Help, setup gone missing

Hello major and minor Geeks,
Last year I replaced a bundled HP Compaq Presario XP Home with a clean install of Win XP Pro Sp2 (OEM), it ran ok for over a year then developed a string of problems.
I tried to do another clean install and got "txtsetup.sif is missing or corrupted" and stops there.
I thought of formatting the HD with "fdisk" and downloaded a start up disk from MS, they call it:
"Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 Utility: Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install".
I tried to copy it to a 3.5 inch floppy, but was asked for a bigger capacity disk.
The problem is with the size of it - 4.5 Mb :confused
(My machine does not support booting from a usb).
Grateful for your help in the past and welcome your suggestions.
(It's Friday 10 pm in Australia and it's time to go off line)
Leon

Here is the system as of 2009-01-06

Computer Type ACPI Uniprocessor PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard:
CPU Type Unknown, 2000 MHz (12 x 167) 3000+ (actually an Athlon)
Motherboard Name Asus A7V8X-LA (Kelut) (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN, IEEE-1394)
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT8378A UniChrome KM400A
System Memory 704 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (09/02/04)

Display:
Video Adapter VIA/S3 UniChrome
3D Accelerator VIA/S3 UniChrome

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller

Storage:
IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive WDC WD400EB-11JUF0 (37 GB, IDE)
Disk Drive Seagate FreeAgent Go USB Device (111 GB, USB)
Optical Drive PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-109
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 10003 MB (4581 MB free)
E: (NTFS) 28150 MB (25741 MB free)
F: external USB drive (NTFS) 114470 MB (97917 MB free)
Total Size 149.0 GB (125.2 GB free)

 

The set up floppies require 6 floppy disks for use.

 

If you did as Pldr has stated, as Microsoft intended, then you need 6 floppy discs, as said.
However, I suggest you could also try running CHKDSK /R
from the windows disk that you have, -this is the first repair option you see, when you click to repair, C:/Windows comes up with a flashing cursur.and you type in CHKDSK /R (Note the space after the K)
If, after letting it go through to its completion, then your full re-installation will still not work, I would check in the bios (f2, or, del, usually on startup,), to see if the date in the bios is correct, as missing , or, corrupted files have been found to be caused by a low cmos battery.
I have had this sort of problem on many an older pc/laptop, and the -cmos, and hard drive, have often been the cause, of Windows failing to load, and corrupted files messages, whilst trying to re-install.
Also a bad stick of memory can do it - try removing one of them , and then change to the other, to see if if it still happens --to rule out memory problems.
Remove usb hard drive, when reinstalling.

 

Thank you plodr, and thank you baklogic.
Your help is like a life line.

I will go to work at the first opportunity, I hope it will be soon, as I am eager to apply your knowledge.
Many thanks again, majorgeeks.com

 

Progress report.
"plodr": I have the six floppy start up disks. Thanks you plodr.

baklogic:
Thanks for your comments; I checked the clock in BIOS, it's correct. I also tried to repair from the CD.
On "RUN" setup, it says "D:\SETUP.EXE is not a valid Win32 application"
With CD in drive and restart it says "General Protection Fault", (I copied a long list of details). I looked for the "anti-virus" on/off in the bios, but there is no such function.

Is it safe for me to "fdisk" C drive and start an install using the floppy startup sequence?

Grateful to you guys!

 

If you are trying to re-install , or, repair , of XP Pr0, then be sure that the download was XP Pro, as XP Home will need the XP Home set of discs.
You will need to have your XP Disc ready as when the sixth floppy has finished , it will ask for it. I just tried to do one on , and that is what it asked for.
The set up floppys will load cd/dvd drivers etc: to help you .
I had a hard drive problem on the one I was messing with, so I cannot be sure if the repair will work directly off the floppy's, as it is a long time since I needed to use them, and as the hard drive was gone on this one I tried, I could go no further.
Seagate's sea-tools for windows, will help to check your hard drive, if you still have problems repairing, or, re-installing, as it would then be worth checking.
This is on a download from majorgeeks.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Seagate_SeaTools_for_Windows_d2858.html

 

After a series of nasty surprises it is reassuring to have a better picture of what may lie ahead, thank you baklogic.
In the past I did not have problems dealing with Win 98, but I am not so sure with XP.
I suspect I may have unwittingly created my problems by testing different software and un-installing them, although I use the Revo un-installer may be the clean up is not as complete as I thought. Perhaps going back a step via the system restore may be a safer bet.
Yes, I do have the correct boot version ready and I am grateful for the moral support from Majorgeeks, tomorrow time permitting I will take the big step and do a full format and install.
Thanks again.

