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Hey guy my computer currently has 2 hardrives installed one of which is a raptor 10000rpm harddrive and the other is my older seagate drive.  I want to install a fresh copy of windows onto the seagate drive however my computer automatically loads up to the raptor drive so if I try to use my windows CD it will just go ahead and think I want to do the fresh install on my raptor when in fact I dont.  Is there anyway to ACCOMPLISH what I need to do?  I did go into BIOS to see if I could change the boot order to use the seagate but only the raptor is LISTED along with the cdrom and floppy.  I IMAGINE this is because the seagate is SET to slave.  Is there an easier way to get around my problem than opening up the computer and changing the wires?Try booting from the XP cd - you'll probably be given an opportunity to select the partition into which you want to install the OSChanging the jumpers on the hard drives master/slave is the correct solution.

Of course ,I didn't answer you question.....You do need to get back in there.Why don't you just unhook the Raptor until AFTER Windows is installed? Make sure it is jumpered correctly and off you go.

Sometimes the easiest solutions are the best.  Thanks alot guys I will start trying these methods!    Now I gotta go post  a topic in the hardware section about another little problem i ran into.  Building my first pc has been a great learning experience though none the less lol

Hello All,

I have an OEM install of XP Home edition(home built PC) with 1 User(admin) account for logon.  EVERYTHING THING was normal for bootup until yesterday.  Now upon boot up I get the security login window asking for the username and password.  I've never set this up and there are no passwords.  How should I proceed? Note: I cannot boot into safe mode since it ask for a username and password there too.  I also tried last know good configuration and still comes up with the security login window.

Thanks If you have never entered a password and the user name is in the logon dialog BOX, just click OK.if there was a password enterd the first time windows was started after install that would be the default password for the administrator account under safe mode...I've tried the blank password with a user name and won't log in.  Any other suggestions??

ThanxDO u have a floppy drive Quote

I have an OEM install of XP Home edition([highlight]home built PC[/highlight]) with 1 User(admin) account for logon.  Everything thing was normal for bootup until yesterday.  Now upon boot up I get the security login window asking for the username and password.  I've never set this up and there are no passwords.  How should I proceed? Note: I cannot boot into safe mode since it ask for a username and password there too.  I also tried last know good configuration and still comes up with the security login window.

I've tried the blank password with a user name and won't log in.  Any other suggestions??

Thanx

AWOL Again

My com shutdown automatically...
I will provide some info of my com: (cause i saw the scary flash show of "Posting and You")..lol
-window XP pro
-using avg anti virus
-using spybots search and destroy

i have try doing the alerter, but there is no alert and the com just shut down..
There is no virus detected when i scan my com
There is also no spyware  detected..
I dont think is the overheat problem..

what should i do?? to stop the auto shutdown...Besides a virus or hacker connecting remotely to your computer, a hardware or OVERHEATING problem MIGHT be to blame.  Make sure your computer case or laptop is not warm to the touch.  If it is, try opening it up and using a can of antistatic compressed air to blow dust out of the case and away from the cooling vents. While you have the case open, verify that all of the cooling fans are spinning when the power is on.   

Also, if you recently added new hardware, the wattage requirements of your computer might now be overtaxing the computer's power supply, which can also cause the computer to reboot.  You might need to install a PSU with greater wattage output.

My cooling fan is not moving when i on my com..do i have to buy another cooling fan?If you don't you will soon end up BUYING another computer.Yep.  Heat kills PCs.  At LEAST it is a quick and painless death for the system.  Hopefully he will only have to replace the central processor to resurrect this computer.

Thanks for the input... I don't have the CD any longer.  Can I download it [highlight]again[/highlight] from the WEB?   I can't believe I did this.  Do you think I should and then will I be able to fix my screen? The screen even travels all  over the place, wherever my mouse goes :-?

I already re-configured my computer.

Since A few days ago my computer has been acting all wacko. It first started when I PASTED a picture into word processor and when I went to PRINT the printer said something like "spooning" and suddenly froze.... for like what seemed an hour. Later that night I shut it off, and then restarted it. I tried to open Word Processor but it froze again. I reinstalled the Window XP, and yet nothing the same. Today a few days later after about a million registry cleaners and spyware cleaners, it is a bit faster and now I can open my processor, but I can't open the search application in my start column... and I do not know why? It freezes for a few seconds... almost a minute until I just let go and alt-del-ctrl. Could it be the laptop has a virus, or could this be something else?  : If you formatted the drive and reinstalled Windows then any virus is gone, if that was the problem. Be sure and disconnect the printer and all USB peripherals when installing.

Try again.I don't think he formatted. Try uninstalling and REINSTALLING your word processor. Quote

Since A few days ago my computer has been acting all wacko. It first started when I pasted a picture into word processor and when I went to print the printer said something like "spooning" and suddenly froze.... for like what seemed an hour. Later that night I shut it off, and then restarted it. I tried to open Word Processor but it froze again.[highlight] I reinstalled the Window XP[/highlight], and yet nothing the same. Today a few days later after about a million registry cleaners and spyware cleaners, it is a bit faster and now I can open my processor, but I can't open the search application in my start column... and I do not know why? It freezes for a few seconds... almost a minute until I just let go and alt-del-ctrl. Could it be the laptop has a virus, or could this be something else?  :

I have got a ws-2300 weather STATION and to connect to my COMPUTER i need a rs232 9 PIN com port my sony pcv-rx does not have this port so ive got a adaptor to turn my printer port into one. the SOFTWARE for the weather station only give me the option to connect via a com1 to com4 port how can i change LPT1 into com1. can any one help or do i have to bye a expanion card. :-? :-? i'm using win xp home.Do you have any USB ports?  Do you need to connect to a male or female connector on the computer?  This might be an option:  GWC UC320 USB 1.1 to Serial Converter Cable - Retail

Edit: Also, doesn't that weather unit also work by wireless connection?  If so, a wireless adapter for your computer seems like an option.

Hi. I've checked through the forums and FAQ and didn't find any answer to this, so here goes...

I was using EpsXe160 Emulator to play a game today, which USUALLY RUNS fine. But today, when I quit the game and RETURNED to the Windows Desktop, I found that the left-click function on my MOUSE wouldn't work. The cursor still moved, and the right click function works fine, but I couldn't left-click on anything. It hovered over certain options, but I couldn't do much because I couldn't click on anything.

I've tried visiting the Mouse properties by going to the Settings --> Control Panel but couldn't find anything that disables left-click, or turns it back on. I am using Windows XP. I don't think it is the problem with the mouse because right-click works and the cursor moves, but I am at my WITS end at how to fix this problem. As mentioned before, this has never happened when I used the emulator other times...

