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I recently posted this question before, basicaly whats happening is I tried CLEARING the cmos, the way it happens on my motherboard is you put a jumper on 2 pins that say cmos clear next to them, there ar'nt 3 pins like most motherboards today probably because my motherboard is an oldie, after doing this you turn the computer on for 3 sec or more and turn it off then remove the jumper and everything should be working.

But my SCREEN doesn't turn on now the LED just turns orange and there's no IMAGE what so ever on the screen. People have been telling me there should be a battery somewhere on the motherboard but unless my brain does'nt allow an image of a battery to process it, I cant find it!

I tried resetting it again but for longer period's
I tried unhooking all my equipment inside
My hard drive,FANS & LED's STILL work

My motherboard cant be wrecked because this is how the manual suggests you do it.

Here is my manual http://www.asus.com/pub/asus/mb/sock7/430hx/p55t2p4/p55t2p4-311.pdf

Please I need to finish typing a report for school, can anyone help?If you there is urgency in typing the report, you should take out your harddisk and install it as a slaver on the computer you are using now and take off your (unfinished?) report.

Be sure to demagnetize your hands.

I suggest you contact your mainboard manufacturer their technical support to see what you can do about your BIOS battery or jumper.are we talking about this >http://www.bulldogsecurity.com/pdf/epromdeluxe.htm  and does this apply to you?

My hard drive has been running constantly. The only way to stop it is to enter task manager. It has gotten to where I can’t run scandisk, defrag, nor burn CDs.
I’m running 98 with 256MB of ram.
I RAN Compaq diagnostics and the RAM passed all test, but the hard drive failed a test CALLED the “Drive protection system test”.When you say 'running constantly' I'm going to assume you MEAN it sounds like its always working, and the seek/access light on your PC is always on.  I'd like more information on how it stops when you enter the task manager.

This sounds like (most likely) a problem with your HDD - I'd be expecting to buy another soon.  It could also possibly be a problem with the operating system (unlikely if it BOOTS into windows fine) or your IDE controllers (unlikely if you can load windows fine and also UNLESS you're getting crashes).

Yep, sounds like a HDD on its way out (in a more unusual way).You assumed right with the exception of it only stops for a couple of seconds after it boots up then starts again. As for how it stops running when I enter task manager. As soon as I hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete, the noise stops and the seek/access light is no longer flashing. I made a backup on an external hard drive when it started, so I should be safe.
is there a chance that some of the RAM could be bade and be causing it to thrash.
spyware or a trojan can also cause this..but you have said this>I ran Compaq diagnostics and the RAM passed all test, but the hard drive failed a test called the “Drive protection system test...what  is the make of your hard drive..?and have you got psp progam on your pc like kazza?

Hello, first time poster here. Hopefully someone can help us. First my husband tried to install my old harddrive from an older computer into my newer computer. We had everything shut off, touched the CHASIS so it would get rid of any static. He had to take the video card out of the motherboard in order to fit the 2nd harddrive in the computer. After everything was screwed in SECURELY, he put the video card back in and put the cover back on the tower. Plugged everything up, the fans were going, lights were going on the tower but we have no video. We thought maybe it was the monitor, but we hooked it up to a working computer and the monitor checks out ok. So we turned the computer off, opened the chasis, took the video card out and made sure no dust was in the video card slot. We EVEN took out the second harddrive incase it was conflicting. We put the video card back, the chasis back on the tower and plugged everything back up. We still get no video. Now after the frustration of that, we tried hooking my harddrive up to his computer and it now has an error on it from all the shutdowns. That is another thing that is frustrating us but that's another post. We really need some help. I really can't afford another computer nor right now someone to fix it. I would greatly appreciate any help in this matter and would name my first born son or daughter after the person that can GIVE us the resolution.Tempting offer.

Did you enable the second hard disk to function as a slave? Either by setting the jumper to cable select and then as a slave in the BIOS or setting the jumper to slave.

Did you make an attempt to install the videodriver in a different slot? Is it detected in the BIOS? Is it enabled in the BIOS?

Edit:

Did you set your primairy harddisk to either Cable Select and Master in the BIOS or as Master via the jumper?have you attached the cable to the monitor  from the pc and is  the monitor switched on things like this maybe overlooked due to to HASTE.. and are all the cables connected to the mobo what o/s is this and are there any beeps on boot up....Well when set it up on my computer, he didn't adjust the cabling as slave/master. However we never got to get to the bios screen because the video never came on. We even tried to just turn the computer back on without the older hardrive and still no video. For the 2nd reply, we had everything hooked up, even tightened the screws really well. The monitor, when the computer is off has a green light on, but when we turned the computer on, it would go from a green light to an orange light, like it was in standby or something. Not sure what to make of it. And I really can't honestly say I could remember or not if my computer made beeps on boot up. I saw on a different board someone telling a guy to take his ram out and boot up, then it should beep alot. Not sure if I should try this. Any suggestions welcome.   :-/You can try taking out your RAM. Just be sure to degmagnetize your hands and be careful not to damage the RAM.

Also, you may want to try to reset your BIOS. See the manual of your mainboard on how to do this.

Hello everyone,
                      I am frustrated BEYOND belief. Can someone out there please help me. I have a computer hard drive problem.... Please be patient with me.... I recently installed a new hard drive into my computer and I have heard that you have to format and fdisk the hard drive before being able to use it. Can anyone give me step by step instructions on how to do this please. I cannot access the old hard drive at all as it crashed.
                     I would greatly appreciate any help in solving my dilemma.... THANKYOU
Linda   Also I intend to put Windows 98 on the system. I hope that this helps somewhatChange your BIOS to boot off the CD first.
Put CD in the CD Rom and reboot.
Follow the on-screen instructions.

You failed to MENTION anything about your computer such as the Operating System going in or any of the specs.  This info could help us help you.thankyou for your help. I will check this out and let you KNOW. I am wanting to put windows 98 on the system. I hope this can give you some more insight into the problem. I will look for the type of hard drive that has been put into the computer but i am sure it was a 80 gb. I will let you know more when I work on the computer next. thanks for all the help guys...... computer is now up and running except for one small problem. I ended up having to format computer hard drive and reinstall windows 98 SE. All went well except for the display. It will only show up in 16bit colour not 256 colour. I am not very knowledgable about computers at the best of times and would greatly appreciate the help I need to set this right. And if possible could you put it in step by step info. THANKS HEAPS Find out the manufacturer of the video card and go to their WEBSITE.  Download the drivers for Win98 and install.  You may have the drivers on a CD as well if you have kept all the documents and disks.

I recently purchased a refurbished HP Omnibook 6000 laptop w/ Windows 98SE.  It has a 24 x CDRW Drive (Matashita UJDA330).  I have successfully written data to a data CD; however, every time I try to write audio files from my hard drive on to a music CD, my computer CRASHES.  I am using VERITAS RecordNow 6.5. for the recording SOFTWARE.  I can't find out any information anywhere of what might be causing this or how to fix the problem.  I have a 30 day warranty on the computer, so I want to find out as soon as possible.  

Thanks . . . BrendaDid you attempt to use different writing software?

Such as Nero or Alcahol 120%No, I will give it a try and get back with the results.  Thanks!I downloaded the lastest VERSION of Nero, but I still have the same problem.  As the burning process starts, my computer just reboots itself??Did you try writing at different speed limits?

You should contact Tech-support of either Matanutsa or VERITAS RecordNo.

If your computer came with a CD-RW drive you might wish to contact HP Tech-support.

I donot know why your computer would boot randomly while writing music data, I am not too knowledge-able about CD-RW drives.is your laptop configured to save power options with an avi files it can take some time to copy it to disk..look in the bios setup f1/del on boot to find out..the options on power settings some laptops will shut and is this plugged into the mains when this HAPPENS?try dragging the cd audio disk files on to the hard drive and then try burning them to disk...

My computer refuses to keep the correct time.  It GAINS anywhere from a few minutes to nearly an HOUR a day.  The speed-up seems to increase the longer the system is in use.  Everyone I've asked has never heard of this problem.  Any clues??

Thanks in advance.I donot know what Operating System you are currently using, but if double click on your clock and then head to the third tab, you should tag the 'automatic update with a timeserver on the Internet' option.

Unless you're talking about the BIOS time settings, in which case I donot know how to keep these synchronized.Strange indeed.  The clock can be updated from within operating systems as Raptor has described, but it's controlled on the MOTHERBOARD.  USUALLY, when time is wrong, your computer will LOSE time due to a flat/failing battery on the motherboard (CMOS battery).

Can't recall ever hearing of a computer gaining time before - not sure it's fixable as it sounds as if it may be a hardware fault.

If you're using WinXP set your computer to time sync with an NTP server as Raptor has described (not sure if this came in before WinXP - can't remember).  This will at least pull the time back in sync every time you rebootWith Pre-XP Windows, download freeware like Dimension 4 or AtomClock and set it to run once a day to automatically update your system clock. You could also renew your CMOS battery, some clocks speed up before the battery goes flat.Jharryl.......I would do as Maliktous suggests....replace the CMOS battery ........( It would be a good IDEA to record all the Bios and CMOS settings before you TAKE out the battery ) ....Is the gaining time thing something that has just started .

dl65

Does anyone have recommendations for disk-imaging programs.    

I want to  keep my grandson from "fooling" with the cd-rom drive DRAWER. I want to put all his little games into the COMPUTER instead of constantly changing disks when he gets bored.    Then I will put the disks away, duct tape the drawer closed and let him "have at it."

And...  I really need to "childproof" his whole computer.  Wonder if there's a way to hide the desktop system icons from him.  He's a little tinkerpot and wants to click on EVERY icon he sees and twist every button.  

TIA
You can remove the desktop items.

Or you can download special programs (I donot KNOW any names) that make computers more suitable for children.

Ofcourse, you could ret to plug the mouse into the wall-socket and he'll probably never try double clicking again.

