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Hi, I just bought an x1600 pro AGP 512mb (Sapphire). After I install it, the screen receives a signal (the floating 'No Signal' box goes away) but the screen remains black and the power light remains orange. I've contacted ATI, and they only told me what I already tried. To avoid this, I will tell you all the different things I've tried, as well as my computer setup.
1. Re-seated, reconnected, re-everything about 100 times.
2. Updated my BIOS to the LATEST version (I think, had some trouble with that)
3. Used different power cables to connect the card to the power supply, as well as using the supplied Y-CABLE.
4. Completely uninstalled my previous ATI drivers before installing card.
5. Tried connecting with my VGA cable, and my digital cable.
6. I only have 1 AGP slot, so I can't test on another.

Now for the specs:
768mb Ram
350W Power supply
P4 Processor 533Mhz
Windows XP SP2

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Let's hear about the power supply. What brand and how old is it? What DRIVES are in the machine? What is the computer or motherboard make/model?

350, even if a good one, seems on the low end of acceptability.Sure thing. The power supply is 350 Watts with 20 Amps on 12V. Brand is Mad Dog. It's about 2-3 Yrs old. I have a CD Drive, DVD Drive, Floppy Drive, and a Hard drive. Processor is Intel P4 850 Series. Now, if I had to put my money on one thing it would have to be the power supply, but looking at other forums I saw that 350 (and some worked with less) is fine as long as you have 20 amps with 12V. Plus, 350 is the required amount according to the box. I did try disconnecting everything but the hard drive and video card to my power supply with no luck. I think I'm just going to buy a new power supply, what should I look out for?http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/psus/index.x?pg=1

PSU comparison...not the only one on the web but a start.

patio. 8-)Been searching all over the net and have found something I'm not quite familiar with. A lot of people say to make sure your BIOS is set to the AGP setting. What is a BIOS, and how do I check it? Please explain to me about as noob as POSSIBLE, because I don't understand the articles on the net about it.

EDIT: Ok, I think I found out how to modify the BIOS. I go to an option CALLED LegacySelect Integrated Devices/Parallel Ports and my only options are ECP, EPP, PS/2, and None. Along with a selection of IRQ's. Which should I choose for my AGP card (or am I in the wrong place?)Those settings are for the parallel port - used for a printer if it has a parallel port onnector, rather than a USB cable. It has absolutely NO effect on video, AGP or otherwise.go into your advanced bios settings and check out the PCI settings, make sure the main video card is set to the PCI slot. Also see if your card has any memory requirements for the apature setting. Not sure if this will help but its worth a tryWhoops, i ment the AGP slot

Ive tried to figure this one out for a while. Im not a computer expert but I'm not a noob either. Ive been getting kicked out of my 3D games forever now and tried so many things to correct it. I tested my PS, heat, drivers, other VID cards, MB, memory and so on. The thing was is that I had Three ATI cards doing the same thing on two DIFFERENT computers. All along it was my BIOS settings. My main VIDEO card was set to the PCI and my AGP apature was set to 64 mb instead of the 512 or 1 gig. My 8x AGP setting was set to 2x and once I changed all of this over all my problems went away. I am using a P4V8X-MX on both, one by ASUS and the other BIOSTAR. Ive never had to change these settings before on any computer that Ive built so I never even thought that this could be the PROBLEM. Hope this MAY help someone.Thanks for letting us know how it turned out.

Alright, I know this question is a little off the wall...

I need a PSU for my ATV winch for a project I'm WORKING on. Everywhere I look, PSU prices are ridiculous. I THOUGHT, why not a computer PSU? They're cheap. I can get a Athenatec 400W PSU at Radio Scrap for $30, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2262708&cp=&origkw=power+supply&kw=power+supply&parentPage=search.

The specs for the winch are 10A, 12V, which works out to about 100w (P=VI). The winch will only be operated a couple times a week. The 400W spec is probably peak, so I should more than covered. As long as I correct for the wire gauge, is there any reason this wouldn't work? See if you can get a PSU made for the OLDER AT motherboards rather than the ATX motherboards. The AT power supply units had a mechanical switch to turn them on and did not rely on the signal from the motherboard to power up.

Thanks for the tip. I forgot I had an old one sitting in the basement

Would it be CONSIDERED a switching PSU? Would that be of a concern?

I have sound when I play CDS and I a PICTURE when I play DVDS, but no sound please help.Are you talking about two drives? Are you PLAYING the CD in a CD drive or your DVD drive?
The below site has GordianKnot is a good open
SOURCE for codecs.


http://sourceforge.net/projects/gordianknot

Well my computer freezes everytime i load up a game i mean it loads it and then like not even a minute it freezes and i don't know what is causing it and it does it for every game we try to load is it my processor? or is it something else please help meI had this problem a year ago or so. Do you have more than one stick of memory?
I found that my games were crashing because I was using a 256 stick and a 64 stick, and both had different operating frequencies.

If you're using more than one stick, and they operate on different frequencies, chances are your computer is finding problems in that.Ya I have another stick of memory but if this is the problem then what do i take the stick of memory out?

Well when we first got the stick of memory it was working fine and then all of a sudden it started doin this where it would freeze and stuff so are you sure thats the problem?You can test your RAM with a free download at www.memtest86.com

Test each stick at a time for about an hour, then both together.

If it is a CASE of a MISMATCH you can't FIX that.But if it was a mismatch it wouldn't have worked in the first place because it was working fine until now and i don't know why and we have two 256 sticks of RAMQuote

But if it was a mismatch it wouldn't have worked in the first place because it was working fine until now and i don't know why and we have two 256 sticks of RAM

You can test your RAM with a free download at www.memtest86.com

Test each stick at a time for about an hour, then both together.

If it is a case of a mismatch you can't fix that.

My son's computer would not turn on tonight. I took it APART and after blowing all the bunnies out I PLUGGED it BACK in and the power supply fan comes on as long as p7 connector is not plugged in. Once P7 is plugged in the fan will start to come on (2 seconds max) and then shut down. Is this a power supply PROBLEM? It is a Dell dimension computer with a 200 WATT power supply.


AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Are you plugging and unplugging with the machine plugged into the wall?No I didn't want to risk frying anything. When I left the P7 unplugged and then plugged the machine in the fans would run but if I unplugged the machine from power and then unplugged P7 and then plugged power in it would start and then stop immediately.No. P2 & P9 are not being used.

When I turn on computer it boots to searching for primary master&won't do anything more.In the BIOS the pimary master shows none.Can"t get a DOS prompt.Does this mean the hard drive is out? Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot this further? Please helpIf the hard drive does not show up in the BIOS it is either not jumpered or attached CORRECTLY OR it is shot.

Is this a new drive for this machine? What happened to this poor computer before this POINT?

I have an eMachines model W2040 desktop computer with Windows XP. When the failure started a couple days ago, I was getting double keystrokes. Then I got floppy drive failure 40 on bootup. But, it finishes booting normally when I continue. The mouse works normally. The keyboard no longer works at all.

The LEDs on the keyboard flash even after the computer is shut down. A replacement keyboard does the same thing.

I can use the mouse to open files and log on to the Internet. I have tried running the eMachines trouble shooting program. But, it doesn't seem to be much help.

AMMENDMENT: Well, it's the next day and the computer is now stone dead. I THINK I'll try replacing the power supply.

A good place to start...don't waste time buying a cheap one.

patio. 8-)You are now reading a message from my eMachines W2040 which is sort of fixed. The power supply had FRIED. The BLOWN CAPACITOR fell out when I removed the power supply from the computer.

When I replaced the power supply, the computer fired up. But, the keyboard still would not work. There is no specific board to replace for the serial keyboard. So, I tried a USB keyboard instead and it works.

I believe that the ORIGINAL failure was the filter capacitor in the power supply which damaged the serial port electronics for the keyboard. It would be too expensive to fix it.

My computer is still broken. But, it's fixed well enough. (At least for now.) Thanks.No Problem ! And congrats on getting up and running...i would try a few more keyboards to determine if that PS2 port got fried. If in fact it did a computer repair shop can replace the PS2 connectors on most MBoards but don't let them charge you more than 20 bucks or so...

patio. 8-)

Hi there. I've been having an annoying problem with my sound cards ever since installing either one of them into my new comp. They emit a popping sound whenever I scroll down a webpage too fast, and also whenever I play a game (at times it gets too irritating to continue playing).

