Posts by Catweazle

Goodness, dlh! What on Earth are you doing resurrecting an old topic? Was the post misplaced?

Anyway, seeing that it's been resurrected I'd like to add comment related to the original question. There is really only one way to ensure beyond doubt that another person does not use your PC. Install a removable drive cradle to your PC, mount the hard drive in it, and then whenever you shut the system down remove the hard drive from it! If there's no system drive in there the PC cannot be used!

http://www.addonics.com/products/external_hdd/combo_removable.asp
http://www.addonics.com/products/mobile_rack/aenrhdsa35-r.asp

Password protection is not adequate protection against knowledgeable computer users. Password cracking tools are freely available for download if you know how to look for them ;)

It looks like additions have been made to DOS startup files which are stopping your system from loading properly. You haven't, by any chance, recently installed some old software have you?

Thjat entry relating to ULead seems wrong to me to be in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. I cannot understand why or how the semicolon and the pathname of a ULead program has been added but I believe it should not be there.

Perhaps somehow a DOS driver related to a ULead program has been installed and it's stuffed things up? I'm not sure of course.

But I'd edit out the final part of that entry from the relevent file.

You'll find discussion and editing instructions for the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files here:
http://www.computerhope.com/ac.htm

If you can access Safe mode you should ensure that Folder Options - Advanced allows you to show filename extensions. You can then edit the file from within Safe mode and try to reboot.

Have you reinstalled your Windows Updates?

You could start by reading this topic:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread13632.html

No, a SATA does not increase your system's speed to any degree at all. For browsing tasks you would not notice the difference, for games at best you will get a marginal reduction in load times.

Current generation SATA drives are bugger all better than modern IDE drives.

Babbage.. Google it ;)

Brand name PCs offer more substantial bundled software packages and also better support services as a rule. But they also offer less for more money in terms of hardware specifications.

'White box' or locally assembled PCs are the preference of quite a lot of people for this reason. Remember, though that you will need to factor in the cost of software if necessary.

There are two areas of concern to address with locally assembled PCs - generic power supply units and generic RAM modules. Many local assemblers will include cheap options for these, and because of that you may strike problems later. Cheap generic power supplies have higher failure rates, and are more prone to generating instability in performance systems because they deliver less stable voltage levels. generic RAM can cause conflict issues when you later add another module, because you'll be unlikely to match the make and model of the RAM. However, requesting that a specific power unit and brand of RAM be used is an option to take, and a particularly good idea if gaming is the focus.

At the very least I'd insist that the RAM fitted was a value line from Corsair, Kingston, Kingmax or OCZ. It'll cost a tiny tad extra, bit it'll be worth it. Many people get away with using generic power supplies, so it's a reasonable risk to take. Give the system a heavy workout when you initially get it, and if there are instability problems take it straight …

That procedure will also work if you change boot order in BIOS, boot from the Windows CD and install from there.

All you need do is ensure that you choose the partition to install the new Windows installation to, and the multi-boot menu will be created automatically as part of the installation.

Note, however, that this will only occur if you install anither instance of XP. If Win 98 is the other version wanted it should be installed on the system first, and then XP added later.

You've mentioned unplugging drives, but are you unplugging the power connectors from them as well as the data cables? You should disconnect both!

Also disconnect any cables from the motherboard for front panel items such as USB ports, audio sockets etc. You should leave only the power switch, power LED, and PC speaker connectors attached for a barebones system.

The signs don't bode well for your computer. It's quite likely that the power supply unit, motherboard, or both are damaged at the very least. It may well be that your hard drive is also damaged but you can rather easily find out by doing the following:

* Remove the hard drive from the system
* Change the drive jumper from 'Master' to 'Slave'
pop the drive into another computer as a secondary drive, copy your data across if possible and burn it to CD.

Of course, you may not have another PC there to use but adding it to a friend or work colleague's PC as a secondary drive is a handy and cheap way to do things. You can remove it once you've lifted your data files off it and backed them up to CD or DVD.

Your computer itself sounds very much like it needs to be inspected for damage by a technician, I'm afraid. I would certainly advise backing your data up off the hard drive before that happens. Technicians often have a horrible habit of formatting your hard drive and reloading Windows cleanly, and you'll lose all your data for sure if that happens ;)

We have a special forum section for Viruses and other 'Nasties' tony.

I'll move your topic to that section so that you can get the assistance you need.

It could be any of a vast number of things, but let's first ascertain whether or not a 'bare bones' sytem actually works or not, shall we? The way to troubleshoot a non-functioning system is logically and sequentially, not by willy-nilly guesses.

Just type goldenboy as your member ID.

