Temperature Monitor

Guys,

Please go and download this little program for your computer. IT will help you keep track of how hot your computer is getting and how hot some of the applications make it.

www.cputhermometer.com

Your computer will shut down if it gets too hot.

Follow the links and make sure you only download the "CPU Thermometer Free Download" because that's the only one you need.

My computer crased because it got too hot so now I want to understand what's going on with it all the time.

Download, take a screenshot, post it, get 10 more points..

Our trip to Microcenter is coming up this summer so the more points the better!

Ruben

Computer down!

I had a major problem with my computer the other day. It stopped working completely and shut down.

I was unable to get it to boot up and when I turned it on, I noticed that the two LED lights on the motherboard were OFF which means a major problem.

I did some research on the message boards and saw that sometimes that can be caused by a faulty processor.

I bought a motherboard tester and plugged it in and it showed that the processor was not turning on.

At that point, I either had to replace the processor or try to fix it. Replacing the processor would cost about $300 so I took a closer look. The heat sink (the big aluminum piece with the fan attached) didn't look like it had a good layer of thermal compound on it so I bought some more and put it on. It cost me about $20 for the thermal compound.

It worked - saved me $280 by doing it myself!!!

Here's the quiz for this one:

List the steps for installing a CPU and Installing a Heat Sink / Fan assembly.

they are in your "Upgrading and Fixing PC's book"

Here's a hint - fill in the blanks below:

Installing a CPU
1 - The first step is to remove the existing CPU and heatsink/fan assembly. You will probably find that the two are welded together by a thermal paste.
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -


Installing Heat Sink/Fan
1 - Align the heatsink wiht the retention frame and simply press down; it should snap into place.
2-

This is a very delicate operation and one that you really need to have your static strap for. Making a mistake here could cost you $300.

Ruben

Router help

I know that both Noah and Ty are working on the router project.

When you put the IP address into your web browser, you have to make sure it's the IP address of your router and not your computer.

When you do the ipconfig command in CMD, you get the IP address of your computer not the router.

To figure out the IP address of your router, we'll do it like an algebra problem (remember the most important thing when you're doing algebra is to write everything down).

First, write down the IP address of your computer.

For instance, mine is 192.168.1.9

Now put X's and Y's in for the last two numbers.

192.168.X.Y

To figure out the router address use this formula.

X=1 or 0
Y = 1 or 0

So your router address is one of these combinations.
192.168.0.0
192.168.0.1
192.168.1.0
192.168.1.1

Unless you have specifically set your router to be something else (which some people do for security reasons) it will be one of those 4 combinations.

Once we get into your routers, I'll show you how set that number so it makes it harder for people to hack - and then I'll show you how to hack it ;)

Ty, I know you were having problems with your password. If you call me later I have some ideas.

Ruben

Virus Help

Hey,

Noah did absolutely the right thing with his virus. He had it in safe mode and restored before I even had a chance to call him back. - Great work!

This virus is really bad. I recommend that when you restore, you go back a couple of weeks and then make yourself a new restore point.

Also, go to www.superantispyware.com and download their free version. This is the other protection software that I sometimes use besides malwarebytes. They are both good to have on your computer. If one of them doesn't catch a virus, the other one most likely will.

Also, Noah gets points.

10 for defining BIOS
10 for the msconfig
and 10 bonus for killing the virus on his own and writing it up.


Ruben

Virus Attack!

My computer just got hit by a major virus called "Windows Explorer" it said it was some new windows security system. I knew it was a virus when it was constantly/simultanously asking my to download a whole bunch of stuff. the thing wouldn't even let me exit out of it. I shutdown my computer and started it back up into Safe Mode, and then the Windows Explorer poped up again while i was in Safe Mode? It wouldn't let me even get into Safe Mode with out installing it. I finally had no choice but to install it and once i got into Safe Mode I restored my computer to a couple days before I got hit by it. Ruben recommended to restore it back to a couple weeks, so now im going back to do that. This virus seemed like a security alert telling me I had like 50 viruses in my computer, it was even telling me that MALWARE was a virus?? Don't be fooled by it. RESTORE YOUR COMPUTER! Stay away from it, its bad juju.

Noah

Bios

I figured out what BIOS means. it means Basic Input/Output System.


Noah

My System config

Noah

Router

I know that Isaiah and Noah have been having problems with their internet router. Let's figure it out together.

First thing, take a screen shot of the router admin screen. You get there by putting the IP address into the web browser.

To find the IP address go to the CMD screen and type ipconfig. That shows the IP address of your computer. It should be 192.168.X.Y

Your router's IP address is 192.161.X.1 or 192.168.1.0

Try them both until you get the admin screen.

Next we'll do a speed test.

Startup File

When you have a computer that is "running slow" it's because there is a lot of crap running on it that's not necessary.

You already know how to get rid of stuff by using the uninstall programs menu from the control panel.

Sometimes there is a program that you want to have on your computer, you just don't want to have it running all the time. A lot of programs set themselves up to start up when you turn on your computer. Some of them aren't necessary during startup, they just think they're cooler than they really are.

All of this startup activity really slows your computer down. My work laptop currently has 32 processes that start when I turn it on - and it takes FOREVER!

To see all of the stuff that's going on when you start your computer do this.

Open up the CMD window (do you remember how to do that?)

Type msconfig

That will get you to the system configuration screen.

You can click the "startup" tab and it will list all the stuff that's set to start with your computer. You probably shouldn't change anything in this screen because it's pretty deep into your computer but at least you know where it is.

Now when someone says "my computer takes forever to start up"... you know where to look to tell them what's going on when they start up.

10 points if you post a screen shot of the startup menu - here's mine.

Ruben