Posts by Chaky

He he.. pre-school age rules.

There is one thing you should have in mind:

If you have already installed VGA drivers, and your VGA has GeForce chipset, you wont be able to update mobo drivers properly. Some of them will not be updated.
What you need to do is:
- uninstall VGA drivers
- uninstall mobo drivers
- install updated mobo drivers
- install VGA drivers

If I was you, I would go to NVIDIA's homepage for the mobo drivers. ASUS tends to be 6 - 12 months behind the current version. If you do, you might need to get the sound drivers separately.

Uninstalling software (I'm not talking about drivers) might be wise thing to do if you are not planning on formatting the drive before the Windows setup. For the disk space sake.
You will have to reinstall all of it again, format or no format.

I have A8N Sli mobo, and only reason for the upgrade (apart from nForce 4 Chipset) is the socket 939. I had misfortune to buy my mobo just before the AM2 socket got released, and judging from the CPU prices, it was a bad timing for me.
I don't know about you, but I had to upgrade my HD BIOS in order to get it running in SATA II mode. That "upgrade" is caused by bug in nForce4 chipset, and it is possible that it is make-it-nForce4-only-drive upgrade. No reverting possible for me (Maxtor DiamondMAX).

So, I guess there are things you should consider before you go and install new stuff:

- Ground yourself
- Don't bend the needles
- Avoid water cooling. You know why. Big heatsink is all you need.
- Make sure you have floppy drive around. You might need f6 drivers.
- Make sure you run the make-disk utility before you start Windows setup (f6 drivers).
- Prepare all of the driver CD's for your hardware. Searching for one CD/DVD at the time is time-consuming.
- Connect everything (USB ports, all the PCI cards, all external hardware...) before windows setup
- Driver list to be installed (after the Windows setup is done):
1. MOTHERBOARD - Absolute MUST
2. CPU Support
3. Graphic Card
4. Other PCI cards, printers...
5. Latest DirectX

- Check the Hardware manager to see if there …

Dell... typical.

If you can find out which motherboard you have on your hands (and you won't get that from Dell's support) you might find BIOS to flash, but that should be your LAST resort. That would transform your Dell PC to regular PC.

My advice is to give Dell some hard time and pull their sleeve to help you on this.

You will need to disable the on-board graphic card in your BIOS. Only then can your motherboard detect new graphic card.

I'm not completely familiar with Pinnacle PCTV cards, but I do have Pinnacle PCTV Sat card (satellite receiver, not a TV tuner). I believe that you have codec problem. MPEG2 to be precise. (I know that there are trial versions... maybe your trial period expired?)

I needed that codec to see the picture on my sat card, and I'm pretty sure that TV tuners also need that same codec. Problem is that the MPEG2 codec is not free. You'll need to purchase some software that contains that codec. I got it trough PowerDVD that came with my DVD burner.

Why, of why you want your D: to become E:?

%SystemRoot%\Explorer.exe /n,/e,E:\

You were right, I was in 5-year-old mode. I thought that I was replying to flamereaver. Sorry about that.
Anyway, my personal opinion is that there should not be any autorun.inf on local drive's root. Not even the USB drives, unless you dedicate them for single purpose. (clips, pics etc)

For the record:
I've just plugged in another HD (internal) and after reboot the system tried to find appropriate program on each new volume. (3 partitions)
I've canceled the process and it never repeated again. Not even after I've unplugged the HD and plugged it in on another SATA channel. That's how the system should behave.

Registry setting goes for all drives.

If the problem is with some, and not all drives, then I would suspect that those drives (I'm not talking about CD/DVDs) contain file named "autorun.inf" in their roots (that would be "D:\autorun.inf" for drive D). I suggest deleting them. Usually, autorun.inf is hidden, system or read-only (file attributes, not the real state), so in order to make them visible you will need to make some changes in Folder options (Open or explore my computer, click on "tools"/folder options"/"view" tab).
There are 1 checkbox and 1 radio button that would make every file visible. Set "show hidden files or folders" and uncheck "hide protected operating system files(Recommended)".
Now they are visible in the windows explorer and can be deleted normally. Don't get scared of warnings saying that it is system file and that your system might not work afterwards... That's because the FILE ATTRIBUTE (mealy part of the file's name, nothing more) is marked as "system file". As, ANY file can be marked "system file".

I suggest that you change those settings back to the prior state once you delete "autorun.inf" files.

One more thing regarding USB drives... You might need to "take the ownership" (permission/sharing settings thing, XP pro only).

I hate to repeat my self.

