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1051.

Solve : new comp,... long story?

Answer»

ok... where to begin here.just gotta buncha new computer parts..

AMD CPU 3000+
MUTANT X Case
WinFast Motherboard
Nvidia 258 graphics card

so this is my first time installing a new motherboard and case and all that and figured hey no PROB i can do it . WRONG
it almost seems as i get one thing fixed i run into another problem.

but anyways where im stuck now is the computer WONT boot-up. basically the power works and the fans are runnin, it seems like everything is workin but the computer doesnt beep and the front LED light doesnt turn on. so its basically everything powers up but nuthing happens.

i really dunno what could be wrong as most of the jumpers look like their in the right place and everythings all plugged in but like i MENTIONED nuthngs turnin on.

any ideas?I am having the same problem. My friend told me it is my HD. I bought a sata instead of a Ata. My motherboard only SUPPORTS sata as raid. So hopefully that can help a little.got my computer working it was on of the fans.

1052.

Solve : Bus specifictaions for amr,acr, and cnr?

Answer»

looking for general specs on the bus for AMR-audio modem risers CNR,and or Acr if you can pass me on to a WEB site or something haven't really found ANYTHING that gave me the info such as bus speed , DATA bits, ADDRESS bits, transfer rates ETC.

1053.

Solve : Boot To USB External HD?

Answer»

Recently purchased SEG 160GB Ext HD USB 2.0 for backup on primary internal HD (Maxtor 80GB) Is there anyway to boot to EXTERNAL HD. Am running XP2, with 1gb ram. BIOS is Phoenix 3.24. Not much point in having a backup drive if I can't boot to it in case of a disaster. Anyone know?? Current versions of Windows should not be installed to USB hard disk drives because Windows does not support USB hard disk drives as the primary boot device.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/usb-boot.mspxThe point of having an external drive is so that you data is safe if the computer fails.  You can MOVE it to another pc, plug it in and go.

So the next THING is, what if the external drive fails, where is the backup of your data then?

FWIW, one of the reasons you can't boot Windows from a USB device is that when Windows initializes the USB channels, you lose the connection to the device for long enough to throw it a curve.    You can boot things like MS-DOS from a USB device as long as the BIOS supports USB boot, since the BIOS is handling all the I/O to the device.Wow! What a great forum. Thanks to everyone who responded. Since it is apparent the USB Ext HD cannot be used as a boot drive, are there any work-arounds where I can still use the ext HD as a back up and  boot from another source, or do I NEED to go to another internal HD?Thanks to everyone... :-/You can boot to a floppy disk which contains the drivers for the external USB hard drive.  You can then run Norton Ghost from the floppy disk and create a disk image to backup to or restore from the USB drive.

http://www.symantec.com/sabu/ghost/ghost_personal/
I use Acronis True Image, which will GENERATE a very complete boot CD for recovery.  I do regular image backups, and if the wheels ever fall off, I boot the CD, point to the latest image, and restore it.  All done in minutes.

1054.

Solve : usb cant register device type?

Answer»

basic INFORMATION: I currently run 4 devices via USB with only 2 external USB ports and 1 internal USB port:
internal- WiFi card (not accessible w/o VOIDING laptop warranty)
external:
soundcard
wireless mouse
iPod mini

they all worked individually of eachother. i got the mouse first. plugged it in -- worked fine. then i got the mini -- plugged it in... got songs on it worked fine. then i got the NEW soundcard because my internal one broke and itd be $400 to repair (outrageous, i know) or $14 for a usb soundcard. because i only have 2 ports, i unplugged my mini and plugged it in and it worked fine.

Problem:then i unplugged my mouse to update my mini... that worked fine... but when i unplugged my mini to plug my mouse back in, i lost my INTERNET (via WiFi usb inside the laptop). when i tried to plug in my mini it wont detect either. i already tried uninstalling drivers... all of them and wanted my internet back first as priority. i dont know what is up.

1055.

Solve : Mapped printers?

Answer»

I know when SOMETHING is MAPPED, its somewhat simuler to a shortcut so you can imidietly save or load something to to the DRIVE with out having to NAVIGATE  through the WHOLE network. Id like to know what a mapped printer is?Same thing.  You just print to it instead of reading and writing to it.

1056.

Solve : heat sink porblem?

Answer»

what HAPPEN when the heat SUNK fan will not work PROPERLY. my fan it damaged and when i switch on the SYSTEM. the fan is working but the system does not turned on.

1057.

Solve : "My Computer" drives not refreshing?

Answer»

My OPTICAL Drives under "My Computer" do not refresh. When I put either a dvd or Cd in after first STARTING the PC the drive shows that disc as being in it even after I TAKE it out. I installed  123 DVD Copy and initailly thought this was the problem so I uninstalled it. However it did not SOLVE the problem. Any suggestions?I thought a "l33t Hax0r" would have known all this stuff. Ho hum.

I have a similar problem. In fact, I hesitate when I call it a problem, because it's incredibly minor. Hardly in the "undocumented bug which creates a black hole" scale, really.

Anyway, I normally find that going into any other folder in My Computer (including Dial-up Networking, Control Panel et al) and the hitting Back, the CD drive shows the title of the CD.

Or I just eject the disk and see what's on the label...LOL.... I actually have tried jst about everything and I still cannnot resolve this issue.. Only thing that fixes it temperarily is to reboot. However when I put a dvd/cd in it will show that this is whats in no matter what I put in after it. and It gives me read errors or simply does not read the disc. I have check many different Message boards to find if anyone else has this problem I seem to be the only one.. Did someone Hack my computer maybe??....lolhttp://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320174

1058.

Solve : Slow using DSL. Do I just need a new compute?

Answer»

I just starting using DSL and get good connection rates between 400kbps and1.5mbps.  But performance is still slow.  Using Rambooster when I monitor my CPU usage it jumps to 100% with any browsing and there is almost constant hard drive writing then.  I have a Dell Inspiron 7000 with PII RUNNING 300mHz and 256 RAM.  Windows ME is my OS.  Not all my RAM is being used when this happens so I don't think it's the swap file.  I've checked for viruses and shut down unneeded programs.  Still the same.  Is there anything I can do to speed up browsing?  or do I just need a faster processor?Marcodiwa.......Have you tried an actual download speed test to see exactly how fast you download .......
go to .... http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/  
this will tell the story ......


Let us know

dl65  I have the same computer, running Windows 2000.  Something else is "slowing you down".  Probably spyware or a trojan.

Do you have an up-to-date anti-virus and software firewall?I just measured my download speed on 2 different sites and got 413 and 416 kbps.  I've gotten as high as 1500 at times.  I've got a new Norton Antivirus with fresh definitions and found nothing.  The cpu runs anywhere from 20-60% and then jumps to 100% if I click on anything and that's when there is a lag time for something to happen.  I can see my screen loading slowly and opening programs is slow (not just browsing).  This all occured since I switch from dialup to dsl and added Norton Internet Security.Your computer is no speed demon, but I have a 400mhz PII here, and I fired it up and pointed it at www.dslreports.com, and it was able to crank out a 3800kbit/sec speed test.  Comcast gives us 4mbit connections, so it's using it all with no problem.  The computer runs XP and has 256mb of memory.What about Spyware? Do you have antispyware software installed?

[glb]Flame[/glb]I've been using Ad-Aware for spyware.  I sense that no one thinks the DSL connection is eating up my CPU time.  What else could cause it to jump to 100% every time the computer is doing something?  Are there any tests of the cpu I can run?If your DSL is on a USB connection, that could be the issue.  USB is programmed I/O, and uses processor cycles to do every byte of transfer.Well.... If you have a program or programs running, which take-up a lot of virtual memory, then that could be causing the problem... (ex. 5 Instant Messaging programs, Internet Browser, a photo editing program, etc...)

[glb]Flame[/glb]I've run 2 spyware programs.  I'm not using IM or any photo programs.  When dsl is running the whole computer runs slow sometimes freezing up for 10 or 20 SECONDS before it executes anything, waiting for the previous task to finish.  During this time the CPU runs at 100% and there is usually constant writing to the hard drive.  RAM drops from 80-100 megs free to 5 or so and sometimes to 0.    The dsl is hooked up by a plugged in ETHERNET card/cable.  Also the fan runs more than usual, I guess because the cpu is getting hotter.  Is it new computer time or reinstall time or what? Quote

...I sense that no one thinks the DSL connection is eating up my CPU time.  What else could cause it to jump to 100% every time the computer is doing something?  Are there any tests of the cpu I can run?

Internet browsing via broadband connection requires very little CPU power.
Continuously MOVING the mouse will cause the CPU to jump to 100%.

Run Hijack This and post the results.  Someone here will figure it out.
check nav options.........firewall etc........and there is no need to have ram  booster..what does your resourse meter tell you...use disk clean up........and defrag..programs..also use msconfig and disable background programs.......that not needed to improve performance
1059.

Solve : couldnt load hdc? what the??

Answer»

when i try to network my laptop and computer it sed
"windows could not LOAD the hdc. contact hardware VENDOR....."
does ANYONE know what to do?
also it cant find "sfcfiles.dll" and the "STANDARD Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller" wont install because of the missing .dll
I NEED HELP!!! please...HDC means I think Hardware Device Controller. As for as your problem is concerned, try reinstalling drivers for your network card.
Take CARE of you and others and be happy.
Bye...
DrWahab

1060.

Solve : having problem with my canoscan N670U?

