JamesTheGreat

Okay here's the deal. I have an 8 TB Western digital My book external USB hard drive. When connected to "Desktop A" or "Laptop A" the drive shows up fine with the drive letter and I can read the information off the drive no problem. However when connected to "Desktop B" or "Laptop B" the drive shows up in device manager. The drive even shows up in disk Management but shows as an unallocated space. I have installed mini tool partition wizard on both "B" computers and inside mini tool I can see the partition is there. I try to manually assign a drive letter but as soon as I exit mini tool partition wizard the drive letter is gone again. If I go back into mini tool partition wizard and open that partition using that tool I can see all the data there. My guess is that there is some type of security bug in Windows 11 causing the Western digital My book 8 TB not to show any information. DESKTOP A is a custom build I7-8086k with Gigabyte mobo running the most recent update of windows 10. Laptop A is a Lenovo i7-8th gen win10. DESKTOP B is a custom build, Asus mobo, Xeon E5-2640v3 running Win10Pro. Laptop B is a HP Ryzen5 3500 running win11.. I've downloaded the Western digital software and installed it which makes no difference. I've tried deleting the drive from the device manager and rebooting the computer. I've reset the bios to default. The really odd part is... My 1TB External USB SSD shows up on all 4 systems as well as any USB thumb drive I try. And before someone asks yes I've tried different USB ports and yes I've unplugged it and plugged it back in. The bios are all up to date, Windows update doesn't show any more hardware updates available. And if I go into CMD DiskPart, I can see the physical drive under "view Disk", but no partition using "view volume".. I've tried a half a dozen other things but none of them worked. I'm literally at a standstill with what to try next and in 25 years of working on computer hardware I have never seen anything like this. So if anybody has any GOOD ideas, I'm willing to give them a try... And before someone suggests it... NO, I'm not going to copy the data off, format the drive, and copy it back.

Im in a funny spot. I have a friend who own a mildly successful small business. Most of his computer parts are my leftovers, which does him fine. He runs 1 computer as its only him at this store. I'm moving, so I'm trying to set him up in a way that he'll have a little more redundancy in the even of a failure and I'm 750miles away... I want to swap out the 1tb Spinning HDD for an SSD (actually 2) And I'd like to setup them in a RAID using a PCIE raid controller that supports 2 onboard m.2 NVME drives. Issue... I can't find a raid controller like that for under $400... I'm good with one thats around $100-150... I don't need anything fancy, but it does need to be hardware raid, so if one drive dies, i can have him remove it and keep going. Then he can install a new drive and itll rebuild the raid.... This is NOT a backup solution, but just a way to keep him up and running in the even of a Drive Failure.. (AND to speed it up since the spinning disk makes me want to jump off a cliff) I'm not having much luck finding a cheap card. If anyone knows of one, please let me know... I'm even open to using SATA raid if i have too. :(

So I may have found the solution.. I'm about to try it now.. But I started to dig in the Nvidia Control Panel because I'm missing the "display" tree. That sent me on an adventure to check the Nvidia Geforce Experience Program, where I found a "Battery Boost" option enabled, which limited FPS to 30... I turned that off... I'll try it again now. This DID NOT fix my issue..

I thought that too, but its not. There is a check box in the settings to limit FPS to 30, but i have it disabled. My desktop with the 7700k runs it at 60fps no problem..

Just purchased a new "cheap" gaming laptop... It was $899 usd... Sold by walmart, is the same rebranded laptop Cyberpower sells. Mine is called the EVOO EP7.. Specs are: Ryzen 7 4800h 8c 16t GTX 1060s 6gb 512gb NVME 16gb DDR4 in Dual Channel 1tb NVME Steam Drive Wifi 6 120hz 1080p ips display Playing Age Of Empires: Definitive Edition. Yes the 1st one!! I'm only getting 28-30FPS.... I don't understand why!!! Benchmarking puts the CPU faster than my I7-7700K and around the same as my desktop RX580, which plays this game perfectly on a JUNK display... I have nothing running in the background, and I'm not thermal throttling.. Does someone know of a piece of software I can download and run that will tell me why my game is running so crappy? Thanks James P.S. Something else I wanted to try, but doesn't seem to work. I wanted to try out the IGPU that is part of this ryzen 7 4000 series APU... I tied setting the NVIDIA Control panel to Integrated, and the Windows Display manger to use the low power graphics, but when i run the game, task man still shows the RTX card active. (I've reverted this back to normal, so its not causing the FPS issue)

