Plastic Nev

Hi, OK the ISO Ubuntu disk works, then something odd why it won't work on that system. One maybe for the Linux forums as though I have looked at both Ubuntu and Mint, that is about all I have done, so no expert with them. As for Kens comment, I think he means that any slowness in operation is now down to the low amount of RAM at 512MB. I originally had as little as 256MB in my first XP machine, in those days crawling along was more acceptable though, so when I eventually fitted 1GB it went like a rocket in comparison. Nev.

If at first you don't succeed, hide all the evidence that you ever tried. Nev.

It should be able to boot off the disk if it is a correct ISO image, don't let it install though or it will wipe that hard won XP off. Nev.

Hi it certainly looks that way and if the speaker or line out socket or port has seen frequent use, it could just be the contacts worn out. I have a friend who has done just that with two USB ports, constantly plugging in and removing a card reader has worn them to the point of useless. As for the Creative card, a local one or two man dealer repairer if ther is one might be able to check it out, and if very good may even be able to replace the socket on the card if that is all it is. Otherwise it will mean a new card. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. I tend to agree it may be a hardware problem causing this, and two or three possibilities, RAM memory or the hard drive itself or I have heard of an external drive being faulty and preventing boot up as well. So first thing to check is shut down and remove the external hard drive and try again, if OK it must be the external hard drive. If no change, leave the external disconnected for now, and again power off and remove one of those two sticks of RAM, if no change, replace and remove the other stick of RAM. Let us know what you find after that please. Nev.

Hi, Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. A couple of things, I assume this is a second hand computer seeing it has no HDD and therefore there may be a chance the CD/DVD drive isn't working, hence the error code. The next thing is this version of Windows 7 you want to install, what type of disk is it on and what do you know about the license for it? If a single use only, reinstalling it to a different computer will be breaking license terms. Nev.

Hi, if you go back to that Crucial page and click the "Show all compatible computer memory" you will see a listing of both matched pairs or just one 4GB that is close enough to be compatible and work well, check prices, then see if you can find the same elsewhere but cheaper. Obviously a full matched pair will work, but if one single to add to existing will also work as Crucial say it should, then why pay more? Nev.

Hi, now you see how useful Speccy is for information should it ever be needed again! However the HP motherboard number, although Hewlett Packard are a bit like trying to get blood out of a stone directly from them information wise, I did find other information suggesting the maximum RAM the motherboard will take is 8GB. The crucial scan shows that as well as the all important 1604, which until Starbuck mentioned it, I hadn't realised that number was the motherboard model. So, as I can see you have one 4 GB in one slot with the other slot free, I suggest another 4GB DDR3 stick as recommended by Crucial should see you OK. Nev.

As further information, I also use MSSE and do have a positive story. I was doing some local research of businesses in my area, when clicking on would you believe a computer dealer and repair service website, which is obviously infected, MSSE stopped and quarantined a trojan. I checked, informed Starbuck by PM of the trojan and type, after deleting or emptying the quarantine, then ran a scan using Malwarebytes and a scan using MSSE, all found to be clear and Starbuck agreed that there should be no real reason for further concern. So I can at least report that Microsofts Security Essentials worked OK for me and continues to do so. Please remember also that no single antivirus can stop everything, there is new threats daily and even your AVG may not stop a new one, or even an old one that has been missed by the guys writing the malware data bases. Safe use of the internet is the best defence, and treat all with some suspicion. Even I should have been a little more careful of that website. Nev.

Hi again, OK, Is there any other warnings in device manager other than the Multimedia controller? In device manager, click the left hand arrow to expand the multimedia, then double click on the one showing a warning, then click the drivers tab. First try the update drivers. If no go, next try the uninstall, then reboot, Windows should find and install new drivers, or you may need to run the Creative sound card disk to install them if the media controller is part of the creative stuff. to try ruling out the Creative card, have you tried the original on board sound by removing the card? Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. The strange crack that brought your sound back, sounds like it may be a connection problem possibly in the PCI slot your sound card is fitted into. If you fitted it yourself, you will know it is easy to remove, once out, clean the contacts on the card, the hard, usually blue, end of a pencil eraser will do that as that end is slightly abrasive, wipe the contacts to make sure no residue from the erasor is left, then refit, see if that cures the problem. let us know and we can look at the Multimedia controller afterwards if the cleaning doesn't solve that one. Nev.

Hi Ray, sorry for being a bit late in reply, but the only concerns with Google Chrome that I remember seeing were about the usual Google lack of concern over privacy, if you need it to continue doing the work of downloading and installing stuff only, you can always uninstall it afterwards. Nev.

Hi, I agree with Ken as I did something similar last year, however in my case I did know my ex laptop drive was IDE and therefore bought an IDE caddy, which is exactly as you describe the long strip of connectors in the caddy you bought, by your description of the hard drive this is indeed a SATA drive so you need to swap the caddy for a SATA one. Nev.

