sound card

[bettywagar1952]

My pc crashed and i had widows ME and it had to be cleaned out and replaced with windows 98 and now i have no sound and i don't know how to get the sound can anyone help me please. I don't know what kind of sound card i have and i don't know where to look to find out. Iam new at this and going crazy. Betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Is this computer a home built clone or a store bought retail PC? If retail, what brand and model is it?

You can find out which soundcard is in use on that system by going to Start> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> and clicking on System Information. In the left box, click on Components and then Multimedia. In the right box, the soundcard should appear in bold.

One thing you can try is to double click on the speaker icon near the clock. The Play Control panel will appear, make sure nothing is muted.

Go to Start> Settings> Control Panel> and double click on the Multimedia icon. In the Audio tab, in Playback, make sure your soundcard is listed as the Preferred device.

Speakers plugged in? Are they turned on?

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

Cricket: Thank you for your help. I did what you told me too do and it says I have no Multimedia devices. What does that mean? This pc is a store bought machine and it came with windows Me in it but it crached it had a virus and my son installed windows 98 into it and that is why I can't get any sound now. I don't have the little icon at the bottom near the clock that you were talking about. I have Model iconnect 1700 c dvd Packard Bell. What else can I tell you about it? I will look for your reply, Thanks Betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Packard Bell's tend to be pretty proprietary and use parts that may not follow any standard. Not knowing more about your particular Packard Bell, it's hard to give you any definite answer.

My guess is you do have some kind of sound device installed...whether it's a separate soundcard or on-board sound I don't know.

Has anyone opened the case to take a look inside? It might be the only way to see what kind of soundcard it has.

When you boot up your computer, does it tell you it has found new hardware?

I had a Packard Bell 8 years ago (I'm not going to make that mistake again) and it had this weird modem/soundcard combo in it. You might have something similar. You'll have to go into the computer to check.

If you can determine which card is the soundcard, try to get the FCC number from it. We can tell who the manufacturer is by that number and can maybe chase down the driver and help you install it so you can get sound again.

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

Hi: I got login this time and my question is this time what Iam looking for when I open the pc case? What does the sound card look like? I will be waiting for your reply. Thanks again for your help. Betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Look at the back of your computer and follow the speaker wires to where they're plugged into. That's the soundcard.

It's possible that the soundcard is part of the motherboard and not a separate card though.

Before you open the computer case, turn the PC off and unplug it from the wall outlet.

If it's a separate card, try looking on it for a brand name or the FCC number.

If it's part of the motherboard, we'll need the exact model name of the Packard Bell computer you have. There might be a label on the case somewhere that has some information on it. Try to locate it and post what you find.

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

Hi yes i looked at the back of the pc and the FCC number is 4J2SNC-40180-M5-E and there is a jack type number RJ11C and Ren number is 0.88 and CJRUS has two numbers one on top is MR2800-W and one on the bottom E157812 and they are on the letters CJRUS. I hope this helps in helping me with the next step of getting the sound going. I will wait for your reply. Thanks. Betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Sorry, none of those numbers came up with anything.

What is the exact model name and number of that Packard Bell?

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

Here is all the numbers I have on Packard Bell
Serial Number:005655820232
Model: iconnect 1700 c dvd
Microprocessor: Intel Celeron 700 MHz
RAM: 64 MB Dynamically Shared with Graphics ( DVMT )
Video Memory: Intel i810-L Direct AGP-Dynamic Video Mem. (DVMT)
Hard Disk: 20 GB UDMA-66 Hard Disk Drive (18 GB available)
Motherboard: Houston
Modem: Modem 56kbps V.90 Data Fax
Sound Chip: 64 Voices Stereo Sound
Warranty: 1 year (Parts and Labour)
Warranty service: On-site Service

I hope this will help in finding some help for the sound. I will wait for your relpy, again thanks. Betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Sorry, I can't find anything for that particular computer.

Do you happen to have any documentation or manuals for that Packard Bell? If you do, see if it mentions what kind of sound chip is used in the system. Need the exact name of manufacturer and model number.

If you don't have the documentation then I can't offer any more help at this time. Sorry.

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

those last numbers is all i have for documents the sound chip is 64 Voices Stereo Sound and the model is iconnect 1700 c dvd this is all it says about the machine. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

ok i went to www.packardbell.com and it said yamaha DS-XG W9X Dry 4.05.1014 does any of that sound right for sound. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Hi Betty, Hi Cricket

Betty, do you still have the recovery disk that came with the system when you bought it? That will reformat & reinstall everything back to the condition it was in fresh from the factory. (so you'd want to back up any personal data first) . . .

If so, I'd recommend it. Windows Me is a good system, especially in your case, when you're fairly new to fixing pc problems. Windows ME has a feature called "System Restore" which you can use in the future (it can roll the system back to its condition prior to software trouble).

And that Packard Bell disk, if you can find it, has all the drivers you need.
__________________


If you can't find it, and wish to stick with Win98 (also a nice operating system), try this:

1) When your computer starts (when you turn the power on), press F2 (that should get you into Bios Setup on a Packard Bell Houston motherboard)

2) There's a toolbar along the top of your screen. Click on "Advanced" to view its menu selections

3) Click on "Peripherals" to view its menu selections

4) Make sure the the items OnBoard Yamaha Audio, OnBoard Midi, OnBoard Game Port, & OnBoard AC'97 modem are set to Enabled.

5) From the toolbar along the top of the screen, select "Exit" to view its menus

6) Select "Exit Saving Changes"

....and see if your computer finds the onboard sound and has a driver for it. There (might!) be one on your Win98 disk, if its Win98 2nd Ed. ....otherwise, we'll have to hunt down a driver for you.

All of this assumes that you are using the onboard sound of the PB Houston motherboard. If you have an add-in card, you will need to Disable the sound in the Bios.....but I doubt you have an add-in card. ... [one clue to if your sound is onboard or not is to look Exactly where the plugs are: if they are right next to the keyboard and mouse and onboard video (for your monitor), then that is onboard sound.... a PCI card would be about 10 inches away, and the plugs would run at a right angle to the others]

That recovery disk would be great if you can find it!
Post back if I caused more trouble than help.

. . . Gary

[ps...most of the Houston motherboards used Yamaha YMF 744 sound, to go with the Intel 810-L chipset, if my Google search caught useful information]

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Yes, that sounds like the sound chip. Did the Packard Bell site have the drivers available? If it did, download the driver file and try to install it.

:) Cricket

[GaryRouth]

(looks like you posted while I was busy typing...maybe I don't type as fast as I thought)

Hi again

You know, Packard Bell's been out-of-business here in the states for quite a while, so I'm used to looking at user-group sites. . . If you can get to a Packard Bell official company site for your country, then they indeed should have drivers there for you.

The only driver I found posted at the UK site for the Yamaha YMF 754 DS-XG was for WindowsME (which figures, since that's what it shipped with)

Either 744 or 754, it will still need to be enabled in the bios setup.

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

yes i do have that recovery disk you are talking about. And you are right iam more confussed now. I will be waiting for your reply on what do with the recovery disk. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

Originally posted by Cricket
Hi bettywagar1952,

Yes, that sounds like the sound chip. Did the Packard Bell site have the drivers available? If it did, download the driver file and try to install it.

:) Cricket it said i had to put it on a fllopy disk and insert and do what it tells me to do but i was wondering if it was the right one for windows 98 now since i don't have windows me anymore. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Hi Betty, Hi Cricket

Looks like you both posted while I was typing.

Sorry if I was confusing.

At the moment, you can choose between Windows 98 (for which you'll have to find a driver for your sound) or Windows ME (from the recovery disk, which has the drivers on it).

Windows 98 might be a quick fix, if all you need is to download and install the sound drivers.

Windows ME from the recovery disk would take a while. And depending on what kind of recovery disk(s) you have, you may have other options: 1) restore everything to factory original [you lose any data or changes since then] 2) some recovery disks let you choose just to restore drivers! These are usually labelled "Applications and Drivers Recovery" 3) some recovery disks just restore the operating system. This should all be documented if you have any of the original paperwork...but you can tell quite a bit just by paying careful attention to the label.

Whatever you decide, if you find you have onboard sound (99% likely), you need to make sure it is "Enabled" in the Bios Setup (when you start your computer, read the screen, I believe it will ask you to press F2 [some use F1 or Del - use the key your screen asks for])... and follow the instructions from my post above.

Clearer or Worse? Let me know . . .
. . . Gary

[p.s. ..just saw your latest post: the driver you found looks like it was labed "Win9x" ... that should work for Win98 and WinME]

[bettywagar1952]

ok i will go with windows 98 since that is what i have on the pc now so what do i do again. Iam sorry i have a thick head. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Actually, seems like you're doing pretty well. You found the right driver faster than I did . . .

First, we need to make sure that the onboard Yamaha is not disabled in the Bios (that is what gets your computer started before the operating system takes over). I'll paste the instructions in here again...if you're screens look different than the ones in my instructions, feel free to post if you aren't sure what to do. The onboard audio should be detected when the computer continues its startup. (& if the onboard audio is enabled, but Win98 doesn't detect it, post and tell us that, too). The driver you downloaded might need to be "unzipped" before it's ready to go. You can create a folder in Windows/Temp to hold the files, run it's setup file (if it has one - if it's just an "inf" file, just point Windows to that file when Windows detects the onboard sound)...then when you're all done you can delete that folder in Windows/Temp that you created.

