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alright everyone im new around these parts but HERES what im after.ive built to 2 computers on my own so far and have a basic understanding of what parts work with EACHOTHER. although both of my 2 computers are as you would say.....mutts, they do work. ive always been into gaming and just never had the money until now to build a rig i can be happy with. so here are some questions.

northbridge and southbridge? what is the difference and what do they do?
what processor is best for speed and why?
hard DRIVES? speed and why?
I wouldnt mind some GENERAL information about BUS speed and what it means.

any help would be APPRECIATED. thanks againYou can really benefit from this video series.....all your questions are answered here.

http://www.professormesser.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43

Chapters 3,4 and 7

Someone has INSTALLED XP Home on a 500 GB hard drive, in My Computer is show as "C" drive yet in disk management it does not show up. My motherboard is a Elitegroup 661FX-M7. The hard drive does work ok but I needed to reibnstall XP and it tells there is no partition, therefor it will not reinstall. My question how did XP get installed in the first PLACE if there is no partition, and how do I overcome this situation?What happened is the partition proubley GOT DELETED. So what you have to do is when you go to install XP you have to go in and create a new partition.

Here is a website that should help.
"http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/InstallXPHome/installxphome1.htm"

Try finding new drivers online then.

Re-INSTALL all your drivers starting with the MBoard chipset drivers FIRST...

Try to reformat your PC and be sure to use the right drivers. Install all the drivers that are needed.

Yup he is talking about a driver issue.

Ok ill start out with my computer specs
OS - Windows XP SP2
Processor - Althon 64 2.0 GHz
Graphics card - Geforce 7800
Power Supply - 450w
Hard Drives - 80 gig, 250 gig
CD DRIVER - standard nothing special

Ok HERES my problem, my power supply has started making a high pitched noise that usually means something is not getting enough power. The REASON i say not getting enough power is because it comes and goes, its not always there. i have tried opening up my computer and making sure that all the connection are connected, i removed my sound card to lighten the power load on the PS. What im looking for in a reply is any other thing that might be CAUSING this. If the PSU is older than 4 YEARS replace it...
You risk damaging components by under-powering them

I have some old family videos that I'd like to convert over to dvd, as WELL as maybe posting a few clips online (for out of state family members, etc). The videos are all on VHS tapes. What would I need, hardware and software-wise, to upload or save the videos to my PC?You want a video capture device. That are sold desperately if you want to save some money. Or just buy a new video card that has video capture built in.
http://reviews.cnet.com/graphics-cards/

Another way is you use a USB device that can capture the output from you VCR and send it to your screen. Like the other devices mentioned it also will let you record to a hard drive.
There are lots of them. Quality and price vary a lot.
Google "USB video capture."
there are a good number of ways to GO about this KNOW. First you can get a vcr +dvd player/bunner, you just play the tape and it will record to the dvd. Second you can get a conveter which takes the signal out of the vhs turns it to digital allows for editting and saving it to a format you want an then possibly sending it back out if you wanted. Havent done this stuff in a while but there.I have a TV tuner with a coax jack, would that work, or does it have to be a video capture card? I'm reluctant to spend a chunk of money on something that I will no longer need once I'm done transferring the tapes.

Also, I know about the vcr/dvd combo decks, but I want the video on my PC so I can edit it.You can get a video capture card for $20 or less.


I did this to all my old VHS tapes a couple years back. Hooked a VCR up to the capture card and sat for hours recording all the tapes. Then I burnt them onto dvd's. thats what I'm wanting to do, have yet to do it. I wonder can you get them in pci? I was thinking of getting a machine geared for other use but can do this with it as well. Any way, can't he get like a program then? Doesnt Movie Maker have a record feature?roccenstein, I continue to use this http://www.adstech.com/products/USBAV-709-EF/intro/USBAV-709_intro.asp?pid=USBAV-709-EF with great results. I am also using (on another computer ) a very similar product by a company called "cameramate" using software called "propix'. I have 2 direct to DVD from VHS recorders and i don't experience the same level of video quality as the hardware capture devices i have listed above.truenorthJust thought I'd let you all know, my previously installed TV tuner card worked as a video capture device. I simply connected the VCR by coax cable to the TV card, opened the program I use to watch TV, pushed play on the VCR, and there it was. The card I have in case anyone is interested is the Pinnacle PCTV HD PCI card, and I'm using the TV Center Pro software that came with it.

Thanks for all the suggestions!I had a feeling that he could glad that it was that easy ^Yeah, and the nice thing about it if you're wanting to transfer video files this way is that if you put out the money to buy this (around $80 when I bought mine), you'll have a TV tuner on your PC afterward, rather than a dedicated video capture device that you might never use again.I see an know what you mean, I got an external converter that I havent used in a while. Plan to use it again soon not sure were but the signal is KIND of bad when it shows on the monitor.That's definitely another plus with the TV tuner, the picture from the VCR was just as good as when it's connected to a regular TV.I suppose its coax, I have to feed mine threw the yellow-white and red then attach it via usb

My computer is an HP Pavilion s7320n Slimline with an HP vs15 monitor. I am not sure what other specs. might be needed.

About 4 or 5 days ago, the power went out at my college and afterwards, my monitor will not turn on. I tried adjusting the cables, using a DIFFERENT CABLE, but it still will not work. The computer itself is fine, I am using it right now, but the monitor is not.

The blue light (for the monitor power button) would come on for a second or two some of the times when I tried to turn it on, but not very long. Now that I am back home, it is not even doing that.

I do not know much about monitors, so I do not know what exactly could be wrong or how I could fix it, if it can be fixed (I hope so!).

If anyone can help me out, I would appreciate it a lot, thank you!!

Cassie
Did you try the monitor with another working computer?
If it still doesn't work, it's shopping time.
Monitors are not worth fixing.Well, it isn't the connection that is the problem, it just isn't getting power or something like that. I'm sure that it would work fine if the power was working.

So are you saying there is no way to fix maybe just a power SUPPLY problem?

Thanks for the help Power supply ,or the board or poss:both. Change out the power supply first & hopefully that will solve the pblmI'm thinking that the display MITE be shot, there is no real way to tell unless you try it with another machine.

Hi I have a Packard Bell Notebook that has been nothing but trouble since we got it.

Recently I shut the screen and opened it again a few moments later and the screen had gone dark black (I could very faintly MAKE out the windows in the background).

Thinking it was the LCD brightness I shut turned it off and re-booted it but when it came back on even the startup (Packard Bell loading screen) was un-readable and dark.

I thought this was the LCD screen failing so I attached it to my other TV and the computer started to boot in full colour until we hit the Vista login user Login screen and then the monitor lost its signal and went black.

So I am left very confused what is causing the PROBLEM?

Any help would be great...Welcome to the Forum.
Somebody will get to you shortly. I want to help, but I am not able. I can not think of anything encouraging to say about a..

Packard Bell Notebook

Sorry. I used to have a laptop screen problem when the LED light (usually at the bottom left of the screen frame) had a short. If you are able to get a full display again by rapidly moving the screen lid, like opening and shutting it fast in succession, or turning it sideways then you know it's the light. You can either try to unscrew the frame then and fix the LED wires or replace it with a new light. There's actually instructions on the net how to do this. If you're not a do-it-yourselfer however a repair shop can fix it for you for a relatively low fee. I the bit that confuses me is it works fine on the seperate monitor as it loads. However when it gets to the vista login screen the other monitor goes "no signal" and reverts back to the laptop and the dark screen again.

