Laptop with several XP problems

[mm]

A young friend with not much money was given a beautiful laptop with

XP on it, as originally sold.



But it has a strange collection of problems!



Maybe they're related or maybe some are well known?



1) None of the 3 USB ports work, with a flashdrive or a mouse. How do

I tell if this is a software or hardware problem? (I really need a

USB mouse because I hate the built-in pad.)



2) The sound doesn't work and it says there is no sound device, though

there used to be!



3) When Device Manager is displayed, NO devices appear.



4) It boots maybe quicker than mine, but some things are verry slow.

A virus/trojan full hard drive scan showed nothing.



When I had this problem, a month after installing XP, I disabled all

the services and startup programs and reinstalled them a little at a

time. I found two services**, either of which slowed me down

tremendously, but he doesn't have either of those. Before checking

the services for him and startup programs, is there something I should

do first?



**Shell Hardware Detection, and Uninteruptable Power Supply.



Thanks a lot.

 

[mm]

A young friend with not much money was given a beautiful laptop with

XP on it, as originally sold.



But it has a strange collection of problems!



Maybe they're related or maybe some are well known?



1) None of the 3 USB ports work, with a flashdrive or a mouse. How do

I tell if this is a software or hardware problem? (I really need a

USB mouse because I hate the built-in pad.)



2) The sound doesn't work and it says there is no sound device, though

there used to be!



3) When Device Manager is displayed, NO devices appear.



4) It boots maybe quicker than mine, but some things are verry slow.

A virus/trojan full hard drive scan showed nothing.



When I had this problem, a month after installing XP, I disabled all

the services and startup programs and reinstalled them a little at a

time. I found two services**, either of which slowed me down

tremendously, but he doesn't have either of those. Before checking

the services for him and startup programs, is there something I should

do first?



**Shell Hardware Detection, and Uninteruptable Power Supply.



Thanks a lot.

 

[mm]

On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:03:29 -0400, mm

wrote:



>

>1) None of the 3 USB ports work, with a flashdrive or a mouse. How do

>I tell if this is a software or hardware problem? (I really need a

>USB mouse because I hate the built-in pad.)



I should have said that the ball-less mouse lights up and the flash

drive lights up, but neither is recognized by the computer.

 

[mm]

On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:03:29 -0400, mm

wrote:



>

>1) None of the 3 USB ports work, with a flashdrive or a mouse. How do

>I tell if this is a software or hardware problem? (I really need a

>USB mouse because I hate the built-in pad.)



I should have said that the ball-less mouse lights up and the flash

drive lights up, but neither is recognized by the computer.

 

[Mike S]

On 6/7/2010 2:11 AM, mm wrote:

> On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:03:29 -0400, mm

> wrote:

>

>>

>> 1) None of the 3 USB ports work, with a flashdrive or a mouse. How do

>> I tell if this is a software or hardware problem? (I really need a

>> USB mouse because I hate the built-in pad.)

>

> I should have said that the ball-less mouse lights up and the flash

> drive lights up, but neither is recognized by the computer.



Make and model?



Does it have a hidden partition so you can restore it to the factory

condition when it sold? I would seriously consider that, then installing

the software he needs.

 

[Mike S]

On 6/7/2010 2:11 AM, mm wrote:

> On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:03:29 -0400, mm

> wrote:

>

>>

>> 1) None of the 3 USB ports work, with a flashdrive or a mouse. How do

>> I tell if this is a software or hardware problem? (I really need a

>> USB mouse because I hate the built-in pad.)

>

> I should have said that the ball-less mouse lights up and the flash

> drive lights up, but neither is recognized by the computer.



Make and model?



Does it have a hidden partition so you can restore it to the factory

condition when it sold? I would seriously consider that, then installing

the software he needs.

 

[Daave]

mm wrote:

> A young friend with not much money was given a beautiful laptop with

> XP on it, as originally sold.

>

> But it has a strange collection of problems!







It is imperative that whenever someone obtains a used PC that they wipe

it and start fresh. In another post, you indicated this was an Avaratec

laptop. Unless the hard drive has been altered, hitting F4 immediately

after powering up should invoke "Recover Pro," which should return the

laptop to its original condition.

 

[Daave]

mm wrote:

> A young friend with not much money was given a beautiful laptop with

> XP on it, as originally sold.

>

> But it has a strange collection of problems!







It is imperative that whenever someone obtains a used PC that they wipe

it and start fresh. In another post, you indicated this was an Avaratec

laptop. Unless the hard drive has been altered, hitting F4 immediately

after powering up should invoke "Recover Pro," which should return the

laptop to its original condition.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 20:58:42 -0400, "Daave" wrote:





> It is imperative that whenever someone obtains a used PC that they wipe

> it and start fresh.





In my view, "imperative" is somewhat too strong a word, but I strongly

agree with you that everyone in that situation *should* do it.



If I acquired a used computer, no matter who previously owned it, the

first thing I would do with it would be to reinstall the operating

system cleanly. You have no idea how the computer has been maintained,

what has been installed incorrectly, what is missing, what viruses and

spyware there may be, etc. I wouldn't want to live with somebody

else's mistakes and problems, possibility of kiddy p0rn, etc., and I

wouldn't recommend that anyone else do so either.







--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003

Please Reply to the Newsgroup

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 20:58:42 -0400, "Daave" wrote:





> It is imperative that whenever someone obtains a used PC that they wipe

> it and start fresh.





