Mmmm... free software... mmmm...

It's go time for free software. I know a couple of people who are friends of mine who are either going to be building a new system soon, or are going to be reinstalling Windows on their current system. So what kind of free software do I use? Well I tend to use software that has high ratings from other people and is generally recommended by other websites around the internet. Free software has come a long way and some of the best freeware out there is equivalent in terms of functionality and usability to it's commercial counterparts.

For word processing and business:
Open Office ver. 3.x

For Virus Scanning:
AVG 8.x Free Edition

For CD-Authoring
(Windows XP) - CDBurnerXP and Imgburn
(Windows Vista) Imgburn (the DVD/CD burning functionality built into Vista works fine.)

For Music Organization and playback
iTunes (for christ's sake people quit stealing music)

Replacement Disk Defragmenter
Auslogics Disk Defrag (Windows XP Only!!! - The Vista Defragger works fine)

CPU, Motherboard, and RAM Information (System Diagnosis)
CPU-Z

For Video Viewer and Codecs
FFD Show Tryouts and Media Player Classic (You are not a power user if you default to Windows Media Player version xx.xx - the software sucks a big fat donkey shlong and Microsoft refuses to fix it... so fuck em... get these instead). For those who don't know codecs are the descriptor files that tells your media player how to handle certain file types like DVD's, streaming movies, .avi files, .mpeg files, and other types of content.

Photo Editing Simple (Light Duty, Batch processing, red-eye removal) and organizing
Picasa

Photo Editing Hardcore (Content creation, digital drawing, animation, working in layers)
The GIMP (also available with a Photoshop style interface - I'll link to both)
The GIMPSHOP with Photoshop Style Interface (please note this is a GIMP hack)

Spyware and Malware Removal
Spybot S&D and Windows Defender (Windows Defender also works for coraling startup programs that misbehave.)

Simple System Maintenance
CCleaner

System Backup
DriveImage XML and SyncBack SE

Video Game Purchases
Steam - Steam Rocks. If I can't buy a game on steam then I don't really want it. Every Weekend they have some sort of crazy, insane, slammin ass deal where they practically give some games away... it roxors... so check it out... woot!!!

Stardocks Impulse - Impulse is similar to steam only focused on Stardocks own games. This isn't a bad thing since Stardock makes the best 4X real-time strategy games on the planet!

Addon Manager for World of Warcraft
WoW Matrix - ok dig it. If you play WoW and you don't use a download manager to take care of your addons and keep them updated for you... then you are wasting an awful lot of time that you could be spending leveling your main toon. WoW Matrix keeps a database of almost every mod that is worth anything and keeps it updated daily.

Windows GUI Modifier
TweakUI (Windows XP only) - Ok, so I love TweakUI. This is an old MS powertoy for Windows XP but it is very small and powerful. It adds functions like being able to take the arrow away from shortcuts on your desktop, modify the speed of slideshows in the picture viewer, edit your login and logout features... it is very powerful, but not for people who don't really know what their doing so anyone who is related to me please don't download this app... I have better things to do than fix your god damn computers.

Well that's all for now. I'm sure there are other good programs out there that I have missed, or a program that you think is good that I think is a complete peice of shit. Since this is my blog only my opinion matters so fuck you. Later. Joe-joe

Helpppp!!! My System is Hosed!

If you have the misfortune of having family... like me... you will inevitably get a phone call at some point requesting help with a computer related problem.  Personally, that is one of the reasons that I do not go into the PC business.  The thought of being responsible for tech support for a platoon of fucking morons is not the most pleasant thought.  Having to be tech support for my family is punishment enough as far as I'm concerned.  Well, once the damage is done there really is not a whole lot left to do other than try and fix it well enough that they can limp along until they fuck it up permanently and you have to reinstall the operating system. 

The Truisms of system troubleshooting:

1.  People are stupid.  They do stupid things.  No matter how often you tell them not to do stupid things their stupidity will persist and they will do it anyway.  Remember there are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

2.  People don't really understand how Windows works.  Telling them to "go into regedit and...." is basically the same as telling them to take boiling hot coffee and dumping it inside their system while the system is running.  No good is going to come from it.

3.  The most obvious problems are the hardest to explain.  For example... I have a family member who persistently changes the resolution on her computer monitor until all of her icons on her desktop look like giant, jaggy blobs... oh and half of them are missing.  I know what the problem is obviously but I can't explain to her how to fix it because I say:  Find an empty spot on the desktop and right click to get to the properties menu... and inevitably she'll tell me she can't find an empty spot.  Now I know that there is some miscreant, poorly written app responsible for this... probably some crack whore causal game like cooking mama or something that is making bad calls to the graphics card driver and not resetting the resolution on the desktop to the system default.  It's an easy fix, but something that I will never be able to explain.

