Hi folks,
Well, at a Christmas party two different relatives came to me to ask for help with their computer problems. Since all three of us were away from home, they could not give me all the usual detail that is expected to help resolve PC woes.
But I asked them to get that info to me, and in the meantime I thought I'd start this thread and add the info when it came in. Perhaps folks would suggest experiments they could try, or Web sites where there are troubleshooting walk-throughs, etc. I realize without full details there is less ability to help at this point.
My nephew says he has a Vision PC with an Intel P4 and that every time he tries to install either a CD drive or (his actual desire) a DVD burner he loses the ability to get to his hard drive and it won't boot. He says he takes both out and his PC boots normally. He said he's tried adjusting master/slave jumpers and still no joy. He currently suspects problems with his BIOS (?).
My sister-in-law has a very old PC (Intel P1) that was working fine and then one day when it booted up she had no mouse pointer, and no nasty messages on the screen. The desktop and the icons are there, moving the mouse does nothing. I suggested she try using the tab and enter keys to see if she could start programs, she said she doesn't know how to do that but she did say that "Ctrl-Alt-Del" does nothing (hmmmm?). She tried just turning off the PC and back on, she said it went through extra steps (sounds like checking drives for errors) but eventually just got to the same desktop with no mouse pointer. I asked if someone could be playing practical jokes (taking the ball out of the mouse) and she doubts it, plus that wouldn't explain no keyboard response to Ctrl-Alt-Del.
OK, when they give me more info I'll add replies to this thread.
Well, at a Christmas party two different relatives came to me to ask for help with their computer problems. Since all three of us were away from home, they could not give me all the usual detail that is expected to help resolve PC woes.
But I asked them to get that info to me, and in the meantime I thought I'd start this thread and add the info when it came in. Perhaps folks would suggest experiments they could try, or Web sites where there are troubleshooting walk-throughs, etc. I realize without full details there is less ability to help at this point.
My nephew says he has a Vision PC with an Intel P4 and that every time he tries to install either a CD drive or (his actual desire) a DVD burner he loses the ability to get to his hard drive and it won't boot. He says he takes both out and his PC boots normally. He said he's tried adjusting master/slave jumpers and still no joy. He currently suspects problems with his BIOS (?).
My sister-in-law has a very old PC (Intel P1) that was working fine and then one day when it booted up she had no mouse pointer, and no nasty messages on the screen. The desktop and the icons are there, moving the mouse does nothing. I suggested she try using the tab and enter keys to see if she could start programs, she said she doesn't know how to do that but she did say that "Ctrl-Alt-Del" does nothing (hmmmm?). She tried just turning off the PC and back on, she said it went through extra steps (sounds like checking drives for errors) but eventually just got to the same desktop with no mouse pointer. I asked if someone could be playing practical jokes (taking the ball out of the mouse) and she doubts it, plus that wouldn't explain no keyboard response to Ctrl-Alt-Del.
OK, when they give me more info I'll add replies to this thread.
->) then I guess that could explain this sudden loss of PC IQ.
