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Hello, My Acer laptop (bought 2006) gets heated up and shuts down because the FAN won't start. Took it to Futureshop but they need $40 before they can tell me how much cost is involved. So far, Ive spent thousands of $$ on them but they won't GIVE me a free estimate.
Anyways, I'll DEAL with them later.
Can someone please give me a rough idea of how much am I looking at to repair the fan. Is it a good idea to buy new laptop instead. Or is it possible that I'v installed VISTA in XP computer that's why some of the hardware (fan) is disabled.
Thanks,
ParagSeems unlikely to me that Vista shut down the fan. Did it work before you installed Vista?

Was your Vista install from a retail disk that you purchased or an OEM disk that you purchased?

Check the Acer WEBSITE and see if they sell a replacement fan for your model - if you're halfway handy, you can probably replace it yourself. Quote from: PKAD on June 14, 2008, 10:40:56 AM

Hello, My Acer laptop (bought 2006) gets heated up and shuts down because the fan won't start. Took it to Futureshop but they need $40 before they can tell me how much cost is involved. So far, Ive spent thousands of $$ on them but they won't give me a free estimate.
Anyways, I'll deal with them later.
Can someone please give me a rough idea of how much am I looking at to repair the fan. Is it a good idea to buy new laptop instead. Or is it possible that I'v installed vista in XP computer that's why some of the hardware (fan) is disabled.
Thanks,
Parag

HI THERE CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE SOME FRESH INFORMATION ON THE

 FOLLOWING PROBLEM ( HARDRIVE NOT RECOGNIZED) MY PC IS A IBM

 REFURBISHED (NOT SURE HOW OLD IT IS) - PENTIUM4-20GB- O/S

 WINDOWS XP PRO IF I CAN BEGIN


 WHEN I SWITCH IT ON IT GOES TO LOGO IBM ETC STARTING UP- THEN

 SCREEN WITH DHCP----XX SPINNING - CANT FIND O/S  ERROR 0162> - I

 HAVE GONE

 INTO BIOS (NO HDD THERE) - DONE NEW CMOS BATTERY - NEW RIBBON

 CABLES - CHECKED FOR LOOSE LEADS - POWER - BOOTED FROM DISK BOOT

 CD - (WHICH I AM USING AS I SPEAK) -  GONE INTO RECOVERY CONSOLE -

(NO HDD RECOGNIZED THERE EITHER) - B4 I RESORT TO TAKING DRUGZ

 COULD SOMEONE PLEASE ::HELP:: !!I AM A NOVICE!! BUT I TRY ANY SOLID

 ADVICE ROB

          !!!! oh and i have tried a new HDD 20gb, setting  the jumpers as per


            on the face of the HDD, and i only have one HDD in my computer !!!!1) Turn off the capslock
2) Find out who makes your HDD.
3) On another machine TRAVEL to the drive manuf. site and DLoad their diagnostics.
4) Use the file to create a bootable floppy/CD.
5) Run it on the problem machine and report back with the results...Hi, the make of HDD is western digital, will try what you advised munuf and make a bootable floppy Thanx Rob Quote from: cocane on JUNE 14, 2008, 10:48:47 AM

  HI THERE CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE SOME FRESH INFORMATION ON THE

 FOLLOWING PROBLEM ( HARDRIVE NOT RECOGNIZED) MY PC IS A IBM

 REFURBISHED (NOT SURE HOW OLD IT IS) - PENTIUM4-20GB- O/S

 WINDOWS XP PRO IF I CAN BEGIN


 WHEN I SWITCH IT ON IT GOES TO LOGO IBM ETC STARTING UP- THEN

 SCREEN WITH DHCP----XX SPINNING - CANT FIND O/S  ERROR 0162> - I

 HAVE GONE

 INTO BIOS (NO HDD THERE) - DONE NEW CMOS BATTERY - NEW RIBBON

 CABLES - CHECKED FOR LOOSE LEADS - POWER - BOOTED FROM DISK BOOT

 CD - (WHICH I AM USING AS I SPEAK) -  GONE INTO RECOVERY CONSOLE -

(NO HDD RECOGNIZED THERE EITHER) - B4 I RESORT TO TAKING DRUGZ

 COULD SOMEONE PLEASE ::HELP:: !!I AM A NOVICE!! BUT I TRY ANY SOLID

 ADVICE ROB

          !!!! oh and i have tried a new HDD 20gb, setting  the jumpers as per


            on the face of the HDD, and i only have one HDD in my computer !!!!

Hi There,
             would that be possible if it worked up until i had this problem and i have used the same  (20gb HDD  only new western digital) thanx rob

You can safely ignore abubucker's advice as it is less than accurate.
I've never seen a MBoard that didn't support a hard drive.

               and regarding the Mboard thn dere are some cases(though rare) where in the HDD are not compatible wit d boards.

Quote from: abubucker0 on June 15, 2008, 09:41:29 AM

               and regarding the Mboard thn dere are some cases(though rare) where in the HDD are not compatible wit d boards.

In my 20 years with computers, I have never seen a hard drive that wouldn't work because it wasn't compatible with a motherboard. That's rubbish.

Quote from: quaxo on June 15, 2008, 10:05:59 AM

Quote from: abubucker0 on June 15, 2008, 09:41:29 AM

               and regarding the Mboard thn dere are some cases(though rare) where in the HDD are not compatible wit d boards.

In my 20 years with computers, I have never seen a hard drive that wouldn't work because it wasn't compatible with a motherboard. That's rubbish.

well i have also not expereinced it but some of my frnds had said dat the new SATA2 HDD are not compatible with very old Mboards.........
and regarding the orginal posters problem i  think that his HDD might have been spoiled forever

im operating a windows xp pro and about  a week ago my sound icon usually on my taskbar disappeared and a little bit after that, everytime i logged in and made it to the DESKTOP, windows driver installer pops up with a pci device and i went on the the steps eventauly coming to were the correct installer couldn't be downloaded.   . After  this i went to the start menu and on to the asscessories, entertainment and then sound when i clicked on sound a notice popped up saying there are no active mixers, from that point i started look into the problem but have found no solution.   whatever it MITE be  is interferring with games, music, making cd anything and everything that has to do with sound has pretty much came to a halt. Can i get a lil help?You will need to download the drivers for what appears to be your Sound Card.

If you play a music file, can you hear any music at all?

What is the exact MODEL of your Sound Card?

If you go to the Sound Card Manufacturer's website, you can find the appropriate drivers and install them from there.Any sounds have stopped, a couple of days ago i started up my game despite lack of sound and rite after clicking a notice box popped up saying that  "your sound card is either missing or disabled" afterwards i went to the device manager and went to searching for the sound card and under sound, audio, and game controllers there was legacy audio driver, audio codec, video codec, legacy CAPTURE devices,and media control devices, after finding those i kept looking and didn't find the sound cardwell dude you dont have the drivers for your soundcard just get name of the manufacturer and u downld it from dere site or from any other site...........
if u don't know the manufacturer's name den use the "pc-wizard" software it gives all the information about the hardware of the SYSTEM

I recently had the occasion to install a 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM stick into a Dell XPS model WHL computer.There already existed 2x256 MB of the same RAM in it. I noticed that there were 4 available ram slots. However they are a little different than what i have seen in computers before.The 4 are in SETS of 2.In each set there is a slot that has black tabs and a slot that has a white tab.Prior to installing the new 512 there was a 256 in each of the sets in the white tabs slots. Without moving either of the 2 already in i installed the 512 in the black slot beside the 1st white tab in the 1st set. Questions: What is the SIGNIFICANCE of the difference in the slot colours and should i have done anything different to obtain a greater advantage from the MEMORY increase?thank you,truenorth

i RECENTLY just recived my computer in the mail and i guess it was knocked around and was having problems with the CPU staying cool which caused it to shut off. so i reset my cpu heatsink and fan and that took care of the shutting down RANDOMLY.

now my radeon x1950 pro (pci) has a light that stays on constantly when it , when use to just blink on start up, i no longer have a picture also i no longer hear a beep either on start up, and the strange thing is that the button on my computer TURNS it on but dose'nt turn it off anymore

please helpWhy don't you simply send it BACK?

I bought this server recently to play around with. Currently no DRIVES installed. I simply wanted to get into the BIOS, and see the current settings. Unfortunately, the machine will not POST. I turn it on, the internal fans and the power supply runs for maybe 5secs, then it shuts down. Nothing is SENT to the screen. The motherboard states that there is an error.
I've reseated the memory, the PROCESSOR, and the power supply. But still get the same thing.
Setup thus far:

-Intel SE7520AF2 Motherboard Dual CPU support (there is currently no heatsink on the CPU since i just wanted LOOK into the BIOS quickly
2 Xeon 3.2GHZ SL7PF Proc. Only one currently installed
2gigs ram
Redundant PSU (DELTA)

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
you may wish to mount a heatsink on the CPU and try again. we can get into greater detail if that does not solve the issue.Thank you Homer for your quick reply and help. Yes, you were correct. I simply mounted the heatsink, and problem solved.
Thanks again.your welcome. come back anytime you have any other computer problems.

okay after putting that fan speed thing on there it actually has been on for about 10 min now...weird, probably just jinxed it!