 

By all means try system restore first- go back as far as you can to avoid later uninstallation problems- In XP you don't lose later ones, by choosing the earliest, first time, as you can try again at a later restore date.
Before doing sytem restore, save anything you might need (data0, but usually the data is left as of the day you decide to restore, so you should not lose the data, but ....
Keep at it- XP far outstrips Windows 98, although that was a particularly sound operating system, and some of the real geeks still play with it.

 

Ah, life wasn't meant to be easy, at least not like Win 98. I went into command prompt and tried:
"format C:" after the warning, it said "format cannot run, the volume is in use by another process... would you like to force a dismount on this process?" Yes.
"Cannot lock the drive.The volume is still in use".
Clearly, I am missing something, (I tried "format C:/v/s)

baklogic or anyone else, what would be the correct command string in this instance? Many thanks

PS> The Help File mentions to specify volume and cluster size.

 

When I succeed to format C:, what is the correct way to use the 6 floppies to Start up XP Pro install; should the Bios be set to boot from the floppy or from the CD?

If I do not format first and use the 6 floppies to boot, is there an option to format C:?
Thanks to all you geeks.

 

If ....
1/you insert your XP PRO cd into the rom , and run it, once you ahve pressed f8 to accept the liscemce, you will then get the first question to repair, or, install- then you wil be asked where to install, and you would choose C;-- then it would say you have windows already installed, and you continue to say install, until it asks if you want to leave the present file system intact , or, format -- then choose to format, and windows will do the format from there.
2/ If you have the cd, you rarely need the floppies, -- unless you have difficulties booting from the cd rom, for some reason, , and as the 6th floppy finishes it then prompts to continue from the cd(which, ideally, should be ready to put in cd rom, if not in there already.The sequence should continue then as for direct from the cd.
If you try to format from within windows , you will not be able to, because it 'is in use'
You format from cd, or, floppy.
If you have the windows 98se floppy start up disc, it is a case of when the A:> COMES UP JUST TYPE................... FORMAT C:
and it will format from the floppy.
If you continue to get missing, or, corrupted file notices, or, windows keeps on stopping during install, then I suggest you check the hard drive, as I previously noted.
It has been known for virus infection to cause some similar symptons, but I have never experienced it.

 

Am I glad for your response and comments!

I ran SeaTools and checked the C & F HDs, there were no problems of any kind.

About your first point: when I try to run from the CD it says "txtsetup.sif is missing or corrupt", I can't even get to the repair stage, that's why I want to clean install the OS.

I am rapt by your reminder about the "fdisk" on Win 98 start up disk, I clean forgot about it, and was going about it the wrong way. Back to the drawing board for me. Sorry to be a pain, but I am scared of being left stranded without access to the internet for help.

I've been racking my brains about what could have caused the problems and the only other possibility that comes to mind is that I uninstalled .net 1 on the assumption that .Net 2 had it anyway, could this be the cause?

A sincere thank you, friend; I just don't know what I would do without your help.

 

Hi,
I see you checked the hard drives- that eliminates them (although never 100%, but most likely to be an assurance.
Yes, the windows 98se floppy startup disc is an easy way, just remember to click on start up with cd support.
Now, if you still keep getting the errors, it does sometimes happen that the XP cd gets dirty/scratched, and not always obvious, so it can be worth cleaning it carefully, by wiping a lint free non-fluffy cloth in straight wipes gently across the disc, not around it- there are disc cleaning devices around, but , not always available when you need it. I kep an old soft linen hankercheif to do it with , myself.
If you still get errors, if possible try to borrow another XP disc to see if that was the problem.
Sometimes , as you have said, uninstalling something corrupts Windows files, and it is possible that some instalation has caused the corruption, along the way.

If you can still get into your system, and you put your XP Pro disc in , then you can try the following:
Click Start
Click run
type in
sfc /scannow
(Note the space between the sfc and the hyphen), and a small box with a progress line will appear, and Windows will replace any protected files that have been corrupted, but you might have to sit in front of the computer for half to one and a half hours, and click the retry button every time it comes up, as Windows looks in the cd for the correct file.
It will take time to finish, and once the progress line gets to the end , the box will just dissappear (It does not tell you it has finished, but when the box dissappears- it has finished, and you can then remove the cd.
You can also do the CHKDSK /R from the start, run commands as for scannow, if you can get into windows, and that will run on the next startup- Chkdsk /r can also be run, if in Windows by right clicking My Computer, left click Manage, and then clicking on disk management, highlight the C: drive, and then right click the highlighted C: drive, choose properties, then, tools , then the first option, is error checking- click the relevent button, and the in next box tick both boxes, and again, you will need to restart the pc for it to check and repair.
Keep going, you are getting there.