Your troubleshooting kit:

I carry around a thumbdrive that is loaded with the following programs, if you do any sort of tech support for family or friends the following are essential:

1.  Crap Cleaner aka CCleaner.  This little program has a small footprint and is easily one of the best little utilities I've ever used for cleaning up orphaned files and cleaning the cruft from the windows registry. It also has a handy backup feature so that you can undo anything that has caused a major malfunction.

2.  CPU-Z.  Tells you tons of information about the mobo, proc, and ram installed in the system your working on.

3.  Auslogics System Information - forget that crap that comes with Windows (especially XP) and grab a free copy of Auslogics System Info.  It tells you all kinds of information that can help you track down drivers and conflicts.

4.  Windows Defender - Windows Defender sucks as a malware scanner, but it rocks as an essential tool for tracking down programs that insist they are going to start when Windows boots up.  The software explorer feature of Windows Defender is what really makes it an invaluable tool.

5.  Spyware S & D - The penultimate spyware/malware scanning program.  Some people don't like it.  I love it.  I have used a variety of products and have never found anything better or more simple.  Just make sure you keep it updated.

6.  AVG Free Edition - get onto downloads.com and download the latest free version of AVG's rockin virus scanner.  Of course if your family is like mine they run around on the internet with no virus or malware scanners, internet explorer 6 unpatched and in the wild.  So adding a virus scanner to their computer after they've given themselves the electronic equivalent of HIV is like shutting the barn doors after the horses have already run out, but hey... you know that there is going to be a "next time" and you'll know that there is already a virus scanner installed... unless you are related to me then you'll inevitably uninstall the virus scanner because "It keeps running and I can't turn it off"... and then you'll look at me with that stupid half crazy, half retarded expression as a little peice of me dies inside.

These are just the basic tools that I use.  I also keep a custom boot disk handy as well that's loaded with drivers for cd-burners and recovery software.  I'll save that for another blog post though.  L8r dudes.

The parts are in... lets put this thing together...

So all of the parts have finally arrived for my mother's new computer.  I documented some parts of the build so that I could share them with those who read this blog and are interested in building a new machine themselves. 






This is my mother's eMachine.  This thing has been kicking around since April 2001.  About four weeks ago it died.  She simply turned it off one night and it never fired back up.  That was it and that was all.  As you can see from my beauty shots this thing is long in the tooth.  The sad part is that it was under powered when it was new. 

It sported the following:

Intel Pentium III 700 Mhz Celeron Proc.
16X CD-Burner
128 megs of RAM (It ran a single channel DIMM)
Intel 810i Chipset (that included the onboard video it had 32 megs shared as video memory)
Integrated Audio, 10/100 Ethernet, 3 USB Ports (Version 1.1)

The configuration was horrible and over the years I took pity on my mom and dropped some upgrades on it for her.  I dropped a 1.2ghz Pentium III in there as well another 128 megs of RAM.  I think those two upgrades cost a grand total of 20 dollars. 

The Ultimate Decision - Finding the Balance between noise and power.

It's not easy picking peices for a new build.  Especially when I was constrained by my mom's paltry budget of 220 dollars.  When you are that constrained you have to make compromises somewhere, and in this build every single peice was a compromise of some kind either because of price or because I stronly believed that expensive parts could be substituted based on what I know about how my mom uses her computer.  Here is what we finally ended up with.




Motherboard:  Biostar TA780G M2+:  Cost $79.99 : Socket AM2+ : Why?  This motherboard has a rich feature set.  You sacrifice e-sata and 6 port audio; however, it still supports 5.1 surround sound, Phenom and Phenom II Quad Cores, and the onboard Radeon 3200 UMA graphics is no slouch either.

Memory:  Ultra 667mhz (2 gigs) single stick: Why? It was cheap.  $24.99.

Proc:  AMD AM2+ 4850e Retail: Why? It was cheap.  $59.99 and comes with a heat sink/fan combo.  It's clocked a 2.5ghz stock.  Supposedly it'll run like a mugger with a stolen purse if overclocked and the voltage is goosed a little.  I'm going to leave it alone for this build though... no overclocking for mom.






The Case:  Cooler Master Elite 330/331: Cost: 49.99:  Includes 350 Watt Power supply, a single 120mm exhaust fan, tooless chasis and drive bays: Its also aluminum and steel so its pretty light.  Why? Cause it was cheap - $39.99, and to be honest this thing is actually a really good case.  Easy to work in and the front panel connectors are nice and long.  The front audio and USB are also standard headers so they just plug right into the mother board.  Nice.

Shipping cost a whopping $1.99... that's right... one dollar and ninety nine cents.  This was for a grand total of $216.95.  Now I know a couple of peices are missing.  So check out what I salvaged from the e-machine.



My mom lives in 1996.  So I salvaged her 40 gig UDMA 100 Hard drive and the Conextant 56K v.92 modem that she uses to dial up to Netzero.  She pays $9.99 a month for NetZero.  It would cost her $19.99 a month for DSL through her phone company.  Apparently she believes that extra $10.00 is the differnece between her starving and eating so she refuses to part with it.  Personally I would have forked over the ten bucks, but my mom uses the internet so little that in the six weeks she was without a computer she actually forgot how to use it.  So I guess I can see her point.  Asides, the Biostar features a 10/100/1000 broadband connection if she ever decides to upgrade.

