Other Tech support advice - Read before posting!

There are plenty of threads and plenty of problems here, and our members will do their best to help you solve them. However, please be aware that people are browsing this forum in their own time and threads are frequently too vague, lacking the detail needed for us to provide a clear response.

When you ask for help, please consider those who will read your post and provide the following information where it's relevant:

• OS/hardware information: If we don't know what hardware you're using, then it's not much good trying to isolate the problem. If they're not in your signature, you should include the main specs (where relevant):
  • CPU
  • Motherboard
  • RAM (brand, speed, timings where applicable)
  • Graphics card
  • Power supply (brand & wattage)
  • Operating system (& what service packs)
  
  
• A good description of the problem - not something like "my computer won't start". The details are often crucial: what exactly does it do? Does it do nothing at all or start briefly, beep and then shut off?
  
  
• What you've tried: So that we don't recommend you do something that you've tried already, it's good to tell us what you've done so far to try and fix the problem.
  
  
• If you find a fix yourself, post the answer - it could help somebody else!

If you follow these guidelines, then it should be a lot easier for both us and you to solve the problem, which will make the process a whole lot faster.

 

Since the same problems do tend to crop up again and again, someone suggested that we have a place in which we can have a list of common issues. I'll add to this in future as I have more time - if you feel that something needs to be added, please drop me a PM and I'll put it on the list.

1. Q: Downloaded files are corrupt or obtaining an IP address causes my system to hang in HTTP.sys ^{1 2}
   
   A: These problems are frequently caused by the NVIDIA firewall. Uninstall that and you shouldn't have any further problems.
   
   
2. Q: My system is restarting randomly.
   
   A: While this could be caused by a number of things, including dodgy RAM, power supplies or drivers, you should always disable "automatic restart" before posting a thread. This means that you should get a blue screen with information about the crash that can be included in your post. To disable automatic restart, right click My Computer->Properties, then go to the Advanced tab and, under Startup and Recovery, click Settings. Uncheck the box labelled "Automatically restart".
   
   
3. Q: I'm getting MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION bluescreens and/or hard drive problems.
   
   A: Check that all temperatures are in specification, using a program such as SpeedFan to get the sensor readings. Uninstall the NVIDIA IDE drivers and restart.
   
   
4. Q: My system is powering off totally during bootup.
   
   A: This is usually caused by a faulty or overstretched power supply (or possibly some sort of overheating).