HD0: 41c -> 44c
Temp1: 40c -> 40c
Core: -49c -> -49c

I COULD only see the main big fan on the board and it seems to be working fine and the fan that is up in the power supply kinda hidden, seems to be working just not hard...lolk it did it again after i WINDOWS did its auto updated and i restarted the comp and after like 5 min it did it again... geeezzzYeah, it looks like on-board video is on its way out.
If you have real video card in any of your other computers, you can try it in COMPUTER in question.any other way? can the comp still run if i disable the video card and it just not have one?

The reason I ask is because that is a slimline computer and all the others I have are regular computers and I am pretty sure that they wont fit cause they will be to big...

Here are some pics of the inside of the computer that is messing up...



k i dont wanna spend much so which one of these two gfx cards would be best to go with?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141028

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150255For extra $8, I'd definitely go with 512MB....pretty good price So before I buy it is there any other way to make sure that this is the prob?

I mean I love newegg you cant ask for cheaper better stuff than what they give! This comp is my girls computer and she plays WOW on it, i mean she had to play at lowest setting, guess either way it would be nice of me to make her game run better and faster huh?Definitely. There is nothing better, than real video card, not eating up computer's RAM, especially for gaming.For $37, I wouldn't think twice.Also I have never BOUGHT an extra fan or anything, but since the case is so small and im putting something in there that would most likely make it hotter would this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998121 be a good fan to use? Would the connections work or are they different from comp to comp...?I'm not REALLY hardware guy, but since your idle temps are in upper 40s, it should help.Can I ask you a question, Mike?  Is this computer still under warranty?  If so...why not contact HP for a replacement?

Just checking...it went out of warranty in april of this year

Hi

Please can someone help me ?

I can't seem to stop wasting money LOL

I recently bought a second hand PC to replace my existing one which had a P4 1.7Ghz.
The second hand one was a P4 2.8Ghz.

This was because not so long ago I bought a new game, without checking the specs of the game requirement I bought it anyway.  It required a minimum of P4 2.4 and a Nvidia 6600 GT Series card or equivalent.

Let's not talk about me selling the game or taking it back to the shop...that's a different story :-)

In my OLD PC I had a Nvidia 6200 AGP 512Mb card.  Well the game didn't work there.

So I bought the new second hand PC, put my existing card in.  THINKING it would work....it's better....as the game MOVES.  But it move so slow, it's not play able.  The old one actually hangs.

Anyway...now I have a P4 2.8Ghz Nvidia 6200 512Mb and it still doesn't work.

My future project is a super gaming PC...but that's really far in the future to be made.

For now, I need to upgrade my Graphics card.

Been doing alot of research and not have much luck in GETTING any upgrade.  There isn't much available for a AGP slot anymore....I was looking for the following

GeForce 6800 Ultra
GeForce 7800 GTX
GeForce 7900 GTX

But the market these days don't sell any of the above for AGP anymore.

Please can someone recommend me a graphics card ?  Basically most powerful best card I can get for AGP slot x8 1.5v.  Right now let's not take money into consideration and  I am not bias to Nvdia...it's just that Nvidia seem to be everywhere.

Oh and the game I've got is

Clive Barker's Jericho
Below is the specs it needs to play
http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:51168~T4

My Mobo is D845PESV.
P4 2.8 ghz
1GB RAM

I'm looking for the best, most powerful, highest spec, fatest graphics still available to BUY in the market :-D

Thanks
An.The absolute fastest AGP card is the ATI Radeon HD3850 AGP.
Other cards to consider are the 7800GS+ and X1950 Pro.Take Calum's advice but look here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1069609639&name=AGP+4X%2f8XThanks guysYou're welcome.
Please feel free to post back if you need any more advice.

i have klishp speakers PROMEDIA 2.1 connected to diamond extreme 5.1 SOUND card so my left speaker makes like no sound you cant here it over the right speaker i know it makes sound because when i go into my sound settings and i turn the balanse all the way to the left speaker and turn it up it sounds just like the right speaker does any one know what might be WRONG with these? my computer volume is all the way up and balance is in the middle these speakers have been nothing but trouble woa it just started working SOMETIMES it doesnt other times it does when it started working i just plugged in my ZUNE to the adiou in on the side of the speakerLook for any breaks in the wires.i think that is probably the problum i herd these speakers come with cheap wire im juts going to replace the wireI know I have this problem. I think i'll go ahead and replace the wires too.

Hello,

I am trying to figure out a way to switch the display of my wide screen monitor to 4x3, so that the image would be centered with black borders on the side. I'd like to be able to run 4x3 resolutions full screen without being stretched horizontally.

The monitor is a Dell 2208WFP.

Ideally I'd like to be able to SET something so that it switches to the 4x3 display automatically when I start specific applications, but being able to MANUALLY switch it before I start the applications would be fine as well.

Thanks a lot if you can help me out What graphics card do you have?It is an Nvidia GeForce 7800What applications are you using that need this 4:3 aspect ratio?I'd like to be able to run some old games that cannot be adjusted to wide screen monitors, specifically Diablo 2 and Tropico.

It's possible to PLAY them in a window, but in both games I find myself clicking off the edge of the window, which minimizes it and is frustrating. Sorry for the double post but I figured out my problem and thought I'd post the solution for anyone else who might want it.

With an Nvidia card you can right click on the desktop to access the Nvidia control panel. On the left of this window will be an option called "change flat panel scaling" and from there you can SELECT the option to "USE nvidia scaling with fixed aspect ratio". This will cause any aspect ratio to not be fit to your screen, instead the image will be centered with black lines down the sides in the empty space.

Thanks for your quick replies though Calum, I appreciate your willingness to help.  You're welcome and I'm glad you got it sorted.
I was going to suggest you try that (no, really) but had to log off suddenly.
I do have an Nvidia card you see and was looking for that option, when I found it I had to go (power had to go off because we were installing a new shower).

Friends when i run my system it makes sound it may be fan sound even when i go for standby or hibernate my system makes sound. From the very first day i BOUGHT system(6 months back) it is making sound, my friends told it is normal since it is DUAL core.
The sound is frustrating me.

Configuration :

Ram :512MB
HD : 80GB
Motherboard : MSI
processor : Intel Pentium Dcould you describe the sound?

is it vibrating SOUNDS? or only fans?

You could buy some anti vibrational pads for your psu and SCREWS on your frame inside your case.

Id also suggest that you DL riva tuner or similar and decrease your systems fan speeds.

Be careful it DOESNT overheat, carefully monitor your systems temps thru riva tuner while lowering your fan speeds.

Where do you think the sound is coming from?

dahlarbear, (and others)I am finally in a position to try the "memtest' route re the problems of my 2 stick memory ram difficulties.However i would appreciate some clarification re the manner of testing.As previously stated when either stick is is used alone all the parameters of it's existence (both from within the computer's own recognition devices --and as well from Everest) indicate it to be working fine and within capacity limits. It is only when they are combined in the computer that a problem arises. Therefore given that as i understand it the Memtest can take a long time to produce whatever it does (it seems to be recommended to run the test overnight). Is there really any point or advantage to running the tests on the 2 ram sticks when they are in the computer individually? Don't we already know they are fine by virtue of their performance? I guess the remaining question i would have re the Memtest is; is it likely to actually do anything if the effect of having them both in for the test causes the computer to be inoperable beyond the error message previously denoted?truenorth
P.S. Because i have other computers in the house i decided to try an additional experiment on the "new" PQI 512MB memory stick. I placed it in a Dell XPS Model WHL with win-xp-home. This computer also has 512 already in it (2x 256) PC3200 ddr SDRAM. After INSTALLATION and reboot a notification of "increased ram' appeared in an early DOS page at start up. Did a system check with Everest and it shows a memory capacity of 1024MB of PC3200 DDR SDRAM. So i think it is now probable that a defective ram can be put to rest. I would suggest that as Patio has earlier pointed out what we had in the Sony is an incompatibility of ram sticks DUE to their being of different manufacture. Even though a similar difference is also present in the DELL. Suggesting to me that the SONY has a different tolerance for RAM than does the DELL.It's entirely possible the two memory modules are incompatible with each other.  It's also possible one or both of them have bad memory cells.  Or that each module by itself is perfectly OK.  Apparently you're able to "use" both modules.  That's no guarantee every memory cell is defect free.  Test the memory.  You don't want to spend money for "bad" memory.  You are observing Electro Static Discharge (ESD) PRECAUTIONS while handling the memory, right?

