JorgeA

Quick question: The old PSU's connection to the CPU (or at least, the connection next to where the CPU fan is located) consists of four pins in a 2x2 array. The new PSU comes with a double set of 2x2 connectors which can be snapped together or pulled apart from each other. Which of these two 2x2 sets should I hook up, or does it not really matter which one? How about if I connect the inner two from each set, so that there is one unconnected row sticking out at either end of the array? I can post photos if that will help. --JorgeA P.S. The Corsair came with its own set of tie wraps (zip ties?), so we don't need to worry about that.

Well, I guess it depends on local habits, we're much less formal here and I never actually needed one : jaclaz That's pretty funny. --JorgeA

Thanks, den. As for the thingies that keep the wires bundled together inside the PC case, umm, I too thought they were called "zip ties." Garbage bag twist ties will do just as well of course, although they don't look as nice. I'll report back when I get to test the new PSU. --JorgeA

Now that the PSU has arrived and I have some time, let me ask about the above. Would I be unplugging the current PSU and plugging the new PSU into the places where I unplugged the old PSU -- but all of this without actually screwing the new PSU into place? That is, with the new PSU sitting somewhere outside the PC case? I'm pretty sure that's what you indicated in post #8 above, but when it comes to mechanical stuff (and like driving directions), I have a special talent for misinterpreting instructions... --JorgeA

LOL, I wonder what Metro/Modern/Universal fertilizer would look (or smell) like. No doubt they'd find a way to screw THAT up, too. More seriously, I'm concerned about the move toward Metroizing even the desktop parts of the OS, as suggested for example by their devising the "PC Settings" (and now the "zPC Settings") app to perform functions historically found in Control Panel. --JorgeA

The new PSU arrived this afternoon via United Parcel Service. This is after Newegg said that with the free shipping it would take 3-7 business days. Darned private business. It will actually take longer for me to test out this PSU than it did to arrive, as we have a full schedule of social activities this weekend. --JorgeA

To bring the discussion back OT (sort of ), how about the Geo Metro? I once drove one of these as a loaner while my own car (a 6-cylinder Accord) was at the shop. What a piece of cr*p -- it struggled and strained to get up even to 65. That's 65 km/h, not MPH. --JorgeA

I just found out that Microsoft has yet another way for people to opine and vote on Windows features, the Windows Feature Suggestions program. The votes are hardly representative of the general concerns of Windows users out there -- by far the top two suggestions have to do with things of interest to people in Iran. Last I saw, that country accounts for like 2 percent of the world's population, and yet they have the top three suggestions and four of the first eight. So evidently there is coordination going on, as is also suggested by the fact that pro-Metro votes are actually ahead of pro-Aero votes despite the clear verdict of the marketplace (where actions speak louder than words). So I urge you to sign up (you only need to provide an e-mail address and a username) and then vote for Aero. You get 20 votes in total and you can cast up to 3 of these for any single suggestion. While you're at it, please use some of your other votes to include Windows Media Center with the standard Win10 installation. --JorgeA

The Metro vs. Aero wars are heating up again on the Microsoft forums: The UI is so UGLY an there are no options to change this. Bring back Aero Glass from Windows 8 Developer Preview What I find most striking is the arrogance and contempt for other people displayed by Metro fans, who seem to want everybody to be herded into adopting their preferred UI. They don't appear to understand (or care for) the concept of choice. Aero fans, OTOH, are mainly asking for usre choice and making reasoned arguments, while the other side engages largely in name-calling and sarcasm. So long as name-calling is (by their lights) acceptable, then perhaps they wouldn't mind if we started referring to them as Metro fascists. --JorgeA EDIT: typo

^^ That's a good one!! But... I didn't say that I liked that Pinto. I bought it used; let's just say that it was all I could afford at the time. OTOH, I do still like my Vista. --JorgeA

