Radish

Well to answer my own original post Gigabyte got back and here is their response: Guess that solves the issue for me. (Though I'm left scratching my head over how to interpret the CPU-Z results regarding memory - think I'll try contacting them and see if they have anything to say on the issue). Thanks to everyone who took the time and effort to respond.

Hi SubMix, I first read your post in my email client and it really had me scratching my head as to how, apparently, I could get it so wrong in detailing the motherboard and BIOS I had. When I came to the forum I was relieved to see your 'strike-outs'. (Boy that was confusing for a while.) To clear misunderstanding the motherboard I have is definitely "GA-H61M-DS2 DVI". The motherboard manual can be seen here: https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/1053/6600/3/download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-h61m-ds2-dvi_e.pdf With respect to memory and Dual Channel Mode this is mentioned on pages 5 (schematic diagram), 7 (under the "Memory" title) and 9 (under the title "Dual Channel Memory Configuration"). Needless to say when it comes to the "BIOS Setup" pages nowhere is Dual Channel Memory mentioned anywhere at all. (Manual is a dead loss in that respect.) With respect to the BIOS I've gone into the BIOS again and checked the information there, which is as follows: BIOS: F3g Customer Code: UM BIOS Date: 05/05/2014 If I go to the Gigabyte site for this motherboard and click for the BIOS information page then I get the following: http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4403&dl=1&RWD=0#bios Strange thing is that on that webpage it only offers "F3c" BIOS as being the latest for this motherboard (and at that it's a beta). My BIOS "F3g" is fairly well above "F3c" and isn't even mentioned at that webpage - go figure. With respect to the number of DIMM sockets, there are only two on the motherboard - so there is no way I can be putting the memory in the wrong sockets. Here is a screenshot of what CPU-Z says of the memory installed on this machine: I'm not sure how to interpret that. It says "Channel #" is "Dual". But "DC Mode" (I assume that means "Dual Channel Mode") is blanked out - so what does that mean? Could someone explain what "IOW" means, I don't understand. In any case, today I managed to complete a web-form with Gigabyte about this so maybe I'll get a response from there. If I do I'll post up the inf here.

You are a hundred percent correct Jaclaz. AMI did answer my email, for the record and so others might benefit from the information here is what AMI said: Learn something every day. Should be said they definitely have a point.

Thanks Jaclaz. I'll take your advice, I wouldn't rummage around in the BIOS unless I was certain of what I was doing.

Okay Jaclaz, Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 DVI (Rev. 1.0) BIOS: AMI F3g UM 05/05/2014

Over the last few years I've found that I nearly always end up with computers that are based on Gigabyte motherboards. My current computer, just bought, also has a Gigabyte motherboard. Over the last couple of days I found that I couldn't get into the BIOS to check some settings. No matter what I did the BIOS just would not open up for me. Cutting a long story short, I looked for a solution on the web and that lead me to the following website: http://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/369/images/app-center.html Wow, if you download the "Gigabyte App Center Utility" from there you are in for a treat - there are some very useful progams available using that center for users of Gigabyte motherboards. Once I had the App Center installed and figured how to use it I downloaded an app called "Fast Boot" and at one click, while I was in Windows, it let me issue the instruction that on the next system reboot I would automatically go into the BIOS (after clicking the setting it automatically reboots the computer). Works like a charm. Days of muttering solved at a click. I'm surprised that I've used Gigabyte motherboards for years and never knew of this - so many useful programs for tweaking the system. So I thought I'd post up here and share the tip for others. P.S. I'm vaguely aware that Win8 has 'apps' that won't run on Win7 systems (I have Win7 myself) but this isn't anything to do with that kind of 'app'.

Thanks Jaclaz, I actually have the booklet that comes with my motherboard and that corresponds with as being of the same type of manual that you refer to in you post. Really the booklet, in one section, specifically refers to "Dual Channel Memory Mode" and notes that the user might want to make that setting. However, perversely, in the section of the booklet dealing with BIOS settings, needless to say, there is no information at all on how to set Dual Channel Mode. (I think people would need have some fair expertise on the BIOS and hardware configuration to get the information in the booklet to make sense - same would apply to just rummaging around in the BIOS proper.) As best as I can tell the problem really seems to be that the motherboard manufacturers make the motherboard booklets, including the section on the BIOS settings, but don't really check that the booklet as whole makes consistent and coherent sense. Maybe they get the information on the BIOS from the BIOS producers themselves and just add that to the booklet as a block without reviewing that and the motherboard information and making it all cohere. In any case for the last day or so I just couldn't get into the BIOS (no matter what I did) to check on the "DRAM Bus Selection" setting that you mention. However, I did eventually get in (long story) and there was no setting there titled "DRAM Bus Selection", or anything like it. I have now tried to contact AMI directly by web-form based email. Strange set-up they have for that. They have an 'end-user' web-based email contact system - but they don't accept email address for their response to the user's query if the email address is of the type Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail etc. So if you've got an email address of that ilk then their automated web-form won't even allow you to send in your query. Wow, some end-user service that is! I eventally managed to find a way of masking my real email address and that got accepted into their enquiry form and I was able to send in the query. That said that was a day and a bit ago now and no response so I won't be holding my breath for one now. I guess I'll just have to leave this issue to rest for now. Try contacting the folks that sold me the computer and maybe even GigaByte (motherboard manufacturer) when I get a bit spare time on my hands. Thanks again, much appreciated.