READ the Memtest86 documentation.  Eventually you'll understand the difference between "testing" the memory and "using" the memory.

We all NEED challenges in life.

I'm wanting to upgrade my video card because the card I have will not be supported to play Spore when it is released.  I have a Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 video card with AGP and 128 MB DDR mempry card .  I just want to know what is one of the best cards I can get for my computer that is reasonably priced.  I have a HP Pavilion a265c desktop.  I don't know what kind of motherboard I have but I bought this computer in Fall of 2005.  So I know it is not most up to date motherboard.  I have not upgraded any hardware but always update drivers and software when needed.  I'm using Windows XP SE2 as my OS.  I have Pentium 4 running at 2.8 Ghz with hyperthreading technology.  512Mb DDR SDRAM memory.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Your video card might be able to play the game Spore. I would try it before you buy a new video card.

If you want to buy a new card anyways, your going to need to give us some more details.

For example:
What other slot types do you have in your computer?
Eg: AGP, PCI, PCI-E, and then if its PCI, we need to know if its X1 PCI, or X16.

Check with your computer manufacturer to help us determine this.
Also provide us your computer manufacturer name, and your computers model number. I would buy another stick of 512 or even 2x 1gb sticks if you are going to play spore.

I love the idea behind it all. Quote from: NOT ADMIN :P on June 23, 2008, 10:27:33 PM

I would buy another stick of 512 or even 2x 1gb sticks if you are going to play spore.

I love the idea behind it all.

Zylstra, I think you mean PCI-E X1, X16 etc, not PCI.

Hi Everyone,
This morning I done something very stupid. I had my Laptop adaptor lying next to my External Hard Drive adaptor without looking I accidently plugged in the Laptop adaptor in  to the External Hard Drive, I think I toast the Controller Board on the Hard Drive? Now it does not work. I opened it up and put another Hard Drive in the enclosure case that works fine. I checked ebay for another Controller Board for this model it's around $50 too much. I don't care about the Hard Drive I just WANT to restore my files that was on the Hard Drive. I get no noise from the Drive, No spins, Nothing, I even installed it on a working computer still Dead as a door nob, Is there any way I can restore my files back? The Hard Drive Is a 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 Thank You.There are companies that may be able to recover your data, but it's extremely expensive (thousands of dollars).

There's probably not much you yourself can do to recover anything from the hard drive, especially if it isn't spinning.First...I don't think the external hard drive would be covered under warranty in a matter such as this one, but if you're computer savvy enough...you can try to remove the hard drive from its enclosure (only recommended if no other alternative available) and install it in a new enclosure that will fit it.

You can usually find these enclosures at most computer stores...under $50 (USD).

You may also be able to remove the drive from its enclosure, slave it, install it in another computer to see if you can retrieve any files that way.

As far as data recovery...its expensive...but not thousands of dollars...it could cost you a few hundred...max.  Depends on the compnay you use.

I'd try the cheaper alternatives, first.As an ADDED note...

Here's a link to a data recovery company I use.  Depending on the severity of the problem...their rates are $99/hour (USD).

800Tech

I doubt, very seriously, that you'll want to follow this path...but hey...that's up to you.


Again...you're probably looking at a few hundred...as opposed to thousands of dollars.

Keep us posted...The case isn't their problem, as they said they've already tested another drive in it and it works. They've also tried installing it in another computer already and it didn't work. The hard drive itself seems to have been ruined.

$99/hour is really cheap though, compared to most companies. It's a consideration... just depends on how badly they want their files.My bad...Didn't read the fine print of the original post.

This company's prices are very reasonable, though.  They may be able to replace the controller board...but he should do some shopping around to see if he can find any other alternatives...at a more reasonable price...if that's his concern.

Update...

Actually, it may be cheaper for him in the long-run...just to purchase another drive and use the controller from it...as long as it's the same drive.  I don't think the firmware will be an issue here...as long as the drive's the same.Something I've done before. I managed to get the exact same model of a dead drive and swapped controllers. Work great.Hi quaxo and saviour thank you for the INFORMATION you have provided, I have not tried to install the Hard Drive as slave as yet but I will give that a go. The other thing is if I replace the Controller Board, will that fix it? I found a Board for sale some model as mine for a small fee, Regards.  Quote from: Tufek100 on June 09, 2008, 11:58:56 PM

I have not tried to install the Hard Drive as slave as yet but I will give that a go. The other thing is if I replace the Controller Board, will that fix it?

I even installed it on a working computer still Dead as a door nob

Here's a link to a data recovery company I use.  Depending on the severity of the problem...their rates are $99/hour (USD).
800Tech

I have a Western Digital 160GB external hard drive that connects via usb port. Recently when I connect the external hard drive to my laptop (DELL Latitude D505 with Windows XP) it no longer starts automatically. The unit does POWER up and come on, it just doesn't show up under "My computer" as a drive that I can access (although it does show up under Device Manager as one of the disk drives).

I've RUN diagnostics on it and it says it is working properly and I even hooked it up to a friends computer and it works fine so it's not a problem with the hard drive itself. This problem started over the weekend after my son loaded a Creative Zen Stone mp3 player software and connected that to my laptop. After that it STOPPED recognizing my external hard drive. Any suggestions? Thanks so much.If you find out the exact model of your External Hard Drive on the Manufacturer's website, locate and reinstall the drivers.No drivers for my model are available on the Western Digital website as it says that for Windows XP that the drivers are already installed. The only driver available for download for my model of external hard drive (Western Digital My Book Essential model WD1600C032) was for Windows 98SE. I went to the Microsoft Windows download site and it showed that I already had the most updated driver for that hard drive on my system. What should I do now? Thanks!At this point, I would try using System Restore to a date BEFORE your son loaded the Creative Zen mp3 software.Mark1 - Have you tried a different USB port?

Good day all,
          my hard disk encountered some problem and so i decided to reformat it. But the problem now is that i can't proceed reformating it because it seems that i can't read the disk. is there still anything i can do with this?? or my hard disk is really dead already??It is most likely dead.

What were the problems you encountered that led you to try a reformat.

Do you have access to another Hard Drive that you can plug in and format. That will tell you for certain if it is the Hard drive or the motherboard it plugs into for sure. How are you trying to format it?ACTUALLY the very first prob is that there's a dll MISSING so it can't boot..im confused that time what to do..so i decided to reformat. but before that i COPIED its file thru another hard disk..i just connect it..but i wasn't able to get all my files because it will HANG..it seems that it can't read the disk. So i decided to proceed in reformating but i really can't continue...i'L just stick at 15% then an error will appear. Quote from: Carbon Dudeoxide on June 24, 2008, 03:05:23 AM

How are you trying to format it?

Hi,  I bought a used LB LCD monitor and when I try to connect it to my computer, it gives me an "out of range" message.  I checked the "manual" and it says "this message appears when the signal from the PC (video card) is out of horizontal or vertical frequency range of the display.".  I've been sitting here for hours trying to figure out how to correct this and can't find it... can someone help?what is your operating system? (EX. windows 98, 2000, XP, vista, etc.)xpBoot into safe mode by tapping F8 repeatedly immediately after powering up and before you see the XP logo.
Choose Option #1 safe mode.
Then right clik an empty area of the Desktop and select Properties.
Select 1024X768 and re-boot the machine and see what happens... Quote from: gypsylady on JUNE 15, 2008, 01:15:52 PM

Have a cheap Compaq SR1901WM which came with 256 RAM.  From other computers laying around, I was able to find other compatible sticks.  The SR1901 has 4 slots.  I now have one 1 gb stick, one 512 stick, and three 256 sticks.  Which combination would give me the best performance and does it MAKE any difference the order of slots in which they are installed?  I RUN Windows XP, no gaming, no memory hogging software, but obviously need more than 256.  Thanks.Hello!

Welcome to CH!

What kind of RAM are we talking about? And, have you tested it all to be working?

FOUND this

on HP's website. You might want to read this.184-Pin DIMM DDR and yes, it all works.  Just didn't know if a certain combination or slot sequence would make a difference or not.  I have heard that performance is better if all the sticks are the same capacity.  If not, I will go with the 1 gb, the 512, and two 256s.I think your idea...1 gig...512...etc...is going to be ok. I don't think it will really matter much on how you place the ram.

Mixing and matching memory is always tricky. I would try the 1 GB in slot #2, 512 MB in slot #4, and the 2 x 256 MB in 1 & 3. The reason for this arrangement is that your board supports Dual Channel memory and you may get Dual Channel from your 2 x 256, if they are closely enough matched.

Would suggest that you run Memtest86 (http://www.memtest86.com/download.html) for at least two passes (overnight better) to verify RAM after your install.

