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Tech Support GAF Thread: No Case Too Big, No Case Too Small

test_account

XP-39C²
I have a PC here that when you started it, theres only a blinking underline _ in the top left corner. I'm thinking maybe it could be a corrupt boot manager or something, but i tried to run all the bootrec.exe commands (/fixmbr, /fixboot and /rebuildbcd) and it didnt fix anything. Windows is installed on E:\ for some reason, but i tried to run the commands on E:\Windows as well.

Does anyone know how to fix this?
 
D

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member
My Antec Kuhler 620 AIO cooler died so I've ordered a Corsair H45 AIO cooler and I'm wondering if I can use my Antec backplate with the Corsair? My case doesn't have a CPU cutout which means I'd have to remove the motherboard entirely to switch backplates which I'd really rather not have to do.
 

The Kree

Banned
While doing a repair installation of Windows XP my keyboard stops working and I can't finish the repair. The keyboard works fine when accessing the bios though. I've been searching for solutions all day and none of them have worked. Anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?
 
I'm at my wit's end with my X99A SLI Plus setup. I've been having memory issues with it since a few months into purchasing. Slowly over time I've gone from being able to post with quad channel, to failure on post, to dual channel started failing again after a few more months. Then now a single channel (one stick) is the only way it will post. Computer will always start and run even with quad channel but won't post. I've updated the bios, I've tested every​ configuration, tested the memory itself with no issues. RMA'd both the 5820k CPU and the Motherboard itself. Same issues again.

Is there any chance this is a PSU issue? The computer runs and was running fine for months, just slowly my computer allows less and less memory to post. It's baffling and I can't find the issue with my level of tools and expertise. The 2011V-3 board and 5820k have been nothing but a headache since I switched over.
 

undrtakr900

Member
I need some help with the "Internet Light" on my Modem.....

Normally when the internet-light goes out, I plug the modem's ethernet cable directly into my laptop then it "registers" and the light turns on. But today when I connected my laptop the internet-light kept blinking, but never went solid green.....then turned off completely when I disconnected my computer.

Does anyone know a different way to get my "internet light" to turn on?

Thanks.
 
I am having a really odd problem. Occasionally when I unplug or plug in headphones to the front I/O port of my desktop it causes the computer to reboot. I think it only happens when the display is turned off.
 
Hi GAF, I went to check to see if my computer was up to date and it said it was. But I got curious and went to look at the update history and there are 12 cumulative updates that apparently "failed to install."

How come it thinks I'm up to date and restarting doesn't prompt it to reinstall them? What is going on?
 

Neverfade

Member
Have a (hopefully) simple audio issue I can't figure out.

I just bought a pair of headphones for my PC. They work great. They're plugged into the front of my PC and my speakers are plugged into the rear 3.5mm jack. It switched normally as it should when I plug and unplug my headphones. However, my case isn't exactly in a convenient place to just tug the headphones in and out -- I just want to leave them plugged up all the time.

My problem is that when I go into playback devices to switch, both the front and back 3.5mm jacks are listed under the same speaker entry. I can't switch because its just showing as one playback device.

Please tell me there's a way to separate these so I can swap freely while my headphones stay plugged in.

Edit: Ignore this. I figured it out with 3 more minutes of tinkering. The answer is settings in RealTek HD Audio Manager if anyone else needs a solution.
 
I'm tired of manually scrubbing the bulky Nvidia downloads off my SSD every time there's a driver update. (Especially if I forget a few in a row.) Is there automated software or a batch file I can run to do this that's freely available, or do I just need to go through the process every time?

I found the Guru 3D tool searching, but it's out of date, to my understanding.
 

Cappa

Banned
Not sure if this is the right place but I'll give it a shot

Guys hoping someone can help. I'm looking for a VPN or something specifically for overwatch so I can play in northern America region on PS4.

I am trying out PureVPN and I tried following set up instructions for ps4 but it doesn't seem to work(ps4 won't connect to Internet) does anyone know or have a solution?

It doesn't have to be using PureVPN or any VPN service just looking for something to specifically allow me to play overwatch in North American region anyone can suggest something?

