Hmmm... well it's not likely that your operating system just screwed up all by itself, so I wouldn't burn down the city to get rid of a building or anything... Have you ensured that you have the latest version of VLC? (I'm guessing you downloaded the latest version on re-installation, but I'm asking anyway)

Yeah, I did. My boyfriend does IT work, so I'll just have him take a look at it. I just haven't been able to see him long enough to ask him, so I figured while I'm on the computer all night, I'd ask ya. Thank you anyway, buddy. We're finally chattin' again on here, but why isn't it about music!? I don't even know you anymore. :(

So I'm currently operating on an old Dell from '02. For obviously reasons, its time to move on. I've been trying to save for something half decent on games (strong empahsis on half). My lady friend found me a refurbished computer for $100 with the following specs:
Seems like I'd be well out of the range I was in, but I can't tell since...

A. I don't know what kind of graphics card it has and

B. It seems like nearly quintuple the space I have. My PoS is also so old it doesn't have a disc drive in any capacity, and lacks a dual core processor. I figured at worst, I could use it as a base to build up.

Anyone have any thoughts?

The graphics card is an onboard video chip only capable of up to 128mb of RAM. Suffice it to say, you're limited with what you can play by default, and that's assuming the chip has that much RAM on it to begin with. Although you could most certainly add a better graphics card to suit your needs, if necessary.

I'd also add at least another gig of RAM. (very very inexpensive)
While 32bit systems (which I'm assuming the XP pro is) can only address 4 gigs of RAM (with XP only recognizing around 3.25 of it), you'll still benefit greatly from the extra gig. Just make sure you buy the same type of RAM as the RAM that's already installed. You can get these details by downloading and running CPU-Z. (free)

Core2duo is good enough for most games. My old system I just upgraded from had a Core2duo, and I played Crysis on it at full settings without bottlenecking at the CPU. (Keep in mind, I had a better graphics card... which itself is considered old by today's standards... Nvidia 9600GT 512mb RAM)

Ultimately, for the price of 100 dollars, I'd say go for it. The fact remains that you can upgrade, but you may be limited by your motherboard (which I have no idea of the brand and model, as that info is not included) regarding what kind of RAM you can upgrade to, what kind of processor it supports, chipset, etc.

Truth is, if you're planning on having a computer that will remain expandable for a lot of years, you're likely going to need to go with something beyond the XP era. But for the price, it's not like you're investing that much anyway, and you can always carry parts over from that system to newer setups if necessary.

What kind of games are you planning on playing?

I have two laptops at present which both refuse to work. Getting the BSoD on both, with the same error message. A disk check on the laptop I've had since 05 yielded unsettling results: The hard drive has an error in port 1 and is not functioning.

Now, I'm assuming that the laptop running Vista is very much in the same boat, as the BSoD messages are identical as to what the perceived problem is. I would really like both laptops to function, but I really don't want to take it into a repair shop, and would like to somewhat "fix it myself".

I have a shared laptop on which I don't download music or anything of the sort, and my budget (as I've got plans for the summer and need to really watch my cash flow) is right about where I'd be able to purchase a single external hard drive of 2TB.

If I were to get this, I'd really like to be able to run Linux in lieu of Windows, with which I strongly wish to part ways.

Is there any feasible way I could download Linux onto an external drive and boot the laptops via Firewire or USB using that OS, completely disregarding the internal drives as lost causes?

If your hard drives are recognized in the BIOS, you might want to load an OS disk and wipe them out, and try a reinstall, seeing if you get a similar problem. If so, you know it's hardware related and likely not worth salvaging.
I don't know why you wouldn't just get two 2.5 inch replacement drives... they're cheap as hell, and you don't have to worry about going through the process of making your external drive bootable for linux (and that's assuming your BIOS supports booting from USB to begin with)... not to mention the portability issue of having another box to lug around.

Removing the hard drive from laptops is usually an easy affair, with the drive port being underneath the laptop and accessible by removing a few screws.