I think it may WELL be the LED. can you provide any links to any tutorials or spare LEDS and I will have a go myself.It sounds like your screen's backlight or inverter board (basically, the power supply for the screen) has gone out. Both can be replaced, but require a bit of knowledge about electronics and enough guts to OPEN up the laptop and cut a few wires. If you're not knowledgeable or confident enough with electronics to do this, it's a fairly simple operation for any electronics or computer repair shop.

http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/09/replace-laptop-backlight-ccfl-lamp/
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/01/31/replace-screen-inverter-fix-backlight/Most laptops have the buttons on the keyboard the change the brightness of the display. Normally it’s the up and down arrow keys. You would normally hold down the "Fn" key and tap the up arrow key to make it brighter and the down arrow key to make it darker.My Fn key is not working...my laptop is m9700 alienware.
Is there any other key to resolve this
Perhaps you should start a new TOPIC first....I am inclined to agree with quaxo. If you got it in a good source of light, could you see a faint image of what is supposed to be there? You could also try this:
remove the battery
unplug the ac adapter
press and hold the power button for 30 secs.
leave the battery out, reattach the adapter
power it on normally and let me know what happens.

If you have already tried an ESD, then...it (could) be a software issue.

In that case, I'd recommend backing up your files and performing a destructive recovery to see if that resolves it. If it doesn't, its got to be a backlight issue.

Can anyone please help and I am getting a little frustrated now. I can that my external HDDs are showing in Device Manager but they are not showing in My Computer and therefore I am unable to extract any information that they may hold.

I am using Windows Vista Home Basic on one of my laptops and Windows Ultimate on my other laptop and PC and get the same problem.
Many thanks to you all.

JohnnieBoyYou can get into the drive from another program.
Try Disk Management.
Or try Internet Explorer.


The problem is said to be from USB adapters that are not as compatible as you WOULD want. You may need to install a special driver.


So these two are different external drives, and they are not working on multiple computers. Is that right?My old T21 laptop has a 20meg hard drive.
When I tried to use a usb drive of 120meg I could not access it.
After much research I found two registry values which were set to upper and lower disk drive sizes.When I altered the upper size( with regedit I think) I could immediately use the external drive.
This is undoubtably an IBM tactic to ensure the model is distinct from the next one up and thus you may OPT for a more expensive laptop.
It was nothing to do with drive management etc.
Worth looking into this if the existing internal drive is of a lower size than the new usb drive.You need to search the registry for something like maxdisksize and mindisksize.I am sorry I CANT remember exactly.Quote

It was nothing to do with drive management etc.

I have a motherboard here without the front panel. So I cam not able to test it.
DEL GX150 Front Panel connector.I have looked for a diagram on the Dell site, but was not able to find one.
Here are my photos of the board. Notice the connector almost looks like a FLOPPY connector, but it is not the same.
http://geek9pm.com/mobo
Thanks for any help.

Can you find anything that looks like a model number?

http://www-pc.uni-regensburg.de/hardware/PC/DELL/GX150/manual/gx150sg/smdsktp.htm



Thanks, the model number of the board is
62YVH REV A00 on a label near the left front
Another label has a long number
http://geek9pm.com/mobo/mobo_008.png
I think I FOUND a cable and PCB on ebay, but it COTS as much as the mobo! All I want to do is test the thing! I don't know which PINS turn on the power!

Hi! I am planning to build a PC and I am starting to look for PARTS. I need to know which Video Card is the best for me. I will tell you what I will USE it for:

* Movie Making
* Image Production
I may also do more advanced tasks which will require advanced graphics.

You can tell if I should use a video card or stick with Onboard Graphics. I am not a gamer so don't suggest a expensive card. ATI or nVidia is OK. Make sure it is a card with a rating of 4 stars or higher. I can also take a DirectX 9 or DirectX 10 Card as long as it is PCI-Express 16x.I'd try taking a look on newegg. Here's one I found that has a 5 egg rating:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161203

It's pci-express 16x, and it looks to have more than enough power for your needs.

However, a lot of what you need depends on exactly how much movie making and image production you'll be doing.

For instance, if you're using windows movie maker and paint shop pro, you could be fine with a mid-range card.

This card would be more useful for you if you're using pro video editing software as well as Photoshop CS4 (or GIMP) or something for your images.Quote from: neelchauhan on May 19, 2009, 02:52:41 PM

I may also do more advanced tasks which will require advanced graphics.

Hi guys !

My one Custmer Using MICROSFOT Windows 98 Licence Version since 2000 ..

He have around 750 PC in 98 OS so He devlop one network software at that time.

The Network software which he devlope don't support without 98 os.

So he like to purchese a new computer but all new Confrigation don't support 98 so eny WAY to load 98 in new

hardware ? ?Most likely not. Windows 98 is just too OLD to support the new hardware.

Alan <>< One option would be to run VM on the new machine and install Win98 on it...or VIRTUAL PC.

Hello every one i have a hardware issue yesterday my computer gave my this notification Delayed Write Failed :Windows was UNABLE to save all the data for the file sys event.evt (or something like that) The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.
And today when i turned on my computer it ran very slow and i restart it when the hard drive turn have come to boot it gave me the error A disk read error have occured pres ctrl -alt-delete to restart .
My computer is safe now because i did had this problem a few days and Carbon Dudeoxide told me to use the recovery console i did this and it work very good until today.Carbon Dudeoxide advised me to make another topic if this problem occurs again so i did this .Note i analised the har drive and all the tests tell me that the hard drive is very good this are some of the logs:
note:this log have been made with speedfan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attribute CURRENT Raw Overall
10Raw Read Error Rate2000 Very good
9Spin Up Time1674166 Very good
1Start/Stop Count982215 Normal
10Reallocated Sector Count2000 Very good
10Seek Error Rate2000 Very good
7Power On Hours Count925854 Good
10Spin Retry Count1000 Very good
10Calibration Retry Count1000 Very good
0Power Cycle Count982179 Watch
Warning: Power Cycle Count is below the average limits (99-100).
10Reallocated Event Count2000 Very good
10Current Pending Sector2000 Very good
10Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count2000 Very good
10Ultra DMA CRC Error Rate2006874 Very good
10Write Error Rate2000 Very good

all the problems i can figure is that power flow of the hard drive is under the good limit and i don't know how or why this problem is.
Hope the log is readable
Speed fans tell me that the fitness and performance are very good only one bar is not filled .
here is the LINK of the analyse if that log is unreadable http://www.hddstatus.com/hdrepanalysis.php!Hope the hard drive is not damaged or something like that.
eehm the link is not goodi will try to make a photo.Did carbon said to you to already change your hard drive? Can you tell me how long are you using that hard drive.I am using the hard drive for about 5 years its as old as computer is . And Carbon did not told me to replace it just to run chkdsk /r in the recovery console and he told me if that error re appears to POST a new REPLY.

Do ANYBODY have a layout for a CABLE USB to parallel? THANKS. here

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=471

hope this is the right place and someone can help me
my laptop when pluged in and power button in pushed all lights go on fan starts then stops hd sounds like it is
going to START but when fan stops so does the hd noise but light remain on
the laptop is a HP dv 1000 w/ xp home 512 ram ive already tested power suppy and ram chips Is this a new laptop? Mr MOMOTOTO,Just take out ur RAM,wipe it and put back in the slot.Restart.thanks for responses the laptop is 3yrs old


i have taken out ram and tested with known GOOD ramalso why would the fan start then stop if it was the ramUMMM!okay so there is no PROBLEM with ur RAm.Good.The second step would be for u to check ur hdd Once.

