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need a little tech support: fresh version of xp on the fritz

post #1 of 14
1/15/08 at 11:41pm
Thread Starter 
ok, so this has happened before, so i'm wondering if it's my hardware or an issue of my windows disc, or i'm missing a driver or something


anyway, new install of windows xp pro sp2, i install firefox, omega ATI drivers, wifi drivers, flash-plugin for firefox, and that's about it

anyway, i go to youtube (or any webpage) and half the time, all i see is the (what i think is) HTML code or whatever, it's all gobledy-gook; i hit refresh and sometimes i get the page, and sometimes, like right now, i'm looking at the PC screen, and i'm on headfi, and there's nothing on the page but the banner at the top (hence why i'm using my linux laptop here to type this )


thoughts????????????????????

this has happened more than once before so i'm thinking either:

A: missing drivers or something
B: hardware problem

note: also, sometimes i'll download something to install and it won't let me install it, just give me an ERROR dialog

i'm thinking maybe i've got bad ram or somethin

PC:
2x512mb basic kingston pc3200 ram
160gb ide seagate hdd
seasonic 300w psu
saphire x800gto gpu
asrock dual-sata2 board

the only drivers i have are for my wifi card and the omega ATI drivers, and really i think that's it, oh, and my emu0404 drivers

help?
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post #2 of 14
1/16/08 at 12:40am
So this is only happening in Firefox, and only some websites like youtube? Then, no I wouldn't think it hard drive or memory problems either. I've always had bad experiences with XP ATI drivers (at least to give them some benefit, I seem to have seen less problems with their new Vista drivers).....so I might be inclined to say it's gotta be those drivers

But I think you should do some process of elimination. How about disabling the ATI and try SVGA and see if Firefox works correctly then. I'm thinking it might be possible that whatever version driver you have is having some conflict with Active X.....and you could possibly see some other problems with some other programs later down the road. But then again, this is just a hunch. Try disabling each driver and see if that does anything. If it doesn't, then it's time to gripe to the Firefox developers! Maybe trying a previous version might help.
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post #3 of 14
1/16/08 at 12:46am
If you want to test your memory download and run a program called Memtest. Let it run overnight and see if it finds any errors.

Doesn't sound like a memory issue, however.
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post #4 of 14
1/17/08 at 5:04am
Clear all of your internet files Clear Private Data in Firefox, check all boxed. Then Delete All in Internet Options.

uninstall vanilla ATI drivers and install Omega Drivers instead--
OmegaDrivers.net - Home of the ATI & NVIDIA Omega Drivers. Home

Reboot PC

Try again
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post #5 of 14
1/17/08 at 6:02am
Thread Starter 
lol, i have the omega drivers homes
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post #6 of 14
1/19/08 at 4:52pm
Thread Starter 
well i reinstalled windows and i definitely think it's a hardware problem; the omega ATI drivers are are the only ones i've downloaded, and really, there aren't any other necessary drivers

so, i figure it can't be my gpu, since it's not a problem with the picture, something isn't processing correctly

so i'm thinking either ram, cpu, or mobo, or maybe hdd; maybe even psu, but that doesn't make a lot of sense

off to test ram, any other tests i can do?
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post #7 of 14
1/21/08 at 8:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uzziah View Post
off to test ram, any other tests i can do?
I recently found Burn-In Test which seems to help a lot in any kind of hardware-testing scenario. It's a stress-test program that can be run through Windows (unlike booting from floppy drive for stuff like most RAMTest apps)

PassMark BurnInTest software - PC Reliability and Load Testing

I love it! Seriously if you want to find out if your RAM, GPU, etc is bad this program can tell you. It will log the # of failures and print a report. I would run it for about 15 minutes with all RAM/3d Graphics modes checked and let me know what results you get.
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post #8 of 14
1/21/08 at 8:56pm
Thread Starter 
brilliant, thanks man; i tested my mem and i got errors with both sticks in, but no errors when i tested them individually; i replaced my hdd, and am reinstalling windows and will run that program; thanks a bunch; it might be the mem, i DID get errors when i ran memtest with both sticks in, but we'll see how i run with my new install of windows
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post #9 of 14
1/21/08 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 
i posted a bunch of pics in this thread
need some help: my PC is acting strange - Overclockers Forums


eternally greatful to any sleuthing
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post #10 of 14
1/22/08 at 8:26am
This sounds a lot like a web connection issue if I apply the following (correct me on any incorrect statements)

- you can install software OK, providing you don't download it first.
- video and graphics all appear OK except on the web, and only in Firefox.
- have you got some local html or one of those computer magazine cover disks with all the html and videos and guff. Does that all work OK?

- Bad M/B, disk or RAM in my experience all tend to manifest in a range of odd and unpredictable problems. Your problem (at least my interpretation) is a limited number of semi repeatable symptoms. And that you have the same symptoms after two fresh OS installs. This narrows the randomness of typical hardware problems down considerably in my mind.


This all points back to your web connection, but the other machines using the same network are all OK. This narrows it to your WiFi card.

Do you have the capacity to plug your PC directly into the router or ADSL modem or switch to bypass WiFi?

Do you have access to another WiFi card to temporarily install?

Presumably you have checked that all of the hardware devices have installed correctly under Device Manager.
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post #11 of 14
1/22/08 at 3:16pm
Thread Starter 
good call, i'll try that now; burnintest said my network is "ok" but who knows, i'll plug the router in by LAN and see how that goes

i DID have errors in memtest though, the first time i ran it, with both sticks in, on the 10th pass i got a bunch of errors at 877mb


thanks, i'm reinstalling now on my other stick of ram, and i'll try the ethernet; VERY good suggestion, THANKS
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post #12 of 14
1/22/08 at 7:04pm
Thread Starter 
looks like it might be my wifi card; am using LAN now, seems to work; great advice fordgt, thank you!
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post #13 of 14
1/23/08 at 5:13am
No probs - fresh pair of eyes and all that...
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post #14 of 14
1/23/08 at 1:54pm
Thread Starter 
seem to be running strong without the wifi card; fingers crossed
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