Blue PC building, now called “Streaky”

Finally, here is the build log from my most recent PC build. This new PC was put in the lovely blue case you see pictured, and I named her “Streaky” after Supergirl’s cat. You may recall that my pink Supergirl Linux box is called “Comet” after Supergirl’s horse.
Here are the new machine’s specs
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor 2.6GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro
The pictures show an abit, but I had to replace it with a Gigabyte

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Pink Supergirl Linux Box: Part 6

Okay, the top coat is on and dry, and I’m ready to assemble!

Here I am, ready to start.

Me with the Motherboard.

CPU! This is an Athlon XP 2800+

I put in the CPU

I RAM! I’ve got two sticks of 256mb each.

Snapping in the RAM that I

I predict that this crazy sound card snagged out of my dad’s old PC will be the bane of my existance. It’s a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy.

Securing the Hard Drive.

Channel your inner Back to the Future cast member. “Those things don’t work on water!”

“Unless you’ve got POWer”

Cables everywhere…

Turning on the power.

Here I am with my new box!

I have successfully installed Kubuntu Linux onto my new box. I booted with System Rescue CD first to wipe the drive because it was my younger sister’s old drive and who knows what could be on there. Then I had no problem installing Kubuntu with the dvd I burned from the iso. It looks so pretty! I named the computer Comet, the name of Supergirl’s horse.

I set the new box up to use a KVM so it’s working fine sharing the keyboard and monitor with my Windows box, but I did have some trouble with the mouse, so I just have two different mice plugged in for now, and I’ll look into that later.

Here’s a screenshot for my Kubuntu desktop on my new machine. I was quite pleased with how configurable it is. I was easily able to create and use a pink fading pattern on the panel(at the bottom). I was pleasantly surprised when I pressed print screen and a little box popped up, allowing me to save the screenshot as a png!

Pink Supergirl Linux Box: Part 5

Okay, the top coat is on and dry, and I’m ready to assemble!

Here I am, ready to start.

Me with the Motherboard.

CPU! This is an Athlon XP 2800+

I put in the CPU

I *heart* RAM! I’ve got two sticks of 256mb each.

Snapping in the RAM that I *heart*

I predict that this crazy sound card snagged out of my dad’s old PC will be the bane of my existance. It’s a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy.

Securing the Hard Drive.

Channel your inner Back to the Future cast member. “Those things don’t work on water!”

“Unless you’ve got POWer”

Cables everywhere…

Turning on the power.

Here I am with my new box!

I have successfully installed Kubuntu Linux onto my new box. I booted with System Rescue CD first to wipe the drive because it was my younger sister’s old drive and who knows what could be on there. Then I had no problem installing Kubuntu with the dvd I burned from the iso. It looks so pretty! I named the computer Comet, the name of Supergirl’s horse.

I set the new box up to use a KVM so it’s working fine sharing the keyboard and monitor with my Windows box, but I did have some trouble with the mouse, so I just have two different mice plugged in for now, and I’ll look into that later.

Here’s a screenshot for my Kubuntu desktop on my new machine. I was quite pleased with how configurable it is. I was easily able to create and use a pink fading pattern on the panel(at the bottom). I was pleasantly surprised when I pressed print screen and a little box popped up, allowing me to save the screenshot as a png!

Pink Supergirl Linux Box: Part 5

Okay, I think I’ve finally got it right.

I painted the top over with the light pink

I printed out a template on some card stock and cut it out. Then I stuck it to the top. I actually used a gluestick because I didn’t have any double stick tape. Actually, it worked pretty well, but if you try it make sure you get any glue residue off of the parts you want the paint to stick to. I went around it after I stuck it down with a damp paper towel.

Okay, so then I sprayed it over with the dark pink again.

Pink Linux Box: Part 4

So I decided that I need to do the stencil in 2 parts, so here I am doing the S part of it on the side of the case.

