TW's PC Adventure Thread
- Thread starter Twilight Wolf
- Start date
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Oh, jlee, thank you. I'm in a pretty crappy mood at the moment, but you made me smile.
Well, on the upside, everything else seems to be working perfectly, and I've installed all the drivers for my graphics card, audio, etc. The monitor I bought is freakin' gorgeous, even though I've only gotten to look at Windows 7 Pro's preinstalled desktop backgrounds.
I've found a wireless card at Office Depot that seems to be pretty good, so I can have my Dad pick it up tomorrow after work, but it costs $50. Lucky for me, I got a surprise $100 from my parents for my birthday (supposedly in case something like this happened), so I'm not broke, but still, I'd prefer not to have to use the money to buy something I already have. I'd much rather have used it to buy some games or something. I guess I can at least buy Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and maybe something else, and I've got still-unopened copies of Crysis, Left 4 Dead, and Counter-Strike: Source. I can also use the extra-long antenna from the dead card to get a better signal. Could be worse, I guess, but still, I can't believe my Dang luck.
Well, on the upside, everything else seems to be working perfectly, and I've installed all the drivers for my graphics card, audio, etc. The monitor I bought is freakin' gorgeous, even though I've only gotten to look at Windows 7 Pro's preinstalled desktop backgrounds.
I've found a wireless card at Office Depot that seems to be pretty good, so I can have my Dad pick it up tomorrow after work, but it costs $50. Lucky for me, I got a surprise $100 from my parents for my birthday (supposedly in case something like this happened), so I'm not broke, but still, I'd prefer not to have to use the money to buy something I already have. I'd much rather have used it to buy some games or something. I guess I can at least buy Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and maybe something else, and I've got still-unopened copies of Crysis, Left 4 Dead, and Counter-Strike: Source. I can also use the extra-long antenna from the dead card to get a better signal. Could be worse, I guess, but still, I can't believe my Dang luck.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Very true. I wouldn't exactly say it was easy to get everything working, though -- it was a pain in the ass to get everything together. Took a long time to install the mobo standoffs in the case and find the correct screws, took forever to get the CPU cooler mounted (seriously, an hour or so, plus I had to reapply my Arctic Silver twice before it was done. I almost wished I had just used the stock cooler instead), and it took too long to install my card reader. Then I lost a screw from one of the hard drive cages -- not a big deal, since it still has the other seven screws holding it in place, but annoying. I heard it hit my desk, but I didn't hear it roll away or anything, it wasn't in the case... I think it must have hit 88 MPH and traveled in time or something, because it seriously just disappeared. I'll probably find it three years ago. Took me from around 7:00 PM or so to 5:00 AM to go from beginning to completion, with breaks, of course. I must really suck at PC building for it to have taken that long. o_o
Everything works, though, and I installed some programs from the CD-ROM that I got in a copy of Maximum PC. Now I have Firefox for whenever I get online, plus AVG, GIMP, CCleaner, and Audacity.
Everything works, though, and I installed some programs from the CD-ROM that I got in a copy of Maximum PC. Now I have Firefox for whenever I get online, plus AVG, GIMP, CCleaner, and Audacity.
Outdated versions, of course. ;P
Set up a bridge! Use your laptop for wifi, and bridge the desktop to it using ethernet. Windows has built in connection sharing.
Set up a bridge! Use your laptop for wifi, and bridge the desktop to it using ethernet. Windows has built in connection sharing.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Just how outdated can they be if they were on the March 2009 CD?
Also... eh, I wanted a wireless connection for just that reason: no wires. Or at least very few. That's why I chose not to move the router into my room, not to mention I have little to no space to put either it or my laptop or any outlets left on my surge protector for powering either. I may consider it as a temporary solution, but for the time being, I'm gonna see if my Dad can get me a card tomorrow. I think as long as I use the antenna from my old card, I ought to be okay, especially since I'm really not too far from the router as it is -- just in a really inconvenient way. (One floor up and one room over, more-or-less).
Also... eh, I wanted a wireless connection for just that reason: no wires. Or at least very few. That's why I chose not to move the router into my room, not to mention I have little to no space to put either it or my laptop or any outlets left on my surge protector for powering either. I may consider it as a temporary solution, but for the time being, I'm gonna see if my Dad can get me a card tomorrow. I think as long as I use the antenna from my old card, I ought to be okay, especially since I'm really not too far from the router as it is -- just in a really inconvenient way. (One floor up and one room over, more-or-less).
vskid3
Well-Known Member
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.24688
That is a good USB wireless adapter. I have one and it does about as good as my Belkin PC card adapter that was 3 or 4x as much. Buy the Office Depot one, order the DX one, receive the DX one approximately a month later, return the Office Depot one.
That is a good USB wireless adapter. I have one and it does about as good as my Belkin PC card adapter that was 3 or 4x as much. Buy the Office Depot one, order the DX one, receive the DX one approximately a month later, return the Office Depot one.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
J.D said:
Gah, I meant 2010. *Headdesk* Either way, it's the most recent issue of the magazine.
XCVG said:
And just how would I get it to the router that's, as I mentioned, downstairs and a room over? And as I mentioned, I probably shouldn't have much of a problem with gaming since I'm really not far from the router. Heck, I only ever had problems with lag when I was using my Dad's laptop to play TF2, because not only does the Wifi in that thing suck, but I was about as far away as I could get from the router when I played. It worked well most of the time, though, so I should be just fine with a real card and a good antenna being where I am.
Also, thanks, vskid, but I got a text from my Dad this afternoon letting me know he picked up the wireless card I had chosen. I can install it tonight and hopefully be gaming finally!
