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Windows ME is laughing at me. Right now.

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hereticbloodline

hereticbloodline

Programmer
Dec 22, 2000
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I know what it is. Windows ME is a test. A test from Microsoft, to see if ppl DESERVE to use their computers.

I bought a new HP Pavillion 8770 model.
(733 MHz Celeron, 64 MB Ram, 20 GB HD, Intel 810i chipset - integrated sound and AGP graphics on board)

I set the whole thing up and thought "Great!!". Then I turned it on. Straight away - it didn't work.

So I thought, "No problem!! just move the cables around at the back a bit!! There's NO WAY my brand new computer couldn't work!!"

It was the start of a sad story.

I've read that Windows ME is bugged. If anyone ever tries to tell me that it's not - I'll kill them. Sometimes when I boot up - the system does not work at all, and the power light and hard drive light stay on eternally. After constant re-boots, it EVENTUALLY works.
Sometimes I get a message saying "Invalid System Disk...remove and press a key" at startup. There is no disk in the drive.
Sometimes, I get the VMM32.VxD error. (see elsewhere in this forum)
Sometimes, The computer just hangs for ABSOLUTELY no reason. And re-boots happily.

I will not say that I've tried every solution I can think of - because I have not. Yet.

Any ideas where my real problems lie? IS it WinME? Or is there some deeper problem?

I've restored the system, took it apart, re-inserted everything and checked hp.com for a solution.

Oh! I almost forgot - My latest error is as follows - (BSOD Fatal error) kmixer(01) + 00001A56 Error : 0D : 0028 : FF2E9B16 .
This means utterly nowt to me.

Thanx for any help.
 
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Call HP tech support if its new [1] 208-323-4663
 
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IMHO you have a hardware problem...and mhughes was correctimundo in saying HP tech owes you one!
John Payne




 
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Call HP it sounds like a hardware issue for sure. I agree with mhughes & cadman.HP Pavilion PC (in and out of warranty) (208) 323-4663. If you have a service contract with them they should send out a tech within 24 hr to remedy the problem. I would look @ the motherboard for starters.
 
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so everyone believes it's the hardware....

I'm not so sure. And although I'm not brilliant at this sort of thing - I'm pretty certain it's a software problem.

Well, I now manage my own Virtual memory, did various other 'fiddles', and reseated the RAM. My computer now always boots up correctly (I changed the BIOS to show diagnostics during startup - which WinME turns off), I no longer get blue screens and I'm fairly happy.

But. I do still get totally unexplained re-boots. The computer is happy one moment then just starts back up from the BIOS the next. It could be a heat problem since it only seems to happen after 5 hours or so of use. ?.

One theory I've got at the moment is ; the Pavillion comes with a multimedia keyboard that has the monitor control on it - this uses a program that runs in the background at all times that detects when the volume knob is turned and brings up a display (not built into the monitor; an actual program brings it up) - I've found that during games it really slows the system down and sometimes it crashes..
Could be sensible to turn it off, I guess.

Anyone know what 'delayrun' is? it comes up in the end task box when I press CTRL ALT DEL (reset) and it is never working properly - can I delete it? (I know it's in the Windows directory)

Just felt like keeping u informed of my status. Things are looking better now. Windows ME stopped laughing some time ago, and started Smiling.
 
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It would be the hardware, but WinME would just magnify the problem, I agree with you WinMe is a POS , I used it once (actually 3 times on different machines) and went straight back to Win98. No offense, but I am also not a fan of HP Computers, most of their hardware setups are done poorly as much as their designs, when I think of HP, I think of good printers, possibly scanners, not PCs, they've had a bad track record in my opinion.

If you happen to have a spare Win98 CD lying around, might wana remove all WinME and just try 98, after you get your hardware fixed/reconfigured properly. Express your dis-like of WinMe to HP, they may be able to swap it for Win98 (possible if you give them enough troble)

Lets just be thankful it wasnt a Packard Bell.
Karl
kb244@kb244.com
Experienced in : C++(both VC++ and Borland),VB1(dos) thru VB6, Delphi 3 pro, HTML, Visual InterDev 6(ASP(WebProgramming/Vbscript)

 
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I personally think you made a mistake buying a brand name pc. Choosing the hardware you think best suits your needs is the optimal thing to do. However, what's done is done, can't change that. I believe the problemm lies at the on board graphics card. Youi should better disable that (low-quality i presume) video card and buy a new one which supports any of the new chips like tnt2 or even geforce or voodoo. I hope that helped :)
good luck. cu!
 
