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I recently tried to install Linux but I changed my mind before the installation stage I pressed EXIT and shut down but when I rebooted I got a boot0: error I do have a windows boot cd and my computer is a DELL INSPIRON 1545 plleeease help me When you say a "Windows boot CD" do you mean a Windows install disc? Also, boot0 error is a Macintosh THING I believe. What KIND of computer have you got? What was on it before?

I have a custom built computer that has been running perfectly for the past few months and all of the sudden started running very slowly. Here are the specs:

I7 - 930
12gb ram
1tb 7,200rpm internal hdd
1.5tb 5,400rpm internal hdd
Nvidia gtx 480
lg blu ray burner
DVD burner

Finally the computer started having errors at startup and kept doing a startup repair. EVENTUALLY Windows WOULD load, but would be ridiculously slow. It would take a couple minutes (sometimes more) to respond to anything. EVEN a mouse click. I decided that I would format the hard drive and re-install everything. After I re-installed windows and installed all of the necessary drivers it was still being very slow.

The only hardware I've added recently was the blu-ray burner. It has been working fine, but maybe there's something faulty with it? I'm not sure what to do at this point, but I need to figure it out soon. This computer is used for video editing at a school and we need it.

This computer is not hooked up to the internet on a regular basis, occassionally I will take it home to install updates.

Any help or suggestions you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!Welcome to the CH FORUMS. Perchance did this change in performance begin at the time of the Blu Ray hardware device? Were there any software additions or updates coincident to this change? Is the computer still under warranty? truenorth If you right click on Computer and select PROPERTIES, does it show the correct processor speed and correct amount of RAM?

Hi,

I have a dell inspiron 530 desktop, running windows XP with all the latest windows updates, 4gb RAM, aftermarket G-forge 1gb video card. It has 8 usb ports, 4 in the front, and 4 in the back. Recently any devices I plug in drop connection and the reconnect constantly. In the PAST I have filled all 8 ports without any issues, and this problem does not affect my usb keyboard, mouse, and PRINTER. However plugging in a second usb mouse will cause this issue on the second mouse but not the original one. It doesn't seem to matter what the 4th device is. I have also tried both the front and rear usb ports with the same results, and all the devices I am trying to use have worked in the past with no issues. I have not made any changes to hardware since the problem started, so I am lost on this one. I have done a full WIPE and re-install of windows. Any ideas?Get yourself a mug of your favorite beverage and then peruse this site to see if any of it applies (and solves) your USB issue.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310575
goodluck,truenorthWell, nothing there has seemed to make a difference. Going to tear the whole thing down, clean it out, check connections, then reload from scratch. I'll re-post as soon as I am done whether I got it going or not.Whenever large measure are made to restore software and a problem persists, it often forebodes a hardware flaw.

Get a good PCI USB card and install it. The built-in USB may have mechanical and electrical issues.

[recovering disk space - old attachment deleted by admin]Well, full reload and still have a problem. I am willing to get a pci card, however since I have 3 devices working fine regardless of which usb port I use, I am starting to think I may be lacking power. I did recently put a nvidea gt 430 1gb video card in to replace my 256mb card, it required a 300W power supply, however I think my 300W PS may not be enough. When I load World of Warcraft now, as soon as I "zone in" in the game the video shuts off, and the computer hangs. Also last night I plugged my wifes phone into the usb to charge which will still work, but get less than half a charge in 8 hours. Can anyone confirm that this sounds like I need a bigger power supply, or that mine is weak?Small update, I went back to my old video card and that solves the problem with wow, still able to unplug the printer and use another device, just can't use more than 3 total devices. I did crack open the psu and found one capacitor that is swelled on the top, so I think I may need to upgrade my psu. Will update again when I can get a new psu. Advice/opinions still welcome.Good hob! So the PSU had a problem.
That makes sense. A faulty capacitor can reduce the quality of the power, making the rails 'Wobble'* and 'sag' and provoking failure of some USB devices.
Still, you might want to do more that replace the capacitor. A new 450 watt PSU can be had for a price that makes it more piratical l to retire the old PSU as a backup.

*Wobble:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE_64SdD27wYeah, I am not feeling up to replacing a single capacitor. I have not done any soldering on boards with those yet, so I will just update my psu, I'm thinking more towards a nice 850 watt or so psu though so I will support more upgrades in the future. Also now even with my older video card I freeze and lose video even just trying to watch a small video online, so I am pretty CONVINCED at this point that my psu is creating all my problems. Going to go ahead and mark this one as solved for now. Thanks everyone for the help and support.

Hi there,

I have done some extensive google searching for an answer but the only slightly relevant posts are to do with ancient ddr and ddr2 machines!

Relevant components:

asRock 870 extreme3 - HTTP://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=870%20Extreme3&cat=Specifications

2x 4gb Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz DDR3 - http://www.corsair.com/memory/vengeance/vengeance-4gb-single-module-ddr3-memory-kit-cmz4gx3m1a1600c9.html

Scythe Shuriken Rev.B Quiet Low Profile - http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/cpu-cooler/shuriken-rev-b.html


So anyway, i ordered the new RAM and CPU heatsink/fan pretty much at the same time without thinking too carefully - but now i realise the CPU socket is positioned very close to the first RAM slot and the Scythe fan is several cm larger than the stock AMD fan.

So when they both arrive, if the fan turns out to be on the big side and pokes out infront of the first RAM slot (DDR3_A1), (keeping in mind that the corsair vengeance has quite a high raised heatsink) - will i be able to simply leave the first ddr3 RAM slot empty and plug in the TWO sticks of RAM either in slot 2 & 3 (DDR3_B1 & DDR3_A2) or 3 & 4 (DDR3_A2 & DDR3_B2).

I suppose if not i may have to return the Scythe shuriken and purchase a heatsink with a smaller fan - but either way, some help and ideas on the matter would really go a long way!

thanks

mzjangoPlug the 2 RAM cards into the 2 White slots, leave the Blue slots empty.Quote from: Computer_Commando on March 07, 2011, 05:46:13 PM

Plug the 2 RAM cards into the 2 White slots, leave the Blue slots empty.

...Would that mean that its best to use dual channel RAM in pairs? so for instance its better to use 2 or 4 sticks (complete pairs) than say a 1 or 3 ? or does this not matter - because i'm sure a lot of people go for 12gb or even 4gb of RAM.

