Solving a variety of tech problems
The APC team tackle problems across the spectrum of devices and software. Learn a new trick or fix you can use.
Move Windows 10 license
I have three licenses attached to three computers. One is an OEM laptop. The other two are Pro licenses I purchased.
It’s time to upgrade one of the Pro machines, which will be a full rebuild, making the jump from an Intel 6700K to AMD. How do I transfer the license? Thanks. PAINFLAME
APC responds: The key is to link your Pro license to your Microsoft account as a digital license. Open “Settings > Update & Security > Activation” on the PC you’re replacing and check the activation status – if it simply says “Windows is activated with a digital license” you should see a prompt for “Add an account” – click this and follow the prompts to link it to your Microsoft account.
Once done, perform your rebuild and install Windows 10 in the usual way, remembering – if you had one – to enter the same product key during installation. After it’s done, head back to “Settings > Update & Security > Activation” and, assuming the activation hasn’t miraculously worked, click “Troubleshoot” to open the activation troubleshooter.
Follow the prompts, selecting your old PC as “This is the device I’m using right now” to transfer the license across. After clicking “Activate,” the process should be done. If you run into any errors, check https://support.microsoft. com/en-us/help/10738 for what to do next.
Onboard sound issue
Last December I bought (rather than built) my first PC: an Intel i9-9900KF on an MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Edge motherboard. In April, the sound suddenly stopped working on the motherboard’s line-out socket – it still works fine through the monitor’s aux-out connector or optical-out on the board. I’ve exhaustively troubleshooted the problem – even swapped out the motherboard for an identical replacement – and the problem persists. Do you have any ideas? And a suggestion for a soundcard? This is the first build I haven’t used one.
BILL MANY
APC responds: This can happen when the default output device is changed, but the we think you’ll have already tried that (“Settings > System > Sound,” click “Sound Control Panel” to verify what playback devices are listed – typically your mobo’s aux-out will be listed as “Speakers” and should be enabled and the default device; select it and click “Properties” for more options).
As you’re not impressed with the onboard sound anyway, rather than continue wasting energy on troubleshooting you should trade up to a dedicated soundcard. Assuming you’re unable to plunder a card from one of your previous builds, then the Sound Blaster Z PCIe is proven technology with a raft of good customer reviews behind it. It’s optimised for gamers too. If that’s too rich, then the Sound Blaster Audigy RX 7.1 PCIe model is a good budget alternative.
Sleep resume problems
I’m running a Ryzen 5 1500X on a Biostar X370GT motherboard, with Windows 10 Pro on a SanDisk A400 256GB Gen3 PCIe M.2 SDD. My problem began after I installed two TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 8GB DDR4 2400 sticks, at which point my PC forgot which hard drive to boot from when it again resumes from sleep. It wakes up, goes through the motions, attempts to repair all my drives without finding any problems, but can’t remember where my boot drive is. So, when the blue boot screen pops up, I shut it down. Then, after pressing the power button, it boots normally. Is this a problem with my RAM not being compatible with first-gen Ryzen boards?
NEO LITHIC
APC responds: The first troubleshooting step is to swap out the new RAM for old (or simply remove it if it was added to existing RAM) to see if that resolves the problem. If it does, then you may be able to resolve the issue by ensuring the BIOS is updated to the latest version – despite a maddening lack of release notes, it appears that at least one memory-compatibility update has been issued since the stock BIOS was released. Make sure you choose the right variant – there are four X370GT models listed on the Biostar website. Also, don’t expect miracles – while the memory-compatibility list for the X370GT includes three TeamGroup RAM modules, none are your specific model.
Whether this solution works or not, before you consider replacing the RAM, explore some other updates. If you’ve never updated
the firmware in your drive, install the SanDisk SSD Dashboard (http://bit.ly/MPCNovsandisk) to see what’s available and whether it helps at all. Also, make sure your chipset and storage drivers are all up to date.
