30something

Hey all, just a quick update.. I booted up the computer in order to perform the Dell PC restore, but there was no blue loading bar. I dont ever recall seeing a blue loading bar as described, so Im not sure it was ever there or if its vanished because of something I did. I tried hitting ctrl f11 during the dell loading screen and the windows loading screen but nothing happened and windows loaded 'normally'. I was not aware that I shouldnt have used an old xp disc on this computer. I have no problem abiding by the licencing laws, but as I said previously I dont recall getting any discs with my computer when I bought it, so now Im wondering how Im ever supposed to reinstall the OS. To the fellow who said he had repaired these computers before, could you tell me roughly how much it would cost to take the machine into a repair shop and have it sorted? I know thats a little defeatist, but a week ago I was looking at buying a replacement, so a shop repair would still be cheaper than that.. right?? If anyone has any further ideas about how I can fix things myself, please let me know. Your time and effort is much appreciated.

Hey guys thanks for the help. The win xp disc I used to reinstall is from my last computer which was a HP, could this be the problem? The model is a DELL Dimension 5150. I looked in device manager and there are no yellow triangles, however, if I expand the "Other devices" section there are a few things with a yellow "?!" icon next to them. These are: 802.11bg WLAN Ethernet controller PCI Device SM Bus Controller Video Controller Video Controller (VGA Compatibble) Everything else looks normal. I bought the computer new about 4 or 5 years ago now. Im not sure where to find the sevice tag, if someone could point out to me where it is I'll take a look. Thanks again for the help

Hello I've been having problems with my pc for a couple of weeks now, and am looking for some help from anyone kind enough to offer any. The problems started a while ago, when I was randomly surfing the internet and the computer shut itself down. When I attempted to restart it, I was given the option to start windows in safe mode or normally etc etc.. Regardless of which option I chose, I was taken to a BSOD with a "PAGE FAULT IN NONE PAGED AREA" error with a code something like 0x00000007. This happened each time I tried to boot the computer, in any mode. I did some research online and learned that this particular error is usually RAM related, so I tested each stick individually and found no problem. I ran the DELL diagnostics application and all tests were passed, yet I still got the same BSOD each time I tried to boot the pc. At this point I pretty much gave up and started looking at saving up for a new computer. A few days later I happend to find an old windows xp disc from another computer, so I formatted the hard drive from the recovery console and reinstalled xp. The computer now boots up fine, but I keep getting an error message saying that there is no audio hardware installed, or it is not functioning properly. I ran the DELL diagnostics application and retested the audio, I heard the sounds and the test was passed, yet when windows had loaded I would receive the same error message regarding there being no audio hardware available. I read that I might need to go online and download certain drivers and applications from the manufacturer's website to restore the pc to its "out of the box" state, but Im also having trouble getting the pc online. I have a wireless network, and before all these problems I would connect to it using a USB wireless adapter, which is now obviously not recognized by the pc. I have a Dell Dimension 5150 running windows xp home edition. I dont recall getting any discs with drivers or software on when I bought the pc, and if I did I no longer have them. If anyone could help me out I'd be incredibly appreciative