[gho]

http://www.geekstogo...rs/page__st__15

I have been working with maliprog and he says i'm clean now so we can move onto this step.

I need to get my video controller back in my device manager. It vanished after it had yellow question marks on it. I have a Dimension 4700C service tag 954T171. Not exactly sure which download has the video controller. So the specific one that I should download off the dell site would be greatly appreciated.

When all of the initial problems started the appearance of websites changed. I had the text on my computer change is that normal? I attempted to edit the text through tools>options content but i'm not sure if it was default or if it was edited. I tried to work with the advanced appearance settings to fix websites the best I could. But some are still not looking the way they did before the problems started. At the moment i'm running Tahoma at size 13 with western fonts, proportional sans serif, serif Tahoma 13, sans serif Tahoma, Monospace Tahoma 13, 14 for minimum fonts.

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Hi gho and sorry for the delay in responding to your topic.... its been a while now since you posted ..do you still need help or is your computer OK now?
Regards
paws

[paws]

Hi gho and sorry for the delay in responding to your topic.... its been a while now since you posted ..do you still need help or is your computer OK now?
Regards
paws

[gho]

Yes thanks for the response paws. I could still use help on getting the correct download from the dell site to restore the video controller on my computer. I have the text worked out well enough on my own.

[paws]

Hi gho, OK
Take a look here:
http://www.dell.com/...viceTag/954T171
all the drivers should be there and I can see the ATI driver is listed under Video...

Just some thoughts....
1 What is the problem with the Video driver you are using at the moment?
2What extra functionality are you looking to achieve by using a differnt driver to the one you are currently using?
3 There are various schools of thought on updating to the latest drivers as a matter of course...some folks think its the only "correct" way to work..... others take the view that they will only install the latest driver if there is a disadvantage on their existing driver that will be overcome by the advantages of an up to date driver....a fancy way of saying "if it aint broke don't try to fix it"
As always its your call.
Regards
paws

[gho]

1) It vanished? It's no longer located in the device manager.
2) Looking to get it back so the videos work like they used to.

So it's not a thing of wanting to fix what's not broken. It's wanting to fix things so they were the way they used to be.

[paws]

Are you having trouble in seeing/hearing Videos?
There may be some confusions here.... a video controller does not help you watch videos.... it enables your computer screen (VDU) to display computer images correctly....
If your screen/VDU is working Ok then you dont need to install a different video driver.
Regards
paws

[gho]

Yeah they are not working properly. It's freezing up and the adobe flash failing. Then the websites keep making me reload. I have a weird buzzing sound in my speakers when I turn them on without anything playing now. Wouldn't it be idle to restore what was initially in the device manager? Could it be the cause of the constant browsing issues I have been experiencing?

[paws]

Hi gho,
OK, as I understand it, these are the main operational issues you are experiencing
1 browsing problems and need to reload pages
2 Computer freezing
3 Adobe Flash failing
4 speakers making a constant buzzing sound.
5 Videos not working
6 Loss of a "familiar" video device as shown in Device Manager

This sounds like the problems are a lot more deep seated than a video driver issue....

I will hop across and take a quick look at the logs in your malware topic but in the meantime some extra questions for you:

5 Are you still running on Windows XP Media Centre...the one that came out in 2005?
6 Do you still only have 502 MB of RAM installed in your computer?
7 When did you last do an internal clean of the computer to remove dust fluff etc from the cooling passages and CPU area?
8 When did you last do a complete reinstall of Windows?
9 Have you reun chkdsk with the r switch recently?
10 Have you run the Windows Protected System File checker SFC recently?
11 Do you have the original Microsoft XP media Centre installation discs( there are usually 2 of them..... if not did you make a disc image of your complete operating system and data files and applications etc with a separate copy kept safe on removable media?
12 Please restart you computer in Safe mode with Networking visit this site only www.bbc.co.uk
Move around the site for just two minute not more please
13 do links open OK?
14 is it any faster in this mode?
15 Do you still get the the buzz?
NOTE whilst in safe mode with networking your protections will not be providing you with the normal security..so just visit this one site (the BBC)...absolutely no surfing or downloading of stuff including emails etc.
When you have done this boot back please into normal mode.

I'll get back to you as soon as I've glanced at your logs but in the meantime the above information will help us formulate a strategy to take this issue forward.
Regards
paws

[gho]

Yeah that would be the issues. Like just now coming out of safe mode I had a quick not responding when the avatars loaded on the site. I haven't picked up any adobe crashes since updating yesterday so hopefully that issue is over. I attempted to watch video last night and they would play then pixel/distort a little then start working and over and over type of thing.