Answer»

elo...my scanner was working properly after i installed it on my computer...but weeks later...whenever i scan..the scanned IMAGE is entirely black..i tried to uninstall it the reinstall it...but the same thing happens..what shall i do?well this could be one or a few things.  Before you scan check your SETTINGS, doulbe check your contrast and brightness ratios, also, it could be your drivers for this device.  If it is plug and play check in device manager whether or not it has a yellow exlamation by it.  Next thing to try..try it on a different pc...But my guess when scanning open the lid ans see if the light is coming on.  and the scanner is ACTUALLY moving.  If one of these or both are going on, you burned out the motor in your scanner and time to get a new one....but try the drivers first and your settings.well i THINK the driver's fine as well as the settings...no exclamation on device manager...the scanner is moving and there's light...but it just won't scan...so time to buy new one...how come i burned the motor? so i should know to not burn my next scanner...tnx

1061.

Solve : Cant get this AGP card to work...?

Answer»

You might want to read this twice for the errors Im getting are very...Unusual.

Anyway, I just got a ATI 9600XT and I know my computer has an AGP slot. My computer currently has a integrated videocard, NVIDIA GEFORCE 4 integrated GPU.

When I went to add/remove programs I uninstalled "NVIDIA DRIVERS", then restarted. After restarting things were in 800x600 on 16bit colors, I went into display PROPERTIES and found I could turn it as high as 1600x1200 and 32 colors. Obviously, the drivers did NOT uninstall.

So I tried puting the AGP card in anyway, to see if it would override the drivers. From my experience I learned that if a motherboard detects a AGP card it will automatically start sending "monitor feed" to the AGP card, thus to get display the monitor must be connected to the AGP card.

However this did not work. I suppose the integrated card and/or its drivers is overiding this function. WIth the AGP card in I get no display whether the monitor is plugged into the computer or the AGP card. So I took out the AGP card so I could get display again.

Everytime I TRY uninstalling the drivers it just restarts and sets itself to 800x600 16 bits colors. Im thinking its re-installing itself everytime, which sounds quite supid.

Anyway Im asking for somones help and guidance for this. Somone advised elsewhere that I go into BIOS and disable "integrated GPU", I went into BIOS and see no OPTION related to that.

Any assuring help is greatly greatly appreciated!!
and thx for reading. Quote

...
1.  I know my computer has an AGP slot. My computer currently has a integrated videocard

2.  I suppose the integrated card and/or its drivers is overiding this function. WIth the AGP card in I get no display whether the monitor is plugged into the computer or the AGP card. So I took out the AGP card so I could get display again.

3.  Everytime I try uninstalling the drivers it just restarts and sets itself to 800x600 16 bits colors. Im thinking its re-installing itself everytime, which sounds quite supid.

Anyway Im asking for somones help and guidance for this. Somone advised elsewhere that I go into BIOS and disable "integrated GPU", I went into BIOS and see no option related to that. ...


1.  You have integrated video AND an AGP slot?  What kind of computer (or motherboard) is it?

2.  Only 1 AGP slot (or card or integrated) is ALLOWED.  PCI can have more than one.

3.  BIOS is confused.  Is there a jumper to reset the BIOS?
you can try to install the agp card and plug you moniter into the other video card and check to see if the new card has the drivers it needs to and that the computer is setup to use two video cards. after you get the new card working you can disable the old one then use the new card. try this hope it helps
1062.

Solve : Horizontal blackline across my monitor?

Answer»

my monitor was flickering at the TASK tray and when I've reset the screen refresh rate form 70 HERTZ to 60 hertz the problem disappeared momentarily but reoccured this TIME in the middle of the screen. I can get temporary relief by reseting  the monitor .   How do I fix this problem? My SETTINGS are set at  resolution 1024 X 768, I use a Nvidia GeForce2 mx400 64mb DISPLAY adapter on windows XP Sp2.Have you tried updating your video card drivers on the NVIDIA website? http://www.nvidia.com ...

[glb]Flame[/glb]

1063.

Solve : 256mb RAM??

Answer»

is it ok if i'll put a 256mb ram into my computer [amd duron 700mhz, 20GB hdd, 64mb ram installed]. thanks and God bless...

another ?:
what software can i install to view the background processes/running tasks in my pc? thanks again...
 miguel.....Well ......Have you checked to see how much ram your MOBO ( motherboard ) will support ?

What operating SYSTEM are you using ? Do you have a task manager in that O/S ? It should tell you whats running .
Try this click on start / run........then in the box type msconfig   and enter ....... when it opens looks for a tab ......that SAYS services or processes and it should tell you .

Let us know

dl65  my motherboard is a MSI K7t [6330] turbo lite3. it supports a max.memory of 1.5gb.

win98se.

thanks a lot!!!miguel......The MOBO you list doesnt seen to agree with these findings ........Have a look and clarify ..... Is it this one ..  http://www.memory-up.com/Memory_Finders/MSI-Memory-MSI-MS-6330--K7T-Pro---Memory.html     or this one ?

http://www.memory-up.com/Memory_Finders/MSI-Memory-MSI-K7T-Power--Memory.html



dl65  ok. i found it already. i bought a new ram [256mb] yestrday and it worked! THANK you very much!!!ok. i found it already. i bought a new ram [256mb] yestrday and it worked! thank you very much!!!

1064.

Solve : Motherboard swap need reinstall??

Answer»

I am swapping out my MOTHERBOARD with an AV8. My question is will I NEED to reinstall XP Pro? I am not sure what ONE has to do with the other and so am not sure if I will have to do this. Any advice? :-/You don't have to but it sure is EASIER than replacing EVERY single driver in the system...

It's backup time, matey...

1065.

Solve : Run Away Sliders?

Answer»

The slider bars on all my applications are not responding to the mouse. They are  RUNNING up and down on there on.
No new HARDWARE or SOFTWARE has been installed. Tried repairing the operating system from the emergency disk.
Every thing has been running OK for a year
Help

Win 2000 dual Athlon 2.6 Gigabyte board 5 disks 2G memThis sounds like a virus... Do you have virus protection?

[glb]Flame[/glb]

1066.

Solve : Compaq Help!?

Answer»

I have a Compaq Presario that's about 3 or 4 years old.  One night it got UNPLUGGED while running and shut down.  It now won't turn on at all, but when it's plugged in, the power source STILL makes a light buzzing noise, but no lightls will COME on or anything.  I heard from someone that this is a safety thing and you need to hold in the power button for a certain increment of TIME to restart the tower.  Is this true?  Or is there something else that I need to do? I'm a poor college kid and want to avoid spending alot of money to fix it.  Could someone please help me out?
Thanks so much!!! Quote

...you need to hold in the power button for a certain increment of time to restart the tower.  Is this true?  ...

Try it and let us know.
I was told this info by a coworker who's friend had a similar problem.  He called Compaq's 800 help center, and they told him to hold the power button for a certain amount of time and release the button.  I tried this in 5 second increments up to about 2 minutes and nothing worked.  So, my computer still SITS until I figure out how to fix it.One of my computers is a Compaq Presario about the same age as yours (Model 5006US).  The functioning of the power button is programmable, but that's not the problem with yours.  You may have to perform a "hard BIOS reset".  There's a jumper inside to do this.

Go here:  http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html
enter your model number and search for help.
1067.

Solve : Re-Assembled Computer?

Answer»

I recently re-assembled my computer which was taken apart. The only thing that was different is the Harddrive was formatted when connected to another comp. Now i get nothing. No display, no nothing.  PLEASE HELP!!!Trev:

Does the Power On Self Test (POST) end with any beep tones?  

Regards,
Doc

First of all, make sure that all connections are tight. Secondly RAM sticks are connected firmly and in a correct sequnce and there is no dust between RAM sticks and RAM slots.Now turn your PC ON. If it works then fine otherwise restart and press numlock number of times. If numlock light doesn't turn ON there MUST be RAM problem.
Before doing all above, make sure that your monitor's data cable is working properly.
Dr WahabCheck your jumper connections..such as power switch plug is hooked up on the right jumper..etc.  I recently had the same problem with a new case...my power supply was too powerful for the ATX to support it.  But when I reconnected my hardware back in its orgional case I had to reconnect the jumpers...if they are not on the right jumpers your computer will not power on...because newer power supplies require the power switch, unless it says otherwise in its documentation.You could have PROBLEMS, becuase no power is getting to switch, or telling the power supply it is on...something like that...Any  check your ram, check your cables, but check to see if you may need a new power supply, but first check your jumper connections on your motherboard. Quote

my power supply was too powerful for the atx to support it.
HUH?  The power capacity of the P/S is not an issue as LONG as it MEETS the requirements of the system.  You can have an 800W P/S in a system that only requires a 250W supply, that's not an issue at all.  
If you have an agp video card. Check to enssurse that it is properly seated in its slot.
1068.

Solve : Serial ATA and IDE hard drives?

Answer»

I want to build a computer to work purely as a CCTV DVR.

I am going to go for a Geovision DVR card (GV800).

My motherboard (ASUS P4P800-VM) supports 2 x Serial ATA drives.

I was wondering can I put a small 10 gig hard drive containing winXP on the IDE channel and then use 1 x of the serial ATA channels for a 400 gig hard drive to store the video output whilst keeping the other serial ATA channel SPARE for a future UPGRADE for more video storage?

If this will work, would I have any speed issues?

Thanks

SteveNo, it is a very good idea.  That way the OS and the video can operate off of seperate controllers giving you almost simultaneous throughput.  Many corporate servers are setup similarly in that one controller handles the drives needed for the OS and some programs while another handles data and data operations. Quote

No, it is a very good idea.


Thanks Gussery!

Thats just what I wanted to hear!