At first I thought it was the Audigy4 I'd just BOUGHT, but switching back to my OLD audigy2 (a better product in my opinion) only lessened the popping to a semi-tolerable level. I've read into it a bit, and learned that the problem is because of the card picking up frequencies from other hardware. It was suggested that I move the card as far away from everything else as possible. After installing it in the bottom slot, the popping crap is still there. Any ideas? Thanks for reading.Are you using a WIRELESS optical mouse ? ?

patio. 8-)NOPE. I'm thinking there might not be a whole lot i can do.Move any other electronic devices including cordless phones etc. away from the machine...

patio. 8-)That's just it though, i never had this problem before I got my new comp. The new one sits in the exact same spot on my table that the old one did, and I haven't bought anything else new that would interfere with it (electronics etc). I got a new Audigy4 but i ended up using the Audigy2 from my old comp. So it's the same card that worked flawlessly before.

There has to be some way I can insulate the thing to keep it from being an ANTENNA for static...The new machine obviously has different components than the old one...try what i suggested.

patio. 8-)

I have an HP pavilion laptop. It seems oftenly not to recognize that the AC power cord is plugged in, and switches to battery power (which is bad for me... I can't recharge it as the cord isn't recognized). The yellow inside of the computer-plugging-in END looks sort of burnt up, but I have never exposed my computer or cord to and temperatures higher than the computer's own heat. Should this be happening? I have replaced the cord once and the same thing HAPPENED. I'm a poor student and can't really afford EXTRA batteries and rechargers; can this be fixed, or is my laptop doomed? Any help is very greatly appreciated!

(Please EXCUSE my computer-idiocy... Social Science major here!)If it looks burnt then take it to the fixit shop.i would suggest getting a new cord. HOWEVER, if the same thing happens again, you might have a problem with your laptop.

According to Download.com, the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB is currently the single best video card AVAILABLE on the market. However, the review also says that after Vista and the release of many new Next-Gen games and technology during that time, even this card will become almost obsolete.

So does anyone think that existing decent video cards like the ATI X1900 would undergo massive price drops too? If so, then I'll be able to save myself a pretty penny and still get a card to play some pretty decent games. Im not worried about that. Im sure they will include support for the vid cards out now and the graphics for those are still really good.If Vista ships on time...and that's a big IF yes you will see a drop in pricing. But i don't think it will be as drastic as you might think.
Everyone is not gonna go out and buy a new machine just so they can run Vista.
I know people still running OS's older than XP.

patio. 8-)XP is the new 98.Quote

According to Download.com, the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB is currently the single best video card available on the market. However, the review also says that after Vista and the release of many new Next-Gen games and technology during that time, even this card will become almost obsolete.

So does anyone think that existing decent video cards like the ATI X1900 would undergo massive price drops too? If so, then I'll be able to save myself a pretty penny and still get a card to play some pretty decent games.

i keep getting after being on the computer for abut ten minutes a small icon with a red sqaure and a green circle and a blue triangle in the box where pictures should be displayed. Even with smileys it tells me which smiley should be there but no pictures are displayed. please help it's driving me mad!!Int he future keep in mind that it is helpful to post a LOT of information about your system, operating system, service packs, Windows update status, spyware/virus protection, etc.

In the meantime r[highlight][/highlight]eset everything and see if that helps:


1. Start
2. Settings
3. CONTROL Panel
4. Internet Options
5. Security tab
6. Reset all 4 security zones to Default

1. Start
2. Settings
3. Control Panel
4. Internet Options
5. Privacy
6. Restore 1 Default button

1. Start
2. Settings
3. Control Panel
4. Internet Options
5. Advanced
6. Restore 1 Default button

You may need to do the following as well

1. Start
2. Settings
3. Control Panel
4. Internet Options
5. General tab
6. Remove cookies, temporary FILES and history

Kudos to Raptor and Fed.dear sir,
i have an assemble machine with mercury moherboard, intel pIII 850 mhz and 256 mb of ram. my PROBLEM is my ram memory is shown 192 mb instead of 256 mb. i change the slote but the problem remains. then i test individual ram and found one of them shows 64 mb instead of 128 mb. what should i do to fix this problem? and what will be the precotion measure that this kind of problem will not arrise in feature.
thankinh you
raja :-?
Great one, Fed! Hi i'm sorry i never added enough info i'm NEW to this Anyway i'm using window xp home edition also have zone alarm. i have tried to update to windows xp service pack to but had no luck as computer keeps freezing half way through download :-? i hope this is enough info as i am not to great with computers but maybe with a few pointers from urself i will pick up more knowledge.

Thanks

jennieNope sorry jennie...we still need more info.
DLoad and run Everest Home and post the results here...

patio. 8-)Quote

i keep getting after being on the computer for abut ten minutes a small icon with a red sqaure and a green circle and a blue triangle in the box where pictures should be displayed. Even with smileys it tells me which smiley should be there but no pictures are displayed. please help it's driving me mad!!

Hi, I watch internet TV on my COMPUTER, when i put on full screen mode the picture quality is not so great. I was wondering if i upgrade my Graphic card would that improve the quality? Im a bit confused, any advise will be great :-/HELP, TA.i dont think the problem is either, its just that internet-tv can be somewhat low quality. if you have cable, then you can split your wires and use a tv card, but the picture quality won't be that much better (of course is depends what you pay for the card). a new video card may help some, but the resolution will still be off and the picture will be fuzzyThe quality usually depends on the quality of the BROADCAST and your internet connection speed...CHANCES are it will look the same on a newer card.

patio. 8-)Quote

Hi, I watch internet TV on my computer, when i put on full screen mode the picture quality is not so great. I was wondering if i upgrade my Graphic card would that improve the quality? Im a bit confused, any advise will be great :-/help, TA.

Why are the memory clock capability and memory interface speed important for a video card and how do they affect performance? Also, will a videio card with a PCI express interface fit into a regular PCI slot?Quote

Why are the memory clock capability and memory interface speed important for a video card and how do they affect performance? Also, will a videio card with a PCI express interface fit into a regular PCI slot?

Hoventops answered one of your questions....

The memory on a graphics card stores all the data it needs, mainly the textures to apply to 3d models. It is therefore important that the data can be retrieved from the memory quick enough for use by the rest of the graphics card. It is no good having a super-fast card, if it is wasting time waiting for the data to arrive due to slow memory speeds. Does that make it clearer?

I turn on my computer, and it starts up, but not fully. MY monitor doesn't display anything and it goes into power save almost right away. A week before, my computer was doing this, but on the screen would POP up the windows starting screen, but it would never actually start. ANd I couldn't shut off my computer, so I would have to unplug it, and then start it and it would work. Now it won't. DOes ANYONE know what my problem might be? It an Emachine, about 4 or so yrs old.
THanx, JeffQuote

I turn on my computer, and it starts up, but not fully. MY monitor doesn't display anything and it goes into power save almost right away. A week before, my computer was doing this, but on the screen would pop up the windows starting screen, but it would never actually start. ANd I couldn't shut off my computer, so I would have to unplug it, and then start it and it would work. Now it won't. [HIGHLIGHT]DOes anyone know what my problem might be? It an Emachine, [/highlight]about 4 or so yrs old.
THanx, Jeff

Quote

I believe you need [highlight]at least Windows 98SE[/highlight]. We have some old driver CDS around.

Whenever I play a dvd the video runs sightly slow and the audio is choppy. No probs PLAYING audio CD in dvd player. Also no other probs playing or ripping audio with media player. ( Windows Media Player newest version.)
I am wondering if my comp is to old to support dvd. AMD 1800+ processor 512mb ram 1.5 GHz

Any THOUGHTS? :-?Maybe your drive is too slow? Also, try another media player (realplayer, quicktime...)Have seen system requirements for your DVD player? If this choppy playback is due to a hardware limitation, the video part of your system is the most likely cause. Most likely, your processor and RAM are QUITE adequate. So, what is your video situation? Are you USING onboard video or do you have an add-on video card? If the latter, what is it?

Hello,
I'm not very clued up on what to look for in a decent LAPTOP and was wondering if any of your distinguished selves could help me! I have found 2 that I'm comparing, the links to them are:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/notebooks_Q3_W3_inspn_1300_N08137A?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

and

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/873552

I've never HEARD of Advent before and so don't know about their processors etc.
I would like a relatively quick laptop (512MB RAM+) with a decent amount of memory (60GB+). I'd also like to be able to record music onto the laptop so it must be able to do this.
I don't want to spend more than £500 so if someone could help advise me (or even suggest another one to go for!) then I would be eternally grateful.

