Computer related questions

[Cheb]

Any hard disk keeps a history, counting among the other parameters, the power on hours and number of times it was switched on. You can retrieve these using any SMART monitoring tool, then guesstimate the number of days the hard disk was in use. For example: you switch it on and off every day, then the number of power ups will give you your computer's age in days. If you keep it always on, take the HDD age directly from the monitoring tool (e.g. my hard drives are on average 2 of years running time, with about 10-15 power-up events)

A 4 core cpu has 4 cores. A 2 core cpu with HT still has TWO cores and some additional crap needed for HT to work. "can handle 4 tasks", sure it´s the same as saying that because i can use my feet to hold things with i can therefore handle things as if i had 4 hands.

They boast some huge performance increase, 20% or even 30%.
It's an *epic* headache from the programmer's point of view, as telling the number of *real* cores (as reported by AMD) from the number of cores multiplied by 2 (as reported by *some* Intel CPUs)... is virually impossible. Heck, even Windows can't do that. As a result, my cheap Atom netbook boasts 4 cores :facepalm:

[lwf58]

So, I should just buy Windows 7 64 bit and 8 Gb RAM?

The AM is cheap. Amazon has 8 Gb RAM at 35 €. However, Windows 7 is damn expensive. It's still the same price it was 3 years ago: 120 €.

THat's simply unacceptable. Now that Windows8 is available shouldn't the price go down?

Don't just rush to buy RAM without doing your homework. If you have Windows 7 64-bit, you can have ridiculous amounts of memory in your system, but your hardware may have a different say in the matter.

Look up your computer (if built by a major manufacturer) or motherboard (if your system was custom built) at Crucial.com and see what size and speed of memory the motherboard can support before you buy. Crucial is very good at giving accurate information about number of memory banks, capacity, and speed. I've never known them to be wrong. If they do not have your info, then conduct a general web search for it, and look for companies like memoryx.com.

A general search for memory (using a term like "Inspiron 1500 memory") will get a lot of results listing fly-by-night companies that have inaccurate results, so be careful. Having the wrong type of memory, mixed speeds, or too much can make your system run worse, not better.

Even though Windows 8 is on the shelves, Windows 7 disks are still being made for retail sale. As long as that is true, the price won't drop. Windows XP remained at pretty much the same price for the full run of its manufacturing, as did the previous versions.

[Dumbledork]

Thx. I'll look up the information at home. The motherboard is probably from Dell since I get the Deel lofo when the computer boots.

[lwf58]

Thx. I'll look up the information at home. The motherboard is probably from Dell since I get the Deel lofo when the computer boots.

That just means a Dell branded copy of Windows was used to install the operating system. It does not necessarily mean Dell hardware is involved.

You can use Piriform Speccy or Belarc Advisor to learn more about your computer's hardware. Those programs can also tell you some things about the memory capacity of your motherboard.

[Spica75]

THat's simply unacceptable. Now that Windows8 is available shouldn't the price go down?

MS will probably not lower the price on 7 anytime soon or ever. They want people to switch to 8 so they´re stuck with the new MS app store. Too many people considers 8 to be rubbish for MS to let it become cheaper.

So, I should just buy Windows 7 64 bit and 8 Gb RAM?

The AM is cheap. Amazon has 8 Gb RAM at 35 €. However, Windows 7 is damn expensive. It's still the same price it was 3 years ago: 120 €.

Well the other option would be to reinstall on a newly purchased SSD(and placing your current HDD as the secondary drive).
Actually, i thought there was an upgrade option to go from 32 to 64 bit version? I can agree 120 isn´t a "happy" pricetag.

Thx. I'll look up the information at home. The motherboard is probably from Dell since I get the Deel lofo when the computer boots.

Dell usually gets their motherboards from Intel. Although IIRC they´ve gotten some from Foxconn and ESC as well.
Just run cpu-z, click on the "mainboard" tab and it should tell you what you have.
For example, for me it says after Manufacturer "Gigabyte Technology Co. Lt" and after Model "EP45-DS3", that´s basically what you need to start looking.

Any hard disk keeps a history, counting among the other parameters, the power on hours and number of times it was switched on. You can retrieve these using any SMART monitoring tool, then guesstimate the number of days the hard disk was in use. For example: you switch it on and off every day, then the number of power ups will give you your computer's age in days. If you keep it always on, take the HDD age directly from the monitoring tool (e.g. my hard drives are on average 2 of years running time, with about 10-15 power-up events)

Fanspeed is a good app to get a quick look at SMART information.

They boast some huge performance increase, 20% or even 30%.

