Posts by Catweazle

heh heh....

I have the exact same problem in front of me here that I'm trying to find a solution for on behalf of one of our magazine's readers. Should i turn up any really good solutions I'll post them here as well.

Meanwhile, any more input from those more technically proficient than myself are going to be a welcome sight indeed! :D

If your system is an older one, Norton System works might just slow it down even more.

If it's a problem which seemed to happen 'overnight', then work through the suggestion in the Security forum sticky to ensure your system is 'clean', and consider what you've done on your system immediately prior to the behaviour showing up. In almost all instances, system problems are the result of changes the user has made themselves - either changes to settings or the installion of new software etc.

But I wouldn't worry too much. As I said, 40 seconds isn't really much of a wait. Turn the thing on as you walk past to make a coffee!

These problems also often occur after additional 'player' software is installed, and settings get changed accidentally or without your knowledge. I'd suggest uninstalling all such software except for media player and then trying to correct the problem by thoroughly checking all the Volume controls (including 'Advanced' settings to see if there are any 'muted' controls as DMR has said.

If your version of Media Player isn't already up-to date, I'd also suggest you get Media Player version 9. A simple check of 'Windows Update' will show if it's available for download to your system, and if so, the version you have will be an earlier one.

Yes, HALO is a dog of a thing on PC, having performance problems on even highly specc'd systems. It's also a game that runs better on nVidia cards than on ATi cards, unlike most other games.

With reference to the Far Cry question, I'd also like to hear your system specifications, Kamex, and suspect you may have AA or AF enabled in your display properties.

Welcome to these Forums, by the way, Kamex and Coconut Monkey.

Close all open applications and then open a command prompt (to do this select Run from the Start menu) and in the Open: box type:

regsvr32 /s urlmon.dll

You don't have to restart the computer afterwards.

Which version of Windows do you have? Which version of Windows Media player do you have?

I think this is the most trouble free power management guide i've yet seen:

http://www.colostate.edu/Services/acns/energy_saving/winxp.html

However, it doesn't address your problem, so the first thing to check is if you have all Windows Updates installed, and that you haven't got a 3D screen saver operating.

Work through this article, to make sure you have Windows configured correctly:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/russel/02march25.asp

And if you still have problems, this one may help:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;815304

Suze, the drivers I was particularly referring to are your motherboard chipset drivers, which show up as 'System Devices' in Device Manager.

If your motherboard has a chipset which was released after Windows 98, your Windows installation may be using older, generic drivers to enable the various internal components to communicate with each other, rather than the manufacturer provided ones which are designed to enable that to happen more efficiently. If this is the case, your system performance could be hampered significantly.

If the system you refer to is a 'Name Brand' one such as a Dell, Gateway, Compaq etc, then you need to search the manufacturers website download area for the drivers for your particular model.

If the system is a 'White box' style, assembled locally, then you need to identify the make and model of the motherboard, and obtain the necessary drivers from the motherboard manufacturer's website.

Hi bones,

40 seconds doesn't really seem too extreme to me. It could be that you have lots of software installed, lots of software the have been installed and uninstalled, leaving a bit of mess in the registry, or any of a number of situations which relate to the way your system is configured. but very few systems boot up anywhere near instantaneously.

The messages you report make me suspect that you have a hardware 'Boot sector' antiVirus feature enabled, probably in BIOS setup. The reports may or may not indicate a problem. Generally, it's best to have such features disabled, and to use appropriate AntiVirus software instead.

Check the comments in this stickied topic:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread5690.html

for further information about protecting your system from intrusions.

Hi David,

Have you tried these forum topics?

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/search.php?searchid=60119

There are numerous discussions of 'BRIDGE.DLL' error messages which relate to Spyware or Spyware removal in the "Security" section of the forum.

You should read those first, as your answer may already be there. This question should really be put in that Forum anyway. I'll close this discussion off, and invite you both to repost your concerns in that forum section should you not find the answer you need there.

Here are some Forum search results to start you off:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/search.php?searchid=60103

Thank you for joining us, and welcome aboard.

If your motherboard is up to date with its BIOS revision, and the CPU identifies as an XP 2500+ with BIOS default settings, then you can be certain that the processor is in fact an XP 2500+.

It sounds like you've obtained one of the 'illegally altered' processors which were included in some systems that were sold overclocked, and were the reason for AMDs decision to 'lock' the clock multiplier on more recent Barton CPUs.

Amen to that! ;)

Here's one 'Grandad' who NEVER plans to 'grow up'. Not enough fun around the kids when you do that. :D

Thanks

but if I re-install Windows wont I lose all my data

Not if you perform an 'In place Upgrade'

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341&Product=winxp

If your system is now slower than it was before it's quite possible you've neglected to load the device drivers it needs.

A check of MSI website indicates to me that the 6712 is in fact a KT4V motherboard, not a KT4AV. Could this be correct?

