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Trying to help a friend w/ his puter.

After formating the hard drive (which had a corrupted Win XP Pro on it before) as he had requested, I tried install Win XP again from the CD but although the BIOS detected the CDROM drive, Windows said something like "no files found on drive".

I booted the puter from an old Win ME boot diskette. It's supposed to be ok for this sort of thing. The BIOS was set up to boot first from floppy, then from CD, then from HD 0.

According to friend, The CD drive worked OK just before and the Win XP CD is accessible via another puter. So I reckon both the drive and the CD are ok.

I reckon it's just a matter of editing autoexec.bat and config.sys to add the
PROPER mscdex.exe commands - as did in old days - to recognize the CDROM drive during a DOS boot. I don't have the exact cmnds in my head, so tried look up some old boot files on my old comp.

Before I did that, I thought I'd put my friend's CD drive in my own comp to check it and make sure it was ok. As luck would have it, this blew my own comp (tho'
probably it was just some weird coincidence).

I got a long startup beep from the Phoenix BIOS and nothing on screen.
From what I found on Phoenix website, their BIOS doesn't put out any
single long beeps. Reseated mem board. Processor didn't seem to be overheating; so don't know what went wrong yet.

In any case, never mind that; want to concentrate on friend's puter first.

Question: How to modify autoexec and config to access the CDROM drive
after a DOS diskette boot?

Win support does have several similar old boot-disk downloads (2001 thru 2004) available for XP. These are used to create 6 diskettes, just for the PURPOSE of loading the RIGHT files to make the CDROM accessible and bootable so Win XP can be installed from it.

6 diskettes! My God! Seems a bit overkill.

Never mind the 'bootable'; I'd just like to make that drive 'accessible' first. There
were just the 2 mscdex commands REQUIRED before (in autoexec and config) to load the cdrom driver and make the device accessible - which is all that should be necessary. I note that my old Win ME DOS boot disk does have mscdex.exe on it.

It also has '0' bytes left on disk; which means I have to take off one of
the less useful files (like mem.exe) in order to be able to edit autoexec.bat
and config.sys.

Am I on the right track here, or not? And can anybody help w/ those 2 commands?

Really appreciate,

Jed...


Well, it's always nice to have some info about the actual hardware, but....

You can either go the six floppy disk route OR try to change the bios to boot from CD first. With the beeps, you may have other and more serious PROBLEMS.

whenever i shutdown my computer and unplug it from the outlet...then i boot up again...then the SYSTEM clock returns to 12:00AM with date January 1, 2000... why is this so?how am i gonna REPAIR this?A an apparently failing clock can be from a DEAD CMOS battery. Try replacing that (as well as posting some details about the system and age if that doesn't resolve it). Also check your motherboard for a jumper which is used to reset the "CMOS" "BIOS" if the jumper is left over the wrong pins it can cause the same results.
there are usually three pins and over two of the three pins it will reset, but over the other two pins it is safe, then it allows the battery circuit to keep the power on the CMOS.last year my system gets wet only at the lower part WHEREIN the cmos battery was also wet then i remove it and let it dry....is it maybe the water dried up the cmos battery?A battery is a sealed unit. You could have corroded or otherwise ruined the connectors.Quote from: GX1_Man on April 03, 2007, 06:14:13 AM

A battery is a sealed unit. You could have corroded or otherwise ruined the connectors.

Okidata 390+ refuses to print. Head doesnt move to left and alarm LIGHT comes on after pressing print. Have CHECKED OKI data base for solutions to no avail, checked paper path ETC. Win XP Home SP2. Have tried on second computer also. Any suggestions? Edhow are you connecting with the parallel or the usb?

Sometimes when I startup my old PC my screen vibrates.
Can it be a virus?
I have Windows Live Onecare and I've already tried AVG and Ad-ware but they all found nothing.
Is it my video CARD or an other hardware problem or is it something you can adjust?
Computer specs:
Windows xp professional (SP2)
256mbRAM
1.6 GHz mono core processorIs your monitor CRT or LCD? How old is it?It's an Q-force laptop I got it from a FRIEND who bought him an new computer.
But my guesses are that its 3 to 4 years old.
I'm going to give it to someone but I want that the PC is in a good shape.
I don't want to give something that's not worth giving.My experience with laptops is limited, so let's see whether someone else joins the discussion. However, a more detailed explanation of the behavior might help. How long does this "vibration" last? Does it continue after Windows has fully loaded?

Do you know how much video MEMORY that computer now has? If not, try this. Go to Start, Run, and enter dxdiag in the Run box. When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool has launched, click on the Display tab. What does it show there for Device? How much memory?

Run the tests by clicking on the buttons for Test DirectDraw and Test Direct3D. Were they successful?

Also, take a look in Windows Device Manager. To open Device Manager, right click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Hardware tab and then click on Device Manager. Do you see any yellow triangles there? Click on the plus sign by Display adapter to expand it. Double click on the specific item under Display adapter. Does Windows say the device is working properly? Click on the Driver tab. What driver is shown there?

It stops vibrating ones the desktop appears.
The memory is 128.00MB
All the tests worked perfectly.
Device status: EVERYTHING works properly.
Drivers name and chiptype are both: Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS ,910GML Express Chipset Family
Its signed by Intel corporation sow its the real version.
The strange thing is that everything is displayed twice.
2the same monitor adaptors and 2the same monitors.Quote from: Jonas Wauters on April 10, 2007, 09:52:59 AM

The memory is 128.00MB

The strange thing is that everything is displayed twice.
2the same monitor adaptors and 2the same monitors.

Since many systems using onboard video (this is all laptops) subtract the amount of memory allocated to video from the total physical RAM

Since laptops have a VGA connector to connect a regular monitor, I believe those double entries may not be abnormal. But, I'm not sure.

Not sure where to put this, a bit of Hardware and Software.

I have a 5 year old LCD monitor, and it's contrast and brightness settings don't go very high, making it hard to view darker images and STUFF. All the settings are maxed out, so is there a way of increasing contrast further in software?

Onboard Video
Windows XP SP2
AMD Athlon 1600
224mb RAMThe only thing i can suggest at this time would be to borrow a video card that your machine supports and SEE if there is any improvement over the onboard video...
This will let you know if it's the monitor itself or whether it would be worth investing in a card.
256 is a bit light for RAM on an XP system...you might consider bumping that up.Might be. Depends on your software. Go to Display Properties, Settings, and click on Advanced. Click on the tab with the name of your display adapter and search for a brightness setting.

I have a brightness CONTROL option in my nVidia software.

Edit: just saw patio's post. I agree your options might be more limited with onboard video.Try using your onboard video's driver control panel to adjust the settings.
Most of them do have some SORT of control hidden there somewhere - do you know what make your onboard video is?

I have a 250gig Western Digital HDD. When I go to format it, the capacity ALWAYS comes up as 127gig. So it seems that it is only seeing it as a 127gig HDD. It is a WDC2500JB. Any HELP on how to get it to format to 250gig? When in the my computer screen, I right click on the drive and go down to format. The format screen comes up and I cna't change the capacity to format. Thanks What version of Windows are you using?This HARD drive did not have an operating SYSTEM on it. I installed XP and this is what is gave me. Here's some info from Western Digital: The full capacity of EIDE drives larger than 137GB (128GB binary) is not recognized in Windows 2000/XP.Is it possible to make two partitions. Each one being 125gig?I believe the first thing you need to do is determine whether you have a 48-bit LBA-compatible BIOS. That REQUIREMENT is stated on:
How to enable 48-bit Logical Block Addressing support for ATAPI disk drives in Windows XP

Here's an excerpt from that page:

By default, the original release version of Windows XP Home Edition and of Windows XP Professional do not have 48-bit LBA support. Your computer must meet the following requirements to use 48-bit LBA ATAPI support:
•48-bit LBA-compatible BIOS.
•137-GB hard disk or larger.
•You must have Windows XP SP1 installed.

If you don't know whether you have a 48-bit LBA-compatible BIOS, visit the website of your motherboard manufacturer and search for the info.

If you can't find it, post the brand and model of your motherboard here and someone will help.My bad. Thank you for what you have helped my with so far. I was mistaken. I was trying to format the drive in Vista. Let's just say I haven't slept well lately. I was trying to format the drive so I could install XP on it. In the drive properties it says the capacity is 238474MB and the unallocated space is 107414MB. Is there a way to format this drive to have two equal partitions? Thank you and sorry for the misinformation. Quote from: ccnz4enaz on April 10, 2007, 09:13:53 PM

In the drive properties it says the capacity is 238474MB and the unallocated space is 107414MB. Is there a way to format this drive to have two equal partitions?