Have you cleaned the fans and blown the dust out recently......

http://lonewolf-online.net/computers/tutorials/dismantle-clean-hp-laptop/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cleaning-Your-Laptop-Cooling-System/

My co-worker keeps doing something to our shared laptop so that when I try to hit the 'k' key, for example, the number 2, which is shown in blue -along with the k-on the k key--prints instead of k. The right side of the keyboard has blue numbers and letters on various keys. turning off caplock and numlock do not work-these blue numbers are in addition to the usual numbers at top of keyboard. MAYBE for use as an ADDING machine -TYPE function? How do I disable this? capslock ? ?
No try to turn off numlock instead
Is there an F LOCK (Function Lock) key anywhere? Perhaps that was inadvertently hit.

Ok so my laptop was getting really hot, and the fan wasn't coming on so i opened it up to take a look see if the fan had a loose connection and a MICROCHIP actually just fell out. I was stunned, I don't even know what to do now. Should i take it back? Mind you it might be out of warranty. It still works fine by the way, i'm writing this from it so everything seems to work APART from the fan. Stupid Toshibas.

FBUm... that's definitely not a good sign...

Can you post a picture of the chip?

Out of warranty? Probably. fireballs, I definitely would URGE you to STOP using the computer with no fans working.It may be working now but it definitely won't be working LONG. Whatever it was that fell out may be the reason the fan stopped working as it may have jammed the fan causing it to fail. I would definitely cease speculating as to whether the computer is still on warranty and FIND OUT RIGHT away. One day over or left can make all the difference. Be carefull when you are discussing the warranty issue with the Mgr. as to what it is you claim you did as they will often seize on any excuse to say that nullified your warranty (if it still exists).Goodluck and keep us posted. truenorthhaha it went up to 97C the other day, that was interesting. Maybe i should take it to be fixed.....

FB

I just purchased a new monitor the other day - the LG W2252TQ 22" monitor. The max resolution on this thing is supposed to be 1680 x 1050. Please note that I have had zero issues with this when running a game. The resolution looks great. I've had zero issues with flickering, etc... The issue I am having happens when I am on my desktop. I can't change the resolution at all. The driver is updated. It makes it look as if I can change the resolution but it always REVERTS back to 1024 x 768. I have an NVIDIA 7600 series GRAPHICS card. I tried to adjust the settings in the NVIDIA panel to no avail. My drivers are up to date for the graphics card as well. Any ideas as to what could be CAUSING this issue? Any ideas on how to fix it? I am connecting with a VGA cable. Do you think that could be the issue? I still don't quite understand how that would affect my being able to change the resolution on the desktop when it works fine in a game. Are you 100% sure that your graphic card suports that resolution? The monitor may not as well....ManualThe max resolution on my video card is 2560 x 1600. Quote from: patio on May 19, 2009, 09:09:05 AM

The monitor may not as well....Manual

Well I use 1152x864 on desktop and its okay.I don't think you really need a big resolution on desktop.

Could anyone help me with this. I've had this problem with my computer for over a year now. The fan in the tower blows probably 95% of the TIME it is turned on. Sometimes it even blows when its in sleep mode. It is extremely loud and annoying. It never use to do this and not sure how to fix it. It is only about 3 years old.

Any help would be great.

ThanksHave you opened up the case and cleaned out any dust? And how many fans do you have? Its possible your computer RUNS pretty hot and it needs to be on that AMOUT of time to keep it from overheating...trust me, you do not want your fans to slow down, because often computers have their fans optimized with the hardware inside, and if you slow it down, you risk overheating
Please forgive the line of questioning, but we are talking about a tower fan as I understand the problem. Are you REFERING to your cpu fan or are you refering to the power supply fan?........both of these fans must run at all times, otherwise you end up with a brick....the power supply fan at 3 years of age may be starting to show signs of age.......however you will have to open up the case and determine where the noise is coming from.Thanks everyone for the help. I have no idea what fan it is. I didn't know there was more than one fan in it. I'll open it up and see if I can find out what one never shuts off.If may also largely depend on your climatology. Bear with me here, but if you live in an AREA considered high desert or an unusally hot place, it would be entirely prudent for your fan to run as much as it does. If it is not affecting the performance of your machine, then it is probably necessary. In fact, it is probably offering more in the way of protection and for that, I surmise that we could all deal with a minor noise annoyance.

Hello. I have aCompaq Presario 6000 that was given to me. When I got it, it had been completely dumped. I have reinstalled everything with the exception of the speakers, which came with the computer. When I go to the control panel and go to Sounds and Audio and to the audio, it shows no audio device. I have no disk to install it and I have no idea what to install from the list. They are Compaq speakers model SP08A11 and on the front of them they show JBL Platinum Series....

Can anyone help???

I am usually pretty good at figuring this kind of thing out, but after about 9 and a half hours, I give up!hi welcome to ch. Do you have a real sound card or is it on board soundThanks!! I believe it has a sound card. How do I know for sure? Select your laptop model, and Windows version HERE
Your sound card driver is there.Okay. I went there. I downloaded what it said to for the model I have. Now, when I go to the control panel, it still shows no audio device. What am I missing? If I go to add hardware, I don't see the audio device. Any other suggestions?did you install it or just downloaded it Lol. I downloaded it. Okay. Let's try this again. Thanks!NOTHING is listed, under "Sound, video, and game controllers" in Device Manager?No, it's all gray. I can't access anything. Also, when I went to the link, and I did the download, now I can't install it...maybe I am not doing it correctly?What is gray?When I go to the control panel and I go to Sounds speech and audio devices, and then click on sounds and audio devices..it shows No Audio Device and the Device volume and Speaker SETTINGS are grayed out...I can't use them.is this a desk top or laptopI think I found a solution to your problem. click start the run and type services scroll down til you see windows audio then right click on that then click on properties select auto then click on start and click okay post back the results I got this directly from compaq website. It is a desktop. I did that too. It lets me do that, but that's as far as I get. I can now go to the windows media center and go to the MUSIC and it plays, I just can't hear it. When I go back into the control panel...same thing...no Audio Device. And, how in the world do I know which driver is correct one for these speakers???

I am totally at a loss on this one. It is now 2:30 AM and I am done with it for tonight, but will jump on here first thing tomorrow, so if anyone has any suggestions AT All...Please let me know.

Thanks Brett for looking that up for me! have a good night.There are two possibilities, in my opinion.
1. Since it's used computer, possibly SOMEONE had real sound card, and removed it. Go to BIOS, and check for disabled on-board audio.
2. On-board sound chip is shot.
If it was driver issue, audio should be still present in Device Manager.

I power on the system. It appears to be working normally, but after about 1 minute it powers off just as if someone pulled out the power cord and battery. The next time I try to turn it on, it STAYS on for an even shorter amount of time until it does not want to turn on at all. I have tried to replace the RAM and the Hard Drive but nothing has been helping. Any ideas would be great.




Thanks in advance!Sorry, I forgot to add the specs:

Windows XP Pro SP2
1.3Ghz PENTIUM III
512Mb RAM (DDR 2)
30Gb HDD
5+ YEARS of agePower supply?Is the inside of the computer case free of dust accumulation? You may want to try using some compressed air and cleaning the inside...if it's a little messy in there.