Thanks all
also not concerned by latency or lag
 

Artanisix

Member
I need some help with the "Internet Light" on my Modem.....

Normally when the internet-light goes out, I plug the modem's ethernet cable directly into my laptop then it "registers" and the light turns on. But today when I connected my laptop the internet-light kept blinking, but never went solid green.....then turned off completely when I disconnected my computer.

Does anyone know a different way to get my "internet light" to turn on?

Thanks.

could be faulty modem
could be faulty ethernet cable
could be faulty ethernet jack

i'd start by swapping the ethernet cable with a new one or a different one and seeing how reliable it is, really it comes down to swapping things out til you find the culprit here
 

Spladam

Member
Holy crap this thread has been busy all of a sudden. Let's see if I can help here...
I'm stuck.

For a few months now, my desktop PC has been hard-locking on me. No blue screening or crashing in any way. It simply just completely locks up. The screen stops but an image still appears and the audio goes silent.

I have run memtest with no problems, tested my HDD, and tested my SSD (that has Windows 10 on it). None of these things were the issue. I have updated drivers for everything including the motherboard.

What else can I do to diagnose the issue? I am worried my motherboard is the problem.
I have to agree with you Pierced, motherboard's usually have built in protection against faulty power sources, so that they buffer the power a couple of ms ahead, and if they detect unclean power they will hard reset of power off. This is not universal, but most modern Mobo's will do this. That's why I don't want to say it's your PSU failing... what is the brand of your mobo, is it an off the shelf PC? Do you overclock the bus on the mobo or the CPU?
Well, the problem was definitely with my CPU. Felt risky to do, but I uninstalled one of the drivers from device manager, and after the reboot, got back all the performance I should have it.

Why did the solution have to be so obvious but vaguely risky?
Just curious, what did you uninstall in device driver?
I have a PC here that when you started it, theres only a blinking underline _ in the top left corner. I'm thinking maybe it could be a corrupt boot manager or something, but i tried to run all the bootrec.exe commands (/fixmbr, /fixboot and /rebuildbcd) and it didnt fix anything. Windows is installed on E:\ for some reason, but i tried to run the commands on E:\Windows as well.

Does anyone know how to fix this?
How are you getting to a command prompt? Is it a prompt it's booting to? Can you access the drives from the cmd prompt? Does your bios post (show the power on test with the manufacture of the bios). That last question is key.

While doing a repair installation of Windows XP my keyboard stops working and I can't finish the repair. The keyboard works fine when accessing the bios though. I've been searching for solutions all day and none of them have worked. Anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?
Is it a USB or PS2 keyboard? If it's USB, have you tried plugging it in in the back? Does the PC have the old PS2 green round peripheral interface? If it does, try getting a converter between USB and PS2.
Does anyone keep getting the loading animation on mouse cursor on Chrome when switching to different tabs? It's annoying.
Try killing extensions you have installed one by one until it stops, but first go to >settings>about>update and make sure it's updated, the update before last (right now) had some issues that Google pushed quickly.
I need some help with the "Internet Light" on my Modem.....

Normally when the internet-light goes out, I plug the modem's ethernet cable directly into my laptop then it "registers" and the light turns on. But today when I connected my laptop the internet-light kept blinking, but never went solid green.....then turned off completely when I disconnected my computer.

Does anyone know a different way to get my "internet light" to turn on?

Thanks.
Have you tried power cycling you router? Is this a modem, a router, or a modem router combo (do you have dsl)? Just unplug it for 30 seconds and replug it if you have not tried that. DON'T hold that little reset button that you have to stick something in to get to. Artanisix is on point though, one of the terminations in the ethernet cable may have failed, I'd try what he said, and swap in a new cable.
I am having a really odd problem. Occasionally when I unplug or plug in headphones to the front I/O port of my desktop it causes the computer to reboot. I think it only happens when the display is turned off.
It sounds like a ground issue on the TRS (tip ring sleeve) jack on the headphones, motheroards will instantly hard power off if ground break is detected. Open your pc up and make sure the jack has not been cracked on the inside, also, plug the headphones in the back just to test, it should not have that issue. You can always get an extension for the quarter inch plug. (ONe thing Radio Shack is still good for)

Hi GAF, I went to check to see if my computer was up to date and it said it was. But I got curious and went to look at the update history and there are 12 cumulative updates that apparently "failed to install."

