KenB

You are welcome. Glad that it worked out for you :)

Let us know how you get on.

Hi, This problem seems to be associated with McAfee. If you have McAfee on your system this link may help: https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=kb57977

You will not be able to connect wirelessly if there is no adapter showing in Device Manager. You say that this is an upgrade from Vista to Win7. Have you been able to connect with Win7 installed or has the problem arisen since ? Did this machine have Vista as the original OS ? These wireless options are listed here: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/latit/en/spec_latit_d531_en.pdf I suspect this is a driver compatibility issue.

Hi and welcome to fpch. Start > Run ...type in .....devmgmt.msc....ENTER Click the + next to DVD CD drives Are there any yellow exclamation marks? Is the drive listed? If it is - try right clicking on the drive then update driver. If this fails ... Same process but uninstall Reboot. Your drive should be detected as new hardware and the drivers re-installed.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Start > Run ...type in ....devmgmt.msc .....ENTER Click the + next to Network Adapters. Are there any yellow exclamation marks ? Is there a wifi device listed? Is there a monitor icon bottom right of the screen ? If so - right click > Connect to a network. Can you see your network? Try connecting. Please answer all questions.

Hi, You may wish to try this link: Can You Run It? It may be the graphics card is not up to the job. As for making it slow .... If you mean that by loading the game onto the hard drive this will make the machine itself slow .... This should have no effect on the machine at all. You have a 320 GB hard drive. This game will only take up a small % of that.

Also ..... Start > Run ....type in ......services.msc .......ENTER Scroll down to Smart Card and check that this service is set to Manual or Auto It should not be "Stopped" or "disabled".

Hi, I am still unsure what "User PC" file / folder may be. Does this show up in D:\ drive ? If not it may be a hidden file / folder. see here Can you offer any ideas? Is it a file or a folder? If it is a folder - open it and see if you recognise anything inside. If it is a file - it is huge !! Did you run MBAM ?

Hi, If you are putting the card into an integrated card reader it should show up in Device Manager in "Disk Drives" - click the + ( this is where mine appears ). Start > Run .....type in .....devmgmt.msc ....ENTER This will get you to Device Manager. Do you have / can you borrow a USB card reader to see if your card can be read with that? http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41yn5jfDi3L._AA160_.jpg

Hi and welcome to fpch This should really have a thread to itself - perhaps one of the mods will split the topic. I would suspect not. Your drive filling up and running slow is not a reason that PC World, or whoever sold you the machine, would accept as just reason for replacement. How many Anti-Virus programs are you running? If you have more than one then you will experience similar symptoms. The same goes for Firewalls. Your system probably came with a "free" AV. Have you installed another too ? Windows Image Backup (93GB) This is, as the name suggests, a complete backup of your system installation. You can use it to restore Windows. MS recommend that you use an external drive ( 200GB ) for this purpose. Your image size is going to grow as your backup data grows. see here for more information: Back up and restore: frequently asked questions 66Gb - USER PC I am not a Win7 user so not sure what this may be. Is this just one file? ================ The slowness is probably not attributed to D:\. As already said - it could be 2 AVs conflicting. You could try running MBAM to see if you have any malware ( different from AV scan ) Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware: Malwarebytes Scroll down to the Free version. Install > Update > Run

Hi, Did you try this from Nev's post? In Safe mode CTRL + ALT + DEL ( all together ) will take you to Task Manager. Click on Services. Make a note of the Services that are listed. Reboot normally. Go to Task Manager > Services Note the extra services running. From the list of extra services running ( additional to the Safe Mode list ) right click on ALL extra ones and stop them. If your system runs OK then it looks like one of these stopped services is causing the problem. From the list of extra services .......right click and start half of them again. ( note which ones ). If your system freezes then the problem could be with one of running extra services. If your system runs ok ......start half of the remainder. ( again note which ones ) You are trying to locate a block of services ...then the individual service that is causing your problem.

Hi, Disconnect all external devices - printer etc. Take all cards off the motherboard except the Video Card ( if there is one ). Take the RAM modules out - clean the contacts with a pencil eraser - and replace JUST ONE module. Disconnect the DVD drive. If you have any secondary hard drives disconnect them too. You should now have just the basics for booting up. Try the system - if you still get the same problem try the other RAM module. If the system runs OK try swapping the RAM over. If it restarts now you have located the problem. If all is ok so far.... Put the hardware / connections back one at a time ( booting up after each one ) until the system reproduces the problem.

