Explore topic-wise InterviewSolutions in .

Hello,

I currently own a Dell Dimmension 4600 with an intel pentium 4 proccessor and windows xp home edition. I have owned this COMPUTER for about 5-6 years now and just recently it started MAKING a high PITCH whining SOUND that seems to get higher when the processor works harder. I don't know what could be causing this and would appreciate any help given.

Thank youit could be a fan that NEEDS to be replaced or a harddrive that needs to be replaced.

Quote

seems to get higher when the processor works harder

i use sony dual rw drive.

i have no idea what model THATS wha tit said on the FRONT. when ever i put a disk in, it says incorrect function. but when i take the disk out, it SAIS please insert disk. my cd drive works fine but my dvd drive wont run any disks.


thanksDoes the computer think that your DVD Rom is a CD Rom in Hardware Manager or in My Computer?

Seen lower end combo DVD-CD Drives do this before if generic brand, and you need to instal driver for drive to be recognized as a DVD Rom drive and not just a generic CD Rom Drive.

Would help if you could open your system to give us the model # of the DVD Rom, as for there are tens of thousands of different DVD Drives out there.

DaveQuote

but when i take the disk out, it sais please insert disk

Dear Users
I have ASUS PLE133 motherboard its vga shares only 8MB memory can by any means it can share up to 64MB or 128Mb help if any
ThanksDear
Yeslol!I don't understand the question... are you asking about overclocking or about how to CONFIGURE a graphics card to use more shared memory?hmm .... integrated graphics card i think . Maybe he wants to use more memory so that the card can handle graphics better.
Change it in the bios if your card can support more than 8gb memory.As said, there will be an option in the BIOS somewhere.
However, this will reduce OVERALL performance, and will not really help with 3D performance.
My advice WOULD be to buy a video card, even a low END ONE would be better than integrated.

Hey, I have a problem with my system and I have run out of ideas on what to do next.

Every time I start my COMPUTER and it has been at rest for a good amount of time, 12 hours or more, it either hangs on the logo that pops up indicating the BIOS is about to load on POST, or when it turns on the fans spin and the computer loads nothing.

If i just shut it off and turn it back on the computer will WORK fine and has no problems during normal use. I have tried reseating RAM, resetting CMOS, removed all but 1 PCI card, and am only using 1 CD drive.

Asus p5nsli mobo
2.13 GHZ core 2 duo
ATI x1950 Pro
2 gigs of corsair RAM
500 W PSU

Thx.How old is the computer? Sounds like the power supply might be going out.Quote from: quaxo on January 08, 2008, 11:32:22 PM

How old is the computer? Sounds like the power supply might be going out.

Currently I have:
Microtel SIS 650 Chipset
Intel P4 1.70 GHZ, 400 SYSTEM Buss
Memory 512(DDR226) but am going to bump up to 1 Gig

Can I put a faster Intel P4 processor between 2.0-2.6 Ghz?

TIA,
AzxyzrIt depends on what your processors your motherboard will support. What motherboard do you have? Do you have any documentation on it? Have you visited the manufacturer's website for info?What MBoard is this ? ?
That will determine your upgrade limitations...Under the wire there Soybean ! !what mobo do you have ?? use cpu-z to identify your computer specs and let us know!!!Quote from: patio on January 08, 2008, 10:45:50 AM

Under the wire there Soybean ! !

Quote from: patio on January 08, 2008, 10:45:50 AM

Under the wire there Soybean ! !

wait, what?

Quote from: homer on January 08, 2008, 05:12:08 PM

Quote from: patio on January 08, 2008, 10:45:50 AM

Under the wire there Soybean ! !

wait, what?

He posted while i was typing and asked the same thing....

He's getting much quicker lately !

I have $350 TO $400 to spend.... On Motherboard,cpu,and Ram....WOULD anyone have any suggestions on what makes of MB..HDRIVES etc would give me the most bang for the buck..I want something very quick for INTERNET and music,multiple APPS etc..I am thinking about an AMD athlon 64x2 6000+,Crucial ram ,Western dig Caviar se sata II 500Gb HD....
Anyone have any suggestions.....A price break down would be nice if you COULD post it..
Thanks
D

Hey folks... THX in advance for any help you can provide...

I have been trying to install ubuntu on an old compaq presario. I had problems with the original ubuntu install, created a windows xp boot disk, and reformatted the HARD drive. Now, have a bootable ubuntu cd, set my bios up to boot from cd, and get "ntldr is missing". Same for windows xp recovery disk. I don't have the original setup disks from LONG ago.

Any suggestions? try to COMPLETELY wipe the harddrive? if so, any utility recommendations?

Arghhhh..You're getting a "ntldr is missing" because the computer is trying to boot from the hard drive instead of the CD.
Are you sure you set it up to boot from CD?
Is the CD drive functioning properly? Can you try another one?
i am having pretty much the same issue, I am getting this message

Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM :
No Emulation

Press any key to boot from CD.....

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart


I have tried this over and over and nothing Hi Puterilliterate welcome to the CH forums.
Please start your own topic. Although you and juanzo007 problem sound a like on the surface the cause and solution can be very different. Besides, helping two users in the same thread gets confusing.
And Please read this post before starting a topic. It makes it easier to assist you.

just WONDERING. Yes.
The last 4 pins are not USED...some PSU's MAKE this part detachable from the 20 PIN CONNECTOR.

Dear Users
I want to overclock my CPU for MSI P4M900M2L any program that supports this motherboard
Thanks CPU overclocking is best done via the BIOS.Dear User
Please Help Me With that in the frequency and voltage control when ever i increase even 1 MHZ FSB my mother board dont even boots my CPU is P4 HT 3.0GHz
ThanksDear User
am waiting i do not feel confident enough in my knowledge of CPU overclocking to walk you through it. you may want to look it up on google.If you want to overclock you also need to make sure the computer in question is up for it. If you got a stock CPU cooler installed this will most likely need to be replaced for example. You will also need to make sure you've got good airflow through the case to supply the cooler with cool air.
Also not all motherboards are well suited for overclocking, try googling the motherboard name and see if anyone else have experience with overclocking that board.Apparently Not...I was thinking exactly the same patio...Any suggestions what MIGHT be happened to my PC
Time for a bench test...
Remove all components except for PSU;1 STICK of RAM; vid card; keyboard and MOUSE; and monitor.
Power up and see if it posts.
If so add one component at a time with the power removed each time til you find the culprit.

