Posts by Chaky

Beeper goes a long way when troubleshooting.

P.S. You should start new thread

Usually yes, if the appropriate drivers are installed and if the design isn't flawed like nForce4 chipset and its hardware-driven firewall. Otherwise, they would be redundant.

First of all, this is SATA-to-ATA adapter.. you need ATA-to-SATA, and you need it only if there are no vacant IDE ports available. (2 channels=4 drives).

When you plug the drive in, and if it is propperly set (as SATA it must be set as master) your BIOS should recognize it, given that the SATA port the drive is plugged in isn't disabled and it is set to "auto".

Your BIOS should have Hard drive boot priority settings (not the boot sequence!). That is where you'll make sure that the system doesn't boot from a wrong HD.

Best practice is to set all of the HD configrations on "auto". The draw-back is that it takes few seconds longer to boot.

Nice to hear that they are acknowledging their mistake.

It will never be clear to me why they don't just simply include windows setup CD instead of this hassle with ghost disks and recovery.

Make new copies of those CDs on your other PC. It might be that your Toshiba optical drive is having trouble reading them.

You should look up in the manual for the meaning of those blinking leds.

Try pressing f8 before it boots and select last known good configuration.

Try this:

After you attempt booting into normal mode hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and select task manager.
In the processes tab kill any "explorer.exe" that might be running.
In the "file" menu select "New task (Run...)" and type "explorer" (no quotes).

I Agree. I said it, therefor it is so.

Glad to help.. I suggest that you replace the dying HD.. It will get more and more of bad sectors. The disk's surface is deteriorating, so you will need to do regular surface scans. Once a week, I'll say.

From now on, it is a lottery with that drive. If the bad sector appears in boot area, it will become unusable at all and the data on it will become unsalvageable without professional help. (read: $$ + time)

You can still use the drive though, but it is unreliable, especially as primary drive. My advice is get a new one and use this one only for non-important data.

*snif-snif*.. smells like a spam..

Try running the chkdsk at command prompt (start menu/run):

chkdsk C: /r

It will prompt you to run the chkdsk on next restart. Type Y.

That will check your HD for bad sectors and it can take a long time to complete. If everything is OK, it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, depending on the drive capacity.

I suspect that it will find (and mark) few bad sectors.

... and even a technician said that it's a heat issue but never discovered the heat dope not being there.

tsk-tsk-tsk @ technician

Glad to help.

First, load default settings in BIOS. It will set your CPU speeds to the factory settings. If your BIOS is latest one for your mobo, it should positively identify your CPU and it's settings. There might be, however, incompatibilities with system RAM and in such case you would need to manually set the DDR timings yourself. Otherwise you would get memory-related random errors/crashes during windows boot-up or during normal runtime.

Regarding the overheating, if the CPU fan is working, then the problem might be one of 3 causes:

1- Extremely dusty heatsink
2- Heatsink isn't tight enough on the CPU
3- Thermal paste between CPU and heatsink is old and dry

Heatsink needs to be TIGHT in order to efficiently transfer heat from CPU to heatsink. Also, the thermal paste layer needs to be really thin.

My general advice is to ditch the AMD heatsink and fan and get some serious cooling solution. Zalman or Thermaltake for example.

Regarding that darkened pin.. Darker color usually means that there were some speakings. Sparks are usually caused by bad connection. Also, dark color might be caused by oxidation. Either way, you would need to clean it up a little. Little bit of sandpaper would do.

John, please start a new thread in Appropriate forum. Here in this thread you won't get much help.

(quick tip: if you know which piece of software is slowing your machine down, you can always uninstall it)

I had problems with my PC for a long time. Caused by not-so-compatible RAM and wrong timings set by BIOS as default values. I had to manualy set the timings myself. Otherwise I would get memory-related errors at random.

And this is what I was going to ask you about. Could it solve the problem? I remember that I installed a new mainboard (ASUS P5PL2-E) and it made problems just after a week. The supplier suggested that I update the BIOS

Here you can see if your CPU is listed. You would need to know exact model/revision of the CPU.

CPU fan error usually means that the RPMs are too low, or the threshold for the alert is too high. That is changeable in the BIOS setup.

Hmm..
Overclocking failed! Press F1 to enter SETUP or F2 to continue.
Overvoltage failed!

That happens after the machine failed to start after the changes made in the BIOS and the default values are restored. Seems like default values are problematic ones.

There are several areas you should look into.

BIOS/mobo - CPU compatibility.
It is possible that you need to upgrade BIOS.

RAM - Mobo compatibility.
Possibly the RAM is inadequate for this mobo, and/or memory timings are wrongly set. Memory (it's capabilities) is the prime reason for an overclocking failures in general.

