themunchkinman

If you have boot-able media. You can boot the OS and access the disk tools. If the drive is still intact and viable, you can then image it to an external. Then reinstall the OS, either on the existing drive, if it is not the cause of the crash, or on a replacement. Then, use the option to transfer your data from and "existing" system and point it to the external. It can migrate your profile in and repair as necessary. I walked a friend through the process over the phone. It took a few hours, but it worked.

Yeah, it's goofy. The bigger problem is that some graphics cards and other display port interfaces essentially trunk internally, the same way that DVI connections can carry analog and digital at the same time through different pins. Some adapters with display port support encoding an analog signal in the digital and the adapter simply decodes it back out. Then you introduce thunderbolt on Apples (and now some others) where storage data, video data, and network data are all pulled through the same pipe and the end-point pulls out just what it needs (kind of like VLAN). I often tend to be the same way, digging into detailed explanations and have to force myself to stop in situations where it's not broken.

I have run the Asus N16 and N66. I have had multiple N16's fail, not sure if coincidence or not. They never failed when I was using them, but when I replaced with N66's and handed them off... they died after a while, albeit under suspicious circumstances. Since then I have separated my routing and wireless functionality. However, if you are keeping an AIO wireless solution, the N66 and AC66 are not bad options. The main question is are you wanting to continue using DDWRT or some other 3rd party firmware?

The Intel 7260AC is one of the better internals on the market. You will have to have a Router/AP that supports simultaneous 2.4/5 GHz operation, but he theoretical throughput is close to 1Gbps. Not sure what your throughput potential is end-to-end, but this should get you close.

It seems you are having issues in the hand-off between the BIOS ,UEFI and the drive. One thing that you may try is disabling the secure-boot options and see if you can boot from CD, DVD, or flash drive using some type of live media (PE disc or Linux Live distro). Then work from the ground up, test the hard-drive, see if your partitions are intact, etc.

I appreciate your candor, and moderation. (And my request was not to ask someone to host them with a third-party, but if it was already there, especially since some downloads are already available to guests, and I was not sure if there was a problem with the system) BTW... I was trying to reply on the shout-box. Active vs. Passive on the Display-port adapters. Active adapters essentially have an on-board converter that creates a clean, proper signal for the intended destination. To go from Digital (DisplayPort) to Analog (VGA), a DAC is required, which essentially makes it active. The difference in price is often the quality of the chipset. The better adapters reduce the lag-time in the conversion, and thus may be considered not only a converter but have hardware acceleration for the conversion. Passive adapters work when the signal stays digital (DP to DVI or DP to HDMI) because the signal is essentially compatible and thus the conversion is just a pinout. Active digital adapters have a DDC chip that performs the action described initially. I hope this helps.

First and foremost, this is NOT a complaint. Only an incident report that I feel should be made public, a commentary that should be available according to the promise made for "freedom of speech." From the main Tech Inferno page: I submit a post inquiring whether or not there are third-party links to the tools to modify the bios... and I incur an "infraction" for complaining that I cannot download and "circumventing forum rules." My statement regarding it being 'difficult to make 5 quality posts' was only with respect to making them in time to have a solution for my issue, and I had already resolved to abide by the system in the meantime. I have been working to post genuine quality posts to assist those that I can, beginning with a response to an inquiry about thermal compounds. I sincerely want to give more than I get, and show appreciation for those who contribute. But it looks like I am not really free to express myself. I even was considering paying to become an elite member and donating to the cause for the laptop upgrade. I am questioning that decision now. But I guess that is the response desired from someone who's handle is "angerthosenear." Let's see if you have the courage to approve this post. Here is what earned me the infraction: (It seems my initial impression about the difficulty was true)

I manage a higher-ed / research IT office. We do our fair share of modding for specific applications. This often involves installations that need to be serviceable. I have experience with the all variants of Artic Silver (and others). Their two-step prep (ArtiClean) is still the staple in the shop and for me at home. But for all of my testing and final applications I use Noctua NT-H1, since it doesn't have a "break-in" period (or at least a very short one), and it has consistent performance with little breakdown even if you have to pull and re-seat the heat sink. This has allowed me to conduct actual real-world tests. In several synthetic tests it even edges out AS5, and this has been replicated in my real-world tests as well. Based on price, consistency, and durability, I still use NT-H1, even though several newer compounds have been released that may perform slightly, albeit often marginally better in the real world. I have always gotten more gains from a more efficient coolers and consistently performing compound than from a compound that has to be applied "just so." I hope this helps.