[terminalshutin]

for a couple weeks now, i've been having trouble with my sound and video.

the sound plays fine, but will not sync up to the video. not just windows media player or divx, all streaming video online too. video is staggered, choppy, & sometimes just never loads.

it's friggin irritating. is there some [preferably cheap or free is even better] way to fix this? if so, i'm all ears. thanks!

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Hello welcome to GeeksToGo, We will be happy to help you.

We will need some more information

If this is a name brand system:
Make
Model
Operating System
Age of the computer
Memory Total
Hard Drive Size, How much free space



If this is custom then We will need the following:

The CPU brand and model
The Motherboard brand and model
Ram amount and speed
Cd\Dvd rom interface IDE/
Hard Drive size and free space
Any cards in PCI slots

In Addition please supply:

Any software installed\updated and driver updates done just before problem started.
Any hardware installed\updated prior to problem starting.

All this will help in determining a course of action to best correct the problem you are experiencing.

[rshaffer61]

Hello welcome to GeeksToGo, We will be happy to help you.

We will need some more information

If this is a name brand system:
Make
Model
Operating System
Age of the computer
Memory Total
Hard Drive Size, How much free space



If this is custom then We will need the following:

The CPU brand and model
The Motherboard brand and model
Ram amount and speed
Cd\Dvd rom interface IDE/
Hard Drive size and free space
Any cards in PCI slots

In Addition please supply:

Any software installed\updated and driver updates done just before problem started.
Any hardware installed\updated prior to problem starting.

All this will help in determining a course of action to best correct the problem you are experiencing.

[terminalshutin]

alright...this is a laptop. i got it in 2006 i think.

system: windows xp home edition
version 2002
service pack 3

dell inspiron ME051
intel® celeron® m
processor 1.60 GHz
1.26 GHz, 504 MB of RAM

on and off it was making these revving sounds, but everything ran smooth and FAST. you just could barely hear anything. i figured this was because i left it on all the time, but i do have it on one of those things that keeps it off the table and allows it to vent.

one night i got tired of listening to the noise, so i turned off. the next day i turned it on, it was quiet, but slow as [bleep]. like dial-up slow.

now even my screensaver runs slow & freezes!

[rshaffer61]

One potential problem I see is your memory. If you could increase that to 1 gig it would help alot with your access times and maybe even solve your buffering problem with video's and sounds. Please go HERE and run their free online scanner. Crucial can then suggest the correct memory configuration for your system. You do not have to buy the memory from them as we can suggest other sites to get it from if you want to supply the information the scanner gives you.

Lets take a look at the hard drive and see what you have.

Go to
1: Start
2: My Computer
3: Right Click on "C" drive
4: Click on Properties
5: In this field it will tell you total drive space and also free space

Please post results in next reply

Edited by rshaffer61, 25 April 2009 - 04:49 AM.

[terminalshutin]

14.0 GB free space.

for the scan it said:

Maximum Memory Capacity: 2048MB
Currently Installed Memory: 512MB
Available Memory Slots: 1
Number of Banks: 2
Dual Channel Support: No
CPU Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
CPU Family: Intel® Celeron® M processor 1.60GHz Model 13, Stepping 8
CPU Speed: 1257 MHz

then it listed several upgrades they would recommend. i was hoping to not have to pay for new memory.

dumb question, but if i check off the box to "compress drive to save disk space" could that help?

Attached Files

•  diskspace.bmp   482.07KB   189 downloads

[rshaffer61]

Well I always advise not to compress a drive. Every compressed drive I have seen has always ended up having problems.

Lets try some basic maintenance on the drive and see what we can find. please do the following in order and reply with the results when you are finished with all.

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune.
Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
Under Main choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.
If you use Firefox browserClick Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.
NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
If you use Opera browserClick Opera at the top and choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.
NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.
For Technical Support, double-click the e-mail address located at the bottom of each menu.

