I hate friends of friends with computers....

  • Thread starter Thread starter ToolPackinMama
  • Start date Start date
David said:
Is the BIOS boot priority set to try the floppy first?
Click to expand...

YES, IT IS. I set it that way myself. It refuses to boot to the
floppy. It's like it can't see the floppy at boot, although the drive
is recognized in BIOS.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
LOL I would, but they are paying me. :)



I agree about the memory upgrade, but technically, XP can load and run
on a sys with these specs. Not run well, but yes, run.
Click to expand...

No - it doesn't run... it creeps!

Roy
 
ToolPackinMama said:
I have a friend of a friend with a HP (Pavilion 7915) computer, and it
crapped out recently, so my friend's friend had another's friend's teen
son wipe the HD clean. Unfortunately, the friend's son who wiped the HD
didn't know what to do after that.

THAT'S WHEN THEY FINALLY THINK OF CALLING ~ME~!

I am trying to install XP to this (Celeron1.1 G, 128MB RAM) sys, and I
am seeing things I have never seen before. The OS loads VERY slowly,
and furthermore it keeps saying it's can't copy many files... one file
after another. I've been hitting escape to ignore the ones it can't
load (since that is not a new problem to me)...but it's so bloody SLOW.

Is VERY slow performance a sign of impending HD failure? Or what?

Just asking.

Thanks for any insights, you brilliant and very helpful people, you. :)

Laura
Click to expand...

Are you using the HP restore discs? They probably wiped out the restore
partition and the proprietary files on it needed to make it work properly.

Ari

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/
 
Roy said:
No - it doesn't run... it creeps!

Roy
Click to expand...

I've used XP on systems with 256mb of RAM on numerous occaisions, and
they work fine as long as your not doing really intensive work. A base
installation on a system with 256mb RAM should not creep, even on a laptop.

Ari

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/
 
you have the HD on the same IDE channel as the CDROM?
Bios has detected the size of the drive correctly?
CS or master (master lone) setting of the HD jumpers?
ATA ? UMDA is enabled in the bios?
 
This morning I got up, tried a different XP disk and it seems to be
working now.

FWIW, the machine (I'm told) suddenly crapped out immediately after they
installed a new copy of Norton antivirus.

The kid had tried to fix this, using a DELL restore CD (it's an HP
computer), and succeeded only in wiping the HD clean and rendering the
machine unusable.

It did not like my XP-SP2 slipstreamed install CD. I dug out my classic
XP install CD, and that is working, apparently normally.

The FDD does not work, but as long as the OS loads and the computer runs
I'm sure they will be satisfied.

Thanks everybody, very much, for your suggestions. Thanks especially to
David Maynard for reminding me to try a different disk... simple, but it
worked.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
This morning I got up, tried a different XP disk and it seems to be
working now.

FWIW, the machine (I'm told) suddenly crapped out immediately after they
installed a new copy of Norton antivirus.

The kid had tried to fix this, using a DELL restore CD (it's an HP
computer), and succeeded only in wiping the HD clean and rendering the
machine unusable.

It did not like my XP-SP2 slipstreamed install CD. I dug out my classic
XP install CD, and that is working, apparently normally.

The FDD does not work, but as long as the OS loads and the computer runs
I'm sure they will be satisfied.

Thanks everybody, very much, for your suggestions. Thanks especially to
David Maynard for reminding me to try a different disk... simple, but it
worked.
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding back with the fix and letting us know what was
wrong. We all learn that way. <g>
If I had a dime for everytime Norton has messed up a computer that was
brought to me I could retire by now. I avoid anything Norton at all costs!

Bob
 
I'm certain that the XP install CD is not the problem.


Is this install CD an original or is it a copy?
 
ToolPackinMama said:
YES, IT IS. I set it that way myself. It refuses to boot to the
floppy. It's like it can't see the floppy at boot, although the drive
is recognized in BIOS.
Click to expand...

You haven't answered if anyone has been inside the case.

"Refuses to boot" doesn't tell me anything other than it don't work. Does
the select light come on? Is it always on? Does it attempt to read but
fail? Does it SAY anything? Turn on floppy seek in BIOS. Does it seek?

At any rate, open it up and check out the floppy cables, power connector,
etc. If the floppy is bad pull one from a working machine and substitute so
you can at least run memtest and the hard drive diagnostics.

Or make a boot CD with memtest and the hard drive diagnostics and run from
that.
 
ToolPackinMama said:
This morning I got up, tried a different XP disk and it seems to be
working now.

FWIW, the machine (I'm told) suddenly crapped out immediately after they
installed a new copy of Norton antivirus.

The kid had tried to fix this, using a DELL restore CD (it's an HP
computer), and succeeded only in wiping the HD clean and rendering the
machine unusable.

It did not like my XP-SP2 slipstreamed install CD. I dug out my classic
XP install CD, and that is working, apparently normally.

The FDD does not work, but as long as the OS loads and the computer runs
I'm sure they will be satisfied.

Thanks everybody, very much, for your suggestions. Thanks especially to
David Maynard for reminding me to try a different disk... simple, but it
worked.
Click to expand...