How come it thinks I'm up to date and restarting doesn't prompt it to reinstall them? What is going on?
What is your OS? Is the update listed as "Optional" anywhere in windows updates. This problem is not unheard of, but the fix is different for every different version, but Google is your best friend here, the answer is a search page away. Let me know.


Wow, this threads never been this busy.
 

Spladam

Member
I'm tired of manually scrubbing the bulky Nvidia downloads off my SSD every time there's a driver update. (Especially if I forget a few in a row.) Is there automated software or a batch file I can run to do this that's freely available, or do I just need to go through the process every time?

I found the Guru 3D tool searching, but it's out of date, to my understanding.

I've had the same issue, there is a batch file on the page linked here that will fix it, you can set running it in the task scheduler, but you can also get CCleaner to clean those folders for you (if you don't have CCleaner, get it, it's aweseom), the CCleaner fix is discussed on that link as well, and it's good to clean your machine every once in a while anyway. If you do run CCleaner, make sure you are cool with the browser cleaning options under applications tab before you run it.
 

linkboy

Member
Not sure if this is the right place but I'll give it a shot

Guys hoping someone can help. I'm looking for a VPN or something specifically for overwatch so I can play in northern America region on PS4.

I am trying out PureVPN and I tried following set up instructions for ps4 but it doesn't seem to work(ps4 won't connect to Internet) does anyone know or have a solution?

It doesn't have to be using PureVPN or any VPN service just looking for something to specifically allow me to play overwatch in North American region anyone can suggest something?

Thanks all
also not concerned by latency or lag

I use Private Internet Access as my VPN and I've got no issues with it. Haven't tried it with gaming though.
 
Help. Woke up and my PC won't turn on.

PSU powered on with a paperclip. I can't get the mobo to come on with a screwdriver. Mobo lights are on. What can I do???
 

Spladam

Member
Help. Woke up and my PC won't turn on.

PSU powered on with a paperclip. I can't get the mobo to come on with a screwdriver. Mobo lights are on. What can I do???

Have you made changes to the BIOS settings or updated it recently?

The paperclip trick only shows that it turns on (that the fan turns), does not mean it's providing the clean power that your mobo needs to run. Does the mobo or PSU smell funny in any way? You're smelling for any electrolytic material that leaks if a capacitor has busted, might smell a little burnt to you. Try resetting your bios to factory by taking the battery out and grounding the positive to the negative with a screw driver for ten seconds.

I'm guessing you don't have another PSU around that you could test it with? Do the fans power up when you switch the system on? Be careful in your excitement right now too, I've made things worse way back in the day during a moment of panicked testing. Have you done any tinkering at all in the case recently? Carefully check all the simple shit like connections.

I'm assuming the front LED is lighting when you power on?
 
Try killing extensions you have installed one by one until it stops, but first go to >settings>about>update and make sure it's updated, the update before last (right now) had some issues that Google pushed quickly.

.

It's updated and I've tried the extensions and still nothing.
 

-Gozer-

Member
Does anyone keep getting the loading animation on mouse cursor on Chrome when switching to different tabs? It's annoying.

Open the task manager for Chrome shift+esc and see if a new process pops up when you switch tabs. When I see that loading animation when switching tabs it's usually the extension called chrome media router.
 

Kerensky

Banned
While doing a repair installation of Windows XP my keyboard stops working and I can't finish the repair. The keyboard works fine when accessing the bios though. I've been searching for solutions all day and none of them have worked. Anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?

Is the keyboard plugged into the ps/2 port?

Failing that, change the USB handoff mode in the bios and make sure it's in the first USB slot, usually there is no choice but to test randomly.

Help. Woke up and my PC won't turn on.

PSU powered on with a paperclip. I can't get the mobo to come on with a screwdriver. Mobo lights are on. What can I do???