For what it's worth, I have an ASUS A8N-E (similar board to yours) and just recently upgraded RAM to 2 GB because I dual boot with Vista which is piggy slow on 1 GB. Anyway, I am unaware of any performance increase on XP with 2 GB v 1 GB. I don't game or push the system very much. The point is that you may get the best performance with just your 1 GB stick - probably in slot #1; check your manual or go to the ASUS site.

Good luck.

EDIT: Just noticed this: "I have heard that performance is better if all the sticks are the same capacity." This is true with a Dual Channel board like yours. Based on your stated usage, I suspect that the lack of Dual Channel will not be noticeable to you - and you may get a Dual Channel advantage from the 2 x 256. Stability is much more important than performance.Thanks.  We'll see what happens.Please let us know how you make out.He will probably never see dual channel performance using 3 different sizes of RAM...Agreed - bigger question is will it boot and run stable Strange.  I removed the 256 and put in the 1gb.  It would run for a little while, then automatically reboot.  It did this four times.  I then installed the additional 512 with it and it has worked GREAT ever since.May be a problem with the 1 GB module or in the wrong slot - did you check your MB manual to check on the placement of 1 memory module?

Probably be a good idea to run memtest86 with your 1 GB/512 MB arrangement - see above link. This may well save you some grief down the road.

I am running win XP and if I put a floppy disk in and then right click the floppy drive and click on format a window comes up.

All the way at the bottom of the window is a check box that says  Make MS DOS BOOT DISK.

And if I pick this and make it and then when I restart the computer it boots to the A:/  prompt.

But any commands I enter do not WORK so what good is bootting to a DOS Prompt?

Am I not understanding what this is that I made and how it works??After you made the disk, did you take it out of the drive?I left the MS DOS disk in the floppy drive when I restarted the computer.

And it does boot to the DOS Prompt but you cant use any commands am I useing the MS DOS disk I just made INCORECT??

What I mean is I did make a win xp boot disk for my COMPTER and it works ok.

I just thought I would TRY the option Create MS DOS boot disk in the floppy fomat window.

How do I use the MS DOS disk I thought I left it in when the pc boots/

My old PC died but the HDD's are OK.  So I connected them, one at a time, to my XP PC thru VANTEC's IDE to USB device.  XP sees one of the drives but wants to Format it?  This will erase the data, right?  How do I just read the data?  Thanks for any helpWhat Windows version did you have on DEAD computer? How do you know HDs are OK?The OS on the dead PC was Windows XP with SP2.  According to Dell and the lights on the motherboard the memory failed.  And since the PC was over 5 years I decided to get an XPS SYSTEM with XP SP2.  The HDD's had been OK otherwise.I assume, old drive is in NTFS?
How are you trying to access external drive?
What does Disk Management say about the drive?This drive is partitioned into NTFS and FAT32.  I'm using a Vantec SATA/IDE to USB adapter to connect the drive.  When I connect I hear the USB "clunk, clunk" sound.  Disk Management does not see the drive.  However, the drive is on the Device Manager and says its working OK.  BTW, I spoke to a Dell Tech and was told to contact the mfg., Seagate in this case, and ask if there is a driver needed, or do they have another suggestion.  Not a lot of help.Make sure the jumper on the HD is set to CS, if it still doesnt WORK try the jumper on master. The bad news is, not all drives are compatible with the adapters. You could also put it as a slave inside the computer to save your data.

I still can't figure it out. I don't think it was the actual temperature, there must have been something that was going haywire to make it think it was getting that hot. Like I said, I physically touched it and it wasn't at all hot, all fans (including CPU fan) were running fine. It's an absolute mystery.

I've been sitting here for over an hour WATCHING it and it's still MAINTAINING a decent temperature well below 50. He's pleased all is working. I asked him if he still wanted me to change out the motherboard just in case and he said no, as long as it was working now to just leave it be and he'd pick it up tomorrow.

I am gonna put a BIT of stress on it for a bit and see if it maintains its cool. Think I'll install Mass Effect or something equally demanding and see how it fairs then.An hour of Mass Effect on maximum settings, temperature reached 53C max and all was smooth. Returned to 38C about a minute or so after exiting.How odd . . . I really don't see how that happened.
Must have just been a glitch, there's no way even with BADLY applied/bad thermal paste and the STOCK cooler that the temperature could jump that high that fast under no load.
Glad to hear you got it sorted anyway.Removing it and re-seating it actually may have done the trick when you re-applied the Thermal Compound...
I had this happen to me twice the last 5 years. One unit i removed and reseated the heatsink/fan combo probably 5 times before it worked normally...

Looking at your HijackThis log, there appear to be many items that are starting up unnecessarily.]

If you go to Start --> Run --> Type msconfig and PRESS Enter.
Go to the Startup tab and you can uncheck anythng you don't need on startup (like Java (jusched.exe), MSN, QuickTime (qttask.exe), ect...)

Don't worry, Unchecking these doesn't mean you disable them. Just run the program and those processes with start automatically.They haven't sold 12G hard drives for awhile now...
You may also want to CONSIDER upgrading to a newer larger unit as the pricing right now is decent.

Personally i would put Win2K on that machine.robheg, To use an automotive analogy you have too BIG an engine( win xp) for the transmission,differential,and all other drive train components. You have basically 3 options;1.reduce the size of your engine (as patio suggests or even win98) 2. Increase all the other drive train components to be able to handle your over powered engine (except you are severely limited by one component --your maximum ram is really still insufficient for the O/S (engine).3. Given xp is soon to be unsupported computers with VERSIONS of xp are now extremely cheap so if you want to KEEP the current O/S (engine) because of familiarity or whatever --get another auto (computer) even a refurbished or used one. I recently bought a DELL XPS model WHL fully loaded at a church garage sale for $2.00 U.S. with all the manuals and software Cd's.So rather than rush out upgrading parts--maybe just buy the whole auto.goodluck ,truenorth

Hello- I am at a loss here. COMPUTER working FINE this morning. Powered down holding the button in, because it was frozen, when turned it back on, the only thing that happened was the tower came on. Nothing coming through on the screen or the keyboard. Called HP but warranty is up. Said I could pay 49 bucks, it had something to do with the configuration and they could fix that SOMEHOW over the phone.

Any ideas? I cannot LOCATE a reset button, sort of like my life sometimes!!! Any advice would be appreciated, otherwise, I'm just going to call HP back and pay the 49 bucks.

Btw, it's an HP Pavilion a819n

Thanks
JenWhat happened prior to this ? ?
Do you realise that if you do use the Recovery function all your data and installed programs will be gone and the machine will be back to Day One status ? ?

More info....Can you boot into safe mode, or access bios?try using a Linux boot disk like fedora, zenwalk or fat puppy. If the system halts during boot sequence while the kernal is loading that usually indicates a hardware issue. watch it boot on another computer the line after where it halted usually shows you the issue.  Use the verbose mode so you see what is goimg on.  Linux will boot with bad memory and windows will not run without hanging up. If found that out. I am now trying to figure how to load a new bios to correct my windows memory issues. the bios load requires windows to run.

I had a thought the other day. I have 2 hardives in my computer one 40GB maxtor and one 10GB generic one. I have a CD drive a DVD drive HP double layered DVD burner and 512 of ram. My computer is an Emachine but when I got it it was just a motherboard so I put all the stuff in. My problem is my internet only seems to get up to 11MBPS on a good day somtimes its 5.5 somtimes its 2.0 its a DYNEX Wireless G router Card that plugs into a PCI slot in the back of my computer thats the only kind of slot I have. At certain times tho when I'm MESSING with my computer like the other day when I took my Slave hardrive out it was boosted up to 36MBPS. So my questions are does Ram Effect your wiressless connection speed does the fact I have 2hardrives in their do anything slow down my connection I mean. If anyone could answer my questions that would be most helpful thank you. Oh one more thing I only have 512 of ram because the other ram card slot is broken card wont stay in because the LITTLE white tab on the side is loose.What OS ?
A hard drive shouldn't slow down/effect your connection speeds.
Even though that's a full paragraph you omitted alot of info.Windows XP I have 3 computers hooked up to 1 router upstairs downstairs and I mean the computer that is getting the bad singal is right next to the one getting the best signal. I have all my updates installed and before this computer the 2 other ones I had before it were running between 54 and 36MBPs. I would say its the router but how am I suppose to believe that when it gets a higher connection when I mess with my Bios?What have you "messed with" in the BIOS that would affect your connection speed ? ?
I don't think there are any BIOS settings that would accomplish this...Have you tried uninstall and reinstall of the Dynex?

