So I updated the BIOS, set the CMOS clear jumper, and put a new battery in the motherboard. Nothing worked. So then I go into the BIOS and see that the system clock is wrong. I fix that and the error is gone.
I have the worst luck with cloning. Here is my last attempt to clone my current drive. Windows starts but then this. The flashing stopped after a reboot but the desktop still doesn't come up correctly. Maybe it's a Win 8 thing.
Did a fresh install of Windows 8 and all went well until I did a Windows update. On the next reboot I got a similar flashing screen thing going on. WTF? Did some research and it seems others have had the same issue. I had to hard reboot several times to boot into the safe mode or what ever they call it now. A "Refresh" rolled back all the updates and it seems fine now.
I recently upgraded the ram in my laptop from 2GB DDR3 to 8GB DDR3. I'm fairly certain the memory I got is bad. There have been several times now where the laptop has hung during the phase at startup where the BIOS tests the memory. I'm also getting blue screens. The thing is, I can't get memtest to generate errors. But I'm almost dead certain it's the memory. The only other thing I can think of is maybe the SSD is going. Any thoughts?
Most laptops have a built in hardware test that you can access after POST, usually the option is on the boot option screen. Should be a memory test in there, dells for example have a couple of memory tests, one of which is very thorough that goes through every address one by one. If it isn't obvious how to get to it Google your brand, I know that the Sony ones are hidden away for example. Try that.
I ran the Dell diagnostic and only came up with an error that I read is normal if you're using an SSD instead of a HDD. The RAM looked fine. I'm stumped. I think I'm going to RMA the ram just to be sure. It's still within the return period.
I've seen dell diagnostic utility pass before where memtest failed after hardly any time at all... so while it's still useful, I wouldn't trust dell diagnostic too much. RAM will sometimes just not play nice with certain motherboards, I assumed SO-DIMMs would have had less issues because of more conservative speed and latency settings, but passing dell diagnostic does not rule this out. I'm guessing you have bad RAM or that particular model/combo will just not work with your laptop. What brand and spec is it? One or two sticks?
maybe... I've had files that just refused to be deleted I just kept them around till I could hard format and reinstall.
Just a recap on the iMac stuff from how ever many months ago: I ordered 8GB of GSkill 1333MHz SO-DIMM Mac RAM with the hope of getting it to work with the existing 4GB. Lots of people on Mac forums seem to think the process is very hit and miss and that you should only touch Samsung, Kingston and OWC RAM. Well, the G.Skill and Corsair stuff is guaranteed to work and is cheaper at my local store, so I went with the G.Skill since someone reviewed it as working fine in their 2011 iMac. So yes, it worked, the install was easy and it plays nicely with the other 2 DIMMs for a total of 12GB. Sorry for any confusion I created with the misinformation I read prior to this. On to the experience. It's a hell of a lot better now. I can see that in a heavy use situation I can use up to 9GB of the 12GB, so being able to use the extra 4GB that was already installed is valuable. A heavy use situation for me would be having a 500-1GB EPS files open in illustrator, a multi page high res document open in indesign, and a couple of multi-layered high res files in photoshop as well as maybe having a couple of tabs in firefox open. The other thing is that this memory can stay used until you close the program, so if you only had 8GB you'd likely be in a state of swapping far more often than you'd imagine. Mac's definitely use a lot more RAM than a windows PC! That's not a bad thing with current RAM prices (not apple prices!), it was just a bad thing for the default config they sell these machines at. For a casual user, it's fine. But a slow hard drive coupled with not enough memory makes any machine horrible. I made the wrong assumption that 4GB would give an experience like 4GB does on my Win7 PC. I should have also taken into account the lack of SSD. In closing, MacPro's are horribly over priced considering they haven't updated them in over 2 years. No one should buy one (I do love the case, but PC cases have caught up if you have the money to waste). Enter iMac: iMac's are great for amateur to semi-professional content creators who prefer OS X or just find it easier to deal with OS X due to the design industry still being Mac centred. Yes, if you ask me this is out of ignorance and old 'folklore', but iMac's do offer a decent package for the amateur-mid level content creator. The screens are nice, although not as colour accurate as they used to be before moving to LED backlit, the focus has shifted there (unfortunately), and the hardware good enough for the tech un-savy with not overly demanding needs. BUT! Anyone using one for content creation needs to know that they need at least 8GB of RAM, preferably 12GB+ IMO.
It really makes no sense at all for you to say that iMac's are for amateurs or "semi-professionals" in regards to content creation in 2013. You could have said that six years ago, but not today. The differences between iMacs and the Mac Pro is MUCH slimmer than it used to be. For example, this is the offices of SixMoreVodka, which is a professional creative company that does alot of digital concept work for the video game, comics, and film industry etc. Founded by ex-members of Massive Black, another more well known creative company. Does that look "amateur" or "mid-level" to you? Sure, they could also use Windows PCs for the same types of work as well, but having an alternate option isn't the same thing as claiming that they're "ignorant" or amateurish for using an iMac. If you're interested, here are some benchmarks for current iMac vs. Mac Pro... http://barefeats.com/imac12b1.html
Pretty much every single big youtuber I've seen uses a mac, there must be a reason for that. I've never used one myself, I've been using PCs.
I should have paid attention to the error in the dell diagnostic and not listened to stupid people on forums who said to ignore the error. The SSD completely failed. I turn the laptop on and it says no boot sector found. Tried throwing it in an external enclosure and can't get anything off of it. Will be RMA'ing it to Kingston. Luckily I had nothing important on that laptop.
Most people who make youtube videos are loud mouthed narcissistic chicks and dudebros, so that's not surprising. Average youtuber: