VioDuskar

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

I've had the situation where the content was no longer on iTunes, but I had it downloaded onto my PC through the iTunes app. The DRM was removed, and I could play it on any device. Granted, this was a music video, so it's not necessarily going to have the same rules as movies or TV shows.

that's pretty certified Neato™ 

1 minute ago, JoelsyTv said:

I got the gpu a few days ago off of ebay, new monitor didnt work and Ive tried switch ports and it didnt work.

you may have just bought a dying GPU my dude. i'd call MSI and get an RMA, though, because you're not the original owner, they may be jerks about it.

did you update your motherboard's BIOS to make sure that CPU is compatible?
is your case properly grounded?  (PSU securely bolted metal to metal, no washers, MoBo screwed in metal to metal, not rubber washers, PSU using a 3-pin power cable?)

88C and below. at or above 89C you may get throttling: source, i run Mini-ITX with the 5600x

if the GPU does the same thing in another computer you might want to try to RMA the GPU. 
where did you get this GPU?

did you make sure your monitor is not the issue? 
Did you try a different port on the GPU, and/or swap cables?

call corsair and ask for replacement cables. don't buy used PSUs in the future unless you can verify all of the cables are with it. 

18 minutes ago, ecktron said:

Shit, I didn't even notice that, but he bought it off ebay for like $300. The guy said he added RAM and I guess he added the GPU too?

you can't add GPUs to laptops. i'm beginning to believe this was a sophisticated mild trolling you're dealing. 

do you have screen shots from the computer showing the parts? like in DXdiag or device manager?

Thanks, I found my former self and told him that of all the bad choices he made, AI agreed with him on computer parts.

thanks paul rudd? 

6 minutes ago, ecktron said:

He is not running on ultra quality settings but I found his laptop on the site. I can link it to you, but he couldn't even play Destiny 2 which is mainly what he's trying to play. He changed all the settings to low and still no dice. https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06459240

see, i saw that page, and was like "noo, this can't be it. that's 8GB of RAM and no GPU other than the onboard CPU graphics."

7 minutes ago, Arika S said:

Fuck 'em.

@ mods this girl said a mean word and shows apathy for the legally binding TOS they signed. please lock them up. 

nah, but for real. definitely backup any thing you ever think you want to see again. #datahoarder

wellllll, that model# isn't on the HP site anymore and that's a suspicious RAM configuration. I hope your buddy got a killer deal on this. if it was used i'd probably say reinstall windows before use. 

COD is a pretty graphic intense game and the laptop versions of GPUs are not comparable to their desktop counterparts. is he running the game on Ultra™ quality settings?
because that poor 1650 mobile chip probably just can't handle it. 

1 minute ago, Arika S said:

You bought it, who cares what the tos says.

you did not buy it. You rented it until the server no longer offers the content. 

There is copyright protection that will probably prevent you from just "drag and dropping" downloaded files from your iTunes download library onto your PLEX server. 
There is an iTunes app for windows and android. 

if you have a second monitor i'd suggest checking task manager when this happens to see if anything is running that you're not expecting. 
otherwise Ctrl+Shift+Esc to pull up task manager when this happens (sorry if you die in game)

it sounds like somehow you are mixing and routing the youtube audio into your mic stream. this is likely a software problem.
what types of audio software are you using?

OBS? trumpet? voicemeeter? some crazy Gamer™ HyperSonic™ AudioBlaster® sound mix program? 
 

3 minutes ago, ecktron said:

My friend recently bought an HP Pavilion

this is the issue. 

okay, now that that's out of the way, what's the exact model? has all of the bloatware that comes installed from factory been removed? 
have you checked what is running in task manager? 

he's only trying to game when the power supply is connected right? 
has he tried to re-validate the files for COD-MW2 on steam?

1 hour ago, Drake Jest said:

 

The chasis is negotiable it can be larger if needed to fit the components.

ugh.... i have a full depth chassis that doesn't fit in my rack that's got 12 hot swap bays... basically brand new. 
hit me up in DMs? inb4 mod says go to classified section. 

it's this model.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N9CXGSO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

3 minutes ago, WkdPaul said:

For me personally, since I'm a Windows sysadmin, it's easier to have everything under Windows, I'm hosting a few things on my Windows NAS using Docker and WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), basically, activating WSL on Windows 10 makes it possible to run Linux only applications and services, for exemple, I have a PiHole running on my Windows 10 NAS, though keep in mind that Windows have a huge RAM overhead and can be a resource hog, I had only 16GB of RAM on that thing and ended up needing 32GB for it to run smoothly.

do you know of any windows Distros that are made to run smoother as VMs? my Windows VMs just don't seem to be stable. I don't want to throw 32GB of RAM at it, as that's a lot to take away from my hypervisor, which only has 64GB. 

