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Hey everyone i was using my main PC today and the internet slowed down drastically so i decided to restart but now my PC will not boot to the operating system. I am able to enter the Bios and change setting but when i exit i get to the windows logo with spinning dots (windows 8.1), then a fast blue screen, then a preparing automatic repair then a black screen. in which i can sometimes see and move the cursor. I have a Asus P8Z77-v LX motherboard, i5 3570k, 16 corsair vengeance pro ram (1866), 1000w EVGA supernova G2 power supply, 128gb Kingston hyperx 3k SSD boot drive, 2tb seagate storag, HD7970 gpu. I have tried booting to my storage drive, i have removed my GPU, all but one ram stick, but cpu clock at stock speed, removing the battery from the motherboard but still nothing. Any help would be much appreciated.

What is the best operating system to go with for a HTPC?

Hello. I built my first computer, back in around November/December of 2013. My dad hoped scrap up a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. I like Windows 7, but I've been interested lately, about getting Windows 8.1, and probably disabling Metro. Thoughts? (Please put your experiences with Windows 8.1 and opinions.) ~Stephen.

Hey, not really much of a tech person but i have had this problem ever since i got my pc. I have an ssd and a hdd. I installed windows 7 onto my ssd on first boot and installed 32 bit on accident . Stupid right? well anyways after that i tried to install windows again on my ssd and did 64bit this time, didnt work and was really dissapointed. I thought it would never work. Then I seleted my hdd to install my operating system on and it worked! it was my only option but im stuck with three options for the same operating system. (See picture attatchment) Its not a huge problem but i have to select and operating system every time i turn my pc on. If anyone could suggest anything I could do to fix this issue, Would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hi, this may be a newb. question but I honestly don't know. I currently have windows 7 on a primary ssd and all my games on a secondary hard drive. I am thinking about upgrading to windows 9 when it comes out. I prefer do to clean installs. If I wipe my ssd and do that will I be able to just install my games on the secondary drive? Like just go to steam and start up for first time? I think that is the way it is but I don't know for sure and would have hate to have to download them again. Thanks

Hey so I'm building a new computer and I just found out that I can't install windows 8.1 on my new computer because its only an upgrade. I have the product key and I don't know if I can install it onto a new computer. I bought the student price version for $70 from the Microsoft store and I don't want to waste time trying to install it. Any help is appreciated.

I have 64 bit Windows 7, and I run it off of a 240 GB Samsung EVO SSD (full system at bottom). I was recently exploring Dogecoin Mining with my 7950 (I have absolutely no experience with crypto-currency, by the way). I left it running for a couple hours and when I came back, my system had crashed. I restarted the computer and everything seemed fine, but my anti-virus software was telling my that my licensing information was incorrect because it was corrupted or something along those lines. After fiddling with that for a while, I restarted again. This time, Windows couldn't boot because a registry file was corrupt or missing. I used my Windows install CD to restore my operating system (note that I accidentally restored the operating system on my old hard drive first and managed to boot into that one before returning to my current operating system). At this point, I boot back into my normal operating system. However, as it was booting up I skipped the CHKDSK because I was too eager to see if my operating system worked. I managed to boot into it just fine multiple times, but Windows Explorer always continually stopped working after a few seconds of desktop interactivity and it only ever took five minutes to blue-screen. I decided to let CHKDSK run its course. Now my operating system doesn't crash and my anti-virus software from above works as it should (I found some trojans, but they were from May 2013 when I recall manually stomping on a virus so this is almost definitely not the issue). However, windows explorer stops working every time I do something new. It's like it's rediscovering what it can do. The first time I tried to open a file, it crashed. The second time, it opened the file. The first time I tried to launch Eclipse (Java workspace), it told my it couldn't. The second time, it worked. I tried to manage my computer (Start menu> right click Computer> Manage), and Windows Management Console stopped working. The second time, a window popped up and it stopped working again. The third time, it worked. I don't think I've lost any important files, but am I just going to have to let Windows figure everything out for the first time until my computer is fine again? Is this almost-corruption normal when a system crash like the first one I had happens? Any help is really appreciated, thanks for muddling through my paragraphs. Edit: apparently can't shut down properly either. Just goes to the login screen where I can't log in and none of the buttons do anything. I have to force power off. Edit 2: second shut down went fine. Full system specs: i5 3350p CPU Radeon HD 7950 GPU MSI LGA 1155 Intel B75MA-P45 Motherboard SeaSonic G series 550 Watt PSU more specific stuff available upon request

