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My mother in law gave me her computer to fix the other day,

The operating system was a complete mess (still on sp1,rarely updated or connected to the net,never defragged) and the computer would only boot into a black screen, nothing shown just black. The motherboard had 2 years worth of dust on it to the point the cpu cooler was solid brown (im not kidding). So I told her I would try and fix it.
First i cleaned out the case with compressed air and noticed the AGP slot had been broken off, when questioned, my mother in law denied any knowledge of the hoonage (she does have a daughter and a son living with her and a hubby who likes to tinker)

After cleaning the case, I removed the cpu cooler and gave it a thourou cleaning then reapplied the thermal grease and reinstalled the assembly.

I installed my old ATI radeon 9200se into an empty PCI slot

Added my extra Antec 300watt power supply I had kicking around to replace the crappy 200 watt OEM one waiting to die and take the motherboard with it.

Reinstalled windows, I deleted the 5gig backup partition told it to use NTFS as it was fat32 and let er rip (maybe its trying to run fat32 and NTFS on the same HD)??.

The computer booted up for the first time with a message to choose which operating sytem to run, xp PRO(my install) or xp media(old os) XP pro booted to desktop fine, choosing option 2 results in a could not load message, missing whatever.

So I updated the the various drivers and xp security updates installed some games and utilities, backup family photos and just surfed the net and used it for about 6hours with out any problems, during this time a registry scan was performed several times and several runs of the defragger was done, I also hunted down the old user profiles and info from documents and setting (hidden folders shown) anything that was part of the old OS, I never TOUCHED the windows folder though.

So she calls the other day complaining of random reboots saying the computer will run for a short time and then just reboot in the middle of something, Im alittle puzzled, I ran this computer for several hours without any shutdowns, she lives 50 miles away and will be bringing it back to me to look at again.

What Im thinking is
-Windows install is bad, the installer did not convert the enter drive to NTFS?? (is this possible?, I deleted the extra partition so its just one 40 gig drive)
-Hard drive is damaged, it had 8gigs out of 40gigs left on it when she gave the computer and it showed a bright red solid block after reinstall in the defragmenter, the drive makes no abnormal noises though (space is opposite now with only 8gigs used but a small red block shows that will not defrag seperate from the main blue bar)
-Mixing the old pc2100 ram with the not so old pc2700, donno if this would be a problem.
-The cpu fan seemed too QUIET like its RPM was very low, perhaps its finally died and the computers going into thermal protection.
-Processor has partial thermal damage from running hot for too long (that heatsink was terribly clogged)
I would really appreciate some opinions on this

Here is the original sytem specs-
Compaq Presario S6000NX (DQ178A#ABA) PC Desktop
40 gig HD
2.7Ghz Intel celeron
256meg pc2100 ram (I added some 256 pc2700 that I had lying around)
Cheap OEM msi ms-6577 v3.1 motherboard with the agp slot snapped off (dont know how they managed that) google searches tell me it will accept pc2100 and pc2700.

Edit- they didnt break off the agp slot after all, I found the original speck sheet and photos, it just looks like its been broken off.
update the BIOS manThe first thing I think I'd do is start it up and observe it's behavior.  Does it randomly restart, as she says it does?  If the computer actually runs fine, as it was when you returned it to her, I'd suspect they may have an unreliable power source.  A UPS might be the solution for that.  

When you worked on the computer, did you have a firewall enabled and have anti-virus software and some spyware removal tools installed before you returned it to her?  Does she understand the significance of all that, and how to use the software?

I think you should investigate the overheating possibility.  Perhaps you need to re-do the CPU heatsink installation.  And, of course, verify that the fans are all working.  

Is the computer still showing two OS when it starts up?  In other words, it's really a dual-boot configuration but the old Win XP Media Center installation does not run right?  Is that right?  If so, SEEMS like you ought to at least edit the BOOT.INI file so that she no longer sees the old OS during startup.  


As soon as I get my hands on it I will update the bios, the HP website that has the updates is horrible to navigate and I only last night found the updates page for this particular model.

I installed Spybot search and destroy and Avira personal antivirus, no firewall (just windows fire wall) as this computer is not connected to the net (they live in a very rural area and cant get more than 14kps total bandwidth so they don't bother).

I'll get them to check the CPU fan as soon as possible.

Please tell me how to edit the boot INI file because I really want to fix that dual boot bug (I didn't know how to fix it until you mentioned I could edit the boot.INI file)).
EDIT- Googled on how to edit the boot ini file, seems pretty straightforward
Have you ever done a BIOS update?  I suggest you review what HP says any BIOS updates are supposed to fix and, if that does not apply to this computer, then don't update the BIOS.  Some risk is associated with that procedure.  If the update fails to work for some reason, the computer could be rendered inoperable.

Let us know how things went once you've had a chance to work on that computer some more.If you did not format the drive before the Windows install, I would suggest deleting all partitions, creating one large one and choose to format duiring the install.

First test the hard drive with free diagnostics from the appropriate drive maker's site.

Take out the extra RAM. Test the original with the free download at www.memtest86.com

Run the machine and see if any problems.

If so, take off the side panel and blow a fan directly in there while working and see if that helps.

Post back your findings.

The suggest to update the BIOS is usually from someone who does not know what else to do.  

Many a machine has been turned into a doorstop by an improper BIOS flash. There may not even be one available.Noted.
Will post results as soon as she brings me the computer (may take a week).OK, well I got the computer today and the plot, she has thickend.
Im drinking many beers now as my stress levels are at maximum, god bless the drink.

Hook everything up and press power and viola! nothing, the screen doesnt so much as flicker, complety dark (same with my montitor, tried it as well)

Took out the harddrive and hooked it up as a slave on my computer, ran speedfan to check its S.M.A.R.T data and the results said it was in perfect health.

Went into disk management and found it still had a 5gig partition (the old backup partition), I reformatted it into NTFS.

Ran a virus scan on the drive, it found 5 trojan downloaders and deleted them, they seemed to be in windows update dll's (note- I never opened anything on the drive when it was installed on my computer, to avoid getting any "cooties" from it.)

Reinstalled hard drive and started to get anything to show onscreen, put in original Compaq windows install disk with no diff, put in my motherboard driver disk (just to see if it woiuld give a boot screen at all) no luck.

The computer doesnt seem to read anything from the harddrive, when powered up all the fans spin up normaly (even the CPU fan, checked it to make sure it was ok) but the hard drive activity light shows for a split second and goes dark.

Just picked up some floppy disks, im going to try making a boot floppy to see if I can just get into bios at least.
thats all for the moment.


Edit- so far no luck getting anything even with a boot floppy.

The mobo or processor is dead, I cant think of anything else that would do this the power supply works, hard drive works, cd/drive is spinning, floppy drive is making noisel, connections are firm and secure.
This is the readme file from the boot floppy I tried(copy/paste)-

www.bootdisk.com

A windows XP quickboot diskette is used to boot into your otherwise
healthy XP when your startup files are bad, missing, corrupted, or
the MBR is damaged.

While the boot.ini file is technically specific to each machine
depending on what partition you have Windows installed on and if
you have a multiple boot setup, the majority of pcs have windows
on C: in the default folder and are using an IDE hard drive.

Unlike other bootdisks, the quickboot diskette doesn't care where
the 3 main boot files are located, so simply unpacking them to a
disk that has been formatted on an XP pc should result in a workable
disk for the majority of PCs.

The files included are:
boot.ini
ntdetect.com
ntldr

To create this disk, simply copy these files to an disk that was
formatted on an XP PC. Keep in mind that you can also format a disk in
XP and then use it on another PC like a win9X pc to make this disk.

One can simply unzip this pack to A:

Of course, it may work on an XP PC using any old disk, depending....

Perhaps you just need a basic boot.ini to copy to the root folder.

To use this disk set the pc to boot from the A: drive first by going
into the bios and setting the boot order.


Kindest regards,
Ed Jablonowski



Okay, time for update on the goings on
It was the motherboard, she was dead
Raplaced with asus p4v8x-mx

the old case didnt have the proper connector on the front power button so I bought a new case too(nice one too).
Shes up and running (OH JOY!! ), Im posting from it right now. OHHH YEESS I WIN YOU BUGGERY COMPUTER.
Cost me about 200 bucks in hardware unfortunately (case +accessories/motherboard) and about 30 hours of chainsmoking stress, but the computers almost new and my mother in law couldnt be more pleased.

On the rough side, my own computer gave me some problems, started getting really buggy and then stopped booting alltogether, the brandnew video card (gigabyte 7600gs) had died for no reason (default clock speeds).
Im really iffy about recommending Gigabytes products to anyone, as this is not the first time I have had problems with their hardware, I dont even want warranty on it I just want my money back so I can buy a 7600 from a better manufacturer.
Quote

Okay, time for update on the goings on
It was the motherboard, she was dead (slow death)
Raplaced with asus p4v8x-mx

the old case didnt have the proper connector on the front power button so I bought a new case too(nice one too).
Shes up and running (OH JOY!! ), Im posting from it right now. OHHH YEESS I WIN YOU BUGGERY COMPUTER.
Cost me about 200 bucks in hardware unfortunately (case +accessories/motherboard) and about 30 hours of chainsmoking stress, but the computers almost new and my mother in law couldnt be more pleased.

On the rough side, my own computer gave me some problems, started getting really buggy and then stopped booting alltogether, the brandnew video card (gigabyte 7600gs) had died for no reason (default clock speeds).
Im really iffy about recommending Gigabytes products to anyone, as this is not the first time I have had problems with their hardware, I dont even want warranty on it I just want my money back so I can buy a 7600 from a better manufacturer.

