The 'Help! My computer stuffed up!' thread [Archive]

texta

18-07-2005, 11:50 AM

I just got back from a conference, so I tried to grab the gig or so of photos from my laptop to my pc via my wireless connection that I've pretty much never used. So I enabled the connection, shared the relevant folders and then just copy and pasted... only to get a bsod right in the middle of telling someone how leet I was at computers! Good by me.

Anyway once I restarted I tried the exact same thing again and it worked fine so that's great. Only problem is that there's a white line about 6 cm long, one pixel thick, on the screen that won't go away and is in front of everything. I'll do a restart in a while that I think will fix it but it's pretty weird.

EDIT: I FIXED THE SOUND ON THE LAPTOP TOO! TOTALLY PROGUS!

Shorty

18-07-2005, 07:27 PM

Dont you have to pay for Opera?

You get a bit extra for paying for Opera (such as some extra features and no ads), but you can still download the free version. It's still a great browser and I use it all the time.

banjoeskimo

19-07-2005, 02:48 PM

Thats like paying for a prostitute just because shes better looking that your girlfriend.

I don't want to be involved with any woman who has an automated popup blocker.

ElPresidente

19-07-2005, 03:30 PM

You get a bit extra for paying for Opera (such as some extra features and no ads), but you can still download the free version. It's still a great browser and I use it all the time.

Nah, it just stops the ad. No extra features are activated.

P.S. Texta = Win for the Fear and Loathing ava/sig combo.

Shorty

19-07-2005, 05:42 PM

I stand corrected. I have the Google ads in my Opera browser and I've never really found them to be particularly intrusive.

Surgeon.

25-07-2005, 09:06 PM

Can anyone explain why my monitor is making a high pitched squealing sound when I try to play certain games?

It only happens on certain games and is bloody annoying. I've tried changing the setting but cannot get rid of it.

Stevorooni

27-07-2005, 09:56 AM

Does your monitor have built in speakers? I find that when speakers are dying they make a squealing noise

Azzaman

27-07-2005, 11:08 AM

losturtle

27-07-2005, 01:37 PM

My broadband connection constantly goes dead, it doesn't disconnect, i just don't recieve anything. It happens about 5 mins apart every time and is really a bitch if i want to play WOW or something. I've called customer support (iinet) and they tell me i've got an ad program/s on my computer that could be blocking my line. They told me to get an antivirus program and some spyware programs. I did both and makes absolutely no difference, no virus' were found (though spyware found hundreds of things).

The strange thing is, the problem only happens at certain times of the month, usually around the second half. When iinet resets my d/l quota every month, it works fine again until the middle of the month. It's the most annoying and bewildering problem i've ever had.

bobinatcat

27-07-2005, 02:42 PM

so everyone (real computery people and stuff) say get firefox or modzilla or opera but what is the real advantage over IE really.

Saq

27-07-2005, 02:54 PM

cd2

27-07-2005, 02:56 PM

Azzaman

27-07-2005, 04:29 PM

There isn't one. everything they can do you can get plugins that will do the samething for IE. its why they (other browsers) normally don't stay on the system to long cause they just take space and sometimes resources.

ummm yer there is. IE is probably one of the most backdoor ridden programs going, using an alternative plugs those holes and seeming as a majority of viruses attack MS programs your always safer moving away from standard programs.

plus firefox does all those things OUT OF THE BOX (proverbial box here ppl ;)) where as you'll have to f around installing 15 different apps...

Ashmaran

27-07-2005, 05:23 PM

ok heres a biggie:

occasionally, like every few weeks or so, (i believe it may involve overheating but not 100%) my computer will continually lock up, then work lock up then work (a few secs apart) all the while making a sort of "powering up" noise, best way i can describe it is a whirr, or perhaps to a lesser extent the noise sam's goggle make in splinter cell when you turn them on (but not as long). followed by a click, the click is when it locks up.

I have many suspisions, but chief of which is the power supply. The only thing that makes me doubt that is that it's a 450w, and I've already gone thru another one (400w, that got to a point where it would do the whirr and click on start-up and never get past the loading windows screen). now I have my suspisions that it may be one of my hard drives (2 x sata in raid 0 set) or even my motherboard.

If anyone here can solve this prob I will give you.... $1 ;)

Its the SATA HD mate. I dunno if its a software or a hardware error but I had that exact problem. It will slowly escalate until your PC is unusable and you will have to format (until it happens again ;)). I tried everything, and couldn't fix it. Soooo I bought myself a nice solid IDE drive and haven't had a single problem yet. I installed my SATA as a secondary to grab everything off it and then removed it again when it started to make problems.

Lemme guess you are using an AMD processor?

cd2

27-07-2005, 06:35 PM

ummm yer there is. IE is probably one of the most backdoor ridden programs going, using an alternative plugs those holes and seeming as a majority of viruses attack MS programs your always safer moving away from standard programs.

plus firefox does all those things OUT OF THE BOX (proverbial box here ppl ;)) where as you'll have to f around installing 15 different apps...

other browsers have just as bad bugs, that allow back doors too.

Azzaman

27-07-2005, 08:12 PM

cd2 I neva said it was bug/backdoor free, but it is a fact that virus writers target microsoft programs and microsoft makes it an easy job for them by being so slack with their programming and leaving numerous vunrebilities in.

ashmaran I really hope it isn't ;) (btw yes i do have an amd processor, how'd u guess that one?) but I did have my suspisions, anyway im getting a new system 2moro and will be able to test it out then, if the problem persists then yer, sata. When I went thru that 400w psu i was also using the sata as my second drive. removing it made no difference until i replaced the psu with a higher wattage one. Its run fine without a hitch (about 2 months) until now.

Shorty

27-07-2005, 10:47 PM

other browsers have just as bad bugs, that allow back doors too.

:roll:

Right. Aside from the fact that its standards support sucks, where's the Opera or Firefox equivalent of ActiveX that allows hackers to download and execute malicious code on your computer without your knowledge or permission just by visiting a Web page? Can Firefox or Opera allow such swift and stealthy system ownage (http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2004-07-23) that IE6 does?

No.

IE's security holes are huge, numerous and very well-documented. By contrast, competing browsers are relatively security hole free. Sure, they have found exploits in Firefox and Opera but those happen relatively rarely compared to IE. IE is just not trustworthy anymore when it comes to the greater Internet. Too many unsavoury people have both the motivation and the means to compromise it.

The millions who are switching to Firefox (around 60 million downloads since its release) are doing so for a reason.

Loach

27-07-2005, 11:30 PM

This problem is pretty generic so I doubt anyone will be able to help, but for the sake of it: my laptop seems to hang sometimes in the WinXP shutting down screen. It just seems to give up shutting down and I have to unplug the battery. Anyone know of anything that would cause that? I'm up to date with NAV and AdAware and pretty much update those programs on a daily basis.

Ashmaran

27-07-2005, 11:45 PM

Check windows update, may be a bug for it. Either that or one of your programs doesn't like to be shut down Loach

Azzaman: Heh well its because I have an AMD too, and with AMD you need to specify SATA raid drivers during installation or windows can't find the drives. INTEL CPUs don't seem to have this problem.

Like I said I never nailed down the cause of this problem, but its definitely AMD + SATA = bad news for me so im living the good life with my IDE :D

Shorty

27-07-2005, 11:53 PM

To be honest, shutdown errors can be caused by any number of things. Google the topic and you'll get back a good dozen articles at least on possible causes of the problem.

I know that my Dell Inspiron 700m has issues sleeping and waking up if I don't have the chipset drivers installed properly. Probably be a good idea to check those are properly installed (your manufacturer should have provided you with a driver CD, though getting updated drivers from the Web would also be prudent).

Other than that I have no idea off the top of my head.

Shorty

29-07-2005, 11:06 PM

:shrug:

News to me. The only other browser-related thread is the Opera page and that's on page 3.

Revoltix

31-07-2005, 10:04 PM

Okay, here's one for you.

The internet connection drops out on a friends computer (dial up) after 10 or 15 minutes. I have tried the following with no success.

Re-installing the modem
Changing the modem
Switching PCI slots (several times)
Installed WinXP
Took the HDD, RAM, modem, soundcard and put them in an identical computer with the same result.

I thought it was the phone line, however the laptop which I set up ran fine for hours on the same line with the same dial up account.

Any suggestions?

Shorty

31-07-2005, 11:19 PM

Try checking your modem settings. If there's a "disconnect after X minutes of inactivity" check box, uncheck that. Haven't needed to use a modem with XP in years, but I think that's how it is, based on my 9X dial-up experiences.

Surgeon.

02-08-2005, 09:29 AM

<Previously Posted in Battlefield 2 Thread>

Perhaps someone can help me out with by latest BF2 problem.

I have been playing BF2 since its release without problems but a couple of days ago the game started to crash when attempting to load maps.

It doesn't always occur on map change, just occasionally. It's become really annoying because the game doesn't just crash to desktop, my computer restarts iteslf.

I've removed all new software that I have installed without any luck.

I'm starting to think it might have something to do with the latest patch. Anyone have any ideas?

PedrikVonAvon

02-08-2005, 10:29 AM

Sounds like your computer may be getting a little warm next time it crashes enter the bios and check the cpu temp. should no more than 60. EVER! Fans dont cost lots but can fix many probs.

