Boost Your Computer – Speed it UP!

So I love tweaking my computer to speed it up.
Windows default facilities that helps speed computer are the following:

1. Services.msc – this the command to launch Windows Services where you can disable and enable services.
2. Cleanmgr – command to launch Windows Disk Cleaner where you can delete temporary files and other unnecessary files on your computer.
3. Msconfig – command for Windows System Configuration Utility where you can disable programs that loads during start up.
4. Disk Manger – where you can defrag your hard drive for faster accessibility of your files.
5. Check disk or chckdsk /f /r – for checking/repairing hard drive surface/bad sectors. It actually not repairs it but reallocate all files saved on possible broken sector of the drive.
6. Updating driver will also help.

These are all windows default facility for cleaning your computer and drive which will boost it. But do you know that there are 3rd party facilities to do all of these? Drum roll please….. Ccleaner is my favorite tool to do most of computer booster. For windows update here is my favorite tool: Download Windows Driver

Windows Drivers Published in PCPitstop.com

Have you upgraded to Windows 7 and you found out that some of your device drivers are not working in this version? If yes then we are on the same shoes.

OK my problem is my Realtek Audio driver. I spent couple of hours in search for its driver but no joy until recently I found that PCPitsstop.com compiled a list of newly released device drivers that works on Windows 7. I got mine there. check it >> PCPitstop

Realtek
Intel
Marvel
ATI

are device manufacturers that posted their new drivers.

OK this is good news but what if the drive you need is not listed there? Then that will be the time you need to go for a 3rd party windows driver searcher/downloader/Installer. Yes! a program that will search, download and install the driver you need. Is that simple? Here is my tested/trusted choice: Windows Device Driver

Motherboard Replacement for Intel E2200

On my previous post Is My Motherboard Dead? My 3rd computer is motherboard is dead. My board was MSI P6NGM with Intel E2200 processor. I was very lucky that only motherboard is broken, other parts are working and in good shape.

So last Monday I visited my favorite computer store to check a replacement for it. Processor is the main consideration for motherboard selection, was happy that my Intel E2200 has found its new home with MSI G31TM-P31
Below are the specs.:

• Intel® G31 Chipset
- Supports FSB 800/1066/1333/1600* (OC) MHz.
- Supports dual channel, DDR2 667/800.

• Intel® ICH7 Chipset
- Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 8 ports.
- 4 SATA ports with transfer rate up to 3Gb/s.
- PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC.

Main Memory
• Supports two unbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM
• Supports up to 8GB memory size.
• Supports dual channel DDR2 memory architecture.
• Supports DDR2 667/800 memory interface.
• Due to the limitation of G31 chipsets, dual channel support must meet some requirement in the specification of memory modules. please refer to Test Reports for detailed description.

On-Board IDE/SATA
• One Ultra DMA 66/100 IDE controller integrated in ICH7
- Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
- Can connect up to two Ultra ATA drives.

• SATA controller integrated in ICH7
- Up to 3Gb/s transfer speed.
- Supports four SATA ports.

Audio
• Chip integrated by Realtek® ALC888S
- Flexible 7.1-channel audio with retasking
- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec
- Meet Microsoft Vista Premium SPEC

• To reach the 8-channel sound effect, the 7th and 8th channels must be output from front panel if you purchase the mainboard with 3 audio jacks.

On-Board Pinheaders/ Connectors
- ATX 24-pin power connector
- ATX 4-pin 12V CPU power connector
- CPU / System x 2 FAN connectors
- CD-in connector
- Front panel audio connector
- Front panel connector
- Chassis intrusion switch connector
- 2 x USB 2.0 connector support additional 4 ports
- 1 x Floppy disk drive connector
- 4 x Serial ATA II connectors
- 1 x ATA133 IDE connector
- Clear CMOS jumper
- 1 x Serial port connector
- 1 x SPDIF-out header
- 1 x Parellel port connector

After installing my new motherboard and made sure that everything is OK I then booted the computer and was expecting a BSOD as it is a different chipset but to my surprise I got into the desktop with any issue. I just had to install Windows XP Drivers that comes with it. So my computer was back into business in just 20 minutes!

Dell GX 270 Windows XP Repair

I am happy this afternoon before going home, My officemate’s computer is now working and in good shape after battling with Trojans, worms, viruses name it and her computer have it.

So it a Dell GX 270, pretty old isn’t it? Yeah but still good for home use. She ask my help to save her files in her infected computer. It has a funny screen saver saying that “its infected by some virus” that you need to download this and that, and it didn’t allow me to install and uninstall anything form it.

