http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/ Please state which version you are using. en Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:01:06 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/images/bluedemon/misc/rss.jpg http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/ http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10424-pc-powers-up-but-wont-boot-up.html Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:07:05 GMT I have a self built pc running on windows xp - home.

All of a sudden, pc wouldn't boot up, power comes on, motherboard power light is on, but no beep to indicate system start up. Screen stays black, the drives don't respond either. Have checked the hard drives on another pc, I have 2, both are fine and virus free.

Any suggestions as to what to try next? ]]> Windows 2000 and XP mollie http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10424-pc-powers-up-but-wont-boot-up.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10417-hard-drives.html Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:50:41 GMT I have a spare hard drive and not being an expert would like to know what would be the best way to use it. Just keep it as a spare? Install 2 hard drives? Your expert advice would be welcome. Rob I have a spare hard drive and not being an expert would like to know what would be the best way to use it.

Just keep it as a spare?
Install 2 hard drives?

Your expert advice would be welcome.

Rob ]]> Windows 2000 and XP robgood http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10417-hard-drives.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10416-windows-automatic-updates.html Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:58:02 GMT Hi guys.

I've been encountering a problem with Windows Automatic Updates on XP. I've seen said problem on numerous PC's, so I've ruled out coincidence for that reason.

When WAU are activated/turned on, the performance of the PC, or the speed in which it operates, is halved. They are slow to respond and hard drive access is pretty constant from boot thereon. Deactivating Automatic Updates resolves this issue. (when wuauclt.exe has gone).

Granted, all three PC's were 512mb RAM or lower, but even so....

I wondered if anyone else had come across this or, more importantly, why this occurs?

Thank you in advance. ]]> Windows 2000 and XP monkeyboy http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10416-windows-automatic-updates.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10414-need-more-ram.html Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:00:09 GMT Hi i'm hope you can help me with this? i've done some scans to see what ram i can put in my pc, but still need more info on what i can get put in my pc ty. I'll post the scans it might help you? it didn't me lol.
.................................................. .................................................
Currently installed memory:

128MBSDRAM, PC133 EMPTY
Each memory slot can hold SDRAM, PC133 with a maximum of 512MB per slot.*

*Not to exceed manufacturer supported
.................................................. ..............................
.................................................
Maximum Memory Capacity: 1024MB
Currently Installed Memory: 128MB
Available Memory Slots: 1
Total Memory Slots: 2
Dual Channel Support: No
CPU Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
CPU Family: Intel® Celeron™ CPU 1300MHz Model 11, Stepping 1
CPU Speed: 1302 MHz
.................................................. ...........................
crucial scan. It said: surgested upgrad 640mb total.
current is 128mb
512 mb new added
or
1GB total
current 128mb memory removed and 512
.................................................. .............................
Belarc scan:
Operating System System Model
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United Kingdom) VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8601
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
1.30 gigahertz Intel Celeron
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Not hyper-threaded Board: 8601T-686
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 09/11/2002
Drives Memory Modules c,d
40.02 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
28.90 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
ARTEC WRR-4848 [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]
WDC WD400EB-00CPF0 [Hard drive] (40.02 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WCAAT7442504, rev 06.04G06, SMART Status: Healthy 120 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
.................................................. .................................................. .............
cheers for any help ;) ]]> Windows 2000 and XP pitfall http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10414-need-more-ram.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10405-please-help-just-re-built-pc.html Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:00:47 GMT I have had to wipe my pc due to virus's and replace the HDD when I have tried to instal a new OS it says *****IDE DRIVES INSTALLATION ERROR***** For best reliability & performance, please change the stand alone slave drive to master. System halt.... I have checked the cables and there all correct im stuck.. please help
Mother board is K7VT4A+ bios is p1.30
OS is windows XP Home Edition

Thanks in advance guys hope you can help me its doin me ead in.....!! ]]> Windows 2000 and XP hillan43 http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10405-please-help-just-re-built-pc.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10403-stuck-black-screen-startup.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:25:14 GMT My computer was only running firefox and then completely froze out and I couldnt open task manager, switch users or anything. I let the computer sit there for a while not wanting to click anything thinking it would unfreeze by itself in a short while, and then suddenly a noise started coming out at regular intervals. Then the computer just switched off.

