KenB

As I said - they are not always listed. Try the FixIt from here: click here

Hi Liam and welcome to ExTS You are running a card at the moment with an "under-powered" PSU ..... and to all intents and purposes it is running OK. This suggests to me that you are not stressing the card at all. If you are upgrading for a specific purpose - to play games for instance - then this would stress the card more. It really depends on what you intend to do on the PC. My usual advice is, if the manufacturer suggests 400 Watt minimum, go for 500 Watts ........just to be on the safe side.

OK - if the wired ( USB ? ) mouse works then we can take it from there. You could try re-installing the drivers for the mouse. Presumably it came with a CD ?

I really must wear my glasses :) Although - theoretically - your system should be capable of 54Mb/s this is a theoretical value. The true value is often half of this. Also: If the network cards are not compliant with the router then this could affect the transfer speed. Some routers are very fussy and function better if the network card is specified compatible. Some routers perform better than others. Also Hard drives can affect the transfer rate. Some older ones spin at 54,000 r/m and the later ones at 72,000 r/m If the XP machine is short of RAM this could affect the transfer rate too. It is probably a combination of factors.

Hi Alan / Nev I have been on the e-machines site and can find no reference to emachine 5250 There is a T5052 Could this be it ? Start > Run ....type in dxdiag ....ENTER You should be able to test sound here. You could take a look in the BIOS there may be an option to disable / enable sound. There is a hardware vendor detection link from the e-machines website Run this and see what it says re: audio device click here

Hi and welcome to ExTS When you get to the user login screen does it look like this: ( Geek is the main user ) http://cdn.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/image8.png If so the normally hidden "Administrator" account has been activated. If not ............. please let us know what is there.

Hi They are not always listed - but invariably are unless they have been removed. Did you locate this exact key and click on it ? {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Hi Kingsley and welcome :) You will need a working mouse to be able to navigate around XP. It is - sort of - possible using keyboard keys but you would be much better off with a mouse. See if you can get hold of a wired one and if that works we are in business. Get back to us either way.

Hi Kingsley and welcome to ExTS You will be right at home here - most of the team fit this description :) :)

Sometimes it is a simple fix :) Good to hear that you are now able to use the internet.

Hi I suspect the problem lies with the USB port of your XP machine. This is probably USB 1.1 TheUSB port on your Win 8 machine will be a much faster USB 2.0 or 3.0 The transfer speed of USB 1.1 will be somewhere between 1.5 and 12 Mb/s ..........so your 5Mb/s seems to indicate that this is what you have. By the way - XP is up to SP3 You could do with upgrading if you are going to continue to use the machine on a regular basis.

Thanks to DSTM for the link to this :) For the moment the 2013 version of the software ( Usually £35 ) is free to download click here You will need to provide a valid e-mail address for the product code to be sent to you. Not sure how long the offer lasts. Seems to work with Win 8 too :)

This could be explained if the router was set to disable "broacast SSID" However - If other devices can see the network this is odd ??? Check in the router settings ( I assume you know how to access the router software ? ) Check that the channel number is either 1 / 6 / or 11 If it is higher than 11 the pc may not be able to "see" the broadcast channel for you to connect to it. Try changing the channel number anyway [ use 1 / 6 or 11 ]

Good to hear that you got there in the end Jim :)

There are 2 lasers in the drive - one for DVDs and one for CDs. It could be that the laser for DVDs has been mis-aligned or damaged. You could try this: Remove upper and lower filters Start > type in .....regedit .....ENTER Click the > next to each of the following.... HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control Click on Class and you will see lots of keys similar to the one below {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} Find this one and click on it. On the right side you should see upper and lower filters listed. Right click on each > delete. Exit the registry and try again.

Hi try the following: Hold Windows key + C .....> Settings ( right side ) ....> Change PC Settings (this is at the bottom) Click on General ....> Under Refresh your PC without affecting your files, click Get started Follow the screen prompts.

Hi As Nev says - we cannot help you by-pass other web-site security. We would expect the same courtesy from any website too if somebody we had banned was asking the same question there. There should be an option to contact Admin when you are blocked. Use this to explain your situation. Be courteous and don't make false claims. Most Admin have seen it all before and if your situation is, as you say, a misunderstanding, you will be allowed back. However, trying to fool them into thinking that you were somebody else has not done your case any good at all. I think you would need to choose your words carefully when you explain this. Good Luck.

Hi, Disconnect all devices connected to the phone line ( Sky / extra phones / answer phone etc etc ) Connect only the router - if possible to the main junction box. Try again. Try swapping filters ..........try with no filter. If, by chance, you get a connection - put the other devices back one at a time. ( we also have to consider the fact that the router may have died )

I don't like telling members specifically where to spend their money. I can vouch for Acer because I have had 2. I know JellyBean does not have a good word to say about HP machines. If you are going to use the machine at home the battery life is not too important. For general purpose use both machines will be fine. I am afraid it is your choice :)

I assume this is for all devices connected by ethernet cable ? If so it is obviously the router. Can you access the router software? ( 192.168.0.1 in the address bar > hit ENTER ) Look for DHCP Server ................is this enabled ? ( Should be under Advanced > LAN or similar )

Hi Try ping 127.0.0.1 This is a loop-back .............to see if the computer can "talk" to itself. If this is OK try ping 192.168.1.1 If no response try ping 192.168.0.1 This will test to see if the computer can communicate with the router. There needs to be 4 packets sent - no losses. I think you have done this but just confirm for me please. Then: From the command prompt type .... tracert www.google.com (space after tracert ) Can you copy the trace and post it here please. =========== Can another computer connect using an ethernet cable ? When you connect with the cable does the LED light up on the router front panel - indicating the connection ?

This is the adapter that the ethernet cable would be connected to. If this is all that is showing - you have no wireless adapter software installed - hence no wireless connection with that laptop. Connect by the ethernet cable to the router. Start ....type in ....cmd ....right click on the cmd.exe that appears top left > Run as Administrator At the prompt type ....... ping http://www.google.com ( space after ping ) You should get 4 packets sent and received. What is the make and model number of your router ?

Sorry - I shoudn't have suggested it .............although it is possible to copy the log to a memory stick and post it from there. Looks OK Start > type in ......devmgmt.msc ....ENTER Click the > next to Network Adapters What is listed? Are there any yellow exclamation marks ? Can anything connect ? Another laptop ? Have you tried switching the router off for 30 seconds then on again ?

Hi and welcome to ExTS Let's check your system over for malware first as you say you had ransomware on it. Download MBAM from here ( the FREE version ) click here Install > Update > Run it. It will produce a log after the scan. Copy this and post it here. Have MBAM delete all that it finds. If there is anything in the log that needs attention one of our experts will advise further.

Sounds good. Have you had a look at Windows 8 ? It is totally different from Vista and Win7. It is either a case of liking it or hating it :)