Snarkpit question of the day..

Well, first and foremost, you want the majority of monitors on the primary card ... there is NO reason not to do it this way. You're just making things difficult if you don't.

Second, why do you have a card for RAID? (Are you using a RAID setup that's not supported by the board already?)

Personally, I don't really see what the issue is. Changing it is so straightforward and not a hassle. It takes less effort to do it than to open steam. Unless your main issue is the principle of the thing, I don't know what to tell you. You're not going to be playing a game AND using a website on two monitors at the same time, for example.

Doing it once when you're going to play games, then turning it off when you're done seems like not a big thing to me. There's likely something more tedious you do more often for other things that you're just not paying attention to.

I would argue, even if you were going to stick to a single card solution, the 570 isn't worth it. I mean, you're talking about a 10 fps difference in the more demanding games (and it's like 30fps vs 40fps), and all other games, they both run well over 60fps.

To note, two of those cards require a PCI-E x1 slot, your board just doesn't have any ... keep that in mind. And again, what's with the extra RAID controller?

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Dang, getting all up in ma business aren't we?

The Raid controller is supporting 3 1TB cards in a RAID 5, my board only goes to 4 AFAIK or would be much slower than a dedicated RAID controller. My OS drive is separate of that and not part of the RAID. My OS drive is connected to the board directly instead, It's a VR 10,000rpm 280GB drive.

Well, a new update to my RMA says I've been declined. My 8800GTS was registered, but not within the 30 days since I bought it back in 2007. Oh well, looks like I'm getting two 560 Ti SC cards.

Here's a question though: I noticed that a lot of these new video cards also include a mini-HDMI port (or a regular one, or both), but I've read Nvidia cards can only run any two connections at one time and that's all. Theoretically, If I plug up a dvi-hdmi cable and hook my third monitor up to the same card, all three could be supported by the SLI all the time, but I'm guessing the that won't be possible anyway.

I still have my working 7800GT, that's a single card slot (and what I'm currently running on atm). I won't be able to fit it, but If I could, that would be great for use as a PhysX card like you said, no?

Crono said:
Doing it once when you're going to play games, then turning it off when you're done seems like not a big thing to me. There's likely something more tedious you do more often for other things that you're just not paying attention to.

An example of something more tedious would be me checking my e-mails, or switching my sound output to headphone mode when I want good sound out of my headphones. -Which usually happens when I'm about to play a game, so as not to wake my roommate late at night. [it would switch automatically, but I'm not plugging it into the board, it gets plugged into my front right speaker]. I'd have to buy a male to female TRS cable to make it as easy plugging in. (the headphones have a mic attached and the cable splits at the end to accommodate both peripherals).

So in that camp I feel you're right, turning it on and off isn't the issue, It's more like me loosing one of my monitors while playing a game. I guess I'll get over it.

Crono said:
Well, first and foremost, you want the majority of monitors on the primary card ... there is NO reason not to do it this way. You're just making things difficult if you don't.

So, unless there's something graphically intense being demanded on the second monitor, the first will be delivered all the computing effort? I always thought, the more pixels, the more strain, regardless of what was being processed. Unless if there is nothing but a still image, or word processor being displayed on the second, the card can deliver the most effort to where it's being demanded.

Thanks for all the help Crono, and of course: Orph and tnkqwe. I think getting the two 560s and having them in SLI will be a worthy graphics solution that should last me at least another 4-5 years. And longer if I freaking remember to register them in-time.

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

I just realized my board is not capable of supporting SLI. It has an AMD 790FX chipset which only caters to CrossFire enabled cards. Damnit!

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

So... Mayhap the card I posted then afterall?

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Aw shit.

I wasn't really questioning you, just really confused why you'd have an external RAID controller when it should be supported by the board.

You know ... I honestly have no idea if it'd support three output devices off one card ... I'd try it on mine ... but I just don't have a long enough HDMI cable. Maybe I could figure something out, though see if it works.

You can only do the mix and match GPU chipsets for GF8 and higher. And, besides, PhysX is also, only supported on GF8 and higher (GF7 only has fragment and vertex shader cores, GF8 and higher has general shader cores)

But, shit the board is Crossfire only. Dang. Well, OK. I'm gonna do some research on some AMD chipset cards and get back to you on that one with some suggestions. Though, I'm curious if it'd be cheaper to invest in a new board, just a thought. I guess you're back at the getting either a more expensive GTX500 card or finding an AMD chipset card. To note, the AMD cards will do fine in the graphics department, it's really more about the extra things that are flat out not supported.

