HotHardware Forums

3vi1 Help me!!(or anyone else) VirtualBox 3.0 Ubuntu guest troubles.

bob_on_the_cob — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:21:49 GMT

So I saw that Virtualbox now supports 3D with a linux guest and I wanted to try and see if I could run compiz with Ubuntu as the guest, but I can't get it to boot Ubuntu. I have never really used virtualbox much. I have always VMware Server. Anyway I messed with it all night, but I can't get it to boot. It starts then throws out some errors which I will screenshot in a moment in case that helps.

Longest thread challenge :D

Acid_Burn — Mon, 24 Sep 2001 21:56:17 GMT

Come on guys lets make the longest thread in the history of HH! As many pages as possible!

If this thread is not long and everyone ignores it then you are all boring farts

So be 1337 and come on

iPhoneys Looking Impressively iPhone-ish

News — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:14:42 GMT

When Japan first started to produce goods, many said they marveled at how well Japan could copy things. Now many such knock-offs come from China. In terms of the iPhone, such replicas could easily spotted. Now, not so much.

A consumer delivered a device to MacMedics that he had purchased from eBay. While at first glance it sure looks like an iPhone, when running it sure isn't Apple-like: sluggish, clunky, and with an Apple logo on the back, a counterfeit rather than a clone.

Even the box looks pretty iPhone-ish. MacMedics said in the video below:

“As you can see it looks xactly like an iPhone. It does not work very well, and when it does work it is incredibly slow.

It comes with some weird accessories that should clue you into fake-ness. A dock (which Apple does not provide), a stylus (same), the dock even includes a speaker.

Lesson to be learned: don't buy an iPhone from eBay if the deal sounds too good. MacMedics has been asked, in this case, to write a letter to PayPal explaining why we think the "iPhone" is fake. Plenty of reasons, right?

Check out the video below:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

It's a Girl!

Marco C — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:58:52 GMT

I am officially a Dad. :) Isabella Chiappetta was born at 1:18AM, 8lbs 1oz! Wifey and baby are doing great...

parts list for 1st build

mitchello — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:22:51 GMT

hey I am doing a gaming system on the cheap and I need to verify that these parts will all work with each other.

I'm pretty sure they will but i thought I might just make sure.

please help

1) XION Simple Power 630W ATX Power Supply

2)EVGA GeForce 9500 GT Video Card - 1GB DDR2

3) Asus M4N78 Pro GeForce 8300 Motherboard

4) AMD Phenom X4 9600 Quad Core Processor

5)Corsair XMS2 4GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz memory upgrade (will this work for memory or is it just for upgrading?)

6)Western Digital WD3200AAKS Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 3.5", 320GB, 7200rpm, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM

7)GMC R4 Bulldozer ATX Black Mid-Tower Case (love this case)

I know I cheaped out on the video card but thats pretty much all I can afford....

what are your guys thoughts on the R-4? I think it sounds great! plus its the best looking case out there, I think.

thanks

Router configuration

3vi1 — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:44:31 GMT

I just walked my non-techie brother-in-law through setting up a wireless router over the phone. The router was given to him with no documentation and was hardcoded to use the same network segment that his DSL modem was using. It took a while to figure out, starting with no passwords for anything..

We got it working, but I could use a drink.

Thankfully, I have four here.

Universal Pictures Wins Rights To Asteroids

News — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:58:47 GMT

A four-studio bidding war has ended and Universal Pictures has won the film rights to the classic Atari video game "Asteroids." Asteroids was originally released as an arcade game in 1979. In the game, players control a triangular spaceship as they attempt to shoot and destroy masses of rock and an occasional flying saucer while avoiding running into either obstruction.

Unlike today’s games, Asteroids lacks a story line or fancy world-building mythology so Universal Pictures must create a plot from scratch. The studio isn’t new to this process: It’s currently in the middle of creating plots for several popular board games from Hasbro including Battleship and Candyland.

Matthew Lopez will write the script for the adaptation of the game to the big screen. Lopez came from Disney's writing program. He has worked on recent movies such as "Bedtime Stories" and "Race to Witch Mountain." He also wrote the most recent draft of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," which is currently being produced and stars Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel.

