Plastic Nev

Well a bit of humour into it is no bad thing Dalo, and hopefully makes folk remember it too. My local paper are carrying a warning about it I saw today too.

Those links are good, thanks for finding them Kev, even though I try to give help on W7, a lot of the time I am still trying to get my head round some of the major changes from the old XP, I quite often have to go running round my own system to find what is needed for someone else, takes more time than doing the reply ha ha. Still, each one means I learn more, no bad thing. Nev.

Ah, I think you mean, "How do I get files, folders, etc, to share with all other users." The answer is you make them public. Then all logged in users can see them, this also means any one else on another computer in the network can also see them too, so if you are using the machine in a network, do remember that. However, as I said earlier, I don't have multiple accounts, so not sure about this bit, but there may also be a way to share with named users rather than making them fully public if the computer is networked with others. Nev.

Considering that the computer can't even get into setup I doubt a repair would be even possible. My advice at this point is to let our security experts know about this and hope that whatever malware that is causing it can be removed. Please post your question in a new thread here- Malware Infection Removal - Computer Support Forums - FreePCHelp.co.uk Our security guys are quite busy so please be patient till one of them gets back to you. Nev.

With thanks to our Jelly Bean via Facebook. A new scam has surfaced no doubt because of the recent news that the tax man got it wrong, and is now either demanding large sums of money from some poor souls, or for a few lucky ones who are due a rebate. It takes the form of an E mail telling you that the inland revenue owe you some money, please send details of your bank account so we can pay it back to you. Well at least in similar words. Or in other words, give us your bank account details so we can rob you. The E mail will look something like this. No doubt the attachment may be loaded with something as well. Please remember the inland revenue do not use E mail, if they wish to contact you they always use the postal service and arrives in an envelope through your letter box. Also do remember the taxman probably doesn't even know your E Mail address, who would be daft enough to tell the taxman that? http://i28.servimg.com/u/f28/14/68/69/96/61705_10.jpg

Hi again, I am no expert on graphics and the cards, however one of our regular members will be on line on Monday who may be able to help further. Nev.

Hi, considering the compact nature of flat screens, it is not something I recommend to take to bits yourself as the only way to be sure about the power pack for the backlight is replacement, which is best done by someone used to and trained to dismantle them. Nev.

To add to Dalo's comment regarding sleep/hibernate mode, which sometimes can be a pain to get a machine out of. A final remedy would be to remove both the power cable, and the battery, for about ten minutes, then plug the battery back in, then the power cord and try again. Nev.

Did you buy the laptop new or second hand? It still sounds like an unapproved battery. However if new, there could be a hardware fault within the power supply/battery management side of the motherboard or power board. (some laptops have the power supply side direct on the MB, some have a separate board) I take it the battery runs the machine with the power cord unplugged, if so, run it till the battery goes flat, then plug the power back in and see if the battery charges up, if it does charge then it may be only a minor fault with the circuitry. Also, considering it is not yet twelve months since you bought it and if new at that time, see if the warranty will cover a repair from the dealer were you bought it. Nev.

Just one thing left and then yes the mother board. The main molex multi pin plug from the power supply that sits on the motherboard, pull it off and inspect all the pins, particularly on the motherboard and where they go into the board itself, look for brown burn markings on the board round the pins and also discolouration of the pins themselves. If either you find burning or even a pin that seems loose, sometimes this can be sorted by someone with a very steady soldering iron, but don't be too hopeful as damage may be spread if burnt. If no obvious problem with the molex I think the mother board at this stage unless someone else has any other ideas. Nev.

Hi Inferect, can you please tell us the make and model in fact all you know about the computer itself, also that picture you linked to, is it definitely the same card? The card may or may not be dismantled for cleaning, some can some can't, but at the moment I suspect the card anyway. However with some more details one of our more proficient at graphics members may be able to help further. PS your English isn't bad, I can understand you. Nev.

Thanks for the update, and glad you found it was the card. Second hand computer parts should always be tested where possible, preferably before buying, though I recognise that may not be possible when dealing on line.

If doing as Dalo suggests still does nothing, can you tell us exactly what you see at start up? You can do this with the cover off, but do not touch anything. If all you see are the fans starting up but nothing else, at a guess it could be the power supply faulty, or even the mother board or both. An inspection of all the capacitors on the mother board while you have the cover off will not hurt, but if you see any gunge from the bottom of a capacitor, bulging top or split and leaking gunge then it is more than likely the mother board, which also may have taken the power supply with it. If all looks OK, a test of the power supply may show something up, a multimeter will be needed for that, or perhaps a known good power supply to swap in. Nev.

Hi, as this is now a few days old, has the sound returned? If so, just pulling out and replacing speaker connections, mic connections etc a couple of times is all that is needed, the sprung contacts in the socket will wipe off any oxide on the plug metal as it is moved in and out. If the sound is still there after that, let us know so we can go further. Nev.

If as Randy suggests that the sound chip on the mother board has gone, you can install a sound card providing you have a PCI or PCIE slot, depending on which slot you have available, sound cards are available for both. Nev.

Hi again Kev, I got used to Windows live, and only having the two E mail accounts suits me fine. Audacity will do fine for creating WAV files, all you need is a microphone or similar input device, you can also use it to snip parts out of an existing sound file and convert to WAV. Nev.

Hi, for the windows live messenger have you tried the fix button? if so what did it tell you was wrong, if you can get us a screen shot of that it may help. Nev.

