Posts by Thinka

Cheers guys, some great points coming across. Will try ur suggestions and post back results

A Bug's Life

The base10 system of counting came about largely due to the fact that humans have 10 fingers and 10 toes

Hey, sorry for somewhat late reply, yes all the PCI slots are covered. A friend suggested for me to actually disconnect the chassis fan (the troublesome one), which I did. However this only brought up an "error" page when I started the computer, sayin it couldn't detect the fan. And also, the heatsink fan just ended up whirring away anyway and making similar noise.

I've been thinkin, could grease (or lack of it) in between the processor and underside of heatsink be the cause?

No problem mate, glad to help

Wow. You use Windows but don't run XP? What've you got then 98? I dnt think I'd be brave enough myself

Indeed Sittas, thanks. It's one of the things that Windows users have to get used to isn't it? Talk about, rave and criticise a new release, then wait about 3 - 6 months for it to get reviewed, patched, and re-patched, and then use it when there isn't a lot of choice to do otherwise!

Yea I did clean the fan, well the fan at the back of the tower, not the one on the heatsink. Will take it out and clean it again tho. Also I'm not familiar with "cover fillers"? Could you expand please? And I plugged back everything that was plugged on the old mobo too.

Which part "didn't work"? You'll have to be more specific. Also have you tried the other software suggested?

Hi Marek, welcome to Daniweb.

I would say, for the convenience factor get a retail copy of XP Pro. That way if you have a machine failure, u have a system CD that you can boot from and so on. Actually what you might want to do is call MSFT and ask if the Upgrade CD would give you the same tools (i.e. to repair faults, install Windows components, etc). For the extra money, trust me it's saving urself a lot of hassle in the future.

As for June 30, read here for more info. You will still be able to get copies for months still I suspect. And you can still get loads of support.

And as for SP3, if you're not into experimenting with OSs, then don't worry about that for now, just stick with the SP2 release.

Hope that helps, anything else, feel free to ask.

I personally like how the Word Document Template file is called "WORDPFCT"...

I wonder though, how far can you really trust such a list, I mean surely only Msft would know foru sure what these files are called? Or is it something that can be obtained from any Windows machine if you dig deep enough?

Hi all, got one that seems strange (well to me anyway).

I replaced the motherboard in an HP DC5100 tower yesterday. Got the new Mobo from HP so no problem there I shouldn't think. I installed it and when I put the PC on, I got a screen telling me about a drive - diskette error. It could see the RAM and the HD though. The error seemed to be referring to the computer not having a floppy disk drive, (which it doesn't), so I pressed F1 to save changes, and it booted. All this time the fan seemed to be spinning quite fast and so very loud. the computer booted up to the login page. At this point I decided to shut down, and then power up the computer again hoping that this time the fan wouldn't be so loud. I did, but the noise didn't stop. I then tried to see if I could load up Windows (XP) alright. This it did, all the programs and documents are on there, but so was the noise, and it was constant. In the end I decided to shut it down. I haven't turned it on since for fear that it'd be making a bad situation worse.

To describe the noise, I would say it's similar to the noise made by a switch, or more accurately, like the noise a Proliant ML150 server makes in the first 3 - 5 seconds after you push the "ON" button.

Is …

That's fair enough, that's as good as any solution I think. Sometimes it just has to be back to basics. "Bin all unecessary stuff, leave your machine as clean as you would leave ur dishes, room, living room etc if you didn't want to catch any diseases" :-D

Hi snorro, I haven't heard any more about this issue so unfortunately I can't help. Might be some crazy bugs flooding the net that can't be found or stopped yet!

To reduce the annoyance, have you tried using a different browser i.e. Firefox? See if the problem is reproduced? Also have u checked Windows Knowledge Base, Support Forums, or Yahoo's Support Forums (not sure if they have one but usage of Yahoo! seems to be a common denominator in these problems.

Also another thing, have u tried uninstalling and re-installing IE? Also a System Restore might help, to the time before the problem began.

Why is the default Gateway different than the DNS server?

Because the default Gateway is the router, and the DNS Server is the Server computer (i.e. Windows Server based machine)

You obviously have to solve the WPA problem.

I already changed it, but that's not the problem, the dialog box keeps coming up intermitently, about six at a time.

