Plastic Nev

OK John keep in touch and let us know how you get on. Nev.

Hi again, thanks for the information, makes it a little more complicated with it being such a distance away. A thought now and considering it is only one process, I suspect some sort of file corruption in the software for handling that task as it is a lot too specific for it to be hardware perhaps. However, just to rule out the possibility of a hard drive fault, although you have de-fragged the drive have you tried a full disk check? To save me some typing, follow these instructions in this link= http://agsci.psu.edu/it/how-to/use-disk-check If that comes back as a nothing wrong report, I can only ask if it is possible to put a date on when it first started to happen, and if not too long ago, try a system restore back to before that date. Otherwise perhaps a full reinstall of the software rather than copying it over as you have already tried that. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Can you please confirm that all three computers are exactly the same make and model or is there differences? Also this problem does only occur on just one of the three and does not happen at all on the other two? Thirdly, is it always the one process that makes it hang or is there a few others, or is it completely random? If that one process only, do the other computers handle the same process OK? I think at first glance until you can answer and confirm the above, the problem could be down to a faulty RAM module, or maybe even some hard drive sector fault if there is a call for the same information from the hard drive every time. Let us know the answers to the above and we can go from there. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Having had a search round, one thing I did find is that this may be down to the BIOS not the operating system. Windows 7 64bit is supposed to be able to recognise any level of Hard drive, however it may need a motherboard with the latest UEFI BIOS fitted. (For more information on UEFI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface ) Otherwise a further search reveals a lot of folks having problems, with a lot of different suggestions concerning hard drives bigger than 1TB, but in the main it looks like older systems even though Windows7 64bit with SP1, it is down to a mix of BIOS and chipset drivers being the issue. Have a look at what you can find on Google, there is a lot. Nev.

Funnily enough when I bought my Logitech marble mouse, there was one in the packaging with it, as it has a USB plug on the lead. Nev.

Hi, just popped in to say you can obtain an adapter that will allow a USB mouse to plug into the PS2 port, have a look here:- http://www.amazon.com/USB-Mouse-PS2-Port-Adapter/dp/B0007OWO4Y You might be able to get one locally to save time, if there are any computer and accessories shops near to you. Nev.

Just as a spin off here, when I first got my Windows 7 machine, I connected it to the same router as the XP machine, using cables not wireless. I then used the network wizard to get them both to see each other and then just copied over the files and data individually, some folders being quite large of several MB, yet they copied seamlessly in just around a couple of minutes or a little more, even for the biggest one of quite a lot of video. In other words I didn't bother with the Windows easy transfer, mainly because some stuff I didn't want on the new computer. Nev.

Hi, Considering you are connected to your router via wireless, I think it is possible a near neighbour is piggy backing on your wireless signal, if that is the case, first connect to the router by cable, then turn off the wireless in the router controls. I hope Millie vanishes when that is done. Nev.

Hi quaytec, first question has to be where did the disk come from and what is on the label of the disk? Next is the new hard drive fully and properly connected, both the SATA data and the SATA power leads? pull them off and push them back to make sure. If everything is correct there may just be a fault with the new hard drive, as so far it is looking like it hasn't found a hard drive to install to. Nev.

Hi Alan do follow KenB's advice first, he has a few good points. Any problem in getting into the BIOS just ask. One thing has just come to mind though, has the computer already got a sound or video/graphics card added do you know? I was originally thinking the sound was the usual on the motherboard, yet the information from Speccy, just might mean there has been a sound or video/graphics card added at some point. Nev.

Hum, not looking good Alan, I am concerned now that some part of the sound hardware has died, however I will ask for a second opinion on that just to be sure. If I am correct though a cheap sound card will get you sound again, but was hoping it was only drivers. Nev.

Hello and welcome Kingsley, the hair isn't yet silver here, just slowly vanishing instead.:cool: Nev.

Must mention that during the install, to use the custom install, then you get chance to remove the ticks for unwanted tool bars and home pages. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, as well as Ray's suggestions have a look at the fans, is there any dust accumulated round both the fan or fans and the fins of the heatsink which is mounted on top of the CPU. Clean all that out if there is first, then check that the fan or fans are actually running, also when the cover is on, is it maybe pushing a wire or cable against the blades of a fan, it may be that which makes the noise, and pushing against the side of the case could have stopped the fan. That will have allowed the CPU to overheat, hence why the constant crashing. Nev.