What about: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150518
The 6950 2GB card seems to perform, at 1920x1080, somewhere between the 560 stock and 570 stock. It's cheaper than the 570 SC, but requires double the amount of RAM to reach that performance. It uses 500W like the 560 and is crossfire ready at a, post rebate, price of $260. (However, it is $290 before rebate ... which you might not actually get back) The 6970 doesn't look like it's worth it. It's $100 more, and sometimes doesn't even outperform the 6950, so screw it.

Should have registered that card the day you got it

Orpheus, that card is still made by Sapphire, XFX makes AMD chipset cards, and offers lifetime warranties. EVGA only makes nVidia based GPU solutions.

The only real advantage for the AMD card is that it supports like ... 6 monitors out of a single card. So, you can go crazy there.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Yeah I told him the same thing via text on our phones. We both came to the same conclusions about trying another manufacturer.

My thinking was simply that it might work with his situation without to much more equipment. (that model #)

I hope you guys work this out cause I am really curious now. Also, I am glad that my home playing only needs one monitor. You guys got it tough needing multiple ones.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

That 6950 really does look like a good deal (when the rebate is applied). But on both Tiger Direct and Newegg, You're only allowed one rebate per purchase, per address. So I'm guessing If I made two different orders (If I wanted two of them) then I could send them to two different addresses and both get the rebate? Or could two different orders get a rebate even though they're both sent to the same address?

Either way, my next biggest concern will be if I can fit the card. When I get back to my apartment, I'll need to check if I can fit two 11.5" cards in my case. My 8800 was 10" and it squeezed passed the HDDs by slipping between them in the empty slot of my five slotted HDD chassis. I'm gonna need to measure it, or see if I can fit two of those HDDs into the empty floppy bays if the cards won't fit.

But two of those 6950s should be way more powerful than a 580 in crossfire eh? -And I wouldn't need to turn it on or off since Eyefinity can support that many monitors?

I'm guessing because the chipset supports AMD cards, it will run more efficiently? Or at least I'll have little issue with getting the drivers to work?

Also I hear on some 6950s, you can unlock them to a 6970 simply through a firmware update, which would be nice!

Either way, this is going way over my budget before the rebates, so I'm making sure this will be worth it.

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

Yeah, efficiency isn't really the name of the game when matching system chipsets and gpu chipsets. Functionality is.

Well sure it'd be more powerful, I've seen some stuff on the crossfire for two of those cards being temperamental, though.

I don't think the card is going anyway, it'd make sense to get one ... see if it's good and if a second one would fit, THEN look into getting another one. The price will only go down.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Welp, it looks as though, my only alternative will be to get a new case now. These cards won't fit in my current case.

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

Dammit Jim. I feared that. These new cards are freakin huge..

Dude, Tiger had two different bare bones systems for 299. Might be an option.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

whoa, $299 is way out of my budget for just a case. All I need is a new case, I will transfer everything to it.

Here is my current case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133132

Here are the cases I'm looking at:

Broadway Com Corp R-800 Black thick Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case I can get it for: $104.99 ($20.00 MIR)

Antec Six Hundred Black Computer Case I can get it for 69.95 with promo + shipping ($20.00 MIR)

Thermaltake Element G Mid Tower ATX Computer Case I can get now for $114.99 and free shipping with promo <<<This one is mounting up to be fav. ($30 MIR)

I'm still looking. I'm also hoping to purchase today. I need to fix this thing so I can continue my school work!

Here is an image of my current case with a fairly precise measurement of where I can't fit the new cards: (Don't mind the cable mess, I've been moving things around).

The gap between HDDs is where my old 8800GTS fit between.

I've had this case since 2005, I guess it's time to upgrade.

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

A bare bones system and a case aren't the same thing bud. If a case will suffice by itself by all means go that route. I just assumed that you might need/want more up to date hardware. You can pick the level of parts to add to a bare bones system at some places.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Ah, well I appreciate that. I realized it was a bare bones system price, I simply worded my response incorrectly. But most of my components are fairly up to date with current system specs.