It sounds like either an overheating problem or it could be power supply related.The inside of the computer is virtually dust-free, although I still sprayed with water just to be on he safe side. I have (unbelievably) another Acer Travelmate 360 that has the same problem as the first. I have taken the power supplies in for checking and they are fine. All the fans are intact and functioning in the system and there is no sign of overheating. Is it possible for the power socket in the computer to expand, causing the plug to loose CONTACT with the socket?

Thanks,
Tom

P.S. Just kidding with the water. I did use compressed airI was going to recommend cola instead of water...it's been known to remove rust as well...

Have you tried it with and witout the battery? A/C as opposed to D/C? Same issue?Sorry about the delayed reply. Yes, I've taken the battery out with just the power supply in and visa-versa. Could it be the motherboard?

I have an old 15" widescreen LCD panel from a dell inspiron E1505, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good cheap kits too use with it too convert it too a STANDARD desktop monitor (DVI, or VGA input), and be able too also use it as a TV (Speakers will be separate, probably a cheap set of thin speakers mounted too it). I would like too wall-mount this monitor so I can use it as a TV now, and a monitor for my router/firewall this fall. The only thing I really watch on TV is the news, and I don't really want my 19" Zenith TV taking up SPACE to do that. The tuner for the kit doesn't have too be of great quality, but it must be able too last and, be built into the actual LVDS too VGA converter, oh, and I want a kit with a remote control so I still have the convenience of a TV, but also a monitor too check my firewall/router status.

Even though I believe the news too be mostly fabricated too tell us what they want us too hear, I still like too get a general picture of the worlds recent events, and besides, the kit shouldn't cost more than $125, which means I'll have a 15" LCD monitor/TV for $125 or less, I need a new TV anyway. Oh, the mounting system doesn't have too come with it, I'm going too rig it all too some mounting system so I can wall mount it.

Thanks in advance.Dead_Reckon,Your efforts to keep technology in use and out of the landfill is indeed very admirable.However in this case other than the experience to be potentially gained from the acquiring and assembly of the various COMPONENTS to perhaps ACHIEVE your objectives i question the practicality of the effort. You do know that a brand new 17 in. LCD monitors can be had for around $99.00 today and LCD TVs of that size for about $140.00 or less.truenorthYes, but this serves as both an LCD monitor and TV, which means, I'd be spending about $150 on a decent LCD monitor, then $50-80 on a decent TV tuner, and I don't have a machine too put a TV tuner in either, so i figure, two birds with one stone, save some money, I'm happy.

EDIT: Biggest reason for doing this, cash, or, a lack there of, I do not have enough money too buy an LCD TV, let alone money too buy an LCD panel for a router/firewall BOX, this is just a way for me too save some cash, have a decent compact TV/Hardware tester/Firewall/router monitor

Iam using sony head phones and i stick them in each jack but the sound is not working i need help. It used to work a couple of DAYS ago i checked to see if mute or sound was very low but thats the problem i need help pleaseDo your speakers work? If so...do your speakers have a headphone jack? TRY using that, instead of plugging directly into the sound card on the computer.

If your speakers work, then we can eliminate the sound card as suspect.I dont have speakers they broke along time agoI'm HOPING you had the computer turned off while you were plugging and unplugging your headphones from the different jacks.

Assuming you are using Windows XP try this:

1. Click Start/Control Panel/Sounds and Audio Devices

2. When the Sounds and Audio Devices window opens, make sure you are on the Volume tab.

3. Click the Advaced BUTTON under Speaker settings.

4. From the Speaker tab, select Stereo headphones from the Speaker SETUP: box.

5. Click the OK button...all the way out...until your back to the Control Panel.

6. Close the Control Panel.

7. Shut down the computer...and plug your headhones into the speaker jack of the sound card...or in the speaker jack (if you have one) on the front of your PC.

8. Turn the computer back on to test your sound.ok i will do this
i tried the green and black one and turned computer off each tiem i did it...... didnt workAre you able to borrow another set of headphones or some speakers to try?Can you test your headphones on other audio device?

And also, have you installed software/hardware lately prior to this?No i havent installed any software and i dont have any extra head phones to borrow i will buy some new ones i guessHave you tried your headphones using another electronic device...as suggested above? Like a radio, stereo, etc...

ok we know for a fact it is the video card right...... no it cold aslo be other components going BAD such as you mother board or even ram..... testing things is the only way.....

we have done this ENOUGH to suspect the video card the only way to find out for sur is to pop another card in there to see if it works..... if you cannot do this pop out that card and put it in another pc....

things you could try instead of this before to PURCHASE another card to see if it really is your card is the just reinsert your video card to make sure your connect to the mother board is good. can also try with ram.

if all that fails you could go a cheap route which if it is the graphics card will end up being more expensive. buy another really cheap CRAPPY card just to see if it fixes the problem. or you could buy a really nice fancier card and hope that it's not a component other then the graphics card giving you problems.Quote from: Saviour on June 05, 2008, 10:53:33 PM

If you boot into Safe Mode...do you experience the same issue?

I have a Asus P3B-F JumperFreetm ATX Mother board, Western digital drive 40 gb,rj45,dial up card,sound card,video card...... Anyway the thing is I looked in the pc so I knew where the I/o header connections went worked fine till this. Installed new ram cause problems removed it. The thing is I put in differnt drives an the BIOS seems them some times an not others. Then when it tells me in the post if its there it says there is no primary master. I tried ANOTHER ide cable an manual haveing it look at the drive in the bios. Do you have this Harddrive set as Primary master and is the jumper set to master yes/no?

have you tried to get the bios to auto detect the harddrive yes/no?

Is the harddrive on the middle part of the ide cable yes/no?yes, yes an no, see what I mean it should work.Quote from: squall_01 on June 06, 2008, 04:34:59 PM

yes, yes an no, see what I mean it should work.

Yes an no since there are no other drives.

It makes a difference if you have your cd-drive hooked up to the same cable as hard drive. Master is always in the middle regardless. However, I disagree and believe that your jumper should be set to master not cable select.

I swapped the four wire power plug from the CDROM to the Hard DRIVE and everything works.Good news...but at the risk of repeating myself that $5.00 PSU is going to cause problems and PROBABLY take out some expensive COMPONENTS with it...

Alright so, I recently installed a firewire PCI card into my computer, and when I went to turn it on, the computer beeped once, then six times. And it didn't do anything. It runs, attempts to run, but nothing shows up. I took out the PCI and it's still doing the same thing.
It's not the PCI card, because I installed it into another computer and it worked just fine. So was it just a coincidence? Can anyone give me some ideas on what I can do? Anything is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.When you remove the firewire PCI card, does the computer BOOT up?Maybe, while monkeying with the card, you un-seated something. Re-seat video card, and RAM, check cables.
What BIOS is it? Same type of beeps? 1, then 6?I looked in the BIOS on my computer (Award BIOS) just to see if there were any firewire settings. There were options for USB, but not Firewire. Do we know if other versions of BIOS address Firewire, or does it not matter?

(I'm GUESSING it doesn't matter, and that the Firewire standard is not directly controlled by BIOS.)


Also, sometimes, changing the card to another open PCI slot, or switching cards between slots works. I recently installed a WIRELESS NIC (Network Interface Card) and it wouldn't work. I swapped PCI slots between my sound card and the NIC, and both work just fine.Well I stated earlier that I removed it and it still did the same thing. I've checked everything, and it's all tight in. And I really don't know what BIOS is..When you start computer, and your computer maker logo is displayed, at the bottom, you'll see:
Press "some key" to enter setup
Press that "some key", and you'll enter your computer BIOS.BIOS is Basic Input / Output instruction Set.