Building the Joey Way

So the first thing I do in any build is unpack everything and inspect the shipping condition.  I was impressed with how well packed the motherboard and its accessories were packed up.  All of these items were purchased from TigerDirect.com.  I have never had any problem before and I didn't have any trouble this time.  Everything was packed tightly and securely just like always.

So I always start with the motherboard. 



You can see this is a micro ATX motherboard.  I actually like the way that its laid out.  I'm really impressed with the four RAM slots (most Micro ATX boards come with only 2).  So at this point you want to assemble the motherboard while you have it outside of the system so that you can actually see what the hell your doing.  At this point you should insert the CPU in the socket and then immediately attach the heatsink/fan combo.  The AMD and Intel heatsinks are very different (I actually like AMD's locking mechanism better than intel's craptacular peg system).  Simply follow the instructions that come with your heatsink and you should be fine.  Also at this point you want to install and secure the DDR2 RAM that you purchased.

At this point you should have the motherboard assembled with CPU and RAM.  Set it aside and get your case out.  Punch out the retainer form that comes with every case and insert the one that came with the motherboard.  This is the peice with cut outs that match up to all of the connectors that you have on the motherboards back panel.  Make sure that it locks securely into place.  Usually you just have to run you fingers around it a couple of times to make sure that its secure.



Once that's done you want to unpack the screw and standoff set that came with your case (sometimes your motherboard will come with them as well... it depends on the manufacturer).  Never... ever... ever... install a motherboard by attaching it directly to the case.  At the very least the motherboard will ground to the case and you'll get a never ending POST (power on self test) failure.  At the worst you'll short the board and hose your build.  So use the standoffs that come with your case.  Normally they are gold in color.  Simply screw them into the case in the position where your motherboard is going to set and then screw the motherboard into the standoffs.

Cleaning up the mess and test fire

Once the motherboard is secure you can install the drives.  I donated a 16X DVD-ROM UDMA 66 to this build.  Her hard drive is UDMA 100.  The problem is that there is only one IDE (also known as UDMA 33, 66, 100, 133) connector for both drives.  So I need to use an IDE cable with two connectors on it and daisy chain them together.  I didn't take any pictures of this because at this point I just wanted to get the god damn thing built.  Remember to check your jumpers.  One drive (the hard drive and always, always, always the hard drive) has to be set as the master drive and the DVD or CD-Rom has to be set as the slave drive.  Forgetting to do this will cause a boot failure.  Also if you purchase a Serial ATA (SATA) harddrive and DVD/CD-Rom you don't have to worry about the Master/Slave debacle as SATA figures this out on its own.

Once I got a successful test fire and got Windows XP installed I decided to clean up the mess inside the case.  I know that in the future I will be the one responsible for troubleshooting and repairing this computer.  I also know that if I want to use the thermal control software built into the BIOS that unrestricted air flow is going to be important.  I want to have a clear view of everything going on inside the computer just by popping off the side and looking inside.

This was the view of the internal's of the old eMachine computer.



Yep it sure is a rat's nest in there.  I always hate it when the power cables dangle so dangerously close to damn CPU fan.  Look at those cables running everywhere.  In fact if you look closely right above the purplish colored printer port you can actually see the case starting to rust.  I have no idea how this could have happened; however, I have a theory that the computer simply wanted to die and would do anything to escape its slavery to the bejeweled playing monster... thus it spontaneously started to rust.  I really hope my mom doesn't read this ;).

Anywho.  I fancy that cable management is my kung-fu... and my kung-fu... is STRONG.



This was done simply with a couple of cable ties and some corrugated wire wrap.  It makes for a nice clean look and also ensures that any air coming into the case will be unimpeded by a mess of wires and cables.  No build is complete until the cable management has been dealt with.  This isn't the prettiest example of cable management (some companies like Voodoo computer systems have elevated cable management to an art form), but it was very easy to do and cost around ten bucks for the ties and wire wrap.  It only took about ten minutes to clean it up.

So after I got it all put back together I activated the Smart Fan controls in the BIOS to control the exhaust fan and the CPU fan.  Follow the instructions in your motherboards BIOS manual to set it up and ensure you don't accidentally hose your system by setting the parameters wrong. 

When all was said and done my mom had a new computer that was light years ahead of what she had before.  The build was inexpensive and the finished product was quite admirable as it was plenty powerful and whisper quiet.  Good luck in your builds.  Just as an aside I want to let everyone know that this was not meant to be instructional.  If you don't have the dexterity and patience to put together a plastic airplane or car model then you probably shouldn't be messing around in the guts of a computer.  Read the instructions carefully and plan your build before you start building.  Later dudes.  Joey