Jelly Bean

Can we go back to Kenbs origonal question... What lights are on and what colour are they when you turn on the laptop?

Hello and welcome.............

Your computer will only use the amount and speed of RAM it needs to run the system and proccesses.......If the computer will take the mixed RAM and use it with no problem then I would add it....

On your post screen,black screen white words? Your post screen reads main hardware does your hard drive show in the list? You can order recovery disks from Sony Vaio..... Set defaults in BIOS then set hard drive to first boot: http://genesis.sony-europe.com/instranet/ccil_sony/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=34786&l=en_GB&m=VGN-FW21M Im trying to find help with this.... You have removed all disks from the laptop? I will not tell you how to reset the BIOS via a battery or jumper as you are new to this and could cause damage.....

Have you enabled Dual Channel in the BIOS? Crucial scanner is not always correct...... Possibly send the RAM back and buy the correct one,but if it works on its own? To configure the RAM correctly have you read the manual on how to do this? Also read your mainboard manual on how to enable dual channel for your RAM,the settings are possibly incorrect in BIOS..... Your four slots are diffrent colours,are you adding the new ram in the right slots? This may help you in figuring out your RAM settings: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html Possibly about the same....

I should of read this thread when it started,may of saved a bit of time..... Ahh yes trusty netbook,mine goes most places with me as well as USB pen drives 80 gig pocket HDD.....Im backed up to two PCs,two external hard drives,and my netbook,I sold a third PC a few weeks ago with all my backups left on that.... Well yes wait until the new GPU arrives and hopefully the computer will get up and running.... I would start to save for a new build though....... There is nothing like building your own and it boots first time...... Even if the old PC is up and running I would be building your own....I want dual GPUs so I can at least add a third monitor to my system,so nah your card to old for me..... Dont you have a small local PC shop near you? I know we have one in Swansea wich is a bit far for me to travel now and they test hardware for free,in the hope you will buy from them in the future.....

If this is during normal process or during idle process the tempratures are not good. If you monitor the tempratures during game play and they rise even higher then you have a great problem.... Your graphics card is a little warm. Your CPU is to hot. Your hard drive is very hot... The tempratures could be causing your computer issues..... You need to power off the computer and clean the internals.... Then check the tempratures again and see if they have colled down... Your computer is old and cannnot run the high specification games,the computer struggles and gets over heated. You need to stop playing the games and just use the computer for general usage. You need to buy a better more expensive computer to play the games.

Have you assigned a drive letter and formatted this hard drive via computer management?

Im afraid its redownload programs and software you need......Thats if they are available..... Hey we all live and learn.....

Hello and welcome.... If you remove the old RAM and only add the new does it then beep and flash? Or have you inserted all 4 RAM sticks then reset the BIOS via removal of the BIOS battery for 2 minutes or reset jumper,while PC is powered off? It is possible it is a voltage issue in the BIOS.....

Its a shame realy that our old trust worthy computers are coming to the end of there lives,,,,, I have an older computer as a spare,it is in the cupboard under the stairs that I use for testing other peoples hardware.....Its a shame realy that your hardware could not of been tested on another computer,something basic would of done the job.... 7-8 years for a Medion,ahh but your replaced most of her inners..... Its possible I could pop your GPU in my tester system and have no issues but I have diffrent hardawre etc.... Some may of sugested that old 80 gig HDD was the problem.I dont think it is,they were built better some years ago.... Its possible power consumption,could be your CPU getting hot/over heating...... It could be a case of resetting the BIOS as the mainboard has had so many changes to it. BIOS update. Drivers. But if you can borrow a full install disk of XP then you maybe able to resolve a fesh issues.... I would put the computer down for now and relax a bit. Me I would of kicked it or shook it by now LOL..... Ask around one of your mates may have an old computer in a cupboard somewere they may lend you.....This would help in testing parts...Other than that I realy dont know what to sugest.... Did you at least try F8 and last known good config? You never know it may of had the same XP on it....

Your central processing unit is not good enough for you to play them games....

Thankyou Boomer,I appreciate your help..... Inferect I would say a new cooler can for the CPU and reapply some quality thermal paste this should help the situation.....

If this was a bad shut down I would of sugested removal of the BIOS battery or reset jumpers..... This can work in resetting things after a bad shut down and get the machine up and running again..... Does the hard drive show on the post screen or in BIOS? http://www.ehow.com/how_5510972_restore-sony-vaio-disk.html

Hello,could you enter BIOS and let me know what is listed there.... Example: Your main hard drive will show as Primary Master.....What does the salve drive show up as? Restart your computer. While the computer restarts, run the system setup program (sometimes called BIOS or CMOS setup). This is usually done by pressing a special key, such as DELETE, ESC, or F1 during the startup process. Within the system setup program, instruct the system to auto detect your new drive. Save the settings and exit the setup program. When your computer restarts, it should recognize your new drive. Note: Serial ATA is a new interface type. Some older systems may see the drive and classify it as a SCSI device if you are using a Serial ATA host adapter. This is normal even though this is not a SCSI disc drive. Many systems’ BIOS will not identify a Serial ATA drive connected to a PCI SATA host adapter. This is because a PCI SATA Host Adapter has its own BIOS which is used to identify hard drives connected to it which is separate from the BIOS of the computer. To determine whether or not the SATA Host Adapter is detecting the Serial ATA hard drive, please consult the documentation provided by the Serial ATA Host Adapter’s manufacturer. This does not affect drive performance or capacity.

Hello and welcome..... A little confused so bare with me... So your saying your laptop was returned without an operating system installed? You tried to restore the operating system and files from a back up you made to an external hard drive? Are you able to logon to windows or not? You did not make a system image as required to use to replace the OS and files? I am afraid you will now need a full install disk of your operating system.