AGP Controller
AGP Version1.00
AGP StatusEnabled
AGP DeviceATI Magnum/Xpert 128/Xpert 99/Xpert 2000
AGP Aperture Size64 MB
Supported AGP Speeds1x, 2x
Current AGP Speed2x
Fast-WriteNot Supported
Side Band AddressingSupported, Enabled

So, again, if your motherboard is AGP 1.0 version, it does not support AGP 4X/8X cards. Sorry for not getting the facts straight in the beginning.

I got the information from Everest Home, under Chipset/Device Descriptions.

I appreciate you looking at the post, but can you please tell me (my original question), if my system would support the upgrade of the video card to something else? One with more memory and newer? That is all I want to know.

Recently ive been having trouble with sound on XP. My system is dual boot (Ubuntu and XP). The sound works in Linux but not in XP. Usually i have to restart when the sound doesnt work in XP and then go back into XP for it to work. I have an Audigy 2Z S sound card, but i dont think its a hardware problem because sound works in Linux. My speakers are the dell ones. Quote from: mastermonil on April 12, 2007, 06:50:28 AM

Recently ive been having trouble with sound on XP. My system is dual boot (Ubuntu and XP). The sound works in Linux but not in XP. Usually i have to restart when the sound doesnt work in XP and then go back into XP for it to work. I have an Audigy 2Z S sound card, but i dont think its a hardware problem because sound works in Linux. My speakers are the dell ones.

Quote from: mastermonil on April 12, 2007, 06:50:28 AM

Recently ive been having trouble with sound on XP. My system is dual boot (Ubuntu and XP). The sound works in Linux but not in XP. Usually i have to restart when the sound doesnt work in XP and then go back into XP for it to work. I have an Audigy 2Z S sound card, but i dont think its a hardware problem because sound works in Linux. My speakers are the dell ones.

In other words, you have to restart XP twice? Does "go back into" mean restart or what?

Hi i recently bought STALKER and put it on high graphics settings. I did this beacause my system should easly be able to do that, after some time it LAGS, even freezes at time. Not that it shocks me but my CPU is running at 100% during play. I check my paging file as well as drivers and what not, and even temperature. I have many, many fans in my case with teh airflow set just right so that should not be the issue. I will include my computer specs below but any ideas on this random freezing/lag please comment.

Graphics Card: ATI Radeon X850 PRo
Mobo: Fatal1ty AN8
CPU: AMD Athalon 64 4000+ Clawhammer 2.4 GHz
Ram: 2 Gig's of PC 3200
HDD: 160 GIG 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 (just defragged)
Power Supply: 650 Watt

Thanks againHi,

I do remember that I de-fragmented my hard drive and then my computer starts getting slow performance. It may possible that the problem is due to defragmentation. Also you can lower the graphics settings to see if the problem is with this.
Since there is not back of defragmentation, re-installation is the only way if you think that the problem is due to defragmentation.
Do not perform, defrag until you badly need it.

regards,
WahabI feel your PC is just not quite up to it.
Your graphics card is from an older generation, so it will start to struggle with brand new games such as STALKER.
Reduce the graphics settings and see if that helps.
Defragmenting the HDD would have been my first piece of advice, good on you for already doing hat.
Also, what protection do you have?
This could be due to malware.
Try turning your protection off whilst playing offline.I'm guessing that you overclocked your chip, and that you messed with the memory timings; is this true or am I off base? I FIND that a lot of GAMERS overclock their gear trying for that extra edge...Well, um thanks anyway.

Who ever told me to re-frag my HDD, i know that does nothing good, please never recommend that to anyone. Im sorry but just, no

My system is nto out dated its only 2 years old and i built it, 2.4 GHZ CPU with an X850 pro PCI E is WAY WAY aove teh spec for STALKER.

No i have not overclocked although in the past it had heating issues thats where i though this stemmed from.

I am replacing the card i try never to overclock unless i can cool it perfectly, Thanks anyway. Again im sorry but NEVER tell someone to RE-Fragment their Hard Drive, ever, please, ever.Recommended requirements form their website.
AMD Athlon 64x2 4800+ or INTEL Core 2 Duo, 1Gb RAM, 3D Hardware Accelerator Card Required - 100% DirectXR 9.0c compatible 256MB (Geforce 7800, for example).

So I doubt you'd be able to play it on the highest settings well, maybe lowering the settings would help as I suggested.
And I agree, the advice given by Dr Wahab regarding de/fragmentation was not great to say the least.Still my graphics card is above the requirments, and the i should at least be able to do medium (i tried high, medium and low all lag)I still want to know how one "re-fragments" their hard drive. I did some more tests, its not the card now i think, i put it to the lowest settings and lowest Resolution, still lagged, something is very broken, im running scans over night (gota love Geek Squad tools)Quote from: GX1_Man on April 10, 2007, 05:48:39 PM

I still want to know how one "re-fragments" their hard drive.

When i attemp to get into the CMOS i press delete, this has successfully got me into the the CMOS for MONTHS. But now it completely stops doing everything and simply SHOWS me what was on the screen when i pressed delete. When i don't press anything it opens the OS and the computer functions flawlessly. WHY WON'T IT ALLOW ME INTO THE CMOS! any ideas.if you updated the BIOS there are settings in some BIOS /CMOS which can change this,

try keys F1 or F10 or ESC , instead that might work If Delete used to work, then that will not change.


What HAPPENED prior to this is probably more important.

Try TAKING out the battery for a MINUTE, then replace and see what happens.

Hi,

I have Twinmos, Mobile Disk Z4 (K24), USB 2.0 flash drive. It is working properly in windows XP. But I want to use it in Windows98. I also download windows98 drivers from Twinmos website but they are not working. I have a Pentium II laptop that do have only USB 1.0 support. But my Flash Drive is working just fine with Windows XP, except when I insert it in USB port, it GIVES me a message that "The device can work faster if used on USB 2.0...".

I just want to use it with windows 98. Any suggestion and help will be greatly appretiated.

THANKS
WahabWin98 original or Win98SE?
Windows 98 has some difficulties with USB devices
USB support in Win98 original was pretty flakey and most USB devices
and device drivers work with 98SE only.

If you could get your hands on USB mass media driver that might work.

I have 98se at work myself and cannot get any flash drive to work, tried 3 different kinds*....?Have you tried this USB mass storage fix?
Scroll down page at below link to download.


CheckHere-->nusb31e.exe

Hi, thank you for your response. I have download the file and will check it. Yes I have Windows 98se. When I insert my Flash drive with WINDOWS98SE, it detects it as "Flash Disk" and ask me to provide drivers for it. On the manufacturer website, I found only an exe file as a driver. There is no .inf file to download. When I run that file, it asks me to restart your system and when I restart it again repeat the same process.

Anyway, I'll check it and will inform later.

Thanks again,

regards
WahabNo problem....DR. The Unofficial Win98SE Service PakQuote from: patio on April 09, 2007, 12:00:22 PM

The Unofficial Win98SE Service Pak

Have you tried this USB mass storage fix?
Scroll down page at below link to download.

CheckHere-->nusb31e.exe

hi. my com is a 1.8ghz pentuim 4 desktop. my monitior is the FAT fat sort.. then NOWADAYS there are many website and gunbound that suddenly the screen LOOKS dismentaled and sometimes it looks like it is expanding <<>> to both sides then BECOMES small again. my sister has a project and we need the com! please help. Textspeak will not yield many responses...use full words when possible.

Have you tried re-installing the video drivers ? ?

Are there settings on this fat fat monitor itself or are they controlled by the video drivers ? ?

More info.sorry i am not very good wif wad video drviers etc is abt... but i noe it was not caused by a VIRUS as i have scaned it wif norton anti virus , the whole computerQuote from: patio on April 12, 2007, 08:54:49 AM

Textspeak will not yield many responses...use full words when possible.

sorry i am not very good wif wad video drviers etc is abt... but i noe it was not caused by a virus as i have scaned it wif norton anti virus , the whole computer

This is probably a stupid question, but is it possible to combine the processing power of two different COMPUTERS WITHOUT physically putting them together?Welcome to the CH forums.