Everything else seems alright with the computer except the left-click function. I had to use keyboard shortcuts nagivate instead. I would really appreciate if someone could help me. Thank you.Is this a desktop Computer?If so why not go to your control panel
uninstall the mouse and reboot?

I'm running XP on my computer, which starts up fine until it gets to the login screen, when it becomes 800 X 600 resolution and 4 bit colours. I can log in fine, but can't change the PROPERTIES to a higher resolution. I recently put in a new grahics card, but that was working fine. Whats going on? How do I change it back to normal?Reinstall your video drivers and see if that helps.Did this happen before the new video card?I tried reinstalling the card drivers then restarting, but that didnt work and no its only happened after I put the graphics card in. But it was working fine for a while. Its needed a new processor for ages and I was wondering if perhaps it couldnt cope with higher resolutions and is reverting back to something it can handle. Is that possible and would a new processor fix it?What is the new video card you put in?

Did you uninstall all instances of your old and new video card,
then install the drivers for the new one you added?When my card died my computer would start the same way, sometimes, the other TIMES it would BOOT to nothing but a black monitor.

Your card could possibly be a dud (it happens to everyone at one time or ANOTHER).

I cant see how the processor could do this so its replacement is a purely optional thing.If your computer could handle the resolution fine with the old graphics card but the same processor, then the processor is not an issue.

When you go to the Welcome screen you say the resolution and colour depth is fine? In display properties, try looking in advanced > monitor and unticking only display settings this monitor can do or whatever it says. Ok that then look on your display properties again.are you in safe mode

:-? My cursor is in the BACKGROUND in only one website.  How do I make
it visible?
CindyMore details needed.
When did this START?
What happened before this started?
What website?
What browser are you USING?
What OS?
Help US to help you

i  have a  dell lattitude c-610 laptop  windows 2000 pro the audio from the  speakers  skips, breaks-up  also the video  HESITATES  as  the  audio  breaks  up when playing  radio  on  windows  media- PLAYER or  watching  a  VIDIO, also  the  cursor  hesitates,  when  typing, on  the  computer, the  letters  hesitates  to  appear  on  screen,  .........can  anyone  help  me  with  this  problem  i  have  tried  everything......newbe  to  the  forum     i  also  have  ran  the  dell  dionogists   disc  everything  passed   on  computer.   this  computer  has 768-mb- ram  1-256- 1- 512When did this start? What are you using for virus/spyware protection? When was Windows loaded on this machine? What other problems? Do you do disk cleanups and defraging? What files are you having problems with - audio CD's, or what? More details about the hardware would be helpful.i  don.t  have  any  other  problems  with  the  computer, i  use  the  yahoo  anti-virus, i defrag  the  system  when  it  need  it, have 1-256 memory  and 1-512  i  am  getting  another 512 and  installing  it  for  a  total  of  1024  it  started  doing  this  skipping  when  i  REPLACED  the  hard  drive  from  a  20-gig  to  a  60-gig  i  also  have  aol  installed  on  the  pc,  the  bios  has  been  upgraded  when  i  installed  a  new  battery, i  have  amplified  speakers  attached  to  the  pc, i  tried  removing  them  but  that  did  not  help, i  also  have  an  external  keyboard  attached. also  a  camera  that  is  also  attached,windows  was  loaded  sometime  during 2003  i  have  recieved  all  the updates, i  went  to  the  web-site  and  it  said  there  were  no  avaliable  updates  at  this  time,  i  don.t  have  problems  with  no  other  files,  the  cdr/dvd/rw works  fine  when  you  are  burning  cd,s  no  problems, it  is just  when  you start  playing  them  back  on  this  pc  you  get  that  skippinng, start/ stop. breaking  up  type  of  playback,  but  that  is  not  recorded  in  the  cd  or  dvd  you  are  burning,  when  i  take  the  cd  or  dvd  that  i  recently  burned  and  put  it  on  my  cd-  player  there  is  no  skipping,  or start/ stopping  as  i  am  typing  this  reply  i  am  getting  a  1-second  delay  in  the  letters  appearing  on  the  screen.When you reloaded Windows after replacing the drive did you load the drivers from the Dell site (UPDATED) or off the Drivers CD?

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/devices.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&SystemID=LAT_PNT_P3C_C610&os=WW1&osl=EN#

If you are using XP.

I would try a reinstall of the audio drivers. Also, check for running processes in Device manager and also use the online scanner at www.trendmicro.com

Post back your results.

I'm running Windows 98 SE with two HARD drives set up as primary master and primary slave. When I boot up the BIOS recognises both hard drives correctly, and the Control Panel \ System tab shows both hard drives are working correctly, but the slave drive doesn't appear in My COMPUTER or when attempting a Windows search. Is there any way to make it appear so it can be accessed in the normal way, or failing that is there any way to gain access to the files on it via ANOTHER path?

ThanksWhat does My Computer show?  What drive letters are being used for all drives (HD, CD-ROM, ETC.)?  Was this working right at one time?  If so, what drive letter was assigned to the slave hard drive and what has changed?  

Are both hard drives attached to the same data cable?  Is the master attached to the end of the cable and the slave connected to the middle connector?  For a reference with some graphics for illustration, see Install Hard Drive - A guide to installing an IDE hard driveThe drives are connected as you said, and they've always been that way - I haven't moved any of the connections. When everything was working properly the two hard drives were showing up as C: and D: and the CD drive was E:. Now the master hard drive is C: and the CD drive is D:; there is no drive E:.Have you opened your computer case and checked the cable connections to make sure one has not somehow come partially pulled off.  Probably ought to do that to eliminate that as a possible cause of the problem.  Other than that, I don't know what to suggest.  But, stay tuned and SOMEONE else will chime in.Free diagnostics are available from the appropriate drive maker's site. Let's make sure the hardware is  intact and then we can deal with Windows.

THey are both showing up correctly in the BIOS?

I need to forward port 25000 for a server that I am running. I already forwarded it on the right static IP,  passed the program through all of my FIREWALLS, even SHUT OFF my firewalls, but the port still wont open.

The most confusing port of it is, before, the port was working fine. It was incoming and sending connections perfectly. I then unplugged my computer and took it somewhere. When I got back and plugged it all in, now the port is not open.

I checked the logs for the server as well. It recieves incoming packets fine, but it can't send any packets out. It attempts to send them, then it GETS them back so it just KEEPS attempting to resend them.