I'd like to see ipconfig with the ethernet enabled

Will supply that in a new post

It can't hurt to look for a firmware (My fault, I said driver) update from Belkin.

Gonna check that out after doing some other things and restarting the pc.

I'd be very tempted to set this router to defaults and reconfigure all the connections.

I would love to do that, except that the pc in question is in an office with about ten computers connected to the network, and every other one is fine, and I want to cause as little disruption as possible.

Road To Eldorado

That sounds like something Chuck Norris would do ;)

That is true, infact I also happen to know that Chuck Norris is the only person who can order a Big Mac at a Burger King outlet - and of course get it.

Hey, Ipconfig info is below:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : RECEPTION
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : domainname.uk.local
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : domainname.uk.local
domainname.uk.local
uk.local

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : domainname.uk.local
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Belkin 802.11g Wireless Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-50-15-E0-EF
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.64
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.10
DNS Servers . . …

Update: When I log off and log back on, WZC stays running. However when I restart I have to start WZC manually, even though the Startup Type is set to automatic...

OK, I didn't want to open a new thread because the problem is related to this one, but there's a new but possible related issue.

I was working through a server domain before, but I decided to just log on to the computer's domain instead. Now before I log on, a wireless PCI Card is enabled, but there is no ethernet cable plugged in. When I log in, the wireless connection rightly says "connected", but I can't browse the 'net. I try to see what network it's connecting to, and it shows that message about WZC not being on and windows not being able to configure the network. I click 'advanced settings', and see that there is no 'Wireless Networks' tab. So I run services.msc, and see that WZC is indeed not running. So I start it, and then try to connect using Windows, and it connects fine, and I can browse fine.

Why was WZC not started automatically? It's a Belkin Network Adapter and it does come with a utility, but it's not used.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

if you get a 169 Ip address it can be fixed, but if the fix resort back to the 169 then the card is definitely fried. is this card on board or PCI.

I'm not so sure now you know. To explain let me give a little bit more background information.

The computer was recently added to an office server domain. The users are added as "ordinary" users. When I started the thread, it was because as I said, when both the ethernet cable and the NIC were enabled and physically connected to the computer, the icon for the wireless connection would show that it was connected to the internet, but the icon for the ethernet connection would show that it was "acquiring network address".

Now as I mentioned in another earlier post, I left it for a while, and only went back to try it out yesterday. When I did this, It was to log in as another (ordinary) user. Then a new problem was discovered. Note that at this point the ethernet cable had been disconnected, the wireless card still of course left in, and enabled. When the user tried to connect to the network/internet, it connects, then disconnects, then reconnects withing the space of ten seconds, and keeps doing this. On the back of the tower, the green and amber lights in the back of the card are off one second, on the next, and so on. So drawing from that behaviour, one could say …

Hey hughv, so can you englighten me on something then please: Is there or isn't there a consequence of having both a wired and wireless connection enabled on a computer, to the same network?

I'll post ipconfig /all details once I regain access to the PC, that's why I haven't replied all this while.

Hey there, have you checked the Microsoft website, or maybe given them a call? I can't think of any other way to get your bootmgr, oh, or Dell. Sorry can't be of much help.

It would appear that I am dealing with a computer that is working contrary to the widely accepted notion that wired connections are more reliable than wireless ones.

The computer is normally connects to the network wireless using a Belkin Adapter. No problems there. However I needed to hardwire it to the network for work purposes and so I plugged in the cat5e to the router and then to the computer, and of course disabled the wireless adapter. And there the problem starts, because the Ethernet adapter is stuck on "Acquiring Network Address". And even when it's saying that I open up a browser and it sees the homepage, but if I move away to say google, I get an error in connection from then on.

I've tried repairing the connection through the Windows networking feature, and also using the prompt to release and renew (which doesn't work because it says that "no adapter is in the state permissible for this operation"), flush and register the dns cache, which seems to work fine, and I was also having a problem with clearing the ARP cache before, but I solved that by disabling and stopping the Routing and Remote Services, well service, through 'services.msc'.

Sorry it's a bit long, but I'm now down to just wondering whether or not it's a problem with the driver for the ethernet adapter (it's a Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit adapter). I've already tried to update the driver, but Windows says it cannot find …

Well done sag, it's one of the catch 22's of our generation, using the 'net to solve problems with connecting TO the 'net!