If the problem persists, consider disabling hybrid sleep in favor of hibernation. Hybrid sleep uses a mixture of RAM and your hard drive to store your machine state in, while hibernation makes exclusive use of your hard drive, so may prove more reliable. Press Win-X, choose “Power Options,” click “Additional power settings.” Select “Change when the computer sleeps” followed by “Change advanced power settings.” Expand “Sleep” and you should see a “Hybrid Sleep” option. Expand this and set it to “Off,” then set “Sleep after” to 0 (which effectively sets it to never) before setting “Hibernate after” to the same value you’d originally set for sleep. Finally, add the “Hibernate” option to the power menu by clicking “Choose what the power buttons do” followed by “Change settings that are currently unavailable.” Tick the “Hibernate” option in the Power menu before clicking “Save changes.”
Plex movie label
I’ve enjoyed your mag for as long as I can remember. My issue is with movies I periodically download from the internet. If there’s no title in the file properties, Plex takes the title from the filename, which works fine as I rename my movies to the correct syntax.
However, some sites place all kinds of information into the Title field, which I can read by right-clicking the file in File Explorer and choosing “Properties > Details tab.” Plex takes the information and places it in my database.
While I can usually change this to whatever I choose within Plex , sometimes the field is locked, and I can’t edit it. I’ve looked online and can’t find how to unlock the title field to change it, so it reads correctly in Plex. Can you help?
LISA LUKENS
APC responds: We suspect this may be a problem with MKV files rather than MP4 ones. Plex will often prioritise any information it finds in the file’s metadata over its own online scraper, so the solution is to strip this out of the file itself, then rely on the correct naming convention – title (year).mkv in the case of movies – to allow it to correctly identify the file and download the metadata from your database.
With MP4 files, you can strip the metadata in File Explorer from the file’s own properties tab under “Details”: just click “Remove Properties and Personal Information,” select “Remove the following properties from this file” and then Ctrl-click the elements you want to remove – in this case, the title. Click “OK” to complete the job.
Sadly, this approach won’t work for MKV files; instead use MKVToolNix (www.fosshub. com/MKVToolNix.html). Launch the app and choose Header editor, click “Open Matroska or WebM file” to open your offending file. Expand “Segment Information” and select “Tile,” then tick the “Remove element” box before choosing “Header editor > Save.”
Once done, reopen Plex and update your library. If Plex doesn’t automatically update the metadata with the correct info, move the file out of the folder, update the library, then move it back in and update again to fix the problem.
Transfer setup
Hi APC, I’ve been using a desktop PC for the last six years. It’s running Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, and I’m looking to buy a new PC with the latest technology. I’ve got a lot of software installed on my current PC and would like to know if I can clone my current drive and install it on my new PC. Trying to reinstall all my software would be a trial, as I can’t find many serials. I realise I’d have to install the new drivers on the clone drive for the new PC, however, can this be done? GEORGE CRIEZIS
APC responds: In theory, yes, although it’s not recommended and may not work. It assumes your current PC’s copy of Windows is a full-blown license and not an OEM one, as you’ll need to transfer the license across to your new PC, along with all your software, settings and data. There are no guarantees: we’ve inadvertently booted an old Windows installation onto a new PC and seen first-hand how, after a couple of blue screens and numerous automatic driver updates, it settled down to allow reactivation and appear to work okay for the very limited time he kept it going, but you may not be so lucky.
There are two alternative – and superior – approaches you can try, although neither is free. The simplest and cheapest involves Laplink PCmover (https://web. laplink.com) US$39.95 for Home version, or US$59.95 for Professional. This works best if you hang onto your old PC to set up a direct transfer between it and a new PC (USB is quicker than network cable).
An alternative is to use a drive-imaging tool that supports restoration to different hardware. One such app is Macrium Reflect Home Edition (US$69.95, www. macrium.com/products/home), which comes with Macrium ReDeploy for this very task. It’s a convoluted process involving Windows PE, and you’ll need to first install Macrium Reflect Free on your old PC to take a drive image. Once done, search https:// knowledgebase.macrium.com for “ReDeploy” to follow a step-by-step guide of the transfer process. A bonus of using Macrium is that you’ll be able to continue using the program to keep your PC backed up.