Search results

  1. S

    Reinstalling a new laptop without system discs

    Can anyone confirm something I have just read? Namely that the WIndows 8.1 product key is burned into the BIOS of a modern laptop, and that this would therefore allow me to install legitimately any copy of the operating system. I just bought an ASUS notebook for my daughter. Having spent the...
  2. S

    Windows 7 - unable to delete .avi file (Not a permissions problem)

    In the course of editing some video, I saved a large (0.75Gb) avi to my Windows 7 desktop, which is on an SSD. That file is now resisting all attempts to delete it. I've tried the conventional method, and I've tried deleting it in safe mode. A dialogue box saying that it is calculating appears...
  3. S

    A couple of outstanding issues with new sef-build

    A few months ago I built a new system (spec at the bottom of this post). It runs well apart from a couple of small problems that I've been unable to resolve: 1. The operating system frequently loses contact with the headers that supply the front USB ports. I can only get them back by rebooting...
  4. S

    Mysterious driver installation problem in Win 7 - SOLVED

    I've had a system running stably under Windows 7 for the last couple of years. There have been no hardware changes in that time. Today I noticed that my DVD drive (Optiarc AD-7173S) was no longer visible.I checked Device Manager, which showed this message: "Windows cannot start this hardware...
  5. S

    8800GT on the way out. What next?

    For the last few years I've been happily running an nVidia Geforce 8800GT in a system based on an ASUS PFK Premium motherboard and a Core 2 Duo E6150 overclocked to 3.2GHz. Over the last couple of weeks the card has started to fail. At least, I think it has based on the freezes, blue screens...
  6. S

    Major problems waking system from sleep

    Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (overclocked stably to 3.2GHz) Asus P5K Premium WiFi motherboard nVidia 8800GT graphics card BeQuiet Darkpower 650 power supply 4Gb Corsair RAM 1 x Samsung Spinpoint 500Gb 1 x Seagate Barracuda 1Tb Antec 902 case Windows 7 Home Premium I posted this query on...