Help out your friendly neighborhood Hus...

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 by Hus | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk

...by pointing him in the direction of a taskbar replacement for Windows 2000. See, his XP broke, now he's on Win2k [again]...and can't stand the plain-jane taskbar.

Anyone have any suggestions besides ObjectBar and Litestep?
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Hus
Reply #81 Wednesday, May 26, 2004 1:42 PM
IP, the only think I know about my motherboard is that's its MSI and it doesn't have RAID. Other than that...I'm clueless. I could look through the manuals to find out who makes the IDE controller when I get home. I just pray it's bad memory...I'll be really stuck if it's a bad CPU/Mobo...I won't be able to afford a new one for atleast a few months.

IPlural
Reply #82 Wednesday, May 26, 2004 1:54 PM
if you know the model sku# for the motherboard it would be good to know.

It sounds as if it could be nothing more than needing the correct hardware driver installed so XP will make it through the initial OS boot up.

Your making it past system POST. Try turning on the extended memory check in the BIOS and let it put the ram through that. See if it comes up with a bad chip, it is not always caught with this test, but it would rule that out to some degree. If it fails right off you know you need ram, if not, I'd go with a motherboard drivers, or some such...

Also, on older BIOS Motherboards with the new large gig drives of 160 gig or more. You might have to prep the drive with the software on the CD that came with the drive so Windows won't freak because the BIOS and OS do not communicated the correct info to deal with the drive.

Hus
Reply #83 Wednesday, May 26, 2004 2:11 PM
Well, IP, I've had XP installed on the same PC for almost 2 years without any problems. It's only recently things started going bad. So I don't know why it would work all that time...but now need new drivers.

I'll try all the memory tests tonight, and let you guys know how things went. I can't go online at work anymore though, they're on to me!

Thanks everyone for your help...I'd be lost without you guys! See ya tomorrow...

IPlural
Reply #84 Wednesday, May 26, 2004 2:51 PM
ok, I'll shut up and sit back and watch...

luck to you

yrag
Reply #85 Wednesday, May 26, 2004 4:08 PM
Sorry I missed that last flurry...had a teleconference I actually had to listen to. I agree John that this is, in all probability, a driver problem. Something seems to be hitting the same memory range while it's occupied. Having said that, I wasn't aware he couldn't install XP so that leads me to believe it's a memory glitch if nothing else. If it's been running all this time, then I think it needs a repositioning or re-sitting of the memory sticks (although the MoBO should be beeping like crazy). MemTest will run without an OS, but I have serious doubts that it suddenly developed a bad sector. Those MSI boards are as solid as rocks, but my guess is it's a VIA chipset. It appears he updated his graphics driver at some point in time (since he doesn't know when, he probably got it from the Windows Update site). He needs to get the latest chipset drivers installed....if we can get XP to install. I'm leaning towards having him clear his Jbat jumper, but we'll see what the memory test gives us.

Hus
Reply #86 Thursday, May 27, 2004 9:50 AM
Hey guys, I wish I had some good news to tell you, but I don't. My floppy drive doesn't work either...which I had forgotten about, and only remembered last night. I never cared at the time because I never ever used the floppy. I did open the case, and I found that clear rubbery silicone stuff that they use to "glue" stuff together like on packages and stuff, all over the graphics card and RAM. I peeled most of it off, and switched the RAM sticks (2 slots, 2 sticks), after that, I cleared out some of the dust, and tried it again. I made it quite far on the install, it went all the way up to 38% on the format before it crashed...before it never got that high. Well, I'm about one more crash before I bust out my Louisville Slugger. I really don't want to put any of you through more of this headache, so I will see if I can borrow a few hundred dollars from one of my richer relatives, buy a new motherboard, CPU, RAM and GFX card...and the end with it. I swear...people program computers to break at a certain time. Just a few months after my warranty wore off, it breaks...go figure.

If you have any more suggestions, I won't give up just yet, just want you guys to know how much I really appreciate the help. It's just a reminder of how much I love this place.

DesignCaddy
Reply #87 Thursday, May 27, 2004 11:56 AM
wow dude. sticky stuff all over the components? 'sounds like you're buggered to me..

i was going to give another vote for ram but.. it just sound's like your eq is gummed up. floppy drive, hdd in and out? controller board...

shame, ram happens to be the most expensive thing right now 'cause of the market. they should have ram prices on the stock market, up there with gold, silver, and concentrated orange juice

yrag
Reply #88 Thursday, May 27, 2004 12:00 PM
Yikes...you opened the case and found a bunch of 'goo'?.

For what it's worth, disconnect that floppy (power cord and ribbon). Like any hardware, it will stop a boot or a new install.

