Posts by Catweazle

If you have onboard audio you need to download drivers from the motherboard manufacturer (or system manufacturer if it's a 'brand name' computer). If it's an add-in sound card you need to download drivers from the card manufacturer's website.

I hear you can order women off the internet.

Just like cars, they take waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to download!

Richard West, if you meant no disrespect to women why the **** did you open your gob?

My own ‘Golden rules of static’:

• Never work on the insides of your PC in a carpeted room.
• Never work on the insides of your PC whilst wearing clothing made of synthetic materials such as nylon or the like.
• Always ‘ground’ your body by touching a bare metal portion of the case chassis before touching components.
• Always handle components by their edges. Do not touch onboard chips or their connectors.
• Never touch the metal card connectors.

I personally don't use an anti-static wrist-strap, and don't think that using one will be much help if the points above are neglected.

No. It's satellite photos taken no more than 3 years ago.

I didn't know that dual channel doesn't work with AMDs.

Too broad a statement that one. It doesn't add performance improvements for Athlon XP processors under normal circumstances. Those people with onboard graphics, a motherboard with a suitable chipset, and an Athlon XP processor will see improvement owing to the fact that it effectively doubles the speed of available RAM for video use.

Athlon64 processors are different. Socket 939 motherboards for those benefit from dual channel memory configuration fully.

Download the chipset driver from here.

Install it on that Dell. Then download and install Everest Home Edition on it and generate a report to identify which of the other device drivers on that download page you need!

Let us know if you have any trouble identifying specific devices from Everest's report.

Isn't there a model name and number on the computer case?

Then you need to identify precisely what model Dell it is and download device drivers from Dell's website.

Keep checking. It's a wonderful diversion when you get hold of it :)

I disagree also. The initial Sempron releases were based on the Athlon XP core but had less cache. The current Sempron range, which replaces the earlier version, is based on the Athlon64 core and is considerably better.

Video card is the primary area of concern for 3D performance here, and as stated earlier I consider a 6600GT to be a minimum acceptable level of performance in today's world!

Keep in mind also that there's usually no need to have Windows 98 to get older games to work under Windows XP. You simply need to do a bit of research and find out how others have been able to make the games work. For C&C:
http://www.gidforums.com/t-4535.html

Hi Lauren,

It depends on the age of that laptop and whether ot not there are capacity restrictions for the size of hard drives it will accept. If it's an older laptop which will not recognise the larger capacity hard drives which are sold nowadays you may find it difficult to obtain a suitable replacement.

But don't jump to conclusions before you try installing with a workable CD. A possibility would be to try borrowing a Windows CD from someone and seeing if that will install. You'd need to download device drivers for the laptop from Sony's website were you to install that way, and it would not reload any bundled software.

Oh crikeys! Nice picture jwenting!

Any chance of you uploading a suitable sized version of that somewhere you could link it, so that people could use it as a wallpaper?

And in an horrendous situation my own country is currently confronting, a Government which was elected on a platform of changing Industrial Relations law to ease the situation for companies with fewer than 15 employees, has used their majority in both houses of Parliament to implement the changes for companies with 100 or fewer employees instead. There were no checks and balances to ensure that their promises were actually adhered to after they gained power. The move they are making has the potential to strip worker rights and benefits from more than 90% of all employees in this country!

Hi Awais,

For starters this forum section is for introductions, not for asking technical questions.

For seconds, even if you post this in the appropriate forum section, no-one will help you because you're asking someone to do your homework for you! That's cheating, and everyone here knows it!

If you do the work yourself, and then ask questions about the parts where you are stuck or having problems, you'll most likely get help. But we don't do the work for you.

And we don't allow email links for answers.

What 'recovery disk' are you using then? Was it created by a program? Did it come from a different PC? What's the story with it, please?

jwenting, I'm sorry but some of the views you express verge damn near into 'redneck' territory! The things you talk about there aren't aspects of a socialist system of organisation but rather the dangers of allowing power to run without adequate checks and balances in place. The same sort of outcomes can (and do) result from the implementation of a capitalist system of organisation.

Hiya razor. I think your problem is in the 'reinstalled'!

