Posts by Chaky

Do you have a tool in your BIOS for formatting? All you need to do is delete any existing partitions on your bad HD and create one healthy partition. Although bad sectors shouldn't prevent you from having operational drive. It should only make formatting take longer than usual, unless the bad sectors are on the beginning of the drive (boot sectors). Then your HD would be unusable.

There are tools that HD manufacturers offer that can be burned as bootable CD to do a low-level format. Post your HD brand, please

cricket -> bug

I'm having similar problems. My headphone/mic set up is plugged in correctly. Well, I can hear all playback and can record in to my computer using the mic, but can't hear myself in the headphones when talking into the mic. Does that make sense?

Some audio cards have the option of playing the sound from mic directly to the audio output, and some don't. Mic is primarily an audio-in. Check the properties on your volume taskbar. There should be a slider labeled "Microphone". If it is not shown, then you might need to check the microphone checkbox in the options/properties. If you don't see microphone in the list of volume controls, then your audio card doesn't support it.

Make sure that it is recognized in your desktop's BIOS.
Make sure that it is on secondary IDE channel, as it is probably set as master. Also, make sure that the secondary IDE channel isn't disabled in BIOS.
Is the power cable connected to it?

There probbably is a loose connection on RAM chips. Try reseating it.

Try this:
split the HD in 2 partitions, with first partition using 85% (a healthy portion), and 2nd partition using the rest.
You shouldn't have problems formatting 1st partition, while 2nd one you can play with later.

Simplest way to split your HD is to use windows setup disc.

I can already hear it.... Intellisten, a technology that listens to your conversation and cuts in it with advertising messages, regarding the words you spoke.

I would rather pay money than be spammed by ads on a hourly basis. I imagine that free phone would come with "buy this... buy that..." bombardment.

Yup.. That's why I'm keeping clear of sharp objects.

Simple.. ditch that fan and get yourself a Zelman or Thermaltake. Bigger fan - less RPMs (read: less noise) + they look cool and glow in the dark.

That's another way of Google peeking into people's privacy. First they "had to know" what do you look for on the net, but now they want to know who are you talking to...

CIA will not tolerate this.

That's a lofty goal for an unknown quantity :icon_wink:

"unknown quantity" means that it hasn't been measured yet, hehe

I have 7800 GT and it requires extra power supply. In a sense of cables.

Temp. monitoring.... There must be some software that came with your motherboard that includes live temperature monitoring... and there are tons of freeware on the net. If it runs, it's good software.

Don't expect memory temp. monitoring.

If it keeps failing, and there are no hardware conflicts, you probably purchased faulty VGA. I suggest you take it back asap. It is either faulty or incompatible (not 100% compatible).

Couple of suggestions:

- make sure you connected the card properly. Also, VGA power cables too (if any) <-- possible that your PSU doesn't have those cables.

- try older drivers. NVIDIA has tendency to release drivers too early.

- try newest beta version, since it could be driver issue.

- Do not overclock the card. In my experience, that 10% faster that is possible is not noticeable. It only makes system unstable. Considerably.

- Do not overclock CPU. at least not that much

- increase voltage for the mem and/or CPU (overheating possible)

One more thing... If you use limewire or any other P2P file sharing software, then it is possible that you downloaded a trojan there. Especially with limewire. What they do is track the words that you are searching for and rename the trojan so it would look like the file you are searching for. Once, I executed such prog by mistake and had ALLOT of trouble cleaning the system of all the trojans that popped out of it.

One way of manually cleaning the system is to open the windows folder (in folder options set to show hidden files and not to protect the system files) and look for any exe that seems out of place. There shouldn't be many exe files. My win folder has 38. What you are looking for is exe without icon (just a blue square, default exe icon) and 1 - 100 KB of size. Typically, all widows exe files have allot of info attached to them, such as file version, company name, language, original filename and such. Trojans do not, or have very little. That info is shown in the file's properties. That is one 99% certain way to tell the trojan

Also, empty the temp folders (one in Windows folder and one in documents and settings/(your account)/local settings/temp). Chances are that the trojan is in one of those. If it is active, and according to the log it isn't, then it would be locked. Way to get it unlocked …

Wildtagent is adware... not dangerous. Comes with allot of software.

I know that some so-called spyware removal softwares actually PUT the trojan in and "catch it", like, no other prog. would find it and you would be compelled to buy that product... a commercial trick. I'm not saying that spy eraser is such trojan, but I'm not too eager to test it. You should try more stuff, like BitDefender, NOD32 or such.

Anyway, if hijackthis log comes clean, than it probably is, since it is not anti-nasties prog. It only generates a list of active programs and some registry entries.

