You can try using DHCP on your router, just to see if it make a difference. PC3 should be able to keep using its fixed IP.

If the drive fails, I think it will fail very soon or not at all. I've had three nasty experiences with hard drives, and in all three cases they either failed within a few weeks or showed no ill effect. One time, I lifted the monitor and the table fell over. The PC was copying over the network at th...

To wait until you are stuck with a working mobo before asking for it to be fixed doesn't seem fair. A repair place would have charged them quite a bit to fix it.

Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Windows can scan the disk.

Learning by doing is good, but being realistic about one's skill set is also good. Plan, act, review. If you find making a plan difficult, perhaps you don't know that much about what you are trying to do. It looks like the VelociRaptor was bought without having planned how to remove the heatsink and...

I don't think it'll work (for that motherboard). Look at the top view of the mobo, there's a capacitor in the corner that might get in the way.

I was gonna suggest that with the right heatsink, you could just blow air onto it. Those coppermines were pretty cool (30W apparently).

I was going to comment on how much I liked the Logitech G3 shape and how I liked that Logitech had taken their ambidextrous mice so seriously, but it seems they don't sell it anymore. Looking at their site, they have a very dismal selection of ambidextrous mice. Not only that, but they or someone ha...

I would love to reduce e-waste by reusing, but people just want too much money for old stuff. I will sell off my old parts. They want money to buy new stuff. Anyway, you can't expect it to be cheap because hardware (and software) companies are trying their best to make slightly old hardware obsolete.

I hope your customer doesn't mind. You will be giving him or her a warranty, right? (If it's not for you.)

Rubber is not the right material (too firm). I used foam earplugs on my Maxtor drive, they worked pretty well in my case but there are some things to think about. Hard drive vibration is horizontal, the drive needs space to move horizontally while being damped. Squeezing it into a tight drive bay wo...

Some things to try: - leave that fan unpowered (if you don't need it) - swap that fan with another (you have 4) - consider whether your new card is quieter and you're hearing what was there before - remove the side panel/pci slot cover, noise still there? - check for vibration I'd guess leaving that...

Speedkar9, stop hot air getting to the PSU and it won't ramp up. (Use a partition perhaps)

But if I intend to play some games on this computer, would I need to re-mount the fans every time if I plan to put the GPU/CPU under stress? When your PC is being stressed, the heat sources generate more heat. As long as the hot air is being removed then it doesn't really matter if hotter air is ge...

What does the noise sound like? Could it be noise from inside the case?

When I first played Dune 2 with an AdLib sound card I was amazed at the quality. But I don't like ignorance.

Listen to it before you buy it, and learn what to listen for before you listen to it. That's what Audiophile forums are good for.

Aris, his boot drive is SATA. I've placed drives on the same cable as ATAPI devices for years, never had any trouble.

Not even firewalls can protect the computer from the user.

A firewall like SPF can alert you to traffic to a trojan app.

Two things to check: case temperature and thermal paste.

Your case temp should ideally be within a few degrees of the room temperature. Buy the best thermal paste you can, no question.

The suggestion of turning off the disk LED (and similar approached) is not really serious, or is it?

I was absolutely serious. If you want to know if it is reading, put your head next to the case.

Hmm, my memory must be bad, I seem to recall suggesting that...

so... is the mobo just stating this error because it doesn't like the fact i'm using a HD and a DVD with the same cable?

I suspect it is happening because that second ATA cable is a 40-conductor one. Buy yourself a second 80-conductor cable. Most DVD's are ATA66+

Sounds like you need a firewall. Try ZoneAlarm or Sygate Personal Firewall if you like.

i use polk audio speakers with an amp, best speakers ever made for a pc.

Made for a pc? I didn't know pc's listened to music...

We must be wary not to let technology make us soft. Reality is harsh and final.

I think he was joking.

Don't you need to buy a preassembled PC to buy an oem version?

Perhaps the 256MB 9600xt if you get one on ebay or whatever.

...

or not:

9600XT (128Mb Version):

Core 500
Memory: 300
Pipes: 4

9800Pro:

Core: 380
Memory: 340
Pipes: 8

Windows ME - possibly the saddest OS since Windows 3.11

Not as sad as the people who stood in line to buy it.

I want Christmas shopping season to just go away.

It means cheap prices in January. It's not all bad.