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Well, flux, I'm having no luck at all. The new card isn't any more effective at getting me on the internet, so I think I wasted $50. 
My Dad also happened to grab a USB wireless adapter from work, though, so I'm going to see if I can get that up and running and maybe download the most recent Windows update to see if it helps. If all else fails, he knows a guy that can look at my computer, but... Dangit, I really wasn't expecting hassle anywhere near this magnitude. This is the fourth night in a row I haven't been able to use my computer for anything but trying to get it to work. FML.
My Dad also happened to grab a USB wireless adapter from work, though, so I'm going to see if I can get that up and running and maybe download the most recent Windows update to see if it helps. If all else fails, he knows a guy that can look at my computer, but... Dangit, I really wasn't expecting hassle anywhere near this magnitude. This is the fourth night in a row I haven't been able to use my computer for anything but trying to get it to work. FML.
Driver issue? Range issue?
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Probably not a driver issue since I've used I-can't-tell-you-how-many different drivers and versions of drivers to try to get both cards to work and none do anything. Definitely not a range issue, either, because the wireless cards aren't even recognized by my computer. Not sure if plug-and-play isn't enabled in Windows or my BIOS or something or not, but I'm gonna check on that, too.
Wish me luck, I'm off to my desktop now. If I can't do anything to get this working, I'll have no choice but to have that guy come over and look at my computer. He probably won't work for free, either, but even if he's cheap, I'll have no way to pay him...
Wish me luck, I'm off to my desktop now. If I can't do anything to get this working, I'll have no choice but to have that guy come over and look at my computer. He probably won't work for free, either, but even if he's cheap, I'll have no way to pay him...
Tried all the different USB ports?
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
It's a PCI card, but yes, I have tried both PCI ports on my motherboard. No dice on either.
And guess what? The USB adapter my Dad brought home appears to be dead. I got the drivers installed and now have the option of connecting to a wireless network, except that there are no networks to connect to. No lights on the adapter, unplugging it and plugging it back in does nothing, using a different USB port does nothing. Dead. I KNOW the USB ports work, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to use my keyboard or mouse.
I guess my next move will have to be a wired connection, but I still don't know how I'm gonna pull that off. Either way, I'm sick to death of dealing with my computer right now, so I'll do it tomorrow. Wonderful, even more time not being able to use my computer. I hate this. I can't believe the sheer amount of bullflax that's come up over and over and over during this whole endeavor, and knowing just how much money it cost and still not being able to use it for anything but Notepad after the many, many hours I've put into trying to get it to work over the past few days makes me feel sick, extremely frustrated, and very depressed. At this point I wish I had never bothered with building it at all, and I honestly want to kill it right now. I'm not even joking.
And guess what? The USB adapter my Dad brought home appears to be dead. I got the drivers installed and now have the option of connecting to a wireless network, except that there are no networks to connect to. No lights on the adapter, unplugging it and plugging it back in does nothing, using a different USB port does nothing. Dead. I KNOW the USB ports work, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to use my keyboard or mouse.
I guess my next move will have to be a wired connection, but I still don't know how I'm gonna pull that off. Either way, I'm sick to death of dealing with my computer right now, so I'll do it tomorrow. Wonderful, even more time not being able to use my computer. I hate this. I can't believe the sheer amount of bullflax that's come up over and over and over during this whole endeavor, and knowing just how much money it cost and still not being able to use it for anything but Notepad after the many, many hours I've put into trying to get it to work over the past few days makes me feel sick, extremely frustrated, and very depressed. At this point I wish I had never bothered with building it at all, and I honestly want to kill it right now. I'm not even joking.
vskid3
Well-Known Member
Psst, return or exchange it. It might be dead.Twilight Wolf said:Well, flux, I'm having no luck at all. The new card isn't any more effective at getting me on the internet, so I think I wasted $50.
If you really want to connect it to the internet, move it next to the router or the router closer to it, whichever is easier.
Don't get too worked up about it. Yes, it sucks, but it's fixable. Work on it until you start getting frustrated, then take a break for a while to clear your head.
Twilight Wolf
Frequent Poster
Heck YEAH I'VE GOT AN INTERNET CONNECTION NOW!!!
I'm super happy right now. I ended up having to bring the router up from downstairs, and with that, I got a wired internet connection going. Downloaded some Windows updates, upgraded my BIOS, all that good stuff. I figured I might as well since it couldn't do any harm, and it just may have helped. It took me a while, but after uninstalling all the drivers I had associated with the wireless card, removing the card, rebooting a few times, and reinstalling the card after adjusting the mounting bracket, I got Windows to recognize it automatically. I installed the recommended Ralink drivers through Device Manager, and I now have a perfectly working wireless connection. Did some speed tests, too: just as fast as the wired connection, and my ping is a nominal 24ms. I'm typing this post from my desktop right now!
And to think I wanted to kill it last night. Guess my mind got worn down from the stress.
I'm super happy right now. I ended up having to bring the router up from downstairs, and with that, I got a wired internet connection going. Downloaded some Windows updates, upgraded my BIOS, all that good stuff. I figured I might as well since it couldn't do any harm, and it just may have helped. It took me a while, but after uninstalling all the drivers I had associated with the wireless card, removing the card, rebooting a few times, and reinstalling the card after adjusting the mounting bracket, I got Windows to recognize it automatically. I installed the recommended Ralink drivers through Device Manager, and I now have a perfectly working wireless connection. Did some speed tests, too: just as fast as the wired connection, and my ping is a nominal 24ms. I'm typing this post from my desktop right now!
And to think I wanted to kill it last night. Guess my mind got worn down from the stress.
Joeyjoe9876
Frequent Poster
congrats man