 

Owing to the time difference, here in England, and your home, I thought I might leave you with a little summary, of the things we were to try,( besides the last post on tests, if able to get into Windows).
I have to go, now, but in case you need more help.
1/ Change ram over- one stick at a time- or, find a different stick - (If that is not possible- try memtest 86- download from majorgeeks, and run overnight (good old floppy use)
2/ Clean xp disk
3/One that I left off- try another cd rom?, or, clean the lense of the cd /dvd rom with a lense cleaner disc.
4/ Spare hard drive?- try installing on another hard drive, if you have one available (anything above 10gb should do as a tester). Just in case the seagate test actually missed something.
I will put a link to memtest in a minute.:wave

 

http://majorgeeks.com/Memtest86_d1247.html

Last thought, tonight- check hard drive, and cd rom cables are o.k, by unplugging, and replugging- often solves a lot of niggly problems- I had loose sata cables once that gave me a headache, but put new ones in, and all was o.k.
Good luck

 

Hello baklogic, your goodwill is very impressive.
Not to waste time with details, here is a summary of what happened so far.
1. My CD is in pristine condition, I checked hardware connections and ran a memory test as you suggested - there are no problems and I can still enter Windows.
2. Ran optical drive cleaner
3. Ran "sfc /scannow" - no changes.
4. Tried to run "CHKDSK /R" as per your instructions; "cannot find CHKDSK /R" !
5. Could not format C from Win 98 start up disk (FAT 32 versus NTFS).
4. "fdisk" apparently refers only to partition replacement.
5. There is no format option on the "6 floppies" of Win XP Pro SP2 Start up. There is a warning about potential problems if installing on "the same" drive with an option to install to another drive.

I have E partition with c 27G free; if I install on E is there a chance it will clash with the original OS on C?
I also have an external usb drive (Seagate c 96G free space).
6.Tomorrow I will use the local library computer to download .NET 1.1, remains to be seen if it will make a difference.

I have spent 6 days working on this problem, I guess that qualifies me for the next level in geekary! Before the problems started I ran a real time anti-virus programme and hope it is not virus related.http://forums.majorgeeks.com/images/smilies/confused.gif
Thanks for your efforts and encouragement.

(PS "Rivers" and "Britain from above" - very fascinating, must visit asap!)

 

You can install on any free partition- so it is worth a try on E:
You can have multiple partitions with multiple operating systems (Little note:- if putting different versions of windows on the same computer/laptop, start with the earlier version -W98/98se/2000/nt/xp/xp pro/vista/windows 7, so as to be able to get into each partition with relative ease- as the bootup can be affected if putting later version on first, and earlier versions will then not always be accessable)
So, if you can install on E: you will get TWO boot options of XP, when you start up, and it will automatically boot into the last XP that was shut down, unles you click on the other one.
You can also look into the C: partition from the E: partition, by left clicking My Computer, and you will see the C: drive, as wel as the cd rom drive/s, and the partion E: that you might be in.
You can explore C: from there, and even copy data.
If it refuses to install on the E: partition as it does on the C: partition, then we will have to go through the list again.
Good luck

 

Again, perhaps I never mentioned the space, before the /r, in the start, run method- if you try again, you shoild get a dos box come up, telling you that it is in use but can be run on a restart of the computer- you just need to type in Y, and press enter, and it will run on restart.:major

 

Ihave done some research, and it seems that "txtsetup.sif " is on the XP disc, and from the research, it seems that that is the last piece before the actul gui starts to install windows.
If you cannot get an installation on the E: partition, I would suggest that it is the cd that may have some un-noticable scratch/mark, and it may be worth trying another disc, as in my earlier suggestions.
Of course, if XP installed o.k on the E: partition, then the cd would appear to be o.k

 

Hi baklogic, I appreciate all your efforts to help.
Searched for txtsetup.sif on CD, would not come up.
I managed to get into setup (have to run the 6 floppies each time) chose a quick format of C, then ran installation; would not copy some files copy.
Tried to install to E drive, same thing.
Now I cannot get into windows at all (NLDR missing), no BSOD - more like a "black hole".:cry
Now I have doubts about the optical drive, will look around for local help and check of the CD, now using a borrowed laptop (Vista, touch pad is a real pain).
Many thanks, again.:wave

 

One possibility is that you left the last floppy disc in the drive bay?
If so, take it out and start over, but when Windows installation starts
with the XP CD into your rom drive,- make sure that you remove that last floppy, as the cd starts, and this time press R - -the first time recovery option , then when it shows the flashing cursur "c: windows" and asks, press 1, as this is the C partition,
The password is usually your logon , or, even blank ,press enter,
and next, in the command prompt where ie it has C; windows, type:-
fixboot
press enter
type
fixmbr
press enter
tYPE
Exit

 

Don't press any key to start from cd, and see if it will boot into Windows.
If it does not , then you will have to start again, .
As it will not start from the cd rom, you will need the floppy start, again, just remember to remove the last floppy after the cd starts.
Just a thought- you don't have a card reader installed, do you- just asked as if you had, and there was a card in there, it would need to be removed.

