I hate those ribbon cables. They are so bulky and in the way when I'm trying to plug things in.
I'm not a 'techie' at all. I only try to fix my own computer because I can't afford to get it fixed and I'm not afraid to try--because if I blow it up, well, I only damanged my own. I usually can follow directrions well. I figure it's all a learning experience. :) As for not having to reinstall the applications, I'll probably have to anyway. I discovered in the past that even though my OS was on C and my software installation was on D, when C went, so did the software. Even though you install it on another drive, it still puts bits on the OS drive. Go figure. That's what happened to me anyway. Thanks a lot, Diane --- In [email protected], "Jim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Diane, > > >did." But...it turns out the floppy cable was off by one pin, so they > think that's what was causing the non-system disk errors. What a > dimwit I am! > > I have never been thrilled with the ribbon cables that computers use. I > guess we can blame IBM and the need to continue compatability. In the bad > old days one could easily plug a ribbon cable in backwards. Somewhere along > the line I learned that the red side of the cable go toward the power supply > connector. > > Wow, you plugged in the cable with a one pin offset. NO you are not a > dimwit, just not yet an experienced techie. I have done things equally > ignorant and I had no excuse, I was an electronics tech before I got my > first computer. > > >He suggested I put a fresh installation of XP on the new drive and > start fresh, and also get rid of the 2nd XP installation that wasn't > working. > > Yes, it would only take up drive space. After reading this message I am the > one who feel like a dimwit. I recommended replacing the computer? I think > this is the thread where I said that. But at least I am vindicated, sort of > when the 'tech' must have gotten the floppy working before replacing the > cmos battery. I insisted that the battery would not keep the floppy or the > hard drive from working. I suppose that if one of these had some extremely > weird config. and that was lot in the CMOS memory, that might explain the > drive problems. But floppies are so basic that I just couldn't buy that > notion. > > > >I have no idea why--the CD/DVD burners are > in the Primary slot and the HD's are in the Secondary slot. > > Yes, this is an odd configuration. But easy to understand that someone who > did not know any better might set things up that way. The standard is, Boot > drive in Primary master and any second hard drive in Primary slave. It is > never a good idea to mix the CD/DVD drives on the same cable as the hard > drive since optical drives are inherently slower and the drive hardware > defaults to the slower device on the chain. > > >suggested putting one slot between the video driver, sound card, etc. > >They're kinda crunched together. > > Yep, those cards may tend to get hotter then the others. The ideal might be > to plug a 'fat' card in an end slot, especially if you can orient to card > components to be pointed away from the slots. If either the video card or > the audio card have really small components, that is they are probably not > drawing a lot of power then their orientation might not be as important. > > >That's it. That 10-minute quick check turned into and hour and only > cost me $29.99 (including the battery). > > Wow, that IS a good price. Way better than Best Buy;s Geek Squad. > > >Installing XP fresh when I don't have my 98 CD anymore is going to be a big > >pain. > > Not as much of a pain as reinstalling your applications. Newer computers > have > rescue disks that install not only the OS but the bundled programs. But then > you have to uninstall the junk programs.. :-) But that's still simpler than > separately > reinstalling the OS and your applications. > > >You guys are a little handicapped, only having what I tell you in my > >inadequate way what the problem is--and yet you were right on! Amazing! > > Yes, troubleshooting by 'remote control; is not too easy. A long time ago I > worked for Allied Radio and sometimes I had to troubleshoot peoples > electronics... by mail. :-) I also help my brother troubleshoot his > computer. He's been using it for several years and is still a flat out > newbie. I am giving him my old computer and I am writing gobs of text files > that I hope will help him navigate better. :-) > > Jim > If you have any questions or problems with any aspect of this site, please feel free to contact me directly [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please do not post personal issues directly to the group. 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