Explore topic-wise InterviewSolutions in .

Just built a new computer and installed an M-Audio 5.1 SOUND card. I did not purchase new speakers and am trying to utilize my legacy Gateway/Boston Acoustic speakers for the time being. They do not work, should they? If I plug headphones into the sound card I get music no problem, but nothing with the speakers. Do I need to purchase a 5.1 speaker set? I would think that the legacy speakers would work from some port on the sound card since I get sound on the headphones. Tried everything. Suggestions please. Do 5.1 systems plug in individually to the sound card i.e. front, rear, center and SUB?Any kind of speaker should work with any sound card as long as it is plug into the right port.

Question 1: Did you install the driver for the sound card?

Question 2: Did you check volume control and sound properties to make sure it is on desktop speaker?

Question 3: Does it have an onboard sound card?

If Yes: Enter COMOS and Disable it
If No: Then CONTINUE:

Question 4: Has it ever had a sound card on it before?

Question 5: Have you tried other slots? move sound card to another slot on the computer

Question 6: In the device manager is everything ok and is the sound card listed?Thanks for the suggestions
1. Driver for sound card installed

2. All volume controls set for desktop

3. Yes has onboard sound, wnet into bios and disabled. Now the M-Audio interface window no longer displays the bars moving up and down to the music...hmm

4. New computer evertyhing including the sound card

5. Did not try other slots yet

6. Device manager ok, nothing expanded at all.

Headphones still getting sound from soundcard

?you selected use M-Audo 5.1 as the primary device. does it show you that on the bottom left conor of volume control? Did you test them out with Direct X control? Start_>Run->DxdiagThank you for all your help and suggestions.
Yes dxdiag is ok and M-Audio is showing on bottom left.

I took the speakers and tried them directly out of the sound card and everything worked ok. What I FAILED to mention is that I am using a KVM switch. The legacy speakers work fine out of the KVM switch from the old computer but not from the new computer with the 5.1 sound card,

I did not want to confuse the issue as I wanted to hear any possibilities that I may have missed on the set-up. I did not think of disabling the onboard sound in the bios and that helped so I THANK you for that one.

I aaume that the KVM switch wont work with the 5.1 sound card?? Not sure on that. The legacy is just the straight out green plug out of the puter.

The KVM is an IOGEAR gizmo with the integrated cables, working great with this one exception.

Unless anyone has any other suggestions I feel my proper recourse is to purchase a set of 5.1 speakers for use on the new machine.

Thanks for your help. I did a search on the net for help with my issue and found this site. I appreciate the help and support.

I will try to make this place a regular stopping point and help out when I can

Hey everyone, I just got a new Sony SDM-HS75 17" LCD monitor to replace an old 15" CRT for christmas...and i went to set it up tonight and when i did and turned my computer on it showed the bios and the windows XP loading but after it loaded it would go black and show the "No Input Signal" box on the SCREEN and then go into sleep mode soon there after. I rebooted but the same thing happened... i know its not the computer because the CRT monitor has been working fine on it for almost a year now and STILL is working, but i'm baffled to as to what the problem is... FOLLOWED the manuals troubleshooting INSTRUCTIONS and installed the drivers and set the monitor setting to that of my new monitor, but that didnt work...also tried switching it into "Plug and Play" as the monitor setting but that didnt work either... however i booted it up in safe mode and got it to work, but it still wont work in regular mode...its being run on a radeon 9200...can anyone please offer me some advice as to how to get this working? any and all help is appreciated... Thank you - JustinWhat about the troubleshooting portion of the manual? Any clues there?Try using the last known good configuration before loading Windows by pressing F8 or LOAD Windows using the Windows VGA mode which forces a display mode any monitor can work with.I suspect refresh rate is set higher than any LCD monitor can recognize.  Set to 60Hz.

is it possible to convert USB 1.1 to 2.oNo, but you can get an add-on card that fits in a PCI slot inside that will give you up to 4 USB 2.0 ports for about $10-15

I have used this one before with success in an old Dell:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=HY200&cat=CCDThanks. I work in Kuwait and sometimes trying to find certain items and explaining what your looking for can be a real pain. When I go look fo this card what do I ask for. Thanks againPCI card with USB 2.0 adapters. Take them a picture if possible. Good luck.ok GOT it thanksWhat do you do in Kuwait?I work for a company call ITT Systems under contract to the U.S. Army. Been here off and on for about 10 yearsGood deal. We're PROUD of you as well as the servicemen!Thanks. I like working here. The people are good and it's not to bad. WORKED in Saudi Arabia once and swore I'd never go back. Have to go and see if I can find that card. Thanks a lot for the help.If I had one here I would send it to you! Take care.Thanks if i don't find it downtown I'll see about getting it on line. Have a good one . Quote

is it possible to convert USB 1.1 to 2.o

I have just built a comp and installed the graphics card. I am just not sure wich driver to install I have a leadtec Geforce 7800 GT not a GTX. Can someone plz look at the link below and tell me do i still install the Geforce go 7800 GTX or a diffrent one.

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.aspGive it a try Frankie.The last thing i want is PROBLEMS by just trying things. Does anyone know or have the exact link for the drivers for a geforce 7800 gt.nVidia has unified Forceware drivers. That's what you want. Go to www.google.com and type in "geforce 7800 gt' and press enter. I did. It's real simple.He is afraid of it.

*Edit*
NVIDIA® ForceWare™ Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)



The NVIDIA Unified Driver Architecture (UDA) is the foundation for the company’s award-winning ForceWare drivers and delivers forward-and-backward compatibility across all implementations of NVIDIA desktop, workstation, mobile, platform, and multimedia processors. With a single driver, UDA delivers ongoing performance and feature improvements, reduced maintenance TIME, increased scalability, and a lower total cost of ownership.  

*sigh*   Just because you have all the answers doesnt mean we do. I appreciate the help but dont like the sarcasm. I thought this site was about help only.Then don't do it, install some different drivers.
*shrug*  Sorry but if you read my first post, I was asking WHETHER or not i should install the Geforce go GTX driver for a geforce 7800 Gt. Its not that im afraid to install it, Its just it turned out to be the wrong driver for the card, thats why i asked for help in the first place and we all know what wrong drivers can do.If it gives you a problem then just re-start in safe mode & uninstall it.
They are a little vague.
Give the top one a try. (Geforce and TNT2)Your 7800 GT is on the list for the 81.98 version drivers.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/81.98_winxp_32_supported.html
So is the 7800 GTX.

If it failed I SUSPECT you installed the 'Go' drivers for notebooks. Quote

Just because you have all the answers doesnt mean we do. I appreciate the help but dont like the sarcasm. I thought this site was about help only.

I have an old computer with removeable bays with a 40 pin connector.I ordered a new dell and I WANT to install bays in it also.But the dell only has a SATA connector which I think has eight pins.Where can I find the proper bays for the new dell?I have called dell and other computer stores and they don,t have a clue.
Thanks
JackThe new Dell machine may also come with ATA (IDE) connectors. REFER to the mainboard manual or simply inspect the mainboard.