 

Hi, I followed your directions and this time got to format c:,then to set up and past EULA to C: and "Creating list of files to be copied", then "cannot copy - unicode.nls, Retry? y, after 15 retries I repeated same procedure on next partition, this time got "cannot copy wmilib.sys".
On re-runs, "NTLDR missing" is still there.
I looked around for local help from my previous contacts, but they have moved on to catch bigger fish, that's life;(eg my ISP sub costs $30 p.m., business is paying between $1000 and $2,500 p.m.)
baklogic, you are a marvel of determination and I have no option but to keep on trying, I have been staying up till 4 am trying every which way till my mind goes blank. Must take a rest now. Is there a way to record 100 "thanks you"s for you on Majorgeeks?:
Cheers.

 

Your determination makes the effort worthwhile-

Run the xp cd again, and go to the repair option, as before, at the C: prompt,
Type
CHKDSK /F
Press ENTER
TYPE EXIT.

I would have liked it if you could have physically removed the Ram, and started with just one stick, to see if it still happened, and, if it did not , then it might be a dodgy stick of ram.
If you are at all unhappy with removing the side of your computer, then go no further.
If you are going to take the side off, to get to it ,
I would, first of all, turn it off.
Remove the power plug from the wall.
Press the start button on the pc, to drain the power from the pc completely (you will be surprised, as it will often run momentarily, when you do this)
Then take the side off.
Then look in to see the sticks of ram installed. Be sure to touch the metal frame of the pc , before touching anything inside.
If you are wearing synthetic clothing, static can build up, so be sure to earth yourself,as I explained.
If there are two sticks - good, you can remove one, This is done by carefully clicking back the tab on each end of the Ram stick, and lifting out without touching the rest of the ram sick (holding by the ends, only)
This is best laid on, or, in an antistatic bag/sheet, so as not to cause static electricity damage.
Put the side back on, and then reverse the sequence by plugging into the mains, before pressing the power button.
If this does not stop the errors on installation, then try the second stick of ram, again , on its own- following the safety precautions as before.
Whenever this help on working inside a computer is offered, and you are dealing with electricity, I can only guide you, and it is at your own risk.
There is a list, and explanation for functions from the cd rom, here
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058

 

My friend, you are right I may have a dodgy RAM.
Initially, at your suggestion, I did run a memory check and it passed the test then. :-o

As you suggested I ran a 250 Mb DDR '400' card alone, the boot via floppy got me to the setup stage but then "could not read the CD" (this has not happened before!). Running the 512 Mb card alone produced the same results as the two cards running together, viz "ntldr is missing" and the odd "cannot copy file".
I surmised both cards were defective and went shopping for a new RAM card, at this stage I can buy DDR1 or DDR2 but not DDR, the retailers said what they have would not work on my machine; so,I am still looking for a DDR card.
About the No.6 floppy in the drive, I was careful to follow your instructions. You asked about a card reader - there isn't one.
The CD can only be activated via the floppy boot. Not pressing a key brings up "NTLDR missing", pressing a key brings up "TRAP 0000000D----- General protection fault".
I could not run the chkdsk/f; because both drives have been formated?
I'll be back as soon as I get a new card in the slot.
Many thanks for your encouragement.

 

Try the
CHKDSK
Without the /f- from the command prompt in the Recovery part, we did before.
DDR memory is harder to get now, and seems to be more expensive than ddr2.
But can be found- I don't know how easiy it it will be in Australia to find -
I have been fighting an old Toshiba, I could not get it to read any of my disks that I use for diagnostics, or, to check the hard drive- nothing would pick up, other than 'non bootable cd rom' - so I had to admit that it had a crap dvd rom, (I replaced it before I could even get a disk to be read), and then the charger was giving intermittant charge, and I changed that.
The hard drive would not format and install XP- SO I changed that-
now it works.
Sometimes I just don't like being beaten, I suppose I am obstinate- but a lot of people come and ask me to fix their pc's/laptops, as I do it for that reason only- to beat the fault , if I can.
Keep at it- When money is tight, don't spend until, you have to eliminate an item- better still, if a friend has a spare to let you test in your pc- borrow, and save.
Sometimes walk away , and start the next day, as it sometimes comes to you- Oh!- what if I did .....

