Plastic Nev

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. From your description and the fact that an unknown tech got it going by just pressing keys in an unknown fashion, it doesn't give us much to go on. However a good guess is that there is possibly a loose connection inside. If you feel up to looking yourself, netbooks are extremely fiddly things to get into by the way, disconnect from the power and remove the battery first. I am sorry but cannot find a service manual to assist you in dismantling it unfortunately, it seems it has been removed from the site I found. However, there is a general laptop and notebook maintenance site which may have some useful information here- Laptop Repair Help Otherwise it may mean a trip back to the retailer. Because of the difficult nature of opening and accessing netbooks, notebooks and laptops we do often recommend seeking professional help when confronted with what seem to be hardware faults. Nev.

Hi again, now I have had chance to have a good look round I see that the Cyberlink PowerDirector 8 is actually a full video editor program. the VLC media player is just a player and that is all. Now for any work in progress Cyberlink PD8 should have put all project files in a folder of it's own and will be labelled as a project file for each. I suggest creating a new folder and name it as something you can remember easily such as PD project files, then open Power Director 8 and find the files from the file menu, then move them or better just copy to the new folder you created. Once you have them safe, then you should be able to uninstall the original Power Director 8 and then reinstall it. You may find the original project files and folder still intact, or if the folder was deleted with the uninstall you can bring them back from the new folder you created. Hope that helps. Also I did find that the Haali Media Splitter is a part of the K lite codec pack, so if you need the pack then leave the Haali alone. It is actually quite hard to remove anyway as I have since found out. Nev.

The K-Lite Codec pack should be OK, also from what I can find out the HAALI media splitter is part of the K lite pack anyway. I would think perhaps some part of Cyber Link may have become corrupted and if you have the program I would uninstall and then reinstall it. Failing that the VLC Media player is a good alternative as suggested by DSTM. Nev.

A thing I learned a long time ago and is a simplified way to understand layer working in photo's. It is quite basically the same as taking a standard photo print, then covering it with a sheet of cling film, you then draw, write, or superimpose the next image onto the cling film, when finished with that layer, place another sheet of cling film over the first and carry on. The only difference computer wise, is you don't see the cling film, and when finished and saved, the cling film magically vanishes. While working in this fashion you can remove and delete, or just add an odd change, to an entire layer, without disturbing either the original photo or any subsequent or previous layer if the program supports doing that. Nev.

Hi, When it is connected and supposed to be on, if you stand or move to one side can you see a vague but dark outline of what should be showing on the screen? if so it is likely the backlight tube or the powerpack circuit for the tube is duff, considering the indicator doesn't show I suspect it is the powerpack. Nev.

Hi,Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, This sounds like a driver fault or at least the basic Vista drivers not doing the job properly. can you tell us the make and model of the CD/DVD drive you fitted so we can perhaps hopefully find a source to download new drivers for it. Nev.

Hi, although no expert on graphic cards, you say it is fine at first start up but then goes faulty after a short period of time, I am suspecting a heat issue and wondering if there may be a build up of dust on any cooling heat sinks on the graphics card, won't hurt to have a look and clean any off if there is. Nev.

Well most of that is above my head, I reckon a programmer would struggle too. However one clue suggests the graphics card, but no expert here so see if someone else can understand it. Nev.

Hi, I will also add, PSU (Power suplly units) are pretty much standardised these days as far as fittings and connectors though there are some small differences with number of connectors and type of connector, plus bigger units can be slightly larger physically, however the important thing is the power it can handle in watts (W in the spec). It is usually a good idea to go for one of a higher rating when doing a replacement of an existing one, as most manufacturers fit one that is just adequate for the job. In your case your existing PSU is rated at 650W so a 700W or 750W unit will give that extra bit of headroom if you wish to install something more power hungry, such as a basic graphics card at some time in the future. If you can tell us some more about the computer and its mother board, though manufacturers model number should be enough, we can be a bit more specific as to recommendations.

Hi, have you seen the answer in our MAC section here- http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/mac-osx/10450-external-soundcard-cant-connect.html If you wish to continue on there, we can then delete this thread, thanks, Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, DSTM has basically covered it, without specialist equipment that not even all repair shops may have, the only real way to check this one out is either try the card in a different computer, or try a different card in the problem computer. However if you can show us the messages you get when it BSOD's there may be a clue in that. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. I like that signature, myself and good old Albert have something in common.

Hi and welcome to Free PC help, I see either yourself or one of our other staff members has removed that E Mail address, if your self thank you. Now to your problem, do you have "Spybot search and Destroy" installed? This program has what is called a resident module within it and may be the cause of this message. The simple answer would be to uninstall it completely and either re-install again or use something else instead. Please let us know regarding Spybot S&D if you have it. Nev. PS, please don't use all capitals, it is regarded as shouting in forum etiquette, thanks.