I do not know if they sell SATA removeable bays, you COULD try a few online shops, write down the NAME, contact Dell, ask if they're compatible with their cases and order them at your local PC store..If you have an ATAPI cd/dvd drive there is probably an IDE connector on the motherboard. Use that to connect you bays.

I built this system little over a year ago and never had a problem until now. When I go to boot up it gets to the blue screen with the Windows XP logo then the screen goes BLACK and get a box that says DVI no SIGNAL and then goes black. I can go into safe mode and remove the drivers for the video card, ATI X600 PCI Express, and reboot and windows will come up and work in VGA mode. I can reload the drivers but still have the same trouble.

I have downloaded the newest drivers and installed them for all the hardware in my system and still no go.

I reformatted the hard drive and put in a clean install of windows xp [twice] and it worked for about 4 days and it went back to the same thing. I took out one of the 512 memory chips of ram and it worked for a couple of days and went back to not booting up. Put the the 512 memory back in and worked for awhile and then went down again. At this point I replaced the video card with ATI X800 Pro installed the latest and greatest drivers and it worked! But only for a day. I have done a clean boot and I get the same results so I don't think this is a software problem.

The next thing I did was replace the mother board as there is not not much left and it worked for three days and now I'm back to where I started.  

I hope that someone here can give me an ideal of some things to try.

Antec True POWER 550
Sony 710 DVD
Abit AA8 DuraMax
Corsair 512x2 ram
ATI X800 Pro Video Card
Maxtor sata 160 Harddrive
p-4 3.2

Thanks.. Rick
It worked fine with the original video card and then you upgraded that and started having problems? That SEEMS to be the COMMON denominator - the video card.

I started having troubles before I replaced the video card.  I thought that the card was giving me trouble so I replaced it.

I'm trying to build a system "on the cheap" from used parts, some from old systems, some from eBay. (Yeah, IKNOW, cabveat emptor.)

Here's my question. I'm now building two systems with INTEL D845GERG2 motherboards. The manual indicates that it can accept P4 CPUs of a varying range. I've got that covered. One CPU has a 533 MHz bus and core voltage of 1.5v. That system works. The other system has a 400 MHz bus, and a CPU with core voltage of 1.75v. This one does NOT work. I have appropriate speed of memory for both systems, have reset the BIOS etc. When I press the Boot switch, the non-working system fires up for a fraction of a SECOND, shows FF on the BIOS status card I've installed, then shuts down.

Is core voltage important, needing to be matched to mobo? Neither system has any jumpers PERIOD other than BIOS reset. (Yes, I've done that.) Quote

...Is core voltage important, needing to be matched to mobo? Neither system has any jumpers PERIOD other than BIOS reset. (Yes, I've done that.)

I have a wireless G modem. My mother has a B router. Her laptop recieves B or G. I'm told that I need a G router. But, if I position my system about 2 feet away, I can get an avarage of "Low" signal. In my own room it is "Very Low" to "NONE". I suppose I should consider myself lucky to have signal at all, but why do I? I will be getting a G router when I can, but I am curious.You have a network configuration PROBLEM or, less likely, a wireless adapter problem. Are you running WEP on that router/ What type of CARD and how is the connection? Quote

You have a network configuration problem or, less likely, a wireless adapter problem. Are you running WEP on that router/ What type of card and how is the connection?

how many amps does MOLEX GIVE out on 12V?It DEPENDS on your PSU.
400 Watt PSU should deliver approx 20 Amps at 12 Volts.

Hi
I have recently installed a NEW DRIVE(250 GB,SLAVE) and partitioned it as NTFS to be able to handle large files,
but for some unknown reason when i try to unpack a large (over 4.5) zipped file to this new drive i GET a error saying :-

Disk full to handle files this large i need NTFS  

im confused!!Let's find out what you have. Click on Start -> All programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter. On the top-center you will see your file system. What does it say?

[glb]Flame[/glb]Hi, it says:-

C(C :)                        FAT32             146GB           1.86GB
New Volume(J :)        NTFS               233GB           229GB

im using xp proyes 1.86 GB is what is free on my master drive,but would converting from fat32 to ntfs lose all my data on that drive?

and yes i copied the unpacked file (2.5 gb) to the new drive and tried to unpack it there but without any luck,which surprised me as i THOUGHT ntfs was able to handle files larger than 4.5 GB.

would something i did when partitioning the drive have something to do with it maybe primary/logical??

the drive is a Digital Western 250 gb,could it be that
windows needs up to date drivers for it?

To unpack the large file(on the NTFS drive) im using winrar which is installed on the fat32 drive would this make a difference?

OK, I'm a newbie to this forum.  My friend has a Compaq Presario 5102US with 128MB of SDRAM.  I was going to get her another 256MB DIMM to add to it.  My QUESTION is, is it compatible?

The memory that is there is:
  Bus Clock: PC100
  Pins: 168
  Module: SDRAM
  Memory Type: DIMM
  Data Integrity Check: Non-ECC, Unbuffered
  Voltage: 3.3V
  CL: 2
  Chip Configuration: 16 x 8
  Memory Specification: PC100 168-PIN SDRAM DIMM

I was looking at a Kingston module Model KVR133Q/256
According to this it's a PC100/PC133 SDRAM DIMM memory module that RUNS at 133, not 100.

Will this work ok?  If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it because I was going to get the memory as a last MINUTE Christmas gift.  

Thanks in advance.
Also I just noticed, the one in there now has a chip configuration of 16 x 8......the Kingston SAYS it's 16 x 64, if that helps any.http://www.crucial.com/

I have a NEC nd-3540a dvdrw drive.  It is no LONGER recognized as this drive in windows.  Device manager shows it as "Generic DVD-ROM SCSI CdRom Device."  The drive will not read or recognize anything I put in.  But, it still shows up as nd-3540a in the setup before windows loads.  Does anyone know what I can do about this?Delete it in Device Manager and reboot. Let us know what happens.I've tried this, and it just reappears as the generic drive.Can you try this drive in another machine? How old is it? Have you checked the manufacturer's web site for known issues or firmware updates?I don't really have the means to try the drive on another machine.  It's less than a year old (the whole computer is) and I haven't read or heard of anyone else having a pproblem like this.I have PLENTY of times when the optics in the drive are shot. It opens and closes fine because that is MECHANICAL. Windows can identify the make and model, but it doesn't work. Has it had a lot of use? SOmetimes they just die without that, but there is a reason those things generally COME with a 1 year warranty. If you have had it less than that and have purchase info I would contact NEC. If not, probably time for a new drive. (They are now down to about $40!)Fair enough.  It might be WORTH the $40 to not have to deal with it.  Thanks for all the help.