The KT4V requires BIOS update Revision 1.8 to correctly recognise and identify an XP3000+ processor.

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_detail.php?UID=362

The BIOS update page for the KT4AV indicates that those updates are not suitable for the 6712

I'm pretty sure they're all 3 volts. Most Pentium class or later PCs should use the round, clip-in batteries.

But check on the board, just to be sure it's not an older style one, soldered to the board.

I've never really seen those on anything later than a 486 though.

Any electronics store will stock the batteries you need.

If the internal CD-ROM is kaput, then replace it. I don't know where you live or what your currency is, but where I live a new CD-ROM drive costs less than a case of beer or a couple of packs of fags!

But check first to make sure it's not just a loose cable or connector stopping it from working.

All in all, that's a really easy problem to fix.

You should start by changing the setting for "Boottime diagnostic screen" to Enabled. That will allow the BIOS POST meassages to display during startup and hopefully give some further clue to what's happening.

I'm also curious about precisely how you tried to use that Recovery CD. The procedure is generally to pop the CD in the drive and reboot. That launches you into a fresh install of everything, but will lose all your data and programs. It's designed to restore your system to its original Factory state.

The fact that you're getting to the logon and then no further suggests that your Windows installation is screwed, more than anything else, and perhaps a fresh install would be your best option. (I've had similar happen on a Compaq of similar vintage, and the procedures are quite similar)

I'm not too sure about those BIOS settings. Perhaps if you could provide the exact model number of your HP Pavilion it might help track down the information you need.

Start over, is your best shot. Remove the existing partition(s) and create new ones using NTFS file system. Windows XP won't allow you to create FAT32 partitions any larger than 32Gb.

Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management.

(There's quicker ways to get there but that'll do!)

Click on the 'Disk Management' section, and you can perform the job from there. Use the 'Help' function for Instructions to Remove the partition, create a new partition, and to Format it ready for use.

Instructions for what?

Which course of action do you plan to try:

Install Windows 98 (You've indicated you have no CD to do it with)
Start over again with Windows 2000
Download the NT4 drivers and try those?

No offence caperjack but I feel that there's a lot of paronoid sh*te that gets talked about all this spyware. Obviously there is a problem but some get carried away with it. Some people think "Enemy of the State" is non-fiction.
DAFT

OH.......

I'm sure you'll find that about 90% of all computer systems are infested with 'Spyware' of some sort or another!

It's not some 'James Bond' sort of thing - it's simply stuf that's been planted on your system to gather information about your browsing habits and target advertising at you. An accumulation of it can slow your system down and cause other performance problems. Some more malicious or poorly coded varieties can cause rather serious problems on your system.

You'll find the product documentation and FAQs here:

http://www.logicube.com/support/products/products_7.asp

Oh goodness!

A job like that should never be done without obtaining the most recent drivers for the equipment in question first!

Are all the 'old computers' the same make and model? You should be able to download the necessary drivers for the systems and the internal components in question from manufacturer websites or from a source such as www.driverguide.com

........Sometimes I cry myself to sleep because of this.

No need for tears. just send 'em this!

[img]http://bunky.zerosignal.net.au/Pics/Forum%20Shite/suck.jpg[/img]

Here's a very good chart to check the background 'services' used in Windows XP.

You can use it for reference to disable services you don't need, if you like, but be cautious about doing so. Have a thorough read of the article first!

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

If you never thoroughly cleaned both the heatsink and the procesor before applying new thermal paste/compound, I'd suggest you remove and and do the job over again thoroughly. If it's an Athlon XP in particular, the core die and the heatsink face need to be completely cleaned with acetone, methylated spirits or somesuch.

But that's simply a precautionary piece of advice. Your problem sounds to me to be software related, and I'd suggest a format and fresh install. Use the most up-to-date drivers, and do things in this order:

Windows
Windows updates
Motherboard drivers
Display drivers
All other drivers

In preparation for the fresh install, order a copy of the Windows Security Update CD from Microsoft as described in this topic:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread4998.html

It contains all updates up to October 2003, Internet Explorer, Media Player, DirectX and so on, and will save a lot of later downloading of Windows Updates.

Use up to date drivers from manufacturer websites for your motherboard and all your internal components, except this:

If you have a Creative Soundblaster soundcard of any description in there, install from the CD, then install the updates from Creative's website.

Another option to try is to resize your browser window to a narrower width, reload the page, and then try printing it. But Danny's suggestion of printing it in 'Landscape' orientation is the easiest method, and the one I use myself.

Also, a lot of Web Pages will have a 'Printer Friendly' button or a 'Print this Page' button on them somewhere. If you see one, use it!

slade, I'd personally consider that something like WTF? or LMFAO is a responsible alternative to making an extreme statement which includes obscenities.