Have you LOOKED for the latest drivers?--->LookHere

hi i am 15 i have an acer laptop ... it has 2 seperate harddrives each with 56GB memory ... one is like a back up drive ... so natuarly all my, music,PHOTOS,films (and yes porn) is located in that drive! ...

NOW here is the problem everyday my HARDRIVE looses memory (e.g. atm i only have 8mb left of 56gb)(and only 5bh of this is made up of 'programs and features') and i cant do anything about it ... i have ran disk clean up, disk defragmenter, deleated all internet history and virus scan (which picked up 2 cookie viruses, which i removed but they did not give me my memory bac) ...

SO IF ANY1 OUT THERE CAN HELP MY PLZ DO SO OR AT LEAST HELP SURGEST WHY MY MEMORY JSUT KEEPS DISAPEARING ... THANKS FOXC !What Windows version is it?
Keep in mind...you should say, you're losing hard drive space, not memory. Memory refers to RAM.

Download, and install Disc Space Reporter: http://www.malte-weiss.de/software/DiscSpaceReporter/index.php
See, what's taking space.

What are your security programs: antivirus, firewall?
Hi it is an Acer Aspire 5612ZWLMi .. i have bullgaurd security set up!

It is really annoying me as it has got to the stage where i cant even watch music on youtube becasue the videos cant even be streamed!

I KNOW ONLY HAVE 868KB DISK SPACE HELP!!! Quote from: foxc on June 22, 2008, 04:31:51 PM

hi i am 15 i have an acer laptop ... it has 2 seperate harddrives each with 56GB memory ... one is like a back up drive ... so natuarly all my, music,photos,films (and yes porn) is located in that drive! ...

NOW here is the problem everyday my hardrive looses memory (e.g. atm i only have 8mb left of 56gb)(and only 5bh of this is made up of 'programs and features') and i cant do anything about it ... i have ran disk clean up, disk defragmenter, deleated all internet history and virus scan (which picked up 2 cookie viruses, which i removed but they did not give me my memory bac) ...

SO IF ANY1 OUT THERE CAN HELP MY PLZ DO SO OR AT LEAST HELP SURGEST WHY MY MEMORY JSUT KEEPS DISAPEARING ... THANKS FOXC !

Download, and install Disc Space Reporter: http://www.malte-weiss.de/software/DiscSpaceReporter/index.php
See, what's taking space.

LOL, MAYBE it's a stupid question, but I don't want to ruin anything.  I finished putting my pc together, plugged in everything as per the instructions included with each part.  I *think* everything is hooked up properly. 

But for arguments sake, let's say I plugged something into the wrong spot.  Would that hurt the mobo, or that particular piece?hey dude dont be so scared nothing will happen to your pc as long as u have the instructions carefully

by the congrats for your first pc (seems to me) Make sure the I/o header connections are right or it wont boot.  The cables from the case to the board.  Unless your psu is too strong for the board or if you made an error connecting the power to the devices you shouldnt have any problems.Thanks for the encouragement, I just want to be sure.  I spent a little more than I really should have, so I can't afford any mistakes.Triple check all your connections...
YES indeed things can get damaged here.
Have someone who has done successful builds before look things over before firing it up.

Safely ignoring the advice above isn't a bad idea...

Squall you have at least 2 or 3 machines not running if i remember correctly....Please refrain from advising on new builds,opalholic, No disrespect intended to the others that have given you the benefit of their opinion on your question. I am certain they mean well.However from previous assistance from Patio i urge you to follow his cautionary approach on this issue. He has assisted me on many hardware issues and seems to posses more than average knowledge in this area.taking a bit more time could save you much grief and cost.goodluck,truenorth Quote from: patio on June 14, 2008, 04:12:51 PM

Triple check all your connections...
Yes indeed things can get damaged here.
Have someone who has done successful builds before look things over before firing it up.

Safely ignoring the advice above isn't a bad idea...

Squall you have at least 2 or 3 machines not running if i remember correctly....Please refrain from advising on new builds,

Triple check all your connections...
Yes indeed things can get damaged here.
Have someone who has done successful builds before look things over before firing it up.

My mouse wheel was working a few days ago but recently, i haven't been able to scroll up or down.  I can still press the wheel and it will work as intended but SCROLLING does not.  Any help would be appreciatedIf the wheel has stopped working, the sensor on it had probably GONE BAD (it's a seperate sensor to the wheel button). UNFORTUNATELY, these can't be fixed and you'll need a new mouse if you want to USE your wheel again.How ironic...My mouse wheel just broke....

The main problem is my son wants to be running two monitors but I'm not sure how big of a power SUPPLY he needs.
His setup is going to be:
8800gt
4gb ram
windows vista ultimate
amd quad core 9850
a 500gb seagate harddrive
the gaming case has 2x 90mm fans
He wants to be using a 20 lcd monitor and a second 17" lcd monitor
How MUCH power do you think this system would need?  Any kind of estimate would be helpful, I just don't want his birthday gift to be running out of power when he goes to start it up.

If I forgot any important parts tell me.

Oh, and if you have any suggestions on a specific power supply please POST it.Give this site a look.--------->Herea 500w power supply will be plenty. but, if you wish to future-proof it a little, i suggest going with a 750w.Thanks a bunch, just don't want one to fry and take SOMETHING out with it.Hope he has a nice birthday.

I've had a lot of pc problems lately and this forum has been a huge help, so I'm back with another question.
Lately I purchased a ASUS m3a motherboard and an amd phenom 9850 black edition for my computer.  I got everything hooked up and downlaoded the drivers that came with the motherboard.  After that I installed the drivers for the 8800gt and directx10.  I went to restart my computer after the updates but windows vista would not boot.  I get to the screen where it says windows vista with the little greeen loading bar.  It loads normally for a few seconds then it slows down to where I can actually see the moving bars pop up pixel by pixel.  I left it for over 30 minutes and windows has still not booted.  I unhooked the power and MOVED the hard drive cable to another of the 4 slots and started it up.  This time it worked perfectly on start up but when I tried to restart I got the same issue again with the slow loading.  So anytime I try to restart my computer the loading freezes and the only way I can get windows to load that I know of is to unhook the power and MOVE the hard drive cable to another RANDOM slot.  Each time I do this it starts up correctly once but never again until I change to another slot.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This may be a little off topic but can anybody point me in the right direction to FIND the realtek 6.0 sound drivers?  My son kept getting an error from Call of Duty 4 which google tells him is a problem caused by a sound malfunction.  The help we found on that subject suggested the realtek 6.0 drivers but I can't seem to find them.

I have a brand new (2 WEEKS old) DELL Inspiron 531.  My daughter disconnected the keyboard without shutting down the computer first, and when I went to reconnect it, the light on the BOARD comes on but it will not type.  No keys function, except when I hold them down, for example:  SSSSSSSSSSSSSS.  Does anyone have any ideas?  I have tried shutting down the computer, connecting the keyboard, and rebooting.  I have also tried another working keyboard from another computer in our home.  No luck.  This keyboard does work on my office computer.  I was just wondering if I needed to reinstall something or not.  Would sure appreciate any help.  Thanks.Disconnecting a keyboard without shutting down first should not damage any computer.

It is likely the socket was defective to start with and the action just accelerated its failure.

If it is two weeks old it is best to contact the manufacturer to sort it under warranty. Too much fiddling may invalidate that.

Tell them that you have tried switching KEYBOARDS but leave out the bit about your daughter unplugging it to save any uneccesary complications.My daughter just went into "Sticky Keys" and unchecked the "Filter keys" option, and it fixed the problem.  Thanks for your REPLY, and maybe this will help others who have this problem.Glad it's sorted 

Hi all

Currently on XP, I have an old Mustek 1200 UB, USB scanner, usually I'm able to just PLUG it in the USB port and it'll install automatically.

However last TIME I plugged it in it didn't install correctly because I didn't set it to connect to Windows Update, and accidentally I hit the option that makes XP stop trying to install a device that failed to install if you know what I mean.

Any way to revert this effect? The scanner won't show up in the hardware listing anymore. What can I do?This means probably that there are some remnants of the Registry settings still lying around from the aborted install...
There's a few things you could try:
1) Travel to Mustek's site and get the official drivers from the scanner for XP and install them properly.
2) If that doesn't work DLoad and install CCleaner and run the issues scan on the left side...have it remove all references to Mustek....unplug the scanner and re-boot.
3) Power down...plug in the scanner and re-boot...select your normal Windows update of the driver and you should be good to go....Hello patio, thanks for taking time to reply.

I tried the CCleaner but even tho I tried with all it's features it didn't return any results related to Mustek. I tried fixing everything it found anyways, REBOOTING and plugging the scanner in and out but it's still the same.

I installed the drivers, and it even loads the scanners user interface but when I click SCAN or when I try to enter the UI through Photoshop it says the scanner isn't plugged in. I have restarted, pulled out the plug, while it was off, inserted while it was on and off and countless other combinations, you name it.