It's firmware on the motherboard that provides a basic general set of conditions by which the computer operates, EVEN before the Operating System (such as Linux or Windows) is loaded for your use.

If you can get to BIOS and tell us some of the things you see or don't see, it will help us a lot.

Thanks!
Yeah nothing comes up on the screen. I've stated that. The computer runs and turns on, but that's it. Nothing on the screen. With 8 beeps.If its 8 beeps you hear its a display memory read/write failure. Problem with the memory on the video adapter.

Try a DIFFERENT video card.First, you said, there are 1+6 beeps, now you're saying 8. Which one is it? Short beeps, long beeps.
Turn off computer, remove video card, connect monitor to motherboard's VGA port. Start computer. Anything on the monitor?
What Windows version is it? Dow you have Windows CD?

Quote

If its 8 beeps you hear its a display memory read/write failure.

Maybe, while monkeying with the card, you un-seated something. Re-seat video card, and RAM, check cables.
What BIOS is it? Same type of beeps? 1, then 6?

Yeah, go back to zero. Try.

A BIOS FLASH is always a risky proposition...i doubt any manuf. has been held to task on this as the pages hosting them have repeated warnings against doing so...
It's very possible it was the incorrect flash anyways.
What issues were you trying to solve with a flash of the BIOS ? ?Just an inacurrate battery meter. Toshiba made NO attempts with warnings and ACTUALLY seem to recomend it. I am 100% sure that this was the correct BIOS, unless Toshiba accidently posted the incorect file on their end.

Quote from: Toshiba

This Bios Update adds increased functionality to your system.
(BIOS is an acronym for Basic Input and OUTPUT System. This program is stored in a Read-Only Memory chip on the motherboard.
When the computer powers up, the BIOS is LAUNCHED to perform various start-up functions.)

Try using a different heatsink. Put an extra fan in the unit itself.add another fan to it with what? zipties?
and you dont have a case fan?
generally a case fan will help if you dont have one...GAMING pc's make alot of heat.whatever works. as long as it gets the job done lol... Glad that blowing into it helped, seems you had quite a build-up of dust.
I have read that the fan on that model is pretty loud.
If it worries you it is possible to get an aftermarket cooler which will be quieter and will cool the card better, however these can be tricky to FIT and/or take up a lot of space.I used to USE an 8600 as well but I ended up giving it to a friend because I had ordered a new card.
After I gave it to my friend he had some temperature issues as well and after a quick google search he found some interesting fixes. Oddly enough I looked into his computer and no longer saw the heatsink but a piece of cardboard with a fan from an old card attached to it. As odd/dangerous/stupid as it may seem it did happen to lower the GPU temp 5-10 degrees. I can't really SAY how it effected his whole SYSTEMS temperature because ntune has an interesting way of keeping information like that from you.
I'm not saying this is the greatest fix but it does affect temperatures.

What is going on with my COMPUTER? It RANDOMLY shuts down. I don't know how else to describe it, sometimes it immediately shuts down right after I BOOT it up, some other times the main machine STAYS running but my screen gets no signals from it forcing me to shut it down.
What is wrong? Can someone suggest some solutions?Could you provide some specifications about your machine, such as the CPU type, SPEED, power supply, brand, or even a general model? eMachine T6410 ( I believe )
running Windows XP Home
that's all I know so far See, if same thing happens in Safe Mode....restart computer, and keep tapping F8 key until menu appears.3 most common causes :

Heat
Bad RAM
HDD issues

For the heat issue open the case and MAKE sure all fans are working...

For the RAM issue DLoad and run MemTest...let it run a few hours. Any errors and your RAM needs replaced

For the hard drive issue: DLoad and run the FREE diagnostics from the drive manuf. site...this will let you know if the drive is healthy.

will this PROCESSOR fit:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3826350&CatId=2758
into this MOBO:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3761586&CatId=2014
im not too good with the whole 45nm processor and what they fit in...It should work, they're both SOCKET 775.those TWO will work.

here i got a problem , when i go to installation, first shows press any KEY to boot from CD, if i press any key there is no responseAre you using a USB KEYBOARD, or a standard (older style) PS/2 keyboard?

Possible causes:
USB Keyboard support not enabled in BIOS, or is not supported without driver assistance at all.
PS/2 Keyboard is plugged into the PS/2 Mouse PORT, or vice/verse (Its my understanding that WINDOWS will figure this for you with hardware detection, but, it wouldent help pre-OS boot)
Epic failure of some random program/hardware driven component. USER Wrote (In mistaken PM) :
Quote

hi,
when press any key then system shows inspecting your hardware config, after that there is no response

here i got a problem , when i go to installation, first shows press any key to boot from CD, if i press any key there is no response

hey this is my first time building a COMP. i just want to hear some peoples thoughts. thanks.

case:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3180430&CatId=1520

mobo:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3761586&CatId=2014

cpu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042

memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145197

hd:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3285366&CatId=2457

videocard:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3680415&CatId=3670

psu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152028

drive:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3550101&sku=L12-1150it all looks good, however, you MAY wish to purchase a 8800gts 512MB instead of the 8800gt akimbo. its $15 dollars cheaper then the 8800gt akimbo and it has much BETTER performance.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3581357&CatId=1558thank you for the suggestion. Anyone have any more thoughts?Looks nice.
I would say get a larger HDD though, 320Gb drives seem to be good value at the minute.

All Ethernet cables are diferant in that they all have and use diferaant number of wires in the Cable. I have DSL so it cam with a standared Ethernet cable but it is very short.

If I go buy a longer Ethernet cable how do I know it will work with the MODEM they gave me?

What kind of Ethernet cable does DSL USE I have DSL from Verizon.
Thanksusually cat 5 or cat 6 will work with anything but don't buy a crossover cable that's only for connecting a pc to pc directly without a switch or router. Just make sure that it's a straight through cable and any length or cat5 or cat6 of that cable will work with no problem and will work with any modem Its a J45 cable comes in many lengthsI I use Cat. 5. or Cat 6. Cable for my DSL MODEM I just want to know how it will work when both cables have Four Pairs of wire but thy are used for two diferant things??

CAT. 5. Is used for Fast Ehernet Network 100 M.b.p.s. Four Pairs of Wires.
CAT. 6. Is used for Gigabit Network 1,000 M.b.p.s Four Pairs of Wires.

If they both have Four Pairs of wires in them how can CAT. 6. send more DATA?Cat 6 can only send more data if the network is a gigabit network.

Basically, the only difference between cat 5 and cat 6 cable is the gauge of the wire. Cat 6 cables ALSO have a separator which handles crosstalk better.

For more interesting reading...try these links:

http://www.connectworld.net/syscon/support.htm

http://www.cat-5-cable-company.com/faq-cat6-v-cat5e.htmlHow many wires are in a CAT 1. cable and are they still used today?you definately don't want to use cat 1 cable in fact I don't think you can get that cable ANYMORE. Cat5 is pretty much standard these days and faster much faster than cat 1 cable. Also cat 1 is used primarly for voice communications and it is not suitable for datayou could use booth cat 5 or cat 6, it will work with any of those type of cables, don't buy cross over. The Cat 6 have a better protection to the cable more than cat 5 cable.

