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 By Argile Stox Feb. 10, 2006 Just when I thought that my computer (Compaq S4020WM) was cured of all its bugs, problems, and annoyances – another situation reared its ugly head. For some unexplainable reason, the motherboard did not recognize the Nvidia GForce 4000-MX video card and its drivers. In addition, the score on diagnostic tests run by PC PitStop – decreased from 1354 to 1215. I noticed something was malfunctioning, when – as I scrolled web pages, the scroll was acting really slow and sluggish. Dear Reader – You are aware that, when my computer begins to act-up, I always try to find the cause and solve the problem. The first operation of CHECK DISK did not solve the problem. The second operation of a Soft Install of XP (where it does not format the hard drive) did not solve the problem. To add insult to injury – Norton Security (Virus & Firewall) program advised that there was a problem with the program. To make a long story short, some of the programs installed were malfunctioning. I uninstalled Norton and tried to reinstall the program. However, that failed too! I e-mailed Microsoft about the problem. The tech responded back within twenty minutes and gave me options to cure the problem. After I ran down all the advice (which did not work), the tech advised that my only option was to install a fresh copy of XP. That operation will format the disk and all my information stored on the disk will be lost. So, I began the arduous task of copying all important documents to disks, printing all important e-mails, and double checking that I had back-up disks. The process took about three hours – due to the fact that the drivers of my printer had begun to degrade, and I had to restart the computer at least eight times to get all the printing projects out of the memory. After all was said and done, I took a deep breath and loaded the XP program and pressed “Install a Fresh Copy of XP.” While XP was installing, I tried to think of a Hebrew prayer designed for this re-installation. I came up empty – So, I just spoke in plain English and prayed that everything would work out. The process of re-installing XP took about sixty minutes. After the XP concluded the process of re-installing, I fired up the computer – and everything worked well… Except for one important factor – There was no sound! I opened the audio portion of XP and found that there was no program installed for sound. I quickly Googled for Realtek AC97 Audio Drivers, and quickly downloaded the drivers. About twenty minutes later, I breathed a deep sigh of relief when the usual sounds came out of the speakers. The hard part was over. Now, I had to install all the backup program disks and document disks. That process took at least six hours; however, each program installed with ease – even Norton – LOL! I also downloaded all the Microsoft Updates that were indicated. My computer technician training advised that the computer needed to “burn-in” for at least a day, to make sure everything was working properly. I crossed my fingers and left the computer alone and running for twenty-four hours. The next day, I rebooted the computer and crossed my fingers. To my delight, the computer was working better than it did, right out of the box – when I purchased it over two years ago. In addition, the computer is running cooler and I have gained a significant amount of memory (I have 1GB of memory. However, before the re-install, I was using more than three quarters of the memory). The computer is also responding with lightening speed to commands, as well. I defrag the hard drives every day, and have a program which checks and repairs any and all ACTIVE X issues (plus other problems that may screw up the operation of the computer). As of this writing, the computer is working normally – and I am happy (at least, for the moment). May The Computer God’s Smile On You! ------------ Email Argile Stox: argilestox@gmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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