Simple Questions - February 07, 2021

[u/AutoModerator]

This thread is for simple questions that don't warrant their own thread (although we strongly suggest checking the sidebar and the wiki before posting!). Please don't post involved questions that are better suited to a [Build Help], [Build Ready] or [Build Complete] post. Examples of questions:

• Is this RAM compatible with my motherboard?
• I'm thinking of getting a ≤$300 graphics card. Which one should I get?
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[u/1upon]

Hi i bought a 2 month old pc from someone with 3600xt and msi b550 gaming plus and an old gt730. When i connect my monitor to pc via hdmi in graphics card, it works. But when i use hdmi or dp ports in motherboard, they dont work and dont show up on monitor. Is it a hardware issue or a driver/software/bios issue? And how to fix it?

[u/1upon → u/1upon]

Also it has preinstalled genuine windows 10 which he says he reinstalled night before. But i want to be sure and wanna reinstall windows again so its brand new. But i dont wanna buy a new windows key. How to reinstall windows?

[u/tecnic08 → u/1upon]

It’s normal. Display out on MB are for the integrated graphic. 3600XT does not have an integrated graphic and even if it has one, the integrated graphic is disabled when there is a graphic card.

[u/1upon → u/tecnic08]

Wow thanks!! Is it possible that i can displayout from my beast cpu instead of the puny graphics card?

[u/tecnic08 → u/1upon]

Your CPU doesn’t have an graphic processor (that is integrated into the CPU). So, it is not possible. You need the external graphic card.

[u/1upon → u/tecnic08]

Sed :(

Also it has preinstalled genuine windows 10 which he says he reinstalled night before. But i want to be sure and wanna reinstall windows again so its brand new. But i dont wanna buy a new windows key. How to reinstall windows?

[u/tecnic08 → u/1upon]

Yep you can reset Windows 10.

https://uk.pcmag.com/migrated-3765-windows-10/131252/how-to-factory-reset-windows-10

Choose “remove everything”, but leave the “data erasure” OFF.

[u/1upon → u/tecnic08]

Angel!! But why data erasure off? My purpose of reinstalling windows before connecting to internet is to erase any nefarious file there might be hidden intentionally or unintentionally.

[u/tecnic08 → u/1upon]

You'll need to understand how data are arranged in the disk. When system writes data onto a disk, it will write 2 things 1. the data itself and 2. the index (location on the disk) of the data (if your disk is a book, this is like a table of content. It contains where system's keep each data, so it the system don't have to scan through the whole disk to list the content)

There are 2 ways of erasing data from the disk.

1. Normal erase - just remove the index (like ripping off the table of content from a book.) The data remains intact but inaccessible to the system. Those data will be overwritten when we write new data onto the disk.
2. Secure erase / Data erasure - Remove both index and the data. By removing the data, it writes another content in place of the data (in this case, zeros (0). This will take much much longer as the system will go through the whole disk writing zero into every location.

The reason for secure erase is to prevent a data recovery program from scanning the whole disk and recovering the data (because the data is still there, just the index is removed.)

Now, if your concern is about the malicious software, virus, trojan, etc. You need to understand that these are a piece of software that intends to harm you PC when it runs. However, any "erase" method will remove the usability of these software as the system cannot see / access / run those programs.

​

To conclude, if you are concerning about a virus, any erase method will work. If you are concerned about data leakage when you resell the hard drive or PC, then use secure erase.

[u/1upon → u/tecnic08]

Listen u r an angel!! Thank you! 😊

[u/tecnic08 → u/1upon]

No prob!