Yesterday I installed the 9860 build. While the tech news sites are claiming the process takes 15-30 minutes, my test laptop (an i5-3210M) took 55 minutes from the time I started the Installation, with several reboots along the way. Visually, the biggest difference is the animations when opening or closing a window. I do like this, it adds a bit of panache to the Windows experience. On the other hand, Microsoft seems to be slowly migrating its administrative/customization options from Control Panel to the new "PC Settings" Metro-inspired menu, as reported by Neowin: Honestly, I don't see the need to fix what isn't broken. This move suggests to me that this is the overall "look and feel" that Microsoft wants Windows eventually to take. With all that dead empty screen space, I suggest buying stock in mouse manufacturers as a lot of mouse wheels are going to wear out prematurely from all the additional scrolling that's going to be needed. When complete, the PC Settings menu had better include every single option that now exists in Control Panel. --JorgeA

I had a Ford Pinto back in the day. But it was the original hatchback model, and in light blue. It never did explode on me... --JorgeA

I did!! There were some hoops to jump through to make sure I got the rebate, but I finally got to click on the Buy button about two minutes before the deadline. Newegg already sent an e-mail to say that It's shipping later today. Many thanks to puntoMX. --JorgeA P.S. The corresponding PSUs from the HP parts store list for well over US$100. Seeing as that MSFN saved me quite a few pennies on this purchase, I should give a commission in the form of a donation.

Wow, what a wealth of choices -- thanks, you all! I eyeballed the old PSU and its shape is definitely the more squarish one, as opposed to the longer and narrower one by SeaSonic. All the suggested models look appealing and they're all highly rated by customers, though I have to say that the Corsair with that $20 rebate is especially hard to resist. As I write this I have just over a half-hour to qualify for that rebate... --JorgeA

[rant] What I'm going to say sounds like it would belong in "Deeper Impressions," but at the risk of digressing from the thread topic I have to comment that regulatory logic leads slowly but inexorably to the padded-cell society, where it's impossible for people to get hurt. At each stage there is a diminishing yet non-zero number of horror stories that can be used to rationalize placing the next clip on the straitjacket, until eventually everything that is not prohibited is required -- for our own good of course. [/rant] --JorgeA

One "first impression" about Windows 10 is the lack of impression it seems to be making. If you go around the tech news sites, there's not a whole lot of talk about it, pro or con. Even here at MSFN the discussion seems to have ground to a halt. (Unless we're all so busy testing it and giving feedback to Microsoft via their forums, that there's no time left to come back in here.) The general "first impression" of Win10 by the tech public seems to be "meh." Maybe that's because it tries to be all things to everybody (like with that Start Menu featuring a Live Tiles right panel) and ends up leaving no one in particular feeling really happy. --JorgeA

A lot of good information, @dencorso and @Tripredacus -- thank you! I'm thinking of getting this unit from Amazon.com to try it out. (Funny, the price seems to have jumped from US$35 to $40 since yesterday. Maybe they know I'm in the market for one...) The description for that PSU says: I see the 24-pin connector mentioned in there. Would the ATX12V connector be the same thing as the 4-pin connector? But none of the reviewers seemed to have a problem hooking it up, so we should be good to go. One general question: are PSUs pretty standard in their shape and the location of mounting screws, etc.? I guess my question is how easy it is to get a PSU that will physically fit into its allotted place inside a PC case. --JorgeA

Supposing that I get a new PSU to test, HP has thrown me a curve ball by offering four (!) PSU models, the only difference being that two are "with power factor correction (PFC)" and two are "without" this PFC, whatever that means. Then one of each type (with/without PFC) is "RoHS: COMPLY_2.03" while the other one of each type is "RoHS: COMPLY_2.04". I tried looking up this PFC concept but I couldn't make heads or tails of what they were talking about in the Wikipedia article. How's one supposed to decide from among them?? The part number for the PSU (by Bestec) that's currently installed doesn't match any of the numbers on the HP parts list for this computer, so I can't use it to try to match what I currently have. Looking up the PSU by the Bestec model number on Amazon (where BTW it's MUCH less expensive than if bought via HP) didn't solve the PFC/non-PFC mystery. How to choose between PFC/non-PFC, and RoHS COMPLY "2.03" vs. "2.04"? --JorgeA

