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I have an interesting problem but not sure what to do. If anything BRUSHES the power button on my COMPUTER and there is any STATIC it reboots it or at least tries to but it doesn't completely reboot but yet the computer cannot be accessed.  I have to completely shut down and start over and sometimes I am forced to re-seat my graphics card.  Is there a way to ground the power button?  I am not sure what to do and that is the only thing I can think of.  I don't think this can be good for the computer.  :-/

Beth EllenYou need to check the outlet the computer is plugged into.  I suspect it's not properly grounded.Thanks, I am going to LOOK into this more.

I need help.  I have an EMACHINE computer that won't turn on.    The fans are going, but the power light does not come on and the monitor just STAYS black and goes into hybernation.  Also, I unplugged some wires and plugged them back in to see if maybe something was loose, now I can't remember what plug goes into the hard DRIVE.  There were 2 and one wasn't plugged in.  I've plugged both in and the thing won't start with either.  It just does the same thing it did before I messed with it.

Windows xp
2600+ AMD Athlon xp processor
80 GB Hard drive
512 MD ram

I don't know of anymore information you need.  Anything else, ask.

Thanks
Joan

How to enter the BIOS or CMOS setup.

Enter BIOS to see if drive is recognized.each hard drive and cd/dvd rom should have two connectors a broad flat IDE  and a four pin/wire molex connecter.
the molex connector should be FITTED with the red wire facing into the center on the hard drive with the coloured edge of the broad flat IDE connector that has the edge adjacent

on the motherboard there are two connections for IDE and if you look closely you will see one marked IDE1 this is mainly for the hard drive
the other of sourse is IDE2 and this is normally the connection for the cd or dvd.
good luck
next time only disconnect one at a time unless you draw out a simple diagram.

I bought a PC in summer and when it came it worked like a charm.  It's the old chestnut of dvd burning.

I burnt discs beautifully, but then it all went wrong.

It just won't behave.  I've wasted loads of discs trying to burn simple data.

I had no problems before, but then I started noticing it wouldn't work after I installed a game and my sister came round to get some stuff burnt.  

I used to get aborted by user error msgs.  But then when I tried to run the normal version of Power2Go it gave me an error message.  After twidling about with the thing, still no joy so I emailed the manufactuerer.

The CONSIDERED changing the DMA settings in primary (note I have three each of  primary/secondary and the other one).  I changed the one they told me to P10.  Then the other option was to uninstall all Primary IDE channels and then the uninstall the dvd rw.

Still nothing changed.

I tried again to INSTALL a patch for Power2Go and this time round at least, the program did not crash.  But when I try and burn it's coughs out the dvd with a failed error msg.

I don't know how many more discs I can waste.  I've EVEN got an external dvd RW as well and that won't work either.

I know the PC did some automatic UPDATES a while ago, but I don't know what its updated.  I did hear WinXP SP2 can cause errors but I don't have that installed.  At least I don't think I have since it does not appear on the control panel.

Does anyone ELSE have any ideas?

I would of understood just one dvd rw not working, but both???Old question been revamped........huh?

...the chipset fan doesn't work...

I have a external harddrive that i purchased on ebay thats 250gb but it shows up as 233gb is there a way i can make it 250 gb by formating if so how can i do this can U give me steps



THANKS a lotThis is actually something that causes quite a bit of confusion, and it's all down to the meanings of the various prefixes used.

You see, in most computing circles, 1 kilobyte is equal to 1024 bytes. HOWEVER, as I'm sure you are aware, the term kilo is usually a reference to 1000 of anything, and that is how hard drive manufacturers define a kilobyte.

In effect, this means that Windows will report a drive smaller than what the manufacturer quotes. There's nothing wrong with the drive, it's just an inconsistancy in the definition of "kilo" (and all the other units).

[ For all you fact FANS out there, 1024 bytes is strictly speaking called a kibibyte. Anyone who uses BitTorrent will probably have come across this already. ]alright thanks

Recently I ordered some parts for a new PC. Being new at actually putting the thing together, I had a tech buddy of mine build it.

I've had 2 problems with it since I got it: restarting without warning, then, UPON restart, saying 'A serious error has occured'; and tonight it froze, I did a hard restart, and it wouldn't POWER up.

Here are the system specs:

Windows XP sevice pack 2
Intel Celeron D 340 2.93Ghz
Speeze P4 Copper Cooling Fan Up to 3.4GHz
MSI P4MAM2-V Motherboard
Kingston 1024MB RAM
Ultra X-Connect 500W ATX PS w/2 80mm UV Fans
XFX GeForce FX 5500  Video Card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy LS 5.1
Seagate 250GB EIDE HD 7200/8MB/ATA-100 Hard Drive
2x NEC ND-3540A 16X DVD+/-RW DL Drive
Powmax Blue Acrylic ATX Case with 3 Blue LED Fans
Ultra Dual UV 80mm Round Cold Cathode Light Kit

The first time it restarted, I was in the middle of playing Diablo II. I don't remember what I was doing the second time. Tonight, it froze while I was listening to some music on WMP10. And now it won't restart.

If you have any clue what could be wrong, I'd appreciate it. I'd rather not have to test it part by part on another PC.

EDIT: I forgot to mention my LinkSys Wireless card.

Also, about 30 minutes after the computer wouldn't restart, it's working now. However, I'd still like to know if there's anything I can do to keep that from happening again.Your system is likely heating to the point that it is either overheating the Mobo/components or any of your add-ons.

It means your cooling system is insufficient for what you are running, or you have a component that has become overly sensitive to your normal operating temperature.

If your system has run in this configuration for some time without problems, I'd suspect any new component first, then I'd check existing stuff for abnormalities.  Your power supply may be insufficient or going bad.  Your graphics card also may be failing.

Try running the system BARE bones (drive, PS, graphics) then add other stuff until you see the problem again.  Give it enough time to heat to operating temps.

DellWell, the power supply is 500 watts, which I would think is sufficient. Also, the case has 3 fans running plus the power supply fan (two in and two out), so I don't think that it's overheating. But I'd like to get this taken care of, so can you recommend an easy way to test the temp?

All the parts are brand-new; I bought them about a month ago, which is when I put it together. Could the parts have failed this rapidly? Or do you think they could have been faulty in the first place?


EDIT: I downloaded PC WIZARD 2005 and it said that after running for about 20 minutes the cpu is heating up to about 45-55 degrees celsius, with the motherboard and hard drive at 35 and 29 respectively. I haven't been running it very hard; just some internet browsing and music playing.

Don't ask how but I accidently got some thermal compound in my motherboard's socket, so now a few of the pins on the CPU aren't GETTING a connection. are there any chemicals that will LET me remove the compund without damaging the board or any other way to get the stuff out? Or is it time to break down and BUY a NEW motherboard?And maybe a new CPU?the pins on the cpu can be cleaned if I'm careful. But I DUNNO, this compound is some stubborn stuff.

Got an unusual problem, can't explain it and hoping someone here has a clue.

MBM (Motherboard Monitor) and other programs (PC Wizard) I have USED to keep tabs on the computer temperature with, usually report the computer running at a temperature 10 Celsius, exactly, than the BIOS Screen (When I shut down Windows XP, reboot, hit Delete at the startup, go to the BIOS Screen, USE a screen there to check on the status) reports. For example, if MBM and PC Wizard report the temperature at 61 C, then BIOS reports it at 71 C. This difference is always, exactly, 10 Celsius in difference. I am using an AMD Athlon XP Processor, with a Throughbred Core (Designed to run, at most, 90 C).

Any ideas?Zarak.......what are you concerned about ..........the differance in readings ? Is this something that has just started ? You say that both of your software apps record PRETTY much the same temp? But the bios is telling you something else ....... Have you updated your bios by any chance ?
Are you concerned that your pc is running too HOT ....?
Do you have a buildup of dust on the heatsink or its cooling FAN ?

let us know
dl65

what's better for the computer? Shut it down overnight, let it go into standby, or hibernate? someone said that the repeated shutdowns of the hard drive are worst then just leaving it on all the time. I'm on a cable modem and am concerned about intrusions while I've stepped away from the computer for a short time DOUG Hayden......What to do , what to do ........ Well , if you ask enough people you will get many opinions ......
I have my machines set to have the monitor go into standby after 1 hours of inactivity but the hard drives are always active. ( 1 pc has only been shutdown a handful of times in 5 years)
It is a fact that repeated shutdowns and startups are not a good thing for the machine.
I suppose the bottom LINE is that you should do what you feel comfortable with .
Now there are always exceptions to this ...for example if you live in an area which has frequent electrical storms...The use of a HIGH QUALITY surge protector is a MUST and a well grounded electrical system ........also a good UPS would also be of great value .