Hi H20, we won't delete, but just mark it as solved, someone else may have this problem, which I suspect may just have been the Zone Alarm servers being too busy to respond, or even off line for some reason, it happens sometimes. Nev.

Yes this is true as Sky do not release the user name and password that the pre configured router uses to connect to your service, I qoute from the information given with a Belkin Router I have. "Certain ISPs in the UK (Including Sky) supply a modem router which has been pre-configured with the required user name and password and they (The ISP) may not supply the user name and password to customers who request them." In other words, they have you nailed down to only buying a new router modem from them, and at their prices too. Thinking about it, it may be that this user name and password has gone missing from the router, hence why it will not connect after trying everything else. Edit to add:- I now see you put it through a factory re-set, that will have wiped out the user name and password. Try asking again if they will provide the user name and password, plus any other connection details as there are some different types of connection, explaining that you did do the re-set. Nev.

There are many tools available to forum and website owners is as far as I am going to go on that. Sorry but as I said we cannot help in any way in this matter. Nev.

Sorry but we cannot help in this situation. If you were banned it is entirely up to you to sort out the issue with the website owner, which to be honest, as it would also be the case here, having tried to dupe them into letting you back by cheating, which by trying different e mail addresses is a form of cheating, you would never get back in.. Oh and as a by the way, no there is no way round it anyway. It is not the end of the world, put it down to experience and move on is my advice. Nev.

Hi Alan, that is not what I expected at all, however it is telling us the hardware is there, so I think we have to try the driver download from Intel next as we now know it is the correct motherboard, here is that link again,- https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Desktop+Boards&ProductLine=Intel%C2%AE+915+Express+Chipset+Family+Boards&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Desktop+Board+D915GAG First select the operating system, in your case Windows XP Home edition, then select drivers. The list of drivers for your board then appears on the left, scroll down till you find- Audio: Realtek ALC xxx Driver. Try that and we will see what happens next. Nev.

And I daren't LOL.

Out of interest I also looked up what I could find, it seems there may be several versions under the same model number, I found one on Amazon for £587-00 which has the i3 processor, a 500GB drive and only 6GB of RAM. Someone else selling one similar to your spec but again only 500GB drive, and then quite a few including Argos with the 8GB RAM, 1TB drive but the i7 processor. Argos want a penny less than £600-00. Shame you couldn't get that version at the price you are paying. However reading specs and reviews, I wish I could afford one or I would be asking you to order two, it looks a very good laptop machine all round even with the i5 in it. Nev.

I hesitate to mention as it dissolves the marker ink but could spread it and that is WD40. However if on a varnished surface you might get away with it as it hopefully will leave the varnish alone. However black or other coloured marker on things like a fridge door or other enamelled surface WD40 is great. A wash over with a strong detergent after will kill the distinctive WD40 smell. Otherwise glad you are in some small way enjoying your birthday. Nev.

Hi Alan at least that motherboard is as I found it to be the D915GAG. However I am surprised by what it says regarding the Audio, please click the Audio on the left hand side list, lets see what details there are please. Nev.

You may have heard already that birthdays are good for you, the more you have and the longer you live!! So, a small explanation first, I got a new brass instrument recently as a friend found it for sale on a car booter. It is an odd American thing with only two valves instead of the usual three, however it plays well. Hence a little bit of explanation at the start of this video, made just for you for today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MP0tIVS7_k It beats most fancy graphics and pictures. Nev.