If it will not Post with the minimum components installed borrow another PSU and try again.
If it still will not Post after that you're overclocking experiment has probably ruined the MBoard and or the CPU...Dear Patio
I have messed with th ram voltages and then this problem was started so i that case motherboard or CPU what your experience say
ThanksDid you do what was suggested above yet ? ?Dear Patio
tomorrow i'll do that then i'll tell you what happened i am a little AFRAID about my mobo
ThanksThis thread is a perfect example of why we don't normally offer overclocking advice here...Dear Patio
Yes Patio this is the perfect example by the way tomorrow is sunday and on monday i'll bring my PC from the Mechanics shop and will tell the whole story about my PC that what the problem i did creat with my PC by Overclocking and messing with the RAM Voltages
Thanks

I have a dell dimension 8100 that i bought about 8 years ago. The ram in it is RDRAM. I bought 1024mb of RDRAM a few months ago (two modules) so that makes each module stick 512mb, but my BIOS is detecting each stick as 256mb, is that normal?! i looked at the dell manual and it says that each RIMM connector will take 512mb.Not it's not.
Are you sure the modules you bought were 512 mb ones?Yeah it says on each module 512mb, its Kingston RDRAMWhat happens if you just install one module?Hi Deerpark, i havent tried that, would it make any DIFFERENCE? but id rather have the two of them installed. before i bought the ram i had 128mb of RDRAM (two modules of 64mb) its NEC RDRAM, i have them installed in the first two RIMM connectors CLOSEST to the CPU and the Kingston ram in the next two RIMM connectors.It may.
Try removing all but one of the 512 MB modules and see what the BIOS detect.And after you do DeerPark's test on the single module you can try them in SLOTS 1 & 3 or 2 & 4 instead of next to each other...some boards like this arrangement better.Ive tried the test, i put one 512mb in one slot, the pc wouldn't start up and it kept making a bleeping sound, so i tried to put the two 512mb in, there was no bleeping sound but the pc still wouldn't start up, so ive put my ram BACK in order now, my 128mb NEC RDRAM & 512mb Kingston RDRAM, maybe i should BUY another 1024mb of RDRAM and get rid of my 128mb NEC RAMUmm if the computer wouldn't boot with just the 512 mb module there's something seriously wrong. Did you try the module in all slots?yeah ive tried it in all the slots, just got the same bleeping sound but wouldnt start upMy guess is someone sold you bad RAM...that or the modules aren't for that machine.I bought them on ebay a while ago, my pc only takes 45ns of RDRAM, i checked each module and it says on them 45ns.

I received a small shock one day while trying to turn off my computer when I hit the power button. I quickly disconnected the power cord and checked my ups. The ups was fine and when I went to turn the computer on again, I connected the power plug and the computer went on without me touching the power button for about 5 seconds and then turned off. I disconnected the power cord and checked inside the computer to check for any problems but it looked OK so I tried connecting the power cord again and again the computer did the same thing, it went on for about 5 seconds without me touching the power button. I then replaced the power supply and the same thing happened.

what should I do next?Check the Hard drive. I think its the hard drive. What do you base that on mr_skipper24?
A computer should be able to turn on without a working hdd.

I suggest powering the system without the UPS connected.
Quote from: hugoj on March 12, 2008, 09:58:01 AM

I received a small shock one day while trying to turn off my computer when I hit the power button.

thanks for the responses.

Homer, can you go in depth how to check if grounded. One more thing, the new power supply does have a ground wire, the previous did not. I have it connected to the motherboard.

thanks

I have a Dell Inspirion 1100 that was in a house that was flooded. It was under 3" of water for 24 hours. I have opened it up and removed drives and anything that I could easily remove. Then I left the case split apart along with the removed drives in the CLOTHES dryer on a STATIONARY support. I ran it through eight 20 minutes air-only cycles. Then I left it on the work bench for three days. Put it all back together last night, plugged it in, let the battery charge for 4-hours and tried to fire it up. The lights come on and the hard drive will start up for 3 to 5 seconds. Nothing appears on the the screen during that time. Is there anything else that I can do? Usually any pc will go bad if it comes in contact with h2o. I surprised that it still works some what.Quote from: deereboy13 on March 14, 2008, 10:47:36 AM

Is there anything else that I can do?

LCD screens don't react well with water. The hard drive may be bad as well due to the tiny ventilation hole.

Hi, I posted a question a week ago on this same problem. I now have new infor and maybe someone can help now. I am IT in computers but this is my first laptop. I have a Toshiba A205-S5804. It has an Intel - Santa Rosa CRB Motherboard and also has the 965 chip set family.
My question is; I want to upgrade my processor and I want to be sure the Motherboard can do this. Also any help on the best and easiest way to install it. I may only need take 4 screws out instead of all of them etc. I can do it, but ANYONE who may have done this could be very helpful to me. I'm not worried about this and that. I'm sure its all tied togeather some how inside.I've dissassembled many desktops etc. I was an engineer for in-circuit-test and have been AROUND computers for a long time. I just want to know about the mother board and chipset and any help to easy the installation. I talked to Intel and the chip is compataible with my present one so thats not a problem. They couldn't tell me about anything with Toshiba its a law thing. I also called Toshiba and they wouldn't tell me MUCH of anything because this is still under warrany and they don't give that sort of info anyway. So if anyone knows anything I would appreciate it greatly. ThankYou LorenzDownload this...

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/Everest-Home-Edition.shtml

Install and run it. Look for the motherboard SPECS then check Toshiba's site.

Alan <><

Why do you want to replace a processor if it's still new enough to be under warranty?I doubt anyone can give you advise here on how to replace a processor in a laptop. Who does that? Perhaps, as an engineer, you can do it. But, I believe I'm correct in saying laptops are generally not designed or intended to be upgraded in this way. For the most part, adding memory or maybe a bigger/faster hard drive are the only laptop upgrade options available to laptop owners. The CPU's in most laptops are soldered into the MBoard. REPLACING one is no easy task and your Warranty will be Voided by even opening up the laptop to investigate things.
I'm not here to discourage you but you may want to speak to someone in the business first to see what the difficulty level this task would fall under...

This is the situation i am in:

I have a compaq evo computer (2.4Gbz, 512 RAM) and it currently has a SFF (small form factor) power SUPPLY on 175 watts. This is not enough for the Geforce 6200 256mb graphics CARD i bought.
I was aware that it was UNLIKELY to work on my current 175W power supply, as adding up all the components basically came to 180 - but i thought it was worth a try (ebay - cheep)

1) The computer turns on, but doesnt make the usualy harddrive warming up noises and no pwoer to screen and no start up noise - just a few lights and fans turn on. I assume this is because the power supply isnt big enough? Please make sure i am right- i am a LOW knowledge comptuer user.

2) I want to get my graphics card working so i can play battlefield 2142 (yes i know its not amazing but i like it) - the graphics card isnt a SFF graphics card and i cannot put the cover on when i am using it as it is too big and bulky- will that affect the fact it isnt turning on (works fine when i take the graphics card out). Do i need to get a pecial SSSF graphics card, as im doing things on the cheep.

3) New power supply - assuming that i need a new power supply (i may be wrong - please tell me) - i can easily get really cheep 250watt power supplies on ebay - they wouldnt fit in the case, but neither does the graphics card - would they still work! as in - does the evo (as it isnt standerd ATX) have the same wires from the power supply to the computer as a normal desktop. If not can i use a non SFF power suply as i can get them cheep on ebay as well - i cannot find SSF power supplies on ebay, and those hwich have gone have been the 175W ones, and have gone for a lot more than the 250W ones.