Steve
1069.

Solve : New case = no power?

Answer»

I just bought a new case for my computer, because my old one, WELL, wasn't too pretty.  I took everything out of my old case(MOTHERBOARD, hd, cdrom, blah blah), including my old power supply and put it in the new case I just bought.  For some reason, it won't power on...  All of my front panel control wiring is correct, everything is connected on where it should be, but nothing happens when i go to power it on... Any tips on what i could do, because at this point, I don't know what else to do.  

ThanksThere's something wrong with the power supply... Are you sure that the case supports your power supply?

[glb]Flame[/glb]My power supply is fine, I even tried the power supply it came with, and it didn't work with that... I hope to god my board didnt get fried, I'm not sure how it could have.  But my old power supply fit perfectly in the case, worked fine in my old case, but now it isn't working.  I just got done building 2 other computers before getting my new case for my computer, and the other ones run just fine... I'm not too sure why it won't power up.   The funny THING is, i put my system back in my old case and it worked like a beauty, and when i put it my system back in the new case again... nothing happened... I'm clueless on this situation, I've never come across this beforeok.... Be prepared, because I am about to ask you probably the dumbest question... What is this new case made of that the old one is not? Is it possible that if a wire touches a certain part of that case, that it grounds the electricity? Try to answer the question... (I know that it's hard... lol     )

[glb]Flame[/glb]Some cases do not work with certain power supplies...What BRAND is it?  also check jumpers on mother board and make sure the pwr switch , reset switch, etc is put on the right jumpers.  This also could trigger malfuction when turning something on. Quote

Some cases do not work with certain power supplies...What brand is it?  also check jumpers on mother board and make sure the pwr switch , reset switch, etc is put on the right jumpers.  This also could trigger malfuction when turning something on.



The power supply isn't the problem.. This is the 3rd case I've used it in, and I did try the PS that the case came with, and it didnt work either.  Would this mean my board might be fried... would there be any feedback from my board if it was fried? (meaning if it was fried, would it even turn on, or get any response from the board, or would it just be completly dead?)JohnComs........Well , if you have removed all the comonents and reinstalled them in the old case ...and everything works......then I would be double CHECKING all the front panel wiring on the new case ............" It's not rocket science" .........look at the schematic and use a METER to check out the circuit . Perhaps the reset button is faulty ( if there is one ) or the startstop switch is faulty.....

Good luck

dl65  
1070.

Solve : cd rom work overseas?

Answer»

Does anybody KNOW if a CD loaded with PICTURES MADE on a home computer in the USA work on a home computer in England?

ThanksIt should....  

[GLB]Flame[/glb]

1071.

Solve : dvd r/w problem?

Answer»

i cant get my dvd rw to detect a cd or dvd so unable to record anything have up to date drivers in the system folder it says its thier but says cd controller is their any way of fixing this


PLEASE help  ooooo...not good.  Three things it COULD be...One not compatible with WINDOWS..two IDE...etc not CONNECTED properly...and three the product is bad and you need to return it.When did this happen? Did it just "start" happening one DAY? Did this drive used to work before?

[glb]Flame[/glb]this drive worked then one day i i tried to put files on it to back up my computer now it does not work  its about 3 months oldTry sending it back to the manufacturer... It sounds like a defect...

[glb]Flame[/glb]

1072.

Solve : no sound from cd roms?

Answer»

Dont know what happened, suddenly there is no sound.  I see the time clicking away on the track, but no sound.  I tried wav files, etc to see if there's ANY sound and there is.  It's just the CD roms.  :-/

Any ADVICE?  Much thanks as I need this for my business.check audio cables on the cdrom to your sound card, make sure they are not damaged or LOOSE. Quote

check audio cables on the cdrom to your sound card, make sure they are not damaged or loose.


OK, I will.  Where might they be?  This is usually a gray cable that runs from the CD ROM(s) to your sound card... Do you know where the sound card is?

[glb]Flame[/glb] Quote
This is usually a gray cable that runs from the CD ROM(s) to your sound card... Do you know where the sound card is?

[glb]Flame[/glb]


Hi flame-

I have an OLD Compaq Presario 5190, an old tower and there's alot of cables coming out of the back.  I dont have a clue where the sound card is.  

Help me please, I really need these CD players!!
Well, the sound card is inside the case, but once you open the case up, you will see the wire. It is not HARD to spot, if you look at the CD ROM and the card that it is connecting to, then you will see that it is the sound card... Also, if you look on the back side of your computer, you will see the microphone JACK and such... That connects directly into the sound card, making it easier to be identified... Keep in touch...

[glb]Flame[/glb]
1073.

Solve : game problems!?

Answer»

i just built a new computer and when i run any major 3d applications my computer tries to restart but it fails. anyone have any suggestions? i have all the latest drivers and SP2.

asus a8n-sli deluxe
AMD 64 3000+ 939
1gb kinston pc3200
xfx geforce 6600gt
win xp proHave you installed the video card drivers porperly? Can you update them on the internet? Also, have you ever installed other video card drivers on that computer? (for a different card)

[glb]Flame[/glb]What games.........patchware ..maybe..
what cooling system are you using......../?amd?im using the stock hsf that came with my cpu. i just put this computer together about a week ago SOO this is the only card i have put in it. im pretty sure i installed the drivers correctly unless they are either the wrong ones or not enough. and im tryin to play world of warcraftIf you only getting problems with games and not any irq_stop problems...i would see if there is a download patch for the games you wish to play........if you are using a cpu certain games will not handle it to kindly.does this happen all the time..check spec for game capabilitly........what directx  have you got..another woe..
(QUOTE:my computer tries to restart but it fails ss)
what do you mean by this !my system can easily handle the game. i have a duron 1ghz cpu with 512ram and it can run WoW pretty good. but what happens when i play the game is my monitor goes idle(no display) and my computer keeps running and nothing happens.  i just reinstalled directx 9.0c and still the same thing.also when i run world of warcraft it only takes up 200,000k of my memory on my crappy computer and 400,000k on my new computer. any ideas?well i got the adapter for my psu and still the same problem. only thing i can think of now is my cpu getting too hott and just shutting down but i highly doubt it.  Oh yes! That card puts out a butload of heat.  If you dont have liquid cool...or a ton f fans ejecting the heat your CPU will cook.  I have just had this problem since I just upgraded my 5950 to 6800 Ultra.  I had to put two 120mm fans on either end and a 80mm on top and the side.  I would suggest liquid cool if you have a pro put it on for you, but i would not suggest you do it yourself...Also do you get the blue screen of death?!

1074.

Solve : cd rom trouble?

Answer»

I have a creative cd rom (cd5233E) that has stopped working properly.  It started when I tried to install an ethernet card that didnot work and was removed.  Now My Computer shows a cd rom as d drive but device manager shows no cd rom.  In properties for d drive, it shows nothing for system files ( it should have FAT here).  The cd rom will play music through the cd player program and it will install software.   However, when I try to record music into media player, I get error message about not reading digital and computer has switched to analog.  

I have tried removing and reinstalling cd rom as WELL as reinstalling the driver.  No luck.  Also no luck with recommended driver from creative labs.  (I am using win 98se).Windows could be confused.  Also turn the power off.  Get inside your case disconnect the ethernet card, and the cd-rom. .Then UNPLUG power plugs to your mother board reset bios by removing the jumper and placing it back on. put everything back together first the power plugs on your mother board, then the cables on the cd-rom then boot up...Bios should now see it..also download any drivers it may need from its MANUFACTURER...Windows Xp has this thing about compatible hardware...it blows, but what are you going to do.  Should have read more carefully...Your hardware is probably not compatible with 98.  If it is a newer Rom.  Windows does its best to make you buy the latest operating system.  Also if you have an older computer it may not support the connectors...if its ATA or Better than IDE.  Most devices are ATA or non IDE ANYMORE...they use FASTER connectors.  You may need to get an older cd-rom.  One that just says IDE...The way you can check if it ATA is if one end of the connectors on the plug is Blue.  Also the pins are slightly different.Is it USB? or internal?I am using win 98 se; my cd rom is compatible as it worked for several years on this computer; it is an internal cd rom.  I dont understand your instructions -- explain what you mean by power plugs to mother board and what jumper are you talking about;  I assume you mean the cd rom jumper.  I have removed it several times trying different locations.  Should I power up before I replace the jumper?  I need better instructions.Sorry I will try to explain in detail...

1. Turn off power
2. disconnect power connectors on motherboard..On an atx there is usually a four pin connector which has two on top two on the bottom. the other I believe has 12 pins.
3. Disconnect the cd-rom drive, power cable connector and the cable going into your IDE port and the back of the CD-Rom.
4. Check the manual or go to creative and found out which jumper on the cdrom makes it a slave or master.  Select whatever suites your needs.
5. Look on the motherboard there should be a three pin jumper connector on the motherboard, with a jumper stuck on two of the pins..on the motherboard it should say either cmos or bios.  Take the jumper connector off and place it on the one that it didnt cover it..then take off again.
6. Reconnect the drive to the IDE.
7. Replace the jumper on the orgional pins on the cmos/bios (this will reset your cmos setup)
8. Replug power connectors on motherboard and cd-rom
9. Power back on
10. Wait for screen then hit del this will put you in cmos
11. Look to see if it is reading your drive. It will say.
12. If it does see it. Exit cmos and wait for windows.
13. Windows should say found new hardware
14 go through all that it tells you..reinstall drivers and reboot.

If this doesnt work take it to a repair place or check the IDE port with the cable from your hard drive...if it still doesnt read..that means that the IDE port is bad and you probably should get a new computer.

