What's wrong with my USBs??

[mikey100tv]

Well, thanks for all your research so far; your latest reply came through while I was posting the previous one to this, so I've only just read it .

Am now going to download the "Crash Analysis Detection Tool" from your previous post, so, while I'm there, I'll see about the graphics driver update (kill two birds with one stone!)

One last thing. You need to know that I've done a lot of stuff with my 1100 that I haven't done for years. I used it as a "stand alone" machine for a long time; just word processing, photo-editing and the like. I've never bothered with the Internet until recently, but in the last two months, I have

1) Got a broadband connection installed

2) Uprated the RAM (now 640 Mb) which was originally only 128 Mb...what can you do with that these days? Not a lot, 'cause everything is now so graphics intensive.

3) Updated my browser (IE6 was installed originally)

4) Installed antivirus (yeah, I get the impression you're not too keen on Norton, but that's neither here nor there!)

5) Suffered through 10 yrs worth of Microsoft Updates (Christ, there were
a LOT; at least 2 sessions where I got over 100 updates each time; I think I've had a total of nearly 400 updates..where DO they all go?)

6) Downloaded a few utilities that have proved quite useful, including the CPUID HWMonitor...I've thought at times she was overheating 'cos the fan was running flat out during some of the update sessions, but that could be because of my Northwood Celeron (single core, single L2 cache, etc.), rather than having the Pentium 4 option, which was available when we bought it. I'm afraid in those dim and distant days I knew less than nothing about the technical side of things!!


One last thing. She's got a Hitachi ATA-100 20 Gb hard drive; I would like to change this for something a tad larger...certainly at least 40 Gb, maybe 60 or 80? I don't know yet, but I'm not that confident about fitting one. Is it hard? This is why I invested in a 1Tb portable HDD when they came on the market; it was a way of increasing my storage without having to mess around changing the HDD and re-installing XP and everything else... Of course, until I sort this out I can't use it (grrr!)

[fenyal]

if you want to change out the hard drive. i would highly recommend you make a back up cd or other various media medium of all the drivers the laptop needs to operate. however if bought new and you haven't lost them. you should have a driver cd for that.

a problem with hard drive upgrade is you can only go so far. i wouldn't try any more than an 80gb because i would be afraid the motherboard wouldn't support it. back in the day they didn't have the equipment for 500gb hard drives (for laptops) and such so there was no way to apply any support for them.

i've looked up the manual for the laptop and it states that it can come with a 40gb. so thats a known safe limit. you may or may not have luck with pushing the boundaries a little there.

now there is also something else to take note on. you said you installed some more ram which brought you up to 640 megabytes. i'm assuming thats 1 stick of 512 and 1 stick of 128. (1gb is your maximum supported size 512 + 512)

a problem to note is the size difference. this CAN be a problem; HOWEVER i've only had it happen in extreme cases where 1 slot had 2 gb of ram and the other slot had 512 mb of ram. but it didn't stop the system from working. just gave me a warning about the size difference and went on. this may be an equivalent since it's an older system. rule of thumb is try to keep the ram sizes and speeds equal. the speeds arn't nearly as important though as the ram will ALWAYS default to the slower ram speed to become equal.

for the processor. you are able to upgrade to a pentium 4 up to 2.0 ghz from what i can tell. but thats something to look forward to for a future project.

still though as much as i look i seen no reasoning for these problems you are having. all this latest information has very little baring on the current usb problem. as well as thinking about it i don't see why in the world a video driver would have any relevance to usb's causing errors. lol and thus i go back to my statement that blue screen codes are highly misleading.

i'm still leading towards a system restore point.

[fenyal]

leaning* sorry about the double posts. cpuworld forums are having issues with editing posts right now.

[mikey100tv]

Hiya, mate.

Yes, I HAD noticed the editing problem myself last night!

You're quite right; the stuff about the hard drive and so forth IS future project stuff; I was picking your brains about stuff, I admit it...

Have installed the graphics driver; as expected, it's not solved the issue (but at least it's as up-to-date as possible; yay!)

Now, I think you're gonna piss yourself laughing at this next bit. I ran the Crash Analysis Tool, and according to that, the only issue it could find was a Norton driver file that needed updating! (NavEx15.Sys...but I can't find an update for it anywhere) I know how much you LOVE Norton...hahaha!

Even as I type this, doing a system restore IS the next thing on the list; I'm just trying to figure out how far back to go. The Dell "Pc Health Check" gizmo tells me it's done a couple of restore points during the last 3 or 4 days; I think I need to go back before installing Skype and the PcCam driver file. Unfortunately, mate, when you get the wrong side of 50, short-term memory gets to be a problem...my head's like a sieve these days (lol)!!! A-hem! I digress...