Please help me - email me would be best or post after this

[emailprotected]

Thankyou very much for reading and i hope you can help me!

email addy removed to prevent SPAMTry here...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058+1131310094&name=MicroATX

Alan <>< Will a micro ATX fit into my compaq evo, as they look a diffrent shape, and is ATX compatible with the compaq evo

Thanks very much for your help, though, and i assume this means that my computer acting like this with the graphics card is because of the lack of power?Well, if you weren't having problems before you changed out your video card and now you are...

Yes, a micro board should fit.

Alan <><

I came here LOOKING for help with an AOC 15" CRT color monitor that's driving me up the wall.........MOST of the time , it has a clear , crisp screen with perfect tint , but all of a sudden ( I never know when) the screen starts to flicker , the colors go all over the place & there suddenly appears about 10 <> green vertical lines..........there are times when they VANISH in a few seconds & the screen returns to normal & other times when I have to turn off & unplug monitor for at least an hour before it returns to normal.
ANYBODY have any ideas about the cause of & solution to this problem???
TIALooks to me, like it's going south. Try it on another computer.Thanks for reply...........I tried on other PCs with same symptoms............I was hoping somebody knew the ELECTRONICS involved & how to repair..................I'll keep using it until it doesn't come on anymore...........it only sost $5 at a yard sale 3 yrs. ago.CRT monitors are complex beasts, and they contain high voltages. The EHT supply to the CRT anode is around 25,000 volts. Asking for help to FIX a CRT monitor if you have ZERO electronics knowledge is a bit like asking how to build a car out of iron ore.
What makes you think I have "zero" knowledge???Sorry, that didn't come out the way I intended.

OK here's my advice .

1. TAKE it all apart , look at all connections on the motherboard and make sure its all in good shape.

2. Take out all extra pci , pci-e cards , give them a good once over to make sure there not to dusty .

3. take the cpu out the of 478 socket and wipe of all thermal compound .

4. Check the pins on the back and make sure none are bent , if you happen to find a bent pin , carefully adjust it to its correct and up right postion with some tweezers.

5. check for any type of dust in the 478 socket , compressed air if there is any will do the trick .

6. re apply a thin layer of the paste , and smear on with a card , be sure not to leave any gaps or any big splodges of the thermal compound .

7. reattach all wires and cables fans pci cards etc , and boot up .

8. If you manage to boot , go into bios and remain in your systems vital settings for about 20 Min's , make sure all temps are OK and are idle at around 40 to 50 max .

I generally believe this is a heat issue.

Tony Frankie, I dont mean to be mean here but the advise and info your giving me is at the 1st grade level. Im simply looking for the signs and symptoms of a bad processor, nothing more. Maybe I'll look elsewhere unless someone has something useful to say.Yes, I thought it may be a heat issue also, but would a heat issue cause a computer to not even boot up after not having been on for several days? Orignally when I assembled the rig there was a heat problem. I reapplied the paste and everything was fine after that, that was only three weeks ago. I just find it hard to believe that in three weeks time a heat issue would arise from a problem with the paste. Curiously..... I used Dynex paste, is there any quality issues with this brand that anyone knows of? I looked at all the pins already and see that nothing is bent or MISSING. I cant for the life of me figure this thing out.Well, this may not help you much, but I have recently have done the same thing. [Made a comp from other comps] Every thing is compatible, that was my first check. And I checked my cables. [duh] My problem is QUITE similar. My comp worked for a while, then I had problems with the monitor signal cutting in and out. Finally it just stopped sending signal all together, but my computer starts up. I can hear the hard drive working, plus I tested it. I have tried two different video cards, two different motherboards, several monitors and all the same thing. No signal output. The only thing I haven't changed is the CPU . How it went bad is a mystery to me but I can see slight rainbow looking discolorment on it, when they are normally fully silver toned. [and i mean FULLY] I had another CPU that had this same discolorment and it would randomly shut down. Later I found out that it came with a heat sink that was incompatible and caused it to over heat running at its normal clock value [3200]. So theres my bit of research and I'm sure your CPU is bad. I hope this helps you. When I get money I'm gonna buy a new one and test my theory out. I'm pretty sure I'm right. [I know OLD cpu's are cheep but I'm really broke lol]i would say if you have another mobo with the same socket that WORKS with the same cpu, i would swap the good cpu out with the old one and see if it does it then. if you can do it that way you will find your answer if its a bad MOBO or bad CPU ect.you just bumped a 4 month old thread...3rd or 4th one today i've seen.
Lot's of newcomers on board....Check the CPU fan/heatsink and make sure it is operating correctly.Quote from: homer on March 14, 2008, 05:04:35 PM

you just bumped a 4 month old thread...

I have a 7 year old pc. for a while when I start up my music player (regardless of program) and play a song nothing but speaker shattering static would emit from the speakers. If I would re-start the computer it often would go away. Then it was after 2 re-starts...then three...

The card is a SoundBlaster and the driver is 5.1.2535.0 from 2001.

My assumption is that I need a new card. Do they go bad after a while?

Can you test the speakers on another computer to rule them out as the culprit here? If that confirms they're OK, then I'd replace the sound card. Thanks. I know for sure the speakers are fine. The last few days I've hooked up my laptop for tunes. Any RECOMMENDATIONS for a card? I'm not a gamer, just streaming music into my shop. (SOMA FM ROCKS!)I don't know how much you want to spend. If you live in the U.S., take a look at the cards sold by newegg.com; this list is sorted by price, from lowest to highest: Sound Cards. The REVIEWS MAY be helpful is making a selection.i would recommend a Diamond or Creative BRAND card and go from there depending on what kind of speakers you have.

How do I go about installing another 150 raptor with the one I have already,want to install in Raid0,if anyone could help? Thanks COMPUTER HOPE ROCKS!!!!!!!your MOTHERBOARD manual should TELL you how to setup a RAID array, ASSUMING your motherboard supports RAID.

Alright, I had a mysterious ticking noise in my hard drive, and, after two and a half HOURS online with tech support for HP, they determined it was "bad," and sent me a new one, since I'm still under warranty. I then installed it and started system recovery with the recovery disks they sent me.

Thirty HOURS later, system recovery still wasn't done (and I'd restarted the process twice, with the approval of tech support, before I decided I had to fight back). Finally, I simply MANAGED to get past the full-screen "please wait and don't shut down your computer unless we TELL you to" screen, and was able to use my computer, since it's kind of vital to my life. Recovery seems to have stopped now, but my computer is working great.

My real issue here is that my 500GB hard drive seems to think it's only 50GB or so. I am running Windows Vista on an HP Media Center PC, and my hard drive thinks its half full already. How do I FIX this?Maybe the remaining portion of your harddisk isn't yet formatted. Check if that's the case. On your dektop, right click "My Computer" icon, then choose Manage. On the Computer Management window, click Disk Management under Storage and check if there's a PARTITION that hasn't yet to be formatted. Keep us posted if you were able to work your way through.
Goodluck! Did you reinstall your motherboard drivers?The 2 prior answers are very good, but check your BIOS. Sometime the LMB in the BIOS will not detect/read a HD so big. U might need to upgrade the BIOS.

