PC Problems? I am a PC TECH.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

About installing Windows...

Installing windows isn't just popping in the win DVD in and letting the cpu go until it displays the desktop, that's only the first step.

Then you need to get and install your processor board's drivers, your audio, video, modem, network card drivers, and drivers for all the other cards you have in your cpu, some of the interfaces are integrated in your main board but they still need drivers, windows comes with GENERIC drivers that DO work but only only for simple applicationd like the ones that come bundled with windows, if you want to play music or videos or play games you WILL need the proper drivers for all your cards and integrated interfaces.

You will also need some players and support software, like Quicktime (iTunes) to view apple files like .MOV videos, although they are getting rarer and rarer you will still need it, you will also need JAVA, for alot of internet sites, there are many more but those 2 will suffice for now as an example.

So in conclusion, windows shouldn't even be avaliable to the general public, it should be installed by pros who take the time to do a good job installing all the drivers and the software you will need to begin to use your PC.

Unfortunately, there are some people who have cpu stores and install win but do not do a thorrough job, they don't install all the drivers, and don't install any of the software that is required to use the pc more effectively, but what they do is not illegal, but it should be, some people are more conciencious than others, on the other hand it isn't a cpu field exclusive, it is true for almost every field.

JohnDowe.

[randolph]

Hi John,
Speaking of drivers, My HP laptop with Vista will not operate my HP Scanjet 4470c. HP has no driver to run it on Vista. I searched the internet and got some drivers that don't work.
Any suggestions?
Randolph

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by randolph

Hi John,
Speaking of drivers, My HP laptop with Vista will not operate my HP Scanjet 4470c. HP has no driver to run it on Vista. I searched the internet and got some drivers that don't work.
Any suggestions?
Randolph

Hi there.

Went to HP even sent then an email they're too lazy to lift a finger to help you, i am not a programmer so i can't program one for you.

But if you UPGRADE to XP, there would be some drivers your scanner, and as a bonus you'd get a virtual RAM, Hard Disk & CPU upgrade, you'd have to contact the manufacturer of your CPU DIRECTLY to get the drivers, but it would be an improvement over vista, cause it sucks big time, but since your cpu is so powerfull you don't realise it.

HP used to be one of the best companies for products and support, but no longer, now they are slave to the allmighty dollar and F*** everything and everybody else, sad isn't it.

JohnDowe.

[Tread]

If you setup and install windows, you probably have worked with Windows 7. What's your opinion compared with XP? We all know Vista is crap and you don't have to name general Windows weaknesses. I want know if it is better to keep XP as long as possible or switch to 7 soon?

[randolph]

Originally Posted by johndowe

Hi there.

Went to HP even sent then an email they're too lazy to lift a finger to help you, i am not a programmer so i can't program one for you.

But if you UPGRADE to XP, there would be some drivers your scanner, and as a bonus you'd get a virtual RAM, Hard Disk & CPU upgrade, you'd have to contact the manufacturer of your CPU DIRECTLY to get the drivers, but it would be an improvement over vista, cause it sucks big time, but since your cpu is so powerfull you don't realise it.

HP used to be one of the best companies for products and support, but no longer, now they are slave to the allmighty dollar and F*** everything and everybody else, sad isn't it.

JohnDowe.

Hey John,
Thanks for checking for a scanner driver. Your right Vista sucks, is it difficult to convert back to XP?
Randolph

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Tread, i have not had the chance to dabble with win 7, i work fixing used cpu's and UPGRADE from vista to XP, but if it follows the trend you're better off with XP, i'm told the requirements are quite high, and you'd have to re-install all the software you currently have, save all the files you created, the pics, videos and zip files you saved, save all the game's save files AND look for win 7 drivers which in all probability do not exist yet (if ever), and to close, there is the old saying: If it ain't broke don't fix it.

As i said in a the first few posts, they shouldn't even sell win retail, cause very few people know how to do the job properly, go see them if you haven't already.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Randolph, read the previous post to Tread, and my second post about installing win, if you have a good copy of win XP sp2 or better, with a GOOD KEY, microsoft (notice the lack of capital letter) has been cracking down on keys and many keys that should be good have been blacklisted, that beeing said, there are ways around that, the real problem is the drivers, but do not fret i can help you with that, post your cpu make & model #, or if it is a clone find the board Manufacturer and model #, and all cards too, and i will see if drivers can be found, and if they are i will post the links to them, if they are avaliable, you will have to save all the files you want to keep, pics, videos, saved web pages, real player and other downloads, your contacts, your favorites (internet explorer's and other if you have them) savegame files etc. etc. onto cd or dvd, and read the first post i entered if you haven't already.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

More for Tread, At first i wrote Randolph a little mistake on my part (sorry).

I went to microsoft and got the system requirements for win 7 they are pretty high:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...b-9f54bca70c5c

P4 2GHz (probably poor performance since it IS microsoft) or Dual Core 2GHz...

2GB ram THAT IS ALOT OF RAM FOR JUST AN OPERATING SYSTEM.

