Plastic Nev

Hi, me again, LOL;) Rather than replacing the entire IDE cable, if there is a spare plug on the existing, I think you may be able to get a shorter extension in order to get that spare to reach where you want it, in fact I have found an extension cable here on Amazon= http://www.amazon.com/40-Pin-Male-Female-Extension-Cable/dp/B0055D9KMG May be all you need. Nev.

Just to quickly poke my nose in now all the security and OTL logs are cleared up, I see from them you are using AVG anti-virus, I am not too sure but seem to remember seeing an instability issue between AVG and Zone Alarm, though it may have been a different anti-virus program hence being unsure. It was some time since I saw this, but to prove it, try turning AVG off for a short time, preferably off line of course. Nev.

Hi Draco my old mate, I actually have a similar problem as I would like to plug in the MIDI controller keyboard I have. Like you, I can't find a card either, and USB input still has too much latency for playing music off the keyboard. I was actually going to start looking at the possibilities of using the port or ports provided with a graphics card instead, but have yet to research that. Hopefully one of our gaming members may know a little more on that, at least for sorting your Joystick input, sorting my music input may be a different story.;) Nev.

Hi Simon, Thanks for the further information, if the accounts were still intact, it must have been a repair install the tech did for you. Sometimes called a Windows repair, but it actually does re-install the full operating system, but leaves all data intact, including separate accounts. That does explain a little, and of course a full reformat couldn't have been done without losing all that data. Unless you can live with the problem, I would be asking the guy if it would be possible to do it again in the hope that it will sort it out for you. The second account, your wife's, could be deleted and then recreated, which may or may not solve it, but all her stuff would need to be backed up. Windows will ask you if the second accounts data needs to be kept and should put a folder on your desktop containing it, but under the circumstances I wouldn't be trusting it to do so correctly. Hence back it all up, preferably onto an external hard drive perhaps. Otherwise, I don't know if there is another way, hopefully Ken may have a trick up his sleeve as he knows a good bit more than I do. Nev.

Hi, yes it must be a bit frustrating. I have since tried all ways to recreate your problem in order to see if there is a fix, but cannot. I either get the screen as the screen shot, or the correct welcome screen if I re tick the box for it. I think perhaps we could do with some more information regarding the re-install of Windows XP. First is why was that done? Secondly, was the hard drive fully reformatted before the install, or did you just let the system look after itself as it went through the re-install? Thirdly, has your wife put in a password for her account, and was that account created after you had created your own account or before it? My feeling now is the not uncommon missed, or very slightly corrupted file during the re-install. Sometimes the only answer is another re-install. Nev.

Hi Simon, I had a look into this myself on my own laptop (XP) and working with Ken here, wonder if you see this when you first boot up, or does it just go straight to your normal screen. http://i48.servimg.com/u/f48/14/68/69/96/sam_0910.jpg Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. OK I mean do this on the present external monitor. Right click on a spare space on the screen, choose properties, then the tab "Settings" in that window it should show the two screens, numbered 1 and 2. At the moment 2 should be the one in use. Click on the number 1 screen, can you now place a tick in the box for "Use this device as the primary monitor"? Nev.

As well as that good but simple one from Ken. For an all round and best of all free converter that can convert just about any media file to a different and usable format, try Adapter from here= http://www.macroplant.com/adapter/?utm_source=Adapter+(PC)&utm_medium=desktop+app&utm_campaign=Adapter+(PC)+1.0.3.0 I have used this for video conversion as well as sound and does an excellent job. If you haven't already got the Microsoft .Net framework 4 installed, it will download and install it as it needs that to work. Nev.

Hi Curtis and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Help and learn is what this forum and most other computer help forums is all about. Also good luck with your studies and exams. Nev.

As mentioned a scan with antivirus, and also a scan with Malwarebytes if you already have that, if not it can be downloaded from here= http://www.malwarebytes.org/ Click on the white "Download Now" button, after that you will be directed to a download site, which is normal, make sure you stay with the free version for the download. Remember to update them both before starting the scan. Be aware both a virus scan and a Malwarebytes scan can take some time, this is because the scan speed is limited by the USB speed and also in both cases the scans will be full, not quick scans. I recently used Malwarebytes to scan a friends drive using my computer, and Malwarebytes alone took nearly three hours, so just be patient while it scans. One of those times to get on with those little jobs you have been putting off for a while :D Or just relax . Nev.

Because it is actually starting to boot, I doubt there is anything wrong with the drive. Now we know there is little chance of the RAM being faulty, I suspect now it is nothing more than a Windows file corrupt or missing. That does mean that files and data can be rescued at a later date, if needed, just to hopefully reassure you. Nev.