Hi Kev, I don't have other users on this or any other computer. I don't (luckily) have any others here to mess things up ha ha. Any way that means I haven't tried any of that area so can't help. However, you will find there is no such thing as "Outlook" or even "Outlook Express" any more, mail is handled now by Windows Live, but it still asks for all the usual details to set up E mail accounts, the usual POP3 and SMPT stuff so easy enough to set up, also it will handle more than one account type, as a for instance I have the usual server based E mail coming in via my ISP, in my case "me" @ *******.com and also I have a web based account which could be for instance "ME"@hotmail.com Once I have opened Windows live both accounts are displayed. To be sure of receiving my mail I do have to open and then minimise Windows Live to the task bar, but whichever service gets a mail in, I get a notifier that there is new mail. If I haven't opened it, nothing happens. I personally think the Windows default new mail notifier sound is too short and a bit puny, so I installed a WAV file of my own (me playing a few notes on my trumpet ha ha) but any WAV file that is not too long will do. If you want to install your own WAV file to replace any of the Windows default sounds it is quite easy providing you have the file in the first place. First open control panel, if "View by" is "category", click and change to large icons, then click on "Sounds". Then click the "Sounds" tab in the sounds window. Scroll down the list to, in this case "New Mail Notification" and click on it. Next select the drop down menu under sounds, it will display all WAV files you have on your computer in the music folder, by the name, just select the one you want to use, click test to be sure you have the right one, then click "Apply" and OK. If you don't have any WAV files you will have to create them, more on that if you need it. Nev.

Hi Quacker, this message that you are getting "Windows cannot find the disk, etc" is this message appearing at every start up or are you referring to the message in "Back up and Restore" which is in Control panel? If it is a pop up message, I seem to remember when I got it, there was a tick box for "Do not show this message again" which I ticked. It is only a silly nag thing that Microsoft has lumbered us all with, rather than leaving it to our own discretion as to whether to perform a backup or not. You can of course plug in your external drive and then let the system do a backup onto the drive, it is compressed so doesn't take up much room if there is space to spare on the drive. There is the advantage of knowing there is a backup should you need it at some time . I no longer get the pop up message, but I have just now looked in backup and restore and the same message is there, which it will be as my external hard drive isn't connected at the moment. I only do connect it when storing video I have finished editing, it is all I use the drive for, but did let the system do a complete backup onto the drive some time since. Hope that didn't confuse you any more!! Nev.

Also I would install service pack three for XP (SP3), and also check for the latest version of media player is installed which should be version 12. With everything updated that in itself may cure the problem, if not then codecs may be the next to try. Nev.

Hi, Ok back to basics and you may have tried this already, but have you checked the speakers are definitely plugged into the speaker socket, (lime green) is the power connected to the speakers and turned on, if yes to that, a double click on the speaker icon on the bottom task bar will bring up the full control panel for sound, check that the slide buttons are at the top and that there are no ticks in any "Mute" boxes. Nev.

Hi ErikAlbert, I get the idea you are a bit of an enthusiast about security and fair enough, but you would be a lot better off perhaps if you took on board some training to get a better understanding of malware. What malware is, what it looks like, what it does, and how to be sure there are no traces left after a clean up, all these things can be learned by enrolling on any of the many free and established sites. Have a look here, read their introduction to the malware removal university and see if it is for you,- MalWare Removal • Index page That is only one site, there are many others offering a similar level of training. As for Windows 7. It would be well to understand that most folk want a computer for various purposes, from simply keeping up with E Mail from friends, A little general writing such as an author may need, the ability to use and run the multitude of music creation software, high end graphics for artistic purposes, to the more complex serious and high level games. Most folk just want to be reasonably safe while on line, some may take notice of general safety warnings such as to stay away from using peer to peer sites and softwares, to try to stay away from unsafe websites etc. Others don't seem to care and put their trust in whatever anti-virus and firewall they have. Windows 7 is aimed at the general market place and a lot of work went into first Vista, which only proved that enough work hadn't been done, so W7 became the better operating system because of that, and to supersede it. In comparison to the previous XP, there are many differences under the surface that the average user does not see, just a different interface on the desktop, which is a little more user friendly once you get used to it. However, the operating system on its own isn't that much good without the hardware architecture that became necessary to run it efficiently. That means more memory in RAM, and a bigger processor, preferably quad cored, a larger and even perhaps faster hard drive isn't all that necessary, but is a useful bonus. Add to that other improvements in general motherboard technology means that Windows 7 does appear to be a quicker system. Well in all honesty it is, but only with the right hardware to back it up. So all in all, Windows 7 is an improvement, it can and will handle a lot more in general without having to perform various tweeks to run certain software, that may have had to be done in XP. Also the odd hardware conflicts such as printers not able to run on Windows 7 that worked OK on XP have either been addressed now with driver updates, or the hardware is so old, it isn't worth the hassle. So new hardware is compatible, and with all operating systems, plus both a little cheaper and also better at whatever it does. Nev.

Just to add, I have now found that the software does have a help forum of their own, you may be able to get help there concerning the sound but no picture fault without having to uninstall it and then reinstalling. have a look here- DirectorZone Forum - Welcom DirectorZone Forum Nev.

I don't have or know this software, but with Cyber link Power Director open, click on "File" on top left, with most programs you should see an option to "open" or open an existing file, this will normally take you to that folder where work in progress is stored. If you can list what shows when you click File it may help. In the mean time I will try and find out a bit more about this program for you. Nev.

Hi, as I said it was only a thought, but you mention you cleaned it out about a week before it went wrong, I am now thinking perhaps a connection disturbed. Have you tried removing the card and re seating it back into the connection strip on the motherboard? plus checking any other connections near or related to the card? Ignore me if that has already been tried. Nev.