I have a Basic Optical Mouse, didn't want an expensive one. But it has fought me since I plugged it in. The mouse will go up-left, and sometimes goes crazy GOING in all DIRECTIONS. I downloaded Microsoft Mouse, but I still have serious issues. This is especially irritating when gaming. What can I do about this?A. That works. Though I thought you were pulling my leg at the time...

B. ROFL!  

I noticed I had problems when I was typing and I watched as my mouse just crawled on it's own to the top-left of the screen. But not anymore. I wonder what makes paper so special...Draw a picture of a cat on your piece of paper & see if you get a REACTION.  Great, now I need another mouse, It went running with it's cord AROUND it's wheel. =/Do you have protection from viruses and Spyware?

[glb]Flame[/glb]Some suggestions:

1. Get the latest drivers, improper or bad drivers can cdefinitely cause this issue.
2. Try the mouse on a different surface.
3. Try the mouse with the lights off, I know sounds strange, but lighting can affect optical mouses.Flame, I have Norton AntiVirus 2005. And it is updated. So yeah, I do.

CH A, Downloading now - Done. It almost finished install when it told me a newer version of IntelliPoint was already installed. And the lights are off. It does it not so often as it used to on the mousepad, and it doesn't do it at all on a certain desk, but I can't move my rig to that desk yet because my wireless signal is too weak there. But I'm going to start another thread about that, it's off-topic here.PS2 seems to work better for mice, if it's a USB mouse you can try an adapter. Quote

PS2 seems to work better for mice, if it's a USB mouse you can try an adapter.

PS2 seems to work better for mice, if it's a USB mouse you can try an adapter.

Hi
I have xp home and want to remove windows MESSANGER. I know there is somthing you can type in the run MENU but i can find what it is anymore. Any HELP its just somthing you copy and paste but i have looked on google and cant find it.Start>Settings>ControlPanel>AdminTools>Services>MessengerCrafty....If you wish to remove "Windows Messenger" go to CONTOL panel .....add/remove programs ....... look over to the left and you will see add/remove Windows components ......wait until it populates and then scroll down to windows messenger and click remove .

dl65   Quote

Disable widows messanger

Where i can USE the AT commnads:AT  commands?

AT is a form FACTOR...You mean AT MODEM Commands?
http://www.modem.com/general/extendat.html
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=164660

Hello,

I am INTENDING to buy a wide screen 16:9 TFT screen. My question is how it is going to look like if my GRAPHIC card does not SUPPORT the wide format WXGA? It does support UXGA. What resolution I can use on that screen in the combination with my graphic card?

Thanks a lot.

Best REGARDS,
Richard Quote

UXGA

Short for Ultra XGA, UXGA is a video resolution that supports a max resolution of 1600 horizontal pixels by 1200 vertical pixels.

WXGA

Short for Wide XGA, WXGA is a video resolution that supports a max resolution of 1366 horizontal pixels by 768 vertical pixels.

well i have a long problem so please DONT stop looking at this because you see the length.  Not to many people can help me with this, but i know someone out there knows what the *censored* there talkin about.

the problem

  I have 2 computer.  They are hooked up threw a router, that is connected to a cable modem.  One computer works, the other does not.  On the computer that does not work it says when i check the status of the connection that it is running at full speed, and is sending out packets, but it is NOT recieving any packets.  that is where the first problem is.  So in order to fix this problem i called IT.  They told me a solution of going to "RUN - CMD "  they then proceded to tell me to reconfig my ip adress,  when i went to do that it said i was missing a socket or the IT guy told me what to do in order to fix the bad files. And he gave me instructions.  HE told me to go to "RUN - REGEDIT "  Here is where the other problem comes in.  When i try to do that it only comes up for a second, and then it will close by itself.  I also notice this problem when i push Ctrl Alt Del.  and then go to the task manager that i will come up for half a sec and then close.  So if anyone has read this hole thing has any idea of what to do please help me.  I am running a laptop on windows 2000. please.......... helpSounds as if you might have a virus or internet worm, or spyware.  You do have an up-to-date virus program? You do have a spyware cleaner?  Scan for both.If that doesn't work?does the other pc have a nic....which one are you have trouble with..and what o/s is used
try DELETING the old connection >save your password and username....and make  a new one...do you have a firewall this can prevent packets sent to you...what does netstat SAY in the cmd prompt...as for an IT telling you to use regedit...you should not need to do?bad advice..i feel..John Schleif.......Go to the pc that has the router software on it and click start ......then run .....now type
cmd ......at the prompt .....type   ipconfig/all   see whats listed
Perhaps you do not have the router properly configured ......has the second machine ever worked through the router ?

dl65  This problem has happend before.  So when this happend last time, i called IT and the guy worked with me for a while and finaly figured out the problem.  This was over a year ago and i forget what the solution was.  He had me in the Run program, doin the IPCONFIG and he said that my computer wasn't reading somehting right.  So he had me change around some numbers and i forget what those numbers are.  by the way the computer was running fine and then i encountered a problem, which involved me doing things to it to make it better which i did, until i relized these problems. Quote

...On the computer that does not work it says when i check the status of the connection that it is running at full speed, and is sending out packets, but it is NOT recieving any packets.  that is where the first problem is. ...

I cannot use my computer with out being plugged in to my power supply. A friend recently INSTALLED a NEW battery for me. Any suggestions for what the problem could be.Burly.....Is it possible the battery is defective ?

dl65  Any safe way to check that out. How do I go about checking to SEE if battery is defective or installed wrong?Did the older battery work?Burly......How long will your laptop work on the battery ...?
You could always take it to a good shop and have them LOOK at it for you .
let US know.

dl65

Recently my computer crashed for unknown reasons.  Literally, I was gaming and than it went down, and now it can never finish loading windows before it reboots itself.  My problem rises in the fact that I chose to run RAID 0 for my drives, and while it worked great with my running system, it now posses a problem.  With no problem discernable, and I ran a mem check to know my memory is fine, and switched VIDEO cards for the same reason, I am out of ideas of how to save my data.  Taking my SATA drives to my brothers system, I plugged and hoped to jsut boot them there.  But the mobo WANTS to RAID them together, and I am afraid that it will format my drives and I lose all my data.  I bought my parts for a new system, so I will format the drives (and get rid of the problematic RAID), but still, I WOULD like to know if there is any way to save the data.  My mobo is not only a diffrent models of that of my brothers, it is a diffrent maker ALSO.  MSI for me, ASUS for him.  Any suggestions on how to PROCEED, and whether or not my drives will get formated in resetting up a RAID system on them from another mobo?

I have a dell demsion 2350 1.8 ghz processor 768 mb ram 30 gig hard drive and 80 gig slave drive. I recently had to have my hard drive reformated and of course LOST every thing, now my COMPUTER is so slow it takes forever to load pages...I have the ccleaner zonealarm I also run SPYBOT and adaware. Of course I only have dial up and I know thats always slow but it is way slower than before, also how can I reinstall my sp2 without it taking 75 HOURS ? Much thanks for any and all help
For what it's worth, I picked up SP2 on a disk that came with a computer magazine. It worked perfectly.
I believe that Microsoft will also mail one to you.