Azzaman

02-08-2005, 04:54 PM

mmm well i've solved my problem... kinda, the 2 sata drives work fine in the new pc. that things stable as a rock. My olds got the remnants of my old pc (minus a few non central things, ram, cd-roms, hdd's etc) and they have 1 ide drive... no probs

im starting to think it may be something like the sata controller on my old mobo...

and i agree with shorty, i think that may be your prob as I had a similar problem once upon a time, also do you have a virus scanner installed w/ the latest updates? some viruses can do some REALLY dicky things

Revoltix

02-08-2005, 08:35 PM

Shorty

02-08-2005, 09:13 PM

Punch the bloody thing. Repeatedly.

Azzaman

03-08-2005, 11:26 AM

does your dialup account offer any kind of support service? It might be an idea to paw off the problem onto them

Stevorooni

03-08-2005, 11:53 AM

I have a problem with my ADSL and I'm not sure if it's the line or the modem

Downloads become corrupted (zip files won't unzip)
Web pages stuff up (like the forums sometimes have screwed up colours or the text is gobbledegook)
Images sometimes load about halfway then the bottom half is all screwey.

So it's obvious that something is screwing up as it downloads stuff, but would it be the modem or the phoneline? My modem is a Netcomm NB1200, and I'm with ozemail (recently bought out by IInet I believe)

I'm going to try installing the latest drivers for it tonight (downloaded them at work, as when I tried it from home they wouldn't unzip)

I just don't want to buy a new modem only to find out that it was the line.

fishfishmonkeyhat

03-08-2005, 03:13 PM

Sounds like you have a porblem.

oVerCaffeinated

03-08-2005, 03:20 PM

I really hate USB modems. My friend has one and he has nothing but trouble. Have you tried a different browser? Tried reinstalling or updating browser?

PedrikVonAvon

03-08-2005, 03:53 PM

Try unistalling and reinstalling the drivers, and as said before your web browser.

open the network connection, click properties, configure, driver.
Then do what you must to your device driver. (there should be a range of options) You want to roll back. It your last option

Surgeon.

03-08-2005, 06:04 PM

Sounds like your computer may be getting a little warm next time it crashes enter the bios and check the cpu temp. should no more than 60. EVER! Fans dont cost lots but can fix many probs.

I checked my cpu temp after a few games of BF2 and found it sitting at between 70-73.

A checked a few sites online and this seemed to be an alright temp.

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000687.htm

Can someone please tell me if PedrikVonAvon is talking crap or if my pc is actually overheating? I have a AMD Althlon XP.

Azzaman

03-08-2005, 07:46 PM

my pc's been on for a few days now (just idling mind you, doing some phat downloading) but it was sitting at around 38 degrees, but still that 70 degrees sounds a bit much to me, but then again im not an intimate tech head and cannot be trusted on such things

im reading on the atomic forums that the max operating temp for a barton core (athlon xp) is around 80 - 85 degrees (thats just before the sparks), alot of ppl there seem to be saying around the 30 - 50 mark and most ppl are saying 60 max under load.

you got stock cooling? might be an idea to get some big ass glacier/fan to cool it down.

In the meantime what other temps do you have? whats your cases' temp? is your room warm at all?

Surgeon.

03-08-2005, 09:10 PM

you got stock cooling? might be an idea to get some big ass glacier/fan to cool it down.

In the meantime what other temps do you have? whats your cases' temp? is your room warm at all?

yeah, stock cooling

I think the case was about 35 at the time I checked it. My room is relatively cool.

Might look at getting a new fan hey.

Stevorooni

04-08-2005, 10:09 AM

Bah!

Not so sure if it's the modem now. Tried it from work this morning and it worked perfectly.

I tried using firefox from home (which I had to download via dialup as when I tried it with adsl the file was screwed) and while webpages didn't stuff up, files were still corrupted...

I formatted my machine last weekend, could it be that something screwed up when I reinstalled everything? Would it be better to install my modem first, then all of my firewalls, antivirus, antispyware etc, or the other way around?

Thanks guys.

PedrikVonAvon

04-08-2005, 11:51 AM

PedrikVonAvon is talking crap

Im tellin you dude. Just grab a big asst desk fan from k-mart, take the side off your PC and throw it right on there! probs solved... :).

PedrikVonAvon

04-08-2005, 11:54 AM

Would it be better to install my modem first, then all of my firewalls, antivirus, antispyware etc, or the other way around?

Yep, it sucks but I suggest formatting. Make sure you install all of device drivers as soon as it comes up with new hardware found.... Dont use the wizards preferably, exit the wizards and load your drivers from thier respective cds.

Surgeon.

04-08-2005, 01:45 PM

Im tellin you dude. Just grab a big asst desk fan from k-mart, take the side off your PC and throw it right on there! probs solved...

Getting a new fan put in my PC tomorrow. :)

oVerCaffeinated

04-08-2005, 02:32 PM

You can get a Zalman CNPS7000B (Heatsink + Fan) for $50 which would perform nicely and be pretty quiet.

Stevorooni

04-08-2005, 11:16 PM

Yep, it sucks but I suggest formatting. Make sure you install all of device drivers as soon as it comes up with new hardware found.... Dont use the wizards preferably, exit the wizards and load your drivers from thier respective cds.

Tried it. Didn't work :doh:

Azzaman

05-08-2005, 09:13 AM

have you tried downloading updated drivers for the modem?

I know this may be difficult with your modem not connecting properly and all, but If you can get it down from somewhere give that a shot

Stevorooni

05-08-2005, 10:14 AM

Tried the latest drivers last night. (downloaded them from work yesterday)

I brought my machine to work with me today and tested my modem with it on our work adsl line and it all worked perfectly.

Which makes me believe that it's a phone line problem I have at home. Dialup and phone calls work fine, it's just the adsl which is crappy.

I only have one phone plug in the entire house, with multiple double adaptors and extension cords going around the place, so I even tried lugging the pc down to the lounge room and plugging the modem directly into the plug (just in case the problem was with one of the double adaptors or extension cords). Same shit happening.

This makes me sad in the pants. :(

I don't want to have to ring telstra and speak to some idiot in a call centre who is reading off of cue cards and won't understand my problem (and try to tell me it's my fault and not theirs)

The only other thing I can try is a different modem at home, but I don't know where I can get hold of one.

I HATE THE INTERNET!

PedrikVonAvon

05-08-2005, 10:40 AM

That sucks lots stevo, the only other thing in the world I can think of that you might not have is.... The distance between you and telstras closest adsl booster. Im pretty sure you have to be within like 10kms of a booster or you start geting data corruption.

Bad, Bad kack.

Azzaman

05-08-2005, 03:23 PM

its worth giving the big T a call in any case, they may tell you to get stuffed, but then again... they may fix it.

Ashmaran

05-08-2005, 04:02 PM

Stevo mate are you putting line filters on all the extensions that aren't ADSL that you are using (eg fax, phones and crap)?

Stevorooni

05-08-2005, 04:38 PM

Stevo mate are you putting line filters on all the extensions that aren't ADSL that you are using (eg fax, phones and crap)?

Yes.

I still think my modem has something to do with it.
I'm reading reviews on Netcomm modems and people are saying they're crappy.

I've had adsl for about a year now, it's just started going to hell in the past week.

oVerCaffeinated

05-08-2005, 04:53 PM

I had a Netcomm modem and it died within a week of purchase.

Stevorooni

05-08-2005, 06:39 PM

Well what's a good brand?

I can get the Billion 5102 for $100, which will also set me up for if I ever go to adsl2. We have a Billion at work and have had no problems.

EDIT:

How very odd... I reinstalled my modem drivers tonight.

Web pages working fine....
Images loading fine...
Downloads not corrupting....

What could have happened?

The tech guy at work who changed some of my firewall settings today?
Someone else in my neighbourhood who had the same problem and reported a line fault that got fixed?
The fact that I had to slam on the brakes while driving home tonight and my case leaned forward and smacked into the glove box?

I hope it stays like this. Only time will tell...

Ashmaran

05-08-2005, 08:03 PM

Sounds like a bit of a buddy miracle mate ;)

Stevorooni

05-08-2005, 08:10 PM

argh. Spoke to soon. Just got a corrupted download.

* Sets internet on fire *

oVerCaffeinated

05-08-2005, 09:34 PM

Well what's a good brand?

Netgear DG834, Billion 7202G or Linksys AG241.

Shorty

06-08-2005, 02:04 AM

Well, I've just had my Dimension 8300's PSU seize a ball bearing. At least, I suspect it's a ball bearing because apparently at about 9:30 this morning the thing started making this wailing noise, like a dying moose. Since this obviously drastically interferes with the PSU's operation (at least as far as heat dissipation is concerned) and since PSUs are basically unserviceable (never, ever attempt to disassemble a PSU - it could kill you), that's a new unit. Means my desktop's out of action for at least today and some of tomorrow (ironic, considering my music library's on there and I just got my new 60Gb Colour iPod today 8)).

Problem solved, right?

Wrong.

Trouble is, my new 420W Thermaltake PSU won't fit in the old PSU's mounting bracket because the corresponding holes in the back of the case don't match up. So rather than arsing about taking the damn thing back and ordering a replacement PSU from Dell, I'm going to do the hacker thing and cut out enough of the case's rear plate to make it fit. Shouldn't be too hard. Cut a little bit of metal, drill a couple of holes for the mounting screws and I'm back in business.

Wish me luck, people.

rampaging_geek

06-08-2005, 08:24 AM

I wish you luck.

Azzaman

06-08-2005, 10:26 AM

don't forget to thread the holes in the case, might be a pain to remove it otherwise ;)

Stevorooni

06-08-2005, 11:45 AM

Netgear DG834

I read some good reviews on this modem/router last night, so I picked one up this morning. So far very impressed, it was easy to set up and looks damn sexy with it's vertical stand.

