Plastic Nev

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. I am afraid it will require both connections replacing, if a moulded on connector the cable itself will need replacement, the connector on the PC may well be soldered onto the power supply internally, so considering that these all in ones are a nightmare to dismantle, I am afraid it may be best to take it for professional repair. Nev.

Hello and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Joe, your in the next town to me, I am in Blackburn, a lovely old demolition site as some would have it. Nev.

If you are struggling for drivers, I did find a Windows 7 64 bit driver download on the HP site here :- http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/readIndex?sp4ts.oid=238321&swLangOid=8&swEnvOid=4063 If the driver will load and run the printer from the W7 64bit machine, I am hoping that it will then see the printer once it is back on the network. If not and it is a definitely has to print from that W7 64bit, it may have to be connected individually, as and when needed. Otherwise it means transferring a document for printing over the network to a machine that can use the printer. Not ideal I know but is a work round. Nev.

Hi, can you tell us what make or makes and models are the printers, also what operating system are the 32bit computers, make and model of them might help too. As a suggestion till we know. Isolate the Windows 7 64bit computer from the network and the printers temporarily, then search it for any printer drivers or software and uninstall it. Then try to install the 64bit driver you got from HP. Once the driver is installed, or during the process of installation when it tells you to connect the printer, connect the printer directly with a cable, not before. See if doing it that way will work. Nev.

Hi Dale, I have asked Armageddon (Dave) to step in as he knows Windows 8 and 8.1 better than I do. The second product key I am not sure if it is actually needed as the key you first bought should cover the system as it is. However Dave should be able to let you know. The main problem at the moment is system files missing, so they may be the reason for the memory test failure anyway, I doubt there is any hardware problems. Nev.

Thanks Dave, that is one I didn't know about, I was first going to try a refresh if a recovery partition is there, however that method as you gave may do the job. For Dale, please follow Daves idea first, please also note again the spaces before the forward / slash if typing that into the CMD with admin window. Nev.

OK Dale, thanks for the report and it is as suspected some corruption of Windows. Unless someone else can jump in, I am not available till possibly some time tomorrow afternoon, (I have a hospital appointment in the morning) However I hope to be able to give you instructions for downloading a full version of Windows 8.1, how to then copy it to a USB pen drive as a boot drive, as you said you don't have a disk drive. Because this system is a build, it is unlikely that there will be a recovery or rescue partition, though that can be found out if the guy who installed Windows for you included one. Then lead you through a repair install of the Windows operating system. In the time betwen now and then, make sure you have everything backed up to some other media, an external hard drive, a large USB drive, or similar, as a just in case the repair goes wrong and everything has to go back to factory original settings. Because of the delay, if anyone else can jump in here and help, please do so. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Chris. Please note we don't allow advertising of business' here. Links are normally only allowed for none profit or voluntary work reasons. Please check rule 9 here :- http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/11463-New-to-Free-PC-Help-Forum-Rules#.VQnju-GPOSp Nev.

Providing the Windows key that you bought is a genuine key, you do not need to go buy a disk Dale. If we need it, which will be a last resort any way, I will explain how to be able to then use they key to obtain the legal download, and burn it to a disk or a USB thumb drive of your own. OK till you get home from work Dale, no rush here. Nev.

Hi, Firstly, the McAfee is OK, just about, though a shame you didn't ask here first as there are a few good free antivirus and firewall software available that are just as good as that one and it certainly isn't regarded as one of the best for paid for antivirus. However now you have it, let it run the length of its subscription, which I assume is for a year, then you can look for something else. I will recommend that you also install the free version of Malwarebytes, that is a stand alone general antimalware software that will catch and stop the stuff McAfee or even other antivirus won't. It is only active when you open it and run a scan of your computer, so therefore does not conflict with other antivirus softwares. You can download and install it from here :- http://www.malwarebytes.org/ Click on the orange Free version download button. Once installed, update it to be sure it has the latest definitions, then run a full scan, that will take some time but will make sure there is no problems that the McAfee might have missed. After that, the usual advice is to run a quick scan once a week, and every so often run a full scan. You didn't say or answer my question about having the Windows disks as we might need that later, however I received word from my colleague who like me doesn't think there is a malware problem and in fact it looks like your problem is a corrupt Windows file, so we need to see if that can be fixed with a system file check. I see you are running Windows 8.1, so you should have the start button on the bottom left, Please right click on it, a menu should open, select and click on Command Prompt (Admin) A window with a black background and white text should open, either copy and paste, or type in this line. sfc /scannow If typing it in, please note to put a space between sfc and the /scannow, then press the enter key on your keyboard. it will then start to scan your system for any faults and attempt to repair them. If it says that some could not be repaired, run it at least three more times as quite often it will repair them the second or third attempt. whichever result it gives, please let us know and if it has cured your problem. Nev.

Hi, indeed there are a lot of errors. They may be due to corruption of Windows itself, do you still have the Windows disk? Can you let us know which security software you have installed, antivirus, antimalware, and firewall please. Considering that Ken is now away for some time, and I am not too familiar with the Mini Toolbox logs, I have asked one of my colleagues to have a look who may be more familiar with it, and also may be able to spot if there could be some malware responsible. Nev.

That though is only reinforcing what we have known for a long time about C.Net download.com They are possibly the worst out there now, though other download sites do have their risks, so it is certainly best to read and check the content of every window that opens and whenever presented with the choice of a custom install, to actually use that custom install. As you already know Starbuck, getting rid of some of these PUP's after the fact, can be extremely difficult. Nev.

