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I need some help, my keyboard keeps locking up every so often for no apparent reason. Even when I unplug it and replug it the keyboard still remains locked up. I have tried almost everywhere to find a solution. My operating system is Windows XP and I use a Pentium III processor. Any help is appreciated!Type of keyboard, usb, PS2, wireless?
Try a different keyboard... PS2. Quote

Type of keyboard, usb, PS2, wireless?
Try a different keyboard... PS2.

Recently purchased a Dell XPS with XP home edition. Since it was newer version of XP than my old computer and the fact I had some adware/spyware corruption on the old one, I reloaded my new XP software onto the old Dell. SEEMS to run ok, don't know why it wouldn't. Am trying to hook both computers to internet via Charter Pipeline. When I changed to the newer computer, I merely plugged the cable from the modem into the back and presto, I had internet. I have since purchased a hub, not a router, to have both Dells connected. New computer still has connectivity, old one does not. Ran line direct to old Dell, still no internet. Reloaded drivers. Run repair and get message " Cannot repair because the follwing action could not be completed: Renewing IP address." Have disabled windows firewall, diagnostics says device (cnet pro200wl pci ethernet card) working properly.And you are set up for DHCP? Run inetwiz and choose LAN, then take default settings if this is the case.OK, ran inetwiz, set up for DHCP. Same result as above. Reloaded Charter pipeline install program and GOT the following answer. "Installer encountered a problem while renewing the IP address for your network adapter."Did you disable your onboard LAN? Most Dells have that built in and it sounds like you have added another.

Just curious why a switch and not just use one router?According to the status of my LAN, it says "Limited or no connectivity, Firewalled.OK, wire cable from modem directly to old Dell. Is there an onboard lan PLUS a PCI wireless adapter? That is the question, and which are you WANTING to use?The old Dell, as well as the new one, has a PCI card. No wireless involved at all.  The old one is a cnet pro200wl and the card has a green light on it that shows it is powered. That's what I am attempting to use in the hookup. The system shows that it is there and working correctly. It also shows that the driver is installed. This is a wired system and I have tried to straight wire the modem to the old Dell without using the hub. I still get the same response:" Cannot repair because the follwing action could not be completed: Renewing IP address." It simply MAKES no sense to me at all. I have gone as far as to power all UNITS off and then restart everything in every configuration. Both Dells, modem and hub, / Old Dell and Modem / Old Dell, modem and hub. Same response "Limited or no connectivity" then I run repair and get the Cannot repair message about not being able to assign new IP address to old computer.Well the part that was throwing me was that you were referring to a "cnet pro200wl pci ethernet card". I didn't know Dell used those (used to be 3com, then later Intel, and some Broadcom, but I had not heard of cnet cards on them).

Are you sure that a CNET card is in there?Well, it's all original inside and that's what the documentation says as well as what the computer tells me is in there when I go to the control panel and internet connections window. Except that I have used the new Dell's version of XP when I reinstalled XP on the old Dell.What is the service tag number on the machine?

Is that a plain Windows CD or some kind of restore CD?The old Dell is G5Z6311. The CD is a Reinstallation CD Windows XP Home EditionSurprisingly, that IS one of the possible NICs for that model.

I just reinstalled windows on my computer and now the sound plays at a really fast speed. My MP3S sound like they are sung by the chipmunks. It appears that the correct sound card drivers are installed. Can anyone help?Not WITHOUT knowing what the sound card is.it's Intel 82801BA/BAM AC'97Can you get the driver from the motherboard maker's WEB site (I'm assuming Intel)?

AC97 is integrated sound. You should have the CD for your M.B. and the drivers will be on that CDI just TRIED TWICE, and the installation failed both times.I mean, I tried to install it from the CD twice. I went to Intel's site and they said that they didn't supply drivers for the AC97 cards.
I've been trying to use drivers from driverguide.com and other sites, but can't get any of them to work.hey, thanks for your help- I found the drivers on the intel motherboard drivers section, as opposed to the sound card drivers section. It's all working now.Glad you're up and running!

Ok heres the problem,

Its been like this for about a month and when I PUT a disk in there it dosent read it. Does anybody know what to do?I'm guessing that only the CD and Floppy DIRVE fail to show? Have you made any changes to your system just before this happened? Are you the administrator of this computer?

[glb]Flame[/glb]Mr_Smith.... I would try this .....click Start /Control Panel/System ....then in system properties ...click the hardware tab ...then device manager and look and SEE if you have a dvd/cd-rom listed .........If not , exit shut down.......then remove the side panel on your computer  case ......( then after touching your fingers to the metal case ....to drain any static charge) carefully uplug the two connections on the REAR of the cd-rom .......( there will be a wide flat grey cable and a four pin power cable .)  While you in there follow the wide grey IDE cable that was plugged into the rear of the CD -rom down to the motherboard and ensure the plug at that end is plugged in tightly. ( be careful not to touch anything other than the plug )  Now restart , and when it finishes booting ...shut it down again . Now Plug the IDE cable that you removed back in ...and then the 4 pin power plug........now reboot and watch the lower right corner of your monitor ......you should see the message .....Windows has DETECTED new hard ware .....Then you a few monents later you should get the message ....your new hardware has been successfully installed and is now ready to use .......
Now if Windows doesnt see the new hardware ......its either the IDE cable or the CD-rom itself ...... BTW is there anything else plugged into the IDE cable ( the cable has a plug at either end and one in the middle .)

let us know

dl65  
Sorry for not posting but I havent got a chance. I'll tell you how it goes in a few hours.

Hey everyone,  I have this mother board working with one Harddrive (Master) on XP,  I have a 2nd 40GHD , just data,  that I'm trying to hookup, set as slave.  
Bios says slave,  but bios seems to try to START on the data drive.   Microsoft win 98 startup menu appears and it dumps to a command prompt.  I unplug the data drive and it starts right up on the XP drive.

Should'nt a working HD just plug up and install?

SC



What are the jumpers set-on.....on the drive? check them?Is your master drive on the end of the data cable, if not, put it there with the slave in the middle.I rechecked the cables,   the Master has the jumper set to master and its on the end,   the slave is set to slave and it is the middle.  Bios picks them up up and lists them corect.   when Bios steps past that.  it wants to boot off the data drive for some reason and not the master with the OP system on it.   Both the HD's were working before the motherboard crashed and I had to replace it.

When I put the Cd rom as the slave it works but the 2nd HD appears to want to be the master cause i get the win 98 start up screen and then it boinks to the
command and nothing since there is no op system.

I think I may try loading a op system to this data HD and see if that will work.  This just seems weird

scBoth drives were both originally set up as primary partitions. The total solution is back up your data on the smaller drive, delete the partition, recreate an extended DOS drive with a logical partition and format it. Troubles will be all gone, guaranteed.GX1_Man,   I don't know why theses HD's worked together before with the  wacked MB  and now dont on this 2nd board(slightly used).  Here is my perdicament.  What I'm hearing is that the MB is going to search for a  primary partion regardless of WHATS set in bios.  Since the data drive is NEWER and probaly faster.  The MB goes to it 1st, finds no op system, and barfs.

Here is one constant.
I cannot  format the 2nd drive due to its loaded with pictures.  

Would this be a viable option? or alternative?
Format the 8 meg master, get rid of the primary partition.    Then Load XP on the 40 gig data drive?

Am i thinking this through right?  thx in advance. SCAnother x-files.........predicament..........

Scully.....moulder.....More Merlin impersonating someone else. Unfortunately same old old crappola.