Is AMD renaming "Cool 'n' Quite" to "Power Now" or is there a difference between the two?

At first I got the impression that "Cool 'n' Quite" only reduced clock speed when the CPU was idle where as "Power Now" increased the clock speed of one or more CPU cores (much like Intels version, the name of which currently escapes me).I haven't done any RESEARCH atm but to my recollection PowerNow! was the power management technology that AMD featured on some early MOBILE processors. For example- the k6-2 mobile. The name was supposed to complement the "3d-Now!" name.

PowerNow is the old one. Cool and Quiet is what is is called now.
Quote from: BC_Programmer on February 21, 2011, 11:24:33 AM

I haven't done any research.

PowerNow is the old one. Cool and Quiet is what is is called now.

ahh, OK, so PowerNow! is older, but it still exists. I wasn't sure if they had simply renamed it or wether they actually introduced a new technology to complement it. Seems like the latter.

So does "Cool 'n' Quite" also dynamicaly over clock the CPU like intel's "Turbo Boost" Or is it only a power/noise saving feature?

[Sorry for late reply, have been in a 2 day minecraft induced coma]

I have this external hard-drive.

I have this motherboard.

The hard-drive supports E-SATA, the mother board just has SATA 3Gb/s ports. I currently USE USB, but on a 1 TB HD, the transfer times for large AMOUNTS of files is brutal.

Will this cable fix my problem?Quote from: monkeydave on March 07, 2011, 01:28:45 PM

...Will this cable fix my problem?

Hi.
Trying to fix a friends computer that seems to have a problem with the hard drive.
Basicly it freezes soon after boot and on re-boot no hard drive is detected in the bios.

The strange thing is if I PUT the hard drive in a USB caddy I can access all the files, and I have managed to BACK up over 50 gig WITHOUT the drive failing.
My question is does this seem normal for a failing hard drive or are there other possibilities?

Thanks.
SATA--Ide ? truenorthHi.
It’s a sata, am I right in thinking hard drives either work or they dont?
Quote from: aussie11 on February 22, 2011, 12:58:23 AM

Hi.
It’s a sata, am I right in thinking hard drives either work or they dont?

In most cases yes, however it sounds more like a malware issue to me. Especially if the drive works fine in a caddy.

Info:

Asus P7H55-M motherboard
Intel i3 CPU
3 GB DDR3 RAM
Main drive WD 500 gigs, secondary drive Seagate 1TB (both SATA)
Windows XP SP3


2 days ago the 1tb drive started displaying "Delayed Write Failure" error with notifications that data could not be written for $MFT and the root directory. I backed up the most important stuff and rebooted, and the BIOS reported that the drive was not detected (but knew which SATA port to say it wasn't detected on). Windows didn't see it either.

I shut the computer off and switched SATA cables and ports; it was detected and worked fine, but I continued to get these errors. A reboot caused it to not be seen during boot again, but switching ports "fixed" it temporarily.

Yesterday it quit being usable. Windows could see the drive and how much was used, but when I tried to ACCESS all that came up was $LDR$. A few minutes later the drive disappeared from the menu.

This drive is less than a year old. Could it really be a hardware failure so soon?Check the drive with SeaTools.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatoolsCan't. Windows doesn't see it, but after a fresh power up the BIOS will. I used SMART on it, which reported back fine.

Can this utility be run outside windows?Yes. Get the ISO CD-ROM Image here:
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=seatooldreg&vgnextoid=480bd20cacdec010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD


Look at the tutorial here:
http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=201271&NewLang=en


You will NEED a program that can burn disk images to MAKE the disk. If you are not sure if you have one you can use ImgBurn. Get it free here:
http://www.imgburn.com/


If you're not sure how to burn the disk there is a guide here:
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/G/Burning+ISO+Images+with+ImgBurn


Quote from: JJ 3000 on February 23, 2011, 03:07:53 AM

Yes. Get the ISO CD-ROM Image here:
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=seatooldreg&vgnextoid=480bd20cacdec010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD


Look at the tutorial here:
http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=201271&NewLang=en


You will need a program that can burn disk images to make the disk. If you are not sure if you have one you can use ImgBurn. Get it free here:
http://www.imgburn.com/


If you're not sure how to burn the disk there is a guide here:
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/G/Burning+ISO+Images+with+ImgBurn

Ok intel has got me confused, I am using their compatibility tool and it says that a Core 2 duo E4700 is COMPATIBLE with all AA's of an Intel D945gcl motherboard. But when I look up the E4700, my AA# is not listed. Will it work or not is my QUESTION?

I am basically TRYING to speed my system up as far as it can go.

My motherboard is a D945GCL AAD82064-200
I KNOW some people just call them main boards, but it is an old habit. SorryAccording to this, all revisions of the D945GCL are compatible with the E4700.

http://processormatch.intel.com/CompDB/SearchResult.aspx?Boardname=d945gclThanks JJ3000, yeh that is the place where it said they are compatible. But when I cross-checked the Processor and it's compatible boards MINE did not show up, that is where my confusion lies. I just don't know if they only list the boards still be manufactured or what, but maybe I should just go ahead and try, I just don't want to fry my main board. I went ahead and bought the cpu and it did work. I also found a bios update for my main board here.

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?st=pn&param=4006158R

thanks for everyone's help!

I cannot enable my Synsptics TOUCHPAD in my Toshiba A-135-S4537 laptop. I have Win 7 Home Priemun 32 Bit OS. The touchpad WORKED fine before I disabled it but when I tried to enable it again it WOULD not work. The Device Manager says that the driver is up to DATE. I uninstalled the driver and reinstalled it again to no avail. The Device Manager says that the touchpad is INSTALLED and working fine but actually does not work. Can anyone help me correct this problem?