Just a case of been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

The other half of the "if I had a dime" allegory is how poor I'd be if I
had to pay a dime for doing the same thing ;)
 
Run the HDD diagnostic s/w just to be sure, check all as if building
the thing from scratch.

Examine the O/S disk surface, if it's been resurfaced "to remove
scratches" it's RS, sorry, clean it either way just in case it still
works.

Once inside the bios set all as per the manual, most settings are OK
to get any system to run, except for the boot order, video card to
boot off etc PCI / AGP, set the system to CD as first boot, then HDD
and Floppy, NOTE; of course the diagnostic s/w will run off a floppy
so it will have to be changed to floppy first when running that
software.

Most XP systems, home or pro on even slow systems take about 30 - 40
min to finish including SP-2 and also formatting the drive to NTFS
the long way, don't do it the short way, problems WILL happen.

You will find experienced users near you that will install the o/s for
a carton of beer, it's not rocket science, really it's not hard.

Generally with a new system the first thing to do after the build is
to FDISK the hard drive, simple enuf done with a 98 floppy boot disk,
once done set the system to boot on the CD first and restart it with
the o/s CD allready in, it will ask you press any key to boot off the
CD, do it, it will ask to format the drive, let it do it the "long
way", the rest of the install is pretty simple stuff, answer yes/no,
set the time zone/date, enter the install code etc etc, install the
vid card driver first, and M/B drivers and your in buisness apart
from installing your software, do the AV first, the rest is all
simple stuff.

Never let any kid open "or use" your PC no matter how smart he says he
is, I have one system here now worth 3K where the mother let her kid
inside it to add a network card, now the CPU, HDD, M/B, memory and
CDROM are completely RS, basically nothing works the system is dead,
but he knew it all ??? NOT, even any PC business will help you out
for <$50AUD for a system build and o/s install, as it's easy for
anyone that does it every day.
 
Just Non Literary Genius Notes:
Floppy needs a split cable....smallest split end, the red lined edge of cable
(pin1), connected towards the power connector on floppy.

Red edged side's (pin1) at motherboard end of cable connector, to motherboard's
floppy connector, on pin1.
 
Leon said:
Just Non Literary Genius Notes:
Floppy needs a split cable....smallest split end, the red lined edge of cable
(pin1), connected towards the power connector on floppy.

Red edged side's (pin1) at motherboard end of cable connector, to motherboard's
floppy connector, on pin1.
Click to expand...

I never cracked the case and to be honest, I don't want to.
 
Howdy!

ToolPackinMama said:
I have a friend of a friend with a HP (Pavilion 7915) computer, and it
crapped out recently, so my friend's friend had another's friend's teen
son wipe the HD clean. Unfortunately, the friend's son who wiped the HD
didn't know what to do after that.

THAT'S WHEN THEY FINALLY THINK OF CALLING ~ME~!

I am trying to install XP to this (Celeron1.1 G, 128MB RAM) sys, and I
Click to expand...

Let's see - it's a Celeron machine, which means it's probably i810
or i815 based, and you lose part of that 128M to on-board video.
am seeing things I have never seen before. The OS loads VERY slowly,
and furthermore it keeps saying it's can't copy many files... one file
after another. I've been hitting escape to ignore the ones it can't
load (since that is not a new problem to me)...but it's so bloody SLOW.

Is VERY slow performance a sign of impending HD failure? Or what?
Click to expand...

Look again at that RAM amount. I'd HIGHLY suggest, on a Cel 1.1, a
minimum of 256M and preferably 512M for "decent" performance.

RwP
 
David Maynard said:
Just a case of been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

The other half of the "if I had a dime" allegory is how poor I'd be if I
had to pay a dime for doing the same thing ;)
Click to expand...

hehe.......same here. TPM got lucky too. I have an HP here on the bench that
has a similiar problem and it will not accept anything except the HP restore
disks. I have tried to install everything (W98, ME(what was on it), 2000 and
XP Home and Pro) and it keeps telling me to insert the HP restore disk#1
about 1/4 of the way through install. The owner has lost the
disks........screwed.

Ed
 
Norton AV is known to not do it's job properly, and that's bein
nice

The AVG "free" edition will beat Norton every time, Norton not onl
sucks the system recourses dry but is at best only a below averag
program that will not find all viruses, especially trojans, worms et
where other forms of software is needed to keep your system safe

The AVG Pro edition is possibly the best AV program about, bar none
nothing has got passed it to this date, where I have seen Norto
systems fully up to date be rendered useless due to a virus that ha
slipped in where the kids were playing games online, perhaps the mos
dangerous thing to do as the AV is generally turned off while the gam
is playing leaving the system completely vulnerable to all threats

Also systems fully scanned with NAV with no viruses found and the
scanned with AVG with alerts going off everywhere, the choice of A
is simple

Having personally lost the lot thanks to Norton, yes perhaps I wa
slack, I received a simple joke from a known and relyable source
problem was the sender had simply redirected the joke to all on he
mailing list, that was a rather nasty virus as it attacked syste
files and within ten mins the entire system was useless to the poin
of not being able to boot, Norton was active and up to date yet i
failed to see it

I will never reccomend Norton AV or any of the Norton family fo
anything, for the person on a budget the AVG freebie will do al
that's needed and is highly recomended
 
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