At best, sure. At worst, HT can also drop performance by over 50%. Sure that´s about as rare as getting a boost above 30% but that´s why i dont really like the technology in general, it´s too unreliable, you never truly know for sure when it will help or not until after you have tested.

It's an *epic* headache from the programmer's point of view, as telling the number of *real* cores (as reported by AMD) from the number of cores multiplied by 2 (as reported by *some* Intel CPUs)... is virually impossible. Heck, even Windows can't do that. As a result, my cheap Atom netbook boasts 4 cores :facepalm:

I bet!
And now with AMDs new core pairs, certainly messing things up extra since they´re both 1 AND 2 cores in a single package. Just a pity they messed up, looks like AMD is in big trouble now, and it would be real sad if we got stuck with a complete Intel monopoly, and it would be awfully sad if AMDs graphics division got lost in the process, now that they´re fighting very well for having the best gfx overall(for integrated, it´s just no question that they are best).

[Dumbledork]

Can I get a virus trojan, or worm by opening spam mail or do I have to click on the provided links for it to activate?

[Spokavriel]

Depends on how your E-Mail is set up. If you are using anything that copies the mail to your computer instead of reading it online there is a risk. But if you read with online readers and do not DL attachments then it is highly unlikely. Not impossible but unlikely. About 3-5 years ago someone found an exploit in jpg image code to add a small virus that way about the same time Sasser came out. Normally you should have to go to links. That doesn't mean the hackers aren't still trying to infect your system in other ways.

[Dumbledork]

I don't have outlook but only go to the webpages to read my mail. So I should be safe, right?

[Spokavriel]

Safer but no E-Mail is completely safe. IT is extremely unlikely for you to have gotten a virus from your mail without having used a link in that situation.

[lwf58]

Depends on how sophisticated the delivery system is for the payload. Most of them depend on you opening the attachment, and try to use various methods to prompt you, such as the infamous "your package could not be delivered" mails.

Some, however, are put together so to take advantage of code execution functions in email clients. To view html mail and show you rich content, your client has to be able to execute instructions contained in the email message, and that's a vulnerability they can take advantage of. Of course, the makers of the email clients know that and try to patch their programs to avoid executing malicious code, but they are playing the same game of catch up that antivirus programmers are.

All that was a long-winded way of saying that yes, it's possible to get a malware infection just by opening spam email. It's much rarer than the other kind, but it's out there.

[Dumbledork]

Thx.

[Spica75]

Can I get a virus trojan, or worm by opening spam mail or do I have to click on the provided links for it to activate?

Yes you can.

Once you view a message "fully"/normally, that means that any code hidden in the email risks executing, simply because the email viewer is supposed to run code like that, as it´s part of the functionality for emails.

If you want to preview without risking something activating, you can use Ctrl+U to view the source of the message in a text only viewer. Pictures and things will either be links or a big bunch of random looking letters, but you can usually see if there is obvious danger from the email.
Edit: obviously this works in most regular email clients, but not when looking at the email through a browser.

An alternative way of checking mails safely is to use a firewall that has a "sandbox" mode included and use that(never used this myself so i can´t say how to do it, but it is the ultimate safe way of doing it).

I don't have outlook but only go to the webpages to read my mail. So I should be safe, right?

Sorry but nope. If you use a web browser to look at mail, if the browser isn´t VERY secure, any malicious code in an email will activate through the browser instead.

Some, however, are put together so to take advantage of code execution functions in email clients. To view html mail and show you rich content, your client has to be able to execute instructions contained in the email message, and that's a vulnerability they can take advantage of. Of course, the makers of the email clients know that and try to patch their programs to avoid executing malicious code, but they are playing the same game of catch up that antivirus programmers are.

Yeah, those are the annoying ones...

[Lioconvoy]

Can someone tell me if BWTF.com is working. The site should be Ben's World of Tranformers, and it's has reveiws of Transformers toys and Comics on it. I tend to check it often, but the last two days I get sent to a search thing by my provider.

The CenturyLink Web Helper service provides helpful search results to our customers when they would otherwise encounter web address errors. You are seeing search results offered by the CenturyLink Web Helper service because you clicked on an invalid link or entered an invalid Web address into the address bar of your browser. Misspellings and typing errors frequently cause these errors. In instances where the site you were looking for is clear, you may not see this page at all. Instead, the service may take you directly to the site.

The site was just working recently so I'm worried that it might be my computer that isn't allowing me to go there.

[Spokavriel]

Site not found. And archive.org's latest pages for it are from last July. So they were still updating it regularly. 18 months is about as new as they allow themselves to post pages for.

[Lioconvoy]

Okay, thanks Spok. It's nice to know it's not my computer.