Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with computer and windowsxp

Windows xp lockdown

kraigory — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:49:16 -0800

What's a simple way in windows xp to prevent a user from doing anything but using one program? An employee was recently caught playing solitare on the clock at a computer terminal that is used to search an access database. I am tasked with locking the computer. I know I could just delete the games, but I'm looking for something more complete, and I may not be able to log in as the administrator.

So, are there any simple ways I can prevent users from doing anything except using access? They don't need to open the program, just use it. Also, the users aren't terribly computer literate, so if it just appears that they can't do anything else, that might be sufficient. Is there any way to get a program to go full screen and hide the minimize/maximize/close, and keep the start bar from poping up?

Also keep in mind that I don't have the administrator password, although i could get it if I absolutely had to. So, anything that could be done without that would be best, although I would like to know what options there are if I did have the password.

If software is used I would prefer for it to be freeware.

Thanks for any suggestions! I know there are multiple ways to do this, but I'm trying to figure out what would be best.

Activate Windows AGAIN?

~Sushma~ — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:35:26 -0800

After cleaning up my WindowsXP Professional OS (Dell) to give to my son, all of a sudden The nag screen comes up and tells me I have three days to 'activate' my product! I bought the program new years ago, and have legally installed it on three of my Dell machines with no problems. WTF? It appears that I turned off the restore function and automatic updates, I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Any hiv-ers know why this occured? I went ahead and updated it three times, once on the phone because the network card didn't work due to the cleanup losing the driver, then after fixing the networking problem I did it again twice online. I have a sneaky suspicion that Microsnoot fubar'd SP3 because I have been getting a 'server too busy' error on the support site for XP.

What good is a windows COA sticker?

washburn — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:41:24 -0800

What does it mean when a used laptop is advertised as having Windows XP installed and coming with a COA sticker? Without having a Windows install cd, is there any benefit to having such a sticker? Would it, for example, permit one to call MS and obtain a new install disk for Windows XP?

Maybe we should just throw this clunker out

curagea — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:58:40 -0800

Double whammy! Persistent "ghost" floppy drive, and slow, halting performance, all on my parents' PC. My parents' PC is an HP Pavilion a412n of 5+ years, on Windows XP Professional. It has enough problems for the past year or two, to warrant two questions:

1. Everytime it start it up, whether from a fresh boot, hiberation, or stand-by, I get "Floppy disk(s) fail (40)". Then, I have to press F2 to continue with the booting, which proceeds along fine.

The floppy drive is long gone already. "All right", I thought. "Let's just disable the floppy drive then in the BIOS." Did just that, reboot, yay, the message is gone!

Until the next time I boot it up/revive from hiberation. The message appears again. Then I go back into the BIOS to disable the floppy drive. Lather/rinse/repeat. A couple of times, I rebooted after disabling the non-existent drive, and it STILL gives me the damn message.

What's up here? Some mystery cable in the computer? I didn't think a floppy CABLE alone would cause the problem. Another drive messing with us? We have a ZIP drive and a dual-layer DVD burner (why, I don't know, my dad's stupid sometimes) with no problems. A faulty BIOS? I hate to think that's the case, since it might mean "just frickin' buy a new PC already", and money is tight these days. Help!

2. The PC is always "working". The hard drive light is always blinking/on, except after an HD defrag or when it's off. I've tried spyware scans, virus scans, defragging and Glary Utilities for the temp files and whatever. However, I don't use Glary's Registry cleaner, since from past experience, any Register cleaner eventually screwed up something that snowballs into a schizophrenic PC. Also, I've looked up on "unnecessary" Windows services and tweaked those too. Nope.

Surfing the Internet is sluggish too, but not bandwidth-wise. Usually, after clicking a link, the PC kind of lags before continuing on. This happens in IE7. I could try to get my mom and pop to convert to Firefox, but it's hard to teach these old dogs new tricks. They tried Firefox once and said they didn't like it *gasp*. I doubt they'll like Opera either.

FWIW, it's a Celeron processor, which I know is pretty weak to begin with. But in the PC's early days, it was preppy. Net surfing was a snap. Now, everytime I'm by my mom's side, she complains about how slow the PC is.