Considering limited resources like extra computer to plug its HDD I managed to install Malwarebytes (my favorite anti-malware). Immediately it removed the funny screensaver. So I’ve download and tried to install Avast (my favorite antivirus) to no avail. It says that I don’t have permission though I am using admin account. I tried Avira and to my surprise it was successful but found nothing (funny though) so I made a “Windows Repair” because USB ports are also not working. After the repair its back to ports are back to normal so I made my back of her precious files (pictures, music, videos – yeah it’s important to her, very!)

After restoration I though everything is OK but still didn’t allow me to install Avast. To my worry that there are still malicious program running behind then I made a clean install. With it I have peace of mind.

Windows device driver is no problem because dell has good driver support. Here is the specs >> GX 270 Specs

Windows 7 and Broken Video Card

Last week my friend let me borrowed his Windows 7 Ultimate. So I was excited to go home to install and see if my system will have a good future with it.

Here is my basic configuration:

Processor: AMD Sempron

Mobo: ECS NU400 (Nvidia chipset)

RAM: 1.5 GB DDR2

HDD: 80GB

Video card: Nvidia 7300 GT DDR-2

I am a Computer System Engineer that reads news and press releases about new things in the industry so I hear lots of good new about it. You may agree with me that it’s a different feeling when you’re really holding it and not just reading it. In short I liked it. That was my first day with Windows 7. Installation was fast and easy.

Second day, when I came back from the office I was my daughter watching her favorite movies in Windows 7 computer, she complained that there is no sounds. I found out that Windows 7 did not find driver for it. It’s a build-it sound device “Realtek”. So I search the web to see if I can get driver for it. Unfortunately I did not find anything.

Third day, while I was checking some of its advance configuration when I heard an small “plik” sounds coming from my CPU box. I actually did not mind it coz my computer was normal. But after few minutes my PC restarted and will not open and started checking I then found out that my video card is broken. Check my video card below.

4 exploded capacitors.

My graphics resolution is on its “recommended” setting.

Do you think Windows 7 broke my video card???

I was using Windows 7 default Windows Driver for this when this thing happened.

Computer turns itself off after 2 seconds. Why?

I press the button to turn the computer on, and the button lights up. Nothing appears on the screen and after about 2 seconds, the computer turns itself off.

I have pulled the power cord out and in, hoping that would fix it, but nothing happened.

"It has Windows Vista for the operating system, if that’s any help.

Is there any way to turn the computer on in safe-mode? If so, I’ll do scans to hopefully fix the problem.

Any ideas?
Thanks"

This problem is most likely due to a faulty power supply. The power supply isn’t stable. Test by using a power supply from another computer, if you can, and replace your power supply with a good or new one.

Continue reading and watch video >> XP Drivers

The Sound on my computer is not working?

"The Sound on my computer is not working what should I do? What could it be?"

First, check that the green speaker pin is connected to the green jack on the back of the computer, like someone else mentioned. Also, check that the speaker icon in the system tray isn’t muted. Try plugging in headphones in place of the speakers, to check you can hear any sound.

Another quick thing that you can do is to do a system restore. Restore it to a date that you know, your sound and speakers worked. Check out the following links to know more about System Restore:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/systemrestore.mspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Restore

If system restore doesn’t help, try the following:

Run the following command from the Start -> Run box and then press Enter: dxdiag
Click on the Sound tab and you can see the details of your sound card. You can also test your sound card from this tab. Note the name of the sound card, on paper.

Start the Device Manager (Right-click My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager) In Device Manager, Click the + sign next to “Sound, video and game controllers”. See that the sound driver that you noted above, is listed. Doube-clicking it should give a message that the driver is working fine. If the driver isn’t there, or if it shows a yellow exclamation mark or you get any other message about the sound driver, then reinstall the driver.

In any case, it doesn’t harm, trying a driver uninstall and reinstall. There’s an easier way to do this, as given below:

You could try to use this driver scanning tool, which scans the computer for needed drivers and has an option to automatically retrieve them for you.

After you have downloaded the above file, double-click on it and follow the simple steps to install it. Then, when it asks if you want to run it, just answer yes. This is easier than manually searching, downloading and installing the drivers.