Try the drivers from the Radeon site as they should be up to date for W XP SP3. If still no good then the card must be the reason and not drivers. Nev.

Nothing to do with computers, but does help to keep sanity while using one, I bought a new one of these for Christmas. http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/plasticpig/Falconpipe.jpg Nev.

Hi, Yes that is your Crucial scan OK, and you are right, for some reason they say they identified your motherboard, but don't tell us what they found. Not to worry, download and install Speccy as per Kens link, once installed and opened it will tell you, and hopefully us, the motherboard you have and model number, plus a lot of other useful details should they ever be needed. Nev.

Just to add, most browsers can be set in a similar fashion to send downloads to a folder of your choice. It seems most of us create a new folder, if one doesn't already exist, in "Documents" or similar, and name it "Downloads" then set the browser to send downloads to that folder. Nev.

Hum, slight set back, for some strange reason the original touch screen monitor mentioned above will not work well with some aspects of the near screen edge controls in W8, so the guy in the shop is now looking into other makes and models. Nev.

Hi rather than trying the video card yet, you do need to install service pack3 while the system and graphics are still stable on the original VGA system, it will have to go in at some point anyway, in order to regain what little Microsoft support is still giving in security patches etc. Once service pack 3 is installed, then check the card out, who knows it may be down to some instability that service pack 2 or three has fixed, as also the current XP drivers for the card may also be geared up to work with SP2 or 3. See how it goes, if instability returns after that it can only be some coincidence that something on the card has failed around the time the original hard drive did. I know we all thought the card should be OK, but sometimes we can be wrong. Nev.

Ah, oh, and hi, I can see a problem in your last post, you mention scanning with Avast, and also scanning with the Microsoft Security Essentials. Are both program installed and running? If they are, they in themselves can conflict with each other and cause all sorts of problems, possibly those you are seeing. You should only ever have one anti-virus program installed and for those reasons, so you should uninstall one of the two, either Avast, or MSSE, personally I would remove Avast but that is just my opinion as I had problems with it and false positives in the past. Nev.

Hi, as for the web cam, I haven't even got a laptop with one, and the old laptop I had didn't either, but I sold that before Christmas. Might be best to start a new thread regarding the webcam, it will be picked up on by someone who does know about them as not having had one, I am not familiar with their controls. Nev.

Just in case Ken thinks eventually that it may be needed, do you have any rescue or system restore disks, or better still the original Vista disk. Hopefully we can get it right without a full reformat, but it would be handy to know you have, or not, got any disks of that nature. Also do you know if there is a recovery partition on that computer? ( a recovery partition is sometimes included instead of disks.) Nev.

Hi, OK the extra RAM will improve things a good bit but the stumbling block is the graphics which is ceertainly not useful for high end games, though lower spec games may be OK up to a point. However as you intend mainly photoshop use it isn't going to be too bad, though there may be some delays when you ask the program to do something complex. The Radeon HD 4250 is an on board and part of an overall chipset, so cannot be upgraded, however it will handle HD video and even Blueray. More information on it here= http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Radeon-HD-4250.29664.0.html The hard drive you have, although there is slightly faster spindle speed drives right up to 15000 rpm, there is a myth that they are going to be faster overall, it isn't quite true, to understand that try a read of this= http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ou/how-higher-rpm-hard-drives-rip-you-off/322 So, if we look at SSD drives, well yes they do access data much quicker but again for use with Photoshop, it isn't going to be much help if there is a bottleneck in the graphics chip. So basically leave that drive as it is is my thoughts. Just upgrade the RAM and get the best out of that and leave the rest well alone. Nev.

Hi, before going to the SSD rout why are you wanting faster operating speed, is this for games? If so can you let us know what type of game, or whatever other reason you are wanting to upgrade, it will help us better in our recommendations if we know more about what you wish to do. Running an SSD will improve start up times and quite a lot, however once things are up and running, considering most applications then are running from the RAM, it is only paging file use that is quicker. Also if some of the higher spec games are wanted, the laptop graphics are more important, and most laptops are not equipped with graphics up to high end gaming level. The graphics being on board, they cannot normally be upgraded. Let us know please what you are wishing to do, then we can advise better. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. The extra RAM taking it up to 8GB will make a difference providing the system is running 64bit. If only 32bit the RAM is already at its maximum of 4GB for that. As for upping the size of the hard drive, if it is of the same spindle speed, then the only difference it will make is more storage space available providing partitions are enlarged to match it. Doing so also means taking a full image of the existing hard drive, for reinstalling on the new bigger drive, if wanting to maintain all data and operating system. The only real way to speed up the hard drive side of the system is installing one of the newer SSD, or Solid State Drives, as I suspect the drive you have may be or be near to, the fastest available anyway. Hope that helps in understanding things, Edit to add, ken Posted while I was writing, however we both say similar things. Nev.