Is that the Windows 7 computer or the Windows 10 computer?

I looked it up, oldbroad, and Mike is correct. They are all 120 mm fans. The guy at BB is probably used to the rear fan being an 80 mm which is more common. Not to worry... they'll figure it out. Hope you get that Windows 7 computer back quickly then! Sounds like it might be a blessing that the other guy bailed on you.

Thanks Draclvr. The back fan does look smaller, I think because the venting area is smaller.

The Windows 7 computer Jenny. The Windows 10 case is: Cooler Master MB600L (1 5.25 2 2.5 3 3.5) Fan, Audio/USB 3.0. He added 2 x 120mm case fans in front.

Still waiting for my Windows 7. This is why I did not want to take it anyplace without having my new computer. I have no other means of on-line access. I'd be climbing the walls by now.

Last update on my first order of the cable I needed from Amazon. Still not received. Order status shows "on the way". If you track it, it shows "your package may be lost". Going on USPS tracking it shows they are waiting for the package from Amazon. So, it is officially lost in LIMBO somewhere. I did contact support but they could not help with the order status issue. They just said it wasn't charged on my credit card so not to worry.

Yeah, I'd not worry about it as long as you're not charged. Have you tried a game on the new computer yet?

The only games I've played so far on the new computer are a casual Halloween game, and currently a Match 3 Halloween themed game, and The Mystery of the Druids. Nothing to test out my video card.

I have a question regarding games that recommend the SSD drive. I have my games set to download to my D drive which is a 6TB regular hard drive. My C drive is a 2TB SSD drive. For a game that recommends the SSD drive, does it need to be downloaded onto the SSD drive then? I'm assuming yes, but just asking. It is just a matter of remembering to choose that drive when I download (and remembering which games recommend it).

Yes, download games to the SSD. That is a lot of storage! I have a 1 TB SSD even with tons of photos and huge RPG and FPS games will never fill it up!

If you're using a downloader or client, configure it to install games on the SSD before installing or downloading the game.
It doesn't matter where you download if the client actually installs the game folder to somewhere else, so the client has to be configured ahead of time.

For example, with a Big Fish game you'd configure the client to install games to the desired location before downloading or installing anything. Of course Big Fish games have low requirements and wouldn't need an SSD.

If you're just downloading the installation files through your browser, the way you do from Fireflower and itch.io (and have the option to do from GOG), and aren't using a client or downloader, it doesn't matter where you download the files. During the installation you have to tell the game where to install.

Oh, just one more Amazon note that I forgot. At some point during this, my password no longer worked and I had to change it. I think I may have marked an email from them as "junk" because I thought that was what it was. It didn't look right to me. Then, poof, I couldn't get in there and had to change my password (which wasn't a bad thing to do anyway).

Well, two more things. I think the order may have gotten screwed up because the whole order was paid for with points. Maybe the system didn't know what to do with the $ .00 order. When the order got messed up though, I used the points on a different order so I didn't lose my points. I am waiting for my credit card statement though to see what it shows.

Yes Draclvr. I was actually thinking of 2 - 4TB regular hard drives but then went with the 2 SSD and 6 regular. I prefer more to not enough, and I am not into uninstalling games too often. I went for the 32 GB of Ram also. I am not much on upgrading so better to just get it now. Hopefully, nothing will break down too soon!

Jenny, I hope you are well. (Haven't seen you here for a few days.)

I'm not sure I'm following what you mean. This is what I did. Please clarify for me from this information. I have all 3 clients (Big FIsh, GOG Galaxy, and Steam) downloaded to the SSD drive. I went into each of them and selected to have each of them download all games to the regular hard drive. When you select a game to install (on Steam at least) you can direct that particular game back to the SSD drive which is what I figured I would do. Won't that work? At this time, I think I only have one game that recommended the SSD.

I don't have Steam and I don't use Galaxy for GOG. As long as the installation process for the individual game asks where to install the game, the game should install where you tell it to. However the Big Fish Game Client installs the game automatically to wherever you have the client set to install games.

Great! Thanks Jenny!