Programs such as Alcahol 120% can and Daemon can RUN Disk Images.

http://www.virtualcd-online.com/vcd/apps/download/demo.cfm?lg=0

According to a poster who posted here not too long ago, I donot know how it works, but you can download a demo version. I believe it can create disk images as well.http://www.masternewmedia.org/2003/02/07/hide_all_of_your_desktop_icons_in_one_sweep.htm and this >http://www.xxcopy.com/index.html  why not just use the users. /accounts progam  in the control panel....and he can do what he likes without interering with you.....what system is this...winxp?

Hi all:

I bought a old PC around Christmas. It had a floppy disk that would not read ANYTHING.   Then a few months later, the CD drive did the same THING. It says there's a problem with a PCI card but how do I find out which PCI card?   Now the  PC will not boot up at all and we can't reinstall windows without the CD drive working.

Any suggestions on where I should start with this?

Thanks,

dhanalakshmiIf you suspect a problem with the PCI cards - the first thing to do would be to remove them all.  Unless one is the graphics card - leave this in.  If it still won't boot, CHANGE the graphics card to a DIFFERENT slot.

Unplug the floppy drive completely (might as well eliminate that from the equation too).  If things still don't work, remove the CD-ROM as well.

If you can't get it working with minimum hardware, then either your problem isn't hardware related, or its more serious that one would hope for.

Also, if you post again post as many details about your system as possible - version of windows, motherboard model, amount and type of RAM, type of processor, etc.change the battery on the mobo is may have lost the bios settings...you say is old how old most cmos battery last appox 4 yearsIf it asks you to put in the time and date every time you boot its the battery. If not its not.

Id suggest you take out (or unplug) as much as possible (PCI cards, CD ROM, floppy ect) leaving only CPU, memory, Hard drive and Graphics card then SEE if it boots. If it does you can start eliminating other components.

Ah, this is a 600 Mhz Athlon I build from a motherboard/cpu combo.  I got it... uh... maybe SIX years ago?  Five?  I can't quite remember; I could be off...  So no warranty for me.Graaah!  It's just so freaking wierd!  I've gotta see if maybe the local home electronics stores have nerds that know about this...  I'll let you all know what I turn up, if anything.Well, no illuminating insights there.  I'm gonna strip my pc down to the hard drive and the video card, and go from there.Yatta!  I got it working again!  There was something in my BIOS settings that either didn't show, or I didn't understand.  I tore down my PC to the essential items (a useful tool I'd forgotten to use), then had the BIOS RE-detect my IDE devices after I reset it.  I got some weird results.  First, it didn't detect -anything!-  I went to the Primary Master slot, where I'd plugged in my hard drive, and POKED around, but none of the settings I understood seemed like they would help me, so I had it detect again.  And my hard drive shows up...  Same thing happened when I plugged in my CDROM, but after I got those running I wiped the hard drive and I'm up and running now!  On my own computer, too!  (I've been posting off another machine, a spyware-ridden 266 Celeron.  Anyone want a paperweight?)

Anyway, thanks for the help!  It took a while, but we got it settled, and I guess the next guy that comes here with this problem will have a READY solution waiting, at least.  I love you all, but I hope you'll understand that I never want to see you ever again.  

Ja, matta!Heh, I've been watching this thread with interest (but had nothing really to contribute).  Good to know your problems are solved.

You could always drop in to help solve other people's problems though!

Just out of curiosity, how MUCH would my Seagate Medalist Pro 2520 (ST52520A) be worth if I decided to sell it on eBay or something? It is in perfect cosmetic condition ASIDE from the missing chunck of plastic on the bottom of the IDE connector.jkpj13....... If its the ONE I'm thinking of ....it's 2.5 gb  and 5400 rpm .....

So to answer your question .........not much ........why not just hang on to it as a spare?

dl65  Does it work?.........keep it as a paperweight......It does work. I don't use it as a spare. It's the biggest hard drive in my compter. The other one's a 2.1GB WESTERN Digital Enterprise 2170-0003.I wouldn't pay more than 10 dollars for it. And I'd first want to verify that it has no bad sectors.

Quote

aside from the missing chunck of plastic on the bottom of the IDE connector.

It doesn't have any bad sectors. I tested for that. Whenever I get a new computer I'll take my data off of it and sell it or something.

Just out of curiosity, how much would my Seagate Medalist Pro 2520 (ST52520A) be worth if I decided to sell it on eBay or something? It is in perfect cosmetic condition aside from the missing chunck of plastic on the bottom of the IDE connector.

HELP!!

Don't even know where to begin with this one! ok basically.

SETUP
2.8Ghz Pentium 4
gig of DDR Ram
2 x 160Gb hard drives

PROBLEM:
The hard drives are partitions up as follows. Drive 1 has a 10 gig windows partition and the rest is for stuff and drive 2 is split at 80 gigs into 2 partitions.

Whenever I copy any data over anywhere the computer restarts and windows is no longer there. sometimes but not every time the partitions will also get wiped. At first I thought it was the hard drive so i got a new one. hence why i have 2! but it still did it so i thought it must be the motherboard so i got a new motherboard. This seemed to cure the problem and nothing happened for a couple of months, until just now! I turned on my computer and the second hard drive was completely blank, no partitions or anything. then i formatted it and copyed some of my BACKED up data over and the computer restarted with no indication and when it tried to boot up it couldn't because windows wasn't there!!!

whats going on!! I can't think of anything.

I did a memory test on the ram and it seemed ok. i did a cpu test and left it on overload for 6 hours but it was ok then too. I just have no idea whats up.

any help would be very greatfully recieved!!

PS its not a virus as both drives have been formatted and virus scanned!

thanks a lot

RobThat's wack!  You say Windows is gone.. does it come back eventually or do you have to reinstall it every time?  Did you install any hard/software just before it started like this?  Is there any way someone is playing with you and toasting your partitions?  Sick joke but it could happen.no it never comes back and no its noone toasting it while i'm away.

Its done it while i've been working on the computer. windows is gone, all the files are gone, everythings gone!I have no idea what could cause that

But you might want to remove the old hard disk and try only the new drive.

And perhaps replace the cables.It has been doing it on both the hard drives. even with only one in at a time. somebody has suggested that it could be the power supply? would this cause all my data ect to vanish?

i'm stuck for ideasI have very little knowledge about hard drivers but could it be that your old drive has corrupted your new drive (Magnetic influence, perhaps?) because you have had them both installed at the same time?

You should see if you can try an older (or different type of) hard drive and have the other two taken out. (Donot place this drive near the other drives at any time)

I donot know where you bought your latest hard drive, but perhaps they can tell you more. If they are a specialized computer store, that is.Wow, that really IS whack.
I know of nothing that can delete a partition like that except a virus or partitioning program.  Something is probably going wrong either hardware wise or with your master partition table on the HDD.

I don't think it would be a magnetic problem - hard drive magnetic fields are very very weak - putting two HDDs on top of one another does not affect them at all, either when running or not.  The strength of magnetic fields drops off expodentially with distance and the fields present in a HDD operate only at very very very close ranges (fractions of millimeters).  MODERN HDDs in fact have several platters inside each with a separate magnetic head that can read and write to it.  The magnetic fields operating on the heads are so weak they only affect the platter they're meant to, and never adjacent platters.  Magnetic influence (from within the HDD) can therefore be ruled out.

You've ruled out the motherboard as a possibility by getting a new one, and you've tested the RAM (not that this should be the problem from the symptoms).  The IDE cables shouldn't be the problem if the problem comes and goes - and if you've reinstalled windows on the cables, they are more than likely fine.  Still - your motherboard most likely came with new cables - be sure to use them and not the old ones, just to eliminate another (very minor) possibility.

If it was the HDD that was going completely and not just losing partitioning information I'd suspect your power supply (the Hard Drive not receiving enough power to spin up and report its partition information), but if it's reporting that there IS a HDD there but that its unpartitioned, this doesn't seem like the answer either.  Data is stored on the HDDs magnetically - so even if it didn't receive power for a while, and then did, the data will still be there when it powers up.

*censored*.  You've eliminated most of the likely causes and there is no obvious candidate left.  Pull out everything you dont NEED (all those PCI cards etc) and see what happens.  This should leave your motherboard, memory, processor, one HDD a keyboard, mouse, power supply and video card.  Given you've replaced the mobo and HDD if you're still having problems this would leave the memory, processor, k/b, mouse and video card as potential sources of DIFFICULTY.  I'd then be tempted to test these in other machines to eliminate them.  Can't think of what else to do.Thanks for all your help guys!

Yeah the hard disk is still reported as been there just without any partition information or data on it! I'm going to try a new power supply next and try out what Chade suggested. Although in my system i don't have any pci things to remove! the network card and sound is intergreated with the motherboard! and it still does it with only one hard drive in.

I am also using the new cables that came with the motherboard.

I'm gonna try a new power supply and cross my fingers!!

I'll let you know what happensOnboard items can almost always be disabled in the BIOS - but I highly doubt thats the problem.

I DONT know how to discribe the sound i'm hearing but beeping seems the best way to describe it.
However this beeping noises isnt the same beeps i hear when i GET a system error.
The beeping noises are completely random and start and stop when certain aplications are being run, mostly games.

I first encounted this noises a few months ago when i installed a program that was supposed to scan your system and display your specifications at a detailed level and such, and contained many other misc functions.
When i used it to run a scan my computer started creating that wierd beeping noises consistently and would only stop when i restarted it.i uninstalled the program quickily and unfortunately i do not remember the name.

now months after that incident my computer started creating these beeping noises again, which was after turned off 3D sound settings in a game called "Freelancer" to fix a sound problem i had where alot of the sound would skip.

the beeping sound would only come when i played that game so i stopped. however recently it started to spread.
it made beeping sounds while i was running diskcleanup as well, and now almost every game i play i encounter this sound, games like Halo, counterstrike etc.

i also noticed that my sound would get distorted/skipped whenever the beeping sound came.

the beeping sound seems to come from either my harddisk or my motherboard, which ever i am not sure.

i would greatly apreciate any help on this problem.

my system specifications are

Gigabyte P4 titan 865E motherboard
Onboard sound Realtek AC'97 Audio
512MB RDRAM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB
256MB Saphire Radeon 9800 XT Atlantis
P4 3.06ghz with HT
What was the program called that you used to detect your system's components?