Copy them to a floppy. When prompted to 'Press F6 to load drivers' during the installation of XP, pop in the floppy.

DDR2 requires a special motherboard and cannot be used in a motherboard designed for use with DDR.

Unless you purchase a system which needs it, there's not really any point to purchasing it.

Kinda makes 'upgrade' a bit redundant doesn't it? I thought I made that clear. Here it is again:

You cannot 'upgrade' to DDR2 without also purchasing a motherboard or motherboard/processor bundle which uses DDR2. DDR motherboards do not!

DDR2 is not currently really any faster than DDR. DDR2 requires a special motherboard and cannot be used in a motherboard designed for use with DDR.

Unless you purchase a system which needs it, there's not really any point to purchasing it.

When DDR2 was designed, it was not envisaged that DDR modules would get as fast as they have. The DDR2 modules only go a little bit higher in clockspeed, but have much higher latency than fast DDR modules. Balances out a bit.

A SB Audigy card is your card of choice, for sure.

Haven't been pulling bits in and out of that 'pooter with the powercord still live from the wall outlet have you? If power is still running to the motherboard there is still power IN the motherboard, and nothing should be connected/disconnected or else damage can occur.

Then Check that the drive is jumpered as 'Master' and attached to the end data cable connector. If it's set to 'Cable Select' it can be problemmatic.

Could you also please download, install and run 'Everest Home Edition' (you'll find it with Google) and report back indicating what your motherboard is identified as please, and also what make and model your hard drive is reported as. I presume by your comments that the system will work sometimes but not at others.

By the way, if the behaviour is intermittent then I'm strongly suspicious that it is a dying hard drive.

Check that the drive is correctly identified by BIOS from the BIOS POST screens. If it isn't, you have a drive failure and can start swearing now.

If it is recognised by BIOS, try a repair install to correct the problem.

Dude, if that thing is idling in the high 50s it's DEFINITELY running hot! No 'maybe' about it I reckon.

I've seen Athlon XP processors which refuse to work stable once they reach 60C

I suspect it is a software problem. The only way to be sure is to reload the laptop from it's Recovery Cds to original shipped state. If the behaviour continues with a fresh install, then it must be a hardware problem.

I'd suggest you visit our 'Viruses and Nasties' forum section to get assistance with checking that your machine is free of Viruses and other malware.

Dougie, if those other menu options are shaded and unavailable then you have a problem with Windows itself. You should ensure that your system is free of viruses and other malware (our Viruses and Nasties forum section will help you with that). Then you should reinstall Windows 98 by popping the Windows CD in the drive and running 'Setup' to reinstall Windows over the top of itself. That should correct any system corruption you have there.

Are Windows XP and Windows 98 on differenet partitions?

Now let me see. Your problem is that a benchmark test, when run immediately after you boot, scores 87, but when you running the test after using the PC for a while, it will only score 70?

Or is it that after you use your system for a while there is an actual performance drop and it becomes difficult to use?

If it's the former, then you do not actually have a problem. Benchmark tests always score higher on a freshly booted system than they do on a system which has been in use for a while. Even normal Windows usage 'eats resources' to some extent, and because of this benchmark tests should always be run on a freshly booted system.

I'd be very concerned about that CPU temperature. It's unusually high. I'm also curious about the statement you made regarding the fact that it has done this since purchase. Did it reboot like this IMMEDIATELY after purchase, when it was still in new condition, or did you use it for a while before this behaviour showed up. If it did this from new state it should have been taken back to the supplier to be fixed, as it was not in a usable state. Bit late to be worrying about it after two years :eek:

I'd suspect that the processor heatsink/fan has been carelessly fitted. Sometimes, if the heatsink is moved sideways as it is clipped down, the pad of thermal material between processor and heatsink can 'tear', leaving a poor contact and allowing excess heat buildup. Perhaps that is what has happened on your system?

I'd suggest you replace the current heatsink/fan with an aftermarket one. The best of the still currently available for price/performance, in my view, is the Coolermaster Aero Jet 7+, and the best thermal paste to use is Arctic Silver 5.

You'll find description of the procedures necessary in my article here, although the recommendations for heatsink/fan and thermal paste in that article are now out of date. Replace them with the recommendations above.

You should also be attentive to internal cleaning, airflow and the tidying up of internal cables. You'll find more information about that

Go back to the basics. Start with a 'bare bones' system.

Disconnect EVERYTHING FROM EVERYWHERE!

Reset CMOS.

Grab the main power cable from the power supply unit and attach the ATX connector to the motherboard.

Make sure the processor fan is connected to the correct socket on the motherboard or to a molex connector if it needs one.

Bung in a RAM module, in memory slot 1

Fit the display card and attach a molex power connector to it if it requires one.