I've been meaning to set up a little LAN at home (when I buy a notebook later this year), but this baby saves me the trouble of having to buy a hub/switch.

Shorty

06-08-2005, 01:13 PM

Just make sure you go to the trouble of securing it.

SnapCrackPop

06-08-2005, 08:56 PM

PSUs are basically unserviceable (never, ever attempt to disassemble a PSU - it could kill you)

Is this true? I think I've blown a fuse in my PSU, can this be repaired or will I need to replace the whole unit? :confused:

Shorty

06-08-2005, 11:53 PM

AFAIK, you'd have to replace the whole thing.

oVerCaffeinated

07-08-2005, 12:47 AM

Is this true?

Yes, but only if you don't leave enough time for the caps in the PSU to drain. You should leave it for 24hrs to be safe. Then you can replace the cap in the PSU.

PedrikVonAvon

08-08-2005, 10:15 AM

So for the past couple of months, my computer:
AMD XP +2400
512 MB DDR
Readon 9250 128MB
Soletek motherboard w/ SATA 333 FSB. ect

Has been turning itself off when ever the going gets though...
i.e. the end of enfos war3 mod.

Ive figured it to be a heat problem and installed 3 fans around key positions in the case. i.e Bus, GPU, CPU.

But this alone did not help. After countless shut downs I just took the side off my case and placed a big asst fan on on it. This works!!!

Obviously it cant stay like this. My problem is nothing appears to be hot when it shuts down. Not GPU, CPU, RAM, or Bus. when it shuts down it stays off untill i turn the power off and on at the wall. This is bad.

:sad: Help!:sad:

Azzaman

08-08-2005, 12:01 PM

sounds like a bum psu, you got a spare power supply lying around?

PedrikVonAvon

08-08-2005, 12:09 PM

Many, thats where i got my fans from... Cheers ill have a go.

PedrikVonAvon

08-08-2005, 12:12 PM

Am I to belive that in the past 36 hours youve played WoW for 12!!!! Thats a quality 1/3 of your week so far... :razz:

Azzaman

08-08-2005, 03:22 PM

lmao, hell no! i work an 8:30 - 5:30 job i WISH i could play WoW that much :p

501

15-08-2005, 08:13 PM

Hello again, I call for your hyperactives wisdom once more.

Here's the problem: I'm trying to burn some stuff onto a cd at the moment- but the bloody thing keeps saying that there is no cd present, even though there is clearly a blank cd in the drive.

Any idea's on how to go about fixing this one up?

Shorty

15-08-2005, 09:48 PM

Well, can your drive read any non-blank CDs you put in it?

oVerCaffeinated

15-08-2005, 10:37 PM

Try a different CD. May just be a dud.

501

16-08-2005, 05:48 PM

Yeah, it can read non-blank cd's. I might go grab myself another blank cd though- that was my last one.Thanks for the info guys :thumbsup:

Shorty

16-08-2005, 06:52 PM

No problem. It shouldn't really happen a whole lot nowadays, given good quality media (which is actually rather cheap), but occasionally you get a bad disc.

501

29-08-2005, 01:52 PM

Argh! Back here again!

Same problem, different computer this time (oh, and just in case you're wandering, the problem being my computer not able to copy stuff onto cd).

I was using my little bro's laptop for copying files and stuff onto a cd, and it had been working quite well untill last night. I figured perhaps a faulty cd (which I was kinda annoyed about, cause I just bought it), so I chucked in another one.. then another.. and another..

...and after about the 11th disc, I kinda gave up and bought another wad of discs, thinking that the whole batch was faulty.

Then the same bloody thing happened again! :p

Any ideas on how to go about fixing this one up?

PedrikVonAvon

29-08-2005, 01:57 PM

The only thing i could suggest is to clean the laser on the drive. Filthy lasers mess with shit on many levels.

501

29-08-2005, 02:41 PM

How would you go about doing that one (would it require pulling apart the laptop?)

PedrikVonAvon

29-08-2005, 02:52 PM

No buddeh LOL, just go out and get a cd lense cleaner, they look like a CD cost about $20 get them from tandy/DSE/Coles

501

29-08-2005, 02:56 PM

Awesome. Cheers for the info dude, i'll see if I can get my hands on one of those tonight :thumbsup:

501

29-08-2005, 09:29 PM

I gave the lens a good clean, but still no luck :|

Blast these infernal contraptions!

*kicks laptop

Any other ideas? (I don't care how zany they are! I'm willing to try it! :p)

oVerCaffeinated

29-08-2005, 09:37 PM

One night it's working, the next night it isn't. Something happened in between those two nights. Was anything installed? Did anyone mess with any settings? Anyone kick the laptop?

501

29-08-2005, 09:49 PM

:shady:

nope :p

..and no new stuff was installed either

gR^

29-08-2005, 10:12 PM

Hmm, a while ago my laptop (shit it was about 4 years :P) had the same problem. It wouldn't read any cd's I put into it, even though it said 'this device is working properly'

First off, once again make sure that it can read other cd's (try putting in a game and see if it Autoloads or whatever). The problem with mine was that it was missing some screws to hold the cd-drive in place. Laptops are funny like that, very easy to break.

So yeah, make sure that it can read other cd's. If it can't, there's a fair indication that maybe its missing a screw or something ;) (also, try the cd's you're using in the laptop in other computers <_<).

I dunno. Laptops are funny like that.

501

30-08-2005, 08:31 AM

Yeah, it can read other cd's fine- it's just when it comes to blank cd's it says: 'There is no disk inserted' when I go to copy stuff onto it.

fishfishmonkeyhat

30-08-2005, 11:34 AM

Sorry if this has been suggested, but are you sure the cd hasn't had info written to it before? Like in a failed burn and you thought it hadn't written anything to the disc, BUT IT REALLY HAD!??!

cd2

30-08-2005, 07:55 PM

Shorty

30-08-2005, 10:21 PM

Sorry if this has been suggested, but are you sure the cd hasn't had info written to it before? Like in a failed burn and you thought it hadn't written anything to the disc, BUT IT REALLY HAD!??!

BEWARE THE SEEKRIT BURNING! :p

gR^

31-08-2005, 10:15 AM

Are you sure the laptop has a burner? >_>

fishfishmonkeyhat

31-08-2005, 11:50 AM

Yeah you're not just scratching it with a fork or something right?

501

31-08-2005, 02:56 PM

*pulls fork out of cd drive

Ah, that's where i've been going wrong! :p

*looks at fork

And there's still food on it! Hooray for lunch! :D

Sorry if this has been suggested, but are you sure the cd hasn't had info written to it before? Like in a failed burn and you thought it hadn't written anything to the disc, BUT IT REALLY HAD!??!

Yeah, i'm pretty sure. I bought a heap of new cds recently, and none of them seem to do the job.

Thanks for the info cd2, i'll give it a shot tonight, although it's not running on xp (I think it's Windows 98 or something)

And yes ghosty, it has a burner :p

..or does it? :shock:

*cue eerie music

501

01-09-2005, 05:50 PM

I'm guessing your running XP, so go to "start", the "run" now type "services.msc" then check to see if this service is running "IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service". if its not set it to start or manual. and if it is I say your burner is broken

I took a look at it last night, and set it to start. No luck. Tried it with manual; same thing happens :|

Guess i'll have to take it in for repair, which is a pain in the arse cause the thing's pretty new (just a couple of months).

In any case, thanks to everyone who tried to help out :thumbsup:

Stevorooni

02-09-2005, 03:04 PM

A cd just exploded in my burner.

I've taken the drive out, got it open and taken out the bits, but I've only got 3/4 of the cd. Where the hell is the rest? and I'm guessing the drive is stuffed?

oVerCaffeinated

02-09-2005, 04:34 PM

A cd just exploded in my burner.

I've taken the drive out, got it open and taken out the bits, but I've only got 3/4 of the cd. Where the hell is the rest? and I'm guessing the drive is stuffed
It should still work. All that's different now is that there's pieces of plastic and foil inside your drive.

Shorty

02-09-2005, 04:36 PM

By the sounds of it... yes.

fishfishmonkeyhat

03-09-2005, 05:04 PM

God damn it we said no fork you nubs.

Shorty

03-09-2005, 11:22 PM

Nubs? Is that some trendy new way of spelling "n00bs"? :p

rampaging_geek

03-09-2005, 11:30 PM

Yes. Except it isn't new.

Shorty

03-09-2005, 11:51 PM

It's new to me. :shrug:

JC Henderson

04-09-2005, 08:45 AM

Does anyone know how to change your region setting on your DVD once you have used up all the allowed changes. I have set it for region 1 but is there a way I can play Aus DVD's again?

fishfishmonkeyhat

04-09-2005, 12:04 PM

There's no easy way.

You have to change the firmware settings on the drive, the software settings and (assuming you're running it) the XP settings.

Or something. I try to stick to region free or PAL DVD's myself.

oVerCaffeinated

04-09-2005, 03:51 PM

Does anyone know how to change your region setting on your DVD once you have used up all the allowed changes.
You have to flash your drive with a cracked firmware. Tell me what drive you have and I can try and find a firmware for you. You could also search "<insert drive name> region free" in Google.

Shorty

04-09-2005, 05:39 PM

Or you can download a shareware tool called DVD Region Free (http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/showsoftware_dvd_region-free.html_250.html) which allows you to, amongst other things, bypass the region coding using software. It's safer than flashing your drive, but it isn't free.

