Plastic Nev

Hi again Richard, perhaps there is only one thing left now and that is to get you into the hidden administrator account, once in that account you should have full control of everything and be able to alter the settings for Windows updates from that account. It is easy enough to get into, though because of security I was reluctant to go there till other ways had been tried. Here is how to access the hidden account. First click the start orb, then type in the search box CMD. You should then see at the top of the list a small oblong black icon and cmd.exe Right click on it and then select "Run as administrator" You may get the UAC box open, just click "Yes" A black DOS like box should open. Either type in or copy and paste :- net user administrator /active:yes Then hit the enter key on the keyboard. It is best to fully shut down the computer then reboot, you should then see the new "Administrator" button to log on. There will be a short wait of a few minutes while Windows configures settings for that account. Once the account fully opens, see if it is then possible to change those Windows update settings. Make sure you re-hide the hidden account once you are done working with it by re opening the CMD as previously and then type or copy and paste :- net user administrator /active:no The hidden account should then be inactive again and not show up on the log in screen. Nev.

Hi Richard, that is a bit of a puzzle to me as things seem the wrong way round, however the option to run as administrator should have given you the access. I have asked one of our other staff to have a look and see if he has any idea's. Nev.

OK Richard, it is a permissions thing, so lets try the simple one first. Click on the start orb, then type in the search box :- Windows update It should be top of the list that appears, right click on it, then click on "Take ownership" You should get the usual UAC box asking if that is what you want to do, just click yes. Very briefly you may see a DOS type box open and disappear again. See if that gives you permission to go further. Nev.

Hi Richard, there is another fix it available which might work and is an update for the update agent, try this first. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/949104 Scroll down till you find the right one for your system. If still no access and can't alter anything it may be a permissions problem, but we will look into that later.

Hi, can you describe in some detail what the problem is exactly, will the printer print OK on a single page of paper,? Are you trying to print on folded paper? A full description of what you are trying to achieve will be of help so we can advise how best to do it. Thanks. Nev.

Hi Richard, firstly lets see if this Windows trouble shooter can sort the problem for you. Click on the one for Windows 8.1, 8 or 7 https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/971058 Nev.

Hi Richard, you are not the only one. Something has happened and possibly due to a previous Microsoft update which at the moment is unknown. I have always had my windows updates set to manual using the setting "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them" I used to then get the small bottom task bar notification that new updates were ready to be installed. However that has also stopped happening and I have to check the updates from the control panel now and then to see if there are any to install. The problem is possibly down to some update previously installed that may have been part of the Free upgrade to Windows 10 business. As yet there seems no way round. Nev. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Free Pc Help. Whatever your problem find the right forum section and ask your question, let us know as much information as possible that you know please. If in the wrong place, don't worry we will move it and let you know. Nev.

Did the card come with a disk for installing its drivers? If so you need that disk again, the probable cause of your problem could be the drivers were updated for Windows 10 when you installed that, but quite likely unstable for the original Windows 8 or 8.1. There would possibly be instructions for the correct method of installing the card and its drivers as well if it did come with a disk. Nev.

Sorry for the late reply as I have been busy trying to find information that might help. Having looked at the motherboard, there is an eight pin socket with the letters EPU, I assume this is the one you mean. It is also listed as 1 X 8 pin ATX 12 volt power connector. A listing of internal I/O ports is shown on this page :- https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-560-AS A look into your power supply here :- http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=220-G2-0750-XR the listing of connections shows as the standard 24 pin ATX plus EPS (CPU) 2 X 8 (4+4) and also PCIE 4 X pin (6+2) Have you looked in the motherboard handbook and does that give any information about what should be connected to where? Also any recommendation of power supply type in the handbook? I did also find this which might be helpful. :- http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#eps4plus4 Nev.

Hi, can you give us the make and model number of the motherboard, and also the same for the power supply, it sounds like a compatibility problem as the plug from the power supply should be a single plug to match the eight pin motherboard socket. Nev.

A belated happy birthday from me too Christian.

Hi, having looked at the Crucial scan report, you can take out that single 2GB and fit a 4GB module in its place if you wanted that bit more speed. Nev.