Well, here's for the 5-year-olds:

- click "run" in your start menu and type in "regedit". That should start the registry editor.
- if there are expanded branches in your first run, collapse them all and expand one called "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT". First one from the top.
- find key called "drive" on the next level. Expand it and click on the "shell" sub-key. (pic no. 1)
The picture shows what your registry should look like. Note the status bar at the bottom says "My Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell" - exact location of where you should look. Also note on the right side "default REG_SZ none". You can ignore REG_SZ part. Important thing there is that default - none. That is what it should read on your PC. Let's say that in my case the default value says "ACDBrowse", then the picture No. 3 shows what exactly would be activated ("C:\Program Files\ACD Systems\ACDSee\8.0.Pro\ACDSee8Pro.exe" "%1") on the double-click. ACDSee would start. Also, on the right click, first (bold text) item would be what the picture No 2 shows "Browse with ACDSee Pro" - user-friendly name of "ACDBrowse" sub-key.

The conclusion: In the "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell" key the default value should be "none". (as text, not empty)

One more thing:

DO NOT DELETE ANY KEYS!
ONLY CHANGE THE DEFAULT VALUE OF THE ABOVE KEY!
THERE IS NO UNDO FUNCTION IN REGISTRY EDITOR!

Try my advice.

You can trace the program that caused this by opening "command" sub-key of of the sub-key indicated in the "default" value. That is the actual command line that activates a program.
Also check your permissions on those drives and check for "autorun.inf".

You might want to post what is the default (bold) command when you right-click on the drive. That is set by "default" value in above mentioned "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell" registry key.

I got ~ 1/2 dozen drives laying around and god-knows-how-many floppy disks.
Reminders of good old 486 days.

This might be helpful.

Partition the letter? That doesn't make much sense. You can only assign the letter to the volume or partition the hard drive. Only brand new drives and/or drives with deleted partitions need partitioning. Safest way to determine if your drive needs partitioning is to open disk management and see if you have partitioned all drives. If some are unpartitioned you would see boxes labeled "unpartitioned space". Still, that would be a very weird request from the installation program...

If it is on-board, then it is included in the motherboard drivers package.

-ignore-

There should NOT be autorun.inf in HD volume root. If you have one, delete it. Try typing this in "run" menu to reveal it:

attrib C:\autorun.inf -r -h -s

or

attrib D:\autorun.inf -r -h -s

that should make it visible and easy do delete. It is NOT important system file. It is only MARKED as system file.

Did you even try my advice?

I wish you a floppy drive.

Try this:

Click "run" on your start menu and type regedit.

In "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT" branch (first one from the top) find "drive" sub-branch. Easiest way to find it is to expand the branch, click on the first sub-branch ant simply type in "drive".
Now expand it and click on the "shell". If there is anything in the data for the (Default) value, delete it. That data is the reference to the shell sub-branch for default action when double-clicking the drive icon. If you like, you can export the "drive" branch to a file just in case you delete something vital. (no undo function)

Look on the bright side: atleast you have new regcleaner.

You must use floppy drive to load f6 drivers. PCMCIA Floppy, USB external floppy, on-board floppy.. it doesn't matter as long as it is floppy drive (Thank you, microsoft, for making modern computers useless without obsolete piece of hardware such as floppy drive. Ever heard of CDs?)

You need to set permissions on those volumes. Also, you need higher level account (administrator level is the highest).

To check whether your account is administrator one, open the control panel (classic view) and open "User Accounts". In the lower left corner should be your account name and account type (should read "computer administrator")

To set permissions follow these steps:
Open control panel (classic view)/folder options. Scroll down advanced settings window and uncheck the "use simple file sharing".
Apply and rightclick on the volumes in question, select properties and click on "security" tab. There you'll see detailed sharing permissions/restrictions for all relevant accounts on that particular drive/file/folder. (Taking that you have administrative permissions) click on "Administrators ([computer name]\Administrators)" (first one from the top) and check allow on "full control" and click "apply".
If you see your account name on the list, either remove it or allow full control. If you are only user on that PC I suggest removing it from the list, for you are administrator and comply with "administrators" permissions.
After setting the permission, click on the "advanced" button. In the first tab select "Administrators ([computer name]\Administrators)" (same as before) and check the "Replace permissions entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects" and apply.

Repeat those steps on all volumes in question.

I'm afraid that your problem isn't caused by malware. My best guess is that your mpeg4 (or quicktime) codec got corrupted or replaced by incompatible one or one that doesn't support coding (decoding only). WMP has a habit of automatically downloading and installing codecs. To find out which codec is causing problems, you will have to do a system of elimination. Try format by format converting (doesn't matter which software you use... they all use same codecs) until you are certain which video format you can't produce. I say mpeg4 codec is to blame.
If so, to repair the damage you will need to reinstall it. Biggest problem there is that video editing software (and video players) install codecs without notice or prompting, so finding which one installed working mpeg4 codec (or whichever is the problematic one) can be painfully long process. There are allot of codec bundles out there, but I can't recommend that option because not all codecs within those bundles are the latest ones, or fully coding and decoding capable.