 

Greetings all, finally I am back. Went around shopping for DDR memory chips, those that did not have them quoted $68 for 1G, those that could get them in quoted upto $200!
Then I found the repair dpt of a large computer outlet were willing to consider my problem, checked out my machine and pronounced it unrepairable -"problem with motherboard, if you get a new motherboard you will also need new components to go with it - about $700!". My first reaction was: "I can get a new computer for that price (well, almost)".
I can't argue with their logic, then someone made me an offer of 2 chips for $128, and now I am caught between a rock and a hard place. Since I don't have deep pockets I guess I will leave it there. I am sure there is a lesson in here somewhere but I am blessed if I can see it at the moment. But I am very sure about one thing - for me, MajorGeeks is an indispensable site, TOP MARKS.
My sincere thanks to "baklogic". My friend, many thanks for the time, care and your many constructive suggestions; I am 76 tomorrow and still learning.

 

I still think it is not the motherboard.
It will cost nothing to try another install.
This time, when you come to the instalation point choose to delete both partitions, as you have save your data, and tried to install on both C; and D:
So thaat you now have one partition- choose to create partition -it will offer pess C.
You may have a small buffer partition, of , say 5mb, but if so leave that, and choose to format and install an the larger (possibly 38gb partition).

See how it goes.I have to go its 10.15 pm in England, but don't throw it away-
Let me know how you get on, and I will have more to add, perhaps, tommorrow.

 

Re: Help, setup gone missing'

''I still think it is not the motherboard.''

Thanks, baklogic, I started thinking what I can salvage to use in my old Win98 machine, but your - "I still think it is not the motherboard." is a ray of hope and light. I will have another go and try your suggestion. Thanks again.

 

Well, I tend to look at symptons, and also use any information that I can glean, before I give up on a motherboard.
I also remember in years gone past how I got r'ooked', when I knew nothing about computers, and wanted to throw my computer out of the Window (about 30 years ago, and someone showed me the course work that they did to get into the job they had- I read a dozen pages of different books just to tell me that I press that key- honestly- most computer jargon seems to me to have been invented to confuse, and frighten people from attempting to 'inerfere' with them.
I have learnt bundles from majorgeeks, but I am more practicle, than I am inteligent, as some of the majorgeeks , here lose me with their knowledge, but on the practicle side, I have fought pc's, and laptops the hard way, and I find that too many shops will jump the gun, and make you scrap what you have, when they have not tried all avenues.
For example, did the company that looked at yours use specific diagnostic electronic stuff to test the motherboard, Did they say that some capacitors had become swolen, or, something to tell you how they tested it- If they did, then they might be right.
Like you I am a silver surfer, about 8 years your junior, and I just love fighting the odds. I hope I don't give you false hopes, but I feel it is worth trying the various points that have been raised, until we eliminate each one.
With you present motherboard, I thought the following links would help- They will give you some more knowledge of the system, and do keep coming back- until you decide that nothing will work, or, we exhaust the possibilities, and nothing will work.
Like you I would not want you to spend unnecessarily, on a lost cause.
I will come back on later(about 7 p.m GMT, IN England ) to see hoe you are getting on- its a shame about the time difference with Australia.

lOTS OF INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR MOTHERBOARD- SCROLL DOWN, AND USE ALL THE LINKS TO FIND OUT MORE.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00069442
SMART TEST ON HARDDRIVE
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...7110/en_us/c00386164/loc:4&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...86164/en_us/bph05701/loc:2&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us

OTHER TESTS IF/WHEN COMPUTER DOES LOAD WINDOWS
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...5701/en_us/c00041380/loc:2&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us

MEMORY UPGRADE
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...41380/en_us/bph03886/loc:4&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us
http://www.memoryx.net/a7mok.html

the Motherboard can always be replaced, be replaced, if all else does fail- Someone at majorgeeks will always help you with refurbing
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=asus+a7v8x+la&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_sop=12

As long as you have more time than money to throw around, has to be worth the effort ?
:major

 

Your motherboard manual for you to peruse.
http://www.elhvb.com/mboards/OEM/HP/manual/kelut_manual.pdf

Drivers for Asus motherboard- Does not list the-LA, just ONE A7V8X
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Have a good read, and try to digest whatever you can, I will look back tommorrow

 

This is embarrassing, I think I am in the presence of an angel!
Have you been commissioned from on high to help me out?

I doubt very much that the people at the workshop did any of the things you mentioned, the picture you draw reminds me yet again that consumerism is a global epidemic; it so happens, I have a pathological aversion to waste.

I am staggered by the obvious time and effort you have invested here, words fail me. Out of respect, I will go through your list diligently before I have a go at the machine again, but it may take time (I also spend time with my father, he has no one else, turned 101 last month).

