KenB

Thanks for the additional information - it all helps to build up a picture of your problem. This is an improvement. Can you open the files in Safe Mode ? This may help a little .... TakeOwnership.zip It won't let you take ownership of D: Partition but if you can see the files in Safe Mode ( but not open them ) it may let you take ownership of them from here. Download or simply Run the software and click on the install.exe file. This will do the rest. Simply right click on a file or folder to take ownership of and click on "Take Ownership" that appears in the pane. Try accessing the D: Partition after turning off UAC see here - click here

Hi and welcome to ExTS I assume that accessing your files is a priority so let's deal with that first. The easiest way to do this is to buy a 2.5 inch to USB Hard Drive enclosure. ( posh name for a box that you put the hard drive in so that you can connect it to another computer ) They look like this - click here They are not expensive. Just one thing - there are 2 types of hard drive connection. SATA and IDE IDE is very old now and SATA has been around for a long time. If you are unsure check here ...... click here The enclosure will come with a USB cable - it uses the USB port to supply the voltage as well as transfer data. Once connected the drive should be recognised and you should be able to access your data. ( this assumes that there is not a problem with the drive itself ) Also if we can connect the drive to another system we can run some tests on it if necessary. Any questions just ask.

Hi This doesn't really answer the question. Was Ultimate on the machine originally or did you upgrade from Home say ? Can you see the files on D: partition in Safe Mode ? Constantly tap F8 about once per second after switching on. This is confusing me too - Disk Manager shows it as a "Logical" partition not "Extended" We will have to wait until we get a reply from the software compiler.

If you know the system used to Beep and it isn't now - this isn't good. Are you sure you pulled the RAM / Video Card / etc off the m/board and that you had the 20(4) way power connection from the PSU connected. If this is correct then I suggest that you take a look at the PSU next. This is the cheapest option. I wrote a tutorial on how to test the PSU - click here You can buy a tester similar to this one ..click here The best way to is to swap it for another if you can

Second hand ...... does it have any warranty ? I wrote a tutorial re: "No POST Beeps" click here If , when you have stripped the m/board down you can get POST beeps - this is good news. If not then we are looking at PSU or m/board.

Hi and welcome to ExTS You have recently bought this machine ............ is it new or used ? If it is new you should be able to take it back for repair / replacement. The fact that fans run and LEDs are lit is no indication that the Power Supply Unit is OK. It can be faulty and still provide enough power to run fans etc. Does the machine actually try to boot up ? Do you get any Beeps ? If so - what sequence are they ........ one long two short for instance. If this is new you do not want to start removing / changing hardware as it could invalidate any warranty that you have.

Hi Jim Fit the old CPU to the m/board. You will probably have to remove the heat sink to do this. If you do you will need to clean off the old thermal paste with some rubbing alcohol ( any pharmacy ) and apply a very thin, even, coat of new. Arctic Silver or similar. You can use the edge of an old credit card to do this. Once you have the CPU in I would assemble the m/board into the case. Make sure you keep the stand-offs ( spacers ) from the old board. Use these to mount the new one. You can add the 20(4) way connection from the PSU at this stage. If you switch on now you should get POST Beeps - if you do this is good. Switch off at the wall again - touch the metal chassis to discharge any static in you. Assemble the rest of the components. You can check after each stage if you wish. You should get POST Beeps. Finally add the hard drive and DVD CDROM I can't remember is this is exactly the same m/board. If it isn't then your system is unlikely to boot up if you are using a HDD with Windows on it. Get back to me when you get to this stage - or if you have further questions.

Hi Your Disk Management looks normal - except ..... Do you have a DVD CDROM Drive on this machine. If so - this is usually D: and it should show in Disk Management. However there are a couple of things thrown up by the report asked for by Starbuck. 1. You have less than 3% free space on C: Partition. Windows needs between 10-15% free to function efficiently. I suggest that you try to create some extra free space. 2. You only have 5% free space on the D: Partition - whilst this shouldn't be a problem with access the partition and the drive is getting full. 3.This part of the log is confusing ... The 200GB is showing twice - although elswhere in the log it only shows once. Starbuck has contacted the author of the software ( Farbar ) for clarification. Until we get an answer - try to create some more space on C: drive ( I doubt that free space is the cause of your access problem ) How did you attempt to Take Ownership of the partition ? Is this version of Windows Ultimate the original that was on the system - or have you up-graded ?

Hi and welcome to ExTS Does the partition show up in Disk Manager ? Start > type in ....diskmgmt.msc ....ENTER What does it say regarding the partition ? eg NTFS - Healthy - etc.

Hi pitfall Install the updates. No problem with these - not sure about SAS .... not familiar with this. I use a wireless mouse - small one fits in a pocket.

This is strange as you are using 2 different drivers - one for the WiFi and a different one for the LAN. Which AV do you have ? Try turning your AV off and try accessing the net. Obviously you will have to be careful which sites you visit. 90,000 songs - I hope you have a backup copy ?

I have had two Acer Laptops - my new one and my old one - Vista - which is still giving me no problems at all. You should be OK with that one :)

Hi The specs for your machine are here - click here This confirms that your Wireless Adapter is the RTL8188CE. ( Not that I didn't trust you - but it is confirmed now :) ) You may need the ethernet ( LAN ) cable to connect directly to the router - make sure you have this available before following the instructions below. Download the drivers from the link that I gave you to your desktop ( just makes it easier to find them ) Go back to Device Manager ( devmgmt.msc ) > Right click on the drivers > Uninstall. Reboot. Windows should find "New Hardware" and you should then be able to point it to the folder on your desktop. Failing that - open the folder from the desktop and look for an ,exe file. Click on this to install. You will need the ethernet cable if anything goes wrong and you need to come back to me. - unless Windows uses basic drivers for the Adapter.

