Posts by Catweazle

What is the new system intended for please? Different purposes would require different components.

If the system is intended for producing large amounts of DVD copies, then there are only two realistic alternatives available:

1. Purchase a duplicating machine.
2. Contract a duplicating service to do the job for you.

If you intend to produce large quantities of different DVDs then you could add another controller card and more drives, as thespy has suggested, but as Alex mentioned earlier you'll most likely end up with lots of 'bad burns' anyway. I'm also unaware of any software designed for burning multiple DVDs concurrently or in unattended 'batch' fashion.

Best safety you can give your data?

Borrow a different drive. Bung it in there as master and install windows to it. then afterwards pop your other drive(s) in as slave and copy your data across or to CD. That safeguards your data files completely, and is the safest way to approach the job.

Installing Windows to a different drive won't retain your installed programs. the program files will still be in there but Windows won't recognize them. That only happens if you install 'over the top' of the current installation, i.e. to the same drive or partition.

Are they actually two drives you have, or two partitions on the one drive? which one is Windowws currently installed to?

Sounds like it, Syusuke. I've successfully 'resurrected' a seemingly dead GF4Ti 4200 before by removing the heatsink/fan and fitting a CrystalOrb heatsink/fan to it, but it's a fiddly job and not one for beginners. There's no guarantee of success either.

Looks like it's time for a new display card, eh?

Turn your PC off and disconnect the power cord. open up the case and find the CMOS battery on the motherboard. It'll most likely be a round Lithium cell in a clip holder. Remove the battery.

After waiting for a while to allow any residual charge to drain (longer is better, but several minutes could be enough) replace the power and try starting up again.

It sounds like the 'hard' power off might have corrupted the CMOS settings, and removing/replacing the battery should reset BIOS to defaults again for you.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/operating-system.htm

http://www.scsite.com/sclabs/menu.cfm

Those should explain it to you :)

And we'll just have to keep quiet about the fact that ole Catweazle is unmanageable and incorrigible!

:)

The 'Windows Messenger' problem was discussed at length in this topic:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=10420

I suspect you may have an infected PC. Some form of virus or other malware could be trying to take charge of your internet connection or even your phone service.

Try the advice in the "Helping Yourself......." topic in the Security forum section to see if you can get your system clean of such problems.

This certainly sounds like a virus or other malware infection. Try following the advice in the "Helping Yourself....." topic in the Security Forum section.

http://www.wellesley.edu/Computing/ResNet/P2P/limewire.html

File sharing is bad, mmkayy?

And bad file sharing software is REALLY bad!

Get rid of the USB modem and replace it with an Ethernet one is my suggestion. In fact, an all-in-one ADSL modem/router/firewall unit can now be purchased for not much more than the USB modem would have cost anyway, and that's by far the best piece of equipment to have!

Good idea. Make sure you enable the options for fixing file errors and surface checking before beginning the scan!

It might be a bad or corrupted installation of the display card drivers that is causing the problem. The procedure outlined by caperjack could correct the problem.

In actual fact, since you've mentioned both an NVidia card AND an ATi Rage Pro card, I rather think that it's leftovers from previous driver installations that might be causing your problem. It's not really a good idea to change cards from one brand of graphics processor (NVidia) to another (ATi) without starting over. Simply changing drivers doesn't always do a good job, and bits of the previous drivers get left behind to cause problems.

In your situation I'd format and install Windows again fresh, to see if the card works properly on a fresh install ;)

Coconut Monkey was discussing a topic about system building with me earlier. I'll wait for him to suggest some good help sites and then stickify it so others can add helpful links as well. I've a few of my own to add, I'm sure.

Watch out for it sometime soon ;)

MayDay, Service Pack 2 replaces just about all the files that make up a Windows installation. It should really be thought of as an Upgrade rather than as an update.

If your system already has corruption problems (even if you haven't noticed signs of them yet) you're likely to have problems magnified after installing the Service Pack. That is quite possibly what's happened to you. There's also a chance that some older software may cease to work. If that's the case, it's because that software is insecure or badly behaved, and its use should really be discontinued anyway.

Treat the SP like a system Upgrade. Install Windows fresh, install the Service Pack straight afterwards, and enjoy a fresh, clean system.

