[MudHut]

ok...just a quick update....took the Samsung back...showed the salesman that it uses 5.8gb on startup. He said that's not right. I ask for a refund and get another machine....I chose the N Series Asus notebook. Got it for a good price and we started it up and with using W8 , it only uses 1.3gb....better than the Samsung with its 5.8gb........I asked what they are going to do for messing me around since Saturday......asked what I would like, so I said as a joke "double the ram to 16gb".......done deal with no questions, there and then....now we will see how it goes....need to get used to all this new W8........and watching it run around like a cockroach on steroids.....


To all the members who gave input to this thread, I would like to say a big thank you and hope all have a Merry Xmas and bestus New Year

Sounds like a bit of a result there, I'd still love to know what the heck was wrong with the Samsung.  Just another of life's little mysteries.

I wasn't too keen on win 8 at first but after about a week or so of use I grew to quite like it and now wouldn't go back to 7.

[neptune]

yes ...I would like to know also what happened to the Samsung, as everything I did and tried would not alter the ram use. I really had to ask myself did I want to wait for the repair job to get an answer in a couple of weeks time, or cut my ties with Samsung and move forward with a new one. The funny thing is this unit has two by 750gb hard drives and after I bought it, the salesman said why don, t I replace one of the 750's with a 236 SSD which would cost around about $300.......hmmmm.....

JB HiFi was the seller of the computers who I did the deal with

Also I did download the Start menu as asa said onto the Samsung and now I will download it onto this one.......

Again.....thanks everyone......

[Dazzler]

The funny thing is this unit has two by 750gb hard drives and after I bought it, the salesman said why don, t I replace one of the 750's with a 236 SSD which would cost around about $300.......hmmmm.....

If they would do it for $300 including cloning the Windows install and transferring it to the new SSD without voiding your warranty (I think ASUS have 2 years?)  it would be worth doing .. You could pick up a 240 GB SSD from www.mwave.com.au for perhaps $200 but it is a bit messy setting it up (but you would have an awesome laptop)

I run my sofware lean and store most of my stuff on a server (NAS drive) in my office which I can access at any time wirelessy when I am home (My own personal cloud) so my 128GB SSD is only half full.. 

I run 120Gb and a 60GB SSD in my desktop + a 1TB for storage and it absolutely flies with only an i5 processor 

http://www.mwave.com.au/product/sku-aa22589-ocz_agility_4_agt425sat3256g_25_256gb_sata_iii_solid_state_drive_ssd

[neptune]

Thanks Dazz...will look into that...

[Surferdude]

Thanks neptune for the heads up on JB Hi Fi.
Over the years I've had several less than happy experiences with them but my kids (well, in their 30's) swear by them.
The worst problem was no doubt related to the personality of the local manager and I guess that can happen anywhere.

[AlanHo]

2 months ago I tried to use an SSD on my desktop – but I ran into problems that I could not resolve and finished up posting the story on computer forums. I got quite a few suggestions – tried most of the plausible ones – but none worked.
This is the story I posted….

I am experiencing significant slow-downs and occasional freezing when multi-tasking since I swapped my C: System drive from a Samsung F1 250 MB HDD to a Crucial V4 128 MB SSD. I did not clone the new drive from the previous HDD, but installed Windows 7 and all my software from scratch.

The computer is very fast to boot or load and use any single programme – but if I have a download running in the background such as Windows update, a security scan or photo editing – the system grinds almost to a halt when I try and use another programme like MS Office. This did not happen when I used a HDD for my C: System drive.

I have a CPU and Memory usage gadget running on my desktop and this shows low usage when the problem occurs - using task manager to look at processes also shows zero cpu usage against all the processes listed.

I have carried out a thorough check for malware and I have run sfc scannow and CCleaner without revealing any anomalies.

