The SSMB PC Troubleshooting and Discussion Thread

[Diz]

This topic was, along with a bunch of other topics across several sections, unpinned in an effort to reduce the large number of pinned topics. This was done to make things a little bit more tidy~

 

One of the big downsides of many notebook computers include heat issues, and for a lot of models, replacing or reinforcing the cooling system might have next to no effect. You likely know about this and did everything correct, but since these are very critical details, I will mention that as good as all trace of old thermal paste must be removed both from the heatsink material, CPU and other components which has it, like the graphics card, and then new thermal paste must be applied. I mention this because some people say it is okay not to apply any thermal paste, which is madness.

 

If only your Internet connectivity is slow, I doubt it has anything to do with the heat issue. You should verify if all/both network interfaces are slow. Are you using Wi-Fi? Assuming your notebook can use cable for Internet connectivity, you should disconnect your notebook from your Wi-Fi, connect cabled Internet and then test your Internet speed again. If only your Wi-Fi interface is slow, it might indicate that either your Wi-Fi driver needs to be re-installed or updated, your physical Wi-Fi card is dying or the physical antenna plugs/Wi-Fi sockets are loose or damaged. I would suggest locating your physical Wi-Fi card and look for damage in the plugs and carefully take them off and back on again. For most Wi-Fi cards, there are two antenna sockets, and if your notebook model only has one antenna plug supporting a two-socket Wi-Fi card, it is going to burn out over time.

 

Keep us updated, and best of luck.

[Solkia]

It's not my laptop, it's my custom desktop.

 

I'm not worried about heat, what I'm worried about if the backplate that holds the heatsink on is affecting performance. It's really really snug and rubs right up against the resistors on the back of the board behind the CPU socket, and I was worried one of those resistors leads to the Ethernet port on the back.

[Diz]

I saw the word laptop near the end of the post and jumped to conclusions, my apologies. About the heat issue, although not the actual issue, I felt like responding to the post as a whole anyway. ^^

 

I do not believe it has much, if anything, to do with the backplate. I suspect a faulty driver or dying network card (can happen to both motherboard integrated and PCI). If you have not done this yet, I suggest going to your network interfaces, accessible as a link in Network and Sharing Center on modern Windows, right-click the network interface you are using and go for diagnose. This function will check for problems and attempt a few fixes if it finds any. If that does not bring any luck, you can try to use device manager to roll the network card's driver back to the previous version.

 

If that does not help, or if there are no previous drivers installed for that device, use another computer to download a (possibly updated version of) the driver. If you are unsure about the device brand or driver, you can double-click the device in Device Manager, click the Details tab, select the device ID in the drop-down menu and note down the number that comes after VEN_ (vendor) and DEV_ (device). You can input these values on this site to very often find the device's manufacturer, device model and sometimes a support/download link, though I recommend going to the manufacturer's official site and search for the device model there.

 

If the driver does not seem to be the problem, I would suspect the network card itself to be dying. The only way, I believe, to actually verify this is to buy a new one and see if it is an improvement. Best of luck.

 

MY laptop's wirless is working the same as usual, so it's not the router.

 

It might be worth a mention that a router can still be damaged even if wireless Internet works fine. Even just a single port on the router can be damaged, just like ports on computers' network cards.

[Solkia]

So would a PCI ethernet card fix it if it was a dying ethernet card on my motherboard? I doubt it's my drivers, as they've worked flawlessly up till now.

[Diz]

A new PCI network card should solve the issue if the problem is a dying network card, they can replace dying integrated network cards as well. Just make sure that the network card you order fits a free slot in your motherboard (PCI, PCI Express).

 

Drivers can sometimes automatically be updated through Windows Update, I had that happen on one of my laptops numerous times, and I had to roll back the driver for the network connection to actually work, but I do not think that happens all that much these days.

[Solkia]

hmm, alright.

 

thanks

[Tara]

So recently my PC has taken to overheating frequently, even when I'm not doing anything hardware intensive.  Aside from buying a fan, which I plan on doing, is there anything I can do about this?  It's getting me really angry and I don't want to risk further damaging the computer.  I've done a virus scan and closed out as many background apps as I could but the problem persists.

 

Any and all assistance would be appreciated.

[Diz]

Does your computer turn off immediately, as if the power source was cut? Or does it just get very warm? Verify that all computer fans are working. If they do, then:

 

The first step I would do is to look for dust inside the computer. The best way to rid of dust I would say is to blow it away with compressed air. For a laptop, it might help just to use compressed air into the fan and ports. Be careful when blowing compressed air into the fan though, using full throttle can bend the blades. Blow laptop fans and ports from several different angles. You can get rid of quite a bit from a laptop without disassemblying it, so you can see if that works first. In the case of a stationary computer, remove at least one of the sides and, once again, be a little careful around the fans in order not to bend their blades.