On restart I got a BSOD that i wrote down but ive lost the paper for the error message now. I ran the Recovery Console from the XP CD and chkdsk /r and it finished. When i restarted I got another BSOD:

"UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME"

I ran chkdsk /r using the Recovery Console again, with it completing and then this time on restart I got another BSOD message.

"Stop:C0000135 (unable to locate component) This application has failed to start because USP10.dll was found. Re-installing the application may fix this"

I ran chkdsk again a few times and nothing happened, still getting the same BSOD message on restart.

After more googling I found out to run a repair installation from the XP CD instead of the Recovery Console, the website I used just told me to "continue with on-screen instructions". So I ran the repair installation and the first time I ran it, the computer restarted and I thought it had been fixed. Windows XP appeared to be installing itself for the first time and I paniced because I thought I had accidentally pressed the wrong button and chosen to fresh install a copy of windows. I immediately held the power button to power-down my computer.

I now realise that it was supposed to happen.

Now if I try to boot the computer normally, or in safe mode, it will load the Windows logo with the green bar and then after that, it will stay on the black screen with a mouse. (no BSOD)

If I repeat the repair installation, it will tell me that a repair has already been started and do I want to continue with the repair, or start a fresh installation. When I continue with the repair, when the computer restarts it will follow the same steps as above and reach the black screen and I cannot get back to that blue windows setup screen which would've been the next part of the repair install.

What should I do now? ]]> Windows 2000 and XP v2p http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10403-stuck-black-screen-startup.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10399-dead-pc.html Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:28:17 GMT Hi all.
A couple of days ago while surfing the net my pc froze,(mouse no

response) so I tried ctrl alt del in the hope that taskmanager would

appear and let me close the browser.no response and then the whole

thing died.It wouldn't switch back on so I decided to take a look

inside suspecting the psu.PSU fan wasn't working so I removed the unit

from the pc case then put a link from the green to black on the 20 pin

plug.The fan started up ok and all voltages measured correctly using a

dvm.I then turned my attention to the on/off switch on the front of the

pc case, this operated correctly using the continuity setting on the

dvm. Its at this point that I'm unsure as to what the fault is but I

suspect there must be a latch of some type on the motherboard which is

operated by the main switch I tested.(just a wild guess!)
Given that the psu operates and the on/off switch operates I started

looking at the motherboard and saw a total of 5 electrolytic capacitors

which are bulging at the top, a problem I've met before and now the

focus of my attention.All of these components are in the same area and

suggest to me "power supply components".
My plan at the moment is to replace these capacitors in the hope that

the fault will disappear and to that end I now have the motherboard out

of the case.

My first problem concerns the values of these components because the

writing is very difficult to read (I have vision problems).
There are 2 values which appear to me to be ;
1. 16v 1500uF
2. 63v 3300uF
My concern is with the 63v which I am aware could be 6.3v. Is it likely

that pc makers would use a capacitor with such a high voltage rating?

My second problem is the logic of assuming that the fault lies with

these components, am I on the right track or am I potentially

disgracing the good name of the species?

The system specs are as follows.
American Megatrends
M825 on motherboard
AMD 2400 processor.
A crap video board.But good enough!
512 meg memory
Floppy drive.
dvd rewriter (sony)
cd drive.
First hard drive 160 Gb (maxtor)
Second drive 80 Gb (maxtor)
Operating system is Win XP pro sp3

This is a system built some 8 years ago so no manufacturer as

such.Other than me!
I looked for the capacitors online and found them at Farnell's site but

won't order them until I'm a bit more confident with the "plan of

action".