What is going on?

EDIT: it is something with my computer that is blocking it. I connected the internet line directly into my computer, completely bypassing my router, and port 25000 is still locked out.

Did this EVER work as you envision it? Some programs demand access to the sound driver and do not share.

i was on the internet playing a game using my keyboard when i accidently MADE my screen turn 90 degrees so its on its SIDE, how do i reverse this? PLEASE help me !Hp and Compaq uses Ctrl/Alt and Up Down Left Right arrows.

Better to post model and manufacturer if this don't work. It's not necessarily the manufacturer that implements this, it is the video card. If that doesn't work, right click the desktop and look for the ROTATION properties.I love this trick but it only works on my comp so I cant mess with any of my family.... Quote

I love this trick but it only worksd on my comp so I cant mess with any of my family....

I recently reinstalled my Windows XP SP2, and it automatically assigns my sys/boot letter to D:

I cannot change it using Admin Tools (Local Disk Management)

I read the MS knowledgebase... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188

and followed the instructions TO THE LETTER (ie. Using Regedit and switching the \DosDevices\C: around, etc etc)... but when i rebooted, the OS got stuck at the Pre-loading screen (windows introduction screen) and refuses to GO further.

Is there a alternative, pref simpler, way to do this? Or can someone just explain why it's doing this to me?

I don't even mind Reinstalling my OS, just as long as I can be sure that it will be C: the next time i bootI've had this problem when a usb device or another harddrive is connected. The easiest way to do this is to just have 1 harddrive connected (just so there is no confusion) then format it and install your OS.Funny you should mention the USB THING, cos i had an error with usbhub.sys soon after... probably a confirmation of your SUSPICIONS  

And now i'm taking your advice and disconnecting all but my boot drive... thanks~I had a funny problem like this where I wanted to reinstall Windows afresh. However Windows setup thought C: was D: and D: was C:. Therefore I unknowingly installed 2 Windows on my computer, and not in a normal dual-boot way either. Imagine my suprise to restart my computer from the nice new Windows for it to boot up in my old Windows, exactly as I left it! With C: and D: swapped of COURSE. It alternated between the two every time I restarted. Very unsual, and annoying as I formatted the wrong drive! In the end I had to open up my computer and physically UNPLUG the other harddrive in order to force an installation to the C: drive... or at least what I wanted to be the C: drive!

Is it possible to determine the age of a Windows XP Pro operating system by the product key number?

I have what I know is an older XP Pro because I updated it to SP2 when I came into possession of the computer. So its EITHER a SP1 or the "Original Release", and it was updated to SP1 before my having it.

I do not have the original disk that was loaded into it. I would like to have something as a back up though.

I have found Microsoft disks with SP1, but I have seen a couple that did not say it contained a SP. Just said XP Pro.

I saw on Microsoft's site when I built some boot disks for XP Pro SP2 that there was a XP Home and XP Pro that had no SP and were just called "Original Release".

I have read the product keys need to match the age of the operating systems they originated from, so they will re-validate properly from a fresh install.

Well, long story short now. Is there a WAY to tell if my computer started out as XP Pro, Original Release or SP1?

I would hate to waste a good product key if I needed to re-install.

Thanks, Quote

I would hate to waste a good product key if I needed to re-install.

And yes thats what I was meaning about wasting a product key number. In other words if I could find a disk to match the original system that was put in here. Then I could re-install if needed and update the SP's as needed

I just installed a 1Gb RAM upgrade to my Dell Inspiron 9100 on Christmas day. Before then, my CPU usage had started being sluggish a BIT, but only topping out at about 60% or so. But with the RAM upgrade, my total RAM size is 1.25Gb. However, now my CPU usage is constantly topping out at 100%, most often when very few programs are open. I called Dell, but they told me that if I'd followed the instructions given, everything should/would be fine. And they left it at that... bastards.

For example, when I only had iTunes RUNNING earlier, the CPU usage was up to 50% (44% in the example below), but would sporadically spike to 100% for no reason. This is particularly hellacious if I want to, SAY, have Photoshop open while running the RAM-devouring Firefox. It could be said that I don't have enough RAM, but, as I said, that's more than taken care of.


So now you all get to help me. What can I do to fix the problem? ...or, better yet, what is the problem? Thanks a lot.

EDIT: As for my other specifications, I'll list them below...

Windows XP Home - SP2
Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz
2.299GHz, 1.25 GB of RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
Sony CDRW/DVD CRX830E
SigmaTel C-Major AudioEUBlink..........
Quote

I called Dell, but they told me that if I'd followed the instructions given, everything should/would be fine.

When i PRESS ctrl/alt/del my task manager pops up as it should but the the top header is missing so I cant click the tabs, it just shows the applications window.

This happened after I tried to run Saurbraten (cube 2) and it froze (im stuck using my ONBOARD graphics as my vga card is getting fixed), pressed windows key but the screen did not change, tried task manager and it still did not change completely locked.
Preesed and held the reset BUTTON to power down the system and reboot and ever since then the task manager has had this BUG.  

Any easy FIX to this?Double click inside task manager panel.That did the trick.
Thank you very much.

whenever my computer STARTS up, i see a red balloon type icon on the bottom with a message saying my EZ anti virus is out of date. when i try to click the balloon to fix the problem, it disappears. I'm not very good with computers, so i was WONDERING if there is a way to RESOLVE this problem? thank you for your time lazylexie ...... Have you tried opening up your antivirus program and updating it ?

The red balloon is LETTING you know that your AV is out of date ...........

dl65

When I run a program, say WINRAR, and I close it, it STAYS in the task manager indefintely and takes 100% CPU. When I opened 10 archives and CLOSED them, 10 PROCESSES for winrar.exe stayed in the task manager and did not end. This happens for other programs too.

What is wrong?  shadcrkd....... How long has this been going on ?
Do all the applications act the same way ?
What O/S are you using ?


dl65  This just started TODAY, right after I installed Windows XP Home SP2.
Almost all the applications are like this.bump..

I have a four or five y/o Dell P4 with windows XP.  It has been running great, however yesterday I turned it on and ablack DOS screen came up SAYING that the computer either had a power FAILURE or otherwise was not shut down properly.  It the asks if you WANT to start in safe mode or the last conig that worked or start as normal.  I tried all three, three different times and got the same result which is the Windows XP start screen which is Black with the Windows XP logo and the status bar on the bottom.  After that is DONE it turns to what I would call an "active black screen."  You can see that there is a signal but no info is being transmitted.

I opened the computer, checked to see if everything was in place.  I TOOK out the RAM and other cards to reseat them but the same thing happens.