I used PC Wizard 2004 a while ago and immediatly, my temperature rose with at LEAST 10 degrees celcius, causing my heat sensors to go wack and not stop beeping until I had reset.

What is your CPU and case temperature and what are your temperature tresholds?
What is RD-RAM by the way? Is that the RAM with cooling sinks? Quote

What is RD-RAM by the way

can somebody help me...my pc is stuck in the bios setup and i cannot make any configuration coz my ps/2 KEYBOARD is a major fatal error. i CANT use my usb keyboard coz i didnt set usb keyboard support for POST execution or for bios configuration. Please help me!!! Im desperate!!! If you have an idea how to configure usb keyboard support thru motherboards, please do help me...by the way, my motherboard type is ASUS TUV4X. tnx!mei-anz.....unless I'm missing something......why dont you just get a new p/s 2 keyboard .......they're cheap and your problem is solved.
Have you been to the ASUS site to check the manual for your motherboard ?
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/mbindex.htm

Good luck

dl65  
Another option if your computer is as you say 'stuck in the BIOS setup' is just to power off.  No harm should befall your computer.

USB keyboard support is configured through....the BIOS   but seriously, plug it in and try it.  Most motherboards will support USB keyboards entry into and function within the BIOS even if your BIOS is currently set to USB keyboard support disabled.use your normal k/board to boot and then add the new one and use the f/disk driver disk that came with the usb k/board done...is this WIN98?dl65,chade,merlin...tnx for your time and suggestion. its that, i have already done all of those you suggested. before i found this site, i made a research in my motherboard type as well as how BIOS work.

i already did bought a new PS/2 keyboard just to test my pc but it still didnt work out. i even brought it to a computer shop and we tested so many keyboards like less than 10 of them. thats why i thought of buying USB keyboard and still, im stuck with this problem.

i tried doing the fdisk thing but the problem is, before it detects my disk in my floppy, it goes first to BIOS and there im stuck again.

i have research about USB support on most BIOS. my motherboard manual also stated that its default setting in USB keyboard support is AUTO. But i guess what im encountering here is the other way around. Funny as it is, my problem really sounds so easy but then all the best solution i could think of and what others have to say doesnt work at all.

if you still have other suggestions, please do tell me. heres the details of my "stuck with BIOS thing" problem:
- my ps/2 port is badly damaged. i mean, the area where the ps/2 port is sitting in the motherboard is badly damaged. the tiny connections that you can see on that area is impossible to connect. i guess thats because i allow the technician to REMOVE the port and replace it with a working one and the circuits are now destroyed. so theres no way my ps/2 port will work.
-so i thought of finding other solutions using USB keyboard. though i can retrieve it back if only my usb keyboard support setting is enabled but then it doesnt detect my usb keyboard.

i guess my story problem seems to be very long now. if ever you have anymore ideas of solution to my problem please do share. thanks and more power!!!

mei anzmei_anz....You forgot to tell us....

"i guess thats because i allow the technician to remove the port and replace it with a working one and the circuits are now destroyed. so theres no way my ps/2 port will work."

How about the same technicians damaged the USB port as well ?
You may have to replace the motherboard.
Good luck

dl65  


Hmm.  I'm not sure what your chances are of having it work - but if a computer Tech fuxored your board I'd say he oweds you a new one.

If your USB port is indeed stuffed as dl65 guessed, you _may_ be able to get it to work using an add-in USB card and a USB keyboard (I can't remember hearing of add-in PS/2 cards) but this may not work at the BIOS level.  Since the tech fuxored your board, I'd guess he owes it to you to try this much free of charge.

But I'd be buying a new motherboard - or convincing the tech to buy me one (or go halves?) anyway.  Ports that don't work aren't exactly a good thing to have.I'm using a CUV4X ASUS myself. One thing I noticed with this MB is that it sometimes has trouble with the PS2 mouse connection, I think the 'fuse' to the KB and mouse port power may be a little lame. It works OK on this old MS scroll mouse but I'd rather run a big trackball, and the board won't recognise one of those.

If you use the CMOS Reset pins, it should clear any shut off USB settings in the BIOS and let you boot with a USB keyboard. You may have to use the 'front' USB port connections and adapter cable if your 'technician' friend diddled the rear-panel ones out of kilter.

I'd have him provide you a nice fully-functional MB of similar functionality (and preferably the same model) and use that one with the buggered KB port himself. And he should give you a nice 20GB slave HD for your trouble...

Well.. I'd say something hit or stressed it.Most likely - a faulty CD.  CDs can become cracked/chipped, or unbalanced (DUE perhaps to a sticker applied to the top, or a label applied not centered).  Used to not be a problem with older (slower) CD drives - but as they've sped up (past 50x!!) more minor defects are having more serious side effects.

I saw a test once done by a European University (I THINK University, maybe a research centre) that tested CDs at high SPEEDS - concluding I think that 48x was the maximum speed before A GOOD DISC could explode.  Imagine what speed you have to spin a cracked disc at before it becomes a missile....

Course it might not have been the CD.  It might have been the drive, or possibly something IN the drive that made it go bume.

Careful with that drive - I've seen drives where CDs shattered - the pieces can be blown INTO the drive, meaning the next disc to be inserted could potentially  become a spinning disc of death too.Why would a Cd in the Cd drive shatter while running?  
 




no ? there are safe faults with most things..

one if there  is a fault with it it  would not do anything with it  two it would not run  and why ask this question anyway...is it a quiz question...and if it takes two to men to dig one hole a day how many does it take to dig half an hole??? answer please here>CDs that are faulty CAN run.  Sometimes they will spin up and down and up and down relentlessly trying to seek tracks it can't find.

Theresa will have to answer why she asked the question - but I'd guess she had one shatter on her, or knows someone who did.  A nasty experience to be sure.

Given ENOUGH time, I'm sure a man can dig a hole big enough to satisfy anyone.  The question is, will he require help to extract himself from it?You're wrong there, MERLIN.

I've had a CD shatter. A(n) (orginal) copy of Black & White. I was playing and after approximately an hour of running the game the CD just said *knack* and there was a crack leading from the edge to the center.

Now, explain me, how is that not possible?

You're playing for the one-hundred-thousand dollar question now, Merlin...pay up raptor swiss bank account details to follow if you read my last reply i stated there ; maybe a fault with it?and my answer to the ridddle is you cannot dig half an hole...

Hi,

I know how to make a boot disk in Windows XP, but it doesn't put all MS-DOS commands on the diskette. I need to make a boot disk that I can put into my A: DRIVE that will allow me to format c: when I need to wipe my drive, which I do periodically as general maintenance (about EVERY six months).

I used to do this with Windows 98 - the Windows 98 diskette that CAME with the software had the FORMAT command. It even worked with XP, unfortuantely it eventually wore out and I never had a back-up. WIndows XP does not come with a bootable diskette, and I do not like relying on the CD-ROM to do what I want it to do. I just want my old reliable WIndows 98 boot diskette capability back!

The boot disk that Windows XP makes does not have the FORMAT command. I can boot to the A:> prompt but it doesn't recognize "format c:" because it doesn't have the format command.

I feel vulnerable to losing access to my principal HD without this capability.

Can anyone help me? I simply need to be able to make a boot disk that has all of the MS-DOS commands (FDISK, FORMAT, ETC.). I tried bootdisk.com, but it created CALDERA DR-DOS, which looks differen than a TYPICAL DOS disk that I'm used to. All I want is a simple MS-DOS diskette.


Thanks in advance for your help.

- AngeloTry:
http://www.bootdisk.com/Have you tried a search on your HD or WinXP CD for where the FORMAT, FDISK, and other vital commands are? If they are still there for use from the HD or CD boot, you should be able to copy them to the floppy.

I'm hoping somebody can help me. My BJC 3000 printer smears black ink to the point where documents look terrible! All the words have smears through them. I tried all the different resolutions, paper SETTINGS etc. I deep cleaned more than once. I even spent $50.00 for a new print head. The new print head worked for about 1 day and then back to smears. It's gotten to the point where I have to print in another color in order to avoid smearing. I'm just about to trash the stupid thing with a sledgehammer! Appreciate any input that would be helpful.
John Bowen


John......How old is the printer and did this just suddenly start or has it been ongoing for a long time ?
By any chance have you updated or rolled back the drivers.

dl65  Hi dI.  Thank you for responding so quickly!

