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#16
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Hardware Monitor found an error
Ok I will try it, I have changed the boot order before.. but that is the
only thing I have done in the bios.. I think it's the delete key on mine.. What is the best way to configure the startup.. from the floppy first? or do I change it according to the need? Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Rainy, Is your computer configured to boot from the floppy drive first? When you restart your computer look for a notice similar to Setup = F2 or Press F2 to enter Setup. It could also be the DEL key which gets you into the BIOS setup program. Once you're in the setup program,check the Boot section to see the order of boot devices. It sounds like you have your system configured to boot from the hard drive first. If you change it so that the floppy drive is listed as the first option, you should be able to run those diagnostic programs. Unless you can boot from the floppy disks, you will not be able to run memtest86, Microsoft's memory diagnostic program, or the PowerMax utility. Good luck Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi Nepatsfan..Sorry about my delay in answering, but I was working on this yesterday for a lot of the day and evening to try and get the floppies to "do" something.. I loaded the floppy, rebooted, a hard boot, then pressed F8 twice and landed in safemode, so I must be doing it at the wrong time.. I do appreciate your help..oh I opted for the Windows Memory Diagnostic but the only thing I was able to do was run the hdtune utility.. I tried, honest I did.. hugs Rainy.. "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Answered inline. "Rainy" wrote in message ... I just downloaded the Maxtor utility and all it did was to have me create a bootable floppy drive.. I'm confused as to why.. since my Maxtor is my second drive, not the one with windows on it.. Can I boot with a non windows drive? I think I can but it didn't check my drive at all.. that's all it did.. After booting from the floppy, hit the F8 key twice. You should now be able to select the Maxtor drive by using the down arrow key. Keep in mind that since you've already gotten good results from HD Tune, running this test is sort of like asking for a second opinion. I looked at the memtest86, but this is always my problem.. there are several to choose froom... b on the first choice and a on the second.. but don't know which one.. Download this file from the Memtest86 web site. Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.4a installable from Windows and DOS http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip Open the zip file and extract the contents. Put a blank floppy in the drive. Run Install.bat and answer A: when asked for the target drive. Boot from the floppy to test your RAM. Keep in mind that the default tests could take a long time to run. Microsoft also has a memory diagnostic program which you may find easier to use. Once again, it will create a bootable floppy to run the test. Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp Good luck Nepatsfan snipped |
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#17
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Hardware Monitor found an error
I have been trying to get into bios, I used the f1, f2, and delete keys..
and windows loads so nicely.. I did find out that the motherboard dictates how you get to bios.. so will try an find out how from www.asus.com Wish we luck.. this is beginning to stress me out.. ( Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Rainy, Is your computer configured to boot from the floppy drive first? When you restart your computer look for a notice similar to Setup = F2 or Press F2 to enter Setup. It could also be the DEL key which gets you into the BIOS setup program. Once you're in the setup program,check the Boot section to see the order of boot devices. It sounds like you have your system configured to boot from the hard drive first. If you change it so that the floppy drive is listed as the first option, you should be able to run those diagnostic programs. Unless you can boot from the floppy disks, you will not be able to run memtest86, Microsoft's memory diagnostic program, or the PowerMax utility. Good luck Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi Nepatsfan..Sorry about my delay in answering, but I was working on this yesterday for a lot of the day and evening to try and get the floppies to "do" something.. I loaded the floppy, rebooted, a hard boot, then pressed F8 twice and landed in safemode, so I must be doing it at the wrong time.. I do appreciate your help..oh I opted for the Windows Memory Diagnostic but the only thing I was able to do was run the hdtune utility.. I tried, honest I did.. hugs Rainy.. "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Answered inline. "Rainy" wrote in message ... I just downloaded the Maxtor utility and all it did was to have me create a bootable floppy drive.. I'm confused as to why.. since my Maxtor is my second drive, not the one with windows on it.. Can I boot with a non windows drive? I think I can but it didn't check my drive at all.. that's all it did.. After booting from the floppy, hit the F8 key twice. You should now be able to select the Maxtor drive by using the down arrow key. Keep in mind that since you've already gotten good results from HD Tune, running this test is sort of like asking for a second opinion. I looked at the memtest86, but this is always my problem.. there are several to choose froom... b on the first choice and a on the second.. but don't know which one.. Download this file from the Memtest86 web site. Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.4a installable from Windows and DOS http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip Open the zip file and extract the contents. Put a blank floppy in the drive. Run Install.bat and answer A: when asked for the target drive. Boot from the floppy to test your RAM. Keep in mind that the default tests could take a long time to run. Microsoft also has a memory diagnostic program which you may find easier to use. Once again, it will create a bootable floppy to run the test. Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp Good luck Nepatsfan snipped |
#18
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Hardware Monitor found an error
On Sun, 6 Apr 2008 12:11:41 -0500, "Rainy"
wrote: Ok I will try it, I have changed the boot order before.. but that is the only thing I have done in the bios.. I think it's the delete key on mine.. What is the best way to configure the startup.. from the floppy first? or do I change it according to the need? My view is that the hard drive should normally be kept first in the boot order, not the floppy. Boot sector viruses aren't as common as they used to be, but they are still around. If the floppy is set to boot first, and you happen to have left a floppy in the drive, and that floppy happens to have a boot sector virus on it, you're infected. The risk may be small, but there's no reason to run it at all. The hard drive should be kept as the first boot device, and it should be changed to another device *only* when you need it. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup |
#19
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Hardware Monitor found an error
thanks.. I finally did access bios with the floppy in the drive, and was
able to change the boot order.. but nothing happened after that.. I will have to read Nepatsfan's post again.. thanks for responding. .Rainy "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message ... On Sun, 6 Apr 2008 12:11:41 -0500, "Rainy" wrote: Ok I will try it, I have changed the boot order before.. but that is the only thing I have done in the bios.. I think it's the delete key on mine.. What is the best way to configure the startup.. from the floppy first? or do I change it according to the need? My view is that the hard drive should normally be kept first in the boot order, not the floppy. Boot sector viruses aren't as common as they used to be, but they are still around. If the floppy is set to boot first, and you happen to have left a floppy in the drive, and that floppy happens to have a boot sector virus on it, you're infected. The risk may be small, but there's no reason to run it at all. The hard drive should be kept as the first boot device, and it should be changed to another device *only* when you need it. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup |
#20
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Hardware Monitor found an error
Hi, I was not able to make those floppies do what they should have done.. so
I looked on line for a way to scan my hard drives and went to PC Pitstop and they tell me "Drive C has 0% of its files fragmented, and a total of 54% of its data in fragmented files. You should defragment drives as soon as possible for best performance" I use Diskeeper religiously and there should not be this much fragmentation.. So I thought I would let windows defrag do it.. and diskeeper locked it and was not able to until I uninstalled it.. I ran the windows defrag and still got the same response from PC Pitstop ? I guess my question is now.. Do I trust PC Pitstop and or Diskeeper? What is the best way to keep my hard drives defragmented? And especially how do I defrag the data files? Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in mess age ... Rainy, Is your computer configured to boot from the floppy drive first? When you restart your computer look for a notice similar to Setup = F2 or Press F2 to enter Setup. It could also be the DEL key which gets you into the BIOS setup program. Once you're in the setup program,check the Boot section to see the order of boot devices. It sounds like you have your system configured to boot from the hard drive first. If you change it so that the floppy drive is listed as the first option, you should be able to run those diagnostic programs. Unless you can boot from the floppy disks, you will not be able to run memtest86, Microsoft's memory diagnostic program, or the PowerMax utility. Good luck Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi Nepatsfan..Sorry about my delay in answering, but I was working on this yesterday for a lot of the day and evening to try and get the floppies to "do" something.. I loaded the floppy, rebooted, a hard boot, then pressed F8 twice and landed in safemode, so I must be doing it at the wrong time.. I do appreciate your help..oh I opted for the Windows Memory Diagnostic but the only thing I was able to do was run the hdtune utility.. I tried, honest I did.. hugs Rainy.. "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Answered inline. "Rainy" wrote in message ... I just downloaded the Maxtor utility and all it did was to have me create a bootable floppy drive.. I'm confused as to why.. since my Maxtor is my second drive, not the one with windows on it.. Can I boot with a non windows drive? I think I can but it didn't check my drive at all.. that's all it did.. After booting from the floppy, hit the F8 key twice. You should now be able to select the Maxtor drive by using the down arrow key. Keep in mind that since you've already gotten good results from HD Tune, running this test is sort of like asking for a second opinion. I looked at the memtest86, but this is always my problem.. there are several to choose froom... b on the first choice and a on the second.. but don't know which one.. Download this file from the Memtest86 web site. Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.4a installable from Windows and DOS http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip Open the zip file and extract the contents. Put a blank floppy in the drive. Run Install.bat and answer A: when asked for the target drive. Boot from the floppy to test your RAM. Keep in mind that the default tests could take a long time to run. Microsoft also has a memory diagnostic program which you may find easier to use. Once again, it will create a bootable floppy to run the test. Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp Good luck Nepatsfan snipped |
#21
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Hardware Monitor found an error
On Apr 6, 10:33 am, "Rainy" wrote:
thanks so much for all this information.. Most of what you are suggesting for me, is beyond me.. I am having difficulty doing some of the suggestions as noted to Netpatsfan.. If not understood the first time, then it is probably best information AND requires multiple readings. That, for example, is how I learned to change auto oil. Why did I learn to change oil? So that I could learn how to fix anything. One thing learned: useful information is never understood in the first reading. I am totally confused by what is not possible? For example, list of what can cause freezing is one paragraph. That one paragraph is an action item. Read it, then stop; act only on that paragraph. Then move on: Moving on, ... List includes video processor, sound card, CPU, some motherboard functions, some memory, and power supply 'system'. Listed are what can cause a system freeze. If Chkdsk found a failure on drive says nothing about what froze a system. That drive may be a symptom of failure. Errors reported from the Chkdsk are useful if those error messages were quoted. If error report is not understood, then numbers are probably THE most important fact to others who might provide assistance. But again, value of strange facts is also learned from fixing things. Reason why failure still exists? Things irrelevant to a computer freeze were suspect. As long as you only expect to understand one paragraph at a time, then the entire post is easy. Never expect to understand an entire post until every paragraph has been 'acted upon'; one paragraph at a time. Next paragraph defined one thing that can make everything (including disk drive) appear defective. Then next paragraph said to access all peripherals simultaneously. Go away and do that. Then come back and read next paragraph. Next paragraph defined a 'less than two minute' procedure that provides numbers and useful replies from this author. You don't know why to do it and do not care. A computer designer with generations of experience with your problem said to do it. So act on each paragraph. Only understand 'why' long after everything in that post is performed and reported here. You cannot perform that paragraph? Then stop; post for assistance. Don't spend all day struggling. Stop and ask for directions - frequently. If not, then others are wasting our time because others don't learn from your mistakes or confusion. Don't plan on doing anything like replace a power supply - until the failure is identified. Again, in that earlier paragraph. Power supply is not the power supply 'system'. An important point. A power supply 'system' defect may not be solved by a new power supply (that also costs at least $60 retail if it contains required functions). |
#22
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Hardware Monitor found an error
I'm not familiar with PCPitstop. If it was me, I'd rely on Diskeeper.