I've installed it on messy Windows systems and struck problems, I've installed it on a freshly installed system and struck none. And I've also installed it on a longstanding Windows installation which had been throughly cleaned up and was functioning efficiently, and had no problems either ;)

As Alex has indicated, using multiple drives to simultaneously burn DVDs would be troublesome on a PC, particularly on a moderately powered one such as yours. The idea is not really feasible.

Welcome to the newer members, and we hope you all stay long and contribute whatever you wish to. Please don't hesitate from posting your ideas and comments simply because someone else has already posted an 'answer'. None of us think of everything, or even get it 'right' all the time, after all.

The more activity we have the better! :D

heh heh.......

But let's not cast too much aspersion on the fine qualifications people have obtained for themselves, eh? Congratulations to everybody for doing so.

The simple thing is, having a Certified qualification isn't the be-all and end-all of it. There are some very necessary qualities that a Certification DOESN'T give you!

It does not mean that you are necessarily a good communicator. When people report a problem, their report is more often an expression of frustration than a helpful description of symptoms. To be really suited for providing assistance, you need to be able to effectively communicate with people from all walks of life, and in a wide range of 'emotional states', and also have the capacity to 'hone in' on what they're trying to say rather than what they are actually saying.

Having a Certification doesn't ensure that you are a person who has good skills with lateral thinking. Quite often, PC problems will manifest elsewhere from where they originate, and treating causes is always better than treating symptoms. Quite often, people will ask for assistance and advice based upon what they've been 'told' rather than what's best for their needs. If you aren't prepared and capable for giving advice directed at needs rather than specific requests, then you're not giving the best advice and assistance possible.

Gaining a Certification will help people to GAIN a job/position. But it's other qualities which will ensure they'll KEEP it ;)

…

Do you understand how to access 'BIOS setup' on your system?

Have a hunt arount in there and locate the entry for 'Printer Port'. You should have various settings available, and it's be best to try some others. You need a 'duplex' setting for that printer/fax/scanner, so if the port is set to 'LPT' then it won't work properly.

I'm not sure which setting will be the best to use on your particular system and for that particular machine, but it'll be one of these:

ECP
EPP
EPP plus ECP

Try this:

* Uninstall the printer/fax/scanner by right-clicking its entry in the Control panel applet and choosing 'Delete', and also uninstalling any driver software from 'Add/Remove Programs.
* Make a change to the setting in BIOS setup
* Reboot and let the printer port be redetected and reinstalled
* Reinstall the printer/fax/scanner and see if it works.

Repeat that procedure for the other available settings in BIOS setup, and you should find the best one for your combination of equipment. A similar problem used to occur for many people who used parallel printers and scanners hooked up in a 'daisy-chain' configuration, and I see quite a likelihood that this is also the problem with your equipment.

"How do I do that BIOS Setup thing?"

heh heh.....

I guess you're on Dial-up, eh? Took a few hours for me even on ADSL. But if your Windows installation CD hasn't already got SP2 integrated in the install, the download is well worth it in the long run. It saves on many, many hours of downloading and installing updates for future reinstalls, and of course once the Service Pack in its entirety is saved to CD it can be used with any system at all.

The 'WebUpdate' to SP2 suggests an 80Mb download, rather than the 270Mb download of the full installation. But that's only based on what an 'average' system would already have installed, and if you are updating a fresh install of the original Windows XP distribution, you'd need the complete update in any case ;)

270Mb takes AGES to download on dial-up!!!

The 6800GT is a much better card that the X800 Pro. It's a fully 16-pipeline card, whilst the X800 Pro is only a 12 pipeline card. The 6800Gt has Pixel Shader 3.0 capability as well, which is more advanced than the X800 Pros Pixel Shader 2 capability. With a mind to future games rather than current ones, I sincerely believe the NVidia card is the better choice. The 6800 Ultra, of course, would be a better purchase again, but they are very expensive and difficult to obtain.

The DFI 'Lanparty' seems to be a popular board, and I think any implementation of the chipset would be an adequate choice. The 'Lanparty' would be great for a windowed case!

If you're not going to overclock (and there's no reason to with a rig like that) then cooling should be OK with the stock heatsink/fan and the dual 120mm fans of your case. you can always change to a better heatsink/fan later if you need to, or perhaps add an intake fan to the case side panel to blow air directly onto the processor/display card area.

I'll dig up soime system building advice later, when I've more time, and perhaps we might turn that particular discussion into a separate 'stickied' topic, shall we?

There's only really two reasons I can think of for burning that amount of DVDs.

If you are producing DVDs in commercial quantities for sale, then you be better off using a dedicated machine for the task. DVD copying machines can be purchased which produce multiple copies simultaneously. The more copies produced, the more expensive the machine of course.

http://www.mediacopy.co.uk/cd_duplicators.htm

If you're burning that many DVDs because you're pirating them, then I don't want to help you! But I couldn't even if I wanted to, because that PC is completely unsuited to the job!

Agreed. I'd move 'My Documents' and your installed programs to the second partition.

A Gigabyte of RAM should be ample for most purposes. Only add more if you find you need it.

I'd suggest that the NVidia NForce3 250 chipset is the motherboard chipset of choice, rather than the VIA K8T800 that you've suggested.

I think Socket 754 is the realistic choice just yet and in the next few months. Socket 939 will accept more powerful processors in the future, but current Socket 939 motherboards for Athlon64 don't offer any better features at present than Socket 754 ones do, and by the time you change processors you'd probably want to upgrade to a better featured motherboard anyway. In upcoming months, NForce4 chipset, PCIE motherboards will become available for the platform, so if you aren't upgrading for a while yet that could become a realistic alternative.

Ditch the soundcard! The onboard audio with a decent motherboard will be just as good as the soundcard you've chosen.

Get a bigger hard drive. Games need lots of drive space lately, and that 80Gb would soon be filled.

The X800XT card might be claimed as the 'fastest' by Gaming magazines, but it's expensive and hard to obtain. The NVidia 6800GT is only very slightly slower, and is the best mix of price and performance currently available. Quite simply put, it's the best value gaming card on offer. That will help with balancing the budget.

And if you can swap that CD burner for a DVD burner, I'd reckon that's a better …

Right-click the notification area (not an icon, the area itself) and choose 'Properties'. On the 'Taskbar' tab, deselect the 'Show Clock' option.

heh heh.....

Sorta like 'Alphabet Soup' in here, isn't it, and IT-wise ole Catweazle is 'illetterate'! :)

Graduated from the School of the back shed, with advanced capabilities in system construction, hardware knowledge and troubleshooting techniques, and that was enough to get me a 'Gig' as an expert contributor with the most successful PC magazine in Australia.

Funny thing is, nowadays I often find myself fielding questions from some of those 'lettered' folk :D

This thread will link you to a couple of quite detailed articles of mine which address the preparation for and the carrying out of the job in front of you. Read them through, get your thoughts in order, ask any questions you might have before you start, and then do the job when you've prepared for it.

It's not really hard, and you'll have success if you do your homework first ;)

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

Edit: If you have the COMPLETE installation file for Service Pack 2 downloaded and saved to CD before you start, the job will be simplified a little bit. You can get it from here.

Which one helped then? :)

I bet you use 'Disk Cleanup', and when you do you select the option "Compress old files to save space"?

The blue text simply indicates a compressed file. Don't confuse that with 'Zipped' files though. the compression referred to here is NTFS compression, which is different.

errr..... uummm......

'Modding' an Xbox isn't legal, so let's not have discussion of it here, eh? Use Google if you want to explore the matter please.

To members who are requesting a copy of the jpeg from vlg466 :

That particular member is rarely active on this site (only 3 posts total), and has not visited us since March. Considering that he/she hasn't posted in this thread in over 9 months, it would probably be a better idea to send vlg466 your request via a Private Message or email.

Topic closed, because it's silly to think that someone who hasn't been back here for ages is gonna send you an email!

If that's intended to be a games PC, you'd be better to choose an Athlon64 processor and a suitable motherboard. Performance will be better, the system will run cooler, and you'll probably get it all cheaper ;)

A couple of points to consider.

Firstly there's the drive itself. If you've reset CMOS or made BIOS Setup changes at some point, it may not be configured adequately in BIOS to work at full efficiency. Ensure that all IDE settings are set to 'Auto' to ensure good performance. You should also check in Windows to ensure that the drive is using 'DMA' or it will not be functioning with full efficiency. Sometimes drives get confused about DMA in Windows, and there are Knowledge Base articles addressing various situations and problems in this regard.

Secondly, that problem of slow startup may not actually be the drive itself. Your PC is networked, and network connections, unless configured correctly, can cause significant delays at boot time. I'm no networking 'expert' I'm afraid, so I can't offer specific advice about that aspect, but I am aware that most such problems occur when related BIOS options are fiddled with or when Networking is manually configured rather than configured automatically by the OS. A discussion in the 'Networking' section might identify any such problems you may have.

Try these for starters:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;325487

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;832161

Start off by making sure that all Windows updates are installed. As a bare minimum, ensure that Service Pack 1 is installed, because that contains 'fixes' for some common startup/shutdown problems.

Then follow the advice and tools suggested in the 'Helping yourself..." sticky in our 'Security' forum section, in case you've picked up any unwanted intruders that are making life difficult for you. Let us know if your problem persists after that please.

Oh dear! Good thing that replacements are quite inexpensive nowadays.

Is it a stand-alone PC or is it connected to a network?

How much RAM does it have? Many HP Pavilion PCs were sold with an inadequate amount of RAM installed, and you may simply need to add another RAM module to get it more responsive.

256Mb should be considered the bare minimum necessary to run Windows XP well, and 512Mb is really an ideal amount to have for most purposes.

Also, what processor is installed in your PC?

pffft!!

If you're trying to resurrect the dead, you're living on the 'dark side', not the 'wild side'!

LOL!

What you need is a 'KVM switch' or a 'Video splitter'.

http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/video-splitters.html

Kamex, I think that you simply have to accept that old monitor has passed its useful lifespan, and in fact is most likey dead and buried.

Shaking and banging things to get them going might seem like a good idea, but it usually means that parts which need replacement are simply being further stressed. And you also need to consider that old equipment like that which have power problems like you describe are potentially a fire hazard. In a 'worst case scenario' that could mean using it can lead to loss of life, perhaps.

I really think the 'help' that your friend needs from you is assistance to raise the funds necessary to obtain ANOTHER old secondhand monitor, which actually turns on and off as it should when it's told to!

Right click 'My Computer' and choose Properties. On the Hardware tab, select 'Device Manager'. Locate the entry for the drive in question, right click on it and choose 'Uninstall'.

Reboot and let the drive be redetected and reinstalled. Report back and let us know if it gets recognised correctly please.

I'll move this to 'Windows Software', as it has to do with software programs rather than Windows itself. Great answer, by the way, JC7 :)

Heck, buddyb, it could be just about anything!

I'd suggest you make use of the advice given in the "Helping Yourself....." sticky in the Security Forum section and thoroughly clean your system of any trace of virus and/or spyware. You should also uninstall any unnecessary programs installed on your system, particularly downloaded 'freebies' or older versions of software. You could have a software conflict of some sort, where a program is conflicting with another or simply behaving badly.

You should also check your system for signs of overheating. Are all internal fans working as they should, and has the system been opened up and cleaned of dust etc.?

LOL !!!

Damn you Chainsaw, I was drinking a coffee when I read that!

:D

OK, got some time to attend to this.

Right, having Windows on a smaller partition of its own is a benefit. Things can remain uncluttered, it's far easier to keep your Windows installation defragmented, cleaned up and operating much more efficiently. Depending on the things you store on your system, and the amount of space they require, you can choose whether to have all your data files on a partition of their own or on multiple partitions organised according to type of data.

Having your data files on a different partition to your Windows installation means that if things screw up, you only need to format the system partition and you don't lose all your data files!

I'd suggest moving 'My Documents' to its own drive, dedicating a partition solely for use of installed programs, and working out your needs for what you want stored and where its best to keep it. Afterwards, you only need check and make a slight change occasionally when you save files, just as you do anyway to allocate them to folders.

You'll find instructions for moving 'My Documents' and your installed programs in this article.

Like I said, I'll give a fuller explanation later (tomorrow), and I apologise for the delay. I don't think you have a problem, merely a rather good drive partition structure that you don't really understand or know how to use yet :)

Umm.....

You didn't explain that what you describe eliminates all programs and data files on the drive ;)

heh heh.....

Did it help? :)

Xbox2 is a fair way off yet. I think an Xbox purchase is a worthwhile expense at present.

Hi AngelM. You might like to post that question in the 'Mac' forum section. This particular section is mainly for chit-chat and stuff!

Cheers and welcome :)