 

The second step, which would come in handy whether the overheating prevails or not, is to replace thermal paste for the CPU. You need to loosen the cooling rib/CPU fan from the motherboard (method is unique to a lot of computers, but you should be able to see instructions for this in the PC/motherboard user manual). The cooling rib can sometimes be difficult to remove, not least due to sticky thermal paste. I do not tend to remove the CPU from the socket myself when cleaning thermal paste, stationary nor laptop. Trace of old thermal paste has to be cleaned off of the CPU and bottom of the cooling rib so that the surface is more or less clear. When cleaned off, apply new thermal paste, no more than the size of a pea, and then re-attach the cooling rib to the CPU and motherboard. While attaching, the thermal paste is squeezed and spread over the CPU.

 

If your overheating troubles are with a laptop, changing thermal paste (and doing an extended dust removal) can be a little bit more difficult and time consuming due to disassembly. I also recommend anti-static wristbands or something of the like, especially for disassembly of a laptop, since any static will damage or kill electronic components. You can find videos on YouTube which likely has a disassembly video of your laptop model, or one similar to it, but unless you feel comfortable doing this on your own, I recommend you have someone else take a look at it.

 

Best of luck!

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Do any of you guys have any idea what this means and how to fix it?http://i.imgur.com/7LlmDHe.jpg

[Solkia]

It's a missing .dll file. They're basically behind every function on your whole OS.

 

asrcdyw.dll

 

It's weird, google has absolutely no results on this .dll file.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

It's a missing .dll file. They're basically behind every function on your whole OS.

 

asrcdyw.dll

 

It's weird, google has absolutely no results on this .dll file.

The other odd thing is that I cannot find the app data thing either.

[Diz]

The other odd thing is that I cannot find the app data thing either.

 

AppData is a hidden folder by the root of your user profile. The easiest way to go there, without activating the display of hidden folders, might be to type %userprofile%\AppData directly into the address bar of any folder.

 

Whatever this is, the author has made a typo in the script or folder path ("edtion?"), so one could question whether the file is malicious or not, especially considering malicious software love AppData. A quick look-up on the Web reveals that, according to several security applications, the file may be associated with a Gen:Variant.Boaxxe.2 infection. Since something in your system is pointing to that file, I recommend the following:

 

1. Head over to Malwarebytes' home page and install the free edition of their software. Run a scan on your computer and remove anything it might detect. The software can easily be uninstalled after use.
2. Open up an elevated command prompt. On Windows Vista through 8.1, you can do this by clicking Start, typing CMD, right-clicking the executable once it shows up and hitting run as administrator. Click Yes on the UAC prompt. In the elevated command prompt, type sfc /scannow and wait for the tool to finish scanning your system. Take note of whether any problems were found and if it was able to fix them, and then restart your computer.

Best of luck!

 

Edit: Found this. Might not be related, but is worthy a read.

[Spin Attaxx]

So here's something I don't get:

 

I'm in Brussels, Belgium for a week. The place we're staying in has Wi-Fi. My laptop (which I got a year ago) won't detect the Wi-Fi unless I am literally right next to the router, and even then it will sometimes still not work.

 

But my sister's smartphone and my mum's laptop (which she's had for longer than me)? I can pretty much go anywhere and it'll pick it up.

 

So what gives? I assume it has something to do with the network card, but I dunno where to begin with that.

[Diz]

I hope you are enjoying your trip!

 

The first thing I would do is to let the computer try to detect the problem. Hit Start and type ncpa.cpl, then click on that file when it shows up in the search. (If it does not show up, you should go to Network and Sharing Center, accessible from the Control Panel. Then click Change Adapter Settings, available as a link in the left part of the sharing center.) Right-click the adapter used for Wi-Fi and then hit Diagnose. Windows will look for common problems and might try resetting the Wi-Fi device.

 

If nothing comes out of it, you should check the Wi-Fi driver date. You can do that by right-clicking Computer, clicking Manage, click Device Manager from the list in the left side of the approaching window, and in the right window, locate the Wi-Fi device (expand the network portion of the list if necessary). Right-click the Wi-Fi device and hit Properties. Go to the Driver tab and take note of the driver date. If you do manage to grab Internet access for a bit, try clicking Update Driver and see if it can locate and install a newer driver from the Internet. If not, and if Roll Back Driver is a clickable option, try clicking that to go back to a previously used driver.

