Posts by Catweazle

Thanks for letting us know. I'll mark your problem 'solved'.

Have another look around in BIOS and see if you can find settings for 'IDE PIO' mode. Make sure they are set to 'Auto'.

Shadowfactor was referring to his RAM, and he means that he has removed and then reinserted the RAM module to ebsure that it was firmly 'seated' in the slot.

Unfortunately, he has neglected to switch the power off at the wall outlet and/or remove the power cord. That has meant that power is still running through the motherboard (Yes! It's still got power after you tell Windows to 'Shut Down'!) and he had most likely 'zapped' and damaged components.

If you reseated internal components with power still running to the motherboard, then i'm afraid you did a VERY BAD THING !

Oh dear!

Have you tried the system with a different RAM module? If you're lucky, it might just be the RAM you blew. Otherwise, yes, I'd suspect the motherboard itself is damaged.

Actually, if Doom 3 is a priority, get a GeForce 6800GT. That card, even though it's not the highest performance model of it's line, absolutely wipes the floor with the X800XT-PE for Doom 3 performance ;)

http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQy

Looking at the cream of the crop in video cards, it is painfully obvious that ATI is going to have to make some changes in their product line to stay competitive, at least with DOOM 3 gamers. There is no way for a $500 X800XT-PE to compete with a $400 6800GT when the GT is simply going to outperform the more expensive card by a good margin. I am sure ATI is trying their best to figure out their next move and it will certainly be interesting to see if their driver teams pull a rabbit out of their hat or not.

Edit: By the way, that staement about the X800 Pro VIVO card isn't fully accurate. Some brands of X800 Pro VIVO were able to be 'flashed' in that way, but no longer. Unless you can get your hands on a previously manufactured card with the capability, forget it, as the production methods have been changed ;)

I would personally recommend NOD32 for personal use and Sophos for corporate use. Neither are free!

I'd also suggest that you download and install all available Windows Updtaes, if you haven't done so already, and also download and install any available motherboard chipset drivers for your system or motherboard.

Some of the Windows updates correct USB problems ;)

I suspect you have deeper problems on your system than simply MSN Messenger.

Run up to date AntiVirus and Adware/Malware/Spyware removal tools (see the link in my sig for advice). Then reinstall Internet Explorer (get it from the Downloads section of Microsoft website or from a Computer magazine cover CD) and see if that corrects your problems. You could also try uninstalling then reinstalling MSN messenger.

Was the new instance of Windows XP installed on a different drive or partition? If so, you can delete the WINDOWS folder on that drive or partition, and then disable the multi-boot request by right-clicking 'My computer', choosing Properties->Advanced->Startup->Settings, selecting the correct entry from the list of operating systems to boot from, and then disabling the 'Time to display' setting.

Your system will then boot from the original installation, without displaying a multi-boot menu.

But I would strongly suggest you wipe your system clean and install fresh, to correct any installation corruption you might have. (After all, why were you trying to refresh install in the fist place?) You'll find helpful guides linked in my sig.

But, if you wish to do a refresh install after you've removed the second, unwanted Windows installation, follow Microsoft's guide for performing an In Place upgrade.

Following a request by tryit, I've had a good read through this topic.

I'd suggest you donload and refer to the 'Support and Troubleshooting Guide' for your laptop. In particular, read carefully the comments about setting Boot order of devices.

A particular point from that guide:

If there is an exclamation mark (!) showing to the left of the hard drive's entry in BIOS setup, that will mean the drive is disabled. Clear the mark to enable the drive.

But reading through the topic, I have to suspect that the hard drive is no longer functional. I'd suggest you get a technician to look at the laptop to confirm this, and if so replace the hard drive.

You'll find the device drivers for the laptop at IBM's download section.

I would suggest running 'LiveUpdate' again for Norton. Keep running it until all program component updates are downloaded, and you get the "Thank you for using LiveUpdate' message.

But even more i'd recommend you dump Norton products from your system and start using better alternatives. If you have Norton Internet Security running as well as Norton AntiVirus, I'd suggest you dump that one as a matter of urgency!

Norton products are about the slowest and most resource hungry alternative available, and performance problems have plagued their use year after year!

Thank you, yes.

Visit Dell's website and download the most recent Windows XP audio driver for the particular model of Dell computer. Visit www.nvidia.com and download the most recent Windows XP driver for the GeForce display card. Install both and see if the problem persists.

Simply provide the full model number for your Dell. Also, check display properties (right click a blank area of the desktop, choose properties, then
settings. It will say 'xxxxxxx (monitor) on xxxxxxxx (display card)' )

I think we can be quite confident that your Dell is fitted with a Santa Cruz soundcard.

Set 1st boot device to CD-ROM
Set all other boot devices to 'none' or 'disabled'.