Thank you very much,
Sam
The first one should do nicely. Do you really need a laptop?I don't need it in the way I need oxygen but it would come in very handy. I'm going to be moving around a lot so need something that can come with me. Why such a mean answer? I was only asking a simple QUESTION cos you guys know a lot more than me about these things!I didn't mean to be mean if you know what I mean, I only asked because unless you have a specific need for a laptop then a desktop is a far better option.
I hope you GET one that you are very happy with. ok, but I need the laptop as I'm going to be on the move quite a lot so need something that can come with me easily. I was looking at those two but wanted someone with a bit more experience to look at them and advise me on whether they're good or bad!

For some reason, my CD-ROM is being detected as an 'Image Recorder'. It will not READ any discs, and OBVIOUSLY does not burn CD. I have already done a system RESTORE, and it has SOLVED nothing. PLEASE help as soon as possible.

This is what I have to say before you begin to help me, I'm 14, and I don't know a lot about computers, but I'm good at following directions.

My other computer has been cut off many of times by thunder storms, and I usually keep my comp on so the guy WORKING on the house turns the electricity off. So when i try booting it up it goes into this repeating stage it goes to the regular page like it does when u boot it up then it goes to a page that says this

We apologize for the inconvenince but windows did not start succesfully a recent harware or software change might have caused this. if your computer stopped repsonding restarded undexpectedly or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose last know good configuration to REVERT the most recent settings that worked.

if a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or becuase the power or reset button was pressed, or if you arent sure what caused the problem choose start windows normally

safe mode
safemode with networking
safe mode with COMMAND prompt
last known good configurations (your most recent settings that worked
start windows normally
(you can choose one of those to do)
use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
then it goes to that page where it says windows loading and has the blue bar thing moving

then a blue screen appears and goes to the very first screen

Does anybody know what i need to do to get it up and running again, thanks.How about posting as many details about themachine, operating system, etc. as possible>

Do you have a real Windows CD to repair/reinstall if needed?This would start with the question.............


Do you have your XP Disk or Restore Disk set ETC...?


Of course, all other information GX1 asked for.its a gateway my moms friend and i made it go fast by putting more memory its a yr 2000, my oldest brother made the computer from parts some guy was going to use i beleve it is pentium 2 or something. compaq 7500 monitor bellsouth dsl monitor, 2 usb ports. and thats about all i can tell you about it

I dont have a REAL disk i have a little burnt disk.

oh yeah one more thing when i used to boot it up it would say get geniune xp? but it costs money so i never did that.

i could take pictures of everything if nescacarrySo describe this "Little burnt Disk"

You probably have a pentiumIII from you response.

I could explain bootdisks but,You need to ID you operating system.


Blue bar thing moving reminds me of Windows XP.

They have a 6 floppy disk bootset at microsoft downloads I haven't
used before.

Sure someone ELSE will post that has.

SSSthuffering Sthuccotash

Why did Sylvester say that? Why would one 'suffer' a simple vegetable problem?
oh its windows xp if thats what u mean :-?

and the burnt disk is a disk that has windows xp on it but its not a geniune diskQuote from: T i m link=1156680059/0#3 date=1156697769

[highlight]I dont have a REAL disk i have a little burnt disk.[/highlight]
oh yeah one more thing when i used to boot it up it would say get geniune xp? but it costs money so i never did that.

Has anyone else come across this fairly new piece of kit yet? I installed my PC into a Jeantech G-Max case a few months back. Everything stays a LOT cooler than in the original, no problems there. What does concern me is the "beep codes" EVERY time I turn the PC on. I've run numerous diagnostics, searched through loads of books for what the codes might mean, all to no avail. I'm sure there is nothing wrong with my HARDWARE, as I get the same "beeps" with 2 different motherboards.
Maybe someone somewhere knows how to silence these beeps, without resorting to "the big stick" method.The beep codes have nothing to do with what case you have...try your MBoard owner's manual and or their website for more INFO.

patio. 8-)Cheers Patio, but I understand about beep codes having nothing to do with the case. I've checked the motherboard manufacturers web site, even the BIOS web site. Neither place LISTS anything like the beep patterns I get.
Like I said before, I get the same codes with 2 different boards: an old ECS board, and a more recent ASROCK board. I've also changed out just about everything else, graphics cards, memory, sound cards etc. Still the same beeps at start up.
Everything on the PC works fine. I'm sure it's something to do with the cases thermal management system, but can't find any info about it, even on the Jeantech site.Have you bench-tested any of this equipment yet ? ?
Hook up on a rubber mat the following:
CPU
PSU
Vid Card
One stick of RAM.

Do you still get beeps ? ?

patio. 8-)

p.s. if not continue adding components one at a time til you find theculprit ( powering down and back up each time )

Is there a DEVICE to turn an internal hd into an external hd, with usb or something close? if so, where could i find one, and about how MUCH do they run?Yes, you can take either an IDE or SATA hard drive out of the case and put it in an external hard drive case. I have both IDE & SATA external cases and they run off a USB connection.

Newegg.com

Tigerdirect.com

CompUsa.com

Between $50 - $80 (but don't quote me on the prices)

Alan <>< ;-)ok, so here's a follow up question.. so if i BUY prety much any external hd, i can REMOVE the actual drive, and insert my internal?Just buy a case and put your existing drive in there - $15-20.

the other day, i bought a used pc at a yard sale ( $15 , RUNS windows 98)... the first day, it played a cd, but the sound was weak.. the next day, and all days after that, all sound stopped.. when i tried to play an mp3, windows media player gives me this message

0xC00D11BA: Cannot play the file

it goes on to say there is a problem with my sound card.. well, after checking my device manager, i FOUND my sound card ( at least, i think it is) as a "ES1869 Plug and Play Audio Drive", and there are no conflicts... when i try to play an mp3 in winamp, its silent, but it looks like it plays.. the meters on my volume CONTROL go up and down, like the sound should be on..


i know it's antiquated, but is ther any help?Go to Safe Mode and check DM to see how many 'sound cards' show up. Then try removing the sound card in DM & rebooting. Windoze should see the card and reinstall the drivers.

Can you try another SET of speakers?

Do you have a spare sound card laying around you could install and try?...doesn't everyone :-)



Alan <>

GLAD we're able to help.

Alan <><

I dont have any speakers on my new PC, and so obviously can't HEAR sounds. However, I do have a guitar amplifier and was WONDERING whethet that could be used as a speaker instead? How would I go about connecting the amp to the computer?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers What type/size plug does the guitar amplifier have? You can probably get an adapter to use between it and the speaker connector on your computer. If you're near a Radio Shack STORE, make a visit and explain what you want to do. They have many types of adapters.Cheers. Unfortunately im now having another problem. My computer wont PLAY sounds and tells me there is a problem with my sound device. The message goes on to say that I might not have a sound device installed on my computer. Is this likely? And how can I install a device?

Download, unzip, install and run Everest Home Edition
http://www.comcen.com.au/~fed/everest.zip

Select Computer>Summary from the left hand screen.
Right click in the right hand screen & select Copy All
Paste the details in here.

its a toshiba, when i TRY to play dvd nothing happens, cant read as in "nothing"

When i right click then properties, then Hardware tab, i can see is "the device is working properly"


How is it listed when you BRING up the drive thru my computer? I had a brand new one that was listed as DVD Ram, would not read ANYTHING, so I sent it BACK for a replacement.Have you downloaded and ran...Download Guided HELP?


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/Quote

Have you downloaded and ran...Download Guided Help?


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/

Hello, I am having issues with the installation of an internal memorex cd-rw drive. I am installing it in a compaq presario 5000. I could not find the analog audio output plug in the computer. The plug that came with the cd-rw drive has 4 holes, 1 for left channel, 2 grounds, and 1 for right channel. Can anybody GUIDE me to where this is located? Another thing, the reason I installed this new drive is because the old cd-rom was not working. After installing it, I turned the computer on and tried to add hardware and it was not found. The drive does have power though and will open the disc tray and CLOSE it. Can anyone help please. It is urgent. Thank youA replaced CD drive will not show up as new hardware.

You do not necessarily need the audio cable. First see if audio CDS play fine.The thing is the previous drive never showed on the computer. There is the floppy drive, c disk, and a d disk but the d disk looks like another hard drive. Have you looked in Device Manager? Did you remove the other drive before you installed the new or are they both still in the computer?

Alan <>< Yes, I have looked in the device manager and no cd-rom shows up. I removed the old cd-rom and then replaced it with the new one. Before I put the new one in, the old one didnt show in the device manager either though.Well, go figure.

Did you use a different data cable or the same one? Could be bad


Did you use a different power cable or the same one? Might not be getting the CORRECT / any voltage


Try changing them out one-at-a-time.

You may also have a defective IDE channel on the MOTHERBOARD.