CLUSTERING is the BUZZWORD for what you are looking at. Google clustering for many hits.

Good LUCK

My printer was previously working Fine; however, now I am unable to print to the printer.

I have performed the following tasks:

start->control panel->administrative tools->services->print spooler->stop->started->

But still printer services is not starting up .....I'm going crazy.

is there any thing else , so i can rectifield the same. Printer spooled only NEEDS to start when called I think; did you install PROPER printer drivers? Quote from: raj_1107 on April 18, 2007, 04:23:28 AM

I have performed the following tasks:

start->control panel->administrative tools->services->print spooler->stop->started->

But still printer services is not starting up .....

I was reading the Wikipedia "Celeron" article when i came across this:
Quote

However some benefit on performance could be GAINED through overclocking, by operating the Coppermine-128 CPUs with a 100 MHz FSB. Overclocking a 566 MHz Celeron to 850 MHz or a 600 MHz to 900 MHz gave the best results, since these systems usually proved stable without the requirement of additional cooling or overvolting.

1-1. Selection for Processor CPU Clock
& Intel Celeron PPGA Processor is auto set the core to bus frequency ratio.

With a name like Tri-Gem Cognac i would venture to say they didn't include any overclocking utilitiy on that MBoard...what does their website say ? ?

Quote from: patio on April 20, 2007, 01:16:06 PM

With a name like Tri-Gem Cognac i would venture to say they didn't include any overclocking utilitiy on that MBoard...what does their website say ? ?

Their website is in Korean...

Quote from: JohnK on April 20, 2007, 01:25:20 PM

Quote from: patio on April 20, 2007, 01:16:06 PM

With a name like Tri-Gem Cognac i would venture to say they didn't include any overclocking utilitiy on that MBoard...what does their website say ? ?

Their website is in Korean...

That says it all.

"i was trying to be (what is it that politicians do rarely, UMMMM) be bypartisan !!!

Hardware - dual 80Gb hard drives (master/slave on same ide), 400W psu, Intel mobo, using ups.

Switched on pc and nothing after bios info. No error messages of any kind except bootdisk not available. Tried lots of things without success. Slaved both drives (one at a time) to another pc and was unable to access the slaved drives which were not SEEN in bios. Neither drive was seen when plugged up as master. The psu fails every TEST I've tried and the mobo fails when installed with other hardware.

Now my question - in anyones experience is it safe to assume that a failing psu also took out the mobo and both hdd's or could there be another, less obvious, reason?That is entirely possible, especially with an eMachine.

If the individual components fail in another system, then you could draw that conclusion. What hardware was involved (including the PSU)?Ditto GX1-Man on the emachine thing. I've seen multiple instances where the psu took out the MOTHERBOARD. You'll most likely need to replace them both

Alan <>< Not E-machine - OEM.

PSU Thermaltake XP480 bought as 400w but since posting have read a review here which claims that it's a max 277w. Than confuses me even more.

Mobo Intel D845BG

Ram 512mb PC2100 DDR Sd

Twin Seagate ST380011A 80Gb Uata/100 hdd

Processor Intel P4 1.6

Nvidea GeForce video card

The Ram, Processor and Video card still work perfectly.

Appreciate that this is not 'new' gear and as such it is prone to failure but am just looking to call on the experience of others.

Thanks for your interest.PSU CalculatorThanks PATIO - the figure I come up with is 472W so guess I've been lucky the psu didn't blow before now. Will definitely be more careful in later hardware selections.

No problem...and do yourself a favor...don't buy a cheap PSU .

Iv'e seen them blow inside of a week.Generally $50 or more is a good index. Sometimes you can find a nice Antec on sale at newegg.com

My husband and I vacuumed out the INSIDE of our tower as we have done QUITE a few times in the past. We hooked everything back up to it when the hard drive refuses to boot up. The monitor screen is black so I am assuming it is in the system? ANYONE able to help out. I would hate to replace the machine. It is several years old but still a goodie. It is a 40 GIG Seagate Harddrive with running 512 sdram. To replace this computer is more than I have got right now. Please I am so desprate, help me figure this booger out. So I can get off my laptop.
Thank you very much for your time.
ShellRemove all power sources to the machine.
Ground yourself by touching the case a few times.
Carefully remove and re-seat the following :

Any sticks of RAM..

The video card...

And any other add on cards such as a NIC or other...

Replace all cables and make sure they are firmly seated especially the hard drive ones.

Re-connect the power, cross both you and your husband's fingers and boot up.

Keep in mind that by using a vacuum inside the case that you may have fried one or more of the components as vacuum's produce huge amounts of static electricity which electronic components hate....

Good Luck and let us know. I did all you stated, took me a bit to do it but I managed to get it done. I went to try to reboot the hard drive, I got just one beep and managed to figure out it was the power supply powering up. I can get both D:\ and E:\ to open and close and did show the A:\. I even removed and replaced the cosmo battery. Either the board is just dead or the hard drive is dead. So now how I test for both any ideas?

What I have is a Dell Dimension 4400, 40 gig hd, 512 DDR Sdram,
Well here is the webpage for what this machine contains.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4400/specs.htm#1101572
So what is my next step? Cry cause we screwed up and have to put out $200 for a mother board or hard drive?
Thank you again for any help.
Shell Have a look at the drawings on this web page:-
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4400/techov.htm#1101565

check that the "front panel switch connector " and "front panel audio connector" are connected to the correct locations

does the "stand by power light" actually light up?

check the "processor fan connector" and the small square four pin "12volt connector" is connected to "J4B1"

check that "cd drive SEC IDE" and "hard drive PRI IDE" connector reversed around in each others sockets. and that there are no bent pins in the connectors.

take a break from looking at it, then patiently remove and recheck all connections and each connector.
the obvious often is staring you in the face and is the hardest to notice.
To determine if it is a Hard drive problem hook up that HDD in a known working machine as a slave drive with the working machine's HDD jumpered as Master with slave and see if you can see the drive. If so try copying a few small files to it. If this WORKS it is not the HDD.

p.s This does not neccessarily mean that the motherboard is fried either but it's best to move one step at a time in these circumstances.

I'm having problems with my speakers, with only the right one WORKING. Tonight, I fiddled with the jack and they both work (but not properly) if i leave the connection LOOSE and don't put the jack all the way in the back. Is it worth me taking off the back and seeing if its loose somewhere?
There's no probs on device manager and i've tried all the settings i an FIND on my COMPUTER!!
Please help, it;s driving me mad!! The plug it self may have issues internally, or it could be the speaker plug. Borrow another set for a test to find out where the issue is. If it is not the speaker wire, then a new SOUND card is probably in your future.

I had problems with an earlier CD rom so I bought and installed a replacement. It initially wouldn't read a CD and EVENTUALLY it did. I loaded the first disk of a 4 disk game and it ended up never reading/finding the 2nd disk after installation. Under my compute, it would show "CD/DVD LiteON" the disk would go in it would flash a few times and then disappear and" D/DRive "appears. The CD_rom SHOWS up under DEVICE manager and says the drivers are fine. MAkes me wonder if my first rewriter was OK and the problem is somewhere else. Should I replace the IDE ribbon first? Am I MISSING something? Maybe in the bios? Sounds like either the drive itself is faulty, perhaps a manufacturer defect, or wherever you bought it from their workers dropped it too much taking it off their stock trucks.

Or, it could be something like the IDE cable or power molex aren't plugged in all the way.

If you're sure you plugged it in all the way and such you could try returning it to where you bought it for a refund or even a replacement of the same model.. unless they'll let you try another of the same price or something. If the problem persists after you use a different drive, then it is probably more serious.

Hi

I have an Asus P4C800-E Deluxe MOTHERBOARD and it don't work Don't care!

it uses the promise 20378 Raid controller

Do care about the 300GB Raid 1 Array on it with my life on it (good time to call me sad)

Can i remove the disk and just connect it via ATA? Can I use my promise Fast Trak100 TX2 controller with the PDC20270 Chip?

Gonna do a YOUTUBE of the thing (MB) on fire once this is over.RAID setup and no backup?Wow are all you posts this good? Must have taken a while!I've never attempted to switch a drive from RAID to SATA, mostly because I've not had one mess up on me, but in theory you shoudl be alright plugging it in a different method.. The worst that would HAPPEN as long as you're careful and don't drop the HDD or anything is that the drive simply won't pick up.