So the other day I posted another thread where I whinged about Windows not working properly. http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/19326-accidentaly-left-system-on-all-night-winloadexe-is-suddenly-missing-or-corrupted/#entry230393 Well, since then I've switched to another drive (Only 80GB in size, *gasp!*) whilst I wait to sort out my 500GB drive. However, for some reason my 500GB drive only registers a maximum of 465GB of space. This is after formatting the drive, and looking in Disk Management, the only partition available in this case is a single, unallocated (healthy) partition. I have a feeling that the missing 35GB are the reason why installing Windows doesn't work properly. I don't know how I can check if such a (ghost) partition exists, my wallet refuses to believe that the drive has failed somehow. Details on how this came about are in the thread posted above. Help a nerd out.

This is it. After a lot of research, I am coming to the end of the planning stage regarding my new gaming PC. However, there are still some queries that must be cleared up before proceeding, as I wish to be absolutely certain in what I'm doing, and what I'm buying. Preparation is key. I don't feel ready to spend any money at all yet as I don't know what I'd be getting myself into. I want to make sure that when each part arrives, I'll know from step 1 that everything is compatible, and that I know exactly what to do. I have come up with a likely build on Pcpartpicker, do you think this would work? Are all the parts compatible? Do you think my choice of parts are of good quality, or are their areas of which I could improve? Perhaps to save cost or, notify me of a more adequate piece of hardware that I am unaware of? https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Gregz/saved/4x27 Or here's the list: CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£224.99 @ Aria PC) CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£79.99 @ Ebuyer) Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£98.24 @ Scan.co.uk) Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£120.61 @ Amazon UK) Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£89.97 @ Dabs) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.79 @ Aria PC) Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case (£114.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk) Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (£41.70 @ Aria PC) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.96 @ CCL Computers) Monitor: Hannspree HE225DPB 21.5" Monitor (£86.99 @ Ebuyer) Total: £979.83 PLEASE NOTE: I am aware there isn't a power supply or graphics card present in that list, this is because I already own a Geforce GTX 780ti WINDFORCE edition GPU and a CS750M Corsair PSU. Are these parts ALSO compatible with the build? Will the wires connect properly, do I have the correct wires and connections? I am unaware of how to find out. Here are the questions I need to find the answers to: 1. How do you install the operating system onto the SSD specifically for faster booting times + how to install any games on the SSD specifically afterward? Following that point, how do you manage both the SSD space and HDD space, using the Hard drive for file storage, the SSD for games and such. Where will their icons appear on the computer? How can I acces them specifically and how can I manage what files go where? I mostly want normal files in the giant HDD storage, and games + operating system and other programs I want to run fast on the SSD. In short, how do I setup my operating system to start on the SSD drive as opposed to the hard drive, and how would I go about installing games to the SSD as well? 2. How do I ensure everything is compatible? Such as "will the graphics card fit in that motherboard, is the card long enough? Do I have enough connections to the motherboard from the power supply" etc. 3.How can I find out if my power supply is powerful enough to power all of my components? 4. Is there a good "go to" tutorial on how to install the "H100i liquid cooling system" from Corsair? I am unable to find a clear video as of yet. I am worried about it's installation, and I hope to make it as easy as possible. 5. I need to know the specifics. Does my motherboard support specific RAM memory (1866 in my case)? I am also aware my motherboard is "1150" is this compatible with my other parts? Are there any other specifics I am missing that could be of use to me? 6. Finally, warrenty. Let's say something is faulty upon arrival, or I find something doesn't fit or... something breaks or... something is simply wrong with a specific component. How would I go about sending it back for a full refund, with as little hassle as possible? Is it even possible to send it back like that? I want to ensure that when I am building the computer in my room, I am absolutely ready for anything, and that any problems can be rectified easily and efficiently. I know there are a lot of questions, and I know they ramble on for a while, but due to my lack of knowledge, I am unable to specify. I do hope I can get my final piece of help from here, as this is the final step required to go onto the purchasing stage. I want to ensure everything goes smoothly and I don't regret any decisions or find out a critical error while in the middle of constructing the build. Thank you.

