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Decided my old trusty i7 920 pc has had it's day, so, time for something new. Very new. Very... radical. A totally silent PC!

That's right. Silent. 0db. No moving parts at all (save my 5Tb removable back-up drive).

Here's the bits:

Nofan CS-80 Fanless Computer Case
Nofan P-500A Silent 500W Fanless 80+ GOLD PSU
ASUS PRIME H370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Intel 8th Gen Core i7 8700 3.2GHz 65W UHD 630 12MB 6 Cores 12 Threads CPU
Nofan CR-95C Black Pearl IcePipe 95W Fanless CPU Cooler
Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) Memory Kit
Palit GeForce GTX 1050 Ti KalmX Fanless 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
Samsung 970 EVO 1TB Phoenix M.2 NVMe SSD (3400/2500)
Samsung 850 EVO 500Gb (for documents backup)

Here's what the inside looks like:

For those who may be sceptical about how a fanless PC can run cool, here's the current temps:

 

 

Boot time is around 7 seconds, shutdown time >1 second.

Handy features of the case include a removable 'EZ-Swap' drive bay system with a removable side door so you can just plug/unplug drives at will. This is what I'm doing with my backup drives - just plug them in as I need them (HDs are noisy!)

Very pleased with it so far

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Just noticed I've been on WC sixteen years this month. Seems like a lifetime.

I was here the year before under a different username and much smaller user number. I had to create a new account (this one) because of problems with my username. So the fifteen years is for this username. Still, it's a long time.

It's been an interesting time too. Getting to know lots of people; watched skinning evolve; spent time as a moderator; been in the top ten skinners.

Things have quietened down lately, but who know what the next sixteen will bring [e digicons]:fuzzy:[/e]  

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Nov 25, 2017 11:24 AM by Discussion: Skinning

Yesterday I decided to treat myself to the new version of Office. Having used a corporate version of Office 2010 for the last few years I quite fancied my own copy - Office Pro 2016.

To go with this, I did a clean install of Windows 10. I have installed all the other programs I need, and, omitted games I no longer play. Everything is now squeaky clean.

I have not installed any skinning programs - at all. I no longer see what I need them for. Windows is perfectly adequate for the task.

So, is that it? Has skinning become obsolete and gone the way of the dinosaur? Only time will tell.

I do like the nice clean look of my pc though [e digicons]:inlove:[/e]  

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Another ransomware attack is underway. Batten down the hatches!

BBC - Global Ransomware Attack

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A new version of the WannaCry ransomware is hitting organisations worldwide. It's already affecting some major organisations, such as the UK's NHS.

Lock down your PCs now and update any anti-ransomeware programs you have. Better safe than sorry as they say.

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Mar 16, 2017 12:43 PM by Discussion: Forum Issues

Whenever I try to post something using Firefox I get the above message.

I don't get this with other browsers and, I don't have problems with any other sites - just WC.

 

 

 

 

 

8 Replies Reply 122 Referrals

Jan 15, 2017 7:38 PM by Discussion: Personal Computing

Well, maybe not - but it felt like it.

Friday morning I started my PC as usual, except I got an error message from SDtray.exe - that's the background scanner for Spybot. Having rebooted, it did it again. I searched the online forums which suggested solutions. After numerous attempts at clearing some files, then numerous attempts at clean installs - it wouldn't even install - I decided to give up. The log file was telling me the program was unable to access its own .tmp files.

I thought it may be either malware or a virus. Ran Kaspersky AV - nothing. Ran Malwarebytes  - nothing.

So I decided to restore from backup (via Acronis) to a date when I knew it last worked ok. That was fine, the program was back working.

However, now my Nikon NX-D software had problems. Whenever I tried to change an image, the program crashed. As NX-D uses .tmp files, there was a pattern emerging. Even though I had restored from backup, something was still affecting access to .tmp files.

That was enough. I decided I was long overdue for a clean install of Windows. Using Windows USB install creation tool to create installation media, I did a clean install of Windows (10).

It was easy peasy and took only 30 minutes to get back up and running; this time with a fresh install of the latest version of Windows on a cleanly formatted disk. It took me the rest of the day to install all my other software but it was worth it. Everything is now fresh and speedy [e digicons]:thumbsup:[/e]

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From me ("the wisher") to you ("hereinafter called the wishee").

Please accept without obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, politically correct, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practised within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

Also, a financially successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2017, but with due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures or sects whose contributions to society have helped make the UK great, (not to imply that the UK is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "UK" in the western hemisphere, also recognising North, South, East and Western hemishperes are arbitrary divisions of this approximately spherical planet), and having regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or dietary preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting you are bound by these terms that-

· This greeting is subject to further clarification or withdrawal

· This greeting is freely transferable provided that no alteration shall be made to the original greeting and that the proprietary rights of the wisher are acknowledged.

· This greeting implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes.

· This greeting may not be enforceable in certain jurisdictions and/or the restrictions herein may not be binding upon certain wishees in certain jurisdictions and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

· This greeting is warranted to perform as reasonably may be expected within the usual application of good tidings, for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first.

· The wisher warrants this greeting only for the limited replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher

· Any references in this greeting to "the Lord", "Father Christmas", "Our Saviour", or any other festive figures, whether actual or fictitious, dead or alive, shall not imply any endorsement by or from them in respect of this greeting, and all proprietary rights in any referenced third party names and images are hereby acknowledged.

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Ever since the W10 anniversary update I've had an issue with menus being 'missing'. I would click on them and nothing would appear. This affects some fly-out menus added to the start menu, and similar menus added to the taskbar.

I've recently realised this is a Windowblinds problem and the menus do appear, it's just that they are transparent. When I uninstall Windowblinds, the menus behave normally.

The menus did show when there is a window open on the desktop but the latest beta has broken that.

 

First image:

You can see where the menu is from the shadow.

 

Image 2:

Taskbar toolbar for 'Programs'. You can see the shadow of the menu on the top of the taskbar.

 

Image 3:

A different menu with no skin applied. Same issue. Only when Windowblinds is uninstalled does this menu show.

 

For me, this makes my system unusable. Those fly-out program menus are the only thing to me which makes w10 (and/or W7, Vista) user friendly. I hate the post XP start menu and its clickfest.

At the moment I'm having to live with Windowblinds uninstalled. Any help would be appreciated.

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I have a Taskbar Toolbar linked to the programs menu so I can access programs with a normal fly-out menu. I also have 'Programs' as a menu shortcut in Start 10.

Neither of these will open until I've had 'This PC' open. Sometimes they will only open when 'This PC' is open.

Does anyone know what might be causing this odd behaviour?

Thanks.

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