Dear Forum,
I typically run a stock trading platform with, maybe 10 charts ACTIVE, a CAD program, maybe another stock platform, and maybe 10 web browsers open at once. How much computer do I need? Mine starts slowing and things freezing up with this running. It is a
Q8200 Quad @ 2.3GHz with 4GB of DDR2 RAM. Just one monitor.
Should I be having this trouble with this machine?
If so, how much computer do I need? Would something like this fit the bill?
Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2071 Phenom II X6 1090T(3.2GHz) 4GB DDR3 1TB HDD Capacity ATI Radeon HD 5770 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Thanks a LOT!
Mike
Quote from: program not responding on March 06, 2011, 10:37:12 AM

Dear Forum,
I typically run a stock trading platform with, maybe 10 charts active, a CAD program, maybe another stock platform, and maybe 10 web browsers open at once. ... Just one monitor.

a couple months AGO my dad unplugged our printer from our computer and now that we've plugged it in it wont print anything, ive tried to reinstall the software for it but to no AVAIL, our printer is a hp psc 1350 all in one printer, and our computer is a compaq presario. That would mean that a cartridge is not working.
The contacts MAY have become dirty from just sitting.
Have you already RAD this?
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=buu02176&lang=en&cc=us&contentType=SupportFAQ&prodSeriesId=306884&prodTypeId=18972
Read down and find the place where it says
"Figure 7: Cleaning and drying the electrical contacts"

I recently got a new computer, its pretty good here are some specs (ask if more needed):

Kingston 8GB DDR3-1600 HyperX DualChannel RAM
ATI Radeon HD6950 1GB DDR5 PCI-E
PhenomII 1090T 6x3,20GHz

but when I run games like Black Ops, and Dragon Age: Origins, I get some fps drops and when in combat, I can hear sound flickering, I don't know whats really causing this, its a new computer and all. All Drivers should be up to date. only thing I find weird is that when CPUID CPU-Z scans my graphics card, it says its a Radeon HD 6900 series, and not a Radeon HD 6950 as it should be. I am really new to computers and so, and I am not sure what to do on my own.Welcome Ronar! to Computer help....and it is. A great bunch of helpful people on here.

I, too, know very LITTLE and I'm sure your help will be here very shortly, but in the meantime, I saw something in your post I want o comment on.

That being you assume, and rightly so, that you have the LATEST up-to-date drivers onboard......NOT SO! Computers are built months ahead of the purchase time and many developments may have taken place in the driver.

Go to hardware manager and allow the program to look for updated drivers.

JohnDO NOT follow the advice in the above post.

1) NEVER update drivers unless there is a specific need to
2) When you DO update drivers, always obtain them from the OEM websites, not from Windows UpdateAlright thanks for the answers so far, but still no solutions. I downloaded video card drivers from AMD website, and the driver installer from stema also says that its up to date and so.I noticed something, on my box that contained my motherboard, it says the model is GA-870A-UD3 (rev. 2.1)

On the Gigabyte website I downloaded drivers for rev 3.0.

Is it possible that this is what caused my issues?Quote from: Ronar on March 06, 2011, 01:38:09 PM

1. I noticed something, on my box that contained my motherboard, it says the model is GA-870A-UD3 (rev. 2.1)
2. On the Gigabyte website I downloaded drivers for rev 3.0.
3. Is it possible that this is what caused my issues?

Windows 7 64bit

I have what I consider an almost impossible problem. I back up all my PHOTO's on a CD. I have one CD that has 24 groups of pictures on it. I have viewed these pictures several times for the last three years. What is strange is that 8 groups (possibly 75 pictures or more) all of a sudden are missing off my CD. Why did I lose 30% of my recorded pictures? Once the flats and pits are burned into a CD they are there to stay, yet my computer can not tread them. At first I thought there may be a problem with my desk top computer, so I tried to view them on my lap top, same thing happens, lost pictures. I have added pictures to that CD and they are fine. I used a Memorex CD-R (not CD-RW) with 152 mb free space. I use the Kodak Easyshare software and XP O. S. I recently reformatted my hard drive so I have therefore lost those photo's. This problem occured before the reformatt. Any ideas?Are the pics you lost created before you added the new ones? It APPEARS that the "CD Multisession" may have failed.
http://www.mscience.com/faq67.html
See the last paragraph: "Multisession recording is usually reserved for special applications such as Kodak Photo CD. Archival storage is best accomplished using single session recording, or packet recording if files are frequently appended, updated, or otherwise changed. Important files that had been saved to a multisession disc may not be ACCESSIBLE at a critical time if the disc has not been finalized, or may not be readable in drives that are not multisession capable."Quote from: Eddie B on March 05, 2011, 03:07:32 PM

Once the flats and pits are burned into a CD they are there to stay

My tech guy transferred all my old music (80+ songs) from old Dell Dimension 4100 with Soundblaster audio card to new Dell INSPIRON I580 with integrated sound card. My new OPS is Windows 7. Have great Altec Lansing speakers with subwoofer and old music USED to play fantastic quality, rattle-the-windows stereo. On new computer they play like CRAP now--they play SLOWER (like they're not playing at the right RPM's), tinny and sometimes muffled. Is this all because of the lack of a Soundblaster sound card? I did download a new song from the web and it PLAYS correctly, just not as rich and stereo-quality as before so I can see where a better sound card will make a difference. Tech guy SAYS I should buy a Soundblaster card for my new computer but will that fix the problems with my old music (downloaded in the Napster-free days). Don't want to lose all my old music, I want them to play like before. Thanks for any suggestions. Integrated sound systems tend to be of lower quality than separate sound cards.

Does your new computer have a slot suitable for simply moving the old sound card to your new computer?This sounds like a driver or driver setting issue. My integrated card and my separate sound card both sound great.

Hi,

COMPUTER Management does not display the EXPECTED TOOLS in the pull down. How do I create a logical drive in C:?



forgot to show the pull down WINDOW!WinXp Computer Management does not have the tools you are seeking. Use Easus Partition Master Free Edition: http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htmThank you! I REMEMBER that I did this in Vista. I will try that 3rd party program.
John

I bought this micro SD card last year [Sandisc 2 Gb]

It was working fine till last week.

Now when I put it in my card reader [Red Bridge M2] the card is not DETECTED.
The removable drive icon is SEEN in My computer but when I click that a message read "Please Insert a disc into drive I:"

I know there is nothing wrong with the Card Reader as it can read other memory cards.
It is ALSO not being detected in my mobile phone too.

Can anyone help me???Does the card show in Disk Management ? ?
I tried changing the drive letter to O:
Please see this
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/7553/mmmeq.pngRight clik it and select PROPERTIES....report back.Type : Removable disc
File type : unknown
Used space : 0 bytes
Free space: 0 bytesIf the card isn't detected in your computer or phone I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there's SOMETHING wrong with the card.

You can try reformatting it, but in the end I think you're going to end up getting a new card.Quote from: Allan on February 24, 2011, 09:21:28 AM

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there's something wrong with the card.

