Ray1000

I did Ken, but I'll try again just to make sure Ray

I hope everyone is well. I had intended putting this old laptop on eBay ... my son had used it a few years ago and removed his files before passing it onto me ... when I started it I got the NTLDR is Missing message. Presumably something has been deleted in error. I tried changing the Bios to optical drive and inserting Windows Vista disc and re-starting but nothing happens ... just the same message repeated Ray

Sorry for the delay in replying RK ... this person doesn't have a PC of any kind, he was looking to even out the volume of individual tracks from original CDs copied onto blank CDs using his HiFi equipment ... I suggested to him he may be able to do it with an inexpensive laptop and some yet unknown software and still be able to play the CDs on his stereo. Ray

Thank you AWS, Apart from being expensive it may not be compatible with his equipment, not to mention the complexity of operating it. I'm sure the laptop route would be easier for him if the software is available. Ray

No he doesn't have a PC at all, I was hoping any used laptop would do with a decent CDRW and the right software ... if it exsists Ray

I hope everyone is well, An elderly friend asked me to look on the internet for a “Sound Finalizer” Using a stereo system he records individual songs from CD’s onto blank CD’s and was wanting something to equalise the volume on each track. Someone had suggested this is what he needed. I only found a TC Electronic Finalizer which seems to be an expensive, vintage, complex piece of studio equipment. Q. Presumably it can all be done on an inexpensive laptop? Q. Is the software readily available? Q. He has never had a computer, but I wondered if it could be made to be easy with a set of written instructions. Thank you Ray

No Ken, I found some drivers supposedly for Win 10 and downloaded them onto a laptop weeks ago but haven't put them on the desktop as yet, I was expecting I might get a limited action from the printer without them but if it needs drivers to do anything at all I'll have a go at installing them Ray

When I changed my Vista desk top tower for a Windows 10 one I lost the Parallel Port connection for my HP R45 printer. I was going to try a USB to Parallel Port adaptor but found by emailing the tower manufacturer ... Installing additional LPT controller won’t be necessary because of your PC already have parallel port. It’s available as internal motherboard connector and you have to only install bracket witch DB25 connector i.e.: http://www.delock.com/produkte/S_84300/merkmale.html I installed one of these but nothing at all happened with regard to the printer being seen by the PC ... I wondered if there is a way to check if the connector is actually sending anything from the MB to the back of the tower ... I only have the R45 printer that uses a parallel cable. Ray

Problem solved again Ken ... the PDF Merger works perfectly and doesn't seem to add anything unnecessary to the PC. Thank you Ray

Sorry Ken I have only just seen this reply, will try it later and let you know how I get on Ray

Yes Ken it is now working perfectly. Thank you again for your help Ray

It is Vista Ken ... and I think you have already solved the problem;) Network Adaptors avast! Firewall NDIS Filter Miniport Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN - avast! Firewall NDIS Filter Miniport Intel R 82562GT 10/100 Network Connection Intel R 82562GT 10/100 Network Connection - avast! Firewall NDIS Filter Miniport WAN Miniport (IP)- avast! Firewall NDIS Filter Miniport WAN Miniport ( IPv6)- avast! Firewall NDIS Filter Miniport WAN Miniport (Network Monitor)- avast! Firewall NDIS Filter Miniport I followed your Click Here instructions and it seemed to instantly connect to the internet but with no flash player so I am just trying to solve that now Ray

Thank you Ken, It says Connected with limited access There seems to be no connection It has the Ethernet cable connected and the wireless button is switched on I haven't taken anything off as yet ... I noticed there was no connection before I got started There are 8 entries under Network Adaptors none of them have a exclamation mark or cross Ray

Could you help me out with this ... This laptop was previously sorted out on http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/16115-HP-550-running-slow-and-freezing#.WRNyP4jyu70 It has largely remained unused having been replaced by a iPad but each time it has been turned on it has worked perfectly. Someone has found a use for it and I was just checking to see if anything needed removing before I passed it on. It runs normally apart from the internet connection ... on wireless it says it is connected but with limited access. I connected a cable to my router but it still won't connect Thank you Ray

Thank you Ken

Just to complete this thread ... as Ken pointed out it should have been a simple matter of plugging the new hard drive into the motherboard and connecting the power cable.. The new drive has worked perfectly since 7th April so I can only presume it was a poor connection. Thank you for your help Ray

Finding No 3 operates the DVD OK I connected the "new" 150GB HD with the "new" data cable into No 3 (Black) and put the DVD back where it was in No 2 and all three drives are recognised and work OK Strangely,No 3 is the first place I tried the new cable and HD so it seems either something has been woken up or there was a poor connection on the cable which has improved with use ?. Ray