Please, download Hijackthis, extract it, run it and post the log here. We'll go from there.

Glad to hear that you saved the important files.

If your drive is operational, best and safest thing to do is to delete all of the partitions and create one or more using windows setup. There is a chance that you would need so-called f6 drivers. Those are ones that you are prompted for when the setup program launches ("press f6 for third party device drivers" or something) and you must prepare them on floppy disc prior to windows installation using bootable CD that came with laptop (one containing drivers). I can't tell for sure whether you need them or not. HP didn't specify what chipset is used with your laptop. If it is nForce 4 or later, then you will definitely need the f6 drivers.

Also make sure that the cables are connected properly.

If all that fails, then you know that you have a dead HD on your hands.

Another useful command in the recovery console is "map" (no parameters required)
It displays HD info on partitions (if the system sees any) and that info is needed as parameters for the FIXMBR command.

To make things clear:

Is it 80 Gig drive as it is described here?
Is it 1250 or 250 meg partition?

If you created any partition after this incident, then there is no practical way to recover your drive except restoring the backups from DVDs (ghost, drive imaging...).

You can try this:
DISABLE the drive in BIOS and then try booting (and install) from windows setup CD. You will not have an option of repairing the current windows installation, (fresh install only) but it might jump-start your MBR.
If you are wondering if I've lost it, know this: Windows setup program accesses chipset directly and detects drive presence, ignoring BIOS settings. For some reason, if the drive is disabled in BIOS, it will not give you an option of repairing the installation. Don't forget to enable the drive after 1st reboot. Hopefully you will not have to delete the partitions and therefor loose all data on your drive.

Chaky...You stated "Formatting it via normal windows XP interface would not set first partition as "active", because there can be only one "active" partition on one system."

You can have up to four primary partitions, but only one can be "active" at a time.

Exactly. Formatting HD via normal XP inerface would never make that HD's primary partition as "active" because there is already one active partition on that system. Has to be done via windows setup program or boot floppy diskette.

Quick tip regarding SATA cables that I've heard from ppl with experience:

Don't touch connecting ends of those cables with your bare hands! One touch and it is almost certainly damaged!
The cables are pretty cheap and there is always one extra set of cables, if you are building your PC that is (one set comes with the drive and one set comes with the motherboard), and if you touch the sensitive connectors, the safest thing to do is to replace the cable.
Damaged cable will eventually produce a write error on the drive and you might lose ALL the data on it. Damaged power cable can produce bad sectors. Bad sector in a boot area will render drive unformatable, and therefor unusable.

FDISK creates partitions. It doesn't format them. XP can run on FAT 32. The FAT32 limit is just under 32 gigs which is more than enough to install the windows.

No.
If you delete all partitions on the drive, NOTHING survives. Even the boot sectors no longer exist. (together with eventual boot sector viruses)
Your problem is in the co-relation between hard drive and IDE controller. Possibly your BIOS needs updating, but if you see the drive properly recognized you don't have the problem there. Another cause could be faulty IDE cable. Worst case scenario - faulty motherboard.

Pre-formated drive (the workaround in my previous post) bypasses problems with BIOS and legacy IDE drivers used in windows setup program. After successful windows installation, and after the motherboard drivers are installed there should be no more problems.

ok......so i checked the jumper settings and the HDD is on master...ill give the f6 drivers a try though

There is one workaround I forgot to mention. You can do this:

- put the 160 G drive in a machine that can partition and format it without problems. I'll call it machine B.

- disconnect the drive you normally use in machine B to prevent windows setup program from changing the windows installation on that machine. You will have to check the BIOS settings on machine B regarding HDs. Best option would be to set everything on "auto".

- create partitions and format them to NTFS using windows setup CD. In order to partition 160 G drive properly, first partition has to be set as "active" in order to make it bootable. That is done automatically by windows setup program. Formatting it via normal windows XP interface would not set first partition as "active", because there can be only one "active" partition on one system.

- After the formatting turn off the system. Do not install windows here. You can plug back the drive in machine B

- put the 160 G back in the machine A and install windows without changing partitions or formats.

Tip: Use 80-pin ATA cable on that drive. 40-pin cable has lower data throughput.

Have one thing in mind:

Cheap motherboard = poor overall PC performance

Then make sure it is reckognised properly in BIOS. Also make sure that it is set on "master" if your optical drive is on the same channel, or "single drive" if it is the only drive on that channel. Some drives have that "single drive" jumper setting, some not. Also, some drives have jumper settings for different cylinder/head/sector values. You should chaeck if it is set on defaults.

But nevertheless, try the f6 drivers.

