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Repa,

I just emailed my tech friend and I'm waiting for a reply about the drives, although I believe I'm correct and the drive I'm using is the old C drive. :cry: . If so I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I also though I may have installed something wrong. I see in my start up menu I have Monitor, when I put my mouse over Monitor, C:/Program files/Arch/Meditor Card Companion.
I did uncheck this in msconfig before, but changed it back when I went into my limited account and logged off and got a blank blue screen. I had no options of shutting, logging off switching users.
I will uncheck this again.

I just got my email reply...

Right-Click My Computer > Manage > Expand "Event Viewer" > select "System" and look for errors.

Yes - Your older drive that failed before) is now your Windows System disk and the newer disk is the Data Disk (F:??. )

Lasst time you had a disk failure there were disk read errors in the "System Event Log".

I just checked drive F and it's under drives with removable storage
it says CD: drive (F:) CD drive...

I'm a little more confused than ever, but will try and look for errors.
I don't know if this will help me at this point but I'll try.

I do keep checking in although I may not sign in, as I can read and print this information.
I also would like to get rid of Norton, but remember when he fixed my friends computer. He had to download something to get rid of it completely before he could install another anti virus program. A malarious removal tool I believe. sorry about the spelling.

I'll check back later. Thank you very much.

:cry:

Sheila, I don't know what's going on with your hard drives, but all you have to do is remove Norton using Add/Remove programs. Then, install either Avast or AVG, whichever one you choose. They will work fine after removing Norton as I described. I just did it on a friend's computer.
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Repa

Older than dirt!

Repa, that's two of us not sure...I did check and found Service Control Manager and DCOM is where I'm getting the error messages.
I just email my friend and asked what he thought. I'll wait and see what he suspects before doing anything.

I remember trying to get rid of Norton when I first started but was unable, but that was then and this is now. If this can be fixed I will proceed and get rid of it and install Avast...

Thank you for everything you have done and the time you put into helping me. I'll keep you informed...
_________________

"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” ...
"Henry Drummond"

I'm keeping you informed. I haven't heard anything from my friend.
I'm at a stand still right now. If I don't hear anything I will have to do this myself.

I'm not sure how or where to start but I'll be using the new hard drive I bought in September or October. I don't think it went bad. I believe because the bio's were not set up correctly and I had to hit enter each time I started up might have caused this but of course I'm not sure of anything at this point.

What I plan on doing is switching the drives and wiping the newer hard drive clean. I'll be asking for instructions first but will give one more day for a reply to my latest email. If I replaced a hard drive that drive would be the C drive, I'm assuming. The system drive or the drive that HP's files are on is another drive. I guess I don't quite understand the drives so I'll end for now.

Sheila

Sheila

If your friend used the old drive for the C:\ (system drive) then you didn't gain anything except storage space. You will still have all of the problems that you had before. The easy way would be to download and burn a copy of a bootable disk that would let you copy the system files (Windows) onto the new drive. Then you could format the old drive and use it for storage, keeping in mind that it may fail at any time. This is what should have been done when you installed the new drive.
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"Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before."

Keith,

Thank you for explaining the C:/ (system drive) so I understanding it better now.

Yes my newest hard drive C:/ drive is now my storage drive G. It's the one that failed this last time. It makes for a long time to scan and has some programs I haven't installed.

Quote:

The easy way would be to download and burn a copy of a bootable disk that would let you copy the system files (Windows) onto the new drive.

I highlighted the bootable disk, because I'm not sure what a bootable disk is? I was asked if I had bootable disk and thought he meant a floppy disk?

Although my computer seems to be working fine these last couple of days I'm skeptical. I have not turned my computer off in two days. I have logged off but keep the computer on. It does not heat up or get hot so I'm happy in that respect.

I'm wondering if I should turn off my LCD monitor or not, while logged off? I also can set it into standby, which I would prefer rather than hibernation. It used to do this after a period of time before I changed it in my Administrator Account in safe mode. Ouch! Ihope this was alright.
These questions might seem (dumb) to you but to me I'm unsure.
When I start up in safe mode. I have an Administrator Account and an Owner/Administrator Account. This account Owner shows up in my start menu , along with the limited user account I added.

I know I still have some question running in my head but can't think of them right now. I don't mind leaving the computer on but do want to turn it off one night to see how it starts. I did go to msconfig and stop two programs from starting when windows starts. One the Adobe download and the other a monitor which was associated with an Arch program. When I logged on the last two days I'm not waiting very long as before. Of course I haven't shut down for the night so I'm not sure if this might be the reason or not.

I also have Spy Sweeper and Norton set to start up when windows starts. These are the only programs that that a little time but not long.
I'm thinking I need these at start up?

I also know I'm asking question twice and should read back on this thread.

I do have all the disks from HP if needed. I'm making a list of things I need to buy, such as a router, a new version of Norton (if I don't use AVAST anti virus) and hopefully not another new Hard drive.

Like I said I'm giving myself a couple of days to see how things are working but do want to keep you informed. This is a scary project for me to open the computer tower. I've only installed a sound card myself so far...

Thank You both Keith and Repa very much for all this help I do appreciate it.

Sheila
Sheila

Sheila,

I don't know what happened before with your old hard drive, but if it was giving you trouble enough that it caused you to buy the new one, you may run into that again. You might want to think about backing up your data on the new drive and then change the connections so it becomes the Master drive, and then use your hp installation disks to reformat the drive and re-install Windows. I think the hidden partition containing the Windows system files is already on your new hard drive from the installation your friend did before. Keith, chime in if I'm wrong.

If you decide to do this, shut your computer and all hardware attached to it off, unplug your computer, open your case, and swap the cables between the 2 hard drives while placing one hand on a metal part of your case (to avoid any static discharge to your components). Note: The black connector is always the Master, and the grey connector is always the Slave. That's one way to verify whether your C:\ partition (on the Master) is currently on the old or new hard drive, so check that before swapping the cables. Once you have done this, close your case, plug in your computer and turn it and your monitor only on. Then, follow the step-by-step sticky in the Tutorials forum named "How to Reinstall Windows XP SP2." Don't forget to get rid of the games that have spyware piggy-backed on them. If you are given the option to choose or not choose them during the install, then don't choose them. The less you install besides your basic WinXP, the better.

If you decide not to do the above and continue with things as they are for awhile to see what happens, then uncheck everything in msconfig except Norton, Spy Sweeper, and ZoneAlarm if you installed ZoneAlarm. Don't be afraid to do this - these are the only programs that are needed at startup. The rest will start on demand as you require them. You should see another increase in the response time of your computer if you do this. If you are concerned about doing this, then just uncheck a few applications in msconfig at a time, run for a while, and if everything seems ok, then go back into msconfig and uncheck a few more until all that are left checked are Norton, Spy Sweeper, and ZoneAlarm if you have it installed.

If you want to speed your computer up even more, uninstall Norton and install Avast or AVG. You won't be sorry if you do. Either of AVG or Avast are very good anti-virus programs. I am partial to Avast, but that's just my preference because of the additional resident guards that it has besides the standard resident guard that AVG doesn't. It is a little more complex than AVG, but once you get it set up, it's on automatic from there on unless you decide to do a weekly manual scan which I would recommend, at least until you get a router. Actually, you should get up tomorrow and that should be the first chore you do - go out and get that router! Wink

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Repa

Older than dirt!

Thanks Repa....I'm reading and printing this information...I will keep you updated...
_________________

"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” ...
"Henry Drummond"

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