Hope this helps you .
dl65

i have windws XP when i try to boot it up today it SAYS error loading opperating SYSTEM and wont boot up what can i do?Didn't you already post this QUESTION ELSEWHERE?  yah thought id try hereOnce is enough. Really.

setup:
chaintech JL6 MotherBoard
2500+ amd
Geil ddr dual channle
C:\ WD 80gig ata100 drive // windows XP Pro
F:\ WD 20gig ata 100 drive // Fat32 couple games installed
Asus cd
Lite-on dvd/cd
generic A:
400watt cool max pw

Computer was working fine, got finished playing a game wich was installed on the C:\
I leave it running over night, and woke up the following morning to find my computer to be completely turned off, i had no progs running,
i booted the comp up, to find that BIOS detected all my drives like normal, everything proceeded as normal, untill "DMI POOL"
it appears as if it is wanting to boot up windows, but instead it displays
realtek (some numbers)  FFFFFFFFFF000000
DHCP...../  
does this twice, then times out to...
device is not accessible.

if i unplug the 2nd drive, non-installed windows
the bios will proceed to the boot menue, safe mode, normal mode, ect
here no matter what is selected, the computer will either freeze or reboot.

if i unplug the installed windows drive, and leave the 2nd drive pluged, i get a "ntldr is missing error, ctrl+alt+delete to restart"

my asumption is that i have a corrupted boot.ini

bios is all the same, i cleared the cmos ect to attempt the fix, i checked all ribbens, cables, i attempted to create a boot up disk off another computer with xp pro.
bios detects the disk then displays
"disk i/o error"

i attempted to put the windows xp install disk into reinstall over the hds, the drive with windows already installed will load the disk, then freeze after f2 to restore, when it tries to load files from the disk, ive used this installation more than once with out problems..

i tried to use the disk on the missing ntldr drive, and the disk wont even load PERIOD.

i tried a restore on drive c:\   the floopy didnt work, just asked for a floopy restore again...

i have tried so many things, i cant get an a prmpt, because bios saying disk i/o error, i cant get a installation disk to work with out freezes, or ntdlr missing error.

i also tried, a hd that had windows 98se on it, and pluged it up, bios went through and attempted to load windows, but left with me with a black screen before any loading pictures came up

im lost to why one day it is working fine, and the next morning i find the computer to be completey shut down, and with all these errors.
any help would be appricaited, thanks
im in a world of lost..Try some disk analysis software from the Western Digital site for the appropriate hard drives. Unplug #2 and leave it off while TRYING to load Windows.if i unplug the 2nd drive, non-installed windows
the bios will proceed to the boot menue, safe mode, normal mode, ect
here no matter what is selected, the computer will either freeze or reboot.  
i also forgot to mention, i tooka hd that had windows 98se on it, and pluged it up, bios went through and attempted to load windows, but left with me with a black screen before any loading pictures came up..A hard drive loaded with windows from different hardware will seldom give SATISFACTORY results. Always reinstall Windows with the current hardware setup.just a test,,,  any ideas on the problem

i turned the comp on again, and it flashed the windows xp loading screw but the bar just kept PACING, never did anything else,, rebooted, then blue screen then it auto rebooted, never seen the xp screen again after several reboots..  i get prompts, safe mode, start with network, start normal everytime,, but still i get same error on disk disk not accessible,, or it doesnt even detect disk being there at all...im thinking its mb problem,, if windows freezes at attempt or reboots,  cd rom freezes when trying to load up files from the xp instalation disk,, floopy wont detect disk being accessible or not even there.. thats all devices not just hd..And did you try the advice that was given? Let's start with the obvious.

I am a small BUSINESS owner who would like to use 1 good computer and have 2 stations where i can access and update my business inventory, from the sales floor and the shipping/receiving area. I currently have an old wired networking setup from my house (no longer used) but i don't know if this would do what I want. Anyone have any suggestions?Debora:

I recommend using CAT5e or CAT6 UTP cable and NICs capable of 100 mbps.  The CAT5 or 6 cable may be up to 300 ft. between COMPUTERS.  ETHERNET networks are still faster than wireless, and EASIER to secure.

I'd also strongly recommend investing in a router with a built-in hardware firewall to protect your business data.  All three nodes may connect to the router and use it as a DHCP server and gateway to share files and printers with one another and access the Internet. Of course, every computer should have a good antivirus program installed, and updated at least weekly.

You may connect the computers yourself pretty cheaply and leave the UTP cables visible, but a professional may do a better job with hiding the cables within the walls of your small office.  

Best regards,


Doc

I hope someone can help with this.

I have an old HP laptop with a Linksys Wireless G network card in the PC card slot. It was working absolutely FINE two days ago. Yesterday, the card was working, but couldn't actually CONNECT to the network here.

Today, the DEVICE Manager says the card is disabled for some reason, and when I click on Enable Device, I get an hourglass icon and the computer locks up.

Any ideas on what's going on?And what has happened since then to your system? Cards don't usually just die.When the system locks up, I have to POWER down, as ctrl-alt-del doesn't work.

When I power up again, the card SHOWS up as disabled in Device Manager once more, but otherwise the system works fine.

And if I try to enable the card again, it locks up again.
Tried system restore?
Has anything been installed, deleted or updated prior to the problem happening?

Try uninstalling it and then rebooting for a driver reinstall on boot up.That's the funny thing; nothing's been changed at all. No changes between the time it was working fine and the time it couldn't connect to the network, and there were no changes between that time and now, when it says the card is disabled.

I just powered it up one day to find that it was having trouble connecting to the network, and the next day when I powered it up, the card had become disabled. It's just a very baffling error.Try uninstalling the software through Add/Remove, and remove the card. Reboot and reinstall software. Reboot and add card. Check to make sure network is named correctly (SSID) and check for competing networks from neighbors.I removed the hardware, and I removed the driver.

I then reinstalled both the card and the driver as per the proper instructions.

Now the card shows up as Enabled and "working correctly" in Device Manager, which is a step forward.

However, the card still won't connect to the network. All the network settings are correct, but the program associated with the card claims the card is "inactive" and that it can't create an "association" with the network.

 :-/Is your SSID correct? What operating system? Is it clean from virus/spyware/adware?Yep, SSID is correct. No spyware or viruses. And it's Windows 98, but it's been running on that before with no problems.

I'm not an advanced computer user, but I can spot and fix obvious problems, and this just has me baffled.What if you run Internet Connection Wizared?

Program Files/Internet Explorer/ Connection Manager/ inetwiz

Hi,

I'm PLANNING on building my own PC. I'm having some difficulty though, DECIDING what case and motherboard combo is best. And also, how do I know what motherboard will FIT in my case.  

So many questions.. if anyone could provide me with some help I'd greatly appreciate itHey, I'm pretty new to the building thing myself, but I do know there is a standard for cases and motherboards. I think the most COMMON form factor is ATX. If you buy an ATX motherboard, buy an ATX case. Just ask your retailer.awesome! thank  youATX and mATX (miniATX) will fit in an ATX case, and make USE of the standard ATX power supply.

I just purchased a new computer and it does not come with a floppy drive. After using Partition Magic to create a new partition, I am now ready to install the OS. I am directed to boot the new partition with a boot disk in the floppy drive. What can I do? Is there such a thing as a boot CD disk?
Thanks for you response.Most OS CD's are bootable...Which OS are you installing ?

patio.  Windows XPBootable...just insert the CD and restart the machine.

patio.  Thanks for your help. So I can use the XP CD to boot the partition, and load the OS at the same time?  

I wonder why PM instructions has a step with floppy drives before loading windows?

Thanks again.Is WIndows XP the only OS? If so you do not need Partition Magic. Byy the way, if it is an older version, it will not WORK with xP.Why do you say that I do not need PM?

