Computer Woes

RoyJackson · Jan 4, 2004

"Startup Cop Pro. It solved some problems for me on Win2000. It is supposed to work on 98SE, Me, 2000 & XP."

I tried that program out. Still have the setup file on this machine somewhere. If I recall, the demo was time limited and I didn't register it. Nice little troubleshooting tool.
You can do similar troubleshooting with Sysconfig (just type "Sysconfig" in your START-RUN window. Do not use the quotes.

Bird, now that you've found Device Manager, just delete the sound card, then reboot. This may or may not work to restore your sound, but it's one of the first things you want to try. That little speaker icon should be on your taskbar. If removing the sound card from Device Manager (and rebooting) doesn't work, then I suggest removing it physically (as described in an earlier post) and re-installing. Even if the card was in use by another program or the sound is muted somewhere, you should still have that icon. I did just find one thing. In CONTROL PANEL-MULTIMEDIA, when you click on the Multimedia icon, a screen pops up with tabs. One of the tabs is AUDIO. At the bottom, there is a check box to Show Volume Control on Taskbar. See if it's checked. Now, I'm on a Win98 machine as I type this, so what you see may be slightly different. Let us know if this works to show the Speaker (volume controls ) icon. If that restores the Speaker icon, then see if any of the check blocks are muted or the volume is turned down.

You know, when Wifey hooked her machine up for an internet connection (she's using dial up, the cable modem is down stairs), she got the Blaster virus within a week. It took her some time to hit the Microsoft sites and to download all the updates to remove this virus. Pretty nasty bug!

I don't think your problems are due to a virus or viruses. I think you may have multiple problems, actually, with software conflicts and compatability issues. I'm really curious to see if removing your sound card and re-installing it works to restore the sound. That "in use by another program" could result from using Real Audio or another media program (I'll guarantee you have more then one on your computer...when you load CD-ROM or DVD drive drivers, they'll add a media program sometimes). But, I think reseating that sound card may do the trick.

Mrwurm · Jan 4, 2004

Bird, your not alone in your frustrations. I have a machine that runs Windows 2000. I cannot install Microsoft Office 2000 on the machine. The install program will run all the way to the end and then bomb out. I took it to an expert and he could'nt figure it out. The solution was to install Office XP which seems to work fine on my Win2000 machine. Go figure.

It should'nt be so difficult ! !

Bird · Jan 4, 2004

Jerry, to add to my woes, since this machine came with Windows ME originally, all the documentation refers to Windows ME and/or Windows 98. Now I could start over downloading my software from the CDs that I have, but I remember that when I upgraded to XP, I then had a printer problem and had to download updates from Hewlett-Packard via the Internet. In other words, if I start over, I'd have an unbelievable number of updates to download from the Internet for my printer, Windows, Norton SystemWorks and Personal Firewall, etc.

Now I could go buy the latest versions of all the software, but that would cost almost as much as buying a new computer. And I REALLY don't want to spend the money to buy a new computer right now. However, I think I'm just going to give the kid where my daughter works another shot at it and if that doesn't work, I may try starting over with the CDs I have, then downloading updates, and if that doesn't work, I may just go ahead an buy a new computer, and cry in my coffee. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Bob999 · Jan 4, 2004

Now the problem is that it shows to be enabled and working properly, but I still have no sound.


Bird,

I just went through an identical set of symptoms. It turned out that the small amplifier in the speakers had failed so that the "speakers" were bad. I think the cause of the amp failure was damage to a cord between the computer sound board and the speakers.

Do you have, or can you borrow, a known good set of speakers to try?

looch · Jan 4, 2004

Bird - I understand your frustrations. I'm the sysadmin at my work. I'm pretty good at keeping these machines going, but wouldn't you know that my home PC crashed last week and I just couldn't get the thing to boot up. I had to install a second copy of XP in a different folder (standard is c:\windows - I put it in c:\windows2). Once booted, I burnt all my data files to CD-R's. I then re-installed XP. During the installation, you are asked on what partition you would like to install. I chose to delete all partitions, then created a new one and formatted it (not quick-format, which is one of the options) with NTFS. Kind of time-consuming and generally a pain in the butt.

My PC doesn't have a floppy drive. If yours does, I would highly recommend making an ASR disk which will get you out of trouble if you need to repair your installation in the future. Details on how are available under help from "Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup."

Also, although not endorsed or even mentioned by any operating system or PC manufacturer, an annual, full reinstall of the system seems to me to be a very good idea.

If I really wanted to make this easy for myself, I would buy a second hard drive and use Norton Ghost to put an image of my perfectly functioning system on this drive. A system-restore using Ghost is a beautiful thing - taking anywhere from 10-20 minutes to complete.

OkeeDon · Jan 4, 2004

Will Ghost work on a network drive? Now that the CFO and I have our laptops, I've delegated my Dell Optiplex desktop machine to be sort of a "server" -- it's where the printers and scanner are hooked up, and a good place to store a lot of the "clutter" of downloads and such that don't need to be on the laptops. The laptops and the Dell all have 40 GB drives - I was thinking about installing a 120 GB second drive on the Dell, and storing copies of all 3 of the other hard drives on that one big one. I could probably partition it to look like 3 40 GB drives, and it would be nice to use something like "Ghost" to make it easy.

beagdog · Jan 4, 2004

I agree about using ghost.