My parents do the most basic of computing basics: read email, write documents and spreadsheets, once in a while listen to someone's podcast or watch YouTube for business. No one else uses the PC. The HD is only a quarter full.

So, what's the verdict? Can I prep this old PC into shape again without reinstalling (did that once, didn't help matters)? What other cleanups am I missing, if any?

No "buy a new PC" or "get a Mac" or "get Linux" advice, please. Money's tight, and like I said: I can't teach those two old dogs new tricks.

Why does sound playback "drag" sporadically on my PC?

steeb2er — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:03:07 -0800

Why does sound playback "drag" sporadically on my recently built (decently powerful) PC? In the spring I built a new PC. I'm using the on-board sound card. Specs below:

- GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard
- EVGA 256-P2-N768-A1 GeForce 8600GTS SSC 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
- Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Allendale 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E4600
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C5DHX

When I playback basically anything (MP3s, DVDs, Youtube videos, Myspace music) the sound has a tendency to drag. I'm not doing any intense processing (90+% idle) or hardcore downloading. Its not my internet connection, since it happens with MP3s on my comp as well. There doesn't seem to be any connection to activities (ie. the dragging happens randomly, not while opening a new browser window or something along those lines).

I've updated the driver (the latest is from 09/2008). I'm running XP Professional SP3. Firefox 3.0.3. Windows Media Player (same problem in iTunes and WinAMP).

Any suggestions?

I'm hoping for a free answer (not "buy a new soundcard"). Thanks!

File recovery on Windows XP

stuart_s — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:32:38 -0800

Accidentally unplugging my external hard drive during use seems to have erased all the files in that directory. How can I recover them? (Windows XP. Easy and free preferred.) I was downloading a few files with bittorrent. I tugged the cable to the external drive. I got errors about inaccessible files but that's happened before so I didn't think anything of it. I plugged in the drive. When I went to access one of the other files in the directory, I saw that it was completely empty. Hundreds of files gone. The rest of the external drive appears to be fine.

Searching google for file recovery gives way too much information to sort through. What should I do?

Thanks

Windows XP SP2 hangs on install. Why?

Electrius — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:56:19 -0800

Help me with a weird Windows install problem. I have a two-year-old MacBook Pro which I have upgraded with 10.5. I was able to successfully install Windows Vista on it with the Bootcamp Beta under 10.4. Later, I wiped my Windows partition and resolved to install Windows XP instead. Using a tested Windows XP CD, I started the install but it would hang when it reached this screen, before I even press ENTER or F3 or R, all of which I have tested and which have had no effect. I have tried this with two different Windows XP Professional SP2 discs and the result has been identical.

I have searched far and wide to try to find the answer to this problem on Google and have plumbed the depths of Apple's support files, but to no avail. Apparently this problem is either unique or I'm not calling it by the right name.

I would prefer to not have to either use Windows Vista or try to find another Windows disc, although if that's the only option I suppose I have no choice if I ever want to play Team Fortress 2 again. I am reasonably computer-literate.

So, then, the questions:
1) What is causing this? CD drive failure? Bizarre bug in the particular verison I'm using?
2) How can I fix the problem? Some voodoo key combination at bootup? Use a different version of Windows altogether? Give up? Repartition my hard-drive?
3) Does this problem indicate a larger issue with my computer?

I promise this is the last computer question I'll ever ask.

backseatpilot — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:09:27 -0800

I hate doing this, but I have a computer issue and need help. Apologies in advance. Random pauses while it's running... what broke? So, I have a machine running Windows XP with some older-ish hardware - Athlon 64 processor, etc. Within the past week, some interesting things have started happening. The computer will hang for about 15 seconds (where NOTHING happens), and then continue on its merry way. If task manager is running, after it gets itself back together it will show a 100% CPU spike during the brief hang.

It has started happening more and more frequently to the point that I get about 30 seconds of useful time followed by a 15 second pause. Previous to this the lags seemed much more random and spread out.

I disabled a few of the startup programs (Nero's, Adobe's, and Office's startup checker thingies) using msconfig, and that helped for about four hours. Now it's back with a vengeance. Adware and virus scans don't yield results. I have not installed any new software recently.