May be one day I can thank you in person, (Dv). :wave

 

101 is a great milestone.
Like most of majorgeeks, I just enjoy the challenge, and 'beating ' the pc, has its rewards.
Take your time, the more you can understand about the motherboard, as you can see pictures of it if you scroll down the main link, the easier it becomes to know what to do , if you fancy having a go, -just remember that the biggest downfall in messing inside the computer is static, and always ensure that you turn off at the mains AND UNPLUG the computer, then press the start button to get rid of the latent electricity inside the computer, and you will note that it will run for a couple of seconds with no power on!
Only then put your hands to anything inside, if you decide to.
This link will automatically be forwarded to me through majorgeeks, when you come back.
Your thanks is all the reward that www.majorgeeks,com need
:wave

 

G'day silver surfer,
I accessed all the the links you gave me and saved them to HD. I took note of your comments and decided to rectify my neglect to keep abreast of computer knowledge, thought I'd start at the bottom and work my way up the tree of knowledge.
I have created a folder to save all your distilled knowledge you posted so far.
I agree with you there is a diabolical plot afoot to confuse the innocents like me with jargon; for instance, they don't tell that they can refer to RAM under 3 or 4 different names.
Like you I am a strong believer in logic and thought I would retrace my steps before I go any further. I went back to the repair shops to make sure they checked the Dimm, they looked up their notes and said they did.
The word got around and my friend's son asked his friend if he would look at my problem; this character is reputed to be a computer wizard (does security and maintenance for corporate bodies on the side). I will let you know the "how and why" as things develop.

Best of luck in the elections, we all need "the right honourable member" to represent us! rolleyes

 

That's the ticket!
My name was derived from- go back to logic, Gate's was a mathematician- So, over the years , I looked at the LOGIC of all the bumf given out, and went BAK to itand I am only really a'messer' with computers, because I was frustrated with the way people try to bamboozle us with too much techy expression.
Then, I found I actually like it!
It took a woman 3 months to make templates for my business (actually 42 years ago).
I was watching some of the things she did, and I thought- for instance, in EXCEL, she added down the column, using the emblem that looked like a sideways 'M', and she said that was all she could do- I knew nothing about computers, but I said, but, why not like this, and clicked to do it sideways, and the answer was also there, and she said-'Oh, I did not know that !'
All the time she spent cost me a lot.
I can create a Template in minutes , now.

 

There are real experts in the nitty gritty of computing on majorgeeks, who have made a difference to me over the last few years, and some of them have that expertise that you only learn by experience, some have gone through real hard courses, and all give their help for free.
I am th logical one, who has 'played with computers, built computers, played with dead laptops, and discovered by the hands on method more than I would ever learn from books, just by googling when necessary, and so often coming to majorgeeks for the best help.
If you have the time, as we often have when retired, it keeps the @old grey cells working as old Souchet, used to say in the POIROT series , that my better half loves to watch on the television, while I am on a laptop, or, computer.
I have collected so much information, but find it hard to remember it all, so I try to keep it in seperate folders, but as I keep changing computers, I forget where I put them, and my old grey cells often struggle to remember some things.
I have finally got my new computer-
A refurbished DELL, with core i7(quod) , and 4gb ram, e-sata connection, bluetooth on board, DVD Multi wrirte,DVD rom, card reader etc:
1.5 TB hard drive.
I will be getting that up and running, with all the systems I can.

 

You can knock Dell, but I had their computers in the past, and never a problem. I built my own for years, but-a core i7 costs enough, and as this one is refurbished (brand new in box, and still has sticky covers all over) Lots of Dell's refurbs come out as brand new, really, best time to get is as they sell them just around end of April.- all the parts would go into a home build- no problem, if I wanted to, but I could not buy all the parts for what I paid for this- Lazy , thats me, cheap-scate , too.
Anyway , I can clean my old core 2 duo, with two smaller hard drives up, and my son wants it- so I win all ways, in my estimation.
Anyway, enough of my gabble- good luck with the reading up, and just think about everything as I said- Mathematician + logic, and your own determination.
That's my way, anyway.
Do let majorgeeks know how it pans out for you.

 

Hello baklogic, Lexicon is back.:-D
At last I got a message "I have replaced the PSU for L. And have installed all windows updates and SP3." and he is asking how much memory I would like to have in it.
I have been pondering on the cause of my woes and suspect it may be the way I was trialling different software: I would run it and then uninstall with an uninstall application. May be more was taken out than was absolutely necessary at the time, and corrupted the tree structure.

Re my computer education, Vista Help and Support gives an excellent basic introduction and brings together the various terms for the same item.