If you go that route, you can still go with Linux, and it will be less of a headache in the short, and longrun.

I'm a big Blizzard guy. For now it would be SC2 and possibly WoW again, but absolutely Diablo 3 when it drops.

The minimum requirements for WoW and SC2 are probably going to give you issues with the graphics card. And Diablo 3, for sure, will. You might look into getting a PCI graphics card with at least 512mb RAM. If you go for older stuff, like a 9800 GT or something, you'll hit recommended specs for those games, and for very cheap.

Then tossing in another stick of RAM should round you out.

Having read your prior advice, I'm going to buy from New Egg more than likely.

Good idea. The reviews are always handy, and Newegg has great shipping.

And seemingly really nice stuff for cheap

I like to use Tiger Direct and New Egg depending on what part I'm looking for and I compare prices between the two.

And sometimes Tiger Direct actually has more stuff, too. I just have a deep-seated hatred for them ever since they sold me a broken laptop in 2003.

See that **** scares me and its why I still like hitting up Big Box stores for my computers. They need to make computers with a label that reads:

If you do the follow activities, this computer is good for you:

X
Y
Z

I haven't ever used Tiger Direct, but Newegg has a great return policy.

Okay, anyone could help me to access facebook and youtube?I tried hotspot shield,but it doesnot work =( and then I tried Freegate which has the same function as Hotspot Shiled,for some reason it doesnt help either=(

Thanks a lot!

Why can't you access it?
You might want to see if (you'll have to use firefox for that) there is a script for greasemonkey to get around stuff. Google it :).
But again; I'm not sure why you cannot access it.

Correct if I'm wrong but if a country blocks your access to Youtube and Facebook there isn't really anything you can do to get around it right?

I mean I know proxy sites sometimes help but not when the country IP blocks the sites.

Greasemonkey.
I can watch top gear vids on the top gear site even though I shouldn't be able to.

Interesting!

Newegg.com - DELL Vostro 230(468-8400) Desktop PC Core 2 Duo E7500(2.93GHz) 2GB DDR3 250GB HDD Capacity Intel GMA X4500 Windows 7 Professional 32-bit

I'm wondering what you folks think of this set-up. Seems pretty nice for less than $400. I'll probably have to upgrade the graphics card, but hopefully not the CPU.

That's some pretty old specs for today's standards.
That processor, that amount of memory and that size of HD is really very much 2007/2008.
I'm not sure what it's like overthere, but overhere you buy better computers for that money

Well I'm a little hamstrung. I don't want to drop more than $600 on a new comp but I'm not seeing a lot of great options. It seems you either have to go over $1k to meet todays standards or you don't meet todays standards.

What are you going to use it for anyway?
If it's just a little bit of internetting, watching photo's, a movie, some music, you can also buy a cheap 'n cheerful atom PC.

I'm legally retarded with anything having to do with computers and internet. So I asked those with any knowledge.. Until my internet and cable gets hooked up, I am using the wireless of the business below my apartment. Can anyone see what I am using it for? Not that it matters but I'm curious about whether they saw all the porn I looked at the other night.

I'm a big fan of Blizzard Games but my current comp can't handle SC2. It was barely running wow, **** was missing pixels and whatnot.

I'd like to use it for the basics, and gaming but all the gaming computers seem like they don't have an OS. (I know they do, but I feel like everything but running games is a distant 3rd on those machines.)

Unless they've installed software on your computer, they could only see the web address. Even then, I think they'd have to go looking for that. Its not mailed to them or anything.

Well if it's gaming you're going to use it for, an onboard intel graphics card won't work for you either. I'm sorry mate. There's two reasons to buy a state of the art PC.
One of them is video editing, the other one is gaming.
I suggest you spend at least 700 dollars and it's definitely word building a PC yourself of let someone you know build it for you. The PC you're opting is already old. That's the whole reason why it's cheap. I bought a PC faster than that (3ghz core2duo, 4gb ram, geforce 9600gt, 1000GB HD) back in 2007. It's just old hardware sold new.