The printer is about 3 1/2 years old.  I started taking NOTICE to this about 6 months ago.  The smearing seemed to gradually get worse.  I don't  know if you know this but the BJC 3000 is the type of printer that has 4 separate tanks for each color.  That's why I bought it, and for most of it's LIFE, it performed excellent.  What really makes me very angry is that I was weighing whether to just buy a new printer (which would've been cheaper) or replace just the head, cause, as I said, I really like this printer and felt that keeping it running would save me money on the long run with the only having to replace individual colors as they run out.  Those triple color cartridges are wasteful. so as I said, I'm hoping I can find an  answer for this printer.
   As far as the drivers, The new head greatly IMPROVED the smearing problem at first but I was having an alignment problem with my CD label making software and I tried to reinstall the drivers for the printer hoping that would help.  That's when I saw the smearing come back.  I haven't yet checked Canon site for driver updates, because I thought the problem was hardware related because only the black ink smears.  If I print a text file in dark blue or red it looks fine.  I'm hoping to hear from you again soon.  Thanks again.
                           John BowenJohn.....HUMMMMMMMMMM .....
Im inclined to think if you check cannons site for a updated driver that may be the problem....I would also be inclined to uninstall the cd label program and then do a printer realignment to see if that helps as well

dl65   
Thanks.  I'll try that and let you know how I make out.
                                 JBare you using geniune cannon ink....Yep.  A Whole new set came with the new print head.
Just downloaded and installed new drivers. Slight improvement but nothing to celebrate about...ie still smears a bit.
                         JB
PS: Love the emodiconsthe problem is when a printer begins to age, ink will gum up in a few different places inside the printer. different printers will gum up in different spots. basically your printer just needs a good internal cleaning. you might want to try using the "clean cartrige nozzles" option in the program for the printer, this might help.Tried this more than once, even though it's a new head. Didn' do much.  Although it does seem that something is dirty.  Thanks for responding.
                         JB You might want to buy a new printer before you spend too much money on making attempts to repair the BJC 3000 PrinterHi John,
Same problem with my HP Officejet Pro 1150C.  Not a driver problem.  I've had mine repaired twice now and the tech told me it will need to be serviced about once a year ( $75.00 a pop)!  The problem is caused by a "capping station" inside the printer.  The ink cartridges are "parked" in these capping stations between print jobs.  In time they fill up with old ink which attaches to the new cartridge tip.  This usually occurs on the black ink cartridge (it's used the most) while the colors print fine.  HP makes it very DIFFICULT to clean the capping station so hopefully Canon will be easier.  Hope this helps.    GBenway;
Thanks so much.  At least now I have an explanation of why this is happening!  It seems totally ludicrous to pay $150.00 per year to service a printer worth less than $100.00!  What are these people thinking?!  By any chance, I wonder if you've aquired info on how to clean these capping station by onesself.  At any rate, thanks again for the enlightining info!
                                     John Bowen                                          Sorry for my "fuzzy math"above.  I thought you said twice a year for servicing.  Looking again at your response, I saw that you said once a year.  $75.00 per year in maintainence is still too much for a printer of this price range as I'm sure you agree.
                                 JBAbsolutely agreed.  They are trying to rip you off - no doubt about it.  I understand you like your printer and are kind of attached to it - but anything but higher mid end inkjets and upwards are 'throw away' printers.  They are designed to be cheap, to work for a year or two and after that - it's all luck.  They are not worth servicing - simply buy a new printer.  Given that the new printer will come with new ink cartridges and more capable drivers (with newer better functions) its more than worth the expense.  I personally don't go for the bottom of the range printers (they really do tend to be cheap and nasty) but a few models up - only slightly more expensive and of better quality.

My voltage never seems to make it above the voltage stated.



This screenshot was taken in Sisoft Sandra. The same readings are ALSO displayed in the BIOS. Both in F8 and F14.

Installed is a Gigabyte 7N400 PRO mainboardwith BIOS F14 (Latest version)

And the power supply is a Q-tec PSU 400WP Dual Fan Gold

I donot know what to think of this. Less voltage means less strain on my computer parts. But  could it also mean less performance?

Is this something I have to investigate?Raptor.......Some of your voltages look a little low.....
Here's what mine look like........

Monitoring Chip :      Via 686A/B
Vcore :      1.78 V
Vcore1 :      2.6 V
+3.3V Voltage :      3.39 V
+5V Voltage :      5.08 V
+12V Voltage :      12.48 V
Processor Fan :      4787 rpm
Processor Temperature :      32.8 °C
Mainboard Temperature :      22.6 °C
Power/Aux Temperature :      37.5 °C
Hard Disk Temperature #1 :      42°C
Perhaps its time for a new power supply.
check you motherboard specs and see what it says re the voltages .
Hope this gives you a idea......

dl65  
This power supply came together with my mainboard. Both are approximately a year old.

I see that your voltages are above the settings stated there. A friend of mine has shown me that his voltage settings are also above the voltages stated.

I have never read any information about mainboard voltages in the manual that came with my mainboard. I shall contact Gigabyte Tech-support to see what they can tell me.

are these  problems that OCCURS with a failing power supply? As far as I recall, this has been present ever since it was installed. And I never had trouble with my power supply. No failures, no shortages, nothing.
I think it's far more likely your motherboard sensors are reporting the wrong figures.  They are usually FAR from 100% accurate.  I have the same motherboard at home however, and I'll have a little look to see what mine reports, and then I'll get back to you.  I would imagine SiSoft Sandra takes its readings directly from the motherboard sensors (I would in fact be sure of it) so its little wonder they report the same.

Your problem is very unlikely to be a failing power supply - if it was you would likely be getting crashes and lockups.  On the other hand, if you have other reasons to be worried about your power supply do yourself a favour and turn your computer off, and don't turn it back on til a new power supply has been installed.  I had to replace my motherboard recently when my Power supply went, and the same for a friend of mine a week later.  Not worth it.  I'll never again trust a PC to a cheap power supply.

Keep in mind also that 12V is never quite 12.00 volts, a small variance either way is perfectly acceptable.  Your 3.3V rail looks fine from the report, but your 5V and 12V do look a little low.  But again, it's most likely a reporting error.

Edit:
OH and don't bother checking your motherboard specs.  All computers are designed to distribute near identical voltages (which is why there is no difference between power supplies, RAM, PCI cards, HDDs etc as far as voltage is concerned.  CPUs are about the only things that differ in voltage from one to the next).
How do I determine wheter it is a reporting error or not?

Well, probably the easiest way to tell would be with a multimeter against one of the molex power connectors (the rectangular-with-cut-off-corners you whack into your IDE devices).  Otherwise, you're outa luck - the only other way is the computer's BIOS reporting mechanism.

I'm home now - now I realise we have slightly different boards - mine's the Pro2 version of your board (FC BIOS  version for me) which unfortunately reports voltages as "OK" - no readout.  This is possibly because they found the original board (the PRO) version was reporting voltages incorrectly (?).

If you do have a multimeter, connect it to the molex connector (yellow-adjacent black or red-adjacent black (blacks are ground cables always in computers).   I'd choose yellow-black as these are the wires used for case fans that run of molex connectors.

I'm guessing its definitely a reporting error though.  Look at your 5V power rail = you're virtually 20% under!!! I'd imagine you'd be having all sorts of problems if you were under by this MUCH!

The other thing I'd use to test, is if you have a second computer, rip the PS out of this one and shove it in the second - see what voltages PC #2 reports.  I bet they're (significantly) different.why do people reply on meters so much all of them may be a fault?and who does determine whether the meter is acccurate?what is your system maybe its made  to run hot or cold...what is your problem..with it..if there is no problem why have you posted?and what results do you achieve from aida32 or belarc if pc makers had a problem with overheated where is the gauge pass...the tolerant for pcs has to be in the making of them therefore this question is invalid and has no relenvance at all...this question has been posted before.....why..variants may apply cable batteries used etc..v
=ior Quote

why do people reply on meters so much all of them may be a fault?and who does determine whether the meter is acccurate?what is your system maybe its made  to run hot or cold...what is your problem..with it..if there is no problem why have you posted?and what results do you achieve from aida32 or belarc if pc makers had a problem with overheated where is the gauge pass...the tolerant for pcs has to be in the making of them therefore this question is invalid and has no relenvance at all...this question has been posted before.....why..

why have you answered it...........meters are not accurate...just guess work..like time  itself man made.etc..and why hide your email i do not?cia fbi mi5 so oh powerful one what is the answer to raptors post...i await you response to it..have you dug up farraday?

What is a Firewire port and what can it do?Search google for What is Firewire.What is a Firewire Port  no such thing dear ..............firewire is a product which when plugged into a port of a pc enables you if it works? to do various functions like what video tv ete why are you asking?.use usb its better
A firewire port is a high-speed data transfer port - it's a STANDARD also known as IEEE1394, SB1394 and iLink among other names.  Firewire can be used for very high speed transfers such as external hard drives, CD-burners, video cameras.

Merlin is correct that firewire often comes on add-in cards, but it can also be built into your motherboard (including laptop's motherboards).  There are two type of firewire port - a larger six-pin port and a smaller four-pin port.  Both contain four-data pins but the six pin ports also run power through the cable - this can power low-demand external devices such as MICRO hard disk drives, without the bother of having an external power brick for the drive.

The most common use of firewire is (as Merlin has suggested) digital video - very often digital video cameras COME with firewire built in.

USB2 is similar to firewire in many ways (similar high speed data transfer), but is superior in some ways (backward compatible to the almost univerally implemented USB 1.1 standard) but INFERIOR in others (USB2 transfers in 'bursts' that mean whilst it is theoretically faster than firewire, in actuality it tends to be a BIT slower).

Firewire also tends to provide more solid power and can power devices that a USB port cannot - but this is to some extent also dependent on the device you plug in.http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question371.htm

- I try to run scandisk and it says something like "scandisk has restarted 10 times due to something writing to drive" - I am trying to optimize my c: local hard drive.  how do I figure out what is writing to the drive so I can correct it!

Thanks - HH........Which operating system are you using and have you looked in the device manager to see whats running ?

let us know

dl65  I'd say he's running almost any version of Windows, and has his swap file turned on.  This is a common error with Windows running scandisk - as it runs the swap file changes (the hard disk gets written to), and scan disk has to reset...repeat until scandisk decides its had enough (after 10 resets).

Try DISABLING your swap file, rebooting, and starting the check again.  In Win XP to disable the swap file:

Right Click My computer -> Properties (or Control Panel -> System)
Goto Advanced Tab
Under 'Performance' click Settings
Choose the Advanced Tab
Under 'Virtual Memory' choose Change
Click on 'No paging file' then choose 'Set'

Reboot windows...do not open any programs.
Close all programs, including virus checkers etc in the system tray. I RECOMMEND disabling your NETWORK (via settings or by PHYSICALLY pulling the plug) before doing this - can never be too safe

Start your disk check again.

