Hi there! Driver advice for a 64 bit?

Not new to the boards, though this is my first post. I'm a software freak trying to get into hardware. I know absolutely nothing about hardware and I suppose that's why I'm posting now. I've been on computers far longer than I care to admit given my lack of well-rounded knowledge, so I'm here to learn and hopefully give back one of these days.

A while back, my laptop went into alcohol rehab (and never came back) and I was faced with making a quick purchase on a new laptop so I could keep up with business. After a hellacious time with Dell, I wanted to try something new without having to purchase new software (Macromedia and Adobe products for Mac), so I went with a new company (Hypersonic). Found myself with the following:

3700+ AMD Athlon 64 DTR/Mobile Processor with PowerNow
VIA K8T800 + VT8235 chipset
2 x 1024MB PC3200 DDR400 SODIMM
80GB 7200rpm Ultra ATA HD with 8MB cache
ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 (M11) 128MB

After just a few weeks, I found that my computer would freeze and I couldn't get through more than a few seconds without it doing so. Finally managed to get the thing reformatted and everything reinstalled properly with the excpetion of my Mass Storage Controllers, which I have absolutely no idea how to fix. Not a clue which drivers are needed, so I'm hoping that someone who knows more about this than I do can offer some advice or point me in the right direction.

I'm off to read the FAQ section. I'm interested primarily in learning more about my computer, as I don't have a clue about what I've listed up there except that this is remarkably faster than my old computer. If anyone has any suggestions for my current setup (upgrades or anything, really), please do let me know. I want to be able to use this system to its fullest potential and possibly get into overclocking (stats totally appeal to me).

Happy to be posting finally. You guys have saved my butt in the past with virus and misc. exploit info. Thank you. I do hope I'm not coming off as a complete novice (though, I suppose that's what I am LOL).

Steph

 

Thank you, Halo!

I'm using XP Pro x64

Just today, I installed the VIA Hyperion Pro Driver Package and the included installer reported no failures in installation. Rebooted, checked, and Mass Storage Controller is still listed as being without driver.

Come to think of it, I'm also having what I believe to be a video driver problem, in that the aspect ratio is off (everything's stretched a bit), but I can start a new thread for that.

Again, thank you!

 

I downloaded new drivers, did a manual install for my graphics and I can't believe I'm dumb enough to not have persisted with this before because it worked beautifully. Smooth scrolling isn't jumping anymore, no one looks fat anymore (lol), and I have a ton more useable desktop space. Crap, this rocks! Man! I can even use my Catalyst Control Center! Finally.

Now, I'm just down to the one issue of the mass storage controller and I've found some info while doing an Everest report that made me look twice. I do wish I knew more about this stuff, but anyway, here's what I've found:

Storage:
IDE Controller Mass Storage Controller
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller - 0571
Disk Drive ST980825A (74 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive TOSHIBA CD/DVDW SD-R6472 (DVD+RW:8x/4x, DVD-RW:8x/4x, DVD-ROM:8x, CD:24x/10x/24x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

In bold is the component missing the driver. I imagine this would be just too easy, but should both of the controllers have the same driver? Just a shot in the dark...

Also, got this at the very end of the report...

HDD ST980825A
PCI/AGP 1050-8481: Mass Storage Controller [NoDB]
PCI/AGP 1050-8482: Mass Storage Controller [NoDB]

Don't know what to think about the last one. Hopefully, this will help someone help me help myself?

Thanks for the suggestions so far, Halo. It's very much appreciated.

Steph