Still Having Weird Avatar Problems

[SpacyAce2012]

Well, after my last post on this board, I followed the advice given and cleaned out my cache.

And the problems I'm having with changing my avatar on these boards continues.

I normally use Mozilla Firefox, and I have no trouble changing avatars on other boards. Even before I cleaned out my cache, I had no problems on other forums doing this. Only here and on Macross Nexus.

Then, I tried an experiment. I used my Internet Explorer to log on and change it. Eureka! It worked!

But now, it get's weird. When I use Firefox to log on, it shows my old avatar! Just resized to the same dimensions of my new one showing up on IE!

Any ideas as to why this is happening? Solutions? I remember JBO mentioning some sort of bug that may be the cause of it.

[Hurin]

Well, after my last post on this board, I followed the advice given and cleaned out my cache.

And the problems I'm having with changing my avatar on these boards continues.

I normally use Mozilla Firefox, and I have no trouble changing avatars on other boards. Even before I cleaned out my cache, I had no problems on other forums doing this. Only here and on Macross Nexus.

Then, I tried an experiment. I used my Internet Explorer to log on and change it. Eureka! It worked!

But now, it get's weird. When I use Firefox to log on, it shows my old avatar! Just resized to the same dimensions of my new one showing up on IE!

Any ideas as to why this is happening? Solutions? I remember JBO mentioning some sort of bug that may be the cause of it.

Clean out the cache, but also delete all cookies. Make sure you're running Firefox 2.0.1. And, finally, if all that doesn't work, delete you entire Firefox profile (unless you're one of those types that has tons of customizations).

If that doesn't work, then your computer is just odd.

[SpacyAce2012]

Clean out the cache, but also delete all cookies. Make sure you're running Firefox 2.0.1. And, finally, if all that doesn't work, delete you entire Firefox profile (unless you're one of those types that has tons of customizations).

If that doesn't work, then your computer is just odd.

I am indeed running Firefox 2.0.1. Without customizations.

So, I'll give it a shot. If it doesn't work, I'll just use my Internet "Exploder" to log on to these boards.

[Dante74]

At the risk of sounding stupid, how do I clean out my cache?

I use Firefox btw.

[myk]

Disk cleanup under system tools, right? I'm not sure if that program run deep enough, though...

[JsARCLIGHT]

For Firefox go to tools>options, then click on the tabs for cookies and cache. At the lower right on each tab panel is a button that says "clear cache/cookies". Click that. Done. I just did that here at work and your new avatar came up for me.

As Hurin says, any problems you experience after that point are the fault of an odd computer.

[emajnthis]

Disk cleanup under system tools, right? I'm not sure if that program run deep enough, though...

quite the opposite (generally) though it's better to do both, once through the system and again through your personal browser, it's good to do a system cleanup and a HD defrag at least once a week/month (whenever you have time). I could go into explaining why but then it'd hi-jack this thread, and "computer" threads don't go well here at MW.

[Dante74]

Aaahh! Now you got me all curious.

My PC mostly tells me I don't need to defrag yet, so I just don't bother.

[emajnthis]

your computer won't tell you to run a defrag unless there's a file it can't find the rest of (as in it finds the first fragment but can't find the rest) or if you're coming to the brink of a full hard drive. It will however tell you to run scandisk on multiple occasion, which is necessary for completely different reasons.

You should also clean out your internet files in internet explorer (or any other browsers) along with firefox for good measure. For Internet explorer it varies, but you can go through tools>internet options>delete cookies/delete files

or in the newest rendition of IE7

tools>internet options>delete>delete all

most web browsers store cache in their own proprietary places, IE defaults to temp int files and other folders within windows OS so you can get to them using the control panel.

[Hurin]

your computer won't tell you to run a defrag unless there's a file it can't find the rest of (as in it finds the first fragment but can't find the rest) or if you're coming to the brink of a full hard drive. It will however tell you to run scandisk on multiple occasion, which is necessary for completely different reasons.

A fragmented file doesn't have any parts of it "lost" or unreadable. Nor does the amount of hard drive space available have anything to do with when Windows will tell you that you should "defrag."

A "fragmented" file is merely a file that is split up and written on two or more parts of the hard drive rather than "all together" sequentially along the hard drive platter. Because a hard drive's head(s) has to jump around on the platter a lot to read all parts of a fragmented file, performance can suffer (though not as obviously as in the past).

Back in the day, a fragmented hard drive could drastically affect computer performance. While having a defragmented hard drive is still preferable, in this era of 5,400rpm and 7,200rpm hard drives with 2, 4, and 8mb caches, most users won't notice the performance penalty incurred by having a moderately fragmented hard drive.

