[Tyler F]

Ok, one more question.

Is there any way to install the drivers for the ACHI SATA mode after I've installed XP? You know, rather than slipstreaming them or something similar... I'm experiencing random crashes as well, just locks up every so often. I had to change the HDD to IDE to get the win xp installer to recognize the hard drive. It's been a real pain in the ass... I don't think I'll ever piss about with the OS'es on laptops again. <_< Especially with an OS not designed for said laptop (XP).

Technically there is a way, but I wouldn't recommend it. You are supposted to install those driver during installation of Windows. Windows XP requires that the drivers be on a floppy though, if you don't slipsteam the drivers on to the Windows XP iso. AHCI and RAID drivers are installed in the same matter by pressing F6 when prompted. Without this driver and hard drive will not be recoginized.

That being said, there is almost no reason to bother with AHCI versus IDE compatiblity mode. AHCI only offers hot-swapping and NCQ. Not all hard drives have NCQ support.

[Beat freak]

A question about updating ATI Graphics Card drivers. I'm always running into issues with updating the Display Driver, and my question is...

When you download the latest drivers, is it usually just the ATI Catalyst that gets an update, or the Display Driver too? Because no matter how well I erase things I can never get any Display Driver updates to work. My current Catalyst version is 10.6, which is the latest. My Driver Packaging Version which I assume is the Display Driver, is version 8.741 and I don't think that number has changed for a long time. Is that still the latest display driver or am I horribly behind?

[helliehexx]

Damn - I had just started a thread about a PC issue I'm having. And I didnt see this thread. Sorry mods :/

Here is my problem:

Hey Everyone.

Since yesterday I've been having this issue - which I spent all night trying to fix. What happens is this,

I turn on the computer and everything seems normal. The windows XP loading screen appears and does its thing. Then straight after I get the blue screen that displays this

"C0000221 Bad Image Checksum - Image ntvdm.exe
possibly corrupt. Header checksum does not match
computed checksum"

Then the system reboots, repeat.

I've tried many things numerous times. Replacing the ram and repositioning it, changing the IDE cables, running windows recovery console, using commands chkdsk /p and /r, and also disabling my secondary HDD. I've also tried disconnecting the CD-ROM drive then booting up the PC. None of these have worked so far.

I've searched in every corner of the internet and still havent found a solution. If I don't get this fixed soon I'll probably just take it to a repair shop - but I shouldn't spend that money right now as I am already struggling.

Thanks for reading

[*Chloe*]

Damn - I had just started a thread about a PC issue I'm having. And I didnt see this thread. Sorry mods :/

Here is my problem:

Hey Everyone.

Since yesterday I've been having this issue - which I spent all night trying to fix. What happens is this,

I turn on the computer and everything seems normal. The windows XP loading screen appears and does its thing. Then straight after I get the blue screen that displays this

"C0000221 Bad Image Checksum - Image ntvdm.exe
possibly corrupt. Header checksum does not match
computed checksum"

Then the system reboots, repeat.

I've tried many things numerous times. Replacing the ram and repositioning it, changing the IDE cables, running windows recovery console, using commands chkdsk /p and /r, and also disabling my secondary HDD. I've also tried disconnecting the CD-ROM drive then booting up the PC. None of these have worked so far.

I've searched in every corner of the internet and still havent found a solution. If I don't get this fixed soon I'll probably just take it to a repair shop - but I shouldn't spend that money right now as I am already struggling.

Thanks for reading

this is what i found when i googled it. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/245087

i think a buddy had something similar on his computer awhile back. microsoft says to make a partition and install another windows and then boot up and copy/paste the ntvds.exe file over to you original windows folder. being me (lazy) i just took his harddrive home and hooked up to my computer and dragged/dropped the file from my HD onto his. worked just fine after that.

you can also try safemode, less of windows loads in safe mode so if its not a critical file you can just download it off the net and then put it in the proper folder that way. ive done that as well.

[Red Sauce]

A question about updating ATI Graphics Card drivers. I'm always running into issues with updating the Display Driver, and my question is...

When you download the latest drivers, is it usually just the ATI Catalyst that gets an update, or the Display Driver too? Because no matter how well I erase things I can never get any Display Driver updates to work. My current Catalyst version is 10.6, which is the latest. My Driver Packaging Version which I assume is the Display Driver, is version 8.741 and I don't think that number has changed for a long time. Is that still the latest display driver or am I horribly behind?

If you downloaded the Catalyst Software Suite then you get the Catalyst Control Center and the display driver. To verify the Catalyst version just look at the date of the driver. Catalyst 10.6 should have a date somewhere in June [6th month] of 2010, hence 10.6 (6/16/2010, btw). The display driver number doesn't change much.