1075.

Solve : different HD in newer computer?

Answer»

I recently tried put my HD into my second computer because it has a faster processor.  When I start it,it goes to a message about which mode I'd like to start in, but none of them work, it just starts over.  The HD has WINXP on it.  It was in a MOTHERBOARD with and Intel celeron 433 and I want to put it into the Intel Pentium III.  When I tried to put it back into the original, it does nothing.  What do I do?

In advance, Thanks for any help.First off, it's never a SURE thing to be able to move a windows installation to a different MB.  If you connect it to the original installation and BOOT it up, you can prepare it and give yourself a better chance of it working.

Uninstall any motherboard drivers, and any hardware device drivers that won't be on the new machine.

VERY IMPORTANT:  In device manager, uninstall EVERYTHING under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.

Shutdown and put the disk into the new machine and attempt to boot.

Also, if one machine has an ACPI compliant BIOS and the other one doesn't, that's frequently a sticky issue.  You might disable ACPI in the new machine to see if that helps.

1076.

Solve : Second hard drive???

Answer»

Hi
I've added a second hard drive to my system and formatted it so it works!! It ran fine but as soon as i turned my computer off and left it for a while it wouldn't turn back on again, just turns on and off straight away with no time to get into the bios! But if i unplug the second hard drive, it will work again.
The jumpers are right because if the comp is up and running for a while and i turn it off and quickly connect the leads back to the second hard drive it will work now? But turn off the comp and back to square 1.
I have 2 dvd rewriters and 2 hard drives. 350w power supply and msi 845pe mother board.. Any help much appreciatedYour second hard drive -- EXTERNAL?  USB?
Your 2 DVD rewriters  --  also USB?
Instead of unpluging the external during the trouble shooting, unplug the   DVD rewriters, ie run the computer with just the TWO hard drives. I am presuming that one is internal and the other external.

If your external connections are via USB, how are they connected? Daisy chained to each other? Connected to the computer built in ports? Some connected to built in ports and others connected to PCI card?
Some connected to computer via USB hub? Is the hub powered or PASSIVE?

Just a WAG on my part,  but I suspect that you need either a USB PCI card or powered hub, or both, as the USB bus provided by the computer cannot cupply the power necessary to drive your set of externals. I'm not sure a bigger power supply will improve the situation.All of the hard ware is internal i have the side of my comp unscrewed for easy access!I suspect 2nd hard drive is drawing more startup current than it should.  When it is warm, it's taking less current to startup.  Because of this, power supply is being overloaded and shuts down.Cheers.
Would you suggest a bigger power supply? Maybe 400w or even 450w?Can you try a different hard drive?  How old is this 2nd hard drive?  How many GB?  Is it still under warranty?  Hard drives are about the same price as power supplies.Bought a 200 gig brand new hard drive and this wouldn't work so put it in an external case which works fine. Then bought a brand new 120 gig that is in now and this is happening again so not sure. They both work on the external case though. Primary is 80 gigExternal case has external power supply.  It appears you need a larger internal power supply.  Get the biggest one that that will fit and that you can afford.  You can't have too much power.  The computer will only use as much power as it requires.Cheers.
I'll give it a go! Seems logical and i've tried about everything else so it won't hurt to try this.Another thing to check is if your motherboard supports ATA or higher than standard IDE connectors. Most new hard drives are the new standard. I would suggest you get a new powersupply due to the fact you are running so much hardware.  Another thing to check is after you turn off your computer and turn it back on bios is saying either your new harddrive is a maste or slave, also go into th seetings of the hardrive on bios, depending on what version you and how old bios is manaully select the hard drives size( LARGE, Auto, or I can not remember the third option) Select large.  Sometimes windows can not sometimes  see large hard drives.  It will say you have this much rather than the actuall amount.  Make sure your jumpers are correct and all cables are connected properly and also make dure nothijg is tugging on the cord to accidently pull it out of your device...just some things to look at...Its usually the smallest, stupidest things that cause these problems..that most people over-look.

1077.

Solve : scsi HDD firmware?

Answer»

Have external scsi case (CENT 50 pin Narrow scsi) hooked to Firewire port via RATCO Systems FR1SX scsi to firewire converter.

Have about 10 scsi hdd, an MO drive, Iomega drives, external CD-RW, Syquest drives all mount.

5 hdd will not mount and I think they need firmware updates. Two drives are Quantum and while searching for things Quantum I found this knowledgable group. Looking under the topic re: Quantum there seems to be no firmware (DRIVER) available.

All of the hdd in QUESTION have at ONE time or another been primary or external hdd to my Macintosh pre OS X. Now that I have OS X and a MAC (G4) without scsi connector I use the FW converter, and I would like to get these hdd mounted. Other than firmware are there pins to jumper to set or remove internal termination?

tia for any replyProblem solution discovered!!
Needed to set a jumper to enable termination on the suspect drives. Thanks to an info sheet at Seagate.

1078.

Solve : No Pictures on DVD-Please Help!?

Answer»

I burned FAMILY photos to a DVD Disc and all seemed to be going well. When the burn session was through, I ATTEMPTED to view the photos on the disc but there was nothing there. When I click on the disc properties, it SHOWS that the disc is full, however I can not see the pictures on the disc. Are my family photos all gone or is there SOMETHING I can do to recover them?Friend which windows u are using and which Writer you are using and is it CD Writer or DVD Writer?
Also which software you are using for burning?
Dr WahabThis particuler disk was burned on a I/O Magic  DVD burner which stopped to function shortly after I burned the DVD in Question. I had to RETURN that DVD Burner back to the manufacturer and I am now using a Pacific Western DVD Burner. I am using Roxio to burn my DVD's Quote

...Are my family photos all gone or is there something I can do to recover them?...This particuler disk was burned on a I/O Magic  DVD burner which stopped to function shortly after I burned the DVD in Question...

I think you answered your own question.
1079.

Solve : computer powering off and on rapidly?

Answer»

I was watching cinemanow and shut it down along with window media player and my computer was working fine.  I left for dinner and when I CAME back the computer was powering off and on rapidly.  I had to do a force turn off by pulling the PLUG.  I opened the case and pulled a reset the memory sticks and cleaned out the case.  When I turn it back on the fans are running but thats it there are no beeps and nothing comes up on the screen.       I have and ALIENWARE tower computer, running windows home edition.  It has 256ram ddr memory and 128 ram ddr memoryDo you have virus protection software installed?

[glb]Flame[/glb]Also, is it a dual cpu system...and are they being over-clocked...wait a minute, yes they are its alienware. But it could have a virus, but I think it could be problems with overclocking.  TALK to alienware...they have good support!

1080.

Solve : OS wont boot, stuck in CMOS Setup Utility?

Answer»

Hi all, help please.

I moved my PC from one room to another, and when I switch on now it goes straight to the CMOS Set Up utility, and I cant get past it.

Its kept its memory (the time and date are ok) but when I escape from it it just JUMPS straight back into CMOS and my OS doesnt kick in.

The machine is a 1.8ghz Pentium 4, 480MB RAM, 58GB hard drive, fairly new, and I'm trying to boot-up XP Home.

Any clues anyone please.
MalcMalc:

Try selecting the OPTION to change all settings to the DEFAULTS in the CMOS, then reboot.

Regards,
Docdefinitely Agree!!!!Great minds think ALIKE.

1081.

Solve : I broke something else! (Wireless Pcmia card))?

Answer»

Hey all, I've BROKE something else  

I got this PCMCIA card (Motorola brand, 802 G from the infamous wally market) home and was installing it. Everything's going fine and its showing up as the correct card and new hardware is installing it, then windows pulls the normal on me. It gives me a ERROR that setup can not load windi.dll to install the network device i'am trying to install.

This didnt seem odd because i had done a minimal install of Win98SE on this following machine:

233mhz
64mb ram
(4 gig HDD space)

So i hunted down this DLL to discover that if i enter the c:\windows folder, the folder locks up and crashes and then explorer locks up as perdicted.

I attempted to uninstall/reinstall the drivers but i didnt get the motrola pop ups and the motorla uitlites did NOT detect the card, it comes up as 'generic pci network adapter'

Then, i did the general windows up keep:
- chk disk
-scan disk
- system file checker(i couldnt find the win98 cd so i had to use the backups in c:\windows to the 8 or so DLLS found messed in system/system 32))
-defraged
(+ a antivirus and adaware/spyware scan)

and pasted it into system and system32- i still get the same error  when  it trys to install; the difference being it's still listed as generic pci adapter.

HOWEVER; now i can get into windows folder it's running slow and crashes at random; but no LONGER takes explorer with it. Copy/pasteing windi.dll to system/system32 and replaceing the messed setupx.dll seems to have no effect; besides system file checker and anything accessing windows folder (ala browseing for a file to load in it) also crashes at random..


I'd reinstall 98; but i've lost the disc. If anyone knows something to fix this WITHOUT the disc/reinstall; please suggest (feel free to post with install on the chance that i do find it)

Thanks before handI seem to have made a little progess- i discovered that netos.dll was tied in with netdi.dll and then windows was able to detect it as a unkown device, but not detect the drivers or installed motorola programs.

Add new hardware SET it up as some new generic notebook adapter, but i dont see that in the device panel, and it has the same name in the pcmica card manager.

The power/link lights will not come on.

1082.

Solve : Motherboard Search?

Answer» GREETINGS:

I have a Compaq Presario S3100NX that contained a FIC AM37 MOTHERBOARD (Socket 462 -- Socket A).