Hello,

My stupid laptop put a password up on its own which is a bios password. As this is not frustrating enough, the manufacturer charges me tons to get rid of it. How ****** ridiculous is this ??

Anyhow, now I am here with the problem. This is bothering me so much. I have been busy with this for hours, days and weeks trying to FIX this. I couldn't find a schematic of my laptop but now I finally do. The laptop is a toshiba c55-100-1dc. I am a complete amateur on this field, I only used this laptop till now I never opened one before.

As I read, I need to connect 2 pins on the motherboard to set this stupid behavior right. Which one is this?

Thank you.Many mere want to help your with you computer problem.
Password reset can be a difficult job. Let me explain.
in the past this for him has helped many users with password problems. But since then some new issues have arisen. Often TIMES portable computers are stolen and then the thief wishes to remove any password protection so that he can sell it on the black market. Manufacturers  are aware of this practice and has now adopted a procedure so anyone who wants to help a lost user shall present to the user a series of questions and make some suggestions so as to discourage dishonest people from abuse of this form. Please  understand why this is needed.
Another issue is that the manufacturers have made it more difficult to change any password on computers to improve the security.  Now to recover the password the user must go to the account that he has established with the vendor or the manufacturer and request instructions as to how to reset the password. This is no longer simply a matter of shorting to wires together on the computer motherboard. Nor is it sufficient to just remove the CMOS cell and hope the password will disappear. At the present time passwords are burnt into flash memory and become a permanent part of the computer until it is reset by the authorized user of the computer.
To help you out, here are some questions we have to ask.
First of all, are you the original owner of this computer and did you register at your computer with the manufacture?
Second, did you keep the user manual and instructions you received with the computer? If so, did you read the instructions about how to set the password and how to reset it is needed?
Third item. Your comment about the password was reset by someone else does not make sense. Do you let other people use your computer? Possibly you share a military with other people and somebody else got access to your computer and decided to pull a prank on you. Is that possible? That is a prank sometimes popular in college dorms, if the user has not set the password to his account, anybody else can come along and put a password in. That is one of the reasons you should put a password in yourself as soon as you get a new computer. Even if the password is something very simple, like the name of your cat.
Also, if this is a laptop computer it may be more difficult to change the password by HARDWARE only. Laptop computers are a popular target for the criminal community and there is been special effort made by the manufacturers to make it more difficult to steal and resell a laptop computer.
Please provide some information about the model number of the computer and about what time you bought it and also some information about where you bought the computer. It is very important to know the make and model number of the computer before we can help you anymore.
Please reply.  A) A laptop will NOT do this on it's own without User intervention...

B) The only method to remedy this is the manuf. service center....be prepared to show proof of ownership cause they won't touch it without it... Quote from: patio on September 29, 2016, 06:06:12 AM

A) A laptop will NOT do this on it's own without User intervention...

My Uncle got a phone call from hackers pretending to be TalkTalk and as he is elderly and was tired, they talked him into doing things on his laptop. When they started to talk about banking etc he twigged and hung up but they have put a password on his laptop which we can't get past.

'A "Password =" prompt may be displayed when the computer is turned on, even though no power-on password has been set. If this happens, there is no password that will satisfy the password request. The computer will be unusable until this problem is resolved. [..] The occurrence of this problem on any particular computer is unpredictable -- it may never happen, but it could happen any time that the computer is turned on. [..] Toshiba will cover the cost of this repair under warranty until Dec 31, 2010.' -

...If the problem has not happened yet, verify that your computer has the BIOS currently available from the Toshiba Support website. See detailed instructions below.
Your computer's BIOS may already include the fix for this problem, depending upon the model, and when it was manufactured.
This Support Bulletin is not a notice of a new BIOS for your computer; it's a notice that the password prompt problem has been fixed in relatively new BIOS releases.

I POSTED this thread here months ago: http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/378802-Green-lines-messing-up-ALL-video-playback-%28windows-10%29

Was wondering if anyone here could find a solution to this unsolved problem. I am not sure if its a hardware issue but I posted here as a guess.More information needed.
I don't see any green lines.
Is this from a video?
What was the source?
How did you capture a still image?
If you look closely at the pictures posted in the thread you should see green lines that's the best I can describe them really. If you cant see the 3rd image id be amazed as it painfully obvious.

Those were snapshots of videos playing. Basically green something maybe distortion of some kind that shapes around the curves and movement of video playback. ALL videos REGARDLESS of source do this when the issue is happening. The only remedy was lowering the refresh rate under settings from 60hz to like 59 or 50. Only thing that came to mind was "graphics CARD?" otherwise I have no EARTHLY idea.Couldnt find edit button. The stills were taken from some camera.

I've RECENTLY got this new Soundcard for my PC. I installed it ok, it was detected and device manager says the drivers are installed fine. I can play sound through it and I can hear it fine. Yet it doesn't DETECT recording options.

Firstly, under the normal Windows Volume Control options it doesn't bring up any Recording options (Refer to Soundcard3.jpg). I thought this might just be because the soundcard uses its own control panel, yet many of the options for recording are GREYED out (Refer to Soundcard5.jpg). I have a couple of friends who have the same soundcard and the options aren't greyed out for them. The master volume is greyed out also and cannot be moved (Refer to Soundcard4.jpg).

I'm pretty stuck as what to do. I've uninstalled the drivers from the CD, and installed the latest ones of the website. This doesn't SEEM to change anything. I've also tried uninstalling the drivers completely, taking the card out, then installing the internet drivers from scratch.

There's no occurance of the old AUDIO drivers overwriting the new ones, as I've uninstalled the old audio drivers completely.

I'm pretty stuck as what to do, any help would be appreciated. I'm using Windows XP.

Screenshots:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/Kemp.../SoundCard3.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/Kemp.../SoundCard5.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/Kemp.../SoundCard4.jpgWhat version of DirectX is installed on your computer and what are the system specs?

Visit the following page for the minimum system requirements for your card:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile192-focus.html


Hope this helps!I've sorted it. It was actually a connection problem that was the cause. Thanks for your help.

You may be about to read the proverbial "Stupid Question"

How do I verify that I do or do not have a wireless card/ADAPTER in my Compaq Desktop? Is there a place where it would be LISTED as a component? There is a wireless setup wizard, and I've gone through it a ways, but can't tell whether the installation halts because of a lack of a wireless modem, or because the wireless network I'm trying to is not picking up signal (or MACHINE not picking up signal)

Specs:
Processor: 2.2GHz Athlon 64 3400+
System memory: 512MB
Hard DRIVE: 160GB
Optical drive: DVD-RW/CD-RW combo
Media: 9-in-1 media card reader
Network: 10/100 NIC
Modem: 56K
Operating system: Windows XP HomeDo you currently have a wired Internet connection with that computer?  Exactly what model is it?It is very rare for a stock pre-made desktop to come with a wireless card. From what you have posted you have a wired network 10/100 adapter built into it. If you want to GO wireless you could by using a PCI wireless card or a USB adapter. If that is the case, I would recommend the PCI card.

What is your goal or the reason for your question?

I have an E-machines T2642 2.6 Ghz Intel Celeron processor, RAM 256mb PC2100 DDR, ATA/IDE hard drive.  

Here is what has happened.  We had an electrical storm but the computer was plugged into an APC battery backup.  The computer stopped working.  The power light would start blinking on and off but the computer would not boot up and there was no whirring of fans or the hard drive.  Eventually the light would not even come on.  I thought it may be the hard drive so I bought another one and nothing changed except the power light will stay on when the computer is plugged in.  So I thought it may be the power supply.  Bought it and replaced it.  Nothing different.  So now I am TOYING with replacing the motherboard.  But I have never done this and am wondering if it could be something different and if I may be getting in over my head.  Also considering that a new desktop costs less than $500 and I don't do a lot of heavy processing so I do not need high end graphics cards or anything like that.  The MONEY I have spent so far is $50 for the hard drive and $20 for a power supply.  Any help would be appreciated.eMachines have notoriously poor power supplies that often take out a motherboard or other components when they fail. Without replacing things there is little else to do with those symptoms. Luckily that hard drive can be used in another machine, and a $20 power supply is questionable at best. If you get another motherboard, then your restore CD may not work, etc.

I would go for another brand, but that's just me.I have been leaning that way, replacing the machine.  It had been a good machine for over 3 YEARS but I came to mainly use it as a backup to my laptop which I work off of much more often.  (Actually, just replaced the hard drive in it after it WENT out.)  And to top it off, I just noticed a new HP at office depot for $99 after rebates.  I will probably just give up trying to repair this one.  I don't really have to time to mess with it anyway.  Thanks for your help.You will also no doubt get more RAM, a new warranty and a happier experience. Good luck.First of all, let me tell you that it is probably the MB. I would suggest that you take this system to a shop place where it can be diagnosed(BENCH tested). I am not peddling shops but you could get way deep into your pockets by parts changing. Parts swapping is okay if there is no other way, but not very cost effective. If you do end up swapping out the MB, be sure to get the same or equvilant so that you do not end up needing to swap the processor just to get the MB to work.Thanks for the advice.  I am just going to salvage some of the parts and sell on ebay.  With the price of new systems it just doesn't make much sense to repair this one.  It would be worth it for some of the gamers or heavy graphics people who have a machine that is pretty decked out but mine is not.  I use it mainly for business apps so basic machines are enough for me.  Thanks for your input.