*Edit*
Speed? Is your computer protected and free of nasties?

Online Virus Scan and Spyware Scan
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Highly recommended second Online Malware Scan
http://www.ewido.net/en/

Being a fresh install means nothing as you can be infected in just seconds.I downloaded the ewido scan and it found one problem that adaware or spybot did not ...thanks and yes I do have norton  and it is up to date, but it is STILL running very slow...maybe it is dying   thanks for the help.When you reinstalled did you install the chipset drivers from the Dell site, or from your CD you got with the machine?I re-installed from my disks that I got with/computer and it is ntfs and I dont know how to find the allocation units ?     THANKS you guys are great! oh I am sorry I see I have to do chdisk will try thatok ran chkdsk and it was in read only.......I am really a computer dummy so please expalin further   thanksWhat about the chipset drivers?

I don't know if I have a problem or not.

I INSTALLED a new Visioneer 9420 flat bed scanner for the wife last night.

Afterward it would not conncet to IE when I would click on it. I have Joink WIRELESS.  Mozilla Firefox would load right up but not IE, kept saying I had to reconnect to the internet, like it was on dial up and working offline. I did the reset web settings and did the REPAIR for the wireless CONNECTION. Got that lined back out, then noticed the red light flickering on the tower. It flickers from just a little to bright red depending on what your doing.

What the heck is this all about, or is this just something thats normal but just caught my eye? Nothing seems to be going on performance wise. I am running all the scans to check for problems.

It seems I remember seeing something about this on here recently, but I could not find the post. I don't have much luck with the search feature.

Thanks,
Fordtruckmaniac....the flickering red lite your seeing ...is probably the led that indicates hard drive activity ......so that would be normal.


dl65  A slight flicker may have been present all along and you never noticed it, unless it was dark. It is not uncommon. Windows DISK polling can cause this, as can a raid controller.Thanks for the responses.

After the IE deal, I did not know if something was happening.

Thanks,

Hi i have a compaq presario 2700t

And  i am having a problem with it. It starts normally and when i get to the log on screen where it asks you to enter you pw, it just turns off. I am thinking that it might be the memory but i dont have much experience with notebooks. Another thing is that when i connect it straight to the power  with the battery taken off it bearly gets past the compaw screen before it turns off.

Any help would really be appreciated and LET me know if you THINK i can troubleshoot it any further. I don't really want to statr buying parts without atleast been SOMEWHAT sure.

Thanks in advance./bump

No one has any experience with this??Notebooks are a different kind of beast. There is only limited upgradeability, and working on them by someone inexperienced can easily damage them further.

That being said, some laptops with a totally dead battery don't boot,e ven connected to power. A failed CPU fan can cause it to shut off, as can a failing power supply or connection, a dead or near dead motherboard, coke spilled on it, etc.

When you say password is where it shuts down, is that the system password or the Windows password? If it won't stay on long enough to run a test on the memory, you will have to take it out and take it somewhere if you think that is it. If you can't get it to POST, that can be a fatal indicator. Replacement motherboards, capacitors,e TC. are not advisable for a novice.

How much do ytou have in this machine and how much $$$ are you willing to invest to try to resurrect it? When was the last time it worked perfectly?

well actually i got the notebook the way it is now.

A friend of mine wanted me to take a look at it but all my exp is really with desktops and network componets, so in other words i am a novice when it comes to this

Often a computer just turning off by itself is a heat related issue. It is possible that the laptop may be having a heat related issue and is just overheating and shutting itself off to protect itself. However, because it is a laptop it could be also a power related issue. For example the laptops power inverter board (may be called something different with the Compaq) can cause this issue if it's not supplying proper power to the computer. Unfortunately with laptops there is not much most users can do because of the difficulty of disassembling a laptop as well as the inability of exchanging parts within it.

My suggestion would be to take it to a Compaq repair facility and have them look at it if you're wanting to SALVAGE the laptop.

About 6 months ago my computer stopped working.  It would turn on for maybe 30 seconds and then turn off.  If I kept turning it on, it would eventually not even SPIN the fans.  I thought it was the power SUPPLY because if i unpluged all the extra lights and fans I had, it would run a little longer.  So I started using my sister's computer and I finally bought a new power supply.  It is exactly like the other just a newer version.  I put it in and connected EVERYTHING like it was before but when i flip the SWITCH only the fans and lights work.  The monitor, mouse, keyboard, and disk drive won't power on.  I don't know what needs to be done.

I Need some help
I had gotten a 160gb HD from my mom.  It was 160 at the time.  I then erased all the files and deleted the partition and thats when it happened.  It gave up 30gb.  So now I have a 127gb HD.  I did the same thing with my 80gb HD and this did not happen.
I have:
Windows XP Professional
2.1gHz
AMD Athlon 2600+
ATI Radeon 9200se 128mb
Please Help.How did you delete the partition ? ?
It's possible that HDD has a hidden 30G partition on it especially if it's from an OEM machine, Dell HP etc...
If you want to get the full drive back RUN FDisk on it from a boot floppy which will show hidden partitions...just delete the hidden, create a new one using 100% of the drive space and you should be good to go.If you are running XP without SP2, that can happen. You can still create another partition in the free space area and use the space for storage (a handy thing to keep your data safe when you have to format your C drive to reinstall Windows) or slipstream an SP2 and start anew. The drive space is still available. It's just how you want to do it. (Personally, I would never do one big partition.)It's also possible that you took an NTFS hard drive and formatted in FAT32.  FAT32 systems will not recognize drives larger than about 130 GB without some sort of BIOS overlay program.  Check your device properties and it will tell you if it's FAT32 or not.

If this is your problem, go to the website for the MANUFACTURER and download the BIOS overlay program.

Note that 80 GB hard drives would not have this problem.

Dell160 GB (Metric) = 149.01 (Binary)

If you don't have the Service Pack it won't see the rest.

Why not slipstream your XP CD with SP2 and do a clean install, then make a drive image?

SLIPSTREAM
Windows XP without Service Pack 1 can only recognize and format hard drives up to 127GB.

Download a file from the manufacturer of the hard drive that will let you make a bootable floppy or CD for formatting the full capacity of the hard drive.

To install Windows XP on the hard drive. Select "make no changes to the file system" when the SETUP wants to format the drive. After installing XP, install Service Pack 1 and the drive will be recognized at it's full capicity.

To use the drive as an extra drive for storage, formatting with the manufacturer's disk and installing SP 1 should do the trick.Windows XP Service Pack 1a (SP1a)Thanks, I do believe #3 is correct, but right now I am having some other PROBLEMS... guess it comes with a custom made computer sometimes :-/  Once I fix these other problems I will be sure to get back and give the conclusion.  Thank you for answering so promptly.It is a pleasure Matthew. I hope that you have a good Festive Season.

I am currently using...