Windows "analyzes" the hard disk and does a quick check to see how much of the drive is fragmented. If a certain percentage of the files are fragmented, it will recommend a defrag.

Edit: It looks to me like there is some confusion going on between "defragmentation," which is not a "repair" but something done to improve disk performance. . . and "checkdisk" or "scandisk" that is used to repair damaged file systems. Scandisk finds lost chains, clusters and/or "fragments" of files that are not properly mapped out on the file allocation table and can also be used to scan the surface of the disk for physical defects.

[Dante74]

When it writes the file, Windows runs out of space and searches for space to write the next part of the file right? So how does Windows know where, on the hard drive, to look for the other part of the fragmented file? The first part of the file won't tell it where to find the second will it?

[Hurin]

When it writes the file, Windows runs out of space and searches for space to write the next part of the file right? So how does Windows know where, on the hard drive, to look for the other part of the fragmented file?

What am I? An engineer at Seagate?

I think a lot of the logistics is handled "in hardware" between the hard drive controller (usually on the motherboard) and the logic board on the hard drive itself.

The first part of the file won't tell it where to find the second will it?

Now, I'm starting to get out of my depth. This is the sort of stuff you learn while having a storage array problem on a server, and then promptly forget until the next time you have a problem. But, I believe there is a "master database" or "table" of sorts that keeps track of where everything is. What scandisk finds most often are "orphaned" entries in this database (either data with not entry in the table, or a table entry with no data on the disk).

Edit: For more info, here's a quick thing I googled. Some of which probably contradicts my fuzzy memory above.

[emajnthis]

While you may not be a "computer engineer" i on the other hand am (A+ Net+, MCP, CCNA), and the first part of the file does determine where the rest of the file is in that when it is saved (regardless of FAT32 or NTFS) the first part of a file cluster (let's say 1024kb file where each cluster eats up a 512kb cluster) will determine where the other clusters are (in this case only two, the first determining where the second resides). What i was discussing of "lost" clusters is that if the first file cluster is at A1 and the second file cluster (since Windows decided A2 wasn't available to write on) is at say D5 but D5 is damaged or can't be found, then it will tell you there's a "broken file" which sometimes scan/check disk will fix, sometimes it won't.

That's why eventhough Windows OS will of course run a breif check of where your files are (only the first cluster of each file), it doesn't guarantee that your harddrive won't "lose" it or it will be "accidentally" deleted with another program who believed that cluster belonged to them.

In other words, the more you tell Windows to remember where your files are, the less likely they are to be lost. Which means regardless of a new system or old system it's a good idea to run defrag. Space issue is more in regards to Fat32 system where a defrag can actually be used to save space (Fat 32 using larger file clusters so there would be lots of lost space at the end of each cluster).

And I incorrectly stated that if you're at the brink of a full hard drive it will tell you to defrag, it will automatically run a disk clean up utility, but it is a good idea to defrag if you have a FAT32 system, for NTFS it normally doesn't matter.

Edited January 4, 2007 by emajnthis

[Hurin]

That's all well and good, but it doesn't change the fact that Windows Defrag doesn't base its decision regarding whether to recommend a defrag on how much drive space is left or whether there are lost clusters. Defrag will either not notice such things and go onwith its basic calculation of how much fragmentation is present or tell you that a defrag can't be run until scandisk is used to fix underlying issues that it stumbled across.

And that was the only thing with which I took issue:

your computer won't tell you to run a defrag unless there's a file it can't find the rest of (as in it finds the first fragment but can't find the rest) or if you're coming to the brink of a full hard drive.

And, for the record, I was referring to engineers that actually design and build hard drives. . . not people like you and me who read a book, take a test, and then declare ourselves "Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)." God, I was so ashamed when I had to get that done for one of my jobs.

We made ruthless fun of all the "cert-weenies" at my first job. We had a sys and network admin who seemed to know absolutely everything and there was a standing order that whenever a customer called and said: "I'm a consultant with xxx certification". . . he wanted the call transferred to him. He always had fun with them.

[emajnthis]

That's all well and good (if accurate), but it doesn't change the fact that Windows Defrag doesn't base its decision on how much drive space is left or whether there are lost clusters. Defrag will either not notice such things and/or go on with its basic calculation of how much fragmentation is present or tell you that a defrag can't be run until scandisk is run to fix underlying issues that it stumbled across.

This was the only thing with which I took issue:

And, for the record, I was referring to engineers that actually design and build hard drives. . . not people like you and me who read a book, take a test, and then declare ourselves "Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)." God, I was so ashamed when I had to get that done for one of my jobs.