Njection, Tracks Speed Traps, Now Coupons Ads

News — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:48:30 GMT

Njection Mobile announced that they soon will be allowing for companies to push discounts and coupons through their Njection Mobile (NMobile)[iTunes] iPhone application for use for their members. What would this mean? It could mean a boon for local businesses and major retailers and a withdraw from local newspapers and old school paper coupon mailers.

If you recall, NMobile already uses GPS to mark and locate speed traps around the world. Adding on to their business model by adding GPS location-based coupons appears to be a perfect fit. Participating stores can sign up their locations via the website and have them geocoded for use on the NMobile network. At that point, vendors can create coupons they want to attach to a store and generate barcodes that will appear on the phone. There are several different bar code types that are currently in use ranging from UPC-A and E bar codes used for all retail products to EAN bar code that is used in Europe.

NMobile searches you area for the best deals and displays a coupon on your iPhone. Say goodbye to newspaper inserts.

Coupons are used to get people inside of the stores and track the effectiveness of different kinds of promotions. 10% off for different product and services can encourage people to buy other items at that location with the savings they get with the offers they receive. There have been several reports of people using the iPhone for a boarding pass for air plane flights so one would conclude using it for coupons wouldn't be any different. One of the issues that Njection has to overcome is the use of two different ways that coupons can be redeemed. One way is the more traditional way is to produce a barcode on the screen of the cell phone and allow the scanner at the store to scan the face of the cell phone to register the transaction.

However, because of the reflective surface of the iPhone, some laser scanners may not allow the scan to take place but most CCD bar code readers will see it just fine. To work around that setback, the second way is to allow for a confirmation code to be entered into the phone to register the transaction as well. All of the stats and transactions are tracked anonymously online and allow for business to quickly measure the effectiveness of their promotions.

NMobile's Njection Ads (NADS) Finds You The Best Local Deals, Gets You The Barcode

So there you have it, another nail in the coffin for print media advertising. Njection Mobile says they'll be launching the application officially on July 20th, just in time for the back to school shopping season. And this is just the beginning, since GPS technology is pretty much ubiquitous for the smartphone handset arena, we're told the company is eyeballing Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Palm and Android versions as well. Ladies and Gentlemen, start your shopping engines now. The app and service is free. So it's a no brainer.

Six Flags Expands Partnership With Nintendo

News — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:27:10 GMT

Six Flags plans to expand its partnership with Nintendo in order to provide its theme park guests with the opportunity to play the upcoming Wii Sports Resort video game before it’s released to retail stores. Under the terms of the partnership, Wii Sports Resort will be showcased in the Wii Experience in nine theme parks across the country. Wii Sports Resort will also be featured in a Six Flags in-park media program which includes commercials on Six Flags TV and its Jumbotron Network as well as signs and online mentions on www.sixflags.com.

Wii Sports Resort features 12 sports activities such as archery, basketball, and table tennis. The game comes with the new Wii MotionPlus accessory which is designed to make controls within the games more precise.

Wii Sports Resort will be available this weekend, prior to the game's retail launch on July 26th.

Look for Wii Sports Resort at one of the nine participating locations:

Six Flags Magic Mountain; Valencia, CA
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom; Vallejo, CA
Six Flags Great America; Gurnee, IL
Six Flags Over Texas; Arlington, TX
Six Flags Fiesta Texas; San Antonio, TX
Six Flags Over Georgia; Austell, GA
Six Flags New England; Agawam, MA
Six Flags America; Largo, MD
Six Flags St. Louis; Eureka, MO

"We're excited to expand our partnership with Nintendo and bring this exciting pre-launch opportunity to our entertainment-seeking guests," said David McKillips, Six Flags SVP of Corporate Alliances. "As proven over the last two seasons, Six Flags continues to provide an effective mix of brand exposure and experiential marketing benefits to help drive awareness, sampling and, ultimately, sales for our partners."

Curious right-clicking problem causes computer to lock-up

-=AJ=- — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:45:27 GMT

Ok... so here's the problem.

When I right-click certain files or my main disk my computer completely locks up. I can select the file and goto File (in the toolbar, same list as in right clicking) and everything is okay. It wouldn't bother me so much as this also happens randomly when installing applications (normally Wise install wizards, usually I delete the folder and retry install and it works fine).

