Hard Drive

[Martin T]

Thanks Guys,

I'll purchase a new Hard Drive. I did reformat the Hard Drive twice in a bid to resolve the problems and the Recovery Disc did have a copy of Windows on it as the PC (Fujitsu Siemens) worked for an hour then dropped dead again. I just wasn't sure if the Recovery Disc would work with a non manufacturer installed Hard Drive. I'll purchase a new Hard Drive and see how I get on!

Cheers

Martin

[Ned Ludd]

Be sure to let us know Martin!

[Undecided Adrian]

The OEM copies of windows that manufacturers ship out usually record the MAC number of the network card as their unique identifier, so usually as long as you don't replace the motherboard you can replace what you like without any worry.

[Ned Ludd]

Twice I have replaced (on laptops) the OEM copy with a bona-fide copy using the OEM licence number. A free call to MS gets a new licence number at no cost providing you can give them the model number and licence number!

[skypaulusplus]

i have bought a desktop, with packards rubbish on it, used a disk containg the first release of vista on it (6.000000000000000000000) poped it in entered in the key from the pc case and it was great, a full MS copy then on the bying laptop i did the same, with the desktop key, no worries.

[Martin T]

Originally Posted by Ned Ludd

Be sure to let us know Martin!

Well I ordered another Hard Drive (managed to find the same make and model I'd fished out of the PC for peace of mind) and plugged it in. Reformatted the Hard Drive, loaded Windows XP and hey presto the PC boots up no problem.

Unfortunately matters couldn't be that easy. One of the problems previously experienced (before the PC failed to boot properly) was still evident. That was poor graphics (as in the quality when you boot your PC in to safe mode).

I loaded the Drivers Disc supplied with the PC but it kept on crashing three quarters of the way through the process. All the Drivers appeared to have loaded apart from those for the Display Adapter and the onboard sound. Checking the manufacturers FAQ this appeared to be a common problem and they suggested loading the drivers manually. I manged to get the Audio Drivers loaded by downloading from the manufacturers website. I tried the same for the display and also going to the Graphics Card Manufacturers (Nvidia) Website. I tried loading the latest drivers and earlier versions but to no avail just getting the blue "screen of death"!

Many Sytem Restore's later I managed to work out that the system crashed when the same file was being copied. I deleted that from the Windows directory and managed to finally get the Drivers to load. Everything appears ok in the Device Manager however I still get 4 bit graphics and can't seem to change this via the display settings in the Control Panel? I should also have a dedicated Nvidia Control Panel and the exe. for that was meant to be in with the file for the drivers however the Icon is there but I can't get it to open!

Any suggestions before this PC gets launched out the front door?

Thanks

Martin

[Ned Ludd]

Is there not a copy of the video drivers on the Fujitsu Siemens disks?

[skypaulusplus]

well, keep the pc , try windows 7 on it, should be good

[Martin T]

Originally Posted by Ned Ludd

Is there not a copy of the video drivers on the Fujitsu Siemens disks?

There are many different drivers on the FS disks for many different makes and models of hardware. It seems to be a one size fits all solution. As I said I managed to get the PC to finally accept Drivers and all under the Properties in the Display Adapters Tabs appear to be ok.

It's just that I get 4 bit graphics.