Merlin, why don't you try impersonating a coherent individual? It would be a nice change.I dont know what you talking about. ......have you been taking drugs/drinking........or just losing the plot.?Check the boot squence in the bios. If it is set to boot to the secondary it will show up as drive c. Make SURE it is set to boot to the primary drive first.Do wish to repost an answer pj
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I rechecked the cables,   the Master has the jumper set to master and its on the end,   the slave is set to slave and it is the middle.  Bios picks them up up and lists them corect.   when Bios steps past that.  it wants to boot off the data drive for some reason and not the master with the op system on it.   Both the HD's were working before the motherboard crashed and I had to replace it.

When I put the Cd rom as the slave it works but the 2nd HD appears to want to be the master cause i get the win 98 start up screen and then it boinks to the  
command and nothing since there is no op system.

I think I may try loading a op system to this data HD and see if that will work.  This just seems weird

scTHis was at the Abit KD7 site,  And I quote,  
"The problem lies in the IDE driver. If you've installed the bus mastering IDE drivers for another chipset, Windows cannot boot with those. You have to hook up your old motherboard, replace the busmastering drivers with the default IDE drivers Windows ships with, and then switch motherboards and safely boot into Windows. Anyway FAE recommends you a clean install of Windows if possible."    My response is "what the heck?"  I already tore that old MB out and it is about 3 seconds from the trash bin.

On the data drive ,  can I delete some files that contain the ( Microsoft win 98 startup menu)  and maybe the Bios will jump to the Master and boot?   SC

I've been trying to work on my Pap's computer for a while now. And I completly give up. I need more sugestions because I'm all out of POSSIBLE ideas of what could be wrong..... :-/
When you start up the computer it goes fine... as soon as it gets to the log in page, it freezes.
Thats my simple problem. I have tried to sign in with every Safe Mode. No matter what, it still freezes. I'm going to lose my mind!  :-/Nice story......skol......Disregard Merlin above as he is an idiot. YOu will need to post more specifics on the machine and the problems and someone will be along to help.Have you tried scanning for virus spyware, Scanned your Hard drive for bad sectors, run diagnostics on the Hard Drive by visiting the manufacture website, Made sure there is no dust build up in your computer. defrag your hard drive.

Failing this try to restore the computer back in time to when you knew it was working by using system Restore.

if still no joy download and run Memtest, it needs to be extracted to a clean floppy and booted, run the test for a few HOURS.

If this fails to work it maybe that you have a corrupted registery and will need to REINSTALL windows. you can turn off SOUND  in BIOS and try an old video card.  see if if it goes farther,

also hit F8 at startup after  bios screen loads and boot in safe mode

When i shut down my computer and try to restart the computer will not boot .  power to PC comes on and the HD, CDR and DVD lights are on however the computer just appears to be in a locked configuration.  no images on monitor no keyboard  capability.  reboot or power buttons on computer do not work.   the only thing that stops the system is to pull the power plug on the computer, wait 10 seconds attach power cord and then start computer.  everthing will then work correctly.  system will rebbot from the start directory without any problems.  the above procedure is constant. shutdown always requires a power disconect   before the system starts.  tried a hundred different things no solutions,  runing windows 2000 with all the updates, mcafee virus software  What are the specifics on the machine? Do you have a known good power supply to test with?amd motherboard , ram 512.  ATX 400 watt power supply (new)  160Gig HD , aopen dvd, mitsmi CDR. replaced  the battery , upgraded the BIOS, using 56k modem.What brand power supply and why was it changed? I TAKE it the other components are used? What has happened from the time it worked right until now? What AMD motherboard?mother board made by hsing tech,  now owned by ecs. model m830LR.  

nott sure when i noticd the problem or when it started, upgraded powersupply the old one burned/(overheated)

somehere between adding a  new DVD burner and installing the drivers , reinstalling windows 2000, (operating system had bad virus) the system just stopped working correctly.    i also purchased one of those PC analyzer board.  that didn't help it just gives me a code but no resolutions.  I also swaped out the VIDEO card,  no change changed the inside cables, no resolutions,   reset all values in the boot sequence , no help.  swapped out the key board and mouseCould have ruined the motherboard during the PSU baking. Has it ever run right after that?yes system came right up after installation of PS,   sytstem worked fine for ?  not sure when the problem started , turned it on one day and nothing happened, thought I had a hard drive failure , shut system down and rebooted with a  boot disk.   only after a lot of  no starts did i reconginze the pattern, shut it down pull the power cord plug it back in and the system works fine always same sequence . no varience all the reakl iat people come up with a different solution.  it's  kind of i am going to fix this thing maybe???  Hmmm...

without any other info, I sense another extreme overclocked system going belly up.

The original PS dying is a hint.

Display freeze when graphics and memory are overtaxed/overheated.

Numerous restarts before it will boot also hints at overheating until it has a chance to cool off.

Cooling system is probably insufficient.  Graphics card is probably red hot and the PS is trying its best to keep up.

But, these are just a guess until we find out how it's being used and what you've got running in it.

If you had a nasty virus buried in your root directory and didn't fully reformat before reloading the OS, then he could still have that problem too.

As a starting POINT, I'd recommend you remove all peripherals/hardware not required to boot your system (modem, DVD, etc.).  If your problem goes away, you can assume you're overtaxing your system.  If your problem persists, tell us how you checked for virus/malware, how you reloaded your OS, how you checked to make sure your graphics card was good (under the same stress as your PC), how you decided that your new PS was sufficient for your system, and anything else you might think is related.

Dell

DellI disconnected all of the perphials one at a time untill all were disconnected , no change,  I updated the power supply from a 350W to 400W no fomulas used. the computer came with a 350W. I let my virus software get out of date and had house guests using the computer for two days. the results were system crashes, lost files software wouldn't boot and all the other things that happen when your system gets corrupted.   I had to Reformat the HD(s), which I replaced with one new drive.  I reloaded the OS from a CD. up-dated the Mcafee software and up-date it everytime I  go online.  also run Spybot .  I replaced the computer clock, and swapped out all the internal cables.  I replaced the video card with another card from a different computer no changes in performance.  I tried  booting from a CD or disk instead of the HD same problem.  How much was that 400W PSU ? ? Anything under 75 bucks and you are back to square one i'm afraid.I think it's time to pull the  plug  and update the computer??? might be expensive , but less agravationDon't give up.  I think you need a Mother board,  New one or Ebay one,  Heck, you sound like you have spent 400 bucks trying to fix this one, Retreat is not an option  

I did not see if you tested running with one stick of ram.  

Or take out all the the cards ,  and blow out all the sockets and things,  wipe the connects and re-insert

I also grab the case with one hand and run the back of my finger over the chips to see if any are red hot.

Bios also has some real low safe settings

I once have had the MB sound on and a sound card and that made fruity things occur

SC

I have a NEC RW 2500.  When I FIRST got it it was WRITING fast, now for some reason it writes dvd's and cd's very slow.

please help

brianProperly configure the software you are using.what operating sytstem and burning software used..and disks used.....try a cd CLEANER...

bought a dvd player for computer only get sound no video . it is a old computer the video card i have in the computer is a sis 6326 is this why i can not see the video?

thank you
mikreHave you got a good/ok graphic card?Does your computer boot to DESKTOP ok. If yes then what is it you are trying to run? a DVD movie and with what program are you trying to run it with. Whats the cpu?.Knowing the SPECIFICS of the HARDWARE involved is the only way to offer a solution. Please post back with the info.

Hey, big problem here. I have an 80g external hard rive that for some reason will not show up on the explorer "tree". I have checked the status of the drive in the systems properties, and even rebooted EVERYTHING. I hot plugged the hard drive and heard that new "hardware found" chime, but it still does not identify itself on the tree. Updated the drivers and even reinstalled the driver. I have a lot of info, I know it is there and I think the computer knows its there. However I am not able to "see" the external drive. This problem is present on my DESKTOP and also when I PLUG into my laptop, with the same problem as described above. This hard drive is a Maxtor 80g. Please help.Look up the drive LETTER and type that in Internet Explorer. See if it allows you to access the drive.http://www.allcam.biz/support/faqhdd.html

In the middle of the night, I was installing Alcohol 120%, (a burning software) and came upon a problem. I have something called a Virtual Cd-rom drive, and it is now my DVD-ROM, the thing is, I ONLY have one cd/dvd drive installed on my computer, it's an 'Optorite DVD+RW/-RW Drive. It has been working fine all this time until i recently installed Alcohol.