I know the easy answer is to reformat.  I will reformat, but... as I do normally save all of my info on a external HD the last month or so I did not save.  Why?  because I am an idiot.  So I would like to get on the computer, save what I need to save then reformat.  Or maybe it is beyond reformating.

Does anyone have any help?

Thank You!
Sorry.  JUst read through some more posts and found my question answered already.  I will try those ideas.

ThanksIt's nice to see you've checked if a similar problem has been answered already, saves us some work

But for reference, could you please post a link of the post you are using?

Good luck with the ideas.Sorry about that.  Still learning.  

I tried everything that I could think of.  Any other ideas?just a suggestion...

This happened to me after I got my Dell and I had a friend from Sweden go through MSN messenger to fix it.

He found out my NVIDIA driver needed to be updated...
He went to the website and downloaded the driver update and
after that it was fixed...

I recently updated my Yahoo Music Jukebox. I've since uninstalled this program as a result of my problem. Before uninstalling (after the update), my desktop would display all my icons, clear (like it's refreshing), come back back with the normal appearance and automatically "refresh" again. I let it continue this cycle to see how long it would continue to do this, and it easily went 15 minutes before I did a hard shut down. When I Uninstalled Yahoo Music Jukebox, it seemed stable. My problem is that when I click on My Computer to access my folders, the desktop refreshes (almost like it crashes), comes back but does not bring up the drives. Any icon I click on that is linked to my folders does the same as the My Computer problem, like each attempt causes the desktop to crash.

Shortcuts to PROGRAMS work fine. Everything seems to work fine unless I need to access a directory folders. That doesn't seem to cooperate. I've already run it through the hard disk scanning tool.

Any suggestions?  Thanks for your help........Welcome to the CH forums.

I assume your Operating System is one of the XP variants.

Your system [highlight]may [/highlight]have one or more bits of malware installed, do you run Anti-virus/firewall?.

Click Start>Run and TYPE SFC /SCANNOW in the dialog box then hit OK.  Have your genuine XP cd to hand, you may be asked for it.  Sfc will scan your system files for corruptions and replace them from the cd if necessary.

Note: Upper case is used for emphasis only.

If you post back please give some details of your system.

Good luckYes, you are correct. Sorry, I had forgotten to specify that I have an XP.

Earlier, I installed the software for an HP Photo Printer, and my problem seemd to have disappeared.

Went out for a while and came back. tried accessing my folders, and it was acting up again.

I appreciate your suggestion, it's doing it's thing as we speak. I'll let you know how it goes....Well, I tried to Scan Now process twice, and I'm STILL experiencing the desktop problem,

Any other suggestions?

I appreciate the help... Quote

do you run Anti-virus/firewall?

I have three hard disks with two partitions in one of them.
I use WinXP Pro only.
I want to know what are advantages or disadvantages in terms of performance of Windows if I format a particular partition as "primary" as opposed to "logical"
 
Let me explain my question through two screenshots with two different cases (which are marked with RED boundaries). This is about the particular partition H:. In Case 1 H: is formatted as Primary and in Case 2 H: is formatted as Logical.

Case 1 (H: is Primary)



Case 2 (H: is Logical)



Now what I want to know is in what way is Case 1 advantageous over Case 2
and vice versa?? Again by "advantage" I mean performance of Windows.

Also you can see from the screenshot that Disk 2 and Disk 3 are set as active. How do I make them non-active without having to format them??This is extracted from here.

"The only benefit to making one big extended partition and creating all "DRIVES" as logical partitions is if you are going to use resizing software (Partition Magic, BootIt NG, etc). You can move, shrink and expand the logical partitions. You can move, shrink and expand the primary partition(s).

BUT, you can not easily resize a primary partition and move some of its space into the extended partition (to add to a logical drive or create another one). "

Hope this helps.And only one Primary Partition can be active at a time.Thanks Dusty & GX1_man for the replies.

Dusty,
So are you saying that as far as performance goes there is no difference between Case 1 and Case 2??

GX1_man,
Yes its true that only one primary partition can be active at a time, but as you can see from the screenshot that three primary partitions are active SIMULTANEOUSLY. What I want is how to make the partitions in Disk 1 and Disk 2 non-active.That is my understanding, but if there is a seek-time degradation with your setup it will be measured in single-digit nanoseconds.  Other considerations could be the type/manufacturer, rotation speed etc of each drive.  Obviously the faster drive should be one getting most use.

I think what GX means is that there can be only one active partition on each drive.  If you were multi-booting with a second OS on drive E: then that partition would have to be active.

Super Fdisk from here claims to be able to deactivate a partition.  I have no experience of this utility and do not know if there is any danger of losing data as a consequence of its use.  Take care.

Good luck

if you want to turn off the the entire hd you can do this in diskmgmt in the system 32 folder... It does not turn off individual partitions that I know of...

right click on the drive you want to make unavailable and go to properties click "do not use this device"


CAUTION::: I did this on my external usb hdd and when I restarted my comp and went to diskmgmt the drive no longer showed up so that I could turn it back on... after a little work I got it working by accident, ( dont know how) I think this is just because its usb drive.... if you do this to an internal drive you should be able to go back to diskmgmt and turn your dirves back on after restart but I dont have multiple drives to test it.... Quote

That is my understanding, but if there is a seek-time degradation with your setup it will be measured in single-digit nanoseconds.  Other considerations could be the type/manufacturer, rotation speed etc of each drive.  Obviously the faster drive should be one getting most use.

Super Fdisk from here claims to be able to deactivate a partition.  I have no experience of this utility and do not know if there is any danger of losing data as a consequence of its use.

That will be the case if you are taking about two different hard disks....right??
It won't be valid for two different partitions in the same hard disk.

Yes Super Fdisk did deactivate the partitions in the other two Hard Disks succesfully. Everything was done without a glitch. No data loss!!   Thanks a lot for that piece of info.

If you have a IPOD player, I feel you need a ipod video converter SOFTWARE, maybe it can HELP you Well duh, who are you REFERRING to? You need an iPod video converter to convert movies to mp4 format so that after you have transferred them over to you iPod you can view them freely. 

you can download from

http://chariot.tucows.com/files/AplusVideo2iPod.exei believe there are thousands of free/share/softwares able to convert video files

I am trying to Recovery Windows XP and I don't know what to PUT in for the "Which Windows Installation WOULD you like to log on to" question.

This is what my screen is saying.

     After you start the Windows Recovery CONSOLE, you receive the following message:
     Microsoft Windows(R) Recovery Console

     The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
     Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.