I have a samsung mp3 player/ usb drive whose rechargeable BATTERY is charged by connecting the device to the COMPUTER. My mp3 player worked fine (but not GREAT) the first few times I connected it, but now I can't make any modifications at all. Any time I connect it, the screen on the mp3 player reads "MTP connected / Charging do not disconnect" It does not show up as a removable DISK on my computer, so I cannot change the content on it. There is no option for "safely remove hardware" either. I am using Windows XP.Does the MP3 work on another computer?

I didn't know were else to put this.

How do I WIPE everthing off my hard drive?If you're just going to reinstall your operating system (depending on the system), you can USE the operating system CD to perform this.

You can also use diagnostic software provided by the hard drive manufacturer. Do you know who manufactured your hard drive...and what the model number is?

I can then provide you with a link to download the software you NEED to do this.Do you have your operating system disk?
Do you know how to boot to a CD?
This is not as hard as you think it is
Make sure you have all of your data backed up and have all of your program disks before you start the wipe.

When you boot to the disk make sure you follow this order: 1. delete partition 2. create partition 3. format your partition.

If you need help with this post back

Also CHECK this out
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/harvard-extension-schools-computer-science-e-1-understand/1296-installing-windows-xp-video.htmIf you do not have a system disk available, you can download, make a CD from the ISO file, and use Darik's Boot and Nuke.

Please be sure you understand all instructions about its use.

hi!!
why sound CARD and modem if both to use,both of them will not function?
can you give some reasons why it will not function?
plzz help me??

reybar27!!!!
tnx a lot!!!there's a conflict with each other try to SWAP them into different slotsMore information PLEASE...

Have a LOOK HEREI believe this is what's known as a voice modem...can you CONFIRM this ? ?

Hello to all,

Searched the forums quite a bit looking for a problem like mine, but they all seem to be specific for desktops... so here goes.
My computer:

Alienware Area-51 m7700 NOTEBOOK
Intel Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz Processor
GeForce Go 6800
2 GB Dual Channel RAM

-And THATS really all I know I guess.

Anyways, I've had this computer for almost 2 years already, and Alienware refuses to help me diagnose any problems now that my warranty is up (not that I can understand what they're saying 90% of the time anyways), and I can't order parts from them because they no longer make the m7700, or sum lame *censored* sh*t like that. My mobo was already replaced once by them, and my hard drive. So I have a feeling this may be my motherboard again.

My problem:
The thing just refuses to start up. When I turn on the power, nothing comes up, the screen is blank. THE LIGHTS ARE ON BUT NOBODY'S HOME. The fans come on, my cd drive makes some noise and thats the end of it. I've let it sit for awhile like that to see if it was just my screen and if it really was actually booting. But alas, none of the lights on any of my peripherals (mouse, wireless card) come on. Over the past couple weeks or so it had only been doing this occasionally, but now its not coming on at all. The last time I had it on i went through my device manager and checked to see if everything said it was working properly, and it did. And all my RAM SHOWED up on dxdiag.

I've tore into the thing a couple times (what a pain in the *censored*), and tried reseating the cpu, and the RAM, and even removed the battery to reset the CMOS, but still no life.

However, lately the GAME I play has been lagging a lil bit more than usual. Might it be the onboard graphics part of my mobo?

Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance,

-Dan S.




I would borrow a known good PSU of the same or greater wattage and SWAP it in there to see if it's the culprit...
If it isn't my next suspect would be the vid card...do the same as instructed above.
This should narrow it down a bit.Well, maybe not PSU. You got a notebook so try a new battery?

And maybe the video card is not properly inserted? Did you by happen try to reseat the vid card too ? Vid card not working means nothing will show on screen. But other components may be ok as long as it gets power it needs.Sorry i didn't recognise it was a notebook...ignore my advice.howdy

I am in the almost exact situation as you. I almost parted out my laptop which is exactly the same as yours but I am not sure whats the issue so I feel bad selling a bad product.

anyway here goes
I was playing a game one day and my screen froze completely. after turning it off IE holding down power it will not bootback up I turn on power lights come on Bios loads fans operate but after the bios screen goes away screen goes black and then I get 2 short beeps and then nothing. I let my computer sit for like a month ( i really didn't even want to look at it) then I recently tried to get it to boot but now I see no operating system found error when I turn it on. before when it first started faulty boot every now and then I would get a blue screen of death that had a memory error code. Now I have reseated my hdd on both sides reset cmos bat the only thing I haven't done is reseat the video card but I will try that today. My guess is my mobo has gone to crap which sucks because I bought it off my bro with no warranty and AW is balls for tech support and me paying 6-7 hundred for just labor aint gonna happen. please any advice would be great before I just throw the darn thing in the garbage.Okay... I had this happen to me as well on my old ThinkPad and a floor model Toshiba Satellite where I worked.

Try this before forking out any money on it.

Disconnect power cable
take battery out
wait 1 or 2 minutes
replace battery
replace power cable
press power button....

I've had customers call me in major panics with the same symptoms and this FIXED 90% of them. ok i will try this when i get home and post what outcome is hopefully good

Greetings. My XP Home PC has fallen out with my Epson Perfection scanner which has been working perfectly for years in all respects. Yesterday I was Scanning to File successfully but overnight it will now only copy but not perform any other scan action. I have not used any other program to access the scanner. I have completely un- and re-installed it without success. However, I installed it on another XP Home PC just now and it worked properly.

I am stumped and would welcome helpful ideas, please.Did you also uninstall any LEFT over folders in the program files when you uninstalled everything?

Did you reinstall the software aswell as the drivers when you reinstalled it?Hi Crafty. No to 1ST question, I uninstalled from Control Panel, Hardware. Reinstalled selectively, Epson Scan & Epson Smart Panel from Epson CD. I will retry thorough uninstall & try again. TnxI uninstalled all Epson files USING Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, then deleted remaining Epson folders in ProgramFiles, then rebooted. Used setup CD to reinstall scanner and SmartPanel, rebooted, plugged in USB, let it install, and TRIED scanning. Same result. Message box, "ScantoFileApplication has encountered a problem......."
Is this a TWAIN problem which I know nothing about? All suggestions appreciated.Did you try doing the scan by going to. Start/Programs/Epson Scan/Customize/File Save Settings. Then choosing the file you want in the drop down menu. Also choose another location to save the file to instead the one that is selected now.

Also try a different usb port to connect the scanner to. Let us know how you go on!!wrinklysteve...

If Crafty's suggestion does not work, try below...

What's the model number of your Epson Perfection Series scanner?

Have you tried going to Epson's site to download and install the latest software and/or drivers for this scanner?

Try this link: Perfection Series

Select your scanner...then select your operating system. You'll be presented with a list of drivers, software, manuals, etc.

Reinstall the software...as you previously did. Then download and run the twain driver and scan utility from Epson. Save it to your desktop.

This self-extracting file contains the EPSON Scan Utility and TWAIN Driver for Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit Editions. This file self-extracts to your hard drive and is placed in a folder that begins with C:\EPSON\epson...

You will then need to update the driver...

Hopefully this will help...keep us posted.All your suggestions very welcome - however I have fluked it. Tried System Restore to yesterday's Checkpoint; scanner then not recognised so reinstalled from setup CD and hola! it scans to disk.
I had previously tried different USB ports and running from Start Programs etc to no effect.
Another clue I followed was a ESCNDV.EXE error message that Googled me to Tom's hardware forum where there is another comprehensive suggestion for a cure which includes SAVIOUR's download suggestion.
Very mnay thanks, both, this one can hopefully close ......... until the next time.
Cheers.Glad you got it worked out...