I am led to believe it is a hardware issue, mostly because I now see it during the Windows XP splash screen. Removing the RAM (my initial guess) did not help. My best guess now is that the motherboard is killing itself - does this seem reasonable? It may be an overheating issue, but all the fans are running fine and are relatively clean.

The one last bit of (possible spurious) evidence I have - a previous issue to this one involved the computer failing to make it past the memory check during boot. That hasn't happened in awhile, but it did take some creative power cycling and jamming of power cables to unstick it from that situation.

Hope me!

Moving old data to a new drive

Zaximus — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:19:50 -0800

I am upgrading my PC and I have questions regarding transferring my data. This is probably a total newbie question but I can't seem to find a straight answer anywhere. I will be installing a new motherboard, CPU, graphics card, RAM, and 640GB hard drive into my case. I am planning on doing a clean install of XP and SP3 onto the new drive.

Once the new system boots up, I want to plug in my old 160GB HD (also SATA) and pick off all the files I want to keep, which would mostly be several gigs of music and the entirety of the My Documents folder. The old drive also has XP installed on it.

As long as I ensure that I boot up from the larger, newer HD, this should work fine, correct? Is there much risk involved in this process? If the total amount of data to be transferred is less than 10GB and I don't need to clone the entirety of the old disk and old OS, is there a safer way to go about this?

Thanks in advance.

How DO you backup Windows XP?

Ikazuchi — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:56:18 -0800

My mom and my brother are looking for a simple, solid online backup solution for their Windows XP computers. I know that there are sites like Carbonite, Mozy, and Crashplan. What I don't know is how good or simple any of these sites are or if there are others that are better that I just don't know about. Also, how heavily does the background services these site's software install impact system performance?

One version of Windows isn't enough, I need three!

Snyder — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:27:12 -0800

Will Windows 98 and XP run and dual boot (or, treble boot, I suppose,) with my new Vista running computer? I'm being given a slightly used computer that is currently is running Vista, but I'd like to bring over my hard drives from my current computer. Right now, I have two hard disks, one with Windows 98 and one with XP, and I have a dual boot setup. The computer I want to move them two is a Dell Inspiron 531S, an ACPIx86-based machine, with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ 2009 Mhz, 958 Megs RAM, and the BIOS is Dell Inc, 1.0.3 6/15/2007. This is all I can easily find out at the moment, since I didn't buy the computer originally and I'm not used to Vista.

To be brief, can I run a triple boot system with Vista, Win98 and XP with this hardware? My idea is to have the backwards compatibility of 98 with the robustness of XP, while Vista gets itself sorted out. Any adivce in that direction too would be appreciated. Thanks for the help.

Send me to computer jail

snowjoe — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 23:54:07 -0800

PC Help again again. I have an old pc with windows 2000 server installed on a 20gig SCSI drive. I am trying to install a 40 gig IDE drive that has xp on it. I don't need windows 2000 server anymore so I want the computer to boot into xp but it isn't happening for me. What am I doing wrong? It is a D850EMV2 intel motherboard with 512kb of that super expensive ram. A custom built computer, not a brand name.

I removed the scsi card and uplugged the scsi drive and then plugged in the IDE drive. The cd drive was connected to the secondary IDE connector so I moved that to the primary connector and connected the middle part of the connector to the ide hard drive and the end to the cd drive. I also moved the led light switched to the motherboard from the scsi card. I get a failure to boot error message. I did nothing with the bios. I am not a computer guy but i sure would like to make this work. What am I doing wrong?

I put everything back the way it was and it boots into windows 2000 server fine. By the way I also tried to format the scsi drive but the os wouldn't let me.

Shouldn't I be able to do this?

Prepare for launch.

sperose — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:56:43 -0800

I need to know if nuking WindowsXP (Home) is the right way to go with my computer problems. Short version: recycle bin won't empty, antivirus going berserk, FF getting popups, general WTF-ery. Details inside. The computer that was once shiny and new has now seem to have fallen on some hard times.

I have all my files backed up, but I'm down to only 85% free space (eep!).

The problems are as follows:
-- 85% free space (which is when my last computer died a terrible death)
-- The recycle bin won't empty. (It will empty some files, but will say 'cannon delete file: cannot read from source file or disk' even if I can't see anything in there, using 'explore')
-- My antivirus has been going batshit for a while, telling me that logon.exe is infected and demands to reboot. Also, every day, random dll things show up as being deleted or quarentined
-- Firefox went all wonky a few days ago (after the last update, I believe) and slowly started deleting my bookmark folders (one at a time, one at each new FF startup) but that seems to have gone away after a reinstall of FF only.

