danzil

i agree i reckon yur hard drive maybe faulty. especailly as the bios is not showing the capacity properly, and XP setup doesnt even find it.. if you can put it back in the caddy, and run a chkdsk on it....this will tell you off any issue..... also the drive manufacturer will have diag tools, maybe worth running them against it too. regards danzil

when the board powers on are you getting any bios beeping at all. if so what sounds. it gives out a code basically,,,check your manual and it should give you a description of the beeps... post back regards danzil

try the simple things first. can you ping are you getting an IP address. have you tried flushing dns in cmd prompt. have you tried setting an IP address in the router range. is "work offline" ticked in internet explorer.... can you ping each other. go into network connection is there just your LAN and WLAN in there, if not what else, bridge etc. post back see if i can hep more. regards danzil

have you followed tootechs advice. any joy at logging in yet.... no ps/2 thats just stupid, why make a board with out one,,,,,yeah i know USB's are popular then anything but crikey..... seen a few dells with just USB never had this issue though........ have you removed hte usb keyboard and plugged it into anther slot as yet mate. regards danzil

out of interest, if you got into safe mode, have you tried a system restore to a date before you got your issues. if i am missing the point then please ignore me.......but give that a try just out of interest. regards danzil.... if you can get into safe mode with command prompt too, try running a chkdsk /f /r :)

hi. Depending on your bios, when you first turn the PC on it will do its check called POST (Power On Self Test). this is where it counts up your memory etc. after the memory has been checked it will check other drives etc. you should see your cd/dvd drivers etc and any hard drives attached. check to the left of the hard drive, does it say anything like IDE0 or SATA etc. the is the only way i can think of at the mo to determine your drive interface with out opening the case. do you have your motherboard driver cd. How many sticks of RAM (memory) do you have installed, try re-installing XP after removing one stick of ram. if it fails replace that stick and remove the other, that is if you have more then one obviously.YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE THE CASE SIDE OFF FOR THIS.!! also go into your bios,,,,,F2 or DELETE key at POST (read above what POST is), when in there choose "load bios defaults" this will put everything back to normal, then change your first boot device back to cd and retry.... if that does nt work then post back. regards danzil :)

is your hard drive IDE or a SATA drive. if it is sata do you have access to the driver for the install. usually there is a programme on the motherboard driver cd to make the drivers you need these usually have to be on a floppy disk. during the install it will say press f6 to install a third party driver... press f6 then use the floppy disk to find the sata drivers, try that, if that does not work i think maybe your hard drive needs checking and/or your RAM. regards danzil :)

ok so have you tried, dissconnect the usb keyboard when it cuts out, then give it a minute then re connect it.....i have had a similar issue on an old motherboard,,,,couldnt really fix it in the end....not saying that is the case with you though...give that a try then post back.... regards danzil :)

what is the purpose for wiping it... if it to just do a re-install then use your xp cd or recovery partition that will wipe the hard drive for you...... if you are giving it away or getting rid, then use the software suggested above by Wolfeymole.... regards danzil

if you can get into safe mode can you login at all....as administrator would be best. if so i would then go into control panel then into user accounts, and remove the password for your account then reboot....see if you can login to your account.... is your keyboard USB, Wireless, PS/2. i would also try from the point of the keyboard not working, try removing it then plugging it back in,,especailly if its USB. other then that definatly take it back to the ORIGINAL shop that fitted the card,,,if you take it to another that will still void the warrenty. regards danzil post back the keyboard type,,,out of interest.:)

be very carefull how you handle your new and old memory. static will cause all sorts of problems, best of to power off the pc,but with the power cable still connect hold the psu casing for a few secs to remove some static from yourself.... regards danzil.

may also want to try popping your xp cd in the drive (if you have one), then going to start then run type in sfc /scannow this will scan your system for any corrupt or missing files that are needed for full stability. hope that helps post back if none of the above helps regards danzil

i agree with RandyL make a backup, then do a format and re-install.....will save time in the long run. regards danzil

definatly do a scan for malware, viruses etc.....and run a defrag.....i use www.defraggler.com...its free and pretty good. when changing your virtual memory i would make sure you tick system managed....saves on any other trouble then... you only seem to have 256b of ram i would definatly considering upgrading to 512mb or even 1gb memory is so cheap at the moment... hope that helps a tad. regards danzil :)

i doubt you will be able to use the sky router at all. it has modified firmware that hard codes your username and password into them....the only way around this is to change firmware and that can be tricky at best with the sky router. i thought the Netgear DG834PN had all the functions you would need..just add your BT username and password into it, and oila that should be it... unless im missing the point,,,,(heyt it happens to me a lot) regards danzil:)

start>run>cmd when the black dos like box pops up type in there. ipconfig /release then after that type in ipconfig /renew. if you have no ip anyway and it is still trying to find an ip just skip to ipconfig /renew. what caused you too lose your IP address in the first place......has your router been reconfigured of late or any settings change,,,if so there could be dhcp issue on your router but unlikely dhcp is turned on by default on most routers. regards danzil

how are you sharing the files. are you sharing the whole hard drive or a directory. first i would make sure they are both in a workgroup. start>control panel>system>computer name>change..once in there delete "workgroup" and add in a unique name. (just on xp) on vista (come on memory) start (orb) control panel>System and Maintenance>Change Settings>Click the Change button. then type in the same unique name you used in XP. once both are rebooted try to see if you can see the shares. other things to try. making share shared folders is on in "networking and sharing center" in vista. see if you can ping the xp box from vista and vise verca. start>run> type in "ping ip off machine" obvious the ip off the machine not wording and no ". check and double check your firewall settings in windows and any anti virus software. regards danzil post back if i can help more:)

i would advise you read the freeepchelp malware removal procedure.. hijack this is a great programme but deadly to your PC in the wrong hands.. the instruction where sound but better safe then sorry. regards danzil:)

can you get online,,,go to windows updates i believe the "microsoft malicous software removal tool" can now remove this......so i have read. if not browse google for the latest revision. regards danzil ps not 100% sure but believe smitfraudfix can remove this as well

hi definatly do as the previous post said and run chkdsk. i would also check in your event viewer, right click "my computer" the click on "manage", look in there under "system" is there anything in there that is red. if so do they point to your problem,,,,,,can you list some for us..... at first glance i would suspect the hard drive, as you say happen when playing games and stressing the PC. the more hard drive activity on a failing drive the worse it is going to get.. my advise is to back up your data now so you dot have to worry about data recovery.. regards danzil

Hi where did you get the video driver from, have you searched for a more up to date driver from the manufacturers website (dell) or the makers of the cards site, nvidia.com or the like..... thats what i would try first, install xp then your chipset drivers etc and your new graphics driver.see if that helps. regards danzil

not sure if the instructions mention either. but some off the newer infections know when you are running these scanners, so you may have to rename them......like malware.exe to malware.bat. post back if that applies we can help more....your in good hands with RandyL. regards danzil:)

hi give us a shout back if you need any assistance. hope you get it all sorted regards danzil

hi. please read the above post i wrote, i stiill believe this to be your best bet. kind regards danzil

go to start>control panel>user accounts, click on the name of the user, then click remove password. is this computer on a domain if so this may not work and other things may need to be looked at. to stop the cntrl alt and delete go to control panel again > user accounts>change the way user log on or off>tick both boxes then apply and restart and hopefully that would be it sorted. let us know if not regards danzil