Once you're done - dive back into virtual memory settings and reenable your swap file (paging file) - either choose 'system managed' or a reasonable custom size (I have mine on 512 initial 512 max custom size - this keeps the swap file a STATIC size which can boost performance).

Reboot.

You're done!  

Should be very similar in Win2K - if you have a previous version let us know if you can't find the swap/page file settings.its amazing how lazy one can be>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;222469

i have westell dsl modem and a linksys router. to get into the modem setup i BYPASS the linksys  can get to it at  192.168.1.254   how can i ACCESS the modems setup when the linksys router is in the system, i get nowhere with 192.168.1.254 with the router is INSERTED...

                            THANKS in advance......the modem blocks ports and i need to use pcanywhere, went into the modems setup bypassing the linksys to open ports for pc anywhere. would like to not have to bypass the linksys to get into modem to CONFIGURE it...  what method do you use to gain access to the modem?
does it not save your configuration? is this why you have to repeatedly open the port? what model westell is it?To access the DSL appliance, FIRST go to the router setup and assign the machine you are accessing the DSL appliance from to the DMZ. Then access the DSL bridge from that machine. Be sure to switch the DMZ back off after you're done so the router resumes protecting that machine from Internet predators.

If you want to see step by step instructions with pictures, visit http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm for a good guide to how to clean up a heat SINK and reattach it (using wonderful arctic silver products of course!)  Mind you, they make VERY good thermal pastes.I've got that website bookmarked.

Should I just use plain alcahol? I am not too familiair with cleansing liquids. Quote

Use high-purity isopropyl alcohol or acetone and a bit of careful rubbing.
Do not use nail polish remover as it contains fragrance oils and other contaminants.
(If you use acetone, do a final cleaning with isopropyl alcohol.)

Hi,
I took the video card down to the shop and they tested it in there computer and it worked, they told me to take it back home and reset the bios defaults and also short the cmos using a jumper, I reset the bios defaults but how long do I leave the jumper on the cmos for after it sucsefully shorts the memory should be reset and when the screen comes on the bios should be there and ask you to do something.Matt......I don't think you have to leave it shorted very long......a minute should be plenty

dl65  Ok i've tried this shorting thing heaps now
First at 3sec - nothing
then at 30sec - nothing
then at 30min - nothing
But my moniter still refuses to turn on with the new video card.
How do I know if the CMOS is reset?

My video card works in the computer shops computer (I have seen this myself)

They told me it should defently work because its PCI and they have got this card working in older BOARDS than mine.

I appreciate your help so FAR, but I'm begining to think GOD dosn't like me and is just playing around. Ok stuff that whole shorting the cmos thing, I just cant get it to work.

If nobody else has any more sujestions I'm taking it to the shop to have it looked at.

Oh yeah I found out the Video card is compatible with my motherboard so really IT SHOULD WORK!

And its not the power supply either, the guy at the shop said 250W should be fine.hhhmmmmmm I figured out the shorting the cmos thing it turns out my computer had to be on for it to work, but yes it still didnt work, I had my old video card in when I reset the CMOS so when I stared up the computer it said load bios defaults and some cmos error so I shut down and put the new video card in and the screen still dosnt turn on.

I did a test, I put my old video card back in and installed the drivers then I shut down and put the new video card in the PCI slot right next to it, I started the computer up and the screen didnt turn on so I took the new video card out and started the computer up again and the screen turns on. So this tells us

1. The screen will work when connected to my old video card.
2. The screen will not turn on if the new video card is installed in any of the slots, even if the moniter isn't connected to it.
3. If my old video card is installed and working everything is fine but if I put the new one in at the same time and not connect it to the moniter still the moniter dosnt turn on.

Hope this helps otherwise I'll have to pay $40.00 regardless if they promised me it would work.Matt, listen to Voidangel.

Stop wasting money AND time on this PC, it's not worth the frustration. You say your goal is to play 'Nowaday's games'? You're not going to achieve that with your current rig.

I suggest you return the videocard and demand a REFUND, they sold you a videocard not compatible with your system and therefore, they should take it back. You should look into buying a new machine if playing high-end games is what you want

By the way when you reset your BIOS 10 seconds should be long enough. Either shortciruit your CMOS or pry out your BIOS battery for 10 seconds.

The salesmen will try to sell you anything. When you ask if something's made of decent quality, he'll always tell you yes. Either because he needs to suck up to his boss or because he doesn't know enough about it. You see, anyone can sell a PRODUCT but not everyone can tell you about the product.

Your mainboard is probably not compatible with your videocard. You might want to try contacting ASUS again. You may have sent in a faulty E-mail. Some companies require you to have a special word in the subject bar so it is not recognized as spam (Like AMD does..)I'm not thinking about playing $200 games, my friend got GTA 3 and vice city working on his computer with a 500mhz processor and his video card isnt that good either.

Will updating the BIOS or PCIset or something else fix it?
I really think I can make it work, here is my motherboards manual in PDF format http://www.asus.com/pub/asus/mb/sock7/430hx/p55t2p4/p55t2p4-311.pdf
I just dont see why this card wont work with what I've got, my goal now is to get it working maybe when I get more money I will sort this gaming issue out but its not on my mind anymore.If the BIOS updates contain a fix for video cards/PCI slots you might have found a solution.I think I have found the problem, last night after updating the BIOS the video card still didn't work but it did detect a whole other bunch of stuff on my system, so I put my old one back in and now that dosn't work I think its my motherboard. My friend has a motherboard sitting under his bed doing nothng so he's going to bring it over today, its the same size but I think its more newer. I'll try it but if it dosnt work I'm just going down to the shop to have it fixed. Thanks alot everyone if I can get it to work I will post how I did it and what HAPPENED for future reference. Thanks

I have 200 GB Maxtor OneTouch external hard drive but I cannot open the drive anymore.  I was doing defragmentation and it froze so I rebooted my computer.  Since then, whenever I double click the drive, the message:
"The disk in drive F is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?"

pops out and I click no.  Then it says the parameter is incorrect....  It seems like the file inside the drive is still there but I just don't have an access to it.... I might have lost the partition of the drive and I was wondering if anybody knows how to fix it...

I'm RUNNING WinXP home.
Thanksdownload this and see if it helps >http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm  just a thought which may help plug you drive in and try disk cleanup it might wake it up....thanks for the help but unfortunately the driver is up to date and I can't reinstall the drive over it.... :'(However, I was searching around the maxtor's page and found this link but i'm not sure if this is the RIGHT thing to do.

http://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=962&p_created=1016493021&p_sid=hQCcRjeh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MTUmcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDE9MyZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMj02OSZwX2NhdF9sdmwxPSZwX2NhdF9sdmwyPSZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PXJlc3RvcmUgcGFydGl0aW9u&p_li=

I went to the computer management and checked the info and the drive did not have File System displayed but the status was healthy  I have some where around 90GB of files but the Free space shows that 189.91GB free.  Should I delete the partition and rewrite the partition?  Some WEB pages suggested to rewrite the partition by using following link's strategy: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q247575"&id=kb;en-us;q247575".  I am not sure if this will not delete my files or not....  to tell the truth, I don't really now what is wrong with my hard drive because this never HAPPENED before!  All I can guess is that 1. I accidently erased my partition and trying to format the drive; 2. the hard drive became the virtual drive; 3. the drive is curroped.  I'm also considering about formating my pc and reinstall the OS but I'm afraid that the pc won't recognize the hard drive at all after doing it.  please help! Thanks

When I shut down my computer, it shuts down normal, and powers itself off.   Then, I shut the power off at the power strip.  When I go to power up again, I activate the power strip, the computer power lite and fan come on for about 2 seconds and then shut off.  Then I have to use the power button on computer to startup.  On my old computer, as soon as I put power to the CPU it FIRED up.  Is there something WRONG with my power up sequence?  If not, can this short surge of power damage my hard drive?  I already replaced it once.   Maybe after I changed the hard drive, I SET something up wrong.  Thank you in advance!Most newer computers have a control in the BIOS (under power management) that controls their state after a power failure.  States usually are on, or soft-off.  Soft-off refers to the state where the computer (motherboard) is receiving power, but the computer is off.  Pressing the power button at this point tells the computer to SWITCH from soft-off mode, to fully on.

Older computers were incapable of this level of power management, and often did not have a soft-off function.  Thus the computer was either off (no power being received) or on (power being received).

If you want your computer to boot up as soon as you plug in/switch it on at the power strip, delve into the power management section of the BIOS, where you will find at option under something like 'State after power failure' which will be set to soft-off.  Change it to be full-on or equivalent.Chad

Thank you!  Your SOLUTION worked.  Now, when I turn the power strip on,  the CPU doesn't power up until I activate the power switch.  That is exactly what I wanted.  Thank you for your help.

I have a NEW dell laptop and WANT to easily trasfer the information from my desktop to the laptop. how do I do that?  The easiest way is to have the two hooked up onto their own network, either via a network CABLE + hub/switch or a crossover network cable (crossover cables have some wires inside reversed as opposed to a normal network cable).

Do both COMPUTERS have Ethernet ports (LIKE a telephone line port for a modem, only slightly larger)?  What operating system are you running (computers need to be configured to talk to each other once physically hooked up)?data link cable .. and if this is winxp transfer file wizard...

hi,my computer is getting restarted AUTOMATICALLY without any  errors.I tried all the options given in this site but theres no use..plzzzz help meWhen did this event first occur?before 10 daysI should reform my question:

What are the events that have LED to your computer restarting randomly? Did you make changes to your OPERATING System? (What operating system are you using?)

ALSO, notify us of your computer specifications.i didn't make any changes in  OS.
I'm using win98.my computer specs r 128mb ram,20GB harddsik,intel celron 900MHZ,inbulit video car ,soundcard,lan,modemI'd scan for viruses and spyware.I have seen DL65 post a message concerning computers automatically resetting when an error occurs..