Rotary fittings are junk... I had some i picked up for a build i was running late on, when the client changed what he wanted after I had the loop 90% done. So I ended up driving to Microcenter to get some.. I purchased all they had that matched (as much as possible) to the custom machined 90's I have made, and I ended up with like 9 fittings total... Before I even finished the build 3 of the fittings pulled apart while I was still finishing up the system.. (They are only held together by the same O-ring the pivot on.) All-In-All the system ended up with 4 rotary fittings total, and within a few months they started dripping onto the brand new 1000W PSU, and some other stuff... - -What saved my ass, and my wallet from having to buy the customer a bunch of new parts due to water damage, was me using a custom coolant I make, that Never lets me down, and Looks GREAT under true UV LED lights. (340nm to be exact).. They make anything florescent, white, or UV Reactive, Light UP and Really puts the "Shine" on my systems... I've ran this same coolant for years in some systems without changing it, so I know its safe.. Depending on how "intense" you make the color, it can stain the clear bent PETG Tubing.. -Anyways... Here's my recipe.. Use it... Don't Use It... I don't care.. (But i don't want to hear anyone saying "You can't do that", Because I already did!!" 1- Your Favorite Highlighter Color (open it up and get the felt ink tank out. Discard the Tip, and Plastic Body. 2- Fill a Standard Water Bottle 90% up with Distilled H20 and insert the ink tank. Add lid and Shake it like crazy or a few mins. 3- Add that to your new loop. 4- Add 4-6 ounces of 60% or Stronger isopropyl alcohol. 5-Add all to your loop and Top Off with Distilled.. 6- ENJOY YOUR NEW BEAUTIFUL LOOP

I would like to see another "Most Bizarre" series of videos, but this time focus on strange OEM and PreBuilt system heatsinks. I just found one from a P4 era Sony desktop, that has heatpipes moving the CPU temp past the power supply to an exchanger, instead of putting the PSU on top the case and venting the CPU straight out the back.. this heat sink they used is literally larger than my hand. I've seen very few aftermarket solutions that are this size..

So I have a PC with a very hard to bend 13mm hard line cooling setup.. It has a TON of bends and even one that makes the line do a complete 180 at one point, to route it where it needs to go. I recently moved and emptied my loop out and was going to refill it with coolant, but was doing a flush with distilled water, when i got side tracked and had to leave the system sit for a few days... The problem was it was sitting with the panels off, full of plain water in direct sunlight, so some algae started to grow inside my water lines. What is the best way to clean the inside of an acrylic loop, without scratching it? At this point, i need a little more than just a flush, as the algae is sticking to the tubing a bit.. Thanks James

I've emailed a few companies just to see if maybe they have something like what i'm looking for, and i'm just not seeing it. I've become so used, to using a tiny mouse that my big hands cramp up whenever i try to use anything that would be considered "small" or "normal" sized anymore.. My last option is to cut the back off this M711-FPS and find a way to make my own cover for the back, but I'd rather not destroy a brand new mouse. Even if it was only $30. lol

Unfortunately with a mouse that's even 4.9" long, My palm ends up resting on it, because of the way I grip the mouse. The problem with the M711-FPS is that the back actually slopes out really far. It would be PERFECT, if the back just dropped down like the M185... I would LOVE this mouse 100% then. I'm trying to figure out how to modify it now.. lol BTW: I checked out the link. I have LARGE hands according to their chart, but just don't like how most mice fit. I like a mouse thats no longer than 3.9" total... and needs to be very light weight. Have a very high DPI, RGB, 8 buttons, 1000hz, ect... All the goodies in a small package... And I'd love it to be wireless too...

Ahh.. I was just looking at those. The G703 is 4.9" long which is the same as the M711-FPS I got to test already. It's about an inch too long for me. I like to have my wrist sitting on the mouse pad and just move the mouse around with my fingers for most movement, and flick my wrist for larger. This requires my entire hand to be place on the mouse thus gripping it with my palm. I could probably get used to it, but I'd rather get one thats around the 3.5-3.9" lengths. Thanks

Right now. I'm not too worried. I'd rather see my options. But say Cheaper is better. But having all the features I want is more important to me. So $100 -/+ max... I'd also like a HIGH DPI too..