Catalyst 10.6 is 8.741.0.0
Catalyst 10.5 is 8.732.0.0
Catalyst 10.4 is 8.723.0.0
Catalyst 10.3 is 8.712.0.0

...

[Prue]

A question about updating ATI Graphics Card drivers. I'm always running into issues with updating the Display Driver, and my question is...

When you download the latest drivers, is it usually just the ATI Catalyst that gets an update, or the Display Driver too? Because no matter how well I erase things I can never get any Display Driver updates to work. My current Catalyst version is 10.6, which is the latest. My Driver Packaging Version which I assume is the Display Driver, is version 8.741 and I don't think that number has changed for a long time. Is that still the latest display driver or am I horribly behind?

My Catalyst is 10.6, and my driver is 8.741; I'd say you're fully updated.

[Jesus Duran]

I seem to always get a system package failure or something like that whenever I try to update my drivers and CCC. I have a 4870.

Anyone know what could be the problem?

[Susan Elizabeth]

I seem to always get a system package failure or something like that whenever I try to update my drivers and CCC. I have a 4870.

Anyone know what could be the problem?

Make sure .NET Framework is updated.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325fd-ae52-4e35-b531-508d977d32a6&displaylang=en

[Juan Cerda]

Make sure .NET Framework is updated.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325fd-ae52-4e35-b531-508d977d32a6&displaylang=en

Setup error...

[Soku Nyorah]

Is anybody having any issues with firefox?

Occasionally on start up, FF will freeze. I will open up FF, homepage would load, but then I wouldn't be able to click on anything. Though closing out and re-opening FF fixes it usually.

Any thoughts? It's not too bothersome, but I'd appreciate it if it was fixed.

[Andrew Perry]

Setup error...

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2008/08/28/8904493.aspx I find it always misses a few registry entries, so run CCleaner after it.

(.NET Framework is a big PITA. I hate it so much )

Is anybody having any issues with firefox?

Occasionally on start up, FF will freeze. I will open up FF, homepage would load, but then I wouldn't be able to click on anything. Though closing out and re-opening FF fixes it usually.

Any thoughts? It's not too bothersome, but I'd appreciate it if it was fixed.

Mozilla recently changed the time allowed for bad plugins to run from 10 seconds to 45 seconds, you may have a bad plugin. Try updating all plugins and add-ons and make sure that they are all compatible (no self-hacks)

[Vickytoria Vasquez]

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2008/08/28/8904493.aspx I find it always misses a few registry entries, so run CCleaner after it.

(.NET Framework is a big PITA. I hate it so much )

Ok that helped me update .NET Framework but I still get an error with updating my drivers.

Anyone?

[joannARRGH]

Mozilla recently changed the time allowed for bad plugins to run from 10 seconds to 45 seconds, you may have a bad plugin. Try updating all plugins and add-ons and make sure that they are all compatible (no self-hacks)

I removed the add-ons and plugins I don't need and updated everything else.

Thanks for the help.

[Justin Bywater]

My Catalyst is 10.6, and my driver is 8.741; I'd say you're fully updated.

Ah good. I keep getting errors when the installer gets to the display driver part of the installation, and when I last updated and rebooted, the screen stayed black and said something like input not found, so I couldn't see anything at all. So I removed my graphics card, started the PC, shut it off, put it back in, started the PC again, and then it worked. And with the latest drivers now, apparently.

[Brian Newman]

Hey so yesterday I got a new Phenom IIx4 955 for my PC. The new C3 stepping version. With my old C2 I was only able to hit 3.7Ghz stable, but on this C3 I hit 3.9Ghz flawlessly. I bumped it up to 4.0Ghz and ran prime 95 for about 45-50minutes on small FFTs. Now that ran fine, max temp was 56C. But when I had it at 4Ghz and tried to encode a video file, about 20% into the encode it bluescreened and said "A Clock Cycle Interrupt failed to connect on a secondary processor." I booted back up and it worked fine, however, I am curious as to why it was stable for that long in Prime 95 and failed when encoding a video file from a .mkv to a .mp4 format. Both programs max out the CPU.

[stevie trent]

Such is OCing. I found F@H would BSOD when I could pass a 20 run test of IBT on Very high (When I had 6GB of RAM.) and high. (With 4G.)

Bumping up the vcore voltage a bit may stabilize it. Make sure you set the right multiplyer for RAM so it is not being OC to fast. (I use 2x .)

It's possible the north/south bridge need a bump to.

You really need to fiddle and fart around for some time to get things just right with minimal "uping" were needed. I for example have south/north bridge up from 1.1 to 1.3. My CPU is up from 1.3625 to 1.5.

My CPU is at 3.8Ghz. (From 2.83.) It can be temperamental with stress test software, but games run just fine. So I just don't run stress test software.

