Plastic Nev

Hi Tom, watch out then for Darwen Brass, now moved up to third section. Up till last year I was playing second cornet with them but dropped out for personal reasons. Nev.

Hi again Tom, indeed do wait till someone with a bit better idea comes along before going the reformat rout, as I said earlier I am not at all sure on the partition resize business and why you can't at the moment. Obviously something is stopping it but not my strong point I am afraid, we can't know it all is my excuse ha ha. The idea of a reformat is the last resort not the first as yet. I hope someone can help further Tom. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Tom. Not too sure about the reason for why Tom, but something is ringing bells about MBR not being resizeable, but might be wrong on that, especially on the server editions of Windows so will leave that to someone who may know more. However If I am right, do you have the original install disks? It may be a case of a total reformat of the drive, then start again with a larger partition if you do have the disk or disks. As I say not sure, but if you have the disks it may be of help to anyone else helping you. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. If you can tell us the make and model number we can usually find the rest unless it is a home or specialist build. From the symptoms you describe it sounds like a hardware failure of some sort, although fans and lights come on it can still be the power supply as the important voltages are low for the CPU and other mainly electronic stuff. That part of the PSU can fail still leaving the higher voltages OK. If possible to do so, first thing to check is trying another and known to be working PSU. Nev.

Hi Joe. that does now indicate either hard drive or motherboard, or maybe even both. The only way to find out is to install a new hard drive and install Windows 7 on that. If all is OK, then the BIOS freeze was because it couldn't find a working hard drive. If the BIOS still refuses to go anywhere, it is most likely the BIOS itself, which is of course a part of the motherboard. It may well be the hard drive or motherboard beginning to fail which was behind all your trouble in the first place, but hard to diagnose that in its early stages. By the way, is this your post on Cybertech? http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1237863#post1237863 Nev.

Glad you like it but cannot take any credit, it is just one of those funny GIF files you find on the web, so I stored a copy in Photobucket. Your post reminded me I had it. Nev.

And here is a more modern motorised version. http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/plasticpig/runawaytruck.gif

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help dollena. Is this a laptop? If so can you tell us what the make and model is please as I suspect he put one paw on the FN key and another paw on something else. Considering different makes have a different layout of function keys, we need to know the make and model to search out which function to turn off or back on. Nev.

And me too :) Joking apart, welcome and hope you like it here, after all, someone has to live in Manchester. I have to put up with being stuck in Blackburn. Nev.

Just to add here, I think that upgrade to Windows7 home premium from Windows7 starter may not work at all for you Jim. I will try to explain why. Windows 7 in all of its versions is actually installed already when any of the Windows 7 systems are first installed. The licence key upgrade path is only a path that opens up the next version that is already there and installed on the hard drive. Windows 7 Ultimate is the only version that actually needs a disk I think, but quoting from a probably corrupted by age memory on that one. So that means that considering Windows 7 hadn't been released or maybe even thought about when Vista first came out, it certainly isn't going to be installed already, to be opened up by just a set of numbers on a license key card. Sorry about that Jim, but I would be sending that key back, explaining you wish to have the full upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista. That does come on a disk and actually does over write the Vista system. You will find that is quite a bit more expensive if bought directly from Microsoft though. However, as already stated, first let's get the all clear from etavares before going further. Edit to add, I have found an article and tutorial on upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista, please note, it does say on the second page to insert the disk as that is the only path to upgrade from Vista. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/tutorials/352696/upgrade-from-vista-to-windows-7 Nev.

Hi is this on the same computer you are having trouble with the game? I am now a little concerned at such a high percentage, is this all the time or only when doing certain things? Also where are you getting this reading from, Task Manager or some other third party software? If you do not yet use Malwarebytes download, from here= http://www.malwarebytes.org/ hover your pointer over "Products" on the top bar, then select Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free. It will take you to a mirror site, that is normal. Once downloaded and installed use the update function then run a quick scan. If anything is shown or not, please copy and paste into here, the log that opens when it has finished the scan. Nev.

Glad the reinstall went OK, Has that sorted all the other problems you had Joe? A system restore is only the windows own restore system for minor problems and can only be of use if the operating system isn't corrupted. A full system image is basically a full copy of everything on your hard drive, that is the operating system plus all files and documents. That is usually stored on an external drive as a full backup should everything go wrong, including having to replace the hard drive should that fail. A system image is best created when the system is known to be OK and fully stable, as any faults or problems will of course be carried over into the image. Most images are created by using dedicated software, of which there is quite a few, some paid for, some free. One I am using and do a regular system image about once a month with it, is called Macrium Reflect. It is a free version I use, though they do try to push the paid for one of course. You do need an external hard drive, preferably of a similar capacity or higher than the drive in the computer. You also need a writeable disk drive on the computer to create a rescue disk, as to reinstall the image the computer is booted from the rescue disk which should be created at the same time as the first image is made. If no disk drive a USB flash drive can be used to create a rescue media providing the BIOS can boot from a USB port. If interested further let us know, myself or KenB both use Macrium, though as I say, there are others available, also free. Nev.