Glenn McMurrian
What would be better for in home use like simple browsing and word a I5 with 12 gigs Ram or the I7 with 8 gigs Ram it will be use for basic browsing for the most part with some MS word with somewhere between 6 and 8 tabs open in the browser. Any idea'sBoth are powerful but really a i5 with 8g of ram is plenty , you will never use the CPU power. Also consider a dedicated video card with its own ram . An i5 is overkill for "imple browsing and word", an Atom with 2 Gb can do those.
Quote

An i5 is overkill for "imple browsing and word", an Atom with 2 Gb can do those.

what is the ADVANTAGE of dual GIGABIT LAN TECHNOLOGY will it double the SPEED or else and what is Teaming
In Nvidia 590SLi Boardshttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dual+gigabit+lan+benefit

http://www.nvidia.com/page/nforce5_features_amd.html

Someone gave me a Dell color laser printer (3010cn), supposedly because it wouldn't work with Windows 10. When I set it up, it seemed to be working (it PRINTED 1 test page just fine).

The next time I tried to use it, it diagnosed itself with error 004-321 and demanded that I "restart printer reseat drum contact support."

I followed this guide as closely as I could: http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN153697

It boils down to reseating the drum, cleaning some belts and sensors, and if that doesn't work:

• Run the IBT rotation SENSOR diagnostic
• Remove the drum and run the photoreceptor motor diagnostic
• Replace the drum and run the photoreceptor motor diagnostic

Drum could be physically damaged

The 3100 is basically the same printer with 3 major differences:
1. it has a second paper drawer below the MFT, which is NOT OPTIONAL,
it MUST be attached or the 3100 will not print.
2. it has a built in ethernet port to be used as a stand-alone network printer
(however since you can't change paper sizes without making changes to both
the printer drivers and AT THE PRINTER ITSELF, this is somewhat less useful.
3. the 3100cn comes with and uses full filled 4000 page toner carts, the 3000 uses
carts that are rated for 2500 pages, essentially they are HALF filled carts with
Dell making just enuf of a physical change to block 3000 users from using full filled carts.

Pretty much as stated in the SUBJECT... haphazard power-down's that only ever seem to occur after installing nVidia's Forceware drivers (I've been reinstalling the OS a lot recently). Though I'm not positive it's those drivers, I'm 99% sure of it.

Anyone experience anything similar? Any good advise?

Thanks in advance!

K7T Turbo SE
800 mHz Athlon (OC'd to 1gHz)
1.12gB PC 133 RAM
nVidia GeForce 5200 FX
Windows XP (no service packs)

Let me know if more info is needed.First off why no SP2 on that machine? Is this a fresh install of XP? Is it a legal installation?

What about the make and wattage of the power SUPPLY? Other issues? What started all of this? How old is the machine?

The fact that you are overclocking makes ANY problems suspect. Why don't you set everything to factory specs and see if the problem continues? Assuming nothing is damaged by the overclocking (and I don't) this may be helpful.
The one time I installed service packs, it screwed with my teamspeak, not accepting input from the microphones, so I just said screw it, reinstalled, and never looked back.

Powerman 400 watt. I recently had an issue on startup with it. I know it's on the way out, and I'm sure it's not helping the problem at hand, but it's not the cause.

This all got started when my favorite game got corrupted (patch related issues; didn't happen to only me by a longshot) and I needed to reinstall. It'd been 8 months since my previous reformat, and I figured 'what the *censored*'. So I backed up all my irreplacables and reformated and reinstalled.

Well, I always used to use Driver Guide to FIND a driver for my video adapter, but they recently updated it to the point where it's not worth &*^#( unless you're shelling out some scratch.

I'd graduated from Driver Guide anyways. I was finally getting very comfortable with IBM-compatible computers and Windows (Mac fanboy... not 'ex', but not so damned closed-minded anymore), so I figured I'd just google the drivers.

First hit was nVidia.com. Go there, download the new Forceware (which I'm pretty sure wasn't what I was installing with driver guide), install it, and cool. Restart the machine to complete, and we're off.

It's only after this stage on the subsequent 6 OS reinstalls that the computer unexpectedly powers-down. It generally happens once an hour or so, depending on what I'm doing (giving credence to the power supply idea).

However, I'm running on another fresh install, haven't installed any forceware yet, and I can stress the machine all I want as long as I want with no power-down's.

I believe the machine is about 5-6 years old... other than an annoying bearing on the CPU fan, it's still running strong.

I understand not trusting an OC'd machine completely. It was like this when I received it; I would have preferred otherwise, as over clocking never sat well with me. I would say it's ONLY the CPU, but 25% is a pretty severe bump.Ah, DUH... one more thing. Before the reply (thanks, btw!  ), I reinstalled again, and used an older version of the Forceware software (91.47) I found on some obscure site.

So far, so good. I'll holler back if it starts acting up again.I'd sure keep a close eye on the power supply.

How do i can see the what MAIN BOARDS what processor .........Download the PROGRAM "EVEREST".

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

I have been searching for a solution to solve the "Safe Remove" problem in Windows XP.
It always HAPPENS whenever I TRY to safely remove any of my USB HDD regardless of brand-name using the safely remove hardware icon in the Taskbar.
I get an error message: 'The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped because a program is still accessing it.'
There are no programs accessing the drive as I only USE it for storage.

I have always to restart my PC before I can safely remove the USB HDD.
I am sure most of you should ecounter this problem at least once in the past!
So, anyone know how to eliminate this problem?It may be your virus scanner or something else that is continually monitoring your hard drive.

More details about what is loaded, etc. would be helpful. Quote

It may be your virus scanner or something else that is continually monitoring your hard drive.

More details about what is loaded, etc. would be helpful.

I have a IBM t-40 with a 40 gig hd and i am having prblems with it STAYING on i have tried reinstalling win xp pro and NOTHING. i have tried fprot nothing and a BUNCH of other things. When I run the IBM Diagnositcs it gives me several ECC errors in the HD as well as BAD address marks.... I am wondering if all the time I have put in trying to fix this is worth it or should I just get a new hard drive for it?? scottde2.....  Well , unless your really attached to it ......... LOL ......  I would consider having a new one installed ....unless you are able to do it yourself.
If thats the route you decide to go ...get a price to replace it first...... that laptop is what , 4 years OLD now ?  It might be cost effective to replace it with a new laptop.


dl65  Not knowing your location........Below is an example.


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7728211&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat33200050001&id=1140391861639

so i thought the problem with my system was the power SUPPLY. i BOUGHT a new one, changed it out and when i turned on the system all the lights were on, but it seemed like it wasn't really working. they just continually stayed on. it didn't seem like it was booting up either. nothing WOULD come out on the screen and it acted as if it wasn't doing anything.  

can anyone help me figure out what might be wrong with it or how to test different parts of my system to figure out what it is i need to replace. thanks for any help.What problems did you have before? What is the computer or MOTHERBOARD make/model? What make and wattage of power supply did you put in? Was it new?

The first suspect is a BAD install. The second is other damaged components. The third is improperly seated components.

Strip it down to CPU/Fan, 1 stick RAM and video card ONLY and see if that starts after you recheck the power supply connectors.

Hi,

I have a rather odd set of questions:

One of my power adapter's end plugs (the area around the prong) sparked when I plugged it into a public outlet.

It's been a few weeks and the adapter is still working.

HOWEVER, I noticed the prongs were blackened, or had black residue on them.

Do you think it's still safe to use the adapter? What do you think the black residue, or blacked prongs mean?

Thanks for your input
Arcing or sparking at a point of electrical contact usually means the prong or pin is a poor fit for the outlet. The PROBLEM could be your adapter's MALE pins or prongs being bent, worn, or slightly too small, or else the female parts of the wall outlet being likewise worn. This sparking will CAUSE blackening or charring and generates heat.  You may notice a smell of burnt plastic. The overheating could damage or destroy the adapter and even start a fire. If it only does it at one outlet, avoid that outlet. If it does it all the time, DISCARD the adapter.
The residue can be cleaned with a solvent. You need to also inspect the wall outlet for possible hidden damage. If it has extensive damage, it must be replaced.

I can beat that


Salmon Trout,
That sure looks fresh.
Did you just do that today?   
A burnt area can create an electrical resistance, which can cause the plug to get hot and result in a short circuit. Try rubbing it clean with a sand paper so that it can get back to clean metal.

What do I do with this case please HELP me.
The phenomenon occurs when:
- I use data recovery software accidentally deleted my child immediately select the USB 2TB.
- Now I have tried in many different operating system versions WINDOWS 64Bit - 32BIT "Windows 7 + 8 + 8.1 + 10"
- But it all does not recognize USB

Please help me!

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

[attachment deleted by admin to conserve space]Did you try this?

If you are using windows 7 then carry out the FOLLOWING steps to repair the USB Flash Drive:
    Insert the USB drive into the USB port of your system.
    Go to My Computer>Removable Disk Icon.
    Right click the Removable Disk Icon and open its Properties.
    Click on the Tools tab.
    Click “Rebuild” button.

Source:
http://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/usb-drive-is-corrupted-and-unresponsive-recover-files/
NOTE: Don't buy anything. Many tools are free.
Here is a video. Skip the Ad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njzgl6xPOJs
(There is more than  one video about USB failure.)
Does that help?

Hi,

I'm going to give this one last shot before I throw the whole thing in the trash .  I have a Toshiba C55-A5105 that was working fine until a month ago or so.  It all of a sudden would START and would shut down at various times. Sometimes it would boot successfully into Windows 10 for a few minutes, sometimes it would occur during the startup, but each time I'd get a different error message and a reboot.  Eventually it wouldn't boot at all and I'd just get a black SCREEN.

I know the battery wouldn't hold a charge, so my first assumption was some kind of power surge and a motherboard issue.  But I tried various things first to no avail:

1.  Tried 3 different hard drives, none successfully
2.  Tried 3 different RAM cards
3.  REPLACED battery and tried different ac adapter

The power light comes on no problem, the DVD drive spins right up, but I only get a black screen (no boot at all), and the HDD light doesn't come on.