Stencil Ready

Stencil Sprayed

Success! not perfect, but I think it looks pretty good.

I waited for the stencil to dry and did one on the top too.

I taped it down more this time and I think I actually got a little more under the edges. I think it was the angle, though. I’m not very tall.

I think it’ll still look good once I get the border part on, though. I may also go over it with the original color to clean up some of the spots that the light pink got through.

And I did actually have to put on some sunblock to go outside and paint, because it’s 100 degrees outside on our patio.

Pink Linux Box: Part 3

here’s the second coat on my case:

the lighting’s different though, it’s cloudier today.

Okay, here’s my younger sister drawing a stencil for me. I brought out a shirt for her to use as a guide.

here it is finished, and there I am trying to cut it out

I started thinking about it too much and confused myself about where I needed to cut out so I had to stop and take a break

Pink Linux Box: Part 2

First coat of pink!

I’m going to let it dry, probably overnight, and then see if it needs another coat(it probably will, especially on the sides). Then I plan on using a glossy top coat. I’m trying to think of something good to put in the case badge spot. Any suggestions?

Changing it Up

I feel like changing something up a bit. I’d like to try a new mood theme, but I’m not sure what theme I’d pick.

I’m still working on the HTPC/PVR for my parents’ house. I’ve got the box together and all the software installed and everything. It works as a computer, but I’m getting stuck on the TV part. I tried to record from it using SageTV and it just recorded this fuzzy stuff. I plugged in Component cables from the DirecTV reciever into the tuner card, I had the right DirecTV selected because I got the right tv listings, but I think the problem is that i don’t have the right serial COM port selected. I’m not sure I even know what this is or how to find out which one it should be. None of the default settings have worked.

PC Update Extravaganza

Today started off a bit of computer upgrading/building madness. I’m building an HTPC(Home Theater PC)/HD PVR for my parents, and must of the parts are here now. I also got an extra hard drive for my computer. One of the nice Seagate 400 gb ones I’ve been admiring for a while now. I also got a new power supply, and one for my sister’s computer which has been apparently turning off on it’s own, so hopefully that will help. Nice ones, 500 watt with wrapped cables, extra fan, and of course lots of connectors so I can finally add more hard drives. I also decided to try the PlusDeck in my computer first, instead of installing it in my parents’ HTPC. The PlusDeck will allow me to convert my old audio tapes to mp3 format. I needed a bit of a break because I’ve been at it all day and my fingers are starting to feel raw.

fixing that computer

Here I am at my parents’ house fixing my sister’s old computer. They finally got their network back up, but this computer is beyond messed up. I’m even having trouble getting it to boot from a windows disc. I cleaned up the startup programs. tons of spyware junk, I’m sure. Then I was finally able to get My Computer open and started to run windows setup.

I reformatted the partition, and am now successfully(so far) installing windows. Sometimes a machine is too far gone to be much helped by running virus and spyware scans and any other thing you could do, and you just have to start over. Reformat. Reinstall the OS.
Here’s a link that has some helpful tips for fixing up a computer:
How to fix Mom’s computer

Perfect notebook and bag found

So, I found the perfect notebook computer that I want for when I go back to school;

it’s the Acer Ferrari 3400 with an AMD 64 3000+ processor and all the other goodies, but not too big and heavy, and best of all it comes in a shiny red carpaint finish.

and, I’ve found the perfect bag for it to go in

it’s perfect. it looks like a nice, normal tote; black suede with pink straps, but it has a nice section that fits a 15″ laptop (like the ferrari).

Processor Land

Today, I was browsing online for what processor I would like to get when I am able to upgrade. As some of you know, I am a total AMD girl. I would love to have an Athlon 64 FX. Super Cool. The coolest processor ever. Unfortunately, it’s like $700. So I think that I would like an Athlon 64, probably a 3200+

Of course, I’d need a new motherboard, but I haven’t decided about that yet. Gotta choose the processor first!