I have a backup HD (personal files only), a legal copy of WinXP Pro, Microsoft Office, and pretty much everything I need to nuke from orbit.

My first question is: what the hell caused all this to go completely freakazoid?

I'm not very good with computers and diagnosing problems, but I've run my antivirus scans (Symantec from pop's work), AdAware, and Spybot multiple times. I've defragged. The only thing I can think of is that something got in through uTorrent (but I read the comments and whatnot to make sure things aren't completely trashed).

Last questions:
#1: Should I reinstall XP?
#2: If I was to reinstall, how do I go about doing that? I've got all my personal stuff backed up (FF bookmarks and the like) and everything else I can re-download.
#3: How can I keep this from happening again?

Thanks y'all. I've looked through a lot of the tags relating to this, but none of them really seemed to give a hand-holding approach, which is what I really need.

How to track a computer's changing IP address when away?

Auden — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:08:13 -0800

How can I remotely track my home computer's IP (which lacks a static IP address) when away? My home DSL connection lacks a static IP, and the address tends to change from time to time. When away, I'd like to access my Windows XP computer via FTP, Remote Desktop, and some other applications.

Are there any utilities which can "announce" IP changes on my home computer so I can alter IP settings when trying to access it remotely? (I'm imagining something which shoots out a terse message to an email account periodically with the current IP address.)

But there are probably more elegant solutions... how do people resolve this problem without paying extra for the static account?

Where do I find occasional computer help?

Ms. Next — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:25:22 -0800

What is a good website for computer (and related hardware) help? I know there are several websites that allow people to post questions about software, hardware, drivers, but which one would you recommend?

I'm not very knowledgable about computers and software, but am not a total newbie either. I sporadically (once, twice a year?) have computer questions that even with Google and the likes I can't figure out myself.

(For example, the kind of questions I'd be searching help for: In this case it's about installing a "plug and play" Lexmark printer on Windows XP where I can't properly install the drivers: not from the cd rom that came with it, nor from the Lexmark website. Calling the manufacturers (printer and laptop) hasn't helped so far).

reboot -> reboot -> reboot

koeselitz — Sun, 13 May 2007 00:06:38 -0800

Scary windows boot problem: why does it reboot in the middle of every boot cycle all of a sudden? How can I save my computer without tearing it apart first? So yesterday, like a good little boy, I was running through my periodic spring cleaning of our laptop (windows XP home) here. As I usually do, I ran SpyBot Search & Destroy, and deleted everything it found. One of the things it found looked vaguely Windows-like (I think it had Microsoft in the name) but I presumed to myself that it was just disguised SpyWare. I also did a few other things. I don't know if any of that has to do with what happened next.

The computer was working quite nicely... until I turned it off. Now, it won't boot; it just runs through bios, and then gives me that "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully" screen that offers you options: Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Last Known Configuration, and Start Windows Normally. Choosing any one of these options leads to reboot, and I get the same screen again.

I've tried booting from the Windows XP install CD, but it seems that I have to reinstall Windows for that to work.

This really frightens me, because I'd rather not lose the contents of the hard drive. Now I'm thinking that I'll have to remove the hard drive and stick it into another computer that I have, back up all my data, replace the hard drive into the laptop, and reinstall Windows. I'd like it very much if someone could tell me that this could be avoided. Please? Pretty please?

XP unusably slow after STOP errors and running checkdisk - what's going on?

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:29:42 -0800

So it's come to this - I see no other option than to ask a "help me fix my PC" question. After some troubleshooting the STOP errors seem to have been resolved, XP now boots successfully but is excruciating slow to the point of being unusable. Details and specs below the fold. Specifications:
-Intel Celeron 2.4GHz
-1 x 512 MB RAM
-XP Pro SP2
-PCI Firewire card
-onboard: USB 2.0, VIA Gigabit Ethernet adapter

IDE config:

1M: HD Maxtor 80 GB U-ATA
1S: empty
2M: DVD Burner
2S: DVD-ROM

First, the BIOS would occasionally fail to find the boot device (HD). Setting the primary master to "Not Installed" and rebooting, and then back to "Auto" remedied this for the time being.