Beyond that, whether its in everyday life or on an internet forum, using acronyms is rude, elitist, lazy, a porr form of communication.....

Did I say rude? Yes, that's what it is - it's downright rude and inconsiderate.

I'm not even going to try to work out what LMFAOWEAGWMAPCS means! :lol:

OK if you 'upgraded', and you chose to 'Save your Operating System files' or somesuch during the upgrade installation of Windows 2000, then you have a 'ray of hope'. Don't touch that laptop again until someone comes along with instructions about restoring it back to Windows 98.
(I'm sorry, I haven't got those instructions to hand just at present - I'll look them up later if no-one beats me to it.)

That process may or may not give you back a stable Windows 98 laptop.

Your next best option is to download the NT4 component drivers, and use your Windows 2000 CD to format and do a clean install of 2000, using the NT4 drivers for the internal components. If it works, it works, if not then no loss.

Failing that you'd have to purchase a Windows 98 or Windows Me CD, download the relevent drivers, and get the laptop going with those. Your chances of getting hold of a copy of the original Recovery CD are about nil!

The sasser worm is quite recent. If Norton wasn't updated regularly, the virus signature files wouldn't have identified it.

Is Norton configured to automatically update on his system, and is the subscription up to date and current? If it's an old version that came 'bundled' with his system , for example, it may well be out of date, and quite useless.

grumpyhugs, I can absolutely assure you that the yellow lines are not a 'feature' of Windows XP!

Without further information, it's impossible to tell you anything more useful. It would help for you to let us know some of the 'specifications' of your system - Motherboard ID, display card, and so on.

Have you any idea what your motherboard details are? If you give me an indication of the make and model of the motherboard, I can easily find a link to the relevent drivers for you.

Unfortunately if you've actually omitted to install them, and Windows hasn't installed a 'generic' driver, then you've later installed the display card driver, things can be a bit 'messy'. Under these circumstances, it's best to format and start over fresh, installing the motherboard chipset drivers before any others.

For now though, Right-click 'My Computer' and choose 'Properties'. On the Hardware tab, bring up 'Device Manager'. Expand the section denoted 'System Devices' and see if there's an entry there such as "PCI to AGP bridge' or similar. If there isn't, you've got problems for sure!

Download and install Belarc Advisor www.belarc.com/download and run it to see if the report identifies the make and model of your motherboard. Alternatively use a different tool such as SiSoft Sandra to identify it with. Alternatively, open up the system case and see if there is any identification printed on the motherboard.

Report it back when you know more.

Well this old 'geek' can be found listening to pretty much anything from Country to Classics, from Rap to Pop!

I was a music lover long before I was a 'Geek', and my tastes stretch across pretty much all Genre's, perhaps with the exceptions of 'Metal' and 'Techno'. I've particular fondness for Roots Blues, Zydeco, Bluegrass and various other forms of 'Local' music to be found around the globe.

But as far as 'Favourites' goes, there's little to beat the corny, cliched old rock and country songs, sung poorly and drunkenly around a campfire in the Bush at night.

You should also remember that having 'hyperthreading' functional on your system isn't necessarily going to make it any 'faster'. The feature is only useful for applications which actually use it, and makes no difference for applications which don't.

It's best to Google for reviews of the motherboard tou're looking at, but yes, I'd consider that to be an indication that the board is capable of using the 'Hyperthreading' capacity of the processor.

Use '<Motherboard model number> review benchmarks specifications' as your search criteria in Google and you should turn up some quite helpful articles amongst the Ads and dross!

If you use '<Motherboard model number> review comparison' as your search criteria, you should turn up articles which compare the board to others for a performance analysis.

That motherboard should have no problems at all working with your processor.

It's a fine motherboard choice!

I'm not a Pentium user myself, but I've not seen bad reports about this board at all.

If your budget can stretch further, the Gigabyte 8KNXP is perhaps currently rated as 'best of the best', but it's rather expensive.

Other alternatives to consider would be the ABit series of boards (AI7, IS7, IC7 series) which draw good reports as great performers in their respective categories.

The i875P chipset is rated as the 'fastest' available, but under some circumstances, according to reports I've seen, the i865PE chipset can outperform it.

An unusual problem you had there. I've not seen nVidia driver corruption cause this particular behaviour before. Thanks for posting the details of how you resolved the matter.

I'll mark this topic as 'solved'.

Either way I think you're in trouble.

Compaq Presario computers, whether desktop or laptop, are notorious for being difficult to get running under Windows versions that are different to the ones they are shipped with. Compaq's component drivers simply don't seem up to the task, and Compaq were never diligent in updating those drivers to work under newer versions of Windows.

Here's the Driver Download page for your laptop:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?product=94997&lang=en&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&

It has drivers for Windows 95, 98, Me, and NT4, but not for 2000 or XP.