Hi, I can't really help with the actual connection itself, however I can point you to a website that will give you the IP address of whatever computer connects to it. So you would need to first use a computer, his or perhaps another guest which can connect OK to then bring up this website. The page opens automatically with the current IP address showing, you can then click on the "Look up IP address" button which should show you the ISP (Internet service provider) and also roughly where in the world the computer is. That will help to double check the computer and at least the country which of course you will know. http://whatismyipaddress.com/ip-lookup Check it with your own present position of your computer now. However don't expect it to be accurate about the town or city, as that depends sometimes on where the main ISP's servers are. Hope that is of help. Nev.

Hi Ray, you will not be forced into accepting and installing Windows 10 as far as we are aware. However if it is already on your system ready to install and you wish to delete it, Pete showed where to find it and remove it in his last post on this thread. http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/16909-Windows-10-Am-I-Going-To-Be-Made-To-Have-It#.VdCozZeNiSo Have a read of the rest of the thread for finding the other bits and uninstalling or removing them as well. Hope that helps, Nev.

Hi Lloydie and welcome back. How long since did this occur? If not too long ago a quick simple way to correct it would be a system restore back to a time previous to when it happened. Then be careful about installing any updates after that as it does look like a Windows update might have done the damage. If not too long ago, there won't be that many updates so you can then set the updates to manual and install them one at a time to check all is still OK after each one. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. I am afraid there is no free upgrade for any version of Vista, it is only Windows 7 and upward. There was some talk in the early days that Vista might be included, however Microsoft did not carry that through. It doesn't mean you can't upgrade, depending on compatibility of the hardware of your Vista computer, you can pay for the upgrade if it is compatible. Have a look here :- http://www.howtogeek.com/220996/what-you-need-to-know-about-upgrading-a-windows-vista-pc-to-windows-10/ Nev.

Hi mercycle, I have just had a look back at your previous posts, which covered quite a lot about this computer which I assume is the same one that you have upgraded to Windows 10. Firstly I am very suspicious of some form of hardware fault, which to be honest could be anything from RAM memory, CPU, or even the complete motherboard itself as you have been having a lot of unexplained crashes in the past. However, firstly have you tried a complete reboot of Windows 10 and was there any difference? Secondly, though I don't have Windows 10 as yet so can't be sure how to get to it, if still having problems I would try and see if you can get it to go through the repair sequence as the last crash on Youtube might have damaged system files. You should be able to make it run a System File Check, known as sfc /scannow, instructions for Windows 10 here :- http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2895-sfc-command-run-windows-10-a.html Nev.

Without some pretty fancy test equipment and knowledge how to use it, I doubt you would be able to diagnose the fault Jim. However no harm in dismantling it to see how the mechanical bits work before sending it to the recycling point. Nev.

Just as the title says, whatever your present system is, Windows 7 or 8.1, do make sure you have either a full image of your system on an external hard drive or a clone on a separate hard drive, or at the very least a full copy of your operating system on disk or flash drive. Like a few others I have seen reported, I am one of those unlucky enough to have suffered a failure to install on my laptop, the end result was that nothing worked. It wouldn't or couldn't even go back to the previous operating system. I am now glad that I practice what I preach and have used an image to restore the laptop back to what it was a few months since. To get Windows 10 it would seem that it is better to by pass the automatic procedure that comes with the normal Windows updates and download Windows 10 directly from the Microsoft site. You can do so from here :- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 Just follow the instructions on that page and download to your desktop, you can install directly from there, or make a copy to either a disk or flash drive for use later. Nev.

Instructions are there for using a thumb or flash drive if you don't have a CD/DVD drive. Nev.

It comes in as a normal Windows update, so to ensure you know when it is ready to download you will need to at least temporarily re-set your Windows updates to manual. However you can download Windows 10 directly from the Microsoft site to short cut the process. Follow the instructions on this Microsoft page. :- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 Nev.

Hi DD. Microsoft in their wisdom have discontinued their media player, maybe they are going to produce one you will have to pay for at some time in the future to make up for the fact they are giving away Windows 10! Who knows? Anyway, there is a superb open source (free) player available called VLC player. I prefer it to the old Windows Media player. you can download it direct from here :- http://www.videolan.org/index.html The controls are easy to understand, it will play any form of media as it has all the right codecs already installed, and quality of video or sound is as good as the original recording. Nev.

As Ken suggested, try it on the wife's computer first, if you still have a problem, it just might be only the scanning lamp failed which can possibly be replaced. Nev.

A system restore can only get you out of trouble if the computer can still boot up. Also it may not be of use if a major service update has turned off and deleted previous restore points. Service packs on earlier systems used to do just that. Nev.