BTW No prob.. I apologize too.... and DO use the firewall... It is made to stop trojans.

I am an idiot?

1. This is "troubleshooting dead machines" forum, as NOT Spyware and other Nasties.
2. Copy-paste that log to hijackthis site yourself and see what it says.
3. Guess what's the only warning you get....YOU DON'T HAVE A FIREWALL.

Who's the idiot here, idiot?

I'm not looking into that perticular model, but FSB settings in bios should be adjustable.
Also, the memory could limit the FSB to 400.

I want to be nearly The Quee..... King of Daniweb.:zzz:

I usually cut my fingers trying to cut 5mm long and 2mm wide very hard piece of plastic with very sharp scalpel.

Where can I find one. My board has a two pin led and my case has a 3 pin female plug. I can't find one. Anyone know where I can get one.

3 pin female plug.. that's odd. Usually they are all 2-pin female plugs, except for the beeper that is sometimes 4-pin female plug, yet with only 2 wires.

(this goes if you have 2 wires on 3-pin female plug)
You can switch wires from one hole to another (I guess you need one wire in middle hole) with a needle or very thin screwdriver. You need to lift the plastic nob that holds the end of the wire and pull the wire out of the socket. No damage necessary. Now you can insert it in the middle hole (you should hear a click), but beware of the wire's orientation. If you rotate it, the nob won't hold it and when you plug it in, that wire will be pushed back out. That is, if the 2 pins are on the end of the row... otherwise find some used 2-pin female plug and (pull out both wires) and replace the existing 3-pin female plug.

No need to buy extra junk.

3 things:

1. wrong forum
2. no nasties
3. no firewall

Look for 8600 GT from BFG or Gainward (I think). My bro bought it relatively cheap. ($200)

Also look for oxydation on the card connection area.

I misunderstood "logging off" part for "logging on", as after OS booted.... my bad.

Hmmm... my gut feeling says that your mobo is out. Are you certain that you installed video drivers? Is it possible that you flashed the BIOS instead, 'coz it sounds like a bad flash. BIOS and video drivers are not too related, but if you use some update program (like ASUS update for ASUS mobos) you could be updating your drivers AND your BIOS at a same time.... just a thought.

OK, guys one problem per thread.. I'm replying to Ensis.

The pop probably came from PSU since it is the only part that has enough voltage to make a pop. But the pop could've damaged any component. My suggestion is that you pull everything out except VGA CPU and one RAM stick and try to boot (no HD nor any peripherals attached) using 350W PSU. This is long irritating process, but it is the only way to find out if your CPU mobo and VGA are still intact. If it doesn't come back to life, try changing RAM. You can also pull out the VGA. Without VGA a healthy machine would give you POST beep code (if you have beeper) for no-VGA. Usually 7 shorts and 1 long beep. Same goes for no RAM, only different code (continuous short beeps). That way you would know that the mobo and CPU are OK. Keep plugging in one thing at the time and reboot until you find the damaged one. My bet is that it is memory stick, but could be any one of those. Or every one...

BTW those faint brown stains near your CPU is dust blown by the CPU fan + cigarette smoke (otherwise it would be light-gray and not sticky). Blown processor would look exactly the same as healthy one, since the heatsink is obscuring the view of the circuitry.

Reading your post I can think of couple of things you can do. My guess is that the refresh rate or screen resolution is not supported by your monitor. Other possibility is (if your VGA looks like this) that you might have plugged in your monitor in wrong jack. (dual DVI)

Try this.

- different (better) monitor or
- other DVI or
- boot to safe mode and remove the video driver. Upon reboot your OS will automatically try to install the video driver. I suggest that you use the older version that worked and troubleshoot with the driver/VGA manufacturer. Let them know of your problem.

Add anti-microsoft site while you're at it, hehe.

That's why I stick to built-by-me desktops. I know what is inside of it and I know the quality of each component.

My machine: 95% of the $$$ went to the VGA, mobo, CPU, PSU, RAM, HD and cooling. Rest went to keyboard, casing, mouse (non-essential stuff) + monitor. Monitor is 2nd hand, came very cheap, but extremely high-quality craftsmanship. (got lucky with that)

Added couple of cards later, but it is still working Since February 2006. Only hint of failing comes from cheap-ass chipset fan. That's the only fan that I haven't replaced with better solution only due to a fact that the only alternative available to me is passive cooling, which won't fit because of bigger-then-planned VGA. ASUS acknowledges the problem and are to send me a replacement fan. I guess they are a better choice than HP, and they build laptops (hint).

Check the memory stick too, while you're at it.

