Banjo Man

Ok, this will be filled with many questions I have, and many of them just come from a lack of basic knowledge, so I hope I'll get a response. :P

First, let me explain my situation:

My computer (Desktop PC) was so infected, I determined it was beyond repair, and after talking with a professional, I came to the decision to perform a clean install of my Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system.

Now, there was nothing on there I really wanted to keep, so I just did it.

Unfortunately, I know nothing about hardware devices, and more specifically, cards and drivers.

I bought this system a few years ago as a pre-setup/pre-installed package, because I knew even less back then. It was great, but, like most pre-install packages, it didn't come with the respective disks/CD's to install the software and drivers on the PC, seeing as I shouldn't need them. Also, I should note, to re-install the OS, I had to actually re-buy it as a separate item, and did so through my college's bookstore, as well as Norton 360 2.0, which was my first install post-cleaning.

Now, I just learned that a "driver" is the software that is needed to be installed on the computer for the hardware/cards to work. I also looked into the issue of choppy scrolling and window dragging, and found that the solution was to re-install the driver.


---------------------------------------------


This leads to this barrage of questions...


1. I don't know what type of video card, sound card, or any-card I have. How can I find out? (I assume it involves cracking open the case, and looking...somewhere)



2. After I find out what types they are, can I just download the appropriate drivers, without having to re-purchase or purchase a different card?



3. Aside from the video and sound cards not being recognized, is there any other hardware/card in my computer that needs to have certain drivers/software installed? My wirelss mouse and keyboard (both separate buys) work fine without having to install anything.



4. Assuming that I have to (or decide to) purchase new cards & "other," what do you recommend? (Preferences listed)

4a. Sound Card: I'm not real big on audio, and just want it to be able to play audio through my Bose 2-Speaker setup. Nothing "Home Theater" -type stuff, just the basic.

4b. Video Card: I've done some research, and have even narrowed my preferences to what specifically I want. I want to be able to play the PC game "Sims 2," (which has 10 or so expansion packs, and can use tons of extra/custom content) on my monitor at a 1280x1024 resolution, with every possible graphic option (in the game) enabled (stuff like Shadows, Hi-Res Textures, etc.). Also, I assume I'll need to get more RAM

4c. RAM/Processor: To handle the demands listed above, I know I'll need an equally awesome Processor, and a crap-load of RAM. As far as processors go, I have some bookmarked newegg items, and, if I remember correctly, the leading candidate was something like a "Dual Core Pentium #? Processor" with other specs I don't recall. With RAM, I currently have a wimpy 512MB, and want either 2GB or 4GB, but that leads to another question: If I buy 2GB, do I take out the 512MB (manually from the case, of course), and put the 2GB in?

4d. Now, with all that said, when/if I buy some new hardware, I should state that I know absolutely nothing about installing them! Would each respective part come with an installation guide? If so, then I think I can manage, because I follow directions well, but I'm sure it'll use some terms I'm unfamiliar with, and if that's the case, I'll probably start a new thread in the appropriate hardware section of the forum.



Phew. Now, assuming someone will ever read that novel I just posted, I'd like to say:

Thanks and 's to all,
Banjo Man

BCCOMP

Hi Banjo Man,
Welcome to TSF.
Your issue is a common one after a clean install. XP does not support all drivers.
Can you tell us what the make & model of the PC is?
This will help us get the drivers you need.

Go to your device manager Right Click My Computer>Properties>Hardware Tab>Device manager.
Post any errors (Yellow or red exclamation points)
Thanks,
Bill

Banjo Man

Can you tell us what the make & model of the PC is?
Dell XPS 400, and next to the XP sticker is a Pentium D sticker.
Um, I'm not sure if that is the exact answer you were looking for, because I'm judging this based solely on words written on the case itself. :-x

Go to your device manager Right Click My Computer>Properties>Hardware Tab>Device manager.
Post any errors (Yellow or red exclamation points)
All is fine (even with Show Hidden Devices enabled), except for the Other devices tree, which is lit-up all across the board:

[-] Other devices
│├ (! ) Ethernet Controller
│├ (! ) PCI Device
│├ (! ) PCI Simple Communications Controller
│├ (! ) SM Bus Controller
│├ (! ) Video Controller
│└ (! ) Video Controller (VGA Compatible)


Hope that helps. (Thanks for showin' interest, :))

BCCOMP

Hi,
Here is a link for your drivers:
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&catid=&impid=
You may need to download some of these drivers on a PC that has internet connection and burn them to CD to install until we can get this one on the internet.
SM BUS CONTROLLER HERE:
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=150654
ETHERNET CONTROLLER HERE:
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=136598

This should get you on the net. Please do a complete Microsoft Update at this point.