AMD 3400+
1gb ram
K8T Neo board

I had this custom built. I have 2 500's to make up 1gb.
I have 3 slots TOTAL on this board with "of course" 2 slots taken, but one is still open. I have a few 256 chips hanging around and was wondering if I could add it to that one slot.

It's been awhile since Ive messed with cp's, but If memory serves, I can only add another 500 chip and not anything else.

Ive never delt with a board that has 3 slots, only 2's and 4's.

Can I use a 256 in the open slot?

TANKS!! renaldoaoa1....Well the first thing to do is dig out your mobo manual and see exactly how MUCH ram it supports ..... then check to see if your spare ram is the same TYPE .....if your board will support 1.5 gb ......then you should have no problem adding another 256 kb stick ( as long as its the same type)

dl65

I know this should be simple, i have done it before and i dont recall having this problem.

I just got my new maxtor 300 gig hard drive in the mail....

I install the hard drive in my comp....turn it on and open partition magic.

the 300 gig is read on there as 127 gig...call me crazy but THATS way off.

Im on windows xp.  What do i do to format this dang thing so its near the 300 gig MARK with the windows xp file format?

Thanks!Install SP2.FIRST of all make sure its jumper settings are right, make sure your first boot device is your dvd or cdrom drive, put your xp disk in that drive, then xp will let you partition and then format that drive. Or simply right click on my computer then disk management and do it from there.patio thanks....

install sp2 is all that needed to be said..


you GUYS rock!

thanksWe rock. That's great!  Visit Maxtor website and download maxblast. Worked a treat for me.

So I've bought all these parts to build me a gaming machine   and around my friends house I assembled it and tested it. I didn't have enough time to install windows, but by the time I left I had got as far as getting DOS up etc so I know everythings working.

I take it hoem and reassemble it, however my monitor shows nothign but black. I try a few times using TWO different monitors just to check it is actually the computer, which it seems it is.
After thinking about it for a few days I attempted to try using a diffrent harddrive, mine may have got damaged on transit. But then this time the power doesnt even turn on! The CPU fan will not even move.

At a guess, I take it my motherboard is at fault?1) If you didn't have time to install an OS how did you as you say get DOS up ?
2) If you assembled it at your friends house why did you have to re-assemble it when you got home ?
3) Why would you think the HDD got damaged in transit ?
4) Have you tried to install an OS yet ?1))Oh oh I mean BIOS My bad  

2)I took it APART because I dotn have a proper case for it

4)Well no, on account it doesnt start up.When you say you don't have a proper case, you mean you just got all this electrical stuff laying around the kitchen table plugging it up or what? I know a lot of people laugh at static electricity but it can be a problem. What are you useing for a power switch? Have you checked the header pins to make sure the switch is connected right? I have more QUESTIONS but I will give you time to answer these.Did you take ESD precautions?
Did you install the LPS modules?
Pull it apart & put it back together again. (Carefully).
If it still won't start swap the PSU.Without a case i personally would quit screwin around before some/all expensive components are ruined... The actual motherboard is screwed onto the raised plate of metal that would slot into a crappy dell case. the motherbord is also sitting in it's own shelf that I salvaged from that awful case.

To turn it on, I have the normal switches. I just dont have the actual button over the top from a case. Actually it is possible they were not in properly, maybe they have been pulled out so I will have to try putting them in again. But I do think when I tried them that there was a sound I HEARD. It was like....the sound of a monitor turning on but less of a blink sound and more of a groan sound..if you can understand what I mean?
Then when I press the switch again no sound is heard unless I unplug a few things replug and try again.

When we were assembling this, although I dont really believe in them, we did have rubber gloves and all sorts of anti static things to stop that happening.

Compaq Armada 7400                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  When I switch the MACHINE on the power led ,battery and drive access light come on for about 1 second then go out . The caps lock ,scroll lock and number lock lights come on and stay on. There are 4 beeps, gradually decreasing in length,and the screen stays blank.It's a new battery and hard drive and I've tried all combinations of battery in ,out AC adaptor in ,out and floppy in and out .I had the memory tested and it's ok.The processer heats up so there is power to it. I've tried another cpu from a working machine but still have the same problems.To switch it off I have to press CTRL while holding the power switch. It's an old laptop so I am willing to experiment with it if ANYONE has any suggestions as to what is causing this problem.
It has a P11 300 cpu .
Any help would be appreciated before it DRIVES me maaaad.

I have a MAG 17" LCD MONITOR that's done alright by me for a couple of years now, but it has recently refused to TURN on. What actually happens is, if I plug it into it's power supply/AC adapter, the power button will turn on and then blink off every few seconds. HOLDING the button in keeps it on steadily, and hitting the button repeatedly (which I found out accidentally in a frustrated state) will turn it off at which point I think I hear a FAINT whine inside the monitor itself. Whatever I do, no image at all comes up on screen - not even the "no input" or whatever flashes at first when it's not plugged into the computer.

I am thinking perhaps it is the external adapter, which would be nice because then I can simply replace that bit and not worry about a new monitor. But I'm worried and don't really know what to do other than search for another adapter, which might take a while, so I wanted to ask these forums first. thanks

Well I recently reinstalled windows, and ever since my computers been locking up and coming up with hardware errors. Which has never happened before in the two years i've had my computer.
I was wondering, which would fix the problem, new RAM or a new processor.Well with the WEALTH of information provided, I would say check your RAM with a free download at www.memtest86.com

Check each stick individually, and then TOGETHER if more than one. Let it run a couple of hours each time.

Posting a few specifics about your system could be helpful, but this will give you something to do.
AMD Athlon XP 2000+ (1.7GHz)
512MB RAM
256MB Video Card
DFI NF4 Ultra Infinity Motherboard
(built by me)and how do i check them?Download the free program above and run it.what do i do if there is something wrong with my ram? just get new sticks?Yes. Quote

OK Joe, when you did the re-install, did you re-partition the hard-drive and FULL format to NTFS? yes

If you open a command window and TYPE chkdsk do you see 4096 bytes in each allocation unit somewhere? yes

What was the initial reason which caused you to have to re-install? no apparent reason.. just wanted too.
How old is the computer? 2 years
 Has the CMOS battery ever been changed and has the RAM ever been re-seated? yes they both have.. just before i wiped it too.

Is the inside of the cabinet free of dust and are all fans running properly? thats the reason i took out the ram. (dust) and the fans are running

Can you run a test on your RAM and also run the drive manufacturer's drive diagnostic diskette on to test the hard-drive? how?

What is the drive size, partition size, drive speed, buffer size and which sort of IDE cables are you using? 60GB, don't know the rest.  

3 months ago i bought an Acer TravelMate 2350, it used to play copied cds and dvds, but then it suddenly wouldn't any more. It PLAYS software cds ok and Im going to try a normal cd and dvd to check it, but I have to use copied ones for my course at uni.