I cannot locate his post, perhaps he could repost it if he reads this?

I have a dual AMD system with a GB of RAM, 1 30 GB hard drive and another 80 GB hard drive.  I initially had server 2003 installed on the system and could not download the windows updates.  I went on like this for about 6 MONTHS and then the system started to reboot by itself.  I decided to format the hard drive (the 80 GB one) and reinstall Windows XP.  Upon initially starting the install process, the system goes through the hardware configuration and setup for XP and it gets to a certain point (a random point, NOTHING specific) and then it gets stuck in a reboot loop and I have to shut it down and let it sit for a while before this stops.  When I start the system back up, it goes through the same vicious cycle.  May I have a SIMPLE answer or might this be more in depth?  Thanks for your time.

AnthonyMost likely a hardware fault of some kind.  You could run a hardware tester to TRY and find the fault, or remove everything from your PC you don't need (including one of the hard drives) and try again - perhaps you'll remove the fault with the hardware.

Do you get any error message when it crashes (a blue screen of death perhaps?) or is it just a reboot?

When you say it 'gets stuck in a reboot loop' do you mean it tries to install hardware, fails and reboots, tries again, fails again and reboots or
that once it fails once it just keeps rebooting rapidly?

Hi! EVERY1, i wondering if somebody can help. i would like to install Sound Card driver, but i dont know the name or the model, or any information regarding this sound card. i understand that i would have to open computer and see name of the sound card and everything else; this is can be done.. but i just want some other ways, which does not envolve open up comp.Use the Windows auto-detect feature (PLUG-n-pray).www.belarc.com

Download and install the free Advisor program.Hi! thanks for reply, but none of the methods work . Plug and play can only detect what hard needs to be installed.... or what hardware are installed. In this case, i dont know which driver to install, it is hard untill i know the name of manufacture, model ETC. On the other  hand Belarc Advisor  is very good program, thanks for that!!.... however it didnt work as it didnt ditect if there is any multimedia device, of course there is though.
<<< if there is a new way, you could always share you knowldge and it can come in hand in the future... so please if there is dont hasitate to share>>>>>

PS. NOW I WILL HAVE OPEN UP PC, THAT IS THE ONLY SOLLUTION! THANKS ALL.Be sure to degmagnetize your hands before touching any computer components.

WHilst not nearly every computer part has a name/model number on it, nearly every piece of computer equipment has an FCC number (US Federal COMMUNICATIONS Commission) which consists of a 3+14 digit string in the format XYZ-1234567890abcd.  The first three numbers are a company code, the last three are a product ID code.  FIND this number on your card (vast majority have it somewhere - could be bottom or top, usually printer on the PCB (printed circuit board)).

Then visit an FCC ID search page such as:
http://www.driverzone.com/fcc_id_search.htm

or the FCC's own page at:
https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm

to find out what it is!

Good luck!

(Of course you may be lucky enough to have a name and model number printed on the circuit board.  In which case, no luck required)

Yesterday my sound was working no problem.
Today I couldn't connect to my internet radio station, so I went through troubleshooting and reinstalled Windows Media player.
I cannot play sounds from any program, and the speaker icon has gone missing from my system tray.
I have so far:
- Made sure that my onboard sound is enabled in BIOS
- Downloaded the latest AUDIO drivers and installed them.
- Followed three of the solutions here: http://www.geocities.com/mmsystem002/ because I got this error: "MMSYSTEM002: A device id has been used that is out of range for your system."

The only thing that I can think of to do next is *shudder* format and reinstall, and see if that fixes it. Any other ideas?

If it makes any difference, I have a Soyo SY-7ma-B motherboard and am running Win98SE.smirks.....Have you gone to your control panel and checked to see if all the sound devices are enabled.....
Go to the system in control panel and open up and check all sound settings and perhaps just replacing the speaker icon will solve the dilema.

dl65  I'm afraid not. Nothing appears to be wrong with my sytem settings. The Audio PART of my Multimedia settings is grayed-off, so I can't touch anythign there (coincidentally, the show speaker box is checked).Did this happen after you have installed the new drivers? If not, can you tell us what you have done to your soundcard or systems before you shut down your computer yesterday?

You could try to install a new videocard. Disable the onboard soundcard first.

This happened before I installed the drivers. I wasn't doing anything abnormal before I shut down the computer last night. I downloaded a few mp3s and was listening to them while checking e-mails and such. This is a family computer, so there's a chance that someone used it before I got on today, although I doubt anyone who used it could have done anything to the drivers or windows SOFTWARE. They just don't know enough. I'm thinking that either I have some corrupted files, or my soundcard is going kaput.The one's not knowing what they are doing are usually the most dangerous ones.

http://hardwarehell.com/discus/messages/1204/1823.html?1013995693

This might help you solve your problem. - I cannot help you, you will have to WAIT for the more experienced members to come online.

I'd go into Device manager/Hardware list in the System applet and remove all audio devices, then put the CD you got with your MB in and reinstall the Soyo audio driver. It sounds like either the driver got corrupted or the mainboard chipset function took a powder. As Soyo has turned in a less than stellar performance record in my experience, I wouldn't be surprised.

Worst case, get yourself an Ensoniq/SB PCI64 or better soundcard with its latest drivers and disable Soyo's mainboard audio. A suitable soundcard should be reasonably low cost, you don't need an Audigy or other fancy one.Okay...here's something interesting:
I tried to re-install the drivers for the fifth time, and the install wizard seems to think that my soundcard is disabled (it's not, checked the BIOS). However, windows then detects said soundcard and tries to find drivers for it.

Grr.Oh, nevermind. I got the sucker working. When Windows device manager popped up, I went along with it, set it to look for all drivers on my computer, found the soundcard, and went ahead with an install. Frankly, I didn't expect it to work, because it asked me to pop in the Win98 setup disk, and I've never had to do that to install drivers for anything on this sytem, but it did. *shrugs* Go figure.Really?  I've often had to use my Windows disk to install drivers.  Odd that you haven't.You can also install drivers independently, that can be what Smirks has been doing all along.

I'm running a PC, and I wanted to check the TYPE of memory on my computer.  So I shut down WINDOWS Xp: Home Edition, opened up the case and took out a stick of memory.  After inspecting it, I plugged it back in and my computer stopped working.  Whenever I try to turn on the computer my monitor no longer gets a signal, the power does not shut down after holding down the power button like it's supposed to, and the Dvd-rom and CD-RW drive both do not respond to their 'open' buttons. I also tried to put in a different video card to see if the card was the problem but I saw no difference.  Any help or response would be appreciated. I do hope you demagnetized your hands before removing the  memory stick?

If you did, did you properly push the stick till it is secure?

You SAY you took out 'a stick'.  I'm assuming you have more than one so take that stick out again and try booting without it.  If you're GOLDEN then that's cool, if not you may have DONE something bad.You should turn the switch on the power supply off or unplug the machine, and take static precautions, before handling your RAM sticks.

Make sure it's not in skewed or backwards.

try this and see if it helps&GT;http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/q307/8/44.asp&NoWebContent=1#5Kanu.....From what you POSTED , this just occurred.....all was fine and then POOF it wasn't or was SOMEONE perhaps attempting to change drive NAMES after a format.

let us know.....

dl65  Kanu.......remove the old battery.........buy a new ONE .....
install it and then go into Cmos and reset all the settings and your back in business


dl65

I just INSTALLED a DVD ROM but when I tried to play a dvd video a message came up on windows media player saying it was unable to play it as there is not a compatible decoder installed on the computer.
                                 I RUN xp and the dvd is : compaq dvd-rom sr-8587
                           I am fairly computer illiterate so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
                            elibank.elibank....Do you have another cd-rom in the p/c ? How did you set the jumper on the new dvd -rom? Have you installed the software that came with the dvd-rom ?

let us know

dl65  You may need additional decoders.

There is a program called 'Gspot' which can TELL you what decoder you need.

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ - Gspot - Freeware

Whenever I put in a cd, it does nothing. I checked out my device manager, and it's listed "SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616." It also has a little exclamation point next to it, indicating a problem.

I'm on XP if that's any help.When you click on the exclamation point you should be taken to a MENU where it states the problem.

Underneath the window where it has stated the problem there should be a button labeled 'Solve problem'

See if WINDOWS XP can help you.

Make sure that your cables are connected properly.Noah.....Is this something that suddenly started ......?
you should be able to click on the exclamation point and troubleshoot the problem

let us know

dl65  Is your DVD-ROM player still under warranty?

Noah......No drivers.......thats odd......wonder where they went? Was anyone playing around with the machine or did a virus sneak in ........because drivers dont just disolve. You MUST have the DVD drive install disk. Or if you are certain there are no viruses present....you could use the SYSTEM RESTORE function of XP and restore to just before the cd - drive stopped working ......Hummmmm ......do you have 2 cd drives on your machine......If you dont you will have to d/l the drivers and install that way ........Is it possible to take the dvd drive out and put it in another pc to confirm that it is ok ............If it is then I would be looking for a virus......SO PUT A HOLD on the SYSTEM RESTORE UNTILL you are certain.

let us know

dl65  
take the troubleshoot tour>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321641  and what mobo have got...and is this cdrom a copy of something?

I have an old Gateway 366c with a 4GB drive. I have a 20GB drive out of a defunct, older Gateway (That has LOTS of data I don't want to lose) that I would LIKE to install into the Gateway 366c, but keep the 4GB drive as well (have both drives is what I'm trying to say).

I've installed HD's before, but never attempted something like this. Any pointers?

Thanks.Greg....Well if you set the EXISTING hard drive as the master and the new one as the slave it should work for you .....You never said if the 2nd drive has an operating system on it or just data .


dl65  Yes (I'm sorry) it does have an OS - both drives have Windows98.

