A little help, please.

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alanrw
Rick, I re-read the thread and if I am reading correctly, you have several sorta similar laptops and you have been switching hard drives, right? If that is the case, I bet you have drivers on the hard drive for sound card A but you have sound card B hardware on the machine. Is this the case, because if so, we need to approach this slightly differently.

alan

Okay, I did switch hard drives but not in this one; the one I'm working on now with you. I did try using my one known good one in the other laptop I sent off but that had nothing to do with this set-up we've been dealing with here. The one I sent away had the wrong hard drive caddy, that's why it would not reconize that hard drive (don't trust ebay sellers to sell you the right stuff!), although it is a great place to buy NOS parts for older computers.

So, this machine I've been trying to get to have sound and get to sleep (if I close the lid it just keeps on running ) has been on its own as far as the hard drive is concerned, and I down loaded all the right up-dated drivers for it. I even bought that driverfinder thing and did it through that program too. It is possible that now there's a conflict with all those new and old drivers, maybe?

At this point I'm thinking maybe a clean reload (format the hard drive first) or throw in the XP rescue cd which I have from another machine just to see if that helps. Actually I was going to put in that rescue disc just to see what it does or looks like. But I will hold off to see what you think Alan.

It's odd, when I was in the services section I could not get that start box to activate. Made me think something got tangled when I loaded XP in the first place. It was not a smooth install in the beginning...

Well, the problem with using a rescue disk from another machine is it will probably load drivers for the other machine so you then have a little cleaning up to do. There is also the possibility that the no sound situation is a hardware not software problem. I know HP used to have a deal where you could go on the internet, put in the serial # and model number and for $10 they would send you a cd with XP and the correct drivers. Saves a lot of headache.

The problem with an OEM load of XP is that you have to have your drivers for the network card (and until you have that, you can't access the web on that machine), sound card , etc.

So there are a couple of ways to do this. Now, that being said, if you have the hard drive for that machine that it came from the factory, there might be a rescue partition (probably listed as Drive D Rescue which will do all of the above.

I think i have an OEM XP disk, I will dig around in my software bag (doesn't everyone keep all of their software in a paper grocery bag?). So we have options. After all, it's about the journey, right?

alan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2013 07:48AM by alanrw.

Quote
alanrw
Well, the problem with using a rescue disk from another machine is it will probably load drivers for the other machine so you then have a little cleaning up to do. There is also the possibility that the no sound situation is a hardware not software problem. I know HP used to have a deal where you could go on the internet, put in the serial # and model number and for $10 they would send you a cd with XP and the correct drivers. Saves a lot of headache.

The problem with an OEM load of XP is that you have to have your drivers for the network card (and until you have that, you can't access the web on that machine), sound card , etc.

So there are a couple of ways to do this. Now, that being said, if you have the hard drive for that machine that it came from the factory, there might be a rescue partition (probably listed as Drive D Rescue which will do all of the above.

I think i have an OEM XP disk, I will dig around in my software bag (doesn't everyone keep all of their software in a paper grocery bag?). So we have options. After all, it's about the journey, right?

alan

Hi Alan, I'll answer your questions as you asked them.

Your thoughts/facts about using a rescue disc from another machine is sound, I forgot to think about that.

I have been using an internet card plugged in to the side of my machine, I loaded the drivers from the cd it came with. I carry this card around because it pulls in signals when nothing else will (Dlink airplus). But I thought I could use the laptops internal internet card once I downloaded the drivers but it did not work. Is there a way of deleting all the drivers and just starting over or should I just format the hard drive and start over that way?

The thought it might be hardware issues and not the software has crossed my mind...

How does one access the rescue partition, in the bios?

I've got all my software cd's too and I just did away with my old filing mehods and bought a cd holder thingy. Yes, it's all about the journey at this point. I'd love to keep working on this machine and hopefully get it to work 100% sooner or later. I've already learned alot so far and I like computers!

Thanks Alan, Rick

When you go into My Computor, the D drive will just show up along with the C drive if indeed the hard drive was partitioned. I wouldn't worry too much about drivers not being deleted. They pretty much just stay in a folder until they are assigned to a specific device.

Computers are a lot like cars except your fingernails will be cleaner and your back won't hurt.

alan



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2013 11:12PM by alanrw.

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alanrw
When you go into My Computor, the D drive will just show up along with the C drive if indeed the hard drive was partitioned. I wouldn't worry too much about drivers not being deleted. They pretty much just stay in a folder until they are assigned to a specific device.

Computers are a lot like cars except your fingernails will be cleaner and your back won't hurt.

alan

Hey Alan

Ah, so drivers have to be put in to action a very special way, and, I'm guessing not all are treated the same way? (I've wondered about this since the begining)

When I look on the lenovo site there might be many drivers for one thing (even though I'm looking for my own computer, with all my model numbers). Other than dating how do you tell what one you want, or need?, and if you download a few will the right one get placed and the ones that are not just sit there and do no harm??

Thanks, Rick

Right, if you load the wrong driver, nothing horrendous will happen, the device just won't work. Typically, the lheoading of drivers is the same, you just go into Device Manager, click on the device and then click on Update Driver. You will be asked where the driver is. I typically store them in a folder on my desktop.

alan

Quote
alanrw
Right, if you load the wrong driver, nothing horrendous will happen, the device just won't work. Typically, the lheoading of drivers is the same, you just go into Device Manager, click on the device and then click on Update Driver. You will be asked where the driver is. I typically store them in a folder on my desktop.

alan

Wow, Alan!.... I know this and still I choose to make this harder than I need to. Typical rookie misstake!

I'm busy getting the 5er ready for a trip, my daughter is graduating law school this Saturday and upper Vermont is calling! Should be pretty this time of year.

We'll be back on Tuesday though, ready for action. So much work to do here....

Cheers, and Regards, Rick

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rkj
I'm busy getting the 5er ready for a trip, my daughter is graduating law school this Saturday and upper Vermont is calling! Should be pretty this time of year.

Have a great trip! Congrats to your daughter, and yes, it is pretty this time of year.

__________
Dave
'91 325iX

Boy how time flies!
Seems like only last week they were still at home and they were deciding what to do with their lives.

You must be proud

Have a safe and fun trip

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Archeo-peteriX
Boy how time flies!
Seems like only last week they were still at home and they were deciding what to do with their lives.

You must be proud

Have a safe and fun trip

Congratulations!
Is always good to have someone knowledgeable about law nearby, nowadays.



Have a good trip.

That's just great Rick, Congrats on your daughter, what an accomplishment. Have a really great weekend.

alan

Thanks Guys. Wow, what a holiday that was. Janet and I stayed at a working farm/Bed and Breakfast and had a great time. The graduation was inspiring and wonderful, and needless to say we were the biggest, proudest parents there!

The countryside was stunning (as usual) and lulu, our new E39, ran perfect.

Now Zephyr is studing for the bar from morning till night and at the end of the Month we'll see what we have...

Cheers, and Thanks, Rick