Thanks, guys. I inspected the capacitors (viewed some images on the Web so I'd know what signs to look for) and everything appears normal. @dencorso, you specified I should try a "used but known-working" PSU. In our situation, is that preferable to a brand-new PSU bought at the store? @Trip, just to make sure -- so I would be disconnecting the old PSU but leaving it in place, then on the operating table connecting the new PSU to the motherboard as a test, right? I would connect to it everything that's currently connected to the old PSU, except for the HDD? @Ponch -- this is reassuring. I already had to replace a PSU on a different machine so I have a little experience with the process. (In that case, the LED wasn't even lighting up.) Plus the repair would be a lot less expensive than a new mobo or (God forbid) a new CPU. --JorgeA

And ANOTHER Windows Update causes enough headaches out there to lead Microsoft to pull it. I'm really (not) looking forward to the day when automatic Windows Updates become mandatory in the name of keeping everybody current and simplifying tech support. --JorgeA

Betanews.com has a new post with another list of free Start Menu replacements. There's one new one there (new to us, anyway), Anvisoft's OneStart, that we have now added to the list. --JorgeA

One of my computers is a Hewlett-Packard dx7500 Microtower that I bought on clearance at an unbelievable price about three years ago. I'm running Windows XP Pro, Vista Business x86, and Netrunner 12.12 on it. With an add-on graphics card, it serves mainly (and 24/7) as a participant in a distributed-computing (DC) project, but I've also used it to get a taste of both Linux and XP. A couple of days ago, the computer -- at the time running on Vista -- finished a stage in the DC project and I rebooted into XP to see what updates (Windows Defender, MS Office) there might be waiting for it. I installed the updates and left it on overnight, as usual. The next morning I went into my office and noticed that the computer was turned off. Nobody other than me goes into the office, so I knew that no living being had shut it down. It used to go off and not come back on after a power outage, but for several months now I've had it on a UPS battery so it should not have turned itself off even if the power had gone out (which it had not, in any event). I hit the power switch as normal. Imagine my surprise and alarm when -- nothing happened!! No matter how hard, how many times, or for how long I pressed the switch, it would not come on. Time for Web research and diagnostics. I plugged the power cord into a different outlet. Didn't help. I opened the case and dusted it. (There WAS a lot of dust inside. ) No dice. I removed the graphics card. Still nothing. Changed out the CMOS battery. Nada. The only sign of life the PC is giving, is that the green LED at the back of the case, up where the power supply is located, is still glowing. The glow seems to be fainter than it used to be, but I can't be sure of that. However, nothing else seems to be doing anything: neither the fans nor the hard drive appear to be spinning up. There is no POST and no beeps. My Web research seems to point to either the power supply or the motherboard. Two questions: 1. Is there any way to test these, to determine which one might be at fault? (Hoping it's the PSU that's having the problem, and not the mobo.) 2. Any other possible candidates for being the cause of the problem? What do you think? Any suggestions that might lead to a solution are welcome!!! --JorgeA

There is truth in that quote. And I wonder if the graphics designer who came up with the new Windows logo had any idea that he/she was circling back around some thirty years. As for Gorilla Arm Syndrome ... The phrase rang a bell, so I did a search of this thread for the term "gorilla." In addition to gorillas of various sizes from a massive 950 pounds, through the proverbial 800 pounds, all the way down to an anemic 75 pounds, there were a few references to "gorilla arms." Here's the first one, by CharlotteTheHarlot. The first reference to this as a "syndrome" was a couple of months later by HalloweenDocument12. The science against touch interfaces (at least in a professional setting) appears to be slowly building. Here's a journal article I saw referenced in the newspaper last week: --JorgeA

Good questions all -- and thanks for asking! I do like it that having the active thread under "The General Stuff" allows us to discuss a broader range of Microsoft-related topics than if the thread were placed specifically in the Windows 10 (or 8) subforums. So I would vote for leaving it here. As to where to put the retired threads, I could go either way. I guess that ultimately it makes the most sense to move them to their corresponding OS subforums, but I don't feel strongly about that. --JorgeA

So then the idea is to shift the whole range of discussion from "Deeper Impressions" over to here? If that's the case, I could go for that and then there'd be no reason to move the thread to the new Win10 subforum. --JorgeA