And, Win 98 is another OS possibilty.If you are looking at setting up a dual-boot Win98/XP system that's a horse of a different color...
98 has to be installed first...
They need to be on seperate partitions/drives...
Some of your devices will need native Win98 drivers in order to run properly...

If this is what you are planning then post back and we can GIVE more guidance.

patio.  I installed Partition Magic on my new PC, that has XP operating system. I then created a 2nd partition with the intent of installing a XP as the OS. I followed the PM instructions but cannot complete the process because the new computer does not have a floppy drive to boot the new partition prior to installing XP. This why I was asking if there is a bootable CD.

I would appreciate your comments.

ThanksPartition Magic will have info on creating a bootCD in there Help files...

patio.  On Nov. 29, you wrote that most OS cd are bootable. Can I put in the Win XP CD in a newly created partition? Will this start without a boot disk?Yes, if your computer is set to boot from the CDROM.But you still need to install Windows '98 before installing XP.

The BEST way to get around all this is to fit a floppy drive, especially as they are not all that costly and you can do a LOT of good things quickly with a floppy drive which you cannot do so easily with a bootable CD.

XP INFOYes, that is the reason for my question. My new computer does not come with a floppy drive but has a cd/dvd drive. So I am wondering if the XP cd will boot.

Another OPTION is an external floppy drive, but will my computer recognize an external drive when i start it to install the os.Yes, that is the reason for my question. My new computer does not come with a floppy drive but has a cd/dvd drive. So I am wondering if the XP cd will boot.

Another option is an external floppy drive, but will my computer recognize an external drive when i start it to install the os.

Hi,
Hope this isn't too simple (and I have looked for an answer to no avail....): I have a 40 G hard drive. It works FINE, but the system shows that it is full. When I go to Windows Explorer (to see what I can delete) and add up the data in the various FOLDERS, I get only 30G of data. Where is the rest, I wonder?
The drive contains no system files and is only used to back up music and data. I have revealed the hidden files as well, but still can't do better than 30G. Any ideas?
Thanks!Did you allow for overhead? Most files take up more space than their PHYSICAL size. You should also allow for the fact that manufacturers consider 1000 bytes to a kilo, but there is actually 1024 bytes. Windows reports the latter.Do you have anything on the drive that is compressed?  Windows will reserve enough room for the uncompressed  size of the file/folder.System Restore...
$NTUninstallers$...

If you have Nortons it's probably protected Recycle Bin files...

The possibilities are endless and we don't even know your OS yet.

patio.  Try running - chkdsk /r - and see if the size report changes.

Then do a good CLEANUPYou guys (and gals?) are great. Thanks for your help.

The culprit is a gobackio.bin file which is 4G large!! This, in addition to the overhead space and some space for the compressed files, adds up to the 40G HD specs.

I don't fully know whether gobackio.bin is there as a result of an earlier instance of Norton that I had or whether it is used by AVG Anti-virus (which I do have - but how it uses GoBack is beyond me - I only have the free HOME edition. Also, with AVG it is supposed to be resident in the C folder, which for me is on the other hard drive).

I wonder ..... do you think I can delete the entire file? PLEASE give me your thoughts. All I really want to use that particular hard drive for is a place to hold my music, photos and some videos.

Thanks again!!If it isn't an OEM restore file (?) it should be OK to delete it, as gobackio.bin is just that, a part of Roxio's GoBack system.

I installed a new 200 Gb hard drive and CONVERTED the original 80 Gb drive to a second drive to store data. Windows XP professional will not recognize the second drive. I have tried changing the drive letter,type etc with no success. The award bios recognizes the second drive and when I boot using a boot CD of Acronis disk director it will recognize the second drive.
I NOTICED that partway through the boot of disk director this message flashes on and the the program continues loading.
"hub.C: port 1 over-current change."
I am wondering what this message means and if it is possible my power supply is not strong enough to load both drives. i would appreciate any help or advice you can give me.How MANY other drives have you got.......and list pc specs....I have the 200 Gb Maxtor hard drive and the 80 Gb Seagate hard drive.I also have a CD read/write drive a DVD burner and a  floppy disk drive.  I also have a 160 Gb Western Digital USB drive
The operation system is windows XP professional. The CPU is Celeron 1.70 Ghz.
Thank you for reponding. Please let me know what other information you need.And what power supply is in it now? Did you just recently start getting this message immediately after addition of new hardware? Any other changes?I got this message since I added the maxtor drive and made it the primary and changed the 80 Gb drive from the primary active to slave.I am not sure if it happened immediately after or just recently because I have been experimenting with changing the 80 Gb drive to logical etc.
The power supply is an ATX 230w ps. The message just flashes on so I may have missed it for a while.  I hope this is what you want . If not let me know what else you need. I have not made any other changes to my system. The problem remains that windows will not recognize the second drive even though the bios and programs WORKING before windows boots do.
Thanks again. I really appeciate any help I can get to solve this problem.Without hearing ANY more a 230 watt is NOT sufficient for all of that equipment.. Minimum 350, and more would be better still. This also would be worthy of a decent supply maker.  A cheaper, but poorly made 500 watt is not better than a 350 watt Antec. These are very expensive components in there that could get ruined!

What computer make/model as some (Dell, HP, Compaq, etc.) are so proprietary that this is not even an option to upgrade these units, and replacements from them are expensive.

So post back with some details and your thoughts, but $40-60 seems a GOOD guess for something reasonable.I want to thank everybody who tried to help me. The answer to my problem was what now seems the most obvious (isnt that always the way)--Windows. My windows was corrupt. A complete reinstall solved the problem and now the second drive is visible.You still need a more powerful power supply.  You would be well advised to get one soon.It may have been the way the drives were first set up (both as primary drives.)No the drives were not set up both as primary drives. it was very definitely the copy of windows.

Hi guys, NEW here!! I have a 15.1" NFren 1500-MA LCD monitor.. I've had it for a year and a half and for the past 2 MONTHS its been a little PAIN about coming on.. Sometimes I'll turn the screen on and it'll start right up with the computer but many times i'll turn on the screen and its black/blank/(no picture or backlight) and the "on" button is just flashing on the panel. I UNPLUG the power from the back of the screen and sometimes it'll come on after doing that one time. Sometimes I'll have to unplug and plug in the screen 10 times for the picture to show. once theres a picture on the screen, theres no PROBLEM.. its just when I turn on the computer or when the screen goes into "standby" is when problems start. Any help is appreciated. I am using the power supply that came with the screen. Its only 1.5 yrs old!This topic has been moved because the user posted in the wrong section.

I have found the PCHealth folder, but i'm unsure on where to find the temperature TESTER. Anyone know?Why do you think such a thing is in there?(am Rhys)
Someone said that you could find the current temperature of your computer by going into the PCHealth file   so i guess they were WRONG...anyway to find out the temperature then?BIOS perhaps? What is your computer make/model or motherboard make/model?Everest Home Edition\Computer\SensorRhys.....another utility which will give you that info is PC Wizard 2005 .......
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3846.html


dl65  And or Motherboard Monitor...

patio.   Quote

BIOS perhaps? What is your computer make/model or motherboard make/model?

I accidentally put an old 100mb zip disk in my Iomega 750 MB external zip drive. It won't read the diskor eject the disk. I have been unable to eject it using Iomega's troubleshooting suggestions.  Any new suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thank you!THERESA:

You may have to disassemble the Zip drive to remove the disk.  Do not force it out with some tool, as this may DAMAGE the read-write HEADS of the drive.  

Hope that HELPS,
Doc

I just bought a Sony PC, and was told by the previous owner that I need to switch the current settings on the CD and DVD drives so that the drive that works at the moment will allow me to install an OS.

Does anyone know the easiest way to do this?It has nothing to do with jumper settings at all...
What needs to be changed is the boot sequence so the machine boots from the CD/DVD drive first.
When you start your machine there will be a black screen with system info on it...at the bottom it usually tells you what key to hit to enter Setup...this is what you want.
When you get into Setup look for a screen that lists boot devices.
Highlight First boot device and change it to CDRom by using the + key. Then press F10 to save changes and exit.
Your system will now be able to boot from a factory bootable CD.

Do not fool around changing a bunch of settings in the BIOS other than this or you might WIND up with a system that will no longer boot.
You have been warned.

patio.  Thanks, Patio, I'll follow this to the letter, and hope this fixes what the original owner said needed to be done to it.