My computer simply cant see the scanner.

Do you know more methods? Haven't Microsoft implemented a way to revert the hardware ignore feature?Post a screenshot and/or list of what SERVICES are running...
These can be found by going to Start/Run and typing in msconfig and hit Enter....

WARNING: Do not make any changes at this time.All Microsoft Services with EXCEPTION of Spools are running since I have no printer. All other services from third-party programs are disabled except my antivirus. I'm not sure how much screenshots or listing will help since it's all in Danish language.

When I logged on this morning, my monitor was a solid purple screen. Everything was gone. What can I do to restore my desktop?restart your computer. anything unsaved that you were working on?Try this too in CASE!

1. Right click at desktop.
2. Choose "arrange icons by"
3. Click "show desktop icons


Also try
1)Open the Task Manager(ctrl+alt+del)
2)Once in the Task Manager go to Processes tab and  click on File in the Task Manager menu.
3)Select New Task (Run...) and TYPE explorer.exe in the "open" field.
4)Click OK.

Could help!!None of these things helped. I didn't realize that my computer didn't SHUT down yesterday, so I'm not sure if something was still pulled up when I hit the power button this morning. You could also Post an HJT log in the Malware section cause sometimes it can be some malware infection too, till someone like Patio shows up here.

Hold on , I'm sure this will be solved soon

Best of luck! Quote from: JEFFGORDONFAN on June 17, 2008, 10:28:57 AM

None of these things helped. I didn't realize that my computer didn't shut down yesterday, so I'm not sure if something was still pulled up when I hit the power button this morning.

I am looking at all this infor on how CPUs work and I don't UNDERSTAND some things??

The Arithmetic Logic Unit or A.U.L  is the PART of the CPU that just does MATH involving whole number. So this is any function tht has to do with addition and subtraction.

What is the Floating POINT Unit??Nymph4 - it's way past time that you found out about the WWW and Google.   The answers to most, if not all, of your queries are AVAILABLE free on the WWW.  Please search for your subject then post a query quoting the url if there is still something you don't understand.

Here is a site dealing with processor fpu's.   If you don't understand what floating point processing is here is Wiki on the subject.   Wiki on alu's is here..

You should be able to access the information before posting.


Good luck

My computer is having trouble when Im trying to turn it on. Sometimes It boots up without issue, more often it shows a black screen that shows cpu temperature along with various components being identified and on the bottom tells me to insert boot disk. If I try to turn it off and back on it either returns to this screen or reaches a blue screen that says windows failed to load, if this is your first time seeing this message... (slight paraphrasing) If I wait a few hours it then boots up without problems. During use the SYSTEM sometimes freezes. I had this problem about a week ago and a friend of mine said that it was probably either spyware or a virus. There had been problems leading up to it such as slowdown and problems booting until the computer WOULD simply not boot up. We talked and because I didn't have anything important he suggested REFORMATTING the hard drive and reinstalling xp. The computer worked fine for two or three days and then began acting like this again. Previously there had been no issues with it for about five months. This is a home built pc that is used for little more than light gaming and internet. Im usually careful online and with emails and currently have avvist antivirus loaded. Basic system stats are amd 64x2 cpu, biostar motherboard, 2 gigs (corsair?) ram, western digital hard drive, and a low end diamond graphics card. The computer is built around a a xcube case. Midrange parts bought from newegg, no issues in the original build. My cpu averages around 25 to 30 degrees C and my hard drive around 23 to 25 according to the case readouts. There is no abberent noice comming from the case. Im wondering if its a bad hard drive and am seeking imput before i start buying parts. Just want to fix this problem before my system completely crashes again...Welcome to the CH forums.

Suggest you run disk diagnostics prog from the hdd manufacturer's site and ram diagnostics Memtest86 from here..

Good luckI had a problem much like yours a few months back.  It turned out to be a bad boot sector on my hard drive.  The Windows registry kept GETTING corrrupted and the system would not boot up into Windows.  I reformated and reinstalled Windows only to have it work Ok for a few days before it would not bootup again.  I turned around and bought a new hard drive, installed OS and the system has been working like a charm ever since.  Your problem might be the same.  Try running some disk diag's.  But you might have to replace your hd.  You might try upgrading your disk CONTROLER driver also if you are not using the default one that MS installs.  Third party disk controller drivers can have some bugs and cause all kinds of boot up problems and hd issues.

I have installed a new Pentium M 1.7 GHz (Banias) in my Toshiba Tecra A2 laptop but even under full load while connected to ac power, the speed is limited to 598 MHz. How can I get the cpu to run at full speed?

It is a Toshiba Tecra A2. It originally had a Celeron M 1.4 GHz, but I've installed a Pentium M 1.7 GHz (of the Banias variety). I also have a fresh install of Windows XP Pro SP3. I have the latest BIOS installed.

Alot of what I have read on forums is about the power management and Intel's SpeedStep technology. However, I do not believe this is the problem as even when I am connected to ac power, while the cpu is under full load, the speed is not increasing, (I have monitored this using CPU-Z); it will not increase more than 600 MHz.

In the power options (CONTROL panel) it always defaults to "speedswitch control" even after I try to delete the profile. I have tried changing it to "always on", but this does not seem to make any difference.

My gut feel is that the cpu is deliberatly restricting its performance to some "safe mode". Is there some WAY of correcting this?

Let me know if you need any more info. Many thanks! Quote

(I have monitored this using CPU-Z); it will not increase more than 600 MHz.

in the user manual it gives the list of cpu's available as options and this one that i have got is one of them. so this makes me think that my laptop (and bios) should be able to recognise the new cpu. maybe there is a setting in the bios i could change?

another idea...cpu-z says the multiplier is 6, while this link ( http://www.chiplist.com/Intel_Pentium_M_processor_Banias_Standard_Voltage/tree3f-subsection--2192-/ ) says it should be 17?

cpu-z also says i'm running at minimum volts 0.956 V which made me think higher volts = higher clock speed.

HI GUYS,I NEED HELP,MY COMPUTER CAN NOT DETECT MY USB FLASH DRIVE,CAN ANYONE HELP PLIZ I HAVE IMPORTANT INFO IN MY FLASH DRIVE.am using windows xp PROFESSIONAL. It started last week.i tried to check it on other computers still i get the same problem.i also tried device manager but nothing is showing.is there anything i can do to recover my data atleast?We need more information, Please look here.

Also, does it work on another computer?

Oh yeah, please turn off CAPS.  am using windows Xp pro.The flash drive used to be detected just fine till last week.i tried to use device manager to check if its detected but its not ther.I tried to use other computers thinking that mayb its my computer with the problem but still same problem.Anything i can do?So it doesn't work on any other computers?

Are you sure there is nothing in Device Manager?

Do you remember doing anything to the drive before this happened? (software or hardware related, or even dropping it)

We might have to face the possibility it is lost forever...i usually put it in ma back pockect because it does not have a string to tie around my neck.somebody TOLD me with a bootup disk everything is possible, can i try it? or is there anyother third party software that i can use to recover data from it atleast? Quote

or is there anyother third party software that i can use to recover data from it atleast?

i cnt gt my in4 bck

Is there an EASY way to TELL if your processor is GOOD with out a BOARD an such?nope not WITHOUT specialized testing equipmentThats what I wondered

Hi all,

My hard drive stopped being recognised on my XP System unexpectedly. I a couple of other computers and i tried putting the drive as a slave onto one of the other XP computers and I could detect the hard drive in the system's BIOS but could not detect the four partitions under My Computer.

Now im thinking that the drive hasn't entirely crashed as it does show up perfectly on the BIOS. I need a huge amount of data from the drive. Can anyone help?!Right click on my computer... Click manage... GO to disk management and click... Now where you see the partitions in the bottom right of the screen... Right click each partion and click mark partition as ACTIVE. Let us know how you go on.Hey,

Sorry for getting back so late. I tried that disk manager in XP but it shows nothing. 98 doesn't have a disk manager at all... i tried LOOKING for one online, but there's some external DOS COMMAND that needs to be present to use "dskmgmt.msc".

Any other ideas please? Quote from: kne0 on June 18, 2008, 01:55:44 AM

Hi all,

My hard drive stopped being recognised on my XP System unexpectedly. Quote from: kne0 on June 23, 2008, 12:55:35 AM

 I tried that disk manager in XP but it shows nothing. 98 doesn't have a disk manager at all... i tried looking for one online, but there's some external DOS command that needs to be present to use "dskmgmt.

I'm trying to get my grandma's computer to work and am stumped. At first, the culprit was the video card. But now, after taking that out and setting bios to use onboard video, it gets stuck a few seconds into windows loading and reboots. Same thing happens when I try to start in safe mode. I don't have another pci video card, otherwise I would try that out.
I've tried moving the ram around on the motherboard and taking one out, putting the other in, etc.