To rid myself of the problem though I completely re-installed windows, which didn't change anything. I reset the CMOS, changed the IDE cable order, and switched the plug it was plugged into, etc... still nothing.

There was another Hard-disk I had installed which I formatted... (Files I tried to *run* off there would lock up my computer) of which I could right-click again just fine. I'd rather not have to format my main disk again with this hard-drive (yes I did a clean reinstall).

I ran CHKDSK, Scandisk, Registry Mechanic... nothing turned up either. And I know there has to be a way to fix this. Although I can't tell if it's a hardware or software issue. Even though I reinstalled Windows :-P.

I currently run AVG Free anti-virus which hasn't turned up anything either.

I still haven't tried using a PS2 mouse yet. I'm currently using a Logitech infra-red laser mouse.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

HotHardware Welcomes Baby IKC with TurboCute

News — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:43:01 GMT

You know, it's not often we actually get a little giddy around here about something new but when it comes to something (or someone) brand-spanking new like this, we just can't help our occasional over-exuberant ways. World, say hello to HotHardware's latest addition to the family, Baby IKC with on-board TurboCute (TC) technology!

Isabella Kathleen Chiappetta - Baby IKC Unveiled

At 8lbs 1oz, Baby IKC is just a tad heavier than your average netbook but she's most decidedly more good-looking and powerful. Here we're observing her in full sleep mode. Talk about impressive! IKC runs at a tepid 98.6F and is currently a rather quiet and low-maintenance little machine. IKC's manufacturing team is thrilled with the final product.

Congrats Adrienne and Marco!!

(cue Stevie Wonder...)

Asus 23" Moniter Sale

amdcrankitup — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:53:35 GMT

ASUS VH236H Black 23" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 20000 :1 (ASCR) Built in Speakers - Retail

Original Price: $219.99 You Save: $40.00

$179.99

($159.99 after $20.00 Mail-In
Rebate Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059

This is bad never have the money at the right time! I need a credit card fast! LOL[:'(]

stupid question.

mitchello — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:06:25 GMT

do I need an internal modem to get online with a pc?

I am building a gaming rig and I need to know what parts I need besides the CPU, Mobo, Video card, HD, RAM, ODD and Case

I dont think I need a sound card becuase one comes on the mobo.

-thanks

Amdcrankitup new Rig Pictures

amdcrankitup — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:54:03 GMT

Hee,s some pics! a few!!!!

Dang lot of pictures!

More First Person Shooters Come To The iPhone

News — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:38:01 GMT

The day many gamers have been waiting for has arrived: Classic first-person shooters have come to the iPhone.

Sure, a jailbroken version of Quake came to the iPhone and iPod Touch last summer and there had been rumors of Doom making its way to the smartphone market for a while, but now it's official.

Doom Resurrection became available for download in the App Store this week for $10. The art and story is from Doom 3, which was originally released in 2004.

The game reset the Doom series and was set on Mars in 2145, in a scientific research facility where they were working on teleportation, biological research and advanced weapons. Sounds a little like Lost, hmm? (Wait, maybe Lost sounds like Doom?) Well, except for the part where they accidentally open a gateway to Hell and you, the space marine, must shoot your way through the demons and stop them from attacking Earth.

Quake is similar enough to Doom, where the player has to go through a portal to stop an enemy with the code name of Quake, and it involves teleportation and death squads and an overrun military base.

Official versions of Quake and Quake 2 are being planned, too. And John Carmack of id Software told Toucharcade this week that he hopes to have a new title for the iPhone every two to three months. Read that again: Every two to three months.

According to Toucharcade, these are in the works:

Doom Resurrection - Bluetooth Cooperative Multiplayer coming

Wi-Fi Multiplayer is currently working in Doom Classic (not yet released)

Doom Classic closing in on being ready for initial release

Plans for 3.0 support in Doom Classic with Bluetooth Multiplayer and downloadable content including Doom 2, Ultimate Doom, Final Doom, Master Levels

Considering competitive internet multiplayer in later update to Doom Classic

Planning Quake, Quake 2 for the iPhone and maybe all the way up to Quake Arena

Plans to do a Rage-themed from-scratch iPhone title

Wolfenstein RPG ready to go but being held by EA due to concern about confusion with Wolfenstein Classic

Doom 2 RPG is in works for mobile and that will be ported to iPhone too

Very early talks about a modernized Doom ("Doom++") release with new levels and story

Make sure you have a your iTunes account up to date, because you don't want to be left out when all your friends download and start a big ol' multiplayer game.