I just bought an HP mini 1120NR from a friend. I am locked out. We cannot get passed the "WELCOME" screen. We have entered the username / password info he gave me (and multiple combinations of both) and all we get is incorrect combo error. I have no idea what to do- he has given me all the info he can...is there a way to RESET?Sorry to say, as we cannot determine whether or not the laptop is actually yours over the internet;
We cannot provide information on bypassing security for safety reasons, and to protect the data
This is a forum of volunteers, so any information or instructions should be validated before doing ANYTHING that sounds risky, and any action done on DIRECTION(s) given is at your own risk.

Yes, there are ways around it, but we cannot direct you to them.
You can try a system restore.....

you can get a few ideas here....

http://www.fixya.com/support/t2012860-restore_factory_default_hp_mini_laptop

This SATA drive was originally inside a WD My Book ESSENTIAL Edition 2.0 external USB hard drive enclosure on which the USB connector on the enclosure failed. I disassembled it to FIND what looks to me, physically, like the Velocirapter SATA hardrive in my self built desktop PC (in specs). Is there an adater or enclosure available that I can use to run this SATA drive as a USB hard drive once again to use for my laptop as a storage drive. This drive has many DVD's I bought online and I would like to access those files with my laptop. http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=92&name=External-EnclosuresQuote from: JJ 3000 on February 16, 2011, 05:47:53 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=92&name=External-Enclosures

Hey all,
This is my first post here so bear with me. I just came across this term ungrounded case. What exactly does it mean. Does the computer restart if the computer is not grounded. What exactly is this. I'm not entirely sure what you are asking. Does you electrical service use 3 prong plugs. If your in North America the rounded third plug is the ground.

Another useage, if you are working inside a computer, it's best to have a static wrist strap attached to the case, to make sure your body is at the same voltage potential as the computer. Frankly, most people just touch the case often to bleed off any static electricity build up.

In general, it has very little to do with RESTARTS, but can fry components.
.It might be helpful if the OP said where they came across the term and in what context (electrical safety, static damage, etc)

I am referring to electrical safety QUOTE from: plckid on March 06, 2011, 05:40:12 AM

I am referring to electrical safety

Numeric key SHOWS off -STILL unable to unlock types numbers instead of letters. No spills etc. to CAUSE prob.Welcome to CH.
How old is it? Even if there were no spills, diets, dust and slam bits of cookie crumbs can jam the keyboard.
Have you ever cleaned the keyboard?
You can find videos on how to DOS it on YouTube.
Or just Google: how to clean laptop keyboard

The LED light of the power button of my pc have been gone for sometime. Now, whenever I shut it down for the night, it would take some time to power on in the MORNING and when it comes on, it sometimes COULD not continue and would turn off again. Since this problem of powering on my pc started, portable HDDs that I connect to the USB ports could not be detected anymore and hence the files cannot be accessed anymore. How do I solve this problem? 1. Provide more info. as to what type of PC specs/brand/model and OS you are running?
2. Do you see any type of messages or ERRORS upon succesful booting?
3. How old is your PC?
4. What recent CHANGES you have made either on hardware or software?
5. Have you tried doing a system restore or booting to safemode by any chance?
6. What protection or security softwares are installed(FIREWALL, Antivirus, System Scanner)?

i have WINDOWS 7 with a canon mp240 PRINTER I want to run them on an XP and a VISTA machine that are connected to my wireless network how do i do it?

A YEAR and a half ago, my dad bought and assembled a PC by himself. Initially, it worked pretty well. Then one day, it started to experience problems - blue screens during the start up process, during and before the user login screen. He gave up on it after a while and kept it in a corner.

Recently, I took it out, and the same problems surfaced. After a one or two rounds of system repairs or restore, it would usually SUCCESSFULLY boot up, but the very same problems would resurface the day after.

So far I've tried stuff like changing the hard drive, or reformatting the system. It doesn't work. Now, the PC won't even be to reach the loading screen, and all it gives is a black screen after the early stages of booting up.

This are my specs:

Motherboard P7P55D

Intel i7 Quad core 2.93 GH (8MB)

Graphic Card: XFX HD4850 512MB 625M - DDR3 PCIE (k8h057626)

RAM: Team Xtream DDR3 2000/LV/4GB kit

I suspect that either the RAM is faulty or the components are incompatible. Help would be much appreciated on what I should do. Thanks!!


Download BlueScreenView:
HTTP://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html
unzip downloaded file and double click on BlueScreenView.exe to run the program.
when scanning is done, go to EDIT - Select All
Go to FILE - SAVE Selected Items, and save the report as BSOD.txt
Open BSOD.txt in Notepad, copy all of the content, and paste it into your next replyThe problem is that now I can't even boot up the computer now. The problem with my PC seemed to have worsened. And from what I can remember, there seem to be a multiple reasons given for the blue screens, i.e. when the blue screens were on long enough for me to catch a glimpse. Is there anything else I can do? Thanks.Well, without knowing the exact nature of the bsod it's impossible to diagnose. Here are some general troubleshooting steps:

1) To check the ram, download memtest (http://www.memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd, make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility

2) To check the hd, go to the website of your hd manufacturer and download their diagnostic utility. Burn it to cd, boot to it, run it.

3) Depending on your OS, either a repair install or a startup repair.Hi, I tried out what U suggested. The Memtest couldn't even initialize. When it looked as if it were booting up, the comp screen just goes blank. The PC is still running, but the monitor displays a black screen.

The same occurred for system repair and restore. I used my windows cd to boot up, and when it restarted after completing sys repair/restore, the screen just blanked out too, at the point where the hard drive was being booted up.
could be a BIOS defect?
Only a guess