All the best...

-Steve

I havent changed any settings but when i go to a web cam site like before i now get a red X at the top left corner ap the page where the picture is suppose to be what is the PBLM. here?What BROWSER and Operating System?

Can you give US an example of the site you are trying to view?

I would try reinstalling the plugins REQUIRED for the site.OS is WIN.XP &AMP; AT&T YAHOO { web site Is SIERRA VISONS.COM ]

Hello people. I need your advise. I had a 250 GB Hardisk I had all my data in it. One day I was using it like always but suddenly windows hanged. Then I restarted the windows xp did not load it kept restarting from boot up screen. I had another hardisk in which I Had already installed Windows Vista x64, So I used it, it became slower and slower, And it gave me a warning to backup your fillies and that your hard DISK has problem. Don’t start it again until you have repaired it or replaced it.
So I gave it to one of my friends who work on a computer shop. He opened the hardisk and found that it had three headers broken. The were two ways to fix it
1) To change the hardisk’s Headers (there are six headers and three platters)
2) To take out the platters (the magnetic DISKS) and put them in another hardisk.
I want to ask you friends that will this work and do you have any other suggestion.Quote from: jinxjack on June 02, 2008, 03:37:40 AM

Hello people. I need your advise. I had a 250 GB Hardisk I had all my data in it. One day I was using it like always but suddenly windows hanged. Then I restarted the windows xp did not load it kept restarting from boot up screen. I had another hardisk in which I Had already installed Windows Vista x64, So I used it, it became slower and slower, And it gave me a warning to backup your fillies and that your hard disk has problem. Don’t start it again until you have repaired it or replaced it.
So I gave it to one of my friends who works on a computer shop. He opened the hardisk and found that it had three headers broken. There were two ways to fix it
1) To change the hardisk’s Headers (there are six headers and three platters)
2) To take out the platters (the magnetic disks) and put them in another hardisk.
I want to ask you friends that will this work and do you have any other suggestion.

He has about a 94% chance of failing at this operation...

Have you ever tried to replace the heads without touching the platters ? ?

Dell Dimension XPS model WHL Generation 3. Had an indication on start up that CPU fan #2 was not working. It was true.Replaced the fan.There are 5 fans in this computer.Replacement fan is functioning normally. Still getting the same message on start up. Used Everest to check on temps. All 3 (CPU,MB,and PSU are constantly within 30-34 C) which i believe to be well within acceptable values. Any suggestions as to how to stop getting the fan message error warning. Does not adversely affect my using the computer (just need to press F1 to continue). Thank you,truenorthdid you hook up the fan to the same power source that the old fan was hooked up to?Nice call, Homer! I was going to ask that, but didn't want to spin off a tangent as I sometimes do.

True, the system board/motherboard is wired in such a way that certain physical PLUGINS are connected to the "intelligence" software that governs/monitors the fans and temperatures. Other plugins accept the fans and work just fine, but they are not "wired" to the same governing software.

It's not necessarily bad -- it just means the fan runs at a CONSTANT speed, and there is no report on temperature, etc.Homer,Aegis Thanks for the input guys. Now to answer your question.Sorta! The 2 fans that are associated with cooling the CPU (located under a fairly large plastic green shroud) are both connected to approximately the same physical location on the MB (less than an inch away from each other). Now when i 1st saw the fan defective message i went into the belly of the beast for a look see. I did see one fan not working. So what i did was disconnect them both and plug the fans in to the opposite connector--with me so far. The one that didn't work still didn't work whereas the other that was working continued to do so. So i felt i had determined 2 things one that the fan did not work and the connector points both worked. Agree? So i removed the defective fan--ordered a replacement--installed the replacement when it arrived--fan is working. Now did i move the one that was originally working back to it's original connector.The short answer is i don't remember (but at 3 score and 9 years that is a credible reply).However i would POINT out that the location of the fan 1st mentioned (fan #2) is still the same # being referenced. Additionally when the computer goes into a rest phase both the fans power way down and i can hear it happen--so they do seem to be reacting to CPU useage. Further thoughts? truenorthSometime these type of errors have to be reset in the BIOS. Take a look though yours and see if you have a screen that lets you reset the alarm.

Now, not being as expert as I would like, I'd say you did fine, and things seem to be running the way they should. (I'm only a score and a year behind, so keep on going!)

Yes, you might check the BIOS settings to see if something was changed (not by you) or if there are any options.Will give the BIOS ASPECT a check and report.thank's again.truenorthChecked BIOS parameters. Nothing stood out as a problem.Did not see anything related directly to fans. Suggestions? truenorth
P.S. Not that i expected to find anything related to fans but checked out the "device manager" for possible exclamation or question marks in yellow--there are none.Could it simply be that something on the motherboard "conked out" and is not reporting as it is supposed to do, even though there is power to the fan?Aegis, You and i obviously went to the same technical training school "something conked out" is my kind of technical jargon as well. Well i suppose anything is possible--but i must say that other than getting the message at start up (which i overcome by PRESSING the F1 option) (the only other is press F2 to enter setup). Once into windows all else is fine.I have not found anything else that is giving me problems (yet). Unfortunately i belong to the school that does not use as a method of repairing mechanical automotive noise by turning up the radio volume. I tend to want to deal with warnings before they become something worse. Hence even though all "seems" normal the message of an abnormality causes me some concern (not to the level of loss of sleep though). Thanks for the input. Cheers,truenorthNo, I get where you're coming from -- it's just that you can only repair so much on a board. Over the years, I've had systems with funny quirks -- little things that went out, but weren't serious enough to keep the system from operating.

I've been hoping all along that someone with more repair experience around theses beasts would "chime in" on the situation.

Hey, i want to get a new graphics card but i am not sure what to get. What would you reccomend for me? I dont want to pay too MUCH and if you need to know i have an Acer Travelmate 6492That's a laptop, right?

Quote

The display measures 14-inches and the graphics card is also powered by Intel ? Graphic Media Accelerator X3100 chip.

I don't think it can be upgraded.

OK, but it is possible to upgrade the chip, if he so wanted?

OK, but it is possible to upgrade the chip, if he so wanted?

Hey, i want to get a new graphics card but i am not sure what to get. What would you reccomend for me? I dont want to pay too much and if you need to know i have an Acer Travelmate 6492

I had occasion to go into the bios but forgot the pw. So, when the computer asked for the password, I just shut the unit off (pulled the plug). Now, when stating up, everything loads in, including Windows 98 but as SOON as all the icons appear on the screen, the mouse FREEZES and that is pretty MUCH the end of the story. Currently using AVG that scans for VIRUSES at startup and this works as it should. The machine boots up in safe mode and the mouse works there; are there any programs I should remove?
Thanks Although we generally don't aid in password cracking, you can search on line to find how to deal with CMOS and BIOS settings, to aid you in resetting the computer so that Win98 boots.Thank you. However, just to set the record straight, I am not cracking. It is my own computer that I set the pw many years ago and lost it. If it boots up in safe mode and runs ok then it is a driver or application problem. Chances are you have corrupted SOMETHING in windows - Reinstall windows!!

Dell Dimension 8400
XP SP 2 - updates are current

Not that i don't trust DVD/CD as a back up, but i'm searching for
something more. Something which MAYBE i can set up to do
backups automatically.