You could try the NT4 drivers to see if they work under Windows 2000, but if you have a 'Restore CD' with that laptop, your best option is to restore it back to its original, Windows 98 functionality

And second, did you download the component drivers for your laptop from HP's website and install them after you installed Windows 2000?

And after that you should set Password protection for your system, starting with a BIOS password.

Use Windows XP and format your hard drive to NTFS file system, set user level password protection on sensitive folders and files.

When you've finished with the system in question, and no longer need to use it, format the hard drive and use a suitable utility to overwrite the entire hard drive, then format again and it'll be almost impossible for the information to ever be retrieved.

What the hell does anybody ever need that sort of secrecy for anyway?

This is in the wrong forum section, by the way - it should be in the relevent OS section or in the 'Security' section!

You'll need to use video editing software to combine the files. In the absence of a Commercial Program to perform the job with, Windows XP's 'Windows Movie Maker' should do the job. Make sure you've downloaded and installed the latest version from 'Windows Update'.

That 'New Microsoft Keyboard' has been around for a while. Have you seen this new keyboard designed for Gamer Forum kiddies?

[img]http://bunky.zerosignal.net.au/Pics/Forum%20Shite/1337.tasta.jpg[/img]

I doubt very much that her "graphics card has gone kabluie".

I think it's much more likely that she's inadvertantly changed settings and instructed Windows to use a different display adaptor driver. She's most likely changed the setting to 'Standard VGA Adpator'.

Edit: Thanks to Dani for 'cleaning up' this topic a bit. Should any of our members have links to useful sites, or items of their own which they consider would make a useful addition to the contents here, please send them to one of the Security Forum moderators via PM for consideration and addition.

Note: The procedures and tools described here are for Windows Users. Linux and Mac users should direct their problems to the appropriate Operating System Forum sections.

Disclaimer: It is also a wise move for people to ensure their data files are regularly backed up before using any tools which effect system changes. Under some circumstances, your system could possibly be rendered inoperable or suffer data loss as a result of your efforts to clean it 9or as a result of infections or intrusions themselves). Regularly backing up your data helps alleviate the impact of such an event. The tools and techniques described here are commonly used, and should be fine if you read instructions carefully before using them. If you do suffer data loss, of course, you should not hold DaniWeb or TechTalk responsible. If your data is that important or sensitive, perhaps you should enlist the services of a Professional data protection and recovery service.

A growing trend in recent times has been for people to simply run a tool called 'HijackThis' when they experience system problems, and wait for 'experts' to tell them what to do next. This …

Your motherboard manual(s) is your best friend.

Rip everything out of both systems except mobo, processor, RAM and Display card. Double, triple and fourple check all the connections, especially the front panel connectors. Get the systems POSTing with that simple configuration first, then install and connect other components one by one.

Things as simple as a card or RAM module not seated correctly, or a floppy drive power connector that's accidently 'missed a pin' can stop a system from booting. If everything is connected up from the outset, it can be almost impossible to track down where the problem is.

Slow and steady, step-by-step is the way to go.

It's always best to try using Windows XP's inbuilt 'Scanner and Camera' functionality before loading camera software or drivers. In most cases, the Installation CD can stay in the box unused.

Windows XP will use the 'Scanner and Camera Wizard' to download images to your system, allowing you to name a Folder for them to be stored in. It will also delete the images from the camera for you if you wish.

Any common image editing software would be a better choice than the Software which is usually supplied with digital cameras. In fact, using the supplied software often 'hides' your images deep inside the program directory, or stores them in uncommon file formats.

I'm also suspecting a faulty power supply unit. If the unit in that old Gateway system is a standard ATX unit, I'd try replacing it with a newer one.

You shouldn't need to make any BIOS changes to use a PCI display card instead of the onboard video - simply install the card physically in the system, hook the monitor up to it and boot. It should start up at least with a standard VGA display.

If changing the power supply unit doesn't help, it may just be a dead motherboard you're confronted with.

You'll definitely need 'Ghosting' software to do the job, and you should make sure it's the most up to date version you can get your hands on.

Your reference to the problem occuring when a game starts makes me suspect that you've forgotten to install the motherboard chipset drivers. Without them, even though you have your didplay drivers installed there'll be no AGP 'bridge' in operation. 2D will work fine, but as soon as a call is made to a 3D function, the system will crash.

Don't rule out a memory problem however. If that 512Mb is a single, unbranded module, or even worse two unbranded 'generic' modules from different manufacturers, you may have a compatibility problem with your motherboard. With onboard GeForce2 display circuitry, that's an nForce1 chipset motherboard you have there, and those are particularly 'touchy' from the reports I've seen. Make sure your BIOS is updated to the most recent version for your board.

If you do have two mis-matched memory modules, and you've eliminated the chipset driver possibility, try using just a single memory module in Slot1 to see if that improves stability.