"No signal" could mean 3 things:
- cable not plugged (or loose)
- PC won't start
- refresh rate not supported by your monitor. That would happen only if you manage to boot into OS. Not before that.

Chances are it is second of the above. (first and third usually give you different messages)

My guess is that the TRANSIT is to blame. VGA cards can easily get unplugged (or partially) regardless of the screw that holds it. (IF your VGA isn't integrated with the mobo).
That would make it act as it acts with you: at home it is not working, you drive it somewhere to get it fixed and the card shakes and regains connection, you get there and it works, you go back, card shakes and looses connection... you get the picture. What you need to do is open up the case yourself and unplug and plug back in the VGA.

Desktops in transit tend to loosen connections with memory sticks and PCI/AGP cards. Try reseating them. I've seen with my own eyes AGP card completely unplugged after 10 minute ride, and the screw on the card was tightened.
Also check motherboard's power cables if they are loose.

Is the CPU picking up the heat when turned on? If so, you might have fried CPU on your hands due to dead CPU fan.
Next suspect would be PSU.

Any info from your friends?

Soon-to-die memory can eventually cause behavior similar to over-overclocking. Also cheap or old PSU can do the same. (lack of voltage or watts)
BUT... 4 seconds delay points to ... (sounds silly, I know) stuck power button. Usually if you press and hold the power button for 4 sec, you will shut down your PC. Try this:

- change power-off behavior in BIOS. It is usually Instant OFF/4 sec delay/ do nothing . If available, select "do nothing" (I think those are the options)

- Increase memory voltage to the max if not already done. Corsair memory should be equipped with heatsinks, so no overheating worries.

- Increase CPU voltage to the max if not already. Be aware of the CPU temperature once you do that. That heat could damage your CPU.

- If all that fails, try setting core clock at lower rate.

Also, check other voltages (12v, 5v, 3.3v) in BIOS and/or monitoring software in OS. One of those could be too low. That would point to dying PSU.

I got no negative reps... WOW! I got rep OUTSIDE geek's lounge too!:cool:

My rep went from two dots to one. What happened?

I guess my HP joke is more than true....

That is the goal of modern technology. Make something last 5 days longer than warranty. I know that only too well. Just think of TVs 20 years ago and now. Those 20 years ago they were built to last.. now they are built to last as warranty.
Sorry to hear that arrogance of big corp. have hit you directly.

Thanks Dani. That did the trick.

For the rest of the guys here, the gost has been exorcized, pies eaten and devil changed his phone number.:D

I've just logged in and I keep seeing that I have 1 unread PM. The truth is that I have 0 unread PMs, but that "1" keeps sticking around. It is not IE/refresh issue. I've tried Firefox, and the same "1" keeps showing (the firefox cache was utterly cleared), so I'm certain that it is coming from daniweb.

A really bad cook.

I like her "In YOUR face" approach.

Count me in.

Yup... Happened again...

cristina>me, your control panel must be getting spammed with avalanche of notifications. (7k posts? Wow.. makes me look like strong-and-silent type)

I was referring to daniweb notifications.

It's a second time that I've received notifications for the last 10 days at once. In my CP, without email notification. It happened once before, about week ago.

Isolating motherboard, hmmm.... Definitely not a good idea for the permanent solution. Motherboards need grounding.

Think '98, Dude.
"256" stands for bytes. You can hear it from the horse's mouth.

No prob. Glad to help.

Is it a modded linux or modded XP?

Couple of possible causes:

- Copy that you burned (legality?.. hmm...) is not bootable. (boot sector isn't 1 to 1 copy)

- I'm not sure how it actually behaves, but pre-installed version of Windows XP will refuse to install if the hardware configuration is too different from the original machine.
I'm guessing that your other machine, which doesn't support SATA drives, came with OEM copy of windows.

- Your optical drive needs the firmware update. If the model/manufacturer of CDR that you burned the windows onto is newer (model age, not actual disc) than your burner, then it could give you problems with reading/burning with that disc model.... or you can use some well known and established CDR manuf./model that were around before your optical drive model.

- Your optical drive is dying

- Cable is cracked or the pins are bent or broken.

- Your mobo BIOS needs update - could be a bug in the BIOS or a compatibility issue with your optical drive

- Your motherboard is partially fried - All NT-based Windows setup programs are particularly sensitive when it comes to IDE (or SATA) controller. I have experienced similar thing with NT 3.51 back in the old days. Tried to install it on my old 486, but failed with BSOD every time, while Win 95 worked as usual on the same hardware. Couple of months late my IDE controller died. Luckily for me, mobo didn't have integrated IDE …

Best way to help us help you is that you manage to read that BSOD.