Steam will automatically install to the D drive I have it set to, but, it does give you the option to change it if you want to, per game.

Sounds like you're all set with Steam then.
Galaxy may be similar to Steam. You'll have to check.

Big Fish may be the only one that has the problem with having to configure the installation folder ahead of time.

Okay, now I'm nervous. Best Buy never called to say the computer was ready. I checked the ticket online 2 days ago and it just said they had the computer, nothing done with it. My brother was in the area there today so he stopped in and they said the computer was ready so he brought it home. I just hooked it up and while waiting for it to boot up I'm ALMOST certain I saw a tiny notice in the lower right corner of my screen that said something like "this is not a genuine copy of windows". Well, my computer did have a genuine copy of windows when it went into Best Buy. Now it is installing a bunch of device driver software or something. How do I make sure they didn't make some changes in my computer?

Oh, dear. It sounds to me like they reinstalled the operating system. But you didn't take it to them to do that... just to clean out the dust and replace the fans. Wait until everything is up and running and make sure all is well and all your stuff is there.

Well, so far my Norton isn't working. I clicked to "fix" and it started downloading updates but then it got hung up. I'm not sure what to do with that. Also, they apparently let a bunch of old updates install or try to install yesterday. There are a bunch of "failed" updates and then "successful" ones which may be the same ones that had failed. At least one of them is but I didn't look at all of them yet. More updates downloaded and 4 of them were published years ago. Probably something I did not install. Three of them, I'm sure I had installed prior to bringing the computer in but I am now installing those 3 again. One of the old updates that I never did but that now shows in failed and successful as of 10/23 is regarding my card reader which is saying it is unusable because it is marked "safe to remove device but the device hasn't been removed"?? After the updates install and I restart the computer, I'll look around some more and see if I can get Norton working again.

My Product Key is okay and I don't see anything else YET that seems wrong.

I don't understand whether they actually cleaned the dust out of the computer.
Is it still running hot?
Do you have a receipt where they say what they did with it?

Best Buy probably gets a lot of computers to fix, and could easily get them confused.

If I had no option but to take a computer to Best Buy to have the hardware checked, I'd actually remove the hard drive first. They can boot diagnostic software off a DVD or USB drive and run benchmarks to check temperatures. They don't need the hard drive for that.


Got "hung up" because of your Internet stalling or "hung up" while installing the updates. It may need a lot of time to install certain updates.


I wonder if it's one of those updates that people don't install because it conflicts with their hardware (for example with your card reader). If you can get the number of the update, look it up in a web search and see if there are problems with it. It may be that your card reader would start working again if you removed the update and blocked it from re-downloadin. Check what that update is for.

I'd sure be checking that receipt and also making sure they did what you actually TOLD them to do. I have to say, I like Jenny's idea of just removing the hard drive so they aren't temped to mess with it. Are the games you were playing and your progress still there?

You might check to see if you have any restore points from right before Best Buy did whatever they did to the hard drive. If your card reader is still non-responsive after the "updates" finish, going back to a restore point might bring it back. Of course if you don't have any restore points or the ones you have are from too long ago, that's not going to be a viable option.

It's sounding a lot like since your computer didn't have anything really wrong with it, that they gave it to a new hire who was a trainee and had him do "the usual" to it. That might include putting their own antivirus on it for a scan, which would have disabled Norton, and then uninstalling their scanner afterwards. If a new hire didn't know enough to run removal software after uninstalling whatever antivirus scanner they used, to remove whatever that scanner left in the registry, that could prevent Norton from working.

The problem with Norton may be related to the problem with the card reader, but it's hard to say for sure.

If I could remove a hard drive I could clean the computer and replace the fans myself.

Norton had shown some error like when a game crashes and it says it's encountered an error and if there's a fix they'll notify you or something like that. It is fine now after restarting the computer. It shows that it is current and up to date and that my computer is secure. I ran a quick scan also.

What Best Buy says they did is: cleaned dust and hair, installed the 4 small fans, tested the hard drive, memory, motherboard, and processor. "All hardware passed." They don't say anything about the thermal paste though I had it listed on my note that was taped to the computer and verbally mentioned it when we dropped it off.