So, I decided to replace the motherboard.  Bought a new motherboard and processor for the C55-A5105.  I carefully replaced the old one and successfully put it back together.  Again tried various COMBINATIONS of RAM and a few different hard drives.  Still a blank screen and no HDD light.  I tried using an external monitor to see if it was a display issue and no luck.  I've tried booting with AC Adapter and with a charged battery as well.  Even tried the Shift-F8-Power combination.  I've let the laptop sit for hours with the power on, but never does it show a boot screen or any display whatsoever.  I even tried pulling out the DVD drive and booted without it, but no change.  What else could I possibly try or replace to get this thing running again?

Thanks for the help!

-RobHi Rob,
I just wanted to let you know if you haven't trashed the computer yet, that I received a C55-A5105 that would not power on (I repair laptops).  It had the same problems. I replaced the motherboard and checked all of the power connections.  The answer to the problem in this case was a defective USB board.  This laptop has 3 usb connections (it was the one on the left side with only one usb port).  That port was interfering enough with the power that the computer would not boot.  Once I removed it, the computer booted normally.
 
HOPE this helps
Carla

Tried to different mic´s I have it´s just not recognizing either.

Windows 7, G41m-vs3r2.0 motherboard with geforce210 graphics card.  I think it might because it´s set to the Hd audio from the graphics card so the motherboard isn´t recognizing the plug in in the headphone or mic.

If you could help me out with this I´d appreciate it.  Thanks to the forums for this the stuff. I really appreciate it.Well thanks anyway.
Glad to be of help. But what we did is unknown.
Most common failures of microphones are broken wires near the plug.
Also, some audio setup is different .
Another issue is when two programs want the microphone.
Normally your can not hear the microphone output when dictating. The confuse some users who expect the voice  come from the loudspeaker.
To test microphone, use the Windows sound recorder.

Below is a TUTORIAL about the Windows Sound Recorder.
http://www.digitalcitizen.life/record-audio-sound-recorder-windows-7
If he's tried different mikes as he stated it's unlikely the issue...
He needs to decide whether he wants the vid card for sound or onboard and set it up accordingly...

P.S.   you can't have both.
Quote from: PATIO on October 09, 2016, 04:12:27 PM

If he's tried different mikes as he stated it's unlikely the issue...
He needs to decide whether he wants the vid card for sound or onboard and set it up accordingly...

P.S.   you can't have both.

So my cat stood on my keyboard, which is fairly normal, She likes a bit of attention in the morning, or wants fresh food. So I saved my work and obliged her.

Long story short she stood on a combination of keys around the power, sleep and home keys and possibly around the f keys with her other foot.
The screen went BLACK and I thought nothing of it as normally I just fix whatever she messes up when she gets bored.

However today I can't seem to make the screen work (both MONITORS say no input) and I'm not sure the keyboard is working either (num/caps lock lights not turning on).

The mouse light was off for a bit, but that appears to be working again.

Any advice on what to try next would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. Update, I took the opportunity to give the computer a good clean. Which briefly appeared to work. When I reconnected EVERYTHING and started it up, the monitor light went green and displayed startup graphics. But quickly lost it and now the mouse light flashes occasionally but doesn't appear to be working properly.

I'm going to try replacing the heat sink paste when I get some, but open to other ideas while I wait.
We will need to know how much the cat weighs to asess this further... Quote from: patio on October 11, 2016, 07:39:24 AM

We will need to know how much the cat weighs to asess this further...

Bought a new mobo w/cpu and ram and can't get it to work.

Swapped out my mobo with new cpu and ram. Startup, It wouldn't post. Fans ran, led LIGHT on, optical drive working but no post or video. Moved my ram around, No beeps.. With all sticks removed I was getting 1 long beep followed by 2 short. Then I had 1 stick in the B1 slot, Finally got it to post Got it to the bios but could not get the OS to boot up. Tried moving my hard drive sata ports, nothing. kept getting a samsung safe erase hard drive window wanting to erase my hard drive. Finally clicked ok, and tried to erase my ssd drive, got an error window saying my hard drive was frozen and to unplug replug it's sata cable, did it with no success. Tried to reload an earlier version of windows with no success. Also removed my video card and used the onboard video

After 5 hours of frustration I gave up, removed the new Mobo/Ram/Cpu. Put in my old stuff and all is as it was.

Bad Motherboard? Bad Ram? User error?

Thanks for your help, Dave

New = Z170A ASUS Motherboard LGA1151 i7-6700K CPU LGA1151 Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C 16 DDR4 Ram

Old = Windows 10 Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - CPU Cooler with 4 Direct Contact Heat pipes Corsair HX850 PS Samsung SSD 850EVO 500G (MZ - 75E500B/AM) Samsung SSD 840EVO 250G (MZ - 7TE250BW) MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100ME Thermaltake Chaser Series Chaser MK-I (VN300M1W2N) BLACK SECC ATX Full Tower Computer Case ATX PS2 Power SupplyB
In your colection of things, do you have anything like a USB stick that boots up an OS?

If so, Check the BIOS for the option to boot first from a USB device. Then try lto boot from a cold start. (Power off / power on.)

Does thatr help any?
yes, I do have a memory stick with recovery on it.  I tried it but couldn't get it to boot up after changing the boot order in the bios. 

Okay, here are some other things you could try.
Using another computer, prepare another USB stick and try again. Also, make sure there are no other USB devices plugged into the USB ports. Also, disabled or disconnect the hard drive and the CD-ROM drive. That should force the B IOS to boot from the only device available.
If you get up to the boot screen then you can plug your keyboard and mouse back in and they should be recognized by the operating system.
In some cases you may have to use a different port the boot USB stick. There are many different operating systems you can boot from a USB device. Many of the popular versions of Linux, including one called AD puppy Linux are USB bootable.
Also:
 Memtest86 **
 Windows 7 and 8
 Windows 10
 Ultimate Boost Disc
Use any of these to confirm that most of the hardware is good. But if you can not even boot from a USB stick, you may have some other issues in the hardware. Maybe the graphics device.

** Memtest86 shod be in everybody's tool box.
http://superuser.com/questions/727959/how-to-create-a-bootable-memtest86-on-usb-flash-drive
Quote from: Geek-9pm on October 10, 2016, 10:07:47 PM

Okay, here are some other things you could try.
Using another computer, prepare another USB stick and try again. Also, make sure there are no other USB devices plugged into the USB ports. Also, disabled or disconnect the hard drive and the CD-ROM drive. That should force the B IOS to boot from the only device available.
If you get up to the boot screen then you can plug your keyboard and mouse back in and they should be recognized by the operating system.
In some cases you may have to use a different port the boot USB stick. There are many different operating systems you can boot from a USB device. Many of the popular versions of Linux, including one called ad puppy Linux are USB bootable.
Also:
 Memtest86 **
 Windows 7 and 8
 Windows 10
 Ultimate Boost Disc
Use any of these to confirm that most of the hardware is good. But if you can not even boot from a USB stick, you may have some other issues in the hardware. Maybe the graphics device.

** Memtest86 shod be in everybody's tool box.
http://superuser.com/questions/727959/how-to-create-a-bootable-memtest86-on-usb-flash-drive

Hello
Dear friends
My system has the following characteristics
Motherboard asuss x99 pro3.1
cpu6850
250 gig
ssd evo850 samsung
quadro k1200
I've installed Windows 10 but reaparing automatic message after Windows was used several times
I installed Windows again.But the message came back after a week
And دnow I can not install any Windows
What is wrong?
I did everything that was related software
And I BIOS updated  What tools to you have at hand?
Can you verify the power supply is working alright?
Do you have a working PC that can prepare a USB drive?

How did you install Windows 10?
Did you install a good Anti-Virus program?

What tools to you have at hand? I can not understand what you mean

Can you verify the power supply is working alright? yes its good 650 COOLER master
Do you have a working PC that can prepare a USB drive? nop

How did you install Windows 10? by dvd botable
Did you install a good Anti-Virus program? yes node 32
 

OK. In short, here is a way to troubleshoot with limited tools.
Discount everything that is not needed to get the PC boot up.
Use whatever diagnostics or in the firmware (BIOS) of the motherboard. If there is an intensive memory test, do it. Maybe an hoer or more.

If you do not have a spare Hard Drive, now is time  to buy borrow or beg for a hard drive to be used for a new install of Windows 10. But this time without the SSD. Even a small HDD will do the JOB for testing. Even a 20 GB will do the job.

On eBay a 40 GB from a major maker goes for about $20. This should be part of your tool box, as drive problems are still among the leading SOURCE of PC problems. Even when a drive will pass a test, it can make trouble later. So a spare drive is an important tool for testing. And has the benefit of not messing with your data if something goes wrong.

Hope this is of some help.

thanks dear
i give a new ssd pro samsung
but agin i have this problem
very funny
I'm confused
I have no idea
The objective is to isolate the problem It is not about your faith in SSSD
When you have not tools, substitution is the method.
Just use a HDD to install Windows. Anything else just MAKES diagnostics hard.
If you can install to a good spare hard drive  and it works fine, then either the SSD or the other hard drive has an issue.
The most probable fault is the  HDD, but even brand new things have issues.

About SSD problems:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2676889/ssd-installation-booting-problems.html
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2472631/solid-state-drives/windows-7-and-ssds--3-things-to-look-out-for.html
Again, I did not say your SSD is bad. But its presence makes troubleshooting more difficult. Do an install without it to PROVE the rest of the hardware is good.