I'm pretty positive the data on the drive won't be lost only because you plug it in a different way. Might RUN slower though.Because raid 1 is mirroring, exactly the same data is on both drives. You should be able to remove one drive and connect it to ATA without problems. You should also still be able to boot the machine. The raid controller will warn you that one drive is not functioning and give you options to enter the raid setup or continue booting. The problem might be that if you modify the data on the drive, then later want it back in the raid, you "could" lose the modified data. If you CHANGE raid controllers, be sure to completely uninstall the existing raid drivers before installing drivers for the new controller (unless the drivers are mutually compatible). Some Promise drivers work with a "family" of controllers.

This problem first cropped up a few MONTHS ago:

When I'm trying to run a disc from my laptop, when I click on My Computer, the title and icon on the C: drive or whatever (I'm not very computer savvy) remains the same as the previous disc.

I first noticed this problem when I was INSTALLING an expansion PACK of the Sims 2 (I know, but don't laugh!), and it required me to insert the second disc of the pack after the computer had gotten the stuff from the first. ( "Please insert Disc 2" )
I inserted the disc, waited for a few seconds, then clicked on OK, but after another couple of seconds the same message kept on coming up again and again.

It's not just Sims 2 discs which do this, any disc which wasn't the first one in my computer after restarting WILL NOT RUN.

Here are my system specs:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name SUSIE
System Manufacturer Notebook
System Model CAD2000
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 10 AuthenticAMD ~2004 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix 4.06CJ15, 31/10/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name SUSIE\Suki
Time Zone GMT Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 114.20 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 1.22 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

and my CD-ROM specs:

Drive F:
Description CD-ROM Drive
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type CD-ROM
Name PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-K14L
Manufacturer (Standard CD-ROM drives)
Status OK
Transfer Rate 636.51 kbytes/sec
SCSI Target ID 0
PNP Device ID IDE\CDROMPIONEER_DVD-RW__DVR-K14L________________1.00____\44_04449304C303733355738204C202020202020
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys (5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158), 48.38 KB (49,536 bytes), 03/08/2004 23:59)

Does anybody else have this problem, and how on earth do I go about solving it?Can anyone answer this? I was having the same problem with SIMS 2?Sometimes cd/dvd drives that are classified as 'burners' will give you problems installing software because the software comes with copyright PROTECTION on it that's supposed to prevent copies of it being burned.

Most software manufacturers will include a warning of this in some kind of BOOKLET that comes with it, generally around their End-User License Agreement or in the installation instructions. It's not uncommon for game installations to totally go awry due to the protection software conflicting with a cd/dvd burner drive.

If you have no other drive installed in which to run the disks with I would recommend downloading the exact same game via Bittorrent (which is NOT illegal if you own a store bought copy of the game. According to the EULA, you're allowed to possess one(1) backup copy of your purchased program) and using a virtual drive emulator such as Daemon Tools to mount the downloaded images. Install the game that way, then after inputting your store-bought CD key etc etc and it comes down to playing the game, pop in the play disk then. The game's already installed that way and it should run it properly.

I'm MOVING from the United States to Germany in one month, and I'll be taking my desktop PC with me. Right now it's set to 110 on the red switch on the back of my 550w power supply, and im using the standard '2 prong 1 ground' cable to connect the power to my surge protector.

In Germany, they use totally DIFFERENT plug-in prongs and wall jacks, and I'm pretty sure they use a different power output as well. My fiance' is from Germany and while here in the states she had a cellphone charger with her and the plugin was very different from what I'm used to seeing, because it was made to fit German wall jacks. She had to use an adaptor she bought to make it fit the jacks here at my house.

I have a theory I'll need to pop over my red switch from 110 to 220 and I could use an adaptor or buy a new power cable while in Germany for my 550w PSU.. but I don't know for sure.. that's why I'm here.

So in a nutshell.. does anyone know for sure what I must do to make my American-style power supply unit work with German wall jacks? I'm hoping I won;t have to buy a whole new PSU

---------------------------------
| My PC Specs |
---------------------------------
= Gigabyte nForce 4 MOTHERBOARD
= 2 gigs Corsair DDR2 667 RAM
= RAIDMAX 550w PSU
= Pentium 4 Prescott dual core 3.0 ghz CPU
= EVGA Nvidia GeForce 7950 256mb PCI-E video card
= Creative SoundBlaster Audigy sound card
= 120 gig Raptor
= Windows XP HomeQuote

I'll need to pop over my red switch from 110 to 220 and I could use an adaptor or buy a new power cable while in Germany for my 550w PSU..

Key >> "Auto Switching PSU"
check mfg web-page and see if your psu will do this, most do....

im just wondering how can you tell if your hard drive is going to crash? are there any noises you might hear or anything. i used the search but i either got too many matches or non at all.It will start to MAKE loud clicking noises. Best I can describe it.A hard drive that 'crashes' due to age or wear will do a range of things, from emitting high pitched whirring noises to clicks and such from the bearings inside wearing out.

When the bearings wear out, generally the thin disks inside won't spin correctly. You'll know when this happens, haha.save anything WORTH keeping from that hard drive asapYou could download a hard drive diagnostic tool from the manufacturer's website. But, it doesn't sound good, based on your DESCRIPTION. Do what honvetops said, ASAP.Bad SECTORS are often an omen.

HDD's make all sorts of noise, I have an HDD that SAYS "Ignore the clicking noise" on a sticker, so I wouldn't put too much faith in an audio-diagnosis.

My girlfriend is running a Toshiba Laptop. The SCREEN keeps shutting off, sometimes it loads windows, and sometimes it shuts off during the boot menu. Starting in safe mode and BIOS doesn't make a difference, the monitor still shuts off, but the computer keeps running.

I think there may be a weird setting that is shutting the screen off after a MINUTE, but because it shuts down, I can't get in to the control panel to change it. On the other hand, even when I don't boot windows it still shuts down, so who knows.

Any ideas how to fix this and if it may be something as simple as a monitor power setting?What happened PRIOR to this, how old, what model, and if it is still under warranty would be important information to have.It isn't very old, was bought in August of 2005. It is still under warranty... a 3 year warranty was bought with it. Not exactly sure of the make? Have the people you bought it from take a look at it, UNLESS you turned on some power saving OPTION in the BIOS this shouldn't happen.

Did you mess around with the function and F1-through f12 keys?

Was given a Dell computer and would like to hook up a flat screen HP monitor to it. Can this be done? I've NEVER intertwined 2 different computers before.
[emailprotected] Thanksnot 100% sure here but; a lot of HP is proprietary hardware but-
It should work ...i think... hook it up and try it... if it doesn't it won't hurt anythingIt all depends on what the video hardware has for its Video Out plug and what kind of plug attachment the monitor uses.

Generally, monitors would plug into VGA/D sub port plugs.. These are usually BLUE and shaped sort of like a trapezoid.

Now, some monitors are DVI-I port, mostly for high-definition picture. They are rectangle and tan in color most of the time.Plug it in and see. If the plug fits, it will work. There is nothing proprietary about video output, apart from DVI vs VGA. Yes it can. Much hardware is built ACCORDING to global STANDARDS. But ofcourse, you can not fit a VGA monitor to a DVI connection no matter what brand it is MADE of. (Unless you use a converter..)

Well it all started when I reinstalled SYSTEM on my daughter's DELL DIMENSION 5100. Everything went fine I went to plug in a USB optical mouse in back of te computer when I came back up I have a Blue Screen saying SERIOUS Hardware Failure,so I immediate turned off system . Waited a few minutes and tried to restart,nothing happened,opened up PC Green LED was light og motherboard near SATA plugins and ethernet was flashing at port.If I hit the Power Switch a dim AMBER light flashed once. I have another DELL E510 which I took the Power Supply and just hooked up the motherboard and Hard Drive but the the CDROM and system booted up looking foe CDROM and said to hit (F!) or (F2) shut down PC figured ity was a bad Power Supply. Got a DeLL5100 Replacement plugged it in Everything booted up perferctly but I forgot to hook up the USB Mouse and USB keyboard.Plugged them in but didn't recognize either,couldn't restart,so I did a Hard Shutdown.Tried to Power Up and SAME PROBLEM ! all over again DEAD PC .Someone told me to Pull the CMOS Battery out then hit the power switch and wait 2 minutes and put it back in and try to power up. Now all I get a Flashing Amber light on the Power Switch but not boot.Any Ideas on this Is my NEW Power Supply Shot or is there something wrong with the motherboard?This system is only 2 years old and out of warranty So it happened each time you connected the mouse? I see what you can't see.