Greg.....then plug it in as the master ( unplug the existing drive )......save whatever data you want from it and then format it and set it up as the slave with your present drive as the master......

dl65  OK, thanks!

I'd set up the 20G as master with slave and the 4 as slave, then reinstall the MB stuff (embedded or current Gateway soundcard and video, chipset) and network card and modem, COPY any data from the 4G I want, and finally wipe the 4 and use it for a simple data partition.id be supprised if a 20gig would work in that computerOntrack Disk Manager. Dynamic Drive Overlay. Patching lame hard drive code in BIOS since 1984...

after a few weird troubles with my computer yesterday my second hard drive says it has no partition. i can see it in disk managment. i need the files that are on it but cant access the disk at all. i have tried refreshing but no LUCK? its like its a new disk ready to be partitionedblaster......perhaps you could ENLIGHTEN us as to the "Weird Things"........what have you been doing.......LOL
Telling us what O/S your using would be a GREAT help as well.

let us know

dl65  winxp i have no idea what happened it all started when i whent to load on a video then the computer started with errors and it took me ages to get it going. its ok now nut SLAVE drive says it needs to be formatedblaster........HUMMMMMMMMMM sounds like someone was playing around in the disk management section .....
It would help if you could find out exactly what was CHANGED in there and perhaps it can be reversed.....unless of course that drive was formatted in error in which case you out of luck.
how was the second hard drive partitioned and was it functioning properly ?
let us know

dl65

I have this friend who told me that she cannot connect to the internet with an error message saying " error CONNECTING to server, please check your dialtone......."

How can i help her?WELL ...Larry it would help to know if her dialup connection has been WORKING ? How do you know that her ISP doesnt have problems ? Is her PC on a dedicated phone line .......? Is this the first time this has OCCURRED ?
let us know

dl65  

My mainboard (According to programs such as Sisoft Sandra) seems only able to read three out of four memory banks.
I only use two out of four memory banks, it does not pose a significant problem. However, I am curious as to what could be causing this.

The confronted the salespoint with this issue and they, one of the salesmen, told me it WOULD most likely work even though it cannot be detected properly.

He advised me to contact Tech-support, and so I did.
An E-mail is underway.

Has anyone had this problem or does anyone know what could have gone wrong?

It is a GIGABYTE 7n400 Pro mainboard.Raptor.....how did you determine that slots 3 and 4 dont work ....have you installed ram in them?


dl65  I made an error. It is three out of four memory banks, not two out of four.

According to many programs such as Sisoft Sandra (That can read your BIOS settings and hardware) my Mainboard only has three banks.

I donot know if all four work, I only tried 3 out of 4 memory banks. (I was not properly instructed on the Dual channel ability)

But I am curious as to what could have caused this. Why do these programs say that I have 3 memory banks while I have 4?

If I were to test my fourth bank, could I damage my memory stick? Quote

Thank you for supporting Gigabyte products.
The Chipset recognize 6 memory sides.
Also the maximum you can run is 3x512MB Double sided.

If you use more memory modules the system doesn't recognize all of th memory modules.

Raptor.....Why dont you take the side panel off your pc and see how many memory slots your motherboard has?

Hi guys im new here but I hope you can help-

About a week or so ago my CD rom drive just,.. disapeared.

I DIDNT think of it as a big deal because it had happened b4 and I restored and it went back to normal.

a few DAYS LATER I went to restore and it doesnt let me restore which I find really odd.

I opened up my computer cleaned it out and unplugged the cd rom drive, and restarted and said that it couldnt detect the secondary disk not detected, so im thinking the computer thought that my CDrom was a 2nd hard drive for some reason..

so I replug,restart again and it say New hardware found!
I think great, its back. but with that mssg I get the following in my device manager

"Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or DAMAGED. (Code 19)" with a conflicted sign near it.


Does this mean I have to get the driver or what..? the CD rom doesnt work so I cant exactly put it back in..

If this helps my CD rom is a
_NEC CD-RW NR-9100A

I hope you guys could help me, I'd really appreciate getting help from people that know what theyre talking about. lol  http://www.visioneer.com/support/general/FAQ/error19.asp

This MIGHT be of use to you.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prjk_dec_lgsc.asp

Scroll down to number 19.

This does concern Windows XP, correct?

Hi all,

I had an installation CD running and then all of a sudden my CD-ROM drive stops working.  The computer doesn't even recognize it.  I opened it up and all the cables seem to be working fine.  Thanks in advance Glory.....Have you tried putting a music cd in to see if it will LOAD......What operating system are you using?

let us know

dl65  Hi thanks for the reply,

sorry, I don't go onto computer forums very often.  I'm on windows XP and the drive won't even open.Glory.......If you go to "My Computer" does the cd drive show there ?
There is a small hole in the door of your cd drive .....if you insert SAY a needle or straighten out a paper clip you should be able to open it up .......
Let us know how you make out ......


dl65  nope, it doesn't show up there...I should also mention I've got two CD drives, and one of 'em hasn't been working for a while now, I just never got around to it because of school

thanks it opened Glory........... is the cd in question the one that hasnt worked for a while ?
How many hard drives do you have in your pc ?
What HAPPENS if you go into the bios........does it show one or two cd drives and what are they CALLED? ie secondary master bla bla bla or secondary SLAVE bla bla ...

let us know

dl65the CD in question stopped working today, and I have 2 drives on this computer.  Um, how do I access BIOS?Glory.......Shut down and restart...........as soon as it starts..... press the delete key and you will go into setup ..........
Have a look at what devices it sees ....

let us know

dl65  How old is your CD-drive?

maybe you havnt got one as master and one as slave? have a look at the jumpers on the back of the units.

Hello everyone,
I am THINKING of getting the following system from Dell. I need to know if this configuration is good for server/workstation type of usage?

Dell Precision Workstation 450



 
Catalog Number / Description   Product Code   SKU   Id



Dell Precision Workstation 450 Desktop:
Intel® Xeon™ Processor 2.40GHz, 512K Cache   45D24   [221-1697]   1

 
Operating System:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional, SP1 with Media and NTFS   WXP1   [420-1931]   11

 
Memory:
512MB,DDR266 SDRAM Memory,ECC (2 DIMMS)   512E2   [311-2258]   3

 
Keyboard:
Enhanced Performance, USB (8 Hot Keys)   U8   [310-2701]   4

 
Mouse:
USB,Logitech MX-500,7 button w/scroll   O7   [310-4327]   12

 
Monitor:
SPECIAL OFFER! Dell E172FP 17 inch Flat Panel Monitor (17.0 inch vis)   E172FPU   [463-0645]   5

 
Graphics Cards:
nVidia, Quadro NVS 280, 64MB, dual monitor VGA capable   QNVSV   [320-0718]   6

 
Speakers:
Dell Two Piece Stereo System   A215   [313-2316]   18

 
Sound Card:
Sound Blaster® Audigy II with onboard 1394   SBA2   [313-1439]   17

 
Productivity Software:
Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003 and Adobe Acrobat 6.0   BASAD03   [365-1234][410-0166][412-0451]   22

 
CD-ROM, DVD, and Read-Write Devices:
48X CD-ROM AND 48X/32X/48X CDRW with Roxio® Easy CD Creator   ROMRW   [313-1925]   16

 
First HARD Drive:
80GB ATA-100 IDE, 1 inch (7200 rpm)   80I72   [340-7525]   8

 
Floppy Drive:
1.44MB FDD,Full-size,no-bezel,F3 bay-1ST SOURCE   3   [340-3736]   10

 
Purchase Intent:
Purchase is not intended for resale.   NOT4SEL   [462-4506]   138

 
Hardware Support Services:
3Yr Parts + Onsite Labor (Next Business Day)   W3YOS   [980-7000][980-7002]   29

 
INSTALLATION Services:
No Installation    NOINSTL   [900-9987]   32



all this for 1800 dollars...For that much, I'd expect the 'reader' CD drive to be a DVD reader, and the CPU to be a real P4 instead of a crippleware Celeron... er, Xeon. Otherwise not bad. And make absolutely sure they give you a set of real WinXP and driver DISKS, not a crummy 'restore' disk that relies on a funky 4G partition on the drive.

You can buy a nice standard tower ATX box, 450w P/S, an ASUS P4X800 MB with a 2.5GB real P4 and a half gig RAM, and comparable other components from a friendly local dealer, PC fleamarket, or www.pricewatch.com and have yourself a nice home built for a bit less. You'd get a 17 or 19 inch CRT monitor instead of that flat panel, but...

Can't change display to 256 colors.  It is stuck on 16 and monochrome.  

The monitor I have plugged in is 17" Mag Innovation 170fs, and it's not on the list to choose.    How can I add it to the list?  

I have used it on another computer..  it plugged right in, was detected and worked with no problem at all.  

ThanksDid you update your videocard drivers?

What O/S are you running?Running 95.  How do I update drivers?  http://www.maginnovision.com/
- New website
http://www.maginnovision.com/legacy/default.asp
- Old website

You might wish to contact Tech-support if the situation remains unsolved.

What kind of monitor is the 170 FS? I cannot find it in any of the lists.  

Also, did you format before hooking up this monitor? If you removed Windows 95 and reinstalled it (After formatting) you should also reinstall your videocard drivers.

Videocard drivers can be found on the manufacturer's website (What is your videocard's brand?) and on the videocard CD that came with the videocard package.Raptor....  bought the monitor at a garage sale..  no documents with it.  It works, but I want to play some games and it says change to 256.

Thank you for the mag websites.  The machine I'm using is not on line...  will get it online and I think I can download the drivers.

Yes, I formatted old Dell that came with monitor.  Do I need to install sound drivers too?
If the soundcard isn't working, yes, you have to install drivers.

Are you certain that the monitor is a colour monitor? What is the make?Oh yes, the monitor is beautiful color.  Had it hooked up to another cpu.  Don't know how to find out about make.  All it says on it's face is Mag Innovision 170FS.