Here's the instructions for looking in your Bios Setup:


1) When your computer starts (when you turn the power on), press F2 (that should get you into Bios Setup on a Packard Bell Houston motherboard)

2) There's a toolbar along the top of your screen. Click on "Advanced" to view its menu selections

3) Click on "Peripherals" to view its menu selections

4) Make sure the the items OnBoard Yamaha Audio, OnBoard Midi, OnBoard Game Port, & OnBoard AC'97 modem are set to Enabled.

5) From the toolbar along the top of the screen, select "Exit" to view its menus

6) Select "Exit Saving Changes"


. . . I'll be checking back off and on tonight (I'm doing my exercises right now)
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

Originally posted by GaryRouth
Hi again

Actually, seems like you're doing pretty well. You found the right driver faster than I did . . .

First, we need to make sure that the onboard Yamaha is not disabled in the Bios (that is what gets your computer started before the operating system takes over). I'll paste the instructions in here again...if you're screens look different than the ones in my instructions, feel free to post if you aren't sure what to do. The onboard audio should be detected when the computer continues its startup. (& if the onboard audio is enabled, but Win98 doesn't detect it, post and tell us that, too). The driver you downloaded might need to be "unzipped" before it's ready to go. You can create a folder in Windows/Temp to hold the files, run it's setup file (if it has one - if it's just an "inf" file, just point Windows to that file when Windows detects the onboard sound)...then when you're all done you can delete that folder in Windows/Temp that you created.

Here's the instructions for looking in your Bios Setup:


1) When your computer starts (when you turn the power on), press F2 (that should get you into Bios Setup on a Packard Bell Houston motherboard)

2) There's a toolbar along the top of your screen. Click on "Advanced" to view its menu selections

3) Click on "Peripherals" to view its menu selections

4) Make sure the the items OnBoard Yamaha Audio, OnBoard Midi, OnBoard Game Port, & OnBoard AC'97 modem are set to Enabled.

5) From the toolbar along the top of the screen, select "Exit" to view its menus

6) Select "Exit Saving Changes"


. . . I'll be checking back off and on tonight (I'm doing my exercises right now)
. . . Gary wish me luck iam about to do what you told me. thanks again. betty ps don't tire yourself out i might need you later hahah. betty

[bettywagar1952]

hi me again and i need your help. I started the pc and pressed F2 and clicked on advanced on the tool bar and no where on that page it said perispherals to view and that is as far as i got. This is very frustrating and it's probally easier then iam making it out to be. Wait to hear from you again. betty

[GaryRouth]

"Sounds" like you have a slightly different bios than the one on an older Packard Bell webpage that I looked at (It was an archive)... There are usually about 8 to ten main menu screens that you can look at and use when you enter a Bios Setup. When you first enter it, pay close attention to the instructions, somewhere on that 1st screen, on how to move through the menus. It doesn't hurt to just look at things...and don't worry, nothing is changed until you explicitly tell the Bios to "Exit and Save Changes". Look through the menus until you find settings for onboard sound. It might have a more recent menu title such as "Intergrated Peripherals"....

Peek around & see how it goes. And don't worry, you can't really break anything in there. It's fairly easy to get back into and switch settings around.
. . . Gary

[Cricket]

Hi GaryRouth,

Thanks for helping bettywagar1952 with this, my familiarity with Packard Bell's is sorely lacking and I haven't used a restore CD in ages. I'm much more comfortable around home builts :p.

I hope that bettywagar1952, with your help, can get the sound going on her PC soon.

:) Cricket

[GaryRouth]

Hi Cricket, Hi Betty

I always like to help. . . and like the Packard Bells, I too have been around a long time (starting to need maintenance, too) . . .

Those Packard Bells that are selling in Europe don't look bad at all. They've got the latest parts in some of them: could be NEC's strong influence, since NEC bought them ... The Houston motherboard in your pc, Betty, is thought to be an OEM version of a Gigabyte board GA-6VMM7, according to some of the user groups.... And those Gigabyte boards are top-quality 6 layer boards! (unlike the PC Chips boards they used in many of the 486 models here in the U.S. years ago) . . .

And Cricket, you've helped me countless times.

Betty: I've stopped exercising, and now am sweating all over a manual I'm writing for a PC I just repaired for a friend. . . so if I take a little while to answer, don't worry, I'll check back every few pages

. . . Gary

[redbaron_snoopy]

I hope I'm not adding to Betty's confusion but I check Packard Dell iconnect range at http://www.packardbell.co.uk/support/node485.asp
and there are 4 types of motherboard with 4 types types of on-board sound chip that they use for this product family. Since 2 of them are written with (win2000), that leaves the following 2
- Via AC97 audio drive (win98 + winMe)
- SigmaTel STAC97 audio driver 4.10.01.3035 (Win95+Win98)

and since Win Me is originally installed in your system, it suggest the correct driver is the VIA AC97 (which is also suitable for Win98). This is just guesswork but you can check the documentation or inspect the motherboard itself to see the type, then you can be sure which driver is the correct one to use.

Since the sound was working fine before in WinMe, I think the bios settings are still correct and more of a driver problem.

Hope I didn't confuse anyone further.

Mike

[GaryRouth]

Hi redbaron snoopy, Hi Betty, Hi Cricket

Interesting case all around. I went back to the Packard Bell site and checked the web links you posted, redbaron - The specs for the Houston motherboards do read a Sigmatel ST AC '97 0 codec -but on that same webpage is a link to the Houston AmiBios screens, which list the Yamaha as the onboard sound. So it may be time to get out the magnifying glass & see exactly what's on the motherboard (since it looks like the Houston family had a lot of versions . . . but I think the main specs stayed fairly constant (following the Gigabyte GA-6WMM7) . . . I just don't see why they'd swap the audio codecs, unless perhaps one offered more features than the other. I tried the "Product Range" link on my 1st trip through the Packard Bell site, and I wasn't able to get through . . . got through on the 3rd try... And one other thing, all of the specs showed a jumper on the motherboard, JP31 (located between the little AMR slot and the 1st PCI slot) that shows these settings: jumpers 1-2 is "Primary", jumpers 2-3 is "Disabled", and open (no jumpers on at all) is "Secondary" [and what the heck is Secondary?]

Whew.

Anyway, Betty: if you can take a peek at your motherboard, see if the chips near the sound connectors read Yamaha or SigmaTel . . . or you can roll the dice and try the different drivers:

The SigmaTel ST AC'97 codec driver for Win98:
http://support.packardbell-europe.com/support/download/itemnr/REFFIUP02170200.asp

The Yamaha Ymf 754 DS-XG for WinME (might also work for 98)
http://support.packardbell-europe.com/support/download/itemnr/REFFIUP03610100.asp

The Via codec doesn't figure in to the mix: it is on the MSI boards with Amd cpus. (doesn't figure in to Betty's Celeron, that is)

Looks like it's the magnifying glass gonna clear this one up.

By the way, Betty: you could check with your son and ask him if he changed any of the jumpers on the motherboard? There's a jumper, JP31, that helps to enable/disable the onboard sound...
. . . (though I imagine that this jumper would need to match the selection in the Bios menu?)....Goodness. Betty, do you have a manual that came with your system? I could find pictures of the jumpers on the PB site, but no explanation of what the "Secondary" (open) setting for that jumper meant.

I'm going to get some sleep . . . and hopefully will wake up to a post of all's well . . .
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

no my son didn't take the case off he just installed the cd for win98 and i read all the books i got with the pc and i can't find anything so i guess it's the maginfining glass like you said. what does the mother board look like? what if i went to the yamaha site and did what it told me too do? would that be ok? betty

[gladiator]

well guys she did say her system crashed maybe the sound went out on the Mother board, I believe packard smells are prorieity. sounds built in to Motherboard

she probably can't use a restore disk if its a new install with win 98. But I could be mistaken I'm not an expert!


Time for a new computer Betty!!

[bettywagar1952]

i downloaded the Sigma Tel ST AC '97 codec driver for win 98 like I was told too and nothing happened. What happened to my pc was a virus and my son and his brother in law erased my hard drive which was win ME and put on windows 98. I hope you are wrong Lords of Chaos about getting a new computer. Please some one help me and i want to thank everyone who is trying to help me I didn't know there was so much support out there. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

i just downloaded the other one for win Me and still nothing happened. So i downloaded both of them yamaha and sigma tel. Does anything happen to my pc when i do that? where do the drivers go if they don't work when i download? What does the motherboard look like? Betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Downloading the file to your computer doesn't install the driver...it just places the file somewhere on your hard drive (wherever it was you told it to go). You still have to find the driver file and "execute it" by double clicking on it to start the install process. It best to have all other programs closed when you do this so that nothing interferes with the install process.

Take a look here (http://forum.pcmech.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=245405) for a picture of a motherboard in a PC case. The motherboard is the big greenish retangular thing on the left side of the picture. It has all the wires and cables connected to it. You'll have to use a bright light and look on the motherboard for the sound chip (should say Yamaha or SigmaTel on it somewhere. The chip itself looks like a brownish 1 inch square with writing on it).

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

hi Cricket: ok thanks for the info. where would the files have gone too? it said open or save and i clicked on open and nothing happened, where would i look for them? Betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

When downloading the driver file, you'll need to choose save and then direct it to your hard drive. Put the file somewhere you know you can find it easily. You'll have to go back to the website.

I don't know what happens when you Open a driver while downloading it.

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

ok thanks i will do that and get back too you. betty

[bettywagar1952]

well i instaled both of them after i saved them and still nothing no sound. What in the world is wrong? betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

You can't have both installed at the same time. You really need to open the computer up and look for the sound chip on the motherboard to know exactly which driver to install.