A good idea borrowed from another well known help forum. Quite often many folks pass through this forum and sometimes don't post a thing, they may well have a problem, and come here looking to see if the same problem was sorted out for someone else, maybe finding all they need to sort out their problem in doing so, and never let us know or what they did. Just happily going off with a problem solved. Other times a member will post a question and half an hour later return and just say "it is OK I fixed it" I am writing this to ask that if you did find a solution to your problem, then please come here and explain what was wrong and how you fixed it, so other members may benefit from what you found. So now to actually follow the idea of this thread and explain a problem I had and how I sorted at least the damage caused by taking the wrong advice. Yes even us techy types can fall for that too. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/devil.gif Let's start from the beginning, as it does seem to be the best place to start from, much better than going backwards from the end eh?http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/lmfao.gif When I first got connected to the internet it was of course early days and was a standard dial up connection, that connection though gave me what everyone now knows as an ISP or in full an Internet Service Provider. To avoid advertising I will not say who, but I have stayed with them as they do provide good service and always have done. So as broadband became available, and at a price I could afford I asked for an upgrade from my ISP, who duly did so which involved quite a bit of work on their part including the installation of equipment by BT in the exchange. My ISP also provided an ADSL modem for use on that connection which once the broadband service was up and running did well for several years with my Windows XP based computer. The cost to me was I think nothing more than the extra price of the broadband service as against what I had been paying for dial up. A few years went by with Windows Vista coming up which after seeing enough criticism of it I decided to ignore Vista and wait for Windows 7. Once Windows 7 was fully launched and accompanied by much praise I bought a fairly simple Packard bell machine to see how I would get on with it. In order for Windows 7 to go online it now needed a full router, so after a call to my ISP explaining the situation. For a small charge and nothing like the full price, provided me with a router that they had already configured to work with my connection, all I needed to do was connect it. Again some years passed, I improved my computer with a few upgrades to its internals including more RAM and a sound card. Software wise as well as normal Windows updates and experiments with various security software, I am at present running with Comodo firewall, (Only, not the full with AV) Also Windows Security Essentials, Malwarebytes, SuperantiSpyware, and as background protection SpywareBlaster. That then leads to a good look at my overall protection and taking note of reviews, and also test results from various sources, plus a check of my firewall status. That last one was through the website of the pretty well known Shields Up from the Gibson research company. The test from that site showed that although well protected and the firewall couldn't be breached, it wasn't fully stealth mode. Having checked that Comodo was set up to be fully stealth, I could only assume it was the router hardware firewall was allowing ports to be seen. That is when the trouble started!! http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/smashcomp.gif I needed to access my router settings, but on trying found that I couldn't. The router in question is an Edimax ADSL2/2 modem router model AR-7284WNA/AR. After looking round for reasons, I found from good advice, an answer on a different forum regarding the same problem someone else was having and not able to access the settings of this particular model. I knew in the past I could do so but not now. For general information the way in used to be to open your browser and put in to the address bar this IP number 192.168.2.1 That is a well known access number for most makes of router, and usually gains you the first page where you then need to input a user name and password. In my case that is as far as you can get. The username and password do nothing at all, the thing doesn't open and just sits there laughing at you http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/devil.gif . Here is where I took the wrong advice, some one said the router should be set back to default by pressing and holding the reset button for at least 30 seconds. It did indeed set the thing back to default as in manufacturers default, so therefore losing all connection settings and kicking me off line. Also did not cure the problem of not being able to access the settings. Word of caution to all, do not reset your router unless you know all the required connection details, and also you can get into the router to set them. By some more searching, (Good old Google) I then found that the way in to the router settings is for whatever reason blocked by the actual date as it is in present time. I as yet don't know what the cutoff date actually is or was, but somewhere in the router firmware there is a date that once passed, all access is denied, prior to that date you can get in, after that date no you can't. So how do you get in then? The answer as I found again by searching, is to fool the router by changing the time and date on your computer to 1st February 2010. I assume that date is obviously pre cuttoff date but don't know by how much. After doing that I could then access all settings, so with help from my ISP through quite few e mails, I could at least get the router to connect again by putting in the right settings as given to me by them. All of that was done incidentally by connecting my old XP computer via the older ADSL modem which I am extremely glad I kept it. That of course gave me the ability to send E Mail and have some on line presence. Now here is one other thing I learned, although my Windows 7 machine was back on line, and also having reset the computers date and time back to the present day, I still could not access my E Mail via Windows Live Mail on that Windows 7 machine, I had to still use the old XP machine. So a puzzle as to why Windows Live wouldn't connect and go on line. The clue was in the error message that Windows Live Mail was giving me. It said that "Calendar services couldn't connect" So although time and date had been reset, it actually wasn't synchronised with Internet time, so Windows live mail was getting a little confused. To resynchronise, first click on the time on the bottom right, then select "Change date and time settings" In the window that then opens click the tab for "Internet Time" Again click "Change settings" Another smaller window opens, so make sure the server menu is set to "time.windows.com" then click the button "Update now" Your computer will search out the time server and update to that time. Youshould then find Windows live Mail will now connect. As far as sorting out the original idea of making sure all ports are stealthed, it actually seems it isn't possible in the Edimax router, it just blocks 'em, so that is good enough, not perfect of course, but does protect from invasion. Nev.