     1: C:\WINDOWS

     Which Windows Installation would you like to log on to
     (To cancel, press ENTER)?

Is there anyone who would like to HELP?
The only choice there is 1 so you would have to choose that.

Do you have need to do a repair installation or format the drive and reinstall Windows all over again? If the latter, you do not do this in the recovery console.I am going to start with the repair installation first.  The I will do a clean reformat.  Does that sound right?Thank you for getting me past the first step, now... it gives me c prompt and says windows in a DOS format.  I hit enter but nothing happened.  Any ideas?Have a read here if you want to do a repair install:

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

You do NOT need to do this first if your unltimate goal is a full format and reinstall.

:-?
HI,

Can anyone give some assistance? Each time I download a file or update without using a download manager, I get a file corruption,
The file is either empty or corrupts on download, any suggestion?
main issue is updating software,



Please help

Regards

Need more info, what os for starters? What malware PROTECTIONS are you using? What kind of internet connection do you have?W XP service PACK 2
AMD Athlon 64 x 2 dual
core 4400+
2.21 Ghz
2 G Ram

AVG internet security, system was corrupting before Anti-virus
I think you are infected with some sort of virus that is corrupting your downloads. What type of file exactly are you trying to download? There are several thousand (prob. millions) that infect the .exe, .com, & .dll extension of files.It doesn’t seem to matter what type of extension, I’m DOWNLOADING it is just not their or corrupt,
I have checked the system for viruses, with tools supplied by anti-virus suppliers and all checks out ok,
If I download using download manager no issues at all.

regardsIf possible try a different computer on your internet connection to see if the corruption occurs. It sounds like your connection might be BAD; if that's the case you will need to take up the issue with your ISP.

i have this new dell pc ..........that i got it from my FRIEND and he has this thing installed not sure what is this ......not aware of it .............

i would really appreciate if someone let me knw what this is ? :-? :-?It looks like your friend downloaded and installed a free verison of Microsoft's SQL Service Manager.  I think it may be the 2003 version, but I'm not quite sure.

For information about this software, visit the following page:

http://vidmar.net/weblog/archive/2005/11/04/2375.aspx

Hope this information was helpful.

Quote

It looks like your friend downloaded and installed a free verison of Microsoft's SQL Service Manager.  I think it may be the 2003 version, but I'm not quite sure.

For information about this software, visit the following page:

http://vidmar.net/weblog/archive/2005/11/04/2375.aspx

Hope this information was helpful.

The following link will give you all the information you need to know about what your friend has installed on your computer:

http://www.functionx.com/sqlserver/Lesson01.htm

If the "experts" were going to help you...I'm sure they would have replied with a post by now...

I'm not sure what happened but now I'm unable to launch html/web LINKS from my winXp applications. E.g. nothing happens when I click on some html links attached in the EMAILS from my OUTLOOK Express. There are some programs where they provide a link to their website when you click on the 'About' tab rite, now it is unable to launch the link into my default browser as well.

FYI, I'm using winXP with Firefox as the default browser.

Hope someone can help me out.
Thanks!!!!

akiden...

Can you provide any other information such as when this started occurring?  Was it working before?  Did you make any recent changes on your system?

Waiting for your answer...Hi Saviour,

Thanks for your attention =) It's very nice of you.
I've resolved the matter already. I managed to find somewhere in the net abt SETTING the registered file types in the Folders Options. It must have got corrupted previous and lost the association. I've re-registered the URL:HTTP file types and it's working FINE now!

Cheers!!!
You're welcome!

I'm glad you woked it out...Happy Holidays!

Quote

I did so, and we reformatted my computer and it's working fine now  

Well when I play final fantasy 11, my macros all use ctrl or [highlight]alt[/highlight] to activate, and they all work fine. Also, i can press ctrl v to paste, etc. I use tab in final fantasy to auto translate, and that's also working fine.

I just tested all of these keys in Microsoft word, and they all work fine.

Quote

I did so, and we reformatted my computer and it's working fine now  

Did you really format your hard drive or just re-install Windows, there is a difference.

Quote

Well when I play final fantasy 11, my macros all use ctrl or [highlight]alt[/highlight] to activate, and they all work fine. Also, i can press ctrl v to paste, etc. I use tab in final fantasy to auto translate, and that's also working fine.

I just tested all of these keys in Microsoft word, and they all work fine.

I know you just said you checked but, check your ALT key again just to be sure, open MS word or notepad again, and hold ALT and press "9" then "7". It should just display an "a".

I wish to move 1,000 jpegs to my new 1g thumbdrive I just received like hours ago.
500 have already been moved. Right in the very middle (just ironic that's all),
This came up: "Cannot CREATE or replace, the directory or file cannot be created."
Ok, I tried to move one jpeg at a time, each time: read above quote.

A few months ago, on an older thumb, I was able to atleast create a new folder on it, only THIS time
this verbage COMES up: "Unable to create new folder. The Directory or file cannot be created."  

So, I've got 500 jpegs sitting on my C drive that I can't move to my new 1g thumbdrive, not to mention wmv clips and such.

Am I MISSING something? How come I can't simply move these jpegs and clips to my new thumbdrive?
How come I was able to create a folder on my older thumb (which solved this problem), only now I can't?  :-?



Heineken...

You may be getting this error because a folder may already EXIST on your thumb drive with the same name as a folder you are trying to copy.

The first thing I would do, is make sure you don't have identical flolder names on your thumb drive.  If you only want the files you are currently trying to copy on this thumb drive, then start fresh.

Making sure you have enough space on your thumb drive, create a new folder on it and simply select all the jpeg images you wish to copy and then copy and/or cut and then paste them to this folder on your thumb drive.

Please post your results here.

Good luck!After copying 500 jpeg images to it, how much space is LEFT on the thumb drive?  Perhaps it's already full.

hello :
]I have one problem on bios when I start my computer I view this text for me (COMS STTINGS WORNG)
Try again, and post a LOT more information.

For something to do in the meantime replace the battery on the motherboard.With no INFO on your computer, we don't know what key is used to access your BIOS.  But, you MAY need to do this: press F1 to run set up and press F2 to load default values and continue.  If you do this and the computer runs normal but the message often reappears during startups, that clearly indicates a WEAK battery.thanks 4 you   very good ok

I swear I searched and I only got a thread about someone plugging a USB device back in and it wasn't recognized.

Here's the deal: I'm running Windows XP Media Center Edition on a Gateway 815GM.

