Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 188 of 258

Q&A: Why is my computer not working with the new RAM I bought?

Posted on December 5, 2017

Question from Eric H.: I have an older ASUS Essentio CM1630 desktop computer that came with 2GB of RAM.

I scanned the system with Speccy and found out it currently has a single 2GB/DDR3 RAM stick in it.

I want to upgrade the RAM so I bought an 8GB/DDR3 RAM stick and installed it so I can have 10GB total, but I ran into a problem.

The computer won’t boot with both RAM sticks installed. It also won’t boot with just the 8GB stick installed. However, it boots just fine with just the original 2GB stick installed.

What could be the problem? I know this computer is supposed to support up to 16GB of RAM total.

I’m thinking I might have bought a bad RAM stick but I wanted to check with you first in case there’s a BIOS setting or a jumper that needs to be changed.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why won’t my PC connect to Wi-Fi automatically after installing updates?

Posted on November 20, 2017

Question from Lois P.: My computer (HP laptop with Windows 10) was working fine until it installed an update about a week ago.

Ever since that update was installed the computer won’t automatically connect to my Wi-Fi network when I turn it on.

I can connect to the network manually and it works perfectly until I shut the computer down. It just won’t connect automatically no matter what I do and I really miss having it do that.

I’ve searched Google from top to bottom and I haven’t found a solution to this that works. I even used System Restore to remove the update but that didn’t help either.

A friend told me about your website but I couldn’t find anything you’ve written about this topic on there. Do you know of a fix for this? You’re my last hope!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is my new custom built PC shutting down almost immediately after turning it on?

Posted on November 18, 2017

Question from Kenny V.: I watched a Youtube video that showed how to build a gaming PC and it really intrigued me.

I decided to build one for my son so I asked the guy at Fry’s Electronics for recommendations on the parts. This is what he recommended (and what I ended up buying):

ASUS ROG STRIX Z370-E Gaming Motherboard

Intel i7 7700k LGA 1151 CPU

4 Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR4 3000MHz C15 RAM sticks – (32GB total)

EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti SC GAMING, 4GB GDDR5 Gaming Video Card

Samsung 850 EVO 1TB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD

Corsair RMx Series, RM850x, 850W Power Suppy

I put everything together according to the instructions but when I turn on the computer a light on the motherboard flashes and then everything immediately shuts down. According to the manual the light that flashes is the “CPU Warning Light”.

Just to be sure it’s not a bad connection I re-seated the RAM sticks and CPU. There were no bent pins that I could see. I also disconnected and reconnected all the power cables.

Do you think I might have received a bad CPU? That’s the only thing I can think of that could possibly be wrong. I don’t want to go back to Fry’s claiming they sold me a bad CPU unless I’m sure they really did.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I use my HughesNet satellite Internet modem in two places?

Posted on October 16, 2017

Question from Carl F.: I live in rural Georgia but I also own a second home (a cabin) in the Missouri Ozarks. Both homes have a HughesNet satellite antenna installed.

I spend most of my time in Georgia but I head to the Ozarks for a couple of weeks several times a year.

My question is can I just take my HughesNet modem with me when I go to Missouri and plug it into that dish?

My cabin is in a pretty isolated area and satellite Internet is the only viable broadband option I have out there. There isn’t even a cellular signal available or I’d just get myself a hotspot box.

Anyway, it seems to me I should be able to just plug the modem into either satellite dish and have it work. Or am I missing something?

I’d just take the modem with me next time and give it a try but I’m afraid it might mess something up.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]