Is it possible to remove a SCSI CONTROLLER and HARD drive and replace with a standard SATA hard drive? If so, what would be the METHOD of CONNECTION for the new hard drive?

Hey all.

OK, for the past few days I've been trying to install a new AGP graphics CARD (Radeon PowerColor X1550) to replace my old one (Radeon 9000 PRO) whose fan recently bit the dust, unfortunately with no success, everytime I boot up I just get a blank black screen and a blinking monitor light tho Windows loads just fine, I always hear the start-up theme.

At first I thought that it might be a compatibility issue given that the new card is x8 and my motherboard (Intel 845GE) is 4x, even tho I'd been assured that an 8x card should run in a 4x slot without ISSUES, just at 4x instead of 8x. Even the above-linked mobo description cites the AGP 1.5v 4x interface thusly: High-bandwidth interface enables upgradeability to latest graphics CARDS and is compatible with universal AGP8x graphics cards (1.5V)

Anyway, that speed compatibility wasn't the problem here became glaringly obvious when I reinserted my old 2x card just to see what would happen - the exact same thing: blank black screen and blinking monitor light indicating no reception.

So now my old card wasn't working either, I deduced it had to be something to do with the old drivers I had uninstalled prior to ATTEMPTING to install the new card. I tested this hypothesis by doing a system restore to before I uninstalled the old card's drivers and lo and behold, it worked, the old card came back to life. Then I reversed the restoration back and it was blank black screen and blinking monitor light again.

Then I figured that maybe the uninstallation had inadvertantly messed up my system's AGP settings, so I checked in BIOS to see if AGP was still set as default. It was:

Video Configuration----Allows selecting an AGP or PCI video controller as the display device that will be active when system boots

AGP APERTURE SIZE (128 MB)
PRIMARY VIDEO ADAPTER (AGP)
FRAME BUFFER SIZE (1 MB)

Then I thought that maybe the mobo chipset drivers were to blame, I updated them with no change in result, neither the old card nor the new card were being recognized, the old card only if a system restore was peformed to before the initial driver uninstallation.

At this point I was totally confuzzled and decided to do a system scan just in case I had missed something, I used CPU-Z and AIDA32 and these are the results pertaining to AGP status:





Now compare those to these (other people's system specs):





As you can see, the scans don't show any AGP properties AT ALL, as if it's non-existant on my system, which obviously isn't the case.

I would bet that if I resolved this conundrum I'd have all the other issues licked.

So, any ideas as to what might be causing this conspicuous absence and how would I go about fixing it?

Thanks.

I just purchased an ATI RADEON 3850 512mb GDDR3 Memory Video card.

my comp specs are:

Intel Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz

1 GB of RAM

Windows XP Home w/ SERVICE pack 2

The computer is a Dell Optiplex gx620 (mid tower case)

I installed the Video Card and all the drivers from here:

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=xp/radeonx-xp


and when I go to run a game. it looks all pixelated... and it has black little squares that r flashing and the pixels are either refreshing too fast or too slow it looks LIKE. and when i ran Riva tuner to check the fan speeds... it shows the my GPU is running at 99.9% when ever i open a game... which should not be HAPPENING, some one please help me with this wierd problem.Bad card out of box? It happens. Try it in another computer.Dell's are finicky with drivers also...i'd check their site in the meantime and see if they've written a DRIVER for that card.Well I try'ed it in a different comp. and it had the same problem. so it is most likely the card. so i am going to RETURN it.

I have a custom PC that I built about 6 or 7 years ago that is FREEZING randomly for about 5 now. It is a P4 2.4GHz, has 256Mb RAM, a Mach Speed P4XFCP mother board, G-Force 4 MX440SE graphics card, Western Digital 80gig hard drive, V-Stream VS-L883D video capture card, Generic 3.5in floppy drive, & Lite-on CD burner. I have re-formated with Win XP (format, deleted partition, repartition, & install) 5 times, removed all unnecessary hardware (video capture card & 3.5 drive), swapped with new hardware ( RAM, processor, CD-ROM, & video card). After all that it still freezes at anytime. It may FREEZE at boot or it may freeze after 1 hour of use. There is no consistency. I have tried to run diagnostic software but it could freeze at anytime. If anybody has any ideas of what I could try next it would be good. I think that I have swapped everything but the mother board. All hardware that I swapped with was working. Is there any way it could be the power supply? Thanks for any help. 256 is on the low end for XP RAM...RAM is cheap right now so i'd add at least another 512...if the freezes continue swap in a known working PSU of the same or greater wattage to test if that's the culprit.
But i suspect RAM.Before it started freezing it was running fine. I had not added anything new. It just started freezing. When I swapped the RAM I put a 512 stick in and it was still freezing. When it freezes it just stops responding. The mouse does not move & the keyboard will not work. I have been told that the power supply very rarely has problems. I guess I could try that.I'm confused...you stated you have 256M of RAM...nothing was said about adding 512.
Is the new RAM the correct type ? ?
To check this visit Crucial.com and run a report.

How clean was it inside there when you opened the case ? ?
I still suspect the RAM though.To troubleshoot the hardware I tried swapping the hardware 1 by 1. I made sure the hardware that I put in was correct before I put it in. After I tried the new hardware I removed it and put the original back. As far as the dust on the inside the CPU case has a filter that helps with the dust. I still clean it out with compressed air about every 2 to 3 months.So how much RAM is in there now and are you sure it's the correct type ? ?256 and checked 4 times it ran on this RAM fine for 2 or 3 years. I know I need to get more but I am on a very limited budget and I see no reason to get more for a computer that is not working right now.DDr266 which is what it takes is 20 bucks for a 512M stick...
XP needs more than 256 to run properly.
But that's certainly up to you.

Also the 256 stick may have gone bad...you can DLoad and run MemTest to see if this is the case. If the RAM was bad wiuld replacing it with double what I had not fix it? I was thinking that if the new stick of 512 was going to work I would have left it in and be done but, it did not fix it. Even with a stick of 512 same as (other than size) the 256 that is in it it was still freezing without reason (that I can see.) I know that this motherboard can take 2 different kinds of memory. The book says:
"Memory Socket
* 168-pin SDR SDRAM module socket x1 and 184-pin DDR module socket x2
* Support 1 pcs PC133/PC100 SDRAM Module EXPANDABLE to 1.0GB, or 2 pcs DDR266/DDR200 DDR Modules Expandable to 2.0GB."
Anything else? Yes that's correct it will take 2 types of RAM...but it's one or the other...they can't be mixed.
Sometimes bad RAM will run good enough for the machine to boot properly but that's about it.
Testing it would be the best way to find out.
As far as the PSU maybe being the culprit the best way to test this is to borrow a known good one of the same wattage or greater and swap it in there and run the machine thru it's paces....