BIOS = AMI F3g UM 05/05/2014 I just installed a RAM upgrade into my computer 2 x 8GB matched pair of sticks. In my computer manual it says that if you have installed a matched pair of memory sticks then it is possible to turn on what the manual calls 'Dual Channel Memory Mode' inside the BIOS (doing so increase the performance of the RAM). I have had a look inside the BIOS but there is absolutely no entry/setting there labeled 'Dual Channel Mode'. Does anyone know what the setting is that I am looking for in this BIOS and what I should set it to to enable dual channel mode?

Okay Noel, you've convinced me that SSD might be worth a try. My main reason for taking that tack now is not to do with performance, in terms of speed, but you do make valid points in your comparison of SSD to HDD - provided your quoted specs are accurate of course and I have some doubts. Where are you getting your figures from? Doubtless SSD manufacturers will be optimistic in their claims at best and indulge in pure fabulation at worst - so I'd take manufacturer's claims with a huge pinch of salt. Nevertheless I'm going for a big ramdisk first and I'd even want to use that even if I did have SSD. Don't know when I'll get round to the SSD though, I am on a new system just bought now and it will take time to iron out teething problems I'm experiencing (not least of which is fairly often getting BSOD on shutdown) but when I do I'll doubtless be contacting this forum asking for help in how to set it all up - I'm not a geek so would definitely need some guidance. One other question though. Are you saying that you're running systems with no HDD in them at all, only SSD? Thanks for the thoughts.

Just to clear up any misunderstanding, my main interest in using a large ramdisk doesn't really concern performance but wear on the HDD. (Though if I got an increase in performance because of using a ramdisk then fine, I'd be happy with that too.) Mostly I want to use a large ramdisk for downloading into and seeding torrents - which is, as far as I understand, is pretty wearing on an HDD. My previous computer which I had for many years over that time had multiple HDD fails and, as best as I could work out, that always seemed connected to the partition that I would save torrents to. Years ago I used to obsess about performance, but not now. Computers nowadays are pretty well fast enough to do most things at a fair pace and I'm of an age now that I don't mind waiting a second or two for something to happen - the world isn't going to fall on my head if things don't happen instantaneously. I kind of chuckle now at my previous self and smile at the way that I learned a valuable lesson in my own time. Bliss. I can though and do appreciate that computer pro's do obsess about performance - their jobs rely on it and without their concern there would be no real improvement over time for us all. So more power to them and their concerns - they do us all good in the long run. Just realise that not everyone needs to share that obsession and it's possible for learning to have more than one outcome - it depends on where you're at.

Thanks for the responses. I did go and read http://www.overclock.net/t/1193401/why-it-is-bad-to-store-the-page-file-on-a-ram-disk (yes all thirty pages of it). God, the range of opinion there is breathtaking. There is everything from don't touch the page file; to only use a fixed size page file; to completely disable the page file; to putting a small page file to ramdisk; to doing away with the page file completely or putting a small page file to a ramdisk because you are using a SSD! Having read that, and noting the range of differing opinion, I've decided that I might just as well experiment and see what works out okay for me. There is no way that I want to start involving myself in using a SSD - that is well beyond my computing needs so I might as well just save myself the expense. Thanks again.

OS = Windows 7 x64 SP1 Hi, I intend getting more RAM for my system, basically because I want to use a large ramdisk. When I do the upgrade I'll have 16GB of RAM. 10GB of that for a ramdisk and the remaining 6GB for the system. I'm thinking that it used to be the case that Microsoft recommended 1.5 times the amount of RAM installed for a page file. However, that advice was from the year dot and things have changed these days when people routinely install amounts of RAM that would have been unheard of years ago. Certainly for the last few years I've just set the page file to a fixed size equal to the amount of RAM installed and have never noticed any problems with that. So, my questions are: 1) With the amount of RAM I intend to install would it be safe to just disable the page file completely? 2) If it isn't advisable to completely disable the page file what would be the recommended mimimum fixed size for the page file? 3) Would disabling the page file lead to an increase in speed of the system? I think I should add that I don't do things on my system that really stress the system. Nowadays I just use my home computer for mundane stuff. Certainly I don't do high powered gaming.