PedrikVonAvon

05-09-2005, 11:42 AM

It is now, check it out:

Crack (http://www.crackfind.com/test.php?chto=DVD%20Region%20Free) -If you downloaded the trial you'll need v. 3.5

// tip do not install activex content

Shorty

05-09-2005, 04:09 PM

That only really applies to people still using IE. :p

PedrikVonAvon

06-09-2005, 03:12 PM

:clap:

What do you use, firefox or opera?

EDIT: nub comes up when you miss with an attack in warcraft 3, in other words yes its the n00b word for n00b.

fishfishmonkeyhat

17-09-2005, 02:08 PM

My PC keeps freezing.

Randomly after a few hours of being turned on. The screens just freeze on whatever it was they were doing (dual screen) and all sound (if I have winamp running) stops. Then I reboot.

It might do it while I'm trying to open a video file, or while it's sitting idle overnight (or while I'm typing the first sentence in a PC gen help thread!).

I don't get any error messages once it starts up again.

I'm not expecting a miracle answer to my problem, I was more hoping someone knew of a monitoring app that could tell me what was going wrong.

And yes I'm sure I installed the fork correctly on the motherboard.

oVerCaffeinated

17-09-2005, 03:36 PM

Sounds like an overheating problem or your RAM may be faulty.

fishfishmonkeyhat

17-09-2005, 10:40 PM

And what do you plan to do to fix this?!

oVerCaffeinated

17-09-2005, 10:52 PM

Maybe start off by downloading Memtest86. (http://www.memtest86.com/) You need to install it to floppy or burn it to CD then boot off it. It will see if your RAM is OK. I'm pretty sure you're already down with spyware scanning and such but if you aren't I suggest you scan your PC with Ad-Aware and SpyBot (Google them). Also check if the fans on your CPU and videocard are actually spinning. That is all I suggest for now.

Shorty

17-09-2005, 11:32 PM

OC's suggestions are excellent, and should diagnose the majority of random freezings.

fishfishmonkeyhat

18-09-2005, 10:18 AM

Thanks eBuds! Will do.

:thumbsup:

Shorty

18-09-2005, 02:34 PM

Just remember, if your computer ends up exploding, hacking the NSA or going on a murderous rampage, we're not responsible! :p

fishfishmonkeyhat

19-09-2005, 09:03 AM

How long is that test supposed to take?

I have 2 gigs of ram in at the moment, left it over night for 9 hours, and it was still testing it when I woke up then.

No errors though.

PedrikVonAvon

19-09-2005, 09:25 AM

If problems continue you might just check your CPU temp after it freezes next time start it up and get into the bios. PC health or status or what ever it will be there.

2 GB ??? Could take a while...

fishfishmonkeyhat

19-09-2005, 10:45 AM

I've got a mobo stats program, but nothing seems to be overheating before it does it, and I have like 20 fans in the case.

I should point out it seems to have actually stopped doing it, but now Nero is having trouble starting... :\

EDIT: No wait, I only have 1 gig in atm, I took the other two 512 sticks out.

PedrikVonAvon

19-09-2005, 11:55 AM

So it stoped doing it before or after you took the other RAM sticks out???

Sometimes when you have different sized RAM sticks it ****s with shit.

Is it all DDR or SD or what, and is it all running at the same frequency?

Azzaman

19-09-2005, 12:49 PM

another thing to remember is that sometimes ram and mobo's won't gel 100% and do some dicky things until you do equally dicky things to fix them.

When I was setting up my new PC I was having a TON of ram errors on startup, ended up that I had to change the ram from slots 1 and 2 to slots 3 and 4... WTF?? but hey it worked.

In the past I once had to switch the two ram sticks over (ie swap slot 1 for 2 and 2 for 1) to solve memory issues on my previous system.

fishfishmonkeyhat

19-09-2005, 04:29 PM

So it stoped doing it before or after you took the other RAM sticks out???

After. Then it started again. And then it stopped again.

Sometimes when you have different sized RAM sticks it ****s with shit.

They're all 512 sticks.

Is it all DDR or SD or what, and is it all running at the same frequency?

All DDR RAM. How do I tell what frequency it is?

TheWhiteComet

22-09-2005, 10:19 PM

hey, does anyone know where i can get free DVD decoders? My comp has a DVD drive and used to work fine, but now no program seems to be able to play DVD movies. Windows Media Player (the program i use cos it's like default) says i'm missing some DVD decoders. no prgram can seem to play DVD movies, but it used to play fine. can anyone please help me? :(

Mykle

23-09-2005, 04:19 PM

Speedy_C

23-09-2005, 04:29 PM

Dudes and dudettes. My computer has two issues:
1. Spyware, and lots of it. It's badly affecting the performance too, what can I do to get rid of it? Ive tried Search and Destroy, but I've got deep programs like '180 Search Assistant' and other invincible bastards.
2. Recently, TV I acquire off the internet looks for the codec but cant find it, so all I get is the sound. I recently formatted the machine, so where can I get all the codecs back from?

First try Spybot and Ad Aware run them. Hopefully they shoud fix the problem. Sencondly use a browsing program like Firefox or Opera. These programs arn't as much of a target for spam like what Internet Explorer is. If that fails looks like you will have to reformat to remove the problem

As for your other question I can't help you there

Shorty

23-09-2005, 07:15 PM

Good advice, Speedy. Though you might need to download custom tools for the harder-to-clean programs. Also, Opera is now free (http://www.opera.com), so you guys don't have any excuse for not getting it. :p

Re: point two, I use this Codec Pack (http://www.codecpack.com/) and it suits me just fine. Plays pretty much most content out there and can auto-update for you. The site isn't in English but the "Download" link doesn't require much translation. :p

Loach

29-09-2005, 10:53 PM

Does anyone know of a way I could defrag a Win2000 computer without having admin rights? It's really giving me the shits that this computer is running so much slower than it should, and I can only guess that a defrag would help. Unfortunately Windows Defrag is disabled.

oVerCaffeinated

29-09-2005, 11:02 PM

You could either ask the "admin" to defrag or use an alternative program like Diskeeper Lite. (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207)

Loach

30-09-2005, 01:19 AM

Damn I thought you had it there. Unfortunately with my limited abilities I wasn't able to install DKL. Our company has some stupid outsourcing deal with our IT, so I don't think there's any admin in the office.

I had found some alternate ways via installing new OS to change the passwords, but I think that's overkill for what I want.

Thanks heaps anyway.

oVerCaffeinated

30-09-2005, 01:49 AM

If installing is a problem try out DefragNT (http://www.geocities.com/andreigaceff/DefragNT190.zip) and see if it works. You don't need to install it just unzip the files into a folder and run it.

Loach

30-09-2005, 02:13 AM

So close, but that doesn't support NTFS until XP, I'm on 2000 at work. I may have come across an admin password in an email I found on the network, so I'm going to give that a shot once I've finished my work today and logged off.

Edit - It worked. ****ing score!

jumpy-tubbs

01-10-2005, 10:19 AM

OK I've got a big strange problem setting up wireless internet.
Everything used to work fine and then last week our new computer broke and had to be sent to get repaired, now it's back and won't connect to wireless net.
The internet runs through wireless hub which is connected directly to this old computer via ethernet, and which outputs signal which good computer used to pick up with is wireless card.
Now the wireless card won't be detected, instead it keeps saying that it's a 'Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T Adapter, Copper RJ-45' and saying that a network cable is unplugged. But there shouldn't be any network cable because it's a wireless card!! the lights on the back of the card won't light up either and they normally do. I've tried installing the drivers and uninstalling other drivers about a thousand times but nothing seems to be working. Help! :(
Wireless card is a D-Link DWL-G520

oVerCaffeinated

01-10-2005, 03:32 PM

Make sure you get the drivers from the official D-Link site: http://support.dlink.com/downloads/

There's Revision A and Revision B of the DWL-G520 so make sure you choose the right one.

Loach

01-10-2005, 07:11 PM

Quick question about firewalls. I've got a hardware firewall router, and also have a software firewall installed. The hardware firewall is set to block all inbound services from any IP address. The thing is, my software firewall says that it's blocked 20 inbound events this month. I would have thought none would get as far as the software firewall?

Shorty

01-10-2005, 11:56 PM

Wouldn't blocking all inbound services for any IP address mean that you end up blocking all traffic? Or is it a NAT thing?

Loach

02-10-2005, 01:21 AM

I don't really know, I just thought it meant that you could connect to the outside, but the outside could only connect to you if you specifically asked it to - by connecting to it first. Either way, everything works - except other people behind firewalls connecting to me in BT. I'm just wondering why I still got these blocked inbound services on my software firewall because I was going to uninstall it, assuming my hardware firewall would do all the work.

oVerCaffeinated

02-10-2005, 01:22 AM

Any other PC's on the network? Does it say what IP address the packets were from? Did it say what type of packets they were? (UDP or TCP)?

Loach

02-10-2005, 01:40 AM

I'm just using one PC at home, connected to the net via ADSL. They all appear to say TCP connection:

A computer at IP Address has attempted an unsolicited connection to TCP port XXXX on your computer. It also gives the Host Name

Some of the Host Names are websites like fairfax.com.au (smh.com.au), others look like individual ADSL IP addresses (user.isp).

I'm using McAffee for the software and Netgear for the hardware.

cd2

02-10-2005, 04:04 PM

1. Some Routers have built in rules that you can not remove.
2. Also you can't be blocking all incoming traffic other wise you will not be able to receive the packets back when you visit website to download the content from the site you visited.
3. it more then likely that when your visiting something, some packets are piggy backing thru the connection.
4. some one else had the IP address and the modem is letting it thru because it's recognise the address.