When you executed the driver files, did they indicate they found the sound device on the computer? Most drivers won't install if there is no device on the PC.

Were the driver files zipped? If they were zipped, you might have only unpacked them to the Windows\Temp folder. When you double clicked on them, exactly what happened...what kind of window popped up and what was it asking you to do?

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

no it didn't say anything about a sound device. nothing about zipped either and i didn't unzip anything it just said to either open or save so i clicked on saved and they went to my documents and then i went there and double clicked and it said instal and i clicked on instal and it said installing finished and the pc restarted and desktop came back up and still no sound. Betty

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Is there a speaker icon by the clock?

Go back to Multimedia in Control Panel and see if you can select a sound device from the drop down selector in Preferred device in Sound Playback.

Did you check in BIOS to see if the sound device was enabled?

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

there is no speaker icon by the clock. ok i went to control panel but there is all kinds of things in there which one do i pick? When i went to BIOS i couldn't get pass the 3rd step so i don't know if sound device was enabled or not. I tried to take the case off but only took out 4 screws and it wouldn't come off so do I have to take out all the screws? Iam afraid to do something and break it till you tell me more. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

no play devices is not highlited

[Cricket]

Hi bettywagar1952,

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with that case and have no idea how to take the cover off.

Since there's no sound device detected in your system, I'm not sure what else to do at this point.

Have you tried going into Control Panel> Add/Remove Hardware and see if you can install the sound device from there?

It might be best to wait until GaryRouth comes back as he seems to have some familiarity with Packard Bell PC's. I haven't touched one in over 5 years.

:) Cricket

[GaryRouth]

Good Afternoon all (afternoon in California, anyway)

I finally woke up. I spent much of the night putting the finishing touches on a Pentium-66 repair (doing well for its age). . .

Betty, did you find the Enable onboard sound settings in the Bios Setup screens anywhere? . . . theoretically, Windows should have detected the sound then and displayed a message. Then you would double-click on the SigmaTel driver download. ....Did you double-click on the SigmaTel driver download yet? (That will usually unzip it: might even run an installation routine.)

If the sound won't go soon in Windows 98, you still have the option of running the Recovery Disk. That would probably take about an hour . . . although your system is pretty new, so it might take less time than that. Yes, you should be able to run it even though Win98 is on there now. However, if it won't run, it will let you know right away. If Packard Bell uses a proprietary partition to identify the drives as theirs and allow for encrypted recovery disks (like Dell does . . .it adds protection for intellectual property copyrights & such) . . then, as long as your son didn't delete that partition when he put Win98 on, your recovery should start OK.

But that's starting to get rather unnecessarily technical, so I'll try to rephrase things:

Your choices: 1)keep trying for sound with Win98 2)try to run the recovery disk to restore WinME- (and all the applications that the computer came with)

I'd be surprised if you needed any repair other than getting the programs and operating system loaded in OK. Your machine has some nice equipment in it and should last a nice long time . . . many more years. We still have a few 386s, 486s, original Pentiums (along with the new P4s) still doing useful work at the lab. That Celeron should go another 10 years or more. It's still a toddller.

I'll check back in a while (have to do errands eventually)
. . . Gary

[GaryRouth]

Ok, I'm back in 10 minutes. Because I found that I was replying to a post from you Betty about 5 hours ago...(I didn't see all these latest ones because I didn't notice that the post had gone to two pages!) Sorry about that

Betty, if your son didn't change any bios settings and didn't reformat anything except the C: partition, you should be able to run the recovery disk. It's starting to look a lot simpler than getting Win98 happy....

Thanks, Cricket and all, for helping while I was snoozing...

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

ok so do i go ahead and run the recovery disk then? and how do i save anything and what iam saving if i do? and what would i loose? Betty

[bettywagar1952]

Gary: I forgot to ask you if i run the recovery disk will i loose my anti virus protection and the fire wall i have on. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Hi Betty

Save any documents or personal data that you've entered since your son reformatted and installed Windows 98. He should have already saved anything you had on the system when it was Window ME. Just to make sure: scan the floppies for viruses if you decide to backup documents to floppies.

If your antivirus and firewall programs came already installed with the system when you bought it, they should re-install along with Windows ME and all your other original programs on the recovery disk.

If you added them later, just re-install them after the recovery disk is finished. Check before installing if a competing brand came with the computer: for example if McAffee came with the computer, and you wish to install Norton, it's best to remove the McAffee first.

I'm expecting a phone call (and I don't have DSL yet), so I'll be offlne for a little while, but I'll check back in about a half-hour.
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

my son installed nortons 2002 from a cd he had and i don't have it. so i guess i can't run the recovery disk. I wish i could fix the problem with the drivers. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Didn't the original system come with an antivirus program? That should do OK (just download the latest virus definitions) until your son can re-install the Norton 2002.

Remember to disconnect from a network if you work on your anti-virus software, and it's best to disable the antivirus before you run a recovery disk (or a software install...you can, of course, scan the source files for the software first, before installing: that's a good idea)

Tell you what, why don't we see if SiSoft Sandra can identify your sound situation for us. The evaluation copy is a free download, and if you're in England, the download site is right there on the island (hopefully that bodes well for a quick download). I believe it is a "self-extracting" file - you double-click on it and it unzips. If it asks for a place to extract temporary files to, you can use C:\Temp ...they'll be easy to find that way. It should come with instructions on installation in the form of a "ReadMe.txt" file. If you double-click on that file, NotePad will let you read it. After it's installed it will create a program folder, SiSoft Sandra. When you start the program it will display a folder full of tests you can run. Choose the one that says "Sound Card Information"...and tell us what you see.

here's the link:
http://www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk/san_dem/html/dload_x86.htm
This version works with Win95/Win98/WinME

If you have a fast connection, this might be easier than opening the box and looking around with a magnifying glass.

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

that is the problem my son forgot to come up too help me with this so this is why i have been posting to you guys for help. So can i forget about running the recovery disk as I don't want to loose my nortons? Do I go this link you just gave me? Betty

[bettywagar1952]

i also have a fire wall on and i don't want to loose it either. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Go ahead and download SiSoft Sandra, it shouldn't hurt anything. Your Norton should scan the download for viruses as it downloads, if it's the complete AntiVirus package. And you can simply point Norton to it after it's downloaded and scan just that file if you wish.

When ready to install SiSoft Sandra, disconnect from your network and disable Norton for as long as the install takes. Then turn Norton on again.

SiSoft should identify your sound chip. Let us know what it finds.

Just think, after all these posts maybe you should get a certificate for meritorious computer fixing. (yes I'm kidding, but you're doing fine . . . )

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

what do you mean disconnect my network? Thanks for the ego boost. lol Do I have too disable Norton too do it? I do have the updated one 2002. Betty

[GaryRouth]

I just mean to logoff of a network if you are on one (you can even pull the cable out of the Network cards plug to be exra-safe)... If you aren't physically connected by cables to any other computers, then nevermind. If you have DSL or a cable modem, logoff and disconnect those (take the connector out of the jack), and disable your Norton (it will be an option probably in the "File" menu).

You can turn it all on again when you're done.

______

Is this machine still under warranty? . . . (most are 1 year) . . .
If that's the case, it should be a free phone call to see what sound is on there. They'd probably recommend the recovery disk, but they'd also be able to tell if the recovery disk won't work anymore after your son's reformat. I tried searching the PB site for your serial # (I've had luck doing this on Gateway's site for its customers), but it just hung the search engine. You might be able to enter your customer login, though, and get the exact specs of your system. . . .

I'll keep checking back, good luck
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

which one do i download? there is International Rebview and listed under that are CNet major site
win site local mirrors
sim tel local mirrors
TuCows Archive local mirrors
3B software distributor
Quality Shareware Reivew
European Review: Germany ZD Net
Germany DDA
then it says if iam having trouble downloading the lastest MDAC 2.7 or higher. So now what do I do? Betty

[GaryRouth]

Sorry about the confusing download site. All of those sites will download the same thing: SiSoft Sandra for Win95/98/ME. Cnet is a good one: all of them should be OK.

The message about MDAC is only for folks who have downloaded SiSoft Sandra and are having trouble using it. They need to have at least version 2.7 or newer - I imagine you have at least Internet Explorer 5.5, so I imagine you'll be fine (MDAC is usually included in IE downloads)

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

iam on cable as a server to my internet. and the warranty is up. I have had my pc for a yr and a half now. I called them and they said since i didn't pay for the extended warranty iam out of luck. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

yes i have explorer 6. ok i will go ahead and download cnet. wish me luck. Betty

[GaryRouth]

That's Ok. You can still use their website (and those Packard Bell European website are slick! Very nice: more information than most.) They also have usergroup forums on the UK site that are in English (a big plus since I don't know much French or German)....

Your cable probably plugs into a cable modem either inside your case or outside of it. Unplugging the cable will keep things from the network from interrupting your install, and keep you safe since Norton will be turned off.

Leave Norton on during the download (to let it scan the files to make sure they're OK). Unplug the cable and disable Norton while installing SiSoft Sandra. Startup Norton again, and reconnect your cable & you're back in business.

Time for my "daily constitutional"...I should be back in another of my sometimes lengthy half-hours (or so)...

Maybe you'll be listening to some nice music on your computer by then
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

i got into the unzip thing but i don't know what to do no. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

i downloaded the file and it came up with the zip thing and i unzipped it but now the winzip box is in front of me and i don't know what to choose from. Betty

[GaryRouth]

hey there

I haven't left for my walk yet. If it's asking where to unzip it to, you can type C:\Temp. If it offers to create a folder for you to hold the install files, make a note of it's name, and click OK.

