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Windows Forum / Windows 98 / Setup / August 2005FOR THE LOVE OF GOD - CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!
Not too long ago, I gave my dad my old computer so he can start learning to email and surf the net and whatever else. Anyway, it was an OLD Compaq Presario 7478 and after I gave it to him I felt TERRIBLE because it was so slow and the monitor was so HUGE, so I mailed him one of my spare monitors (lighter) and I bought him a new Presario Deskpro EN off ebay with 3 times the hard drive and a much faster processor, not knowing there wasn't a modem included. Now, I live in Los Angeles and my dad lives in Buffalo, NY, and knows next to nothing about computers. You can imagine how long the phone calls are and why we usually end the conversation with frustration and are both in full panic attack mode!!!!! SO, I flew into town last month, took the computers apart and took the modem out of the old and put it in the new one. Then, I had him use the restoration CD's from the old computer on the new one so I can walk him through setting up the drivers. THe OS is Windows 98 by the way. After this, I thought we were GOLDEN, it worked great for a bit, then, all of a sudden the computer is not recognizing the CD ROM Drive at all. Therefore, I cannot re-boot the restoration CD's or a more current windows XP. Can someone please help us? What am I doing wrong? I've walked him through going through BIOS, create startup disks with Floppy disks. Nothing is helping, OR he just can't see what I'm telling him on the phone. Does anyone know how I can set up remote accress from my laptop to his computer so I can see what he's doing and do it myself? Or can I set up a network or ANYTHING???? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME! You don't mention what operating system the new Presario is using. Was it used? Is it running XP or 98? As for the CD issue, the trouble-shooting steps start with verifying that the CD drive itself is OK, that the cables are properly seated. You do this by either putting a known-good drive in and seeing if it works, or taking the suspect CD drive to another machine and seeing if it will work there. You don't mention whether the CDROM drive shows up in BIOS. If you boot to a Windows 98 Startup floppy disk and choose CDROM support, can you still not access the CD drive? (Remember that the letter will be bumped up one by the RAM drive that the Startup floppy uses. If it's normally D:\ drive, when you use the Startup disk with CDROM support, its letter will be E:\. So, if the drive shows up in BIOS properly, have Dad boot to a Windows Startup disk, choose "with CDROM Support", then run the following command to see what happens. e: dir Does the modem now work?  SignatureGary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User > Not too long ago, I gave my dad my old computer so he can start learning > to [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > see what he's doing and do it myself? Or can I set up a network or > ANYTHING???? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME! Thanks Gary for helping me, you don't know how completely frustrating this is!!!! I thought I would be helping him and now I'm making his like miserable. Anyway......the new system also runs on Windows 98, but he HAS windows XP that I gave him to install to upgrade his new computer. But the computer recognizes no CD ROM or the drive at all!!!! When he opens My Computer, it shows the floppy disk drive, but no CD ROM drive. One thing that baffles me is that my brother gave him some games to install on CD's that my dad installed no problem, then, it started acting up and I had him use the restoration CD's from the old computer (both were Compaq's). The ebay (newer) computer never came with any restoration CD's and of course he is ignoring me. SO, the old restoration CD's worked and I guess he was STILL able to reinstall the games, and all of a sudden the drive doesn't exist as far as the computer goes. All I want to do at this point is get Windows XP on his computer and screw windows 98. I've been reading up about trying to get into his computer remotely from mine at home, but it seems confusing, I'll study more up on it tonight. Have you ever heard of such a mess? > You don't mention what operating system the new Presario is using. Was it > used? Is it running XP or 98? [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > > see what he's doing and do it myself? Or can I set up a network or > > ANYTHING???? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME! Again, I ask you to concentrate on the basics. Does the CD drive appear in BIOS? What is the boot sequence? (Boot sequence is the order in which BIOS looks for bootable volumes.) Windows XP setup CD does not require Windows 98 to see the CD. It doesn't require any support from the existing OS at all. It only requires that BIOS sees the CD drive and the CD, and that it boots to that before it boots to any other active volume. The only way we can offer cogent advice is to go through the step-by-step t-shooting steps we've come to find efficient. SignatureGary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User > Thanks Gary for helping me, you don't know how completely frustrating this > is!!!! I thought I would be helping him and now I'm making his like [quoted text clipped - 89 lines] >> > see what he's doing and do it myself? Or can I set up a network or >> > ANYTHING???? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME! Ok, I see where you're going with this. It's pretty late here on the West Coast and even earlier on the East, where my dad's at, but I told him to be ready for a phone call tomorrow night and I'll find out all the details and post the answers. Thanks a lot for your help!! You're really nice. If you want, I can give you my direct email and vice versa so we can talk, but, if you prefer the message board, that's cool too. Thanks! > Again, I ask you to concentrate on the basics. Does the CD drive appear in > BIOS? What is the boot sequence? (Boot sequence is the order in which BIOS [quoted text clipped - 99 lines] > >> > see what he's doing and do it myself? Or can I set up a network or > >> > ANYTHING???? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME! Believe me, I know how it is. I, too, am on the West Coast, and I do regular computer consulting for my hapless uncle who's currently living in a cheap motel in Raleigh. (He's an civil and mechanical engineer but can't keep up with new computer technology.) Worse yet, he's on dial-up using the only phone line he has. Makes scheduling a nightmare. We newsgroup regulars prefer to keep tech correspondence in the public groups. Allows others with possibly helpful knowledge to chime in, and let's others learn from our experiences. I do occasionally "go private" when the information involved is sensitive or the user is getting too confused by multiple sources of advice (not to mention the occasional troll battles, etc.) Let's see how this goes for now, figure out if that CD drive is really any good or not, first. Then we can decide where to go from there. SignatureGary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User > Ok, I see where you're going with this. It's pretty late here on the West > Coast and even earlier on the East, where my dad's at, but I told him to [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > if > you prefer the message board, that's cool too. YES!!!!! This is the 1st computer my father has had EVER and he's in his 60's, also uses dial up with the only phone line in the house. I called him and honestly, I'm starting to get aggrevated. I love my father to death, but I think I may have to go to the last resort, remote access from my computer to his and do it myself, and I don't even have a clue where to begin with setting this up. Back to the drawing board. It's way too hard trying to help him over the phone when you can't see what the other's looking at. So, thank you VERY much for your help so far. If you know anything about remote access, by all means, tell me everything!!!! I am willing to send you a check for your voluntary help, really, you deserve it!! Penny > Believe me, I know how it is. I, too, am on the West Coast, and I do regular > computer consulting for my hapless uncle who's currently living in a cheap [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > if > > you prefer the message board, that's cool too. Remote Access of any kind is pretty useless for matters of trouble-shooting/repairing the OS itself or hardware. The program that connects the two systems runs on Windows and requires a decent internet connection (unless you go *way* back to remoting apps that run on DOS and use other communications methods--even possible, I suspect, to run such a system from a floppy boot... But I have no idea where to find such an app these days. There are some hardware solutions, but a new computer can cost less.) No, this is a case where you need to patiently and firmly guide the end-user step-by-step through needed procedures. Anyway, you've managed to yank on the old heart strings just enough. Email me for some private solutions. No, I don't accept payment for this kind of assistance. It's a hard line to draw, since what I do for a living isn't that much different from what I do here, but I consider any assistance ticket that begins in these groups to be entirely gratis. grystnews@mvps.org SignatureGary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User > YES!!!!! This is the 1st computer my father has had EVER and he's in his > 60's, also uses dial up with the only phone line in the house. I called [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Penny > Does anyone know how I > can set up remote accress from my laptop to his computer so I can see > what he's doing and do it myself? VNC Free http://www.realvnc.com/what.html VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. It is remote control software which allows you to view and interact with one computer (the "server") using a simple program (the "viewer") on another computer anywhere on the Internet. -- dadiOH ____________________________ dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico If your immediate concern is the CD drive, tell him to start regedit, expand and highlight the following key and delete the following key if it exists, then reboot. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\IOS Ben > Not too long ago, I gave my dad my old computer so he can start learning to > email and surf the net and whatever else. Anyway, it was an OLD Compaq [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > see what he's doing and do it myself? Or can I set up a network or > ANYTHING???? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME! Correction. If your immediate concern is the CD drive, tell him to start regedit, expand and highlight the following key, look for "NOIDE" in the right window, delete it if it exists, then reboot. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\IOS Ben "gate0keeper" <gate0keeper@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:E75A415A-5B87-48B3-8968-CEC85B7FE942@microsoft.com... > Not too long ago, I gave my dad my old computer so he can start learning to > email and surf the net and whatever else. Anyway, it was an OLD Compaq [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > see what he's doing and do it myself? Or can I set up a network or > ANYTHING???? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME! |
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