bios

Wed
30
Jun
John Lister's picture

Windows 11 Compatibility Test Confuses Users

A surprise requirement for Windows 11 has left many users fearing their computer may not be compatible with the new system. The need for a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) has led to a price spike for the component, though there's no real need to panic ... or pay over the odds right now. The requirement came to light when Microsoft published a downloadable PC Health Check tool that told users whether their PC met all the hardware requirements for running Windows 11, which is due for release later this year. That led to a lot of confusion with users seeing the answer was "No," but the tool not saying ... (view more)

Fri
13
Oct
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Windows Cannot be Installed: the Selected Disk is GPT / MBR

Infopackets Reader Sarah H. writes: " Dear Dennis, A few days ago, my PC got stuck updating Windows 10 (for over 30 minutes), so I pulled the power cord out. After that, Windows wouldn't boot to the desktop. It would give me blue screen of death ... (BSOD), then reboot, then BSOD, ad infinitum. I knew it was stuck in a reboot loop, so I decided to install Windows 10 again. During the Windows 10 setup, it asks me to select where to install Windows. I selected the C drive, but I get an error message that says: ' Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition ... (view more)

Fri
24
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Laptop Won't Turn On - The Definitive Step-by-Step Guide

Infopackets Reader Marion L. writes: " Dear Dennis, I haven't used my laptop for a few weeks. I went to turn it on today, but it won't turn on at all. I have it plugged in to the wall power outlet, but it still doesn't work. What do I do now? " My ... response: This is a fairly common issue with laptops; oftentimes the laptop won't turn on even if it's plugged into the wall if it's been sitting for a while - in your case, a few weeks. Sometimes, however, something else has gone wrong, and parts of the laptop may be corrupt or not working, or the laptop may have died. I'll explain what you need to ... (view more)

Mon
19
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Laptop Black Screen, Windows Won't Boot

Infopackets Reader Elijah N. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have an HP laptop with Windows 10. Yesterday the laptop was working perfectly fine, but this morning I tried to turn it on and all I get is a black screen. The power light turns on, and the ... screen appears to be on (the screen backlight is on), but the screen is black and it won't boot into Windows 10. Nothing happens. What can I do to get my laptop working? " My response: This is a fairly common issue, and is either a hardware problem or a Windows boot problem. Some possibilities include: the laptop motherboard or display may have died, or ... (view more)

Fri
08
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Cannot Create Partition: No Free MBR Slots

Infopackets Reader Sam T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have an HP computer, which has 4 hard drive partitions: the System partition, the C drive, the factory image partition (which includes a backup of Windows), and the 'HP Tools' partition, which ... contains BIOS information in case a BIOS flash fails and I need to restore my BIOS. My question is this: I used MiniTool Partition Wizard to shrink my C drive, which then created unallocated space. Normally I can right click the unallocated space and create a new volume, however, I receive an error message that says: 'Partition Wizard cannot create a ... (view more)

Mon
18
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How to: Use Gparted, VMWare to Increase /dev/sda Partition (LVM)

Infopackets Reader Todd G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am using Windows 10 and I have VMWare workstation installed. I have been playing around with a CentOS (Linux) virtual machine for the last few months. When I first created the virtual machine, I ... selected the default size for the operating system which is 8 gigabytes. However, I'd like to create a larger partition because I am running out of space. I am using the Ext4 file system with a logical volume for my primary partition. I tried using gparted to increase the volume size on /dev/sda, but when I rebooted, the 'df -h' command shows that my ... (view more)

Fri
26
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: CPU Not Compatible with Windows 10 Error

Infopackets Reader Samantha M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have the 'Get Windows 10' app running in my tray bar, but when I click on it, it says my CPU is not compatible with Windows 10. How can that be? My PC is currently running Windows 8.1 Pro and ... only 1 year old -- so I don't understand why my CPU isn't compatible with Windows 10? I read somewhere that if you have Windows 8 or 8.1 that the CPU should automatically be compatible with Windows 10 as the hardware requirements are virtually the same. Any ideas? My CPU is the Intel Core i7 4790K. " My Response: You are ... (view more)

Fri
27
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Does Windows 10 require the CPU to support PAE?

Infopackets Reader Michael E. writes: " Dear Dennis, Do you know if Windows 10 (including Windows 10 Technical Preview) requires Physical Address Extension (PAE) support for the processor? " My response: That's an interesting question. The short ... answer is that yes, Windows 10 requires that your processor supports PAE. The good news is that the PAE feature has been available in most processors since 2003, so if your computer is 12 years old or newer, it's a safe bet that you don't have anything to worry about. Windows 8 and Windows 10 PAE Support In general, Windows 10 ... (view more)

Fri
06
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

Computer Freezes After Sleep?

Infopackets Reader 'Gloria' writes: " Dear Dennis, My laptop is set to go to sleep after a period of inactivity, but always freezes after it wakes up. When I press the power button to resume from sleep, the screen turns on but the laptop freezes and ... I can't input anything while I wait for it to wake up. This goes on for some time. At this point I usually power it off completely, then restart it with a cold boot because I hate waiting. How can I fix my laptop's sleep so it wakes up faster and so it doesn't always hang? " My Response: I don't recommend powering off your laptop to circumvent the ... (view more)

Thu
14
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

Vista's Deja Vu Snafu

Talk about deja vu. A Finnish security researcher recently discovered that the same problems affecting Windows XP and recovery disks were inherited by Windows Vista. If you have a Vista install DVD, you can gain administrative level access to the ... hard drive without needing a password. Detailed documentation, including possible workarounds, can be found at Kimmo Rousku's web site . The potential hack was discovered on February 8, 2007 during a Windows Vista training session. It was immediately reported to Microsoft Finland who confirmed it two days later. Apparently, the Command Prompt tool in ... (view more)

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