Hatrack River Forum: Computer Hardware-- Power issues/All about ME

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Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

I have (cringe) an HP Pavilion 350. I'm using (double-cringe) Windows ME.

Around Christmas, I tried loading an ethernet card so we could do some home networking; it didn't work out with my graphic card (power/boot issues), and since the graphic card is more important to me, I decided to use a USB ethernet card instead. This works fine for what I need it for.

However, now when I turn the computer on, I get the HP splash screen, and it just sits there. I turn it off, and turn it back on again, and it comes up fine.

In short, my computer works fine every other time I turn it on.

???

[ September 07, 2004, 09:27 AM: Message edited by: Scott R ]

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Stop using Windows ME. The problem you're describing is a known issue for several USB networking devices on that OS.

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

I WANT to stop using ME.

I really do . . .

Posted by Bekenn (Member # 6602) on :

Actually, this sounds like a power supply problem; if the HP splash screen is where it freezes, then the OS (however crappy) has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

If I tell you that removing the drivers and device from the computer doesn't help, does that stump anyone?

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

If you've completely removed the device and drivers and restarted twice, and you're STILL getting the problem, it's almost certainly not your OS. While you can freeze at the HP splash screen even due to some USB driver issues (particularly related to removable drives), it would be unlikely for this to happen once the drivers have been completely purged. I'd start checking your power supply and other components, and maybe take a peek at your BIOS.

Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :

[spooky voice]Buy a new computer! Buy a new computer![/spooky voice] [Evil]

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

While I was fiddling around with it this afternoon, I realized that I could hit ctrl-alt-del and restart the computer at the splash screen.

I'd love to get a new computer. Who wants to volunteer to send me one?

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Actually, Scott, if you cover shipping, I'm willing to let you have my old one for $150 or so.

Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :

quote:
I WANT to stop using ME.

Can I use you? [Eek!]

Goody

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

Tom-- can you send me the specs on your old box?

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Sure. AMD T-Bird 800Mhz, 512MB RAM, ATI Radeon 8500 Pro, 60GB HD. As you can see, it's purely third-generation hardware by now. If you don't want it, I'll probably wind up giving it to my brother or setting it up as a file server.

Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :

Tom: if nobody else will take you up on that offer, let me know. My "new" (4 1/2 years old now) computer is a 500 Mhz HP Pavilion with a Celeron processor, 15 gig HD and 196 Megs of RAM. It's really sad, isn't it?

My older computer is 8 1/2 years old - a 120 Mhz Gateway with a Pentium processor, 96 megs of RAM and 2 HDs - a 1.2 and a 2.5 gig. That one is currently not working.

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

Different computer (my father in laws):

Using ME, IBM NetVista.

Boots up to Windows, immediately reboots. Runs chkdisk, boots to Windows and reboots. This happens even in safe mode.

I've run Norton to check for viruses, but it didn't find anything. However, I believe I'm using an older version, so I could be wrong.

The computer shop he took it to proclaimed a bad motherboard, but I'm not sure they looked at it too hard. Pa-in-law's an easy sell-- he wants technology to work with no fuss no muss. He bought a new computer instead.

I'm going to extract the HD tomorrow and put it in a different machine to see if it boots to Windows. . . any other advice?

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

I'd reformat, honestly. If you have another machine, slave the drive to that other machine to pull the important data off, and then wipe and reinstall. ME benefits more than any other MS OS from regular reformatting. (Of course, most benefit is obtained by reformatting and putting on another operating system, but you already know that. *grin*)