I have an external hard drive running from a 2.0 USB port. If I plug anything else into one of my other USB ports, the computer will not recognize it. If I unplug the hard drive, I can access the new device. The propblem is, all of my music is on the hard drive and the new device is a Zune...I need 'em both at the same time.

Help if you can, or maybe just point me in the right direction.

And if you could respond in easy to understand terms, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Steve
Have you tried plugging something else in before the HDD?
Can you then access two devices at the same time?I have tried EVERYTHING. I read on another board that if you unplug the PC for 30 minutes or so, it would work, but that didn't help.

Merry Christmas by the way (or Channukah or Kwa'anza).

Merry Christmas.
Has the PC always been like this?I'm not sure, as I rarely had the need for two devices at the same time. You think it could just be installed improperly?

My printer is USB and it works, though.

Does your printer work when the hard drive is plugged in?
Check your USB ports and cables for dust.This is some info I got from googling. Do they sound like they're feasible?

It seems that many people are still getting the 'USB Device not Recognized' problem from time to time. UNFORTUNATELY there is no easy fix.

Firstly, it's recommended that you make sure every one of your motherboard drivers are completely up-to-date, but you probably already knew that.

In XP, after a USB port isn't used for a long while the USB driver built into the OS sets the OHCI controller to suspend. When you plug a device back in, it can sometimes fail to 'wake up' properly. This problem was supposedly fixed in SP1 but there is a related REGISTRY hack that may still be able to help.

Run regedt32.exe and navigate to;

HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Usb

Create the Usb key if it doesn't already exist. Under this key, create a new DWORD value called DisableSelectiveSuspend and give it a value of 1. Then restart the PC.

A long shot perhaps, but I recall having similar problems with a USB hub built into my Microsoft keyboard and adding this key seemed to solve it. It wouldn't hurt in trying .

Alternatively, removing all entries relating to USB in Device Manager and all associated USB drivers will force XP into refreshing the USB driver stack.

Begin by unplugging all USB devices, then use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel to uninstall any USB driver software. NEXT, boot up into safe mode and go to Device Manager. Once in device manager make sure 'Show hidden devices' is checked under the View menu. Uninstall all device entries in this order;

1. USB peripheral devices (printers etc.)

2. HID and/or Composite USB (Human Interface Devices) You're using PS/2 input devices so you may not have this entry.

3. USB Root Hub(s)

4. USB Host Controller(s) (Universal or Enhanced Host Controllers)

Then boot back into Windows (not safe mode) and it should populate the Root Hubs & Host controllers again. Proceed to plug your USB devices back in, starting with your powered hub. Be aware that most USB printers and scanners need to have their drivers installed first before you plug them in.

Hopefully some of this may be of help, let us know how you get on.

I have a FILE in my WindowsXP system that I want to delete, as it keeps growing, is a text file and I can see no need for it.  It is over 2 GB now.   Can anyone tell me if I can delete it with no harm to my system?  It is located in "Windows\Internet logs\" folder, the NAME of the file is "tvDebug.log". So, can I delete it? Can I Can I??

Thanks much for the help in advance,

Wiz54 tvdebug.log is created by the ZoneAlarm firewall.
It can be safely deleted.
To clean this and other useless/temp files, use CCleaner.
Very good at cleaning your system of junk, thus SPEEDING it up and FREEING up space.
Hope this helps.Let me guess. Your using Zone Alarm. That's what the file belongs to. If you delete it, you might have to reset or reinstall ZA but will not harm anything.According to Google, deleting the file will not harm anything.
It also continually grows in size unless deleted.
Another REASON I'm glad I switched to Sygate.

Hi,

I have two problems but i dont kno if they are associated.

1) I can't unhide any of my files anywhere. I check the "show hidden files" BOX yet when i press ok it reverts back to unchecked.

2) I have a WEBSITE that popups in my internet explorer browser advertising phones and ringtones i think in chinese. The website name is C:\WINDOWS\system32\#$#.htm which i assume is on my computer somewhere.

I run Windows XP.

Thanks for all help.Welcome to the forums..

From your post it seems your system MAY be infected, time to run scans and removal tools.  See here..

This C:\WINDOWS\system32\#$#.htm tends to show that the file #$#.htm has been installed on your hard DRIVE C: in the subfolder System32 of the Windows FOLDER.  You will have to delete whatever is calling this file be it in your startup list or in the registry.  

What anti-virus program and firewall are you using?

i had been using zone alarm but recently i have disabled its auto immune option because it inteferes a lot with my browsing. Thanks for the help.

hi

i have this bad problem   .... i have a SATA harddisk and another IDE one .... i connect the IDE using mobile rack .....

now sometimes the cpu detects the IDE and sometimes not .... (i am not changing the jumper settings)

it even sometimes detects it at startup and everything is ok .... then after an hour or so .... the cpu cant see the harddisk .... with the PC still ON

what makes this worse is that when the IDE HD is not detected .... the CPU doesnt see the DVD drive either  

so what could be the problem ?  :-?

Sounds like it could be a driver problem or possibly a FAULTY MOTHERBOARD. Do you connect the SATA HDD and the IDE HDD at the same time?You have not had a checksum error,have you? :-?

I don't know the age of the computer,or the condition
of your CMOS battery. Quote

Sounds like it could be a driver problem or possibly a faulty Motherboard. Do you connect the SATA HDD and the IDE HDD at the same time?

You have not had a checksum error,have you? :-?

I don't know the age of the computer,or the condition
of your CMOS battery.

i have just downloaded the everest home edition on to my computer and came acrossed a message saying smart hard disk status fail(when i clicked on computer then SUMMARY and it was under storage). i did look it up on this site but i don't really under stand what it means i have pasted it below can someone translate it for me
i have a dell dimension E510



REFERENCE NUMBER: CH000184
Receiving S.M.A.R.T. status bad backup and replace error:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Issue:

Receiving S.M.A.R.T. status bad backup and replace error.

Additional Information:

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a diagnostic method originally developed by IBM that at that time referred to as "Predictive Failure Analysis". This technology was developed for IBM mainframe drives to give advanced warning of drive failures. Based on this diagnostic, Compaq announced IntelliSafeTM, which was submitted to the ATA/IDE standards committees and the resulting standard was named S.M.A.R.T.

S.M.A.R.T. analyzes many of the mechanical attributes; over time, some failures can be predicted by detecting if the hard disk drive is moving out of tolerance. While the S.M.A.R.T. technology can detect upcoming issues, not all hard drive failures are predictable.

