Plastic Nev

Hi Quacker, Battery life in laptops isn't very great at the best of times, and considering you say the machine is now a few years old, it isn't surprising. I know they are expensive, but don't be persuaded to go for the cheap equivalent, OK there are good quality equivalents, but more near to the original manufacturers prices. Cheap versions will probably not last too long. Also if possible look for one that is of the Li-ion type as they are certainly longer lasting than a NiCad type, though they are disappearing now thankfully. Nev.

Hi Dwain, It has come to our attention that you have posted for help on another forum(s). The address is here- Windows XP restore fault Normally we would close this thread straight away, however I will give you the chance to make your mind up as which forum you wish to stay with. We do sympathise and understand that you want your problem solving as quickly as possible. Posting on multiple forums, however, is not the answer. Whether this is a malware or other problem you must realise that a great deal of time is spent by moderators and helpers in researching possible solutions for you. Under normal circumstances we do not begrudge you this time at all. After all, that is why we are here. It is, however, very frustrating to find that our colleagues on this, and other help forums, are being asked to spend time on a topic that is receiving assistance elsewhere. There is also the problem of conflicting information. There is often more than one way of solving a particular problem and if you are receiving assistance from two or more sources, this will invariably conflict or be duplicated. Either way this is a waste of helpers’ time. As you have posted on two or more sites you now have a decision to make. We are happy to help you here but you must inform the other forum(s) and ask for your thread to be closed so that you are not wasting other helpers’ time. Similarly, if you choose to get assistance elsewhere - please let us know and we will close the thread and wish you luck solving your problem. Please let us know your decision within the next 48 hours. If there is no reply after this period we will assume that you are receiving help elsewhere and your thread here will be closed. Nev.

Hi, OK things aren't too hot as yet, but getting close. If you haven't yet cleaned the dust out and no compressed air can available, you need a one inch or twenty five millimeter wide and long soft haired paint brush, also a hair drier that can run on cold air only. Loosen the dust with the brush then blow it out using the hair drier, be careful to keep yourself connected to the metal casing, either by keeping one hand on the case or if obtainable, an anti static wrist band and clip. Static can build up within you while dusting and blowing, and cause damage when you later touch something, if precautions aren't taken. Nev.

Being a bit older the toys and games I remember are things like Hornby Dublo train sets with pressed tin track and third rail in the middle. Mechano and losing all the nuts and bolts in silly places. Clockwork models, and taking them to bits to find out how they worked. I eventually learned how to put them back together and make them go faster. Games, things like Ludo, Monopoly, draughts and later, chess. Plus lots of jigsaw puzzles. Any one else got reminiscences?

Hi again, Not being a gamer, I am only guessing here, but you say this happened previously, so you rolled back the driver to a previous version as it seemed the new driver was over working the graphics card. Makes me wonder if the graphics card is up to the job of running that game, and whether it may pay to upgrade to a better card. That is only a guess mind, and willing to be put right by someone with more knowledge on games and graphics. Nev.

Hi, can I ask why you took out the old hard drive and replaced it? If it was because you thought there was a fault in it as it wasn't working as it isn't now, I actually suspect the power supply could be the real fault. There are various sections within a PSU, giving different voltages out of the supply, it could be any one of them not working but still giving the power to the fans. Please also bear in mind, that when a power supply fails, especially in the lower voltage outputs, it can do damage to the mother board as well, resulting in the need to change both the power supply and the motherboard. However if it is at all possible to obtain another power supply and try it, do so and see how you get on. Please let us know one way or the other.

Hi Ace, did you follow and try any of the steps outlined in that thread? If so what was the result? Nev.

Hi Urchin, Was the card fitted by the shop or dealer? If fitted by the dealer, it is their responsibility to help you out as they have obviously changed some setting somewhere in whatever they did. In this case we will always recommend you return the machine at the earliest opportunity as the dealer should have given some warranty on their work. Any help we give may actually break any warranty agreement with that dealer, and possibly leave you with a not working computer. So please take it back, explain what has happened since they fitted the card. Please let us know how you get on. Nev.

Hi, I think it might be best to go back to the start again and maybe do a full recovery again before you install anything more. Once the recovery is complete, only re install the AOL I assume that is your ISP? Then check if Windows firewall is activated, if it is, it will be safe enough to go online to Microsoft and get all the windows updates. This should bring you up to service pack three level, plus any major windows based drivers should be available or even installed during the update process. It will take some time! Let us know what messages you are presented with at that point before installing anything else.

Hi, To answer that we need to know what is on the computer to send the video and sound out. What sockets do you have? Also do you have a graphics card in or just the internal motherboard based graphics? Nev.

Sorry, crossed posting, try either, the Del or the F12,

Hi Joy, if it gets as far as the so called flash screen and saying Del for enter set up. It is the del key you need to be pressing not F8. try that, let us know.

Yesterday, Tuesday 23 June, I went up to the beamish museum, here are a few shots of the replica 1920s town and trams and buses.

To previous question, "Have the socks you are wearing got a hole in them?" If your socks don't have any holes in them, then how did you get them on your feet? to Wellies- NO. can you make a sausage roll at the top of a hill.

In general, the only upgrades available to most laptops are in RAM only, in the case of high end games, they need powerful graphics which usually cannot be upgraded on laptops. The graphics card on the other machine may not be the problem when you say the screen flickers. It may just be a simple cable or plug fault at either end of the cable, try a new cable. If that doesn't fix it, it may be the monitor itself faulty.

No. Have the socks you are wearing got a hole in them?

Hi Adam, Can you let us know the details, make and model of the monitor, plus the make and model of the new computer, we may be able to find out for you from that.

Hi and welcome to Free PC help. Can you let us know what the sound system is, we need to know the type, and manufacturer. In other words is it the ordinary on board sound system, and what make. Or a PCI sound card such as Sound Blaster Live etc. It looks a little bit like a driver missing or corrupted. Nev.

Hi Yvonne and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Hope you get everything under control with our advice. Oh, and I better go hide with all you women joining, you will be ganging up on us poor fellers next. ha ha:D Nev.

Hi Peter and welcome to Free PC help. My first thought is to have a look at all the programs you have installed on the "C" partition and remove those you don't want or need any more. However this is only good if you do want to get rid of some. If you need to keep them all, then go for this free bit of software (if you can make space for it LOL) FREE EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition: Best Partition Manager freeware for Windows 2000/XP/Vista. It is a partition manager which will help in expanding the "C" drive partition for you.

OK, what machine is it, make and model, also do you have a graphics card installed or is it the internal (motherboard) graphics? It looks like it may be a graphics driver issue, so we need to know a bit more to find a suitable download site for drivers.

Hi, a quick look round found this, very similar machine, but known to have slightly better technical support, and just a small amount more expensive. Unfortunately a smaller screen though. Acer Aspire 5735 Laptop - Laptops at Ebuyer

I will add that some companies do offer truly free antivirus or antimalware software, but make it difficult to find the free version on their website. AVG is one of them, but there are others.

Will you please take it back, if it is covered by the PC World insurance there is usually no quibbles, very expensive insurance, but they do stick to it by the letter. It is probably the only good thing (in my opinion) to come out of PC World. Tell them, and show them everything, including the latest, this beeping. Stand your ground, you want a new replacement, or money back.

Once there, show them the same you showed us in the screen shot ace. Quote what I said in my last post if you wish. Nev.