The Technical Support Thread!

[Luftwaffles]

Well, this existed on the old forum so I figured that it would be nice to bring it here as well.

Basically... do you have any kind of problems/questions regarding your computer, tablet, console or phone? Post it here and we'll help you out!

I just hope it won't end up like this:

Spoiler

[close]

[Groddil]

* Groddil can help too!

I've been having some troubles with GPU temperature recently. Normally, it'll cap at around 65^oC when overclocked and in-game, with an idle temperature of 30-35^oC, but recently it caps at about 98^oC when in-game.

Obviously, this ain't good, 'cause I don't want the GPU to burn itself out, but after some research, I managed to find a fix. I'll include it for anyone else who suffers the same problem.

[Feles]

well obviously you have solution right in that video 

[Luftwaffles]

That is awesome, @Groddil. Thank you for making the very first contribution to this topic. I'm sure many will find it useful

[Groddil]

You're welcome.

[Luftwaffles]

Now, that should be the LAST step don't you think

And now, please, let's keep the topic serious. Because, at this rate, if someone actually needs help they just won't get it due to craziness. Not what we want, right?

[Jukka the Sling]

Okay, I have a serious problem with my laptop.  It's a Lenovo IdeaPad 100S.  Ever since June, it consistently won't boot.  For a while before that, whenever updates were waiting to be installed and I happened to do a shutdown, it would fail to boot several times before finally getting into gear, installing the updates, and working normally.  But in June, I shut it down at a time when no updates were waiting to be installed... and it's never been able to boot since.

After turning it on, I get the message "Windows Boot Manager boot failed."  Hitting 'enter' gives me "Default boot device missing or boot failed.  Insert Recovery Media or select any key.  Then select 'Boot Manager' to choose a new Boot Device or to Boot Recovery Media."  The next menu gives me only Windows Boot Manager as an option, and of course selecting that gives me the initial failure message all over again.  It's a never-ending cycle.

Maybe this problem was caused by my computer being banged and bumped once too often.  (The plastic frame surrounding the keyboard actually has a couple of cracks.)  Does anyone know of any way I can fix this problem myself?  At this point, I'm gonna try and pop the battery out and hope desperately that that'll somehow solve the issue.

[Groddil]

If you don't mind losing your files, there should be a factory reset option in the boot manager, which could fix the problem. The issue is most likely caused by some sort of virus or major bug from a new update.

Or... If you still have the Windows Repair Disc that should come with your copy of windows (or just the computer, if it already had windows installed, which it probably did), you could try launching windows from the repair disc. That shouldn't delete everything, and might work.

[Hickory]

In addition to what Groddil said, you should be able to back your files up to an external drive. They're expensive, but well worth the price.

[Jukka the Sling]

I kinda do mind losing my files... I think.  (Can't remember what exactly I had on there.)

...Okay, apparently there's some kind of recovery button on the actual keyboard?  Weird.  Maybe I can try that, 'cause my computer doesn't have a disc drive (it's only 11.6 inches).

I hope it doesn't necessitate losing files.

[Hickory]

...I just realized, for the photo and text files, you can put them in Google Drive, which is totally free and accessible on literally every smart device conceivable.

[Groddil]

Buy an external disc reader. They're about 10 bucks (in other words, cheaper in American money), and they'll save you alot of hassle in the future.

...I just realized, for the photo and text files, you can put them in Google Drive, which is totally free and accessible on literally every smart device conceivable.

She kinda needs to be on the computer to do that, though, doesn't she?

[Luftwaffles]

Did you notice any kind of strange behavior on your laptop before this happened? I highly doubt an update would be able to wreck your computer this much, but a virus is highly possible.

Maybe this problem was caused by my computer being banged and bumped once too often.  (The plastic frame surrounding the keyboard actually has a couple of cracks.)

That DID affect the display on my old laptop (my mom used to put stuff on top of it when it was closed *facepalm*) but I think that you would be hearing an actual concert of beeps and disk readings if the problem was physical.

I'll look into your problem and see what else can be done, dear Jukka.

[Jukka the Sling]

@Sierra:  I don't remember anything too weird.  Y'know, I'm not sure, but I *might* have interrupted updates a couple of times before the weird shutdown issue started, and I got a message about them not finishing properly... and that was probably really stupid of me.   But I believe the updates installed properly the two or three times the computer started up to finish them.


Okay, the little recovery button gives me more options - Normal Startup, BIOS Setup, Boot Menu, and System Recovery - but with the exception of BIOS Setup, they all bring me straight back to the "Windows Boot Manager boot failed" thing.

I have no clue what the different options on the BIOS Setup menu will do.  Secure Boot is toggled to On, Secure Boot Status is Enabled, there's a couple of things that can't be changed, and then there are some options: Reset to Setup Mode, which apparently will "clear PK, disable secure boot and enter Setup Mode"; Restore Factory Keys, which will "restore all secure boot database to factory default include [sic] PK, KEK, db and dbx"; and BIOS Back Flash, which will "allow BIOS to be back leveled to a previous version", which is currently toggled to Off.

I am pretty confused.

[Søren]

If anyone has a problem or question regarding Apple products, (iOS or macOS) don't hesitate to @mention me. Unfortunately, I know little of PCs, so I can't help, Jukka.