...Gary

[bettywagar1952]

ok i will see what i can do. enjoy your walk. see you when you get back. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

when i did that it placed 3 icons on my desk top and they are SiSoftware Sandra 2002
Sandra Frequen
Sisoftware Sandra
Did i do it right? and should they be on my desktop and what do i do now? Betty

[GaryRouth]

Back from my walk

Two of those icons looks like they are getting abbreviated. If you rest your cursor/pointer over them, or right click on them, you'll be able to read their full titles.

But you won't need those two right now anyway. Double-click on the "SiSoftware Sandra 2002" icon. It should open up a window full of tests you can run. They'll be able to tell you all kinds of things about your system. The one "Sound Card Information" is the one that will tell us what it sees on your system.

If it sees the SigmaTel chip that we expect: we'll try to get the driver going. Or the Yamaha if it finds that one.

First let's see what happens.
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

you are right there is a whole list of things in there but no sound card saying sigma tel chip or yamaha. Betty

[GaryRouth]

In the version of SiSoft Sandra that I use most of the time (a 2001 version), when you start the program, a window opens with many choices of tests to run. Isn't there an icon that says something like "Sound Card Information"? ...that test is very fast, it only reports information about sound.

Try another look?
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

this one is SiSoft Sandra 2002 version. i will look again. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

there is nothing that says sound card information not those words. there is so much in there but not that. Betty

[GaryRouth]

If you can't find one specifcally for the sound, was that first one that your ran called "System Summary"...usually it has a section called "MultiMedia Device(s)" ...which also would list Sound if it could find it.

If SiSoft Sandra can't find any sound on your system, and the MultiMedia applet in your Windows Control panel can't find any sound devices on your system . . . I wonder what's up. Seems like it'd be disabled in the Bios, disabled on the motherboard, the sound on the board is damaged somehow, or perhaps that virus did some damage . . .

What virus was it?
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

i have no idea what the virus was they didn't tell me and i don't know if they knew either. so you are saying my mother board might be damaged. does that mean i have to get a new one? and if that is the case how much do they cost? and do i have to take it to a shop and have them put it in? Betty

[GaryRouth]

Actually, I'd be surprised if your motherboard is damaged. Did someone besides your son work on the system? It's possible they may have changed that sound jumper on the motherboard or disabled the onboard sound in the bios while they were working on it: and then forgot to switch them back on.

Has this already been to a shop? How did you know you had a virus? (symptoms)
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

how come i had sound right up till my son erased the win Me hard drive and put on win 98 and now no sound and i had sound before all this happened and how do i know it was a virus iam only going by what they told me.My son doesn't seem to care anymore he left on sat. after he put win 98 on and he knew i had no sound and said he would be back but never came back to help me. should i take it too a computer place to have them look at it? Betty

[GaryRouth]

I'm sorry Betty, I'm not understanding when you refer to "they": are you talking about Packard Bell support? ...Gary

[bettywagar1952]

no iam sorry i mean my son. i was looking at the packard bell web site and i found under sound a driver site for sigma tel STAC 97 audio driver 4.10.01.3035 for win 95 and 98 is this information any good to you? Betty

[bettywagar1952]

well someone else did work on it before my son. the shop was called upgrade on wheels but when i got it back i had sound. the sound only went after my son erased the win Me and put on win 98 and that's when the sound was not there. I really don't know i had a virus iam only going by what my son said. He was installing nortons protection onto it and when the pc had to restart itself a blue screen came up with a red box on it saying Norton virus engines and he put it in safe mode and tryed to get it to work but he couldn't do anything with it so he got his brother in law to come up much much later and erase the hard drive of win Me and instal win 98 and that's when i got no sound. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Yikes.

Well, the good news is: viruses don't usually damage your motherboard, and your onboard sound is still there waiting for us to get it going again.

Windows 98 isn't finding it. SiSoft Sandra isn't finding it. It really seems to me it's got to be disabled in your Bios Setup for the operating system and diagnostic software not to find it.

On the Packard Bell website for the Product Range for your models series, the "iConnect 1700c", you'll see a link to a webpage for "Houston Bios SetUp screens" and a link for "Jumper settings". Do those bios screens match yours at all? Pay close attention to how they moved to the Peripherals Setup screen by selecting the Advanced tab on the top toolbar (Not Advanced Chipset...) All the items relating to OnBoard sound need to be enabled (and if you want to use the builtin modem, enable that too) The "Jumper Settings" webpage has a diagram that shows you where the jumper JP31 is (it's beside a smallish, usually brown colored slot called AMR and three usually white PCI slots about 4 or 5 inches long). Jumpers are just teeny little metal rods that you can put a little plastic covered connector on that will link two of the teeny metal rods together. If the jumper on your motherboard was switched in all this to 2-3 (meaning the little plastic cover is on the rods numbered 2 and 3...there's a little white number 1 silk-screened onto the motherboard near pin 1) jumpers on 2-3 disable the onboard sound, no mather what the operating system wants to do.

Let's assume the jumpers are Ok (since you're fairly sure your son didn't open the case). Really dive into that Bios and see if the onboard sound is enabled. It's gotta be in there somewhere: all the driver downloads in the world can't do anything if it's not enabled in there.

....and by the way, yes, if it's a SigmaTel on your board, that looks like a good driver for Win98 that you found.

If after all of this we still can't get Win98 to give us sound, it might be time to try the recovery disk.

I'm sorry you were left with no sound.... He'd better get you some pretty nice roses this coming Mother's Day

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

ok you told me alot of stuff right now so what iam doing going into bios set screen? and look to see if on board sound is enabled and if it isn't i enable it. is this what you are telling me?
And for those roses i won't hold my breath. lol Betty

[bettywagar1952]

that sigma tel driver site do i go there and do what? Betty

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Yes, try the Bios Setup again. They have pictures of what is supposed to be your Bios screens on that Packard Bell site, when you select the "Product Range" for "iConnect 1700c". If you reboot, while the system is just starting up (Before the Windows splash screen) press F2 to enter the Bios Setup.

If you can't find any mention of any sound anywhere in the Bios, try to find an option called "Load Optimized Values" ...then save and exit, and see if Windows detects some sound device or not. ("Load Optimized Values will let the Bios select the best settings it can according to what it's hardware detection software reported).

Don't worry about the drivers just yet, first we just want to get a sound device detected. Then we can get a driver for it. And let me know if the Bios says "Yamaha Sound" (just because I'm curious)... Besides, if we can get the sound device detected, then you can run the recover disk.... the sound driver is on there, for sure. No downloads necessary. And since you system is so new, I'm sure it came with some antivirus protection. Look in your Start menu after running the recovery disk (if you decide on that route): you'll probably see an entry for PC-cillin (TrendMicro), or McAffee or Norton (most of the virus subscriptions last a while, and you can try updating to the latest virus signatures...

The reason I'm giving you a lot to do is that I've got to go away for a bit again. But I'll check back in an hour or so . . .

Hang in there
. . . Gary

[gladiator]

Hey betty did you ever check your bios for sound enabled??


Sometimes I go into the my computer/control panel /system/devicemanger- see if you got a sound device there listed- It may be listed under PCI bus if you see a sound device remove it and reboot and let windows find new hardware and reinstall drivers -but check the bios for sound enabled- I get into my bios by Holding down the DELETE key during boot up-reading Garys post he said F2 maybe for a packard smell

[bettywagar1952]

it's getting really late here it's almost 2:30am and i am very tired as you probally know by now. so i think i will go too bed and rest on it and start again tomorrow when iam fresh. i have been at this for days. thank you very much and i will be in touch with you tomorrow. It didn't come with any virus protectiion on it that i know of my son installed norton 2000 when i first got the pc over a yr ago and then last wk installed 2002 on it. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

lord: ok do i hold delete down or do what gary told me? or do i go too my computer first and do that? i will stay for a few more mins till i get your post back. Betty

[gladiator]

Well it would not hurt to check the Bios first because if the sound is unabled then all you have to do is use your "page up" " page down keys" to change the setting to enabled then save and exit. If that don't dont work try the removing sound cr=ard in the device manager it 3 am here

[bettywagar1952]

ok i will get back too this tomorrow as iam very tired and it is 3:30am thank you very much and i will be in touch later on . betty

[GaryRouth]

Good Night, Betty

Don't worry about any of this tonight: you've earned some rest. You've learned about downloading diagnostics, installing software, disabling and enabling antivirus and firewalls, the maze that is called Bios Setup screens.... that's enough for a day. That's more than most seminars would cover in a day. And they'd feed you lunch and a nice dessert.

In the morning:

To make you feel as comfortable as possible about entering the Bios, and where things are in there, Packard Bell has a tutorial on their website for your motherboard (It was that tutorial that led me to believe you had a Yamaha sound chip . . . but now I believe from looking at the Houston motherboard specs you have a SigmaTel sound chip). Check it out: it should look a lot like what you'll see when you press F2 to enter it as your machine is first starting.

http://support.packardbell-europe.com/support/pri/item/item_instr_Houston_bios.asp

And to see all the specs for the iConnect series:
http://support.packardbell-europe.com/support/pri/item/item_platform_eMove_iConnect.asp

You'll see a half-dozen motherboards listed. The only two that match your Celeron 700 processor are the Houston motherboards, both of whose specifications list the SigmaTel on the specs webpage link, but show the Yamaha in the Bios tutorial. At the top of the tutorial, however, it reads "your screens may have different options"...