Now for the 'goo'....there is nothing used like that anywhere in your 'puter.The cheapest route to go with this is to buy a motherboard and then buy things until it's working. If I was a betting man (and I am) I don't think you'll have to go any further then the mobo to get it running..

Hus
Reply #89 Thursday, May 27, 2004 12:42 PM


I was afraid it was gonna come to this. I've never installed a CPU into a motherboard, so I rather just get one that's pre-made with a warranty and all that. I might as well go all out and buy a new everything, 'cept for a Hard Drive. I'll get a mobo with as many on-board things as I can get, save a few bucks there, I have a good monitor, speakers, and all that, so all I need to buy is a new tower really. I'll start looking into it...and talk to my Uncle, who hopefully can loan me the money. I'll keep you guys informed...

Thanks again for all the input...really and truly appreciate it.

Hus
Reply #90 Thursday, May 27, 2004 6:25 PM
Ok, are you sick of me yet? No? Ok...listen up.

Abit NF7 mobo
AMD XP 2500+
512MB ram
Radeon 9200 128mb
and a nice lookin' case w/400w power...

$400 delivered...

That setup look familiar Gary? Whaddya think?

IPlural
Reply #91 Thursday, May 27, 2004 7:45 PM
that goo stuff sounds kinda like the Glue...

as it Glue used to keep PSU components from touching the wrong thing causing a short or to keep them from loosing Resistance and the ability to carry the current level...

dunno if you know for sure where it came from, but that is the only place I know of that it is common inside a computer case...

Jafo
Reply #92 Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:05 PM
There IS a 'goo' which looks a bit like candle wax...sort of clear/grey....that can be found within the windings of a PSU transformer. If that is the source of it you are in dire need of a new PSU at least, since it indicates terminal melt-down ['terminal' as in fatal, not electrical contact]...

yrag
Reply #93 Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:09 PM
#90 by Hus - 5/27/2004 6:25:44 PM Ok, are you sick of me yet? No? Ok...listen up. Abit NF7 moboAMD XP 2500+512MB ramRadeon 9200 128mband a nice lookin' case w/400w power...$400 delivered... That setup look familiar Gary? Whaddya think?


Buy it....


.....and tell them to hold the goo....

yrag
Reply #94 Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:14 PM
Yeah...I forgot about the gray 'stuff' inside the PSU....the last time I saw that happen was right after we put out the fire...

Jafo
Reply #95 Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:18 PM
yrag....yes, I've seen it still within the PSU's box....on older comps....where the supply has probably been overloaded once or twice....and since there are appertures for venting it's certainly possible for it to dribble onto the mobo before cooling and setting again...

yrag
Reply #96 Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:30 PM
Yeah...the days of the 250 watts PSU are long gone. Unfortunately, there's still a zillion people trying to overcome a scientifically acceptable general principle



yrag
Reply #97 Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:39 PM
OK...for those scratching their heads trying to figure out if you have enough juice in your PSU for the computer you're using, here ya go...:

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

Essencay
Reply #98 Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:58 PM
Cool link...My Antec is 430watts

Current system stuff puts my potential peak usage at 381watts Was looking to get a soundcard (using mobo sound now) and upgrading my video card which would have put me at 436watts, which I'm guessing would get me by, since I can't imagine a situation where I'd be running everything at once. Probably best to get myself into a 500watt PSU first though.

WebGizmos
Reply #99 Saturday, May 29, 2004 8:50 PM
Yrag...was a little confused where the site was asking about the CPU Selection. I didn''''t see mine listed on there, which was 333MHz when I bought it. I added some memory to my PC and have no idea if that changes anything other than the ram. Here''''s the specs below on the PC I have now. Do you see anything there I should change or upgrade?

Dell Dimension 4600

Memory = 768 MB

Processor = Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHz
Version = x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7
Speed = 2394 MHz

Disc Capacity = 38.24 GB

Modem = BCM V.92 56K

Video Card = NVIDIA GeForce MX 440/AGP8X

Sound Card = Creative SB Live! Series (WDM)

Sound Card = SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio

CD-ROM Drive ( D ) = LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163

CD-ROM Drice ( E ) = NEC DVD+RW ND-1100A

USB Controller = Intel( R ) 82801EB USB Univeral Host Controller 24D2

USB Controller = Intel( R ) 82801EB USB Univeral Host Controller 24D4

USB Controller = Intel( R ) 82801EB USB Univeral Host Controller 24D7

USB Controller = Intel( R ) 82801EB USB Univeral Host Controller 24DE

USB Controller = Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller




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[Message Edited]

yrag
Reply #100 Saturday, May 29, 2004 9:30 PM
Giz - the memory upgrade would have improved performance and changed nothing else. The system per se is quite nice, and if you're having no problems.....be happy. You're fine.

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