Best of Luck and let us know.

Yeah. All of a sudden my computer monitor's colors wentwacko. It used to look normal before, but now everything has a stupid bluish sort of tint to it. It LOOKS like someone too a blue layer of film and stuck it on my SCREEN. I've tried turning on and off the monitor and it still doesn't HELP. When I turn it back on, it has this weird little message, and the message has the right color, so I'm thinking that my *censored* computer screwed it up. What can I do?

My monitor is an LG Flatron 19 in. if that helps. You may NEED to reinstall video drivers.

I'm not sure. How can I check? I have done an ipconfig/release and renew but does not work. I was told by the tech that came to my house that Comcast uses a roaming ip address system if that's any help. I currently do not have the computer hooked up, I am running off my back-up unit.What happens when you do a release/renew?ip address for adapter local area connection 5 has already been released.
When I do renew it says: an error occured while renewing interface local area connection 5 : RPC server is unavailable.
When I do the ipconfig/all:
windows ip configuration host name: parlante-4i8fdv
primary dns ............
node type broadcast ip routing inabled
winsock proxy enabled no
ethernet location area 5
connection -specific dns suffix
discription REALTEK RTL8139 family pcifast ethernet NIC #2
physical address 00-1E-2A-3A-5F-ED
DHCP enabled yes
auto config enabled yes
ipaddress 0.0.0.0
subnet mask 0.0.0.0
default gateway
DHCP server 0.0.0.0

Go to Start /Run and type in services.msc and hit Enter...set the RPC service to ON and save the change and re-boot.
Then see what renew produces.tried that and still have no ip address. gives me same error message
an error occurred while renewing interface local area connection 5:the RPC server is unavailable.on your router is a reset switch reset it them type 192.168.1.1 on I/Exp when you get the router page type admin admin for both password them check settings if running aol you need to set settings to pppoe and not pppoa when you have the setting set then save the try to go out on any web site hope this worksmy internet is run on cable/Lan , thanks anyway
The problem has been FIXED, called Dell and they GOT it fixed, seems as tho it was a corrupt winsoc probably caused by a power outage/spike. Nothing was damaged and they had me format my system and gave me a complete fresh re-start and the machine is working better than ever, fast fast fast. No more ip address problems. I WOULD like to thank Deerpark and Patio for all your help, ALSO Homer for your real insight about cpu and computer....I knew that.
Thanks all, keep doing what you guys do, helping us with 'puter problems.....

I have recently downloaded video file torrents of a particular cartoon, and uploaded then to utorrent, and then when I was about to play them in Windows Media Player, I found there was an error stating I didnt have a codec to play the file.
So then I went to download Divx, and did so successfully.
I went to play the video again, but it still didnt work, and came with the same error message. Please help!
(Oh, and I want these videos to work in windows movie maker )
Thank you so much.
P.S, sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I'm not too GOOD with computer LINGO and I felt this was the right forum DXHave you tried SM Player ?---->Here

Also---->GordianKnotOk, thankyou!
But the thing is, DixV WORKED perfectly fine before.
I was adjusting DEFAULT settings on my computer, perhaps this is the cause? If so, how do I access the default settings? (obviously I have no idea )

Well my processor has given me some issues, and my waranty from dell is worth nothing to me, so i was wondering if/where i could BUY a new laptop processor, i currently have an intel mobile core 2 duo T7200 (Merom) @ 2 GHz with a socket 479 mPGA.

Its a dell inspiron E1505/6400 and i cant complain, but i want a new processor, and i really dont know where to buy one.


thanks.I wouldn't try upgrading your laptop's CPU.
It's a difficult task, and will end up COSTING you more than it's worth.
Newegg offer laptop CPUs if you're dead set on it, but I do advise against it.
What issues are you experiencing anyway?You can get them on ebay. I just bought a T7500 and am trying to get help INSTALLING it. But you get them them fairly cheap as what a new one would cost. My can brand new from a guy thet deals basically in processors. If you'd like his ebay site let me knoow. Hope this helps.
LorenzQuote from: Calum on March 14, 2008, 11:52:16 AM

I wouldn't try upgrading your laptop's CPU.
It's a difficult task, and will end up costing you more than it's worth.
Newegg offer laptop CPUs if you're dead set on it, but I do advise against it.
What issues are you experiencing anyway?

My 2GB Memorex flash drive all of a SUDDEN stopped working. I can't view the files. I've tried 2 different computers. There's no lock on the drive. From Windows Explorer, if I select the drive, it says "Please insert a disk into drive F." Properties shows file system as Raw and 0 bytes used and 0 bytes available. Running chkdsk from Windows Explorer doesn't work. Running chkdsk from a command prompt says "access DENIED." Windows recognizes the drive as a USB mass storage device, but I can't see the files.

Did I loose everything on my flash drive? Is there a program that can recover the files? Can I send it to somebody to recover the files? I guess I should have backed up the files once a week or something like that. The drive is only about 1.25 years old. I use it on average several times a day.Unfortunatly, it sounds like you have lost the files. I had this issue a few times with thumb drives or USB sticks myself. I noticed if I removed them without letting Windows turn them off I was corrupting all the files on them. Once I started telling Windows to turn the device off before I removed it, now I have had the same one for over 2 years.........good luckI've been careful to turn off the device. I didn't do that once a while ago and I learned my lesson.

I did some more searching and found many flash drive recovery programs on download.com and majorgeeks.com. I also got the number of a local data recovery store. They charge $350 to save the files. It's free to just analyze it.

I'm going to look for a sync program. I use my flash drive to store all kinds of stuff. I'm screwed if I can't recover the data.Try Recuva...I was able to recover all the files. A guy a work has some kind of device/hardware along with some software that recovered everything. He wouldn't tell me the NAME of it. I don't know why he's being all secretive.

Recently, he was also able to recover several dying laptop harddrives for our computer group with the same device. EVEN when the computer group said the harddrives were shot. He said he use to have a government job, and was able to bring this hardware with him. Anybody know what this is? I imagine it's not cheap.

I have a Gigabyte M57SLI-S4 AM2 NFORCE 570 mb and am currently running an Nvidia 256mb 8400gs (yeah, I know, not the best card, but what I could afford when I bought it). Anyway, a friend of mine also has an Nvidia 8400 gs that he is replacing with a better card and I was wondering what I would have to do to SET them up on my system. Do you just plug in the other card and that's it? Which one do you connect the monitor to, or does it matter?

Also, I know both cards have to be the same, but does it matter if the manufacturer is DIFFERENT?you will need an SLI bridge. your motherboard might have come with one, if not, you will need to buy one. i BELIEVE you will also need to set up your SLI configuration in windows, however, i cannot be sure for i have never done an SLI setup before.

Quote

Also, I know both cards have to be the same, but does it matter if the manufacturer is different?

