Dalo Harkin

Access is fantastic but it takes a long time to get used to - I am very good at excel, any questions please ask

I went through this a few months ago lol :D

Is the resolution set right Doug?

please follow my advice above in safe mode.

Norton is not a very good AV or suite at all driven_mad - please consider something stronger in terms of protection like NOD32 - it is superior in everyway to Norton.

uninstall the old driver from add/remove programs its under nvidia driver. then goto C:/nvidia and remove ALL the files in there delete them! and then restart and install the latest one :)

Hi Tmcrik Welcome to FPCH :)

Farcry 2 has been coded to take full advantage of core 2 and quad core chips - so it will be HEAVILY dependant on CPU power aswell as GPU power - unless you have a chip thats close to 3GHz per core then you will need a fast GPU 260, 280 or 4870 equivalent, but thats only if the CPU cannot help out as listed above ;)

If the partition is not hidden then that would cause it to be lost!

is the blue one the power or the HDD activity light on yours?

It could just be some kind of built in power saving option:- some latops have a button on the PC for enabling this, mine is an ECO button. have a check in the manual that this is not a 'feature' of the laptop.

you could buy an extension type lead for the audio to save you having to go behind the pc all the time and just route it to a more accessible location - there may be something that someone else knows of but I know of no hardware that would allow you to switch the 2, when needed.

Your computer could be infected with Malware. Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. It is a combination of the words malicious and software. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. Required Cleanup StepsDisable the Spybot Search & Destroy TEA TIMER if you use it and if it is enabled Run a Temporary file and cache cleaner (ATF) Run 2 Anti-Malware scanners (Listed Below) Run an Online Anti-Virus / Anti-Malware Scanner (Listed Below) Clear out old System Restore points If continued Malware type activity is present you may be asked to post a TrendMicro™ HijackThis™ Log file, do not do so unless requested. The reason to run multiple scanners is to ensure that no single scanner is missing something. The time it takes will vary depending on your system and your internet connection speed. Typically the SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes scanners will take between 10 to 90 minutes. The ESET online scan should take between 1 to 3 hours. In most cases, these scans will suffice to clean and disinfect your computer. Heavily infected systems or slower PCs can take much longer to scan and clean. For best results print the following instructions and bookmark this Web page To keep this guide printer-friendly, use your cursor to highlight the contents below. From your browser select File - Print and in the printer dialog box under "Print range" click the Selection choice to print out these instructions for removal of malware. http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/printer-selection.gif ____________________________________________ STEP 1 Disable Spybot Search & Destroys' TEA TIMER: (if installed, if not go to Step 2)Run Spybot-S&D in Advanced Mode. If it is not already set to do this Go to the Mode menu select "Advanced Mode" On the left hand side, Click on Tools Then click on the Resident Icon in the List Uncheck "Resident TeaTimer" and OK any prompts. Restart your computer. __________________________________________________ STEP 2 Follow these instructions carefully. Download ATF-Cleaner from Snapfiles.com to remove un-needed temporary files from your computer that may contain malware. You can also download it from Majorgeeks.com When you run ATF-Cleaner, check the items as shown below for Main. For FireFox, be sure to click on the FireFox tab on top and check the items as shown below for FireFox NOTE: If you don't have FireFox or Opera installed then they will be grayed out and can be ignored Then click on "Empty Selected". http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/atf-cleaner01.gif . http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/FPCH/Malware%20Guide/atf-cleaner02.gif __________________________________________________ STEP 3 Install and run the free version (not the Professional version) of SUPERAntiSpyware from SUPERAntiSpyware.com Accept any prompts to allow SUPERAntiSpyware to install the latest rules and infection definition files. You do not have to send them your e-mail address, just click next. You can leave the automated check for updates on. You can uncheck "Send a diagnostic report to research center" if you don't want to send the information. DO NOT allow SUPERAntiSpyware to protect your Home Page settings. On the Top Left select the Scan your computer button. Make sure there is a CHECK MARK on all Fixed Drives. Click "Perform a Complete Scan". Click "Next" to Repair issues found and reboot the computer when prompted to do so. __________________________________________________ STEP 4 Install and run Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from Malwarebytes - (direct download) Accept all defaults for the installer Allow the program to update the definitions Click on the Quick Scan and click Next. If any items are found allow it to clean them and then Reboot your computer. __________________________________________________ STEP 5 Run an online scan with ESET from Free Virus Scan: Use ESET's Online Antivirus Scanner You must use Internet Explorer for this online scan. FireFox, Opera, etc will not work for this scan. If your computer is running Window's Vista, then you must first start Internet Explorer as an Administrator. To do so, right-click on the Internet Explorer icon in the Start Menu and select "Run as administrator" from the popup context menu. Accept the terms and click "Start". Once the scanner is ready, check "Remove found threats" AND "Scan unwanted applications". Click "Start" to begin the scan. When completed restart your computer __________________________________________________ Make sure your internet firewall security is enabled, and then please return to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help and tell us how the computer seems to be operating. At that time, you will receive instructions to assist you in removing malicious programs from your Add/Remove program list if warranted. If required this is the download link for TrendMicro™ HijackThis™ Unless instructed to by the Technician helping you then do not download this tool. Once you and the Technician agree that your system appears to be clean then you should delete all your System Restore points and recreate a new one. Please follow the instructions here How to turn off and turn on System Restore in Windows XP How to turn off and turn on System Restore in Windows Vista