Alan <><



I ended up using the new IDE cable that came with the cd-rw. I then used the end power hook up. The drive powers up and opens the disc tray and everything, just the computer isnt recognizing it.

Hi,
I'm new and I joined your forum to ask for help. My husband was playing a computer game using a DISK in the cd-rom drive. His game crashed or froze and so he tried to eject his cd-rom game disk. The door wouldn't open. We tried everything......turning off computer and re-booting....ejecting from "My computer", ETC. Finally I got the door open using a paper clip. To my surprise, the game disk was broken in dozens of pieces!! Now the door won't close again. COULD someone help??? Did I break the disk trying to open the door? Did the computer do it? What should I do about the door that won't close? Maybe there is still some bits of disk in there. Thanks so much for your help.
CluelessmomI think it was a faulty disk that caused this, was it a copy?
Bits & pieces and possible DAMAGE will be causing your current cdrom problem, buy a new one.No it wasn't a copy. When you say buy a new one....do you mean a whole new cd-rom drive? How could it break up a cd into so MANY pieces?Yes, buy a new cdrom, they're not expensive, better still buy a burner if you don't have one, that's all you will need.

I believe it had to be a faulty disk, have you ever tried to break one by hand, they are made of kryptonite.Whatever caused it, get a new drive.

Here's my case:

I play several video games, all of them have been looking fine since yesterday night. This morning, I decided to install a sound card, Creative Sound Blaster Live! model SB0200. I tested my sound card out, installed the drivers, and everything went smoothly. Until I started up my game. There were green distortions all over the screen. I decided to restart the computer to see what happened. I couldn't figure it out. I installed the latest ATI driver, Catalyst 6.8, and even reinstalled DirectX 9c. All of course, to no avail. I unplugged my sound card, believing that it was the cause. Unfortunately not? I booted the games back up and noticed that the color distortion is gone, but there is still distortion. I system restored to two days ago and the problem still persists.

Green distortion:
http://www.nihonreview.com/images/TEMP1.JPG
http://www.nihonreview.com/images/TEMP2.JPG

Later distortion:
http://www.nihonreview.com/images/TEMP3.JPGOK that certainly is an odd problem. Shot in the dark... have you TRIED reinstalling a game to see if that works? Do you get distortion on the desktop?

Start > run > dxdiag

Click display and run the tests, and tell us the results.

On the ATI settings thing, look at your current video card TEMPERATURE.Yes, there is distortion outside of the games. I see distortion in the icons, mostly, and my mouse cursor. My desktop seems unaffected but the icons are either invisible or have lines coming through them or are faded.

The tests all went well except for when the tests required full screen. I would be able to see the spinning box and bouncing boxes but the black background is dotted with green lines. And is it normal for the cube to spin so fast? (it spins very very very fast)

I just tried another system restore, to four days ago, and the problem persists. I tried plugging my sound card back in and the problem persists. The card has been removed for the MEAN time.

My spec is:

9600 ATI Radeon
nForce3 250GB LanParty motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3000+On display go to settings and select advanced. On trouble shooting try moving the slider and testing each mode.

Also try starting up Windows in safe mode. I think you can run dxdiag tests there too. If the problem still persists in safe mode it is probably a hardware issue.Make sure your video card and video cable are securely plugged in, you may have disturbed things while fitting the sound card.The video card is securely in its PCI slot and so is the attached video cable...otherwise I wouldn't see anything in my monitor, I think.

I can't find the "advanced" in the Display of DXDiag. And I certainly don't see a slider.

When I boot up my computer, on the Windows loading screen, I can see lots of dotted blue lines. There's a bunch of strange GRAPHICAL distortions...I was talking about the display properties, where you adjust your resolution. Look in there. Have you tried safe mode? Keep pressing F8 as you boot up.I ran DXDiag in safe mode and I could not test Direct3D. DirectDraw had the same results: first two tests were fine, but the last test, when using fullscreen, green lines appear and some strange pixelation occurs with RED and green (same as before). In safe mode my cursor and icons are fine.

I went back into normal mode and checked the Settings-Advanced tab in my Display Properties, as you had recommended. I tried all 6 modes, the first 3 did not allow me to run World of Warcraft because there was no enable 3D acceleration. The 4th mode allowed it but I saw the same green distortion once again. My cursor and icons are fine in the first 4 modes, but activating the 5th mode brings back the pixelation/distortion of the icons and my cursor. I think it's a software issue.In control panel go to system, hardware, device manager, and look under display adapters. Completely uninstall everything in this list and restart your computer. This will completely remove your video drivers. If it asks you to reinstall when you boot up again say no. Now try using the computer, looking in dxdiag etc (you won't get a game working) and see if you still get the problem. This will show us if it is a problem with the drivers or not..... After that reinstall your drivers, and see if this reinstall method has made any difference.

Aside from that the only thing I can think of is trying this card in another computer and/or trying a new card in this computer and seeing what happens.

You still have not told us the temperature of your card... it's unlikely it's overheating I think, but possible.

Good luck.Quote

The video card is securely in its PCI slot and so is the attached video cable...otherwise I wouldn't see anything in my monitor, I think.

I have a D-Link DI-604 rev. E ROUTER, which I use as a firewall for my Sony VAIO desktop running Windows XP Pro SP2. It's flashed with the latest firmware, and most of the settings are at their defaults (the exceptions being a few opened ports for DCC, and MTU 1490.) Windows Firewall is off.

Since I last rebooted the router (after changing the MTU,) I've noticed that my Internet speed has been slowly but steadily degrading, and it's now at 50 kilobits per second. (For comparison, before I installed the router, I was getting around 1 megabit per second.) Is there a way to improve my performance without regularly rebooting my router? Thanks.Sounds like your problem might be that you changed your MTU to a inefficient size. From Wikipedia on MTU

"Every network has a different MTU, which is set by the network administrator. On Windows 95, you can also set the MTU of your machine. This defines the maximum size of the packets sent from your computer onto the network. Ideally, you want the MTU to be the same as the smallest MTU of all the networks between your machine and a message's final destination. Otherwise, if your messages are larger than one of the intervening MTUs, they will get broken up (fragmented), which SLOWS down transmission speeds. "

You stated that the problem started AFTER you made the change. Try resetting it back to the original size and see if that makes a difference.

Alan <>< Forgot to say, the reason I was at 1490 MTU in the first place was because at 1500 MTU (router default,) some servers wouldn't respond at all. D-Link's support site suggested LOWERING the MTU by increments of 10 to resolve the issue, and it worked.

Also, for a little while after I set the MTU to 1490, my speed was fine. It's only been recently that it got this bad.Have you tried updating the firmware of that router?

http://www.dlink.com/products/support.asp?pid=62&pv=17&sec=0I do have version 3.52.

Since I wrote the original post, the issue has changed slightly; my speed is fine now, but I'm constantly (to the tune of once every 1-3 minutes) being dropped from certain IRC servers. The particular IRC server seems to vary at random, and I'm not having any other connection-related issues; Gaim stays connected, and WEB browsers work fine.

Also, rebooting isn't solving the problem.

k so some of you might know that a while ago i bought the wrong ram for my computer http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=014&item=330009444795&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1 (and got flamed heavily for it) anyways i decided to just completly rebuild my computer since it needs a heavy upgrade anyways so i was wondering if someone can help me find a compatible mobo to accomidate the ram. its for a gaming pc so im still unsure if i want to go amd or pentium. ive already searched on newegg.com and the mobo's arnt too specific on the ram info. but also heres the thing my buddy is selling his computer for 500$ http://www.socaleuro.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14945 so should i just buy his or spend the 500$ and rebuild mine? technically all i need is a mobo thats compatible with the ram, a new processor, and a new hdd. thanks everyone !If I'm not mistaken, on Newegg's site when you check out a motherboard you think might work, you choose the specifics/details (whatever ) & it should tell you the type of RAM the board will accept. If it matches you're...volia! your in

Alan <>< tvarmy04..... Methinks your making a huge MISTAKE attempting to build a box around the ram.............. Thats like designing a new car based on the spare tire ....... It makes no sense .
I would be more inclined to build the box around the mobo ....... but it's your TIME and money .....

dl65 well the only reason i sorta wanna build it around the ram is cuz i already spent the 120$ on it and i cant use it with the mobo i currently have. and i cant return it anymore so yea....
anyone else wanna chime in on it ?/
"modified from my original post"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I usually don't do this but (this looks like something special!! TAKE A PEEK*

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=2465533&sku=A455-1084%20C&CMP=EMC-TIGEREMAIL&SRCCODE=WEM1193C


SPEND 300.00 more after your ram purchase and your system should be great!
His looks pretty good >his asking price was 600.00 u said 500.00 (It's tough cause his graphics card is sweet~ but if u can be ok with say an AMD 64, 250 gig hd, and 125.00 mobo..... i'd build it*
the internal HD at Newegg are priced nice.............so that pre built one will work with the ram i have & i would have to supply my own video card.Quote

so that pre built one will work with the ram i have & i would have to supply my own video card.

yea the 2 sticks i bought are 1gb each 3200 "high density"....and i think im gonna buy that one from that site thanks!