On the initial boot up of the computer the system shows that I have 2 raid drives. I have since formatted them in hope to fix the problem.
When I enter the BIOS setup it doesn't detect any hard drives present.
I've made sure that they are hooked into the CORRECT AREA of the motherboard. Right now I'm trying to reload Win XP, but it comes up with an error saying: not a bootable disc and to please insert a bootable floppy.
The order of my boot sequence is: OPTICAL drive, hard drive, and then floppy.
Can any one POINT me in the right direction?Details about the hardware involved, the age of it and what happened prior to this could be important. Agreed.

Very early in the XP setup PROCESS it will ask press F6 to install RAID drivers...

Have your floppy ready it goes by pretty fast.

I just bought an Acer Aspire T180 and I downloaded the bios here, flashed it with the software that came with it, after it flashed it said something about being possibly WRITE protected and that it had failed to flash. So I assumed that I had to CHANGE something in the bios so I restarted my pc.

In the bios it now reports as the newer bios vR01-B1 but when booting it just stays at the "VERIFYING DMI pool data" stage

I have tried changing the settings in the bios, reset it with the jumper on the motherboard, took the battery out for 30mins but still nothing. I have made a bootcd with the new bios and software on, hoping I could try and reflash it to solve the problem but I can't boot anything now

Anyone help? An incorrect BIOS flash has created many a doorstop...if this flash was not specifically for this machine then it's usually bad news.

I would travel to Acer's site and lookup bad BIOS flash in their troubleshooting guide.

As to booting to CD you need to set the CDRom as the first boot device in the BIOS.

You may want to revert the BIOS to it's default settings as well since you were making CHANGES in there.

Just for future reference there is nothing in the BIOS that produces this message...it is a Windows function.Why did you flash it to begin with?

Check out the attachment.

Alan <><

[OLD attachment deleted by admin]Quote from: patio

As to booting to CD you need to set the CDRom as the first boot device in the BIOS.

You may want to revert the BIOS to it's default settings as well since you were making changes in there.

Just for future reference there is nothing in the BIOS that produces this message...it is a Windows function.

Why did you flash it to begin with?

Then you appear to have a failed BIOS flash as mentioned earlier in this post.

It's a shame too see a nice, new computer ruined by a BIOS flash that most likely was not needed at all. There is a lesson to all here. What motivated you to try a flash on a newer machine?

I like to keep everything up to date and thought it would help when I plan to upgrade the ram.

I still can't get it passed the verifying stage Sad may have to return it as I don't see this one being sorted

I have INTEL 845 GVSR motherboard and intel 2.4 GHz processor. and 512 MB 333 MHz RAM. My motherboard support RAM upto speed 333 MHz and I want to install a 400 MHz 512 MB RAM with it(because 333 MHz RAMs are not easily available in market nowadays). Will my motherboard support 400 MHz RAM? Do two RAMs of different speeds not work? What should I do. Go to www.crucial.com and input your motherboard info and find out RATHER than guess. Quote from: GX1_Man on April 13, 2007, 04:38:02 AM

Go to www.crucal.com and nput your motherboard nfo and fnd out rather than guess.

That mobo is the same one I had that came with my old Dell Dimension 2400.

I had one stick of 512mb PC3200 and one of 256mb PC2700 in the computer (I purchased the 3200 without realizing it wasn't 2700 because some mook had been shuffling thru the RAM sticks for sale on the shelves of Office Max and I picked up the wrong one and didn't know it until after I got home)

I plugged it in and it worked just fine but I noticed the faster stick clocked down to par with the slow stick. This meant I had 768mb of RAM, but they were only clocking at like 266 mhz or somewhere in that region

This didn't really degrade the computer's performace at all; it got better by far since it just got 512 more megs of RAM.. but if they would have both clocked at the intended speed it would have been better

I hope this helps you, like I said I had the same motherboard, and the PC3200 worked for me.. You could see if Newegg or Fry's has anything around that kind.

I have a Compaq Presario SR1130NX. It has the original DVD BURNER/player and original SEPARATE Samsung CD-ROM. It is about three years old, has a AMD Athlon 2.1G proc. and 1G of memory. It has Win X/P home ed. latest ver. My problem is the CD-ROM will no longer autoplay. This normally is not a problem, but some programs I have on CD require this to fully function, like Musicmatch jukebox. I tried going to the Samsung web site, and the operating manual is listed, but no driver. PERHAPS they no longer support it. I can't seem to e-mail them because they force you to select a model of a CD-ROM, and mine is not listed. I also went to the H/P(Compaq) web site, and it is not even listed as the original CD-ROM that CAME with the unit, and they have not drivers. Now what ? What HAPPENED before this started?
What protection do you have?
How old is this burner?

Quote from: 2k_dummy on April 14, 2007, 05:41:19 AM

Its looking for *.INF files. Use the "have disk" option and point windows directly to the ATI INSTALLATION file.

The proper VGA drivers for that machine will be located on the MBoard driver CD that shipped with the machine...

Hi, I have a problem with a MAXTOR 3000 Hard Drive. I recently put a new hard drive in my CPU. The OS is XP Professional. All my backup data is on the Exterior Hard Drive. When I plugged in my Exterior Hard Drive to move data over to the Desktop I get an identifying sound that it recognized the drive....I also check the device manager and it says that the disk drive is there...but when I check My Computer it does not show the drive...NO F drive. If its a driver problem from Dell.....or microsft to recognize this one I haven't a clue. I've downloaded a number of drivers or software but the downloads really don't identify the exact situation in detail....Any suggestions.This problem is sort of strange and most exterior drives are GENERALLY USB 2.0 and are Plug n Play compatible. Did the drive come with a specific driver CD?What does it show for properties when you right click the drive ? ?

(GX1_Man, you there ? ? )

It is not a driver issue.

Another thing you can try is to remove it from the enclosure and jumper at SLAVE and install it on one of your IDE channels inside the machine and see if it reads the data.

This normally occurs if the machine has been shutdown improperly or the drive has been unplugged without using the "safely remove hardware" option...I'd hate to see someone put a HDD into their CPU... RAW time, Patio.

Was this drive previously FORMATTED as NTFS, perchance?

Raptor, I love that new signature, you HANDSOME devil.

I have aquired a Maxtor 256 10gb Hard Drive. It has Mandrake 10.1 on it and I have no access to it's passwords. What I want to do is WIPE it clean and put a different operating system on it but I can't get my windows 98 to recognise it. I'm obviously new at this stuff but I'm willing to learn. Any thoughts would be most helpful. Thank You!Judging by the question in your title, I'm assuming that you wish to know more about the jumpers. I'll get to that in a sec. You say windows 98 cannot recognise the drive? Do you definitely MEAN Windows 98, or do you mean the BIOS on a windows 98 computer? If it is windows itself that will not recognise the drive, that just means that you will have to go into Control Panel > Device Manager (or 98 equivalent) and format the HDD from there. If this is a BIOS issue, you will know from when you START your computer up. It will say DETECTING Primary Master, Primary Slave, Secondary Master, Secondary Slave. Your main Hard drive with windows on it should be primary master, and this hard drive you want to format should be the primary slave. To do this, make sure the main hard drive with windows is set to CABLE select (otherwise there could be conflicts), and placed on the last possible connection on the IDE cable inside the computer. That second drive that you want to format should be on the second/middle connection of this cable, also set to Cable Select. Your BIOS should then detect both drives. If that gives you trouble, make your Main HDD the 'master', and the new Hard Drive 'Slave', on the jumper pins. You can then format the new hard drive with either windows, or a boot disk. Hope that helps.Thank You. My issue was in the BIOS. Made the changes and it worked. Regards!No problems.