 

Does this only happen at the hotel, or at home/other places as well? If the problem persists, I would suggest checking if the antenna wires are properly connected to the Wi-Fi card. While at it, you should also check that each of the antenna ports on the Wi-Fi card has an antenna wire plugged into it, as having one antenna slot free will slowly drain and burn the Wi-Fi card over time (some computers were faulty manufactured like this).

 

If you only experience this problem at the hotel, it could be that your Wi-Fi device is simply incompatible with the hotel's Wi-Fi hotspot. What I would personally try, as a last resort, is to enter the Wi-Fi device's driver configuration and override the connectivity setting by setting it to 802.11g, though tampering with these sort of settings is not recommended.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

AppData is a hidden folder by the root of your user profile. The easiest way to go there, without activating the display of hidden folders, might be to type %userprofile%\AppData directly into the address bar of any folder.

 

Whatever this is, the author has made a typo in the script or folder path ("edtion?"), so one could question whether the file is malicious or not, especially considering malicious software love AppData. A quick look-up on the Web reveals that, according to several security applications, the file may be associated with a Gen:Variant.Boaxxe.2 infection. Since something in your system is pointing to that file, I recommend the following:

 

1. Head over to Malwarebytes' home page and install the free edition of their software. Run a scan on your computer and remove anything it might detect. The software can easily be uninstalled after use.
2. Open up an elevated command prompt. On Windows Vista through 8.1, you can do this by clicking Start, typing CMD, right-clicking the executable once it shows up and hitting run as administrator. Click Yes on the UAC prompt. In the elevated command prompt, type sfc /scannow and wait for the tool to finish scanning your system. Take note of whether any problems were found and if it was able to fix them, and then restart your computer.

Best of luck!

 

Edit: Found this. Might not be related, but is worthy a read.

 

didn't work. Still showing up.

[PSI Wind]

Have you tried a virus scan with your antivirus scan? If there's still nothing, I suggest doing a System Restore Point to the day before you started getting the message.

[Diz]

If it is still showing up, you might want to give Combofix a try. It should scan your registry for malicious or incorrect pointers, and then it displays a report regarding what is detected and what has been done. Note that you should always disable your antivirus/real-time protection module before and throughout the duration of Combofix. You also should download the program right before use, as it is updated daily, if not even more frequently.

 

Other than that, a System Restore Point, as PSI Wind suggested, should be the way to go. You can use that to select a point in time before the error started showing up, and then system files, registry and settings will be set back to that date. Personal files will be unaffected, but programs etc. installed in the meantime will have to be reinstalled. You should also, as mentioned, run a scan with your already-installed antivirus software, if not done already.

[Solkia]

Okay, a follow-up on my previous problem.

 

I replaced the NIC with a D-Link PCI one, it's currently diplaying as Gigabit even though I'm not on that fast of a connection.

 

I also made sure it wasn't the Ethernet cable by using severa other ones. The cable is fine.

 

We also got the router replaced with a new one

 

I'm still only getting about 4KB/s, even though I've done everything I could think of.

 

Is it a driver problem? Or is the Gigabit setting bottlenecking?

 

Tired of this, I want to install my Steam Library on my new HDD, but can't because it's too slow.

[Diz]

If you know that the router and/or the cable going between the router and your computer does not support gigabit, you will need to check your driver settings. You must verify that the driver/interface's connectivity option is set to auto negotiation. If the option is forced to gigabit (and sometimes if it is even forced to what seems to be the appropriate setting), your network connection will choke. You might also want to check if other settings are not set to auto, as well. Some NIC drivers are shipped with weird settings like these, which will cause complications. You might also want to check if there is a driver update available.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

If it is still showing up, you might want to give Combofix a try. It should scan your registry for malicious or incorrect pointers, and then it displays a report regarding what is detected and what has been done. Note that you should always disable your antivirus/real-time protection module before and throughout the duration of Combofix. You also should download the program right before use, as it is updated daily, if not even more frequently.

 

Other than that, a System Restore Point, as PSI Wind suggested, should be the way to go. You can use that to select a point in time before the error started showing up, and then system files, registry and settings will be set back to that date. Personal files will be unaffected, but programs etc. installed in the meantime will have to be reinstalled. You should also, as mentioned, run a scan with your already-installed antivirus software, if not done already.

YUS! IT WORKED!