Basically, he said the the CD drive isn't reading properly, and to use the DVD drive as the boot drive for the OS.  Then to replace the CD drive once I got everything going.

Thanks again.  I'll post how it went!Patio,

After turning on the power, the black screen says, "INVALID System Disk", "Replace the disk, and then press any key"

Which when I do, I am given a message that says, "Searching for boot record from SCSI..Not Found", "Boot Failure, Insert BOOT diskette in A:", "Press any key when ready", but there isn't a list of choices to select from to choose the BIOS information."

I did this once before on a DELL, (before it died) and got it to work, so I remember doing this, but can't figure out how to access the BIOS screen, on this SONY.  If for some reason the previous owner was right about having to manually switch the jumper, does this mean this is his way of getting around not being able to locate the BIOS screen?

I really appreciate your help, thank you.   ALR  Advanced Logic Research, Inc. ® PC / PCI         F2
ALR PC non / PCI       CTRL+ALT+ESC
AMD® (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) BIOS       F1
AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS       DEL
Award™ BIOS       CTRL+ALT+ESC
Award BIOS       DEL
DTK® (Datatech Enterprises Co.) BIOS       ESC
Phoenix™ BIOS       CTRL+ALT+ESC
Phoenix BIOS       CTRL+ALT+S
Phoenix BIOS       CTRL+ALT+INS
Computer  Vendor
     
Keyboard Commands
Acer®       F1, F2, CTRL+ALT+ESC
ARI®       CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
AST®        CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
Compaq® 8700        F10
CompUSA®       DEL
Cybermax®        ESC
Dell® 400       F3, F1
Dell 4400       F12
Dell Dimension®       F2 or DEL
Dell Inspiron®        F2
Dell Latitude       Fn+F1 (while booted)
Dell Latitude       F2 (on boot)
Dell Optiplex       DEL
Dell Optiplex       F2
Dell Precision™       F2
eMachine®       DEL
Gateway® 2000 1440       F1
Gateway 2000 Solo™       F2
HP® (Hewlett-Packard)       F1, F2 (Laptop, ESC)
IBM®       F1
IBM E-pro Laptop       F2
IBM PS/2®       CTRL+ALT+INS after CTRL+ALT+DEL
IBM Thinkpad® (newer)       Windows: Programs-Thinkpad CFG.
Intel® Tangent       DEL
Micron®       F1, F2, or DEL
Packard Bell®        F1, F2, Del
Seanix       DEL
Sony® VAIO       F2
Sony VAIO       F3
Tiger       DEL
Toshiba® 335 CDS       ESC
Toshiba Protege       ESC
Toshiba Satellite 205 CDS       F1
Toshiba Tecra       F1 or ESC

Hope this helps...

patio.   ALR  Advanced Logic Research, Inc. ® PC / PCI         F2
ALR PC non / PCI       CTRL+ALT+ESC
AMD® (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) BIOS       F1
AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS       DEL
Award™ BIOS       CTRL+ALT+ESC
Award BIOS       DEL
DTK® (Datatech Enterprises Co.) BIOS       ESC
Phoenix™ BIOS       CTRL+ALT+ESC
Phoenix BIOS       CTRL+ALT+S
Phoenix BIOS       CTRL+ALT+INS
Computer  Vendor
     
Keyboard Commands
Acer®       F1, F2, CTRL+ALT+ESC
ARI®       CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
AST®        CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
Compaq® 8700        F10
CompUSA®       DEL
Cybermax®        ESC
Dell® 400       F3, F1
Dell 4400       F12
Dell Dimension®       F2 or DEL
Dell Inspiron®        F2
Dell Latitude       Fn+F1 (while booted)
Dell Latitude       F2 (on boot)
Dell Optiplex       DEL
Dell Optiplex       F2
Dell Precision™       F2
eMachine®       DEL
Gateway® 2000 1440       F1
Gateway 2000 Solo™       F2
HP® (Hewlett-Packard)       F1, F2 (Laptop, ESC)
IBM®       F1
IBM E-pro Laptop       F2
IBM PS/2®       CTRL+ALT+INS after CTRL+ALT+DEL
IBM Thinkpad® (newer)       Windows: Programs-Thinkpad CFG.
Intel® Tangent       DEL
Micron®       F1, F2, or DEL
Packard Bell®        F1, F2, Del
Seanix       DEL
Sony® VAIO       F2
Sony VAIO       F3
Tiger       DEL
Toshiba® 335 CDS       ESC
Toshiba Protege       ESC
Toshiba Satellite 205 CDS       F1
Toshiba Tecra       F1 or ESC

Hope this helps...

patio.  Yes!  Well, I've managed to get it save the changes, but for some reason only the 2nd Drive wants to work, and I'm thinking I need to still switch it from Master >Slave to the other way round, just to get the correct drive to read.

I can't seem to get past this part, but I'm glad to be at this point.

Do you think it would still be necessary to switch them at this point?

Thanks patio.  It's getting better!  GOT IT!!!    

In fact, I did have to switch the jumper, and it seems to be doing the set up now.

I had to replace the keyboard, with an older one for some reason, but it's lookind good.

THANK YOU for your help.  It is tremendously appreciated!!You're more than Welcome and Welcome Aboard as well...
Glad you got it sorted.
2 things to remember when working on things such as the BIOS, jumpers, etc.

1) When making changes remember to make only one change at a time and test for results...otherwise you might wind up with a wonked system that won't boot.

2) Whichever HDD has the OS on it should be jumpered and cabled as master with all other storage HDD's as slave.

patio.  

Edit: External USB HDD's need to be set as master as well therefore they are an exception to the above.Thank you, and thanks for the warm welcome!

I got it installed, and also got it to start-up several times, making sure it wouldn't keep asking me to reinstall it, or need the disc to boot up.

Um, I think I did the jumper switch as one item at a time, it seems like it's working ok...

I see what you mean about the HDD being "jumpered and cabled as master with all other storage HDD's as slave.", and while I was looking in the tower, from what little I know about the set-up, I'm assuming it comes that way.

So....in the meantime, I'll try getting the software I need loaded on it, and start working with it.  You may be hearing from me again later!  

Hope you have a great day, patio!  Mine's starting out WAY better than yesterday thanks to your help!  Take care!No problem !
I would also suggest investing in a good imaging program...i use Acronis True Image, around 50 bucks.
The beauty of it is when you have finally re-installed all your programs, set all your preferences, set up your web access etc. before anything gets wonked you use Acronis to image the HDD.
Down the road if you have problems all you do is backup you're most recent data, re-boot to the Acronis floppy/CD and restore your system...
Takes about 15 to 20 minutes instead of what you're going thru now.

Happy Trails,
patio.  
Hello patio,

Hope you had a good Tgiving!  I had a hunch I'd need to ask you for some further ASSISTANCE, and please forgive me for not posting a new thread about the OS installation.

I am a pretty active user of computers, but I am a guitar player first, so trying to repair or use a computer as a musical tool is pretty new to me.

I installed the OS on to both drives, the C and D drives, as it seemed to make sense at the time to do that, and found out I didn't have to do that, by contacting the previous owner.

He tells me that may cause file-sharing problems, and I've decided I would like to uninstall everything and just start from scratch again reinstalling the OS one time.  I can't believe I did that, but it really did make sense at the time.  Sorry!  

Is there a good way to do safely do this?  I really want to get this PC off to a good start, and didn't want to make things hard for me later once I start recording.

I really appreciate you taking time to help me on these questions.  Hope you have a great weekend!  Thanks!So you have two drives each with the same OS on it?  Two seperate installs right?  That's not a problem.  Have you saved anything on either drive?  All you would have to do is load up the OS that is installed on the C drive.  Click start, and then select run.  Type in CMD.  In the command PROMPT type in the following command.

format D: /fs:NTFS

This will format drive D and get rid of the second installation.  Then you can use drive D as storage for all your files.  I put in /FS:NTFS because I'm assuming you have windows 2000 or windows XP.  If you windows 98 then do this

format D: /fs:FAT32Howdy!

No I haven't saved anything on the D drive, so that makes me feel pretty good about not losing anything.

I entered the command, got a new prompt, so I assume that did it.  I'm going to close the window, and then restart just to get it going.  How can I tell it worked?  Are there any folders I can look in to verify this was performed corectly?

