Plastic Nev

Hi, what you found in device manager is telling us there is no driver for the webcam, without the details of it in order to find the right driver, we are both stuck I am afraid. If you can take a few photo's of it from different angles, then post them here, someone might just recognise it and hopefully give us a model number we can work with. Nev.

Hi Ray, if no improvement after that, it is possible you have a bad cartridge, especially if it is a re-manufactured one and not a HP new one. Nev.

Hi Ray, if you can get at the small CMOS battery, in laptops, quite often it means a complete strip down to get at the motherboard, but certainly worth a try. Nev.

Hi Ray, in Kens absence, you can get this error if the RAM is duff, missing, or in this case possibly not seated correctly back in it's socket or sockets, check them please just to makes sure considering you have had them out. Nev.

Hi, once installed in the new computer, which as yet you haven't said in which way, either as just extra storage, or to install different operating system, or even connect the existing drive with it in a RAID formation, it doesn't matter, once connected and the system recognises new hardware, you can then use the existing operating system to reformat the (new to it,) drive. Once that is done, any old data will be written over as it is used with no problems. It is only if disposing of a used drive when there may be sensitive personal data on it, where you need to worry about totally wiping it so it cannot be read by anyone else. Nev.

Hi, yes indeed, the fact that both are home premium it should be OK, the original OEM install on the laptop shouldn't matter in this case, though Ken will be able to confirm or not. The important thing is the product key or code number on the laptop sticker, as this should be entered during the install, you are usually prompted for this anyway. Again Ken may be able to confirm this as I think he may have done a lot more system installs than I have, the last one I did was on XP a long time since.:D Nev.

Hi, this does indeed sound like that hard drive is a dud now. When the power failed, the read head may have crashed, this can happen in sudden power failures and is the reason why just turning the power off with the computer running should be avoided. If the system is reading or writing data off or on the disk at the time of power failure, the read head will be in the wrong place which can cause it to crash onto the disk, that can both damage the disk and the head, and in some cases which may be yours, actually jam up the entire drive. Considering that it was installing updates when the power failed, the drive would most certainly have been in use. a shame there isn't another known to be OK hard drive available to be able to check the caddy isn't at fault. You could of course go and buy a new drive which would check the caddy out, and also then give you an external drive for storage, but may be an unwanted cost to you. Nev.

Hi, a couple of questions, the disk for your desktop that you mention, is this the Vista disk? is it exactly the same operating system, i.e. Home Premium or Professional for example? Is it a genuine Microsoft disk, or a disk that came from the desktop manufacturer? If it is the Vista you mentioned, If it is the same grade of operating system, and also a Microsoft issued disk and not a computer manufacturer disk, Then all should be OK so long as you follow Kens advice regarding the Product key which should be on a sticker on the laptop. If any of the above differs, you may have problems, please let us know if there are any differences so we may be able to advise further. Nev.

For a good start at general electronics forums where you may be able to obtain good advice and links for the software you may need there is "Electronics and circuits forum" here= http://www.electro-tech-online.com/

Hi just to add to Speedy's good advice, there is also another monitoring software, again free called Speccy, It is a bit more in depth and can give other useful information should it be needed later, you can download Speccy from Piriform here= http://www.piriform.com/speccy Nev.

Hi and welcome to Free PC help. The knocks from dropping will have dislodged something and it will have to be taken apart to find out what. If you are taking it to a repair shop they will find the problem, the worry is the smell, I hope nothing serious has burnt because the fan isn't running. Whatever you do, don't try to start it till it has been looked at as damage from heat will happen. Nev.

Hi Ray, is it recognising there is a disk in the CD/DVD drive? it could be a faulty drive if it isn't. Nev.

Hi, it can be nothing more than an overheating issue, so do carry on and give all the computer a good cleaning out of dust, there should be no need to remove heatsinks, either from the graphics card or even the main CPU, a soft not nylon brush and a can of compressed air, blown in with short bursts to remove any dust is usually all is needed. If however you do need to remove a heatsink, or find one is loose, do clean off all the old heat paste before replacing it with new. Nev.

Hi, I must admit that without details of make and model of webcam, we are going to be struggling here. Quite often the webcam comes with a drivers disk especially for loading it on Windows XP and without those drivers it isn't likely to work. I assume it is a USB connection so can you tell us if anything seems to happen at all? Does it show as any sort of device in "My Computer"? Lastly, if nothing showing there look in device manager and see if it shows up there, it may do with a red or yellow mark. To get to device manager, click "Start" then "Run" copy and paste into the box= devmgmt.msc Click OK. Look down the list for "Imaging Devices" and click the small arrow on the left to expand, does it show there? As for make and model of the webcam, is there nothing in the way of a label underneath or even engraved in the plastic of the case? Nev.