Hi and welcome to ExTS 1. Are you sure that the Wireless Adapter in your system is a RTL8188CE ? 2. What is the make and model number of your computer please ? 3. The drivers for the RTL8188CE are here - click here - you will need to scroll down the page to find them. There are 6 download sites to the right hand side. ( we may need these later ) 4. Start > type in ....devmgmt.msc .....ENTER Are there any yellow exclamation marks when you click the > next to Network Adapters ? With the wireless adapter enabled your system crashes. It is possible that the driver that you ave installed is incorrect. Let me have the answers to the above and we can take it from here.

Hi Louise Ray makes some valid points that you may wish to consider. The one about the warranty is worth thinking about. I know you don't think much of Curry's warranty anyway :)

This is not the result of a ping. You need to go to command prompt again and type in ping 192.168.0.1 Let us know if you have the CD.

If your neighbours have a wireless network the chances are that they are broadcasting on the same frequency as you. This is normally OK - but sometimes it can cause a problem .......especially if there are lots using the same frequency. The router actually uses channels. Think of this like radio channels on your car stereo system. If you are getting interference on a radio station you simply change station. You can do this with your router too. Most routers are set to Channel 6 as a default. To check which networks are in your area do the following: ( we need to get to a Command Prompt ) Start ....type in ....cmd.....right click on the cmd.exe that shows top left > click on Run as Administrator Win 8 is different. Open the Search Box > type in ....command prompt ... right click on the Command Prompt box > Run as Administrator XP simply Start > RUN > type in ....cmd.....hit ENTER At the Command Prompt type ..... netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid ..... now hit ENTER [ note the spaces ] You now have a list of the networks in your immediate area and more importantly ..... the Channels that they are broadcasting on. If you need to change channel use either 1 / 6 / 11 I advise these as there is absolutely no overlap between these frequencies If you need advice on changing the channel just post the details of your router ( Make and Model ) in the forum. :)

Just to add a little to what Randy has said - It is important that you drag the edges of the open window to fill the screen using your mouse or mousepad Do not use the little box that is top right to do this. :)

Hi and welcome to ExTS We can, at least, have a series of posts here :) This isn't good news I am afraid. If you have anything at all on that Hard Drive that you need I suggest that you back it up to a DVD or external drive. I think it is failing. We can try a Check Disk on it from within Windows - which may fix some of the errors. I am unsure ( due to the problems that you are having ) that it will run properly. If it doesn't we can run it with the drive connected to a second system if necessary. Here we go: Start > type in .....cmd....right click on cmd.exe that appears top left of screen Then click on Run as Administrator At the command prompt type in chkdsk /f There is a space after chkdsk The /f instructs the scan to try to fix any errors it finds I suggest that you run this twice as check disk often finds things on the second pass that were missed on the first. Don't forget - backup first. Seatools failed your drive twice - this is an outside chance that we can fix it.

Hi Louise A copy of Windows 7 costs about £70 ( there are different versions ) So you have to decide if paying the extra £90 is worth having your computer look like the way you want it. If he is supplying Word 2003 then this is good value. If you do decide to go with this tech then - when you go to pick it up- ask him if he can have it running for you so that you can see that it is exactly what you want before you take it home. Also make sure you are given the Win 7 Disk. This is important as it can be used to re-install the Operating System if necessary. Let me know what you decide and how you get on :)

Good question :) Do you have the original quick install CD ?

Hi again This is really an odd one :) Try 192.168.0.1:8080 and 192.168.1.1:8080 What happens if you ping 192.168.0.1 ? I think we may be going down the route of re-setting the router to defaults.

Hi John Ray has said a lot of what I would :) The main advantage of creating 2 partitions is if Windows has a problem and needs reinstalling sometimes it is difficult to access saved data and it could be lost. Having a backup on a second partition makes sense. This doesn't account for the hard drive developing problems and you wouldn't be able to access the data anyway. Always keep a second backup off the hard drive - another external drive / DVD etc. Putting software onto the second partition and keeping the C:/ drive just for Windows sounds logical. The problem with doing this is that every piece of software that you want to put on your system has C:/ as a default. You would need to remember every time to change the location before installing. The Desktop is actually part of Windows - so this would be on the Primary partition C:/ You could have the icons for your software on the desktop but you would need to make sure that the target was showing "E:/ ....." or whatever letter the second partition is. To create the partitions is not straightforward in XP. Vista onwards it is easy and can be done within Windows. You would need some software like Easus - click here Nev has used this I think. Personally - If you are that concerned - I would buy another 500GB hard drive and clone the first one. This would be a direct copy. If the first one dies - you simply pop the clone into the machine and you are good to go again.

Hi Bob I would be inclined to check the drive out to see if it is actually dying. If you can connect it to another machine using an external enclosure or Hard drive to USB Adapter you can run Seatools for Windows on it. click here If you are not happy doing this then Seatools for DOS allows you to burn the software to a CD. You simply pop this in the drive of the problem machine and it will do the rest. In both cases you will get a report of the state of your drive. Any "Fail" I would replace the hard drive. There are tutorials on the site too if you need these.

Hi The manual for your router is here - click here ( auto-download PDF ) The manual confirms the IP Address as 192.168.0.1 Give this a try.