You're right about the DDR RAM sticks; 1x128Mb+1x512Mb. Actually, I'm thinking about getting a 1Gb stick, and putting that in the Dimm "A" slot where the 128Mb currently sits and leaving the 512Mb where it is in the Dimm "B" slot, 'cos Dell's Diagnostic tool says that my motherboard will support upto 2Gb. Yep, that's right...2Gb. Surprised me too, 'cos the manual says 1Gb, and everybody I've talked to says the same..! Or would I be better off just getting another 512, and leaving it at a total of 1024Mb, rather than going for 1536Mb...what d'you reckon? I'm always willing to accept advice from anybody who obviously knows more about a given subject than I do; I am NOT too proud for that! (lol)

Am going to try the system restore before I turn in...having an early one tonight. Will let you know tomorrow how I get on.

Ciao 4 now.

[fenyal]

if i were you and since the price of ddr1 ram is fairly cheap. i would try the 1gb and if it fails to boot then it was worth a try and go back to 512 + 512. if it works then i would trust that little program and head myself after another 1gb. hehe... (these days 2gb of ram would be a blessing.... even if it is the speed of a model T.. lol) *side note, oddly enough i know what a model T is even though only being 6 weeks from 27*

as for the system restore; we have been plucking at this little girls heart strings for about 3 days now give or take. i presume you rushed right over here once you couldn't get a handle on the situation so i would aim for a week back or so just to be safe. it doesn't matter how far you go back. the point is to get the system out of the problems it's having.

i was really doubting the drivers to do much help with this and how odd a video driver being out of date would have anything to do with usb's and bluescreens. that just didn't add up. so in short the computer is telling us a lot of nothing.

microsoft is so delightful in this respect. (note the heavy sarcasm that takes a proverbial dump truck to carry with that sentence)

let me know how the system restore turns out and one last question before i start getting real aggressive with this situation. is the usb mouse still working like you were talking about before?

have a good night, catch you in the morning.

[mikey100tv]

Morning, young man.

Now then...to deal with things in order.

First and foremost, the system restore. I was fuming by the time I got to bed last night, but having slept on it, I've got a somewhat clearer head (well, as clear as it ever gets first thing in the morning!)...

Thinking about it, I decided (like you) to go back at least a week before the Skype and PcCam driver installation saga. So, I selected an appropriate "system checkpoint" date, and started the process.

No soap.

It didn't want to know.

I tried 4 other different restore points, each one 3-4 days further back than the previous one, again with a singular lack of success.

As far as I can tell, I've followed the system restore procedure TO THE LETTER (and that included zooming the screen in somewhat to make sure I read the screen shots properly on the link you gave me)...

Now, I've changed quite a number of things in this last week to 10 days; added programs, deleted others, cleaned the registries (at least twice now) and I don't know whether this makes any difference, but I compressed the hard drive two nights ago. Reason for that was I got to thinking "Well, if I can't use the USB storage devices I've got, I'd better maximise what space I DO have."

I've mentioned the 1Tb portable HDD I've got; I also have at least two 64Gb flashdrives, half a dozen or so 32's, and one 128Gb (that took some finding on the market, but I use that one for videos)...the others are all full of photos. When the camera sensors start getting up to the 20 megapixel range, trust me, it doesn't take long before you start using up a serious chunk even of a terabyte!

You've probably guessed what my main hobby is by now...

Any ideas? (I refuse to get flustered by all this; my friends have often remarked that I'm so laid-back I'm horizontal, but I have never seen the point in working yourself into a tizzy just because something doesn't go right. Deal with it as it happens, one thing at a time; move on.)


Now, to other points...


I shall give the 1Gb RAM stick a try and see how it goes. One thing you do develop as you age (gracefully, I hope!) is a greater store of patience; nothing seems as urgent any longer...in which respect, the old PC2100 is quite fast enough for me. I might push it as far as 333Mhz, but don't bet on it !

And, finally:-

The wireless mouse. Yep, it's still working fine. It's a Logitech T400 TouchZone model...no moving parts at all (scroll wheel replaced with a "stroke strip", same as you "stroke" the side of your touchpad. Best bit is, you can even stroke sideways with it...nice.

Logitech use something they call "unifying technology", which apparently means that up to six devices will run off the one receiver...I don't know if that would make any difference, but I thought I'd mention it, for what it's worth...


So, if you've any thoughts on why the system restore isn't working; I await your reply!

Ciao 4 now.

[Komz]

Seriously, throw it away and buy a Mac.

[mikey100tv]

Believe it or not, my friend, some of us actually enjoy tinkering about with old systems...and anyway, I wouldn't use a Mac if it was given to me; I like to think I've got a bit more class than that...

[Komz]

[mikey100tv]

Touche! lol

[fenyal]

[mikey100tv]

Fenyal...have a look in your private message inbox.

Got a request for you.