Hi, I have recently started to get a really strange graphics bug whenever I try to play 3D games which I have shown in the screenshot below, this example is on command and conquer, but it happens on other games such as Call of Duty 2
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5066/bugxn8.jpg

Sometimes it happens to just some objects other times it happens to every object on screen and I do not know what to do about it.
My game used to run fine, this is a recent problem. I have a mobility Radeon 9700 graphics card, and I have all the most recent drivers, I have updated bios, reinstalled the card, reduced my graphics settings on the game and used default levels, but this problem still occurs! Does anyone have any ideas what is up with it or how I can solve it?
I don't really know how to describe the problem succinctly so it has been quite hard to find a relevant answer on google, Any help is much appreciated!
thankyouHere is another picture of the bug for me!
http://img74.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bug2sg0.jpgHeat, bad PSU or a failing card. Any pertinent history? How old? Anything in that machine ever overclocked? You MENTION a mobility card. Is this a laptop? ANy clues on the hardware?There is another thread very similar to this I just posted in, exactly the same problem.
It's most likely heat, especially with a laptop.
More info WOULD be helpful.
Also, try using this GUIDE to cooling down your laptop, that should help if it is a heat problem. Kudos to Chaz.
However, the card may be damaged from the heat or general WEAR and tear - it is an old card now.Looks more LIKE a driver issue. I guess it could be, but the OP did say they updated the drivers and reinstalled them.On a side note; is that C&C3? Quote from: Raptor on April 14, 2007, 12:34:21 PM

On a side note; is that C&C3?

this example is on command and conquer, but it happens on other games such as Call of Duty 2

My DVD/CD ROM in my laptop(Config-Intel Pentium Processor 1.6GHz/512 MB RAM/Windows XP Ver.2002 with SP2/ ) is giving the following message when i insert a CD/DVD in my DVD/CD ROM :

"Windows cannot read from disk, the disk might be corrupted, or it could be using a format that is not compatible with Windows"

But when i play a CD containing .avi extension file, im able to play the movie.

Since, one CD is working, I cannot rule that my CD ROM Drive is bad.

What do you think could be the reason and how can i correct the anomaly??

P.S - I have already carried out the basic steps of :

1. Playing DIFFERENT CDs/ DVDs (not working)
2. Reinstalling my CD ROM drive etc.

Please help!!
What software do you use for playing DVD's?

Example: I use PowerDVD.What hardware and software is involved? How old is the machine?Usually, a computer (especially one with Windows XP, because they want you to PAY them for one to install to Media Player, found that out not long ago on the Microsoft page >_<) won't come equipped with a MPEG-2 filter needed for viewing most DVD movies.

Like GMX man said before, PowerDVD is a great program that will install the MPEG-2 you need for watching streaming DVD movies from disk to monitor.

The reason .avi will play is because of the type of encoding, Media Player, Winamp, etc all these programs can DECRYPT the encoding of the file already. Hope this helps. Quote from: street1 on April 13, 2007, 06:53:49 PM

What software do you use for playing DVD's?

Example: I use PowerDVD.

Usually, a computer (especially one with Windows XP, because they want you to PAY them for one to install to Media Player, found that out not long ago on the Microsoft page >_<) won't come equipped with a MPEG-2 filter needed for viewing most DVD movies.

Can a power supply cause one of the HDD in a SATA RAID configuration to not be seen to the computer, or cause one of the HDD's to register as corrupt? What kind of PSU and what kind of SETUP? And 'where' can the HDD not be seen? BIOS or OS? I suspect power supply is 300 watt OEM that came with VAV case, roughly three years old. Entire scenario is;
Windows XP pro not starting- Reformat HDD array to reload windows. Get message "HDD damaged or corrupt". Suspecting a fried HDD, replace both drives with new. Get same message on format attempt. Suspecting RAID controller on MB, replace with new MB, new CPU and new RAM. With new HDD's (160gig SATA's)one is not seen in BIOS, with old HDD's (80gig SATA's) both are seen in BIOS, but get the same error message after formatting. Basically everything has been replaced but the power supply, I've just never experienced a power supply that runs, but can't power two HDD's...... I'm stumped, am I just over looking something? Arrrgggg......Well, I'd try replacing the PSU with a >400 Watt model of a decent brand to see if your theory is correct. I was afraid that would be the answer.... Hadn't really INTENDED to replace the whole thing. But it is a good excuse to upgrade a little.... Thank you for the help, now that I've found this forum I'll try to hang out here a little.

SteveLet me know if that was indeed the problem! UPDATE:
LET it be known that a no name OEM PSU can and will fry components, although it apears to be working properly.....
New hard drives= $140
Lost data =Priceless
new PSU =$85
New system =Well, it was an excuse to upgrade
Lesson learned =It was an expensive weekend.......
Those artificial hearts just aren't up to snuff. Thanks for reporting back.Thanks for letting us know, PSUs are often underestimated when purchasing a new PC.

i recently got an ASUS P3B-F Slot1 Mobo for my new computer i was building and it runs a 500MHz Slot 1 P3 at 750MHz quite confortably however i got an ASUS S370 adapter card (witch its said in the manual that there compadible) and when i put my 1GHz P3 on the card than install it in the computer it doesnt work. But when i install an older Celeron (the non CuMine one) at 500MHz it works. any ideas Not a compatable CPU Different bus speed, architecture, etc.i dont understand its just a P3 CuMine PGA370 prosser operateing at 1000/256/133/1.75v the prosser that i have operateing in it that works says 667/256/133/1.75vMaybe you need to mess around with the jumpers a bit until you get the settings right. Try resetting your CMOS to default after having installed the new processor.. tried all of that. i tried it running in JumperFree mode in Jumper mode with the correctl clock multipliers and FBS set as well as velies at lower settings as well as reseting the cmos between every try.Maybe the BIOS needs to be flashed to support this processor. ACCORDING to ASUStek's website:

"P3B-F Beta BIOS 1008.004
Microcode update for Cu-Mine C-0 stepping (SC242) Cu-Mine C-0 stepping (PGA370)
Revise legacy USB code to Fix Win2K reboot failure
Fix data corrupt when USB MOUSE/PS2 KB or USB KB/PS2 Mouse ACTIVE at the same time.
Revise CPU multiplier handling for unlocked CPU. "

1008 Beta 004 is the version this mobo hasContact Asus and ask them what to do, perhaps they can provide you with a newer BIOS. my friend who works for Intel suggests that i use an older BIOS revrision that isnt a Beta version (becasue CuMine support is supposivly somthing that has been around since the mobo version was 1.0) and that may fix the poblem and ASUS doensth have a technical support phoneline for north amarica I think E-mailing would do more good.

I have three Western Digital WD2500B007 external USB drives (connected one at a time) that were working OK up until a short time ago. Now my computer will not recognize any of the drives.

I have UNINSTALLED and disconnected the drive. When Windows XP sees that the drive has been reconnected, the “Find New Hardware” balloon appears for a USB Mass Storage Device. SOON, the balloon displays that a problem occurred during installation.

In Device Manager under USB Controllers is an entry for a USB Mass Storage Drive. It has a yellow circle with a ! in it. When I check the properties, under Device Status I see “This device cannot start. (Code 10)”

It sounds like there may be a driver issue, but I do not see anything on the Western Digital Web Site about drivers, and I thought Windows XP didn't require a special driver for something like this. When I got these drives, I don't recall loading any drivers.

Any ideas about what is going on and how I can fix this?
Try the drives on another computer to see if they are functional and isolate where the problem is. No drivers are involved or needed.They should work out of the box, but perhaps they came with drivers? You ALSO didn't mention whether or not you have SP2 installed...

And can you see them in the disk manager when connected? Quote from: GX1_Man on April 14, 2007, 08:13:55 AM

No drivers are involved or needed.

This is probably something I should know how to do by now, but I've never set up any kind of broadband CONNECTION, so I really don't know what's required. Basically, a friend wants me to take my computer (specs below if needed) over to his house and hook it up to his wireless network. I'm assuming I need a wireless network card, which I believe my computer has. If not, could I just hook it up with an ethernet cable or whatever cable it is that's used for this sort of thing?

What kind of configurations would I have to do to make this work?

I'm sure it'd be helpful if I provided information about the modem/network and whatnot, but my friend doesn't know anything about computers, so he can't really provide me with any information. All he knows is that it's wireless and that his out-of-state uncle set it up. Is there any chance of me actually pulling this off?His wireless network no doubt has 2-4 ports on the router so a Cat5e cable is all you need. Really, that's all? No special configurations? Or is it normally taken care of automatically?

Lucky me, I just happen to have a CAT 5e cable lying around. I've always wondered when it would come in handy.Quote

This is probably something I should know how to do by now

but I've never set up any kind of broadband connection, so I really don't know what's required. Basically, a friend wants me to take my computer (specs below if needed) over to his house and hook it up to his wireless network. I'm assuming I need a wireless network card, which I believe my computer has. If not, could I just hook it up with an ethernet cable or whatever cable it is that's used for this sort of thing?