Normally, I would pop in the windows XP cd to try to repair the os, but now the computer won't boot from cd, no matter what changes I make in bios for devices to boot from. I've tried two different xp disks and a few linux disks to try to make the pc boot. No luck. Even tried different cd drives.
I guess I could try to find a floppy disk to see if I can boot with that, but I'm not sure what good that would do since I need the windows xp cd to do the repair.

The motherboard is an old Dell Optiplex I found in a dumpster a couple years ago, that was virus ridden and I cleaned it out. I may just have to tell her that the computer is toast and help her find a different one unless anyone else has any ideas.Someone threw in in the dumpster before because it was toast then!no, actually they threw it away because it had over 100 worms and trojans and were either too inept to fix it or didn't have the time to repair it. The hardware was sound and worked fine while it was in my care, running windows xp and/or opensuse for two years.
Anyone else. Since you cant boot from CD OS XP disc & as you say tried changing your boot order in bios i would SUSPECT your HD is toasthow would that affect booting from CD? Live CD's don't need the hard drive.So what you are telling me you can run a game CD ECT? Quote from: michaewlewis on June 16, 2008, 04:24:00 PM

I'm trying to get my grandma's computer to work and am stumped. At first, the culprit was the video card.

but now the computer won't boot from cd

Quote

but now the computer won't boot from cd

what does it do? does it just bypass it?

I would try another video card in there!!

HI THIS IS SHAML

I HAVE AOPEN MOBO MX36LE-UN, I TRIED TO INSTALL SYSTEM FAN 2. IT WAS BEING MODIFIED. THE TWO WIRES BOTH WERE JOINT IN THE MIDDLE AND NAKED IN THE MIDDLE, WHERE IT WAS JOINT. IT ACCIDENTILY TOUCHED TO EACH OTHER AND MY SYSTEM IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN. I REMOVED MY CONNECTION FOR THAT FAN AND BOOTED THE SYSTEM THE PROCESSOR LIGHT WOULD NOT COME ON TOGETHER WITH THE CPU FAN.. IN THE SECOND BOOT NO LIGHT DISPLAYED WHAT SOEVER.

I TOT IT WAS THE POWER SUPPLY, TESTED IT AND FOUNDOUT THAT IT WASWORKING PROPERLY.

WHEN THE POWER I SWITCH ON THE POWERPOINT THE MOTHERBAORD STANDBY LIGHT COMES ON BUT STILL NO POWER TO FAN OR NO LIGHT OR TO ANY CONNECTED DEVICE.

CAN ANY ONE PLEASE ADVISE WHERE IS THE FAULT?

AOPEN MX36LE-UN

CELERON 1.3 PROCESSOR(370 PINS)

128MB X 2 MEMORY

ASSUS CD\CDRW

NEXGEN POWERSUPPLY

NOTE: I HAVE TESTED MEMORY AND POWER SUPPLY AND WHERE I LIVE, NO COMPANY SELLS THE 370 SOCKET MOBO OR PROCESSOR.

CAN SUM ONE TELLME WHERE MAYBE THE FAULT. I HAVE ALREADY TRIED RESETTING MY BIOS AND ALL OTHER PROCEDURES EXCLUDING MOBO REPACEMENT AND PROCESSOR REPLACMENT.SO ANY ONE ANY IDEA WHAT IT CAN BE SO I CAN ORDER AD BUY THAT ONE THING OR TWO POSSIBILY  When the wires touched you created a short circuit and sent an electric surge into the motherboard you have likely burnt out a sensitive and critical component on it.thanks bro for the ADVICE i really appriciate it.

please can i trouble you once more and ask you how can i reaplace that circuit?

also i managed to get another PC with same socket 370. but there are no POST test on it. no display and no processor light?

do you think that in both the proceesors are fried that why or something else ?
  Electricity arcs too randomly and quickly to see where it goes in a short circiuit.

It is very hard to say which circuit or microchip may have got fried unless you have some fancy electronic diagnostic equipment that costs 100 times more than the motherboard itself. It could be your mobo or the CPU.

The only way to to say for certain wether the other mobo is broken completely is to test it with a CPU that you know for sure is good.

If you had a CPU that you knew was good then you could also check the other mobo with that.

Just MOVED and pluged my p4 desktop back up and now it wont power up.  I get a led on MOTHERBOARD.  Replaced power supply but same problem.  tried swapping power switch w/ reset, no diff.

Any suggestions would be great.Does anything happen at all? Any sounds or anthing?

What exactly happened before this problem?No, it doesnt make any sounds, no activity at all when I trying to turning it on.  I boxed the computer back up into original box and packing, moved 600 miles, it sat in storage for 4 weeks.  I then unboxed and hooked it back up...nothing.  1 led is lit up and the cpu fan did a half turn when I cycled the power supply switch off/on on the old power supply.  But i replaced the power supply same problem.Is the voltage right on the PSU? (there should be a switch somewhere with 120v and 220v)Remove and re-seat all SLOTTED components including RAM; vid cards; SOUND cards; modems etc...
As always when working inside the case remove all power sources and take anti static precautions.

I'm building a gaming rig. My question is this I was wondering if ANYBODY out there is running SCIS harddrives. I'm looking at getting one to use for gaming.  Ive heard you have to get a SCIS controller card in your computer.  I'm looking at a hard drive that runs at 15000 rpm kind of wondering what else to look for in a drive as I have never dealt with these drives before. Any info on if this is a good idea and any info on how to setup/what to buy or look for would be appreciated.why do you want to purchase an SCSI HD for gaming? it will not improve game performance, it will merely make levels load faster. i personally think its not a wise choice, but if you have the money and really want levels to load faster then by all means go for it.

just an added note, if you do have money to BURN on a high performance HD, i recommend the WD raptors. they use a SATA interface so an SCSI controller card is not NEEDED. (unless your using, or plan on using, a mobo with native SCSI SUPPORT.)

15k SCSI HD 300gb - $655
10k SATA2 HD 150gb -$225
7.2k SATA2 HD 320gb -$70

Cost per GB:
15k SCSI HD - $2.18/gb
10k SATA2 HD - $1.50/gb
7.2k SATA2 HD - $0.21/gb

A friend of mine recently deleted a chunk of Windows files from her laptop HD.  I tried for a couple of weeks to fix this issue using every known fix I could find short of re-installing Windows clean, I have an original Xp Pro CD I have been using.  I'm at the point where I have the hard drive in an external enclosure and hooked via usb to my computer.  I just want to get the files they want off the HD, then I will perform a clean INSTALL and start from scratch.

I have Windows XP Home Edition, SP2.  They have Windows XP Pro, SP2.  I have changed all the permissions and ownership so that I supposedly have access to all the folders on the HD, but they are all empty, there are no files anywhere.  (Ex: In music folder, every artist folder is intact, but no mp3's inside.)  At first I booted in safe mode, used security tab and changed permissions and ownership, but that didn't seem to work.  I could not get my user or the admin to have special PERMISSION no matter what I did in the advanced menus.  Then I used the cmd prompt in the start menu and the cacls command to change ownership.  That granted me access to the folders, but I STILL have no files.

I know the files are still on the HD because over 42 gigs of space have been used.  I did a search for various file types (ex. mp3, jpg) but nothing was found.  Before I removed the HD from the laptop I ran chkdsk and chkdsk /r a couple times and everything SEEMED to be working fine.  So I am just stumped as to why the files are not populated in the folders.  Please help!Don't mean to be offensive, but you have definitely tried to enable the view of hidden files and folders? What you can do, just in case Windows deleted them is use Glary Utilities PRO. You can get a 30 day trial and access to a file undelete program which may let you see if Windows XP (or Windows XPoop, as my Vista-loving father affectionately refers to it as.) has deleted them. Quote from: green_burger on June 06, 2008, 04:31:44 PM

Don't mean to be offensive, but you have definitely tried to enable the view of hidden files and folders? What you can do, just in case Windows deleted them is use Glary Utilities PRO. You can get a 30 day trial and access to a file undelete program which may let you see if Windows XP (or Windows XPoop, as my Vista-loving father affectionately refers to it as.) has deleted them.

A friend of mine recently deleted a chunk of Windows files from her laptop HD.

Well, thanks again for your time.  I will just reformat the HD and re-install windows.  Maybe next time she won't be so foolish and just start deleting things.  This is my first time using this site and I am grateful for the help.  I'm sure I'll be around for a while.

Ack. The only way I found win.com was using the searchbar; as SOON as I hit enter the black box opened x_x How do I find it on it's own without it opening by itself?