When I checked the the Device Manager, it comes up as another drive, If i uninstall it, it comes back after I restart the computer. It SAYS it's a SCSI but the drive is installed thru IDE. What the *censored* is this? I don't like having things on my comp that just seem to have came outta nowhere...

Now when I look inside 'My Computer' what was once my DVD-RW (G: ) turned into a regular CD Driveand this NEW 'AVX SCSI DVD-ROM' made itself into a new drive letter (H: ) and labels itself as a DVD Drive.

Could anyone please help me with this?Hmmm... well, i 'temporarily' solved this problem by just removing Alcohol 120%, I still wonder why that happened and if anyone could enlighten me on this, that'd be great Number 1. reason VIRUSES spread.

Not reading or doing research before installing software.

Alcahol 120% is capable of both copying software and emulating a Virtual Drive.Virtual Cd-rom drive=Where did i get this extra drive you have answered you own question?

Hello, guys, It's been so long since I needed help, I nearly forgot this place.

I am putting together a new system because I got tired of my 2.6 gHz motherboard acting like one half that size (Sheesh, opening IE 6 gave me 100% CPU usage, there's something wrong) among other things that I hate. NEVER BUY AN eMACHINE!!!

I don't have all the parts yet, so I cannot put it together yet. I'll have the CPU by the end of the day, though - no less than $250, not including insurance. I looked at my motherboard and it proudly features a Dual BIOS. But we (my family and myself) are at a loss. What does that mean?From our massive database :

Dual BIOS

A computer motherboard that contains two BIOS chips, a main BIOS and a backup BIOS. This type of motherboard setup helps a motherboard RECOVER from any issues that may happen during a BIOS update, helps protect the BIOS from any potential virus, and helps with any other issues that may arise related to the BIOS.

Also see: Motherboard definitions, BIOS

 Search is your friend. Quote

This indicates other problems, so make sure on your new rig you have spyware/adware/virus programs in place, updated and being used.

I had heard good things lately about eMachines (for those who want a prefab computer), so please enlighten us with other details that made you unhappy.

From our massive database :
 
Dual BIOS
 
A computer motherboard that contains two BIOS chips, a main BIOS and a backup BIOS. This type of motherboard setup helps a motherboard recover from any issues that may happen during a BIOS update, helps protect the BIOS from any potential virus, and helps with any other issues that may arise related to the BIOS.
 
Also see: Motherboard definitions, BIOS
 
  Search is your friend.

This indicates other problems, so make sure on your new rig you have spyware/adware/virus programs in place, updated and being used.

I had heard good things lately about eMachines (for those who want a prefab computer), so please enlighten us with other details that made you unhappy.

Two computers, two questions.

Q2
Zmachine bios not detecting cdrom.
Are all the cables plugged in properly?
Have you tried to autodetect in bios?
How do you know bios is not detecting it?

Last week I installed Verizon DSL. In the process of making the modem work, I have LOST the CD rom drive as well as the 2nd hard drive (which is for data backup). The property of the secondary IDE controller now says it's dynamically disabled, which is what the property of the CD Rom says is WRONG.  The driver is reinstalled but does not help.  What do I need to do?  Computer is an eMachine 500 Celeron, Win 98 SE.Do you have a dynamic drive overlay or BIOS overlay program installed on your system?  If so, it needs to be reinstalled.

If you don't know, give us some information about your drives (model, size, formatting).

DellNever heard of those things mentioned. The 2nd hard drive is a Western Digital in a removable rack.  The CD drive is a CDRW from IO magic, I think.  There are on the same cable.  I wonder if "dynamically disabled" means that the connections are loose. I will reinsert the connectors later and see if helps.Dynamically disabled means your drive(s) at some level are recognized, but are not functional.  This may be caused by...

-  the wrong, bad or misconfigured cables - UDMA33 vs UDMA66 vs UDMA100 cable mismatches, etc.

-  INCOMPATIBILITIES between the drives

-  misconfigured drive or IDE settings

-  INADEQUATE or problem power supply - with auto-insert turned on, windows will poll your drive every 4 seconds and it's usually the last polled device.  If power is inadequate or not available, you will get a message.

DellSince the 2 drives have been working for years, remaining possibilities are the cable's gone bad; settings have been changed when I was installing the DSL modem & router; also I added the free Zone Alarm firewall.  One of these may be the culprit.  I will try ELIMINATING them one by one and see.

I was playing counter strike then all of a sudden the screen went blank then the fans started to make loads of noise so i turned it off and now when i turn it on the fans start the dials move and light up but it makes some beeps then nothing happens just the fans spining, its happened before and i sent it back and they put a new motherborad in but the company has gone bankrupt so carnt send it back is there any way i can tell for sure its the motherborad and help choseing a new one??.1) Punctuation.

2) More info on your system, OS and what happened prior to this and someone will be along shortly to assist.Os is xp, i dont know much about computers but this is from what i can remeber. ATI x6550 pro, two 512 ddr ram, two 200gb hdd, 2 dvd-r drives, cool master dials , 230v power suply. intel p4 htForget the last post i just found the spec sheet. motherboard spec and type P4915G, ram 1024, video card type x600, processor type P4 530 and xpJust from what i see so far that system is underpowered...http://carpc.kyferez.com/Tools/PSUWattageCalculator.php

The above LINK will clculate your needs and i'd guess they are a bit more than 230 W.

p.s. Don't scrimp on a PSU...$19.95 will get you only more headaches.If the psu wasnt enuff power, would'nt it have stoped working alot earlyer?. Its been running fine for just under a yearDid you have a power surge - soulds like a problem with the hard drive.no iv got a serge protector, like i said before i think its the motherborad but people have said that the psu is not enuff powerOne way to test the power supply issue is to disconnect somthing and see how the computer runs.how the computer just makes some beeps when its turn on and the fans spin thats it1st if your computer was working fine with the current power supply, I don't know why it is now INADEQUATE - unless you added somthing. But computers are strange. Before you power-up disconnect somthing that you don't need. If you have a second drive disconnect the power to it. Then power up - if you just have the basic items running and you still have problems, it is likely another problem. More power is good suggestion, but it might save a trip if it is a different problem.If you have a second drive disconnect the power to it. What do you mean by thatYour prior notes state you have 2 hard drives and 2 DVD drives. Open the case and disconnect the power cords to the slave drive and the DVD drives. That will reduce the power DRAIN on the computer. If it starts then you will likely need more power.woahthere... It might help find the problem ...if you tell us exactly what beeps you heard ....were they long or short and in what order ........Also the type of bios to have .....

dl65  Thanks tribert i disconnect a hdd and a dvd drive and the comp is working fine so i must need a new psu, but it is strange how it has just stoped working

Hi there...

Can anyone HELP? I think I know what the error message means...but don't quite know how to fix it. Any IDEAS? I am currently trying to find a system disk online - for this old laptop - maybe i don't need one??? Anyways...here's the problem>>>

On startup...the laptop counts up its memory and displays this error message:

HDC Error

Insert system disk in drive

I can access the Setup System and that seems to be about all!!? On the QuickRead Status Bar...it recognises/activates the Hard Drive and the Floppy Drive. My sister - who gave me the laptop to try to fix...said she use to get it GOING by leaving it in the airing cupboard - but this hasn't helped me so far!!