If this does not work then:

Go to
Start>>My Computer>>Right Click On 'C" drive>>Properties
Click on Tools tab at the top
In the Error Checking field click Check Now

When that is done
In Defragmentation field click Defragment Now



Reboot and let me know how system is running now

Edited by rshaffer61, 25 April 2009 - 04:10 PM.

[terminalshutin]

sorry. this is a long time coming.

it took over an hour and a half to reboot, and then the laptop powered off in under 20 minutes. rebooted, said it had shut off because it had overheated.

had to go through this ordeal all over again.

"checking file system on C: the type of the file system is NTFS

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5) ...
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5) ...
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5) ...
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5) ... "

i didn't see what stage 5 was. it was stuck on 72% in stage 4 for so long i gave up & went out to work on the desktop instead.

came back to find it had powered of AGAIN. gave up for the night.

tried again today. much of the same, except as soon as the desktop came up i shut it down for a few hours so it wouldn't overheat again.

i tried it a couple hours ago. powered up normal speed at least, but video lags still & doesn't sync with the audio. both WMP & online video. it's kinda like watching a japanese film.

Edited by terminalshutin, 27 April 2009 - 12:11 AM.

[rshaffer61]

OK before we continue. The overheating problem with your laptop is not a good issue to be having. Is it running off of battery or electric when this happens. Regardless of which this needs to be looked at before irreconcilable damage is done.

Chkdsk /r will take longer to do and it will seem like it has stalled but it is still working.

Before we continue any further I suggest you take the laptop in and have the overheating issue looked at. If not any further action we take could be useless if the laptop is rendered useless by the heat. Please let me know what you find out about the overheating.

[terminalshutin]

ok, i did take it to someone and according to him, the fan wasn't spinning, which could be the cause of the other problems as well.

so he took it & opened the thing up but, said there was some sort of ribbon cable he couldn't mess with, so he put it back together. the fan he got to spin after blowing some built-up dust out. it makes a slight noise still, but at least we got the fan to move.

screensaver is more smooth, but if i watch video on youtube, it's still delayed, but the sound works fine.

can we continue to troubleshoot the video problem?

[rshaffer61]

Download Speedfan (The download link is in the first line of the second paragraph), and install it. Once it's installed, run the program and post here the information it shows. The information I want you to post is the stuff that is circled in the example picture I have attached.








You have min amount of memory in your system to run XP and anything else. This may be the root of your problem with video. I would also suggest you find someone who can fix the fan or replace it. Using your system with a faulty fan will and I'll repeat this as it is very important...."WILL' render your laptop useless or cost you even more to fix and maybe more then a new laptop would cost to buy.

Edited by rshaffer61, 04 May 2009 - 12:49 PM.

[terminalshutin]

ok. got my laptop back finally. it was the fan. some kind of bearing. the computer runs smoothly & quickly.

however, now my problem is i can't connect to the internet. i tried troubleshooting with a friend & he said to go under dell wireless & find something "connectivity"...but i can't find anything like that.

i found something like a "dell broadband" but when i clicked on it, it gives me "error: 280", when i click on LAN, nothing happens. there's a message with the LAN that says "a network cable is unplugged" but i don't see anything here that would indicate that. the lights are all lit up on the cable box & the linksys-g wireless router [which was new, & replaced just before i took the laptop in a second time].

[rshaffer61]

Congratulations

Have you checked the device manager to make sure the network card is working?
To check it:

Please Go to
1: STARTand the click on RUN
2: Type in devmgmt.msc
3: Click Enter
4. Look for any entries with Yellow Exclamation marks or Red X's

In your next reply please include those results

How is the sound issue now?
Is everything else working correctly?

[terminalshutin]

i followed the steps exactly as you said & i don't see a single exclamation point or X.

the sound & video are flawless right now. smooth. no jerkiness, or stuttering.

[rshaffer61]

Then the only issue now is the network not connecting?

[terminalshutin]

yep. that seems to be it now.