Yeah I saw that Windows 8.1 blurb too. But then I thought, that it isn't ruling out running on Win7 - so maybe worth a punt. Contacting the producers and asking is probably the thing to do. Contacting them would be the thing I would do.

Hi Pointer, I was looking on the web for a solution to your woes and came across the following links which may be of use to you: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/3a9e8050-07b8-432b-91fc-cbdad19b420d At that webpage they say the dictionary will run on x86 and x64 systems. The product mentioned at that webpage also contains a link to the producer of this Oxford-Hachette dictionary. The webpage where it is listed is: http://www.mobisystems.com/dictionaries/ The webpage for the Windows version of that product is: http://www.mobisystems.com/windows-8/oxford-hachette-french-dictionary/ There is a trial version available for download there - so maybe you could try it out on Win7 and see if it is okay for your needs. If you want to contact the company that produces the dictionary their email is: info@mobisystems.com You might get information from them that helps if you run into problems with this. Hope this helps.

Mm, pointer - that is an interesting comment you make on the prospect of the Russians or Chinese developing their own operating systems, I'd never have thought of that myself. Likewise, like you, I'd feel a bit easier about being peeped at by the Chinese or the Russians than I do over being monitored by my own government and/or commercial concerns e.g. MS. Thanks for the thoughts.

NoelC, Though I'm by no means a geek I do agree with what you are saying regarding Microsoft and new releases of Windows. They are more and more trying to lock the system down so that users can't do what they want with it. But that's only part of the story I think. More and more MS are scanning my every move on a computer and, I have no doubt, reporting back to MS. More and more they are scanning what files I have on my computer. Supposedly in the name of 'security' and 'ease of use' - it's all about so called 'customer experience'. More and more they seem to be leaning towards going for 'approved software' with MS the arbiter in what is and isn't acceptable on a Windows system. I'm not in any way happy with MS scanning my system at all. Internet Explorer I stopped using when it hit version 7. More and more that b***h of a browser was monitoring more and more of what people are doing online and doubtless reporting back home. It's all a pattern, MS is as much interested in your data as it is in being an operating system. However, I don't agree that we've past the Golden Age of computers. It does feel like that just now but I think MS is making a big mistake in the trajectory they are on. I will come crashing down around them in the long-run. Personally, I'd be off to Linux in a heartbeat were it not for the fact that I can't get full-featured peripheral drivers to use on it. If the Linux community ever got their act together and started putting real pressure on peripherals manufacturers to provide full-featured drivers for Linux then I think that would have potential to really lay into MS's domination. Likewise, I have some high regard for the ReactOS project. If ever that really got off the ground then I think MS's days would be numbered. Bit by bit MS are losing the trust of the computing community and over time I think that will be their death knell. Strikes me that the Linux and Reactos communities have many brilliant people beavering away in them - but it seems only to be really focused on the techincal aspects of the projects. If they ever managed to attract people that were equally brilliant at marketing then I'm sure they could turn things around very quickly. Interesting times ahead I think. There may well be a new Golden Age of computing on the horizon.

Sounds like you have complex needs or wants. Why not simplify things for yourself and just do full partition backups on a regular basis. This is how I manage backups for my Windows system. To see some of the issues that you need to take into account for backing up your Windows systems then please read this topic as it has information that is germane to your situation: Win7 Install Partitions and Disk Imaging I can't comment on Linux because I have next to no experience of using it - couple of trial installs with Linux Mint but in the end, though I liked Linux Mint, I just couldn't convince myself it was the way to go because of not having full-featured peripheral drivers available for Linux systems. If the Linux community would only get together and put strong pressure on peripherals manufacturers to create full-featured drivers for Linux systems then I think Linux might become a serious option for a lot of people. However, I have for many years used TeraByte Image for Windows and would strongly recommend it as a way of managing a partition based backup system. If you got TeraByte Image for Windows you would also get thrown in for free Terabyte Image for Linux (which is a boot CD based way of managing partition backups). Even though I have Windows systems I always use Image for Linux (GUI) for managing my backups - works totally fine for Windows systems as well as for Linux systems. ( I would note that there is a full pdf manual that comes with Image for Windows and Image for Linux, it is very good at explaining how to approach backing-up systems using a partition image method of doing so.) I would though, if I were you, give some thought to how your wife manages her data files on the Windows system. For example, does your wife have her 'My Documents' stored on the same partition as the Windows system partition is stored (usually C:). On my systems I always set up 'My Documents' so that it is on a partition all of its own. This is useful for doing backups because I can then backup that partition very easily without having to, at the same time, backup the system partitions. I would say the same for other classes of files that your wife might have on her system. For example, I have a separate partition for portable software that I use - again this makes backing-up that aspect of my system very easy. Hope my suggestions are of help.