Computer spec
ASUS P5QL-E IP43 Mobo
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3 Ghz not overclocked
Crucial 8 GB DDR2 1066 (4 x 2 GB)
C: Drive Crucial V4 128 GB SSD (Windows 7 Professional 64 bit and all software
D: Drive Samsung Spinpoint F1 500 MB NTFS HDD (All Data)
E: Drive Samsung Spinpoint F1 1 GB NTFS HDD (internal back-ups)

I have now exhausted just about every suggestion I received from posting my SSD problem on some other technical forums.

I had one final try last week - I formatted the SSD again and installed Windows 7 and my software from scratch - after ascertaining it was all working at warp speed I took a full Acronis back-up.

I then used the computer for a few days and was slowly hit by the same problems with the computer running slower and slower, refusing to multi-task and occasionally locking solid.

So I did an Acronis restore onto the SSD expecting the computer to start again nicely refreshed and running at warp speed. It didn't - the damned thing was just as bad.

I have removed the SSD and gone back to a conventional hard drive and all is well again. It now takes a minute longer to boot compared with when the SSD was at its best - but who cares!!.

[Dazzler]

The first SSD I tried was a 60GB Kingston V100 drive as a windows boot drive in my i5 Desktop and was very quick to boot and operate.

However, once every few weeks it would refuse to boot and I had to go into the bios and make it boot from the original HDD which still had the Win 7 operating system on it as well

In the end I bit the bullet and got a 120 GB OCZ drive for the desktop and this has been brilliant. I kept the Kingston as a 2nd drive for programs like Photoshop and they boot up and work at warp speed (seemed to only be a boot sector issue with the Kingston)

I was so impressed I then replaced the 320 GB HDD in my 2 or 3 Y/O Core 2 Duo Compaq Laptop with another 120 OCZ SSD and I used that for over 12 months (I think) without any problems. It is still working great for my Mate. 

Not only does an SSD boot up more than twice as quickly but software installs heaps quicker and opens quicker too. From my experience Laptop battery life is also greatly extended too...

Not sure why you had all those problems Alan 

[Aussie Keith]

Interesting. Although this problem is solved I'll add my 2c. New machines from the likes of ASUS, Samsung, Dell et al come with all sorts of rubbish installed as trial software. They will be using system resources and need to be uninstalled. Next is the Windows swap file. It needs to be properly configured as well. If you use an SSD and have other drives the swap file should be located on a regular drive. If you have a small SSD as a boot drive this will consume space you could otherwise be using. If you have a lot of RAM, chances are its not being fully utilised anyway.

Although it no longer matters, I'm going to suggest the Samsung machine was distributed with hybrid boot mode configured and that by changing that setting and manually deleting the hybernation file hiberfil.sys and closing down all the unneeded programs running in the background it may have come good. Not that it matters now of course.

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/win8/windows8-sleep-mode.htm

SSD's do provide excellent performance but some brands and models have proven less that 100% reliable in operation in the past. Some have required ongoing firmware updates to avoid all sorts of issues including becoming invisible to the bios which I saw described in this thread. I have SSD's in a few machines here including the router and a media player and they are proving reliable so long as they are setup right in the first place which is to say ensure they have the latest firmware before using them. Less of an issue these days than in the past however.

http://media.kingston.com/support/downloads/SV100S2_120229_FwUpdateProcedure.pdf

[neptune]

thanks for that Keith. One of the things we did try before returning the Samsung was to shut down every thing, except those necessary to get the machine going and it still was using over 3gb of memory , where the ASUS hasn't yet got over 3.17GB with everything going

[Aussie Keith]

Most peculiar. Sounds like something feral lurking in the background.

[neptune]

Most peculiar. Sounds like something feral lurking in the background.

that's what there techos said and took it back right away

[richie_bl]

If it's a Samsung, it'll probably be absolutely full of their own crappy, resource hogging programs. Get a good cleanout program (CC cleaner, or ,I also run System Mechanic) and run it through - the last one I got, it cleaned out 2Gb of crap - and that was a new computer!

