Plastic Nev

Hi, just a long shot, and should not cause any problem, I am wondering if there may be a BIOS problem, so I suggest disconnecting all power, then remove the cover and take out the C.Mos battery, leave it out for about five minutes then replace the battery. That should reset the BIOS back to default settings and hopefully the Spanish disk should then install. Nev.

Sorry, but that isn't enough, they put lots of different boards in their machines, be best if you can install the speccy and let us have what it shows for the motherboard, especially what it says for the graphics. Nev.

Hi again, let us know how you get on with the next mail shot. You may well be right about that update as well as there were three in total that caused a lot of problems for people around that date, myself included. Have a look in your updates list and see if you also have KB 2760588 and KB 2760411, those kept going round in a continuous circle of download and install, download and install, until they were removed from the list and put into the hidden updates. Nev.

Hi Ron, My first thoughts are that if substituting with SSD, due to the incredible speeds of access that SSD's have, you can forget the raid set up and clone the system onto just one SSD. However, if wishing to keep the RAID set up and use two larger conventional mechanical drives, (As yet, SSD drives have a poor reputation) it would mean cloning each existing drive on to the larger replacement. Not being that well up on the RAID configuration I cannot advise how to do that as I haven't a clue, and not that sure how to get a split Raid system onto one SSD. Though I do remember seeing something about that in one of the cloning or image making softwares, which you would need to install in any case to create clones of the original system. There are plenty of different makes of image or clone creating software to choose from, and quite a few are free. Hopefully, someone with more RAID knowledge can advise further, my thoughts are just to let you see the various options. Nev.

Hi. This actually can be one of two possibilities, either your ISP or E Mail provider is being a little over zealous regarding E Mail attachments, or the other and more likely possibility is your own antivirus program. Which antivirus program are you using? Check it to see if it is set to scan E Mails first, then temporarily turn that part off, or if possible set it to allow .docx documents. Let us know which antivirus you have and we or one of our security guys can advise regarding setting it. Nev.

Most PC sound systems, either on mother board or separate sound cards, will cut off all other sound output when headphones are plugged in. It is how they are designed. In normal circumstances, if you are listening through headphones, why would you need the speakers on? That also goes for TV headphone sockets. If more than one person in the room and both or more wish to hear the sound through headphones, the answer is a splitter box with two or more outputs. Plug the input lead into the PC or the TV headphone socket, then connect the headphones to each of the outputs. If for some reason one wants to hear the speakers, while another wishes to hear it via headphones, then it does get more complicated and requires active speakers that can be plugged into one of the output sockets on the splitter box. If more than two sets of headphones are required, then an active splitter box, (has an amplifier in it) is recommended. These splitters are more likely to be found in musical or general audio dealers rather than computer shops, here is a link to one as an example only, this is also not an active splitter, it would be around twice this price for active units. http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/morgan-acoustics-4way-stereo-headphone-splitter-box--18403 If prepared to pay the extra for wireless headphones, and a wireless audio output device, that may be another answer. Nev.

Hi, can you tell us the make and model number of the motherboard, or if not sure the make and model of Computer. We can find out from that which graphics chip is on it. In fact, if you install Speccy from Piriform, that will tell you most of that, including the graphics. Download Speccy from here :- http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download/standard That will give you the download direct. Once we know the graphics and what it should support, we stand a better chance of being able to help. However, the most likely reason for the poor or wrong resolution may be a lack of Windows 7 drivers for the graphics, being an older board as you say, there may not be any available. As I say we will know more from whatever information you can give us. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Brian. I am afraid this sounds a lot like the drop has damaged the hard drive. It is worth a look at whether it has just been jolted out of its connection though first. Remove the charger power, and also remove the battery first. Underneath there should be a plate held on with two or three screws, this plate covers where the hard drive is, remove the plate and check that the hard drive is properly seated in the edgeways socket. Hopefully that is all it is, however if not, then you may need a new hard drive. Nev.

Hi again, if going eventually for Windows 7, my advice is to get a new machine that will have been built for it, although Windows 7 may install on your older XP based computers, they will not perform very well if at all. Windows 7 does need a good bit more RAM and a higher end at least dual cored CPU, which does mean a motherboard to suit. Don't worry about data transfer and getting your files off the XP machine onto a Windows 7 one, if you use a router the two can be networked and files transferred across the network. Nev.

Hi, I thought we had sorted the language problem for you, however, to obtain a Spanish version now, I can only suggest E Bay, or the slight chance that Dell themselves may still have some. Nev.