???So...any help is totally appreciated!!
Many thanksDead or improperly connected hard drive. My money is on the former.You are undertaking a noble cause.  This laptop originally ran Win 3.11 with a 75 MHZ PROCESSOR and 500-700 MB hard drive.

You will find system info here:  http://bitlink.ca/Library/Toshiba/T4850.SPC

And support, downloads, information and troubleshooting at the Toshiba Website (UK) here:  http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/cgi-bin/ToshibaCSG/generic_content.jsp?service=UK&ID=Support_Homepage&cnt=GENERIC&key=Support_Homepage&banner_id=0000004e80

As above, I think you probably have a loose connection, but you could try conditioning it on the porch for a few days.  I take it the airing closet is no longer available?

BTW - do you have a credit card type memory card?  If so, make sure it is properly in place.

DellYes airing cupboard still avail lol....hard drive currently 'warming' in there! yes the memory card is credit card size. Thanks for your thoughts

I've been having a lot of CORRUPTED files the past week on my 30 gig Western Digital HDD.  It's a little over 5 years OLD.  I have Windows XP Pro.  The HDD is partioned 4 times.  The first partion is the Operating System.  2 of the partions are backups of the Operating System.  The fourth is a data partion for SageTV 2.0.  I partion with PQMagic 8.1 with the patch.  

I have a second 400 Gig Seagate HDD, about 6 months old, that is partioned many times.  Most of the partions are for data and 1 is for a backup of the Op Sys.

Windows notifies me with the balloon window about a corrupted file.  I run CHKDSK and all is well for a couple DAYS.  Then I receive another warning from Windows.  This has been hapening for a little over a week.  Sometimes it finds one corrupt file, sometimes as many as 10.  Some of the files that become corrupt I haven't accessed in months.  Most of the errors have been on the smaller HDD.  The larger HDD has had 1 warning that had approximately 10 bad files.

What can I do to check if the HDD is going bad?  What could be other problems?  Could my mother or memory be going bad?  Could it be overheating?  Because the problem has occured on both HDD's, it leads me to believe it may be the Mobo or memory.  I have memory check utilites.  Is there a Mobo utility?  Could it be anything else?  Any help is appreciated.Run the diagnostics from the hard drive manufacturer web site and let us know what you find.

I turned my computer on this morning and left to get breakfast. When I came back 20 minutes later the thing had shut down and my monitor was on standby. The power wasn't out and all the connections looked fine so I turned the computer back on. When I turned it back on, it beeped 4 times (1 long, 1 short, 1 long, 1 short) and my monitor said it was recieving no signal and went back to standby. Everything else in the computer sounded fine and working, but I  have no clue what made it shut down and beep at me. My question is, what the problem is and what can I do to test/fix it?

My computer is home built running Win XP, 512 mb RAM, ATI Radeon 9000 vid card, 300w PSU and an Intel motherboard with integrated sound card. If you need anymore info about my computer, let me know.

Thanks in advance for any help.No signal MEANS the monitor is not getting a proper signal from the vid-card...check the cabling first. If that appears NORMAL then power down and unhook all power to the PC's power supply.
Being careful to ground yourself remove a side panel and re-seat your vid-card. LEAVE the panel off for now.
Re-connect everything including the PSU and re-boot. Use a flashlight tocheck all fans are working inside the case while it is booting.
It should now power up normally and the monitor should be working.
Post back with your results if not...Okay, so I did everything you said to do then boot up my PC. I didn't make any beeps this time but an screen came up beforw windows loaded that said my CPU shutdown due to a thermal event and said it needed to be serviced. The odd thing was that my PC was only on for about 40 minutes to an hour before this. So how can I remedy this situation?I think you gave the answer:

CPU shutdown due to a thermal event and said it needed to be servicedA thermal event can be caused by a motherboard problem or because the processor is overheating. Or because of a faulty sensor which thinks the processor is overheating.

What's your machine?indo......
Quote

My computer is home built

A thermal event can be caused by a motherboard problem or because the processor is overheating. Or because of a faulty sensor which thinks the processor is overheating.

What's your machine?

[glb][/glb]I bought a NEW components for computer, Mainboard is Asus K8N, SATA WD hdd, Memory PC3200 512MB, AGP MX440...all brand new. When I Start the system i wait at least 40 to 50 sec. to appear on the monitor, restart again the BIOS setting, POST appeared within 20 sec. strange...so restart again this TIME i wait more than 2 minutes to POST the sysytem. I remove hdd, dvd rom, floppy, start again now 6 sec. POST appeared, restart again POSTed same time.. again put back the hdd, dvd rom floppy, start the system again, This time i wait more than 3 minutes  strange, remove sata drive only then restart again, pc POSTed within 6 sec. did twice   ???So made a decision to sent it back the mainboard to store for replacement coz' it act strange... This should have been returned. Case closed.

Hello All

I have a TTX monitor that just all of a sudden went dark. The onlight went from GREEN to yellow. I plugged the monitor into ANOTHER computer and it does the same when I boot into Windows XP. It gets almost all the way to the desktop and then it GOES dark when I boot reguraly.  When I boot into safe mode it works ok. I thought it MIGHT have been a setting on  the origional computer but it does it on a totaly different computer also. Anyone have any ideas what may be causing this?
Melmak

i have a thompson speedtouch 545 router(ALSO wireless) and i have had it installed for a while now about 6 months and all of a sudden 2 weeks ago it stpped me using my voice chats on my messenger services both yahoo and msn,as it coming up that i am behind a registered nat,now i have tried to RECONFIGURE the router so that it is public and not private behind a registered nat,but as soon as i do i can no longer connect to the internet.
      i have a BROADBAND connection and my isp is aol,can some1 plz help me with this problem,thanx :-/ this is Thomson's troubleshooting site maybe it could help point you in the right direction :-
http://www.speedtouch.com/supfaq580R427.htm

was there anything that happened prior to this fault happening, a software update or did you INSTALL anything at all .
have you spoken to your ISP if I am right and they supplied the Thomson unit they should give support. I have had a look at the manual and its a whopper, you can download that from here:-
http://www.speedtouch.com/support.htm
i am not sure what happened b4 this problem occured as i have not down loaded anything or installed nothing new on my pc,it is just that my voice chat on yahoo messenger just quit working,so i am STILL at a loss to find out how to fix the problem

I RECENTLY did a clean boot install of Windows 98.  Each time I start the COMPUTER, Windows detects new hardware (Intel FIRMWARE HUB) but is unable to find the drivers......  HELP???Install drivers.http://www.usb-drivers.com/drivers/40/40735.htm

The BIOS chip for ECSD BIOS is a SPECIAL RAM chip CALLED ____. Please give me DETAIL explanation. I am very confused.Do your own homework. But I will give you a HINT. It is not ECSD, it ESCD.

Helping a friend who has hired multiple 'tech$' to try to resolve issues his (home) office with only a strained wallet to show for it. I found 3 computers w/ drive recognition ( or non-recognition) problems.  A COUPLE had some bad sectors and were repaired. 1 (HP) is relatively new but wont load XP pro (non OEM, w/ different drive) or even recognize the original drive.  Original drive seems to be intact as I can view the restore partitions and regular c: volume on a different computer.  A 2nd computer was running and then stopped shortly after a back-up.  It also won't seem to recognize and drives (original had bad sectors, others were OK) I kept getting a 'NTLD (?)' not present error (or something close)  Is this a drive issue, or could it be BIOS/motherboard related.  Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated (PS. I also have not tested the ELECTRIC, but the office was recently re-wired.  Voltage variance cooked components?)

thanks much for any insight or comments.Could you perhaps number the drives and put behind them what the problem is? Easier to post suggestions for each driive that way.

Just to be certain: Have you checked to see if all the jumpers and IDE cables are properly connected?PC <2>http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm   .....pc <1> go in to the bios del key on boot  and see if the hard drive thanks rapton and merlin for the replies.  both the jumpers and BIOS configs were ok.