HEY WHICH video card should i get the only games i will be installing on the computer will be bf2 and star wars : empire at war!. i wanna be able to max out the graphics on bf2 also. and u know wats even sweeter! i had posted like a week ago about my mom buying the wrong psu for her computer...and it turns out that the one she got will fit the new computer that i just bought from tigerdirect.com !!! whaa! its a sign! it was meant for me to get this computer!! now it just needs to get here soon! im soooo predicting countless hours playing bf2 again...! yes!

Quote

Can I connect 2 computers (One ruunning DOS) to share/transfer files using ordinary TELEPHONE cable and/or a modem? I have considered parallel, serial and ethernet, and are not an option (yet) In the mean time, can it be done?

On the laptop I am using, I don't have ethernet or USB and no room for expansion

Hi All,

Could some one point me in the right direction? :-? I need to know the power ratings for, AT, Baby AT, ATX, LPX, SFX, BTX, etc... Thank you!
what Language is that ? lol, looks like another homework assignment?

(I'm guessing you want mobo power ratings? ) do some research on google and google those BAD boys!Language? - English PSU - Power Supply Unit. Yep, homeowrk for my PC Repair and Networking class.
Anyone? I am having a hard time locating any history on these things...Did you not read honvetops's suggestion? Google. That's how I found http://www.pctechguide.com/11Motherboards_Form_factor.htm and http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/mobo/form.htm. This was my main search results page: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pc+form+factor

And, visit a library. Surely, there are some computer books or magazines with some info on the various form factors.

By the way, AT, Baby AT, ATX, LPX, SFX, BTX, etc... are "form factors". And, they are derived mainly from motherboard design standards.

Your comment, "I need to know the power ratings for ...", seems odd to me because you will find a wide range of power ratings for a given form factor. My ATX PSU is only 250W but you can buy them for 500W or higher.

MAN!

Google is sure great!The power rating of a power supply is the output wattage. Depending on type, for example a Baby AT is 192 Watts. As motherboards and mainly cpu's increased in power requirements, power supply manufactors developed ad-ons to meet this demand. They did this by adding the extra 4/6/ and now 8 pin connects along with the 24 pin connector that replaced the 20 pin.

Soybean, there is a difference on mobo and psu form factors. Remember that "form factor" is only a description on the PHYSICAL dimensions, not power ratings. Having SAID that, the links you posted are of no relevance to this topic.

Anyways.... I finally found the info by piecing it TOGETHER. I didn't find a site that sums all of the rating up in one spot, perhaps I will addd it to mine. Thank you all for your input.I see you're ignoring a point I mentioned in my previous post:

"Your comment, 'I need to know the power ratings for ...', seems odd to me because you will find a wide range of power ratings for a given form factor. My ATX PSU is only 250W but you can buy them for 500W or higher."

Actually, the highest rated ATX listed on newegg.com now is 850W: ENERMAX Galaxy EGA850EWL ATX 850W Power Supply 100 - 240V - Retail. And, you say Baby AT is rated 192 Watts. But, here's one that's 300W: Antec PP300V 300W Power Supply PS/2 Size (Baby AT). Your "rating" concept is simply invalid; there is no single "rating" for each type of PSU.

Get help with your MAC hardware and software. Discuss Apple and its products. Mac Rumors Mac OS iPod iTunes Visit http://www.mactalkforum.com..Spam family.I can only MAKE out HALF of that and already I FEEL cold inside....Yarr, and beware ye who spammeth the forum!

You'll get spammed with spam. SLIGHTLY phycotic spam.

A few years ago I was TOLD by a friend that AMD was better than Pentium and they were made by the same pople but the high end. Then a year ago I go with my mom to get a computer cuz I know a little (enough to be dangerous) and the guy tells me celeron is "pentiums little brother" more like little baby. I was not impressed for a 2.5 gig it was extremly slow at time for "out of the box condition" no extra programs and such. to me it should have no lag... Anyway I see the new AMD semprom I assume its the same way.. so my ? what are the leading CPU's and the differences and is it worth the extra money... I have never been a fan of macs last I knew the didnt compare to a cheap pc...Currently the leading CPU for the home/SOHO is the Intel Core 2 Duo. According to all the benchmarks it is blowing everything by AMD right out of the water.It depends how much you want to spend. AMD and Intel are two competing companies... they do NOT make the same processors. They are always battling to release the fastest processsors... sometimes Intel wins sometimes AMD wins. But unless you want to buy the best, latest (and most expensive) it doesn't really matter too much, and both offer good mid-range processors. If you want power for GAMES, buy an ATHLON 64 or Pentium 4 (or D, I don't know which one is faster... someone will tell us). If you give us a price range, we can offer you some suggestions.Unless your "rich" disregard the high end dual core Conroe chips for awhile, wait about 1 1/2 years for the drop. The sempron & celeron are basically lower quality "testing" chips from their higher priced "big-brothers". (Athlon/Pent 4) I own a Celeron D 346 cpu and it is just fine for my basic computing needs, never any problems though still new.
From what I have been reading lately on the cpu stuff, AMD's for the money have a better L1/L2 cache speed then do the Pentiums . I think that is much more important in computing speed than the GHz << speed. Just read last night if you are into overclocking the Celeron chip is the best bet due to low cpu core temps . Not sure about the sempron, did not say .I have read much about AMD chips and finally got one for puter I am building for my son. I guess they both have decent qualities. I'd go for the higher-end bus speeds compared to processor speeds and don't forget to have "at least" 512 megs ram, maybe more like 1 gig good ram. A good motherboard and good memory make all the difference. Keep your cpu cool for a longer life span.I myself (at home) use a AMD Sempron 64 3400+ 2.0Ghz...I love it. But that's just me, it's mostly preference.Good stuff guys, I dont play lts of games and dont need grafics so I try to keep to lesser out-dated and cheap... But I was not impressed with the celeron I had got for my mom. I uninstalled most of the worthless software that starts up at boot and then hogs precious cpu, and still i WOULD have paid another 100 buck for pentuim I've never had an AMD but allways heard good thing at the time I bout this one AMD was $100 more than Pentium, and there was no semprom to my knowledge. I dont remember the exact computer manufacure i know it had 512 sd ram... maybe it was the specific computer... It was a cheap prebuilt from staples or something... Not the cheapest though... I was just curious before i go buying another...

Thanx Everyone C_H_.com ROCKS
Here's some history on the Sempro: Duron Successor: AMD Sempron. It's predecessor was the Duron. I had a 600 MHz Duron processor; as I recall, it often performed closer to the Pentium than the Celeron in benchmark tests. If you're debating about whether to get a Sempron, I'd say you would be pleased with it, based on what you've said about your computer usage.The high end Semprons are very capable.Yea I just noticed the computer I've been using is a HP Celeron 2.9 GHz. (Now I feel stupid.) This is not my computer but I am pleased with it Wouldnt mind having it. I had seen some 2.9 GHz AMD semprom comps with flatscreen for 300 buck at staples... I thought it was a killer deal, Wal-Mart has them to without the flat screen. This is what made me wonder about the Semprom.The graphics card is more important than the processor for gaming. I can play Call of Duty 2 on a computer with 1.2 ghz processor (which is below the min requirement) but a 5700le graphics card, yet the game barely runs at all on my dad's 3.2 ghz computer with only on-board graphics.Quote

Good stuff guys, I dont play lts of games and dont need grafics so I try to keep to lesser out-dated and cheap... But I was not impressed with the celeron I had got for my mom. I uninstalled most of the worthless software that starts up at boot and then hogs precious cpu, and still i would have paid another 100 buck for pentuim I've never had an AMD but allways heard good thing at the time I bout this one AMD was $100 more than Pentium, and there was no semprom to my knowledge. I dont remember the exact computer manufacure i know it had 512 sd ram... maybe it was the specific computer... It was a cheap prebuilt from staples or something... Not the cheapest though... I was just curious before i go buying another...

Thanx Everyone C_H_.com ROCKS

Are you in a college dorm or off campus housing? Do you have a surge protector for your computer? Anybody else in the same building having similar problems? Anybody else been using your computer?