ACU Hands Out iPhone 3GS To Incoming Freshmen

News — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:35:17 GMT

Putting off those college applications to the last possible minute? Can't get motivated to further your education? Well, have a look at what's offered over at ACU. Years after Duke University began handing out iPods to incoming freshmen, Abilene Christian University in Texas has one-upped the aforesaid institution by distributing the new iPhone 3GS to new students for "mobile learning."

As the first college to do so, ACU has already handed out a wave of the handsets to incoming freshmen so that they can get familiar with the features over the summer. According to ACU, the second phase of implementation of mobile devices will continue ACU’s efforts to provide new opportunities for professors and students to interact, explore and discover in and out of the classroom.

Kevin Roberts, associate vice president for operations at ACU, seemed pretty proud of the move. To quote: "We are very excited to provide iPhone and iPod touch devices to our incoming students again this year. By providing these amazing tools to our students well before they arrive on campus, students will have more time to become accustomed to the devices, and learn more about the university and community which they will soon call home. We will be able to communicate very specific information as we help them transition to a college environment."

For those familiar with the college, you'll know that this ploy--er, learning approach--isn't the first of its kind. In fact, ACU handed out iPhones to freshmen in years past. Of course, there actually is a significant benefit to enabling kids to learn in the mobile realm. The business world is quickly morphing into one that's handled on the go, and being ready for that is key to entering the so-called "real world." Naturally, we suspect that ACU is also doing this for the publicity, and we suppose it's working judging by our own interest in the program. Like we said, if you've yet to decide on a place to study, maybe the one that gives you a free iPhone 3GS is calling your name.

ACU Mobile Learning from ACU Videos on Vimeo.

First 3D Web Cam Looks Like A Robot

News — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:47:17 GMT

What appears to be the first mass-produced 3D web camera looks like a friendly robot.

It's actually two cameras that record, according to Hammacher
Schlemmer, "slightly differing images" that are then put together as a
stereoscopic image. It even comes with five pairs of 3D glasses (those
funky cyan/red glasses that used to come in comic books) so you can
invite your friends over to watch your 3D movies.

The webcam only works with PCs that run Windows XP or Vista (it seems likely
that later versions will run on Windows 7), via a built-in USB cable.

The two cameras record video at 800 x 600 resolution, 15 frames per
second, and can focus up to 12 inches away. OK, so it's not going to
look good on an IMAX screen. But it can also be used as a normal camera
or to record two-dimensional picture-in-picture or side-by-side videos.

It's $99.95 and its video is compatible with Windows Live Messanger,
Skype, AOL Instant Messenger, OoVoo, Videora, Windows Movie Maker,
Stereoscopic Player and most other video applications and instant
messaging services.

HotHardware, Available In iTunes Video Podcasts

News — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:32:09 GMT

If you're a fan of our Video Spotlight channel (and we know you are, because you're cool like that...), you'll definitely want to check out our latest installment - HotHardware Video Podcasts. With the wild success of all things iPhone and iPod as of late, there was an obvious need to ride the wave and offer you the video mobility capabilities we know you crave...

HotHardware's Video Podcasts, Now Available At iTunes

So there you have it. HotHardware in your pocket and you didn't even have to steal it. As with most new features and functionality around here, our iTunes Podcast channel is a work in progress, so please drop us a note if you see something you feel isn't right, a bug that needs squashing or what have you.

Psystar Leaving Bankruptcy, Making New Mac Clone

News — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:47:25 GMT

Think of it as the computer company that just...won't...die. After being lambasted by Apple from day one, dealing with more threats and lawsuits in a year that most of us will hear of in a lifetime and eventually filing for bankruptcy, the infamous Mac clone maker known only as Psystar is back.

Shortly before most of America hits the pause button for a holiday weekend, the company made famous for producing its very own machines with OS X installed on them (without Apple's permission, mind you) has issued an email newsletter that clearly states that it is "ready to emerge [from bankruptcy] and battle Goliath [otherwise known as Apple]." Of course, the company is still awaiting a formal dismissal, but it sure sounds like it's eager to slip out and start selling Mac clones again.

