Haystack it did cross my mind!!!

Thanks for further replies, I came clean though, spent hours on the phone with Microsoft, to be fair really tried to help, , even doing registry changes etc, to no avail. \it seems I was sold a pirate copy.

Time to dip into the trouser pocket.............. -:(

I'm no fan of this habit of selling computers with preinstalled software but no damn OS disk.

I bought an Acer 7004 laptop from Laptops direct which included Vista a couple of months ago ... no Vista disk of course and I've no idea how to repair the damn thing if it went down ... it's certainly not clear from the 'instructions'.

Anyway, the damn thing was slow and vista had issues with some of my software - finally I had to connect it at one location to an adsl d-link modem - of course the d-link didn't support vista. Enough was enough and getting my old xp disk out I put XP on - of course I can no longer boot vista* but the machine now flys and I've had no issuses with software or anything else. I'm also confident of being able to repair the thing when it eventually goes t^ts up.

* I installed xp on a seperate volume hoping to be able to dual boot - but to do that I need the vista CD - which doesn't come with the damn thing!!

Just a rant but why do we let them get away with selling us an OS but no OS disk?

I would prefer to have installation CD's and agree that there is a large proportion of the computer buying public who's motto is 'Feel the price never mind the quality!'.

However, so long as you have your software keys, you can always borrow or download the installation disk. Also, as an example, in the early days of Win XP SP2 there were plenty of people trying to reinstall using the original pre SP2 disk. This was at best unsafe and if they had a more recent hard drive, then it would not work. In those cases, having the install disks could do more harm than good.

A far more worrying trend is that Microsoft are making it less necessary to look after the software keys, because if you change your computer you can't take the OS with you.

Gone a bit quiet so if anyone remembers this short conversation in October:-

"Any view on this Asus.

Bearing in mind my needs. Primarly something that I can display pictures on and a possible secondary benefit of a travellable mail and web site reader.

I see it is Linux but it says it is XP compatible. Presumably that means it would handle the camera download software.

TP


Optimist - 30 Oct 2007 11:40 - 6230 of 6409
I've taken a quick look at it.

It says that the hardware is XP compatible, so you would have to trash th O/S and install Win XP but it will be tight on disk space. In theory, you could run XP in VMWare on the existing O/S but I doubt that it has the power, memory or disk space for that. "

Just a note to say that I've found a web forum dedicated to this device here

I have a nagging feeling that this may turn out to be the new Libretto that so many of us took to about a decade ago. Solid state disk. Almost instant boot up. Small.

And from what it says an XP version should be available next month.

Just in time for Christmas.

TP

TP,

The Torygraph did a review of your Asus at around the time of your original post. I intended to paste the link in case you hadn't seen it, but it slipped my mind.

Thanks Hilary,

Quite a positive review.

TP

My ASUS has finally arrived - over a week late with unanswered e mails and phones along the way and minus the optical mouse. The tedious swop over proceeding as I write (190mb 0f microsoft updates alone!) so too early to comment but I will not be using the Batersea boys again (asuslaptop.co.uk).

k,

"but I will not be using the Batersea boys again (asuslaptop.co.uk). "

Sorry to hear that they let you down. Maybe they've changed hands. It's a minute little operation when you see it in the flesh.

You're warning is more up to date than my experiences.

Better luck with the machine.

TP

A mate of mine called in a panic getting a meesage "Explorer.exe Bad Image". From what he says it seems to relate to "windows\system32\browser1" - not a valid windows image...

I gather from general chatter that it could relate to a Trojan infection.

Can anyone help with advice to pass on? (Layman-speak please...)

TIA - :)

Hi Alan

I've never come accross that so I can't help your friend much. I did come accross this article which appears to deal with a similar problem but it's not easy and it appears to refer to a different file so may be irrelevant.

The first thing is to run a virus scan and try to get rid of any nasties that may be there. Also run "chkdsk /f " in a command window. This will indicate whether he has a disk problem.

Thanks Optimist. The problem for him is that the system will not load enough to
allow him to run anything like scandisk. None of the F8 options work when he loads.

He's a bit loathe to doa full rebuild in fear of losing his data - lots of family pics
etc.,

I'll do a bit more surfing for answers...

Alan

If the system will not start at all then you can't tell whether the file damage is caused by a virus or a disk problem.

Either way, the safe way to proceed is to buy a new hard disk and do a clean install of Windows. Once the new system is fully patched and AV installed, then mount the old disk as a secondary and copy the data from it (after virus scanning).

As a modern disk will be larger than 120GB, the new installation must be done from a Win XP SP2 setup disc.

I know that this solution is drastic, but at least it is straightforward and the end result is that your friend will have a machine that he can trust again.

Many thanks Optimist. I'll convey the good news.... ;)

Man in white van has just sorted out my internal house wiring after frequent broadband connectivity drops. I'm a long way from the exchange and get about 500 kbps download and 400 kbps upload. He said the peformance could be improved by reconfiguring to increase the download speed and correspondingly decreasing the upload speed (ie sharing the broadband in different proportions). Anyone know how to do this. The router is a BT Voyager 210 ADSL Router. TIA
TOK

Greystone

For virus problems I can't stress this site enough for great help. You have to register, but it's free, and takes you through it all step by step until you're up and running.

http://boards.cexx.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=8bb1d5bc32bedb408e2c478bf5c665cc&

TOK, what changes were made? Did you get the external wire to visit you modem first before trailing round the house because I think that's what I need to do.

Not sure if this is the sort of problem I can get help with but would be grateful for any advise. The microphone on my logitech web cam cuts out when using skype I have downloaded latest software and moved USB ports but no joy.

Seymour - Yes, that's what he did. The master socket was downstairs but he made the socket in a bedroom/office as the master. Connectivity was dropping several times a day but all OK now. But nobody has come up with any suggestions as to how to re-configure the router.

TOK, not sure but this site looks potentially helpful:

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/MTU2.htm

TOK, I'm not sure how you're getting those speeds but you need to look at the router status page and get the physical speeds that it is connecting at (it sounds like you're looking at the thoroughput given by speed tests). If you do that, also note down the values it gives for downstream attenuation and noise ratio.

In any case doing what he suggests cannot be done on the router, though depending on what you find when you look at the speeds your ISP might be able to help.