Have you removed the PCI card from the HP? Did you try starting it after removing the card? Any other hardware changes on either of these computers while at college?

The notion that the PCI card might have damaged the computers seems highly unlikely, although I wouldn't rule out that possiblity. Are you confident that you had the card properly installed and that you you handled it properly when not in a computer and when ACTUALLY installing it? No ESD (electrostatic discharge) damage to anything? Card properly seated in the slot? Didn't knock any components out of place when you installed the card?

Did this HAPPEN soon after moving into the house? Have you had some prior experience at moving computers? USB is the only type of device that considered "hot-swappable". So, shutting off the computer and any peripherals being connected to it should be the general procedure when disconnecting components for a move and then setting them up at the new location.

And, I'm still wondering about the power supply in that house. If this happened due to no fault of yours, I think the fact that two computers have suffered damage gives cause for concern here. Since your co-tenants have laptops, which, I presume, have batteries in them, the batteries could be negating any negative characteristics of the power supply to the house and, THEREFORE, are not good indicators that no problems exist in the power source. I'm actually inclined to think you should mention this to the landlord and perhaps ask him/her if the power company or an electrician could come out and test the wiring in the house.This is a old house that we rent. My room is part of the basement that was redone into two bedrooms.
There is some "unique" wiring in this part of the house, for sure. IE: There is an oscillating fan (in a hole in the wall) wired into the wall that pulls air from the 110 air unit in my room and blows in through to the other downstairs roomate's space. There is an unused 220 receptacle in my room. There are 2 huge overhead flourescent lights(garage type) on my ceiling that have not worked since I moved in here. My dad says this type of "innovation" is PROBABLY not up to code.
I moved in here in May. At the TIME there were only two of us here. My computer went out about the time the other 2 housemates moved back. So the house is pulling mre power now for sure. The second computer went out the same night I plugged it in. Everything else on that side of the wall works fine. The cpu on both computers is the only thing that went out.
Are you thinking low power and then surges or something along that line? Do you think these computers are shot? Is there a way to test the PCI card for fault? I REALLY appreciate your thoughts on this.Quote

Are you thinking low power and then surges or something along that line? Do you think these computers are shot? Is there a way to test the PCI card for fault?

Got a new computer. Took the hard drive out of my old one, put it in a drive enclosure and connected it to a USB port on my new computer so I could xfer FILES from the old to the new. The new computer RECOGNIZED the old drive (MAXTOR), configured a driver for it, then SAID it was ready to use but I can’t see it in Windows Explorer. Disk Manager SAYS the drive is running and there’s no problem with it. Before putting the old drive into the enclosure, I SET the jumper config to slave. Did I miss doing something here?Quote

Before putting the old drive into the enclosure, I set the jumper config to slave.

The computer keeps over heating. I think it's the processor. You can sign in and say surf the web ok. Go to play a game, burn a cd or even watch video on the internet, then the overheat PROTECTION on the motherboard activates. This hsuts the computer down. The motherboard is set to sound a warning when the CPU reaches 50 C then shut down the system if it exceeds a certain temp (60 C). When doing the above activities, you can hear the alarm go off, then it shuts down.

System specs:
Case: Atlas SF-760 Mid-tower ATX
CPU: AMD 1.3 Thunderbird Athlon
Motherboard: Epox 8KHA+
RAM: 512 Mb 266 Mhz DDR
Video: 32 Mb Nvidia PCI
Single IDE hard drive
CD-burner
CD-ROM
Windows XP

It came with a Cooler Master HSC-V62 fan on the cpu. This was a bare-bones system purchased over the web BOUGHT a long time ago that I would finally like to get fixed. In shipping, the Cooler Master came off. The place I bought it from somewhat walked me through how to use Artic Silver on the CPU and reinstall the CPU. As it was my first CPU install, I'm not too confiident about it.

To HELP cool the system I've added the FOLLOWING. On the front, I've added an HDD cooler and a fan that pulls air in. On the back there's an exhaust fan and one of those PCI slot fans next to the video CARD.

My question is should I reinstall the Cooler Master CPU fan again using Artic Silver Ceramique? Or use something else?

Thanks in advance

Is there any way to TEST whether a mobo is fried other than installing it first? Silly questions, I know, but I need to know. Thanks. :-?I don't think there's a way for us mere mortals to test a motherboard other than to try it.
YOu could try to POST it outside your case... Just connect the PSU, RAM, system speaker and keyboard... Short the power terminal and see if it powers up with no errors... Well, EXCEPT for the error that it won't detect a hard drive...

Be careful as not to short the contacts in your mobo...Hey, Shock...
Your ADVICE sounds good and I'm gonna do it today, but first I need to make sure I know how to short the power terminal. Could that be the pins labeled "pwrbt" on the edge of the mobo? And with what, a small screwdriver? Thanks.Fed...
I meant outside the box and should've said that, but Shock picked up on it anyway.BAckground: Mobo is a "new" Soyo PV4VGA and processor is a new Celeron D straight from the box. I've mounted the mobo in an older ATX case with an ATX 550W 12V PSU.

Thanks for the helpful previous posts. I'm now satisfied that the mobo is GETTING power as the little green light on the mobo is on. HOWEVER, still no post. Nothing on the screen at all. CPU fan and psu fan are both running. I think now that the CPU is bad or, heaven forbid, I fried it installing it. Now, another question. Is there any way of testing a cpu to tell if it's good or bad? How do the pros do it? :-?just curious as you seek your answer, what cel D is it ?315. Socket 478, 2.26

i have TRIED MANY google searches to no aval, i GET error number 80048820 . i read somthing about setting the MTU to 1400, but, i have no idea where the settng is in my ROUTER, if you can help, i am in the chat now, as of 10:48 eastern time. thanks in ADVANCE. btw, i have tried MSN live messager, same error, differant code. thats microsoft for you though

Hi all, I have 2 questions which are bugging me somewhat.

Firstly, my PC has 5 USB PORTS. 2 at the front and 3 at the rear. The thing is one of them is Enhanced 2.0.... but I don't know which one!!! Is there any way to tell? There seems to be no obvious signs....

SECONDLY, could someone kindly tell me where to find information on my soundcard? I.e. which one I have? I haven't a clue. I'm guessing it isn't a 'top spec' one as it came with the PC, it may even be built into the motherboard? Additionally my PC is my main music player how much would you recommend upgrading?

I am aware that some of this stuff is slightly TRIVIAL but as I say it has been bugging me.

Thank you so much for your time!!

Start with this program.
http://www.comcen.com.au/~fed/everest.zipThanks for that FED. So now I'm pretty sure I have a Realtek AC97 now. I've done a little research and opinions on it don't seem too favourable. I think I'll upgrade.

I still don't know which USB PORT is the enhanced one, I guess I'll just plug my iPod in every port until the 'This device can work fatster' message doesn't appear!?Trying the usb ports sounds like a plan to me.
I think your sound quality would be more dependent on your speakers, AC97 works fine for me but if you're a sound freak then wait for some extra advice.I just bought these about a month ago
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-X-230-PC-multimedia-speaker-system-32-Watt-Total-/dp/B00069ZEA6/sr=8-2/qid=1157757608/ref=pd_ka_2/202-7659347-0053425?ie=UTF8&s=gateway

Maybe I'm just not used to them yet. Thanks for the advice anyway.They look great to me but I only turn on my sound to play FPS games so what would I know? LOL!

Edit: If you buy a new mouse then get a PS2 one. Quote

I just bought these about a month ago
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-X-230-PC-multimedia-speaker-system-32-Watt-Total-/dp/B00069ZEA6/sr=8-2/qid=1157757608/ref=pd_ka_2/202-7659347-0053425?ie=UTF8&s=gateway

Maybe I'm just not used to them yet. Thanks for the advice anyway.

I FOLKS....
Just installed a new mobo and power source on an EMACHINE( ickkkk ptoooooey.....not my MACHINE) the board powers up, but there is no beeps at post, and I can't hear the HD working..... thoughts? suggestions? dynamite?Check to be sure you do not have a motherboard stand-off or screw in the wrong POSITION and shorting-out the bottom of the motherboard.

Make sure you remove and re-install PHYSICALLY your video card,ram and any add-on cards.

Make sure the voltage selector if applicable is in the right position on your power supply.ie....120volt/220volt.

I probably should have mentioned bench-testing the motherboard.

