Plastic Nev

Hi Roger, I tend to agree with Tootech and the DVD read write head has died, (the CD head is a separate head from the DVD one) Sorry but a new drive is best now and as Tootech says, not expensive. Nev.

Hi Frank, Happy New Year to you, and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Please feel free to browse the forum, help out where you can etc. That is what we are here for. Nev.

Hi Jamiedalmation, can you please start a new thread for your problem. We will be more than happy to help you but this is an old thread so you may not get any answers on this one. Any problems with finding what to do, please click on this link below. http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/introductions/7940-use-forum-and-post-new-messages.html

As well as the above from RandyL, I have a feeling the Windows disk you do have for that machine is only a recovery disk. That means you can only use it to reset the operating system and the rest of the machine back to original factory settings. That of course means losing all your data. if the disk has the DELL name or logo on it, then it is most certainly only a restore disk. The only other option would be to buy a new Windows XP service pack3 disk, (expensive) in order to do a system repair. If at all possible I would be looking at ways to retrieve your data first and back it up on either disks or external drives. If you have access to another computer, and prepared to remove the hard drive, buy an adapter for USB, connect the hard drive to another computer, and then you would be able to transfer or copy the data over to the other computer. That way then, you can reinstall the hard drive, wipe it clean with a reformat, and start again. Nev.

Hi Bridcat, have you tried uninstalling the I Player and then a re-install? Does it have to be I player, there are loads of video players available, and a lot available for free as a download. Nev.

Hi Kathi, I am afraid that is basically it. As you discovered that old XP disk is useless except on the computer it was originally installed on. My thoughts are, there are plenty of folk still using XP who may need a working printer, so could possibly buy it off you. Any cash made, put it towards a new printer that will work on Vista. Just my thoughts only of course. Nev.

Hi Danny, can you give us some more details please, we need to know- The make of your laptop, the model number, and do you have any recovery disks or full Vista operating system disk. Nev.

OK Yegum, we will leave it at that for now, I do remember you saying you thought the RAM module may not have been inserted properly when it first burnt, you never know that in itself may have been the cause. However do have a good New Year and all the best from FPCH. Nev.

Sun 7142, Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, if it turns out that none of this is any help to you, can you please start another new thread, outline all of your problems in it, and we can then help you from there.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, Though I doubt this is malware, spyware, or virus related, let's get that out of the way first, you say you have run many scans but with what tools, the only one you mention is McAfee, as well as that one, what other security software do you have installed. There are many, now called "Malware" variants that are designed to avoid the ordinary anti-virus, so other and more powerful software is needed to get rid of them. Nev.

Oh dear, if both SP2 and SP3 were installed after the first installation from the original XP you get that message and means it won't go any further. I will leave it to others on this as there may be a workround, otherwise it could mean a full new reformat and fresh install of the now old XP. That will lose everything and we don't as yet want that. Not to mention the fact all updates will have to go back in which will take ages. I don't know if it is possible to uninstall SP3 and SP2 to revert the system back to something the old disk can work with, as I say I will leave it for someone who knows if this is possible. Please don't try that without advice as it may mess things totally. Nev.

Happy new year to you too Paula, and Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help

Here is wishing you and yours a happy and prosperous new year. May all your problems be little, or even none existent, and may there be many good times.

Hi again I only mentioned quad core merely as an option to think about, after all who knows what the future might bring. I agree though the options as to what is available is stunning, but as you say you are never likely to get into anything more power hungry than poker, a dual core would be enough, and probably also good enough for the latest HDvideo if you ever get into home movies. E buyer is good and service is I believe reasonable in comparison to many others. Until one of our other people come along, I wish you the best of luck. Nev.

Hi, and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, there are plenty of options out there, not just PC world, you just need to put "New computer" into google and the list of suppliers and options of machines on offer, goes on for ever. However as generalisation, and if you think you may go for higher end games, a bit of future proofing wouldn't go amiss, like quad core processors, the full 4 GB of RAM, a decent sized hard drive, anything above 500GB, and a decent enough motherboard that has at least two PCI E slots so you can go for decent graphics cards later, as well as decent disk drives. It all depends a lot on what your proposed budget is really. I f you can let us know what you would like as a maximum spend, there are a couple of guys or gals here well into self builds who can offer better advice on what sort of machine you should be looking for. Nev.

Hi Scobe, If removing the Norton has helped great, but if still problems you can do one of two options, but you will need a full windows XP disk, not a restore or recovery disk. do you have that disk? One option is known as SFCscannow, this will attempt to sort any bad system files without losing any of your data. The other option and again does need the Windows disk, is a full system repair, this does a full repair of the operating system. Again it will not lose any data, but does need to be done with care in order for that to work. It all hinges on you having that disk. Nev.

Hi Dave, there is obviously a clue there, but puzzled about what it is that comes up with the cancel option. I don't run Vista being still on XP, so I will have to leave it for one of our guys with Vista knowledge. Nev.

Hello and welcome Joncon, have a look round, ask us if you need help mate and enjoy the place.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Once you reply, I or one of our other moderators will probably move this thread to a more appropriate section, In the mean time let's see if we can get a signal back to your monitor, you may just have moved or loosened a connection while changing those RAM sticks around, have another look inside and check connections, if one fitted, check the graphics card is in the socket OK on the motherboard. If still no signal, can you check the monitor on another computer? Let us know how you get on, and if OK, we can then pursue the slow running and possibly move this thread, once we get the monitor working. Nev.

Hi, and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Considering you have recently moved it may be nothing more than a connection inside the case has come loose. If you are confident enough to remove the side cover and have a look, follow these instructions. Turn off the power at the mains socket, turn tower case on its side with the cover upermost, remove any cover fixing screw and slide cover out towards the back and lift off. To make sure you are not carrying any static charge touch the bare metal case, then first look for any obvious connection problems, plugs out of sockets etc. (There may be one or two spare plugs, but they should be tied out of the way and obviously spares.) If all appears to look OK, remove and replace one at a time, all connectors, plugs and sockets etc. This will make sure all connections are OK. Also if there are any separate cards fitted, such as a graphics card or sound card, there should be one screw holding the card in at the end of the card, with a bracket to the case. Remove that screw, gently work the card out of its socket, then again replace along with its screw. Replace the cover, stand the tower back up, power on and try again. Let us know if you find anything or if that works. Nev.

Hi Dave sorry to have not got back to you sooner, Christmas stuff and other things etc. You said ctrl/alt/delete, then cancel would get it running is that still the case? ctrl/alt/delete is the normal code to get into task manager and wondering if there is something in there set incorrectly, let us know. Nev.

OK thanks for that, please let us know. As I said at the start I saw similar some weeks back and it turned out the wiring on the back of the TV wasn't connected, but in that instance I now remember it was connecting via a scart socket. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help You say you tried to reformat and that failed, Do you have a full XP SP3 disk? or is it a recovery disk you tried? before you tried the reformat, it sounds a lot like some bad malware/virus invasion, but a failed reformat may or may not have made it difficult to do much. can you let us know about the disk or disks you have, and also what happened exactly when you tried to reformat, that will help us decide if malware removal can work at this stage or not. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, I hope we can make you and your laptop the best of friends. Nev

Thanks Match bud, I knew a good self builder like you would have some answers. (they might help me in the new year too ;) ) Nev.