I use three different operating systems between home and work (NT, 2K and XP Pro) and since the last time I crashed my NT machine I have been doing weekly ghosts of all of them (2 at work and 2 at home). I've found it worth the time and trouble to always have a backup that is no more than a week old just because of the instability (or maybe that's lack of reliability) of all of the OS's and hardware. I also have pristine ghost CD's of all machines from when they were originally built, not as easy to restore from as the weekly's but will be a good place to start in case of a real catastrophe.

I leave a second drive in all machines, and just make it a part of my early Monday morning ritual to ghost my two machines at work (NT and 2K) then that night I ghost my XP machines at home. Not real fast machines but none takes more than 10 minutes to do (memory is more valuable when ghosting than processor speed).

One crash and the time and dollars I've spent is nothing compared to the frustration I'll save myself. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Bird · Jan 4, 2004

( the Dell all have 40 GB drives )

I don't know a thing about Ghosts except for maybe a little bit about Casper the Friendly Ghost. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif But my Dell has a 20 GB hard drive and I'm only using almost half of it. It's got a 250 MB Zip drive, the CD-RW, and the 3.5" floppy drive. I periodically put all my photos on CDs, and almost daily "copy" (instead of backup) my data files to zip disks. But I have no backups of program files except the original CDs for those that came that way.

looch · Jan 4, 2004

OkeeDon, a network drive is only a network drive to the PC's using it as a network drive (D. Rumsfeld impression /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif). What I mean is that you could Ghost these partitions from the console of your server - where all the drives are local. However, it is also possible to perform both imaging and restoring from a networked PC using mulitcasting and an appropriate boot disk. It works like this:

You create a boot disk for your server, which is made up of a bootable DOS shell, the appropriate network drivers and configuration for the network card in your server, and the Ghost executable. The PC from where you will be "sending" or "receiving" the image is running the "Multicast Server" and is waiting for clients to connect (in this case, your server). From there it's pretty straight forward.

BillyP · Jan 4, 2004

If you get a new hard drive, use it as primary and use the old one as slave. do a clean install of Win XP. All your downloaded drivers will still be on the old drive. If you need any of the driver, just point Win XP to them. Whenever you get everything you need off the old drive (that you need), reformat it.

dieselsmoke1 · Jan 4, 2004

( I didn't mention previously that this computer came with Windows ME, along with a certificate to upgrade to Windows XP for $20 when XP became available. I did that. It came with an XP "upgrade" CD and that didn't work. It also came with an XP CD that says for new computers only. After a great deal of time on the phone with Dell, they had me do what they called a "clean install" which did not involve formatting the hard drive. We finally got it working that way, but from that time on my hard drive is E: instead of C:. )

Now there's a good basis for more fundamental problems than you can shake a stick at. OS upgrades are problematic at best. Combine a failed upgrade with a clean install without formatting.....geez Bird, you guys get extra points just to make the doggone thing breath. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I'm guessing the reason Mr Dell did not want to format was because he wanted the native ME drivers to remain on the local disc. Easy way out for him, but IMHO you got shafted.

The registry and system files probably so screwed up now, the path of least resistance is format and do a clean install. Even a geek could spend coutless hours of something like this.

You've already got a Zip and CDRW. Plenty of media options for backup. Your current 20 gig is half full. I would not buy another drive if in your position.

What type of internet connection do you have? You mentioned a firewall earlier so I'm guessing it's some sort of broadband. I ask so as to evaluate whether it's worthwhile to copy your drivers to disc or download new versions. Drivers are usually pretty easy to find.

If you do decide format / install, consider not installing Norton this time. My personal experience is it causes more problems than it's worth. AVG 6.0 is a very good anti virus program and it's free.

Good Luck! I'll be glad to help if I can.

Bird · Jan 5, 2004

I never understood the "clean install" vs formatting and installing, but then there's lots of things I don't understand about computers. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif When we did the upgrade, I got an "upgrade" CD and also another Windows XP CD that says for "new" computers only.

I'm sure I've mentioned on the forum before that I've heard many times that Dell has the best support service, and that very well may be true, but when we did that upgrade, and it didn't work after many tries and lots of time on the telephone, they actually gave up and I would have been left with a worthless computer if it had been paid for! This is the only computer I ever bought and let them finance and was very glad I did because when they gave up and couldn't find anyone who could tell me how to make it work, I told the guy to go ask his supervisor where they wanted me to ship their junk, since I wasn't going to pay for it if it wouldn't work. He miraculously, and promptly, found someone who told me how to do that "clean install" and it worked.