Some of the Major Hard Disk Drive manufacturers now including the S.M.A.R.T Technology in their hard disk drives are IBM, Western Digital, Maxtor, Quantum, Seagate and Fujitsu

Not all hard drive failures are predictable, but by analyzing many of the mechanical attributes over time, some failures are predictable and this is what S.M.A.R.T. does. S.M.A.R.T. measures many attributes of the user's drive over time and decides if they are moving out of tolerance.

Also see our S.M.A.R.T dictionary definition for additional information and related links to this term.

Cause:

Hard disk drive is bad or is going to fail soon.

Solution:

Backup your information and contact the manufacturer of the computer or hard disk drive for replacement or additional help. In some very rare cases the S.M.A.R.T. implementation on your computer may have issues of its own and may need to be patched before replacing the hard drive.  

Additional Q&A:

If I am receiving the S.M.A.R.T. error, is it ok if I continue to use my hard disk drive and do not replace it?

As stated above, S.M.A.R.T. is designed to detect upcoming failures in the hard disk drive. While it is possible that the hard disk drive may not fail for several months, it is still inevitable that the hard disk drive will fail. It is ok to continue to use the hard disk drive, however, we highly recommend that if you are still under warranty that you consider GETTING the drive replaced before your warranty runs out.

Note: Many users can also enable / disable the S.M.A.R.T detection through their CMOS setup. Additional information about entering CMOS setup can be found on document CH000192.

  

1720 - smart hard drive detects imminent failure

This error message is related to S.M.A.R.T and is an indication of failure. See above recommendations for additional details.
You can continue to use it, but it could suddenly fail at any time. If you do use it, backup frequently and get ready for when it does go.  thanks umm when it fails can i just turn my computer back on again??or when it fails will it just never come back again?(sorry i really don't know anything about computers) and what does it mean by hard drive replacement is that a big thing???and my computer is only 8 months OLD should it be doing this already???If it is under warranty I would contact Dell at once. They will send you a new hard drive or have someone come install one and then you will have to reload Windows, etc.

Be sure and back up what you need to before they come to replace it or you are required to send it in, WHICHEVER warranty you have. Do you know how to do this? Do you have a LOT of files on there?

If you do not know your warranty status, post your service tag (on the side of the case, or in the BIOS/Setup screen - F2 when you see the Dell logo. It is a series of 6-8 letters and numbers. This is not your Windows license number.thank you very much and i don't have any files that i would mind losing but i would hate for my whole computer to go(not done paying on it yet)You're welcome and do post back on your progress. The standard Dell warranty is 12 months. though some low end systems have just a 90 day warranty. If this happens to be the case, you may still have a warranty through the hard drive maker.

Merry Christmas.   Quote

thank you very much and i don't have any files that i would mind losing but i would hate for my whole computer to go(not done paying on it yet)

Hi, have a computer which seems to have massively slowed down, though i cant work out why.
It is 512 RAM, though i dont know the processor speed. It has 80Gb hard drive, COULD it be a lot is taken up with digital photographs? (45Gb used)

Some programs are expecially slow, microsoft word is painfully slow and NORTON security is pretty bad. the computer does meet their SPECS though.

Any help will be appreciated
ThanksIt's not your digital photographs.

Panda Activescan
Ewido/AVG Online ScanHow MUCH free space is left on your hard drive?  Ever run Disk Cleanup?  Ever defragment?  Is everything in one partition?   QUOTE

How much free space is left on your hard drive?  Ever run Disk Cleanup?  Ever defragment?  Is everything in one partition?  

It has 80Gb hard drive

(45Gb used)

Hi, have a computer which seems to have massively slowed down, though i cant work out why.
It is 512 RAM, though i dont know the processor speed. It has 80Gb hard drive, could it be a lot is taken up with [highlight]digital photographs? (45Gb used)[/highlight]

Some programs are expecially slow, microsoft word is painfully slow and norton security is pretty bad. the computer does meet their specs though.

Any help will be appreciated
Thanks

Hi everyone-this is my first post .A few days ago I noticed that the new email alert sound for outlook express had stopped working.The correct box under options is still checked and I have other sound on my pc so it's not the speakers etc. The only thing I can think of is that I have Yahoo messenger and the other day I  downloaded the very latest version to update it.Could this have  caused the above problem in any way? Any help would be appreciated-I'm a novec with COMPUTERS so need things spelling out vvery simply I'm AFRAID!

Thanks in advanceCan someone help with this,PLEASE?-it's driving me daft!You could do a SYSTEM RESTORE to a few days ago BEFORE this and see if that fixes it. If so, you will know what the problem is, ALTHOUGH you may have already identified it.

when i try to run some programs (i.e games, typing program things like that) my computer will not run them i get a message saying that the program has encountered an error and must close. Some of the programs i have been able to install and run the frist time but i had uninstalled them to free up some space and decided to reinstall them and now they won't run.i'm not really good with computers but i hope someone can helpoh and my computers only about 6 months old a dell dimension E510does it say it encountered an error or it PERFORMED an illegal operation? Also, what version of Windows are you running? Do you SHUTDOWN your computer by the start menu shutdown button or the button on the computer? Do you shutdown your computer every night when you go to bed?i have windows XP i don't shut it down every night but when i do its through the shut down button (under the start menu)although my kids have shut it off just by using the button a COUPLE times. the error message says
Empire earth.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.
and i have played empire earth before on my computer before i uninstalled it now that i reinstalled it,it doesn't work

How can I ENABLE the e-mail links in Outlook express?  They suddenly will not open in e-mail.  Could this be a Norton issue?  Anyone know where to find the area to enable links? djh55....... Why would you suspect Norton ?
By any chance do you have a POPUP blocker stopping the HYPERLINK from opening ?
Have you checked to be sure that IE is your default browser ?

let US know

dl65

when i run a small program like chatting or surffing the web my computers fine but IFF i run big programs like downloading on itunes or play a game on pogo or watch a video sound goes out and the screen goes blan like the computer is shutt off but the gree power light is still on solid green. and i tried defraging i tried cleaning and i tried turning off all power SAVE modes and turning off hibernation and standby. wat is up with my computer and wat can i do to fix itjmcic..... Is this something that has just started ?
More information about your machine would be of great ASSISTANCE as well.

What o/s ? , how much memory ? , What player are you using ? , do you have the necessary codecs installed ?

DL65  
If its a custom built machine then it could be a driver problem with your video card and sound card. If you have the disks, try reinstalling the software for your video card and sound card.