I don't know WHETHER or not I have accidently changed any settings for the computer that I have forgotten about. I have used a disk cleaner too, just to make sure. I know a little about computers, but would probably NEED explanations of what i have to do.

Hope someone can help!! What OS ? ?
The copied CD's might depend on what program was used to COPY them...they are not all the same.whats OS??
It won't play dvds that it would previously play. It used to load anything that you put onto it, but now it won't read any of the copied disks.Hint: OS is operating system, as in what version of Windows.

when i try to turn the computer on all the fans and evrything start RUNING but the monitor wont come on, i've tried a dif video card and it was STILL the sameTry a different monitor.it's not the monitor i'm useing the monitor RIGHT now on this system.Is this a new build or an old computer that is FAILING?
Has it ever worked?
Do you SEE any POST screen?

a friend of mine has an emachine  model w2785  and it wont stay on when you plug it up and then hit power button it will come on for a second then it turns off, does anyone know what the problem could be. please helpThis happened to me after I knocked the box REALLY hard, EXCEPT I have a T2682 model. I had to refresh the BIOS by removing the BIOS CABLE from the MOTHERBOARD. I assume that he's had the comp. for a while now? If it's BRAND new, then I'm wrong about this. But let me know if that helps.

Oh, and next time you see him, tell him my signature.

I have a custom built PC which is used to monitor the operation of a gas turbine, it's an HMI.

The PC does not have a cdrom installed but does have a floppy drive and a parallel port connection (not used)

If the PC crashes i am unable to rescue the operating system using the rescue floppy discs because the rescue sequence requires a cdrom to be fitted to the PC and aborts the recovery.

Fitting an internal cdrom is not an option and would like to fit an external cdrom via the parallel port, however, parallel port cdrom drives seem to be extremely rare.

is it possible to connect a laptop to the PC via the parallel port and use the laptops cdrom to recover the PC in the event of a failure.

The PC uses Windows NT40

Many THANKS

DaveWhy is installing a CDRom not an option ? ?

There are many ways to connect the laptop to the other machine including a parrallel cable, crossover cable with NIC cards, USB data transfer cable etc.
More info on the situation and we can get you moving in the right direction.An internal cdrom could be fitted, however it is important that the PC is not dismantled at this moment.

USB, although the scenario i am anticipating is an operating system failure i don't think NT supports USB but i must find out if the bios recognises the USB devices.

i know that the bios recognises The parallel port though, and that's why i thought it might be an option.

Many thanks indeed for taking interest. what would i NEED to do if i connected a laptop to the PC whilst unbootable, will it help, can it be done.

Thanks againNT supports USB...
2 NIC cards and a crossover cable would work as well...
Parallel network connection would be the slowest of these options...
Again more info.

We still don't know whether you need to just recover data in case of a CRASH or rebuild the OS or both... Quote

...The PC does not have a cdrom installed but does have a floppy drive and a parallel port connection (not used)...

NT supports USB...
...

...
1.  The scenario i'm trying to prepare for is the need to restore the operating system should it crash, recovering data would be a welcome bonus. Forgive me if i seem to be labouring the point but i do feel that i'm making progress here, with your help.

2.  The PC is custom built and is used to monitor the operation of a gas turbine via RS232 link.

3.  If the PC crashes and won't boot, i'm concerned that i cannot communicate with it, except via the floppy drive.

I have three restore diskettes and the NT40 operaring system on cdrom. The floppy disks run ok until the restore sequence calls for a cdrom to be fitted, it then aborts.

4.  If i connect a laptop to the PC using the parallel port and boot the PC with the floppy disk, will it recognise the laptop as a cdrom?

(Parallel port hard drive can be used to "image" the entire hard drive using Symmantec (Norton) Ghost.  Boot to floppy disk and perform backup or restore)

5.  I checked out Symantec Ghost and it seems perfect for my application, would very much appreciate a bit more info on how to apply it in the event of a system crash.

Many thanks Patio, Computer_Commando for your help.

Hello there,

Firstly I have looked through your impressive archives searching for a solution to this but have come up blank   although I'm pleased to say your archives are much much more FRIENDLY than the Microsoft knowledge base so thank you for your SITE - I've bookmarked it for regular return  

Problem with slave HDD.  Some background first - Windows XP home, home build system, ASUS motherboard, all working fine with master drive with minor peculiarity of drive letters start at E [master drive partitioned into 3 so have E, F, G partitions]

Main problem, fitted a previously used slave HDD [also having previously had 3 partitions originally set up via disk management under Windows XP home] but when viewing in disk management the slave has no drive letter assigned, although it seems to have remembered the name of the original first partition.  

Disk management SAYS the disk is healthy and active but if I right click on the diagram the only options I get are delete partition and help.

The slave HDD is a Western Digital 60GB and jumper is definitely set to slave.

This slave worked fine with its 3 partitions in an older computer, then the older master drive corrupted and I wanted to upgrade the computer anyway so I'm now struggling to understand why its gone funny.

I would prefer to be able to re-access the previously available partitions on this drive.

Any suggestions greatfully received.  I'm UK based so there may be a delay in response to any questions generated

Thank you for reading,
JillTWhat make is the Master? It would be historically INTERESTING to know how you ended up with those drive letters assigned too.Hello there,

The Master HDD is 120GB, also Western Digital with 2MB cache, 7200revs.  It was brand new to the new build.

Basically I stuck a new mother board, CPU, Master HDD into the case.  At this point I used a master HDD from a previous computer running windows 98 because I wanted to check I'd plugged everything in ok and this indeed was the case.  I then purchased the new master, partitioned it with Fdisk, then checked the BIOS was seeing everything ok then loaded XP Home.  I have no idea why the drive lettering starts with E  

At this point I can re-format the master [if necessary] as all that is on there is XP and Norton Firewall/System works plus internut connection stuff.

I don't really know which way to go at the moment but my main concern is getting access back to the slave, preferably without having to reformat it.

Any options you can think of gratefully received.    I have a laptop so I can twiddle with the desktop and still read any suggestions.

Thank you,
JillTWhen you are in Disk Management can you right clik on the slave assign it a new drive letter ?
Don't make it less than E:

I would wipe that master and rebuild it as you are looking at nothing but problems down the road with the way it is currently set up.
The NTFS thing has me wondering. NTFS can see fat files but how would it react to a fat formated harddrive. I guess the first Q should be, is your 120 ntfs of fat. Probably won't matter but just a thought.We have about 5000 computers on campus and they ALL use fat. Why you ask? Because of the 10 Win95 and 5 Win98 machines we still have on the network.  :-/ They can't see NTFS so we have to keep using fat. Now the SAD part is, those computers are on their way out the door at the first of the year. But could you imagine converting 5,000 fat machines over to ntfs  ?Since the poster didn't even mention the file system in use why is this going off on that tangent ? ?

There is a problem in re-naming that boot partition to C: in that you risk the system being un-bootable because drive letters have changed.