The temps seem to be rising again. They started in the low 30's and are now in the mid 40's with spikes up to the upper 50's here and there. I am not using the computer. Just monitoring it right now.

I don't use the card reader anymore but in the right hand corner when you open up the box to see hidden items, there is the icon there that says "safely remove hardware & eject media". Clicking on it shows: eject Alcor Micro USB 2.0 card reader". That didn't go away after 2 computer restarts. There isn't anything in the reader that I can see to remove.

Yeah I figured. That's why I didn't mention it before you took the computer in.
But if "I" had to take a computer to Best Buy I'd definitely remove the hard drive first.


Well that sounds good. At least they didn't mess that up.


So they did part of what you asked them to do (the easiest part) and added on their "usual service" that you didn't ask them to do and had nothing to do with the computer heating up. They may have tried installing all the latest Windows updates for you and then had many fail (as often happens on old Windows installations) and finally given up on getting them all in, figuring Windows could do that and they just wanted the computer finished and out of the shop.


Is that any better at all?
If not, and you want the thermal paste replaced, you might want to think about finding some place other than Best Buy to do it.


Since you don't use it anymore, you can just disable it in Device Manager so it won't show up in your taskbar corner.

I was wondering the same... if those temps are any better. I know you posted what they were, but I can't remember. Just a thought here... Do you have it back in the old cramped space? If so, what would you think of setting it on your table and seeing if you get the same temperature results? PITA, I know, but I've always been concerned about that tight space for this kind of computer. How much space is behind the computer where the main exhaust fan is?

The temps in the 30's are better I think. I'm pretty sure they were constantly in the 40's before. The minimum and maximum temps showing are 28, 29, 29, & 30 up to 56, 56, 59, & 60. Since I didn't monitor the temps before the computer started really overheating, I don't know if those spikes here and there are normal or not. I do know that it spiked higher than that prior to Best Buy when the Windows updates were installing a few weeks ago. All in all, I feel these temps are much better.

Yes, it is back in the old cramped space. I'm not moving it just to test it. The computer is more or less sideways under the desk so that the back end is more towards open space. The top, however, only has a couple of inches. I might try to see if I can move some junk around and at least pull the computer out a bit more when I am using it and then push it back when I shut it down. It will be crooked then though, with part of it up on the rug and part of it still on the wood surface. (It is on the little wheelie cart, not directly on the floor.) I'll see.

I wonder if I uninstall that Alcor Micro update if it will stop the message, or if I plug my external drive in what will happen since that also gives the message for safe removal.

Anyway, everything else seems okay with it. Somehow when I set up a network between my old Dell 7 and this eCollege 7 (and also used a transfer cable), I ended up with the Dell 7 C drive showing on my eCollege 7. There was also some issue showing about my back up. Those items seem to be gone now. I know there was something in my trash from it and I was afraid to empty the trash, but it is empty now. I don't know if I'm describing that right but I think that's what it was. Anyway, I consider that a good thing.

Whatever you can do to help the poor thing "breathe" will help! I was just suggesting setting it up someplace open to help identify temperature issues. Even if you could pull it out all the way just to see if that would help, it might tell you more about what's going on.

All the other stuff sounds like good news. I'm sure it's nice to have your old "baby" back!

Yes, I know Draclvr. I'll see what I can do. The temps still are all over the place though and that worries me. I'm almost afraid to use it. I downloaded a bunch of Big Fish games to it a few months ago in preparation for going off line. I hope I'll be able to play them in there. I also downloaded quite a few Steam games that I am hoping to get to play in there before going off line. Some GOG too. I'm not really sure it's true that I'll be able to play those games offline. I haven't tried it yet, but in this Windows 10, the Galaxy opens up every time I play. I know Big Fish does that too but that I can play those off line so, time will tell I guess.

I think I will have to use the Windows 7 sparingly and just to play from now on, and not be leaving it on all day anymore. Might as well get used to not being online in there anyway.

It's definitely true that you will be able to play the GOG games offline.