I like the idea of of having two identical hard drives to have everything backed up instead of just my data files, but don't know just how that would operate, and wonder if that's such a good idea, how come I don't find any new computers that come with two hard drives. Anyway, I called Dell to see if I could still buy another hard drive the same as the one I have. Took a lot of time to play telephone roulette before actually talking to a human, then he seemed to have a hard time understanding what I wanted (I have the original packing slip so I could give him the name, item number, and part number). He finally told me that, yes, they had it. I asked how much it cost, and then after a considerable time, he told me they no longer have them. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I've also been looking at new computers and unfortunately it looks like Dell is the best deal I could find /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif so I suppose if or when I buy another one, I'd buy a Dell and let them finance it so I could be assured of some level of support if it doesn't work when it arrives.

But I've still got a few more things to check out before I do anything. One option, of course, is to just continue as is; it's working and I can do just about everything I need to do except use TurboTax and that isn't really necessary.

JASTN70D · Jan 5, 2004

Bird
Try doing a repair.! boot to the XP CD and when it finds your existing OS there will be a repair option that will redo the OS without loosing anything. Also uninstall the patches for I.E. and then reinstall with windows update. More than likely there is nothing wrong with your computer just the OS. No reason to replace it that I have seen from the posts.
'
John

Bird · Jan 5, 2004

John, that's something else I hadn't thought of; I'll try later today and see if it'll boot from the CD I have. And of course I have no idea how to find and/or uninstall the patches for I.E.

JASTN70D · Jan 5, 2004

If you need help PM me. But to uninstall patches go to control panel add remove programs and they should be listed as Internet Explorer ???? items

Bird · Jan 5, 2004

Well, I finally succeeded in getting a Dell tech support person on the phone who apparently knows what he's doing (first 3 I talked to didn't), and it was a very simple matter to get the sound working again. As for the other things, I'm still thinking about it. He said he'd walk me through doing a clean install again, but I wasn't ready for that; would have to back up a few more things before I'd do that.

frank_f15 · Jan 5, 2004

NOT VERY SAVY on this techinal stuff, but i thought some patches once installed could not be removed? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif or did i read something wrong. thanks for the help!

sendero · Jan 5, 2004

Anybody who uses computers day in and day out has probably been where you are. I sure as heck have /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm pretty sure you have a virus infection. I'm assuming you have run decent virus scanning/repair software to try to resolve that.

Beyond that, I agree with the majority here. Get a new hard drive. Make the one you have now a slave, the new one the master. Install XP on the clean drive. You will have to reinstall everything and do all the setups, this will take hours and hours but it may well be the only way to rid yourself of this mess once and for all.

I would add that I've been using and programming for Windows since 1991. XP is easily the most stable version of Windows ever released. Although, I would mention that mine was much more stable (bulletproof actually) BEFORE I starting installing the service packs and security patches. Doing so has definitely opened up a couple problems. And MS wonders why nobody wants to install their darned patches /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

PBMAX · Jan 6, 2004

Bird,
IF you do the clean install (format and reinstall) I would suggest you use the cd labeled "for use with new computers". It is mostlikely a full version of XP home and should keep you from having to upgrade from ME to xp. I could be wrong but have seen this often. Just pop it in the cd and see if it comes up. You do not always have to reboot. the cd will often just load and ask what you want to do.

Make sure you have the right software key for XP. I doubt it will except your ME KEY. I believe the xp keys are longer. You may be able to bully Dell into giving You a key if they sent it to as a fix if you can't find the one that comes with it.

I'm fairly avid gammer so problems used to be thick when I install and uninstall games. but with xp pro I have had lots fewer problems.

1st wether you reformat or get a new drive, put xp in a 10 gig or less partition and use the rest either as a whole or break it up as well,again 10gig or less partitions.
then get in the habit of storing your files in(on) one of them. that way if you have to reformat later you simply reformat C: and reinstall and once you reload your programs all your saved files are still there.

I have 60gig drive broken into 6 partitions and they are label as C: - H:
I do this all my games are saved to d: and E: drives (partitions) my the family pics on G: and so forth.

install all your programs to C: but do all your file saving on the other driveS(partitionS) this also makes it easy to make CD backups.

Also use the system restore to your advantage. Make a restore before you load any programs. Don't wait on xp to do it automatically it will not always do it when you need it most.
That way if a program does not work you can just go back.
If you don't know how do some of what all every one has sugggested. Get the YOUNG FELLOW to do it for you I bet he does... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

LIke many I refomat C:about once a year or so...While it is a pain to relaod all the programs I use. It is often the best way to prevent headaches.

I suppose gohst is the easy way as mentioned by others, but I cant find my copy... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif of gohst to make one for this years reformat.... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Bird · Jan 6, 2004

Paul, I'll have to admit to understanding parts of what everyone says, and not understanding parts. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif But I'm still learning a little bit from each message posted and sure appreciate everyone's help. I just got back home from buying a new 80GB hard drive; gotta do a little reading before I attempt the installation. I'm now using a 20GB drive and actually only using about half of it, but Fry's Electronics had the 80GB drive on sale cheaper than the 40GB drives. And if I screw things up too bad, Fry's has a service department that claims they can do almost anything, and if you get it to them by 10 a.m., it'll be ready by 6 p.m. or it's free. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Of course, I'm hoping I won't have to do that. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif