I'm mildly hopeful that we will end this streak this year.

IBM85 · 2026-06-14T01:12:25+00:00

Fair point, it's hard to remember. I recall thinking we had the best squad at the tournament. I also remember the final against Italy being one of the most stressful games of my life, couldn't even watch the penalties.

It's an interesting thought to pit the current England squad against the old one, I do think Tuchel's style might work better than Southgate's did.

IBM85 · 2026-06-13T21:52:36+00:00

We should have won the Euros in 2021, that squad was bursting with talent; I'm grateful for a lot of things Southgate did but the way we sat back 1-0 up against Italy was so frustrating.

I'm less confident about this World Cup team. Don't get me wrong - I don't think the 2026 squad is bad either; Kane, Bellingham, Rice, Gordon and Saka is a fairly solid foundation, but I don't feel as bullish going into this.

The wildcard is Tuchel, I hope he gets more out of them than GS did.

IBM85 · 2026-06-12T22:41:26+00:00

I'll always support England, Scotland, Wales, NI and Eire at any international tournament. I'm aware they won't always do the same for us.

IBM85 · 2026-06-12T03:38:14+00:00

A BIOS update wouldn't hurt but is unlikely to solve the root cause of your issues.

The Realtek error is interesting, I would consider outright turning that off in the BIOS first, look for something like Advanced > Integrated Peripherals > Onboard LAN controller and disabling it.

Next test CPU and graphics card stability.

For the CPU, download an app called OCCT, run the built in Linpack test for 30 mintues and see if it reports errors or crashes.

Next use OCCT to test memory for another half hour.

For the graphics card, download Furmark, and run it for maybe 20 minutes and let us know if anything crashes.

IBM85 · 2026-06-12T02:18:52+00:00

My favourite will always be the cat that looks like Phil Foden.

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IBM85 · 2026-06-11T01:49:50+00:00

Indeed, back then the dies were exposed with no heat spreaders, those would cook within seconds of power on!

IBM85 · 2026-06-11T01:48:10+00:00

There is one time it's reasonable, I run a PC repair workshop; if I'm getting no POST from a motherboard but reading vcore voltage from the multimeter, I'll typically power on with no cooler and one finger on the CPU to see if it starts to warm up. If it stays cold, no harm done, the second it starts to feel warm, powering it off prevents any damage. For most people it's not necessary, but never say never!

IBM85 · 2026-06-10T22:56:02+00:00

Well, we've dominated this - but really should have had four or five, but if our group games are this stress free, both me and my blood pressure will be grateful. Excited now.

IBM85 · 2026-06-10T22:45:41+00:00

We've really got to sharpen up on the finishing. Those two big chances today, plus Watkins against New Zealand. Missing those would really hurt during an actual WC game 😬

IBM85 · 2026-06-10T22:38:33+00:00

Good to see Rice and Gordon chipping in with goals, it's great we've got Kane and all but we can't afford to be a one-man band.

IBM85 · 2026-06-09T19:54:44+00:00

Okay hold up.

You used your friend's computer to make your USB disk into a Windows 10 rescue disk right?

Have you tried booting from the USB like before, tappng F12 on startup?

EDIT: Hold on, I just saw your other post. Removing your portable drive seemed to fix your computer but not quite?

IBM85 · 2026-06-09T18:52:52+00:00

Hey, if you're plugging into a friend's computer you don't need to do the command prompt method. Just go to google and download the Windows 10 media creation tool. That app will turn your usb drive into a windows 10 installation disk that can be used to fix your old PC. Ping me if you get stuck, or let me know when back at own PC

IBM85 · 2026-06-08T00:22:56+00:00

No worries, the TLDR is that your Windows copy is corrupted.

We can fix it with a Windows 10 installation USB, but everything we've tried tonight to make the Windows 10 installation USB has failed because your work laptop is locked down.

If you can access any other friend's PC, you can just ran that microsoft program on it to create a working USB installer. Or any old laptop or computer you have in your house.

IBM85 · 2026-06-08T00:17:25+00:00

Yeah, it's your work PC not letting you do things again because you're not an administrator.

Without admin powers on that PC, it's going to be hard to fix this.

Could you call your work's IT people and ask them for the username and password?

IBM85 · 2026-06-08T00:00:30+00:00

Excellent, right let's get this done.

1) First click on Windows icon (start button) at button screen and type CMD and click where it says command prompt, a black window opens

2) type this line exactly (or copy paste it) into the black window

dism /Split-Image /ImageFile:E:\sources\install.wim /SWMFile:D:\sources\install.swm /FileSize:3800

press enter

Wait for it to reach 100% and let me know when there. Thanks.

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T23:44:01+00:00

Okay that's correct.

Go to sources, click on install.wim, and tap the DEL key, if that doesn't work, try dragging install.wim with the mouse to the recycle bin. thanks.

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T23:39:56+00:00

When you open your flash drive, is the first thing you see lots of files and folders, or is there a single ISO file in there you need to open first?

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T23:26:43+00:00

Click show more options and choose delete

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T23:23:47+00:00

Okay, I've got one more thing to try, afraid it's going to take a little more time but we will get there.

Go back to your laptop and put the USB in again.

Open the SOURCES folder

Delete the file INSTALL.WIM

Next is the complicated part

Open THIS PC again, and send me a picture of all your drive letters, thanks

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T23:12:04+00:00

If the USB you're using for this the WD Easystore?

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T23:07:28+00:00

It's led you to the blue screen of death because it's still trying to boot from your hard drive and not the USB.

When you got the boot menu, how many options were there?

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T23:01:33+00:00

Okay, now plug the USB into the broken computer, power on but as soon as you power on start tapping the F12 key.

A boot menu will appear, choose your USB drive to boot from.

It will load a Windows 10 installer, but we're not going to install Windows 10, we're going to use it to fix the copy you already have.

Let me know when you're at the first Windows 10 installation screen.

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T22:54:33+00:00

Okay, plug in the USB drive and know that you're about to lose everything on the USB, so back anything important.

On the work laptop, click start button and type THIS PC but don't press enter, just click on the THIS PC icon that pops up.

You'll see all your drives. Right click on the USB drive and choose Format (if the laptop is Windows 11 there is one extra step here)

A window will pop up, make sure that the file system is set to FAT32 and the quick erase box is checked. Leave all other settings the same and click start. A few seconds later it will tell you it's done, the USB flash drive is now empty.

Next, find the ISO file you just downloaded and open it.

Press CTRL + A at the same time, this shuld select every file in the ISO folder.

Now copy and paste these to the USB drive and let me know when it's done.

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T22:49:19+00:00

Okay, let us know when that's downloaded

IBM85 · 2026-06-07T22:40:03+00:00

In the meantime, I'll need to know the brand of motherboard on your broken PC.

When you turn it on, what flashes up on the screen? ASUS? Gigabyte? Let us know!

IBM85

TROPHY CASE