I don't want to knock Dell because I don't know if it is a Dell or a Vista problem; when I am typing the cursor some times jumps back by itself and when I look up the sentence is broken up. I looked every where for the cursor settings.
Thank you very much for all your help and especially the moral support.
And also my thanks to Majorgeeks.com, a wonderful and essential website.
Cheers,
PS. I'm not sure if Iou ought tocongratulate y (see what I mean?) on the elections results!?rolleyes

 

Fooled me, earlier, with
"don't know if it is a Dell or a Vista problem;"
And I am pleased to see my earlier reply has got lost.....
Go to control panel in XP , and click on keyboard to see/change settings, and also check the mouse settings, in the same area.
It looks like the driver for either the keyboard, or, more likely the mouse has not installed properly, if it is not working properly, but I have seen the wandering cursur problem with some Vista setups.
I would suggest that you go to the driver downloads to get the latest drivers - http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
and click on the left hand side on the navigation wizard, and follow it through to check the drivers on your computer.You will need to download its "spy" to look into your computer- easiest way I know to get the right one's.
If after downloading drivers it still plays up, come back- if I am not about someone else might help.
Election ?- I think we are about to have our own dictator, for a while.....We will have to see... politics?.....
If you are going to play with stuff on your computer, I would use Windows add and remove , whenever possible- these uninstalling programs are brilliant, but need to be used very carefully.
Otherwise, use a seperate copy of XP, on a second partition to test programs out- I use HyperOs, and it enables me to keep a pristine copy of any partition, and can even save it to cd/dvd's-its not a free one, but I can get windows up and running on a damaged partition in 15 minutes!- and as I "play " so much, its been a boon- costs about £20-£30 , but worth it- I can even copy my Vista setups, to re-install if I got in a corner, although Vista repair with its disc is really good, so I only do it to save time.
I have my Dell up and running-XP Pro, Vista,and Windows 7, with backups, and split at present into 8 partitopns, with one for documents (It has a 1.5tb hard drive, and wireles, bluetooth)
Anyway I hope the driver update solves it for you- but while it is running run a hard drive test on it
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...7110/en_us/c00386164/loc:4&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us
See you soon.:wave

 

What a practical well of knowledge you are!
The "work bench" partition concept is brilliant. Must look into it asap, but in case a clean install is required at some stage, how would go about retrieving the MS updates that are on the HHD now and reinstalling them, to save getting them again from MS.
(I am on limited download plan - 500Mb/month, MG downloads don't count! They go through my ISP mirror site).

The wandering cursor is on Vista with a touch pad. I will check out the drivers issue.
Many thanks for your hard earned tips!

PS. politicians here suffer from the "foot and mouth" complaint, not as much from the "snout in trough" syndrome, as in some places. But you never know until it's out!

 

Hi Lexicon,
Download and save these two files, and you will be able to update , if necessary, without going on-line, as they are in these folders.
Obviously there will be some that occurred afterwards, but these will save on-line time- includes .net updates- you have to run them more than once, and there are extras included in the packages-




XP autopatcher download

http://www.majorgeeks.com/AutoPatcher_XP_Update_d5213.html
Vista autopatcher download-

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5602

This pdf is at autopatchers site- but later versions are not free, in fact I would not buy it, I think HyperOs is a more useful tool, myself, and more value if you have to pay for something, but the free versions, above are worth keeping and saving to a usb stick, for future use.
http://www.autopatcher.com/AutoPatcher.pdf


HyperOs-
If you get brave, and want to try it, when you master what you have.....(I am looking at around 1.4 dollars american to a British pound)
- this is probably the cheapest- HyperOs 10PCs-In-1
There are, of course many other drive copy programs ,andpoibly good free one's- but I found HyperOs best for me.

http://hyperossystems.com/
The one I use is this one
HyperOs 2009SE, Geek and SuperGeek
http://hyperossystems.com/

Is this another Vista 'machine' a dell- laptop/pc ? or, have you now got Vista on your hp? - if you upgraded to Vista on the hp/compaq, then try their site again for the drivers, as before. :confused

If the Vista is on another pc/laptop - see if there is a driver at the Dell?site, as before- or, let us know the make of it- :confused

Mouse and key problem in Vista
Possible causes-
Vibration, or working mouse on a very polished, or, even glass surface
Try Switching off the ''Enhance Pointer Position'' in the mouse section of Control Panel, if it is ticked, click tick, on , if it is not.
Check mouse/substitute - if its a wheel mouse, for hair/fluff around wheel.
If its wireless- mouse and/or/keyboard, possible interference from other objects- like speakers , and other electronic devices -check for fluff and dust around receiver connection (usb)- I had that the other day, on my daughters- remove/replace connection- is there another driver available for that particular mouse/keyboard for Vista-
I hope some of this post is also helpful,
Good luck
:major

 

Hello, baklogic.
I have struck jgold again! I'm glad I asked; Many thanks.
I like your term "messing", and there are "messers" and "messer-uppers", sometimes I fall between the two; I just can't leave a challenge alone.
I take on board all of your post(s) and consider everything valuable even if not immediately applicable, part of my education!