[Solkia]

If you know that the router and/or the cable going between the router and your computer does not support gigabit, you will need to check your driver settings. You must verify that the driver/interface's connectivity option is set to auto negotiation. If the option is forced to gigabit (and sometimes if it is even forced to what seems to be the appropriate setting), your network connection will choke. You might also want to check if other settings are not set to auto, as well. Some NIC drivers are shipped with weird settings like these, which will cause complications. You might also want to check if there is a driver update available.

 

How do I do that?

 

I just have generic universal Realtek drivers.

[Diz]

One way to access these settings is through Device Manager. Right-click Computer and hit Manage. In the left part of the new window, you should be able to see Device Manager. After clicking it, a list of devices should load up in the main part of the window. You might have to expand the network portion of the list. Right-click your Realtek device in the list and click properties. When the properties window shows up, enter the Advanced tab. Look for speed, duplex or negotiation settings, and if they are set at a specific value other than auto, try setting it back to auto. You may have to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

 

Universal drivers do not sound all that great, and they could also be a cause of the problem. Still in the properties window, enter the Details tab. In the drop-down menu, select Hardware ID and take note of the ven_number and dev_number. Go to this site to resolve these numbers, and you should be able to learn the exact device name/brand. You can use that to search up the real driver from Realtek. Remember that there is one specific driver for each Windows version. For instance, you may have to specify that you are running Windows 7 64-bit. You can find out details regarding Windows and architecture by right-clicking Computer and hitting properties.

[Spin Attaxx]

I hope you are enjoying your trip!

 

The first thing I would do is to let the computer try to detect the problem. Hit Start and type ncpa.cpl, then click on that file when it shows up in the search. (If it does not show up, you should go to Network and Sharing Center, accessible from the Control Panel. Then click Change Adapter Settings, available as a link in the left part of the sharing center.) Right-click the adapter used for Wi-Fi and then hit Diagnose. Windows will look for common problems and might try resetting the Wi-Fi device.

 

If nothing comes out of it, you should check the Wi-Fi driver date. You can do that by right-clicking Computer, clicking Manage, click Device Manager from the list in the left side of the approaching window, and in the right window, locate the Wi-Fi device (expand the network portion of the list if necessary). Right-click the Wi-Fi device and hit Properties. Go to the Driver tab and take note of the driver date. If you do manage to grab Internet access for a bit, try clicking Update Driver and see if it can locate and install a newer driver from the Internet. If not, and if Roll Back Driver is a clickable option, try clicking that to go back to a previously used driver.

 

Does this only happen at the hotel, or at home/other places as well? If the problem persists, I would suggest checking if the antenna wires are properly connected to the Wi-Fi card. While at it, you should also check that each of the antenna ports on the Wi-Fi card has an antenna wire plugged into it, as having one antenna slot free will slowly drain and burn the Wi-Fi card over time (some computers were faulty manufactured like this).

 

If you only experience this problem at the hotel, it could be that your Wi-Fi device is simply incompatible with the hotel's Wi-Fi hotspot. What I would personally try, as a last resort, is to enter the Wi-Fi device's driver configuration and override the connectivity setting by setting it to 802.11g, though tampering with these sort of settings is not recommended.

Actually, something new's just come up regarding this issue:

 

To my knowledge, neither mum nor dad have fiddled with the Wi-Fi settings or whatnot. Now, my mum just used the same laptop, and she used it roughly 4-5-ish metres away from the router. It worked just fine: nothing loaded slowly, it never disconnected, it worked fine.

 

Now when I used it before, I had to be right next to the router to get it to work, and even then it would often still fail. So what gives?

 

I'm going to try using that laptop again tomorrow and see what happens.

[Diz]

A Wi-Fi device incompatible with a Wi-Fi hotspot can still give situational decent connectivity, and the same goes with loose cables/antennas in the laptop, or it can all just be something that happens once in a while. It can be quite hard to tell without actually being there, but if it works now, then I suggest leaving it be for now. I would suggest further investigation if this starts happening elsewhere, as well.

[KrazyBean]

I need some help guys. I want to create a system image on my internal Hard Drive (it's not a bootable drive). I managed to do it once but now I want to update it with a new system image. The system image option cannot see my hard drive, every time I go there it just gives me the option to use DVDs. It's getting frustrating. I also have an external Hard Drive but I can't save on there either because I keep on getting an I/O error every time I try to back up on it.

 

Here's a picture.

 

As you can see, my Hard Drive doesn't appear at all. If any of you lot can help then I'll really appreciate it. I literally have no means to back up my computer...