We made ruthless fun of all the "cert-weenies" at my first job. We had a sys and network admin who seemed to know absolutely everything and there was a standing order that whenever a customer called and said: "I'm a consultant with xxx certification". . . he wanted the call transferred to him. He always had fun with them.

I know what you mean by cert weenies, i only got them for the sake of "credentials" to get a raise (aside from the CCNA, the other three are just titles). Honestly, your computer won't tell you to run a defrag pretty much ever (which i did say in my previous post; though honestly in Windows 98 i believe it asks you to do it if it finds the first fragment of a file but can't find it's accompanying parts) but if it were me, it would be one of the first things to do right after scandisk does it's job, it's almost standard affair. And even with modern harddrives that spin up as fast as 10,000rpm, defrag is still a good tool, realistically if your harddrive spins up that fast, it wouldn't take hardly anytime at all to defrag.

Don't get me started on "i'm consultant with xxx cert" i work for DC government, EVERYONE is that guy and furthermore knows absolutely nothing pertaining to their cert. The only cert i have real respect for are the Cisco people because you really have to know what you're doing to get CCNA and CCNP; MCP MCSE/A are book read credentials that really have no swing unless you're working on them on a daily basis (which unfortunately i have to do ) or if you're stuck having to do Active Directory.

Edited January 4, 2007 by emajnthis

[Hurin]

The only cert i have real respect for are the Cisco people because you really have to know what you're doing to get CCNA and CCNP

Amen.

[Hurin]

And even with modern harddrives that spin up as fast as 10,000rpm

I'll see that and raise you the Maxtor 15k! Hehe, I was speaking about widespread desktop usage.

On a totally unrelated note: I can't abide these gamers who run 10,000rpm Raptors on their gaming rigs so that they can load their game levels two seconds faster. I'd rather dump my money into video cards.

And don't get me started on these same guys putting such drives into RAID 0 arrays for desktop "single-user" usage. Talk about a waste!

I should admit, however, that I used to put a SCSI controller in my gaming rig and run 7,200rpm (with a whopping 20GB storage) back in the early nineties. . . before I came to my senses! When I'd build an IDE system for a friend or family member, I think I may have actually sneered a little.

[Hurin]

Oh, and SpacyAce, report back when/if your problem is solved so we can close this thread before I hijack it entirely via my computer reminiscences.

[azrael]

I still fail to see how a defrag would help an avatar problem.....

I would try Opera over IE. Also, have you tried uninstalling Firefox and deleting the your Firefox user profile?

(save your bookmarks and anything important)

You can find your Firefox profile in (with WinXP)

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\

This will take out all of your settings, cache, cookies, history, blah blah blah and bookmarks ((save your bookmarks and anything important). Re-install Firefox and see if that helps.

[emajnthis]

I still fail to see how a defrag would help an avatar problem.....

it doesn't; it's just a smart thing to do

[EXO]

it doesn't; it's just a smart thing to do

turn your computer on and off then throw it out a window.

[Dante74]

I never would've guessed that uploading a new avatar could be so informative.

[Sdf-1]

My avatar is all messed up, but hey who cares!

[JB0]

My avatar is all messed up, but hey who cares!

Me. Among other things, it's too small.

[SpacyAce2012]

Oh, and SpacyAce, report back when/if your problem is solved so we can close this thread before I hijack it entirely via my computer reminiscences.

For some odd reason Hurin, the problem took care of itself. Just logged on with Firefox, and "Shazam!", there is my new avatar clear as day.

Technology is weird.

If you wish to close this thread, go for it.

And thanks to everybody for the help......and the reminiscences.

[azrael]

Before we mark this as resolved....Anybody else have weird avatar problems that hasn't been solved by:

-Clearing your browser cache

-Clearing your browser cookies

-Deleting your Firefox profile

-Uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox or whatever browser you are using

-Using a different browser

-Defraging your hard drive (just kidding)

-Throwing your computer out the window (not kidding)

[Sdf-1]

I did the last option, but it didn't work. I am writing from a friend's computer now. (kidding)

[Hurin]

I did the last option, but it didn't work. I am writing from a friend's computer now.

Did you pee on it? You have to pee on it.

[Dante74]

Did you pee on it? You have to pee on it.

So after a lot of discussion on defragging hard drives and clearing caché's we've come to the conclusion that the best sollution for solving any avatar problems is peeing on a friend's computer?

[azrael]

So after a lot of discussion on defragging hard drives and clearing caché's we've come to the conclusion that the best sollution for solving any avatar problems is peeing on a friend's computer?

Yes.

If no one else...