Cujo

power supply or motherboard. change to a different power supply. if it doesn't fix it then it's mobo and the computer is as good as dead.

ya, start using vantage. edit - some day i'll get around to running it...

well mine is easily at 3.8ghz... btw dragon, very few people in southern ontario speak french.

unless you get a really expensive quad core you'll be slower in most things since you're used to 3ghz. i would just get your bro a 5200. i just switched from an e8400 at 3.8ghz to a i7 920 at 3.8ghz. you likely won't notice a difference unless you do things that require more than 2 cores.

i don't find my middle button too stiff. i did have the problem of right or left tilting though but that was with my original g5. the two side button version doesn't have the same issue for me. if you're feeling those edges perhaps you're holding your mouse wrong? i know exactly what you're talking about but my fingers don't touch it so i've never found it to be an issue. same with the raised middle part. it's not something i've ever really noticed.

actually many do now as there are a lot of console ports. the most recent that comes to mind is mirror's edge.

anyone with the side buttons who doesn't use them is really missing out. i really miss them when i'm on client machines and browsing through windows folders.

go for the g5. an extra 5 bucks will seem like nothing if even one of the extra features appeals to you. i'm pretty sure the shape of each mouse is identical.

media player home cinema plus ffd show for me. also, just upgraded my system the other day to a i7 920, asus p6t and 6gb ddr3 1600. so far windows 7 works just as well as the old hardware. still waiting for see if those nasty random bsods with atixxx crashing are gone. hasn't happened yet but they were always random anyway. i also upgraded my media centre and i've been having crashing issues simply turning on the tv or logging in remotely. think it's nvidia chipset drivers aren't playing as nice as the intel one before it did.

ya, i hate when programs say that cause it just confuses people. i've always installed it with no issues to this point.

was tempted to post my latest desktop up but it hasn't changed all that much since the last one. lol nut, it's funny how your 3 screen shots progressively make your desktop dirtier again.

i encounted a windows xp machine today that was bsod on boot. drwtsn32.exe was having an application error and then it would bsod. safe mode, last known good, nothing worked. it passed all the dell diagnostics even. so i'm replacing the drive to be on the safe side and then re-installing windows. he said he didn't install or change anything recently. just booted the computer this morning and that was what greeted him. anyway, point is, there's no rhyme or reason for this stuff. it just happens and it sucks.

did you try the start up repair? based on your description i'd almost be thinking hardware issue but if the system is working 100% fine after format then it's likely not a hardware issue. strange though. haven't seen those symptoms yet thankfully. when i do i'm sure i'll need to vent here as well. also, why not just use this as an excuse to upgrade to windows 7? vista is so 2008 anyway.

the sticky should probably be updated with the right pw info...

found it funny that nod32 is second last. then i noticed they used an extremely outdated version. v3 has been out for over a year now. also, all that data is VERY vague. it doesn't specify version info for the most part nor does it specify how recently it was updated. makes me wonder why they even bothered with this. two days from now that entire list could be reversed...

so far my media centre and gaming pc are running smoothly. file transfer over gigabit is disgustingly fast. i'm getting between 90-115MB/s.

uhh, if you don't have bluetooth you can buy an adaptor for like 20 bucks. thus solving the "i don't have bluetooth" problem and allowing any mouse you want.

no, it won't. the s2409 is native 1920x1080 and therefore will not go higher. of course your hannspree will run 1920x1080 because it's a lower resolution that native. if it looked crappy that's because it's stretching the image vertically instead of giving you black bars. there are two s2409 monitors upstairs where i live AND i bought my brother one for christmas. that should say enough about them to anyone on here. of course when those were bought we got a special price at $305 cdn each. there are also two s2309 monitors upstairs which were bought on a one day sale two weeks ago for 159 cdn each. quality between the two is identical so my guess is they are using the same panels. also, most new games today, certainly all the console ports, should have no problem running 1920x1080 as that's what the run on most consoles. any monitor that can do 1920x1200 (at least all the ones i've ever seen) can also run 1920x1080 PROPERLY with black bars. if a monitor has a native resolution of 1920x1080 it WILL NOT properly support 1920x1200. it will either be squished or missing. it's all in the pixels people. a monitor designed to run 1920x1080 has no need for the other 120 vertical pixels so why would a company include them? edit - also, just because the samsung says it supports up to 75hz refresh rate i'd love to see it do that at native res (1920). that's something i've yet to see on a 24". most sites that came up in my google search showed it having 60hz at 1920...

that's a beast. i should probably mention that i've upgraded to a e8400. got it cheap off a buddy. it runs 425x9 (3.825ghz) happily on a bit over stock volts. nice boost in css over my 3.2ghz e6600.

ya, changing work to work properly makes a huge difference. lol. i've not tried surround as i only have stereo headphones hooked up to my gaming pc. spdif pass through works fine on my media centre but that's not creative. i've only played css so far and it works fine. avg free should work. my nod32 works fine.

said it a few times already but if you install the drivers in device manager they'll work fine. ie. extract the drivers into folders and then go into device manager, right click on the unknown device, and click update. get to where it says have disk and navigate to your extracted folder.

^^^ what he said. as for drivers just wait til you're in windows and figure out what's not there. unless you get windows 7 specific drivers you'll likely have to install each driver directly in device manager.

windows 7 makes a separate 200mb partition for some reason. anyway, just installed it on my media pc and all is working fine. now all that's left is my laptop and i'll be totally windows 7.

that's my vote.

my screen flickers like that when i try to buffer a vid in wmp. i'm on an ati card btw.