Hi again, the RAM and hard drive upgrade should be no problem, however, I cannot seem to find anything that suggests an upgrade of the CPU is possible or not, as that does depend entirely on what the motherboard can support. Being a laptop, they generally aren't very likely to support anything other than the series of CPU's they were made to match. Someone else may have better knowledge though! Nev.

Hi, sorry for the delay in reply to you and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help.. From what I can find, there is little choice in upgrade of the CPU, depending on which CPU you have now as from the manual there seems only three types or sizes can be fitted anyway. Have a look here at CPU and chipset for the 5733 http://www.manualslib.com/manual/232546/Acer-Aspire-5333.html?page=15#manual As you said, you can upgrade the RAM memory to 8GB, use Crucial to scan the computer and get the best recommendation of RAM to match what you have so you know what you will need if buying elsewhere. http://www.crucial.com/ While on that site have a look at SSD drives, depending on the size of drive you have already, you need either the same or larger, just look for one of a reasonable price and manufacture. You don't have to buy from Crucial just use their figures as a base to work from. In theory any SSD drive should be able to replace the existing one.

Those sites are OK if only a one off conversion is needed, however to have a program installed is better if needing more, plus AVC also has the ability to download and convert web video's, Youtube and others if wanting to have your own copies. Glad you are sorted any way. Nev.

Hi, one of the best free video converters and capable of converting almost any type of video to any other is AVC. You can download it via their own website which actually takes you to C.Net, which is now well known for bundling other unwanted software so I looked round and found the next down the list is from FileHippo. Once downloaded, start the install and be careful to read every page, when you find the one that gives you the choice of "Express" or "Custom" install, please choose the "Custom", it is then that you will see the two check boxes for junkware, unless of course you want the junkware, remove the ticks. Download from here :- http://filehippo.com/download_any_video_converter Once you do have it installed, click on the gear wheel icon for options, then use the browse button to choose where the converted video will go to. Otherwise it can be difficult finding just where the converter sent it. I think its own default is in a folder inside the program files, which can be a pain to get to. Nev.

Hi Xolono, If you mean the software you downloaded is a cracked copy, we cannot help in any way, I draw your attention to rule 4 in the forum rules here :- http://extremetechsupport.com/threads/11463-New-to-Free-PC-Help-Forum-Rules#.VPNikeGPOSp Further to that, you are risking getting your computer compromised as hacked or cracked software is now a big target for the malware writers. Nev.

Hi Graham, thanks for the update and I do think you were correct as I was a bit concerned about the slightly high temperature that speedfan showed us earlier. Temperatures are fine now. Glad also the BIOS showed the correct voltage, as good as Speccy and other software might be for some purposes, it quite often shows wrong voltages, hence why we asked for the BIOS reading. (Speccy doesn't even show the 12 volt rail on mine!!) If everything is now all in order and no more problems we can call this solved. Nev.

Hi, have you tried a system restore back to a time before it went wrong? It may be due to a Windows update as I recently got an updated driver for my system, which first of all didn't install though it wiped the original driver, so I then had to search for a new driver. That worked but my N.Videa control panel vanished, so I still have to try a system restore myself. Nev.

Hi George, there is also the chance that the more simple hardware that was made for XP may also work, however it is a suck it and see situation as there may not be drivers available if not plug and play type stuff. An example of that will be some makes of printer not having drivers available, which is a well known one. Very simple stuff such as keyboards and mice have no problems of course, as the same standards have been kept to since long before XP and all the way up to the beta of Windows 10. Nev.

Basically yes George, and these days new hardware will be compatible with Windows 8.1 as well. However older hardware may also work with at least Windows 7, especially if it is compatible with Vista. Nev.

If he does have a DVD drive and most of what he needs to keep is documentation, indeed he just needs to gather it together and put it on a DVD disk, if he wants to add or delete stuff, a rewritable DVD may be enough as they are usually OK with simple data, and do have a lot more space available than an ordinary CD. Document type data takes up very little space in any case. Nev.

Hi Bob, if your friend has or can buy an external hard drive and hopefully a disk drive to burn a rescue CD, you can at least make a full image backup using Macrium as described in the previous thread which you did for yours. As I said in that thread, you can make full backups on a regular basis depending on his use, if for example he is like you doing lots of photography, then a backup fairly regularly, if on the other hand, only using it for internet use and mail then it doesn't need to be quite as frequent if not much data is being collected and stored. Some will recommend keeping the very first image as the one to fall back to should everything go wrong or other backups aren't successful. However the next backup is only needed to be kept till another backup is made and then delete the previous one, or at most keep the two most recent backups. For incremental backups which are really only needed if data is constantly being added, changed, or deleted daily, in which case an incremental backup at the end of each day. Something like a business where things are constantly changing is where incremental backup is best. That sort of backup only adds the new stuff to the main backup each time it runs. Macrium can do it I think, however I am not sure about how to set it up or it might only be available with the full paid for version, you may be best to read what Macrium have to say about it if incremental backups are required as I haven't done any or looked into it. Nev.

Hi Roy, I have merged the two threads as everything seems to be connected. Can you tell us please the make and model and if desktop or laptop computer. To be quite honest, the fact that it starts up as soon as the mains power is turned on sounds very wrong, and if a desktop it sounds like a mother board or power supply fault. Add the other problems including crackly or bad sound, there is a very good case here for sending it back under warranty. We are usually not too keen to advise any attempt at repair or fault cures while a machine is still under warranty, as there is the likelihood of breaking that warranty when it is a possible hardware fault, which could possibly leave you with a big repair bill if we can't help fix things. Nev.

I will try to remember that when I get a http://i38.servimg.com/u/f38/14/68/69/96/a_roun10.jpg