But yeah thanks for posting that, will add that to thinks to look out for when PCs go bad! Cheers.

Thanks for the response. While Yahoo! is my default search engine, Firefox is giving me the same re-route problem. I posted my problem over at the Tech Support Forum. I'll see what sort of response I get over there rather than pursue it on two different forums. Again, I appreciate the response!

Hey david, any more insight from the other forum? It would be good if you could repost any solutions so other people can learn from it. Cheers.

I've done all of that...several times. Also, I've run all sorts of antivirus/spyware software many, many times. Never with any results.

Wow sag, that sounds like a real bummer. The only other thing that I can think of, is to connect your computer to a network physically (i.e. use an ethernet cable) at home. Try that and see if the problems still occur. It's a possibility that we're looking at a faulty adapter, or network drivers of some sort. I know I dealt with a similar problem not long ago and the desktop worked fine when it was hardwired to the network.

Also, when I try to access Google through the search bar, I am rerouted to www.yahoo.com/cn.

Not sure what info may be needed... Just want to get rid of this pest!

Hey kornel, any chance that your browser's default search engine is yahoo? Also have you tried installing Firefox, maybe it's a case of a corrupted copy of IE? Same would go for you wmc1956. It is possible that the problems are one of a number that result from IE7 installations on various platforms and setups.

Hi Thinka

I've been charged with preparing a document that discusses the use/adoption of XML by Vista. Did you manage to find out anything about this question, and if so, would you be kind enough to send me anything? My email address is <email snipped>. Thanks very much for any wisdom you can share!

Abertawe

Hello Abertawe

Sorry I actually didn't find out much ore about XML/Vista links, mostly because I didn't need to, this thread was just a very ver small aside to a massive project. To be honest I would say one of the best things you can do is google something like "the use of XML by Vista" & check out the results, and contact microsoft/check microsoft forums, probably under developers somewhere...

All the best with it mate.

and the laptop did not come with any software at all.

Do you mean no operating system (such as Windows or Linux) or no applications/programs? If you're looking for relatively easily obtainable, "light", dependable OS, go for Ubuntu or Debian. Takes time to learn, but it is almost a guarantee that you won't be sorry!:)

It seems that there is a problem with Gateway computers doing this, as someone else on here has posted a similar issue. Do you know how to get the command line up?(I think it is start > run > cmd but I cannot be sure, it's been a while). If you can see it, at the cursor type in ipconfig /all and see if it gives you all the information you should have. If you're unsure, copy and paste the information on here and we'll see what we can make of it.

Might also be worth contacting Gateway's customer service/tech support team if they have something like that.

It has to be water. At home or even in restaurants, I like to have nice cold glass of water to help the food go down :-)

Errrrrr... nope!

...then coming across the pond...

In the UK, a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants – even, if she so requests, in a policeman’s helmet.

It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside down.

In the city of York, it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.

and finally,

The head of any dead whale found on the British coast is legally the property of the King; the tail, on the other hand, belongs to the Queen - in case she needs the bones for her corset.

Courtesy of The Times Online

Continuing to pick on Ohio, a state law says it is illegal to get a fish a drunk.

And elsewhere in the US, in Miami, it is illegal to skateboard in a police station.

Staying with Florida, unmarried women who parachute on Sundays can be jailed.

And in Vermont, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth.

The only US State that doesn't contain any of the letters of the word 'Mackerel' is Ohio.

A sparrow is the only bird that stutters.

Ugh! Mine is SO boring!

"Thinka is a robotic dog that plays MP3s!" I don't really like dogs, only the interesting looking ones, I'm shallow like that!

Zoolander

It's either that or "Gadget & Gizmos" depends exactly on what you're asking. If you're going to ask about how to get bluetooth on a computer then post in one of those forums I've said.

Alternatively if you have a problem with bluetooth on a particular machine then post in the forum for that machine i.e. Mac or PC, ME or XP, etc.

Hello knowledgelover, try Tech > Hardware > Peripherals, and post there, that is the most appropriate I think.

And welcome to Daniweb! ;-)

Ok, was able to get connected to internet here at work, but still no internet???