I tried to install a PROGRAM.. After  I installed the program it says

Code: [Select]It seems that you don't have write access to the WINDOWS directory. Please uninstall and re-install with Administrator rights.
It seems kinda strange cause I am the only user in my PC. I'm using Win ME. Is there some sort of default admin ACCOUNT on Win Me or what? Can you help me solve this? Hope to hear from you guys soon! Thanks in ADVANCE..  Is Admin the only account :-?
Have you been ABLE to install programs prior to this incident :-?what I meant was, is there some sort of default adminstrator user account? and uhm, I have installed other programs before this incident.. To be more specific, I'm trying to install a gnope php-gtk setup which can be downloaded here http://www.gnope.org/downloads/GnopeSetup-1.5.1.exe..Here is a discussion on the Gnope forum.  Your problem seems to be well known by those trying to install Gnope .exe's.  It's unlikely that your problem stems from lack of Admin privileges or ME and I suggest you post on the Gnope forum.

Good luck & Merry Xmas to you & yours..

I recently had a problem with my laptop where xp wouldnt boot, so i had to start afresh with an installation of xp from a boot disc. Now that i have the computer up and running again, XP does not seem to recognize that I have a preinstalled wireless adaptor )so i cant log onto my wireless network) and soundcard and speakers. what can i do about this? i WOULD be very APPRECIATIVE of your help.If im not mistaken the wireless adapter should have drivers and so should the sound card. Perhaps the laptop came with some sort of CD?it came with a few recovery disks but they always seem to fail when recovering, that is why i did the fresh installation from a real xp disc. would they be on the cd's though, if i explored them and that.... how would i know what was what?ahhuman.....  Often there will be a cd with all the drivers on it .
However seeing that you used a differant XP disc , I believe you will have to install the appropriate driver for the wifi card and the sound card.


dl65  thank you for telling me this, so then....

http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/notebook/tm_2420.html

i found this website which seems to have a collection of drivers for my acer travelmate, but what do i do with the drivers exactly when i have them? do i just double click and they will install like an .exe file? or do i NEED to put them in certain places, i get LOST with things like this. could someone please informahhuman... You should be able to download then and save them on your desktop , then go to either the wifi adapter or the sound card .....and then manually install the driver ....when it askes if you have the cd ..... say no look ELSEWHERE and then browse to the driver on your desktop and install it . [highlight]The drivers on that site should do the trick.[/highlight]
dl65  I am just browsing the laptop im using (so when i use my laptop i know where to go to get to wirless adapter). is it in computer management, under network adapters?  also, on the acer website is does not seem to have sound drivers, surely these would come from microsoft? thank youahhuman.....

[highlight]Realtek Semiconductor AC'97 Audio Driver 5.10.0.5830[/highlight]
this will be your sound driver  .

Open control panel /system / hardware / select device manager ........ scroll down to network adapters and click on the + sign in the box in front of it ....... now your adapter should be showing double click on it and go to drivers and install the one you downloaded .

dl65    dl65, you are a star. thanks for your helpAnd ALWAYS try to avoid Microsoft drivers. Use the ones supplied by your hardware manufacturer.

I am INTERESTED in rebooting my COMPUTER so that instead of booting back up into Windows XP Professional (the CURRENT operating system) it instead boots to a bootable floppy image file (.img) that is on the hdd.

I have two requirements:
1) I must reboot to this file that is on the HDD (i.e. no booting to a CD or floppy with the image on it)
2) I must be ABLE to do this automatically (i.e. no pressing F12 etc. on the reboot)

Thanks,
-darrylWhat are you trying to accomplish with this? What program created the image file? Are you EVEN sure this can be done?

Details could get some ideas.

h Hi,
 
My PC keeps RESTARTING. I have laptop and a Desktop PC.  Yesterday I cut all my documents and pictures from my laptop to my Desktop PC.  Well I used a flash drive to cut all my FILES and paste them on to my desktop.  Well my laptop works just fine, but my PC doesn't.  EVERY time I enter my password on the PC it restarts by its self  . Now that I want to get an old FILE I have no way of accessing it. I have Windows XP for both.  Can anyone help me.
 
 
Things I have tried:
-I have tried to sign in like 6 times.
-I have unplugged it from the wall  a few times.
-I have shut it off using the button twice.
 
 
PLEASE HELP ME,
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Delmy[size=12][/size]Can you boot in safemode and do a restore to an earlier point? :-?Have you actually managed to log into windows? If not then you can use last known good configuration. Restart the pc and tap F8, you should get a menu with last known good, on it. If you get a different menu, then restart it again and wait a bit longer before tapping F8. Once thats done it should boot upno PROBLEM. . . .hopefully

Quote

it DOESNT work  :-?

FORMAT C: /S /U (I typed it this way also)

Hey, sorry havent been able to check in lately. ironic really  

Yea i tried  C: /S /U at the A: prompt. it says '' bad command or file name''

(after i turn on my computer with the floppy disc inside, and choose option ''2: start computer with CD-ROM support'' this is my first opportunity to type anything)

but is it a bad idea to want to reformat it this way?

Hi. What'a the best way to find out the Admin password to Windows XP. I get as far as the **** box , but don't know the pw.  :-?zipcool.......  Are you the OWNER and administrator of this machine ?

If it's not your machine and or if your not the administrator , please ask the person who is the admin and has set the admin password if there is one .

The reason we are not giving you a solution is that you may not be allowed into that area for any number of reasons.

dl65  Hi. I have been asked this question by a friend who cannot remember the admin password for his 2nd computer. He has not used it for a while and cannot get in. He's almost computer illiterate and if I can HELP then that's a bonus to him. All is legit. But, he needs to find out his password. As I am in the early stages of computer studies he's going to give me the box in the hope that we can get it up and running.

Thanks
Zipcool zipcool ..... Have you tried rebooting into SAFE mode ?
You should contact your friend and have him bring the authentic windows XP over ALONG with the machine ...... and then if necessary the machine could be formatted and a clean install done.

Of course you have already checked these google results .....LOL

http://www.kayodeok.co.uk/weblog/200401/07/windows_xp_admin_bypass.html
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=173
http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=305
http://www.oreilly.com/pub/h/1511
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321305

dl65  

I'm having trouble getting into recovery eventhou I'm the Adm. and know the password. Any help for that?   SKSKelly,
Welcome Aboard !
It's probably best to start a new thread with your problem so the helpers can devote single attention to it...

SOMEONE will be along shortly.I thank you very muchly. My education in computers is blossoming as result of this forum. Bit scary though to know how easy it is to bypass Admin passwords. Think I'll chain a rabid bulldog to my comp.

Great links.   8-)

Zipcool.