Getting back to your original problem, if you're unable to run the diagnostics on the floppy drives, you might want to wait until your son can take a look at your computer. If you're computer has been running with no problems the last few days, there's always the possibility that the freeze that occurred Saturday morning was an isolated incident. Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi, I was not able to make those floppies do what they should have done.. so I looked on line for a way to scan my hard drives and went to PC Pitstop and they tell me "Drive C has 0% of its files fragmented, and a total of 54% of its data in fragmented files. You should defragment drives as soon as possible for best performance" I use Diskeeper religiously and there should not be this much fragmentation.. So I thought I would let windows defrag do it.. and diskeeper locked it and was not able to until I uninstalled it.. I ran the windows defrag and still got the same response from PC Pitstop ? I guess my question is now.. Do I trust PC Pitstop and or Diskeeper? What is the best way to keep my hard drives defragmented? And especially how do I defrag the data files? Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in mess age ... Rainy, Is your computer configured to boot from the floppy drive first? When you restart your computer look for a notice similar to Setup = F2 or Press F2 to enter Setup. It could also be the DEL key which gets you into the BIOS setup program. Once you're in the setup program,check the Boot section to see the order of boot devices. It sounds like you have your system configured to boot from the hard drive first. If you change it so that the floppy drive is listed as the first option, you should be able to run those diagnostic programs. Unless you can boot from the floppy disks, you will not be able to run memtest86, Microsoft's memory diagnostic program, or the PowerMax utility. Good luck Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi Nepatsfan..Sorry about my delay in answering, but I was working on this yesterday for a lot of the day and evening to try and get the floppies to "do" something.. I loaded the floppy, rebooted, a hard boot, then pressed F8 twice and landed in safemode, so I must be doing it at the wrong time.. I do appreciate your help..oh I opted for the Windows Memory Diagnostic but the only thing I was able to do was run the hdtune utility.. I tried, honest I did.. hugs Rainy.. "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Answered inline. "Rainy" wrote in message ... I just downloaded the Maxtor utility and all it did was to have me create a bootable floppy drive.. I'm confused as to why.. since my Maxtor is my second drive, not the one with windows on it.. Can I boot with a non windows drive? I think I can but it didn't check my drive at all.. that's all it did.. After booting from the floppy, hit the F8 key twice. You should now be able to select the Maxtor drive by using the down arrow key. Keep in mind that since you've already gotten good results from HD Tune, running this test is sort of like asking for a second opinion. I looked at the memtest86, but this is always my problem.. there are several to choose froom... b on the first choice and a on the second.. but don't know which one.. Download this file from the Memtest86 web site. Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.4a installable from Windows and DOS http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip Open the zip file and extract the contents. Put a blank floppy in the drive. Run Install.bat and answer A: when asked for the target drive. Boot from the floppy to test your RAM. Keep in mind that the default tests could take a long time to run. Microsoft also has a memory diagnostic program which you may find easier to use. Once again, it will create a bootable floppy to run the test. Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp Good luck Nepatsfan snipped |
#23
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Hardware Monitor found an error
thanks, I thought I had annoyed you by not being able to do as instructed.
and I'm sorry I couldn't do it.. Every single time I tried, it led me to safe mode.. I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. .. And you are right, since there is no immediate problem, my computer is actually working pretty good.. I will wait to do this.. Thanks for responding to my question about defragging.. I appreciate all of your expertise and especially your patience.. hugs Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... I'm not familiar with PCPitstop. If it was me, I'd rely on Diskeeper. Getting back to your original problem, if you're unable to run the diagnostics on the floppy drives, you might want to wait until your son can take a look at your computer. If you're computer has been running with no problems the last few days, there's always the possibility that the freeze that occurred Saturday morning was an isolated incident. Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi, I was not able to make those floppies do what they should have done.. so I looked on line for a way to scan my hard drives and went to PC Pitstop and they tell me "Drive C has 0% of its files fragmented, and a total of 54% of its data in fragmented files. You should defragment drives as soon as possible for best performance" I use Diskeeper religiously and there should not be this much fragmentation.. So I thought I would let windows defrag do it.. and diskeeper locked it and was not able to until I uninstalled it.. I ran the windows defrag and still got the same response from PC Pitstop ? I guess my question is now.. Do I trust PC Pitstop and or Diskeeper? What is the best way to keep my hard drives defragmented? And especially how do I defrag the data files? Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in mess age ... Rainy, Is your computer configured to boot from the floppy drive first? When you restart your computer look for a notice similar to Setup = F2 or Press F2 to enter Setup. It could also be the DEL key which gets you into the BIOS setup program. Once you're in the setup program,check the Boot section to see the order of boot devices. It sounds like you have your system configured to boot from the hard drive first. If you change it so that the floppy drive is listed as the first option, you should be able to run those diagnostic programs. Unless you can boot from the floppy disks, you will not be able to run memtest86, Microsoft's memory diagnostic program, or the PowerMax utility. Good luck Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi Nepatsfan..Sorry about my delay in answering, but I was working on this yesterday for a lot of the day and evening to try and get the floppies to "do" something.. I loaded the floppy, rebooted, a hard boot, then pressed F8 twice and landed in safemode, so I must be doing it at the wrong time.. I do appreciate your help..oh I opted for the Windows Memory Diagnostic but the only thing I was able to do was run the hdtune utility.. I tried, honest I did.. hugs Rainy.. "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Answered inline. "Rainy" wrote in message ... I just downloaded the Maxtor utility and all it did was to have me create a bootable floppy drive.. I'm confused as to why.. since my Maxtor is my second drive, not the one with windows on it.. Can I boot with a non windows drive? I think I can but it didn't check my drive at all.. that's all it did.. After booting from the floppy, hit the F8 key twice. You should now be able to select the Maxtor drive by using the down arrow key. Keep in mind that since you've already gotten good results from HD Tune, running this test is sort of like asking for a second opinion. I looked at the memtest86, but this is always my problem.. there are several to choose froom... b on the first choice and a on the second.. but don't know which one.. Download this file from the Memtest86 web site. Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.4a installable from Windows and DOS http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip Open the zip file and extract the contents. Put a blank floppy in the drive. Run Install.bat and answer A: when asked for the target drive. Boot from the floppy to test your RAM. Keep in mind that the default tests could take a long time to run. Microsoft also has a memory diagnostic program which you may find easier to use. Once again, it will create a bootable floppy to run the test. Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp Good luck Nepatsfan snipped |
#24
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Hardware Monitor found an error
Rainy,
You didn't annoy me in any way so you have nothing to be sorry for. Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... thanks, I thought I had annoyed you by not being able to do as instructed. and I'm sorry I couldn't do it.. Every single time I tried, it led me to safe mode.. I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. .. And you are right, since there is no immediate problem, my computer is actually working pretty good.. I will wait to do this.. Thanks for responding to my question about defragging.. I appreciate all of your expertise and especially your patience.. hugs Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... I'm not familiar with PCPitstop. If it was me, I'd rely on Diskeeper. Getting back to your original problem, if you're unable to run the diagnostics on the floppy drives, you might want to wait until your son can take a look at your computer. If you're computer has been running with no problems the last few days, there's always the possibility that the freeze that occurred Saturday morning was an isolated incident. Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi, I was not able to make those floppies do what they should have done.. so I looked on line for a way to scan my hard drives and went to PC Pitstop and they tell me "Drive C has 0% of its files fragmented, and a total of 54% of its data in fragmented files. You should defragment drives as soon as possible for best performance" I use Diskeeper religiously and there should not be this much fragmentation.. So I thought I would let windows defrag do it.. and diskeeper locked it and was not able to until I uninstalled it.. I ran the windows defrag and still got the same response from PC Pitstop ? I guess my question is now.. Do I trust PC Pitstop and or Diskeeper? What is the best way to keep my hard drives defragmented? And especially how do I defrag the data files? Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in mess age ... Rainy, Is your computer configured to boot from the floppy drive first? When you restart your computer look for a notice similar to Setup = F2 or Press F2 to enter Setup. It could also be the DEL key which gets you into the BIOS setup program. Once you're in the setup program,check the Boot section to see the order of boot devices. It sounds like you have your system configured to boot from the hard drive first. If you change it so that the floppy drive is listed as the first option, you should be able to run those diagnostic programs. Unless you can boot from the floppy disks, you will not be able to run memtest86, Microsoft's memory diagnostic program, or the PowerMax utility. Good luck Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi Nepatsfan..Sorry about my delay in answering, but I was working on this yesterday for a lot of the day and evening to try and get the floppies to "do" something.. I loaded the floppy, rebooted, a hard boot, then pressed F8 twice and landed in safemode, so I must be doing it at the wrong time.. I do appreciate your help..oh I opted for the Windows Memory Diagnostic but the only thing I was able to do was run the hdtune utility.. I tried, honest I did.. hugs Rainy.. "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Answered inline. "Rainy" wrote in message ... I just downloaded the Maxtor utility and all it did was to have me create a bootable floppy drive.. I'm confused as to why.. since my Maxtor is my second drive, not the one with windows on it.. Can I boot with a non windows drive? I think I can but it didn't check my drive at all.. that's all it did.. After booting from the floppy, hit the F8 key twice. You should now be able to select the Maxtor drive by using the down arrow key. Keep in mind that since you've already gotten good results from HD Tune, running this test is sort of like asking for a second opinion. I looked at the memtest86, but this is always my problem.. there are several to choose froom... b on the first choice and a on the second.. but don't know which one.. Download this file from the Memtest86 web site. Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.4a installable from Windows and DOS http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip Open the zip file and extract the contents. Put a blank floppy in the drive. Run Install.bat and answer A: when asked for the target drive. Boot from the floppy to test your RAM. Keep in mind that the default tests could take a long time to run. Microsoft also has a memory diagnostic program which you may find easier to use. Once again, it will create a bootable floppy to run the test. Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp Good luck Nepatsfan snipped |
#25
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Hardware Monitor found an error
thanks .
"Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Rainy, You didn't annoy me in any way so you have nothing to be sorry for. Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... thanks, I thought I had annoyed you by not being able to do as instructed. and I'm sorry I couldn't do it.. Every single time I tried, it led me to safe mode.. I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. .. And you are right, since there is no immediate problem, my computer is actually working pretty good.. I will wait to do this.. Thanks for responding to my question about defragging.. I appreciate all of your expertise and especially your patience.. hugs Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... I'm not familiar with PCPitstop. If it was me, I'd rely on Diskeeper. Getting back to your original problem, if you're unable to run the diagnostics on the floppy drives, you might want to wait until your son can take a look at your computer. If you're computer has been running with no problems the last few days, there's always the possibility that the freeze that occurred Saturday morning was an isolated incident. Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi, I was not able to make those floppies do what they should have done.. so I looked on line for a way to scan my hard drives and went to PC Pitstop and they tell me "Drive C has 0% of its files fragmented, and a total of 54% of its data in fragmented files. You should defragment drives as soon as possible for best performance" I use Diskeeper religiously and there should not be this much fragmentation.. So I thought I would let windows defrag do it.. and diskeeper locked it and was not able to until I uninstalled it.. I ran the windows defrag and still got the same response from PC Pitstop ? I guess my question is now.. Do I trust PC Pitstop and or Diskeeper? What is the best way to keep my hard drives defragmented? And especially how do I defrag the data files? Rainy "Nepatsfan" wrote in mess age ... Rainy, Is your computer configured to boot from the floppy drive first? When you restart your computer look for a notice similar to Setup = F2 or Press F2 to enter Setup. It could also be the DEL key which gets you into the BIOS setup program. Once you're in the setup program,check the Boot section to see the order of boot devices. It sounds like you have your system configured to boot from the hard drive first. If you change it so that the floppy drive is listed as the first option, you should be able to run those diagnostic programs. Unless you can boot from the floppy disks, you will not be able to run memtest86, Microsoft's memory diagnostic program, or the PowerMax utility. Good luck Nepatsfan "Rainy" wrote in message ... Hi Nepatsfan..Sorry about my delay in answering, but I was working on this yesterday for a lot of the day and evening to try and get the floppies to "do" something.. I loaded the floppy, rebooted, a hard boot, then pressed F8 twice and landed in safemode, so I must be doing it at the wrong time.. I do appreciate your help..oh I opted for the Windows Memory Diagnostic but the only thing I was able to do was run the hdtune utility.. I tried, honest I did.. hugs Rainy.. "Nepatsfan" wrote in message ... Answered inline. "Rainy" wrote in message ... I just downloaded the Maxtor utility and all it did was to have me create a bootable floppy drive.. I'm confused as to why.. since my Maxtor is my second drive, not the one with windows on it.. Can I boot with a non windows drive? I think I can but it didn't check my drive at all.. that's all it did.. After booting from the floppy, hit the F8 key twice. You should now be able to select the Maxtor drive by using the down arrow key. Keep in mind that since you've already gotten good results from HD Tune, running this test is sort of like asking for a second opinion. I looked at the memtest86, but this is always my problem.. there are several to choose froom... b on the first choice and a on the second.. but don't know which one.. Download this file from the Memtest86 web site. Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.4a installable from Windows and DOS http://www.memtest86.com/memtest34a.zip Open the zip file and extract the contents. Put a blank floppy in the drive. Run Install.bat and answer A: when asked for the target drive. Boot from the floppy to test your RAM. Keep in mind that the default tests could take a long time to run. Microsoft also has a memory diagnostic program which you may find easier to use. Once again, it will create a bootable floppy to run the test. Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp Good luck Nepatsfan snipped |
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Hardware Monitor found an error
On Apr 7, 7:44 pm, "Rainy" wrote:
I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. .. 1 gbyte memory is constantly too small. When the computer needs more memory, it simply transfers code out to disk - virtual memory. If virtual memory is too small, then an OS announces the problem, enlarges virtual memory (on the disk) and keeps working. At no time will insufficient resources crash an OS. Reliability even in 1960 mainframes demanded that an OS always keep working. If computer cannot provide the resources, then the OS stops or removes that program - and keeps working. Hardware reasons for freezing were listed previously. Niether insufficient memory nor a disk drive is on that list. Defective memory (in limited locations) can crash a computer. Insufficient resources could crash unreliable OSes such as Windows 9x/ME. But insufficient resources must never crash a true pre-emptive multitasking OS such as Windows NT based OSes. |
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Hardware Monitor found an error
Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information..
correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this.. and if I have enough money after the move, I can have a tech look at it and see where the problems lie.., My son is pretty good with hard ware, but not with windows XP .. I have fixed his computer before. thanks to this group.. I know what a power supply is but up til now had never heard of a power supply "system".. so I will check into that.. thanks for the technical input.. it's appreciated. thanks, Rainy w_tom" wrote in message ... On Apr 7, 7:44 pm, "Rainy" wrote: I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. .. 1 gbyte memory is constantly too small. When the computer needs more memory, it simply transfers code out to disk - virtual memory. If virtual memory is too small, then an OS announces the problem, enlarges virtual memory (on the disk) and keeps working. At no time will insufficient resources crash an OS. Reliability even in 1960 mainframes demanded that an OS always keep working. If computer cannot provide the resources, then the OS stops or removes that program - and keeps working. Hardware reasons for freezing were listed previously. Niether insufficient memory nor a disk drive is on that list. Defective memory (in limited locations) can crash a computer. Insufficient resources could crash unreliable OSes such as Windows 9x/ME. But insufficient resources must never crash a true pre-emptive multitasking OS such as Windows NT based OSes. |
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Hardware Monitor found an error
On Tue, 8 Apr 2008 14:13:43 -0500, "Rainy"
wrote: Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information.. correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this.. Before you buy more RAM, realize that very few people need more than 1GB with Windows XP. Even that amount is more than most people need. Read the following: How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than 512MB--sometimes much more. If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you. Go to http://billsway.com/notes%5Fpublic/winxp%5Ftweaks/ and download WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more. and if I have enough money after the move, I can have a tech look at it and see where the problems lie.., My son is pretty good with hard ware, but not with windows XP .. I have fixed his computer before. thanks to this group.. I know what a power supply is but up til now had never heard of a power supply "system".. so I will check into that.. thanks for the technical input.. it's appreciated. thanks, Rainy w_tom" wrote in message ... On Apr 7, 7:44 pm, "Rainy" wrote: I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. .. 1 gbyte memory is constantly too small. When the computer needs more memory, it simply transfers code out to disk - virtual memory. If virtual memory is too small, then an OS announces the problem, enlarges virtual memory (on the disk) and keeps working. At no time will insufficient resources crash an OS. Reliability even in 1960 mainframes demanded that an OS always keep working. If computer cannot provide the resources, then the OS stops or removes that program - and keeps working. Hardware reasons for freezing were listed previously. Niether insufficient memory nor a disk drive is on that list. Defective memory (in limited locations) can crash a computer. Insufficient resources could crash unreliable OSes such as Windows 9x/ME. But insufficient resources must never crash a true pre-emptive multitasking OS such as Windows NT based OSes. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup |
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Hardware Monitor found an error
thank you Ken for jumping in here.. I use Paint Shop pro and use graphics