My question is:  How am I ABLE to locate another motherboard (NOT another AM37), but one that is compatible with this system.

I've searched various sites in hope of finding one that will fit the case, but the screw-holes are somewhat mismatched.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated...or if you have further questions, please hollar!

Ttermn8tr .....Do you know the form factor of the board thats in there now ? I have looked at their site ....
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?lc=en&cc=us&man_lang=en&product=307004&dlc=en&
And it tells you everything you dont want to know ........

Perhaps try contacting them and ASK for info on the board thats installed .........( unless it a secret ....LOL )

Is it a Micro ATX ?  ( socket A )
http://www.directron.com/microsocket.html

Let us know

dl65  
Term-n-8-r:

Does it have a riser card CONNECTED to a large slot in the motherboard into which the expansion cards are inserted?  If so, it's most likely proprietary & you will not be able to replace it with anything but a motherboard & riser card made for that case.  Many Compaq PCs are like this.  I guess they make more money that way, as you need to get your replacement from them!  

Regards,
Doc

Greetings & Tnx for the responses...

The system has a MicroATX form Factor board and I have found one that is quite similiar.  It's listed here:   GIGABYTE "GA-7VM333M-RZ" VIA KM266 Pro Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU

Also, there a no riser cards installed.

If I am unable to find a decent replacement, I'll give this board a shot...

T
1083.

Solve : reformatting system error - Help!!?

Answer»

Hi,

I have reformatted my C drive, and now I get an "invalid system disk, replace the disk and then press and key" error.  There are no disks in any of the drives, the CMOS looks ok. I can't boot from a boot disk, and I can't even get into DOS at all.  It just stays at this error. What have I missed? Did I do something wrong during formatting? I don't know what kind of computer I have, I am fixing it for a friend who had it hodge podged together from several different used ones.

Please help me!!!
CherieWhen you format a drive you will get "invalid system disk" until you install an operating system.Wellllll first of all does your HDD only have one partition obviously the C drive??? cause then you have all erase you HDD and the CPU can't load any OS. Did you try the OS Cd to boot it up again and reinstall the OS?? If nothing works then you'll need a DOS 6.22 disk to boot in DOS and then run Fdisk to see whats going on inside that HDD. Maybe delete the primary partition and recreate one will works. Then format that primary partition and try runni gyour OS cd to reinstall it. Try that and tell me whats happenning.Hmm maybe it's just that a floppy is in your drive try to reboot without any floppy inside your floppy disk or any CD rom.


hope it helped

:-/There is no floppy in the A drive and I can't load the OS from a CD and I have a Windows start up disk but it won't boot from that either.  :-/Queen:

You may need to change the BIOS setup settings.  When you boot your computer, does it display the name of the BIOS manufacturer before the error displays?  (For example, is it AMI or Phoenix or Dell or Compaq?)

This will help us tell you what keys to press to enter the BIOS setup.  Or it may say something like "Press F10 to enter setup."  If it does, press that key.  

When the BIOS setup screen appears, read the instructions about how to MOVE from screen to screen & what keys to press to make selections.  Find the screen that says something about the boot order.  Then, choose the option to boot to the CD-ROM drive first.  Press the correct key to SAVE changes & exit.  

Then, put in the Windows 98 installation CD & press Ctrl+Alt+Del.  When you see the message, "Press any key to boot to the CD . . . " press the spacebar.   The Windows 98 setup should then begin.

Let us know if you need more help.
DocMake sure Bios makes your CD-ROM a bootable device.  
Second look to see if your hard drive has any software it CAME with it, for installation purposes.  It will help you setup partitians and what not.  If it does not...make a partician using the dos shell prompt and then load your OS installation CD.  If you have a Mac...that isnt a G5 I am truely sorry..can not help you! Hi,
I tried the BIOS thing - making the CD rom the first in the boot sequence and that didn't work. Then I tried making the A drive the first in the boot sequence to boot from the Windows start up disk and that didn't work either. Now what?!!! :-/

I don't have any original software - I'm not even sure how old this thing is - could there be something wrong with the hard drive?  I forgot - it's not a Mac, so all is good there. I don't know how to make partitions for the DOS shell prompt.That is sooo odd you couldnt make your Cd-rom a bootable drive...hmmm...What I would suggest doing is getting a copy of your OS and power up your pc, put the cd in..shutdown..this is terrible..but hard shutdown...what i mean by this is hold down the button until it fully turns off...reboot the system with the windows cd in it...hopefully it is past windows 95.  and it should try to read all the disk drives and it will ask you if you want to boot from your cd-rom...hit a key any key and it will load from your cd-rom.  It will look all blue..no worries, just follow the instructions on the screen and it will ask you if you want to format your drive and make a partition with your windows on it...after windows installs on its partitian you can then go into windows and make any additional partitions. Its been a while for me to make partitions using dos..I would need my reference book in front of me in order to tell you step by step.


<---- agrees with Wraith  Hi again,

Thanks for the advice. I have tried the manual shutdown thing with the windows CD in the drive and it tells me that it's not a valid disc.  It also tells me that the Windows start up floppy is an invalid disc too. I have reformatted a C drive before and installed the OS, but I have never SEEN anything like this.  I'm starting to think there is something wrong with the hard drive itself.  Maybe this computer is so old I shouldn't waste my time with it! Queen:

CHECK the BIOS setup to make sure it is set to auto-detect the drives & set the boot order to boot to drive A first.  Then make sure to save the changes before you exit. Next, put a *known-good* Windows 98 or Windows Me boot diskette in the floppy drive & restart.  

If that doesn't work, test the boot disk on another computer just to be sure it works. If the boot disk does not work on that computer, use that computer (& a different floppy disk) to make a boot disk & try that one on your computer.

If that doesn't work, use a floppy drive cleaning diskette to clean the drive & try to boot to the boot disk again.  If that doesn't work, verify that the data cable & power supply connection is firmly in place on the floppy drive. Make sure the data cable is not upside down (if it is, the light will stay on even when no floppy disk is in the drive).

Be sure to write down any error messages or beep codes that occur & let us know.

Regards,
Doc

1084.

Solve : strange drive problems?

Answer»

Have a real mind bender here, I think. I had rebuild my pc due to the case being too small for the AS Rock motherboard I bought for an upgrade along with a 3.2 GHZ Intel pentium processor. I moved the original floppy drive, dvd rom drive(shows to be a gdr8161b in system), & the cd rw (shows to be gce8400b in system) to the new case. After getting it all set up & working, checked for bios upgrade for motherboard & flash new version. Did all windows xp UPDATES, as well as norton anti-virus, spybot, & spyware blaster & have kept all updated ever since. All programs I originally had were all checked & operational, as well as all drives. There are NO virus or spyware issues with my machine. Had no problems & machine has functioned well. I got a couple of usb "jump" drives in January & they both worked, but I noticed that I could not use them when first plugged into my machine, even though windows saw them & loaded for them. I would have to restart my machine with them plugged in, in order to do anything with them. However, I don't have that problem when I use them on other xp machines. But that's NOT my real problem; I can live with this quirk, if I need to. My REAL problem is that both the dvd & cd drives as well as the floppy won't work correctly. I also have a Sratitec card reader installed which shows up as 5 drives, since it has 4 slots & reads a variety of memory cards. It also is not working. Everything shows up in device mngr & system with no problems & trying to update drivers and/or firmware doesn't help. Rolling back drivers doesn't help, restoring system to a variety of different times doesn't help, & unplugging all & reconnecting didn't help either. I have also changed from master & slave to cable select with no help either. And here's the REAL wierd part...I can put a MUSIC cd, installation/data cd, or a game cd in the drive & restart the machine & it will see it then & let me do whatever. But if I take it out & put it back in, I'm back to square one with it not being seen. I have even put the motherboard cd in the drive, done the restart & then tried updating the IDE drivers just incase something got changed. No help. I have tried each drive connected by itself.  I don't think the drives are bad, as they all worked with no problems & I can still use under strange circumstances.  I have NOT attempted to reflash the bios & have not yet tried the drives in another XP machine (since I don't really think that's the problem). And I have NOT tried a different IDE ribbon cable (since that is probably not the problem either). As a side note, at one point in the past when I first updated windows with SP2, both cd drives stopped working (but if I remember correctly, they weren't even seen by windows), so I took out the update & everything went back to normal. I have even gone so far as to pull it out again, but it made no difference this time, so it has been added back in again. Also, it's important to note the the "jump" drives are the only usb item I have to restart my pc in order to use. Any other THING I plug in, such as steering wheel/pedal controls or my original ImageMate dual card reader work without a restart.  ANY ideas or suggestions will be GREATLY appreciated, as I've run out of ideas, as well as 2 other pc FRIENDS of mine.  
Thanks in advanceAre you using Roxio as your burning software? If so make sure you have downloaded the latest patches for it otherwise it can cause problems LIKE the one that you describeNo, not using it. I use Nero most of the time, but have this problem, even with it uninstalled.

1085.

Solve : All lights are in even before bios?

Answer»

My 3.5 and my DVD-ROM RW is constantly on even before bios comes up. I go into Bios it sees my harddrive, and my 3.5, but does not see my DVD-ROM Drive.  The Rom will not respond to eject or anthing ELSE.  My harddrive light is ALWAYS on, no flicker, same with the 3.5 and DVD-ROM.  Can anyone help me figure this one out.  I have built MANY computers, but this is the first time I have run into this.  I am thinking I did not place a cable on right or MAYBE my jumpers on  the motherboard are not configured properly.  Any help would be great!!! Thanks. Wraith:

Reversing the data cable on a floppy drive will cause the drive's light to always stay on.