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You see that word above ^, the one in brackets? The one that says 'Programmer'? That's not strictly true.
I'm more of an amateur programmer (I'm at Uni), and as everyone knows - students don't have much money.

In fact, i've been using a pentium 120 MHz with 24 Mb and Win 95 until a few weeks ago. And let's not forget the dreaded 1.2 Gb Hard Drive either.

I did want to customize my own computer (build it), but I guess I'll have to wait until I get a full-time job for that.

Well, my computer now re-boots itself about once a day (if not less), and it honestly seems like my tinkering IS helping...(still downloading new drivers and stuff)
however, I will get the hardware checked - thanx for the help ppl.

I guess software is where I feel at home - and I liked to think that, with all my knowledge, I could sort the problem out myself. The monitor could blow up - and I'd proberly STILL think it was a software problem.

Well, one other thing (and completely un-related) - what are everyone else's resources (available) like?
My User and System resources are in the mid-80's, and the GDI resources are at around 95 all the time...
Does that sound like average? Or can I free more resources?
 
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Well acually I'm on a buy now - pay later scheme, and you can't really do that with custom builds...

I guess I couldn't wait.
 
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ok, you made it sound like you wernt making "payments" , we're telling you what you did wrong, or could have done to avoid it, don't criticize help or sugestion, if you cant afford to build a PC , let alone afford to even pay for a brand name right at the moment, belive me the outcome is much better if you were to save up (I thought College students had to learn to budget) to build your own machine with custom parts, knowing that you'll get stability and realiability. If all you want is a machine to help type up papers and surf the net, it is possible to build such machine for 200$ or even less (hehe provided you already have a monitor of course, but I could find one for about 30-40)

here is a tip for the future, if that machine gives you too much headaches.

goto pricewatch.com , look up your parts (you can even find full built PCs there) when you find prices you like for a particular item, goto resellerratings.com and look up that company selling the product, this way you'll know who you are buying from. for example Buy.com, bestbuy.com compusa, etc have pretty low ratings, whereas monarchcomputer.com icompz.com so forth have pretty much higher ratings, and you'll know whats good about them, such as low prices but high shipping, or good shipping but poor tech support.

even if we couldnt imediatly help you with your current problem (unless you need us to step you through in figuring out what kind of parts you need so you can tell the guys at HP to replace them) I will least make sure that you dont have to make the same mistake twice. (this is of course comming from a guy who has the time and money to upgrade a PC when a componet or chip dies in the previous one)

and if you really wanted a payment plan, heck have someone build it for you and pay them by the month, the final cost would certainly come up cheaper than that of a brand name
Karl
kb244@kb244.com
Experienced in : C++(both VC++ and Borland),VB1(dos) thru VB6, Delphi 3 pro, HTML, Visual InterDev 6(ASP(WebProgramming/Vbscript)

 
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My research into your (kb244) 'expertise' has helped me to establish that you are not a man to whom I should be arguing with. So I won't.

Oh.. one last thing, I live in England. And I don't know if you've ever heard - but things are FAR more expensive here than in the great US of A...
 
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hehe, I know exactly what you mean, I've lived in germany for 3 years, phone rates are about the same as in England, where even a local call ticks away cash.

But I have found that educational equipment to be far cheaper in Germany (or Europe for that matter, however Engliand being an island, may have higher prices due to imports/exports) than in the US.

But if in the future you need any help establishing plans for a new computer or tradeout, just let us know, we'd glad to offer some recomendations.
Karl
kb244@kb244.com
Experienced in : C++(both VC++ and Borland),VB1(dos) thru VB6, Delphi 3 pro, HTML, Visual InterDev 6(ASP(WebProgramming/Vbscript)

 
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Yo.. If you think that Win ME is laughing at you... Me and my crew got a hold of a full version of this virus that the call ME.

It took the four of us 4 installs just to get to the desktop and a few more to get it totally up and running. Mind you this wasn't the shel version *wink *wink, but my crew is one of the best with this type of stuff...

Although this is a hardware prob for certain... the non system disk thing is hardware and the VM deal is a norm for any bill gates operating system....

Listen to your friend and get do your best to get a cheap chasse and a cheap hardrive.. you can sink money into it as you go along. throw 98 on it and have a blast...
 
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