I'd suggest installing TrueNAS, setting up SAMBA shares for windows sharing, and FTP for anything you might need to send/receive remotely. 

I'd also suggest a 4RU chassis, if you need short depth, for only ATX/ITX I suggest a silverstone. 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MKSH1B8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

it doesn't come with hotswap bays, but you can add them if you really really need them. with two of the hot-swap bays it holds 10 Larger Disks, with space for some laptop drives that aren't hot swappable. 

 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZWK1337/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

TrueNAS also allows for native plugins for PLEX, Minecraft servers, Cloud tools, and a bunch more. it also allows for VMs if you need a better, more custom solution. 

always make sure your network can handle the traffic you throw at it too. setting up a NAS with a 10/100 NIC isn't the best idea. 

Always plug the keyboard and mouse into the motherboard USB for first configuration to eliminate issues with front panel USB connections. 
If you have an intel CPU and your motherboard has a video output, remove your GPU and connect your motherboard video output to your display. 
Verify all power cables to your motherboard are fully seated. 24pin, but also CPU 4+4 / 6+2 power cable. 

Listing your parts will help us -on the forum- troubleshoot by looking up your manuals, or at least tell you about compatibility problems. 

enjoy this xkcd comic on the topic of passwords. 
https://preshing.com/20110811/xkcd-password-generator/

13 minutes ago, Steven Schaefer said:

Thanks for the insights!
Looking at both of these points, it leads me to this conclusion:

 

If I am unwilling to type a strong password when logging in, and I am very confident in my physical security, then it would be better to create very strong passwords and use auto-login.

 

Do you agree?

a long password is a strong password, it doesn't have to have many different character sets if it's super long.  I would never suggest autologin. 
a long password can be typed in easier without being complex, notice I didn't use "?Bl!ndD0nk3ySh0tJ1mmy!" as an example. 

Your server can run a service without being logged in constantly. login once on reboot, make a task schedule to run what you need at login, then relock your machine. 

or, if your service can be ran at boot without login, schedule that on reboot. 

pressing WindowsKey+L will lock a machine.

check haveibeenpwned.com to see if you've been in a data breach. try all of your emails. 
First and foremost, Physical Security is top priority. if someone can touch it, they own it. especially if you use auto-login. 

you can always install a firewall, it should be as close to (or on) the router as possible, but how you check if it's working depends on the software/hardware you use. 

if you use port forwarding never use default SSH port 22. always change the port for ssh on any service that requires/uses it if you can. 
every public facing IP is constantly being bombarded by bots attempting to brute force their way into any system they can find. they just use dictionary attacks on every port, so disable root login from SSH on anything you can. make sure you NEVER NEVER NEVER use default username and password combinations for devices that have ports forwarded to them. 

Using things like TeamViewer, VNC, RDP, and other remote technologies opens up more attack vectors if those technologies have any CVEs

That being said, capability and security are always opposed. you know this, otherwise you wouldn't be asking about for to harden your home LAN. Use remote technology at your own risk. 

Don't run anything you don't trust. phishers will reverse shell your ass like it's mario cart. 

to directly address your questions: 

1) If someone wants in, they will get in. if you are being targeted there is no way to stop them. even the best firewall is defeated with attack pivots. 
2) Yes, autologin is a vulnerability at the physical level. and if there is no password, at the remote level. 
3) get better passwords. longer the better. there is no shortcut here. string a whole bunch of words together to make something crazy yet easy to type. 
 - BlindDonkeyShotJimmy is a lot better than  D1lakiss (most common password #21) https://nordpass.com/most-common-passwords-list/
4) yeah, windows defender is pretty okay if you don't turn it off. 
5) take a cyber security course, or buy the Security+ CompTIA book. if it tickles you in the right way pay $300 to take the test and go be a cyber professional. that's basically the foot in the door certification. There are many more, but it will let you know if you really like the under-the-hood view of computers. 

On 12/2/2022 at 7:25 AM, Ajmeyer1990 said:

And are you talking about the gpu ram or the normal ram and artifacting quits if I change the resolution to a lower one 

This sounds like a GPU issue. I'm start an RMA for the GPU if artifacting happens in both PCI-e slots. 

Note- EVGA is getting out of the GPU business, so you may have an issue getting it replaced, but I would still go for it. They should have plenty of RTX3070s on the shelf to remedy any RMAs