Then a few days ago the machine started throwing a bunch of BSODs during normal operation. I recorded some of them for your viewing pleasure:

0x000000F4, 0x00000003, 0x829FF020, 0x829FF194 0xc000000E, 0xC000000E, 0x00000000, 0x05357000 0x0000007A (0XC03E1128, 0XC0000185, 0XF844A074, 0X08195860) ACPI.SYS 0x0000008E (0XC0000005, 0X8054AE34, 0XF6505BF4, 0X00000000)

Eventually XP wouldn't boot at all: system32/config was 'corrupted', or something along those lines. I assume this happened as a result of one of the STOP errors.

For some reason CHKDSK wouldn't run on this machine, so I took out the drive and ran CHKDSK on it with the drive attached to another machine. It did find a bunch of errors and corrected them all.

I put it back in its own box, and ran CHKDSK again from the Recovery Console (ran fine this time, and found no errors) and also a FIXBOOT for good measure.

Which brings us to the current situation. The system32/config error is gone, and Windows does boot, *but*:

-The XP splash screen fades in very slowly and seems halted here and there.
-Upon logon, the desktop background loads but no icons or taskbar appear.
-I can load explorer and systray via taskmgr, and sometimes they eventually load on their own without intervention, but this takes a *long* time. Somewhere in the ten minutes order of magnitude.

So technically speaking, Windows now runs, but it's so excruciatingly slow it's basically unusable.

Additional details:
-I have run a Spybot Search & Destroy scan: it found some threats and removed them. No new findings upon further boots and/or Spybot runs.
-I would scan for viruses, but I can't install AVG Free: I just removed the old 7.1 version (had to anyway as it was no longer supported), and the 7.5 installer happily skips from "pick a directory" to "Installation Complete!" but never seems to have touched a file at all! Doesn't even create the specified directory in Program Files.
-Network now also doesn't work. The Network Connections window says "Connected" but the machine receives no IP address nor lease from router. Router and rest of network are running fine.
-I tried System Restore with a variety of restore points from the past two weeks or so, but after going through the process (which also takes very long) it reboots and tells me that restoring to the previous point failed.

In short, I'm confused and could really use your insight. What's causing this and how can I fix it? Thanks in advance for any light you can shed upon this. If you have any questions or need any further details, I'd be happy to answer and provide them.

Admitting Defeat

EatTheWeak — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:07:23 -0800

My computer problems are resisting every corrective measure. Tomorrow, I shall nuke the bastard from orbit, reinstall XP, and start over fresh. Tomorrow, I'm shaking the etch-a-sketch and installing XP anew. So I ask you, my dear Mefites, what steps do you first take with a new OS? If you had a blank hard drive by tomorrow night, how would you proceed to keep her running stable and clean?

Upgrade from W2K to XP

samstarling — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 07:37:21 -0800

I want to upgrade my laptop from Windows 2000 to XP. How can I preserve my Outlook settings between the upgrade? I ask because I connect to an Exchange Server with settings on Outlook which have been tweaked heavily over time. Also, will the XP install give me an option to preserve my previous system? In case everything goes pear-shaped, I'd like to be able to roll back to my previous state. If it goes right, can I delete all the data needed to roll-back after to optimise disk space? Thanks in advance.

What the hell can I do with this?

sperose — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:09:45 -0800

So I have this new Dell computer and I need to know what the hell I should do with it. (Much more inside.) My dad bought me a new Dell computer (as a "thanks for not being a complete fuckup like your brother" present). It came installed with Windows XP Home and a whole lot of other crap on it that I don't want/need (I think). Before this new shiny computer, I was using another Dell Dimension 8100 that had the HD replaced twice, a new CD-RW drive installed (which crapped out after installing Windows XP Pro). The old computer had been running Windows 2000 for several years (XP had been on for about a year). I'm currently using the McAfee anti-virus that came with the computer until my dad gets home and lets me into the DOD system to get their antivirus software that he gets for free.

My dad owns legitimate copies of Office 2000 and XP Pro. I hate this XP Home edition thing. It just doesn't feel quite right to me after using XP Pro.