The Vista is on Dell Inspiron 1525 lap top (2009). My first thought was to reinstall the mouse driver from the Dell Drivers CD. I went to Device Manager but it says the device is working ok and the options to reinstall are grayed out and I could not activate them.

On the Dell Vista cursor control is via touch pad, (no mouse involved), it is very erratic. I read in the Help file that there is a pen to use with the touch pad, wonder which is better a wireless mouse or the pen. "Enhance Pointer Precision" is on.
It takes 7+ passes from corner to corner of touch pad to take the cursor from "Start" on the monitor screen to "Close". It drove me crazy, so I went and bought a wireless mouse, now I feel normal again.

I went back and looked at the description of your new PC, and it is awesome;http://forums.majorgeeks.com/images/smilies/drool.gif do you need a licence to operate it? I started with computers as a means to an end - I needed a word processor. My first computer was an Amstrad, had no HD and ran off a floppy disk, compared to your's now, it is like a paper boat to an ocean liner.
Chris, who restored my 2004 desktop PC (40Gig) desktop, says it's days of are numbered. May be one day I'll get a machine with a 500Gig HD, partition it like you did and run 5 OS's!

At the MG site the AutoPatcher XP download is 40 Mb and the Vista is 210 Mb, programmes are marked 2007, I presume they have the updates only for around 2007 but for the more recent updates I would have to go the AutoPatcher site, would that be right?

What I had in mind is to retrieve the updates from my HD and put them on a cd for clean installing instead of downloading all over again.
Cheers.http://forums.majorgeeks.com/images/smilies/wave.gif

 

I will come back with microsofts downloadable updates- there is a link- that you can download all updates seperately to save the files , and again include them on your backup stik/rw cd/dvd- don't pay for updates, you are entitled to have, and if you save them in the next month, you will not have to worry (microsoft are stopping support for XP sometime, soon.- you should copy the Autopatcher XP on the cd/dvd. and the Vista autopatcher, then add the other updates.
To check what is installed, you can go to add, and remove programs in XP, and on Vista, click on uninstal a program, and you will get the same list,copy the update numbers down, and then look them up on microsoft, to add to your backup to re-instal, later.Incidently, as I use HyperOs, I don't need to keep activating xcp, or, vista, as the backup is saved with its activation- another timesaver. With HyperOs, you do any partitioning that you want from the hyperos setup-add a partion, even after adding a second hard drive, you can copy any partition to that , too. If the first hard drive crashes, running fixboot, and fix mbr from the XP cd will get you up and running on the second hard drive- for Vista, just put the Vista cd in, and choose repair at startup, and the second hard drive will boot, and you can ignore the dead first hard drive- that was one of the things, that I messed about with, to find it out.
I thought you had another pc/laptop, but you fooled me. Back soon
:-D

 

VISTA SP2 DOWNLOAD-- FOR 32 BIT (X86)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...d5-f907-4406-9012-a5c3199ea2b3&displaylang=en
VISTA SP2 DOWNLOAD-- FOR 64 BIT
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...4a-55ec-4972-a0d7-b1a6fedf51a7&displaylang=en

mAIN DOWNLOAD SITE- ALL CAN BE SAVED TO PUT ON CD/DVD- THERE ARE THOUSANDS, SO MAY TAKE TIME FINDING THE ONES YOU WANT- YOU CAN CLICK ON THE LEFT FOR WINDOWS ONLY, OR, OFFIC,ETC:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?displaylang=en

XP SP3- BIG DOWNLOAD, AS USED BY THE PRO'S-:hyper
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=2fcde6ce-b5fb-4488-8c50-fe22559d164e


At present there are many at microsofts downloads- but only look for the one's installed on your present machines- they all have numbers- check them against sny you see, before downloading to save file, then burn to disc.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/resultsForCategory.aspx?displaylang=en&categoryId=7&stype=n_dc
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...df6ab1-13d4-409c-966d-cbe61f040027&stype=n_pf
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/downloadover/en-gb#tab9
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/downloadover/en-gb#tab10

That should keep you going for a while- the service packs are big downloads that way, but, you can still get the c/dvd with service packs from microsoft, but I don't know how long for. I paid something like £7 for each one of mine direct from microsoft, but it was a while ago.
:dancer