Plastic Nev

Hi again, this is very puzzling, so considering it all starts from the hard drive failure, lets go back to that and what exactly happened at that point. I am a little concerned now that there is a hardware problem, but without knowing what happened when the hard drive failed, it is hard to say what. Nev.

Well now it is the first day of 2013, I can let you into this very bad Christmas cracker joke. For any people you may know who are the naturist type that like walking around with no clothes on, I do hope you wished them a Happy Nude Year. Nev.

Hi, unless there is definitely something wrong with the graphics card, which I actually doubt, it is pointing at a missinstall of either the Windows XP itself, or perhaps the motherboard drivers, which may be either not properly installed or perhaps not the correct ones. I assume that as yet no data has been put back or at least is backed up elsewhere. Don't as yet do this as it is a last resort, as there may be other things to try first. However, it may be a case of going back to a reinstall of Windows, then being sure you have all the right drivers, including the drivers for the network adaptor, as a lack of drivers for that could be the issue with no internet connection. Once you are sure about all the drivers, and they are the correct ones, then install them again. Nev.

Hi again, just one thing comes to mind, have you tried a system restore back to a time that was before the problem started? Nev.

Hi Tom, That is a blow, it does mean something is corrupt if that didn't work. I am out of idea's, wait and see if Ken has anything further. Nev.

Hi, I have been looking round and found to my surprise there doesn't appear to be a direct keyboard short cut that is equivalent to a mouse right click. However with some experiment I have found something that might get you into the command prompt as administrator without the need for a right click. Here is how to do it, First click the start orb, then type in the search bar the cmd you should then get the search window with the cmd.exe at the top of the page. Normal left click on the cmd.exe line and hold down, then drag the pointer off and down, you will see a small cmd type image drag with it, that is normal, once actually clear of the cmd.exe line, then let go of the left click button. (Doing that makes sure the cmd.exe line is selected for the next thing to work) Move the pointer back to hover over the cmd.exe line, do not click, instead press the shift key and F10 together, that should then open the box to select the "Run as administrator" command. Then follow advice as given by Ken above for starting the sfc /scannow. Let us know if that works for you. Nev.

Hi, Edit to add, follow Kens advice first, that may be the answer anyway. (He posted while I was writing). It is good to see that MBAM didn't find anything, but have you also run a scan with the MS Essentials? You don't get a log with that but it will tell you if it finds anything and it puts it in quarantine. After the scan has run, click the history tab, that will show you what if anything has been put in quarantine. Considering that Malwarebytes did not find anything, is no guarantee there isn't still something lurking. After that, I must ask are you fully up to date with all of the Windows Vista updates, and is it running the latest service pack, which I think from memory is SP2? Nev.

Not yet here or fully paid for, but I do have this on order via the local dealer. http://www.iiyama.com/gb_en/products/prolite-t2250mts-1/ It may depend on availability so may not finish up with this as the deal is left open ended as to obtaining a touch screen and left it with the guys discretion. I know him reasonably well, as well as the fact the business itself has a very high reputation for being one of the best in the area. So hopefully will be this one, but if not available then one that is as good. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Glad to see you sorted the problem yourself and thanks for letting us know, it may prove useful for someone else. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Looking at the specifications shown, the only difference I can see is a small one in read/write speed, but in comparison a large one in price. For what you would notice, I doubt the extra speed which is only 10Mb/s I think you are best staying with the lower priced 830. and save yourself the £40 difference. I doubt even a heavy game player would see any difference as their main criteria are the graphics card, amount of RAM, and processor speeds. Nev.

Just try removing all plugs from the CD/DVD drive first and see if it boots up then. If so by all means obtain a new one, but if it still doesn't boot with cables disconnected, it may be another issue. Better to find out now before going and buying a new disk drive to find the problem still there. Nev.

Good news to hear and thanks for letting us know that it has worked out well for you. Nev.

Hi, that disk you loaded is it one that has been used on another computer, or is it the disk you got with the laptop? Whichever it is it is likely to be not legal, especially as you used the key for the laptop. I would consider and recommend you to go and buy a full new copy, there are still some knocking about, possibly Amazon or even E Bay. As it stands, until we know you have a legal install, we cannot help further. You also mention Linux, I recently tried Linux Mint, it is very similar to Windows in layout, if you choose that there will be no problems with legality or copyright issues that you will have with the Windows. As to the drivers, they will be different and according to your motherboard, you will need to search the motherboards manufacturers site for the relevant drivers. Ancillaries such as DVD/CD drives Windows will install them once you have a legal copy installed, but you may need the drivers if you choose a Linux operating system. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. From your description, it looks to me the power supply might just be giving trouble at starting up, and is the cheaper option any way as far as replacement goes. Any chance you can borrow one from a friend perhaps just to check that out? Have you also checked both the start button itself and the wiring from the button to the motherboard? Disconnect it from the motherboard and try starting up with a short linking bit of wire across the motherboard pins and see if it starts up every time. That will at least rule out the button and wiring. The odd freeze now and then though could be one of many things other than the PSU, but if you want to pursue that, we can look at it later once we nail the start up issue. Nev.