I would concentrate on retrieving what data you can for the time being and once you have backups re-build as i mentioned above. Quote

We have about 5000 computers on campus and they ALL use fat. Why you ask? Because of the 10 Win95 and 5 Win98 machines we still have on the network.  :-/ They can't see NTFS so we have to keep using fat. Now the sad part is, those computers are on their way out the door at the first of the year. But could you imagine converting 5,000 fat machines over to ntfs  ?

hey there, i was just curious if any1 out there had an idea on what i should try next... the problem IM havein is the computer turns on and thats it... no beep no display... nothing... it will just sit with the power light on... i have already bought and installed a new psu but still the same outcome... any ideas?Check the video card. (Unless you have on-board?)

[glb]Flame[/glb]If you see nothing at all, i agree with FLAME. Is this a new build, a REPAIR, or your personal that just up and croaked? Do you have a DOS boot up disk? That might let you know if it is a problem with the GRAPHICS or the hard drive(emphasis on might). Can you get into the bios?hey... so ya it has an onboard grafix card... and i had already tried the boot disc route... the problem with that -im guessin- its not even either reading the drives or intializing the drives... basically when u turn the power on the light in the front panal which i believe just indicates power SHINES... and nothing else. when the computer was working fine like every computer it use to turn on... beep... then i would get visuals on the monitor.... but now i turn  it on... and thats it... im thinkin if it was the video i would still get a beep just no display... but i really dont specifics with computers hence the post here
If you cannot access the Bios or boot from the floppy or hard drive, I would say the MB is DOA.

I recently got a new dell system. I try to replace the new hard drive with an old one from an old dell system I have. The new system came with windows XP but the old system was running windows 2000. They are both 40GB hard drive. I did this because I would like all the information from the old system. When I try to START up the system I am getting the blue screen.
Why is this happening and what suggestions would you give me?The old hard drive was saved with diffrent hardware infomation and diffrent driver infomation. Unlike the old Operating system which will update it automatically the newer os 2000 + You have to reinstall everything. It is best just to keep the old hard drive on the old computer and keep XP on the new one.What you can try is to hook up the Win2K HDD as a slave and connect it to the middle CONNECTOR on IDE1...XP should now be ABLE to see the drive and you can copy/move your files at will.
If you want settings etc. from the Win2K drive you can use the Files and Settings Wizard within XP.Are the jumpers set correctly?

[glb]Flame[/glb]Pop the cmos battery and set the jumper to reset the cmos(motherboard specific: check with manufacturer). Stand by with driver cds for you new hardware and give it a try. I have had success with this method.Is the bios detecting the hdd?
Can you start in safe mode then remove the redundant devices from your Device MANAGER, re-boot and let w2k do it's thing?

Hi,

When i turned on my laptop this MORNING i FOUND that it will not load up Windows. It gets to a stage of loading where it says "Sec Drive.....No Detected", then a load of commands flash up on screen before the screen goes blank. The computer hoewever does not turn off, instead it keeps repeating this. The laptop is an EISystem model and i cannot find anywhere to get customer support. Can anyone tell me how to fix this as i dsperately need access to my laptop today.

Thanks in advance!From all i could find EIS is not a laptop manufacturer...more info on exactly what you have equipment wise and OS etc. and someone will be along shortly to assist.Its CALLED an EISystem 4411. Apparantly they are made exclusively for PCWORLD, Dixons and Currys but when i took it to the shop they didnt seem interested.

More info on it here:
http://www.pcservicecall.co.uk/layout.aspx?CatID={0188067d-bcb7-4595-9bd2-a20eb54e54ec}&ID={4237a803-ef18-4e36-a8b8-26638433a35b}

With only 2 total hits on Google for that system and a bunch of dead links i am still convinced they are not a laptop manufacturer...
Are there any other ID marks/stickers on that machine ? ?

When i TURN my computer on, my moniter turns on then immediately goes to standby.  There is a red light that shows up on my computer.  What does it all MEAN?
BIS the red light on the monitor if it is that means its  monitor that need service if it is on the computer then i am GUESSING the motherboard MIGHT be in trouble.

I wanted to do a BIOS update for my desktop...so I tried to insert a floppy and it wouldn't go in...I guess I didn't re-install the stack of drives straight so I turned off the PC...left it plugged in to ground it...took out the drives and fixed the inability to insert a floppy...left the floppy in the drive...put the COVER back on and powered it up...The PC immediatley read the diskette and went to a DOS screen...and as quick as that happened...the power shorted out in the PLUG I had the surge protector connected to...the power came back on and the light on the front of the drive doesn't light up anymore...Is there a possibility the drive is still GOOD and buying a new one will be a waste of money?  Anyone have this happen to them before?The power shorting in your wall socket/plug should not harm your floppy drive.
Having said that, don't forget that ELECTRICITY works on magic.So if it's my computer that is the problem...what would the problem be specifically.I'm guessing that you haven't told us everything that you did or everything that happened.

But, whatever you did, installing another drive in the same manner would probably be a waste of time and money.  I'd recommend you take it to a shop and have them install it.

Dellthat's not a suggestion I'm willing to entertain...please...these forums are for do it yourselfers...you suggesting that I have someone fleece me for doing something I could easily is absurd...and BTW my description of "what I did" was overly decriptive if anything. Quote

the power shorted out in the plug I had the surge protector connected to

I've learned that leaving the power cord in grounds the machine...do you know different?

Absolutely NEVER a good idea!!!! Not even open to discussion.

???Have a MICROSOFT Photostory to copy to cd drive.  Whenever I send it from the file to "copy to c drive" I get a message "install cd".  Which is in there!  I don't know if this is hardware or software problem.  I have a Dimension Dell.  I have installed music c.d. so that part works.  I switched from CDR to CD rw - doesn't make a difference.  Basically, I can get it in, but can't get it out.  HELP.  and Merry Christmas/Happy HolidaysWould you clarify for us.

You say you are copying Photostory to cd drive and then "copy to C drive" - is it to your hard drive or a cd that you are trying to copy to?

Oh thank you.  I have the Microsoft program.  At the end, it says do you want to burn a cd?  I click on that and it says put in cd.  I save to my videos.  Go back and click where do you want to send it - I click on cd drive.  It says put in a cd.  I knew I didn't give enough information.  Ok, let me clarify.  Using Digital Image.  At the end of the program, it says do you want to burn a cd?  I click and it says put in a cd.  THEN i saved it to my videos.  I open My videos, click to send it to c drive.  it says put in cd.  what am i doing wrong?  Haas this ever worked right? Or are you just leaning how to use the program?I did successfully make a cd but I believe - it was on the installed Movie Maker that came with the computer.  Do you think it is the program itself?  Maybe I should get movie maker and see if it bburns?  Just tried it in movie maker.  it says recordable cd drive no detected.  what to do now?  The C: drive is your hard drive...the CDRom if it was installed first is your D: drive. Therefore your burner is probably your E: drive. Check all these possibilities.
In effect you are trying to copy those pictures where they already exist which is on the C: drive.
Use the drop down menu which should show your burner, click on that and it should work. precious........From your description of the issue , I am at a loss as to exactly what it is your trying to do.......I am trying to determine if you are trying to make a copy of the program MicroSoft Photostory and burn that app onto a cd ....or.....If you have created a "photostory" and are trying to save your completed project by burning it onto a cd ......

