The a: drive on a brand new computer is very noisy when checking for a disk. It is fine if there is a disk there, but the noise is awful when it is checking. Is there a fix for this or is it simply a bad drive?

Is it possible to install more than 4 IDE drives (HDs, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-Rx, etc) in a home computer system (PM, PS, SM, SS)? If so, how and what is needed? -- "If you don't have enemies, you don't have character." -- Paul Newman

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my motherboard and processor. Currently, I have an AMD Duron 800mhz and a micro ATX motherboard. I also have 3 PC133 SRAM chips, at least 2 of which I would like to carry across to the new motherboard. I'd like to upgrade to around 1.6Ghz or more. Can anyone suggest...

Please can somebody help me - this is driving me nuts ! Put a new system together: XP2400 on a Gigabyte GA-7VRXP with 512 Mb DDR2700, 60 Gb Seagate HD and Matrox G400 graphics. Booted-up a DOS floppy fine and used FDISK to prep the drive. Tried installing Windows 2000: All went easily until it came...

I don't know whether this is a hardware or software problem, but for the last few days, my hard drive never stops thrashing away with its activity light permanently lit. As a result everything slows down to a crawl. My operating system is XP home edition, no background scans are scheduled (Norton...

I was trying to copy files from my 8.4GB to my 64MB USB 1.0 stick. About how long would it take to x-fer 10MB from my HD to my memory stick? -- "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." -- Winston Churchill "It has been my experience that folks that have no vices have very...

Anyone know of a free memory testing software. I want one which I can basically leave on and 'hammer' the memory for a long time to see if it produces any results. The only ones I could find just seem to do a quick check. Also preferably not one ran from a floppy (DOS) if possible. Thanks...

Girl at work's just brought a new PC with a spanky 17" TFT flat panel, least it was spanky.. apparently she bashed it with something so there's a "bruise" right in the middle of the screen. We have a couple that are like that at work and it got me thinking/looking.. am I right that there's nothing...

I installed a new floppy drive and it worked. After putting the case back on, which took quite a while because I forgot which way it went, computer will not fire up. I have power but no video, no beep codes. I put in another video card and still wont work so it's not the card. I'm thinking...

I've just bought an asus pundit barebones system and put in it 120Gb hard drive, 512Mb RAM, 2.8Ghz Pentium 4 and an 8x DVD-RW (NB this system has no floppy drive). All the parts have installed fine and in the BIOS they are all listed nicley with the HDD as the master and the DVD-RW as the primary...

Does anyone know if the large price spread of ATA RAID cards is justified? I've seen Promise cards going for $98 and SIIG cards going for $28 and other cards for prices in between. Is there any real difference in quality or features of these cards (assuming 2 channels and a maximum of 4 HDs)? Do...

Hi all. I'm looking to upgrade my CPU and I was wondering approximately how big of a CPU I could get without replacing my MoBo. I'm not sure exactly the make of the MoBo but right now I am running a 900Mhz Athlon Thunderbird. The MoBo is probably a couple of years old now if that helps. TIA.

Hi, I've been having problems with my AMD Athlon XP 2000+ CPU overheating recently so I bought a Akasa King Copper 824CU today. I fitted the new fan and switched the machine on but before it tested the memory the machine stopped and displayed "CPU Fan error" (or something like it) across the...

Not a gamer but gonna upgrade to AMD XP2800 Barton/AsusA7N8X Delux/512 Crucial. Can't decide on a lower end graphics card. Think its between Geforce FX 5200, Geforce FX5600XT or Radion 9200SE or Radion 9600SE. I'd be glad for advice from experienced members. Also, does anyone know off hand which of...

Bobby wrote: I recently noticed that my PC was running slowly. I wasn't sure what was causing it and checked CPU, memory, temperature etc. Everything seemed fine. Then I checked my HD performance - it was awful. I previously benchmarked my entire system (using Performance Test v4) ...

http://www.pricewatch.com/ how do i tell which one is compatible?

Hi All, I'm running Mandrake 9.0 on a Gigabyte GA-7ZXE motherboard with a AMD Duron 1300 chip. I've had some problems with the computer suddenly rebooting or turning off and it looks like because my chip is running way too hot. I replaced the heatsink and still same problem. A tech showed me one of...

Hello-- I have a Windows 98 PC that has started having trouble booting in the last couple of weeks. Probably about half of the time I turn the PC on, it returns a boot failure error and says "Invalid system disk. Replace the disk, and then press any key". Sometimes it boots up after pressing any...

I'm about to build a new workstation based on an ASUS SK8V and an Opteron 146. I want the system to be quiet. Does anyone have a recomendations for fans that are both quiet and also do a decent job of cooling the CPU. How noisy is the stock cooler? Power supply recommendations would alos...

What is the best graphics card currently available for less than a hundred dollars? I have the following hardware on my pc. Intel D875PBZ motherboard 2.6c GHz. Pentium 4 processor 512 MB DDR 400 ram Windows XP Home Yes, I know with that setup I could probably use a much more expensive...