Thank you very much for answering my question, I really appreciate it!
If there is nothing in the D drive when you look at it in windows explorer then it worked.

I have a Toshiba laptop (TE2100) and the sound card ports are only for microphone and headphones (i.e. line out).  I NEED a line-in port in order to plug in my stereo amplifier and DIGITALLY record music.  Is there an external DEVICE that will solve this, or do I need a NEW computer?  Thanks....Brian:

You may have to do some shopping around:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-51,GGLD:en&q=Toshiba+laptop+TE2100+sound+card

Doc

Kinda new at this, but here goes. I have a Dell Dimension 4300 that's about 4 yrs old, running XP. WELL, it was. Want to reload XP with total reformat, however when I TURN on CPU I get message that reads "strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility. When I enter setup, no hard drive or cd rom shows as being installed. Where do I go from here?What do you mean by turning on your cpu?, dont you mean turning on your computer. In the bios you need your first boot device set as cdrom then save changes. Put your xp disk in the cd drive and reboot, the xp disk will boot allowing you to patition and format the hard drive.Ok, when I turn on my computer, I get the Dell screen with 2 options. F2 for setup and F12 for boot menu. Pressing F12 does nothing but get me a beep. Pressing F2 gets me into the setup utility. There is no listing for a cd-rom drive. My primary drive 0 is shown as unknown device and my secondary drive 0 is shown as unknown device. The only drive listed is the diskette drive A - 3.5 inch, 1.44 mb. When I enter the boot sequence, it shows 1. diskette drive / 2. Hard disk drive(not installed) / 3. CD-Rom device(not installed) all 3 are checked. For the 2 DEVICES listed as not installed, I did not uninstall them. This is just what there is when I turn it on.Did you add any new hardware, were you doing anything just before this happened on the computer.

Can you just check out this link to make sure you are doing everything right.

http://ice.he.net/~hedden/bootcd.htmlHave you added any drives or changed the configuration lately? Why are you reinstalling?Purchased the computer I am using now last winter. The old Dell 4300, which is the one I am having probs with,  was just being used as a glorified word processor and game machine. It was not being used as for internet, since the purchase of the new one, as I hadn't yet set up a network. There were no MODIFICATIONS to the computer at all. It just sat there on the DESK and was being used very infrequently. I turned it on Sunday and when it started to boot up, I got the message I described in my first post. When I entered the setup screen to see what was going on, there was no recognition of a hard disk or a cd-rom.I had removed everything (files) that I needed from the old Dell and was planning on giving it to my son for his room. There was a lot of stuff on it, including some of the spyware crap that got into the registry. I was going to do a clean install to minimize any problems for him.On moving it about, have you maybe disconnected somthing. can you look inside to make sure all connections are secure.

Try removing the CMOS battery from your motherboard to reset the defaultsOK, Opened it up. Everything appears to be connected inside. Removed cmos battery, waited about 1 minute and re-installed battery. Screen said to enter setup and set time and date. Went into setup and updated clock and date. Saved and exited. Machine rebooted itself and now I'm back to where I started. Possibly battery no-good???Yes battery maybe dead. Life span usually 3 to 5 years.Took out the battery and booted it up. ALL IS WELL. Thank you all for your help.

MikeThanks for the reply good to know the outcome, wish more people would respond like this. Then we all learn somthing.

I assure you.  This is not a simple problem.  I am a seasoned tech.  There are no viruses, no spyware.  My CPU is running like garbage.  I cannot figure out why.  I am thinking it is a DRIVER issue or something but have no way to prove ONE way or the other.  My CPU is simply not performing.  Its not virtual memory, its not the ram, I don't have too many apps running.  

I have replaced the CPU, motherboard and video card.  still the same.  

Does anyone know of an Operating System Independant CPU benchmarking tool?  So I can boot to the Benchmark tool without any operating system interference?  Because everything I am doing tells me this is a hardware problem but I am running out of parts to replace.  

ThanxIts a mobile P4 2.8 ghzHow can you say its your cpu or hardware when you said you have replaced it. need more info on the specs of your computer and when this problem started. Whats it run like in safemode. Quote

How can you say its your cpu or hardware when you said you have replaced it. need more info on the specs of your computer and when this problem started. Whats it run like in safemode.

I have a HDD that appears in Device Manager, but windows xp doesn't ASSIGN a drive letter. tried installing in a new system but xp is unable to format the drive. anything i can do or is it a BIN job?Try running chkdsk /r from a command line, use recovery console if you have the XP disc.

This will let you know if it finds any errors.
If you have a bootable DOS disc or Windows 98 disc try fdisk and creating a Pirmary Dos partition.

If it FAILS to verify drive integrity then it's a bin job.Thanks for the help, drive is dead.LR:

LAST ditch effort to save data on the drive:

Place it in a sealed bag in the freezer over NIGHT.  Take it out the next day and install it as a slave in a system with Windows installed on the master drive.  If Windows is able to read the drive, copy as many files as you are able to the master drive before the slave drive grinds to a halt again.  

Best regards,
Doc

I try and start my PC and get this screen everytime. " award boot block v6.0

scanning bios IMAGE on hardrive. . .

but thats is all it does. I waited all day and STILL it was saying same thing. I cant get into bios or anything. I have hit the restart button 2000 times and finally it booted. but when i had to restart pc from a freeze up it has returned to that screen and message again " scanning bios image in hardrive". Help me plz!!!Bump!!!Try it with different hard disk.How did this happen?  Were you trying to flash a new BIOS?I did not try any bios flash. It just happened over night. Woke up and turned my pc on as usual but got the message stated above. I havent turned my pc off since I posted for help, (im scared to ). Its strange this hasnt happened toanyone else. Just my luck. my specs are : Systemax AMD Atlon 64 BIT 3000+,windows xp home, 512mb ddr333 pc2700 dimm,hdd 80gb 7.2k ata100, radeon 9200se-8x 128 ddr sv RCA,dvd rw. this pc is 12 months old. never had any problem before this. I have tried taking out the battery to reset the bios but no luck. have wiped my HD and reinstalled windows and no luck. If anyone has had this problem or might know what causes the bios scan to freeze or why its scanning the image in the first place please post it here. : ) )  tyvm for any help.

Hey,
Ive had this problem with my comp since Ive gotten it, After sometimes 5 minutes and other times up to 2 hours the audio STOPS and the video slows down.
Ive got a video card that came on the mother board, and I was WONDERING if there are any settings in Win XP that I can change to up the video memory maybe?
Any other suggestions??
thanks...
Video card came on the motherboard as in.... Integrated?  Or as in they bundled a video card into the package you bought?  Well, either way, CHANGING video memory size (Shared memory for integrated...  AGP Aperture Size for AGP) isn't done in WINDOWS...  You have to go into BIOS (Press Delete while you boot up) and change the settings...The video card is intergrated....
What setting should I change in the Bios?? and in which DIRECTION???
thanks again...

Hi.
I have a LEXMARK X73 Printer,
It was working OK but now whenever I ask to print, I get message = Spooler subsystem Appl not functioning. What am I to do? Pl advise
What operating is this.?........it would nice for guests/ users/vistors with problems to fill a forum displaying the info we need before posting....?no malice INTENDED to the POSTER....It is Windows XP Professional
You should run the scans to be sure...

W32/Sdbot-JZ is a worm which attempts to SPREAD to remote network shares. It
ALSO contains backdoor Trojan functionality, allowing unauthorised remote access
to the infected computer via IRC channels while running in the background as a service process.
W32/Sdbot-JZ copies itself to the Windows system folder as spoolv.exe and
creates entries in the registry at the following locations to run itself on system startup:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\
Spooler SubSystem App
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices\
Spooler SubSystem App
W32/Sdbot-JZ spreads to network shares with weak passwords as a result of the
backdoor Trojan element receiving the appropriate command from a remote user.
W32/Sdbot-JZ may attempt to terminate certain processes.
W32/Sdbot-JZ may also attempt to log user keystrokes and Window text to a file.