This is it. After a lot of research, I am coming to the end of the planning stage regarding my new gaming PC. However, there are still some queries that must be cleared up before proceeding, as I wish to be absolutely certain in what I'm doing, and what I'm buying. Preparation is key. I don't feel ready to spend any money at all yet as I don't know what I'd be getting myself into. I want to make sure that when each part arrives, I'll know from step 1 that everything is compatible, and that I know exactly what to do. I have come up with a likely build on Pcpartpicker, do you think this would work? Are all the parts compatible? Do you think my choice of parts are of good quality, or are their areas of which I could improve? Perhaps to save cost or, notify me of a more adequate piece of hardware that I am unaware of? https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/Gregz/saved/4x27 PLEASE NOTE: I am aware there isn't a power supply or graphics card present in that list, this is because I already own a Geforce GTX 780ti WINDFORCE edition GPU and a CS750M Corsair PSU. Are these parts ALSO compatible with the build? Will the wires connect properly, do I have the correct wires and connections? I am unaware of how to find out. Here are the questions I need to find the answers to: 1. How do you install the operating system onto the SSD specifically for faster booting times + how to install any games on the SSD specifically afterward? Following that point, how do you manage both the SSD space and HDD space, using the Hard drive for file storage, the SSD for games and such. Where will their icons appear on the computer? How can I acces them specifically and how can I manage what files go where? I mostly want normal files in the giant HDD storage, and games + operating system and other programs I want to run fast on the SSD. In short, how do I setup my operating system to start on the SSD drive as opposed to the hard drive, and how would I go about installing games to the SSD as well? 2. How do I ensure everything is compatible? Such as "will the graphics card fit in that motherboard, is the card long enough? Do I have enough connections to the motherboard from the power supply" etc. 3.How can I find out if my power supply is powerful enough to power all of my components? 4. Is there a good "go to" tutorial on how to install the "H100i liquid cooling system" from Corsair? I am unable to find a clear video as of yet. I am worried about it's installation, and I hope to make it as easy as possible. 5. I need to know the specifics. Does my motherboard support specific RAM memory (1866 in my case)? I am also aware my motherboard is "1150" is this compatible with my other parts? Are there any other specifics I am missing that could be of use to me? 6. Finally, warrenty. Let's say something is faulty upon arrival, or I find something doesn't fit or... something breaks or... something is simply wrong with a specific component. How would I go about sending it back for a full refund, with as little hassle as possible? Is it even possible to send it back like that? I want to ensure that when I am building the computer in my room, I am absolutely ready for anything, and that any problems can be rectified easily and efficiently. I know there are a lot of questions, and I know they ramble on for a while, but due to my lack of knowledge, I am unable to specify. I do hope I can get my final piece of help from here, as this is the final step required to go onto the purchasing stage. I want to ensure everything goes smoothly and I don't regret any decisions or find out a critical error while in the middle of constructing the build. Thank you.

Ok so this is my first time ever posting anything here on LinusTechTips Forums... But that's not the issue right now, the issue i'm having is that I wasted a good $100 or something on Windows 8.1 from Newegg. Along with 8.1 I also bought a lot of other computer parts for a build I was making for my self, and being on a tight budget i had to stick with OEM. Now some of y'all might say why not just get Windows 7? I didn't get it because I just simply wanted something future proof, and I really like the fact of having a fast system, along with that fast Boot up I didn't buy a DVD Drive because simply I don't really need it for now, even though I watch lots of movies. I had to go and extract the files from the Windows Installation disk over to my USB stick, but that shouldn't be the issue, right? So I go ahead and stick the USB into my newly fresh PC build, everything goes of fine the system is completely ready all i have to do now is install Windows. But once I get to the installation process, the freaking Key that I got doesn't work, i keep getting "invalid key". I tried a lot of stuff and nothing Please people help me! what should I do? Am I just gonna have to stick to pirating windows now?

Ok so originally I built this one new computer of mine, installed Linux (Ubuntu) on it and fell in love with it, but sadly Linux doesn't have support for about 80% of the stuff I use on a day to day basis... So I had to go and switch it out for Windows (8.1/OEM). But before I could do such thing I had to go out and buy an optical drive, since my original built doesn't have one. So I go ahead and plug its cables in and stuff, boot my computer and it all seems good and well. Than I go and proceed to putting the installation disk in and start getting sad to the idea of having to uninstall Linux from my computer . But then... nothing happens, I felled relived for a while. I reboot the system to try and see if I have to do it that way, and... nothing again. I check my boot options to make sure I have the CD/DVD drive as my first boot option, and there's NOTHING!? I later check to see if the motherboard (ASRock Z87 Killer) detects anything in SATA 3, which is where I have the drive connected to, and nothing again! I freak out and go see if I plunged it in well, to only find out that I did. I later try to remove the battery from my board for a couple seconds to restart the board to its original settings. I boot it up once again go to the bios settings and head over to my boot options AND STILL DOESN'T DETECT ANYTHING CONNECTED! And it can't be the optical drive that's got issues because it's working perfectly fine, so I go ahead and unplug the SATA 1 (My SSD) and SATA 3 and switch them to see if that will do anything, and... nope I was wrong once again, It can read the SSD on SATA 3 but not the drive on SATA 1. So WTF do I do now!? Could it be that Linux doesn't want me seeing other operating systems? What do I do in this kind of relationship!?