Leaving a DVD or CD in a DVD drive may cause the light to always stay on to let you know there is a disk in the drive.  Try using a paper clip to manually open the drive door by sticking it in the pin hole available for that purpose.


Regards,
DocThanks..I fixed it..it was a matter of diconnecting and reconnecting PLUGS and what not..thanks for the help

1086.

Solve : Computer restarts when try to dial up modems?

Answer»

HELP....

our computer completly restarts everytime we TRY to connect to the internet.  It doesn't dial or anything.  The connection box NEVER appears.  As soon as you double click on the icon to connect to the internet the computer restarts.I think friend that there can be some kind of virus or spywares. So install an up-to-date Anti Virus and scan your whole SYSTEM. Norton is the best one.  For spywares, use anti spyware from Microsoft and scan your whole system. I hope that this will solve your problem.
Do take care of you and others and be happy.
DrWahabHi, Self (not myself, but yourself--aaah, you know what i mean)!

I agree with Dr. W.  

Another possibility: There is a hardware, firmware or software problem with your modem.  Has this modem ever worked correctly on this computer before?

One other question: Were any changes made just before this happened?  (For example, did you add a new expansion card (like a video card), or more RAM (memory)? or did you install a new software program?)

Please let us know.
Doc

1087.

Solve : antialiasing?

Answer»

Can anyone tell me how to enable antialiasing with a Geforce FX 5200?  I've heard I can do it outside of games so even games that don't have it implemented specifically can use it.  I was told to go to the driver properties or something, but I see NOTHING about that.download the new PATCH from nvidia..after installing the software. Right click on the desktop go to properties, settings.  If there isnt a nvidia tab here go under advanced.  Click on the tab a bunch of options will pop up.  just scroll through different tabs and you will FIND antialiasing, antrophic, etc

1088.

Solve : Constant crashing?

Answer»

I bought my computer from a computer fair 2 years ago, and  RECENTLY it has been constantly crashing on me.
After upgrading the RAM and the Graphics card, the hardware is as follows:
AMD Athlon 1250MHz processor
VIA 266 Motherboard
768MB RAM
40.1GB 7200rpm hard drive
ATI RADEON 9200se 128MB
Tatung C5D Monitor
DirectX 9

I have also recently re-formatted my hard drive, and switched to NTFS from fat32, aswell as updating to Windows XP, in attempt to prevent the crashing, and still no success.
I do use music sharing software, such as Limewire, and kazaa lite, however, I have used these on my home computer and no problems are caused. I have often scanned for viruses and it appears there are no viruses or errors on the hard disk, and I also use a firewall when using the internet.
Also, I thought maybe the processor was overheating, however, I checked the TEMPERATURES, and the avergae CPU Temperature was 45 degrees celsius, and the System temperature at 35 degrees celsius. The CPU fan speed is usually at around 4500rpm.
I hope I have provided enough information, as these are all the areas of my computer I have looked into, aswell as Windows help, and various websites. I would be very very very grateful to receive a reply, hopefully with some form of help.
cheersWhat do you mean by crashing?? Does its freeze then reboot?? Just freeze?? just reboot?? If the cpu is freezing maybe you need to upgrade the driver of your video card.

Maybe your mobo need more power from the power supply. Well explain what its heppening when it crash maybe that will help me.The temps seem aok but have you checked your psu?  Maybe it needs upgrading too or is just GETTING tiredBy crashing I mean it just freezes, whatever is on the screen remains the same, and pressing anything has no effect, such as ctrl+alt+del.  Then I would have to reboot. However, the same thing could happen immediately after rebooting, or sometimes it could go for hours before another freeze.

By PSU do you mean the processor, if so, surely a 1.25GB Athlon processor is fine?

thanks for the prompt replies by the way, I wasnt expecting them so fast!By the way, (ive been reading someone else's post) it freezes at no apparent time, can be when no applications are running, when using Msn messenger, or in a game. Its totally random. Also, the problem has been occuring before the new RAM was installed. Maybe something is wrong with the video card? Althought the device manager does not recognise any faults.Stephen JOHNSON.......Could you please let us in on the rating of your PSU ....( power supply )  .....you listed your components ......However I dont see any CD- rom or dvd payer or burner ......or a floppy ......all these items require power .......I'm a little curious as to why you would have formatted fat32 , when NTSF is more efficient ........
But the power supply is something worth looking at ......
It could be the source of your problems .

Let us know

dl65  Hi, I do have a floppy drive, and a cdrom drive, which is also a burner, speakers etc. And when i formatted my hardrive, I changed from fat32 to NTFS.
After looking in my computer, I think the 'combined power' is 280W

Maybe the fact that it is 2 years old, getting the new graphics card and the new RAM, more power is needed?no...your setup is good..I agree with the others who say it could be a conflicting application. Does it freeze before or after bios?

1089.

Solve : Can't read USB floppy drive?

Answer»

Acquired a used external USB floppy drive (TEAC FD05PUW). I'm running a PC under XP (Home). Plugged it in and it was recognised by my computer and driver automatically installed. But I get no icon for it under My Computer or in EXPLORER. Device manager states it is running properly. What next?Hmmm

Krishna:

Have you tried restarting? (Better yet, shut down & wait about 30 seconds, then power up again).

Did you read the manual that came with the device?  (Sometimes the manufacturer recommends that you install their software *before* you plug the device into the USB port.)

Have you tried unplugging the USB connector & plugging it back in?  (I have a USB mouse that requires me to do this sometimes before Windows will detect it. You may safely unplug & replug a USB connector while the computer is on.)

Did you check to see if the USB floppy is USB-2 & if your motherboard only supports USB?  

Did you enter your BIOS setup to see whether the USB port is enabled?

Let US know if you need help trying any of these suggestions out.

Doc

PS are you a follower of that Krishna guy, or do you just dig that John Lennon song?  (Learning about other religions is a hobby of mine.)  

Have you tried shut down waited 40 seconds, then power up again, but system seems to hang if the FDD is plugged in.

I bought the device off Ebay (can return it if stuck). Didn't come with any software. WinXP recognises it correctly by name when plugging it in. This model not on the TEAC website, but the model that is (v similar name) states doesn't need anything additional for XP.

Have tried unplugging the USB connector & plugging it back in. As I say it is detected and device manager says it is working properly. I just can't access it because it doesn't appear in My Computer or Explorer.

PC supports both USB and USB-2. I have both TYPES of socket (for some bizarre reason Dell give you USB on front of box and USB-2 only on back). I've plugged the drive into both. Same problem.

USB ports are enabled. Other devices work fine in same port and in any case the drive is detected correctly when plugged in.

  >PS are you a follower of that Krishna guy, or do you
  >just dig that John Lennon song?  (Learning about other
  >religions is a hobby of mine.)  

It's just my name. Always has been

ThanksIn my expeerience, limited as it is, a USB floppy drive will not show an icon until a disk is installed.

You are indicating that the system recognizes the drive and that the driver installed upon connection. The next step is to put a disk in the drive and then tell us if it was recognized.

Internal floppy drives and CD drives and hard drives all SEEM to display an icon just by being connected and recognized. External floppy dirves are a little DIFFERENT.

Did you ask customer service at the drive manufacturer?

krishna:

OK, thanks.

PHlatop has a good suggestion.  Try putting a floppy disk in the drive, opening up a document, choosing File, then Save As..., then selecting drive A (or try drive B) as the location to save the file.

Doc


1090.

Solve : help my flashing sceen!!!!!?

Answer»

I just had a computer built.when i turned it on a full white page keeps flashing white then a page of red,green,and blue bars.please HELP!!!


i tryed replacing the video card did not work!?!?!?!?Are the drivers installed? Is there already on onboard video on the motherboard?

[glb]Flame[/glb]Neube:

Does the computer GIVE one or more beep tones?  If so, how many?

Does this start the very moment you power up your computer?  or does it happen after you hear the end-of-Power On Self-Test (POST) beep(s)?

Let us know,
Doc

run the direct x diagnostic tool..ooo I guess you cant if you can not see it..hmmm...what res are you using?  and what kind of monitor? Check your monitor settings..see if it supports the res you are using also check the refresh frequency...this is done by right clicking on the desktop and selecting properties, GO to your settings tab and click on the advanced button...go to the monitor tab you will see it about half way down...but for the time being see if you can get your HANDS on another monitor. neube:

Also: Check that the cables from the monitor to the PC & from the monitor to the wall outlet are firmly in place.  Sometimes they come lose & may mess up your display.

Regards,
Docno BEEPS. it comes up as soon as i turn it on.neube:

Try our other suggestions & let us know how it turns out.

1091.

Solve : Hard Drive Not Dected But it is...??

Answer»

Hello all.  This is my first day POSTING a problem.

I have a single 160 Gig Serial ATA Hard drive.  When I boot my computer I receive the message that no Drives are detected except for my CD-ROM and A: drive.  However the boot process continues to the screen that says "windows was not shut off properly....How would you like to start.  No matter which option I select, the windows log on screen begins with the orange bar going across for about 10-15 seconds.  After that, the whole process starts over.  I selected Safe mode the 2nd time, and it continues to hang at the file:
a347bus.sys.  I've read some other forums and i know this file has to do with the Alcohol burnign program.  They said  I should remove the file and my machine should boot normally.  However I cant get access to the Hard Drive....... Any Suggestions.Just a WAG. Do you have a CD, like a dignostic CD, or a system restore disk, with an OS on it? Could you use this CD to boot the computer now that the primary hd is not detected?That was my initial thought as well.  I tried using ERD commander to boot up, which uses a generic os.  UNFORTUNATELY it did not pick up my hd, only cd rom and a:

I'm confused as to why it wount recognize my hard drive yet the windows loading screen appears....?That was my initial thought as well.  I tried using erd commander to boot up, which uses a generic os.  Unfortunately it did not pick up my hd, only cd rom and a:

I'm confused as to why it wount recognize my hard drive yet the windows loading screen appears....?You mention this is a SATA drive.  The CD-ROM is probably and the floppy drive is an IDE drive.  The BIOS is finding the CD and Floppy because it is autoconfiguring the IDE controller.  My guess would be that your SATA controller, which normally loads later, is not autodetecting or needs some configuration changes.