You should probably go into "my computer" and see which drive is identified as .....
   Local Disk ( ?: ) Hard drive
          CD drive ( ?: ) CD rom
CD-RW drive ( ?: ) Cd burner
Which burning software are you using ?


Please clarify for us.

dl65  
I send you all big hugs for the help here.  This iswhat I FOUND.  I have a dvd-cd rom and cd drive.  What does this mean.  not saving correctly?  Or do I even have a place to copy to cd.  I thought if I have that little tray I COULD copy to it.   I think Patio is right.  Am going to look for a drop down menu.  Remember, I know very little and appreciate your knowledge!!!!precious.......... LOL .......we dont know either ...thats why we ask the QUESTIONS .........Oh yes and BTW , you havent answered the ones I asked you yet .
Quote

Remember, I know very little and appreciate your knowledge!!!!

Computer was restarting several times. We called tech support and they had us check memory. They said it was ALMOST out of memory and we ordered more memory. We are running Windows XP. We put memory into SLOTS as directed. Now when you push the on/off button on tower it stays amber, never turns green. A box shows on computer screen says self test, no signal. then another box comes on saying computer is in energy saving mode. The fan in the tower is not running.We have tried to get into SAFE mode but nothing including keyboard works. Do you have any suggestions?What are the SPECIFICS of the machine - make/model, RAM before and after the upgrade, where did you get the memory and what kind, etc. would be helpful and someone will be along shortly to help.Sorry didn't include that. It is a Gateway 700S PC, 256MB RDRAM PC 800 memory.  We bought computer in 2001. Gateway suggested another 256 MB (put in two 156 MB). My husband removed them and sent them back to Gateway for refund. Gateway said could be bad motherboard, power supply not working or bad battery. My husband bought new battery, STILL they same. He checked power supply, said nothing wrong. Have not had mother board checked, hoping nothing is wrong with it. Am not able to do anything on computer. Lights on keyboard do not work as well as no keys working. Mouse lights up but no pointer on screen. Put disk in CD/DVD trays. They do not work. Let me know if you need anymore info. Thanks.Either it is a bad or poorly connected power supply, or some sort of disastrous motherboard issue as a result of or causing a bad power supply.

I don't believe RAM was ever the issue. How was the power supply determined to be good?

My computer crash to the blue screen and said contact Manufactuer Hardware Failure.I rebooted my computer and everything seems to work fine.Any one have a clue why this happened?Followup I am usimg win 2000 with AVG ANTI virus and spamfighter pro.It CRASHED while I was on the internet.I don,t know if this will help but this is all I know.

Thanks for helpWe didn't see the message you did, and we didn't get told the whole message, just a synopsis. Whatever is was try to remember or write it down next time (and there will be a next time) so we can assist.

Do you have SMART drive enabled on your machine? Check that, and then you may want to do a RAM test (free at www.memtest86.com) with each stick individually.

We don't know the make/model of your machine, the components or even what you were doing when this happened. We don't know what Windows version or if all service dates and updates are applied, or if any spyware/adware/virus scanners are being used.

So as you can see, just a few tidbits of information would be helpful to get a meaningful response. See below.When is the crystal ball supposed to come back from the REPAIR shop ? ?
They've had it for awhile now.
Have we contacted them ?

I'm trying to run an old PC on a INTERNET radio. It works fine for an hour or maybe two, then the sound starts to break up. It stutters, there's lot of dropouts and other strange behavior. It gets worse until it just stop playing. I've TRIED WMP, Real Player and Winamp on several streams, but the same problems occurs on all.

The PC runs Tyan Trinity 100AT Mainboard, AMD K6-350MHz, Win98SE, 64MB RAM, Soundblaster 64 Gold
The internet connection is a 4 Mb line.

Any ideas anyone?
That's a pretty minimal configuration. Are any other apps running?No. The harddisk was formated and windows was installed. I've got wmp9, and the newest versions of the Real & winamp and updated
IE to version 6. That's all there is on the PC.   Before I got broadband
I used it as an MP3 player, I had about 30GB on a second disk. That was working fine. That disk is no longer conneted.RAM and FREE HDD space are important for any streaming web content... Can you upgrade either or both ? ?

A while back my son installed a game on our old computer (I think it was Starcraft, similar to Warcraft). Something went haywire with the graphics. The screen went into severe pincushion, or actually inverse pincushion - hourglass where it seems to wrap back around itself. Back in WINDOWS it was fine. Then when we rebooted, the screen went into the hourglass while rebooting until Windows took over. Another oddity is that my MS Flight Simulator started running much slower with poor input response as though it had lost hardware acceleration and the image was smaller and in a window instead of fullscreen. Stranger yet, Warcraft III still works fine.

This weekend I fired up my new PC and it showed the same behavior with that MONITOR! When booting or trying to run fancy game graphics (outside of Windows?) the image is severely hourglassed. The new computer identified the monitor right away, plug and play. The monitor is a 22 inch Viewsonic P220f with wide parameter ranges acceptable.

old:  1.2GHz AMD, ATI Radeon All-in-Wonder
new: 2.4GHz AMD X2 4800, GeForce 7800GT

Any help?
By now I assume you've had the COMMON sense to either read the manual or recall default values using the On Screen Display.


Quote

The new computer identified the monitor right away, plug and play.

I recently bought 512 mb of ram for my p.c. - the correct format and exactley the same as the ram i already have, after installing it my p.c. KEPT restarting aroujnd about the windolws startup screen. Now, even though i removed the new ram the p.c. is still aacting up. It will get past the first part of the initial boot up, (detects ide's ) then the second part (verfiying dmi pool) then after that the screen jsut goes blank and nothing happens, at this point you cna turn off th ep.c. with just one tap of the off button, rather than the normal 6 second hold down.

Please Help

ThanksPut the old RAM back in and clear the CMOS (see your owner's manual for how, or remove the battery for 5 seconds).

What is the motherboard MAKE and model? Is there a RAM maximum for it? Need a few more details please.the motherboard is a Gigabyte K8 Triton, ive already tried putting the old ram in and clearing the bios, by taking out and putting back in the lithium battery, it didnt make any hlepful DIFFERENCE and as im aware there isnt a ram maximum for the motherbaord, my friend had the same model with the same type of memroy ( 2 x 512mb sticks) and it worked fine.

ThanksPlease, any help would b GREATLY appreciated, i am without my main computer...
If it helps, there is anothe element to the problem... after the verifying dme pool screen it goes blank... it also goes blank after it goes past the first stage of booting form cd, or after ive HIT F8 and chosen safe mode.

Thanks