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

I'd vote for the thermaltake or the antec three hundred case I showed you.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I wanted to make a note about this here as it occurred to me replying in the 'Recently Found' thread:

So the card I bought was the AMD Radeon 6950, and it's running everything great. My next question to those who have a bit more experience in this is: At what price should I wait for until I get that second card? Should I get a higher up one?

Also I should note, these very cards are upgradable to 6970s through a simple firmware update, which I will be attempting in the not so distant future.

The one I bought and am watching for again: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150518

It's currently at: $289.00 (I mailed in the rebate, so technically I will have paid $260.00 for it)

How long will this card stay up on Newegg? or better yet: How long will they be making new cards of this model?

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

The 6950 chipset is pretty recent. It came out in December. Generally speaking, the chipsets that are widely used are in the market for about 12-18 months before kicking the bucket and getting clearanced. You should be safe until Winter late this year.

With that being said, if that specific model from XFX doesn't do that great ... it might not continue to be available, or there will be a new revision with a lesser warranty. <~ Common

I'm doubly annoyed now that I just found out that the GTX 560 Ti chipset uses roughly 10W more than the GTX 460 chipset. Meaning, I likely have the power to run it. CRONO MAD! (It would cost me an additional $60 to use the EVGA Upgrade program, since I'm still within 90 days)

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Malwarebytes is supposed to be the best FREE software around. Has anyone heard of better? and still free?

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Malware is pretty good for a virus scanner, it doens't provide active protection. Spybot is good too. As well as SuperAntiSpyware.

If you wan't active protection you can try either AVG, Avast, or microsoft security essentials. I'm sure crono will post a wall of text why microsoft security essentials sucks, but I like it. I always install it as a free antivirus software solution for people's computers I would work on at work. Its light weight, certainly provides the same protection as AVG, and doesn't bog down your computer like Avast and AVG do.

omegaslayer said:
I'm sure crono will post a wall of text why microsoft security essentials sucks, but I like it.

Wtf is your problem? Second time in a week or so you've done that.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono said:
Wtf is your problem? Second time in a week or so you've done that.

Adam....

Leave it be.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Malwarebytes is fairly awesome. True, no active protection, but a combo of MS security essentials and malwarebytes will probably keep you fine. Or, just dish out the $20 and get the full version of malwarebytes which has active protection.

Crono said:
Wtf is your problem? Second time in a week or so you've done that.

Well what do you think of it?

Its not that im discouraging your opinion, I just buffer my opinion with things I say im passing.

I guess its poor posting etiquette on my part though

omegaslayer said:
Well what do you think of it?

I haven't used it.

omegaslayer said:
Its not that im discouraging your opinion, I just buffer my opinion with things I say im passing.

... That doesn't really make any sense.
You in passing think I'm going to be a dick? Thanks.

Whatever.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono said:

omegaslayer said:
Well what do you think of it?

I haven't used it.

omegaslayer said:
Its not that im discouraging your opinion, I just buffer my opinion with things I say im passing.

... That doesn't really make any sense.
You in passing think I'm going to be a dick? Thanks.

Whatever.

"*in passing" as in I havent defended my point enough to the point where I think it can stand on its own. But fine im a dick here.

OK I have a problem. I got the win 7 security 2011 virus. I caught it about 10 seconds after it started deleting things but it made my laptop VERY unstable. am almost sure it is now removed but the instability is horrible. My question is will the win 7 installation disc repair the lost files and make it stable again?

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The best things in life, aren't things.

It's on my sons computer as Vista Internet Security 2011. I Googled it and there are plenty of things to try (which I did), but this is one nasty little bugger. It won't even let me open regedit or msconfig at this stage, and browsing is just plain hijacked.I believe a disk format may be my best bet at this point. Serves my son right for letting his friends use his computer all the time. If anybody knows how to get rid of this I would sure be greatful.

I was looking for an audiobook. The site looked legit. HOWEVER, it was one of those sites that makes you use their download program. Still it looked legit.

I knew better.

Anywho, I caught it like 10 seconds after it began deleting shit. It must go after somewhat vital shit first.

It does however make it so you cannot even install antivirus software easily.

