Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 189 of 258

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…]

Q&A: Why does my computer want to hibernate when I do a regular shutdown?

Posted on October 9, 2017

Question from Michael D: My computer has a strange problem Rick, and it’s driving me up the wall.

When I shut the system down, everything that was open when I shut it down opens back up when I turn it back on.

Every program reopens, every browser and website reopens… It’s like I hibernated the machine instead of shutting it down. But that’s not the case. I always do a normal shutdown.

Can you help me resolve this? My computer is a Dell Inspiron 3464 with Windows 10 Home.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is there a way to password protect a file in Windows?

Posted on October 5, 2017

Question from Vicky J:. Rick, I share my computer with my two kids and I have a couple of files that I really don’t want them to see. Nothing inappropriate, just files containing sensitive personal information.

Is there any way to put a password on a file in Windows so that it becomes inaccessible to anyone who doesn’t know the password?

I’ve Googled this every way I could possibly think of and I just could’t find a way to do it. But surely there is?

I really appreciate your help!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Will this CPU and Motherboard combo make a good gaming PC?

Posted on September 28, 2017

Question from Travis: I’ve been wanting to build a gaming PC for a while and I’ve finally saved enough money to build one as long as I can keep the cost of the CPU and motherboard to around $400 total.

I’ve found several combos in that price range but I’m most interested in this Intel Core i5 CPU and ASUS ROG motherboard.

Do you think these will make a good gaming computer if I install 16GB of RAM and a good video card?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]