The Peripherals Setup is a long way down into that tutorial - I can see why you couldn't find it on your first try: Just remember that you want to select the Advanced tab from the top toolbar, not the Advanced Chipset Setup. Yes, Bios Setup is confusing. Even for folks who have been working with them for years find them frustrating to use. The on screen instructions often are unclear, and sometimes the manuals don't help much.

Once we're sure you have onboard sound, and it's enabled, we can then try to get the driver situation going: either with Win98 or WinMe. The driver you found for onboard SigmaTel ST AC'97 for Win95/98 should work for your Win98 if we can get Win98 to detect it after it's been enabled.

I'm off to sleep myself soon. . .

No doubt I'll see soundchips and motherboards flying around...
. . . Gary

[redbaron_snoopy]

Did you take a look at the motherboard and see what it says about the make and model ? There's still plenty of hope yet.
Don't give up yet. It's not so bad. At least the PC is running.

At worst, just get a PCI sound card. It's pretty cheap. Just go into the CMOS (press DEL during boot) and disable the on-board sound (remember to save and exit) before you install the card and load the drivers.
If you don't even want to bother with drivers, just get a used Creative SB16 (ISA). Win98 will install the drivers automatically.
(you still have to disable the on-board sound)

Go ahead and take a look at the mobo first. I'm sure we're closer to the solution.

[Cricket]

I don't think she's been able to open the Packard Bell case up yet. She removed 4 screws but the case cover won't come off.

Yes, it would be great if she could find out what sound chip is on that motherboard.

I wonder why the big computer companies make opening up the case so difficult? Well actually, I know why.

:) Cricket

[bettywagar1952]

good mor everyone iam back on board and ready to start the day again but only hope i have a better day and come up with sound today. Iam going in to try that dio set up that gary told me too do. I hope i have better luck at it this time. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

i typed that wrong i meant Bios set up I guess my fingers are not awake yet lol Betty

[bettywagar1952]

Hello Gary and Cricket: Me again! well i went into the Bios set up and i must be stupid or something as I didn't see anything about sound. I did enable the on board AC97 Modem and the on board audio was alreally enabled. The quit Boot what ever that is was marked disabled and the delay for hard drive was marked 3 and S.M.A.R.T for hard drive disks is marked didabled. What ever all that means. I just don't understand all this computer lanuage. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Morning, Betty

Did you look at the Packard Bell bios tutorial? I posted a link in my last post last night, called "F2 for your bios Setup"

Do those screens match yours at all?

If they do:
1) F2 at system startup to enter Bios Setup
2) Along the top of the screen, a tabbed toolbar should show:
Main / Advanced / Security / Exit
You want to click on Advanced
3) The Advanced screen should have a menu like:
Advanced CMOS Setup
Advanced Chipset Setup
Power Management
Plug And Play
Peripheral Setup
Hardware Monitor

You want to click on "Peripheral Setup"
4) The Peripheral Setup screen should show options for OnBoard Sound. They need to be set to Enabled.
5) Click ESC to exit the menu
6) Click Exit to see the Exit menu
7) ClicK Exit Saving Changes
__________
Now, if your screens don't match this at all, Try:
1) F2 to enter Bios Setup
2) Select the Exit menu
3) Select "Load Optimal Settings"
4) Select Exit Saving Changes

I'll be checking back. I won't have as much time today, I've got some house repairs I've put off till today (carpets, bathroom tile, and closets)...and I want to finish before my wife gets home tomorrow (the repairs are a surprise)... But I'll be here on and off throughout the day
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

Hi Gary: Thanks for getting back too me. I will go in again and take another look around. Yours instructions were a little clearer this time around. See you later with good news I hope. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

Hey Gary: I know you said you wouldn't be around much today> But iam either getting smarter or just got lucky. It worked this time in the Bios setup!!! I followed what you told me too do and it worked and when I got finished the pc rebooted itself and I hope that is good news. Now I will be waiting to hear from you on what I do next. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Hey there - do you see a speaker in your system tray?

If not:
1) Right-click on "My Computer"
2) Click on "Properties"
3) Click on "Device Manager"
4) Look down near the bottom of the list for "Sound, Video, and Game Controllers", and click the little plus sign:

Do you see anything listed there?

Or is there anything called "UNKNOWN DEVICE"?

. . . (half-way done with the kitchen, got the lawn watered, half-way through the laundry, just started on the closets and tile!)
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

there is no sound icon on the task bar but i went into my computer and found unknown device but there is no plus sign so what do I do with unknown device? Betty

[GaryRouth]

Good! That "Unknown Device" is hopefully your sound.

Did you save that SigmaTel ST AC '97 Win98 driver to C:\Temp?
If you didn't, download it again (remember to click on "Save" instead of "Open") and when it asks where to save it, type either "C:\Temp" or "C:\Windows\Temp" without the quotes.

Then double-click on the file to "unzip" it: if it unzips to a location without asking you first, make of note of where it is. We'll point the Windows Device Driver Update Wizard there in a minute.

Ready? ....go back to Device Manager, as before:

1) Click on "Unknown Device" to select it.
2) Click on the "Properties" button on the lower left hand side of the Device Manager Window
3) In the gray box that appears, one of the tabs at the top should say "Driver", Click on that
4) In the next little box, there should be a button near the bottom that says "Update Driver"
5) This screen should read "Update Device Driver Wizard"

It will ask you if it's okay to search for new drivers. Click OK.
If it then prompts for a location, type C:\Temp (or the location you unzipped the SigmaTel driver to)
It should find a driver, it might ask you to choose your audio device from a list: you'll pick whatever looks like the SigmaTel ST AC '97.

It will want to restart your pc when done...

Let's hope for Sound! Music! (cameras, action...)

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

ok i did download that yesterday and it went into my documents file. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

that didn't work maybe i need to down load it again. can you give it too me again to down load Betty

[GaryRouth]

That'll work too. When it asks what locations to search for the sound driver, it should have a little box to type a location into: type C:\My Documents.

If it made itself a little folder in there, see what it's called, for example "SigmaTel".... in that case, you'd type: C:\My Documents\SigmaTel

If we're lucky you're almost there
. . . Gary

[GaryRouth]

Did you find the Device Driver Wizard Ok?

[bettywagar1952]

yes i found the device driver wizard. but i think i need to download the sigma tel again as it didn't work. where do i type my documents sigma tel? to i type it in the device driver wizard box? Betty

[GaryRouth]

1)When you ran the Device Wizard, was it unable to find a driver? Did it give you a message like "There's no information for your device in that file"?

2) When you looked in My Computer/Properties/Device Manager, did you see any other items marked with little yellow exclamation marks other than "Unknown Device" (...something such as PCI Multimedia Device"...?)

3) After you unzipped the SigmaTel download with WinZip, you probably still need to double click a file from that download. Such a file would have a .zip, .exe, or .com extension. In that same group of files from SigmaTel, there should be a file marked "ReadMe.txt"... If you double-click on that file, it will have instructions on installing the SigmaTel driver.

4) You can find those files with a program called Windows Explorer. From the Start button on the lower left hand side of your screen, go up to Programs, and click on Windows Explorer. Then click on My Documents. It will list the files it sees in there.
Your download should be in there. If it unzipped itself to a special folder, it will have a name like "SigmaTel" on it.

Let me know how it goes
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

yes there was TCI multmedia device in that box

[bettywagar1952]

PCI multmedia device not TCI sorry mistype

[bettywagar1952]

i went to explorer and my documents and found Sigma Tel and clicked on instal and the pc rebooted and nothing happened. betty

[GaryRouth]

Betty, go back into Device Manager and click "Remove" to both "Unknown Device" and "PCI Multimedia Device" . . . If you were able to find the SigmaTel download and read the instructions in the ReadMe.txt (double-clicking on ReadMe.txt will let you read it) Follow those instructions to have the driver ready.

1) Right-click My Computer
2) Select Properties
3) Select Device Manager
4) Select "Unknown Device"
5) Select "Remove"
6) if Windows asks if you want to restart now or later, choose Later (or if yes or no, choose no)
7) Select "PCI Multimedia Device"
8) Select "Remove"
9) if Windows asks if you want to restart now or later, choose Later (or if yes or no, choose no)
10) Read the ReadMe.txt file from SigmaTel in your My Documents folder. If it has already unzipped files that end with extensions like .drv, .vxd, .dll then you are ready to restart your computer
(If you can't see the extensions, from the View menu in Windows Explorer choose Folder Options, select View, then remove the checkmark in the box "Hide extensions of know file types"...while you're there, checkmark the box "Show All Files"...

11) Reboot
12) Windows should display the New Hardware Found screen. If it asks for a location for the driver for a PCI Multimedia Device, type in it's location C:\My Documents . . . or wherever those SigmaTel files are.

It might ask you to reboot again...and you should have sound.
. . .Gary

[bettywagar1952]

when i removed PCI Multmedia Device the whole screen went to blue and i press any key like it said and the desk top came back all small on me. now what did i do? betty

[GaryRouth]

Check in Device Manager again and see if it's gone. Are there any sound devices yet?

You can get the screen large again by Right-clicking on your screen somewhere where there are no icons, select Properties, select Settings, and pick a size & how much color.