After much investigation and a call to an IT friend, my efforts were in vain on the drive i really needed the data from.  It's 'coming apart' in his words.

As far as the other drives, the NTLDR  error was he NT loader file, which is a boot file that fortunately can be copied from another computer.

the third drive is also a victim to the phyical failure.  However if ANYONE in privy to a kick *censored* data recovery program (NOt too spendy) please to inform. Most of the bad sectors I came across with a basic data recovery program were in  the first 2% of the drive ( boot sector I'm assuming) The real data i need should be SOMEWHERE else. (specifically Outlook contacts and past e-mails)  I do have an XP back-up of the system on another drive, but can't restore them (target error, not using the same computer) and I can't seem to access them from the back-up.  Any help here is also great appreciated.  Thanks again
A while ago I read, on this forum that mounting the HDD upside down relieves some stress of the reading arm. It may help you recover files.http://www.ntfs.com/products.htm

Hi all! Sometimes I wonder if these old computers are worth the effort. I am in dire NEED of drivers, manual etc for a Procomp (CompUSA Home Series) BIW1M / BIW2M Ver 1.2  socket 370 motherboard. CompUSA only points me to a webpage that is not there anymore. I hate to scrap this motherboard for lack of drivers etc. I have tried everything I know of including Driverguide.com which leads me to the same page as CompUSA. The MAIN problem I am having right now is a black square instead of a cursor, in safe mode the cursor works normally. Thanks for any help, Ronnie.The only luck i had was all foriegn sites/forums...and the Google translator is choking on itself today.
Have you tried just removing the mouse in Control Panel and re-booting ? ? This will allow Windows to install the generic MS mouse drivers and eliminate the cursor problem.

What other errors do you have that would need MBoard drivers for ?
I'm like you as well i refuse to let an old machine die if i can help it.Well, if you need drivers, this (hopefully) translated page could help, find it ...Here
Patio, this might be one that you looked at, though i can translate it...All I can find at any of these sites is BIOS updates, thanks guys...RGRDid you try the fix for the mouse ?Yes, no luck yet although yesterday for a short PERIOD of time it worked right. I took out a sound card that I had added when the onboard sound quit, (have no sound now) the cursor acted normal for a short time.  I changed the CPU from 600Mhz to an 800, made a few changes and before I knew it, the black square was back. I don't know why. I need a manual to be able to check all the jumper SETTINGS etc. thanks ...rgrutThe black square can only be from 2 THINGS...the mouse driver itself or a video problem.
Cheapest experiment purchase a new mouse with drivers and try that.
2nd fix explore the video card route...borrow a known good card and swap yours out or check that your video drivers are up to date.The video is onboard, with no AGP slot and I have no pci video card, that's why I need the drivers for the motherboard. Maybe I'll just scrap the board and start form scratch but another socket 370 MB costs as much as a newer socket MB. Is it worth it? I have about 5 socket 370 CPU's ranging from 600 celeron to 800 Plll and no MB's. Thanks...rgrut.

Hello. I recently obtained an Envision EN-775e MONITOR. My video card is an ATI Radeon 9500 256MB. There seems to be a problem with the display when using any resolutions other than 1024X768 60Hz, even though I used to be able to use other resolutions and refresh rates just fine. All drivers are correct and up to date.

The edges of text and Images appear jagged or wavy while moving. A good example would be while SCROLLING through a Word document or playing a game. While it is still, everything looks sharp and I get a very good picture. I've tried adjusting the refresh RATE and resolution, but nothing seems to work besides 1024X768 60Hz.

Does anyone know what might have caused this sudden CHANGE?

Any replies would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks

i got a dell inspiron 8100 laptop. when i turn power on initial progress bar goes through and then computer displays a blinking curser and nothing else and is stuck there. We tried loading a new version of the BIOS from a floppy. Does not go into set up or boot menu although when we hit f2 and f12 it says loading set up and loading boot menu but does not load anything. Hard disk is fine coz we connected it to another computer and are backing up the data.
please help It's possible you have used the wrong FLASH on that MBoard...
These people will fix it for a fee:

http://www.recoverybios.com/

patio.  no i have never flashed my bios. Reinstalling the bios from a floppy changed nothing. In fact i thin it never went to POST in the first place. Whats curious is when i hit f2 it says loading setup but fails to load it.Re-installing a BIOS is flashingbut reinstalling (flashing) changed nothing in the computer response. so what else could it be. perhaps this is RELEVANT. for a few weeks before the crash the keyboard has been behaving weird, some keys would not WORK sometimes. I would tap underneath the keyboard to get them to work. I changed the keyboard also to no avail.
helpUSB keyboard or PS2...
If USB try replacing it with a PS2 keyboard and see if it will boot properly and or allow you to enter setup.i tried both usb and ps2. neither worked. it didnt even recognize the usb and it said "key stuck" when i put in the ps2 keyboardI can only suspect 2 things...wrong/bad BIOS flash or check those keyboard connections again since that was replaced.Check to make sure your RAM is seated properly too.

Is this laptop still under warranty?  If so, you should use it.

In general, if you cannot complete POST (power-on self test), the cause(s) can be:

   *  Defective power SUPPLY
   * Loss of AC power or PC not plugged in
   * Defective system board
   * Defective or non-standard memory
   * POORLY connected or defective components

NOTE: If the POST process is intermittent in nature, checking for POST after each step may not indicate whether the troubleshooting step performed was successful. Several attempts may be required to confirm a permanent resolution.

From the Dell Troubleshooting site:  http://www.support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/tree?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&journalid=ECECC6B46D3711DA94E97161D93B4635&treeid=D18817625C155BB3E030A68F73284158#en#us

Solution steps:

- Remove the system from the docking station, if applicable.      
- Disconnect the AC adapter from the wall outlet.      
- Reseat the power cable to the adapter.      
- Disconnect the AC adapter from the portable system
- Check the AC adapter plug to see if the pin is damaged or missing.      
- Remove the battery.      
- Check the battery charge LEDs.      
- Connect the AC adapter directly into a known-good outlet but not into the system.      
- Verify that the AC adapter has a solid green LED.      
- The AC adapter LED is not steady green:  http://www.support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/tree?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&journalid=ECECC6B46D3711DA94E97161D93B4635&treeid=D18817625C155BB3E030A68F73284158
- The AC adapter LED is steady green:  http://www.support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/tree?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&journalid=ECECC6B46D3711DA94E97161D93B4635&treeid=D18817625C155BB3E030A68F73284158

The links above will take you to the next step in trouble shooting your laptop.  If you have trouble or don't understand the procedure, let us know and we can help.  Tell us where, when, and how the procedure failed.  Note that Dell provides almost every conceivable type of info and guides for your laptop from the above links.

Hope this helps!

Dell

Ok, Heres the problem:

I go to shut down my computer or even restart, the computer gets to saving your settings, passes that, then gets to Windows is shutting down your computer, then my MOUSE leaves and my comp freezes.  I have to manually turn off my computer.  Even if i have a prgram shut down my computer (lets say I installed soemthign and it requires a shutdown) even that doesnt shut it down.  Then when i try to turn it on, the monitor seems to not see the computer, even tho i didnt touch anything except the power button.  I always have to fiddle with my vid card taking it out putting it back in.  SOMETIMES it takes half a second for it to work (i do turn off the comp and take out the card then i turn on the comp and see if it works) sometimes it takes an hour. Honestly.  Then i get it to work and my mouse wont work unless i unplug the USP and replug it in.  (MX1000 - NEVER had this problem before in my life).  My Specs are as follows:

Windows XP PRO SP2
AMD Athlon 2600+ 2.1gHz
ATI Radeon 9200SE
DVD Drive - CD R/W Drive
160GB HD, 80GB HD
--BTW It is not overheating I have felt the processor when i turn off the comp

P.S.  I reinstalled Windows and even the CD wouldnt restart my computer it would go from 15-0s for the shutdown and then sit there.  I would have to manually turn it off.