Wonder if anybody has any IDEAS.  I've tried to print LABELS on a HP officejet 4215 and the printing starts too soon on label paper(Avery 5262 and 8462)  If I USE just plain paper to print a label and then check it's alignment(PUT the printed label behind a blank label page), the alignment is perfect.  I also used a different printer, but not as good as the HP, and the labels are properly aligned/oriented.  Is this a function of the HP printer and I can't do anything about it or is there something I can/should do to the HP officejet so that the label paper feeds in properly so that the printing starts in the correct place.  Thanks

Whew!  I didn't know they came this big and this expensive.  http://www.buslinkbuy.com/products.asp?sku=BDP2%2D64G%2DU2odd that they do not show you the actual size nor do they tell you its actual weight. it could be the size and weight of a brick!

however, im pretty sure there are going to be flash memory harddrives out soon, if they are not already out.Well, they do say it's "smaller than a pack of gum and virtually weightless!"

It'll be interesting to see how flash memory harddrives perform compared to conventional hard drives, and how they compare in terms of durability or longevity. Quote

Well, they do say it's "smaller than a pack of gum and virtually weightless!"

Quote

Well, they do say it's "smaller than a pack of gum and virtually weightless!"

oops . didnt read that part. i was looking for an actual spec sheet with all of its peripherals.

i would think flash drives would last alot longer due to the lack of moving parts, as for their performance... i have not the slightest clue.

My laptop was recently damaged beyond what I'm willing to pay for repair. It would be extremely unwise for me to spend *any* money on even a USED one right now.  So, I did the only thing I could.  I apologized to the nice people on freecycle and then begged them for an unwanted laptop.  This is a temporary solution, which I expect to last only a few months.  Hence, my extreme cheapness.  

I was given an old Toshiba Satellite Pro 435CDS running Windows 98.  I can deal with this.  However, I'm moving into a building with free wireless internet, and I'd love to take advantage of this, even on a dinosauric machine.  The guy who gave me this mentioned that wireless would not be an option.  Can anyone confirm this or explain why not?  I'll settle, but if I can buy a wireless PCMCIA, that would make my pathetic week.

THANKS in advance!
Do you have an available 32-bit PCMCIA slot?It's 16-bit, I believe.  Aren't there 16-bit wireless CARDS?Yes, there are 16-bit wireless cards.Hm.  Is there any reason I might not be able to use something like that?Nope, you can, look here, click accessories.http://cgi.ebay.com/Proxim-ORINOCO-Silver-16-bit-WiFi-Wi-Fi-Wireless-Card_W0QQitemZ120066889322QQihZ002QQcategoryZ45000QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Would that work?

P.S.  Again, many thanks!It should if it is a legit seller and you trust him.

[edit]And he is, atleast that is what I think from USER opinions.[/edit]How about USB?  Is that possible?A USB wireless adapter is possible, and easy to FIT, but a internal wireless card like the one suggested by fffreak would be neater and probably better.
I'd say go with the internal one unless you have a reason to go with USB instead.

The model of my monitor is acer sl512..when i try to on my monitor,it show a message of burn in and start flashing 7 colours (red,blue,green,yellow,light blue,pink,white,black)..it just constantly flash this colours.This is called a raster.  The raster DISPLAYS to show you the monitor has POWER but is not receiving an image from your computer.  Is your computer on or off?

Quote

This is called a raster.  The raster displays to show you the monitor has power but is not receiving an image from your computer.  Is your computer on or off?

Hi there,

I've built a system out of spare parts as an exercise and when I test it I get a "No Signal" message on the monitor. I kept a written record of every action I have taken with the system so I could backtrack and find errors. The Monitor port is integrated onto the MotherBoard (Don't have a graphics adaptor I could bypass with).
These are the steps I've taken to get to this point:

1) I Began with Shell with Motherboard and power supply.
2) I installed a sound card, modem and etherlink card. Installed the HDD and FDD and CDD.
3) Installed RAM.
4) Attached all the power cables and connectors to everything.
5) Connected all IDE devices
6) Power supply was faulty so replaced with another (It doesn't fit into shell, it is just to run the system so I can test it and is temporary).
7) Connected peripherals and recieved "No Signal" from monitor, which then put's itself into sleep/hybernation mode in a matter of seconds. Swapped monitors with the one on this computer but same problem arises, so RULED out monitor itself.

These are the system specs (at this given time):

- PWA-Titan M Motherboard (ASSY 411694400001-R)
- Origionally had MiTAK MPU-75FP Powersupply, replaced with Samsung PSCD151404A
- SoundForte SF16-FMP-02 Sound Card
- Dynalink V1433VQH-R Acf Modem (p/n: 88702097)
- Fast Etherlink XL PCI (3C905B-TX)
- Panasonic JU-257A606P FDD
- Quantum Fireball 4GB HDD
- Mitsumi CRMC-FX32105 CDD
- Compaq 323012-001 64MB SDRAM

Thanks for your help.Did anything work before the swapping of the bad power supply?

If the motherboard requires a P9 connection does the power supply lack this power to your motherboard for the CPU?

What wattage is the power supply and do you know that all parts are good? Too low of wattage could cause no video, no post.

Check your Cables to drives and make sure Pin 1 is to Pin 1 for all... seen on some older cables where you can put it in wrong and cause no boot.

DaveI doubt his motherboard has a p9 connection seeing that it is a pretty old motherboard(not to say anything bad I do have a pc with an old motherboard). Quote

I doubt his motherboard has a p9 connection seeing that it is a pretty old motherboard(not to say anything bad I do have a pc with an old motherboard).

I can't get my USB device to restore to full HDD capacity, although with this program named "bootice" I've got it back to 1.97mb with four different partitions (The drive is an 8gb pny about an inch long), meaning 4 different drives when I plug in once drive you will see 4 letters saying that 4 drives exist. I've used Ease US Master Partition to try and REFORMAT the drive, I've used several other tools INCLUDING Rufus and windows diskpart to try and fix it but the all just stop or fail for some odd error. And now i put my other 32-bit jumpdrive in and is doing the same thing. Except windows isn't even RECOGNIZING it. So I've tried all these programs and just don't know what to do I've had some success with bootice because it did make the drive usable, just in 4 different 1.97 partitions. It is a 8gb drive again i say. Pny.We are talking about a flash drive, not a hard drive.  - Right?
There  are a numb er of reasons s for this problem.
• First, it is not a good idea to have multiple partitions on a USB drive in Windows.
• Second, some USB drives are fake and do no really have full capacity.
• Third, there are malware programs that sneak into USB flash drives.
Here is a reliable article about malware and USB drives.

Most USB thumb drives can be reprogrammed to silently infect computer
The article is from PC World. 
You may need to scan your whole computer. If there is evidence  the USB flash drives are infected, you will have to DESTROY them.
This is not a joke. Read the article.The capacity is correct....if you want all the space together delete all 4 partitions and then format it FAT32...

It'll be somewhat less than 8G total...but thats normal.Curious why you created FOUR 2GB (1.97GB) partitions to begin with, what were you trying to accomplish? Was this drive to be set up with 4 different OS's installed to it each in their own partition or something?I'm thinking it's one of those corporate promo stiks that write privelidges are dis-abled... Quote

I'm thinking it's one of those corporate promo stiks that write privelidges are dis-abled...

Hello, Is this desktop pc http://imgur.com/KLXIJHz ($800 with the 21'5" monitor) good enough for Photoshop/digital art and maybe with some light GAMING?

Thank you for you help.

(I'm sorry If this is in the wrong section)Video Card is weak, but it might work for what you intend to use it for. Everything else looks good however the power supply is only 300 WATTS and so if GOING with better than a GT video card such as a GTX you would need a stronger wattage power supply. You will want to make sure that if you BUY this that it can take a universal power supply upgrade.

My monitor is V7 d22w12. Older monitor yes, worked fine for long time; it started having the following issue (when I encounter the issue, it's usually after like when I shut of pc, go to bed and the next day want to use computer and boot it for first time of the day. Seems to be happening more frequently then before though I'm not sure):

When the issue is encountered, the monitor power LED light would blink green/orange with screen staying black which happens during the bootup of computer, sometimes I unplug/replug DATA cable and monitor display comes alive and normal again (maybe have to do that a few TIMES to get it to work), sometimes I unplug power cable then data cable to monitor and finally it comes back alive. Or sometimes I just am in the process of tightening the screws of the data cable to monitor and display picture appears as you'd expect.

But it seems that if I play around a bit, get monitor working again, the issue doesn't happen for rest of the time I use my computer. So when works it appears to be normal and happy and not causing trouble.

What is the blinking LED light trying to tell me? Something really wrong with monitor like some internal components going bad or just a simple fix? Yes, computer itself is perfectly fine.


Hope this makes any sense; don't want to replace monitor if at all possible.

Thank you

A high quality used monitor goes for about $69 plus shipping.
Check locally for a better deal.
There are not easy y fixes for monitors other that replace a fuse.
It might be a mouse built in next in it.
Maybe you can locate a local tech person that will make a deal.
Ask him to sell you a used monitor and give a DISCOUNT  for the old thing.

Or, take  lessons from Benjamin Franklin. Wrath regard to Business he said:
Quote

"Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."

"Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."

Hi. Im quite new to internal computer parts but we've all got to start somewhere hey? Anyway, my BROTHERS computer went boom and I realised it was the harddrive because I tried putting it into my fully working PC and the same problem occured. However, he had a secondary harddrive that was used for storage purposes and it has some important documents on there. I tried putting it into my PC and i get a Boot Failure: System Halted message. Im not sure why. I know that my main harddrive jumper settings are set to cable select and the one that I was trying to put in are set to slave. Is this the REASON? I dont WANT to mess with the settings if it isnt.

Thank You.If you are trying to retrieve data from your brother's secondary HDD you need to make sure it is jumpered as slave and connected in the MIDDLE section of the IDE cable...
In order for this to work properly your boot drive should be re-jumpered as master and hooked up to the end of the ribbon cable.