You can also reboot again and see what happens
...Gary

[bettywagar1952]

ok by the time i got finished typing the last post to you my desk top came back to normal so i don't know what the heck happened but it happened when i removed PCI Multmedia Device. and I didn't get any further as the pc rebooted on me. and i never got too do anyting else. where is the readme txt? and what do i do now? and when it rebooted this time a box came on saying windows could not find instaled device or something like that. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Try checking in Device Manager. Tell me what you see. Gary

[bettywagar1952]

ok the size is back it rebooted and came back. PCI Multimedia Audio Device is still in the Device Manager. so i clicked on folder options and removed the check mark in the box " Hide extensions of know file types" and i put a check mark in the box " Show All files" and rebooted and no sound. Betty

[GaryRouth]

This morning when you enabled sound in the bios, did it have a brand name next to it? Did it say Yamaha? It might be that the information on the Packard Bell website doesn't match your system.

When you looked at where the speakers plug into on the back of your case, was it in a plug about 3 inches from where you plug in your keyboard and mouse? or is it in a plug about 8 or 9 inches away on a metal line of plugs - about four in a row?

The first position is onboard sound, the second position is an add-in card. If someone ever added a card, that's where it would be - but it should have shown up in SiSoft Sandra.

I'm thinking that if we can't get Win98's sound soon, you should go ahead with the Recovery disk.

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

no there wasn't any name next to it, i never seen yamaha any where. and the speaker plugs are in a row underneath this big blue plug and yes i guess about 3 inches away from the keyboard and mouse plug. No one ever added a card. I don't want to run the recovery disk as I don't have the nortons protection cd's. my son has them and he is the reason iam in this mess in the first place. He hasn't called to check on my sound or anything and it will be a wk tomorrow since he left me like this. Betty

[GaryRouth]

I think he's up to dinner and a movie and the nice roses.

...Try:

1) From the Start button, go up to Settings
2) Click on "Control Panel"
3) Double-Click on "Add/Remove Programs"
4) Look on the list for anything that starts with Multimedia or SigmaTel or Yamaha, and click Remove
5) If it asks do you really want to uninstall, click Yes.
6) Exit the Control Panel

7) Check in Device Manager again: if both "Unknown Device" and "PCI MultiMedia Device" still have yellow exclamation marks, select and remove those.

8) Reboot, but push F2 to enter Bios Setup
9) Find and disable the onboard modem
10) Click on Exit and Save

Does the New Hardware Found screen come up? can you point it to C:\My Documents\SigmaTel ?

Give it a go: you're a techie by now.
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

I like your idea of the dinner movie and roses but I doubt if it will fly with my son. Any way I went to control panel and add/remove and there is no multmedia Sigma Tel or Yamaha in there listed. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Go ahead with the next steps, removing Unknown Device and PCI MultiMedia Device from Device Manager. (I hope we don't get a blue screen this time), then do steps 8-10 (disable modem in Bios)....you might want to cancel the New Hardware Found if it starts, and just double-click on that SigmaTel install.exe in your My Documents/SigmaTel folder.

my pizza's almost ready....and the carpets are almost done, the kitchen's clean, on the third load of laundry, closets straightened a bit....time for a break then later tonight you'll have some music on your computer and I'll be finishing the bathroom tile!
. . . Gary

[gladiator]

Hey all Was just wondering Betty if you ever found anything relating to sound in the device manager and did you remove it and reboot.

on a different note Do you guys have to log in for evry reply or do I have my settings wrong ??:confused:

I got problems of my own to fix on a HD I'm trying to install :mad: computers ba:mad:

[GaryRouth]

gladiator

If you enable cookies in your browser and let pcmech store your login you won't have to log in each time you reply to a post. Good luck with your hard drive...the installation wizards that come with the newer ones can help you out if you run into trouble

Betty

It's that time of night again...I'll be walking for about a half-hour. Check in when its time for a cool glass of water.
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

remember i said when i tried to remove multmedia or sigma tel or yamaha well they were not in the list. betty

[GaryRouth]

Hi Betty - back from my walk

Yes, I understand they were not on the Add/Remove Programs list in your Control Panel. That's OK. This time we're removing them from Device Manager.

1) Right-click on My Computer
2) Click on Properties
3) Click on Device Manager
4) Click on "Unknown Device" (if you see it)
5) Click on "Remove"
(say No to Restart)
6) Click on "PCI MultiMedia Device"
7) Click on "Remove"
(say Yes to Restart)

As your computer restarts
1) press the F2 key to enter Bios Setup
2) move through the menus to the onboard modem
(the same place you were this morning)
3) Disable the onboard modem
4) Click ESC to exit the bios menu
5) Click Exit
6) Click Exit Saving Changes

If the Found New Hardware screen pops up, click Cancel.

In Windows explorer, go to C:\My Documents\SigmaTel and double click on install.exe

Your computer will restart.
Let me know how it goes, I'll be here cleaning for a while.
. . . Gary

[gladiator]

Yeah Betty I read that but I thought you were in the add/remove section of the control panel, I 've done it at the device manager in the control panel/system and not multi-media just under sound??

Still working on the HD=hard drive myself getting those nasty DXD error messages

[bettywagar1952]

Gary: i followed all the steps right this time and it rebooted and i went into bios and did what i had to do in there and went to windows explorer and did all that and restarted pc and at first it said it found the hardware and then after that it said not installed. Iam going nuts Man. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Did you click on Cancel from the Found Hardware screen, and Then run the install.exe of SigmaTel?

Since the sound is enabled now, let's take a look and see what SiSoft Sandra sees:
1) Double click the SiSoft Sandra 2002 icon
2) Double click on the System Summary icon
3) It should display a list of what it found. Look for Multimedia and see what it says?

If the names of the SiSoft Sandra tests are slightly different, that's OK: go ahead and run a test (shouldn't hurt). I have the 2001 version, yours is newer.

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

ok i was able to get back to posting again. did you get my e-mail Gary? there was no multimedia in system summary but there was CPU multimedia which was a icon all by itself. what do i do now. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Betty, when it said "not installed" - was it the Found Hardware that showed that message, after another message like "this file does not contain information for your device"?

Or was it the install.exe that said "not installed"?

Or was it on startup, "Windows cannot find device that is installed"?

If SiSoft Sandra reports a SigmaTel sound device, here's the SigmaTel download (if you want to try the download again, just to be sure it's the Win98 one):
http://support.packardbell-europe.com/support/download/itemnr/REFFIUP02170200.asp

If SiSoft Sandra reports a Yamaha sound device, there is no Win98 driver posted for your motherboard at the Packard Bell site, only for WinME. However, there IS a Generic driver on the Yamaha site that Might work...
http://www.yamaha.com/lsi/support/driver/ds-xg/yamaha_dsxg_driver.exe

It wouldn't be the 1st time a website like Packard Bell had the wrong specs posted. If the SigmaTel drivers are working, it might just be that you don't have a SigmaTel chip on board, but something else.

I've got to run to the store, but I won't be long. Don't fret too much about this: after all, you're getting to know your computer.
. . . Gary

[GaryRouth]

haven't left yet

yes try the cpu multimedia and see what it reports
I'll go check my email

[bettywagar1952]

i did the multimedia and it did some kind of weird colored test i can't even explain what happened it did it so fast. which one do i click onto the first one you gave me or the yamaha one? betty

[GaryRouth]

Before we try anything else, try double-clicking on install.exe in the SigmaTel folder and let the machine restart

If it was the Found Hardware wizard that said "not installed", it just couldn't find the driver yet. So give the SigmaTel install routine one more chance.
. . .Gary

If this doesn't work, you might need to open that case and look: maybe a neighbor can help if you can't get it open. I'll be at work tomorrow, but I actually have time to check in off and on during the day while I work (just like I am today...only today I'm cleaning house).... but heck, maybe we'll solve this tonight.

If the sigmatel install doesn't work, and you just want to try the Yamaha download & install, go ahead. But you'll want to go into Device Manager again and remove the PCI Multimedia Device first, then reboot (and you can let New Hardware look for a driver, just to see if it gets lucky...) after New Hardware Found gives up (if it says 'could not find a driver')....exit and then try your Yamaha download.

WinZip will let you view the ReadMe.txt file if the driver download has one, before you even unzip it...you can view the instructions while it's there in the WinZip window

I'll be off cleaning for a bit...
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

Iam going to go too bed Gary iam very stressed again tonite which is now 3am here. I will start fresh in the mor. with these other instrutions you have just given me. My lesson for the mor. but not before my cup of joe. haha ok thanks for all your help again and i will see you tomorrow. you have been busy with me and my pc and all that housework. Iam sure your wife will be happy with you. take care. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Goodnight Betty

I'll be in my home office by 8am California time and at the lab about 9:30 or 10am. Since you're at least 3 hours ahead, that'll give you a nice peaceful morning without my hectic typing.

(I've just a few more bathroom tiles to go, and I get some sleep myself....)
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

goodnite and get some sleep too. see you in the mor. I will be dreaming of pc's and yamaha's and all that stuff and praying the sound will be here in the mor. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

Good Mor Gary: Well it's noon here in canada but seems like this mor. don't even feel like I slepted. Well I doubled clicked on instal. exe in Sigmal Tel folder and the pc restarted and nothing happened. So I went to Device Manger and do I remove PCI multimedia Audio Device? as that is the one in there. I don't see just PCI multimedia Device. I also see unknown device in there again I thought we removed that one? I hope we get some success today and come up with sound. Betty

[gladiator]

Hey Betty you might want to wait for Gary's advice he seems to know his stuff.
I've removed the audio device from my device manager and let it reinstall on boot up.It worked for me although I had to update my drivers .

I just had a problem with my sound I lost my sound from the CD-RW, to make a long story short it turned out to be the wires to the back of the cr-rw came loose, I had been messing with the HD and must have knocked them off.

You may want to double check all your wires to be sure.