Connect up the power switch, power LED, Reset and speaker cables from the front case panel. Unsure that all the front panel connectors used for this are facing the same direction. Sometimes even a power LED connector facing the wrong way can stop the system from booting.

Connect the monitor and keyboard, fit the power cord, and turn it on. MAKE SURE NOTHING ELSE WHATSOEVER IS ATTACHED TO ANYTHING.

If you've attached everything correctly, and you don't get a display showing the machine doing its self tests and ending up sitting there confused because there's no drives attached, then something's dramatically wrong!

If the hard drive itself has not been damaged you can remove it, fit it to an 'External hard drive caddy' (Google that term for examples) and retrieve the data off it.

Ensure that you get an external drive caddy which accepts 2.5" Notebook drives as well as ordinary 3.5" hard drives. The caddies plug in to your USB or Firewire ports, depending on the model you get, and operate the drives as external ones.

If the hard drive itself is damaged retrieving the data may be possible for a professional Data recovery service, but that could possibly be even more expensive than buying a new laptop.

Oh my goodness no! What on earth are you trying to do? SMARTDRIVE is a Windows 3.1 utility!

For instructions about preparing your system and installing XP read this topic and the articles I've linked there:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread6632.html

That isn't an old Windows 3 PC is it? If so it is most likely not powerful enough to run XP.

Shut down. Turn off the monitor and power at the wall outlet. Disconnect the monitor.

Remove the side panel from the case. Remove the display card from its slot.

Clean the slot and the card's edge connectors. Refit the card and ensure it is firmly seated in it's slot.

If it still doesn't work when you reconnect it all and power up, then replace the display card.

If you have the CD key write it down and don't lose it. Microsoft is correct - they are not obligated to provide support service. the OEM manufacturer that the license is tied to is obligated for that.

However, there is a way around your problem if you can find a friend who will allow you to copy their Windows XP Pro CD. The only time you will have problems using a different XP Pro CD is when it comes time to re-activate the installation. Follow this procedure.

* Install or reinstall using a copy of your friend's XP Pro, and your friend's CD key.
* DO NOT choose to activate via the internet.
* When you activate choose to do so by telephone. As long as the regional settings have been correctly set during installation, you will be presented with a toll free number to call.
* Explain the situation clearly to the Activation support person. Ensure that you explain that you have used a friend' CD to install because yours was stolen, and that you wish to change the CD key to your own during the activation.
* Follow the instructions carefully. There is a button on the telephone activation screen where you enter your own CD key and this enables you to activate it with your own license.
* If you are required to use the Windows CD at any stage for copying files to your PC, you can safely …

ummm....

Janine, you should not compare the Sempron 3100+ with other Sempron models. The lower rated chips are not just less powerful - they are completely different chips and MUCH less powerful ;)

err.... uummmm......

The computer store tested it and told you what was wrong. The CPU is not working. You need to replace it with another one.

By the way, there is no such thing as an "AMD 2.8 ghz 3200 processor" and if you have been trying to set the processor to run at 2.8GHz you have probably blown it up!

the 'No signal' message indicates that the monitor is working but the computer is not. Obviously if the processor is not functional the computer isn't going to work. You need to buy another Socket 754 Athlon64 or Sempron processor to use in the system. If money is now in short supply, the cheapest and best option to choose is an AMD Sempron 3100+ processor, which unlike the other Semprons is a damn fine chip!

If you have further problems please indicate which Windows version you are using.

OK. You need to locate the jumper panels on the original CD drive and on your CD-burner. You'll notice in the diagram above that there are 3 positions for the jumper cap to be configured for. Your original CD drive, if connected to 'drive0' should have the jumper set at the 'Master' position and your new drive, if connected to 'drive1' should be set as 'Slave'.

If your original CD drive is set as 'Cable Select' you need to move the jumper cap.

You do not need to use the audio wire, so don't connect it. You can use any spare power connector available - makes no difference which one you use.

Using '1337 sp3ak' on a Technical forum is rather silly, I must tell you ;)

So is adding pointless comments which are unrelated to the question or its answer.

Your problem will be with the way you have configured the hardware, not with the way you have installed the software. The CD burner should be recognised by the machine and by Windows without the software even needing to be installed.

CD drives, like hard drives, have a small panel of pins at the back for which you move 'jumpers' to indicate how the drive is configured. If you have one drive only attached to the data cable, it needs to be set as 'Master'. If you have two drives on the cable the one connected to the end connector needs to be 'Master' and the one connected to the middle connector needs to be 'slave'.

