THIS MONTH THE DOCTOR TACKLES...↘ submit your questions to: [email protected]
CPU Overheating
M. 2 NVMe vs SATA
HDMI Voltage Bleed
Unexplainable
Data Loss
I have an HP Elitebook that is
currently fitted with a 2.5-inch
SSD as the main Windows 7
drive, and a 1TB mSATA that
contains working files and a
majority of VirtualBox images
as both VHD and VDI files.
I have recently swapped
out the 2.5” SSD with another
one and installed Windows
10 on it, which has gone very
smoothly apart from one
issue: When I swap back to
the Windows 7 SSD I notice
that I have lost some VDI files
completely, and others have
been corrupted.
I have managed to recover
some of the lost files from
backups and have tried the
swap again, and the same
thing keeps happening.
What is causing this, and
is there anything I can do to
stop this? At some point, I
will permanently swap the
Windows 7 SSD out and use
the Windows 10 one, but I’m
concerned about data loss on
my mSATA. Any help is most
appreciated. —Stuart MackeyTHE DOCTOR RESPONDS: The
Doc posits the theory that the
dual-boot setup is the problem.
If the problem only occurs after
shutting down Windows 10,
then it appears that the file-system on your data drive isn’t
being unmounted properly, re-
sulting in file corruption. Have
you run disk checks on the
drive? If problems are found
(and subsequently repaired) it
would confirm that diagnosis.
If the diagnosis is
confirmed, then there’s
one possible reason: Fast
Boot. Windows 8.1 and 10
both utilize this to speed up
startup by only performing
a hybrid shutdown that
combines classic shutdown
mechanisms with hibernation.
Try disabling Fast Boot in
Windows 10 to see if this fixes
the issue: Select “Additional
power settings” under
“Settings > Power & sleep.”
Click “Choose what the
power buttons do,” followed
by “Change settings that are
currently unavailable,” then
untick “Turn on fast start-up
(recommended)” and click
“Save changes.”
If this doesn’t fix the
problem, then the Doc
wonders if your mSATA
drive configuration is to
blame somehow. The port
is designed for use as an
optional flash cache to
accelerate performance on
non-SSD drives rather than
out-and-out storage, so
that may be a factor. Think
about how you set the driveup initially—with Intel Rapid
Storage maybe? If so, it will
have set up a cache and then
made the rest of the drive
available as storage, so
perhaps swapping Windows
installations disrupts this
process and leads to the file
corruption you experience.
Again, a disk check
should diagnose and clear
the problem. It’s also
worth visiting the drive
manufacturer’s website to
see if you can locate a drive
utility that can be used to
monitor the drive health and
maybe even help reconfigure
it if necessary. Ultimately,
though, we recommend
taking the time to migrate
fully to Windows 10 now.
Windows 7 is no longer
secure, so if all else fails
make the switch, and see
how your PC behaves with
Windows 10 as its only OS.CPU Overheating
Hey Doc, long-time MPC
reader and troublemaker
here. I have a question
about a CPU I’m trying to
use, an older Intel 4600k I
recently re-seated in an old
chassis (ASUS H97, Corsair
H100i GTX). I didn’t bother
reapplying thermal paste
because it was still intact with
the cooler. On firing it up, my
CPU temps have doubled from
a cool 30/40 C to 60/80 C. All
six fans are flowing correctly:
Three at the front, two on
the radiator, and one on the
exhaust chassis. However, my
cooling pumps are off—one
doesn’t seem to be flowing at
all, and the other is very hot.
I can jiggle the suspect pump
and the CPU immediately
cools off but cannot correct
the issue. Presumably, this
rules out the thermal paste
and points to a defective
cooler? —Ryan PittsTHE DOCTOR RESPONDS: All
your symptoms clearly indicate
that the cooling pump needs
replacing—and the MPC
team have a similar ex-
perience to back up that
diagnosis too. That said,
while the chip is running
hotter than you’d like,
60-80 C is within its normal
limits—ideally it’ll stay under ©^ NOCTUAThis low-profile cooler is an
excellent budget choice for
Intel CPUs.quickstart
14 MAXIMUM PC SEP 2020 maximumpc.com