I'm looking for a new mouse. I've tried the RedDragon M711-FPS and LOVE IT Except it's TOO LONG!!! I like a mouse that I would be considered a finger/claw grip type. Not a Claw/Palm grip type... My Daily Driver for the past 5 years has been a Logitech M185. (Its a cheap wireless mouse) It's the perfect size, but needs better response time, and some additional buttons. PLEASE!!!! I've been searching like crazy for the perfect mouse. If anyone has some idea's for me, PLEASE POST A LINK, or PROVIDE A MODEL NAME / NUMBER. Thanks James

Did you check the revision version of your board, vs the one on Gigabyte's site? I had something identical, or so I thought, happen to me. After checking and checking I realized I had an older version board than the Gigabyte page I came to. They don't do a great job of showing which page your on. The only way I know to tell, is to look at the top of the page, near where the board name is, and directly to the right of the name, is a tiny little "1.0" or "1.1, 1.2, 2.0" etc... If you truly do have a unique bios version, Be sure to copy it before updating and post it someone so others can have access to it... I've found the need for old bios versions in the past, especially ones that manufactures tend to take down and say "didn't exist" as there may have been a feature that was disabled in later versions.. One example is back around the Intel Gen 4 era... Did you know that some motherboard manufactures made a bios that allowed overclocking of NON-K CPU's??? This was of course soon removed and those bios versions over written with newer versions that they added features to... Go figure right... "Over clocking non-K, or new board features" YOU CHOOSE!!!! Well, I found that old bios version online (Thanks to the person who saved and posted it) then found the feature I wanted in the newer bios version and made my own custom bios version.. So I got my added features plus still had Overclocking enabled on my I7-4790... (I would like to add that I couldn't seem to make it work on any newer Gen Intel Chip, but I didn't have starting code to go from either.. Perhaps someone else could give it a whirl and make ALL 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th gen chips overclockable LIKE THEY SHOULDVE BEEN) lol

I have a GA-X470 Aorus Gaming 7 Mobo with dual bios. One has the lastest, I think f.42 and the other has something like f.32 as a failover. Anyways, the issue started after a bios update back when F8 was released. Inside the Gigabytr Classic BIOS, under boot options, my WD SSD is there, but no windows boot manager. If I switch to "EZ Mode" the windows Boot manager shows up, I can change the boot order (for that boot only) and get right into windows. A reboot, or power failure cause it to just act like there are no drives installed with an OS on them. Idk if I'm missing a setting, but I hate going into the bios and manually selecting my HDD every time I have to restart. Here are screen shots of my BIOS settings. If anyone has some HELPFUL information, I'd love to hear it. And NO, I'm not going to reinstall Windows... GA X470 Aorus Gaming 7 mobo Ryzen7 1700x 8gb crucial DDR4 250gb WD NVME SSD boot drive 2x 2tb 12k RPM SAS drives for steam. Sapphire RX580 8gb Win10 pro

Im sorry, I guess I was being rather confusing in my post. Let's forget about the RTX for a moment. Had anyone else seen the options to change from 25, 30, or 60hz, "disappear" in SOTTR, after updating to the newer drivers? My point was I used to have a 60hz option in a lot of different resolutions, and now I only see it under 1080 & 4k, inside the Tomb Raider graphics menu. I.e.: 1440 & 2k only have 30hz as an option for me now. I'd have to go back and check to see if I ever took a previous screenshot of my benchmark scores, but I swear I remember having 60hz as an option for them, using the old drivers.. With that being said, I almost remember when the games 1st came out, that I had to do something inside the Nvidia control panel to enable them, and when I installed the new driver today, I clicked the "Remove all previous..." Box when doing the install. Is everyone limited to 30fps in 1440 & 2k like I am? Or do you have a 60hd option under them? Thanks James

So I was just doing some reading this morning and saw that Nvidia enabled RTX features on some GTX cards, like my GTX1070. So I checked, and updated my driver to the latest version. (My old Nvidia driver was from January) and launched SOTTR. A quick benchmark later and now all my frame rates are all goofed up, even with RTX disabled. I've also checked, and other than 1080 and 4k resolutions showing the 60hz options, everything else only has the 30hz option. I'm using a 4k 240hz display, so I doubt that is my problem.. Final note, with resolution set at 4k 60hz in game, on Ultra w/o RTX I average 48fps using in game benchmark,.. Basically, I want to drop my resolution to "2k" and enable RTX with the hopes of getting better than the 30fps I'm being limited to. (And still run ultra settings) 4k-60hz w/ RTX on Ultra is crawling at 20fps, so that just won't work... And 1080-60hz w/RTX gets me like 58, but it's 1080, so it still looks like poop... Does Anyone know a work around or a way to force the game to add in the option for higher framerates on the lower resolutions? Any thoughts??? And please!!! No negative replies!!! And NO, I don't wish to rollback drivers, because I'd like to give the RTX feature a whirl.. (But maybe will later) Gigabytr Z370 Aorus Gaming Ultra Wifi-OP Core I7-8086k 5ghz all core OC 16GB DDR4-3200 WD Black 1TB NVMe SSD 32gb Intel Optane 2TB Sata SSD storage GTX 1070 FE

Just wondering, What is the Dell Service Tag for that Computer? There should be a build sheet associated, that will probably have the CPU Cooler P/N on it. Googling that P/N may provide you with an actual Thermal Rating, if you really care that badly.. I wouldn't worry about it tho. I would put it together just how she is...