That'll get it working. The message is generally a small line of text at bottom of screen.

Has this just occurred, or has this particular PC always done this?

If it's a recent occurrence, what have you recently changed on the PC -software? hardware?, settings? .........

hahahahahahaaaa!!

I'm still curious about where that 'Marsupial moderator' tag was dreamt up from. Until I find out, I'm really unsure whether he's a Rabbit-eared Bandicoot, a Hairy-nosed Wombat or a Fat-tailed Dunnart!

:D

[img]http://teatreehollow.com/gallery/Oz_Animals/Bilby_or_Rabbit-eared_Bandicoot.jpg[/img]

Hi Tank,

I don't know if what you describe is possible where you live, but I am aware that it isn't possible to do what you describe where I live. (Australia)

We're quite high-tech here, but the ability to use your PC for voice calls over the existing telephone network is still only vague murmurings, not reality.

Hi spookfish, and welcome.

I wasn't able to find a manual available for download for that motherboard, so I can't give you specific instructions, but as it is an nForce2 mobo the procedure should be rather starightforward.

Somewhere in your BIOS Setup menus, probably in the 'Advanced' section, you will find entries for:
1st boot device
2nd boot device
3rd boot device.....

and so on. Change the entry for '1st boot device' to CD-ROM, ensure that 2nd boot device is set to your system drive, and that there are no entries duplicated. Save and exit from BIOS setup, and watch for a message indicating "To boot from CD-ROM please press any key"

The message will only display for a few seconds, and if you don't press a key, it will bypass the CD drive and look for another device to boot from. (You may already have it set this way, and simply be missing the message when it displays ;))

You'll find the download here.

An alternative (and probably quicker) method would be to obtain a computer magazine cover CD which has Internet Explorer Service Pack 1 included on it, and install it from that. You can install 'over the top' of your existing installation.

Hi JellyHead (just LOVE that nick :D)

Is there any more text in that error message? I highly doubt that's all it syays, and the extra information would be helpful. You should always include the full details of error messages when asking for assistance.

I suspect that there is a program loading at startup which needs to access a particular device, and that device is not presently installed. We need to determine what program is generating the message in order to determine what to do about it!

As well as finding out the full details of that error message, you could do the following:

On that problem system, click on 'Run', type in 'msconfig' and click OK
On the 'Startup' tab, list the entries which appear with a tick beside them. One of those entries is most likely the culprit, and we may be able to identify the problem from the list.

There are no 'temporary internet files' in the registry!

Tha advice given by DMR is the most thorough method of removing temporary internet files, and in Internet Options you should also use the 'Clear History' button on the 'General' tab. If you also change 'Days to keep pages in History' to 0 you will have less problem in future.

Hi Billy,

You must have some corrupted system files, which are generating that error message and causing your browser to 'crash'. Internet explorer share a lot of core system files for its operation. The quickest and easiest way to correct the problem would be to reinstall Internet explorer.

Moved to Internet Explorer forum section.

Hi Katherine,

Is that system one you purchased with the software already installed on it? Is it one which is a 'Name brand' PC like Dell, HP, or similar?

If so, it should have come with a 'Recovery CD' which you can use to restore your system to its original state. Alternatively, it may have a 'hidden partition' on the hard drive which contains the files needed to restore your system and which you access by following the provided instructions.

Check your system's documentation carefully for the instructions, and when you find them follw them carefully. After only a few weeks, restoring your system to it's originally shipped state is perhaps the best method to follow, as you will not have much data to lose.

If it's not a 'Name Brand' PC that you have, we will need some details about your system specifications, what you have done on it, how the software was installed for you, and so on. I'm afraid you've clearly indicated your level of frustration to us, but you haven't provided much information about your system itself to enable us to help you via a medium like this forum. We need to know about your system and what has been changed on it before we can really help. Not every computer is the same, I'm afraid!

Firstly, with an old nVidia card like yours, I would recommend you change back to using no later than the 4x.xx series driver for your displau card. The 5x.xx series drivers are really more for use with nVida FX cards. Go to nVidias download site, as you did before, but select the 'Driver Archive' entry from the menu, and download the most recent 4x.xx series driver available for your Windows version.

Next, visit the manufacturer website for your system (if name-brand) or motherboard (if your system is 'White-box') and download the most recent version of your motherboard chipset drivers.

Finally, visit and download 'Internet Explorer Service Pack 1' and 'DirectX 9b'

Install them in this order:

Motherboard chipset driver
Display driver
DirectX
Internet Explorer

Installing them all 'over the top' of your existing installation should correct the corruption problems you are having, by overwriting corrupted files and restoring your system's defaults.

Good luck!