I received an inquiry from a friend who has a friend who owns a Toshiba laptop or notebook PC. I don't know the exact model # yet. Anyway, the symptoms that were described to me seem to indicate a possible hard drive FAILURE.

I've visited Toshiba's website is search of a hard drive diagnostic TOOL that could be run from a floppy or CD but have not found anything. And, I don't know what brand hard drive is in the computer.

Any suggestions about where to get a hard drive diagnostic tool for this computer?The UBCD has drive diagnostics for all manuf.
Seems Toshiba used quite a few vendors for HDD's.
The diagnocstics on the ultimate boot cd won't run on the wrong HDD so it should be a safe bet just to try each one...
UBCD

Best of Luck.Another QUESTION. Toshiba sells replacement hard drives on their site. I see they usually identify a particular drive as being, for example, "Compatible with Satellite R10 and R15 SERIES notebooks". If buying from a local retailer or online seller, does one need to look for compatibility of specific hard drives with specific model computers or model series? I would hope this is as easy as buying a hard drive for a desktop, but I'm under the impression this may not be the case.Thanks, patio. I'll try UBCD if I get to the point of actually troubleshooting that computer.The only hangup i've had with replacing Toshiba laptop drives is the size requirements...if the manual states a 40G limit then it will not run on a larger drive...
Sounds like more of a BIOS issue to me than a manuf. one.
Last one i worked on had a DeathStar HDD ...replaced with a WD of the same size and no problems at all.OK, once I get the exact model number, I should be able to determine the size of the original hard drive. Or, of course, if I get my hands on it, I could remove the hard drive and look for info on the drive. They tell me it's about 2 years old, so a replacement drive of the same size will probably not be hard to find.

Thanks again.

Hello - I have a HARD disk RECOVERED from a PC running win98 - how do I transfer the DATA - I have a PC running vista and an external hard disk caddy.

When I plug the win98 HD in the caddy the Vista PC doesn't recognise it. I have the win98 HD jumper set to master and have tested the caddy with a win XP HD which works fine.

Any ideas please - much appreciated - trying to recover some old photos.

Many thanks - Charlie T

When I PLUG my camera usb cord into any usb port on my computer, I get a window that says USB device not recognized.. I have recopied my fuji camera disk on the HARDDRIVE again, but to no avail. I had a tech look at it and said I may need a new PCI CARD, a friend THOUGHT I might need a new mother board. I don't know where to go from here. Thanks for any help. Are you sure the software is installed for the camera on the pccruncher,what is the operating system?what appears in device manager vis-a-vis the usb HUB and ports?truenorth

First off this is just for discussion. I have no intention of building a sli system, even if I had the money

I see a few posts here about adding another video card. I was under the understanding both cards had to be the same. Is this true?

Also, there is another forum I frequent, and almost everyone on that forum says SLI is a waste of money. The gain, which is minimal, is not worth the added expense and heat produced. They claim that unless you are running a very graphical intensive program on a large monitor (over 24 in.) it is not needed. The new high end cards will run almost all programs/games just fine.

I am interested in your opinions. Do any of you guys run SLI? Is there MUCH performance gain?

Everything i've read states the cards need to be the same...
As far as the performance issue i can't say but one of our Gaming Guru's such as Calum may be along shortly.i dont have SLI, HOWEVER, if i was made of money i totally would.

i have read many reviews and ive seen performance increase anywheres from 30-40%. now, to purchase a SECOND $600 card for a 30-40% increase, to me, is a waste of money. if it increased performance 100%, or even 80%, then it might be worth it.

Quote

I was under the understanding both cards had to be the same. Is this true?

The benefit of SLI that I can see is if I already had an SLI mb with a mediocre card, and I had outgrown it. Then I could buy another card like I have for way less than a new top end card, and maybe get by another year or 2.

I've been working on an old Dell machine, I installed a Maxtor 120 SATA HD. a new CD Rom drive and ethernet card. I put in a new battery and updated the bio's from Dell. I loaded Win 2000 Pro and everything is fine when its up and running.
But this problem started before I did all that.
The problem is it wont RESTART on its own, even during the installation, when it called for a "restart" I had to sit here and manually restart it. When I hit the power button, it comes on and goes off a couple of times, then finally powers up and BOOTS. Kinda like jump starting! lol
I've looked AROUND here and on the web, but haven't been able to find any answers. Anyone else ever had this problem? lol TIA, BruceSounds to me like either the power supply or the video. Is the video built in or a card?
You mnetioned this is Dell pc. Some Dell pcs have a proprietary power supply that cant be replaced with a generic power supply, other models of Dell use a standard atx, usually version 2.01 or better, something like that.
So you need to find out, from Dell website, if your power supply is generic, standard, off the shelf type or proprietary. If proprietary you may have to get another from them or somewhere, maybe a used pc shop. If its NOT proprietary then you might have another power supply around or COULD borrow from a buddy. But know for SURE or you could really cause worse problems when swapping power supplies in a Dell. I really dont like Dell because of this.

It may not hurt to re-set your bios either. But i would make sure i knew what settings exist in the settings now before you do the re-set and also to set the bootup order correctly as a bios re-set will change that for sure.


Thanks Nork, I suspected the power supply, I noticed also that the jumper that goes on the J7A pins was missing, not sure when it was removed. Do you think this would have anything to do with the "restart" problem? This machine poers up fine at times, other times you have to press the power button over and over a few times, then it takes off and boots up.
Also the video is a card. Do you really think I need to reset the bios after updating them from the Dell web site?
I since formatted the HD and put XP Pro on it, things are running fine except for the "restart" problem.

hi guys i just bought an internal hard drive w/ usb 2 days ago. i then COPIED pictures from a friend's computer to my hard drive and it was working very well. 2 hrs before my FLIGHT overseas, i attached my hard drive to my other friend who wanted to copy the pictures. after all the copying finished i clicked safely remove hardware then selected my hard drive. A few mins of waiting i GOT tired and shut the computer down w/o waitng for the " you can now safely remove the hardware ballon" took my drive then left. i just got back home and connected the drive to my computer. BUT my computer isnt doing anythng. i checked at device manager there was a yellow exclamation point saying

Code 47
Windows cannot use this hardware device because it has been prepared for safe removal, but it has not been removed from the computer. (Code 47)

i already tried a dozen times removing the drive, and restarting the computer. i even MOVED it to DIFF usb slots. still nothing happens. the computer can't find my hard drive.. i need your help.. thank you in advanceTry this from Technet...

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/f2290182-15dd-4e6f-ab47-14359da7afe61033.mspx?mfr=true

Alan <><

I was talking to a guy today who has a generic barebones tower and XP service pack 2. He recently BOUGHT a new IDE 160 GB Western Digital hard drive. He was going to slave his old drive (also a 160 GB WD) and install XP on his new one. Sounds simple enough. However, when he brought it to me it wasn't booting properly. I opened it up and took out the jumper for the master drive and rebooted. Both drives showed up in the BIOS and were enabled.