Please Help.
Can you do this CLEANUP routine first of all and then see if there are any loose connections inside the cabinet?Sounds like the video card may be failing or the connections in the AGP socket are bad.

However if one of your CD drives has a faulty chip it can cause the computer to display the symptoms you speak about, so try disconnecting the power from all CD and floppy drives.have you tried a reset in the Bios or removed or replaced the battery and reset it that way.
Also did you reinstall the motherboard drivers after you installed windows.
it does sound like a component failing and hanging the computer, disconnect everything except the hard drive, floppy and the Graphics card, reseat the Ram mabye if you have two strips remove one , then try it, if it works add the dvd,  a process of elimination. add and remove until either it shows the problem culprit or works.  
have you got any old graphics cards you could swap with.
we have all been there
have patience instead of frustration,

I recently upgraded my computer from windows 98 to windows me.  Upon doing this, I have now LOST the sound output from my headphone jack on the front of my cd rom.  The speakers STILL work fine but there is no output on the jack.  Any help would greatly be appreciated.check  the back of the cdrom drive to see if the single  grey CABLE from it is connected  which goes to  the motherboard is  also connected...Thanks for the advice but there is a cable already installed from the cd rom over to the motherboard.  When I disconnect this sound cable I lose my sound to my speakers.  Another side note to my problem is that the cd rom has a button to play the cd directly which then allows the headphone jack to work properly.  Any more suggestions would be a great help.Another side note to my problem is that the cd rom has a button to play the cd directly which then allows the headphone jack to work properly blackaley

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
wiggle the jack plug on the headphones or fiddle with the button...what cd drive is this?all my drives dont have this button...and an after thought turn the volume control knob up which is on the cdrom drive?M_2 Quote

..I recently upgraded my computer from windows 98 to windows me....

I am having a problem with my sound card. I can hear sound, but there is no card detected under the Audio Properties window. I aslo get a message when I click on volume under the Accesseries, Entertainment section that says "no active mixer available". When I went to the system information program it says under status, "error". My card is Conexant AC-Link Audio. My system is XP with service PACK 2.Uninstall any drivers you may have and reinstall updated ones. Obtain official drivers, not Windows drivers (WDM)

As for your soundcard not being located in Audio Properties, can it be seen in the Device Manager?

(Right click My Computer -> Manage -> Device manager -> CONTROL for Sound, Video and Games)I reinstalled the drivers and I have sound now. To answer your QUESTION, the sound card was shown in the Device Manager. I don't know what would have caused the drivers to GO bad. I did just install the Knight RIDER 2 demo the day before it stopped working. Maybe it had something to do with that.I wouldn't know what causes drivers to go bad, perhaps you need to better maintain your Hard Disk Drives by defragmenting them more often or scanning for errors. Quote

...I did just install the Knight Rider 2 demo the day before it stopped working. Maybe it had something to do with that.

info>http://www.wown.com/articles_tutorials/netgeneral/billiusthemook....I'm sorry to see that you havent had any luck.....however .....you did have a hijacker ......which by your own words was fixed......AND you were asked to PROVIDE the name of the virus which stinger found ......you NEVER gave us that answer or if whatever it was had been successfully removed. Because of the number of trojans and other malicous items which your log showed up Im not surprised that you still have viruses .....Perhaps what you should do is format your hard drives ....reload your O/S .......Go use another pc and D/l ...AVG ...... or you could go out and purchase whatever Anti virus program you like , then install it and now follow the suggestions that a lot of people here have been trying to offer you .

let us know how you make out .

dl65  
I appreciate the info by 2k dummy.  Is there any kind of relay device that will help me avoid those wireless phones and flourescent lights? (my current pc's LOCATION is unchangeable unfortunately)

And thank you to merlin 2 for that trend micro virus searcher... It has found over 604 infected files that none of the other applications found, and of those there are about three different types of trojans and worms... or whatever.  It is still searching and finding new ones as I type, so I'll wait for a later post to list what it found and if it was successful in removal.

dl65... thank you very much for helping me through all this.  Before I go ahead with that formatting though I'm going to wait till I try out this program merlin suggested, then I'll try to download avg and then sp2.  

I appreciate all this help very much.  I'll post again once I've tries all that out. Quote

Is there any kind of relay device that will help me avoid those wireless phones and flourescent lights? (my current pc's location is unchangeable unfortunately)

Have 768MB on 3 X 256MB modules of DDR PC2100 RAM.

Do need a little more.  Can I replace one of the allowed 3 DIMMS with a 512MB Dimm?  Final line up will be 1X 512 and 2 X 256?

Used to be impossible to do this in the olden days but might be OK now - just don't know!!

ThanksI SUGGEST you refer to your mainboard manual for more information on what your mainboard can work with..No help, that's why I'm here!

Rules for adding this are unlikely to be M/B specific, I would imagine.

However, I have been wrong before. Quote

No help, that's why I'm here!

Rules for adding this are unlikely to be M/B specific, I would imagine.

However, I have been wrong before.

Hi guys,

my homemate shut off her computer while she was formatting her hard disk. Is there any way of REPAIRING it?Well, tap at F8 while it loads in BIOS, and enter 'Command Prompt only' and type:

format C:\Why did she do this ? ?
Chances are the F8 THING won't work since it was already in the format procedure so the best way would be from a bootdisk...
You didn't mention what OS she is running...She just bought a second hand computer, it didn't have an OS installed. She tried installing windows 2000, but I guess she got CONFUSED when it STARTED formatting the disk and she turned it off. She asked me for help, but I'm not exactly an expert in the field of computers, let alone crashed hard disks, either.  Boot with the Win2000 disk in the CDROM drive and start over.

I was playing a game and my computer clicked off.  It won't power back up.  The light on the motherboard is still on so I felt I could eliminate the power supply as the problem.  My next guess was the RAM.  But, before I WENT out and bought some more I thought I'd get some opinions.  Am I on the right track?  Thanks!I would not rule out the power supply. As a matter of fact, that is the first place I would check.After you have tried swapping out the psu, Have you tried RESEATING your ram and if you have more then ONE stick try taken one out leaving the other in, then swap them around.

Are the fans spinning in your computer.Nope, none of the fans are spinning.  If I turn the power supply off and back on from the back and press the power button on the front everything jolts for a SPLIT second but thats it.Case closed. As suggested earlier, start by replacing that, adn don't skimp. A $9.99 power supply is not adequate for components you want to protect and run correctly.Ya it is the power supply.  I forgot about an older system I had in the back closet.  I swapped them and it worked.  Don't worry, I don't go cheap on my parts.  Thanks for your help guys!Don't rely on that closet PSU for too LONG, being older it's probably not enough for a newer machine.

My Linksys router has a built in firewall, is it any good?  Can I do AWAY with my Norton firewall?Hardware firewall is good. Software firewall is OK also if you WANT to, but if you are not TRANSFERRING top secret FBI FILES.....Use both. If something should happen to sneak through, a good software firewall will catch it when it tries to connect. An extra layer of SECURITY won't hurt anything and just might save you some grief.Thanks guys, I'll keep both.

I BOUGHT a  PC from an online company (primePC) with a GeForce 6600 graphics cards with a DVI and analog OUTPUT. I have a TFT monitor ACER AL1951 that accepts both DVI and analog input.  When I boot up with the DVI connection the screen displays the Windows XP logo boot up display, but the screen goes blank once the boot up is complete.  The analog connection works FINE.  When I go into the Display settings for the graphics card, I can select the display as a TFT monitor.  But once I do that, the screen goes blank (black).  Any ideas on what the problem may be?  Is it under warranty? I would start with the company. We are smart, but we cannot replace failed components or UNORTHODOX setups?Yes, the computer is still under warranty.  I was hoping to avoid the hassle of SENDING back the computer if it is only for an easy/quick fix.  