The anti-reflective film is a good and cheap alternative, though can make fine outlines a little fuzzy looking, but so slight in my opinion to not matter much. As for laptops with an already none reflective screen, Although not recommending you buy from them, it is worth a look in person at what is on offer in some of the major retailers, PC World, Curries, other smaller outlets as a for example, as it is only your own eyes can judge what is best for your needs by seeing them up close. Once you get an idea of make and model, you can then search on line for the best deals. Nev.

OK Ray, let us know how you get on. If not able to boot from the Windows ISO disk when in the laptop, there is a choice of problems it could be after that, but let's not jump the gun just yet. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. There is already a helpful guide to how to use the forums found at the top of this introductions section or forum, to get to it quickly just click on this link here- http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/11462-New-to-Free-PC-Help-A-helpful-guide That will give you most of the information, also please do read the forum rules here- http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/11463-New-to-Free-PC-Help-Forum-Rules Don't be too worried about minor things such as posting for help in the wrong place, as we will help you sort any problem you may have. Nev.

Hi, do you know which volume or volumes it means and what the existing names are? Not familiar with this software, but do wonder why it seems to have a problem with names and why can't you have any name you want. Puzzles me. Being a bit of a specialist subject, M Audio do have their own forum for help with their products here= http://community.m-audio.com/m-audio You may be best asking on there. Nev.

A shame is that, a perfectly good laptop dead due to expense of sorting the graphics. However, one thing worth doing before disposing of the laptop is to remove the hard drive, may be a small cover underneath to remove first, or if unlucky a full dismantle. Once removed, that protects any personal details as you still have the drive. Secondly you can then obtain and not too expensively, a USB enclosure for the drive and use it as an external hard drive. Also be able to transfer anything important from the drive onto another computer or the replacement laptop. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help David. Can you be a bit more specific about this "Audio Interface" Please, exactly what is it you have installed, a sound card? or some form of program? full details of make and model if a card or at least make and name if a program. Nev.

OK thanks for the update Ray and glad I thought to ask about the difference between 64 bit and 32 bit, getting that right will save a lot of trouble no doubt. Although the format will no doubt have been finished by now, for future reference, a fresh new install of most operating systems automatically reformats the drive they are going on to first before starting the install. Though Linux based systems do ask if you want to reformat first, especially if another OS is detected. Nev.

For information to new members, the two now banned members in this thread, the starter and Frozen, they both turned out to be spammers, coming here only to post spam adverts or worse. Spammers, beware. I am now locking this thread.

Hi Ray, I think possibly your desktop hasn't allocated a drive letter to the laptop drive held in the USB caddy, maybe because it is seeing those two "H" and "G" for whatever reason and has confused the system on the desktop. It may not matter as far as installing the new downloaded windows onto the laptop, because the laptop drive must be put back in the laptop first anyway. I see the download you have chosen says X86. This is the 32 bit operating system, are you sure the original one on the laptop was also 32 bit? if so then OK to continue. If having problems trying to burn a correct ISO boot disk onto a DVD with whatever burning software you have, try downloading to your desktop the Infra Recorder I linked to earlier. Once installed and opened, the option you need to choose is "Write Image" which if the layout hasn't changed since I got it, is the bottom left icon. That will burn the Windows file as the correct ISO image file. Don't worry that the wording says CD, it will burn to a DVD disk (You do need one as a CD is too small) I recently used it to burn a Linux mint ISO onto a DVD disk so I know it works. Once you have the disk burned do remove it from the drive as soon as it says it has finished, otherwise it may try to start installing onto your desktop, which we don't want. Put the hard drive back into the laptop, start the laptop in order to get the CD/DVD drive tray open, drop the Windows ISO boot disk into the tray and then follow the instructions and tutorial from Ken. Nev.

Hi skibob, welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Firstly does sound work OK for other things such as a CD or a music file already on your PC? Secondly which player are you using to play the video's? Windows media player or other? And thirdly do you know the type of file that is on the memory card? WMV, MPG, or AVI to name a few, though some phones have odd file types. Nev.

Hi, this can happen if there is a disk in the CD/DVD drive, the BIOS tries to boot of it if there is. Secondly, if not a disk in the drive, straight after the beep tap F8 several times until it hopefully opens to the advanced boot window, select safe mode and click enter if it does, will it then boot into safe mode? Nev.