What spladam said, have you tried to reset the bios by shorting the clr header? usually this can be done by moving the shunt, but cheaper gigabyte and asrock boards require a screwdriver or another bladed metal to short it.
 

Con_Smith

Banned
Anyone have experience installing Windows 7 compatibal Cisco VPN (not any connect) on windows 10? Tried altering the compat settings in preference while away on business. Have not tried as local admin as of yet but will find out Monday.
 

norm9

Member
I got one- Keyboard stopped working on my pc. I tried plugging it into the other usb inputs, but still won't type. Here's the thing though, I know juice is going to it because when i turn the computer on, the number lock light or one of the lights on the keyboard turns on while it's loading up. Once the computer is completely turned on, the keyboard no longer works. Broken?
 
I have a Corsair HX Series 520W Modular PSU in my PC that I've used for the past 9 years. With my new RX 480 I'm finding I have static through on board audio and a dedicated sound card when the GPU is drawing 3D. In the past I have solved similar issues by using a dedicated sound card however this time it hasn't worked (probably because the PCI E 1x slot layout is dumb).

I don't have a ton of money to spend. I already spent money on said RX 480 and a DGX sound card which hasn't helped it so I'm hesitant to spend more money on a PSU if it won't solve this problem. Any suggestions? I have read about gluing down the copper coils in the PSU to get some additional life out of it.
 
I've had the same issue, there is a batch file on the page linked here that will fix it, you can set running it in the task scheduler, but you can also get CCleaner to clean those folders for you (if you don't have CCleaner, get it, it's aweseom), the CCleaner fix is discussed on that link as well, and it's good to clean your machine every once in a while anyway. If you do run CCleaner, make sure you are cool with the browser cleaning options under applications tab before you run it.

I'm okay with just remembering to run it once in a while, but thank you very much! And thank you for the warning about CCleaner's settings as well!
 

DOWN

Banned
Ok I bought a power bank and it came with a miCro USB cable to charge it... but for some reason absolutely no USB cables I've plugged it into recharge it EXCEPT the Xbox One cable... why do it not work from any power source until plugged in via the Xbox One USB cable? What's special about it? Like any phone or computer power source works as long as I use the Xbox One cable but absolutely none work using the included cable or using the cable that came with the PS4 controller or my kindle. Wat
 
Trying to cast a video from my Windows 10 laptop to a Sony Bravia TV that should be able to play it. Went through my laptop's casting/streaming settings and I made it public for any device on my network.

I find the video on my laptop, have the TV in the "Media Player" tab, have it select my laptop (which does appear as an option). Then it attempts to load for a while, then says there is nothing to display.

Every time I try to cast, windows gives me a message stating that the device (my TV) was not ready. But my TV is just sitting there like it's expecting something from the laptop.

Anybody have any ideas?
 

Spladam

Member
Trying to cast a video from my Windows 10 laptop to a Sony Bravia TV that should be able to play it. Went through my laptop's casting/streaming settings and I made it public for any device on my network.

I find the video on my laptop, have the TV in the "Media Player" tab, have it select my laptop (which does appear as an option). Then it attempts to load for a while, then says there is nothing to display.

Every time I try to cast, windows gives me a message stating that the device (my TV) was not ready. But my TV is just sitting there like it's expecting something from the laptop.

Anybody have any ideas?

Don't have a Sony Bravia, but I assume the TV shows up in the "connect devices" tab of the action center on your laptop and you have connected it, yes? Have you tried just mirroring your laptop screen to the TV instead of casting the media?
 

Ashhong

Member
By casting do you mean Chromecast or....?

I did a slight upgrade to my parents media PC and I'm trying to see how bad overwatch is on it. Problem is, Everytime I open it it just stays on a black screen with a mouse cursor.

The PC is using an A6-7400k and 512mb 4870 on a Samsung HDTV. Would any of these cause the game to not even get to the menu screen? For reference I can play League and CSGO decent
 
I've been having this annoying issue with my laptop where sometimes a game will freeze/hang, but when I then close it down the process remains opened/stuck in Task Manager. Trying to end the process manually through Task Manager doesn't do anything, the only way to fix it is to restart my laptop.

Any idea what's causing this?
 