Thanks.
Yes, the computer is still under warranty.  I was hoping to avoid the hassle of sending back the computer if it is only for an easy/quick fix.  

Thanks.
The problem with attempting a fix is it's 2 pieces of hardware that weren't cheap...that monitor i'm guessing isn't exactly bottom of the line.
But when you attempt a fix you run the risk of completely voiding your warranty, trust me they can tell if you've been mucking about or not.
So if it's a problem let's say that isn't a cheap fix and costs big $$ you lose out because you tried to do it yourself.

Take the painful route and do the warranty thing. It might save you down the road.

Intermittently, usually when the computer's been off for a few hours,  I power up and no video. Then, I switch off, power up again, and its fine. SOMETIMES, I have to switch on twice.
I have changed the PSU, the Case (to change the power switch), the graphics card and the hard drive. I FIGURE the only two things left are the mobo and the cpu. Any thoughts?Try swapping the monitor.Nope, did that. swapped cables, case, harddrive, psu, disconnected cd drives and floppy, swapped graphics CARDS, changed power schemes. I'm thinking of rebooting the bios, but I think I did that already. Changed the BATTERY. I may have to change Mobos, but like an idiot I sold my Gigabyte G7zxe that runs Athlon xp's. I'll have to look for another one. Could it be the cpu somehow? I'd like to change that. Which reminds me, I have a mobile Athlon that runs at half speed on a desk top. Can I fix that? Change the VOLTAGE maybe?

I am interested in INSTALLING Linux onto an external USB hard DRIVE so I can run two different operating systems.  However, I have HEARD that the computer has to be USB bootable, and I don't know if my computer is "USB bootable" or not.  Does anyone know how I can find out?Yes find out which MBoard you have by DLoading and running Everest Home and CHECK the MBoards website for specs...Okay, I did that but all that it tells me is that it's a Dell Dimension 8250.  I looked at documentation for the computer and I can't find anything that talks about WHETHER or not it is USB bootable.  I'm not sure where else to look.How about the support forum at www.dell.com?I've been using Everest Home for years now and it tells me alot more than i have an Alienware 7550A...

alright IM trying to add the hard drive i had in the computer downstairs to the one im at now so i have 120 gig hard drive but the second hard drive is not being detecteddid u plug it in?  how?The jumpers need to be reset on both HDD's for it to work.
The existing HDD in your machine should be jumpered to master with slave present and connected to the end of the ribbon cable on IDE1
The HDD you are adding needs to be jumpered as slave and connected to the middle CONNECTOR on IDE1I connected them that way, the existing hardrive as the master (end of the connector) and the second one as the slave (middle of connector) but it still wasnt detected.Is it detected by the BIOS ? ?
What OS are you RUNNING on that machine ? ?
What OS was on the downstairs machine ? ?

As Fed SAID on Monday, the crystal ball is in the shop...Have you tried setting them both to Cable Select?

I've had my pc for about a year and half and it has so far been a very stable machine. HOWEVER, the other day, after exiting a game, the machine froze then rebooted itself. Now I can only get into windows using safe mode.
I get a brief blue screen with WRITING on that disappears so quickly I can't read the message.  

Sometimes the colour is weird on the monitor and sometimes, although not in safe mode, the monitor will shut down saying - no message, going to sleep? Even though the hard drive is still running, and then the monitor will start up again and I can see windows is still running but as soon as I click an icon, the monitor will shut down again?

Now I've checked for viruses and malware and nothing came up. I haven't loaded any new programs recently.

Can anybody help?Without any information on your system, I would suspect a misconfigured/bad/intermittent graphics card or onboard graphics circuit.

Gaming tends to be rather demanding on your graphics and can be the cause of lots of related problems.

Try another graphics card or tell us what you are using and we can try to help with more than guesswork.

Dellok,

I gotta pentium 4, 512 ram, 260gb hard drive, Nvidia Gforce 5800 graphics, 400w PSU. Not sure what my mobo is, the lcd monitor is a Fujitsu siemens, not sure of model type.

I'm using windows xp home and I've never had a problem playing games on it before, infact I've already PLAYED the game it first crashed on before and experienced no problems.

Many thanks for your help.can anyone help me with this PLEASE?You have to respond to the questions asked and provide more information. We can guess all day, but that benefits no one. Here it is again:

Without any information on your system, I would suspect a misconfigured/bad/intermittent graphics card or onboard graphics circuit.

Gaming tends to be rather demanding on your graphics and can be the cause of lots of related problems.

Try another graphics card or tell us what you are using and we can try to help with more than guesswork.

Dell

My monitor repeatedly goes blank after a few seconds of displaying. The picture will reappear after the monitor is turned off and on but the time it STAYS good gets less and less after turning it off and on. I swapped monitors with another computer and the problems persisted. The monitor does not switch off on its own, the screen just goes black. It is a Sony  SDM-HS73 TFT LCD Color Computer Display. Any help would be appreciated.I would remove and reseat the video card if present. If it is an onboard chip, try reinstalling the correct drivers.

Be sure and power off first and unplug the cable! Quote

I swapped monitors with another computer and the problems persisted.

Its a ATI Radeon X800XL. Im a gamer and Im looking for a GOOD card.
Thanks
EckhoIt's at the top (in its price range) as far as I can tell.
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/radeon-x800xl/index.x?pg=1

You will need at least 75 watts to power the PCI slot and enough extra cooling to get rid of the heat.  It comes with onboard cooling, but I wouldn't trust it to be enough.

Dellif you want one with good cooling you can get a PowerColor Version of the ATI X800 its called something like PowerColor X800 EVO and it comes with this cooling unit that uses liquid and other stuff. otherwise the next step up up is the X850 which is about ANOTHER AU$300 and the pixel pipelines increase from 12 to 16.

but accourding to the stats the X800 is a good card although i haven't used on for myself so i can't guaratee it.Thnx everybody for chimming in on this one. LOOKS like this card is a good deal. Thanks for the link.
Eckho

how do i choose a replacement psu? the only thing i know about my current (non-working) POWER suply is that it is a 550w output.  my question is how do i know if i am getting the correct connectors. I have opened my computer to look at  the psu; the discriptions on-line are not very helpfull. just in case further information is needed...

I had my computer built by a FRIEND (who has moved out of state) and I don't know a lot about computers; I do know enough to change the psu if i could find the exact or near exact replacement. I have a very good understanding of electrical and electronic PRINCIPALS. An Antec WOULD have every connector you could POSSIBLY need.Just wish they would make an external model and combine it with an UPS. Careful there Mac, that's an awful lot of common sense there for one day...

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for a wireless way to connect my LAPTOP to my standalone speaker system, without using cables to connect the two. When I use my laptop at HOME, I want to listen to music on my external speaker system, but I hate the hassle of having to plug a cable leading from my speakers to my headphone jack on my laptop. Currently, I NEED to sit within the cable's length of my speakers.

My question is: is there some device you can suggest to wirelessly beam audio from my laptop's headphone jack to my speakers? Maybe some wireless device I can plug into my laptop? Basically I'm TRYING to bypass the restraint of the cable. Suggestions welcomed. Thanks in advance.

SimonYup.  There are all KINDS of stuff to eliminate the cables when you want to play media from you PC/Laptop to your sound/video/multimedia system.