It really dislikes firefox.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

First research the virus:

http://www.2-spyware.com/remove-win-7-security-2011-.html

Restart in safe mode and delete the files. Then you shouldn't see the virus anymore, but windows will still be broken. This next tool is like chemo therapy for computers, but it gets the job done:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix

Download combofix.exe and save it to the desktop. Close all programs and run disable your antivirus, it will take over your computer and scan for the relevant virus files and repair windows. YES this sounds like im setting you up for viruses bu disabling your antivirus and downloading a strange .exe file, but its really going to work, but this thing has saved me lost of time from reformatting a computer because of viruses.

There is kinda a reapir install for windows vista/7, you insert the CD while windows is booted and say you want to do an upgrade install. Thats what XP's "repair install" really was. But its not going to get rid of the viruses, it only refreshes the windows files, the virus will carry through.

This next tool is like chemo therapy for computers, but it gets the job done:

That made me laugh. I may have to start making more analogies like that when referring to computers. Good one.

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

Just my luck. It fixes 100 things and I have way more than 100.

Thanx Omega. As soon as I get home I'll see if I can't buy this. If it works as well as you say, it'll be worth it.

I'll be happy if the 100 things stabilized it enough to stay on more than a couple minutes.

[EDIT]

My laptop has stayed on for over an hour. THANX OMEGA.. Even if it borks again, its still way better.

I owe you one bud.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Just my luck. It fixes 100 things and I have way more than 100.

Not sure what you mean by this? 100 viruses? Yeah this programs saved my bacon a ton of times. Glad to hear it worked for you (if your not being sarcastic - im not sure). Any case, go to the root of your hard drive, and look for a txt file called combofix.txt, open it and post the results, im curious to see where/what the virus files that were deleted. I can also tell you what you had, and maybe how it got onto your system. Feel free to remove personal identifying file names though eg: c:\\users\\orph\\appdata, etc.

Ohh 1 more strep. GO to control panel->internet options->Advanced->reset ... and check everything, and have it reset internet options just in case a deleted virus was linked into IE somehow. You will have to re-enable any IE addons if you use it. Then while your in internet options, click on the Connections tab->LAN settings, and uncheck all the boxes, sometimes viruses set proxys that re-direct your surfing habits, even sometimes it makes your computer its own proxy (127.0.0.1 is a self address) and re-directs your surfing from there. Check it in firefox too by going to tools->options->Advances->network tab->Connection Settings-> and select No Proxy for firefox. Then go and get these two addons:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/

Learn mot to use the noscript one. It will block all scripts (scripts being an entry point for viruses) from running on websites you havent been to yet. It gives you a line of defense. Firefox truly is much safer with this addon, and its what I use when I go to virus ridden sites for investigation.

Maybe I could write a virus removal article if everyone likes?

No I wasn't being sarcastic. Although I admit I do not know everything about this program yet. Anywho, it scanned and found like 700 things. Of course, about half were things like my trash can was full and it my temporary files. Still it says "This version will only correct 100" and with 700 it didn't finish.

Now, I can look at it some more now since I have time and let you know further. Does it make more sense now?

[edit] I am using win 7 and the file paths you posted aren't real apparent. Anywho, I don't use IE, and I checked firefox. The no proxy option is already checked. I cannot find the text file you requested either.

[edit2]
I installed the 2 addons. You do know they effect Snarkpit, right? Not adversely I don't think but they do effect it.

[edit3]

omegaslayer said:
Maybe I could write a virus removal article if everyone likes?

I for one would appreciate it. If you could make it for dummies. (Which goes without saying I am a dummy for getting this virus) I am not really comfortable editing my registry without specific step by step directions. YES I have done it several times in the past but I have never gotten comfortable doing it.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Orpheus said:
[edit2]
I installed the 2 addons. You do know they effect Snarkpit, right? Not adversely I don't think but they do effect it.

Noscript blocks all scripts on every website it visits for the first time. You have to tell no script to allow scripts on the website. Look in the bottom right corner and you should see a button called options, click it and go to allow all for this site. Only do this for sites you trust. Since the forum uses java script it might not make things function correctly.

And by path look for c:\\combofix.txt on the root of the drive. Within the log it will contain files its deleted.

omegaslayer said:
And by path look for c:\\combofix.txt on the root of the drive. Within the log it will contain files its deleted.

Dood it doesn't exist. Now I did run it twice, maybe it over wrote it but wouldn't it still exist in some form?

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Orpheus said:

omegaslayer said:
And by path look for c:\\combofix.txt on the root of the drive. Within the log it will contain files its deleted.