I have 3 internal hard disks, of which 1 for documents, which today tells me that most folders are empty (in Ubuntu 10.10).
I booted into another OS (Crunchbang Statler DEBIAN) and saw that there the whole disk was empty.
Then booted into my 3rd OS (Fedora 14) and saw all my files were there.
Going back to Ubuntu I went to terminal and typed the suggestion that was given upon trying the disk again: dmesg | tail
Code: [SELECT]dmesg | tail
[ 292.508211] EXT4-fs (sdc1): unable to read superblock
[ 295.204032] sd 2:0:1:0: [sdc] Unhandled error code
[ 295.204039] sd 2:0:1:0: [sdc] Result: hostbyte=DID_BAD_TARGET driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[ 295.204048] sd 2:0:1:0: [sdc] CDB: Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 41 00 00 02 00
[ 295.204064] end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 65
[ 295.204105] EXT4-fs (sdc1): unable to read superblock
[ 301.717364] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:50:8d:7f:31:61:00:30:b8:ca:98:10:08:00 SRC=122.24.152.156 DST=81.165.33.205 LEN=48 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=106 ID=52078 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=1696 DPT=51413 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0
[ 356.772596] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:50:8d:7f:31:61:00:30:b8:ca:98:10:08:00 SRC=122.24.152.156 DST=81.165.33.205 LEN=48 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=106 ID=58285 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=1746 DPT=51413 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0
[ 359.732849] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:50:8d:7f:31:61:00:30:b8:ca:98:10:08:00 SRC=122.24.152.156 DST=81.165.33.205 LEN=48 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=106 ID=58611 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=1746 DPT=51413 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0
[ 365.664612] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:50:8d:7f:31:61:00:30:b8:ca:98:10:08:00 SRC=122.24.152.156 DST=81.165.33.205 LEN=48 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=106 ID=59277 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=1746 DPT=51413 WINDOW=65535 RES=0x00 SYN URGP=0 Can someone tell me what this implies?
Is the disk broken and for the wastebin? (I luckily have most files backed up)
Is it repairable in an easy ENOUGH way? (I'm no Linux guru at all)
Could it be caused by a HACKER?

Strangest thing is that after a reboot all files seem to be there again (but for how long, I wonder)

i have an older desktop a dell the tower is an optiplex gx270 i instaled a new ide hard drive last night i turned on my computer and it comes up microsoft (r) windows 98 (C) copyright microsoft corp 1981-1999 then c:\> i typed in windows but it said bad command name on file so i typed in dir/p and the volume came up in drive c volume serial number and soe other thngs. i put the windows cd in the cd slot and i dont here anything what could be wrong i dont understand it should be LOADING please help someone asap! thank u,stacyWelcome to CH. Volunteers are here to help you.
Question about your dell the tower is an optiplex gx270.
What OS did it have before you took out the old drive?
Did you go into the BIOS and set the boot order to boot first from CD?
If the drive is new, how did it get Windows 98 on it?
What OS do you want to install?i bought the hard drive off of e-bay . the old drive had windows 98 im TRYING to install windows vista. the bios boot sequence is set to cd rom 1st.The drive may be dead...does it show up in the BIOS ? ?

You may also want to try typing just Win at the C: PROMPT and hit Enter...i typed in win after c it sais bad comand or file name im not sure how to check the bios im confused with that. i can hit f2 which is setup then i can csroll down to disk configuration and all the drives comes up but i dont know which one to put on auto nd which one to put to off i ran another test and it sais bios plus version 1.10 ao3 sata primary drive 0 not found----- primary drive 1 not found-----secondary drive 1 not found---------strike the f1 key to continue, r f2 to run the setup utility then it goes back to that c"\>. could i have installed the drive wrong or missing something i did not screw the disk in the bay i just sat it there .Quote from: stacynmike on February 24, 2011, 11:21:00 AM

i bought the hard drive off of e-bay . the old drive had windows 98 im trying to install windows vista. the bios boot sequence is set to cd rom 1st.

He will need to install a DVD reader.
It is so old they do not maintain the documentation.
http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/document.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&~file=/systems/opgx270/en/ug/index.htm

A 1080 P and 1080 i are they both 60 fps?This should help you understand frame rates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rateQuote from: NYMPH4 on FEBRUARY 25, 2011, 03:28:22 PM

A 1080 p and 1080 i are they both 60 fps?

So I have a custom built model, built it myself QUITE a while ago, back when the first quad cores were on the market(i have a q6600), anyways I have been busy with SCHOOL and work(for which I use my laptop) and haven't noticed until now that none of my usb ports are working correctly. I have four usb's directly on the motherboard, and two in the front that came with my case none will read any devices and will only charge my girlfriends iphone and my bros ipod touch and it doesn't EVEN register that anything is connected to the computer.

It is quite annoying..

any help would be much appreciatedOne thing you can try is expand all instances of USB roots and hubs in Device Manager...
Right clik each one and uninstall them...
You will recieve a warning message...ignore it.
Upon re-boot they will be AUTOMATICALLY re-installed...no dice, tried it twice..
like my usb stick is getting power, I can see that the light on it is on, but it doesn't register on my computerDoes it show up in Disk Management ? ?
If so right clik it and SELECT Properties...

Does it work on other machines >? ?well its not just that, nothing works, nothing shows up when I plug anything in, but they are outputting power because I can charge my girlfriends iphone, but even when I plug that in it doesn't show up or tell me that I have connected a device

Hi everyone. I am currently PLANNING on building a new computer. I am WONDERING what hardware I NEED to get driver updates for (first time building a computer). I know you need to update the motherboard and the graphics card. What else? Thanks everyoneIf you buy new stuff, it should have a CD with drivers. But if you are buying things in 'plain brown bag' there may not be drivers included.
Most important are:
• Chip set drivers for the Motherboard.
• Video drivers for HIGH performance graphics card.
Don't add printers, cameras and scanners till the system is up and RUNNING well.

Looking at Intel's i5 2500 (sandy bridge) and i7 2600 (sandy bridge) I notice three main differences:

1. The i7 has twice the threads
2. The i7 has better intergrated graphics (if that works how I think it does then it's something not that useful)
3. £80 more for the i7
[hardly worth mentioning the 100MHz clock speed difference]

When CONSIDERING this processor for a machine with it's own dedicated graphics card, that takes the intergrated graphics out of the EQUATION. So are the 4 extra threads worth it? What performance difference would one expect to see?

With Intel's i7 970 & 990X I can't begin to justify the money for these, they look awesome but not £800 awesome.Processors Have neither threads or integrated graphics.By threads, you mean hyper-threading, right? According to the article I've linked to here, Hyper-threading is disabled on the i5 processors but is enabled on i7's. The article refers to Intel's "Sandy Bridge" processors. I don't know whether the i5 and i7 processors come in other flavors. The article: Core i5 vs. Core i7: What's the Difference?Yeah I did think "w t f! integrated graphics on a CPU?" whilst reading this: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/processors/intelcorei3,i5andi71155socket/intel/cm8062300833908.html
I assumed that they somehow improved CPUs to make floating-point and matrix calcs faster/easier. To be honest I did think that it was a bit of a leap in technology.

