!

2 other people in my area on the same channel number.

Channel 11? I think most wireless devices default on this channel

Has anyone tried to fix there GFX card? Mine has started to put lines all over the screen

I don't know how you'd even go about fixing it - if your TV did it how would you do it...unless you were a specialist you couldn't, and I doubt you'd find the answer on here.

Of course this may not be the GFX card - could be the monitor, cable or even motherboard. I'd recommend testing a different cable, different monitor and if possible a different motherboard.

You could use the on board (if possible) graphics card as a temporary solution though.