I did them same thing the other day with my DSL modem, I had unplugged it and my DSL would not work and it took me a few to figure it out. I'm so stupid sometimes.

As a mechanic the first thing I was taught was to check the simplist things first, you'd thing I 'd learn by now.:rolleyes:

Well me and the wife are off to dinner.

[GaryRouth]

gladiator

thanks for checking in and helping while I've been away

Hi Betty

Sorry it's been so long. . . it's been hectic here at the office.

Well, it's interesting: I'd guessed that "Unknown Device" was the modem... But we disabled that in the Bios: and now there's no "PCI MultiMedia Device" anymore? Strange.

Take one more look in Device Manager: if there's absolutely nothing under "Sound, Video, and Game Controllers" (click the little plus sign if there is one) then go ahead a click on UnKnown Device and then click Remove.

Let the machine reboot.
Let the New Hardware Found search your C: drive for drivers. It should say that "nothing matching your device was found"
Exit New Hardware Found.

If you've already downloaded that Yamaha driver that I posted last night, double click on it's executable: I believe that it is a full installation program (it's about 6mb... the SigmaTel is probably just an .inf -or information- file of 200k, in other words, teeny.)
Seems like we've tried the SigmaTel file enough times. Without opening the case we really don't know & have to guess. This Yamaha, though, is on Some of the Houston boards.

Isn't this exciting? (It'd be funny, kind of, if it's been a Yamaha chip all along... which is what I'd guessed from the bios screens at Packard Bell).... However, if neither the SigmaTel nor the Yamaha drivers work . . . [insert Gary's plug about the recovery disk in here]

This should be good for a lifetime membership for you, Betty, to PcMech . . . next thing you know, you'll be moderating a forum of your own
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

Good day Gary: I went in and removed the unknown device and rebooted the pc. and now iam about to download yamaha. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Remember to watch where you are downloading it to, so you can find it (it sounds like My Documents is your "default" download location...

[and if you ever do bathroom tiles: get the top-of-the-line tiles, I got bottom-of-the-line and boy, they are a lot harder to work with... But the floor looks much nicer now]
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

Iam glad your floor is done. Was your wife surprised at all the done you had done? Ah I don't plan on doing any tiles right away at least not till I get the pc back to normal what ever that means. lol OK I downloaded yamaha and saved it and then opened the file and it did it's thing which I guess was installing and the pc rebooted and now what do I do? Betty

[GaryRouth]

[Wife & kids get to see the floor tonight - they've been vacationing in Hawaii - and aunties fest (wife & sisters)]

Look for the Speaker icon at the bottom right of your screen. Do we have one yet?

If not, look in Device Manager and see if there's anything under "Sound..." . . . or if there's another "Unknown Device" with the yellow exclamation point again.

If "Unknown Device" is back, Remove it, and try rebooting.

If that doesn't work, we probably don't have a workable driver for the onboard sound yet. (Mostly because we don't know for sure what it is)

[. . . and I'd actually wanted to get the house re-done with copper pipes, but the contractor was busy ...someday...]
. . .Gary

[GaryRouth]

Oops..Betty I think I replied too quickly on that last post of mine.

Those instructions I gave should be OK, but I left one out:
Look in My Documents for a Yamaha DS-XG folder and see if it has a setup.exe or install.exe......

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

Hi: yes it does have a yamaha DS-XG folder in my documents and that was going to be my next question as when I rebooted it asked me for the folder and I didn't know what to put in there so it didn't find the driver and it so it rebooted with out knowing that so what do I do now? Do I go back and type in C:MYDocuments/YamahaDS-XG? or what do I do?Betty

[GaryRouth]

I'm going to have to run an errand here at the lab sometime in the next half-hour - so we need to type fast!

Look in the Yamaha folder (with Windows Explorer) and see if it has an install.exe or setup.exe file. If it does, double-click it. You should see a full-screen setup program begin...an "Installation Wizard"...

Try it: I'll be here for a few more minutes, but not long
...Gary

[bettywagar1952]

Iam so sorry I couldn't get back too yu the phone rang and I had too take it. I will try that now and get back too you. But you are probally gone by now. Are you coming back later to help me? Betty

[bettywagar1952]

where iam looking for this yamaha folder? and what do I do? Betty

[GaryRouth]

that was a long errand I had to run (didn't think it would take so long). . .

We are looking in the Yamaha folder for a file that will start the installation. When I was re-reading your post, it sounded like all it did the first time was "unzip" itself. Now we are going to start the installation program.

1) From the Start button, go up to Programs, and from the programs list, click on Windows Explorer
2) Click on the little plus sign next to My Documents
3) Click on the Yamaha DS-XG folder ...this should display all the files in the window to the right side of your screen.
4) Look for a file named install.exe or setup.exe, and double-click it.

An installation program should begin: it will probably have nice looking screens and let you know what to do next. It will probably want to restart your computer, click OK or Yes or whatever . . .

And let's hope you're listening to some digital music in the background next time you post

. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

Originally posted by GaryRouth
that was a long errand I had to run (didn't think it would take so long). . .

We are looking in the Yamaha folder for a file that will start the installation. When I was re-reading your post, it sounded like all it did the first time was "unzip" itself. Now we are going to start the installation program.

1) From the Start button, go up to Programs, and from the programs list, click on Windows Explorer
2) Click on the little plus sign next to My Documents
3) Click on the Yamaha DS-XG folder ...this should display all the files in the window to the right side of your screen.
4) Look for a file named install.exe or setup.exe, and double-click it.

An installation program should begin: it will probably have nice looking screens and let you know what to do next. It will probably want to restart your computer, click OK or Yes or whatever . . .

And let's hope you're listening to some digital music in the background next time you post

. . . Gary Hey: welcome back. I had time to cook a turkey make suffing carve it and eat it. ok I did all that but i didn't see any screens just boxes of what to do and the pc rebooted and i did not hear any digital music in the background. I followed all the steps like you told me too and it said instal and I did everything it told me too. Now what? Betty

[bettywagar1952]

what do you call nice looking screens? Betty

[GaryRouth]

["nice looking screens": some manufacturers put a lot of effort into making their installation programs look nice, because they want to impress you - so you'll buy their products again. Fancy screen effects with lots of fades, layering, PowerPoint/PhotoShop stuff]

1) any Speaker icon on the lower right corner of your screen?
2) now what does Device Manager show under "Sound, video, and game controllers"?
3) is there still an "UnKnown Device"?
4) is there still a "PCI MultiMedia Device"?
5) anything else have yellow exclamation points in Device Manager?

5 more pieces to our puzzle
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

no speaker icon on lower right corner of my screen.
in device manager there is no sound vidio and game controllers
and yes unknown device and pci multimedia autio device is still in there
and yes they all have yellow mark points just the ones under other devices. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

what about under sounds in control panel have we done anything with them yet? Betty

[GaryRouth]

In Device Manager:
1) Click on PCI MultiMedia Device
2) Click on Properties
3) Click on Driver
4) Click on Driver Details (if you can) . . .and tell me what you see
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

it says no driver files are required or have been loaded for this device to update the driver files for this device click on update driver. Betty

[GaryRouth]

The "Sounds" in Control Panel lets you make theme-like choices for sounds you wish to hear at startup, shutdown, opening folders, etc.

In Control Panel there's also "MultiMedia". In fact let's check that: anything listed for Audio Devices? And put a checkmark next to "show volume control on taskbar".

Can you list for me Everything that has a yellow exclamation point next to it in Device Manager? I hadn't heard of any "Other Devices" until your last two posts
. . .Gary

[bettywagar1952]

where do i put a check mark next to show volume control on task bar? the yellow ! points in device manager are on pci multimedia audio device
pci system management bus
sight cam pc-100pv1.01 there are 6 of these listed
unknown device
Betty

[GaryRouth]

1) If you can, put a checkmark next to "show volume control on taskbar" in Start/Settings/Control Panel/MultiMedia/Audio (it's the bottom box)

2) The yellow exclamation points usually indicate that there is a conflict with other devices, or that a driver is missing. Try selecting and removing ALL the devices that have yellow marks next to them in Device Manager. . .

3) Do you have a camera hooked up to this PC?

___________
Here's the problem: your son loaded Windows 98 without knowing what he was doing. He should have made sure that he had ALL the drivers he needed before he started. Each operating system needs the correct drivers for ALL the equipment plugged into it: that goes for the chipsets on the motherboard, the cpus, the video, audio, modem, ...all the way down to printers, keyboards, and mice.

That's why I've been recommending the Recovery disk so many times because it has all of the drivers right there on the disk.

We can keep trying to get Windows 98 happy, but it sounds like you don't have any of the chipset drivers that it needs (the PCI bus is part of the work a chipset has to do). Also, we have so many conflicts in there, it's making determining the problem with the sound just a lot more difficult.

If you can get your son over on Sunday, I'd recommend letting the recovery disk restore everything, and then let your son load Norton antivirus and firewall in.

Chances are, though, that the recovery disk won't work: if he happened to delete a proprietary partition that it might/might not need to run. He took a huge chance, especially since your service contract had run out. Just think: 6 months ago Packard Bell would have come to your house as part of the OnSite Service portion of the contract and fixed everything within 2 days - for free.
__________
[end of lecture for son]
__________

our next try's (last ditch to save Win98 & sanity)
1) download the drivers for the Intel chipsets for the iConnect line
http://support.packardbell-europe/support/download/itemnr/REFFIUP03570100.asp
(download the file, but DO NOT double-click on it [not yet])
2) uninstall all sound software in Add/Remove Programs
3) remove all devices with yellow marks from Device Manager
4) reboot, hold CTRL keys down while restarting & choose Safe Mode
5) In Safe Mode, remove any Devices with yellow marks we might have missed . And remove any Sound Devices if you see any.
6)reboot
7) Double-click on the Chipset Drivers file (from step 1)
8) reboot
9) Look in Device Manager again & tell me what you see

If you decide to go with the recovery disk and lecture to son, ignore your task list.