I thought that threads were on the CPU though.

Quote from: soybean on February 25, 2011, 08:48:34 AM

By threads, you mean hyper-threading, right? According to the article I've linked to here, Hyper-threading is disabled on the i5 processors but is enabled on i7's. The article refers to Intel's "Sandy Bridge" processors. I don't know whether the i5 and i7 processors come in other flavors. The article: Core i5 vs. Core i7: What's the Difference?

Actually, there are a number of different i5 and i7 processors and frankly it can be a little confusing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Intel_processors

i7 is the best, but NewEgg has 10 different i7 processors priced from $279 to $1,000 depending on specs.

It is all about your budget.

Tick, the CPU and GPU get integrated into the same 32nm die, tock, they both go down to 22nm with the latter gaining DIRECTX 11 support. Intel's only just unveiled its Sandy Bridge processors, but the next update to the... blah blah blah

Bought new computer. Does not have floppy disk DRIVE. How do I recover information on the HUNDREDS of floppy discs I have stacked neatly in containers? Do they make a floppy disc drive I can ATTACH to new computer so I can COPY the info to CDs? HELP! MissMolly http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=usb+floppy+driveWhat do you mean?
You need to buy EXTERNAL USB floppy drive.

I have less than 30GB I need to back-up. Can I get a USB Flash drive with SUFFICIENT capacity to do this? I'm not sure how much of the advertised storage is actually available. Could I put 30 GB of files on a 32 GB USB Flash drive?Quote from: artbuc on March 04, 2011, 12:50:50 PM

I have less than 30GB I need to back-up. Can I get a USB Flash drive with sufficient capacity to do this? I'm not sure how much of the advertised storage is actually available. Could I put 30 GB of files on a 32 GB USB Flash drive?

Hi,
I want to build a machine where there will be a media center and production server.
My question is wether to install Debian or WINDOWS or both.
Mi idea is to have all my MOVIES and music, CONNECT the PC to the TV to watch films and at the same TIME have a production server to host my web PROJECTS before uploading to online server, and make that machine a router firewall with two network cards.

Here's the Hardware:
MB: Gigabyte GA-8I915PMD
CPU: Intel P4 3.20Ghz
RAM: 3GB DDR2 266Mhz
HD1: 200GB [Seagate ST3200826AS]
HD2: 500GB [Seagate ST3500320AS]

What's your opinion, should I install Debian with windows on a virtual machine; should I install Debian on the 200GB HD and Windows on the 500GB and restart every time I want to switch between the server and media center.

My concern on keeping windows is to make it easier to manage the TV connection and movie and music players with an existing remote controller.

Please advise fellows

???completely silent no beeps no visual no power HELP PLEASE changed memory sticks killed computer, switched back to original sticks and still no response, at wits end of diagnosing can you help me fix it ,there is absolutely no power. could it be the power supply box
What is new or different since the LAST time EVERYTHING worked properly (ie, new hw, new sw, virus, error, etc)?
What type of computer?
WOW...
You asked him a question and he quit..... Gonna have to go back to the $10 questions I'll take Greek Mythology for $10.00 Allan....

I have a work laptop with a Intel Pentium M 753 1.2 GHz, 1GB DDR II SDRAM, http://www.tabletpcreview.com/default.asp?newsID=639. It cannot run 2 of our diagnostic programs at the same time. One of the programs is poorly written. I've been offered a new laptop with an I5 processor, 2.66 GHz/3.20 GHz Turbo Boost, http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?poid=497521#. Both laptops would run Windows XP.

Now I KNOW I5 is the latest and greatest, but how do I determine if the new laptop can handle both programs? The I5 has a little over double the cpu rating of the Pentium M.There are no guarantees any CPU can run a poorly written app efficiently...

However if you do need to run both leave the poor app running on the old laptop and do your real work on the i5...

But you may be suprised...they may both run fine on the new rig.I'm trying to avoid carrying two laptops. I found out that Best Buy allows a 14 day no RESTOCKING fee return policy. I can test the programs on a similar spec'ed computer.I believe the I5 is a multi-core machine, so it should be able to handle concurrent applications faster then a Pentium M. (Although if the Pentium M is multi-cored I guess that makes that MOOT)

as the size shown in properties...320 g hard DRIVE only shows up as a 179 g
By any chance, do you have 141 GB of stuff on your PC?Quote from: tritesman on March 03, 2011, 08:36:05 AM

as the size shown in properties...320 g hard drive only shows up as a 179 g

By any chance, do you have 141 GB of stuff on your PC?

Comeback question of the Month Award...

I really wasn't sure if it was sarcasm or.... you know.... the other thing. Either way, I decided to just let it go

as the size shown in properties...320 g hard drive only shows up as a 179 g

I understand that, but then why do they have this under the download?

Supported Operating Systems

Windows VISTA
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows ME
Windows 98SE
Windows 98Quote from: Paradox1123 on FEBRUARY 26, 2011, 06:55:58 AM

I understand that, but then why do they have this under the download?

Supported Operating Systems

Windows Vista
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows ME
Windows 98SE
Windows 98

Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtufuXLvOok
Can I save time and money not using thermal paste?
Quote from: Geek-9pm on MARCH 03, 2011, 11:30:22 PM

Can I save time and money not using thermal paste?

Product Description
Clear freshmint toothpaste gel with fluoride helps protect teeth from cavities. The clear toothpaste tubes are a very popular in jails, prisons, and correctional facilities because they prevent prisoner from storing or hide illegal substances or sharp objects.

I have VERIZON internet with an Actiontec MI424WR wireless routerl located on the SECOND floor next to our PC. My wife would love a device that she could use to do email and web surf from our living room on the first floor. Also, we would use this device when we TRAVEL which isn't that often, maybe a few weeks every year.

iPads seem like overpriced iPhones but I like the pay-as-you-go AT&T plans. Can an an iPad CONNECT to the Internet through a Verizon Actiontec router?

Verizon has a good deal on a HP MINI 110-3098NR which gets pretty good reviews. I think it would be more than adequate for our needs. However, to get a good deal on the initial purchase price I have to get a 12 or 24 month Verizon contract.

Finally, any thoughts regarding iPad flash memory vs HP Netbook HD? Thanks.

im trying to connect my desktop to my SONY tv. its an older tv but i imagine it was QUITE sophisticated for its TIME it has an s-video connection in the back as well as Coaxial and A-V Plugs (red, Yellow, and White cords) i have a Pinnacle systems multimedia video controller i cannibalized from another computer and can FIND any driver necessary as long as its possible to do what im asking any help or advice would be appreciated?It'd be a GOOD idea to post what vid card we're dealing with here...