Hello guys, i still have Windows Xp for basic training for my mom and also to go "safe" and play Halo CE lol, but recently, as Xp has no longer any support i've been playing around with lightweight linux distros, my fav so far is Debian 7.5, tried to install that on a separate small partition, but something called Grub (just found out it's a boot loader) failed to install and "Lilo" did the same, i'm pretty new to Linux, want to learn it 'cause it seems to be a lot better and flexible than windows (not to mentition MacOS) but just until you know how to use it properly. So, i'm very lost at this point, failed to install 3 times (always the same trouble) and also couldn't even run the live version of Lubuntu or Xubuntu (i wanted to try them so badly....) because of some issue with my processor (pae), then i basically want to make a dual boot system with WinXp and a Linux distro (Debian or Lubuntu) but i have a lot of doubts about the actual process of booting, well, if someone could clear the things a little bit that would be great, because i don't think i'm so far to reach it, but just need some advice on how to do it. 1.- About Debian's issues i don't have any idea of what's going on. 2.- About the dual booting, i kinda understand there might be some "file" or "program" that actually manages the booting options, i've seen tutorials on youtube, but most of the people just go along and barely explain what they're doing, and never WHY they are doing so, also many of those cut some important parts during the restart or recordered it with a crappy camera phone that doesn't show the important things. My specs: Intel Pentium (m) "Centrino" 1.4 Ghz 512Mb RAM 40Gb HDD Mobility Radeon 9000 Thanks in advance.

It's a socket 7 Pentium, which is quite old, runs at 223mHz, and I'm having trouble finding out what it has the power to run. A version of linux maybe? An old version of windows?

Ok, I know its been asked 10 thousand quadrillion times but If I change just my cpu and reinstall, do I have to get a new windows key? I don't think its technically an "OEM" installation because I bought the CD from newegg. Unless I'm considered the manufacturer lol. I'm reconsidering my options now that I have shipped my z97 back to newegg. Part of me wants to build another system with intel because I want pci 3.0 (which amd seems to lack a lot of, at least having more than 1 slot of it) and I prefer NVidia over Radeon, and amd doesn't seem to support NVidia quite as much as intel. Then again I could be completely wrong because I'm only going on what newegg says the motherboards have, which can be wrong apparently (which is great when you need things to be accurate, like in computers......)

Hey can somebody explain to me how to create a windows 8 usb stick to boot from. ( I have a Windows 8.1 DVD ) Or feel free to link a good guide. Thanks NuraXx

So I got a Samsung Chromebook running an ARM CPU duel core 1.7Ghz 2GB DDR3. I have recently got Crouton Ubuntu and ChromeOS running and can switch in between them without rebooting, worked first try. Once I turned it off and later that day turned it back on I got a problem. I turn it on and it automatically brings me to the ChromeOS login which is no problem I can login there. If I want to login to Crouton I need to hit Ctrl-alt-shift-backward or forward to switch between them. I get to the little prompt screen and enter my chronos localhost login user and than my password. I'm than suppose to type sudo startunity due to the fact I wanted the Ubuntu interface rather than XFCE. When I do that it black screens for like a split second and brings me back to the ChromeOS login. Anybody got any ideas, tips, or suggestions? Thanks!

I recently did an upgrade to Windows 8 on my desktop and have been getting some odd errors seemingly related to the Windows Registry. Issues I have encountered: -When trying to download Dropbox, it errors out of the installation saying there is a registry problem and to change my password and try again. If I do, the same error occurs. -Google Drive will have a login error any time I restart my computer, the only way to login is to disconnect my account and then resync it. -Chrome will never remain connected with my Google account. It will logout everytime I close the program -Office 365 and Skydrive refuse my login outright but does not provide an error message. The list goes on and on. I tried to repair the registry using software but that didn't work. Anyone have any suggestions? I know a fresh install will work but I really don't want to. Would a refresh work? Please let me know. Thanks!