Failed mobo or CPU, in case the overvoltage error reoccurs. (after the PSU change)

Faulty BIOS.. Far-fetched, but possible cause for the POST errors. Possibly, flashing the newer or same BIOS version could fix this.

(This hould've been new thread)

Your new HD needs to be partitioned and partitions needs to be formatted in order to be bootable. Put in a windows setup disk and boot with CD first boot sequence. Partition and format from there.

If you want your PC to boot from 2.5 HDD, the partition on it needs to be set as active. In order to do so, you first need to boot from floppy with FDISK on it and use FDISK to set the partition active. Other HDDs must be disabled/unplugged at the time, for FDISK will not let you set it as active, if there is already one active partition present.

P.S. Play some music to set the mood, hehe

If it is protection issue, you should contact game manufacturer. There are updates for such stuff, usually discussed at the game manufacturer's site/forum. That is where you should take a look.

I suggest that you update mobo drivers, in case the issue lies with them.

For the burner firmware update, you should post exact model of your burner, and I'll tell you exactly what you need to download and run.

Running in PIO mode greatly impairs your DVD part of a burner. PIO mode is older and very limited in terms of data transfer rates, which makes burning DVDs very unreliable.

Your problem isn't solved, my friend.
It is either faulty burner, bad cable connection, faulty IDE controller/motherboard, burner firmware bug that needs updating, or bug in the protection software that needs updating.

You have problem with CD protection. Different games use different protection software. If you post the titles, I might be able to help.

BTW, it is not illegal for you, since you bought the titles, to use cracks for those titles. Hey mods, this is not advocating piracy.

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?

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.

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.

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

No prob. Glad to help.

There should be setting in BIOS for invoking network adapter ROM. Try disabling it.

Try renaming your Config.sys (or deleting it, if you will).

That "stacks=0,0" is probbably causing problems.
If there is no stacks command (or no config.sys), than it would be set on default values.

You hould change booting sequence in BIOS.

1-Hard disk
2-CD Drive
3-Network (a.k.a boot agent)

Please post your autoexec.bat, config.sys and msdos.sys. I will try to figure out the problem. Also, useful info would be your hardware (soundcard in particular).

PS To be able to see/read those 3 files you would have to check "show hidden files" in folder options.

-

It happened to me on my old machine with GeForce 4 VGA. It has something to do with overlay settings. If your VGA is NVIDIA powered, then follow these steps:

- right click on the desktop
- select "proprieties"
- click on the "settings" tab
- click on the "advanced" button
- click on the "GeForce xxxx" tab
- if the new NVIDIA's control panel is is enabled, switch to the classic one and click "apply"
- in the tab next to the "advanced tab" open up the branch named after your VGA and select "Video Overlay Settings"
- Click on the "Restore Defaults" button.
- if it is grayed, then toggle the zooming and click the "Restore Defaults button. There are either "zoom in" and "zoom out" buttons on the display illustration or a slide bar for zooming in and out.

I'm afraid that this problem goes beyond video driver and settings, for I constantly have that problem on my old machine. Every time I switch in and out of full screen mode in BS Player, my screen remains zoomed and every time I need to manually do these steps. Only way I found to permanently resolve this problem was fresh windows installation

It's either firmware or software (red/blue/whatever color book) issue. I had similar problems, only reversed. My Burner read everything, but didn't react properly to the audio CDs or DVD movies. It presumed that those were data CD/DVD. Had to reinstall the windows to set it right.

... and there are very few ppl in the world that would actually REPAIR damaged lenses.

CD or DVD lens cleaner would do the same.

If it is damaged, then the only way to "fix" it is to replace the device. When it comes to the laptops, DVD burner is proprietary piece o hardware due to the shape of the tray, so you'll be forced to order one from Samsung. (that is, if they still manufacture those particular DVD burners). Or you can go to the Samsung-licensed service shop and let them worry about getting a new piece for an old laptop (all for the $$$)

Every DVD drive has 2 sets of lens. One for CDs and one for DVDs. Obviously, CD lens are damaged or dirty. You might try the lens cleaner CD.

$1000 + VGA... hmm...
Your biggest concern would be MOTHERBOARD. ($150) I suggest that you go for the latest NVIDIA chipset, vista-ready and SLI-ready if you VGA is. Avoid ASUS. Their download site wasn't updated since forever.

Memory... If you won't overclock, than go for the cheap ones (<$100). I suggest that you go for the 2* 512 Megs stick, and, by all means, CONSULT THE MOBO MANUAL!! Trust me, if the brand/model is not on the "compatible" list than it means that it won't work as it should even if the declared timings of the sticks matched the timings supported by the mobo. Took me ~ a year to figure out the right settings for my memory sticks (yes, I didn't read the manual and, yes, avoid GEIL - no customer support whatsoever)

On-board audio... can't really avoid it. Make sure it is 7.1 output.