Before you spend money on a Video Card - have you tried the one you have on the games that you want to play? If you do decide that you need a new card - take a look here: Best PCIe Card: $100 To $170 : Best Graphics Cards For The Money: November 2010

I would like to add my thanks to Starbuck too. I know that he spends a great deal of his time helping people who are unfortunate enough to have picked up malware on their systems. Pete, you are a great asset to any forum. I have thanked you on a personal basis many times but it needs to be said publicly. Your skills are much appreciated and you are a thoroughly nice guy too. Keep up the good work. Ken

Hi, As J-B has suggested - your hard drive may well have died - or the section that contains the Boot.ini is corrupt. There could be numerous reasons for this. HAL.dll refers to the Hardware Abstraction Layer . This allows Windows to communicate with the system hardware. The "repair" involves using an XP installation CD. If you can borrow one ( it would need to be the same version of XP ) you could use this. If you connected the drive as a slave on another system ( relatively easy to do ) you could check the drive to see if it was a hardware problem. I would suggest that this was the way to go - at least you would know if you needed to buy a new hard drive or not and you may even be able to get at your files to recover them ......even though you say they are not needed :)

Hi, You could try this link first: Intel® Driver Update Utility (assuming that your post re. Intel video is correct) This will scan your system for Intel devices and update the drivers. If this fails it may be a good move to try a cheap(ish) Video Card in the PCI ( ? ) slot.

You are a master of understatement Starbuck :)

Hi and welcome to fpch Try booting up with the battery removed and only the power supply connected. Can you boot up in Safe Mode? Constantly tap f8 ( about once per second ) after switching on. Which Operating System are you using? Do you have the installation CD / DVD ? or Recovery Disks ?

What a can of worms we have opened here :) I was all for giving this guy the benefit of the doubt ( ignorance of youth ) as I deal with his age group on a daily basis - but as J-B has done such a good job of research I have jumped off the fence !! Chris, At 17 you may think that after playing with computers for 5 years or so you are some sort of expert. "Very Experienced" - I think not. Believe me, compared to some of the folks here you have only just begun to scratch the surface. I can understand, to a certain extent, your arrogance. I work with your age group. You are brought up to believe that you can achieve anything and that you will never fail. ( Just wait until you apply for your first job :) ) If you intend to mix with adults then I suggest that you act like one. Nobody here joins a forum and tells everybody how good they are. They let their posts and constructive advice do the talking. We can soon tell who knows what they are talking about and who is just a loudmouth. By suggesting that you may soon be a moderator really is one way to get folks on your side - NOT! Moderators are invited to join the team. You will rarely find an arrogant, know-all moderator ( even if they do know more than most ). You will find that they are usually pleasant, helpful people who are not afraid to say that they "...do not know". Nobody knows everything. Nobody likes an arrogant, egotistical know-all. Not on this forum or in industry. You will find that people, in general, will be more tolerant of you if you can show that you have a little humility, know your limits and are prepared to EARN you place in society and not demand it. :)

Hi, The reason your "device" is in "Other Devices" is that Windows does not know exactly what it is. The Video Card should be listed in Display Adapters - if you click the + what is listed here? If you let us know the make and model as J-B has requested we should be able to locate the correct drivers for your Video Card See here for further info: How to troubleshoot unknown devices that are listed in Device Manager in Windows XP

Can you post the exact error message please? It will probably be in the form ......STOP 0x000000EA ( - - - - - - -- -) This may help to identify your problem.

Hi stony, Let me be the first to welcome you to fpch :)

Senior Moment !!! For VGA (my last post) read AGP. If you don't have an AGP slot then you are limited to PCI cards.

Hi, I assume your SIS graphics is onboard ? You only have a choice between PCI slots and 1 AGP slot. PCI Express ( PCIe ) would have given you a much wider (and faster) choice. VGA will be the better option for you. Take a look here : Amazon.co.uk: Computers:agp card: Computers & Accessories You are somewhat limited with VGA but the link should give you some ideas. If your Power Supply Unit is a basic 250Watt you may, depending on your choice of card, need to upgrade it.