Speaking of which, Psystar is exiting fincial purgatory with a bang by introducing its newest piece of hardware: the Open(7). The machine is based on Intel's newest Xeon processors ('Nehalem') and can be ordered with up to 24GB of RAM. Needless to say, it'll be the company's fastest ever OS X-equipped machine when it ships...if it ships. Finally, the company gave one last jab at Apple, closing its letter with this admittedly awesome quip:

"When life gives you apples, make applesauce."

Zing!

Akamai Announces Variable Bit Rate Streaming

News — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:27:02 GMT

Akamai Announces Variable Bit Rate Streaming Support to Deliver Live High Quality Video Content to iPhone and iPod touch

Content owners and publishers including Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Discovery, FOX News, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, MTV, NPR, Turner Sports and USA TODAY are all part of Akamai’s iPhone 3.0Video Showcase

Akamai Technologies, Inc., the leader in powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, today announced variable bit rate streaming support for live and high quality video content on the iPhone and iPod touch. Variable bit rate streaming was a key feature delivered in the recent iPhone 3.0 update and this new capability expands Akamai’s ability to provide consumers with the highest quality video streaming experience on their iPhone or iPod touch. Akamai HTTP Streaming for the iPhone is available as part of Akamai’s Media Delivery solution.

Akamai is also announcing the launch of the iPhone 3.0Video Showcase - iphone.akamai.com - to demonstrate this new solution. Content owners and publishers including Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Discovery, FOX News, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, MTV, NPR, Turner Sports and USA TODAY are participating in the showcase site. Inlet Technologies’ Armada and Spinnaker solutions are being used to encode the VOD and live experiences on the showcase site. Akamai has also developed a whitepaper, entitled “Streaming to the iPhone 3.0 - Best Practices” that can be accessed here: http://www.akamai.com/dl/whitepapers/iphone_wp.pdf

“Apple’s extensive support for new web standards like HTML 5 and HTTP streaming of live and on-demand video to the iPhone and iPod touch has transformed the quality of video content that consumers can now view while mobile,” said Tim Napoleon, Chief Strategist Digital Media at Akamai. “To be able to watch video anytime, anywhere at a quality this high is nothing short of amazing.”

Variable bit rate streaming over HTTP benefits the consumer by enabling a high fidelity viewing experience at any bit rate, faster video start up times and reduced video buffering. Studies have shown that content owners and publishers see the strategic business opportunity to maximize consumer access to their content by delivering video to iPhone and iPod touch. Content owners can now use Akamai’s Media Delivery solution to deliver live and on-demand content while leveraging a highly-available and fault tolerant infrastructure of tens of thousands of HTTP servers.

“CBC is pleased to be taking part in this initiative with our valued partners at Akamai,” said Bob Kerr, director, Business & Product Development, CBC Digital Programming and Business Development. “We are excited to be able to offer Canadians both live and on-demand programming from the CBC in remarkable quality on the iPhone and iPod touch.”

The Pirate Bay Acquired, To Go Legit?

News — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:05:45 GMT

The Pirate Bay, the world's most notorious BitTorrent tracking site, has faced the brunt of legal battles of late. Specifically, this includes the founders of The Pirate Bay, Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Peter Sunde, as well as Carl Lundstrom, who provided financing, all of who were found guilty of facilitating copyright infringement. Now, however, it looks to go legit, as Swedish tech company Global Gaming Factory X said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to it for about $7.7 million.

While an appeal has already been filed, The Pirate Bay hasn't been sitting still either, with a recent closed beta for a logless VPN, iPREDator being launched. Additionally, there was this deal, behind the scenes.

According to the press release:

GGF intends to launch new business models that allow compensation to the content providers and copyright owners. The responsibility for, and operation of the site will be taken over by GGF in connection with closing of the transaction, which is scheduled for August 2009.

"We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site, " said Hans Pandeya, CEO GGF.

That sounds totally legit. One has to wonder how The Pirate Party, unaffiliated but reportedly inspired by The Pirate Bay, will feel about this. The Pirate Party recently managed to gain a seatin the European Parliament in the latest election (two if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified).

Also on Tuesday, GGF added that it agreed to acquire Peerialism, which is a Swedish company that specializes in the development of P2P file sharing technology. The move is obviously related to GGF's acquisition of The Pirate Bay.