What should I do with this new computer and what sort of interesting and good to use programs should I install? And how can I (if it's even possible) install XP Pro without killing this new computer?

(I had a Mac when I was very young and my family didn't know the meaning of "antivirus/not loading it up with crap" and I loved it, but that's not exactly feasible at this point.)

When I look at the general information about this computer (I didn't really look at the options when my dad ordered it), it says: Dell Dimension DE051 Intel Celeron CPU 2.53 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM.

I don't really do anything too sophisticated, but some of the assorted things that will be attached (or already are) include: iPod video, digital camera, (new!) flat screen monitor, HP all in one printer, shitty $20 webcam, wireless keyboard and mouse (also from Dell), old set of speakers/subwoofer from old computer, and a new UPS.

Help me AskMefi! I run Firefox already, but I'm not exactly what one would describe as "computer-savvy."

How can I broadcast real-time screen capture video to multiple other computers on a network?

mikespez — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:17:04 -0800

How can I broadcast real-time screen capture video to multiple other computers on a network? I work at a computer summer camp for 7 - 16 year olds. I teach primarily Photoshop, Flash, and Dreamweaver. Because of the intricacies of the programs, and the specificity that must be taught, I think it's better to show the campers rather then tell them what to do. The obvious choice would be to mirror the computer's image onto a projection screen or TV. Neither of those are an option for various reasons. Rather than have my campers gather around my computer screen to follow my lead, I wanted to find a way for them to watch me in real time.

I'm looking for a way to broadcast video screenshots from my desktop to the screens of the other campers so they could follow along with me. I thought Microsoft's Virtual Desktop software might do the trick, but I haven't been able to find a way to do what I want with it.

I also wanted the campers to have the ability to move or minimize the window which contains the video from my desktop, so they could work on their projects more easily.

Just a note on the computers: they're all on the same network, running Windows XP Pro.

Software recommendations

KirTakat — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 10:46:34 -0800

I'm reinstalling Windows XP for a buddy of mine, and I have a question for you lot, namely, what software should I install with it? What great piece of software do you need to have on every pc you use? In particular, what do you more creative types use? Free is best, since I'm not spending any money, but if you know of any good demo stuff I should install so he could try, that's fine too.

Windows XP Home as a file server?

kables — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 14:58:41 -0800

I just bought a smokin' new laptop with a 60GB hard drive, replacing my aging-but-serviceable desktop. I have about 90GB of files in total--too large to fit on the laptop. My just-replaced desktop is running XP Home, while my laptop is XP Pro -- can I use my desktop as a file server, or is XP Home too limiting/insecure? Am I opening myself up to a world of hurt? If possible, I'd prefer not to install a different OS.

FYI, I have a removable hard drive that I use for back-up purposes, but don't want to be tethered to it when I'm accessing my password-protected wi-fi network from the coffee shop in the bottom of my building. Also, I'd like to be able to map a network drive that reconnects at login. Google has confused me in regards to all this.

XP install: how do I find my sound card's drivers? And what programs do I really need?

twine42 — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 15:23:50 -0800

Laptop Clean XP Install:
1] My (on board?) sound card is unrecognised. How do I find out what drivers to use?

2] What programs do you really think I need? I already have VNC, VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird and AVG installed. What else should I add? (Freeware/OS appriciated but not needed.) VNC = Remote access program
VLC = DVD player type thing
AVG = AntiVirus

Does Windows XP make it clear and easy how to format and install on C: while leaving a second drive untouched?

jonmc — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 11:16:09 -0800

TechFilter: The other day, my home machine fall down, go boom. After a "hard" shutdown, I rebooted and everything had gone to 600x400 and the system didn't recognize my mouse. Since I lost my system CD when I moved (and it's time to upgrade anyway), I'm picking up a copy of XP Home tonight. My main concern is this: I have two hard drives on my box. My 40GB C: drive, where I intend to install the OS (after formatting it) and a secondary 100GB drive where I have all my music files, documents and other stuff. Does XP make it clear and easy how to format (since my fubared system isn't allowing me to get to a DOS prompt to do it the old fashioned way) and install the OS on the C: drive while leaving the second drive unchanged. Thanks in advance.