Sounds like there are underlying system corruptions and problems which the reinstall simply can't fix. Perform a format and fresh install and I'm sure the thing will work fine. Don't forget to back your data up first and have your device drivers and programs ready to install.

Display card is certainly a problem and your budget is too restrictive. I'd forego some of the games you wish to play for now and do a bit more saving. Many people are reporting that Battlefield 2 will eat up 2Gb of RAM, so 512Mb is hardly sufficient. I'd be looking at upgrading to at least 1Gb of RAM and changing that display card to at least an X700 Pro or preferably an NVidia 6600GT. Anything short of that is going to dissappoint you for the sort of gaming you're after.

Sorry to tell you that, but the lesser alternatives really don't suit!

Edit: The listed cards are the ones they've tested it on, not the limits of what it will run on. 6600GT is a better card than X700 Pro.

Also, more than 128Mb of video RAM is a waste of time unless you plan to spend much more money on a more capable card. It's for storing texture details, and the mid-range cards don't have the capacity to run detailed enough textures to need the extra display RAM.

Please don't revive old, abandoned threads.

Hi Lauren.

I suspect the first thing to do is to give those System Recovery CDs a good clean and try again, in case it is simply a problem related to reading the CDs. If the CDs look a bit the worse for wear, with scuffing and scratches, you could try getting your local video rental store to give them a polish for you, or try getting replacements from Sony.

If the CDs seem OK, I'd suggest you drop the laptop in to a repair technician to be checked. It could be the case that the hard drive is no longer functioning correctly.
What version of Windows does the Vaio use?

Hi peetrod, and welcome to Daniweb.

Your problem isn't really a 'Dead machine'. It's a working Windows Me system which has problems after being infected with a 'Net nasty'. I'll move this to the 'Viruyses and Nasties' section, where you'll get assistance with troubleshooting procedures including, I suspect, starting your system in Windows 'Safe mode' so that the nasty critter can be removed!

Cheers.

A fuller explanation of the differences can be found here on Paul Thuurot's site:

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

I'm sorta in agreement with you. I don't believe that we should be restricted to minimalist, but I do believe that things could be made a lot more comfortable for us.

I'm not one to get upset about 'feature bloat'. I kinda like it actually, and in this day and age of cheap memory and hard drive storage space there's no real problem with having and using it. But I've just been reviewing the Adobe range of products and there's one factor that hits me in the head like a brick. Like many other software companies, Adobe offers 'Beginner' and 'Advanced' products. But what they DON'T offer is a 'Beginner' interface to the 'Advanced' product! Start with the cut down product and you're stuck with it, because you simply don't have the features there when you're ready to start using them. Start with the professional product and you have to start with the professional level of expertise! There's no middle ground.

What I'd like to see are applications that can 'grow' with you. I'd like to be able to have professional capability products, but start with a 'Beginner' interface, and have the extra features there to add in as and when I need them.

I don't mind you asking at all mate. I'm just sorry that it's too late, too tired to respond adequately here.

Basically I believe that there are some things which don't 'belong' in the private sector. Infrastructure provision for starters. Roads, rail, services such as power and communications networks. These, in my view, should be owned by the people, run by the people and most of all run FOR the people. Sure they have to be run efficiently and at a profit. But that profit should belong to all of us, not just a few.

Such things as health and education also should belong wholly to the public sector. It's obscene to see them being run on a 'for profit' basis and lining the pockets of a few while denying service to some who need it. "Sorry, you can't pay so go away and die from that infected cut!" "Sorry, son, but your daddy doesn't have the dollars so we don't care HOW clever you are - only the money earns your place at THIS school!"

I could go on and on I suppose but I won't. Suffice to say that, for me, it's humanity first, community second, and me a distant third. That sorta puts me at odds with the ideals of the 'Free, capitalist World'.

Guidelines vary from country to country, and you'll find that most vendors will only sell an OEM Windows with a motherboard/processor/RAM bundle.

Great to hear. Thanks for letting us know :D

You can do an In place Upgrade install with your CD and reinstall SP2 afterwards.