This is the Video card i am talking about the best name i have for it is the Pinnacle systems pctv ROB2D-51009464-4.0

Written on one side of the card

Hi, I recently bought a Sparkle Geforce 9800 GT graphics card. I have a Dell Inspiron 530 that is COMPATIBLE with graphics card (i hope.)
Well my problem is that I applied the graphics card just fine, and when I tryed to install the drivers from the sparkle website everything installed correctly, but when I restarted my pc after the installation of the drivers, before I even got to log on the screen froze with a wavy purple and pink COLOR lines.. I tried unistulling the drivers in safe mode and updating my normal windows drivers, when I did this I got past the log in screen and after 5 sec after log in the computer FREEZES again and automaticly restarts. I currently am running windows VISTA on my dell inspiron 530.
Any suggestions or tips on how to fix this problem?
Please do not post the same QUESTION more than once. I deleted the duplicate thread.

I'd like to hear comments on the color of a NETBOOK being a factor in consideration of whether to buy a particular model. You usually pay more for a color other than black or whatever is standard for the model, but it's hard not to at least consider other colors. But as a very portable device you're more apt to set your device down on a surface you can't be sure the cleanliness of, and more likely to have your hands be dirty when you use the device than a computer you use indoors only. I'm considering a white Asus Eee PC, but wondering if the light color is going to be hard to KEEP clean.If it's got a gloss finish, white is the best. Otherwise a black, or even coloured gloss will make FINGER smears incredibly obvious.There is a reason most utility and commercial vehicles are white. They show less dirt. I had a black CAR once and it showed every spec of dirt and was impossible to keep clean.Spray paint in aerosol cans is inexpensive if you wind up with BUYERS remorse...

Hi;

I am WORKING on a laptop problem, its an HP Pavillion DV5000 (DV5244eu)

After much investigation the problem is that with the battery in and no AC power the screen works but when you PLUG the AC power cord in after a short while the screen starts to darken from the left to the right, slowly at first and then black!!! Unplug the power cord and the screen comes back on!!!

After trawling for a fix I found a fix ref pressing the power button for 60 secs with no battery or AC power, this did not work. Some more investigation revealed that this could be the screen inverter? but after READING further it could also be the magnetic lid closed switch.

I have gone into control panel power options and set to never switch off monitor on battery or AC power but no joy.

Any ideas.There should be function keys on your laptop to adjust the brightness (On many HPs, Function F3 and Function F4 are darken/brighten, but check your user guide to make sure you use the right ones). What happens (in each power mode) when you press these? Also you could check your BIOS settings for AC and battery screen brightness.After much investigation the problem was down to a knackered screen inverter that powers the backlight. COST £10.45 incl postage and now all is OK.Thanks for the update and GLAD you got it sorted out.

Hi there,

I have a Dell 5130cdn at work and it recently started to ghost. In addition there is a patchy BAND of RANDOM colors that shows up down the middle of the page as a THICK line. The magenta drum inside of the printer is very dirty (pink all over the place!). I plan on replacing it but do I have to replace all the other DRUMS as well? How do I know if the others are having issues too?

Thanks!Is this what you are talking about/ http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/printer_accessories/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=prov&sku=a3343950
Here is a SITE that seems to deal with the "drum" issue on your printer see if it gives you what you want.http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/45183
truenorth

I am CURIOUS to find out if a mainboard only has one plug for FP usb and you have top usb & audio as well what do you do to be able to use them all? My mainboard is the Intel S5000Xvn. Is there such thing as a RAID usb controller card? If there is I have yet to find one. I have used many search engines and either I don't know the proper NAME for the device or it doesn't exist. If you can help feel free to post here or just e-mail me with your suggestion I am willing to TRY ANYTHING at this point.1) Why RAID
2) Addon PCI USB cards will give you up to 6 new ports...
Raid doesn't even enter into it.Quote from: SrvrGuy76 on February 27, 2011, 02:18:01 PM

...Is there such thing as a raid usb controller card?...

I just built myself a new computer and am experiencing a significant issue. When powered, the motherboard is not making a post-beep and there is nothing showing on the display (aka no boot sequence). There following is the components of the machine:

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
Processor - Intel i5-760
Ram - Corsair Vengeance 8Gb 1600 MHz
GRAPHICS - EVGA Geforce 9800 GTX
Sound - CREATIVE X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty
Power Supply - OCZ 750W Fatal1ty
CPU Cooler - Corsair H70
SSD - Crucial 60GB C300
Case - Antec DF-85

I have replaced the motherboard, CPU, and power supply. I have tested another graphics card and power supply. As well, I have tried one stick of ram and them swapped it with the other.

Each component successfully powers up on its own, such that they light-up and their fans WORK.

My two screens are connected via DVI input.

Any suggestions to this problem are much appreciated.

Thanks.16% of reviewers can't get this board to work: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3

All I can SUGGEST before returning it for a different board is disconnect the SSD & see if it will go the BIOS setup.

I have an Asus VH236H 23" monitor (Recommended RESOLUTION is 1920 x 1080) with an ATI Radeon HD 4670 with max resolution of 2560 x 1600.
However, when I try to have my resolution at 1920 x 1080, the IMAGE is smaller than the screen.
Any tips on how to fix this?
The resolution obviously looks better at 1920x1080, but in order to use the full screen I have to use 1680x1050.
I want to be ABLE to use the max resolution, but I ALSO want to be able to use the full screen.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/video/articles/2249.aspx
Change DPI settings while using the FULLSCREEN aspect of your monitor.DPI is already the lowest setting.
I tried switching to the highest, but it didn't help.
Any other suggestions?Any setting buttons on the monitor itself ? ?Tried messing with them but doesn't do anything.

Hey,

I am 99.999999999 sure that all the components here are going to work together
when I build this but just wanted to MAKE sure before I place my order....