CS will only cause hiccups so try this...Patio gives you good advice.  You can also try putting your brothers drive on the cdrom cable instead of master/slave.  Saves a lot of headaches doing the jumper thing.  

Alan <><  I also agree with ale...nice backup advice there !

Hello all,

I recently received a free Firewall/Wireless Router and I am trying to figure out the best way to introduce it into my home network.

Device in question:
Fortinet FortiWifi 61E
https://www.fortinet.com/content/dam/fortinet/assets/data-sheets/FortiGate_FortiWiFi_60E_Series.pdf

My Current Home Setup:

Internet Plan (Cox Cable 100 down)

Gateway/Router:
Asus RT-AC88U (Plugs straight into my Cable modem)

Connected Devices:
1 Desktop (Hardwire)(Video / Gaming Traffic)
1 Laptop (Hardwire)(Work connects out over VPN)
1 Xbox (Wifi)(Netflix Streaming Traffic)
1 Laptop (Wifi)(Various traffic including video streaming)
2 Smartphones (Wifi)
1 Network Printer

Now, I would like to use the FortiWifi 61E for it's security features. I am also considering switching it so that it is the Wifi AP and default gateway.

My QUESTIONS would be thus:

1) Will the FortiWifi 61E provide better wifi COVERAGE / speeds over my Asus RT-AC8U?
2) If 1 is yes, does that hold even considering the workload of the security features on the FortiWifi or is the LAN small enough that it isn't going to affect things?
3) If 1 or 2 is answered so that the Asus is kept as the AP, should I install the FortiWifi in transparent mode in between the modem and the Asus (and just turn off the wifi capability of the fortiwifi), or connect it to the router and set up a one arm sniffer mode and try to mirror traffic to it (not sure if I can even do that with the Asus.

I'm still researching things myself but thought I would see if anyone could provide any opinions or input.

Thanks! Quote

1) Will the FortiWifi 61E provide better wifi coverage / speeds over my Asus RT-AC8U?

Hi, having this prob. notebook won't startup so i'm guessing its the adapter, supply, or connection on laptop. i just got it from my cousin and he has no clue. is there any way i can check any of these 3 myself? i have one of those volt METER's would i be able to use that. any help would be appreciated. thnxWhen you press the power button, does it show any signs of life (do any LED lights turn on or do you hear the fan start to spin)?  If not, try plugging it into a electrical outlet to see if it POWERS up then.  If it does, shut it down and leave it plugged into the electrical outlet over night to charge.  If it still doesn't work after recharging over night, the battery is likely SHOT and needs to be replaced.

nope it doesn't have any signs of life. when i plug it in no LED lights light up. thats why i wanted to test all 3 sources to see which one it is.ttthey I just used my volt meter thing and tested the ac adapter and its working perfectly. is there any way it can be the battery?Nope.  Just replace it with a known good spare.  If you think it is worth the investment, that would be the next STEP to take.

I am TRYING to find out if there is a plus or minus range for the voltage in my computers POWER supply. The 3.3v and 5v TEST FINE, but the 12v TESTS 12.54v and I was wondering if this too much. ( it's a 350w ATX power supply. Thanks for any help.......cadmanThat is fine.

I have a NEC DVD-RW model ND-3500AG which supports just about every type of cd or dvd including CD+RW, CD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RW. It will write the the cd's or dvd's o.k. but using re-writable cd's or dvd's it will not erase the data. It treets the RW cd's and DVD's the same as CD-R's and DVD-R's. I have the latest drivers installed. I have tried UNINSTALLING the DVD drive in the device manager and letting windows re-install it. I can't seem to get it to write over using re-writable disks. Any ideas on something that I might be missing?you are not going to get help by spamming the board.testI did not mean to spam the board.
Every TIME I clicked on the "Post" button I would get some kind of error message indicating that my post did not go through and I would have to re-send. After re-sending a couple of times and always getting the error message I figgured the web site was having problems and gave up trying to post. Sorry if the posts did get posted and it appeared that I was purposely trying to spam your web site. Not my style and won't happen again.   Track - He did say Quote

I can't seem to get it to write over using [highlight]re-writable disks[/highlight].

I did not mean to spam the board.
Every time I clicked on the "Post" button I would get some kind of error message indicating that my post did not go through and I would have to re-send. After re-sending a couple of times and always getting the error message I figgured the web site was having problems and gave up trying to post. Sorry if the posts did get posted and it appeared that I was purposely trying to spam your web site. Not my style and won't happen again.  

Hey... I have 2 systems that are very static sensitive. The smallest amount of static discharge to the outter USB face will cause the system to shut down, either your finger, pen drive, or USB cable. Most of the time you dont see of hear the static, but it shuts it down. Othertimes I have heard or felt it.

The systems are both new builds, all from individually purchased parts. The tower case is a cheapie, steel box with PLASTIC front. Both systems, the motherboard is a MSI ( PM8M-V ) Socket 478 running a 3.0Ghz Pentium 4 CPU and 1GB Ram. The tower is a Athenatech ( http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?Sku=6786551 ) picture and description can be found at link.

I disassembled the systems cases to REMOVE their front and thought that if I soldered a wire between the outer USB shell and tied it to chasis ground that it would disipate the static discharge to the chasis instead of directly to the USB port, which then use to travel directly down the internal cable to the motherboard.

This wire has had no affect in reducing the amount of shut downs .... Anyone know if they make USB surge supressors .... I was thinking of MAYBE using an external USB hub, but it will most likely just travel down the hub to the system. Oddly I have about 20 other computers in this office and the others dont have this problem, so it is a hardware specific problem.

I suppose I could spray the whole office down with that static guard spray, but I dont want to use any chemicals in my office that could cause health problems.... I could also put in a humidifier to increase the humidity, but not good around $30,000 servers where you want it to be dry and cool.

I tried to do away with the carpeted floor, but the landlord wont allow for it to be replaced with tile...Go figure!

Not sure what other options I have??? Any suggestions??? Other than having to remove the systems from the room....

I'd replace the case if I KNEW that was the problem ... But dont want to waste $120 and not have the problem solved...

Thanks   :-?i have to be honest i have not herd this before

my only thought might be the power supply...although i have never herd of a power supply shutting down due to USB static....although some power supplies have auto-shutdowns if they get to much power...(kind like a surge protector)  but i will research itAre you sure your PSU is grounded properly?

Did you use the proper standoffs on the motherboard?

Do you have a motherboard screw ever so slightly grounding
out?

The problem I am having is upgrading my current computer.  I will start by giving my current SPECS and then what I am upgrading to, then give you the problem.

Current:

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 2.0 GHz
A7N8X Asus Motherboard
1.5 GB DDR Ram
Radeon X850 Video Card
Windows XP service pack 2
2 120 GB SATA hard drives in a RAID0
Antec 480W PS

Upgrade:

Intel Core 2 E6600 2.4 GHz
D975XBX2 Intel Motherboard
2.0 GB DDR2 800 Ram
Radeon X1950 Video Card
Hard drives, OS and PS are the same.

The issue I am having is when I boot up after everything is installed and hooked up it either says there is no operating system installed or it goes to a blue screen for a few seconds then goes black and my MONITOR light blinks.  It will let me create a new raid but a prompt says that will lose all the data currently on those drives which, obviously, I don't want to do.  I am kinda CONFUSED since it will detect the drives just apparently not any of the data that is stored on them.  Thanks in advance for any replies.



Windows should be installed on the machine it is expected to run on. It sound slike this is not the case here. There are just too many variables involved for it to cope.

You might try a REPAIR install. Do you have a real Windows CD?

Other possibilities are an incorrect build or other hardware problems. There are too many variables here all at once. It needs to be simplified. So recheck EVERYTHING and then try to boot with just the CPU/fan, video card (if not SEPARATE) and one stick of RAM. Does that boot?

Windows will not fix a hardware issue.Gonna respond in quotes if I can get it right so I can answer questions easier.


Quote

Windows should be installed on the machine it is expected to run on. It sound slike this is not the case here. There are just too many variables involved for it to cope.

You might try a repair install. Do you have a real Windows CD?

Other possibilities are an incorrect build or other hardware problems. There are too many variables here all at once. It needs to be simplified. So recheck EVERYTHING and then try to boot with just the CPU/fan, video card (if not separate) and one stick of RAM. Does that boot? Windows will not fix a hardware issue.

Quote

The hard drives in both systems are the same so Windows is definitely installed.  I actually had to take the new parts out and put all the old stuff back in so I could access the internet to see if I could find some help.  I am not 100% sure but I think the issue is that while they are in a RAID now on the old system when I attempt to boot with the new system it isn't recognizing the RAID so it thinks it is a fresh install.  

The hard drives are the same but the motherboards and other components are not. This is enough to cause a problem right there.


Quote

Yes, but it is a Windows Upgrade CD.  Would that work?

That should work if it is the same version of Windows. If not the same service pack level you will have to reinstall that and all of the updates. Have a read here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx

Quote

Not 100% sure, do you mean try and boot without the hard drives and see if it will go to BIOS?  Or just remove all the un-essential parts and see if it will boot to windows?

Remove ALL of the drives for this exercise as well as add on cards, etc.

RAID is a complicating factor as well.

Installed new external usb hd it works fine.Should I leave it on all day or TURN it off when not in use ?Leaving it on will not cause any harm.
Turning it off will save power and will probably extend the lifespan of the drive.
Make sure you use "safely remove hardware" to remove it before you turn it off though, or your DATA could get corrupted.
Hope this helps.It is just a waste of electricity in my book
and...
Quote

Turning it off will save power and will probably extend the lifespan of the drive.