PSU... don't go under 500 Watts ($50)

CPU... I say AMD 64X2 - the more the merrier(not sure about the price, at least $300)

I suggest you go for AMD in any case if you plan on gaming. Intel is not the gamer's first choice. Just can't beat the 3d-now! routines that AMD has.
Off course, mind the socket (AM2, 939, 940...)

HD... optimal price/capacity ratio would be $100 worth. (new stuff)

For the cooling solution, go for the Thermaltake. It's a cheaper copy of Zalman. (CPU and VGA cooling). Rough est. for the whole …

Make sure that you hook it up to NT/2k//XP system. W95/98 (and Me, I think) won't read NTFS without add-on.

Hi Nanci.

I guess you don't belong to the "what does this button do?" category, so I'm gonna talk more abbreviations with you.

My first suspicions are (although I don't have much experience with IBM machines) that the problem you are experiencing is most likely to be a "safety switch" in your BIOS or Windows. Safety switch regarding the fallen fan. You say that it was connected by 3 pin wire, that tells me that it has RPM monitor (which is redundant for chassis fan), while the molex fan doesn't. I imagine that your problem started with the fallen fan (that obviously stopped or got jammed), and now the BIOS isn't getting any feedback. (0 RPMs). This you can check in BIOS ("Advanced power management" or something).

2nd thing to try is to boot in safe mode (f8), but first choose "enable boot logging". After the system freezes, restart to safe mode and find "ntbtlog.txt" file in your windows dir. There you would find what's causing the stall. 90% chance it would be the last entry.
In such scenario, my guess would be the ACPI.sys. That is the Achilles heel with XP. Thing is, there is a setting in BIOS called "ACPI/API" that can be enabled/disabled (also in "Advanced power management" section). You must not change it after the XP installation is complete. Once the XP is installed it will only work with that setting as it was when the installation took place, doesn't matter if …

That green round port is called PS/2 port. If you plug the mouse in it, you need to restart your comp. Same goes for the keyboard (on the PS/2 port).

I suggest you do this:

Plug in your mouse in the PS/2 port.

Install the drivers from the software disk.
You might be prompted to reboot. If so, do it.

Now you can plug in keyboard and mouse to USB ports. They should be recognized and operational. You might need to reboot your PC after the plug'n'play wizard finishes.

...OR....

Get another USB to PS/2 adapter for the keyboard. Might be better this way, for you'll have extra 2 USB ports.

Don't forget to reboot when prompted.

Just paste the log here. If you are uncertain about some file/process, just google it and see what comes up.

Try booting to safe mode, then proceed the steps I gave you.

P.S.
It's been long time since I've dealt with it. I'm not 100% certain that I haven't missed something in those steps there.

This is how I got rid of SERVICES.EXE:
(You will need to use registry editor and task manager.)

- use ctrl-alt-delete (task manager) to kill the "Services" process
- After that kill the "svch0st" (note that it has number zero instead of letter "O")

- there is SERVICES.EXE file in your "C:\Windows" dir. It is hidden, and checking "show hidden files" in the folders options did not reveal it (at least, not in my case). I had to use command prompt to delete it. (del C:\Windows\services.exe)
Note that there is another services.exe file in your Windows\System32 dir. which is essential for running windows - leave that one. Way to differentiate between two (apart from different folder) is when you rightclick one in System32 folder, you will see a "version" tab in the proprieties, with Microsoft's signature. The one in Windows folder has no "version" tab, or it has blank "company name" string. (not sure)

- I used registry editor (run menu/regedit) to delete the entry containing data "C:\Windows\services.exe" in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Run key.
There also might be "C:\Windows\services.exe" entry in "SharedDDLs" key (in a same branch of keys as "Run". Delete it too.

Now, for the SVCH0ST:
Delete the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\SVCH0ST.EXE. You can use the command prompt instead.

Use registry editor to delete anything containing the data "C:\Windows\svch0st.exe" in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Run and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
RunOnce keys. The names are false. (taskmgr and svchost)
Also, look for it in the …

I suggest that you download this. You have number of nasties there. One called "SERVICES.EXE" is hard to get rid off (speaking from experiance).

That is one of the security features of many anti-virus programs - preventing programs to access and/or change the registry. I suggest that you allow windows help program the access to the registry, so it can function properly. I'm not familiar with McAfee in particular, but the general procedure is to "always allow" helpctr.exe (or whatever program you need) so you won't be prompted again when that program tries to access the registry.

P.S.
You can always disable the "program control" (as it is called in BitDefender)

Ahh, THAT networking.

What update is it? (the KB number)

*yawn* no. I pass out from time to time. You?

Aghh, who am I kidding. Me and networking. Ha! A good one.

Their hotline was off-line too. (rhymes!)

8 ppl, baby and the dog + signature.