KenB

Hi and welcome to ExTS Download Revo Uninstaller (free ) click here When you run it ( It will be in Start >All Programs > Revo ) it will list all installed programs. Click on P C Performer and then > Delete ( tool bar ) Select "Advanced" - this will remove all traces.

Another option is to take your hard drive out ( This is easy ) Connect it to an enclosure then connect this to your mum's laptop. We can run some tests from there. If your hard drive is SATA there is a cheap enclosure here: ( For the price this is excellent :) ) click here To help you decide if it is SATA or IDE http://kenspchelp.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=76

Hi again The system specs for your chosen Video card are: PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard 400 Watt or greater power supply recommended (500 Watt for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode) Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer tohttp://support.amd.com/us/certified/power-supplies/Pages/listing.aspx for a list of Certified products Minimum 1GB of system memory Installation software requires CD-ROM drive DVD playback requires DVD drive Blu-ray™ playback requires Blu-ray drive For an ATI CrossFireX™ system, a second ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 graphics card, an ATI CrossFireX Ready motherboard and one ATI CrossFireX Bridge Interconnect cable per graphics card (included) are required The important specs are in bold. 400Watt or better PSU At least 1GB RAM This answers your question relating to 504MB RAM. ( the module will be 512MB - 0.5GB )

3.2GHz is the clock speed. The Lenovo has a clock speed of 3.0 GHz ( not a great deal of difference ) What you have to take into account is the number of cores each CPU has. The Zoostorm has 2 cores. The Lenovo has 4 cores. Clock speeds and cores are confusing. 4 core CPUs are supposed to be faster than 2 core. I have read some articles that suggest the more cores the better. Other articles suggest that 2 core technology will beat 4 core in certain circumstances. The fact is that given the 2 processors and the same hardware ( RAM etc ) I don't think you would see any difference between the two for normal computing. The 4 core processor comes into its own when dealing with masses of data. Rendering 3D graphics, compression of DVDs into portable movie files, the compression of CDs into MP3s, etc. Multiple cores are, however, the way forward. More and more software applications will benefit if you have a 4 / 8 core processor. I hope this helps?

Do you have on-board graphics that you can try? ( another VGA connection at the back of your machine for the monitor to connect to )

Hi and welcome to ExTS Dell Dimension 5100 Your motherboard supports up to 4GB RAM. If you want to increase performance this is where to start. How much RAM do you have at the moment? Start > Right click on My Computer > Properties [h=2]Upgrading Graphics[/h]Your motherboard has 1 PCIe slot available. This is what you need for a decent Video Card. click here Problems Your system only has a 300Watt Power Supply. Most decent cards will require more than this, so it may be necessary to upgrade your PSU too. All of this is done at a cost. You have to ask yourself ......is it worth it on an old system ?

Is it exactly the same system i.e. Vista Home Premium ( If that is what yours is ) ? It must be exactly the same. If it is we can give it a try.

Hi again James, You may have malware on your system. Download MBAM from here: Click on Products > you want the free download http://www.malwarebytes.org/ Install > Update > Run it It will produce a log in Notepad. Copy this and post the log here. If the log shows anything one of our security experts will advise further.

Hi, Start > Run ....type in .....devmgmt.msc ......ENTER Click the + next to Display Adapters Are there any yellow exclamation marks or red Xs ? What is listed?

Hi, It doesn't look good. Do you have the original installation disk ? ( not recovery disks ) We could try a start-up repair.

Good to hear Bob. Perhaps the system thought it needed a longer holiday :)

Hi James and welcome to ExTS Try this: My Computer > Click on the drive letter for the external drive > Tools ( in toolbar ) > Folder Options > View Put a check in "Show Hidden Files and Folders" > Apply / OK Can you see your files now? If not ..... Go back to Folder Options > View Uncheck the box next to "Hide Protected Operating System Files" try again. If you still cannot see them go back and Check the box next to "Hide Protected Operating System Files" This could be the result of a virus / malware on the pc that may need further investigation.

Hi Bob, The problem most likely lies with the router itself. Try switching the power off - wait 30 secs - switch back on again.

This is good to hear :) Thanks for the link - interesting. I assume your new drive is not a Samsung ?

That sounds like a dry bearing. It could be on the hard drive or it could be one of the fans. Once you have all the data off the drive that you need try disconnecting the power to the hard drive and switch on. All fans will run. If the squeaking continues - it is a fan. If it stops - it is the drive.

Hi, The Acer ( 2310 ) has Frequency 2.9GHz The lenovo ( 2320 ) has Frequency 3.0Ghz They are both 4 core. There are a few other minor differences. There is very little to choose between the two. The 3.0GHz will be very slightly faster - but you will not be able to notice the difference. ================ I cannot see if the Acer comes with 64 bit OS. The Lenovo certainly does. The Lenovo comes with Office 2010 starter - which isn't a full Office version but is good enough for the majority of purposes. Lenovo 6 USB Ports ..............Acer has 9. Some of the USB Ports will be at the back of the machine. The Lenovo quotes a 7200 r/m hard drive. The Acer does not state the r/m ( this could be 5400 or 7200 ) 7200 r/m drives transfer dater faster than 5400 r/m drives. I hope you can use this to help you decide.

No - not possible. Drives fail. There is no guarantee and new drives can die as well as old ones.

Grinding noises could be a fan ......but coupled with clicking this does sound like a dying hard drive as Nev suggests.

Keep us updated. It is undoubtedly a hardware issue.

Taking the RAM out is a far better test. Let's try that first before we move on.

Hi, Desktop or laptop ? 2 Beeps could be linked to RAM. Take one out and run the machine on the other. Swap them over if the problem still exists.

Thanks for the feedback. Good to hear that your problem has been solved :)

Hi Yan and welcome to ExTS If you have specific software that you want on your new system then you need to know if it will be compatible with Windows 7 ( which will be the operating system on your new pc ). Windows 7 will come with either a 32bit or 64bit option. Again, you need to know if your favourite software is 64bit compatible. You mentioned RAM. The more RAM you have the better. However, you need to know that 32 bit systems can only recognise 4GB and will utilise about 3.5GB. The other 0.5GB will be allocated primarily to the Video Adapter if it is onboard. 64 bit systems can utilise much more RAM than 32 bit systems. If your choice of pc comes with 8GB RAM then you can assume that the Operating System is 64 bit. Regarding the choice of manufacturer. Any of the known brands are fine. I would stay away from lesser known makes. This is just my personal preference. Acer ; Lenovo ; HP are all fine. ( I have an Acer laptop ) Processors are confusing. Simply ...........the more cores ( generally ) the better, and obviously more expensive. i3 or i5 ? i3 is dual core and is generally considered a "budget" processor. i5 can be either 2 or 4 core. Basically, if you are looking at £400 systems you are more than likely going to get a 2 core processor. It will be a bonus if you can get a higher spec. If you are running a 64 bit system then the processor will be 64 bit compatible too. If you need more information - please ask :)

Hi and welcome to ExTS Which Printer do you have? I assume that you have a router with the desktop machine connected? What is the make and model of the router? If it is a router - Is it broadcasting SSID ( the router name ) so that other machines can detect it and connect wirelessly ?

Hi Sophiekat, Welcome from me too. http://images.zaazu.com/img/Welcome--welcome-hello-greetings-smiley-emoticon-000985-large.gif