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How To Fix Your Windows 8 Master Boot Record (MBR)

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If you’ve been playing around with Linux or some other type of OS installation on your PC and you want to go back to Windows, but you get a MBR (Master Boot Record) error, then don’t worry there’s hope. This error can also happen for other reasons like a virus but the fix is usually the same.

The problem is just as the error message states, you have a problem with your MBR. The MBR contains important information about partitions and files that are needed to boot up your PC. Without an intact MBR, your PC will fail to boot properly and therefore it’s important that you get it back in working shape.

Here’s a step-by-step process on how to fix your MBR:

  •  Find your Windows 8 DVD and insert it into your computer.
  • Make sure your computer is set to boot from the DVD drive first ( You may need to enter the BIOS for this, See your PC’s documentation).
  • Boot your computer from the Windows 8 disc.
  • The first screen that will popup after the DVD boots your machine is the Language selection screen, click “Next”.
  • On the “Install Now” screen go to the lower left hand section of the window and click “Repair Your Computer”.
  • Now Click “Troubleshoot”
  • Click “Advanced Options”
  • Click “Command Prompt”
  • You will now see a black command window, type  BOOTREC /FIXMBR and then press enter.
  • After you press enter you should see the message “The operation completed successfully.”. Now you can type  EXIT and press enter. Now you can select “Turn off your PC”.

Once you turn your PC back on you should see that your issue has been resolved!

Playstation 4 Will Stick To Blu-Ray

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As the popularity of digital downloads has increased over the years many of us were wondering if the next-gen consoles will focus less on actual discs. We keep seeing more and more content available for download and some games aren’t even shipping manuals anymore, instead they are available in a digital format.

However, the Playstation 4 will still rely on Blu-Ray as it primary game delivery medium. In a recent interview with IGN, Sony’s Jim Ryan mentions this about the format.

Clearly, and this applies not just to games but to pretty much every form of entertainment, there is a trend to increased digital consumption, and that is happening now on PS3 and will continue and will probably accelerate on PS4, but the primary delivery mechanism for the big games on the PS4 platform will continue to be Blu-Ray discs, for the foreseeable future.

I’m not surprised by this at all and actually I’m quite thrilled to hear that they are sticking with Blu-Ray. First of all, our broadband still lacks the bandwidth that’s necessary to make digital downloads attractive. With some games possibly being as large as 40 gigabytes and up, something Jim Ryan says he’s encouraging developers to do, there’s no way you can download that in a reasonable amount of time. The Blu-Ray disc is still reaching it’s peak potential and has plenty of years ahead of it.

I’m still quite fond of having the case and actual game disc. I never feel like I should have to pay full price for a digital download, it feels like I’m not getting the whole game. It’s a strange thought to imagine that one day we may not be using discs at all. Let’s not forget to mention that if we go all digital that will also be the death of the used game business.

At least for now we will be living in a hybrid world of both digital and physical content for not just our games, but movies and music as well. One thing I am wondering about now is whether or not Microsoft will be using Blu-Ray or some other type of proprietary media.

 

BlizzCon 2013 Official Date Set

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In case you missed it, BlizzCon is back and will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 2013 in Anaheim, California. Hopefully you will be able to get tickets to go as they usually sell out in seconds. If you can’t be there you can always watch online for a small fee, something that I’m sure will be available this year as well.

The last BlizzCon (2011) was pretty awesome and they even closed out the show with the Foo Fighters! Can they top that this year? Who knows, but I’m hoping to hear more about project “Titan” and I’m  always just generally curious as to what Blizzard is going to be doing next. You know what would be really strange? A Blizzard FPS style game. That would be interesting; even more interesting would be if it was also brought to consoles. You can read the official press release for more details.

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Now Available for OS X

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Yes! OS X users can now download and run Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition without any special software. The game is now available to download for Mac OS X 10.6.8 or higher from Beamdog. 

The Original Baldur’s Gate is an awesome RPG that has been around for over ten years. Eventually the original game gained some enhancements that helped it fit a little better on a widescreen monitor along with adding new content like “The Black Pits” and adding new characters like Dorn Il-Khan, and Rasaad yn Bashir. The enhancements don’t end there either, they went on to add over 400 improvements to the original game. If you love classic RPG’s and have OS X, then this is a must buy, plus the game is only $19.99

 

 

Yahoo Homepage Gets a Makeover, Love it or Hate it?

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After a few years (four) of the same look and feel of Yahoo’s home page, we see some pretty dramatic changes, but not everyone is loving it.

The new look of the Yahoo homepage does feel a bit cleaner and seems like it will match up with the style of Windows 8 quite well. The new homepage offers up a sleek tile design that you can easily customize to fit your needs. Another noticeable perk of the new design is how the site looks on a retina display or any other very precise display, it’s much clearer. As with pretty much everything these days, Yahoo is also getting a bit more serious with social networking and invites you to log in with your Facebook account for further customization and social linking.

The user response to the new look of the site is mixed so far. I can’t get through the comment section of almost any post without someone posting a complaint about the new look. Users are saying things are too big or not displaying very well on their screens while others just don’t see why they had to “fix something that wasn’t broken”.

I am taking a more optimistic approach and I actually think that while it may not be perfect it’s a move in the right direction. Infinite scroll on the newsfeed  and the a better connection to social media are a few of those “right” steps. However, there’s just something about the new look that feels a bit out of place; maybe it’s just because it’s new and so much different than the last. I think Yahoo may have to update this look, maybe relatively soon, in order to add a better feeling of solid design while preserving what makes Yahoo appealing in the first place, perhaps more of a hybrid of old and new. How do you feel about the new look?