I searched the web found Seagate and Western Digital which appear
to be what i'm looking for (several different versions/storage capacity)
but as you guys have all helped me in the past with little things, thought
i would see what types of opinions you have on either of them or
any others.

Thanks in advance. In the OLD days Western Digital was the drive to get. Things change and now give the choice between Western Digital and Seagate I would USE seagate.

As far as backups...you can get any drive and use something LIKE Ghost. It has a tool to HELP you setup a time to image your drive to another drive and even can see new files and image only that.

Its really what you want and how far you want to go...
Seagate would be a better choice. With a 5 year warranty, compared to the Western Digitals 3 years. The Seagate is also cheaper, though that may depend on your supplier. This, in my eyes, makes the Seagate a better overall drive. Longer warranty, cheaper, and slightly higher speeds.

I would use Acronis for backing up my images.
Quote from: Crafty on June 09, 2008, 11:16:58 AM

Seagate would be a better choice. With a 5 year warranty, compared to the Western Digitals 3 years. The Seagate is also cheaper, though that may depend on your supplier. This, in my eyes, makes the Seagate a better overall drive. Longer warranty, cheaper, and slightly higher speeds.

I would use Acronis for backing up my images.

what will happen if i CONNECT the IDE cable in wrong way. instead i connect the slave connector to DVD-ROm i connect it to the motherboard, and i connect the connector to DVD-rom instead of motherboard...

hope you understand my explanation.

any advice pls

thanks
Um, nothing bad.Quote from: jhay_e03 on June 09, 2008, 07:26:42 AM

what will happen if i connect the IDE cable in wrong way. instead i connect the slave connector to DVD-ROm i connect it to the motherboard, and i connect the connector to DVD-rom instead of motherboard...

Um, nothing bad.

By "nothing bad", I was simply saying that nothing permanently damaging will happen to the drives.

Quote from: quaxo on June 09, 2008, 05:19:20 PM

By "nothing bad", I was simply saying that nothing permanently damaging will happen to the drives.

That is quite true. However, if you force an IDE connector upside down into a disk drive , you can permanently ruin the disk drive (a pin gets broken).

Well, then they'd be a fool for doing so, wouldn't they?

Okay I had a few parts that I got cause I DIDNT know where I could get most of the stuff on the site. But I think that the board WORKS its a biostar 478 pent 4. Know what I wondered is what I can get without putting to much money into it. I have a psu an some extra smaller drives. WANT a maxtor or western digital sata drive, need ddr ram an a decent pent 4. I'm going to cuse the onboard audio an video but I also have an AGP video card an Sound cards if they would work better. Cause I heard that its better then using the on board.Well, the on-board video and sound usually or often work off the RAM on board (they borrow PART of the RAM). If RAM's not an issue, most on board video and sound will work just fine for everyday tasks.

If I have video or sound cards available, I throw them in, but I've used on-board video with no problem (when I didn't mind the bite it takes out of your RAM) and used on-board sound with no problem at all.At most a gig but its not CERTAIN that I will do so, I will ether put 2k or me on the machine.out of personal experience, i recommend not purchasing maxtor drives. i would consider purchasing seagate HDs.Just cause I had the problem with the gaming pc drives doesnt mean it there fault.i never said it was their fault. i said out of my personal experience, i recommend not purchasing them.Quote from: squall_01 on June 09, 2008, 03:25:23 PM

Just cause I had the problem with the gaming pc drives doesnt mean it there fault.

omg i TRY to RUN pong on my vacuum powered computer and it sucks all the POWER from the city and blows up *censored*ok and the point of this was...His Posts so far have lacked any point ...

He may not last too LONG so enjoy it for now.I smell an impending ban.

Topic locked.User permanently banned. All his other posts were deleted. Left this one to LET the community know there is no tolerance for this type of user.

I think that there's something not plugged in correctly.
If all that was changed was a PSU, I doubt the CPU has just failed. I would double check all of the connections again.
Also, if you can get the exact POST beep code it would be helpful. 5 beeps indicates a process failure according to this but I'd like to be sure.I've had a friend come over who buys old computers and fixes them up to come over and help me. He didn't see anything wrong with the wiring but he did say it was unlikely that a CPU got fried when a PSU went out. I called the guy who fixed the beeps from the bios the first time and he said that it was 5 short beeps and then repeating beeps.
I think my first post was a LITTLE to vague so I'll try to make what I've done this far a little more clear.
First my power supply stopped working and a friend of mine did the paperclip in the green/adjacent black wires to test it and it was CONFIRMED dead. After that it was replaced by a confirmed working PSU. When I tried to start it up I got 5 short beeps and then repeating beeps. At this point the monitor was still getting nothing. Soon after that I took it to a co-worker and after he moved the supplementary power cord for my graphics card from an extension of a fan to a normal 4 pin connector there were no more beeps. I took it home and when I tried to hook it up to a monitor, the monitor screen just stayed blank. I tried it on two different monitors (both of which are working properly) using an 8800gt, the onboard monitor output, and an old geforce 4000mx I had lying around and still nothing was going to the monitors. After this I had the motherboard replaced, going from an EGS to an ASUS motherboard, both using the same chipsets and everything else. Even after the motherboard was replaced with the ASUS one the problem persisted. I tried using the 8800gt, the onboard, and the geforce 4000mx again and still nothing worked. After this I decided I should try new RAM in case it was damaged when the power supply died. I used two new sticks (both confirmed to be working) placing one in each slot, then switching them, then trying one at a time in each slot. This still yielded no RESULTS and that pretty much leads up to where I am now.
Sorry for the novel but I think it may clear things up a little.
Thanks for all the help as well, I really appreciate it.That's a very clear post, thanks.
You do seem to have eliminated most things. However, try a bench test too.
Take the motherboard out of the case and place it on an anti static bag or piece of cardboard. try to power up using only the bare minimum COMPONENTS, preferably confirmed working. That means CPU, heatsink/fan, one stick of RAM, PSU, and video card.Get a cpu to test it, I dont think that the psu had killed it but rather esd or a bent pin or something the thing is you had tried both boards assumeing that your using the same cpu in the other one that its probably why its not working. Thanks alot for the help. I'm going to get a cheap CPU to test and hope that's the problem.
I tested everything you suggested now Calum and nothing seems to be the cause of the problem yet. I'll update this post once I test the new CPU.
I really appreciate all the help everybody has given me, thanks again.Good hope it works out then.

Hi everyone, recently I've been receive a PC by GIFT with the purpose to install Linux Debian on it. The point is that sometimes the PC turns blinking the power led and don't start up. I think that the power switch is broken or something like that, but I have to wait a couple of time to turn on again.
There is the PC specifications:
* Brand: Dell
* Model: GX110
* CPU: Intel PIII 800 MHz
* RAM: 128 Mb SDRAM Bus PC133
* HD: 13 GB IDE
* Video: 32 Mb.
* SO: Linux Debian 4.0
* Display: Dell 14"
* KEYBOARD and mice right connected and 100% functionally

If you know something, could you please help me about this stuff?

Regards
I have seen similar ISSUES on newer Dell PCS. Open up the case and look at the motherboard. You will see several smallish capacitors (black tubes with a silver top). Visually, check to see that the silver tops are all flat. If they are bulged upward, or leaking, the motherboard needs replacing.


Also, check that all of the small WIRES coming from the front of the computer are attached snugly on the motherboard.

Good LuckQuote from: friny on June 08, 2008, 02:15:00 PM

sometimes the PC turns blinking the power led and don't start up.