Loaded_Toaster

02-10-2005, 09:43 PM

Anyone having any problems with MSN at the moment? I can't get it to sign on now, and it was stuffing up a lot earlier when I was on there (like saying a contact was offline when they were really online). It keeps swapping between error 81000314 and error 80072745 :?

fishfishmonkeyhat

02-10-2005, 10:04 PM

It's not signing on for me atm, but I'm not getting any error msgs.

Just says the service is currently unavailable.

Saq

02-10-2005, 10:06 PM

It wont sign in for me either. I think we need to update maybe ?

Hide & Reason

02-10-2005, 10:06 PM

Can't play video files. MPC, WMP, Zoomplayer; whatever. Load something up, get a blank screen. Timer stays at 00:00.

jumpy-tubbs

02-10-2005, 11:30 PM

Make sure you get the drivers from the official D-Link site: http://support.dlink.com/downloads/

There's Revision A and Revision B of the DWL-G520 so make sure you choose the right one.

Alas, still nothing. I installed the correct driver, software is all going on computer but it simply says it can't detect any wireless networks within range. This is stupid because my router is in the next room, and back when we first got it going it could pick up some other wireless network from the street behind us, so obviously it isn't searching properly or something.
Also, there are 2 lights on the back of the wireless card, one for power, and one for connection ( i think) the power one is supposed to constantly be lit up and the other one flash as data is passed through it, but instead the both alternate every second... strange. Please help before we have to pay some fool to fix what he probably screwed up in the first place.
Worked fine until last week computer had its motherboard replaced, now it don't do nothing. Also saying 'ensure your wireless networking switch is turned on' ...huh?

Shorty

02-10-2005, 11:33 PM

Which format? Did you check if you had the right codecs installed?

oVerCaffeinated

02-10-2005, 11:39 PM

Worked fine until last week computer had its motherboard replaced, now it don't do nothing. Also saying 'ensure your wireless networking switch is turned on' ...huh?
It may not be seated correctly in the slot. Open up your case and push the card in so it's in even. If that fails try a different PCI slot.

Loaded_Toaster

03-10-2005, 12:12 PM

It wont sign in for me either. I think we need to update maybe ?

Nope, it appears MSN was just being retarded for the night :p

jumpy-tubbs

03-10-2005, 01:51 PM

Ok My crisis is over... it just started working randomly this morning so i shall just leave it be. Let us never speak of my lack of knowledge again.

Flaps

05-10-2005, 03:54 PM

Okay, guys... got a problem with my PC in my room. Its acting real slow nowadays, and seeing as there are programs that I do not recognise in my active programs list, and have tried everything to get this apparent spyware off of my computer (even disconnecting it from the net) I have come to the final decision to reboot the computer totally.
I am currently running on Win98 (second edition) and have the disk and manual in my posession, yet am a bit freaked to do anything by myself.
Could someone give me a run-through on the processes I may have to go through to do what I want to do?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated:)

Hide & Reason

07-10-2005, 03:31 PM

Okay, never bought hard disks before, but Seagate and WD are my best bets, yeah?

Whitegreek

07-10-2005, 03:38 PM

I'll pull out my notepad later on how to do this but basically if you want to format the whole HD be prepeared to get into soem DOS programing, 98 is very hard to setup from an empty HD.

Shorty

07-10-2005, 04:01 PM

Okay, never bought hard disks before, but Seagate and WD are my best bets, yeah?

It depends. Ask around 'Net forums and the like, because some swear by some brands and others have sweared off other brands. But generally Seagate and WD make good drives, you should be happy with either. Some of the new Maxtor SATA drives have a 16Mb cache (most other drives have 8), which apparently improves performance quite a bit. If your motherboard supports it, some drives also have Native Command Queueing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_command_queueing) (NCQ), which is supposed to boost performance also.

But generally, ask around. Always helps to do your homework.

Hide & Reason

07-10-2005, 05:36 PM

Non-SATA here, unfortunately. I actually think my motherboard fell out of a Myer catalog and into my box. Was looking at a WD 200GB 8MB cache before; currently not sure whether $130-140 is the best I can scrounge.

Shorty

07-10-2005, 07:00 PM

You should be able to get around 200Gb for that kind of money. And the PATA drives are slightly cheaper, so that'd help a little.

Loach

07-10-2005, 08:13 PM

But generally Seagate and WD make good drives, you should be happy with either.

Does the same apply for USB hard drives? I've got to buy one of those soon and I have no idea about brands.

Shorty

08-10-2005, 01:19 AM

Brands of key drives are a little different, since damn near everyone makes them (or at least, can get their corporate logo branded on someone else's :p). Similar thing applies there, which is to go for quality brands like Imation, Corsair (yes, the people who make the RAM all the gamers love) and SanDisk because they last longer and are less prone to critical errors in the flash memory. Brand-X key drives can often just seize up at random and erase all your data.

oVerCaffeinated

08-10-2005, 01:35 AM

He's talking about external USB hard drives which incase you just go for the same brands as you would for SATA/PATA drives. Seagate, Western Digital, Maxtor...

Shorty

08-10-2005, 01:44 AM

Oops. My bad. :p

Whitegreek

08-10-2005, 09:44 AM

My BF2 game takes 4 or 5 times to boot up using the disc, I click on the sortcut if the disc doesn't work and it goes to the BF2 picture but afterwards it doesn't do anything. I'm guesing its either the patch or something's conflicting with it.

Squato

09-10-2005, 04:46 PM

Hey does anyone know how change the timing in Windows Movie Maker between the lenght of scenes. I should point out that I'm talking about images (photo's, etc) that I have imported in.

oVerCaffeinated

09-10-2005, 04:54 PM

Go to Tools then Options. Then click on the Advanced tab. Then change around the Picture duration and Transition length. Hope that helps you out.

jumpy-tubbs

09-10-2005, 05:37 PM

OK my computer recently got repaired (new motherboard for some reason) and ever since we've got it back it's basically been running extremely slowly. Whenever I try to watch any sort of windows media file, it will play extrememly jerky, both video and audio. Quicktime video's work fine, but when i try to play .wmv's or anything non-quicktime, no matter what player i use, it will run realllly badly.
This is especially painful as I'm editing a film using premiere and it will freeze every few minutes if i let it play for more than a few seconds.
I've downloaded latest vid card driver, and simply can't figure out what the problem is.
(sound also jumps during games)

oVerCaffeinated

09-10-2005, 05:39 PM

After a new motherboard upgrade it is suggested that you reinstall Windows. Are you able to do that?

InfernalEternal

09-10-2005, 05:57 PM

jumpy-tubbs

09-10-2005, 06:02 PM

After a new motherboard upgrade it is suggested that you reinstall Windows. Are you able to do that?
will i lose everything? the motherboard was installed at a shop so i assume he would have taken the correct steps.. but i suppose it's worth a try. Absolutely essential that i don't lose ANY files off this computer though (6months of work, dont want to redo it). So is it safe to re-install windows?

fishfishmonkeyhat

09-10-2005, 07:38 PM

You'll have to back all your files up onto either a CD or DVD, as reinstalling the OS will reformat the drive.

Unless you have 2 Hard drives.

gR^

09-10-2005, 08:28 PM

K sorry if I'm jumping ahead of the queue or whatever, but I kind of have a query.

I bought a 512mb stick of RAM today, to add onto my already 512mb's. Anyway it was dark, and me being the newb that I am, put it in the wrong way, and pushed too hard, and two of the little golden strips on the chipset thing came off. Turned on my computer and everything's working fine, says there's 1gb of RAM..those two little gold things..do they matter? :p

oVerCaffeinated

09-10-2005, 10:01 PM

Im having some trouble with iTunes.

Whenever I open it, it comes up with a message saying the following:
"Warning! The registry settings used by the iTunes drivers for importing and burning CDs and DVDs are missing. This can happen as a result of installing other CD burning software. Please reinstall iTunes."

I've removed/re-installed iTunes twice and the message keeps persisting. Any idea on a quick fix?
Try uninstalling it. Go to START then RUN. Type in regedit then press enter. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then SOFTWARE then Apple Computer, Inc. Right click the iPod folder then select Delete. Right click the iTunes folder then select Delete. Reinstall and see what happens.

will i lose everything? the motherboard was installed at a shop so i assume he would have taken the correct steps.. but i suppose it's worth a try. Absolutely essential that i don't lose ANY files off this computer though (6months of work, dont want to redo it). So is it safe to re-install windows?
As Blake said burn everything you want to keep to CD or DVD. Then after you reinstall Windows make sure you download some motherboard drivers.

I bought a 512mb stick of RAM today, to add onto my already 512mb's. Anyway it was dark, and me being the newb that I am, put it in the wrong way, and pushed too hard, and two of the little golden strips on the chipset thing came off. Turned on my computer and everything's working fine, says there's 1gb of RAM..those two little gold things..do they matter? :razz:
Seems like it's OK. To make sure I would download Memtest86. (http://www.memtest86.com/) It's a program you put on a floppy disk and boot. It will test to see if your RAM is OK.

Squato

10-10-2005, 04:39 AM

Go to Tools then Options. Then click on the Advanced tab. Then change around the Picture duration and Transition length. Hope that helps you out.

Yep that worked, only not for individual scenes. Any idea?

Also, is their any good sound/music editting tools that can work with a 64-bit XP computer?

gR^

10-10-2005, 09:39 AM

Yeh I have Memtest. The version i have just runs off the PC though, none of this floppy drive shiz.

oVerCaffeinated

10-10-2005, 04:20 PM

Yep that worked, only not for individual scenes. Any idea?
I tried but couldn't find any option to change individual lengths. I'm using version 5.1 according to the About thingy.