In the same press release as above, Johan Ljungberg, CEO of Peerialism said:

"Peerialism has developed a new data distribution technology which now can be introduced on the best known file sharing site — The Pirate Bay."

While GGF said that The Pirate Bay produces huge traffic (and yes, it's obvious), it's hard to believe that said traffic will remain unabated if things change at the site. We'll see what happens, and watch with interest.

Bing Now Returns Twitter Posts

News — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:50:03 GMT

There’s been an ongoing discussion in the search community regarding the value of content on Twitter and how to capitalize on it, particularly since Twitter content can reflect instant public reactions and newsworthy events. As a way to add more real time data into its search results, Microsoft has started adding some Twitter posts to the search results you get when searching for some people using Bing.

Sean Suchter, general manager of Microsoft's Silicon Valley Search Technology Center, wrote on a company blog, "We think this is an interesting first step toward using Twitter's public API to surface Tweets in people search."

Most of Bing’s search competitors don’t offer Twitter search results, but many will display a link to a person’s Twitter page and may even provide links to some old Twitter messages. Microsoft’s latest addition to Bing will list recent and past messages as well as other search results.

Microsoft intends to roll the feature out gradually, so it’s possible you might not see Twitter messages right away. Currently, Microsoft is indexing a few thousand people based on their follower count and number of tweets. Some of the Twitterers Microsoft is currently indexing includes people from its own search technology and business sphere such as Danny Sullivan or Kara Swisher as well as prominent people like Al Gore or Ryan Seacrest.

On the same day Microsoft announced the addition of Twitter posts to search results, a new study showed Bing continues to grow and may be taking market share away from Google (albeit a small amount). According to researchers at StatCounter, Bing’s share of the search market reached 1% in June. Even with the growth, Bing still trails Yahoo and Google by a large margin.

Band Records Entire Song On iPhone, Publishes It

News — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:52:25 GMT

A vast majority of iPhone applications may end up abandoned, but we know of at least one app that a Los Angeles-based band simply can't do without: FourTrack. As the iPhone continues to push the envelope of what's possible on a smartphone, the band--which goes by 'The 88'--has managed to record an entire track using Apple's smartphone. It's hard to believe, but it's true.

The app, which was crafted by Sonoma Wire Works, sparked an idea to jot down song ideas on the fly, and eventually the band simply used the 14 recorded tracks to create one of their published songs. The single is called "Love Is The Thing," and it's available now in the iTunes music store for $1. A video of the making process is posted below, and those interested to see how it sounds can catch a sample or make a purchase by visiting the band's website. The iPhone as a recording tool? Really, what will it do next?

Audio stutters or sounds timestretched when CPU activity increases

tristan888 — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 11:43:57 GMT

Hi all,

For the last few weeks, whilst playing music/videos on my Sony Vaio laptop, the sound flickers and stutters when the CPU activity increases or when there is hard drive activity (for example, when I load another program). This is obviously causing some form of interference with the sound. It never used to do this before; audio playback used to continute to sound smooth and uninterrupted whilst I was using the laptop for other things. Disabling services and statup processes reduced the problem, but that was only because there was less for the system to execute, therefore less processing activity, but this isnt really a solution. It is as if there must be nothing running at all in order to achieve continuing seamless playback.
The sound card uses RealTek audio drivers, which I have obtained from the Sony Vaio website.
(OS: WinXP Service Pack 1 - might I need service pack 2?)

Cheers,
Tristan

Another Windows7 Thread...

RyuGTX — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:16:43 GMT

So I currently have Vista Home Premium 32-bit (oem) on my PC. I am pretty sure that I read somewhere that you can do a clean install with the Windows 7 upgrade version because it scans for a legit copy of Vista. So I was wondering if I could buy Windows 7 (upgrade version), do a clean install, and bascially turn my oem license into a retail license so that I can transfer it to a "new" computer (upgrading mobo won't force me to buy a new license).

Also, when upgrading, would it let me pick between 32-bit and 64-bit? Or would it only give me the 32-bit option because I have 32-bit Vista? And can I switch between 32-bit and 64-bit. For example, I pick 32-bit and then switch to 64-bit once all my drivers are released?

Does anyone know if this is possible? Thanks for your help!