What you need is a decent videocard (I'm not into videocards until I have to buy them, but I'm pretty sure ATI and NVIdia still make kickass videocards), at least an intel i5 processor, at least 4gigs of ram and a nice quick and big harddisk if you want to play games in the future. Sorry :D.

I don't really understand that site you're using.
I don't know what it's like there, but compared to what you can buy here it's really really very expensive and they provide you with 250gb harddisks and 2gigs of ram.
It's almost impossible to buy a PC with less than a 1tb (1000gb) harddisk and 4gb of ram.
The site seems a bit odd.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/studio-xps-9100/pd
This would be nice for you

But this one would cope with your needs just fine too
http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-58...d=inspiron-580

In the end, a ready made PC is a lot more expensive than one you build yourself.
I suggest you compile it yourself. If you don't, I think Dell is a pretty good choice.

Whatever you do, avoid Acer, avoid Packard Bell.
And to the ones who don't agree; Feel free. It's just my two cents :)

I wouldn't mind dropping 2 grand on a computer if it wouldn't be obsolete in 5 years. And thats the issue. Theres an imbalance in the market right now because hardcore gamers, generally don't spend money on much else (discretionary income anyway) so 2g every 5 years is fine for them.

Being in a serious relationship is a real drag. I have to blow $400 on a new kitchen table...I can't play Starcraft on a kitchen table, kate.

I usually spend ~$1000 and it lasts me about five years. Granted, towards the end of that I can't run max settings in many games. Also to keep in mind: I overclock.

The only reason you would be dropped 2 grand on a gaming pc every 5 years is if you buy one that's already built by a company.

It would be much more cost effective if you learn how to build your own from scratch. Once you figure out what parts you need then you can spend 600 bucks on a decent PC that will last you longer than say going to Dell or Gateway and buying one of their crap set ups.

My PC was, back then, about 700 bucks, 19" wide screen iiyama monitor included.
I replaced the power supply and the video card a year later. The original power supply wasn't powerful enough for the new videocard.

Big3, read this!
I just looked up the System Requirements for Starcraft II and the Vostro isn't going to cut it. It may run, but only just. Because of the onboard video.
Unless your PC is really old, you would be able to play SCII problemfree if you'd only buy a new videocard for a couple of bucks.
It runs fine on an old Pentium IV 2.6ghz with a Geforce 6600 GT (that's 2003 stuff I'm talking here). So if your PC is less than 7 years old, all you need is a videocard and you're ready to go :).

I wouldn't mind selling you my Geforce 7600 but it'd be quite expensive to get it there.

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2011 : May Updates

Anything on here would work well.

I'll come over ther and get it. Its cheaper to ship me than it is a package.

In all seriousness, it doesn't seem that hard to assemble a computer, am I wrong?

It's really easy, just takes time.

Most of the stuff only fits in one place.
And there's not much you can do wrong, really.
Just don't forget to put the spacers underneath the motherbord (I once did that...).
Most of the time the toughest bit is to connect the front LED's and buttons to the mainboard. Sometimes this is one plug, but often it's a lot of little plugs. It's all marked, but is't tiiiiiny :D.

But, again, if it's just for SCII, all you'll probably have to do is get yourself a nice videocard :)

:rofl:

To hell with Starcraft

Do her on the kitchen table.

No. She got a mustache ride last night for the sole purpose of me being able to play Starcraft. She passes out after orgasm 3 and I go blow up Zerg rushes with my siege tank offensive.

We have a complex relationship.

Page 100 of this interesting thread :D

Again: Get youself a good videocard, dammit :D.
The answer is right here and it's dirtcheap

Might want more than 2 gigs of RAM as well. If I'm not mistaken, Win7 uses 2 gigs just to run itself, and that doesn't take into account any other stuff you may have open and running.

Edit: that might be for the 64bit version, which I have. If so, then it's at least 1 gig.