No I am afraid to say.... You cannot use windows upgrade anytime ,you need to have Windows 7 preinstalled to use this.... Windows Upgrade Anytime is only to upgrade Windows 7 and give it extra function not to reinstall.... You need the windows 7 install disk to go back to windows 7...

Hello..............

Hello and welcome.... Firstly please check the monitor cable is fully connected to the monitor and the back of the computer.... Or try a new cable... If the grapics card is a PCI slot card,try reseating the card in its slot. Give the internals of the computer a good clean and make sure it is free of dust. Download and install: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php Once SpeedFan is installed and running,please post tempratures of when the computer is idle,during medium processes such as surfing the internet and during high usage such as playing a game.... Your computer is simply not good enough to play PES 2011....You need at least a dual core processor,a better graphics card and Direct x 10 to play this game.....

What is needed is a full install disk..... Recovery can only be used when the operating system is already fully installed...... Borrowing a full install disk is an idea,however you cannot use a XP retail disk it has to be OEM..... Retail is bought with its own COA key,OEM comes supplied with a new computer,however using OEM means driver updates will be needed,wich is not a problem as drivers usaly need a reinstall with a format..... Freezing on a computer can be caused by a number of things. A driver missing,needs updating or corrupt. Hard drive. Graphics card,. Mainboard issues. Monitor issues. Bad cable. CD/DVD rom drive. Corruption of operating system. Installed software. Memory. Or plain and simple a bad slot on the mainboard.... The list goes on....... It may not be the graphics card but a bad driver or a driver not installed correctly.PSU issues..... Even a BIOS update may of been needed..... The GPU should of been tested in another computer with fully installed drivers and software with compatable PSU etc...... It could be plain and simple a bottlekeck has been created between lets say the CPU and the GPU.....Miss matched hardware such as power or lack of and over time the CPU over runs the GPU......Or over powers the GPU...Ok I find explaining bottlekneck a little hard..... I see this was origonaly a Medion PC.....In my opinion not good at all.....I would not buy one,they are prone to faults.... Medions computers are built cheap and aimed at the cheaper end of the computer market.....There life span is pritty short in my experience.... Have you tried a diffrent power supply? Your PSU maybe degraded and proberly is degraded and one GPU needs less power than another....Your PSU may just not be putting out enough power to run the origonal card but can run the new one..... I have quickly read through your thread and going by what you stated about the PC symptoms your own words pointed towards the hard drive being the issue,hence staff and long term users were drawn to help more to this issue..... In reading your thread a little late I would of sugested all the checks that were given to you then if all else failed I would of sugested a new computer..... I see no point in buying another graphics card when your power supply could be the issue.... Can you borrow a decent PSU to test the system,just because a PSU powers up a computer dont mean its fully working and without faults.....

Bottle kneck is were a CPU and a graphics card conflict as they are not paired together properly,low ended card higher end CPU.... Leave the side of the case off is not recommended nore is it a cure your CPU is running way to hot and could fail if you do not sort this out.....It is possible it needs some new thermal paste especialy if it has been removed and replaced in the past.....It may need a new cooler fan.......The temp needs to come down as soon as possible or stop using the machine until the over heating has been resolved.... I would not change any CPU speeds at the moment until the temp is brought down....

Yes Nasher.... New mainboard means you have to reinstall windows...... Or have you already reinstalled windows? EDIT.....As the mainboard is not new,if it was lets say used for Windows XP Pro in the past and your hard drive contains XP Pro......... You should be able to start the computer and repeatedly tap F8 key then from the menu choose last known good config.... But it has to be the exact same XP,not Pro and Home mix.....

That CPU temp if taken during low to medium processes is a bit high..... Are you sure the CPU fan is spinning? If your CPU is running hot there is a problem there already....Not good,are the fans all clean?Is it fitted correctly and spinning? You may need a new cooler.... Do you have speed step enabled? http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/203838.htm Right click on your task bar and choose task manager and please noye under process tab if anything appears to be using a lot of process. Has your machine every been over clocked? You may have abottle kneck with that GPU and CPU.... I would certainly run the scans our security team provide,as many viruses do NOT show on some scanners,they also can stop our own Antivirus software from detecting a virus.... Opening command prompt and typing in chkdsk and hit enter on your keyboard,it may say cannot run at this time would you like to schedule then hit enter,shut down the computer restart and let chkdsk run see if it finds any errors and let me know....

Click start/All Programs/Right click on Command prompt and choose run as admin/When the command window appears type in SFC /SCANNOW and hit enter on your keyboard. That is SFC space /SCANNOW...... Let SFC /SCANNOW run..... Also depending on how many processes you have running can slow a machine down.... The GPU you have is not a high ended card and if its getting a little old it could be slowing and you may need a new one in time.... Click start and in the search box type MSCONFIG.....Hit enter on your keyboard. Under startup tab check for items you can stop from starting up,the same can be done under services tab,however do NOT stop any essential services like Microsoft ....... Examples are,you dont need your printer starting up or MSN these are not essential processes.... Excellent speed on your internet,you should of posted it here instead of me searching for it.....:(

Have you checked the speed of your internet as if it has dropped you will not be able to open many pages and it will appear to lag. http://www.speedtest.net/ Have you done a disk cleanup recently? No then I sugest you do one... Have you checked temps of the computer during idle process,medium and high? Download and install SpeedFan please post diffrent temp results: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php Could you have a virus? I would sugest a health check and visit our Malware section and let the security guys look at the results and advise you. There should be a little plastic jumper on the mainboard with either three or four pins... Remove jumper from first two pins then place on middle and third pin for one to two minutes or place on the other two pins.... Remove and replace to origonal jumpers.... Do this while powered off.... Check memory: http://extremetech.support/threads/7172-Memtest86-How-to-Run.