Go back to the device manager and post the remaining errors.

Now for the rest of the drivers, Please run Everest under my signature and post the results. This will help us determine the type of the remaining drivers.
Thanks,
Bill

Banjo Man

Ok, I'll do that, but first, I have a question:

Do I have to disable Norton 360 v.2 before installing the drivers?

I remember seeing something along the lines of some anti-virus programs keeping drivers from installing correctly.

BCCOMP

Yes you should disable your ANTI-Virus program.
These are exe files so download to CD to burn them. Then insert the CD to your XPS Tower and open the CD. Click on the exe file. Install the SM Bus controll driver first. Then the Network controller.
Is the XPS on the internet now?
Bill

Banjo Man

Um...Ok, how should I go about doing that?

You may not know if you aren't familiar with 360, but there's a couple of possible routes, each with differing levels of "disabling."

When I right-click its icon on the taskbar, I can "uncheck" Enable Firewall and Enable Auto-Protect. Would that be enough?

If not, when I open the task manager, I can't end any of Norton's processes. If I need to have none of them running, I think I'll have to find out how to disable its "Run on Startup," (wherever that is), and restart, right?

BCCOMP

Right clicking and Uncheck the firewall and auto protect. This should be enough.
You may also wish to uninstall the program under ADD/Remove programs. As the protection was installed before the drivers. This may cause a configuration issue with norton 360. You can always reinstall afterwards.
Thanks,
Bill

Banjo Man

Ok.
I'll just do the un-check method for now, as I'm unclear as to if un- and re-installing it would take up one of the 3 machines that Norton can be installed on.

I'll do the tasks, and report back the results in a new post as soon as their done.

Thanks again, BCCOMP.
:)

Banjo Man

How do I know which ones I need to download? Do I need 'em all?

BCCOMP

For now just download the SM Bus driver (1st) and Network Controller (2nd) from the links I specified in the previous post.
Thanks,
Bill

Banjo Man

I downloaded and ran the SM BUS CONTROLLER driver .exe, and it extracted to a folder, ran the extracted file to install itself, then asked me to restart. <-That seems normal.

I downloaded and ran the ETHERNET CONTROLLER drive .exe, but it was different. It extracted itself to a folder, and ran 3 different .exe processes. setup.exe was one, and the other two were the same name with just a letter or number after "setup." A similar installation window popped up, but disappeared immediately. I just left the computer alone, watching the task manager. All three .exe's remained running for 10 minutes, occasionally spiking a little in the CPU and Mem Usage fields before eventually disappearing from the task manager. After waiting some more, I decided to restart my computer anyway, even though it didn't ask me to. I got the option to "Turn Off" and automatically install some updates. Was that the result of the ETHERNET CONTROLLER driver, or just a coincidence? Regardless, I picked it, and it said there were 88 updates to install.

That's where I am now, about 2/3 of the way through the updates, as I'm on my laptop for now.

So, in summation, is everything going as it should?





EDIT: The updates have been installed, and I've rebooted my PC. Everything seems to be the same, but then again, when dealing with the SM Bus and Ethernet, I didn't expect any graphical changes to be made.

Also, I'm assuming the next step would be to crack open the case and find out what video and audio cards, with possibly some other information...


So, in (second) summation, did everything to as it should have?