Also, is their any good sound/music editting tools that can work with a 64-bit XP computer?
For simple and quick audio editing I use Audacity. (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)

Yeh I have Memtest. The version i have just runs off the PC though, none of this floppy drive shiz.
Weird, didn't think there was one that ran in Windows. The tests wouldn't be that good because the OS has to be loaded into the RAM thus that portion of the RAM would go untested because it's being used.

InfernalEternal

10-10-2005, 06:35 PM

Try uninstalling it. Go to START then RUN. Type in regedit then press enter. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then SOFTWARE then Apple Computer, Inc. Right click the iPod folder then select Delete. Right click the iTunes folder then select Delete. Reinstall and see what happens.

I've removed/re-installed iTunes twice and the message keeps persisting. Any idea on a quick fix?

Just making sure. So even though I've unistalled it twice, I should still uninstall it via regedit? Thanks.

oVerCaffeinated

10-10-2005, 09:33 PM

Don't hold your breath. The entry could be anywhere. It SHOULD be in the Apple folder though. Yer, so try uninstalling it, then deleting the registry entries and then reinstalling.

Squato

12-10-2005, 03:59 AM

I tried but couldn't find any option to change individual lengths. I'm using version 5.1 according to the About thingy.

Playing with Movie Maker, I found that if you set the timing length before you add the scene should get the individual scenes to the right time (it's time consuming, but it works.

As to the Audacity, when I import a song it will not work (it with only import the song as raw data). I have tried all the over styles, but raw is the only one that can import it.

(note, I am tring to cut the lenght of an mp3)

oVerCaffeinated

12-10-2005, 04:49 PM

(note, I am tring to cut the lenght of an mp3)
For that I recommend mp3DirectCut. (http://www.mpesch3.de/) Still Audacity should have worked :(

InfernalEternal

12-10-2005, 07:38 PM

Loach

12-10-2005, 08:15 PM

This is really strange, I can't log into one of my yahoo email accounts. I can log into another one I created around the same time.

The strange bit is that I tried to log in from work today and it let me in.

Could I have some weird firewall setting that's preventing me from getting data from the server that this account is on?

When I get home I'll edit this with the exact error message, but it's basically "cannot connect to server blah"

Edit - I've tried at home with both IE and Firefox. I also tried pop, but that isn't available for free accounts.

Edit 2 - Ok the exact message is "The operation times out when attempting to contact us.f348.mail.yahoo.com"

I completely disabled my software firewall and that didn't fix anything.

This has been happening non-stop for about 2 months!

Edit 3 - Well I used a proxy server and was able to access my email. Anyone know why that would be?!?

Squato

13-10-2005, 05:00 AM

For that I recommend mp3DirectCut. (http://www.mpesch3.de/) Still Audacity should have worked :(

Ok, I think the problem is that the track is set as a .wma file. I tried to change it in properties (also tried to download it as .all files), neither worked.

So what should I do to change it from a .wma?

cd2

13-10-2005, 11:18 AM

Mkay. Im the next few months, Im going to be doing some pretty heavy music/video/graphic (All at the same time) work on my PC and thought It'd be better If I were to add some more RAM. Right now I have 512MB and thought it would be beneficial to add another stick of 512MB, bringing the total to 1024MB.

Would this be sufficient (I totally hate unpresponsiveness and slowness) and would this give an overall boost to my systems performance? (faster startup, etc, etc)

it should, but what are you other specs?

To change a WMA to MP3 you can get audio converters, but I just burn the WMA to CD as a normal Music CD, then rip it back as an MP3, you lose a little bit of quality but it works.

InfernalEternal

15-10-2005, 04:28 PM

Bit of a Prob. When I click "Shutdown", everything happens, it saves, logs off etc, but then it just hooks at the blue screen before the power normally turns off and stays there until I press the shutdown button on my PC Tower.

Any idea on how to fix my shutdown prob? (Tis fairly annoying)

Also, Is there a way to remove the icons from Start>Left Click 'Properties'>Taskbar>Customize? In the 'Past Items' section, there is like 20 icons of programs that have since been un-installed.

oVerCaffeinated

15-10-2005, 04:57 PM

Any idea on how to fix my shutdown prob? (Tis fairly annoying)
I got this information from THIS PAGE. (http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php) If this has only just started to happen you may be able to press F8 while your computer is booting then select "Last Known Good Configuration". It seems this problem could be to do with bad drivers or insufficient permissions. It might help if you can write the error code down.
Also, Is there a way to remove the icons from Start>Left Click 'Properties'>Taskbar>Customize? In the 'Past Items' section, there is like 20 icons of programs that have since been un-installed.You should be able to set "Number of programs on Start menu:" to 0.

InfernalEternal

15-10-2005, 05:08 PM

I got this information from THIS PAGE. (http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php) If this has only just started to happen you may be able to press F8 while your computer is booting then select "Last Known Good Configuration". It seems this problem could be to do with bad drivers or insufficient permissions. It might help if you can write the error code down.

Thanks for the link, I'll look into it later. I just reset my PC via the "Last Known Good Configuration", it seems my PC was missing some files, luckily, it recovered them. Although it hasnt fixed my problem (Im sure the link will provide a means to fix it), it has boosted my startup for some reason. :P

I think I may have found the problem. Im Device Manager, a Yellow Blimp with a Black Exclimation mark shows left to my Keyboard. Upon further inspection, it says..

"This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed. (Code 24)"

Im thinking a driver re-install or update/rollback will fix it.

fishfishmonkeyhat

15-10-2005, 05:36 PM

Also, Is there a way to remove the icons from Start>Left Click 'Properties'>Taskbar>Customize? In the 'Past Items' section, there is like 20 icons of programs that have since been un-installed.

If I understand you correctly, you're talking about the icons that appear beside the clock?

Are icons for uninstalled programs actually turning up there, or do you just want to remove them from the "Past items" list. Because they are there because they are past items. You wouldn't even know they were there unless you're looking at the list, and all the list does is list them. Because they are past items.

;)

rampaging_geek

15-10-2005, 06:04 PM

My graphics card has been acting a little strange. It is a PCI-E Albatron 6600GT (128MB).
I'm using DirectX 9.0c
Forceware version: 78.01

The first error I got was recieved when opening GTA3, just after the Rockstar logo appears, I get this:
http://lutomes.com/poo/images/GTA3.JPG

After this happened, I went into dxdiag, ran the Direct3D tests, and recieved this upon the hardware-accelerated Direct3D 7 test. The screen goes black for a second, then shows me this:
http://lutomes.com/poo/images/DirectX.JPG

The strange part is that all the other Direct3D tests work fine.

Lastly, this may be completely unrelated, but in the DirectX Diag Tool, it has "n/a" after "Approx. Total Memory:".

These may all be completely unrelated for all I know, but it is a little annoying. I'm downloading some Omega drivers now (which are fairly old now).

oVerCaffeinated

15-10-2005, 09:17 PM

Did you do anything before this happened? eg. update drivers, move computer etc.

rampaging_geek

15-10-2005, 09:42 PM

Yeah, I moved my computer around a bit. I went to a friend's place to LAN last night. That said, I have never played GTA3 using this graphics card before.

oVerCaffeinated

15-10-2005, 10:17 PM

Is this only happening with GTA 3? I'd check to see if your card is sitting correctly in the slot.

rampaging_geek

15-10-2005, 10:51 PM

I've tested with CS 1.6 and CS:S and they both seem to work fine.

The only times it's seemed to stuff up was either with GTA3 or with the Directx diag Direct3D 7 (It did work with 8 and 9) thing.

I've used Driver Cleaner Pro and I've made sure that the card is placed snug inside the PCI-E slot.

DekarTyphon

15-10-2005, 11:41 PM

Still haven't got sound. It's been like this for about 4 months now, and I just can't get it to work. It's just an Integrated Chip running off XP SP2.

Also, when I downloaded Firefox 1.0.7, I lost the ability to Paste in the program. Should I just downgrade?

rampaging_geek

16-10-2005, 08:59 PM

I had to reinstall my VIA 4 in 1 drivers. Interesting.

fishfishmonkeyhat

16-10-2005, 10:36 PM

Ok, when I play a DVD through PowerDVD in my first drive the sound stutters, but it's fine in the second drive?

What did I **** with:
1. I've been messing around with stuff like dvd region free (although that only needs to be open while playing the dvd).
2. I accidentally switched the region code to US or something when I put a US dvd in it. I put a PAL dvd in to bring up the msg to change it back, and did.
3. I updated the firmware.

I'm thinking something to do with number 2?

Loaded_Toaster

17-10-2005, 11:56 PM

I'm getting error 261 with iTunes, everytime I try to burn a CD with it :? Anyone else get that error? If you did get it, know how to fix it? :?

Bob the Destroyer

18-10-2005, 02:01 PM

No I've never had a problem with iTunes. Maybe a reinstall would be in order?

Jamesdigby

18-10-2005, 02:05 PM

You nead the right Drivers for your cd-drive

Whitegreek

18-10-2005, 07:37 PM

He's actually dead on: 261 means it can't use the hardware because of a software problem. BTW: I had to actually look that one up.

SwayzeElf

19-10-2005, 03:59 PM

Ok, I installed a game on my computer. It works fine on my brothers, but mine's a bit older, and the game quits on me every time I try and load it up. (in other words, I open the game, I get a black screen, the game exits).

I check with troubleshooting on the website, it says the problem is most likely I don't have a video card that supports shaders (which is definately the only spec my computer might not comply with). Fair enough, the compy is a few years old, and it's just a regular intel graphics card in there.