Always check your connections, and make SURE your controller card is plugin right...this may sound stupid, but it happens more often than not...also if you are trying to connect it to your motherboard make sure it supports it.  If not make sure that the controller cards pins are not bent, MISSING or plugged in correctly.

1092.

Solve : bios voltage????

Answer»

i have an asus p4pb-mx motherboard and every time i boot up it says "hardware monitor has found an ERROR",  i FINALLY checked it out and the +5V monitor in the bios is reading 5.37 and FLASHING red now i know this is not GOOD but what does it mean and how can i fix it?chad:

Try a different monitor.

Regards,
Doc

1093.

Solve : New printer makes other usb ports malfunction?

Answer»

I bought a new dell A946 printer.  When it is hooked up to my computer, none of my other devices attached with USB work.  They all become unknown and malfunction including my wireless internet connection.  When the printer is not hooked up they work but they have to be reinstalled as if they are new devices.  I spent my entire weekend on the phone with dell doing various things but nothing works.  I did a system restore back to the day before I hooked up the printer and started over and the same thing happened.  I am so frustrated.  Please help  How do you connect these USB devices to the computer?
Through a hub? Is it a powered hub or a passive hub?
How is the hub connected to the computer, via a =built-in= port or on a PCI card?
Maybe you are connecting the usb devices in a =daisy chain=?
If the printer is connected directly to the  computer and the other devices are connected to the hub, does the situation change - impove or get worse or STAY the same?

I think there is a limit to the number of devices that can be connected directly to the computer, using a built in port; but using a powered hub the total number is 128.

Have you searched on Google for the topic of USB? That's a good place to at at least FIND out what USB is supposed to do. In my configuration for EXAMPLE, when the printer is connected to the system a shutdown command is TREATED like a restart command. Remove the printer and the computer will shut down.

If all else fails, you might WANT to add a USB PCI card to your computer.

1094.

Solve : Hard drive undetected?

Answer»

My primary and secondary hard drives are not detected but it's detected on my friend's computer.
I've scanned it. No bad sector was detected.
I've unpluged and pluged again all the cables but the PROBLEM is still exist.  Is there anything wrong with my POWER suply or my motherboard ? What should i do ?
My computer spesification is two hard drive, one CD-Rom, one DVD-Rom, 768 MB memory installed, GeForce 3 Ti 200, Pentium IV 1.9 GHz, Power Supply 300 Watt
Please HELP ASAP......  Reset your BIOS to defaults, then make sure autodect hard drives is turned onI've reseted my BIOS and turned the autodetect on but it doesn't SOLVE the problem..Have you tried a different cable?

Is the cable plugged in properly.  On IDE drives there is normally a red strip running down the side of the cable, this strip NEEDS to be on pin 1 of the controller and the driver.

Hoho... i've figured out the problem. My power supply is lack of power. Apparently 300 Watt is not enough. I've changed it to 500 Watt. It's work.   Anyway.. Thanx for ur help, gussery

1095.

Solve : Not able to access my computer?

Answer»

The CMOS of the computer prevents access to it, as both the mouse and keyboard are locked.  I have tried connecting different keyboard and mouse to the box to with no success, there is a high pitched sound coming from either the KB or mouse port.  Windows 98.Iti Hine....you could try resetting the CMOS ........either by using the jumper or removing and replacing the CMOS battery .

dl65  Iti:

i agree with dl.  But if that doesn't work, please answer these questions to help me suggest another cure:

  • Is a key stuck on the keyboard?  This will often produce a continuous beep.

  • Did you power the computer down before you tried another keyboard?

  • Are you sure the sound is not coming from the speaker inside the computer case?  The BIOS uses this speaker to provide beep codes which may give a CLUE as to what is wrong.
 
  • Is there a series of beeps or just one long beep?

  • Are any error messages displayed on the monitor?

  • Does the monitor show the Starting Windows screen at all?


Let us know,
Doc Thanks for your response.  I had anticipated that I may have to replace the battery given the computer is approximately 8 years.  I was hoping for other options.

Query:  what is a jumper?
Thanks for your response

#  apparently not as i tried another "pin" keyboard

#  NO.......I swopped with a USB keyboard before doing so

#  Yes

#   series of beeps

#   CMOS checksum error - defaults loaded

#   Yes

(PS  I have connected the mouse only, no SOUNDS are emitted, nor is there any function)Then your keyboard have a problem like a key is stuck so thats why your pc is beeping. But the best still to RESET the CMOS by removing the battery and unplugged your Power supply too  Thanks

I have swopped 2 other keyboards to no avail.  Yes  it seems the only option is to do as suggested...

Hopeful:

I'm hopeful that replacing the battery will do the trick.  Here are instructions as to how to do this:

http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/slowclock.html

ALSO, it may help to try a non-USB keyboard so that you may access the BIOS & set it to the DEFAULT configurations.  Is there any mini-DIN port (also called a P/S 2 port) in the back of the computer for a different keyboard?  The port will look like a round small circle with six small holes.  If there is, try getting another keyboard & plugging it in there (some computer stores sell them used for under $5.00).  You may also purchase a USB-to-mini-DIN converter so your USB keyboard may plug into the mini-DIN port.  

Regards,
DocThanks Doc

I have tried all that you have suggested regarding the keyboard to no avail.  Will change the battery upon my return home at the end of month.  Many thanks for your response.

Iti:

I think that's your best course of action.   The error message, "CMOS checksum error - defaults loaded" often occurs when the battery that supplies power to the CMOS is low on power.  The battery allows it to keep the settings for your BIOS even when the PC power is turned off.

Keep us posted.
Doc
1096.

Solve : is my fan working properly??

Answer»

It's a Toshiba Satellite series, but could be any laptop... it's shutting down often, and feels REALLY warm. The fan is spinning - but how well, and how do I know it's up to specifications? Quote

It's a Toshiba Satellite series, but could be any laptop...

What does that mean? Is it really a Toshiba, or not? Back to the issue here... lol  I think that one fan just might not be enough for your laptop... OR... Your fan has been cloged with dust, and is not spinning fast enough...

[glb]Flame[/glb]
Flame,
THANKS for the repsonse. It is a Toshiba, and their website was not helpful. I DOWNLOADED "speedfan" and it looks LIKE it's running okay, but I was hoping Toshiba could LET me know about temp specs.
Thanks again,
SteveSo does this mean that your question has been answered, or do you want to dig deeper into the issue?

[glb]Flame[/glb]How old is your Toshiba?

Toshiba is recalling a lot of their LT's due to over heating problems and fan issues.  Contact toshiba.  They have also lost a huge loss suite recently and they will give you money for your old one and give you another LT for replacement..check into this.
1097.

Solve : up grading an old gateway?

Answer»

I have an old gateway essential 433 c with intel 433 mhz celeron processorw/int sound and 8 mb AGP192 MB RAM10 GB hard drive. Can any one tell me what i can do to up grade it if at all ? I have a dell but would like to up grade this old gateway to use as a back up. thanks         beccaI wouldn't change a thing.  If you choose, it will run WindowsXP.I suggest the same...  

[glb]Flame[/glb]I recently had to rebuild a gateway laptop due to a worm. I found the gateway website very HELPFUL and the prices weren't terrible. I ended up increasing the memory and going to windows 2000. But check out thier website. Quote

I have an old gateway essential 433 c with intel 433 mhz celeron processorw/int sound and 8 mb AGP192 MB RAM10 GB hard drive. Can any one tell me what i can do to up grade it if at all ? I have a dell but would like to up grade this old gateway to use as a back up. thanks         becca


becca........If it ain't broke .......don't FIX it .........

dl65  
Once again... I agree.... Looking back, I did the same thing, and it put me in a lot of trouble, so maybe I will reconsider my decision... I'm taking dl65's side on this one...

[glb]Flame[/glb]Looks like we're all in agreement!  XP may work just fine on this PC.

ACCORDING to Microsoft, the minimum recommended hardware requirements to use XP are:

* Pentium 233 MHz or equivalent
* 128 MB RAM
* 1.5 GB free on a 2 GB hard disk
* Video display adapter and monitor with VGA resolution or higher
* CD-ROM drive (12x or faster) or DVD drive
* High-density 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, unless the computer supports starting SETUP from a CD-ROM or DVD drive
* Keyboard & mouse (or other pointing device)

One suggestion: Be sure to check the hardware compatibility list the Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/

Some old hardware may not work with XP, that is, unless the manufacturer has XP drivers available for download.

Regards,
Doc


128mbs of ram...hmmm...upgrade the memory before installing XP...XP is a memory hog.  But everything else is good...keep it.  Put at least 512mb RAMneo:

Good point!  I think it makes sense to double *all* the Microsoft recommended minimum requirements.

I have one XP MACHINE with 191 MB RAM & it is annoyingly slow when multi-tasking.  Increasing the pagefile size & putting it on a different hard drive helped, but more RAM is a must.