If you want to try this last-ditch procedure: Print This Out!
Because you'll need to do each step exactly and in order.

Luckily I work late each weekend....unluckily, I might have to get the girls from the airport soon

Let me know. . .
. . .Gary

[and don't worry, considering your situation, you've been rather brave]

[bettywagar1952]

dam my son. i will go with this last -ditch procedure and hope i get it this time. and as far as sun. goes getting him up again that is a lost cause and i have never heard from him since he left me this way. Betty

[GaryRouth]

Well, we won't condemn him to brimstone just yet. But don't let him get wild with operating system disks. . .

I'm expecting my sweeties phonecall any minute, so I'll be doing the chaffeur thing (and happy husband/daddy getting after-vacation hugs/kisses!) ... so I'll check back in a bit to see how you did. I have to be back here at the lab after midnight to start some programs. [Go figure, we have a room full of disk-drives humming along and we still need more space! So I've got to do some post-midnight work . . .]

Think Positive (and Think Lucky, too)
. . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

ok thanks and have a safe trip to the airport and see you later. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

wouldn't you know just my luck when i tryed to get on the web site for the downloading I got bad gataway. Iam going to go too bed and try this in the mor. Iam tried and stress out again. Thanks for everything again. and if I decide to get up and try it later i will be in touch to see if you are there to help if not i will catch you tomorrow. Good nite. Betty

[GaryRouth]

[Everyone is home happy safe and sound . . . Latenight/early morning system work went well]

Sorry your download was troublesome: but looks like you'll get a good night's rest out of the deal. Turkey & eggs for breakfast?

You'll have lots of time for a leisurely breakfast: I usually don't come back to the office till about 11am if I've been here till 3am . . . so I'll check in on you about then (California time)

'night, . . . Gary

[bettywagar1952]

tired to sleep in but this has been 3 mor's in a row now the phone has woke me. Should of taken it off the hook. Oh well Iam up now and going to try that web site for downloading. I hope I have better luck today. Talk with you later. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

I forgot to ask you how to get into safe mode? but if I can remember right from doing this in the past I think it was F8, Iam right? Betty

[bettywagar1952]

I still can't get onto that web site to download intel chipsets for i connect line. What do I do in a case like that? Is there someplace else I can go? I know you are not there Gary but maybe someone else is. Betty

[LawyerRon]

To get into safe mode, tap f8 before the Windows "splash screen", ie, the colorful "welcome to Windows 98" screen. Since you appear to be in good hands so far, I won't jump into this thread as I'm not really up to speed on it.

Also, what happened to the Packard Bell recovery disk? Will that not work? Sorry, I haven't read every single post in this thread.

[bettywagar1952]

thanks lawyerRon: that is what i thought F8 was the key. I havn't used the recovery disk yet we are leaving it to the last resort as I don't want to loose my virus protection. I have nortons on and my son put it on and he has the cd for it and he is not around which is a longggggggg story. Betty

[LawyerRon]

You don't need virus protection right now if you don't open email attachments and download suspect files. Your virus signatures within Norton are probably out of date anyway.

I would go the recovery disc route personally.

[bettywagar1952]

I still can't get onto the web site to do that downloading of intel chipset that Gary gave me to do. It keeps saying bad Gataway. Betty

[bettywagar1952]

what do you mean out of date? he put virus 2003 on just a wk ago and it scanned yesterday and said all up to date. Betty

[LawyerRon]

What I meant was when you buy Norton, it's out of date. You have to go online to the Symantic website and update the virus signatures. New viruses are written daily.

Quote:
"I still can't get onto the web site to do that downloading of intel chipset that Gary gave me to do. It keeps saying bad Gataway."

Are you able to get on the internet at all? If so, perhaps the site is down or having other problems; not uncommon.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about viruses right now; I'd go for the restore disk. PB's have a lot of proprietary hardware inside that require special drivers. There's no guarantee this driver you're trying to download will work anyway.

[bettywagar1952]

i didn't buy nortons my son had it on disk and i don't think it was store bought actually iam pretty sure it wasn't. yes i can get on the internet. and i do worry about viruses as that is what got me in this trouble in the first place i didn't get the protection on in time and i also have a firewall up and i can see all the attempts iam having right now from all the attackers. Betty

[LawyerRon]

OK, that's fine, but you're doing it the hard way. As I said, I would use the restore disk first, then reload virus software.

However, if you've got a bunch of kids using the computer too, that's a different story; you don't know what they'll download or open.

If you never open attachements, swap floppies, or download wierd stuff of the net, you don't have to worry about viruses, just my opinion.

All I can tell you is HP's, Packard Bells, and Compaqs are a real pain to get working without the restore disk and proprietary drivers.

[bettywagar1952]

Iam just doing it the way Gary told me too. I appreciate your help lawyerRon. I don't have any kids using my pc. but still scared of getting virus's. What do you mean speaking ill of other's? Did I do that in some way? Iam sorry if you thought I did. Betty

[LawyerRon]

That's just my signature betty. Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't; nothing was directed at you.

Gary definately knows what he's talking about but my view is downloading drivers and installing them on proprietary machines requires a higher degree of computer knowlege. However, if you've got nothing but time and want to go through a learning curve, ie., you've got all day (and maybe tomorrow) to play around with this machine, go for it, you can't really hurt anything.

I'm sticking to my original opinion though that you're doing it the hard way if you've got the restore disk.

[bettywagar1952]

Ok glad you cleared that up, I didn't want to think I said something out of turn. I still can't get onto that site anyway and waiting for Gary to get back too me. I would use the restore disk if I had the protection to back me up but Iam to afraid to do that, call me chicken but that is how I feel. I have only had the pc for a yr and a half so don't know much about the risks. Betty

[LawyerRon]

I don't blame you for being scared. Just take it one step at a time and you will eventually solve your problem.

Do you use the pc for any critical work?

[bettywagar1952]

sorry what do you mean by critical work? I use the pc for pleasure only if that is what you mean. I hope you are right about me solveing this problem. Betty

[LawyerRon]

What I meant was do you use the pc for any important data that you cannot afford to loose, ie, important business records, etc.

[GaryRouth]

Hi Betty, Hi Lawyer Ron

Sorry, it's been really busy here at the lab. Looks like it'll get busy again in an hour or two, but we're catching a quiet spot here.

Betty, Lawyer Ron is saying pretty much what I've told you since I first answered. In that first post I recommended the Recovery disk, and have recommended it several times since. . . It really is easier. I imagine you're scared of being without the Norton antivirus and firewall, since a virus is what started your computer problems, but I really think that the computer must have come with some virus protection, and you'd just need to visit the site for the latest "virus definitions" ...or wait for your son to visit and install that Norton 2002. But you should be okay as far as basic antivirus protection goes (just don't open any attachments in your email until you have some recent antivirus protection)...

Lawyer Ron -- one other variable is that Betty's son wiped her drive before he installed Win98, so I'm hoping he didn't delete any proprietary partitions (like some Dell's have) that the recovery disk needs to work (some recovery disks need it, some don't...I'm not sure about these new Packard Bell's...you know, encrypted data, copyright protection & some very sensible business reasons [otherwise you could use a recovery disk on a different system without paying for the software on it]...)
And thank you for helping out while I've been busy here...my workload is unpredictable

And Betty again:
That link to Packard Bell's Intel Chipset driver does seem to be broken. I suppose I should point out that the list I gave you last night is just a start of a fairly lengthy process (like Lawyer Ron mentioned)...we'll need the correct drivers for everything, and it might take some hunting around. That Packard Bell site has some quirks to it (like the SigmaTel/Yamaha uncertainty about the sound) ...and there's no guarantee of success

So, what do you say, try the Recovery Disk, and if that won't run,
then I'll see if we can make you an Instant Master Technician.

. . .Gary

[bettywagar1952]

I really appreciate all your help Gary and lawyerRon but Iam too afraid to go with the recovery disk and take a change on getting another virus and i don't know if the pc came with any protection or not. As for my son he has forgotten all about me. So I have no other choice but to take the pc to the shop and let them work on it. I hate to have to pay out all that money but we have worked for days on this you and me Gary and come up with nothing. So do I still get to become a Instant Master Technician? lol Betty

[GaryRouth]

Looks like I just checked in as you wrote your note. . .

I'd give the disk a go before taking things to a shop: they'd probably just run the disk, anyway. At this point, it just makes the most sense. You might be done in 20 minutes...maybe 40 minutes...it does all the work for you!

Tell you what, if you run the Recovery Disk, I'll help you find the AntiVirus that came with your system. All new systems come with anti-virus: yours is nearly brand new (16 months is not that old).

You can do it! Give it a go. We won't leave you out on the net without antivirus.

All you have to do to start is put the disk in the cd drive: and follow the menus. If you're not sure about a post, I'll leave a browser window open on one of my pc's here, and try to answer you as quickly as I can (...I do have some mainframe maintenance coming up at 5pm California time, but there are free moments here and there throughout the evening)

Besides, I'm curious if the disk will run: if it won't, and you end up taking it to a repair shop - they'll need to know about that.

Besides, if it works, I'll give you a new nickname:
Betty the Re-Builder

. . . Gary

[LawyerRon]

What city do you live in Betty?