I'm trying to get one working computer (for a 3-year old to begin learning  ABC's and such) out of all these junk computers I find at garage sales.  The first one I found was working out beautifully, and then the sound went sour.  I formatted it too.  Maybe I just needed to install drivers on it.  Did the monitor you used before the Mag Innovision 170 FS work properly?No, the other monitor did not work properly either.   I got the same message from the other cpu as I get using this one (need 256 colors to play game.. then it sends me to the list to pick out the driver and the monitor).

So I thought I would just plug the second cpu into the first monitor and have a working computer.  Wrong.  

Evidently, this cpu needs new drivers, because the monitor worked fine on the other cpu...  but the other cpu has no sound.

The other cpu has an exe called progman.  Wonder if that's the drivers?Do you know what videocard is installed?

Assuming Direct X is installed: Go to Start -> Run and TYPE DXDIAG.

Then head to the 'Monitor' tab and post the name here.

I have not got a lot of experience with Windows 95, but I think the problem here is that you have no videocard drivers installed.

If you even have a videocard installed. Although I am not quite sure if a computer will boot without one. (I never tried)OK...  I'll try that.  But I doubt that Direct X is installed..  nothing else is.  

I tried to get the thing online, but it told me I didn't have a modem installed.  I'm freaking out.  I LOADED Windows back into the machine...  why is there nothing I need on my hard drive?  Should I reinstall the 95?Patsy.....what's happened to your machine .....last time I saw you here ....you had just successfully formatted and installed win 95 ....... You now have a problem with the modem........first ....is there a modem installed ?
There may not be a driver in win 95 to make it function properly...... If in doubt.......shut down remove modem card ( when you have the card out record what make and model it is in case you need a driver for it )...then restart and shut down ........plug modem card back in and see if windows see it ........

let us know

dl65  I believe Windows 95 is very incompatible considering hardware.

You will most likely need drivers for everything you have installed and the Internet is the primairy source to get those.

Unless the device is Plug And Play, but if it does not function properly immediatly, assume it does not support Plug And Play.

Reinstalling Windows 95 will not help you. It is functioning correctly (Unless you experience  errors you have not yet notified us of?) and it will need drivers to help support the hardware installed.

OK...  guess I give up...  putting everything in a closet.

Thought I had it all figured out.  I hooked the original cpu back into the monitor and wrote down the settings for the monitor and adapter.  Then I disconnected the cpu and put the second one back in line and configured the monitor and adapter EXACTLY the same way.  Still stuck on 16.

So now I have the original cpu hooked back up.  We'll just listen to the scratchy music.  At least we get a good picture.

Thanks for all the help.  If you have recorded the hardware installed in the Win95 machine, you can download the necessary drivers from the manufacturer websites or www.driverguide.com and put them on CD - or USE Direct Cable Connection (AVAILABLE with Win95B and later with MS Plus for Win95) to temporarily network the Win95 box with the online one and copy the files over, if you have no CD burner.

If the modem is a PCI device or 'soft modem' you need a driver to make it work.

As for the scratchy sound, check to see that the speaker jack on the card isn't loose and the cord for the speakers isn't broken. And updating the card drivers wouldn't hurt.

PROBLEM:  COMPUTER STARTS UP THEN AFTER A FEW SECONDS THE SCREEN BECOMES DISTORTED LINES BLOCK ETC DIFFERENT COLORS AFTER I CANNOT SEE ANYTHING SOMETIMES ITS JUST A WHITE SCREEN WITH A SMALL BLACK SQUARE.


Hi if anyone has some INSIGHT into this problem and knows what could possibly be the reason for this  I would be so grateful.

windows xp PROFFESSIONAL on Intel Pentium 4 CPU running at 2.2GHz


LCD DISPLAY14.1"  XGA TFT Active Matrix Color Displays - 1024x768 32-bit True Color,

Graphics
ATI Mobility Radeon M6-D 4X AGP w/16MB DDR dedicated video memory

COULD THIS BE THE VIDEO CARD.?  THANKS MUCH

I Forgot to mention that it was a laptopLooks like either the video controller for the display is going south or the cable from the MB to the display has begun taking a powder. Does it do this if the AC adapter is plugged in? If it runs normal with the adapter in, try a fresh battery, you could be dealing with low voltage from a dead cell.

I am trying to help my FRIEND get her puter up and running and we have CHECKED and rechecked all the plugins and all seems fine but every time we try to turn it on we get a message that says cable disconnected go to power save. she moved and her computer was working just fine before the move. can anyone pleeeease help? it would be a tremendous help and greatly appreciated! shooshoo shooshoo4......perhaps you could offer a little more info..Like what is the operating SYSTEM and exactly what is the error message . It could be important

let us know

dl65  When some monitors are not plugged in to a PC, they display the message 'Power Saving Mode - Check cable connection' or something SIMILAR before going blank. If you are seeing this, your monitor cable is loose or unplugged, or could be physically broken inside at the plug. Or you could have bent pins or it could be jammed into a D-9 shell serial port connector...

If you MEAN a different BIOS than your computer then no.  What is it you want/need to do with your video CARD?Most (X)VGA cards have up to 32K of BIOS code from C000 to C7FF that porovides the basic card services and emulates an IBM CGA for the bootup until Windows starts. They do not have a separate SETUP screen or any ADJUSTABLE parameters there.

The video drivers in Windows (or MacOS) provide the basic VGA services and advanced resolutions, once they are installed.

I want to add more STORAGE space. If i keep my existing drive as master and add a second formatted drive as slave, will it act as ONE drive.. Do i have to format the master and make one large partition?  Any help would be appreciated. I am running Win98.  thanks.The second drive is a separate volume. At a minimum, you will see two volumes (C and D) when you install.

Best OPTION is based on which drive is fastest. If your old drive is a 7200rpm and the new one is a 5400rpm, just add the second drive, boot to DOS, FDISK it, format it, and put your download archives and TEMP directories there. Keep the swap file on your existing drive.

If your new drive is larger and faster than your existing one (has smaller seek rating, same or faster RPM, and bigger cache), which is quite likely, set it up temporarily as the only drive in your system and use a Win98 EBD floppy to FDISK it (pay attention to the cluster sizes as you make a 'Primary' FAT32 partition and make it Active, then allocate remaining space as Extended volume) and format /s it. Then reconfigure it as slave and your original drive as master, and with Windows running:

In Windows Explorer, go into View, Folder Options. Select the advanced options list and disable ALL 'hide files' and 'hide extensions' options if you haven't already done so. You should end up with all files and all extensions visible. If there are any entries concerning 'file indexing service', disable that feature. Apply the settings, then 'Make all folders look like this one' before closing.

In Windows Explorer, select the root files in C: and copy all but io.sys, win386.swp, and command.com (you can also leave any 'bak' files behind) to the root of your new drive's first partition. Next, make a WINDOWS directory on the drive and copy all of C:\Windows directory content to it except the C:\Windows\Temp directory. Make an empty Temp directory in your new Windows directory. (Don't just copy the Windows directory over, we're trying to exclude Temp's contents without leaving a hole.) NOTE: If there is a win386.swp file in Windows, do not attempt to copy it.

Finally, select the remaining directories on the drive and copy that entire lot over, excluding the Recycle BIN and any recognisable spyware directories. Also do not copy virus vaults over.

If any error messages APPEAR, repeat that operation while leaving out the individual file that caused the error.

Finally... Shut down, and reconfigure the new drive as Master and the old as Slave. You should have a faster machine when you reboot. Verify that all your applications are running. When you are satisfied with the transfer, reformat the partition(s) on the second drive.

Note on programs that use 'license files' on disk: After you have copied everything over to the new drive, but before shutting down and swapping them to the new setup, unmount the licenses back to floppy. After swapping the drives, remount the license files (on the new drive, of course) as you test the programs, if they request it to recover the license. At worst case, you recovered the license before the drive swap and put it back in for the new one. At best, you just cloned the license file and the program will work without re-licensing. As you're not planning to spawn these license files to others, consider it a fair backup.

I just bought a new Samsung 120 GB harddrive, 7200 RPM, 8M.  I installed it into my desktop and put in the Windows XP cd to install. The blue screen came up and guided me through the format and then reboot.  After the reboot the black screen said "press any key to BOOT from cd".  This just takes you back to the blue screen again, so instead I didn't press anything.  It should just load up but instead it gives me an ERROR message.  It says

"couldn't open drive mutli(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)PARTITION(1)
NTLDR: couldn't open drive multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)"

How do I install the hard drive the proper way?  I hope someone can help me out with this problem.I'll assume you havn't done this yet.. Change the BIOS to boot off the CD first.  If the new drive is the only one in your computer, REMOVE all the JUMPERS from it.  If it's a slave then make sure the slave jumper is on.  You're right in thinking the system will pretty much take care of itself.  It will walk you through the creation and formatting of a partition then follow through the install process.

I have a dell dimension 2350. It has an integrated video card. I am trying to install a Gforce FX 5200 PCI video card. I TRIED almost everything. I need a computer wiz to crack this problem.

RalphRalph......have you gone into the bios and disabled the on board vid display .....then install the NEW plug in card

Hope this helps you

dl65  Have you tried calling Dell?  They have great support so you might as WELL take advantage of it.

What kind of VIDEOCARD do you own?type DXDIAG in the RUN box it will tell you more..If you can go online, download the FREE Adviser from www.belarc.com. This sounds LIKE a driver conflict with the video card or the monitor being installed as a Standard VGA on the video properties.

I have one 80GB RAID hard drive with 2048k cache
and one 120GB IDE hard drive with 8192k cache

which one WOULD give me a better performance for my OS (winXP) ?
I would think the 120 GB IDE would work the BEST..

Isn't Raid for more than one disk only?If they're both IDE, USE the 120GB primary and the 80 SECONDARY.