No, I don't think it is an error in the script/exe. I've checked it very carefully, it's a short script so that is easy to do. If it was an error in the script then that error would show up when the script/exe was launched manual. However, when the exe is launched manually no errors occur. I really do think this is something Windows operating system is doing.

HI, I'm working on script (compiled to executable) that will be launched by a right-click Context Menu item in Windows Explorer. Basically the exe looks for highlighted/selected folders and files in Explorer and then writes to a text file the full paths of the folders/files that were selected when the exe is launched. If I launch the exe manually then it works fine - does what it is meant to do. However, if I launch the exe from the Context Menu it messes up big-time. For example let's say I have two folders and one file selected in Explorer then use the Context Menu to launch the exe then instead of launching the exe once the exe is launched three times (once for each of the number of items that have been selected in the Explorer window). And, of course, I have three duplicate enteries in the output text file for each of the Folders\Files selected. It can't be the exe that is doing this - it must be something that Windows OS is doing. The entries that I made in the registry to give the right-click Context Menu (and subsequently exported from the registry are as follows): Does anyone know why this multiple launching of the exe file is happening and how to prevent it? (If it only launched the exe file once then everything would be fine.)

I'm by no means an expert on TeraByte Image for Windows (and Terabyte Image for Linux) but I have been using it for many years and it has never let me down. I do know that it is capable of dealing with the MBR and of repairing it, but I've never needed to use that option for anything. It has so many options that you really would need to be an HDD geek to understand it. I'm not, so I just use it in a simplified way and it works fine for me. Also you can create boot CD's so you can manage things from there if you want. This is what I do. There is an option to create a boot CD that is based on Linux - but you don't need to have Linux installed to use it - and that boot CD with its GUI interface is a work of art. I use it all the time even though I only have Windows systems - works great. Even out of sheer interest I'd recommend checking it out - you can use a trial version for a short period of time. Like Dubiaku I make an image of the whole HDD as soon as I get it. I just use Image for Linux bootdisk and make an HDD image before I ever even allow the OS to boot. This gets a very clean set of 'Factory State' images to restore from if you ever want to go back to that level.

Hi! I'm not an expert, totally new to Win7 myself and just as baffled as you over the Start Menu. Then I stumbled across Classic Shell. Wow! Does it make a difference - way to go. Give it a try, I doubt you'll regret it.

Okay guys, thanks very much for the information. By the sounds of things, and being the cautious type, I'll do a backup of Partition 1 and store it off safely. Thereafter I'll just do regular backups of Partition 2 and Partition 3 (seems like the best thing to do - err on the side of safety). Thanks again.

Hi, I just registered to join MSFN forum. While I was registering I had the option of choosing the country I stay in. I looked in the list and unfortuately could only find the United Kingdom (UK) as the 'country' that I could be said to be in. So I had to register with that one. Problem now is that I have a Union Jack showing as my 'country' flag - and God I so dislike being associated with that flag. So, could I ask that MSFN split the UK up into its constituent parts, of which there are four: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England And, of course, add in the respective flags. Just a thought, I would feel much happier being able to register as being in Scotland (rather than the UK).

Hi, I just got a new computer that came with Win7 Pro. x64 pre-installed by the system manufacturer. I have no previous experience of using Win7 (just many years of using WinXP). If I Iook at the way the pre-install was done I find that I have the following HDD partitioning scheme: Partition 1: 'Hidden' 8.30 GB (Recovery Partition) - (no file-system information shown for this partition) Partition 2: 'Hidden' 300 MB (System, Active, Primary Partition) NTFS Partition 3: Windows 7 (C:) 100 GB (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) NTFS I have some vague notion of what these partitions are. However, what I don't know is if Partitons 1 and 2 change their content in any way over time. I really need to know this so that I can work out what I'm going to backup on a regular basis by way of using 'disk imaging' software (I use TeraByte Image for Windows for disk imaging backups). So could someone tell me if Partition 1 changes over time as I make changes on Partition 3 (the Windows partition)? Likewise, can someone tell me if the content of Partiton 2 changes over time as I make changes to Partition 3?