Doc
1098.

Solve : Reformatted HD now speakers not working?

Answer» HELLO,
I'm having a real pain of a time with my speakers. They are Compro ACS100. I recently reformatted my HD before which, they worked perfectly. Now, nothing. I've checked all the settings, and I can't find out what has changed. I also can't locate a driver online for these speakers but, I'm not even certain they had one to begin with.
Upon trying to play a CD on Windows Media Player this error message came up:

There is no sound card
Error ID = 0x80040256, Remedy ID = 0x00000000
This error indicates that you either do not have a sound card or it is functioning incorrectly. If you do not have a sound card, you must install one to play this file. If you do have a sound card, refer to its documentation to troubleshoot the problem.

The speakers are recieving power and I DO have a soundcard. I couldn't find any distinguishing features on the soundcard so I am not sure what brand it is.

If anyone can help me with this I would be most grateful, it's driving me insane lol.

Thanks, Meg Baker
What can you see in the device manager under multimedia device?
Do you see your sound card with a question mark?
Or do you absolutely can't see your sound card anywhere in the device manager?You need to go to the "Compro" website, and find drivers from them, OR you can contact your computer manufacturer to GET the drivers from them...

[glb]Flame[/glb]Thanks for your help.
Under Device Manager I cannot find any sound card at all. I can however see under 'Other devices' it says PCI Multimedia Audio Device which is question marked and yellow exclamation marked. Is this perhaps the mysterious missing sound card?
I tried going to compro and finding the drivers, also doing many searches online, but there doesn't seem to be any available.  type dxdiag in the run box for more and tst for sound...check its not muted?/also this program will display your sound card  make...for drivers ...driversall.com..ok what system have you got ...you may have the drivers on a separate disk..?Have you tried the sound card manufacturer's website? (I thought that Compro made the speakers...) The question is... Does Compro make your speakers, or sound card... You need to look at the sound card manufacturer's website...

[glb]Flame[/glb]YEP, thats the one, with the question mark (PCI Multimedia Audio Device)

so your system knows it there, so as the other are saying, all you need is the driver, and taht can be quite difficult, so you can install Everest, a freeware that will give you ALL the information about your computer:
http://www.lavalys.hu/downloads/everesthome151.exe

then, install it and run it. In the report that will appear, try looking in:

1-"Multimedia"->"PCI/PNP Audio" and see if there is something there, a company, a serial number, anything, and post it here.

2-"Devices"->"PCI Devices" and you will see a list of hardware that your computer has. Try looking at each individually and you will see information in the bottom of the screen, with the company, the serail number, etc.

If that's too complicated, you can go in the "report" menu and run the report wizard and select the categories I told you and post it here so we can have a look. But don't post ALL the information! It will be much too large and we will have all your serial numbers

Good luckMerlin_2 I tried your advice and it came up with this:

No problems found.
DirectSound test results: Failure at step 3 (DirectSoundCreate): HRESULT = 0x8878000a (The request failed because DirectSound resources, such as the priority level, were already in use by another caller.)

No sound came out. ?? Not sure what this means!
Also this information was under 'sound', device:

Name: GAME Compatible Device (emulated)
Device ID: MODEMWAVE\HALFDUPLEX\SERENUM
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 89
Type: Emulated

Flame: I am not sure who has made the sound card, it seems to be part of the whole back of my computer, and I can't find any ID on it at all nor on my computer. [it's a 2nd hand computer with I think a new motherboard so I have no idea sorry]

NaturalBornCamper:

Thanks, I d/l the Everest program and here is what showed up:

1-"Multimedia"->"PCI/PNP Audio" = SiS 7012 Audio Device

2-"Devices"->"PCI Devices" = Device Description
nVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 Video Adapter
Device Description
SiS 7001 PCI-USB OPEN Host Controller
Device Description
SiS 7001 PCI-USB Open Host Controller
Device Description
SiS 7012 Audio Device
Device Description
SiS 735 Chipset - Host-PCI Bridge [A-1]
Device Description
SiS 85C503/5513/5595/961/962/963 PCI-ISA Bridge
Device Description
SiS 86C201 AGP Controller
Device Description
SiS 961 MuTIOL - IDE Controller
Device Description
SiS SMBus Controller

As you said there was a lot of info! So I just listed the names that came up. I hope this helps a bit?
Thankyou all so much, I really, really appreciate this!!! -Meg

Hehe, got it, thats the one, SiS 7012 Audio Device, stupid SiS, always complicated. Sorry, I just had a lot of problems with SiS before

So here's the driver:
http://driver.sis.com/audio/7012/a12112b.zip
extract and execute "setup.exe"

P.S. Sorry, it took a lot of time to answer but I had a lot of work That's okay I really, REALLY appreciate your help! My computer is on a campaign to destroy my will, I swear. *sigh*  

I did what you suggested with the SiS file but something seems to be wrong... after half installing a message comes up [the usual "Windows has found a new device and is locating the hardware for it" thing], and won't recognise the extraced files when I 'manually search for a better driver', and it won't find them itself.
It then finishes installing and restarts my computer but nothing appears to be any different.

Is there anything else I should do, or just buy a CD player? lol. Thankyou again!!!!Hehe, I agree, your computer hates you.

That's kinda strange, maybe your sound card is dead but I doubt it.

Did you canceled the installation when Windows found a new driver? Because you should totally ignore this and finish the installation and reboot your computer without choosing a driver or following Microsoft's instructions.

If that's what you did, you can, as you said, install the driver yourself, by right-clicking on "PCI Multimedia Audio Device" in the device manager and select "properties", then "driver" then "update driver". You can then "locate the driver yourself" and select the file "SIS70120.INF" located in one of the folders of the zipped file. The folder must be your OS (you must have Windows XP right?) so it would be: "a12112b\WinXP\SIS70120.INF", maybe it will ask you for the .cat and the .sys also. But maybe you already did that when you said " I 'manually search for a better driver', and it won't find them itself. " is that so?

By the way, is your sound card built-in (directly on the mainboard, as SiS calls it, instead of a motherboard hehe)
or is it a PCI card? because sometimes, you need to anable the sound driver in the BIOS when it's built-in.

If the problem still persists, I would gladly give you a SoundBlaster Live card that I don't use, but I live in Montreal  Hahah yeh my computer basically hates me !!! I had a go at everything you've listed, and still nothing! I even borrowed a driver CD off a friend for Soundblaster in some vague hopes but alas, nothing >_<

It is actually part of the mainboard, so should I be enabling the thing in the BIOS? [and how the heck do I do that? lol]
Thanks again! I think if that doesn't work I'll well and truly give up and buy a new soundcard. I sure appreciate your offer hehe, pity that Montreal isn't closer eh??
Regards,
MegAlright, when tou boot your computer, it says: "Press Del for setup" or "press F1 for setup" or something like that. That's the BIOS. In there, you can change various settings. If you still have your motherboard manual, you can look into it or you can search fo settings, in-board, advanced configuration, etc. and there has to be a "nuilt-in sound device" or something like that, and it must be disabled, so you just have to enable itThanks so much for all your help. I ended up just getting a new soundcard and after about 10 minutes of mucking around, it worked perfectly!

Once again thanks so much, people like me really need people like you to stop us from maiming our computers *grin*
1099.

Solve : hard disk always loading?

Answer»

hello! can you help me with this problem?:
the hdd of my pc loads/runs continuously after i leave it for 1 minute (all programs in the taskbar are closed; SCREEN saver and standby DEACTIVATED; system TRAY icons still active). it does not stop loading. the continuous loading will stop when i will do an action (for example, i will click the start menu). i will leave the computer again for 1 minute then the hdd will LOAD non-stop again. what will i do on this? please help me... THANKS n God bless...There are background processes that will always being doing some sort of i/o. But in this case, check to see if you have the file indexing feature turned on. File indexing is used to speed up your file searchs and runs when the computer is otherwise idle.

Good luck.

1100.

Solve : LCD monitors?

Answer»

i know there already has been a thread made about them but i cant find it soo if someone knows where it is then could u please give my the link. otherwise can someone tell me what to look for in a 17" lcd monitor used for gaming. everyone says lcd suck for gaming but i for 1. think they are just as good. 2. easy to carry around. and 3. they are cheap

i was thinking about getting this one and i know its alittle exspensive for a 17"

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-005-035&depa=0CRT monitors have been the best BET for gaming for a while, but TFT monitors have been getting better recently. If you are looking for a TFT monitor for games, there are really two main things to look for: the native resolution and the "refresh" rate.

The native resolution is important: your graphics car may support up to 1600x1200 but if the native resolution is 1024x768 then anything other than that will look, well, a bit rubbish really. Think about what your PC supports and what resolution you intend to use. Most 17" TFTs will have a native resolution of 1280x1024.

For the latter part, I've used a pretty inaccurate term to describe what happens in the monitor - strictly speaking, the screen doesn't refresh. It does, however, take a few milliseconds for the colour in a pixel to change. The less time it takes, the better - if it's too high then there will be a blurring when playing faster games. Anything from 12-16ms should be fine for games, but if you can afford one with a lower time then go for it.

Hope that helps.Another THING you should look at..whether it is PLASMA or not and contrast ratios  There a couple of good ones out there...my choice is viewsonic, awesome tft. Be careful though with certain fps games..the particles and what not sometimes do not like these kind of monitors...try to get a 500:1 or 800:1 contrast with a refresh of 75 or HIGHER and a aspect ratio of 1024-768 to 1280-1024  these can get pricey but remember you get what you PAY for!