snow

Hi Will, welcome to FPCH Try clicking Start > right click on Computer > Select 'Manage' Under the 'Storage' heading click 'Disk managment' Do you see the hard disk listed there?

Hi mcgillivary28, welcome to FPCH A few questions to start off: Are you certain that this sound is coming from the speakers, and not from inside the case of the laptop? Does anything else happen when it crashes, like windows freezing up? Does this only ever happen during audio playback?

Hi PaddyD, welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help This Microsoft support article sounds relevant: Error message when you try to install Windows Vista on a computer that contains multiple RAW hard disks: "Windows is unable to find a system volume that meets its criteria for installation" You should firstly unplug the external hard drive, so that the laptop's internal hard drive is the only one connected. Then, try following the instructions in the article, selecting the 'Unallocated space'. (I've greyed out the bits you don't need to worry about):

Glad to hear it went OK, It's normal for windows to do so much updating after a recovery as there have been so manny additions to XP in it's history. It seems the problems with .NET and IE8 have come back. Firstly, I'm going to guess, and point at AOL's software. I know this integrates with IE, and since that is where these errors are coming from, I think that these new windows updates don't like working with AOL installed. It's definatly worth removing to see if the problem goes away. Try uninstalling AOL from Add/remove programs in the control panel, and then re-starting. Can you browse the web ok without it installed? Try using the computer and seeing if the errors stop. Let us know how you get on, and if any more errors appear.

Hi Caskin, Have you tried completely removing your existing version of adobe reader, and then downloading the latest from adobe's web site? In my opinion adobe reader is slow and bloated these days. Instead of installing adobe again, I'd just remove it, and install an alternative like foxit reader: Foxit Reader - Reviews and free Foxit Reader downloads at Download.com

You're welcome, Open the folder you've extracted it to, and look for a .exe file called dxsetup.exe or similar. Double-click it to start the installation.

Hi Scobe, The extra space taken up is probably due to duplicate files created when you copied you account. If you go to Control Panel > User Accounts you should see a list of the accounts on your computer. You can delete your old accounts now that you have copied the settings accross, but make sure there aren't any documents or pictures etc that still need to be retreived before you do it. Use the delet account option in that window. You can also download ccleaner from here: Download CCleaner 2.23.999 - FileHippo.com Note: don't use the registry option, just the 'Cleaner' part. This should get rid of any temporary files left over from before. Now for the other question: if you made your files and folders private then you will have to take ownership of the files and folders back in order to undo the privacy action. You need to access the 'Security' tab in the Properties window of the account folder to do this. Do the following (taken from another forum):

I think areo is a nice improvement over luna (XP's default theme), and is worth trying out. Having an instantly accessible run/search box in the start menu should appeal to those who prefere to type out the program they want to run (eg DOS users). This is still a shortcut file, exactly the same as one you would find on your desktop. Searching google for the problem revealed this: That should make explorer open with all drives visible; I just tested it and it worked for me.

Hi again Bob, Nev is right, there is a way to run sfc without the CD, but only if you have a certain folder on your hard drive. If you open 'My Computer' and double click 'Local disk C' do you see a folder called 'I386' there? If not, then double-click the 'Windows' folder and look for it inside. Failing that, then go back to C:\ and double-click the 'winnt' folder if you have it, and look for it.

Hi Kev, Your laptop has a mobility GPU, and while it has plenty of memory and new features, it suffers from a lack of avaliable bandwidth to deal with modern games at high resolutions. I think you should still be able to run those games, though I'm not sure if you will get an acceptable frame rate. The first thing to check is that you have the latest version of directx installed, which you can get from here: Download DirectX Redistributable August 2009 9.27.1734 - A very useful application for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements - Softpedia

Hi ant, 40 processes is quite allot, but far from the worst I've seen. If the computer is slow to start up then the best thing to do is to look at the programs that are set to start with windows. You can do this by clicking Start > Run, and typing msconfig Press OK and you will get the config window. Go to the startup tab, and look through to see what is loading. Uncheck any that you know you don't need starting up with the computer. Google the name of anything you are unsure of, and of course ask here if you are still uncertain.

The used disk space is probably due to volume shadow copy / system restore. In windows Vista, system restore also has the 'previous versions' feature which makes backups of your folders. This is done by the volume shadow copy service, and is part of normal operation. You can turn off system restore and delete your existing restore points to regain the used space, but this could limit your options should something go wrong in future.

Hello daipwyso, Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help All of us have been at the old 'stab in the dark' stage at one point or another, so don't worry :)

Hi kazza, This unfortunately seems like a damaged/broken hard disk. Do you see your hard disk listed in the BIOS? Are there any 'clicking' sounds coming from the laptop, or any normal hard disk noises at all?

If you look in C:\Documents and Settings\ Are there any new accounts listed now? What happens if you try copying from your old account to a completely new one? I don't see why your original account data would be corrupt. This would only happen if your hard disk was having problems. The old account should be fine as long as it remains on your drive.

Hi John, Your Vista computer may have a problem obtaining an IP address from the redten router. Vista is known to have this issue with certain routers. Normally you would have to edit the registry to fix this, but you can also use this fix tool: Vista DHCP and Router Problems... Free Fix Tool Download, extract, and run. Follow the instructions on the site:

Sorry for not getting back sooner, You can't copy the User account your are currently logged in with. The best thing to do would be to login as the 'Administrator' account to do this. To copy a user profile in XP, Click start, then right-click on 'My Computer' and choose Properties. Click the 'Advanced' tab. Under the 'User Profiles' heading click 'Settings'. Highligh the user profile you want to copy, and select 'Copy to'

Ok, do you have any internet security suites, or antivirus programs running? Try disabling them and playing a game online to see if that solves it. Do you use wireless to connect to your router, or a cable?

Hi tomharto, After a quick check on google I've seen manny others experiencing the same thing, with no clear solutions to the problem. You could try completely uninstalling the game, deleting the folder in 'Program Files' and then re-installing it. Some of these lesser well-known anti-cheat programs can be pretty intrusive, installing low-level drivers to check running memory for known game hacks or trainers. They aren't nice things to have to run on your computer, but I know that some game companies don't give you a choice if you want to play online. It could be a conflict with any security programs you have running, like an internet security suite or an antivirus program. Try disabling these while you run the game.

Hey Nicky, Welcome to FPCH Hope we can help

Hi Alizan, Welcome to the forums Hope we can help

Hello Kev, Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Enjoy your stay

Hi Mark, welcome to the forum When you say that the computer doesn't make the sound it used too, I'm guessing that you can't hear the hard drive spinning up anymore? It sounds like the hard disk may have failed. Try going into the BIOS by tapping the 'F2' or 'Delete' key repetedly on startup, and checking to see if your hard drive is listed there.

Here is the section of HP's website about recovery CD's and ordering them: Obtaining a Recovery Disc set in Europe, Middle East and Africa Compaq Presario SR1429UK Desktop PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English) If you have already created a recovery disk then it should work just fine. The only time you will lose your data is when the computer begins the recovery process. It will overwrite all of the data currently on the hard disk. Simply changing the settings in the BIOS (step one above), or just inserting the recovery disk won't delete anything. The data will be deleted once the full recovery option has been selected and you choose 'Yes' to begin. Give it a shot, and let us know how it goes :)

No problem at all, it sounds to me like you've solved it yourself :) Thanks for coming back to tell us what happened; hopefully others can benefit from this as well.