Continue reading >> XP Driver

Troubleshooting RealTek AC97 Drivers

Audio drivers for your computer can come in many different types depending on the computer and operating system you are using. One typical audio driver that is often found on many PC systems is the Realtek AC 97 Audio driver. When there are problems with sound from your PC, you will need to troubleshoot your sound card to find the cause. This can involve many steps so to help with the process of troubleshooting RealTek on your system we have compiled the following steps:

Read full guide here:Troubleshooting RealTek AC97 Drivers

Windows Driver Troubleshooting Guide

Windows driver is a common issue for computer enthusiasts/technicians like me. Based on my experiences it happens most of the time during:

1. New hardware installation
2. Change of windows version
3. Windows update
4. Computer Virus infections
5. Windows driver corruption

This is what your device gonna look like in device manager if you have driver issue.

If any of these things happens to you, your hardware performance will be affected, read windows driver. Don’t panic you may be able to fix it on your own, just follow basic Windows Driver Troubleshooting Guide here.

Step 1. Identify what device is having problem. Windows Device Manger is our best option to deal with it. Read: Windows Device Manger

Step 2. Check device manufacturer’s support site for updated driver. Most of computer devices now a day have excellent support sites.

Step 3. Windows Update. Sometimes Windows default driver is ok, I used default drivers for HDD, Monitor, Keyboard, mouse and others.

Step 4. Automated tool, Finally if you cannot find it then let the 3rd party do the dirty works for you. Most of the time they are better than us, is their job to find us required Windows Drivers.

Acer Aspire 5610z Windows 7 and XP Driver Support

I got another side job in the office, my officemate have Acer Aspire 5610z. Last week he was playing with his windows 7 installer given by his older brother. So he immediately installed it to his Aspire upgrading from windows vista home without considering windows driver support from Acer. To make story short, he was disappointed that his Aspire are not completely compatible to windows 7. So downgrading is necessary, but this time he wants it to be windows XP.

So he asked me to help him do it this time. While windows XP clean install is going I have my computer busy downloading all its XP drivers on Acer site.

Acer driver support is good that it will give you all drivers you needed as per your OS version requirement. BUT not the latest :)

So windows XP installation was fast and easy, its now time for windows driver installation. After installing all drivers I am left with one unknown “PCI device”. I am guessing it’s the modem but driver don’t recognizes it so I am giving it until tomorrow searching for driver if none then he may take it home with one unknown device.

Dell Inspiron 10 Mini Windows driver support.

Last night another friend of mine ask me to setup his new Dell Inspiron Mini 10 wireless connection. I was excited to see his new toy and help him connect his new mini to their existing wifi which I also setup.

Ok, when I have the computer on hand was immediately looked for the wifi manager (windows default) to no avail, then I started to dig deeper and to my surprised that no drivers has been installed, everything was just windows vista default driver. So I rush to my desktop and download windows vista driver for his mini.

I was very happy after installing all driver and setup his laptop to connect to their wifi, drivers and 100% compatible! and everything was ready with only one reboot. Thanks for Dell excellent windows driver support.

CD drive or DVD drive is missing in Windows Vista

Q. Help, my CD drive or DVD drive is missing?

A. I am taking this to mean your CD/DVD drive is not recognized, so you can’t play a CD or DVD.

You probably have either corrupted or deleted Windows registry entries. To solve this problem, you need to use the Registry Editor. ***Note: By using Registry Editor, you are modifying the registry. Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click here to read the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

Make sure you are logged into your computer as a administrator.

1. Click Start
2. Click Accessories, and then click Run.
3. Type regedit, and then click OK. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
4. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
5. In the right pane, click UpperFilters.
   *Note – You may also see an UpperFilters.bak registry entry. You do not have to remove that entry. Click UpperFilters only. If you do not see the UpperFilters registry entry, you still might have to remove the LowerFilters registry entry. To do this, go to step 8.
6. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
7. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
8. In the right pane, click LowerFilters.
   *Note – If you do not see the LowerFilters registry entry, unfortunately this you will need to contact Microsoft for additional support.
9. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
10. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
11. Exit Registry Editor.
12. Restart the computer.
13. Click Start button, click Computer, and then see whether the drive is listed.

If you can’t play or access a CD or DVD, you might have to reinstall some programs. Some programs might not be able to use your CD or DVD drive until you reinstall those programs. If the problem occurs again when you install or uninstall those programs, check to see if the manufacturer of the program has an update available. Some examples of programs that might be affected are:

• iTunes software by Apple
• Nero software by Nero Inc
• Roxio Creator software by Sonic Solutions
• Zune software by Microsoft

Read full details >> Windows Driver

Repairing Common Printer Problems

Printer Cable:

One of the most common sources of printing problems is the printer cable. Normal wear and tear can damage one or more of the wires or pins in the connectors of your cable.