You will be fine. Dell prebuilds from that era used a standard case / cooler combo for many different models. What you may find, is that the temps will be higher with a 95w CPU over a 65w CPU, and the fans will run more, but the system will be with in temp specs. So you'll be fine... Just clean the dust out, scrape off the old thermal paste and apply some new stuff (Even cheap stuff) and You'll probably be around 65c average... Good Luck!

So if anyone cares to know the answer. I figured it out.. The dell bios doesn't have a section (This one doesn't anyway) for the IRST to be set as the boot drive, like in other bios' I've seen. So... The steps basically are: 1) Set drives up as RAID 2) Disable Secure Boot (Have your Windows Installation USB Ready, with the "F6" drivers on it) *IDK if it's actually needed, but it worked when I did it this way* 3) Install Windows to the Spinning Disk (don't forget to press F6) 4) Download and install Intel Rapid Storage Tech Version 15.2.16.1060 5) Open IRST and Enable Drive Acceleration under the "Performance" tab 6)DO NOT Update IRST to the latest version. (Technically you can, but you loose options available in 15.2) ****From Version 17.2.0.1009 After Updating**** "Intel Smart Response Technology is NOT supported in this version of the IRST Driver. Note: Booting from previously existing Instel Smart Response Technology volumes is allowed" ( I'm NOT using an Optane Drive... I think the newest version is designed to only work with optane) Now you're up and running with an SSD cache drive for your spinning disk.

I have this precision 3620. running I7-7700 w/ 8gb ram Currently has 1x 1tb WD Spinning disk. I'd like to use a 32gb M.2 SSD to speed up the system using Intel Rapid Stoarge Tech. The Intel Rapid Storage tech driver is available for the system on dell downloads page. When I install it, I have no way to use the SSD to boost performance. Usually, in the past with other computers i've done this to, I need to enable something in the bios under "intel Rapid start" or "intel raid" but there isn't anything like that for this one.. I called Dell support, but they won't help me becuase the M.2 wasn't "Purchased" from dell, even though its an M.2 pulled out of another DELL.. They said they can't support it, because its not "dell" Hardware. lol.. Can anyone here help me get this thing setup the way I want. (I really hate Proprietary Bios's just for this reason) Thanks James

Here are two pics of the Rad mounted in the case using the brackets. This is a ThermalTake Core P1 ITX case, modded to fit an MATX Board. (Plenty of room for the board, just no predrilled stand-off holes) Radiator is mounted at 90 degrees to the chasis for two reasons. 1) Allows extra room For HDD installation in visible area. 2) Will help the light from the RGB Fans, make the water tubing and mobo light up.

I'm not buying a new monitor... However, I was looking up some specs on a CHEAP monitor, just used a second screen, on my 3rd PC. Its an Element ELEFW2217M, I pulled up the specs from the Element Page, and Under "Features" is has the following: 22" monitor... Horizontal Freq: 30 to 80KHz Vertical Freq: 60-75KHz I'm wondering... When they are talking about KHz in this case, I'm guessing it's really suppose to be Hz? 2nd, when EVERYONE else talks about 60Hz, 120Hz, 240Hz ect, is it the Horizontal or Vertical they are talking about? OR, is it an AVERAGE of both numbers? (I think it's just the Vertical, but I figured I'd ask.. I'm mainly wondering Why they are saying "KHz" instead of "Hz") What would you call the "Refresh Rate" of the monitor I have, since CLEARLY I'm not sure how to read these number... Thanks P.S. Link to the Specs: https://elementelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ELEFW2217M_spec.pdf

Yes!!! These are PERFECT!!!! Thank You. I even own the one for the 280mm thats made by XSPC, but didn't even know they made the 240... I purchased it from a 3rd party site, and didn't even think to check their webpage.. Thanks Again!!! James

I'm building a case, where I want to mount the 240mm radiator at a 90 degree angle to something else, and I need a bracket that will screw to the chassis, and allow me to mount the 240mm radiator at a 90 degree right angle. I found ONE in all my googling, that fits a 280mm radiator, so obviously this won't work.. For what I want to do, I don't have room for a 280, or I would've used it.. Can anyone provide me with some links to any radiator 90's please? Thanks