Agree with SPman, try using CCleaner(do a google search),most new systems are full of freeware crap,  it will help removing all the crap. Not sure of your expertise, if you run "msconfig", the tab on the right will show what runs at startup and you can unselect these.

Rich

[neptune]

If it's a Samsung, it'll probably be absolutely full of their own crappy, resource hogging programs. Get a good cleanout program (CC cleaner, or ,I also run System Mechanic) and run it through - the last one I got, it cleaned out 2Gb of crap - and that was a new computer!

Agree with SPman, try using CCleaner(do a google search),most new systems are full of freeware crap,  it will help removing all the crap. Not sure of your expertise, if you run "msconfig", the tab on the right will show what runs at startup and you can unselect these.

Rich

Rich,...ran CCleaner within 10min of it being suggested and it made no difference

[Dazzler]

I often get contacted to help friends and family to buy cars and electrical gear...

My latest project was to find a reasonable Laptop for between A$500 & $600 for one of my good mates 10 year old son..

I decided to buy locally and narrowed it down to these two at Hardly Normal..

HP Pavilion G6-2231TU Laptop A$571

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/hp-pavilion-g6-2231tu-laptop.html

Specs

BrandHP
Processor Type Core i5
Processor Model 3210M
Processor Speed (GHz)2.50
Processor Max Speed (GHz)3.10
Memory
Installed RAM4GB
Hard Drive Size750GB
Optical Drive TypeDVD Burner
Screen Size15.6"
Screen Type LED LCD
Operating SystemWindows 8

Asus K55VD-SX010H Laptop $642

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/asus-k55vd-sx010h-laptop.html

Specs

BrandAsus
ModelK55VD-SX010H
Processor BrandIntel
Processor TypeCore i5
Processor Model3210M
Processor Speed (GHz)2.50
Processor Max Speed (GHz)3.10
Memory
Installed RAM4GB

Hard Drive Size750GB
Optical Drive TypeDVD Burner
Screen Size15.6"
Screen TypeLED LCD

Graphics Card TypeGeForce GT 610M
Graphics Card Memory2GB
Graphics Card Memory TypeDedicated

Operating SystemWindows 8

Even though it said on the net that they had both in Stock they reckon they only had the HP (I would have encouraged My friend Garry to pay the extra for the Asus if it was available)

Anyway, I had the HP to play with tonight (to set it up with some extra software etc.. ) and it goes quite well for the price.

My first chance to play with Windows 8 .. and while I found the layout "messy" I had no trouble working out how get around.. Can't say I found it an improvement to Win 7 though (maybe on a tablet or Touch Screen all-in-one PC it might be 

[rustynutz]

Speaking of new computers....

I finally convinced my girlfriend, who owns a shop, to update her old clunker comp.

After doing a bit of searching I came across an all in one Toshiba which I reckoned fitted the bill.
It runs a i3 cpu, has 4 gb ram (Upgradeable to 16gb), 500gb hard drive and a 23" screen. It also comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Not bad for $599......

http://www.mytoshiba.com.au/products/computers/all-in-one/lx830/pqq15a-004001

[Shambles]

I finally convinced my girlfriend, who owns a shop, to update her old clunker comp.

Will you be including ass-scratching lessons for her?

[rustynutz]

I did that years ago, Steve....

No luck with the drinking coffee bit though...

[Dazzler]

Speaking of new computers....

I finally convinced my girlfriend, who owns a shop, to update her old clunker comp.

After doing a bit of searching I came across an all in one Toshiba which I reckoned fitted the bill.
It runs a i3 cpu, has 4 gb ram (Upgradeable to 16gb), 500gb hard drive and a 23" screen. It also comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Not bad for $599......

http://www.mytoshiba.com.au/products/computers/all-in-one/lx830/pqq15a-004001

That's a neat little set up for the price (should be ideal)

[rustynutz]

Yeah, obviously not the go for gaming and such, but for her shop stuff, like you said, it should be ideal.