Was wondering what the difference was between the standard 8.1* and 8.1 PRO* (apart from the price, of course). *referring to 64bit version

I am planning to build my 1st PC and I plan on installing Windows 8.1 I am using Gigabyte's GA-F2A88X-UP4. On the manual, here: http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-f2a88x-up4_e.pdf On page 64 it says I need to install the SATA AHCI/RAID Driver DURING Windows installation. They explained it but I'm still confused on how to do this. How do I load the drivers from my USB when installing Windows?

Hello Forum Visitor, thank you in advance for reading this. I only just bought a new game on steam (Defy Gravity Extended Edition) and of course i wanted to play it. Unfortunately, while installing the things your computer needs in order to be able to play the game (first time starting that game up) an error occured. It told me that i had to install the .Net Framework 3.5, of course i was thinking: Sure windows 8.1 go ahead, install it! After some time however the following error occured: Can not get a connection with the internet blah blah blah, (it was connected though internet is up and running!) error code: 0x800F0906. Most certainly i know how to use google and i tried to solve the issue myself. I've tried almost every option given by the internet and every option has failed. The options i tried: - Installing it through the normal way, error code: 0x800F0906 - Installing it by enabling it in Programs and Features, error code: 0x800F0906 - Installing it with the installation disc in my dvd writer/reader, stopped at 66.5% error code: 0x800F081F - Trying an offline installer for the .NET Framework 3.5, error code: 0x800F081F - Trying to find and solve it with 'gpedit.msc' , the program is not installed on my computer - Trying to find and solve it with 'regedit.exe' , the program is not installed on my computer These are the things i am absolutely sure they don't work, i've been looking at this problem for several hours now and i still haven't solved it. I really hope that there is someone who knows how to solve this issue, it is really bothering me a lot! These are the specifications of my Operating System and laptop: - Alienware 17 (don't start about overpriced crap etc.) - Windows 8.1 Home Edition (Windows Dvd i have installs windows 8) --->Legitimate dvd and legitimate version of Windows! Windows has been reinstalled, due to the fact that i got a new hard drive. The official disc i got was used for this. - Hard Drive: WDC WD7500BPKX-75HPJT0 - CPU: Intel Core i7-4700MQ CPU @ 2.40 GHz - Ram: 16 gb at ddr3 - Video: Integrated Graphics 4600 HD 2gb and Nvidia Geforce GTX 770M 4gb - Wifi-adapter: Broadcom 802.11ac-networkadapter - Ethernet: Killer e2200 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.30) - DVD: HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GA31N - Speakers: Realtek High Definition Audio If there is anything more you need to know, just tell me. I hope that you will be able to help me, mcpim.

So Here's my problem.I've starting working with PC's as a hobby and i had this exremely low end PC just taking up space.So i thought "Hey why not try to put together a little better PC".And in that case anything would've made a lot better because the specs are: Intel Celeron 1,7Ghz 1 core,GeForce FX5500,and a L4VXA2 (V1.0C) motherboard and 512MB RAM.(Don't get the wrong idea i have a pretty good PC) I added another 512MB Ram and i was satisfied,but then i remembered that it didnt even have an OS installed,so i was installing windows XP and in the middle of the process the CD-ROM died.And now i'm wondering if the hard drive with half installed windows will still work.because i dont want to spend a 100 bucks on a new hard drive.So the main question is can i still install windows in the hard drive?

Hi guys, I got a 256GB SSD for Christmas and want to install it as a boot drive. My Questions are: 1) Should I test the drive before intalling the OS? 2) How to install Windows 7 from a USB drive? (the OS is already on the drive) (DVD is not possible because I only have 2 SATA cables right now) 3) How to reformat HDD I already deactivated my Windows 7 key:Nitrome90 http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/92703-ssd-windows-7-installation-help-needed/ Thanks in advance

Hi, so I would like to know if I could run a copy Ubuntu on a flash drive and have it as my main drive while using anothe external hdd as a file drive where I would keep all my files? I know that this isn't optimal performance wise but would it work? The reason to it is that my old windows vista machine's harddrive has failed and until I can find a new one, I wanted to try this out. (This is, btw, not my main rig. It's an old computer that we have standing around the house that sometimes gets used as the printer server/sharer and other things.) What do you think, could it work to use a flashdrive as boot drive and then another external hdd as a scratch disk? Regards, Ludwig Johnson

I had a discussion with a friend of mine wether people like Windows 8 or 7 better. Lets show him that Windows 8 is crap on a desktop