Even MS has a few suggestions:  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/northrup_03december01.mspx

Low to midrange:  http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/

At the high end:  http://www.crutchfield.com/S-tkYlhOUIrMD/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?I=257RXD702B

Dellor check out cyberguys.com or thinkgeek.com

I have just bought parts for a new computer and put them together. when i turned on the power the computer started up and loaded the bios. everything worked except for the fact that the 200GB HDD and the DVD drive weren't being detected.

i have the - ASUS A8N-SLI
- AMD 3500+ processor
- 1024 MB RAM
- 200GB HDD Samsung
- Pioneer DVD+-RW DL
- X850 XT PE

i have a suspicion this would be the problem but im not sure. the power supply came with a 20-pin ATX cable but the motherboard has a slot. otherwise i don't know why it wouldn't be working.LtScho....Is the hard drive SET as cable select or master ?....and is the dvd on the same IDE cable ?
Do you have the 4pin power plugs attached to both the hd and the dvd ?
Is the power cable from the psu to the motherboard plugged in properly ?
Do you have 2 IDE ribbons or 1?

dl65  thanks for the fast reply.

i have the HDD and DVD drive set as master and on different IDE cables. they both have the 4 pin power supply plugs attached to both and the cable from the psu is plugged in properly.

LtScho........ Sorry to be so long coming back , but I had to D/L your manual ........ Is the hard drive on the primary ide and the dvd on the secondary ? ...and do you have both plugged into the socket on the end .......as opposed to the middle?Are the IDE Ribbons keyed ( will they only go into the rear of the drives one way ?)i call that a pretty fast reply anyway. so don't be hard on youself.

i have the HDD in the primary and the DVD drive in secondary.

and i have tried connecting to both parts in the cable, the middle and the end. although in the manual for the A8N-SLI it SAYS to use the grey connector for primary HDD which was in the middle.

and the ribbons are keyed. they r missing one pin in the middle bottom so they can't go in the wrong way.When you go into the bios .......do they show up there ?I take it you have another pc there ...do you have skype on it by any chance and a headset and mike ?
no they don't. it shows up as none.
and then if i let the computer load it says failed to boot, insert system disk and press enter.

could it be because of the 20-pin ATX connector from my psu.no but i can get skype just wait a bit.I dont quite understand whats GOING on with the MAIN power from the psu to the mobook. i bought all the parts and stuff. put them together and was plugging it in when i realise the psu has a 20-pin connector and the motherboard has a 24-pin slot so there a 4 slots with nothing in them. i decided to try and see if it would still work as the shop was closed and i have to wait 2 days for it to open again as its sunday tomorrow. the computer turns on and all the different parts work fine. the extra usb's and firewire, it all shows up in the bios but the HDD and DVD won't. so i came on here asking if it was because of the different conectors or some other reason that i am missing. i hope thats less confusing.Do you have a 20 pin plug or a 24 pin plug ?
20.You should have the 24 pin EATX plug in , the ATX12V and the 4 pin EZ_plug in

I had an old computer, and the power supply FAILED.  Since then, the computer has been picked for parts.  I have no intention of fixing it, or spending any money on it.

Is there a way to get the information off of the hard disk without putting it into the unit?  (like a wiring harness, or an adaptor, etc - to mate one brand to another)

I've seen hard drives externally connected for data retrieval in the past, but I KNOW NOTHING about this sort of thing.

Thank you.The easiest way to do this is to hook it up to a working system as a slave drive...
There are jumper settings on all HDD's so just look at the drive and set the jumpers in the correct setting.
It should be set as slave and occupy the middle connecter on IDE 1

patio Quote

The easiest way to do this is to hook it up to a working system as a slave drive...
There are jumper settings on all HDD's so just look at the drive and set the jumpers in the correct setting.
It should be set as slave and occupy the middle connecter on IDE 1

patio

The easiest way to do this is to hook it up to a working system as a slave drive...
There are jumper settings on all HDD's so just look at the drive and set the jumpers in the correct setting.
It should be set as slave and occupy the middle connecter on IDE 1

patio

my co worker asked me to remove the floppy drive off his old LAPTOP.  

Acer 350PC

no CD drive just floppy.  Gives an error
"Invalid system disk
Replace the disk, and then press any key"

There's no disk in floppy drive, and I removed the cable from motherboard.

need the laptop just to surf the internet.

Tried F2(system setup during bootup) asking for a password but we don't know the password, this laptop is REALLY old.

ThanksWhat was the point in removing the floppy? Did it work PRIOR to this? Why not just put it back?Gives an error
"Invalid system disk
Replace the disk, and then press any key"


laptop doesn't bootup... when I turn it on it gives that error.Your problem doesn't seem to be the floppy drive.

Your PC can't find the system (your hard drive).

Go into BIOS and make sure the hard drive is detected.  While there, make sure the boot order shows hard drive first.  Everything else should be blanked out since you don't have any other drives (?).

If your hard drive doen't show in your BIOS, set the configuration to auto-detect or something like that and reboot.

Dellit won't let me go into BIOS... the only thing it lets me do is F2(system setup) but its asking for a password.  we don't know the password.

when i press F2 to get into system setup... at the top of the screen is a "key" symbol witht he cursor beside it...

is there a default password for this?

thanksOne default password for Acer is a null (blank) entry.  User ID, if required is also blank.

If that doen't work, try these:

   * AMI
   * Award
   * bios
   * setup
   * cmos

   * concat
   * AMI_SW (case sensitive)
   * AMI!SW/
   * AMI?SW/
   * j262

(all without the asterisks)

BTW:  I'm ASSUMING your coworker obtained this laptop legally?

Dellyup its his laptop... really really old... got it from work, he paid it off monthly with a portion of his paycheck.

so yup its legally his... im going to try those passwords thanksMaybe work has the passwords, or can direct you to who does?

I recently got an old Thinkpad 365XD from a friend, so I'm thinking about DIPPING into the Linux...but anyway, every time i start it up, I get a prompt for the date/time. I replaced the battery, double checked the wires (i had to re-solder the ONE to the battery holder, not sure about the ones on the board), but still the prompt. There is an autoexec.bat and config.sys file, but they're blank (i've noticed that on my OLDER systems with windows 98 too....). Any help is greatly appreciated.

Edit: looked through some old posts....Windows starts fine, but it also reminded me. Whenever I start, it runs scandisk, and afterwards once i get to the desktop it asks to restart to install new hardware. It keeps asking this whenever i shut down and start up again. There aren't any programs such as Deep Freeze on it that I know of...

Stats:

Windows 98
100mhz
775mb Hard Drive
40mb RAM

Related articles to the CMOS

CMOS checksum error

Information about the computer CMOSwhich hard ware is it asking for...it you get this message of hard ware which you dont have go into the device manager and remove what windows is asking for?and re-boot Quote

... I replaced the battery, double checked the wires (i had to re-solder the one to the battery holder, not sure about the ones on the board), but still the prompt....

Quote

If i do reconnect the slave drive. Do i format and partition it, or just format the drive?

Dont ask me! It said i was reformatting my C: drive but it reformatted the D: slave drive instead. To top it all off, it also formatted my c: drive and made it so it wouldnt recognize my c: main drive. So, i went in and disconnected my slave drive and put everything back on my 120gb hd. I'm having my doubts if i will even reconnect my slave drive. I'm afraid to lose everything all over again. If i do reconnect the slave drive. Do i format and partition it, or just format the drive?

Ok well i recieved a new heatsink and fan , some ROUND cables for my hard drives and dvd-rw and dvd ROM last night. followed the arctic silvers clean up and installation, installed everything, then when i plugged everything back in it started running but nothing but a black screen came up.. almost like it was about to go through memory testing and do the whole startup thing but no... nothing happened. i didnt have time to mess with it and i was hoping maybe someone had the same problem before and could share what their problem was.

Thanks for any help.


I just thought of some other things that happened that seemed odd. such as my mouse and KEYBOARD not lighting up...both USB. I was very careful not to bump anything on the mother board so i HOPE its not that.When installing your new hardware, did you remember to GROUND the electricity from your body?

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