Cable problems simple to diagnose and correct. The fastest way to troubleshoot a cable with no obvious defects is to substitute a known good cable and see if the problem goes away. Or, you can place your questionable cable on a system that is having no problems, to see if your problems follow the cable.

Printer driver problems:

Another common printer problem is that your drivers are defective or out of date. You might even have the wrong one. This can result in all sorts of strange gibberish on the printed page. If you selected the wrong printer driver for the printer you are trying to use, you may need to purge the print jobs that are hung up in the spooler as well as reset the printer to remove any bad data that remains in its buffer.

It’s also possible that you have the correct printer driver but that it isn’t configured properly for the amount of RAM installed in your printer. If the driver is set for more RAM than the printer actually has, an overflow can occur. This might go unnoticed for a long time. It may appear only when you have a large print job or pages with lots of graphics...

Read full story: Windows Driver

Windows 7 Driver Problem

Kicked this on youtube, it may have any use of you guys:



and this driver will you: Windows Driver

HP LaserJet P2055dn Printer

Here is what I am planning to get for my client’s office setup.

HP LaserJet P2055dn Printer
Black print speed: Up to 35 ppm

Main Features

• Black print resolution: Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi

• Duplex printing: Automatic (standard)

• Print technology: HP ProRes 1200, HP Fastres 1200

• Printer memory: 128 MB

• Processor: 600 MHz Feroceon ARM dual processor

Paper

• Supported paper sizes: Tray: Tray 1: Letter, legal, statement, executive, index cards, envelopes [No. 10 (Com), No. 7-3/4 (Monarch)]; tray 2: Letter, legal, executive; optional tray 3: Letter, legal, executive, Duplexer: Letter, legal

• Duty cycle: Up to 50,000 pages

• Paper handling: 250-sheet input tray; 50-sheet multi-purpose tray

• Recommended monthly volume: 750 to 3000

General

• Dimensions: 14.4 x 14.5 x 10.6 in

• Weight: 23.6 lb

• Supported operating systems: Microsoft® Windows® 7 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows Vista® (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® XP (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® Server 2003 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® 2000, Mac OS X v 10.3.9, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, UNIX, Linux (see http://www.hplip.net)

• Print languages: HP PCL 5c; HP PCL 6; HP postscript level 3 emulation with automatic language switching

for hassle free driver help go here: HP Printer Driver

How windows driver works?

Driver is a small program that allows hardware to communicate to our computer. Here is more information about windows driver.

Picture demonstrate how windows driver act like the mediator between hardware and computer.

Read more here

Windows 7 driver video cards and other

Anybody plays WOW, Lineage2, Aion, COD(Call of Duty) or any super high definition game on Windows 7? to play those games you must have a powerful video card to do to support you on your video requirement, then of course you'll be needing windows driver for that.

I tried but I failed at first. It was my video card driver incompatibility, fortunately my video card has windows 7 driver update. I am using ATI card and here are my available drivers.
ATI Catalyst™ 10.1 Suite for Windows 7 for 32bit
ATI Catalyst™ 10.1 Suite for Windows 7 for 64bit

And here is for Nvidia:
NVIDIA 3D Vision Driver

here is for your creative:
Solution ID: 61105

Just a bit of a note, most of those drivers are beta so errors may happen.

Enjoy gaming!

Windows 7 Drivers for Know computer manufacturer

After successful windows 7 installation next thing to check is your hardware compatibly to your new OS. Everybody may notice that if windows OS has driver to your hardware it automatically install driver for it. But not all are supported especially by this new OS.

For know computer manufacturer you may check Windows 7 Drivers for compatible driver.

Microsoft Hardware Support for Windows 7

I must say that windows 7 will surely be my next favorite Operating System and I will upgrade once I have my installer. But how about my Microsoft hardware? anybody have it? I have few of it actually.


Since its also made by Microsoft we don’t have to worry about it. Check this link for your Microsoft Hardware driver Installation: Microsoft Hardware support for Windows 7

Windows Driver from Microsoft Update

Good News!
Windows update Custom Install | Select Optional Hardware update.

This is a good option for windows driver that you simple cannot find. OK so how to use it.

1. Go to Microsoft Update home page, Under Other options click Administration options.
2. In Update multiple Operating system click Windows Update Catalog.
3. Hit Find driver updates for hardware devices.
4. Hit Pick a hardware category, then search for the latest update for your device driver.