Also, because I know i'm going to be asking this as soon as I find it.. *headdesk*

I'm supposed to right click on the icon to rename it, right? Not some other fancy way or anything?Open Windows Explorer (through Start MENU, or hold Windows key, and hit "e" key), navigate to C:\Windows, find win.com file, and right click on it, click "Rename".Got it, but the file isn't called "win.com" it's just "WIN" o3o
But it's the same file that came up when I SEARCHED it.

Should I still CHANGE it's name?
What about the win.com I mentioned earlier too now?
Since I think that may be the only reason it came up in the search.To find win.com file, you may need to enable hidden, and system files view.
In Windows Explorer go Tools>Folder OPTIONS>View tab, put a checkmark next to Show hidden files, and folders, and uncheck Hide protectedoperating system files.

so ive had this problem before and it came up again out of nowhere. when on my computer it would just shut off and when id try to restart it it would simply say 'System Failed, CPU test' or 'GPU test'...its quite odd. last time all it took was a new power supply cord and it worked again but now ive been through a few extras and friends cords and still no luck. was wondering if anyone could help me out with this at all...

the computer does start up it just doesnt do anything but keep a black screen and say on the speakers 'System Failed, CPU Test'...ive also thought it said check the end task but people proved me wrong with that one the other day.

ASUS PC???motherboard
nvidia geforce fx 5200
windows xp sp2
512RAM
130GIG harddrive
intel pentium 4 3ghz

not the best with this stuff but some help would be more than appreciated cuz i more than want this computer up and running again as soon as possible.
Replace the CMOS battery...about the size of a dime located on the MBoard.



As always when working inside the case remove all power sources and take anti-static precautions.

When finished with this procedure borrow a known good PSU of the same or greater wattage and swap it in there...if things improve then replace the PSU...hey thanks for the reply, more than appreciated. i saw a few views too and no body corrected you or put up another suggestion so im going this route for now and hopin it works out. another plus too is that i got a power supply around and could just swap that out later on and hope that works out nicely *thumbs up*Checl CPU is seated properly. Or it could be PSU. Check the BIOS where your voltages are listed. There is a 3.3v rail...a 5v rail and 12v rail listed. Make sure the 3.3v and 5v rail are close to that spec. If your 3.3v rail is not getting good powere... say 3.0v or less or your 5v rail is dropping below 4.7 you may get that error.

OH I just noticed... You have an ASUS P4 board... It could be the motherboard.


ya its the ASUS P4C800 M.B... im just about to check out asus boards and a lil on here to see if anything says something interesting about this.

buddy of mine i talked to who did a bit of tech this and that (and who i dont trust that much with this stuff) said to just try taking out and putting back in the CMOS battery but im none too sure bout that one.

and one more thing LOL im not that great with the whole BIOS thing to be frank and with the fact that my computer doesnt even Boot all the way, just stalls when it starts with a black screen and says that error message over the speakers theres no way for me to get to the BIOS that im aware of.

anyways, ill be searching forums and such for the next hour or so and hope to hear back with some other TIPS and such.  :D

UPDATE
http://support.asus.com/troubleshooting/troubleshooting.aspx?SLanguage=en-us 
i just came across this site on the troubleshooting part of ASUS.com and this kinda goes along with whats happening with me, the whole 'No display while power up' and such. good idea to go through with this if i dont really know bout BIOS' and such? Quote from: ImmaculateBastard on May 11, 2008, 01:49:16 PM

theres no way for me to get to the BIOS that im aware of.

Hello:

I hope I can find some help.  I have a HP Pavilion ze2000 laptop.  It has been a very good computer for me.  RECENTLY, my original hard drive, 40gb Seagate, went bad.  I purchased a Hitachi 120gb hard drive to replace it.... it was rated to work with my laptop.  The problem I am having is my computer will turn it self off during the formatting portion of the Windows XP setup.  This HAPPENED a couple times, so I ran a disk check in the start up bios.  This took over an hour.... it checked out without errors.... the computer never turned itself off during the process.  I tried loading the operating system again.... computer turned itself off.  I never had any problems before with the computer turning itself off.  This is new....

Any suggestions.....?Is this an original Windows CD or a copy of one ? ?

Have you tried it with the laptop battery REMOVED and only on AC power ?

Any power saving settings in the BIOS turned on ? ?OK....

During the Windows XP setup there was an OPTION to format QUICK or DEFAULT.  Everytime I picked DEFAULT it would turn off.  I tried the QUICK mode.... formatted and installed just fine without turning off.  Don't know why this worked and the other didn't.  I appreciate the advice and help.  GOD bless.Glad to hear you are fixed up !
Just to be sure you don't have a drive problem...find out whose hard drive is installed in that laptop and DLoad and run the diagnostics from the drive manuf. website.
This will eliminate or confirm the hard drive as a suspect...

I got some random ram an I can probably figure out the size when I have time.  But I see no indication of what type it is.  Is there a way to tell with out putting it in a machine an possible cause problems.Look for anything on the side and post it here.
In addition, please tell us what it looks like.take a picture of both sides and post them.I'll post it later but it says Green MEMORY, A'ssy in sin, G64SD8M8PC-7, Sin NT1113, 63JO124I have the photos but I dont know how to make them smaller they exceed the max size that I can put on here.Copy them to MSPAINT, deselect the image and press CTRL + W

You can decrease the image size by half just by TYPING 50 for Horizontal and Verticle128Mb PC100 SDRAM, double sided.
The answer is one quick Google search away. Quote from: Calum on June 22, 2008, 08:21:55 AM

128Mb PC100 SDRAM, double sided.
The answer is one quick Google search away.

I'm having either memory or overheating issues. I have 2 Ram chips 1 512 the other a 256. I ran a memory test and it said there was a problem and to narrow down the faulty chip to preform the test with them separately. The memory test came up fine with them separate but does not give any information about what to do next. I read a post that said to open the cover and point a house fan into it and see if it it makes a difference in performance, which it did. I was also told I need to reconfigure my BIOS to adjust the fan settings that it may not be running at full capacity.

Here is my system info
OS Name   Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version   5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer   Microsoft Corporation
System Name   FAMILYROOM
System Manufacturer   Compaq Presario 06
System Model   P8654Y-ABA S3000Z NA110
System Type   X86-based PC
Processor   x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 1 AuthenticAMD ~1798 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date   Phoenix Technologies, LTD AM37312, 3/17/2003
SMBIOS Version   2.3
Windows Directory   C:\WINDOWS
System Directory   C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device   \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale   United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer   Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name   FAMILYROOM\Owner
Time Zone   Central Standard Time
Total Physical Memory   768.00 MB
Available Physical Memory   538.70 MB
Total Virtual Memory   2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory   1.96 GB
Page File Space   1.83 GB
Page File   C:\pagefile.sys
 Any help with resolving this problem would be appreciatedif the fan helped, then it is an overheating issue. are all your fans running in your computer? is your CPU heatsink clean?All my fans seem to be working and clean, I did notice when i was testing the smaller chip that the fan seemed to be running slower and faster with the larger chip, the temperature without the fan read 42 degrees. Is there a way to maybe change the speed settings it is GREYED out in bios and i cant find any way to adjust settings. ( there was a very tiny bit of dust, I do clean them 2-3 times a week, Hardwood floors in the house so we are always dusting and i am very carefull when cleaning it)

Quote

I did notice when i was testing the smaller chip that the fan seemed to be running slower and faster with the larger chip

i am very carefull when cleaning it

what do you mean by "chip"? do you mean the CPU?

Borrow a known good one and swap it in there and re-run MemTest to see...

Does anybody know where I can buy a Computer Case that is 30cm deep or less (front to back)? 
The width or height is not a problem. This case will fit in a cooling CABINET. The computer will run Win XP Office ect. PLUS high end DTP & 3D Studio.I wouldn't put a computer in a cabinet of any sort, especially if it's to be used for high end work.
Computers can generate a lot of heat, they're much better in an open space.
That's a pretty small case too, especially for a high end system - you may find that powerful graphics cards will not fit very well in there.
If you're in the US, try Newegg - they have good prices on a lot of components, and you'll be able ti find a case that meets your SIZE requirements, although I do advise against it.Thanks for your ADVICE; I am aware about the cooling issue however I do require a case no deeper than 30cm front to back.  Most cases are about 40cm deep but I thought there may be a case out there that doesn’t conform to the usual format/layout.
There is no search engine that allows me to search on size alone. I have sent a request to various suppliers but I thought I would try this forum (you never know).
What you're probably looking for is a MicroATX or ATX Mini-tower case, which vary in size from about 8" - 18". But it you're doing high-end stuff, you're gonna want a nice video card, which most likely won't fit in one of these cases.

Here's some examples on Newegg.com:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010090007+1054808292&name=MicroATX+Desktop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010090007+1054808478&name=ATX+Mini+Tower

Or Get CREATIVE