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

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

I have a Creative Sound Blaster Live! Value soundcard which was working fine on my WinXP machine all the while.
Recently the output sound quality has become noisy, thus I suspect the soundcard is failing. I got another soundcard to test on my COMPUTER and it was proven that the Creative one is failing.
But as I put back the Creative soundcard, the Win XP detected it as a new hardware but yet couldn't find any driver for it. I tried to RUN the driver installer downloaded long ago but it didn't work - no Creative soundcard was detected. Get the latest driver from Creative but still same. Read through the FORUM in Creative site and found out that many users are facing the same problem even with a new soundcard. Tried to email the Support team but my card is out of warranty and they don't provide support anymore.
Tried to extract the driver from the installer and install manually but Windows frozen during the logo page. Remove the soundcard and Windows works fine again.
Anyone has any idea?
I don't remember I had any problem installing it long ago...The driver I have for my Creative Sound Blaster Card is LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG).exe

Is this the same one that you are using?

DRIVERSThat is the one that I tried to install but it returned "...no Creative soundcard is detected....

Anyway, it is working fine now...(wonder why? me too!)
I was just take out the card to try on another computer, but before I got to do that, I put back the card and this time Windows could detect it and install the driver by itself. After that, I was able to install the LiveDriverPack driver...and strangely, the "noise" has gone this time...the soundcard is working perfectly again...

I am really curious and couldn't understand what was happening...defective?  

There could have been dust bunnies on the card and or in the slot that got dislodged from pulling and re-seating it 2 or 3 times...
I've seen STRANGER things, Believe Me !

patio.   Quote

That is the one that I tried to install but it returned "...no Creative soundcard is detected....

Anyway, it is working fine now...(wonder why? me too!)
I was just take out the card to try on another computer, but before I got to do that, I put back the card and this time Windows could detect it and install the driver by itself. After that, I was able to install the LiveDriverPack driver...and strangely, the "noise" has gone this time...the soundcard is working perfectly again...

I am really curious and couldn't understand what was happening...defective?

My contacts never deteriorate, they are hermetically sealed with cigarette smoke & coffee fumes.  

I have windows xp and WANT DSL HIGH SPEED internet.  What is the best network card to install?Anything really, just make sure it's at least 10/100 mbps.  Don't buy second hand.  I prefer 3-Com cards but that's just a preference.  D-Link and linksys are also good.  

If you can buy a 10/100/1000 card buy it.  Go here to take a look at some cards.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?majorcatid=105&minorcatid=1004Thank You.You're welcome.Is the RJ-45 connector port a standard port on the network card?Yes.  Which is for CAT5 cables.  I'm assuming you're switching from dial up.  Correct?  So you'll need to buy new cables, you won't be able to use the old RJ-11 connectors in the new network card.

Thanks.  The telephone company told me that they will hookup an external modem and supplies the cable.  Thanks again.Usually local computer stores have drawers full of used network cards and will give em away  or for a dollar.  SC

Just wondering if anyone could help me, i just built a new system: p5gdc deluxe mobo, 3.2 ghz p4 CPU, nVidia 6800GS vid card, 250gb western digital sata hard drive, 8x dvd burner, 52x cd burner, 1GB DDR2 533 RAM, and a new antec sonata 2 450w PSU case... i put everything together and now when i try to boot the computer up, it stayed on for about 30 seconds and then shut itself down, everything ran fine up to that point, now, the CPU fan isn't all the way fastened onto the mobo, with the socket 775 CPUs the fan goes around the outside of the CPU on the mobo, and i can't get all the fasteners into place, i can get 3 of them into place, but NEVER the 4TH... so do you think it could be that the thermal compound isn't evenly distributed over the CPU and it's heating up and the computer is shutting down? i've retried putting the heatsink/fan on and no luck... i also noticed that the thermal compound is looking really thin under there, could it be that i need more compound on there? thanks for any help,
MIKEAre you able to turn it STRAIGHT back on?
Can you get into the BIOS and check the hardware monitor to see whet the cpu is running at?

I would say if it has FOUR tabs then you need to use all of them, it wont be dispersing the heat properly and if it heats too much can fry your cpu.
You shouldn't need too much compound, and with even pressure it will distribute itself properly.

Try clamping the fasteners in criss cross patterns, and alternate which one you start with if it doesn't work the first time.Michael Olson.....Without being there and seeing whats going on ...it sounds like the CPU isnt properly seated in the socket ......and the overtemp sensor is shutting things down ...... Have you doublechecked the pins on the PROCESSOR to be certain the one or more aren't distorted or bent slightly ...preventing the CPU from seating properly .   The thermal paste should be applied evenly according to the manufacturers recomendation.

let us know

dl65  Maybe a look here may help>http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/product.php?productid=18721

or dabs .com/scan......ukIf the cpu isnt in place and the heatsink and fan isnt seated right, you will get this problem.More thermal goo can make it actually run hotter than cooler. Of course getting everything properly attached is a MUST!

Every time i try to load up my usb drive it gives me a 'request failed becasue of I/0 device error.' what does this mean and how do i fix it? it's a San Disk cruzer mini is that helps.What OP system are you using?if by op you mean operating system i'm using windows 2000Do other USB devices work on that port?yesDid you read the INSTRUCTION manual?  Some USB devices want  their drivers installed first before you plug it in and if you plug  the device in w/o the driver, it'll give you problems.  I had a USB printer that did that to me.   no, it has worked before, but all of a sudden it won't workdid you have anything else installed in that port? have you tried a different one? was it originally in a different one. I have a webcam that only LIKES to use the front bottom USBi've never tried another usb drive in that port. i know its not the usb drive because it WORKS on other computers. i don't know if anything else has been installed in that port, do you know of any way that i could check? and would uninstalling it solve my PROBLEM?

Hello, i built my own computer off various parts from various places. It ran find for a few months but then began getting random restarts, they didnt happen that often so i didnt think MUCH of it. Last night however my computer came up with a blue screen, but crashed half way through showing it (Sodding windows EH?). I turned it off and didnt try to use it until today, when it is doing either a number of things
1. It boots fine with the normal one beep but the screen dislays nothing
2.It boots with no beep and no screen and when you can only turn it off by pressing and holding the power button, or on the switch at the back, it did this before but normally restarting would boot it up fine.
3.It boots but then continuously beeps and comes up with an error on screen, something like Bios Checksum Error, Drive A No MEdia (sorry i forgot to write it down, but THATS pretty close. It also SAYS something about a floppy drive, which is very strange because i have no floppy on there.

Any help atall would be extremly welcome, im pretty sure its a mobo problem, but im sure someone out there knows better.Well friend. First of all, do take out the RAM stick out and remove any dust both from RAM and RAM slots. The out them back as they was. Not goto BIOS and select "load BIOS default".
Now restart. I do hope that it will start working fine.
Also check that CPU fan is working properly.
Do take care of you and others and be happy.
DeWrightyho ill go and do that, ill be back shortly with an update. The ram is different speeds and sizes, that wouldnt have anything to do with it aswell would it?Thankyou dr, that sorted out the problem with the bios checksum error, the first times i booted it came up fine, read the memory- but then it wouldnt go any thurther, stayed on the POST screen without displaying any of the drives. I reset and this time i got all the startup noises, fan, hdd, cd drive etc- but no beep and no screen. Any ideas? im thinking maybe power failure, i am running 3 hdd and a cd off a 300w.
Fixed!
The cmos battery was loose! and i reset it just incase.
My advice to anyone with same problem is to check ALL the connections.Thanks to everyone who helped!

Up until a few weeks ago my cd and dvd rw drives were working fine.  Recently when I put in a disk I can not open that disk unless I first open it in windows media player.  If I put in a new program DISC I can not use the RUN program because it does not recognize the disk.  When I try to look in my computer it show the drives but it does not read anything on the disc.  I've uninstalled and INSTALLED all drives and ran an UPDATED vurus scan with negative results.  Have you made any changes to your system prior to this incident? Also, have you tried ruinning a Windows Update by going to http://www.microsoft.com ?

[glb]Flame[/glb]I have made no changes and I have checked windows for updates.  My system is up to date.  I am running Windows XP.I too have this same problem,  with my cd drive, and with my dvd-r drive.  My dvd drive stopped working first, says no disc is in the drive, then several months later, my cd drive was not recognizing more and more cd's.  Now it seems to only read one, once in a great while.  I can hear the drives spinning, but then NOTHING, and it says no disc in drive.  I too am using XP, and have made no changes to my system prior to them going out..any ideas?I had this problem, had to get the drive replaced. Check if it is still covered by the warrentyCheck the RIBBON and power cables are connected securely in the back of the drive, and on the motherboard.
Playing copied discs can also cause the laser to unalign itself or get dirty, could be this but i dont know much about it, try looking it up on google.