continually.. so I am pretty sure I can benefit from more ram.. The tech that installed my 1 GB said "you will never use it".. I don't think he realized just how many graphics I am dealting with all the time.. I will make every effort to follow the directions from the text file that came with the vbs files that I just downloaded, but no promises.. thanks, Rainy "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message news On Tue, 8 Apr 2008 14:13:43 -0500, "Rainy" wrote: Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information.. correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this.. Before you buy more RAM, realize that very few people need more than 1GB with Windows XP. Even that amount is more than most people need. Read the following: How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than 512MB--sometimes much more. If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you. Go to http://billsway.com/notes%5Fpublic/winxp%5Ftweaks/ and download WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more. and if I have enough money after the move, I can have a tech look at it and see where the problems lie.., My son is pretty good with hard ware, but not with windows XP .. I have fixed his computer before. thanks to this group.. I know what a power supply is but up til now had never heard of a power supply "system".. so I will check into that.. thanks for the technical input.. it's appreciated. thanks, Rainy w_tom" wrote in message ... On Apr 7, 7:44 pm, "Rainy" wrote: I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. .. 1 gbyte memory is constantly too small. When the computer needs more memory, it simply transfers code out to disk - virtual memory. If virtual memory is too small, then an OS announces the problem, enlarges virtual memory (on the disk) and keeps working. At no time will insufficient resources crash an OS. Reliability even in 1960 mainframes demanded that an OS always keep working. If computer cannot provide the resources, then the OS stops or removes that program - and keeps working. Hardware reasons for freezing were listed previously. Niether insufficient memory nor a disk drive is on that list. Defective memory (in limited locations) can crash a computer. Insufficient resources could crash unreliable OSes such as Windows 9x/ME. But insufficient resources must never crash a true pre-emptive multitasking OS such as Windows NT based OSes. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup |
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Hardware Monitor found an error
I ran the winxp pagefile usage monitor and here are the results.
5/8/2008 5:11:44 PM Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys Current Pagefile Usage: 91 MB Session Peak Usage: 240 MB Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB I finally was able to do something you experts have asked me to. Whoopie!!!! lol I hope this helps you to help me.,. thanks, hugs Rainy "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message news On Tue, 8 Apr 2008 14:13:43 -0500, "Rainy" wrote: Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information.. correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this.. Before you buy more RAM, realize that very few people need more than 1GB with Windows XP. Even that amount is more than most people need. Read the following: How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than 512MB--sometimes much more. If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you. Go to http://billsway.com/notes%5Fpublic/winxp%5Ftweaks/ and download WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more. and if I have enough money after the move, I can have a tech look at it and see where the problems lie.., My son is pretty good with hard ware, but not with windows XP .. I have fixed his computer before. thanks to this group.. I know what a power supply is but up til now had never heard of a power supply "system".. so I will check into that.. thanks for the technical input.. it's appreciated. thanks, Rainy w_tom" wrote in message ... On Apr 7, 7:44 pm, "Rainy" wrote: I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. .. 1 gbyte memory is constantly too small. When the computer needs more memory, it simply transfers code out to disk - virtual memory. If virtual memory is too small, then an OS announces the problem, enlarges virtual memory (on the disk) and keeps working. At no time will insufficient resources crash an OS. Reliability even in 1960 mainframes demanded that an OS always keep working. If computer cannot provide the resources, then the OS stops or removes that program - and keeps working. Hardware reasons for freezing were listed previously. Niether insufficient memory nor a disk drive is on that list. Defective memory (in limited locations) can crash a computer. Insufficient resources could crash unreliable OSes such as Windows 9x/ME. But insufficient resources must never crash a true pre-emptive multitasking OS such as Windows NT based OSes. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup |
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