20-25GB Hard Disk space, it is alot...

Video cards, need a top of the line card or close to top of the line.

But on the up side if you can't find win 7 drivers you could use vista drivers.

I reitterate that i have not touched win 7 but, form what i see it is nothing to write home about, XP still seems to be the best choice to me.

For resonable performance: (XP)

CPU: Celeron 300, or P3 400MHz
RAM: 256MB
Hard disk space: 8GB Fully upgraded with Office XP.
Video card: Pretty much any card AGP or PCI Express interfaces including integrated video "cards" with ram sharing.

When installed properly (with ALL the appropriate drivers and software) the system is quite stable and reliable, and microsoft still supports it, but for how long i do not know.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

A bit of help on burning CD & DVD's.


If you have burned CD and DVD you probably have made at least a few bad copies, and i don't mean copy protected software, but data disks from files on your CPU, why does this happen?

Well, that question is not that easy to ansewer as one may think, computers are the most complex pieces of equipment ever crerated by man.

First: The burner, some burners are more selective about the discs they "like" or "dis-like" one disc brand may work great for your drive but not on your freind's drive, it is not a quality problem as much as a compatibility problem, but i have found that "MAXELL" and "MEMOREX" discs usually work with most drives, but for music cd's for your car cd player, MEMOREX do not perform so well, so if you have a brand that performs well for you and your drive stick with it, if not try other brands until you find one you make the least amount of bad copies.

Second: The speed of the drive and the disk can influence the outcome of the burning session, if your drive is 12X and the disk is 16X you should not burn any faster than 12X, the best speed would be about 10X, to make sure your drive's hardware can do the job properly.

Third: The cpu system, if you have an older cpu with a new DVD drive you probably won't be able to make a good copy at maximum disk/drive speed, you will have to slow down a bit.

Fourth: What are you doing? With the computer when you are burning discs? The right ansewer should be nothing else than the burning software, within reason of course, why? Because the disc writing process is very time critical and if the cpu is buzy with another program while the burning process needs the cpu's attention but doesn't get it, you will have a bad copy.

Fifth: Make sure your disks are clean and free of contaminants aspecilaly the source disc.


PS Some burners are more compatible than others, i haven't even come close to testing them all i only tested 3 brands and i like LG's the best for DVD's they take any brand of CD and DVD's, but their CD drives suck, go figure.

JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Hey Randy that was QUICK i wasn't even finished with the posts i was working on, but no problem.

Ok, went to HP no drivers, i'll have to go look elsewhere, and contact people that hold banker's hours.

I'll get back to you.

But did you plug it into your laptop and have the cpu search for drivers on the internet? It sometimes works.

VERY IMPORTANT: Please let me know when the problem is solved, so i don't waist my time solving a solved problem.


JohnDowe.

[johndowe]

Hi there.

The required software for a new PC to be "functionally literate" are:

iTunes/Quicktime @ www.apple.com FreeWare, but you shouldn't use it as your main player, aspecially with MP3/4 players it erases music files it thinks you didn't pay for, it used to do that i don't have an mp3/4 player to check with every version, usefull to play ".mov" and other apple format files, other players use it's codec's.

Real Player @ www.real.com FreeWare the original internet streaming audio and video player, still as good as ever and it'd codecs are also used by other players.

DivX @ www.divx.com FreeWare one of the most used video format for long videos like hollywood movies, and the codecs are also used by other players.

Winamp @ www.winamp.com (optionnal) one of the best players IMO, the playlist system is the one i like the most.

Java @ www.java.com FreeWare used by many if not most internet based programs, also used for internet games.

WinZip @ www.winzip.com used to be FreeWare but it still is almost, used to create, compress and decompress .zip and .rar files, there are others but this is the most popular.

Avast anti-virus @ www.avast.com one of the best, and the best i have tested, but haven't tested them all, the virus database is updated almost daily, 6 months free pay after, but it is one of the best, worth the price, also protects against spyware.

Adobe Flash player @ www.adobe.com FreeWare, for internet explorer to display flash animations.

Adobe (acrobat) Reader @ www.adobe.com FreeWare, used to read ".pdf" files, which most technical documents and e-books are.

Silverlight @ www.microsoft.com FreeWare, in the sence that if you have windows you already paid for it, allows you to see silverlight animations.

Messengers, (optionnal) they allow you to chat with other users, there are several, most common are windows messenger @ www.microsoft.com and/or Yahoo messenger @ www.Yahoo.com both do the same thing roughly the same way and are FreeWare.



Burning software & DVD player, those are manditory if you have a DVD drive and/or recorder, you should use the one that came with your recorder, but if you bought your cpu second hand, or store assembled, you might not have the cd, but the software SHOULD be installed, otherwize you will have to buy it, WinDVD was the best DVD player until Correl bought it, now it's ok at best, burning software for most uses i like NERO @ www.nero.com and ez cd/dvd creator, nero is more down to business, while ez is easyer to use.


JohnDowe.