I am glad to hear it was the simple answer that fixed it, thanks for the feedback. For the odd pages where the font is small and difficult to read, it is worth the mention that the Ctrl key and the + key will enlarge the fonts and everything else on the page. Remember Firefox and Internet Explorer will remember the setting for each time you visit the page or site. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. For sizes to be different in different browsers, makes me wonder if at any time the Ctrl key and the + key have been pressed simultaneously where it is too big, and conversely Ctrl and - keys will have made it smaller. In both cases try Ctrl key and the 0 key together, that will bring them back to original sizes. When those key stroke settings are used in either IE or Firefox those browsers remember that setting for each time they are opened. Nev.

The drivers for the webcam should already be installed, do you have a problem with it not working? If so how old is the computer as it may be covered by warranty yet. Or are you looking for some other type of software and if so for what purpose? Nev.

A lot depends on where you start, if right at the planning stage, it then depends on finding or even going out with the camera to take the images required. However once you have what you want it can be three to four hours depending what work is needed to get the desired result, and also of course the graphics software used. I have recently bought Photoshop Elements 11, which once I have learned the full ins and outs, it should be a little quicker as various tools are more easier to use. All previous of these images were done with a free version, (yes we all like free, but sometimes paid for is better) a software called Photofiltre. For a freeware the latest version is exceptionally good, though PS elements 11 is better. For the next one I have some images I took yesterday, I just need a good one of a horse, though a cow might do at a pinch. Nev.

Hi, considering that it should work with up to 4GB, it may just be the old RAM you have tried is not fully compatible. Can you let us know the details on the labels of each of the extra RAM you installed please, we will know better from seeing that. Nev.

Just one thing which may be worth a mention, as the drive will be connected to the cable for the CD/DVD drive, it may be best to check in the BIOS set up in this instance, that the main hard drive is selected as the first boot device. Most are set as default to look at the CD/DVD drive for a boot disk first, but the BIOS may see your old drive and try to boot from it, most likely it won't, leaving you confused as to why the computer won't boot up. Nev.

Another I recently finished. A startled dog barks as the rugby players leave the screen. http://i72.servimg.com/u/f72/14/68/69/96/dog_an10.jpg Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, For the best advice, it would help if you told us the make and model of your computer, or if a custom built one the make and model of motherboard in it, plus the size of the power supply. It is the motherboard and power supply that is just as important to know as well as the details so far. If the power supply is only just big enough, we would need to advise you buy a larger one to meet the power requirements of the graphics card as well you see. Nev.

Just wondering if the F2 key is stuck down, check that, as it may be trying to get to the set up with a password protected BIOS, check the F2 key isn't stuck. Otherwise, as I said we cannot help with passwords as we have no means of knowing this is actually your computer. Because of the forum rules we cannot help in bypassing or cracking a password, and the only choice for you is a technician. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Firstly I must point out that we cannot help in any way to circumvent passwords. It is in the forum rules. However, have you tried to see if the computer will come on in safe mode? From full reboot or power back on, keep tapping the F8 key, you should then see the advanced boot options page open, use the up and down keys to select "Safe Mode" and then hit the enter key. Let us know if the computer comes on then. If still presented with the password box, we cannot go any further. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. This could be one of several things, though it sounds a lot like the power supply has gone. They can be tested, though the best way is substituting it with another known to be good power supply. The power supply is I think the first thing to be looked at. Can you borrow one from a working computer and are you happy with working inside the computer? Nev.

Hi TeeKay, Quite often you sometimes find different software will actually give a result you want as the end product, it just uses different tools with unfamiliar names to do it. However, thanks for the feed back and hope the one you found does the job. Nev.

lets see what happens next time before we say solved Ray, let us know when that happens and we will know for sure then. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. From what I can find out, this software was for MSDos based systems. That does mean that it cannot run on XP and doubt if there is any work round. I also tried a look up for the author of the original software and the last trace I could find of him was in 1994, so doubt if even a Windows based update was ever created. Sorry but that program is now far too old to be able to to be run on modern operating systems and I should be looking for an alternative. You may find something that can perform in a way you want here in the listed programs on offer, some for free. http://bingo1.software.informer.com/download-bingo-text-editor/ Nev.

Hi Ray, I don't think there is a problem with the picture and fax viewer itself. Are the pictures still in the e mail attachment? If they are it may just be a small issue with the file path to the attachment. The best thing would be to transfer the images to a folder on your computer in My Pictures or similar, the viewer should then be able to find them correctly. Nev.