Computer Help Megathread

[Proton]

HEY WOPPET i'm gonna need some help with program suggestions for macs

My mom has one but I never use it, so all of my posts will be Windows-oriented.

You can run Windows on Macs so you could just use windows.


The only thing I can add to the thread is that on Windows,

:Using Start>Run, searching for dxdiag.exe will give you a program that tells you what your computer has for hardware, like RAM and video cards and whatnot.:

[Woppet*]

HEY WOPPET i'm gonna need some help with program suggestions for macs

My mom has one but I never use it, so all of my posts will be Windows-oriented.

Sure thing but most of the the things you can get for windows you can get for Mac anyway besides games. But for all short cuts, replace CTRL with CMD
Even though Macs have a ctrl button they like to be awkward.

Oh, one tip actually..

When using Photoshop on a Mac, there is no gray border around your canvas, so you can see right through the program to whatever is behind it. Little thing you may miss, press F on the keyboard to get a gray background like on Windows.

Alt shift K makes an apple logo only viewable by mac users >> 

[Vipershark]

Hey Lunyka

It's hard to diagnose problems like this without physical access to the computer, so let's try another angle.

It seems that you're having weird problems with explorer.exe
I know you said your taskbar freezes, but can you still access icons on the desktop?

If so, download and run bblean.
(This isn't a solution to the problem. It's more of a workaround.)

That will open a new program that works just like the taskbar, but everything will look totally different and it will be more like operating linux. If you can get it open, launch the task manager and manually kill explorer.exe
That /should/ fix your problem enough to allow you to browse the internet and do basic stuff.

Also, you said you mom spends like 60 bucks or so every 6 months. Rather than take the computer to the store next time, why not try to convince her to buy a 1TB external drive? Then you can back all your stuff up and format on your own without having to pay someone else to do it.

[Maxpphire]

I'll give it a try tomarrow. I will tell you that my computer can be very picky on what it actually wants to run and this sounds like it could be one of those things.

Also not every 6 months but at least ever few years. (about 3-4 years from the first time we had it done and maybe a year ago before we had to do a temp fix thing for it not wanting to work right.)

[Woppet*]

I just resinstalled Windows 7 and wiped everything.
What's the best program for opening rars and zips etc?
I remember whatever i had before was always bugging me that i was on a 40 day free trial but never actually stopping me using it.

EDIT:

OH SHIT. MY MINECRAFT SAVES.

[Asther]

I remember whatever i had before was always bugging me that i was on a 40 day free trial but never actually stopping me using it.

probably Winrar http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm

[Vipershark]

it's possible to maybe get your minecraft saves back.

do this RIGHT AWAY
http://www.piriform.com/recuva


edit- as far as zips and rars, the best thing for opening zips is windows' default opener.

Download winrar for everything else.
When installing it, there will be a list of filetypes to associate it to. Select everything EXCEPT zip and iso.

[Proton]

it's possible to maybe get your minecraft saves back.

do this RIGHT AWAY
http://www.piriform.com/recuva


edit- as far as zips and rars, the best thing for opening zips is windows' default opener.

Download winrar for everything else.
When installing it, there will be a list of filetypes to associate it to. Select everything EXCEPT zip and iso.

You might as well choose .zip anyways.
WinRAR is better than the default anyways.

[DioShiba]

I don't exactly know where to put this so I'm posting it here.

I want to update my computer so it can handle 3d games like minecraft, or better emulation. Problem is I can't exactly update my drivers to what I need them to be because my specs have old graphic drives on it.

Here's the specs that I managed to find (if they are anyways)

I want to know what I need for updating my computer, or if I possibly need to change the processor, graphics card or whatever needs to be done.

[Saltonara]

I need help.

One day I woke up and saw that Trend had "prevented" a trojan (don't make fun of me, I just used Trend because it came pre-installed on my desktop when I bought it). Then I tried opening Game Maker (8) and it comes up with an error saying it couldn't load Softwrap.dll so it would use the Lite edition only. You see I can't use the Lite edition because the game I'm making requires online multiplayer, and both the built in multiplayer functions (which I am not using) and extensions (which I am, 39dll to be exact) require that you have Pro in order to use them. I tried reinstalling Game Maker in a bunch of different places, redownloading Softwrap.dll specifically, and even uninstalling Trend but nothing worked. I searched around and someone else had the same problem with Trend and Softwrap but they got their's fixed. I tried what they did and it didn't work for me. So uh... suggestions/solutions?

[DioShiba]

is it even possible for game maker to make online games?

[Saltonara]

Gang Garrison 2

[Vipershark]

I need help.

One day I woke up and saw that Trend had "prevented" a trojan (don't make fun of me, I just used Trend because it came pre-installed on my desktop when I bought it). Then I tried opening Game Maker (8) and it comes up with an error saying it couldn't load Softwrap.dll so it would use the Lite edition only. You see I can't use the Lite edition because the game I'm making requires online multiplayer, and both the built in multiplayer functions (which I am not using) and extensions (which I am, 39dll to be exact) require that you have Pro in order to use them. I tried reinstalling Game Maker in a bunch of different places, redownloading Softwrap.dll specifically, and even uninstalling Trend but nothing worked. I searched around and someone else had the same problem with Trend and Softwrap but they got their's fixed. I tried what they did and it didn't work for me. So uh... suggestions/solutions?

1. Don't use Trend.
2. Are you using a cracked version.

And to answer Diogalesu's question, yes it is possible.

As for your upgrade questions, I'll make another post on that soon.

[Woppet*]

I don't exactly know where to put this so I'm posting it here.

I want to update my computer so it can handle 3d games like minecraft, or better emulation. Problem is I can't exactly update my drivers to what I need them to be because my specs have old graphic drives on it.

Here's the specs that I managed to find (if they are anyways)

I want to know what I need for updating my computer, or if I possibly need to change the processor, graphics card or whatever needs to be done.

Need a ram upgrade,
CPU upgrade
and graphics card upgrade

[Vipershark]

Yeah, I'd say "get an everything upgrade" or "new computer", but since I happen to be currently posting on a computer that used to actually have WORSE specs than that, I'll say:

You need more RAM. I'm currently running 3.5GB, up from 128MB.
Then get a new graphics card. The one I'm currently using is pretty terrible for today's standards, but it gets the job done. (I can actually play minecraft on this computer!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Finally, if you know how to do it correctly, you might want to overclock your P4. I've been thinking about OC'ing this one, but i've never really bothered to do it.

Doing all that will make your computer capable of playing /most/ games on their lowest settings without problems.