5) I don't believe so. It's Windows XP Home Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 3 Intel R Pentium 4 CPU 2.80 GHz 2.79 GHz Physical Address Extension
6) 504 MB of RAM
7) Just after we fixed up the last blue screen issues maybe 2-3 weeks at the most.
8) Think it was last summer. But then I had tons of issues which brought me to the site. Needed to burn a ton of disks to get up and running again internet and all that stuff. Then I needed to get Puppy Linux so I could move old stuff over that I couldn't access normally.
9) I have never done it with R Switch. Not really sure what that is. I have done it with Puran Defrag though twice in the last month.
10) Never ran SFC.
11) Possible not really sure maybe somewhere in the house lol.
12) Safe mode worked well it went faster with no not responding issues. I was still picking up the noise in my speakers.

[paws]

Hi gho, Thanks for the answers

12) Safe mode worked well it went faster with no not responding issues. I was still picking up the noise in my speakers.

The above may be the key to this issue.... (we'll put the buzzing from the speakers on the back burner until we can get the Win XP stable and running reasonably well....)
Incidentally you are asking a lot of your computer to watch videos and the like when you have only 502Mb of RAM.... that amount was fine 5 or 10 years ago, but in 2012 with all the extra code your computer has to cope with..... its a bit like asking an 85 year old man to climb a few mountains in the Himalayas.... no wonder its beginning to puff a bit!

The significance of the computer working fine in safe mode with networking but not in normal mode is quite important..... In safe mode Windows only loads a minimal set of drivers (just enough to get the machine running but nothing more) so with these minimal set of drivers it works Ok but as soon as the whole range of normal mode drivers are loaded the problems occur.... We can deduce therefore that something that is loading in normal mode (but not in safe mode) maybe is causing the problems....so we need to zero on it if we can.
First step therefore is to:

1 Create a system restore Point and check that your back up is 100% accurate, comprehensive, reproducible and with at least one copy kept safe offsite on removable media (external USB hard drives are good for holding your back up copies) Make sure you have located your Win XP installation disc(s)and your 25 character(5 groups of 5) alpha numeric Win product serial key (as you may need them!)
2 visit the Dell site (the one I provided a link for previously) and download and install the chipset, video and audio drivers for your computer. (Do them in that order please with a reboot in between each one)
Now take a look here:

Advanced startup options - XP
Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem

How to use msconfig in Windows XP

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if it runs better.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit. (you will need to reboot each time so allow yourself plenyt of time for this procedure)

If no, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Again, do a boot into normal mode, see if it runs OK
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or report back with your findings so we can advise the next steps(Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.)
Enable everything else you disabled.
Let us know how you get on
Regards
paws

[gho]

Yeah it is rather old. It drives the parents crazy because it sounds like a small plane is landing most of the time lol. It's not that it's not working in normal it's just sluggish and gets hung up lately. It was running like a dream once we did the last work on it with my blue screen issues. Maybe I should stay off the girly sites . I don't have USB hard drive to make a backup on what should I do? How do you even make a restore point? Is that done in safe mode? Should I just skip straight to the msconfig work?

[paws]

Hi gho,

Should I just skip straight to the msconfig work?

Definitely NOT...
First make sure your back up is 100% (don't take any short cuts here..anything that you would be unhappy about losing...back it up!)
Here's the information on System Restore
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084
When your computer was working fast and sweet with no problems that was an excellent time to take an disc image... I hope you didn't miss that opportunity...
Paid for applications to do that include Norton(Symantec) Paragon, Acronis etc and free utilities are available from here:
http://www.thefreeco...pandimage.shtml
Its a pity you don't have an external USB hard drive available .. maybe it's time to get one or two?..... it will make your back ups so much easier to do...
Good luck with the jobs...but remember a back up of your important stuff is not a "proper back up" unless you have 3 copies of it, with at least one copy kept safe on removable media offsite....
Regards
paws

[gho]

How do I pick a correct system restore point. I have attempted to do so in the past in safe mode. But they always comeback that it couldn't restore to that date. So after awhile I give up trying to get a date that it will actually restore to. My best idea would be look back at my last thread and work forward from that date with the system restore?

No I didn't take a disk image. Really i'm not allowed to throw anymore money into this HD. They told me it's way to old and they are sick of the noise so they want me to just get a new one. But really nothing all that important is on this HD. Do you think I should just totally re install windows again and transfer over anything I do want still? I have the puppy disk still so I can move stuff around. But it was quite the ordeal getting the internet functioning again when I did the re install so i'm a bit hesitant to go that far. I'm almost thinking it might just be a virus or something or do you think it's a bigger issue?