Celtic Alliance Clan » Forums

Aug 06, 2009

gothics post moved from old forum

I decided to write a guide because a lot of clan members seems to have computer related problems.Feel free to add your own tips and ideas. (soulfy please pin this topic)

{CA} Computer Stability Guide ver 1.0

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Why computer can be unstable ?

- RAM memory issues
- cpu issues
- motherboard issues
- temperature issues
- driver issues

RAM
-----------------------------------------------------------

1.If u are getting bluescreens,reboots or freeze start with checking your memorym you can do this with Memtest86 it's free software which will check if your RAM is ok (Windows 7 will have built-in memory checking software BTW)

http://www.memtest86.com/

you burn it to CD or Floppy, restart and it will check if your RAM is not faulty.

2.Recommended memory size 2GB-4GB

CPU
-------------------------------------------------------------

1.If memory is fine check your CPU temperature, your computer may freeze because of overheating, you can check temperature by going into your BIOS

(or using software for Intel Core2 there is software called CoreTemp http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/)

If the temperature is too high check if your heatsink on CPU is sitting properly so it didn't came off the CPU (it happens with big and heavy heatsinks or ones which has not been properly placed)

Personal experience:
...............................

"My computer for freezing and rebooting.I've checked CPU temperature and it was very hot,I open my PC case and noticed heatsink came off motherboard,it must happaned when I was moving my case with my giant Scythe heatsing ,after making it sitting on CPU properly no more freeze and reboot"

RAM and CPU stability test
---------------------------------------------------------------

Good software for checking general computer stability is Orthos http://sp2004.fre3.com/ it checks your CPU or RAM or both, bu putting maximum load, if your computer reboots,freezes etc it means it's unstable.

Possible reasons :

- faulty ram
- cpu overheating
- not enough power in your power supply or low quality power supply (I recommend Seasonic Power Supply at least 420W)
- faulty motherboard

Graphic Card Hardware test
---------------------------------------------------------------

Download ATI Tool (ATI and Nvidia supported) install and press "Scan for Artifacts" if it shows some graphic artifacts found it means :

- faulty graphic card
- your graphic card is overheating

General Graphic Card Test
----------------------------------------------------------------------

- 3D Mark download free version and check if your computer can run it without problems http://www.futuremark.com/ It checks your Graphics Card,RAM and CPU at the same time.

Faulty motherboard
------------------------------------------------------------------------

When your RAM if fine,cpu is not overheating,PSU is powerful enough,graphic card not overheating or faulty,no crash dumps indicating driver issues,after clean install same problems,still problems after removing most hardware(sound cards,network cards etc) then it may be possible you motherboard is broken.

Internet Connection Tests
----------------------------------------------------------------

Before making these tests make sure you don't download anything at the same time.

1.Internet Speed Test > http://www.speedtest.net/

This is helpful to see if your ISP is not capping or overselling bandwidth - if you are paying for 2048Mb/s and getting hardly 1024Mb/s they are basically cheating you.

2.Latency Test and Packet Route Test

All information you send from your computer is divided into small parts called packets.If packets are sended too slow or even worse get lost it will worsen your internet experience badly.

PING
.........

press START > RUN > write cmd.exe then ping www.someserverinyourcountry.name like ping www.sky.com if latency is too high like > 40ms to servers in your country you should contact your internet service provider and tell them to fix it.You may also be losing packets ( it means they don't reach even target). Ping will show you exactly time it takes to send packets from your computer and amount of packets which reached the target.

Big latency or packet loss are most common problems making online games unplayable (!)
Some servers don't answer to ping request so check bunch of them (local ones in your country) to make some statistics.

Good idea is to go to forums and ask people using your ISP if they have same problems.Most probably you are not the only one having these issues.

TRACERT
..............

START > RUN > cmd.exe > tracert www.someservers.com

It will route packet showing you path and time the packed went from your computer to target.It's useful to pinpoint where
exactly packects stuck in traffic jam or get lost.

If you will make statistics like 10-15 servers from your country and you are loosing packets or get high ping it's an evidence for your that's something is wrong with your ISP network.Call them and confront them with your evidence.

Personal experience :
................................

I had period when I was getting very high ping to servers in my country , > 80ms ( it means even higher to servers abroad)
BF2 was hardly playable,Internet radio choppy.I called them and confronted them with my ping and tracert statistics and they couldn't deny there is a problem with their network (most of the time they will try to claim there is problem with YOUR computer).They not only fixed it but I got discount for next month.

Important Note (!)
........................

Bandwidth is not same as latence/packet loss

For example they can cap or limit your bandwidth but you can still have excellent internet experience.Your download speed of files will slower but because of low ping and no packet loss BF2 or internet radio will work like charm.You can have high bandwith internet but with high ping/packet loss it will deliver terrible internet experience even with 20MB/s internet.

ISP high ping/packet loss is often caused by routers overheating or jamed(then your packet have to wait more in a queue) or problems with their network configuration ( they are sending your packets through madagaskar>china>chille>russia> etc )

Bandwith = size of the pipe
Latency = speed the water flaws
Packet Loss = possible holes in the pipe meaning not all water is transfered

Malware and Virus test & Counter-Hacking
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Virus,Trojans and malware can suck your connection and use for sending viruses,spam or other illegal activities.
Good antivirus is AVG for spyware good is spybot can be found here > http://www.download.com/windows/

If you download software from uncertain sources you are asking for the trouble.100% is infected with trojans,malware or viruses.Your antivirus won't help you.It's possible to do custom-written and then undetectable software for "personal" use of hacker(it means it wont be distrubuted online).Virus,malware scanners are really primitive then only catch software then already have hash(fingerprint) for they try to be "intelligent" but skillful programmer can easily write stealth virus or trojan horse.This is how undetectable hacks for BF2 are done BTW.

You computer can be used then as rogue mail server sending spam (it's possible to make any computer working as mail server) it will not only make your internet experience bad but also may bring much more serious trouble to you.It may also be used as gateway for criminal activities because good hacker never hacks from his own computer.

If you are lucky you can loose your all CD-keys for games, most of us have at least a few hundred dollars in CD-keys on our computers.If you play games like WoW or other this kind your virtual stuff may be worth thousand dollars.Same if Steam account which are stolen pretty often.Your CD-keys or virtual assets,steam account will be sold then on black market.

It's good idea to have hardware and software firewall setup, software should be set up to alarm any time some app wants to connect to internet ( great for catching virus,trojan and malware) It's possible to make a list of trusted appz though.

Wi-Fi Security
............................

- none
- WEP = none (30 sec to crack)
- WPA use at least password > 50 signs https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm Ultra High Security
Password Generator

Driver Issues
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you got bluescreens read dump file located in C:\Windows\Minidump with this software Debugging Tools for Windows
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx

FILE > OPEN CRASH DUMP*

it will show you exactly what driver caused problems and crashed your computer.For example my last crash on my computer
was caused by nVidia driver :

Possible solutions :

- update driver
- make clean install of Windows

*Please make a note bluescreen is displayed when you told Windows XP to do it, default solution is to reboot.
Go to START > CONTROL PANEL > SYSTEM > ADVANCED tab > REBOOT setting and make sure "Automatic reboot" is OFF,then Windows will display bluescreen instead of just rebooting ( It's useful in pinpointing if reboot was caused by software of hardware crash)

Reboot with no bluescreen = 99% >hardware issue

..............................................................
to be continued .....

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