The "Dynamite?"got me to thinking about...LOL

Hi, about 3-months ago, I purchased a Viewsonic LCD monitor and hooked it up to my Windows 98 HP computer. It works great, except at random times the screen will go black. The green light stays on and sound will still play over the built-in monitor speakers; however, ther is no display. All it takes to get the display back is to turn it on at off. The display returns, immediately. The power cord and monitor cord both are securely connected. It is not a system "stand-by" problem; I checked all the power and screen saver settings. (The light will go orange when the screen display is turned off when the power setting timer is in use, so, that's not the problem.)

Today I switched the monitor to my XP but it has been too soon to seel if the problem will occur again. As I stated, it happens randomly, sometimes only once in a day but I have had it go off as MUCH as ten or so times in a couple of hours.

Both computers and the monitors attached to them are on surge protectors.

Now here is something that may or not be related to this problem. I bought this monitor to replace an old CRT. The old CRT monitor died by quickly going black while I was working in Word, on the computer. When I tried to turn it off and back on, it made a bit of a funny sound and would not work. I figured some circuit burned out, so I disconnected it and bought the new LCD one to replace it.

About a week before that CRT died, I had a Windows General Protection Fault appear. I never had that happen before. I restarted the computer in Safe Mode and all seemed well, until the monitor gave it up about a week later. (I use my computers a lot, so it hade been turned on and off several times during that week, without problems.)

Anyway, today I also "Swapped" the CRT from the XP (which now has the LCD with the possible problem on it) and placed it on the 98. When I tried to start my 98 this MORNING, guess what? I got that same Windows General Protection error message. I shut the computer down and came here, after that happened.

What I am wondering is this...Is there really a problem with the new LCD monitor or could there be a problem in my Windows 98 computer that is placing some sort of strain in any monitor attached to it that caused the old one to die and is causing the new LCD one to "wink out" or is the protection fault just appearing because I swapped monitors and Windows cannot figure out what driver to use?

By the way, I have the 98 refresh rate set at "optimum."

Sorry for the long-winded explanation but I figured it would be easier to IDENTIFY this problem with as much background as possible.

Thanks,

PeteWell I'm sure the others might have some useful suggestions, but I don't have any immediate ideas. Perhaps anwering these questions could provide some more useful information:

1. Wether or not the LCD goes black on the second computer will definately be important... keep us posted.
2. This CRT you now put on the 98 computer... I assume it is not the original one that went faulty?
3. When using the monitor, press the buttons on them to bring up their options menu. There should be some kind of information screen that tells you the refersh rate and resolution. Look in their manuals for help. Using an incorrect resolution and refresh rate is a sure way to damage a monitor. Please tell us the resolution and refresh rates you have been running them at...
4. For the time being, set the refresh rates to 60Hz and keep the resolution low (not higher than 1024x768). This refresh rate is compatable with all monitors, although it might not be so easy on the eyes.

The Windows 98 optimum setting tries to use the highest detected safe refresh rate. It is possible the 98 is forcing the LCD to run too high, but this would be a bit odd because if you tell a monitor to use an incorrect refresh rate, it will simply not work at all until you change the setting.Hi Neil,

"This CRT you now put on the 98 computer... I assume it is not the original one that went faulty?"

Correct, it is another CRT that I have always had hooked up to my XP.

The LCD is recommended to run at 1280 x 1024 but I usually run it at 1028 x 768. I've had it half the day at 1280 and the last six hours at 1024, so far, no problem with the screen going black.

The refresh rate in the XP with the LCD attached to it is set at 60 Hz. ViewSonic claims the LCD monitor can be set as high as 85hz, but recommends 60hz.

As for the 98 with the XP's former CRT attached to it, I have not tried to start it yet, since that protection fault. I should mention that the protection fault prevented it from booting. It simply stated on the monitor screen that the computer was safe to shut off. I may need to start it in Safe Mode and adjust that optimal setting back to 60 Hz.

I'm concerned that the 98 may actually have some kind of hardware FAILURE that could be damaging to any monitor I attach to it. I'm not even sure if that is even possible. By the way, everything else in that 98 works fine, no unusual behavior.

I'll keep you posted, as I expect to continue testing the LCD tomorrow and Monday. I have until Tuesday to request a new one under warranty, if it fails on my XP.

Any further insight would be appreciated and thank you for your reply,

PeteI can see why ur so jumpy, with the recent problems and all. But it makes no difference what resolution or refresh rate u keep ur monitors at. It is NOT reccomended to run it at anything, its ur choice.
1280x1024 is the MAXIMUM resolution, not anything reccomended. I actually have a ViewSonic monitor, but that dosent make any difference anway.

You did good replacing the montiors in order to tell whether its the monitor or the PC.
I can tell u now that it is almost certainly not ur PC. If a monitor goes dark, it could be for any number of reasons, but if u can get it back to normal by switching the on and off switch (without touching the PC), then it is the problem.

Placing a different monitor on a different computer can NOT cause any errors for the PC.
I dont know what Windows General Protection is, are u talking abt Windows Genuine Advantage? In any case, that would have happened with any given monitor. It does not matter wich monitor u apply, the monitor only displays what the PC is generating, it does not have a say in anything.

That is why i think u should have it exchanged. Give it back to the store, and tell them its faulty and they will replace it for u. If the problem persists then we have an interesting case, probably one that has to do with power, but interesting never the less. Windows tries to detect what monitor you are using and work out automatically what resolutions and modes it can display, especially if it is a plug and play monitor.

LCD monitors have a native resolution. Because they always have the same number of "pixel" light things, they always do the same "work" regardless of what resolution you are using. If you go to a resolution half the size, the monitor simply USES two lights to make one pixel, for example. As far as the LCD monitor is concerned, it's still doing the same work. Therefore you might as well run it at highest resolution, unless personal preference says not.

General Protection Fault is a "real" kind of error, it is nothing to do with Windows Genuine Advantage. I don't know too much about it, but it's a possibility Windows 98 hasn't detected the monitors correctly and now got a bit messed up.

What I suggest you now do is put in your Windows 98 disk and repair reinstall it and see if that fixes the problem.Making some progress...

As I stated before, when the LCD was on the 98, the refresh rate was set at "optimal." That's a setting in Win98 that lets the software detect the "optimal" refresh rate. It's a shame it doesn't display what that rate is...it's just "optimal." That led me to a bit more investigating…

Since the LCD ran perfectly on the XP yesterday, today I decided to check the refresh rate and play with it a bit. It was set to 60Hz for the LCD. I changed it to 72Hz. (Remember, I stated ViewSonic recommends 60Hz but only issues a warning not to select a refresh rate above 85Hz. About an hour after I made that change, the monitor screen went "black." Same situation as when it was connected to the 98. I just flipped the switch off...then turned the monitor off, using the switch I just "flipped-off -minor levity, and presto, the screen is back on.

Now the only question I have is if the monitor just cannot handle any other refresh setting other than 60 Hz, or if it was just a coincidence that the monitor worked all day yesterday. So far, it has not failed in the last two hours. Darn random problems are tough to track down. As Neil had mentioned, the only thing that should happen if a monitor does not support a refresh rate setting is that it won't display anything after it is changed. I did that once, years ago with another CRT.

The 98 is up and working again. I think it was, as Neil suggested, a problem with Windows recognizing the hardware change. I simply started it in safe mode, checked a few things, and restarted it. No problems.

Well, I think Track is on the right track with his comment about exchanging the monitor. While the problem is random now and fairly infrequent, it will most likely just get worse and even if it didn't, who wants a monitor you have to "monitor" all day long?

Thanks guys for all the insightful comments. This is really a terrific forum,

Pete

In that case, avoid 72Hz, and let us know what happens

Long story SHORT, a friend's Dell's hard disk is getting the Drive 0 on the Primary EIDE controller is operating outside of normal specifications messages. A bit of ONLINE research has pointed to that MESSAGE indicating that the hard disk itself is very close to failure. Thier warranty is expired and they're mostly out of options as far as saving thier pictures, music, financial DATA etc from the disc.

My question is this, is there any resource or how-to you can direct me to that would tell me how to transfer thier HD's contents to a spare HD of mine?

Thanks for any help.Well,in theory you would put the failing hard drive in a good computer jumpered as slave.

Create a folder on the good hard drive and copy information to the folder.


Then drop kick that sucker and see if you can make a field goal.


FER SHAME,FER SHAME, I can't believe my own father scared of a mouse.