[Emmie Cate]

Such is OCing. I found F@H would BSOD when I could pass a 20 run test of IBT on Very high (When I had 6GB of RAM.) and high. (With 4G.)

Bumping up the vcore voltage a bit may stabilize it. Make sure you set the right multiplyer for RAM so it is not being OC to fast. (I use 2x .)

It's possible the north/south bridge need a bump to.

You really need to fiddle and fart around for some time to get things just right with minimal "uping" were needed. I for example have south/north bridge up from 1.1 to 1.3. My CPU is up from 1.3625 to 1.5.

My CPU is at 3.8Ghz. (From 2.83.) It can be temperamental with stress test software, but games run just fine. So I just don't run stress test software.

Yeah a bit after I posted that I was playing around with voltages. I bumped my CPU to 1.4 and the Northbridge to 1.125. It works fine at 4.0Ghz now. And very cool too, 32C idle and 55 on full load.

[Marie]

Cool. Fun stuff huh?

I think my RAM is holding me at 3.8. If I every buy better RAM, I think I could push 4Ghz to. It just seems silly to spend $100+ for an extra 0.2 OC. I know after that it would need huge voltage bumps and I just don't have the cooling capability to deal with it year round. That would be another expense.

I'm just going to build a new base (Mobo, CPU, RAM.) with an I7 in the near future so I can't see me ever getting better RAM for this. 3.8 from 2.83 is pretty damn sweet as is!

[Jeneene Hunte]

One of the best stress tools out there to thoroughly test your CPU in a relatively short time is the http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Benchmarks/IntelBurnTest.shtml.
Try using as much memory as you can in the test and let it run 15-20 times. If it holds you probably have a stable OC.

You should always perform a Blend test with either Prime95 or Orthos for while just to be sure though.
Too bad my Q8300 seems to be "stuck" at 3,3GHz.

[Star Dunkels Macmillan]

Apparently I can't run Fallout 3. What's the cheapest video card out there that can run it on at least medium settings?

CPU: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+

CPU Speed: 2.81 GHz Performance Rated at: 5.62 GHz

RAM: 2.9 GB

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 6001), 32-bit

Video Card: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430

[Michael Korkia]

I am looking for a laptop HDD. The model is a Lenovo N500. The reason is because the hard drive failed sometime last year and it has been booted off of a live disc since.

I was leaning towards one of the WD drives, as it is what I use in my desktop (Caviar Blue), but I'm not sure.

I would like the price to be close to $45 and I don't need a lot of storage. I was thinking like 160-250GB. Something like that. Thanks in advance.

[Jessie Butterfield]

Apparently I can't run Fallout 3. What's the cheapest video card out there that can run it on at least medium settings?

CPU: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+

CPU Speed: 2.81 GHz Performance Rated at: 5.62 GHz

RAM: 2.9 GB

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 6001), 32-bit

Video Card: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430

Recommended Specs call for GeForce 8800+ or ATI Radeon 3800+

[Luis Longoria]

Apparently I can't run Fallout 3. What's the cheapest video card out there that can run it on at least medium settings?

CPU: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+

CPU Speed: 2.81 GHz Performance Rated at: 5.62 GHz

RAM: 2.9 GB

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 6001), 32-bit

Video Card: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430

What PC model do you have? What brand and how many Watts is the Power Supply Unit? The 4670 and 4650 are decent low powered cards that are pretty cheap.

I am looking for a laptop HDD. The model is a Lenovo N500. The reason is because the hard drive failed sometime last year and it has been booted off of a live disc since.

Well a laptop drive has to be a 2.5 inch drive (unless you have a high powered gaming laptop)
I would have to recommend this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136279 while being slightly outside your budget.

[Judy Lynch]

I am looking for a laptop HDD. The model is a Lenovo N500. The reason is because the hard drive failed sometime last year and it has been booted off of a live disc since.

I was leaning towards one of the WD drives, as it is what I use in my desktop (Caviar Blue), but I'm not sure.

I would like the price to be close to $45 and I don't need a lot of storage. I was thinking like 160-250GB. Something like that. Thanks in advance.

WD's laptop line is called "Scorpio". They are good drives. "Scorpio Blue" are the low-power 5400 RPM and 8MB cache drives. Those are still better than the original drives in those notebooks. "Scorpio Black" are the faster 7200 RPM and 16MB cache drives. One of these will put a slight dent in the time you can run on battery, but they are quite a bit higher performance than what you had.

[Danii Brown]

WD's laptop line is called "Scorpio". They are good drives. "Scorpio Blue" are the low-power 5400 RPM and 8MB cache drives. Those are still better than the original drives in those notebooks. "Scorpio Black" are the faster 7200 RPM and 16MB cache drives. One of these will put a slight dent in the time you can run on battery, but they are quite a bit higher performance than what you had.

Thank you.