You need to put some info here.... I'm guessing that 20 GB dive is IDE and 160 GB drive is SATA. You also said that 160 GB drive worked fine before.

You can do couple of things here:
- boot via motherboard installation CD and make so-called "f6" drivers floppy. That will require a floppy drive and 1 floppy diskette. When finished, boot with windows setup CD and wait for the "press f6 if you need a 3rd party device driver" message and press f6. (keep the floppy in). Eventually you will be prompted to select the drivers that the setup program finds on the floppy. Select them all (1 by 1). After that, carry on with installation as usual.

- check if the 160 GB SATA drive is set to run in SATA II (or 3GB) mode. My guess is that your chipset doesn't support 3GB mode. There should be a jumper on the drive to select 1.5 and 3GB mode (or SATA / SATA II mode). Set it on 1.5 GB mode.

Being cool is important to the person who knows what it looks like in there, it's called pride. As for functionality, having the cables neatly bundled does enhance the air flow even if it is minutely.

I never said that cables should be loose. They should be bundled, but in this case "cool looking" single bundle had to pay.

I know what my PC looks like inside, and only thing that's bothering me there is lack of 2nd VGA for Sli mode.

PSU = whats a PSU?

Power Supply Unit

Disable "chassis open" warning in you BIOS. It should be under "hardware monitoring" or "advanced BIOS settings" section.

Newer chassis have little sensor that detects if the chassis cover has been removed. That sensor should be connected to the motherboard (2 pins somewhere) and if it is disconnected or the chassis cover is opened, it sends you that warning. Since your chassis doesn't have that sensor, you must disable it.

"Looking cool" isn't exactly your first priority with cables. First of all, they are inside the casing, so cool or not cool doesn't matter. What is important is that they are not in the fan's blades space and that they are not pressing any capacitors. They have fragile "legs".

I really don't feel like tearing up the mesh that surrounds the motherboard cables, it looks really good with the mesh.

You know what they say... if you want an omlet, you have to break some eggs.

Ideal would be USB sound card for couple of reasons:

- 5.1 (or 6.1, or 7.1...) channel output.
- better sound quality than crappy on-board low-end "buzzer"
- a fact that it is external and is far away from noise/distortion sources (anything electromagnetical like fans, drives, psu...)
- on-board laptop soundcards have implemented tiny amplifier that can not be bypassed (unless you are master electrician) and those amplifiers distort the sound that should be pre-amp signal. That's not the case with "real" soundcards. External ones usually have pre-amp output only (active speakers/amplifier is required to hear the sound)

... but that costs much more than 2 cables. ($100+)

Your home theater probably has 2-channel-input solution and the sheme of how to connect them is in it's manual. My guess is that you don't need anything more than 2 coaxial cables and one jack to plug them in your laptop.

It can be done, but way to hook it up depends on your soundcard output. Number of output channels, to be precise. Ideal would be 5.1 output to match your home theater. If the number is greater than 5.1, then use 2xfront, 2xrear and center output channels and mute the rest. Another advice is to flat the equalizer on the home theater and disable any surround/effects on it and let PC do all the surround and effects. If you don't, the output would be different than it should have been.

One more thing: don't be cheap on cables. I've replaced mine speaker cables with hi-fi ones and it PAYS OFF!

Note: If your sound card is on-board (and it probably is), then downloading and installing Vista drivers for your motherboard (whole bunch) from your motherboard manufacturer's site, not NVIDIA or whatever chipset site, would solve your sound problem. Sound drivers may be downloadable separately.

Probably nothing (as you switch it on).

That should not be much of a problem, if the cables can reach both. Usually, the cables (including ATX and 12V ATX) are not bounded together or are bounded with disposable plastic straps. You must unbound them so that ATX cable can go one way and 12V ATX cable another way. Make sure that none of the cables are in a CPU fan's space.

BTW, you need both plugged in.

If the old machine is PII, then it is IDE. All of the motherboards (old and new) have on-board IDE controller. Plus, there are SATA 2 IDE (and vice-versa) converters.

It is possible that you would need a newer PSU if your has a old-style power switch that is connected to the PSU. Today's standard power switch (or button, to be precise) is connected to the motherboard instead of PSU.

You will find it easier to install the CPU and RAM before you install the motherboard in the case.

Easier, yes, but depends on the CPU cooler and casing layout.

I'll repeat myself:

Look for the green/yellow (or green/white) striped wire that is screwed to the casing. That would be the ground wire. Simplest way to discharge the mobo static would be to briefly connect the motherboard (via casing) to the PSU via the ground wire and plug the mains cable to the socket in the wall. That would discharge any static from the motherboard.
But, that is not REALLY necessary. REALLY necessary thing would be for you to ground your self by touching a pipe or any conductor that is grounded. Touching that ground wire would do if the PSU is connected to the wall.