I'm sorry I don't understand... You were able to connect, but don't have the internet? What OS are you running on the laptop?

So you can chat... therefore you ARE connected. But you can't browse straightaway so it seems like you are NOT connected.

Is there any way that there is something wrong with the initial connection settings for the browsers, and that's why you have to restart for it to be reset? Have you ever tweaked proxy settings or such?

Also, presumably if someone plugs their computer in to the port that you use, their still alright?

Try going Start > Run > command > ipconfig /all and then checking that the settings shown are what they should be, with the Network adminstrators of your college.

Also when you say your parent's computer has the same problem, do they have it AT HOME, or if you use it at college?

Hitch

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I see... the pro ones seem to be considerably more expensive. Not sure that's worth it atm to be honest. I agree tho Chaky, beep codes and screwdrivers will never go obsolete. Might still consider a cheap ebay one tho, just to see for myself how that's different to doing things manually, so basically to see the benefits of it. Caperjack has already pointed out an important downside.

Thanks all.

yer its normally becuase people who build thier own pcs build them to a high spec with high spec components and so they need to be cooled correctly to run smoothly whereas manufacutres normally use the cheapest parts to try and produce maximium performance and rarely care about fast grpahics cards which require lots of cooling or multipule hard disks so the manufactures pcs rarely have more then one coolin fan (the cpu one) however i find this isnt enough and can often cause the system to run slow as its at the wrong temp.

Yea I hear you mate. Thing is, I've actually got a fan on the CPU, one at the back of the tower (presumably for hot air out), a little gauze/net area on the side (presumable for air in as the front doesn't have much of a vent, and even a small fan on the graphics card. So yeah, I'm pretty stumped, I think it's something to do with when the processor has to access the hard disk, cos if i'm just typing, it's quiet, but if i went to save a large document for instance, it would start croaking/scratching... very curious indeed!

really its mainly a matter of the quality of the fans that can reduce noise

I was made to understand (through other websites) that the brand of fan shouldn't make much difference, they are all pretty similar quality.

as well as quality and technology of the hard drive, a lot of them now come with quiet spin technology (or w/e that company decides to call it)...

Now I've never heard THAT before, that's definitely something to look into.

it can also matter on if you have lots of loose parts or if your cables are tied up nice and neat.

Yes in this case the cables are tied up properly, neatly

Plus it can be different depending upon the ambient noise of where you are, if theres lots of background noise, the system will seem quieter, but if the area is silent, like your home late at night, then you'll hear more...

Yea I did think about that, but no, I've observed the industrial towers in a quiet area, and they really keep the noise down to a bare minimum. If they didn't it wouldn't even bother me one bit.

cant tell you specifically though w/o hearing what you're hearing

Yea I know it's kind of hard, wish I could record something and attach it to the thread but as far as I know, that's not a popular option.:-/

Hello everyone, just thought I'd post this in the Windows forum as it's the most appropriate place methinks.

My question is basically, why are PCs that are assembled by individuals, not as quiet as PCs that are built by HP, Dell, etc? (I know that the ones from big companies are technically built/tested by humans [hopefully], but just stick with me here please).

Now some people may argue with me cos I'm generalising a bit, but it's just my experience. I bought a computer in 2004 that was assembled by a friend for a friend. And it was a great rig (XP Pro, Pentium 4, 1.5GB RAM, 180GB HD, 128 Nvidia card) i used it and loved it for years, but then last November, it went dead, and i never got round to fixing it... so when I got some more money I bought ANOTHER assembled PC this year. This one is an E6750 (so Core 2 Duo), 2GB RAM, 400GB or so HD. Performance-wise, I couldn't really complain about these computers, (apart from when I ran VMWare on the old one for Ubuntu, I couldn't sort out the lag even with VMWare Tools installed), but still, that was not a problem. My only issue with them was that, on start-up, whenever the processor was busy (searching for files, running a virus scan, or even just preparing to open up a webpage or to go to screen saver), I could HEAR it. There was (and is with my …

And whilst on the subject of diagnosis, does anyone know of any motherboard diagnostic cards that they would happily recommend? Or are these not needed if you have a screwdriver set and a list of BIOS beep codes??

No one has commented on this as yet. Any takers?

Ratatouille