BCCOMP

Seeing you are on the net and you were able to do a MS update we are good to go.
Please post any remaining errors in the device manager.
Please run Everest under my signature and post the results.
You should not open the case at this point. The Everest report will help me narrow down your drivers.
Thanks,
Bill

Banjo Man

Please post any remaining errors in the device manager.
[-] Other devices
│├ (! ) PCI Device
│├ (! ) PCI Simple Communications Controller
│├ (! ) Video Controller
│└ (! ) Video Controller (VGA Compatible)
I guess both worked as they should have, as both Ethernet Controller and SM Bus Controller are gone. Side-note: They're not in the tree at all...I would expect them to be there, but without the yellow exclamation mark. Instead, they're just gone...is that right?

Please run Everest under my signature and post the results.
Here's a link to the full .txt report it created:
http://o.benharrison.o.googlepages.com/Report.txt
If you want it uploaded elsewhere and can't access it, say so.

Banjo Man

Ok, I think I've figured out which drivers to download...
(From the list found in the first link you posted)

PCI Device: Intel 82801GB ICH7 - SATA Controller [A-1]
SATA Drives (3) > Maxtor - Utility...
Applies to: 6V160E0, 160GB, SATA, 3.0Gb
Urgent

PCI Simple Communications Controller: Conexant D850 56k V.9x DFVC Modem
Communication (6) > Conexant - Diagnostics Utility...
Applies to: 56K V.9x DFVc Modem
Recommended

Video Controller: ATI Radeon X300 (RV370) - Secondary Video Adapter
Video (18) > ATI - Driver...
Applies to: Hyper Memory PCI-Express X16 (DVI/VGA/TV out) Radeon X300 SE
Recommended

Video Controller (VGA Compatible): ATI Radeon X300 (RV370) Video Adapter
-Same as above-

Audio Adapter: Intel 82801GB ICH7 - High Definition Audio Controller [A-1] (Codec: SigmaTel STAC9220 A1)
Audio (3) > SIGMATEL - Driver...
Applies to: STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio
Optional




If any are wrong, then they'll interrupt installation and say so, if memory serves. I'll post the results after I try to install these.

Thanks Bill,
Banjo Man

BCCOMP

Wow,
you are learning quick.
Yes, those are the drivers you should install.
Install the sound driver before the modem driver.
Post back with any errors.
Thanks,
Bill

Banjo Man

Ran PCI Device download, unzipped installer, auto-ran the installer, finished. Didn't ask for restart

Ran Audio Adapter download, unzipped a .dll file. I wasn't too sure what to do, so I copied it into 3 different directories, because I didn't know which one was right (1. C:\WINDOWS, 2. C:\WINDOWS\system, and 3. C:\WINDOWS\system32). It'd be nice if someone could tell me which one is right so I can lose the other two copies. I rebooted here manually, even though it didn't ask, whether I needed to or not.

Ran PCI Simple Communications Controller, unzipped installer, auto-ran installer, finished. Rebooted as asked.

Ran Video Controller Download, unzipped installer, auto-ran installer (ran like 5 .exe processes), finished. Rebooted as asked.



Slow scroll and window movement dragging is all gone, and there's no noticeable functionality issues, but when I open the Device Manager, I'm left with one thing still there:

[-] Other devices
│└ (! ) PCI Simple Communications Controller

So, I looked back on the drivers page, and found another similarly named download:

Communication (6) > Conexant - Driver
Applies to: D850 56K V.9X PCI DF Modem ULD
Recommended

Ran new PCI Simple Communications Controller, unzipped installer, new hardware icon popped up 3 consecutive balloons, the last one saying hardware was installed successfully, ending with the familiar speaker icon being added in.

Speakers work!

All my issues have been resolved!

I can't thank you enough, Bill. I owe you the coming 3 months of my sanity, as without this worked out, I would've been in huge trouble in my tech classes.

Thanks,
Banjo Man

BCCOMP

Congrats Banjo Man,
I would suggest going back over the thread and download all the drivers that worked and burn them to CD. this way you have a backup of all the drivers.
As far as your memory you may wish to upgrade to 1 GB (you now have 512 MB DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM). Do not mix the memory modules. This is not hard. Here is the service manual for your model.
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0/sm/index.htm
See, you did not have to worry about replacing hardware
Glad to help out.
Thanks,
Bill