• A wireless NIC of either B or G standard.
• His SSID and shared key phrase. Both of which he should have documented
• Optional - He may need your NIC its MACa dress if MAC filtering is enabled (One look at the router settings should be able to tell him)
• Possible - Some older NICs do not support the full range of modern security features, but you shouldn't have to worry about that if your NIC is new.
• Possible - You'll have to configure your NIC to either use DHCP or assign it an adress, once again, your friend should have this documented

Try with just the cable first.

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LOL!

I saw a topic from a very long while back where the guy had the exact same problem as me, with only a few slight differences. Here's what he said:




"I have a Dell Inspiron 8200. I am running XP Pro. I tend to keep my computer on for long periods at a time. This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened but it is by far the worst looking...

My computer doesn't boot up. I don't think I HEAD any hard DRIVE noise at all - i might be mistaken - it is very quiet compared to how it normally sounds.

Anyway, I get a black screen saying: "A disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" This happens again when I restart. :-/

My Safe Mode doesn't work - ie, nothing happens when I hit F8. Sad

When I get into Recovery Console using my XP Pro cd and USE Fixmbr the response is: "Writing new master boot record on physical drive \Device\Harddisk0\Partition0. The new master boot record could not be written. The disk may be damaged" Huh?

Chkdsk /P gives the response: "4% completed'
It then waits 5 mins and says: "The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems" Embarrassed

Chkdsk /R gives the same response as Chkdsk /P Cry

When choosing the "SET up WINDOWS option" from the cd i get: "an error occurred while Setup was updating partition information on: 38155 MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi [MBR] Setup cannot continue." Angry

Is my hard disk buggerred???
Do I need to reformat the whole thing?
Can I recover important, personal files etc once I format and reinstall windows?
Where can I get such a program?

Please help... Shocked"




I was having the same exact problem, (cept my computer was custom built by a friend of mine, and it was sorta state of the art... 4 years ago, still pretty good today though) so assuming my HDD was busted I bought a new one and gave the old one to another friend to try and recover the data. Everything was going hunkey dorey with my new hard drive and then a day later I get the exact same error message and the exact same problem. Obviously something in my computer other than the harddrive is causing them to crash, either that or something's making it look like it's crashed. Anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing this?

Fans not cooling things enough maybe? New motherboard or other major part is needed? I really have no idea, and I'd like to know what's wrong with it before I go plunking down money for things that will just break because of a bigger problem. Any advice at all really would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :-)
The cheapest and easiest thing to try first would be the cables going to the hard drive. Do you have any other ones to try?

Hoop2077What kind of PSU is installed and is S.M.A.R.T enabled? Did you diagnose the HDD using software from the manufacturer its website?

Compaq Evo D51c (HP lists as D510 Minitower)
Windows 2000

I was doing some work with the machine over my network (it serves as my server of a sort). Windows hung in while RealVNC was in use (without my knowledge). I had to do a hard power down. After that, the PC will not boot. The power supply and processor fans turn on, but the nothing further happens. Black screen only and no self test POST beeps.

I believe this is a hardware issue and I can use any advice on where to START hunting down the problem.

I believe this is the correct model:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Home.jsp?&lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=316510&submit.y=0&submit.x=0&lang=en&cc=us
One thread in one board is generally enough. But don't know if this is special case... Don't know if this is classified at hardware or software... This is hardware. Is the machine still under warranty? Have you checked the FAQ on the hp.com site?Quote from: GX1_Man on April 13, 2007, 07:05:22 PM

This is hardware. Is the machine still under warranty? Have you checked the FAQ on the hp.com site?

Try replacing the CMOS battery

Hi,

Last week i downloaded new music and copied it into iTunes and ever since then the sound on my LAPTOP has been distorted and skips. This HAPPENS in iTunes, Windows Media PLAYER, on the net and with COMPUTER sounds such as LOG on. So pretty much all sound, be it music or SFX.

The weird thing is when i log onto my brothers account on the same laptop the sound works perfectly.

I've rebooted, i've tried system recovery twice, i've checked for hardware conflicts and am now at a loss.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Hi, could any one give me some suggestions as to why my BRAND new speakers are unable to play sound from media files? I can hear system sounds perfectly and the speakers are working FINE but I cannot hear music or video sound? This problem has only occured since yesterday, I've checked the leads and plugs and all are correct. When I go into Contorl Panel it tells me there are no audio devices detected?

I've got HP desktop, my speakers are PHILIPS and I'm running XP.

Please help, my office is far too quiet with no music!!You need to re-install your sound drivers...is this onboard sound or do you have a sound card INSTALLED ? ?

If it is onboard sound the drivers will be on your MBoard drivers CD.

If an add on card they will be on their own CD.I have no idea!

Sorry, I'm totally clueless about computers!

TURNED out to be settings in Windows Audio, I did start, run, services.msc, right clicked on Windows Audio, properties and then set it to start, everything works fine now!

Thanks for your help xx

Glad you're fixed up...stop by anytime.

CD-ROM AND BURNER WON'T OPEN. NOT IN DEVICE MANAGER. I LOOKED IN SYSTEM CONFIG UNDER SERVICES. THEY ARE NOT RUNNING. I NEED HELP PLEASE.Post much more info on your system,OS and what happened prior to this...

And turn off the capslock KEY...It's like someone's been dropping CapsLock bombs all over Computer HOPE lately.That and the lack of information provided indicate someone not familiar with how a help forum WORKS.

im using an Altec LANSING USB device for my headset/mic. recently my mic stopped working and all i record is static now. I have tryed using other mics, all GOT the same thing.

plugged in my original headset and tested it again, and i recorded the music that was playing on a online music player, but not my voice.

dell dimension 4600i
Winxp home sp2
phoenix ROM BIOS v1.10 A07
1022MB ram
pentium 4 2.8ghz


Any help would be greatly appreciated,
StuSo, you plug your mic into this "Altec Lansing USB device", right? Why do you use that device instead of your sound card or onboard sound connectors on back of your computer? Does your sound card or onboard sound have a jack for a mic? It does, but i cannot GET the on board to work, for sound or voice. Yes it has the right DRIVERS and the device manager says that it is working properly. And im using the USB instead of the a sound car because my old sound card BURN out, dont have the money to get a new one.

The USB worked fine for about 3 months and just recently started recording the wrong thing.Would a low cost card be an option? If so, I recommend this one: CHAINTECH AV-512 5.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail. I've been using one of these for about 2 years and have had no problems. I also use a mic with it.

I have an older computer i am fixing up for the kids.... it used to be windows me but i upgraded to windows 2000 professional, added word 2003, got all the hotfixes and updates and pooooof! my sound disappeared. no it shows i have no multi media. I got a nifty program called belarc so i could give details on system, chips and so on.... here is what it says....

Operating System
Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 (build 2195)

System Model
VIA Technologies, Inc. 2021

Processor a
700 megahertz Intel Celeron
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
128 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Main Circuit BOARD b
Board: BCM MR804B
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 4.51 PG 02/20/01

Drives
20.41 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
15.18 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

LITEON CD-ROM LTN526S
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

QUANTUM FIREBALLlct20 20 [Hard drive] (20.42 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 052107541540, rev APL.0900, SMART Status: Healthy


Memory Modules c,d
160 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'BANK_0' has 64 MB
Slot 'BANK_1' has 64 MB
Slot 'BANK_2' has 32 MB
Slot 'BANK_3' is Empty

Local Drive Volumes

c: (NTFS on drive 0)20.41 GB15.18 GB free

Network Drives
None detected

Controllers
STANDARD floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]
VIA Bus Master IDE Controller

Display
NVidia Vanta [Display adapter]
AST 13.2 [Monitor] (13.2"vis, October 1995)

Bus Adapters
VIA USB Universal Host Controller (2x)

Multimedia
None detected

Missing Microsoft Security Hotfixes [Back to Top]


All required security hotfixes (using the 04/10/2007 Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary) have been installed.