When I checked both C: and E: in My Computer, they were IDENTICAL. They seemed to have the same info. That is, the information from his old drive was gone. His old drive, which had alot of data on it, was a mirror image of his new drive (which of course had an OS install).

My question is, did he somehow install XP on both drives?? If so, how is this possible?

I don't think that it is, but the drives were the exact same. Kinda perplexed me.

Any thoughts?bump If the used space of the drives is close i'd say this is exactly what he's done...and his old Data is probably gone.
Unless he want's to shell out big bucks for Data Recovery services...
You MAY however GET EXTREMELY lucky by taking Ownership of the old drive...i give it about one chance in thirty...

Clik
yea i knew how to take ownership of the drive, but didn't think it would matter b/c the drives were identical in disk space used so I knew the data was gone. There are no faded out folders or anything, just the standard My Documents, etc.

How does something like that happen?I've seen users do plenty of strange things to their machines and when questioned about it important details are usually left out so i wouldn't even begin to guess...
It probably didn't boot properly the first time and he ran the install again and chose the wrong drive.

anybody familliar with this term" USB Cold boot"
i got no idea what is this, and how to test itonly_lonely ...... I'm a bit curious as to why, if you have no idea what the term refers to, would you wish to test it ? Perhaps you could EXPLAIN .

DL65 i'm not sure if my knowledge about this is correct
If this term have some standard behind?
my understanding is BOOTABLE USB device test. (coldboot it)
but i'm not sure.
Hope somebody here can HELPTHE start-up of a computer from a powered-down, or off, state.
Also called a hard boot

I Have a Dell Dimension 3100.
It will not turn on, but the power LIGHT come on and keep BLINKING, no noise or beeping sound.
Can anyone help?WELCOME to the CH forums.

See pages 40/41 of the User Manual - download it from here in .pdf format. You will need a .pdf reader (RECOMMEND free Foxit Reader from this site if you don't already have a reader..)

Good luck..Do you know if this pc has a light code on the back. If the manual doesn't say whats wrong. Let us know.

Hi

My computer has just died on me, seemed to be a decline rather than an abrupt failing, was wondering how to fix it?

At first I'd just get random but frequent blue screens (would usually occur 1-4 hours after boot up) with a variety of error messages. Initially I thought it may have just been the memory, so I RAN memtest overnight - found nothing. So I decided I'd test each of the sticks on their own, and the machine never crashed with either stick running by itself (though it was painfully slow ). After that I thought it might have been one of the memory stick slots, so I tried each stick individually in both slots... memtest still found nothing, and I didn't get any blue screens. I put both the sticks BACK in again hoping the problem "fixed itself", but sure enough an hour or two in I got yet another BSOD.

So I went back to just the one stick of memory, then a few weeks later I get a blue screen with just the single stick. I thought I might have found the culprit so I switched the sticks, and got a blue screen as soon as Windows started booting. Changed over to the other memory port, same thing. Tried running safe mode, same thing. Was getting errors like BAD_POOL_HEADER and BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO.

Now when I push the power button the fan turns on, the CD drive makes its little start up click, but nothing else. Nothing is sent to the monitor, the red "busy" light doesn't come on, it just sits there with the fan running, not doing anything.

Any THOUGHTS? (btw I know nothing about computer hardware)Welcome to the CH forums.

Quote from: Noel85

(btw I know nothing about computer hardware)

I overclocked my computer and it seems that the northbridge is overheating.

I overcloked my Intel Pentium 4 processor from 2.66Ghz to 3.0Ghz. It runs at around 47C while Idle. Then I overclocked my EVGA Geforce 7300GT video card from 350Mhz to 420Mhz It runs at 57C while idle. My northbridge is running at 50C! I dont know if that is normal it burns your hand to the touch, and it has a passive heatsink.

Is 50C for a northbridge normal while idle?

what is the maximum temperature for a Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz HT processor? its a socket 775 with a 533 fsb

Another THING I noticed from the nVidia drivers. It says that the "Core Slowdown Threshold" is 125C!... is that accurate? I cant change it or anything but 125 seems ridiculously high.

I have installed the Thermaltake Bigwater 760i and that is what I have WATER cooling the processor, and have considered cooling the video card and the northbridge if these temperatures are not normal.

Thank you for any help, I highly appreciate it and I apologize if this post is real long.My system specs are:

Gigabyte EP35-DS3R mobo
2Gb Corsair RAM
250 GB HDD
Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.66 Ghz @ 3.0Ghz
EVGA Geforce 7300GT 512Mb PCIe 350Mhz @ 420Mhz
2 hp dvd1040 drives
Allied 550 Watt PSU
the graphics have nothing to do with the northbridge. thats southbridge. but 60c doesnt sound that bad to me.
the fsb isnt that fast and just speeding up the cpu is (i believe) making it work even HARDER. thus making it hotter. did you ever get a temp reading before the oc? I'd recommend cooling your NB, your CPU and NB temps seem high to me, especially with water cooling.
Are you sure you know what you're doing?
What's your video card's load temp?i think it was patio that reccomended frozencpu.com for cooling productsThe video cards load temp is around 67C

the temps before OCing was 40C for the processor and 48C for the graphics.
and the NB is around 35-36C

To be honest, Im just messing with my computer and i dont know alot about OCing. I've read articles that describe the risks, and i want to try to do this safely.according to this it says that graphics like agp, or pci express are northbridge and integrated graphics are southbridge.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/Motherboard_diagram.pngQuote from: CyberHawk on March 13, 2008, 11:29:51 AM

The video cards load temp is around 67C/quote]
That's not too bad.

Quote

the temps before OCing was 40C for the processor and 48C for the graphics.

Pentium 4s do tend to run hot and I would expect that with a stock cooler, but not with water cooling.

Quote

and the NB is around 35-36C

Is? Or was/

Quote

To be honest, Im just messing with my computer and i dont know alot about OCing. I've read articles that describe the risks, and i want to try to do this safely.

That first sentence scares me.
Before anyone even thinks about attempting overclocking, you should know exactly what you're doing.
Otherwise you can get into a real mess.

all graphics are contrlled by southbridge...

What's the best way to STORE a computer in a non-climate-controlled environment? non-climate controlled ENVIROMENT? i would have to say it MUST be stored in some SORT of water-tight BAG.

I have come across an old 800mhz Computer. I have thought about making it into a file SERVER for my house to store all of our important files on there as well as back them up to flash drive as well. the machine has two OPTICAL CD drives of which one of them is a burner. I just need to put a power supply for it. I might add one of my used hard drives to it. What else do I need for this purpose??Do you have a router? Are you already networking two or more computers? Does that computer have an operating system installed? Does it have an onboard LAN port, or an NIC card installed?Yes.. I have a router..Have two computers connected wireless. Hardwired into my desktop. It has an on board LAN. OS is WINDOWS XP Pro.

What do I have to do otherwise?

