PC problems thread

[Asheera]

Ok not really a PC Problem but apparently Google today for some reason says to every site I find "This site may harm your computer", even if I try to find Google itself

EDIT: Seems it got fixed now

[Borsuc]

Microsoft conspiracy

[ThunderTitan]

but the show i was watching still had sound... sure it went in a loop, but it was there...

Err, that's either put into RAM precached or into the soundcard itself...

Yeah, but before winamp played the song without looping... or could the whole song be in the RAM/soundcard?!

[Borsuc]

All things that you hear you hear from RAM/soundcard, not from the hard-disk. When you play a song and "stream" it (like Winamp does), it loads chunks/blocks of music info at a time, and stores it in RAM, then if it's in .mp3 (or other encoded format) it decodes that piece of info (music) and converts it to PCM and sends it to the sound card (this is pure software solution, no hardware accelerator).

While that plays, it loads the next chunk from the hard disk, decodes that, and sends it when it's time to do so. Then again for the next chunk. This is all done so it doesn't need to load the whole thing into RAM and decode it before you can listen to it. ("streaming" idea, works on the internet too, only that there, instead of the hard-disk you have the internet downloaded stuff, one chunk at a time)

A 'chunk' has a size usually dependent on the format or software involved. Could be anywhere from 4096 bytes to megabytes. Doesn't really matter that much (it depends on the format and the 'size' of a second, for example -- i.e how much space requires a second).

Also, Windows "caches" hard-disk access into a temporary ram disk. If you have enough RAM you might not need to reload the music from hard-disk if it's still cached in RAM (obviously, it gets uncached as soon as some app needs that much RAM, since caching doesn't restrict usage to RAM, it's just used as long as the RAM is not fully used).

Also Windows freezes without a harddisk (even if you don't use it).

[ThunderTitan]

All u had to do is say YES...


Oh, and what happens to SATA drives if they move around?! Because i just noticed last night that for some reason the metal my HDD has attached to wasn't well attached to the lower part of the PC tower. I used some toiler paper to make it stay in place and now shaking it doesn't freeze the PC anymore it seems. (of course i also took out and put back in the wires, so who knows).

[darknessfood]

Euhm, nothing really happens when you move it. As long as you keep everything the same (jumpers, location of sata wire, BIOS settings)...

[Asheera]

Oh, and what happens to SATA drives if they move around?! Because i just noticed last night that for some reason the metal my HDD has attached to wasn't well attached to the lower part of the PC tower. I used some toiler paper to make it stay in place and now shaking it doesn't freeze the PC anymore it seems. (of course i also took out and put back in the wires, so who knows).

Wow, if it moves it's very very bad. Hard Disks are very fragile if you move them when they read/write, you may scratch it and get some bad sectors forever.

Shaking the PC when it operates is a bad idea as well. Even if the Hard Disk is fixed heavily in place, there can still be a danger for it.

[Borsuc]

@ThunderTitan: but it's not put whole in RAM, it's put with chunks. Imagine reading a book -- you read one page at a time. It's like it puts into RAM the first page, then you read it, and WHILE you read it, it loads the next page (chunk). Then, while you read the latter, it loads the next page in place of the first one (not needed anymore), etc...

Winamp does not keep the whole music in RAM -- but Windows keeps the "most recently HD activity" into a ramdisk (virtual HD in RAM) as long as you have enough RAM and it isn't used -- this speeds up next time Winamp wants to read the same music from HD, if it is in a ramdisk (virtual HD in RAM, again), then it reads it from there and says "Gee, I found a really fast Hard Disk" (that's what it thinks because Windows tells it that )

Euhm, nothing really happens when you move it.

That's the biggest joke I ever heard. Hard drives are mechanical and they have moving parts, and most "internal" HDs are cheaper and don't have any anti-shock systems. They are very fragile. If you want to shake it, get an external HD (although those have lower RPMs). Especially with higher RPMs you'll practically destroy it (not literally, since it'll probably still work a bit, but either faulty, or will fail later).

[darknessfood]

Nothing happens when you move it. Of course the pc must be powwered off. Or didnt you get that?

[Asheera]

Borsuc, I think he meant that moving it from one spot to another doesn't affect how it works after you turn it on. You know, there are more slots for a Hard Disk in a PC (depending on the chassis how many slots there are), and I think he wanted to say that it doesn't matter where you put it, and that's true.

[darknessfood]

Thanks for pointing it out. Although it was clear, he didn't get it ...

[Borsuc]

[facepalm]

sorry

EDIT: btw, those "slots" for hard drives are called 3.5" bay slots.

[ThunderTitan]

Dude, enough already, i'm not tech illiterate, i know how RAM works overall.


As for the HDD... my question was if it's being swung around could it cause them freezes, or is it more likely that one of the wires was loose and swinging out.


And i'm shaking the PC because it's still in warranty atm... so i'd rather it went bad now then later...

[Asheera]

And i'm shaking the PC because it's still in warranty atm... so i'd rather it went bad now then later...

What if you'll damage it now with shaking, and it will only break down after the warranty expires?

[darknessfood]

And i'm shaking the PC because it's still in warranty atm... so i'd rather it went bad now then later...

What if you'll damage it now with shaking, and it will only break down after the warranty expires?

SSSsssssst, you make him think now!

[ThunderTitan]

And i'm shaking the PC because it's still in warranty atm... so i'd rather it went bad now then later...

What if you'll damage it now with shaking, and it will only break down after the warranty expires?

I doubt that it would take 6 months for the HDD to start showing errors (and of course i'll scan it when i get the time).

Still doesn't answer my question...

[Asheera]

Hmm? What question? Oh, if you move it, is it possible that it may freeze?

I'm not sure, but as I said to move the Hard Disk when working it is definitely an extremely bad idea, and it could destroy the Hard Disk. Not sure if it freezes Windows, but does it really matter? The Hard disk shouldn't move when it is powered on. EVER.

[Borsuc]

Why do you think external HDDs are more expensive and have 5200 RPM or close to there? (slower!)

[ThunderTitan]

Same reason 2 different brands of X cost diff even if the product is made in the same factory etc. marketing.

Not sure if it freezes Windows, but does it really matter?

Yeah it does... lets me know if i still have a problem or not.

[Borsuc]

Same reason 2 different brands of X cost diff even if the product is made in the same factory etc.

Same brand