Hi, that is a new one for me! Try a right click on the black space and let us know what dialogue comes up please. Nev.

Hi Jim, there is one line a little worrying which is this= "C:\Users\crispin\AppData\Local\Temp\nsvC7B1.tmp\do wnloadmr.exe (Trojan.Repacked) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully." I never like seeing that "Trojan downloader" phrase, though MBAM may have killed the process, it may have downloaded other nasties such as rootkits that MBAM can't get. I suggest going to our malware section and let Starbuck or etavares have a look. Follow all on this page, then post the results, even if nothing wrong, it will put your mind to rest on it. http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/10689-Before-posting-for-Malware-Removal-help. Nev.

Hi, May be best to uninstall it, all instances of Java you find, then download and reinstall from here= http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp Just may have got corrupted.

OK, if it is general slowness, we are going to have to go the long rout, first is the check for malware, what security are you running Jim, I think from previous threads you may have some reasonably good stuff, run scans with them all if you haven't yet done so. If you have Malwarebytes post the log if it finds anything please. Nev.

Do you have a router as part of the set up? If so the main settings are in that, so as Techguy said, it should be straight forward enough. In fact, Windows should find it as new hardware and lead you through any minor things to set up. Best to disconnect it before using the recovery disk, once Windows has fully installed, then reconnect the router. Nev.

Hi, till someone with more games experience sees this, make sure the laptop is disconnected from the internet first, then turn off both firewall and antivirus just in case one or the other is blocking it. Nev.

Hi again Jim, I see no reasons in any of that for slowness, though I am no expert on network connections, KenB is the man for that. Is this general or just internet connection speeds as in time taken to open browser pages, download and streaming video etc. If download speeds only, have you checked your speeds try a test from here= http://www.speedtest.net/ Or another from here= http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/ Do not bother with any checks of windows for errors that may be offered, they are only adverts trying to get you to buy some sort of registry cleaner. Don't go in that direction. Nev.

Hi, I assume you have had the cover off and looked to see if there is any identification name or number on the board? If nothing obvious it may be a board made for HP. Try installing Speccy, that can sometimes find the details of the motherboard for you. Download and install Speccy from here= http://www.piriform.com/speccy you should see all the relevant parts listed on the left, just click on Motherboard. It will tell you all it can find about it. Nev.

If it is any consolation at all, so am I. I need that MIDI port for the keyboard, the type with white keys for normal, black for sharps or flats type of keyboard I mean!! Apart from M Audio who make a few PCI cards that may or may not work with W7 have a look here= http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.family&ID=PCIinterfaces my problem is my cheap and nasty Packard Bell machine only has PCIE ports, so can't find the right card for love or cash. Otherwise, The original makers of that sort of card, "Creative sound blaster" no longer make one suitable for W7. Nev.

Hi, Jim, open Speccy again, and on the left hand list, select the graphics section, see what it says in there, and just in case, look at hard drives underneath in case it meant that. Just might give us a clue then as at the moment I don't have any. Neither can I see why that should affect your connection speeds. However the network, if in the left hand list, might show something too. Nev.

As far as I can see, you are basically returning the computer back to the condition it was in when brand new to you. How did you connect it to the internet then? It should be exactly the same Joe.

OK, thanks, but please tell us what you found to be the problem, it may be of help for someone else. Nev.

From what little I can find out, you will have to first use a converter type program that will rip the video to your hard drive and store it in a suitable folder. It seems the Cyberlink PD cannot handle directly from the DVD disk. You can try the free DVD Smith Movie backup from here= http://www.dvdsmith.com/ Click on downloads or products at the top of the page, then select the "DVD Copy Freeware, then the DVDSmith Movie backup. If you find that the Cyberlink PD still cannot handle it, you may have to convert the file to something it can handle. In which case you would need AVC or "Any Video Converter" http://www.any-video...for_video_free/ Not too sure but AVC may also rip the video file from the DVD disk, which is something I haven't tried, but I do use both of the above programs for handling various video jobs. Edit to add, I now find you have asked this question on several other forums, I have answered on at least one other of them as well as here. Please do not ask the same questions on multiple forums as this leads to time being wasted by helpers such as myself at the very least, and also can lead to conflicting advice which may or may not lead to further problems. Nev.