OT: Carl the Destroyer

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- Carl Byrns
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Dec 29, 2003 4:11 AM

Well, I'm doing pretty well in the kill-a-computer department. First I had all kinds of trouble with a brandy-new Compaq (which went back to the store) and now the two-day old locally-built one I bought to replace the Compaq is toast. My son installed a game and the machine just fell apart- lost the mouse, the network card, and something was hogging the processor resources down in the 70 percent range. Odd. Norton's, Ad Aware, and SpyBot couldn't find anything wrong, and with the NIC off-line I couldn't use the internet to check for new updates. Finally it locked up solid. I mean 120 reset solid.

I reinstalled Windoze and now the NIC is MIA, even though the DSL modem shows a good connection.

So I'm back on the old 500 mhz 'shop box' which is wheezing along quite nicely, TYVM. Tomorrow, the new machine goes back to whence it came from. What will happen there, I don't know, but they will be made to understand that A) I'm a heart patient and don't need the stress and B) I have other things to do besides f*ck around with computers.

-Carl

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- GTO69RA4
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Dec 29, 2003 4:19 AM

What kind of game did he install? Some programs will foul up a newer system if they're on the old side. What OS are you running?

GTO(John)

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- Carl Byrns
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Dec 29, 2003 4:39 AM

I'm running Windows98 SE (better the devil you know...) and the game installed DirectX 9.0, which is when the feces hit the rotary oscillator. The machine has plenty of horses under the hood, and the game is pretty knew.

-Carl

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- Ron Moore
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Dec 29, 2003 4:53 AM

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- Tom Gardner
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Dec 29, 2003 2:02 PM

Norton? ...I'd still rather have a virus!

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- Abrasha
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Dec 29, 2003 6:13 PM

That is exactly why I have forbidden my kids to install ANY game on my computer, whcih also runs 98 SE. Games may screw up a decent system more tyhan anything else.

That said, you may have to start from scratch again with FDISK.

Abrasha

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- Tim Williams
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Dec 30, 2003 12:09 AM

Win98SE here and I've got plenty of erm, moderately advanced games... Bottom line: games by id Software, anything else is crap. >;-)

Tim

-- "That's for the courts to decide." - Homer Simpson Website @

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- Carl Byrns
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Dec 30, 2003 1:06 AM

Nope- bottom line is I paid too much for a gutless computer. It didn't have the proper video card to run DirectX 9.0 and I wasn't going to spend a $150 for a new video card. I got my money back.

-Carl "Still looking" Byrns

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- Abrasha
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Dec 30, 2003 1:31 AM

Why didn't you have your son chip in for a fast video card. After all, it's most likely his game that demands it. I don't think my word processor, or even my 3D modeling program need DirectX 9.0 :-)

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- GTO69RA4
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Dec 30, 2003 2:19 AM

What kind of card did it have in it? I run DX9 on $10-30 used GeForces off eBay. Currently have a GF2 GTS 32MB.

GTO(John)

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- Ken Davey
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Dec 30, 2003 2:24 AM

We have a saying around my 'neck-of-the-woods. "Norton; Doesn't play well with others." Ken..

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- Robin S.
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Dec 30, 2003 4:26 AM

Are you sure it wasn't the fact that you're running Win98? I'm no expert but I built my own system after researching every component and I've had no problems. I run WinXP Pro and it is BY FAR the _BEST_ version of Windows I've ever used (Win3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT4, 2000).

I've installed a fair number of older and new games (Call of Duty and Max Payne 2 very recently).

The thing about WinXP is that it is very stable and it comes with enough drivers to get your entire system running when you first turn it on. Then you can go and download your drivers to improve performance and stability (if you're even having problems with that).

BTW, you don't need a DX9 card to run DX9. My card isn't worth $400 and is not DX9, but it runs DX9 (just not as well as DX9 cards do... If you absolutely need to see the reflection of the city scape in the puddle of blood at your feet as you blow your friends away in the favourite FPS, then you'll have to invest in something better...)

Also, it doesn't hurt to do some research on the products in your system. It's pretty easy to google the model numbers of your components and read (sometimes) countless reviews on them. Usually these independent computer places will have price lists which have the model numbers listed....

Just some thoughts. YMMV.

Regards,

Robin

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- Carl Byrns
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Dec 30, 2003 5:32 AM

I would, but he's only 13 and all the jobs he's currently qualified for (shoveling snow, mowing lawns, delivering newspapers) are being done by adults who can't get real work.

-Carl

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- Carl Byrns
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Dec 30, 2003 5:40 AM

Adding XP and the required video card would have shoved the price of the box through the roof- way above what other sellers are getting. And I still wouldn't have been ahead because it just didn't have the strudel for XP so I would have had a slow box that didn't play games well. In fact, the store-built box didn't do anything my old 500 mhz can't do. Faster, yes. Better, no.

-Carl