It is just a waste of electricity in my book
and...
Quote

Turning it off will save power and will probably extend the lifespan of the drive.

so 2 positives with 1 solution
"Kill 2 birds with 1 stone."

Hello, I have an OLD computer it has an Intel DP55WB Motherboard http://ark.intel.com/products/41162/Intel-Desktop-Board-DP55WB. I'm trying to put more ram into but I'm running into roadblocks every step of the way. It works fine with my one stick of Ram that is made by OCZ but any other ram does not work. I have tried Rip jaw brand RAM and when that failed I Tried Kingston value Ram 4GB sticks together and alone and nothing. It just gives me three long beeps when I try to turn it on. Any Ideas? I've thought about updating BiOS but I read of someone with a similar problem doing that and then being unable to use the RAM that originally worked.

Also, way back when I tried installing another stick of the same OCZ RAM I have in there now and it didn't work together either.

Any HELP would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
WarrenDid you check the compatibility list? If it's on here...

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/boards-and-kits/desktop-boards/000006516.html

...it probably ought to work, if the board is OK.

Are you quite sure the board is not damaged (e.g. a bad slot or RAM CONTROLLER)? Also is all the rest OK? PSU?

Hello does anyone know if there will be any problems for this build it is for gaming i am using some parts from another pc i had for gaming but mother board broke so i am replacing that and cpu.
Precision T5400 Case
MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Dell PN: GM869 Power Supply
SATA 5.25" DVD-RW Drive
8x 4GB PC2-5300F DDR2 Memory
2TB 3.5" SATA Hard Drive
AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor
NVIDIA GTX980 DDR5 4GB Video Card
any suggestions or infomation will be greatly impreciatedbumb(wanna be top)Well, I will give it a try. First of all I have taken apart and rebuilt minicomputers, but I have not done too well trained order parts and build something completely from scratch. There are just too MANY things that go wrong.
Here's the best advice I think I could give. Use a set of components that somebody else has already tried and proven to work. When you do high-performance high in stuff that gets to be an issue with compatibility. One of the problems is the power supply, you really have to be sure the power supply is appropriate for the equipment you have chosen.
Also, do you have some spare parts on hand for testing? Do the have the appropriate kind of tools? It's important to have very good quality hand tools for putting together the new machine. You make a slip with a screwdriver and you could scratch something very bad. If it was part of the motherboard, you're in deep trouble. So make sure the tools you have are the right kind for the job.
Also, if you run into something you don't UNDERSTAND, ask first before you turn on the power. Although commercial mass-produced computers have lots of safeguards built-in, that may not be true with a custom do-it-yourself computer. You hook up the wrong wire to the wrong place or if you forget something you could have bad results.
Yes, I know this sounds rather pessimistic. But I'm trying to help. You need to be prepared for something you didn't expect. Be very CAREFUL when handling the motherboard.
Hope you do  a good job. Quote from: Geek-9pm on October 19, 2016, 11:43:38 PM

Well, I will give it a try. First of all I have taken apart and rebuilt minicomputers, but I have not done too well trained order parts and build something completely from scratch. There are just too many things that go wrong.
Here's the best advice I think I could give. Use a set of components that somebody else has already tried and proven to work. When you do high-performance high in stuff that gets to be an issue with compatibility. One of the problems is the power supply, you really have to be sure the power supply is appropriate for the equipment you have chosen.
Also, do you have some spare parts on hand for testing? Do the have the appropriate kind of tools? It's important to have very good quality hand tools for putting together the new machine. You make a slip with a screwdriver and you could scratch something very bad. If it was part of the motherboard, you're in deep trouble. So make sure the tools you have are the right kind for the job.
Also, if you run into something you don't understand, ask first before you turn on the power. Although commercial mass-produced computers have lots of safeguards built-in, that may not be true with a custom do-it-yourself computer. You hook up the wrong wire to the wrong place or if you forget something you could have bad results.
Yes, I know this sounds rather pessimistic. But I'm trying to help. You need to be prepared for something you didn't expect. Be very careful when handling the motherboard.
Hope you do  a good job.

Unfortunately the RAM, case and PSU From the old PC won't work.  A new motherboard like that requires DDR3 RAM (or DDR4 on some of the new Intel boards) whereas your RAM is older DDR2 RAM.  The case also won't work without modification, at the very least you would have to cut out the I/O shield at the back as it is not removable and you'd need to be careful with checking where the screw mounting posts are to see if you can fit a board - Given the cost of cases it's probably best just to get a new one.  The power supply is a solid unit but it doesn't have the standard 4 or 8 pin EPS connector that a regular motherboard takes, it instead has a much larger 20 pin EPS connector due to the previous motherboard being dual CPU.  This is again something you could modify yourself although it's probably more hassle than it's worth.

Hi all,

I ran into a PECULIAR problem with my WINDOWS 7 Desktop. Whenever I am using my phone's internet on my PC via tethering (not when browsing the phone's SD card), my SOFTWARES hang and crash. Or if I try starting the software once I am connected to the net, the software wont start till the USB is plugged out. Software starts as soon as the usb is disconnected. Searched the net for solutions but it seems that there is more than one reason why this HAPPENS and hence different specific solutions. Dont know which one should I try. Like removing the yellow marked device in device manager dint work.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.I suggest you try to update the drivers of Ethernet and Android Tethering port, then test again. It should be a driver issue.

I just built a computer and have had for a week.  However, last night at about 1 A.M., when I was getting ready to shut it down, the screen went black.  It came back on but off again within only a second.  I shut it down manually but everytime i boot the computer back on, the screen works until after windows has finished loading.  It then does this flickering thing continously, being more off than on, and it is impossible to do anything.  Also, the icons that were on my screen do not appear.  Only some of them actually load when the screen fliskers on and the BOTTOM bar does not load.

My ocmputer has these specs:
Intel core 2 duo processor 2.4 Ghz
Two GeForce 7950 GT graphics cards with SLI enabled
Nforce 570 SLIT-A V5.1 775 Motherboard
Two OCZ 1G RAM sticks
250 G Western Digital Hard Drive
and a VeiwEra 19" LCD Monitor

Everything worked completely fine until last night.  Any help would be appreciated because this set me back a couple bucks and I REALLY don't want to buy anything else.Try re-seating those vid cards and re-load the drivers just to be safe...

You did remember to use/apply thermal compound on the CPU correct ? ?

Is this a brand new PSU or did you use your current one, you might be underpowered.

That's all i can think of for now...Yes we heard all about the fancy hardware but nothing about the make and wattage of the power supply and if it was new too.The power supply is 600 W and it worked fine for a week.  SLI only REQUIRED a 500 W supply...what is re-seating the graphics cards?...do I just switch their places?...Also, I can't really do anything on the computer so if you think I can just mess around with settings, you're mistaken.  I have switched monitors as well with a different computer and the monitor I have works just fine everywhere else but I get the same effect on my comoputer with different screens.  Thermal copmound was already applied to the cpu when I got it.  Also, the powersupply I got was brand new, not an old one. Quote

Yes we heard all about the fancy hardware but nothing about [highlight]the make [/highlight]and wattage [highlight]of the power supply and if it was new too[/highlight].

It GIVE me MESSAGE - Windows failed to load because the system REGISTRY file is missing or corrupt. Status : 0xc00000e9

It was just RANDOMLY Missing or corrupt. I belive this is hard disk error but I keep finding solution for month but I don't find any that worked.
I don't know my computer details but what I know is
Computer name - Asus
Chipset - AMD Phenom

If you guys can help me I will appreciate it . Hope god bless you ..

Hey guys

yesterday i got new monitor and start using my r7 370 graphics card worked flawlessly untill now, i tried to open game called Rust its loading, but when i am about to enter the game i get lines ACROSS whole screen and there is some noise from speakers.
Here is how it looks like:

specs:
I3 6100
8gb ddr4
r7 370 2gb
H110M-S2
monitor S24A450BWWhere are the drivers from ? ?Did you try restarting computerMore info NEEDED. Are you using HDMI or VGA?
What does it look like with a familiar screen? Like your desktop?

Hi guys,

whenever i start up my computer it pauses and then makes a COUPLE of beeps and this error message saying something about my Chip fans speed being low...

is this a bad problem? how can i fix it?FireChaser.... Perhaps you could provide more information about your pc .....
Is this something thats just started ?
Where you PLAYING around with setting or anything like that ?
Could you post a screen print of the exact error message ?

dl65  
it might be dusty(canned air)
not enough power (i dought it but hey )
FAN could be worn down or broken( happens alot)

well i mean ther eare endless possibilities but its hard to tell try blowing canned air (NO VACUUM)    Why no vacuum?  :-?hi dl65 its been a long long time, you probably dont remember me...

well this computer is now about a year old, its pretty good spec, dual core processor, windows 64 bit, this problem just cropped up about 4 or 5 months ago...

you basically turn on the computer it goes to the screen of whoever made the computer and then it suddenly goes back to a black cmd like screen and has a bit of text and then 'chip fan speed is low press f1 to continue'... (something like that anyway)

no, i havent been tampering with the settings...

thats about it...

lol, thanks,


Joeno-one knows?Enter the BIOS and choose factory default settings and hit F10 to save and exit...does this change anything ?no thx, last time we did that it screwed up the whole pc... Quote

no thx, last time we did that it screwed up the whole pc...

Why no vacuum?  :-?

Enter the BIOS and choose factory default settings and hit F10 to save and exit...does this change anything ?

