Computer Hardware

[scottsaxman]

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=TS-0007M-AMDX723-R&cat=SYS

So, I got this debranded HP Media Center PC. Seems nice. Ordered another GB of RAM to make 2GB. Installed WinXP, seemingly without issue. However, I think XP misidentified some hardware and installed an incorrect driver. The only network connection that appears is the 1394 connection, which I understand is Firewire. No ethernet connection appears, so I can't connect the computer to the internet to help get the right drivers. I have other computers, so downloading drivers to a flash drive is an option, but I am still uncertain what I need. Suggestions?

[scottsaxman]

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=228&lc=en&cc=us&lang=en&dlc=en&product=3245032

I think that's the link to the HP driver list I need.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5272661

I believe this is my computer!

Sorry for the double post. I'll see if I can make some progress after work here. Still, if there's something you think I need to know, or some problem I'm oblivious to, please reply!

[Zaranthos]

Looks like you found the right drivers page. They seem a little out of date though which isn't surprising.
Here are the specification for the board in that computer.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00760067&lc=en&cc=us&dest_page=product&dlc=zh-hant&product=3245032

These drivers are a lot newer. Chipset and network drivers.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp32_8.26_11.09.html

That uses the Geforce 6 series drivers.
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/169.21/169.21_forceware_winxp_32bit_english_whql.exe

These should be the latest sound drivers.
ftp://66.104.77.130/pc/audio/WDM_R191.zip

There will probably be an unknown device after you install all the drivers. That is explained here.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa474689.aspx
Some more info here I think.
http://blog.justinho.com/2007/06/28/PnPIDACPIAWY00012DABA3FF0IsShownAsUnknownDeviceInDeviceManagerOnIntelViivSystemNotRunningMediaCenterEdition.aspx

[scottsaxman]

Thank you, Z!!! Very helpful information. I ended up downloading all those, plus XP SP2 and burning them on a CD to get them over to the new computer. I'm not done yet, but I do have internet access, so I call this progress.

[scottsaxman]

Things are going well! Pretty much the last thing I need is software for the TV tuner card. Anyone know if there is a particularly good (free?) program?

[Zaranthos]

If you're lucky it's got the Hauppauge WinTV PVR TV. You still need to find out exactly what model it is. Get out the flash light and find some numbers. Hauppauge has decent software and drivers. Drivers are here.
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/support/support.html

It could also have the Conexant Falcon II. Drivers are here.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-49038-1&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3245032&os=228&lang=en

XP service pack 2 you say? That's so old. You should get SP3 from here. ;-)
http://majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Windows_XP_Service_Pack_3_d4323.html

[zomguberclubber]

So yesterday I was using my laptop, and it was fine. I come back today, and turn it on, and this is what I see.

As far as I know, nothing has happened to it (i.e, dropping it or anything) since I last used it.

Any ideas?

[Zaranthos]

1) It's overheating and you need to clean out the dust or fuzz.

2) It's overheating because you're setting it on something that's blocking the vents or restricting air flow.

3) The above damaged the video chip and/or memory.

Those are my top three guesses. If you shut it down, let it cool off, and it starts up and works fine it's likely the first or second one. If it starts up after being off and cooling down it's probably number 3 which is bad. There can be other causes but they're not as common.

[RaidiN]

I am in agreement with Z, although the fact that it only affected part of the screen seems odd to me. I do know however that I have seen this happen with my friends laptop, when it would overheat it would "Whitescreen" and have to be restarted.

[Thunder Pants]

Sorry dude, but that looks like a cracked LCD to me. The area that has gone white with black splotches is where the liquid (LCD=liquid crystal display) has seeped to the front from the back.

I haven't seen it happen without some kind of blunt trauma to the case somewhere (most commonly the back of the screen itself), but I suppose it is possible that there is a defect in the screen that causes it to crack with minor force in the wrong spot.

Even if it is under warranty, you might have a hard time convincing the manufacturer that it is a defect unless it is a known issue, but because laptop LCDs are as pricey as they are, it's worth the time and effort to find out.

What's the brand, anyway?

[RaidiN]

Doh, yeah know that I think about it and am not exhausted I would have to say that cracked screen is very likely.

[Pantat]

I got a "new" computer to take to Indonesia -- don't say yay!  There's a reason for the quotation marks.  I inherited and Dell Latitude D600 from the Center for Intructional and Research Technology on campus.  The plus side on this laptop is that is 2 lbs lighter than my HP 17 incher.  Lighter and smalller is better when travelling halfway around the world, always. Besides which, there is no better insureance for a computer that might get stolen than having it be free. I am trying to work around some of the performance issues.

First a general question, beside upgrading the RAM to the full 2G possible on it (cost about $100) is there anything that can be easily done to enhace perforamcne.  The cpu is Pentium M 1.4 ghz.  I have looked online and see that to upgrade the cpu takes monkeying with the BIOS -- that is beyond my comfort zone.  Meaning, I have not done it before,

Second, an external harddrive  that I have used on many computers including one just as old as this one did not seem to work at first.  However, the cable comes with two usb connectors (one is just for power according the manual).  When I plug in both usb connectors then the drive works.  the problem -- the computer only has two usb slot and so this bad boy takes them all if I want to use it.  Is is possible that there is a power savings settting that has less power going out the usb slots?   

[Zaranthos]

If you want it faster get something like this. It'll cost you but with lower power usage and faster speed it might be worth it. Also runs cooler which might be important if you're in a hot spot.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609271

You could replace the internal hard drive with a much faster 7200RPM model with a lot more storage space. A lot cheaper than a solid state drive. They tend to run hotter though so you have to consider cooling when going to a faster drive.

Does the external hard drive have a place to plug in an AC power adapter? Some let you plug in external power so you only need to use one of the USB connectors. Your other option is to get a powered USB hub so you can use one laptop port for the USB hub and then plug both external USB connectors into the USB hub. The bottom line is that USB ports don't provide enough power to run most hard drives with just one port. That's why they either have an external AC power source or two USB cables (one for interface, one for power).

The CPU might not matter much unless you want to run Vista (who would want that?). If you're not playing CPU intensive games or doing video editing the CPU probably won't matter too much. Doesn't take much of a CPU to surf the net and write documents.

[Pantat]

I need the computer to do a limited number of things

1) word process
2) surf the net
3) video chat to keep up with the kids
4) load minimially edited video to blog
5) burn digital photos to cd (it has the burner)
6) run MaxQDA (which it does fine), a qual data analysis program.

As for the solid state drive, if i had that kind of cabbage, i would hy an HP Mini-Note -- not much on computting power but very small and very light.

The extral drive does have a plug fo r an enteral powr adapter, but I don;t have one of those yet.  Powered hub, CARP, i think I just tossed one out about a month ago.

[Pantat]

OK, i put the 2 gb of ram in and now the thing keeps having critical errors and just dies horrid painful deaths.  like 6 times in 3 days.  i can't take that to the field