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

You can download the full installation of SP2 and save it to CD in preparation:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

Topic moved to 'Viruses and nasties' in order that you can get assistance with the Trojan.

Okay! Enough of this.

broad, if you click on the 'Site Management' link at left of page you'll find an entire Forum sub-section devoted to "Building an Online Community" . There are many topics in it and you would do well to read through them to get ideas about building your forum.

Repeatedly posting here asking people if they like it and asking them to join is a bit over the top. Links advertising your site aren't permitted here except in your forum sig, as far as I'm aware, and the practice of 'poaching' members from another forum is, in my view, a rather rude one! Imagine how you'd feel if your forum was growing in membership and someone started posting there and 'pinching' your members!

Topic closed. Please keep website review requests and discussion about building your online forum community in the appropriate place.

I've added a pinned topic at the top of this forum section for people to use when troubleshooting situations like this one.

Windows XP systems generally have NTFS format partitions. An MS-DOS boot disk won't format one of those.

My further advice is that if the beeps are gone the problem must be fixed!

:D

ok, I have a problem, when I right click My computer, the hardware tab is not there, so I right clicked in the hard drive and I found the hardware tab and the drivers but there were only the drivers for the hard drive, cd, dvd and USB things.
And 1 more thing how do u go into BIOS?
In the video card owner's manual says that u shuold install the hardware first, is that true??

Be better to follow the instructions given earlier. Right click My Computer and choose Properties.

In Windows XP 'Device Manager' will be accessed via a button on the 'Hardware' tab. In Windows 98 'Device Manager' will be a tab of its own.

The 'System Properties' dialogue (which is what we're talking about here) can also be accessed via Control Panel, or by pressing the 'Windows key' and the 'Pause/Break' key at the same time.

When you are in Device Manager there should be a section called 'Display Adapters'.

You need to do an in-place upgrade install:

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

A compressed dll file is still available for use. What, exactly, is the dll file's name?

Sounds like a spyware or malware infestation to me? Have you tried booting in 'Safe mode'? If it loads to desktop in Safe mode it's most likely a net nasty you've picked up somewhere which has caused a problem. Compressing files would not have caused this.

Not much better than the GF4MX, to tell the truth.

Have you any background programs running while you're trying to run games? Has the hard drive been cleaned of temporary files and defragged? Is youe windows installation in good order? Have the display drivers been updated?

Like Coconut Monkey has said, that system does not seem to be running as well as it should be.

Step one: Ensure that Outlook is in use on all machines operated by the compnay. Outlook Express is not suitable for commercial use.

Step two: Use the Help feature of Outlook to learn how to set up message rules. If necessary, you can set up a message rule which checks all mail sent to specific addresses and deletes all but messages form people on a prescribed list! There are many combinations of conditions for mail rules.

Did you ever try to determine WHY the Recovery CD didn't work? Are you sure that you followed the correct procedures? Was the CD damaged?

Seems to me that it's likely you'll either need a replacement Recovery CD, or else learn to create a customised installation CD which loads the drivers as part of the install. That's a quite complex and advanced procedure.

Have another good look in BIOS Setup in case the entry is 'nested' and you've missed it, and try contacting the Compaw support section to see if they can assist.

What happens if it 'hangs' when installing a device, and you press reset? Does the install continue? Have you tried?

No, there is no way round the problem without doing a fresh install of Windows. The best approach is to purchase another hard drive. When you change motherboards, fit the new drive instead of your old one. Install Windows.

Then install your programs etc, and add the original drive as a secondary drive. Copy your data files across, format the original drive and then use it as storage.

By the way, I've removed your email address from your posts. Please do not include it as that is against forum policy. All questions and answers must be posted in the thread, not sent via email or PM.

That's correct. When installing devices, is it asking you for input? If so, cancel out of any hardware installation dialogues you encounter, and let the installation proceed without installing the related devices.

Installing the device drivers afterwards will fix it up.

Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices.

On the 'Sounds' tab, you'll find all the various sounds played by Windows for various events. Scroll down and select the one called "Start Windows". The file listed should be 'Windows XP Startup.wav'.