[img]http://www.laercio.com.br/site2/montagem/mont-13/hard-015.jpg[/img]

The positions for your drive will be written on the back of it, most likely with lettering punched in to the metal of the drive case.

Once you are convinced that the drive is correctly configured on the data cable (check the configuration of any other drive on the cable as well, if it is set to 'Cable Select' change it to master or Slave accordingly) then you need to get busy in Windows.

Uninstall all CD burning software that shows up in Add/Remove programs.
Reboot
Reinstall the CD burning software from your installation CD. You should not need to install device drivers.

People in other forums haven't fully understood the situation. 80C is far too hot in anybody's terms, because for most processors it's a level at which the thing will burn up and die.

Processors are a bit like people in that every individual has its own characteristics and tolerances. Not every processor of the same type and speed will perform identically with regard to overclockability or heat tolerance. As a general 'rule of thumb' however, when a processor gets above 60C it's most certainly time to look into the matter with some sense of urgency. If your processor is reading at 54C when it is idling, it would almost certainly be rising above 60C when under load.

Could you provide the following information from the Computer - Summary tab of Everest Home Edition:

CPU type
Motherboard Name
System memory
Video Adapter

From the Sensor tab:

Motherboard temperature
CPU temperature

CPU cooling fan speed

All temperatures in Centigrade please

I'd also like to know if this computer was bought preassembled from a store, home-built by yourself or home-built by someone else for you.

Try this page.

heh heh...

I'm not gonna hide it from you :)

Do any files show up in those folders at all? Does 'View as Filmstrip' work?

By 'turn off the computer' it means also shutting down power from the wall outlet, not just using Windows Shut down function.

Except for this one very important step:

If you have a large(ish) add-in display card be very careful not to damage either the display card or the RAM slot clips when installing new RAM modules. It is better to remove the display card, fit the RAM module, then replace the display card. That way nothing gets broken ;)

heh heh.......

No need for panic. 'RESET CMOS' fixes all BIOS stuff-ups short of dead BIOS chip

Remember, a 'Lifetime guarantee' only means that it will last till it dies!

There should be a setting somewhere in your BIOS setup menu system.

This article describes accessing BIOS setup
http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/web/723171C3DD82D725CA256E6D003D7A2D

This article talks about changing from onboard graphics to an add-in card, and includes mention of changing the setting for shared memory. The terms used and their location on the BIOS setup menus varies from system to system.
http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/web/663DBD30FF2CB96DCA256E2E002C5E20

Disabling onboard graphics will not disable the motherboard - it will only disable the onboaed graphics. Uninstalling the onboard graphics from within Windows and not having it connected will have the same effect.

You should check to see how much system memory is allocated to onboard graphics and set it either to none or to the minimum allowable by your motherboard. System RAM allocated to onboard graphics is not available to the system itself.

You should also be mindful of how much RAM is available in your system. A modern gaming PC needs at least 512Mb of RAM installed and available.

You need also be mindful that the 9250 itself is NOT a high powered display card - it is very much a low-end card. For good performance in modern 3D games an nVidia 6600GT or ATI X700 Pro should be considered the base level for games performance.

Maybe someone else will have a suggestion, but I'm not hopeful. I've come across a couple of motherboards which exhibited similar behaviour and they simply turned out to be duds, I'm afraid. If updating to the latest BIOS version didn't fix it then I really don't know what will.

Have you added a drive specifically for this? If so has it been prepared and formatted?

The install routine should allow you to choose which drive or partition you want to install to, and also create a multi boot menu for you.

Boot your PC from the CD and choose to perform a new installation. Don't run setup from within Windows. The new installation routine will present you with the appropriate options and choices

A 9800SE is a cut-down version of the ATi 9800 Pro display vard, with processing pipelines disabled.

The Arctic Cooler version 2 will fit some 9800SE's but possibly not others. Version 3 will not fit any apparently. Version 1 will fit but needs modifications made to the silencer.

My advice would be to purchase a different heatsink and fan to ensure you get one that will fit.

This particular Arctic Cooler model is the most likely of the range to fit:
http://www.pccasegear.com.au/prod1585.htm

Other good choices would be this Zalman:
http://www.pccasegear.com.au/prod1812.htm

or this Vantec:
http://www.pccasegear.com.au/prod890.htm

It'd be cheaper to simply get a copy of Windows. If the system was working OK before, the events you outline don't indicate a problem with the laptop itself - just with the Windows installation. Wiping and reloading the hard drive seems the best course of action to me.

If you have an old Windows 98 CD you could even purchase a cheaper 'Upgrade' Windows CD and use the 98 CD for eligibility verification. If your daughter is a student she is eligible for a cheaper 'Academic' version of Windows, which is the same thing with a student license.