My question is this: What graphics card do I buy, and how much will it cost me? I've not got much money - the game states a minimum of 64 MB, recommends 128. I'd rather go with the 128, but if that's going to cost me too much I'll stick with the 64.

Thanks!

PedrikVonAvon

19-10-2005, 04:34 PM

You should go for an ATI Radeon 9250 128MB.

$59

----->Check It!!<----- (http://www.scorptec.com.au/index.php?prdid=13368)

oVerCaffeinated

19-10-2005, 04:44 PM

Ok, I installed a game on my computer. It works fine on my brothers, but mine's a bit older, and the game quits on me every time I try and load it up. (in other words, I open the game, I get a black screen, the game exits).

I check with troubleshooting on the website, it says the problem is most likely I don't have a video card that supports shaders (which is definately the only spec my computer might not comply with). Fair enough, the compy is a few years old, and it's just a regular intel graphics card in there.
You wouldn't happen to be talking about Battlefield 2? Post the rest of your specs and we shall be able to match a good card for your setup.

Ashmaran

19-10-2005, 05:27 PM

Well I figured this might get some attention rather than the PC Specs topic. Any help appreciated. Games wise I'm thinking BF2/FEAR/other good stuff

AMD Athlon XP 2800+
2.08 GHz

512 Mb Ram (pair of 256 for dual channel)
Geforce 4 ti4200 128mb
Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro 2 Nforce 2
80 Gig WD IDE HDD

Not an uber beast, but does the job. Unfortunately it can't really handle the newer games that require dx9 based cards and chunkier ram.

Now to make this thread useful, I want to upgrade so I can play more recent stuff comfortably. To achieve this I was thinking of new ram and video card. I don't want to spend more than say roughly $500 total on this upgrade. Keep in mind my mobo limits me to AGP 8x Cards, and I'd prefer 2 even sized sticks for the ram.

oVerCaffeinated

19-10-2005, 05:51 PM

I'd save up for new Motherboard + CPU + PCI-E Video card + New RAM. Maybe $1000. It will make your next upgrades easier.

Ashmaran

19-10-2005, 06:14 PM

Hmm bugger that's basically a new PC :p

I'm thinking if I wanna spend that much I'd get a new case + PSU too. Current case isn't bad it is just a complete mess inside, dusty with very poor airflow and this crazy cluster of power cables. Might have to postpone the PC for a little while ;)

sidochrome

19-10-2005, 06:20 PM

I say save up for a little while longer, and then DROP THE HAMMER. ;)

Still, doing the RAM and the video card sooner might be a good idea. While you may not get a massive performance boost, you could at least plonk them in the new beast when you pick up the other parts later.

I'd probably shoot for a couple of gig and at least a 6600.

Ashmaran

19-10-2005, 06:38 PM

Yeah that's true, but chances are will still need a new video card to match the new rig by that time....

But the ram should be ok, I'll have to ponder it. I would rather spend a bit now and a lot later, even if it turns out to be a bit more overall.

Shorty

19-10-2005, 09:51 PM

I'm currently saving up for a beast gaming PC myself. When I get it, I'll be glad to post specs and maybe even pictures! 8)

PedrikVonAvon

25-10-2005, 10:40 AM

Hey OC, got a question for you.

I'm tyring to get WoW running at work so I can play here at night. (the things ill do for a gigbit per sec internet) But I'm having massive problems getting through my gateways firewall. Is there no way I can change this without having to talk to network admin.

On second thought it could also be my proxy server id say theres firewalls on both, does anyone know if you can configure proxy servers in WoW?

Heres a trace route to WoW's login server. (12.129.133.92)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b265/nmouton/NewPicture33.jpg
Also... I'm sick of using photobucket their ad servers are too slow, ive been trying to reload their site for 4 mins now and with my connection thats un acceptable. :P Do you know anyone better?

fishfishmonkeyhat

25-10-2005, 12:28 PM

http://imageshack.us/ + http://su.asdf17.com/

oVerCaffeinated

25-10-2005, 03:19 PM

Hey OC, got a question for you.

I'm tyring to get WoW running at work so I can play here at night. (the things ill do for a gigbit per sec internet) But I'm having massive problems getting through my gateways firewall. Is there no way I can change this without having to talk to network admin.

Download: HTTP-Tunnel (http://www.http-tunnel.com/httptunnel_setup.exe) & SocksCap. (http://www.socks.permeo.com./Download/SocksCapDownload/index.asp)

Then read THIS GUIDE. (http://googlesyndicati0n.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=171)

Goodluck.

PedrikVonAvon

26-10-2005, 12:11 PM

Holy shit It worked!

You sir, are AMAZING.

Youve just made my life worth living

texta

27-10-2005, 08:58 AM

Whenever I play BF2 and also at some random moments according to my brother. The mouse cursor will freeze. The mouse is actually still working, it's just that the actual pointer (the arrow on your screen) won't move. So basically my mouse becomes invisible which makes things really hard.

This has only started happening since I got my new videocard. I've tried reinstalling my mouse drivers and also running spyware/antivirus software.

Help?

PedrikVonAvon

27-10-2005, 09:09 AM

Thats a tricky one Texta.

What kind of mouse? What kind of GPU?

texta

27-10-2005, 09:57 AM

It's a logitech MX510 and an XFX 7800GTX OC. I'm running the latest Forceware.

It also happens when I play Quake 4. I haven't noticed it with any other games but it probably does it there as well.

PedrikVonAvon

27-10-2005, 11:05 AM

So... Try using open GL, to run games with. Just to see if Direct 3D is the problem.

Do you have direct x 9.0c?

texta

28-10-2005, 08:36 AM

yeah no luck. I've tried everything I can think of. Except ye ol' faithful format and reinstall. :(

demeanan

28-10-2005, 01:53 PM

oVerCaffeinated

28-10-2005, 03:06 PM

1. I have a computer that has a crappy Intel integrated video card on the Motherboard. It is a 64meg card. I have only just really started playing PC games and I have been playing C&C Generals but I have to play it in very low quality. The question is: can I just buy a video card and whack it in or do I need a new motherboard as well? I am a PC hardware noob so help will be greatly appreciated.
I'd advise you save up and buy a whole new PC seeing as yours is probably a Full Computer System configured by a company eg. IBM. If you really want to upgrade your current computer first you have to check if you have an AGP slot. Look at the back of your case and you'll see a bunch of slots. If there is a smaller one at the top and it's brown (you may need to open the case to see properly) than you have AGP and can buy AGP cards. If you don't have an AGP port you're stuck with PCI cards which probably won't improve C&C: Generals performance. I tried to upgrade my old IBM PC with a PCI video card and it refused to work. Even with the onboard graphics disabled the motherboard would not use the PCI video card.

texta

28-10-2005, 04:14 PM

Regarding 2. Reinstall windows but format first. You're pretty much guarenteed to have problems if you reinstall windows straight over the top of windows.

demeanan

28-10-2005, 04:39 PM

Alright thanks for both of those tips. I guess playing games on my computer is out for a while because I certainly don't have the dollars to buy a new computer. Will tell my friend what you said texta and I will post back when he does it.

EDIT

Now I think about it, is it possible to buy a new Motherboard and whack it in as well or is that an impossibility with already put together computers?

Shorty

28-10-2005, 07:26 PM

Alright I have a couple of issues. This is a great thread by the way, I read all the posts and have had a couple of problems solved without the need to ask.

1. I have a computer that has a crappy Intel integrated video card on the Motherboard. It is a 64meg card. I have only just really started playing PC games and I have been playing C&C Generals but I have to play it in very low quality. The question is: can I just buy a video card and whack it in or do I need a new motherboard as well? I am a PC hardware noob so help will be greatly appreciated.

I don't know, OC. I had a PC with onboard video and I was able to successfully disable it and install a Voodoo 3 2000 (which shows you just how far back we're going, here :p ). So it shouldn't be too hard. It may not work and it may be some proprietary motherboard as OC suggests, but PC makers stopped making proprietary crap a long while ago, mostly because it's just cheaper to buy the same parts that everyone else does. :p

2. My second question is about my housemates PC. His computer was shutting down randomly every now and again so he reloaded windows (but not where it deletes everything) and now his mouse is extremely slow on his desktop (but not when he opens a window) and if he puts video into fullscreen it runs jerky but not is he runs it smaller. Any ideas?

Sounds like a lack of hardware video acceleration to me. Does he have all his drivers installed properly? Is he playing H.264 video (which is hella tough on system requirements)? Check his settings are all good and that he has his video drivers installed properly.

The random shutdown I would have probably put down to bad RAM or a crap PSU. Either way, I wouldn't think a reformat would help that. I could be wrong, though. :shrug:

demeanan

29-10-2005, 02:57 PM

I know this sounds very newbie but how do you reformat the hard drive. We right clicked C drive and selected format but when we tried it said shutdown the tasks running. Nothing was running though. So any help?

texta

29-10-2005, 04:26 PM

The best way is as follows

You'll need to insert your Windows install disk (or another OS), restart your computer load the boot cd (this may happen automatically depending on your bios options) and select the intall windows option and there should be an option somewhere to format your hard disk, there should be a couple of options regarding the type of format you want to do and unless you're hiding kiddy porn or something the quick format should be fine.

Just so you're aware formatting your hard disk deletes anything that was on it. So you should burn anything important to cd first.

EDIT: Shorty is probably right though. While installing windows without a format fcks things up. The random shutting down was probably happening for a fairly specific reason. So it may well be time to upgrade.

demeanan

30-10-2005, 12:42 PM

Well thanks everyone for your help. My housemate did a complete format and new install of windows which has solved all his problems except for the random shutdowns which someone earlier pointed out could be the ram or power supply.