Use the browse button to locate the Wave file you wish to use instead and select it. Use 'Apply' when done and the sound of your choice should be set. The same procedure can replace any Windows sound with a Wave file of your choice.

Forget BIOS changes you've read in the Phoenix info. Compaq uses a proprietary interface for BIOS setup, not the standard one. Many of the normal features are unavailable for change. Many large companies do this to their PCs, and can even use the technique to limit your capability for upgrading processors etc.

To install XP Pro you need to first download the appropriate drivers and save them to CD. Get them from Compaq's website, where you'll first need to determine which Presario 700 of the many, many models you have.

Then boot from the XP CD, delete the existing partition and create a new one in its place. This will completely remove all information on the drive, so be sure you've backed up essential data first.

Create a new partition in the reclaimed space, install XP and then install the drivers you downloaded previously. Reload your software, copy your data back if need be, and all should be good.

That laptop should have come with XP home. It should also have come with a recovery CD or some other means of reloading the original OS and programs. Is there any reason for not doing this, as it would be the best way to proceed.

It sounds to me like you are trying to Install XP Pro as an 'upgrade' to an XP Home installation which is in a mess. That doesn't, and can't work! It'll make things worse not better.

I got three ideas:

1. I'll move this to the 'Troubleshooting Dead Machines' section where it rightfully belongs.

2. That second computer isn't really 'working' yet.

3. You read the sticky at top of page in the 'Dead machines' section and let us know if the tips in there don't bring results.

:D

That started off being stupid right from where it was contended that 'Socialism' is somehow an entity which purposely acts on people to target' them.

Socialism is simply a system of socio-economic organisation, which PEOPLE choose to implement. Damn shame we don't have a fair bit more of its elements here in Australia. We did once, and enjoyed one of the best infrastructures in the developed world, back before short-sighted dickheads in office sold off pretty much all of it to private enterprise!

I would try reloading the a/v codecs to see if that corrects the problem. If it does, try uninstalling them again afterwards.

Reloading might overwrite with uncorrupted files and stop the behaviour.

Be mindful that the type of hardware which can be legally bound to an OEM license varies from time to time and from place to place. It does NOT always have to accompany an entire system. It simply needs to accompany a component or device. The bundled versions of Nero which come with burners are a classic example. Most vendors which offer OEM software in their catalogues will sell it to you with any hardware purchese whatsoever. Until Microsoft tightened things up, you could legally get an OEM copy of Windows XP with a power cord purchase!

Software support shouldn't be a consideration. All you should ever really need are 'How to do stuff' instructions, and for those you can download product manuals from the websites of most companies which provide OEM software. (Or get help from internet sites).

There is no such thing as a legitimate free download of Windows 95, and I'm afraid we don't permit information about warez here at Daniweb.

It's a nuisance when the OS version you're after is discontinued and unsupported, but rules are rules!

Topic closed.

When you get the new card do this:

* Right-click My computer and choose properties. On the Hardware tab choose Device Manager. Locate the entry for the display card, right click it and choose 'Uninstall' or 'Remove' or whatever it is. OK out of there and DO NOT REBOOT if asked.

* In Control Panel choose Add/Remove programs. Locate any entries there for display drivers and choose Remove for any that appear.

* Shut down and remove the power cord.

* Open the case and fit the new card.

* Ensure that the monitor is connected to the new card, and that the monitor is turned on and warmed up. Close up, reconnect the power cord and press the 'On' switch.

* Immediately go into BIOS setup. Change the setting for video memory allocated to disabled or the minimum amount possible, whatever the settings available may be for your motherboard. (Settings vary from board to board so carefully read the motherboard manual.) If there is a setting to disable onboard video use it. If the manual indicates a motherboard jumper setting to disable onboard video make the appropriate change.

* Save and exit from BIOS setup, and when Windows starts Cancel out of any Hardware installation dialogue you might be presented with.

* Install the card in Windows either by running the card's installation CD, or for preference by installing the latest driver revision downloaded fromm www.nvidia.com or

If you mean the one I just posted I just checked it in both Firefox and Internet Explorer and it works fine for me. Perhaps a problem at your end?