The Kree

Banned
Is the keyboard plugged into the ps/2 port?

Failing that, change the USB handoff mode in the bios and make sure it's in the first USB slot, usually there is no choice but to test randomly.

There is no PS/2 port. It's all USB ports. Already tried them all with no other devices plugged in, tried multiple keyboards, tried adjusting the USB settings in the bios to no success.
 

undrtakr900

Member
could be faulty modem
could be faulty ethernet cable
could be faulty ethernet jack

i'd start by swapping the ethernet cable with a new one or a different one and seeing how reliable it is, really it comes down to swapping things out til you find the culprit here
I've tried swapping different cables, even changed the laptop, yet the "internet light" still continuously blinks green but never goes solid.

I'm guessing I have a faulty modem..

Holy crap this thread has been busy all of a sudden. Let's see if I can help here...

Have you tried power cycling you router? Is this a modem, a router, or a modem router combo (do you have dsl)? Just unplug it for 30 seconds and replug it if you have not tried that. DON'T hold that little reset button that you have to stick something in to get to. Artanisix is on point though, one of the terminations in the ethernet cable may have failed, I'd try what he said, and swap in a new cable.
Haha, over the past few days I've probably "power cycled" like 20+ times, hoping it would finally work, but never did.

Oops, I already tried the "reset" button before I read your post. Does something else happens if you hold/use the reset button?

(See my reply to Artanisix)
I tried using different ethernet cables, but still get the same problem.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

*UPDATE:*
I ordered the same modem for like $10 on eBay, hopefully it will work.

Thanks Artanisix & Spladam for your help and suggestions. If you think of anything else I could try please let me know.
 

Soodanim

Member
If I'm gaming through my TV in 2nd screen only mode (Win+P 3rs option), at a seemingly random point and not every session the screen will go blank like the resolution is changing and it's accompanied by the Windows disconnect/reconnect sound effects before and possibly after (can't remember clearly). My best guess is that my monitor is getting disconnected and then immediately reconnecting, forcing the display adjustment. The resolution adjusts after play, but I'm not sure if that's every time, or every time I play a game with DSR enabled. I apologise for not having more info.

It hasn't happened so much lately, and it doesn't seem to happen during my latest sessions of Dark Souls 3 but it did during the plays of 1 a week or so before. I don't know why, and I don't know if it's even related or if a very recent, quiet and coincidental update to Windows has fixed it (doubtful), but I can't seem to find any related setting in my BIOS or NVidia settings. Can't find any setting that could be problematic on the monitor. It doesn't happen in just monitor or extended display modes. I've checked physical connections. It's hard to test for things like software settings as it will only ever happen once per session and sometime an hour into play.

Hardware:
970, connected to...
... AOC G2460PG 144hz G-Sync monitor via displayport
... Sony 40W705C TV via HDMI
ASUS Z97-A motherboard (IIRC)
Are other specs relevant? There are no other curious occurrences with my hardware.

Any insight would be appreciated.
 
If I'm gaming through my TV in 2nd screen only mode (Win+P 3rs option), at a seemingly random point and not every session the screen will go blank like the resolution is changing and it's accompanied by the Windows disconnect/reconnect sound effects before and possibly after (can't remember clearly). My best guess is that my monitor is getting disconnected and then immediately reconnecting, forcing the display adjustment. The resolution adjusts after play, but I'm not sure if that's every time, or every time I play a game with DSR enabled. I apologise for not having more info.

It hasn't happened so much lately, and it doesn't seem to happen during my latest sessions of Dark Souls 3 but it did during the plays of 1 a week or so before. I don't know why, and I don't know if it's even related or if a very recent, quiet and coincidental update to Windows has fixed it (doubtful), but I can't seem to find any related setting in my BIOS or NVidia settings. Can't find any setting that could be problematic on the monitor. It doesn't happen in just monitor or extended display modes. I've checked physical connections. It's hard to test for things like software settings as it will only ever happen once per session and sometime an hour into play.

Hardware:
970, connected to...
... AOC G2460PG 144hz G-Sync monitor via displayport
... Sony 40W705C TV via HDMI
ASUS Z97-A motherboard (IIRC)
Are other specs relevant? There are no other curious occurrences with my hardware.