Buttt SSSon He was a monster!!! [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif]

Hi,
I cant seem to get the front panel pins on my desktop D865GVHZ intel mbd correctly. I follow the instructions for the pinout which is 1-3 hdactivity, led 2-4 power led, 6-8 on/off, 5-7 reset and another one for power led 1 and 3. When I power on the pc using the power supply, the processor fan kicks on but the button on the front panel does nothing. I actually dont know about the 6-8 on/off as I have no wire to use there. Can someone help? I have been trying for 2 days to get this going without success.
Thanks
As we cannot see the machine you are working on you will need to post some more info on what exactly you have sitting in front of you and someone will be ALONG shortly to assist...

patio. 8-)Pictures are very helpful also. Here is what I have. Hope I didn’t miss anything.

1. Win XP Home
2. 160 GB Maxtor Sata Drive
3. Plextor Dvd
4. Floppy Drive
5. Just4PC 747 ATX MID Tower Computer Case with Front USB and 425Watt Power Supply – Black
6. Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz CL3 Memory (2)
7. Intel / Socket 775 / Intel Prescott 3.4Ghz / Ball Bearing / Copper Core / CPU Cooling Fan
8. Intel D865GVHZL Intel Socket 478 MicroATX Motherboard / Audio / Integrated Video / 10/100 Ethernet LAN / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA
9. Intel Celeron D 345 3.06GHz / 256K Cache / 533 FSB / OEM / Socket 478 / Processor

Thanks

Quote

Pictures are very helpful also.

Upgraded old Micron PC (Pentium II) to WIN XP and added larger HD. Works great except some games won't work but DVD playback is fine. In the Hardware profile there's an exclamation for a "Multimedia Video Controller" at PCI slot no. 2 which I think is my NVidia RIva 128 (4MB) integrated video card Part No. VCD001305-00. There is no available driver that works with Win XP for this component.

What are my options? I guess I need a new PCI video card but I can't seem to easily find one that is new enough to work with Win XP but old enough to work with the Pentium II processor.
Why can the system play DVDs but not show game graphics?

Please help.

lynchjRun Everest Home and see what the components are we are DEALING with. You can make a report and post it here.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.htmlIt is POSSIBLE that the NT drivers which should be NTFS would work,unless you have XP installed as Fat32.


http://www.nvidia.com/object/riva_drivers.html I downloaded the NT files and extracted them to the windows temp folder and then went to the device manager, chose the option to reinstall the drivers for the multimedia device and told it to look for the files in the win temp folder. It doesn't recognize the NT driver files as correct and states ...'cannot find the necessary files". Can I physically put these files where they need to go or does the fact that they are not being recognized by XP tell me in itself that these NT drivers will not work?
Thanks.

Also, there was a 3rd reply to my original query but now I do not see it. Why was it DELETED?
lynchjI only gave you a it is possible on the NT file.May not be a XP driver available.

As for responses and posts they come and go according to the moderators
discretion.

Weird things show up on forums.So do useless posts or nasty vocabulary ETC..


When the moderator sees this Bye Bye. They could zap this one.

Quote

It is possible that the NT drivers which should be NTFS would work,unless you have XP installed as Fat32.


http://www.nvidia.com/object/riva_drivers.html

... does the fact that they are not being recognized by XP tell me in itself that these NT drivers will not work?

I think I'm losing performance because my rig is being bottlenecked..
I've had friends tell me it's my PSU
I've had other friends tell me it's my GPU (Video Card)
I have a:
AMD ATHLON 64 3200+ (is somehow worse than the AMD Athlon XP 2000+ in my opinion)
2.5gb of RAM (upgraded from 1.5 to 2.5 and I didn't notice one bit of difference)
ATi Radeon x1300Pro AGPx8 (Upgraded from Radeon 9550 only a tad difference)
300w Power Supply (never been upgraded)
I think that's all the necessary information. If you need more tell me.
I have enough to upgrade anything but only one thing, I just want to know what you think it is that's putting a drag on my rig.
Thanks in advance.Unneccesary, unwanted or undesirable programs running in the background.
Put up a Hijackthis log, let's see what's going on in there.The Athlon 64 3200+ is better then the Athlon XP 2000+.
http://www.techpowerup.com/cpudb/

Your graphics card is fine. Its not powerfull but it is relatively new, or at least in the current generation of cards. CPUs dont tend to be bottlenecked as much as GPUs, so that issue is pretty much solved anyway.

Before i get to the PROBLEM, i have to ask though.. why do u have 2.5 GB of RAM? There is no game on Earth that would see a performance difference with that. Its a complete waste of money and power. So u spent have the worst graphics card of this current generation and yet u have enough RAM to power a high-end game from 2009?

Ok, so now ill tell u what i think the problem is.
Its ur PSU.
The recomended specs for ur card include a 400w PSU, and thats the minimum. You have an modern CPU and enough RAM to power the space shuttle, and who knows what else ur powering..

But, i still dont u know what u mean by "losing performance", do u mean that the performance was greater before, maybe when u have the 2000+ and the 9550? If so, then its definetely ur PSU.

Remmember to get a brand-name PSU. A bran-name 350w for instence would be better then an unknown brand 400w PSU, and also as the only thing keeping all ur hardware from dying, its best to get one that will last.Thanks for getting back..
I was thinking about UPGRADING my video card to a x800XT AIW so I could play bf2 on all high, but whatever. lol
Do you think when I upgrade my PSU it will increase performance in everything?
So I might be able to play bf2 on high with my x1300pro?
I also am interested in hooking up my monitor to my xbox. Is this possible without a AIW card?Quote

Unneccesary, unwanted or undesirable programs running in the background.
Put up a Hijackthis log, let's see what's going on in there.

But, i still dont u know what u mean by "losing performance", do u mean that the performance was greater before, maybe when u have the 2000+ and the 9550? If so, then its definetely ur PSU.

Thank you for replying.
So in your opinion if I upgraded my PSU to a 600W< my x1300pro might be able to run BF2 on high?

The motherboard on my COMPUTER went down a few weeks ago. I've now GOT a new computer, but I'd like to try and retrive the information that was on the hard drive of my old comptuer. The hard drive seems to be in fine condition.

I was wondering what would be the best way to attempt to salvage the information from my hard drive? I'd considered removing the hard drive from my new computer and replacing the old hard drive in it long enough to transfer my information to an external hard drive, then replace the new hard drive. I don't know if this would create problems or damage my computer, so I'm leary on doing so. I really can't think of a different way to do this though.

My old computer as well as my new computer are both Dell Dimension 1100/B110, opperating on WINDOWS XP Home Edition.

Any help is much appreciated... Don't remove the hard drive in your new computer. You can remove the hard drive from you old computer and install it as a second drive in your new computer. Configure the original hard drive in your new computer as master (it may already be SET that way) and your old hard drive as slave, both on the same data cable. One you've got them properly configured so that Windows RECOGNIZES both, you can copy files from your old drive to the new one. You could leave the old drive permanently installed in the new comuputer if you don't need to put it back in the old computer.All that needs to be done is to install the old HDD as a slave on the new machine and you will be able to access all your data...
Remember to set the jumpers properly they will be on the business end of the HDD. Also it gets connected to the middle connector on the IDE cable that goes to your other HDD on the new machine.

patio. 8-)Soybean is typing faster than me again.... Okay, thank you! I'm pretty sure I can remember how to do this, I can't believe I didn't think of this before hand.

Thanks again.You're more than Welcome and let us know how it goes...

patio. 8-)

Please help me to know where is the PRIMARY section, SECONDARY section, and feedback section of ATX power supply I need pictures and notes. :)

I have 2 HD's installed in my PC.
One has XP Pro installed and running.
I want to load 98SE on to the formatted 2nd drive, so I can use an older digital camera, scanner
and software. with no XP support. I have a boot swap program downloaded on XP drive.
I found a clean install of XP instructions, but 98SE keeps returning "no entries" using search.
Can anyone steer me in the right direction, please.For best RESULTS the oldest WIndows should ALWAYS be loaded first. Win 95, 98 and ME prefer (demand) to be on the first partition of the first hard drive.

When you load XP second it will install it's own boot manager. N0 additional software is needed.I pulled plug on my XP drive.
I was able to set up my second drive using FDISK and set 2 partitions.
C is 2GB
D is 5GB
I formatted C
Restarted using CD support to A prompt.
I assumed my CD drive is now E
Inserted my COPY of W/98SE
Changed A to E typed in setup.exe and now GET bad command or file name.
The setup for windows 98SE will not start.
What am I doing wrong?
I did check my fdisk settings and shows both partitions C and D with C active.
Took a lot of reading and trys to do all this, so hope I did it right.Found my problem.
The drive is F and the setup file is INSIDE a directory called windows9.
Setup has started.
Don,t understand how CD drive got to F, when my partitions are C and D.
Man, this is frustrating, can't wait to try and load XP on the other partition. lol