Who installed the wires that run from the Case to the Mobo - they are only meant to go in one way - each wire has a - and a + and they have to be on the right pins the right way - have a look in your MOBO book and it will tell you - some MOBO's actually have the symbols printed on the PCB. It is vey common for people that have not built pc's before to get most of them the wrong way round.

No problem - yes if you use the MIC then get a soundcard - they are cheap and are sooooo much better :)

If its getting hot - point a fan at the southbridge first - the black one on yours and see how you go - I am guessing that your GPU covers most of it and that will not be helping at all :)

5300 should be fine - do you know anyone that has anything higher like 6400 - 6400 is much more compatible with newer boards. also have you took the CMOS battery out (when the PC is off) and reinserted it?

Right on the actual Motherboard there is a Southbridge and a Northbridge both are cooled by fans or heatsinks, the ones on this pic for example are passively cooled - the big black blocks under and to the left of the CPU and the one near the CMOS battery http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=11&pictureid=36

try and clean the fans with a paintbrush too if you can - have you checked the fans are turning - I used to have an ASUS old socket 939 board and the fan broke - I took the fan out and the heatsink itself was perfectly sufficient for cooling, but it needed an additional fan pointing at it as there was a graphics card covering the most of it.

When you say that you have to leave the PC for 30 minutes for it to work again - when you turn it back on again are all the settings in the BIOS the same - if they are reverting back to the factory settings then it may be the MOBO or the PSU, have you changed the CMOS battery at all?

You just need to make sure that your router has slots for USB devices or you can buy an external HDD caddy that has the ability to use a gigabyte lan cable - they are readily available and range from around £70 - £150 dependant on the size of the HDD ;)

There are many ways to describe what you are talking about - the one that springs to mind for me is an External HDD that you can plug into your router and access it via the web. so you would install whatever software you need on the external and use the other 2 to access the net to the external. Hope this makes sense and that I have understood.

Hmmmmmmm, you could just but some headphones that have a built in amp - mine were off play.com and they are medusa 5.1 surround ones - they are like £40-£50 though :eek: its very difficult to adapt systems like that - and you cant even add another sound card :( there is no way that I can think of that you could still use both the way you require.

Most HDD's come with a 3 or 5 year guarantee from the manufacturer and most of the time you dont need a receipt as they have the 'made on day' serial etc. you are better off visiting their website and getting a RTM number

Ok - so you have a 24 pin ATX and a seperate 4pin ATX cable - using a 4 pin to an 8 pin adapter should be fine - its just that some PSU's come with 2x 4 pin ATX cables that join together to form an 8 pin one ;)