So if anyone could help me with this I would be very gratefull and of

course....virtual beers on me!!!

tt, ( Peter) ]]> Windows 2000 and XP tellietubbie http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10399-dead-pc.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10393-recently-rebuilt-pc.html Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:25:07 GMT Hi,
I am fairly experienced with PC's and have just rebuilt my first PC.
All went well, new hard drive, more RAM etc.
I installed XP Pro SP2 and then updated to SP3.
I have installed all the drivers from the DELL website (machine is an OPTIPLEX 740).
All appeared ok.
Now I am starting to experience problems. Every time I start the machine up, I get the usual DELL logo and the bios loads ok. After about 20 seconds i then just get a black screen with a blinking dash in the top left corner and that it, I get no further.
I have to manually turn the PC off and reboot, at which point, 9 times out of 10 windows loads sucessfully. Any ideas on why it does this??
Once in windows all is fine, but after about 20 minutes of usage, not with any particular program, its happened with iTunes, word, a few others, the computer just completely freezes. The mouse still moves about the screen but I cant close anything, open anything, run task manager, nothing??
I have to completely reboot and normally then get stuck with this blinking dash a few times before windows loads, I carry on with what I was doing, iTunes for example and then a little while later, 10 - 20 minutes, same again!?!?!
Can someone with a little more knowledge than me please shed some light?
I wondered whether it might be a problem with the PC trying to communicate with the hard drive intermitently?? ]]> Windows 2000 and XP H14rry http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10393-recently-rebuilt-pc.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10361-nevista-8303-drivers-please-help.html Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:26:34 GMT hi i am desperatly needing help,i have just got a second hand computer it has xp installed but i have no drivers disk and it is missing vga,audio driver and most importantly ethernet controller the pc is an ibm nevista 8303 81g,i have located somewhere i can download the drivers (www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-42954.html) but when i transfer from my laptop to the pc for some reason it wont extract and install the files please help thanks hi i am desperatly needing help,i have just got a second hand computer it has xp installed but i have no drivers disk and it is missing vga,audio driver and most importantly ethernet controller

the pc is an ibm nevista 8303 81g,i have located somewhere i can download the drivers

(www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-42954.html)

but when i transfer from my laptop to the pc for some reason it wont extract and install the files please help thanks ]]> Windows 2000 and XP woodtik http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10361-nevista-8303-drivers-please-help.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10356-cant-boot-up-system.html Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:01:21 GMT System is a desktop pc with XP + SP3. Processor is an Intel Core2 Duo E8400. I also have Kaspersky internet security installed. For a few days when I have booted up there has been a message from Kaspersky notifying me that a Trojan has been detected and advising me to disinfect it, which I have done resulting in the system being re-booted. However, today there was another Trojan message, but after disinfecting it I was not able to close the system down and do a re-boot either via Kaspersky or by clicking on the normal windows closedown menu, I had to do it manually by turning off the power. However, since then I have not been able to restart the system. It comes up with the ASRock page which then opens that standard Windows page which it stays on but then the screen goes blank and then after a period it come up with the ASRock page again. It just stays in this loop. I have tried restarting it from the last know configuration, but again it just gets stuck in the above loop. I have also tried to do a reset but it make no difference. Can somebody please advise what has happened and how I can sort it? I must stress that I am not a expert so simple advise please. System is a desktop pc with XP + SP3. Processor is an Intel Core2 Duo E8400.

I also have Kaspersky internet security installed.

For a few days when I have booted up there has been a message from Kaspersky notifying me that a Trojan has been detected and advising me to disinfect it, which I have done resulting in the system being re-booted.

However, today there was another Trojan message, but after disinfecting it I was not able to close the system down and do a re-boot either via Kaspersky or by clicking on the normal windows closedown menu, I had to do it manually by turning off the power.

However, since then I have not been able to restart the system.

It comes up with the ASRock page which then opens that standard Windows page which it stays on but then the screen goes blank and then after a period it come up with the ASRock page again. It just stays in this loop.

I have tried restarting it from the last know configuration, but again it just gets stuck in the above loop.

I have also tried to do a reset but it make no difference.

Can somebody please advise what has happened and how I can sort it?