Hi, AVG isn't the program it used to be and a lot of us don't use it, though I believe that there may be improvements along soon. However, if needing a replacement AV, and free there are the two we recommend either Avast, or Avira. However do look at an independent firewall as well as those two are anti virus only. As far as the warning message, and only by reading all you have supplied, I suspect similar to Randy that perhaps a windows update has clashed with something in the Dell program, but it does seem to be Internet explorer related. Do you know which version of Internet explorer is on your machine? Ideally even though you don't use it, as I don't, it should be updated to the latest version, Internet explorer 8. That in itself may address the issue, however also keep checking with the Dell site for further info on it. Nev.

Not yet quite that good in the UK yet, main dealers and manufacturers do their best to protect their after sales and future servicing contracts. Hence why more difficult to obtain either programs or connection kits.

Hi Rob, there are many different reasons for this sort of problem, so lets start with the basic, it may just be a poor connection somewhere so considering you have already replaced the hard drive you know the innards. Simply disconnect and then replace each connector to the motherboard checking that it does go back on fully, similarly all connections at the other end of cables, such as to the hard drive, the CD/DVD drives etc. This also should be done with the RAM sticks but leave the processor alone, too easy to damage or bend the pins on that. Do each connection one at a time to avoid placing one in the wrong place. It can be surprising how often this cures so many problems, just by pulling a plug out and replacing it will actually clean off oxide build up that can get between pins and the socket they go in to. Let us know how you get on, and if that alone has cured the problem. Nev.

Happy birthday Dougie and hope you have a good one mate. Nev.

Well if it now cleared by phone to Microsoft I wouldn't worry and just use it. I doubt there will be any problems and it may well be that the online validation system is still behind. A bit late, and maybe a bit cheeky too, but you could always try the free "Open Office" software, it does everything that Microsoft office does and is totally free. You can download, or at least look at what is about here- OpenOffice.org - The Free and Open Productivity Suite Best of luck. Nev.

Hi again, OK, it probably will refuse to go anywhere when it (the BIOS) can't see a hard drive. It may just be a simple driver needed for the hard drive, or some re configure of the BIOS so it detects the drive as a SATA one, but not sure. As I said not an area I have been in. However I must ask, is there a reason why the SATA drive cannot be taken back and exchanged for an IDE one?

Hi John, It may well be as Beeceebee suggests or a corrupt user profile. I assume you meant the thread here- http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/windows-vista/10373-everything-has-dissappeared.html Did you follow that and have a look at the link provided by KenB? This one- Fix a corrupted user profile it may be of help to you. Nev.

Hum, not too sure about this myself having not tried that route, however it will perhaps help someone else to know what messages you get if any on screen, I assume you are seeing the normal start up BIOS screen that is telling you there is no hard drive present? Anything like that may be of help. Nev.

OK Mollie, to try and isolate this, open it up, power off but connected to ground, then remove all connections to externals such as keyboard, mouse and monitor, speakers etc. Then the hard drive or drives, all CD/DVD drives and floppies if any, to be sure pull the plugs for any front USB connections and also remove any PCI or PCIE cards such as sound or graphics cards, modems, and anything else. Just leave the power leads connected and the front panel start button connected. Power it up and see if any POST beep then. If so reconnect everything but one at a time till it stops giving the POST beep. That should be the fault. I have heard or seen of the CD/DVD drive faulty and shutting everything down. If however there is no beep at all, it may well be the mother board, or at least a short to the chassis or case. To rule that out remove the mother board from the case and place the board on something insulating such as dry newspaper or a dry wooden table top and try again with just the PSU and start button connected. If still no beep, are you sure the beep speaker is working? if so on that, then it is quite likely the board is duff. Nev.

I will add if you don't mind, that the CPU is also a tad slow, so admittedly a fairly good improvement will be seen with the extra RAM, it will still be a snail in comparison to say a new Windows 7 machine built with say a quad core CPU and larger RAM. At the age of the computer is it worth buying the extra RAM? Nev.

Hi, if after being sure the correct drivers are installed for the CD/DVD drives, but the problem persists, only cured by disconnecting the CD/DVD drives, it may well be the drive or drives have a fault. I am assuming you have two drives, so disconnect one only at a time to find the faulty one. Nev.

Hi to both, Minerva, your symptoms are entirely different from Mollies, and by the sound of it are related to a windows update, this points to a malware issue, so If you can start another thread for your own problems it would help to avoid confusion. If you wish I can move these posts of yours to a new thread if that is what you would want. PM to me, administrator (RandyL), or other moderator, if you wish them moved please. Mollie, welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. By the symptoms you describe it sounds a lot like a PSU, (power supply unit) fault. Although you see the motherboard light, that only works off one of the outputs, the fact there are no beeps suggests at least one of the other PSU outputs isn't there. Do any fans start up or maybe only one? Nev.