KenB

I am away from home at the moment - will pick this up tomorrow if you add a reply here to remind me :)

Hi This is how data recovery companies sometimes get at your data. It is done in an absolutely dust free environment. This is why it is so expensive. If you take the disk out of the enclosure and get it contaminated it will not run. There is absolutely nothing to lose in trying but bear this in mind .... Why cannot the drive be seen in the first place ? If the disk surface is bad all you are doing is transferring the problem to a different enclosure.

XP will run with 256 MB. Some motherboards need 2 sticks in and it will run from 2 modules. ?? - quietly ?? no beeps at all ? I don't understand. 2 RAM = boots quietly ......but nothing on screen ? Can you explain in a bit more detail please what happens with 2 modules - then the other 2. Thanks.

When clearing dust you are best advised to use a can of compressed air in short bursts ( preferably outside ) Pay particular attention to the fans and vents and even underneath the motherboard - if this is accessible. This does sound like overheating. It could possibly be a RAM or PSU issue too. Try the RAM just 2 at a time.

That is good to hear - glad everything worked out for you :)

Hope you don't mind me poking my nose in ...... ? Just confirm please - you get a poor download speed at your house and your friends ? Click on Start > type in ....devmgmt.msc ....Enter Click the + next to Network Adapters. 1. What is listed ? 2. Are there any yellow exclamation marks ? =========== 3. Are you connected wireless or with a cable ? If wireless - what happens to your download speed if you use an ethernet cable ? 4. If wireless ...... Do you or your friend have a USB wireless adapter that you could use ?

Hi You are not going to find a decent PCI video card. The technology is old. If you have an AGP slot you may be able to find an AGP Video Card - this would be an improvement on basic PCI. EDIT ........ Is this your m/board ? [ATTACH=CONFIG]1736[/ATTACH] If so - these are the specs: Manufacturer: Intel ( OEM for Dell Dimension 3100 E310 ) Dell Compatible Part#: JC474 0JC474 WJ770 0WJ770 Socket: LGA775 Expansion Slots: PCI Express x1 x 1 / PCI x 2 Other Features: Hyper-Threading Technology Support Connectors: (4) USB 2.0 Ports, 10/100 LAN Peripheral Interface: (2) Serial ATA (SATA) Interface Other: One IDE Channel Supporting ATA-66/100/133 and One Floppy Port Video: Onboard Video Audio: Standard Sound Audio System Supported Memory: DDR2 Maximum Memory: 2 DIMM Support for up to 2 GB of memory Seems an odd set of slots: 2 x PCI no PCIe x 16 but 2 x PCIe x 1 and SATA No PCIe as you say - annoying !

Hi Do you have .Net Framework 3.5 ? If not - try downloading it from here > install then try to upgrade to 4.0 click here

Hopefully this will solve it for you :)

Give this a try: click here Not too expensive and will confirm if your adapter is playing up. It will cope with 150Mb/s There are different PCI options see here You would need to check which slots you have available on the motherboard. EDIT Just read reference to a laptop ........... You would be better off with the Belkin USB wireless adapter

Hi sandog and welcome to ExTS Do I ban you now ?? :)

If the drive cannot be seen we can't run any diagnostics on it. It looks like you will have to return it for a refund.

Hi Does it show up in Disk Management ? Start ...type in ...diskmgmt.msc ....Enter [ Disk 0 will be your SSD ] If it does show up there - does it have a drive letter?

Still suggest taking the RAM modules out - give the contacts a clean with a pencil eraser - and put just one back. Try booting up. If no go - swap for the other module and try with just that. Do you have another pc with a PSU that you can swap over to try ?

Hi and welcome to ExTS Your install gets part-way through then fails at KB956250 I am unsure if it is looking for this or trying to install it. Go here and download KB956250 click here Install this then try again with the .Net Framework 4

It sounds like a power problem rather than the fan itself as BreatGritain has suggested. If you have a volt-meter find an earth and use the positive ( red ) to check out each of the connections. There should be one giving you a reading. [you will need to do this with the mains adapter connected - so be careful :) ]

I MUST get my glasses changed - you were correct with this statement :) Why not - is this not your machine ? Is this why you are reluctant to take the RAM out and try them one at a time ?

With the drive connected to the second machine .... Start > type in ......diskmgmt.msc.......Enter Does the drive show up here? [ Disk 0 will be the hard drive on the machine itself ] Does it show up if you click on "Computer" [ again with it connected to the second machine ] ?

Hi Alex no problem - and you are welcome :)

It recognises it as a drive but not one that is formatted. Can you connect it up - without it being formatted - so that you can run some checks on the drive ?

Yes - they should do. Good to hear :)

Which OS do you have ? This sounds like a hard drive problem. Do you have an adapter or caddy that you can connect the drive up to and attach to another computer ?

The card has its own memory - this is what DDR2 / DDR3 refer to. It is not linked to the RAM on the motherboard. As long as you have a PCIe x 16 slot on the motherboard and the Video Card requires a PSU with 500Watts or less you are good to go.

What happened to the freezing computer ?

Jumping in here :) If this is Vista / Win 7 ( I know your profile says XP ) is there an option to "Repair your Computer" from the "Safe Mode" options ?