Good to hear that and thanks for letting us know. Nev.

Hi Steve, which activeX is reccomended and where were you trying to download it from to get this included rubbish? In most cases stuff like unwanted toolbars etc, it is just a matter of removing ticks from boxes during either download or install. Nev.

Hi, just to confirm, you did say you have had the motherboard out of the case and tried with everything except power connected, then moved on from there, even a new board sent. It is very confusing as it should do more than what you are getting, have you checked that all power connections are on and in the correct places? did the motherboard come with a drivers disk and have you tried running that? You would need the hard drive connected and fully reformatted first I think for that. Otherwise I am stuck. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Is this your computer? http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&prodSeriesId=5035320&prodTypeId=12454&objectID=c02806454 I am afraid that if you installed Windows 8 straight in, then Windows 7 will have been written over by the new Windows 8 installation and cannot be recovered. However, when you first got the computer did you either get recovery disks with it, or were you prompted to make your own system recovery disk? If so did you make that disk? If you have either a manufacturers disk or a self created disk, you can re-install Windows 7, however it will be back again to factory condition so all data will be lost. So you would need to back up all data to somewhere else, such as an external drive of a big enough capacity first before using those recovery disks. If you have a disk, or perhaps created a recovery flash drive, go to page 18 for instructions on how to use it in this manual here= http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02791831/c02791831.pdf Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. The registry fix you mention is applicable to Windows 7 providing the upper and/or lower filters are present. In some systems and some makes of DVD drive they are not, or sometimes only one filter either upper or lower. It is just a matter of deleting those filters and then rebooting as windows will install fresh uncorrupted filters on reboot. To save me typing, have a look at this page, scroll down it till you get to the Windows 7 parts. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060#win7fix First try the Windows devices trouble shooter as explained here= http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Open-the-Hardware-and-Devices-troubleshooter If that doesn't work, then try the registry fix if you are happy with working in the registry. If you want to back up the registry first, obtain and download the Erunt registry backup, ask us if that is needed and we will find you the link for Erunt. If the upper and lower filters are not there to start off with, as I said earlier they may not be, or the fix doesn't work any way, then it looks like the CD/DVD drive may have failed totally and may have to be replaced. Nev.

To add to RandyL's advice, all video editing tools are resource hogs and you do need enough RAM for them to work well, if not you will find the system freezing for some time or all together while it tries to process whatever you ask it to do. With a file that has turned out to be as big as you say, you do need to break it up into chunks first. It might even be worth looking into general file splitting software, originally intended for breaking large files into smaller manageable sizes for sending in E Mails, I don't know for sure as I have never needed to try it, but one of those might work in this case. Nev.

OK, what I am asking is what is connecting the two computers, is it just a cable of some sort, is it wireless, or a cable from each going into the ports on a router, or something else, we do need to know that to advise what to do next. Nev.

Hi, OK somehow or another we have to get into the BIOS, can't get further till that is sorted out and it is made to boot from the disk drive anyway. Unfortunately there is no standard key to press for all the different makes of motherboards and the BIOS system installed on them. The right key to press can be any one of many so providing you have an idea at least of which BIOS is fitted or installed, have a look at this page and you may find which key will get you into the BIOS. It may even be a trial and error till you get the right one, so best of luck. http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/a/biosaccess_pc.htm Nev.

Hi, can I ask are you plugging the keyboard into a PS/2 port, not a USB one? At this point a USB port cannot work until BIOS is set up to accept USB input, providing that is an option in the first place. If you are using a PS/2 port ignore the above. Secondly, Ken is correct, although it may actually be necessary to have the hard drive connected once you have got into the BIOS, the original OS Windows 7 will refuse to boot as it is seeing an entirely new environment. If it had been XP, and providing a disk was available a repair could have been carried out to get the XP to run, however with Windows 7 you will need to do a fresh install, which will need a full Windows 7 disk any way. Nev.

I am wondering if a different approach might work if you cannot get access to the camera's directly from home through the DVR unit. What I am thinking about is to first leave the camera's connected to the works computer with that computer turned and left on. Next is to set up remote access being allowed into that computer and set it up to allow your home computer to access it. From home you can then navigate round the works computer to find the connection to the camera's. Is that something that may be possible? Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. How are you connecting the two machines? Is it through a router or other means? I am no networking expert but answers to that question will be of help to someone who is. Nev.