Hi! I have been given a Dell Studio 1535 to fix: the laptop isn't turning on and before, when it did power on, it worked slowly. The charger was in a really bad SHAPE, tho I tried to power it on anyway, and it did power on, but for 5 seconds,enough time for me to get in BIOS settings. There, afyer 1 second I reached them, it died because the charger was moved 1 mm. Since then, the laptop never powered on again. I even replaced the charger, which besides it tries to charge it in every position I insert it in the charging jack, it did nothing. The original charger had 4.52A, but the newer one has only 3.43A.

We have 2 possibilities:
1. Trying to PO (power on) the laptop with a battery: the charging LED blinks red 4 times and white once.
2. Trying to PO the laptop without a battery: the charging LED stayes on for 2 seconds and then it shuts off.
In neither of these possibilities the laptop turns on.Have you already looked on the Dell web site?
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/studio-1535/manuals
The SERVICE tag is listed in the BIOS.
I can safely say you need a new charger...+patio I have already bought a new charger for it, and it doesn't want to power on, as I said in the thread start. Tho the new charger only has 3.44A and the original one has 4.52. Could that stop it from powering on? BTW, the battery doesn't charge, so it is 100% relied on a charger.

+Geek-9pm I don't know what to look for on that site. I need the info posted in this thread so I can read it, I don't have the time to search a lot.Yes...the charger needs to match the old one... Quote from: patio on October 15, 2016, 06:29:19 AM

Yes...the charger needs to match the old one...

...
2. Trying to PO the laptop without a battery: the charging LED stayes on for 2 seconds and then it shuts off.
In neither of these possibilities the laptop turns on.

I have  two Inspiron 1525's.
Remove the HDD & the battery & see if it will stay on & enter the BIOS.

The power brick you have should be enough to do this.

Hi first off, thanks so much to anyone who helps me with this, I have a load of work on the computer and I'm really worried about it.

I think this may have been caused by tripping over the homeplug wire, jolting my pc slightly.

It FROZE with funny letters at the top of the screen, I turned it off and now the screen doesn't turn on it says "no SIGNAL" also the power button doesn't work, only the reset button.

My pc is a shuttle, um 1gig ram, I think. Athlon gforce4...5 card. Um on windows service pack 2 for XP, that's all I can remember for now, but if you need more info I can try and find out from the guy who made my pc.

Thanks a lot!!

Stef Quote

Hi first off, thanks so much to anyone who helps me with this, I have a load of work on the computer and I'm really worried about it.

I think this may have been caused by tripping over the [highlight]homeplug wire[/highlight], jolting my pc slightly.

It froze with funny letters at the top of the screen, I turned it off and now the screen doesn't turn on it says "no signal" also the power button doesn't work, only the reset button.

My pc is a shuttle, um 1gig ram, I think. Athlon gforce4...5 card. Um on windows service pack 2 for XP, that's all I can remember for now, but if you need more info I can try and find out from the guy who made my pc.

Thanks a lot!!

Stef

Hi first off, thanks so much to anyone who helps me with this, I have a load of work on the computer and I'm really worried about it.

I think this may have been caused by tripping over the homeplug wire, jolting my pc slightly.

It froze with funny letters at the top of the screen, I turned it off and now the screen doesn't turn on it says "no signal" also the power button doesn't work, only the reset button.

My pc is a shuttle, um 1gig ram, I think. Athlon gforce4...5 card. Um on windows service pack 2 for XP, that's all I can remember for now, [highlight]but if you need more info I can try and find out from the guy who made my pc.[/highlight]

Thanks a lot!!

Stef

oh dear, pls...pls...NEED some help here.

recently i decided to merge my 2 separate partitions back into 1. So i open the Partition magic, go to the 2nd partition, right click and choose "merge'. A msg box pop up and show that my 2nd partition (D) will become a folder in the 1st partition (C). After this i did not change any setting nor request any other changes and the computer reboot and start doing the merging.

I've DONE this before and roughly know that this wouldn't take LONG but this time it took 2 hours to finish the process during which i saw some weird msg like 'correcting error in file...', 'deleting index entry...' and recovering orphaned file...'

Finally it's over. But i was so surprise to see that after all this time waiting, the 2 partition DID NOT merge. What worst is that and all the files in the 2nd partition disapprear!! But later i found out that there was actually files in the 2nd partition but just can't see them, the computer is not showing them, coz when i click 'property' in 2nd partition i can clearly see that the partition is occupied but just CAN'T see the files. I further check with Partition magic and the program also show that there was some files in the 2nd the partition. However, in partition magis the status of the 2nd partition was show as 'None' rather than 'Active'.

I would really appreciate you guys to kindly guide me on how to recover my precious files in the 2nd partition. Pls let me have your reply very soon. Thanking you in advance.

Jo
[email protected], [email protected]  This is so FUBAR'ed that you should really contact Partition Magic for help with resolving this. I am aassuming this is a legal copy so you are eligible for support?

I haven't used the new version since Symantec bought them, but it used to be a several step process, not one, to accomplish what you tried.hi GX1_Man,

been using the partition magic (or tragic) for quite some times with no problem but this time...
 
anyway, i'll try some recovery program suggested by my friends. i think i've learned my lesson and will back-up my data if i were to use partition tragic next time after this...hoping can get +ve result...

thx so much for ur opinions...appreciate it...  

Good day  Good luck and let us know how it goes.

In October the M/B I was using went out.  I shut it off one night and the next day , it would not power back on.  i decided to upgrade.  I found an Athlon 64 +3400 procwssor paireed with a PCCHIPS M/B M861G with 256 DDR Ram and made the purchase.  The PCCHIPS board has integrated video and audio.  My older system had audio on board but I had a Radeon VE 32mb vid card.  The new M/B wouldn't recognize the Radeon VE.  
  So, I decided to upgrade the vid to a Radeon X1800 Pro 256mb card.  It wasn't recognized EITHER.  I finally got it up and running with the integrated vid and installed WinXP Pro on a clean H/D.  A few days went buy and it seemed okay.  One day while playing a game, it just shutdown, Wouldn't power back up.  I sent the M/B back to where i bought it.  They replaced the RAM chips and the processor, and then did a burn in for 24 hours and sent it back sayiung it was now good.
  I put everything together and it still has no power.  I thought it might be my power supply, I bought a new one locally a MadDog 430W ATX supply, still no power.   I bought a new ATX mid-tower, still no power.  There is one occasion that the power supply comes on, I unplug the extra 4-pin 12 volt connector to the M/B.  With that unplugged, the p/s comes on, but the system won't boot or P.O.S.T.  It just sits there.  Is it a grounding problem?  Has something shorted on the board?  When it was sent back to me I was told it burned in fine.  I don't see how.  Anyone have any ideas?  Thanks Quote

In October the M/B I was using went out.  I shut it off one night and the next day , it would not power back on.  i decided to upgrade.  I found an Athlon 64 +3400 procwssor paireed with a [highlight]PCCHIPS M/B[/highlight] M861G with 256 DDR Ram and made the purchase.  The PCCHIPS board has integrated video and audio.  My older system had audio on board but I had a Radeon VE 32mb vid card.  The new M/B wouldn't recognize the Radeon VE.  
  So, I decided to upgrade the vid to a Radeon X1800 Pro 256mb card.  It wasn't recognized either.  I finally got it up and running with the integrated vid and installed WinXP Pro on a clean H/D.  A few days went buy and it seemed okay.  One day while playing a game, it just shutdown, Wouldn't power back up.  I sent the M/B back to where i bought it.  They replaced the RAM chips and the processor, and then did a burn in for 24 hours and sent it back sayiung it was now good.
  I put everything together and it still has no power.  I thought it might be my power supply, I bought a new one locally a MadDog 430W ATX supply, still no power.   I bought a new ATX mid-tower, still no power.  There is one occasion that the power supply comes on, I unplug the extra 4-pin 12 volt connector to the M/B.  With that unplugged, the p/s comes on, but the system won't boot or P.O.S.T.  It just sits there.  Is it a grounding problem?  Has something shorted on the board?  When it was sent back to me I was told it burned in fine.  I don't see how.  Anyone have any ideas?  Thanks

Hi,
Thinking about replacing my pc ,
What I would like to know is which make of computer is best,HP, Sony, Dell,etc that I can upgrade later, that will take more ram without replacing what is there now ,take more drives, more cards etc, Big name or will it be a small place like RL that would be best to get one from,      
Thanks for any help
John
RL :-   http://www.rlsupplies.co.uk/Products/products.asp?type=dept&DepartmentID=223&MID=
You should really build ur own.. Pre-built PCs perform worse, cost more and dont let u upgrade, its like buying a console - utterly useless.

Tell me what ur budget is and what u want to use ur PC for and ill give u the components u need.Sigh : Another broad generalisation that is just not accurate... Quote

Sigh : Another broad generalisation that is just not accurate...

Is everyone on the same wavelength here?   :-?

You should really build ur own.. Pre-built PCs perform worse, cost more and dont let u upgrade, its like buying a console - utterly useless.

Tell me what ur budget is and what u want to use ur PC for and ill give u the components u need.

Quote

Sigh : Another broad generalisation that is just not accurate...

Ditto.

Getting back to the point . . .
What's your budget?
And would you be comfortable building your own PC?

Quote

Quote

Sigh : Another broad generalisation that is just not accurate...

Ditto.

I think you are being very rude as I am asking for help in a department that I am not up to speed in and if you are one of those sad people that think they are clever but in fact can only take the ****  and  have no intention of helping people like me why do you bother to reply at all !!.  

Pre-built PCs perform worse, cost more and dont let u upgrade, its like buying a console - utterly useless.

Quote

You should really build ur own.. Pre-built PCs perform worse, cost more and dont let u upgrade, its like buying a console - utterly useless.

Tell me what ur budget is and what u want to use ur PC for and ill give u the components u need.

Building your own is all well and good, but it's really only for people who know what they're doing.