I have a laptop, and while transfering mysic to my mp3 player it restarted by itself. I unhooked the mp3 player, and now my computer WONT START. I accessed the bios (which is the only thing that it lets me do now) and the hardrive name changed. It used to say Toshiba and a number, it says "[email protected]!#" or something similar. Do you KNOW by any chance what could be the problem or how can I fix it??

Thanks for all your helpIt sounds like that HDD has gotten corrupted from not PROPERLY stopping in the middle of a file transfer...
Depending on your OS and you're system specs which are not listed here you need to boot from either a floppy and or CD and run chkdsk /r...
Let it FINISH completely before trying anything else.
Otherwise you are looking at some file system recovery software (not cheap) and or a complete rebuild/repair of the OS.

patio.

does anyone know where i can GET some MANUALS on a toshiba satellite 1625cdt and a toshiba 2400 laptop, IM trying to tkae them apart and see if PARTS from one will work on the other, thanksGoogle.  TRAVEL Here...

http://www.irisvista.com/

patio.

I've shopped through graphics CARDS for my FIRST  computer that I am BUILDING and one of the things that is really important to me is graphics(because I'm a gamer). Anyways I've finally decided on getting an eVGA 78000GTX. But before I make it final I would like to know if there are any other good graphics cards that are under 450 (US)dollars.450 bucks!!.  thats a ton of green.  You need to decide if its worth it.  I just got a nvidia fx 5500 256ddr for 50 bucks and I think its great.   Buy a cheap card and bank your savings for college tuition.   SCwhat are you building.........what mobo/cpu/psu have you got.

Alright, so a "buddy" killed his hard drive in his PC, does anyone know if there is a way to install windows 2000 on an external hard drive from a win xp laptop ?? the HD was formated USING win XP.Null modem cable.You will also have to check the laptop maker's manual to verify if the MACHINE supports booting from a USB device otherwise you are SPINNING your WHEELS...

PATIO.

I have just installed a DVD writer in my computer. i plugged all the cables in (molex and ide) and didnt touch anything else. I turned my computer back on and the existing cd writer and the new dvd writer do not work. the cdrw is on the master, and the dvdrw is on the slave connection. Help me please!!!!!
The drives are also not showing up in device manager EITHER and it briefly said something about 'Code 45'

Bios is as follows:

First Channel Device 0 - [ST340015A] (CDRW)
First Channel Device 1 - [None]
Second Channel Device 0 - [ASUS DRW-0000] (DVDRW)
Second Channel Device 1 - [NONE]
Third Channel Device 0 - [NONE]
Fourth Channel Device 0 - [NONE]

First Channel Device 0:
Cylinder - 19158
Head - 16
Precomp - 0
Landing Zone - 19157
Sector - 255
S.M.A.R.T Status - Enabled
UDMA - 5

Second Channel Device 0:
Cylinder - 0
Head - 0
Precomp - 0
Landing Zone - 0
Sector - 0
S.M.A.R.T Status - Disabled
UDMA - 2
I can't say for sure, but some drives just don't like being a slave drive and can sometimes foul both drives.  Try the following:

- new DVDRW by itself as master.  Disconnect the old CDRW drive.  Does it work?  No, the new drive is BAD or the settings are wrong.  Why is S.M.A.R.T. disabled?

- if it works, add the CDRW to the same controller (same cable) as a slave.  Do they work? Done.

- if they don't, then something is wrong with the combination, connections or settings.  Make sure you try other cables and check for bent pins.  Try CS (cable select) settings if your controller supports it.

DellI'm getting my mate to have a look at it tomorrow and i'll get back to you with the result. I guess I'll just have to watch cable tv or go to the gym instead of playing source

RhysHow you enable SMART and USE Cable Select?

RhysFirst of all the REVISIONS you made in your BIOS list that you posted are incorrect...
First Channel Device 0 = is not a CDRW it's a Seagate HDD...

S.M.A.R.T is already enabled for the HDD, so there is no reason to change it.

The jumpers on the DVD burner are in between the power connector and the IDE connector...set this to Master and plug it in to the end of the IDE cable on IDE2 and you should be good to go...

patio.  

p.s. S.M.A.R.T. does nothing on optical drives so don't enable it on IDE2...Hi
Thanks for the info. My friend at school told me that I might have the jumper on the DVDRW in the wrong place, so I got home and looked and 'what-do-ya-know' , it's in the wrong place. I changed it to CS and all is working fine.
Add note: Is there any way to change the letter of a drive, as I have always wanted a Z:\ since my first computer.

RhysFrom left to right, connections on the DVD drive were Audio, Jumper thingy, IDE, Molexyou should see a white slot and things label MA SA SI Master, Slave, Single. What is your current setup?

Example:

Primary Master:
Primary Slave:
Secondary Master:
Secondary Slave:

Fill it in those order pease.I changed the jumper on the back of the DVD Drive to slave and all was fine. it was on master originally

I have a 7 year old Gateway that runs Windows 98. I recently bought a new Dell and I want to save digital pictures onto a CD-R so they may be viewed on the new computer. They are currently saved on zip discs. When I try to access the D: drive the error comes up " D:\ is not accessible. The device is not ready. " Options are to RETRY or cancel. This occurs when I have a disc in the drive or even if I click on the drive in the My Computer SCREEN. I updated the driver and it said it had the most recent one. Is it a problem with the drive or the process I am going through to access the drive? Nothing comes up when I put the discs in the drive. Thanks!The reason why it says it is not acessible is because the CD is blank. When it is blank the computer does not know what to do with it. That is why you use a program to burn the pictures to the CD. What program are you curently using to burn the projects?

It could be under the options if you burn CD LIKE music. You should see a burn picture options. Is your CD drive a CD-RW? Not any regular drives can be CD-RW. CD-RW was expensive back in the TIME. but if you have one back then then I envy you.

Can someone plz give me a link to a SITE where i can TEST my AGP slot?

Thanks in Advance Cannot be done on a website...read my reply to your other thread.

patio.  what kind of program do i need to use then or is it a program at all?What are you trying to achive, Try 2 different agp graphics cards in the slot, if they both dont work then you agp slot or motherboard have gone BAD. If you dont have another graphics card try your graphics card in a different computer.He's been instructed to do this in his second thread...

patio.  HMM helps not to double post  Thanks for the help BUDDIES!!!!

I have a message when my computer BOOTS up that says it cannot find the IDE devices. It looks for the primary, and then (failing that) starts looking for the secondary....I can BYPASS it, and it "tries" to continue to boot up, but ends up prompting me for a boot diskette. It is a wierd problem....computer works just fine, and then freezes (no rhyme or reason to that, either), and when I have to reboot, I get this "Attempting to access primary ide device..." message again.

I'm running Win98SE on this machine. The system could run much more, but it is primarily my "music studio" machine. System is a KT7 MOBO (I think...) with an Athlon 1.2GHz processor, 512MB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 64MB RAM video, Two hard drives divided into 4 partitions each (both are 80G hard drives). I built this system about 2 years ago, and have never had a moment's problem with it. Actually, I DID replace its power supply about a year ago, but it's been working fine since....until now!

If I remove the case, and tug off the IDE cables at both ends, and reinstall them (the old "RUB off the corrosion" trick), it starts right up every time. However, I'm not too long into a document, or a song that is playing, etc., when it just freezes up again. The reboot produces....you guessed it!...."Attempting to access, etc."

Any SUGGESTIONS?I would try a few inexpensive fixes before we anylise any furter...
1) Get 2 brand new IDE cables and hook them up to your HDD and optical drives...

2) Get a new CMOS battery part# CS2032 and replace the one on your MBoard...

Make sure when doing both of the above that all power is removed to the box and that you are properly grounded...

Then post back with the results and we can diagnose further.

patio.  Thanks for the reply....I had already replaced the cables, and have also replaced them (40-pin) with ultra-dma cables (80-pin) and I get the same result from both sets of cables...everything boots once....locks up, and then the same thing. However, I have not yet changed the CMOS battery, and that makes sense, too....I'll head over to R-shack today and see if I can get it there, and once it is changed, I will let you know what happens.