Any insight would be appreciated.

When you say you've checked physical connections, what do you mean? Just unplugged and replugged the cables? Tried playing with a different HDMI cable connected?
 
If I'm gaming through my TV in 2nd screen only mode (Win+P 3rs option), at a seemingly random point and not every session the screen will go blank like the resolution is changing and it's accompanied by the Windows disconnect/reconnect sound effects before and possibly after (can't remember clearly). My best guess is that my monitor is getting disconnected and then immediately reconnecting, forcing the display adjustment. The resolution adjusts after play, but I'm not sure if that's every time, or every time I play a game with DSR enabled. I apologise for not having more info.

It hasn't happened so much lately, and it doesn't seem to happen during my latest sessions of Dark Souls 3 but it did during the plays of 1 a week or so before. I don't know why, and I don't know if it's even related or if a very recent, quiet and coincidental update to Windows has fixed it (doubtful), but I can't seem to find any related setting in my BIOS or NVidia settings. Can't find any setting that could be problematic on the monitor. It doesn't happen in just monitor or extended display modes. I've checked physical connections. It's hard to test for things like software settings as it will only ever happen once per session and sometime an hour into play.

Hardware:
970, connected to...
... AOC G2460PG 144hz G-Sync monitor via displayport
... Sony 40W705C TV via HDMI
ASUS Z97-A motherboard (IIRC)
Are other specs relevant? There are no other curious occurrences with my hardware.

Any insight would be appreciated.

I have a 670 with the same monitor and motherboard.

No matter what it's connected to, as long as its connected to two devices it eventually does this.

Example: Two monitors connected. Set GSYNC as "Only Display On 1"... and in the night the second monitor will wake up turn on and then turn off. With the disconnection and reconnect sound effect. Must be an Nvidia thing. I don't think you're going to find a fix unless it's settings based.
 

Spladam

Member
I've tried swapping different cables, even changed the laptop, yet the "internet light" still continuously blinks green but never goes solid.

I'm guessing I have a faulty modem..


Haha, over the past few days I've probably "power cycled" like 20+ times, hoping it would finally work, but never did.

Oops, I already tried the "reset" button before I read your post. Does something else happens if you hold/use the reset button?

(See my reply to Artanisix)
I tried using different ethernet cables, but still get the same problem.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

*UPDATE:*
I ordered the same modem for like $10 on eBay, hopefully it will work.

Thanks Artanisix & Spladam for your help and suggestions. If you think of anything else I could try please let me know.
Nothing bad happens when you do that, it's just a last resort, it resets all the settings and the passwords for the router and your wifi, and clears any static or port forward settings you might have had. You have to hold that little button down for like 30 seconds on most routers for it to factory reset. The "$10" price tag is a red flag to me though. Hope the new one works out, let us know.

Lastly, never leave your router with the factory passwords, always browse to your router settings and manually enter your own passwords, which you will WRITE DOWN as you do hahaha. For security obviously. There are bot nets out there scanning the net for routers with factory passwords.
 

Spladam

Member
If I'm gaming through my TV in 2nd screen only mode (Win+P 3rs option), at a seemingly random point and not every session the screen will go blank like the resolution is changing and it's accompanied by the Windows disconnect/reconnect sound effects before and possibly after (can't remember clearly). My best guess is that my monitor is getting disconnected and then immediately reconnecting, forcing the display adjustment. The resolution adjusts after play, but I'm not sure if that's every time, or every time I play a game with DSR enabled. I apologise for not having more info.

It hasn't happened so much lately, and it doesn't seem to happen during my latest sessions of Dark Souls 3 but it did during the plays of 1 a week or so before. I don't know why, and I don't know if it's even related or if a very recent, quiet and coincidental update to Windows has fixed it (doubtful), but I can't seem to find any related setting in my BIOS or NVidia settings. Can't find any setting that could be problematic on the monitor. It doesn't happen in just monitor or extended display modes. I've checked physical connections. It's hard to test for things like software settings as it will only ever happen once per session and sometime an hour into play.