Dood it doesn't exist. Now I did run it twice, maybe it over wrote it but wouldn't it still exist in some form?

hmmmmm. Well no harm

Well like I said. It made it way more stable. I still have issues though so I think I'll buy it and have it fix the rest and see.

I would really appreciate that dummies virus removal though.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

DOOD, I just realized I wasn't using combofix. I was using ARO by sammsoft.

I will do it tomorrow. I am converting a 26 disk audiobook now and cannot halt it.

The ARO is freaking good too.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Orpheus said:
DOOD, I just realized I wasn't using combofix. I was using ARO by sammsoft.

I will do it tomorrow. I am converting a 26 disk audiobook now and cannot halt it.

The ARO is freaking good too.

Ohhhhhh. A registry optimizer. Aka: A registry breaker. I wouldn't use those. They always cause problems down the line. Combofix is a sole virus remover.

The registry is a large-unorganized-complicated mess ... and that's when it's in working order. Organizers and cleaners tend to blindly rename, remove, and delete entries based on name and regardless of program association.

Don't use them.

Even the Microsoft written clean up tool for InstallSheild instances that have utterly failed was removed for screwing up registry entries. (Though, this tool is a bit of a necessary evil, considering when installsheild screws up there's really no other way to get rid of the flag so you could attempt a reinstall)

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I know you two are right. I have heard the same thing many times before but understand, I was confused somehow. I clicked the link to the combofix and I guess I got redirected to the ARO website. I also guess I assumed that if Omega said it was ok, then it was.

In the end, it somehow stablized my laptop so I could use it at least, even though it still has something wrong.

I have since downloaded the combofix and it will NOT install. Whatever is still wrong kicks it out before it can install, and reboots.

I am gonna dig deeper and see if there is still some virus left.

[*]Trend says NO.
[*]Malwarebytes says NO
[*]Superantispyware, will not run either.
[*]AVG will not run.

I am confuzzled again...

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Maybe I should have been clearer - combofix doesn't install. Its a script that runs through your computer looking for viruses, a 1 time thing. You can DL it as many times as you want and run it as many times as you want. If combofix says it has to restart your computer, then let it. Don't do anything until it says its done. If its not running there might be a problem. Which OS is this on?

Win7

OK, this is what happens.. It gets thru about 90% or so by the slider graph and then the computer kicks out to a memory dump claiming its saving the system before harm is done.

I have tried several times. Same thing each time.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Yeah I've seen it do that from time to time (it only occurs about 0.01% of the time). That slider window means its trying to make a backup of your Registry before it does anything. Don't worry about it. If your feeling brave you can try running the exe as administrator (right click properties, and select run-as Administrator) and that might solve the problem, or try running it in Safe Mode. Did you disable all your antiviruses?

Here is what I suggest running:

Spybot

Malwarebytes

SuperAntiSpyware

If there are still problems after running those 3 tools mentioned above you can even try hitman pro, you only need to run the app as stand-alone.

I ran the hitman pro. It was about the only program I haven't used yet.

Then I ran the combofix again. It warned me to uninstall AVG, which I did and rebooted.

I ran combofix again and it STILL reported AVG active, which I knew was not possible so I ran it anyway. After the warnings about how I will take responsibility for AVG being on it scanned.

It ran, and finished. I hope it worked.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Update: Well its the beginning of the second day with no issues. Windows is stable and nothing seems amiss. I ran everything I have installed yesterday and nothing was reported. The turning point seems to have been that Hitman Pro. Everything else wiped bits and pieces but wouldn't allow me to run the combofix. I guess hitman got the other bits just enough to allow it to run.

Methinks we need to have a page with these links so they won't get buried in the shuffle.

Thanx again Omega.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Strangeness abounds. My PC at home won't let me log on to Steam. Nothing has changed. My password and everything is the same. It just keeps asking over and over for my password. No error message, nada. My laptop logs onto steam just fine. I used it to verify that my account was fine.

Anyone know why it keeps doing that? I put in my password, it flashes once or twice and asks me again. If however I deliberately put in the wrong password, it tells me that much, but it won't accept the correct one.

Do I have to log off on my laptop or something perhaps? I really don't want to sacrifice my only connection. What if I log off on my laptop and cannot re-log back in?

Any insights would be appreciated.

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The best things in life, aren't things.