It was set at 5 when I installed it and now it says one change REMAINING. Rarely used it to watch movies and never played ANYTHING but R1 or R0 discs, never got a warning to change region or that it was being changed. I'm in region 1 so it's not really a problem but I'm confused as to how this could happen. I've never changed it manually and was wondering if there were any known software or hardware issues that could CAUSE this. I have updated the DVD firmware occasionally but it was legit software from NEC, no hacks. Thanks.

Windows XP HOME SP2, NEC ND-3520AW DVD-RW.Any teenagers in the house ? ?
No (lol). I have sole access and the computer is behind locked doors when I'm at work.I haven't heard of this happening.
Strange indeed. I'll have a look around this evening...

Hi Folks! This post is related to one I sent in last weekend. My problem then was a dead computer, ( board and cpu bad) and at the time I had some options. So, what I have done is I have purchased a decent compatible tower from my work ( used but adequate) instead of buying a whole new computer. My old computer was just for surfing, etc, but I had good antivirus loaded on there(loaded by a tech so I have no disc!) as well as a music site that I pay for annually ( I make cd's but RARELY store FILES). So here is my dilemma now>> This tower I bought is clean and bare bones. 40g h/d, 512 ram, etc. etc. My OLD comp was the same. Both towers have a Western Digital hard drive, same size. SO I loaded my old hard drive into this tower thinking I could plug it in and run it, but it does not show up. I reconnected it as a slave drive, using the drive the new tower came with as the primary, which now the primary runs ( I'm here writing) and the old one still does not show up anywhere. I might have it jumpered wrong? I would like to use the old drive as my primary, and the "new" drive as my slave for storage, etc. Does this make sense? I need clear directions on how to be able to do this. Any takers for the mission? Thanks in advance! Lyle. PS. both towers have XP. you need both h/drive jumpers set 1st h/drive set to master 2Nd h/drive set to slave on the same ribbon ide 1 then have CD ROM set on ide 2 set as master this will help but set it in the BIOS try auto set up if not the set it up manual this should workIt is a little bit difficult to understand what it is that you are saying I should do.

I have ribbon already set up the way you described. I think my error(s) are at initial start up. My tower still does not read the "old" drive, just the other one which is set on slave.

I don't know what you mean by jumpered....I used that term in my post to describe the way I have the ribbon and WIRES attached to the drives in series.

Are you describing something else?

Lylealan you need to use some punctuation when giving advice so others can actually understand you.

Lyle there are a few things to consider here...
If the OS on both drives is newer than WinME the drive from the old machine will not boot on the new tower...this is by design.
The jumpers for a drive are located between the power and IDE cable hookups on the rear of the drive.

Each drive is different somewhat so check the diagram on the drive for the PROPER placement.
These must be set correctly for Windows and or the BIOS to see the drive.
Cable them this way:

II====================================II==========II
MBoard Slave Master.

The new drive for the tower if it worked before needs to be master with the old drive set as slave.
Make sure the jumpers are set accordingly.

NOTE: Some drives including WD's have a master w/slave setting which the master should be set at.

After doing this re-boot the system and see if both drives are shown in Windows Explorer...if so you are good to go.

p.s. If the slave shows up but you can't access the data..Check Here

Hi everyone. Yesterday morning I was on my desktop for a while and everything was working fine. When I came back that afternoon my keyboard/mouse/printer/etc (all USB devices) weren't responding so I tried moving the devices into different slots. It turns out that only one of the ports works (I think I have seven--two on the front and five on the back. There's two on my monitor also but they've never worked anyway...) meaning that I can only use either my mouse or my keyboard. I'm confused because everything was working fine and then suddenly...not working fine.

Back in December I added some RAM and a new graphics card but that was three months ago.

I understand a LITTLE bit about computers but this is entirely beyond me. I'm at a loss here. Can anyone help?

I'm running WinXP SP2 on a DualCore Intel Pentium D 820, 2800 MHz. For a firewall I use COMODO. I'm not sure what other info to give. Have you installed any software/hardware prior to this?


Welcome to CH! Thanks!

Actually, I did plug in an iPod shuffle for the first time the day before, but the computer recognized it without a problem and iTunes was already installed. That's all I can think of, really. Any indication of a problem within DEVICE manager?No, nothing as far as I can tell. In device manager it shows all the ports like normal.Does the IPod work now? I expect you'll say "no" but I'm just WONDERING...Try hereWell, looks like someone took the computer to the DOCTOR or something. I'll see if I can find out what was wrong with it when it gets back and update you all.

Oh, and the iPod works fine. Well, until the charge runs out that is. cricket this is a possible answer(i may be wrong) but have u recently gotten a virus? if so then there may be an answer(2 actually)

1. if u got a virus. it may have DELETED the sys files for ur USB ports.

2. if u got a virus. the virus maybe blocking port transfer(meaning it won't let data goto to or from the USB Device to ur comp) some viruses have been known to do that.Right, so we got it back today and...there was nothing wrong with it. The IT guy ran diagnostics, etc and couldn't find anything--it worked perfectly for him. It's still working alright now. Weird as *censored*.

Thanks for the advice, you guys.Gremlins....Had your computer gone into standby or hibernation right before that?

I have a Compaq Presario C300 RUNNING XP that has died on me( I can't boot it up as when it tries, the power light just flashes on and off). I also have a Compaq Presario A900 running Vista HOME Premium. Would it be possible to remove the hard drive from the C300 and use it in the A900?
I GUESS not as the operating systems are different but I'm asking on the off-chance. Thanks for any advice.You can have the drive connected as long as the other one isn't but it will boot into what ever OS is on the drive. It should work. but xp looks at the differntce in the hardware. SORRY Sp was using spell checkNo.
It probably will not boot properly on another machine.
And you risk data loss/corruption by doing so...
Have you DLoaded and ran the diagnostics on the OLD drive ? ?
Their available Free from the drive manuf. site.

I need to be able to auto save a file to hard disk averytime a file is saved to a floppy disk!

IE the same file ! I dont understand if this would come under disk cloning, mirroring or logging !?!?!

Does Windows XP have the ability to autocopy, autosave, auto duplicate or do I have to find a PROGRAMMER to make me a specific driver routine ?!?!?!?

I am LOST !!!!! If you can help, thanks, it is giving me a MIGRANE.

Quote from: patio on March 13, 2008, 10:46:51 AM

I've ALREADY had one too MANY and it LOOKS fine to me.....

I searched through out the forum with no luck finding an answer. So maybe someone can help. I hope.

I have a server running windows 2003 SBS. It has a ASUS P5MT-M server board with RAID. It has RAID 1 setup. However, only ONE physical disk shows up in disk management. Is this how it should be?

The disk is set as basic. I would like to have both disks show up so I can monitor the health. I have not had MUCH experience with RAID.

I know the disks are being mirrored CORRECTLY. I UNHOOKED one and booted up and vice versa.

Thank you in ADVANCE for your help

Okay, somebody PM me and EXPLAIN OFN, 'cause my FEEBLE brain hasn't translated...you see how feeble I am....read my LAST few POSTS on this thread!