Hi again, please be patient I received your PM, I do have other things on and I am like everyone else here, a volunteer. I have researched that file now and it is not a part of the NVidia graphics system and is actually a SATA controller driver, just made by NVidia. Without that we are struggling if you have no disks or cannot borrow, it may eventually be that you will need to go buy one. However if there are needed files and data, they can still be recovered, but you will need to remove the hard drive from this computer and connect it to another but working computer. To do that you will need either a USB adapter or an enclosure. You can then at least rescue documents, music, video, or other files and data off that drive for now. After that you will need a disk as there is virtually no way to reinstall that driver without a working SATA controller. There may be other members, or staff, have other idea's to try, so please wait for someone else to see this. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, can you get into safe mode? F8 from start up? If so you just might be able to run a system restore from there. Or, while on the first page, try "Last Known Good Configuration" I am a little puzzled about why the system won't boot if only graphics drivers missing, I feel there may be other files corrupted or missing. If so, do you have a full Windows XP disk, not recovery or restore disks, or can you borrow one? It must be the same as your present system, for example XP professional, and if you installed service pack 3 it must have that as well. If that is possible a windows repair can be performed. If not, there are other options, but let us know what you have or can borrow first. Nev.

Hi again, lets keep to one thing at a time and try the RAM first. Remove all first and see what happens, the computer won't run, but does it stay stable at the point where it gets to finding no RAM? Next put one stick in and try again, it should boot then but possibly run slowly, is it stable though? try each stick one at a time and see if there is one with a different result from the others. Let us know what you find. Nev.

Hi if all these laptops are Vista originally it is most likely the drive or drives, and the enclosure, will be SATA or Serial ATA, (that should be on the label on the drive). Older drives, typically XP systems are IDE type. Good idea to relax with the wine for tonight, see you later tomorrow. Nev.

Oh well, not to worry, but that disk is not to be trusted as we don't know whether it is a recovery disk, such as the one you would make yourself when the computer is new, or the worst case a pirated copy of Vista. We have to assume it could be a pirate so we have to advise to ignore it until you can verify with the original repair shop as to exactly what it is. Considering all we have done so far and the fact you have an enclosure that will hopefully work using your hard drive, that is the way to go next as it is possibly the simplest. Most laptop hard drives are fairly easy to remove, and are usually under a cover or plate on the underside, usually with a disks symbol on it to indicate the hard drive disks. Some covers have only one screw, some two, depends on model and make. Please let us know how you get on or if any questions you need answering before going further. Nev.

Thanks for the update and glad you got it where you want it. Don't forget we are here for any other computer problems, we are glad to help. When someone says thank you, is all we ask. It actually makes my day, so thank you too. Nev.

OK, I think now is the time to follow the next bit of Kens advice which is to remove the RAM sticks as shown in the photo Ken Posted. Do everything he suggested in that post regarding the RAM first, if still no real result, then we will have to go further, possibly with the hard drive and connecting to another computer. Though Ken may still have other suggestions when he comes back to us. Nev.

Have you tried the monitor in that port now that the graphics card is out? It would be blocked due to the graphics card being in place, the system will have been set to use the card not that VGA port. However if Windows has fully booted, it should have recognised there is no card, and turned on that port by loading at least basic drivers for it. Nev.

Hi Morag, First can you tell us exactly what is on the label of that disk please, or if possible post a photo of the label would be even better. The hard drive caddy should work providing the drive in this laptop is SATA, it may not be recognising the drive now in it (If one is) if that drive is a dud. The important thing at the moment is the disk you got, if it is a full Microsoft Windows Vista disk, that could be good news. Nev.

Gently rock the card end to end, no more than about 2mm, and pull upwards at the same time, the socket they plug into is quite a tight fit. Beware there may also be a couple of cables plugged into the card from the power supply, remove them as well if they are there. Nev.

Hi, are you sure it did at one time make a beep at start up? some motherboards don't have the little speaker to make that beep fitted in the first place. However if it did beep, one short beep is nearly always the signal that the BIOS has found everything to be in order and will continue to load the operating system. Next a little help for removing the graphics card from the pictures shown in the link to the HP Pavilion. scroll down a little to the view of the ports, the tab bent at a right angle on the left of that view, and is the top of the card, is where the fixing screw is, the tab on the right just goes into a slot at the bottom. Once you have the graphics card out, plug the monitor in to the port where I have put a red arrow here> http://i48.servimg.com/u/f48/14/68/69/96/pav_mo10.jpg Hope that is of help. Nev.

Hi Christian, I can answer questions one and three, in looking up that processor I found this useful review site and comparison chart, if you look at the chart you will see that the 3930K is a better performer than the 2670qm and cheaper, OK it is American dollars mind. http://community.futuremark.com/hardware/cpu/Intel+Core+i7-2670QM+Processor/review As far as the RAM question 3, the quoted 8GB at DDR3 is more than good enough for most video editing with a decent and fast processor, granted the 2670qm can be clocked up to over 3Ghz, the 3930K should be better. As for question 2, I am no graphics or gamer expert, but on the surface it looks good, but laptop graphics traditionally have been poor, though they are catching up. I will leave that for someone better placed and with more graphics and gaming knowledge. Nev.

Ever had one of those “oh $*#@” moments when you've finally finished filling out a long form, and hit submit only to see an error message? And when you hit the back button, the form was blank? Or written a very long reply on here and then hit the wrong key and found it has vanished? This little bit of software is an autosave for Firefox, I have needed it on more than one occasion, and has been a real time saver, no need to try to remember everything and write it again. http://lazarus.interclue.com/ I am not sure how far advanced it is, but they have a beta in development for other browsers, so eventually Internet Explorer or others may be covered. Nev.

Glad to hear all is working again and thanks for letting us know. (Sorry about the log in problems, we don't as yet know the reason why this happens now and then) Nev.