Hardware:
970, connected to...
... AOC G2460PG 144hz G-Sync monitor via displayport
... Sony 40W705C TV via HDMI
ASUS Z97-A motherboard (IIRC)
Are other specs relevant? There are no other curious occurrences with my hardware.

Any insight would be appreciated.
I've read about this, my tablet does it when using the TV as second monitor only every once in a while. If it bothers you too much, you can temporarily unplug your G-Sync and use your TV as display 1, the only display. As a matter of fact, maybe go to windows display settings and try to set your TV as monitor number 1 and the G-Sync as number 2 to see if it will stop it when both are still plugged in. It seems to just be one of those quirks.

I assume this is Win 10 too, I think it has to do with background updating services polling the displays when running or something. You'll notice sometimes the task bar will flash when Win 10 updates an app in the background.
 

LilJoka

Member
...Okay, so I have three theories as to possible causes now:
1) Something is up with my GPU's VRAM. Compared to some vids I can find around, its usage in the Witcher 3 seemed low. Could be margin of error stuff, not all games being equal, but is there any way to test this?

2) Something is up with my CPU. I've realised some things seem slightly slower to load than previously, and I've noticed that according to instruments like 3DMark and CoreTemp its frequency is '4197' Mhz instead of 4200. So if that reading - however minor - is a possible sign of something being even more screwed up, what do I do?

3) Something is fundamentally up with my Nvidia drivers. The Nvidia icon isn't showing up in the icon tray, GeForce Experience takes a noticeable while to load, and struggles to connect with Nvidia's server, even just to check it doesn't need the update it already has. Does this seem a probable cause?

Reason for 2), it's because the board is modulating the bclk for EMC purposes.
CPU Spread spectrum disabled will help bring it very close to 100mhz bclk.
 
Reason for 2), it's because the board is modulating the bclk for EMC purposes.
CPU Spread spectrum disabled will help bring it very close to 100mhz bclk.

Ah, thanks for the explanation. Ultimately not the actual issue I had in the end, which was evidently down to corrupted drivers.

Still, do you think it'd be worth disabling it, or would that be so merely if the fluctuating were really annoying me?
 

Spladam

Member
Reason for 2), it's because the board is modulating the bclk for EMC purposes.
CPU Spread spectrum disabled will help bring it very close to 100mhz bclk.
It's a support thread, it's always a good idea to avoid highly technical jargon, or at the least to not use acronyms when explaining. Not many people know what EMC stands for, or what it is, and you can't assume they know what bclk is short for.
Ah, thanks for the explanation. Ultimately not the actual issue I had in the end, which was evidently down to corrupted drivers.

Still, do you think it'd be worth disabling it, or would that be so merely if the fluctuating were really annoying me?

Do you remember what you disabled? I just very curious. The differences in actual clock speed and what was reporting would not be large enough to explain the performance symptoms you were getting were. And no, I don't think it would be worth disabling, it's a protection for your CPU, or rather the surrounding clocks and devices, that will not much effect performance.
 

Spuck-uk

Banned
Havin an odd problem with my PC. Only happens during gaming, I'll get a stutter/pause lasting for a few seconds every few minutes, which then resolves into normal framerate. It's making fighting games exceedingly annoying tbh.

Nothing seems to be overheating, drivers all up to date...halp?
 

Spladam

Member
Havin an odd problem with my PC. Only happens during gaming, I'll get a stutter/pause lasting for a few seconds every few minutes, which then resolves into normal framerate. It's making fighting games exceedingly annoying tbh.

Nothing seems to be overheating, drivers all up to date...halp?
A little more info, do you know if you've recently updated video drivers? How long has it been happening? Are you running any memory intensive programs or processes in the background like virus scans? You change anything about your system config before this started happening?
 

LilJoka

Member
Ah, thanks for the explanation. Ultimately not the actual issue I had in the end, which was evidently down to corrupted drivers.

Still, do you think it'd be worth disabling it, or would that be so merely if the fluctuating were really annoying me?

I tend to disable it when overclocking, no real need to do so though. The software can only read somewhat accurately anyway. The CPU is doing a lot of adjustments faster than any software can read.
 