I must stress that I am not a expert so simple advise please. ]]> Windows 2000 and XP sprint http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10356-cant-boot-up-system.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10350-virus-infection-and-now-cannot-boot-up.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:55:08 GMT >>Are you able to boot into Safemode? No >>>Does your hard drive show on the boot screen? I think so (its difficult to check as I only have internet access at work) >>>Does your hard drive show in BIOS? Not sure >>>Are you sure the recovery console is installed? No idea >>>Or are you using a recovery disk? Don't have one >>>Did you repeatedly tap F10 key on startup? Very possibly as I'm sure that F10 was an option on the start screen (although now I only have F2-Setup & F12-Boot Menu). I would really appreciate any help you guys could give to get my computer back up & running and then virus free. Many thanks in advance! Steve]]> Hi Guys,
It seems that I'm having similar problems to a couple of other posters :(

I have a Dell Dimension 5100 which is about 5 years old now. Running XP Home, 4Gb RAM, 160Gb Cdrive & and an additional 500Gb storage drive.

Late last week I picked up a nasty virus even though I have a non-Windows firewall & run AVG Free. This particular infection would not allow me to open/run any programs nor do a restore - I would get an error message saying whatever.exe is infected... it just directed me to it's website to buy their software (can't remember the name of the website unfortunately).

Anyway, when I next went back to my computer - thinking I could try Safe Mode - all I got, after the initial DELL/DOS screen is just a blank, black screen.

After joining this forum & having a look round I discovered that I needed to use F8 to enter safe mode (not an option given on start-up) but unfortunately if I try this I get half a screen of DOS prompts/instructions and then nothing else.

I just lifted these questions from Jelly Bean in another thread...

>>>Are you able to boot into Safemode?
No

>>>Does your hard drive show on the boot screen?
I think so (its difficult to check as I only have internet access at work)

>>>Does your hard drive show in BIOS?
Not sure

>>>Are you sure the recovery console is installed?
No idea

>>>Or are you using a recovery disk?
Don't have one

>>>Did you repeatedly tap F10 key on startup?
Very possibly as I'm sure that F10 was an option on the start screen (although now I only have F2-Setup & F12-Boot Menu).

I would really appreciate any help you guys could give to get my computer back up & running and then virus free.

Many thanks in advance!
Steve ]]> Windows 2000 and XP JagCrusher http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10350-virus-infection-and-now-cannot-boot-up.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10349-system-recovery.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:07:07 GMT Hi There I hope someone can help me. I am trying to do a destructive recovery on my Compaq PC I have tried all the ways stated on the compaq website on how to do this but for some reason none of them work Any help on this would be great cheers Hi There

I hope someone can help me.

I am trying to do a destructive recovery on my Compaq PC
I have tried all the ways stated on the compaq website on how to do this but for some reason none of them work

Any help on this would be great

cheers ]]> Windows 2000 and XP gallorgs http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10349-system-recovery.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10347-black-screen-death.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:32:08 GMT I am sure my pc has the black screen of death and I am trying to do a factory reset but
don't seem to be able to I have try f10 f8 with and without alt key can any one help
I have a E system ]]> Windows 2000 and XP Norm_dj http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10347-black-screen-death.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10346-port.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:27:54 GMT is there a program that will let you set a pin on the commport to put out oV to 12V so the computer can controul a relay or something cool like that. sorry for the bad spelling:confused: is there a program that will let you set a pin on the commport to put out oV to 12V so the computer can controul a relay or something cool like that.
sorry for the bad spelling:confused: ]]> Windows 2000 and XP jayden-lee http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10346-port.html http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10345-car-computer.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:45:04 GMT hello
Does anyone know how to make the wiring to pluge a laptop/pc in to a car's computer to find out what is wrong so you can save money on taking it to a sparkey that cost $60 just to say "unplug your batty and then plug it back in".
as well as the wiring for the plug i would also need the program.:cool: ]]> Windows 2000 and XP jayden-lee http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/windows-2000-and-xp/10345-car-computer.html