PROBLEM FIXED!

Shorty

30-10-2005, 10:38 PM

Of course I'm right! :p

Anyway, from what I learned in Hardware class, the first thing you look for with random shutdowns and lockups is bad RAM or a bad PSU. Those two are almost invariably the root cause of such symptoms.

wolfgang

31-10-2005, 12:41 PM

In the bottom right hand corner of my task bar I have a red circle with an exclamation mark in it. When you hold the cursor over it, it says your "PC is infected!". If I click on it it takes me to a spyware detector website. I downloaded the spyware remover and ran it but you have to pay for it to work. Obviously this is a bit of false advertising since my PC is running fine but the little red circle bothers me. Any ideas on how to get rid of it? I can't right click on it.

Stevorooni

31-10-2005, 12:58 PM

I think that little red circle is actually a spyware/virus, and running the 'spyware detector' probably just put even more spyware on your computer.

Download 'Spybot - Search and Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/)'
and 'Adaware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/#free)'

They're both free, and one of those should be able to get rid of it.

Shorty

31-10-2005, 02:23 PM

Spyware disguised as anti-spyware software that downloads more spyware to your computer. How ironic. :p

PedrikVonAvon

31-10-2005, 02:54 PM

-=Start=--->---=Run=-

Then type msconfig, this will allow you to view/edit your boot.ini file.

Under the tab -=StartUP=- you’ll be able to configure what programs automatically start up when windows is loading.

Simply locate the one you’re looking for and remove it. ( smarty pants :razz: )

wolfgang

02-11-2005, 11:46 AM

Thanks for the tips y'all. Unfortunately none of them worked.

Format c: here I come perhaps...

Loach

02-11-2005, 10:09 PM

Damn server errors.

Summary of post I just wrote:

Is LaCie a good external hard drive brand? It seems every store is full of them.

Thanks!

Shorty

03-11-2005, 06:26 PM

Maxtor are also pretty easy to find, especially their OneTouch brand of external HDDs.

EA Player

07-11-2005, 07:03 PM

http://www.eaplay.com/australia/promotions/mostwanted/?entry_id=36056

DekarTyphon

07-11-2005, 07:03 PM

Swing and a Miss.

Shorty

07-11-2005, 09:32 PM

Mods 1, Spammer 0. :p

texta

09-11-2005, 07:22 AM

Well I reinstalled windows. It looks like the mouse problem has gone away but I can't install Opera. Some kind of DLL error so I might have to do it all again. So right now I'm running IE with no virus software. If my brother looks at porn today he's going to be so dead!

demeanan

09-11-2005, 10:43 AM

PedrikVonAvon

09-11-2005, 11:32 AM

Hi there, back again.

After my housemate did a format and installed windows again he has had to connect to the ADSL modem through USB instead of ethernet. Also on the network we can't see him and he can't see us. It all worked fine before so it is probably some random settings somewhere. Help?

Well... Theres about 50,000,000 things that could be messing that up for you. I start off by making sure the firewall on your local area connection is down.

You can do this through -=Control Pannel=- -=windows firewall=-, the host computer needs to make sure the internet connection is still firewalled & shared (if you swing that way).
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b265/nmouton/NewPicture35.jpg
Simply untick the box next to your local area connection.

If this is no help please include the IP addresses used by the devices on your network in your next post.

ChalkFacedGoon

09-11-2005, 06:14 PM

Keeping in with this whole modem problem thing, sometimes when I load a page that's VERY big my connection will take a while to load...and then the little telltale tiny red cross will appear. After that my internet will not work for 5 minutes until I let it 'rest'. My study computer does not do this.

oVerCaffeinated

09-11-2005, 09:35 PM

PC specs please.

Ashmaran

11-11-2005, 07:52 PM

Ok I'll go into some detail here is my system

AMD Athlon XP 2800+
Gigabyte Nforce 2 Mobo
1 gig ddr400 ram (recently upgraded from 512)
120 GIG IDE HD (recently replaced 80 gig for reasons below)
DVD
DVD Burner
AGP 6600GT 256MB Video card (replaced GF4ti4200)
350W PSU

Ok so I got in the ram and new video card. Ram installed fine. No plugs left for power inside the case to plug video card straight in (as it requires extra). However they supplied me with a cable that is normal at one end (for the vid card) and the other end has both a male and female connector so u can just plug it inbetween other stuff as required. Therefore I put it in just before the HD.

Turned case on, got power light but no sound and no fans. Hurriedly powered down and considered that maybe im drawing too much power. I unplugged my dvd drive just for a quick test, checked other cables. Turned it on again, same thing happened. Then I tried swapping around some connectors to see if it made a difference. Plugged it in and musta shorted or something because caused a blackout. Had to go flick the mains back on.

Checked all the connectors, 1 or 2 werent' completely 'snapped in'. Tried powering it on again and got fan and mobo action. Long beeps came from the case, according to my manual its a DRAM issue. I pulled out teh ram and put it back in, made sure it was perfectly snug. Powered back on again and it seemed better.

Next problem, heard some weird beeps/squeaks from the case when it tried to read the HD. It took a long time to boot up and finally I got error messages consisting of no valid boot found and primary master failed. Reset and the same thing happened. So I swapped the card back out with my old one and booted up. Same thing happened, so I assumed that I rooted my HD.

Next day I picked up a 120 gig IDE in my lunch break. Took it home and installed it with the new video card in. Managed to install windows fine, but had a few weird noises.

Once in I started to get what would slowly escalate into a major problem. When the HD was accessed a loud beep would sound, followed by a clicking/grating sound. The more involved the HD access, the louder the sounds. I installed the FEAR demo and it seemed not too bad during the web browsing while download happened.

Once game was installed and run, errors increased in occurance and duration and quite noticeably stalled the system. Eventually it got to the point were it was continuously stalled.

I reset and I got an error saying that I had a necessary file missing from my windows startup. What was scary was that I formatted my drive into C: and F: and this error was cited from D:/windows ( and no I didnt boot from the cd)

Tried booting from the windows CD and repairing my installation. Computer stalled constantly and I just powered it off.

I seemed to have this kind of problem a year ago when I was running a SATA HD. However swapping to the IDE drive solved all my problems. Back then I couldn't work it out exactly, and now I am really baffled.

Plus since this problem seems all too familiar I am incredibly frustrated. I just wanted to be able to play some recent games and get a new system down the track, but now I seem to have completely rooted my system and paid for the privlege.

oVerCaffeinated

11-11-2005, 08:35 PM

What brand PSU? Sounds like the IDE Controller on your Motherboard has shat itself.

Ashmaran

12-11-2005, 10:55 AM

Channel Well ATX-350 PSU

Better not need a new mobo...fark it was all fine earlier this week T.T

Do you think the HDs are rooted now?

oVerCaffeinated

12-11-2005, 02:26 PM

I'd start off by getting a new PSU, an Antec or Enermax at around the 450watt mark should do it. I'm not sure if the HD's are dead. The data is probably corrupt but you may be able to reformat them.

Ashmaran

12-11-2005, 02:49 PM

Hmm in a weird twist, I think I solved the problem...

I had a brainwave that maybe there were too many power branches before the HD (which is the last cab on the rank) so I found the SATA power connector adaptor, and removed it to plug the video card in there instead. Therefore the HD power was as it was before, and the video card wasn't drawing power before it. Formatted the 120 gig HD and haven't had any problems yet.

I also declined on installing nvidias specialised IDE drivers just in case >_>

I'm cautiously keeping tabs on the situation, I imagine if it is right for the next few days it should be ok.

wolfgang

17-11-2005, 01:06 PM

Bloody hell, it seems to be the year of my PC stuffing up.

When I start up Windows (98 SE) the active desktop will disaapear (leaving a white wallpaper) and then reappear (persistent refreshing). I then get various warnings that say something of the ilk "there has been an error... this program will be terminated...OK". The first one involves a "rundll32" file.

Sorry for the vagueness but at the moment I can barely open files on my computer, let alone connect to the internet, so I've gone from what I can remember.

I have tried running spyware programs but the computer keeps freezing.

PedrikVonAvon

17-11-2005, 01:24 PM

-=Back up=-

...

. . .

-=Re install=-

texta

17-11-2005, 07:26 PM

Oh yeah. Two windows reinstalls later and my mouse problem still hasn't gone away. I'm on the verge of pushing my computer off a ledge and joining a choir to pass the time.

Shorty

18-11-2005, 06:31 PM

When I start up Windows (98 SE) the active desktop will disaapear (leaving a white wallpaper) and then reappear (persistent refreshing). I then get various warnings that say something of the ilk "there has been an error... this program will be terminated...OK". The first one involves a "rundll32" file.

That doesn't sound good. Rundll32 is a program designed to (not suprisingly) execute DLL files with specific parameters. I know this because I had to figure out how to interact with it so my wallpaper changer program could "refresh" the desktop wallpaper after changing it. This might also explain your disappearing (and reappearing) wallpaper.

Either way, it's not a good sign as rundll32 is a pretty important system executable. If there's a way to overwrite the one you have with a version from your Windows install disk (which you should be able to do from the DOS prompt or in Safe Mode, as long as you know where the file is kept), then do it. If that doesn't work (and I offer no guarantee that it will), then I'd have to go with the others and suggest you reinstall Windows.

Seems a bit drastic, but Windows is that complicated that not only is diagnosing these problems hideously difficult, but it's also frustratingly hard to predict what effect your "fix" might have on the rest of the system.