CPU : Intel core2 quad q8300 LGA775
http://www.computers4-u.co.uk/core-quad-q8300-25ghz-socket-1333fsb-cache-retail-boxed-processor-p-61855720.html


MOTHERBOARD : Asus P5P41T/USB3
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/motherboards/intel775allchipsetmotherboards/asus/90-mibdd0-g0eay0dz.html


DDR3 RAM : Crucial 6GB KIT 3 x 2GB
Crucial 6GB Memory Module Kit 3 x 2GB PC310600 1333MHz DDR3 Unbuffered ECC CL9 240pin DIMM


LGA775 Cooler : Thermaltake ISGC-300 - £31.05
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0028ACYQS/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

If you do have any other suggestions within the same price range please feel free to LET me know.

Thanks

Unable to connect my new OfficeJet 8500A Premium to my Windows 7 computer via the wired network connection. Rebooted computer and turned printer on & off. Software is properly installed. Tried changing network cables & DISABLING the firewall - same result. Under Network & Sharing Center - Advanced Sharing Settings - TURN on network discovery, Turn on file & printer sharing , Turn on sharing so anyone with network acceess can read & write files in the Public folders and Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections (recommended) are all on. The light on the network connector on the printer is on (GREEN). Have a cable broadband internet connection and a D-Link DIR-655 Wireless N Gigabit ROUTER. Internet connection works fine. No problem connecting other computers to the internet via the router. HP diagnostics offers no other solutions. In printer properties, under the General tab, the Location box is blank. Should there be INFORMATION refering to the network in that box? I currently am using the USB connection but prefer the wired network connection. Anyone have solutions?

I purchased a USB Wi-Fi antenna because I'm working far away from the nearest router.

It's a Sinmax Model "SI-5000UGL". The antenna came with a disc that loads Realtek's "RTL 8187 Wireless LAN Utility" with Windows startup.

When I plug the antenna into the USB port, the power light flashes on and off five times and the computer makes the "USB connection" sound.

Sometimes I connect - that is, the blue light stays steady, the little red "X" on the system tray icon goes away, and I can select a network by using the utility. Sometimes all that happens is the light flashing and USB connection sound described above.

I'm running 32-bit Windows 7 on a Dell Latitude.

It happens on any of the four USB ports. It has happened in five different locations around the US, trying to connect to different networks. Sometimes I can connect to a network, other times I cannot connect to the very same network.

When I first used this antenna in August, it worked fine. I did not first start having problems until about two months ago. It seems to happen at random, regardless of how long the machine has been powered on, logged on to Windows, or in any one "location".

I have tried two different USB connector cords.

I have Googled to my heart's content.

I can't find the initial driver (RealTek) disc to reinstall.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
Google "home made wifi antenna"
some are pretty good. You may want to try one or two.
Using a satelite antenna dish (small) gets some very good results
Use "Network Stumbler" to check the results (free software)
-
hope this helps
falcon navyfalcon, that is a good idea. It works for many.

He did not say what kind of signal he is getting. A good USB adapter shroud work even on two bars. Three bars preferred.

He might try another USB adapter. Then quality varies a lot. He said 32 bit Windows 7, so it should not be a driver problem. Unless the device was made two or three years ago.

The OP did not say what brand it was. At current prices, it pays to get a brand name that comes with a good warranty. Wireless devices do sometimes fail after a few weeks of use. Rare, but it happens.That is why warranties are important.
From recent experience and with a "Wi-Fire antennae which i purchased specifically for it's touted ability to extend Wi-Fi reception range by "up to" 1200 feet i can make the following comment. Something that was not stated in the product manual is the fact that the ability of the external antennas ability to "receive" signal is tremendously affected by it's position re the structure from within which the desired signal (transmitter) is attempting to be accessed. For instance brick and mortar, metal clad cause a very weak signal. Glass on the other hand presents no obstacle. I found this out from experience and also from research on these antennae on-line. If the structure had an available window i could aim the antennae at as opposed to a brick wall my signal strength was vastly improved. This was with an internal Wi-Fi and an external add on antennae on a laptop. So you can look at what i am talking about here is the link to the company web site.
http://www.hfield.com/?gclid=CPqMtavxpaYCFQNrKgodbD7QoQ
truenorthTry using network stumbler to check the signal strength
It will also check the signal to noise level S/N
info about net stumbler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetStumbler
-
download site
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/netstumbler.html
-
Try making a wifi antenna, they help with weak signals.
Search Google for "homemade wifi antenna". A fantastic one was made out of an old satellite antenna.

Reference
http://www.ehow.com/how_7244072_homemade-wi_fi-dish-antenna.html
http://www.binarywolf.com/249/wifi_antennas.htm
http://binarywolf.com/249/
http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/15/how-to-build-a-wifi-biquad-dish-antenna/
-
hope this helps
falconI know this is going to make me sound like a complete jerk, but it drives me out of my gourd when people ask for help with something specific and are given alternatives to a different problem.

Q: My car has a flat tire; can someone help me change it?
A: Check Amtrak.com; I prefer the train, anyway.

The question is "how do I attempt to diagnose what's wrong with what I've got", not "how do i replace and hope that works".


The issue is, when I plug in an antenna that I already own, it powers up to the computer sporadically. It has nothing to do with the strength of the actual accompanying networks - if I use the internal laptop antenna, I can see some of the STRONGER networks, albeit lightly. It's just sometimes when I plug in my antenna, it behaves as it should, and at other times, it acts as if it's not plugged in at all.

I may have not been clear in my original description of the problem - it's not that the computer is asking the antenna for networks and it's not finding them, it's that the computer isn't recognizing it has an antenna plugged in.

• It doesn't matter where I am physically in the world; sometimes it powers up in Salt Lake City, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it powers up in Philadelphia, sometimes it doesn't. It could be only in one location, like my office, but it's not. It's in all locations.
• It doesn't matter which of four USB ports I use on my machine. It could be limited to just one USB port, but it's not.
• It doesn't matter which of two different cables I use. It could be one or the other, but it's both. (And both work to connect other devices).
• This has started in the last few weeks. It could have started the day I first used the antenna, but it didn't.
• It happens only occasionally, and I can't DETECT a pattern. It could be all the time, or only in the evening, but it doesn't appear to be.
• I can't tell you if it happens more frequently if the computer has been "up" longer or shorter, or if it's more likely when I come out of standby vs. powering up, or anything like that. I just haven't seen any patterns.[/i]
  

I purchased a USB Wi-Fi antenna...

It's a Sinmax Model "SI-5000UGL".

It's just sometimes when I plug in my antenna, it behaves as it should, and at other times, it acts as if it's not plugged in at all.
I may have not been clear in my original description of the problem -