It's a support thread, it's always a good idea to avoid highly technical jargon, or at the least to not use acronyms when explaining. Not many people know what EMC stands for, or what it is, and you can't assume they know what bclk is short for.


Do you remember what you disabled? I just very curious. The differences in actual clock speed and what was reporting would not be large enough to explain the performance symptoms you were getting were. And no, I don't think it would be worth disabling, it's a protection for your CPU, or rather the surrounding clocks and devices, that will not much effect performance.

Basically went into device manager, right clicked on the first of the drivers for my 6700k, and uninstalled. After the subsequent reboot, my performance in games was right back up. Not 100% as to what corrupted it, but I currently suspect it may have been some of the motherboard software I was using - haven't reinstalled since.
 

Spuck-uk

Banned
A little more info, do you know if you've recently updated video drivers? How long has it been happening? Are you running any memory intensive programs or processes in the background like virus scans? You change anything about your system config before this started happening?

Been happening for a few months now, graphic driver updates as they come out, problem seems consistent.

Not running antivirus beyond windows defender, and I've even unplugged from network and turned that and everything else off after hard reboot to try and eliminate factors.

No system config changes that I can really think of.
 

zulux21

Member
So I just got a refurbished windows 2 in 1 from woot.com and I didn't have to go through all the windows welcome stuff I was expecting (in fact it felt like I was just booted up to the last save state of who ever was on it)

I mention that but there are a couple weird things going on.

1. While chrome seems to work in general if I go to adobe reader to get it, it crashes while trying to install it.
2. When trying to update spybot search and destroy it gets stuck updating.
3. Windows defender is turned off and I can't seem to turn it on. The thing is a damn virus on my windows 10 desktop and won't stay off no matter what I do so it is really weird in general that it is off.

I did however get malwarebytes to update fine and scanned without finding anything.
and I am currently running windows updates figuring some of the issues might be related to that but i mostly wanted to get others opinions.

edit: windows updates partially fixed windows defender. seems that it gets turned off if you have another antivirus and this thing started with mcafee or whatever it is called. I removed it right away (especially since it was expired :p) but despite it being gone and a number of reboots windows defender seems to still not want to do real time protection. I mean it's not a big deal just weird.
 
Starting a couple of hours ago my phone keeps constantly asking me to sign in to my Apple account. If I go through the process it tells me my ID is locked, makes me answer security questions to unlock it and then makes me sign in again. After it's unlocked if I try to do anything like use the App Store or check my settings it wants me to go through the whole process again. I updated my phone to see if that would fix it, and it didn't, I tried resetting and that didn't fix it either. I've even had the message pop up in the middle of a phone call, and while browsing GAF. How do I make this stop?
 

LuffyZoro

Member
I just started having a problem. I have a R9 290,a i5 4570 and 8GB of RAM, so normally I can play Overwatch on ultra with 100+ fps. Now though, every couple of seconds I'm dropping down to ~15 fps. Looking at 3DMark I get a score of ~3500 when it should be about 11000. I've checked all of my temperatures and none of them are going above 70C under load, so I'm lost for what to do. I've checked for new graphics drivers, unplugged and replugged my GPU, and reinstalled Windows just in case, but no dice.
 

Keasar

Member
Need help, my CPU keeps spiking to 100% at times and makes the whole computer freeze up when starting/exiting certain programs or when playing games during specific moments. I've checked using Process Explorer and it is all 4 cores on my i5-6600K that flares up. During normal gameplay however the CPU is running fine, it only happens during these special moments but it is enough to drive me crazy and often ruin games.

Like for example, when I start Teamspeak, the processor spikes to 100% for a couple of seconds before setting back to normal.

Or when I play Overwatch, the moment I start the program it spikes to 100%, and during a match, whenever I respawn it spikes again to 100% and freezes the game, and when I close it the same happens again. During gameplay however it works as normal and the CPU runs fine.

This happens every time and I am at loss what causes it. This has happened before and the only solution I got was a complete reformat of the Windows drive and just reinstalling everything. This time however I really wanna figure out what's going on and would really appreciate any help anyone could give.
 
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