Thank you for your help Ken, Motherboard ASROCK H81M-DGS H81 LGA1150 (PCX / ORD / GLAN / SATA3 / USB3 / DDR3) mATX To confirm the port 1 [ the spare grey one ] is working put the 1TB drive into this and try booting up. Just tried this and the PC does not boot up ... replaced the 1TB cable into its original grey Number 0 position now OK At the same time because the new HD was still in the Number 2 position from last night originally used by the DVD ... I tried the DVD in the black Number 3 socket and all three items are working. It seems The main HD only works in 0 but not 1 The DVD works in at least 2 & 3 The 150GB new HD works in 2 but not 3 Ray [TABLE=width: 100%, align: center] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

A mistake on previous post ... DVD is on 0 (Grey) and the 1TB HD is on 2 (Black) Should be 1TB HD is on 0 (Grey) and the DVD is on 2 (Black) Also ... just tried "new" cable on socket 2 (Black) the one that was used for the DVD and it works ... so the problem lies with the sockets 1 & 3 on the motherboard requiring some input. Any help on this would be appreciated Thank you Ray

I may have found part, if not all of the problem. When I bought the Hard Drive today I asked if he had a Sata data cable laying about ... he had a box full and included it free of charge saying he didn't know if it was working ... well, it might not be ... I removed the data cable from my DVD RW plugged it onto the second hard drive and started it up ... in This PC it was showing C: and New Volume H: 148 GB free of 150GB Replaced the data cable back on the DVD RW ... now shows Local Disk C: and DVD RW Drive H: as it should do. 1. Assuming it is just the cable causing the problem, is there anything else I need to do prior to adding my folders, files and photos? On the Motherboard there are 2 x Sata 300Gb/s and 2 x Sata 600 Gb/sec - 0,1,2,&3 Two grey and two black - I don't know which is which - DVD is on 0 (Grey) and the 1TB HD is on 2 (Black) When I tried the "new" data cable on the "new" HD and on the DVD RW it was plugged into number 3 (Black) 2. Could it be the 1 & 3 data sockets on the motherboard need some input to get them working? Ray

Having always been used to having two physical hard drives in my PC tower I installed a 160GB Sata one today even though the main HD is 1TB I have it in mind to keep a copy of all our pictures on the second drive. The PC started normally but the second drive is not showing in This PC or in Device Manager Thank you for your help Ray

I hope everyone is well. I’ve recently gone up in the world ... from Vista to Windows 10 in one go Actina Prime 8GB Memory HDD 1TB SATA 64MB Core i3 3.4GHz Video G Force GTX650 I don’t know if anyone can help me with this ... I’ve been keeping an electronic diary on a tablet using an App by DroidVeda ... Diary Version 4.7. Every so often I’ll back it up, convert it to a PDF and email it to my desktop PC ... at some point I ended up with two PDFs ... say Jan 2016 to Nov 2016 and a separate one Dec 2016 to the present day. The question is ... how can I join these two PDFs together And ... Will I be able to continue writing the diary direct onto an ongoing PDF instead of using the tablet App I have Microsoft Office 2007 I looked at downloading an editable PDF program but didn’t want to pick up any unwanted rubbish on my new computer. Thank you in advance Ray

Thank you Pete Ray

When I rang Microsoft they said I needed a product key from Toshiba The laptop had been bought about 18 months ago from a TV shopping channel as a refurbished machine. The Model Number didn’t show up on Toshiba’s web site making it impossible to speak to anyone ... it seems normally you would enter the model number and serial number and spend a few hours failing to find the answer to your question and eventually be given a “ticket number” to allow you to speak to a person. I explained this to MS who escalated the case to level two. Someone would ring me the following day at a particular time ... and they did. It turned out the answer to the black screen problem was within the machine. I can’t remember the exact sequence but tapping F8 at the same time as momentarily pressing the power button took the laptop to the recovery screen >Troubleshoot > Start up Settings > it was a bit vague from here, while I was asked to choose Safe Mode with Networking I don’t think the internet was used ... we eventually came to a page starting with "System Restore" followed by five more recovery options, none of which were applicable ... and at the bottom of the page it said “More Options” clicked this and it revealed one more option ...“Go back to previous build” ... clicked this and 10 minutes later Windows 8.1 was restored. Applied 8 Windows updates The lady from MS rang the following day to guide me through the process of installing Win 10 but it turned out the laptop didn’t have the right drivers, even though it had been on Win 10 for the last twelve months. Nevertheless I was happy just to get it running again; hopefully it won’t make any difference to the elderly owner which operating system he has. Thanks Ray

Thank you Pete, I did try the Win 10 option and I think a message came up say there was a problem ... I'll try it again though and I'll have a look at the link you have provided. Ray