There are quite a few situations which can generate that STOP: error message. For some 'known issues', work through this list of Knowledge base Articles

I would agree that the situation would have resulted from a change to your system which was made prior to the problem arising. You should think back and try to remember any changes you made to software, hardware or settings just before this first happened.

Could you clarify please?

Are you trying to connect a parallel printer port on your PC to a USB printer? If not what exactly are you trying to connect.

Also, could you describe your current setup there? You've mentioned two printers. Do you have more than one PC? If so, are they netorked together, and if so, by what means?

What email program do you use, please?

This sounds like a problem with the configuration of your email program rather than one of the printer installation itself.

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Nah, just download it again, because it's most likely you've suffered a corrupted download because of some line interference.

If Microsoft itself is distributing an infected DirectX we might as well all go back to pens, paper and adding machine :p

I'd agree with the suggestion that you need the 'Applications' disk. A recovery CD will put the registry, srat menu etc entries in place, but won't usually put the program files themselves on your hard drive. When you run them for the first time, you are prompted to place the program CD in the drive, and complete the installation.

This is what it sounds like has happened to you, and I'm afraid if you don't have the original 'Applications' CD, then you will need to purchase the programs separately.

If you only have the need to use the basic functions of the office suite of programs, you could try using the free 'Open Office' http://www.openoffice.org/ in their place, as it has very good file compatibility with Microsoft Office.

If you initially purchased cheap, unbranded 'generic' RAM, then I'd also strongly suspect that was your problem. RAM incompatibilities will certainly cause the behaviour you've described.

But another thing which would cause the behaviour is overheating. If the heatsink fitted to your processor came with a 'Thermal Pad', are you sure that is was put in place cleanly, and clipped down without the heatsink moving sideways at all during the process? A bit of sideways movement when you're fitting the clip, and that wax pad can 'tear', causing a poor connection beteen heatsink and processor, and eventually resulting in overheating problems.

I would not bother installing Windows XP on a 233MHz/128Mb system - it'd run like a 'dog' on a system with low specs like that one.

Windows XP should really have 500MHz/256Mb as a minimum level to ensure smooth operation.

having the same problem. can't open above link,,,,,help!

The site is offline temporarily. Try again later ;)

I am seriously thinking of having the whole computer wiped clean and starting over .....

Beth

In your situation, Beth (following serious electrical 'zappage') I'd be seriously considering that as well. If problems continue to crop up, wipe and reinstall for certain. You need the security of mind that a fresh, clean install would bring to be able to start making judgements about whether or not any physical damage may be present.

What brand and model number is that PC please kriskakerra? I've seen some of the proprietary systems (big name brands like HP, etc) which create 'hidden' user accounts as part of their Warranty & support package, but having an extra account entitled 'a' sounds a bit bizarre.

What is the make and model number of that PC please? Has any hardware been changed on it? You are indeed getting a BIOS configuration error, and specific details will be needed for someone to be able to help you.

Somehow, I think BIOS settings have been changed, and the system is trying to operate with settings for components which do not match what is actually installed.

In addition, it sounds like some of the boot files on your hard drive may be corrupted, but again, that NTLDR message may be resulting from incorrect BIOS settings which are making hard drive operation difficult.

As I said, we need to know EXACTLY what the system is that you have there:

System make and model or......
Motherboard make and model.

I'm confused about what you say about not deleting and instead "removing" ... I'm only given the option to delete the account.

In XP that is correct; the option that appears is named "Delete".

Which is why, in the original comment, I said " And I hate it even MORE when people like Microsoft use the term inappropriately and confuse people!"

MS seem to think it fine to use the term 'Delete' rather than 'Remove' for the procedure, further adding to confusion inexperienced users have about the term. It is an annoyance of mine that they do so. We get far too many problems which result from inexperienced Windows users using 'Delete' when they wish to remove some unwanted feature from their system, rather than the correct removal process. Microsoft adding to the confusion in this way is, I consider, irresponsible.

And as stated, to be able to remove an account, you must be logged out of it, and the account you are using to perform the procedure must have 'Administrator' privileges.

Try the topic about performing a clean install of Windows XP in my sig, Beth.

It has a couple of articles linked in it. One will help you prepare for a format and fresh install of Windows and your programs, the other will help you do it! ;)

If a format/fresh install doesn't get things working properly, then I think you may have suffered some hardware damage from that lightning strike!

For starters, Beth, I've never heard of Internet Explorer version 5.1, only version 5.0 or version 5.5

For seconds, Windows XP comes with Internet Explorer version 6 as standard! If you've somehow 'forced' an earlier version onto it (and I didn't think that was possible) then I'd suggest you format and reinstall fresh! At the very least, I'd suggest you perform an In place upgrade to fix any problems created.

But if it's not, in fact, an earlier version you have there then your updates should come from the Windows Update website.

I'll move this to the 'Internet Explorer' forum section, by the way. You'll have more chance of getting further advice there :D

Hi and welcome, by the way!

I hate that word 'Delete'. What I said earlier was 'Remove'.

The only things you should ever 'delete' are your own, unwanted data files. Everything else should be 'removed' in the proper way!

And I hate it even MORE when people like Microsoft use the term inappropriately and confuse people!

/end rant!

Make sure you are logged out of the old account before you try to remove it. You can't remove an account that is currently logged in.

I mean your documents, images, music files etc, etc. Program files are NOT 'data' files really, in any meaningful way. You could consider them to fall into a similar category to 'system files', as they are part of the way your system operates.

You should think of your 'data' as the information you have stored on your system.

Are all your programs available when you use the new account? If not, they can be made available with changes to system settings ;)

I'd suggest you don't need to change the AGP setting in BIOS.

The setting is for 'Aperture' size, which is the bandwidth allocated to communication between the graphics processor on your vid card and your system memory. Your card doesn't use it, because it has its own video RAM, and doesn't need to use system memory. Leave the setting as it is!

With a Radeon card, however, there are two settings which might prove helpful for you. Find the setting for 'AGP Fast Writes' and if it is set to 'Enabled', then change it to 'Disabled'. Radeon cards often don't handle AGP Fast Writes very well. Also you could try setting your system to use an AGP bus setting of AGP 4x instead of AGP 8x. It will make no effective difference to performance, and may help stabilise your system.

You should also ensure you are using the most up to date motherboard chipset drivers, display card drivers, and DirectX versions available, and also download and install any update patches available for the games you have installed.

Copy some of your data files to 'My Documents' in the new account. If you can access and use them, good. Copy all your data files across to the new account and remove the old, useless one.

Please let us know how it goes, because if you can't access them it will mean you have 'File Protection' enabled for your original account, and we will need to give you assistance with accessing them again. It simply sounds like you have a 'Permissions' problem, as DMR suggested earlier.

Hi Katherine,

You posted your message twice by mistake, so I've split one of them off and placed it into a new topic. I've called it "Where is my internet?" and you'll find it in the 'Internet Explorer' section of the forum. I'm sure you'll get some helpful advice there quite soon.

Welcome to TechTalk. I hope you enjoy your stay here. :D

Obtaining drivers from CDs is a waste of time. I seldom even install the driver included on the 'Installation CDs' that accompany new products, as the device drivers included are often out of date before the ink is even dry on the labels.

By far the best place to source drivers is from the website of the manufacturer, as that is the place where you will find the most up to date driver available.

Everything else is second best by a long, long way!

Download the following programs, which you will find linked in the 'Helping Yourself' sticky:

AdAware
Spybot Search & Destroy
CWShredder
Stinger

Reboot your system.

Immediately after the POST screens and before you get to the Windows Logo Screen during the Boot process, press the <F8> key. You should get a menu with several boot options. Choose 'Safe Mode'. When you get to the logon screen choose 'Administrator.

Install and run each of those programs in turn, and allow them to remove anything they find which they report as suspicious. Reboot into 'Safe mode' again after running each of them.

Reboot again and see if your system's functions have returned. Report back to us and let us know of any remaining problems please. If you've never used malware detection and removal tools, you will definitely have malware on your system, and I suspect that a virus/trojan may have slipped through your protection as well ;)

Hey marceta. Have you considered that some of those zip archives might contain files with the same filename? Extracting all the archives into the one directory as a 'batch' operation might not be the wisest thing to do. You might just end up with some files lost from the exercise ;)

Have you tried the Adware/Malware renoval tools as well? Follow the advice in the 'Helping Yourself" topic from the 'Security' section of the forum, and remove any instances the recommended tools find.

Have you updated Windows? There are a couple of Windows updates which impact on USB functions.

Oh WOW! Dani's a fan!

Just imagine it. Dani does dressup!

[img]http://www.douglas-story.com/images/Klingon%20Woman.jpg[/img]

Sorry, couldn't help that :D

I'd guess the processor as the most likely suspect as well - and the motherboard next!

If, that is, there really isn't a connector dislodged somewhere. Go back over all the connectors, taking particular care to ensure that everything is firmly inserted and that even all the wires/pins in the various plugs are firmly pressing home. sometimes you can get a plug or connector that seems to be securely fitted, but one of the wires is not firmly seated in the plug, and is failing to connect.

Strip it back to:

mobo
processor/HSF
RAM
vidcard

Everything else should be omitted until you get the system to POST with those components. Hell, even a floppy drive power plug that's been attached one pin across by mistake can stop a system from booting up!