Thanks for being there!!You're Welcome,
Let us know how it goes...

patio.  You know what? As smart as I like to think I am about computers, it never occurred to me that the CMOS battery might be failing! Little things like date/time should have been my first clue!

I changed that thing today, and it's booting up faster, seems to run better, no error messages, no other problems....(for now). Of course, I won't "say" that out loud....you know how computers can be! (BTW, you were 100% on the mark with the correct battery number, too!)

Thanks ever so much for the advice! You are awesome! I have my music back, and my computer is behaving like new again! Thanks, too, for the "lesson"!

God Bless you and all those you love! And, have a wonderful Holiday Season!

JudieYou're more than Welcome and thanx for posting back to let us know how it worked...
Glad you got it solved and yes keep your FINGERS crossed.

patio.  

I guess it was about 3 or 4 months ago that this started I just assumed that my Burner went bad No Big Deal. I went and got another then I had the same problem. Now to help understand I am a truck driver so I only WORK on my pc when I can thus the 3 or 4 months. So last week a friend and I were discussing pc issues and realized we had similar issues with our burners. Now depending on what burner I have installed at a given point KIND of depends on which problem I have. Now My Sony CRX215E5 Xp will pick up It is in My computer and device manager, but it will not pick up any format of media(IE music,data, game whatever). When I try to open the disk it shows up as a blank disk. I have uninstalled the driver, reinstalled it. Used the Microsoft regedit fix, I didn't find any filters upper or lower. I don't have any Flash Devices that I am aware and I do not have Ustorage.exe. Although I do have Nero OEM 6.6.0.18 Nerovision express and nero toolkit installed. I have seen several people with similar problems but their solutions haven't help out mine.

Also I have a compaq UWAVE MB with an 850 Mhz Amd Proc 384 mb RAM running 786K1 Bios version


I went to start/CP/Perf&Main/AdminTools/CompMgmt/SysTools/EventMgr/SYS
Then scrolled down til I found an error. This is what it says:


Type Date Time Source Category Event User Comp

Error 11/28/05 2:51:12 PM atapi None 9 N/A Home-Office


When you GO to the error properties this is what it says:

Event Prop (Tab)

Same info as above date time type source etc.

It gives a description: The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort1, did not respond within the timeout period.
For more Information, see Help and Support Center at
hxxp://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The explanation says to make sure the CD or DVD is clean or makle sure that it doesn't need replacing

Bytes:
0000: 0f 00 50 00 01 00 a4 00 ..P...¤.
0008: 00 00 00 00 09 00 04 c0 .......À
0010: 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0028: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0030: 00 00 00 00 07 00 00 00 ........
0038: 40 00 00 0e 00 00 00 00 .......
0040: 00 20 0a 12 48 01 00 00 . ..H...
0048: 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 ........
0050: 58 99 dd f7 00 b2 ad 82 X™Ý÷.²­‚
0058: 00 00 00 00 20 d6 a1 82 .... Ö¡‚
0060: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0068: 46 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F.......
0070: 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

Word:
0000: 0050000f 00a40001 00000000 c0040009
0010: 00000100 00000000 00000000 00000000
0020: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
0030: 00000000 00000007 0e000040 00000000
0040: 120a2000 00000148 00000000 00000004
0050: f7dd9958 82adb200 00000000 82a1d620
0060: 00000001 00000000 00000046 00000000
0070: 00000008 00000000Will it read them in safe mode?
Check the Sony website, there MAY be a firmware upgrade available.

Do you have an XP disc to boot from?
Try recovery console and type in the letter of the disc drive. D: for example.

Once at the root of this drive put a disc into the drive and type in DIR.
If it lists files then its a software issue. If not it's a hardware issue.

May need to remaster.

I have a Gateway 400vtx laptop with Windows XP and my sound is no longer working. I have tried system restore, checked the volume, tried speakers and headphones, uninstalled and reinstalled my sound card (Sigma Tel-C Audio), tried updating the sound driver (there was no more recent driver) and gone entirely through both the Windows and Gateway sound troubleshooters. Nothing has helped and my computer shows all sound hardware and software as being functional. Please help! How can I fix this?
There should be a little wheel, under the cdrom drive, adujust it.Thanks for the help, but I can't find the wheel. Is it on the bottom of my laptop or actually on the underside of the ejected CD-Rom drive? Also, I don't know if this makes a difference, but it isn't just CD's that aren'y playing. There is no audio of any kind.Check the gateway MANUAL. for your model........the wheel.....is located under the cdrom drive on most laptops next to the the headphones plug -in......with out it turned on, you will not get any sounds at all.?Thanks again but I checked all over my laptop and looked through the users manual. I don't have a wheel. Any other suggestions???Yes ,type dxdiag in the RUN box..........have you disabled the sound.or someone has in the bios setup?or the themes setup?I ran dxdiag and it SAID "no problems found" under the sound 1 section (which is my SigmaTel Audio card) but then I did "Test Direct Sound" and I didn't hear anything so it now says "Direct Sound Test Results: Failure at step 19 (User verification of software) HRESULT = 0x00000000 (error code)" I don't think I've disabled the sound... As for BIOS and themes setup, I'm not SURE what that means.http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21725I tried this link several times and can't get it to work. Any other way I can view this information?Did the audio card come with the pc in question.Yes, the audio card came in my laptop. It's internal and I've never done anything to change it.Load the software that came with it. yawn?Yep, I've uninstalled and reinstalled it twice today.Buy a new laptop.



Another nice con PEOPLE fell into the trap.......i would invest my cash into a moble phone....bfnOk. Well thanks anyway

Hello friends how are all of you? I just want to know that if I have Geniun Intel Board, Intel 810e CHIPSET and Intel celeron 1.2 GHz processor and if I want to REPLACE my EXISTING processor with new Intel ORIGNAL 3.2GHz Pantium IV processor then will I also need to change the motherboard or simply my existing motherboard fully compatible with new processor?
Thanks...
Do take care of you and others.
DeWI belive you will need a new mother board, though i am not familier with the intel chipsets/MBO's

How do I reset an usb stick ( or usb external hard drive) to FUNCTION as an usb stick( or usb external hard drive) ?

I unwisely install bootstar while my usb external
hard drive was ATTACHED to the computer.
after I rebooted the computer it no longer pick up external hard drive icon.
however in 'disk management' it recognize it as disk 1 basic unallocated drive instead of disk 1 removable drive. I tried  to create a new partition with it but it return a error message.

please help.
Read the stick instructions. Also, go to the MANUFACTURERS web site, i.e.: xxxxxx.com ;- and go to SOPPORT. It always works this way.

I have a 2nd computer that I want to BASICALLY USE to upload all my cd's to and use with my stereo system.  I've already stripped off most of the unnecessary stuff but still have my Windows XP operating system.  My question is, when I go to upload my cd, it's running on the D: drive and not the C: Drive.  My C: drive has a 20GB hard drive.  The D: drive is all my backups.  Can I delete my D drive?  How can I GET this to operate on the C drive only?  I'm about to grab a really large magnet!! *LOL* Perhaps the Ddrive became the MASTER and the C the slave?  Would that CAUSE my problem to occur?  Would switching them help???Are you trying to copy the files from the CD to the Hard Drive of the spare computer?Well Music files yes .but i get a low mem warning all the time ..when i went to see why i found that windows was runing on D ..and not C ..C was the master drive and d was for my back ups .i am trying to get C drive back to the master driveSo there are two hard drives in this machine? And Windows was only ever loaded on the first hard drive? I am just not clear on this at all.

What if you just get off what you want and format the drive and reinstall Windows where you want it to be? Quote

...I am just not clear on this at all...

i have a computer with three audio 'slots' a green one with my speakers currently plugged in and two others for microphone etc. i also have a hifi with a red and a white socket at the back. theoretically i can join my hifi to my computer through those sockets, but i CANT FIND a CABLE that will do the job. can i get a cable to go from the red and white sockets to my green speaker socket or not? and if so wat is the NAME of thie elusive cable that i need!? thanks for any help- and ther is a problem evertime i post this *censored* MESSAGE!Radio Shack always has cables or you can try cyberguys.comAt Radio Shack, ask for a 1/4" mini stereo phone jack at one end (your PC line out or headphone out/green) and "RCA" plugs at the other end (for your stereo input/red & white).

Dell