BIOS ID: 02/20/2001-694X-686A-6A6LJG5BC
OEM Sign-On: BIOS VER:1.04 (

BIOS Date: 02/20/01

BIOS Type: Award

I know it is an old system... but i really want to get it running and badly need the sound driver..... anyone tell me where to get it? how to install it?
.... or what i need to do or get!

thanks!It doesn't state anything about the whereabouts and name of your soundcard. You're going to have to use a program such as System Information for Windows ok i will try to get that info for you...... downloading... installing...ok here we go....

motherboard...
PropertyValue
ManufacturerBCM
ModelMR804B

Chipset VendorVIA Technologies Inc
Chipset Model82C694X Apollo Pro 133A System Controller
South Bridge82C686B PCI to ISA Bridge

CPUIntel Celeron
Cpu SocketSocket 370 [SLOT 1]
Processor UpgradeSlot 1

System Slots4 ISA, 4 PCI, 1 AGP

Memory Summary
LocationSystem board or motherboard
Maximum Capacity256 KBytes
Memory Slots4
Error CorrectionNone
UseFlash memory
Maximum Memory Module Size256 MBytes

legacy audio driver

PropertyValue
Device IDROOT\MEDIA\0000
Status0x0180001b Started
Problem0x00000000 (0)
Serviceaudstub
Capabilities0x00000000
Config Flags0x00000004
ClassMEDIA
Manufacturer(Standard system devices)
Hardware IDsms_mmdrv
Class GUID{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Enumerator nameROOT
DescriptionLegacy Audio Drivers
Driver{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0011
Physical Object Name\Device\003835
Device Configuration Filec:\winnt\inf\wave.inf
Used FileC:\WINNT\system32\DRIVERS\audstub.sys
InfPathwave.inf
InfSectionMS_MMDRV
InfSectionExt.NT
ProviderNameMicrosoft
DriverDateData00 40 40 DB 57 31 BF 01
DriverDate11-18-1999
DriverVersion5.0.2184.1
MatchingDeviceIdms_mmdrv
DriverDescLegacy Audio Drivers

ClassMEDIA
Sound, video and game controllers
Installer32MmSys.Cpl,MediaClassInstaller
EnumPropPages32MmSys.Cpl,MediaPropPageProvider
TroubleShooter-0tshoot.chm,hdw_multi.htm
Icon3004

audio codecs

PropertyValue
Device IDROOT\MEDIA\MS_MMACM
Status0x0180000b Started
Problem0x00000000 (0)
Serviceaudstub
Capabilities0x00000000
Config Flags0x00000000
ClassMEDIA
Manufacturer(Standard system devices)
Hardware IDsMS_MMACM
Class GUID{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Enumerator nameROOT
DescriptionAudio Codecs
Driver{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0002
Physical Object Name\Device\003935
Device Configuration Filec:\winnt\inf\wave.inf
Used FileC:\WINNT\system32\DRIVERS\audstub.sys
InfPathwave.inf
InfSectionMS_MMACM
InfSectionExt.NT
ProviderNameMicrosoft
DriverDateData00 40 40 DB 57 31 BF 01
DriverDate11-18-1999
DriverVersion5.0.2184.1
MatchingDeviceIdms_mmacm
DriverDescAudio Codecs

ClassMEDIA
Sound, video and game controllers
Installer32MmSys.Cpl,MediaClassInstaller
EnumPropPages32MmSys.Cpl,MediaPropPageProvider
TroubleShooter-0tshoot.chm,hdw_multi.htm
Icon3004

more legacy drivers

PropertyValue
Device IDROOT\MEDIA\0000
Status0x0180001b Started
Problem0x00000000 (0)
Serviceaudstub
Capabilities0x00000000
Config Flags0x00000004
ClassMEDIA
Manufacturer(Standard system devices)
Hardware IDsms_mmdrv
Class GUID{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Enumerator nameROOT
DescriptionLegacy Audio Drivers
Driver{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0011
Physical Object Name\Device\003835
Device Configuration Filec:\winnt\inf\wave.inf
Used FileC:\WINNT\system32\DRIVERS\audstub.sys
InfPathwave.inf
InfSectionMS_MMDRV
InfSectionExt.NT
ProviderNameMicrosoft
DriverDateData00 40 40 DB 57 31 BF 01
DriverDate11-18-1999
DriverVersion5.0.2184.1
MatchingDeviceIdms_mmdrv
DriverDescLegacy Audio Drivers

ClassMEDIA
Sound, video and game controllers
Installer32MmSys.Cpl,MediaClassInstaller
EnumPropPages32MmSys.Cpl,MediaPropPageProvider
TroubleShooter-0tshoot.chm,hdw_multi.htm
Icon3004

media control devices

PropertyValue
Device IDROOT\MEDIA\MS_MMMCI
Status0x0180000b Started
Problem0x00000000 (0)
Serviceaudstub
Capabilities0x00000000
Config Flags0x00000000
ClassMEDIA
Manufacturer(Standard system devices)
Hardware IDsMS_MMMCI
Class GUID{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Enumerator nameROOT
DescriptionMedia Control Devices
Driver{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000
Physical Object Name\Device\004135
Device Configuration Filec:\winnt\inf\wave.inf
Used FileC:\WINNT\system32\DRIVERS\audstub.sys
InfPathwave.inf
InfSectionMS_MMMCI
InfSectionExt.NT
ProviderNameMicrosoft
DriverDateData00 40 40 DB 57 31 BF 01
DriverDate11-18-1999
DriverVersion5.0.2184.1
MatchingDeviceIdms_mmmci
DriverDescMedia Control Devices

ClassMEDIA
Sound, video and game controllers
Installer32MmSys.Cpl,MediaClassInstaller
EnumPropPages32MmSys.Cpl,MediaPropPageProvider
TroubleShooter-0tshoot.chm,hdw_multi.htm
Icon3004



any more info needed???
You may be able to find the drivers you need on one of the CD's that came with the PC, ALBEIT not the latest version thereof. Somehow a Google search for your mainboard type only resulted in a post you made on another forum...

The information you gave me didn't tell me much, we need a name.

oes the mainboard you have come with onboard sound and if yes, are you using it or did you add an expansion card?

By the way, to make absolutely sure; you didn't mute anything, did you? thats the problem... it was all preloaded and there are no discs.... i tried windows 2000 disc... and the windows me files on my pc..... and even a windows 95 disc! with no luck finding any drivers....... i am mystified

yes i tried another foirum with no response at all..... it is an on-board system.... there is no expansion card.... the sound stopped working sometime after i had installed office 2003 and the service packs upgradesno NOTHING is muted...... it is just not there... when i go to the add hardware.... it ads a yellow ? on audio...It would probably be swifter and easier to get a PCI soundcard...yes i am begining to think so too.... my bald patch has doubled in size in the last few days... i will give the amnufacturer's site a quick go and if i have no luck finding it i will pop down the store to get one...


thanks for the help though i think that system info program is pretty useful....

thanks for the help!!No problem. Odd that the program couldn't tell you the name of the soundcard.. I'll have to REVIEW this tool. Quote from: bujezzas on April 15, 2007, 06:36:27 PM

yes i am begining to think so too.... my bald patch has doubled in size in the last few days... i will give the amnufacturer's site a quick go and if i have no luck finding it i will pop down the store to get one...

I have a HP Pavillion DV2000 running XP. I recently purchased Logitech V20 notebook speakers which are powered by a USB port.

The first set of speakers were returned after talking to HP on the phone and they determined the speakers defective. They coudl not find a problem since the internal speakers on the laptop work properly. The speakers worked FINE on a laptop at the store but they still gave me a new set.

Brought the new set home and having the same problem. My internal speakers work fine but the external Logitech are very distorted.

I have TRIED the following ;
Rebooting
All three different USB ports
reinstalling the driver

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

MP.
BORROW another set of speakers (different brand of course) to see where the problem is?USB powered speakers? Does it even plug into the onboard soundcard at all or are they driven on their own internal soundcard? Yep USB powered speakers. They were like 60 bucks and sound incredible, when they work properly. They plug right into any USB port and use the onboard soundcard. The speakers are hardware only.

I will also try a totally different brand / type of speaker when I can borrow a pair from someone thanks.Perhaps your laptop is INCAPABLE of GENERATING enough power. How old is it and does it have USB 2.0? All the USB ports are 2.0 and I bought it just a few months ago. It's not old at all.Perhaps you should take the laptop and the speakers to the store so they can have a look at your settings and speakers while its connected. Thanks much for the advice it may just come to me lugging everything to the store. I'll give this another day or so then take your advice.

Thanks again,
MP.