In my view, "imperative" is somewhat too strong a word, but I strongly

agree with you that everyone in that situation *should* do it.



If I acquired a used computer, no matter who previously owned it, the

first thing I would do with it would be to reinstall the operating

system cleanly. You have no idea how the computer has been maintained,

what has been installed incorrectly, what is missing, what viruses and

spyware there may be, etc. I wouldn't want to live with somebody

else's mistakes and problems, possibility of kiddy p0rn, etc., and I

wouldn't recommend that anyone else do so either.







--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003

Please Reply to the Newsgroup

 

[news.microsoft.com]

You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.



Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's not

enough to just install XP but you also must install the manufacturer's

motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't have the original install

cd's that's the way to go (and basically is for all pc's nowadays when don't

have original Restore disks).

 

[news.microsoft.com]

You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.



Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's not

enough to just install XP but you also must install the manufacturer's

motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't have the original install

cd's that's the way to go (and basically is for all pc's nowadays when don't

have original Restore disks).

 

[mm]

On Tue, 8 Jun 2010 23:52:07 -0300, "news.microsoft.com"

wrote:



>You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.

>

>Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's not

>enough to just install XP but you also must install the manufacturer's

>motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't have the original install

>cd's that's the way to go (and basically is for all pc's nowadays when don't

>have original Restore disks).



Great idea. It has two options, a list of drivers, but the only one

that relates to a problem I know of is the audio driver. It doesn't

show anything for USB. I should look for a generic USB driveer, I

think, but how will I install it when Device Manager doesn't work?



It also had a link to a DriverAgent page, which said Welcome Averatec

customers, and offered a driver scan. Since it was recommended by

Averatec I did it, and it froze the computer at 40% of the scan. Did

the same thing 3 times.



On my own computer, I dl'd the same program, same version number from

the same site, and it ran to completion and said it had newer drivers

for 12 out of 36 drivers. (Although none of those things are giving me

problems)



So maybe that's another thing broken about the Averatec? That it

won't run the driver scan.



Also Help and Support from the Windows key won't work. It says it has

no Help and Support Service, and indeed it doesn't, although my XP has

that service.

 

[Mark Adams]

"mm" wrote:



> On Tue, 8 Jun 2010 23:52:07 -0300, "news.microsoft.com"

> wrote:

>

> >You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.

> >

> >Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's not

> >enough to just install XP but you also must install the manufacturer's

> >motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't have the original install

> >cd's that's the way to go (and basically is for all pc's nowadays when don't

> >have original Restore disks).

>

> Great idea. It has two options, a list of drivers, but the only one

> that relates to a problem I know of is the audio driver. It doesn't

> show anything for USB. I should look for a generic USB driveer, I

> think, but how will I install it when Device Manager doesn't work?

>

> It also had a link to a DriverAgent page, which said Welcome Averatec

> customers, and offered a driver scan. Since it was recommended by

> Averatec I did it, and it froze the computer at 40% of the scan. Did

> the same thing 3 times.

>

> On my own computer, I dl'd the same program, same version number from

> the same site, and it ran to completion and said it had newer drivers

> for 12 out of 36 drivers. (Although none of those things are giving me

> problems)

>





NEVER use one of these driver detecting programs. They charge you money to

download drivers that are available for free from the manufacturer's website,

and they frequently offer obsolete or completely wrong drivers- a sure way to

hose your system.



Go to the Averatec website and download all the drivers for your model

machine and burn them to CD. Install the drivers from the CD. If a "chipset"

driver is listed, install it first and reboot the computer. That will

probably get the USB ports working by providing support for the "Enhanced USB

Controller". Install the video and audio drivers next. Reboot and go to

Device Manager and look for yellow exclamation points next to devices.

Continue to install the drivers for those devices.





> So maybe that's another thing broken about the Averatec? That it

> won't run the driver scan.

>

> Also Help and Support from the Windows key won't work. It says it has

> no Help and Support Service, and indeed it doesn't, although my XP has

> that service.

> .

>

 

[mm]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:23:01 -0700, Mark Adams

wrote:



>

>

>"mm" wrote:

>

>> On Tue, 8 Jun 2010 23:52:07 -0300, "news.microsoft.com"

>> wrote:

>>

>> >You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.

>> >

>> >Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's not

>> >enough to just install XP but you also must install the manufacturer's

>> >motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't have the original install

>> >cd's that's the way to go (and basically is for all pc's nowadays when don't

>> >have original Restore disks).

>>

>> Great idea. It has two options, a list of drivers, but the only one

>> that relates to a problem I know of is the audio driver. It doesn't

>> show anything for USB. I should look for a generic USB driveer, I

>> think, but how will I install it when Device Manager doesn't work?

>>

>> It also had a link to a DriverAgent page, which said Welcome Averatec

>> customers, and offered a driver scan. Since it was recommended by

>> Averatec I did it, and it froze the computer at 40% of the scan. Did

>> the same thing 3 times.

>>

>> On my own computer, I dl'd the same program, same version number from

>> the same site, and it ran to completion and said it had newer drivers

>> for 12 out of 36 drivers. (Although none of those things are giving me

>> problems)

>>

>

>

>NEVER use one of these driver detecting programs. They charge you money to

>download drivers that are available for free from the manufacturer's website,

>and they frequently offer obsolete or completely wrong drivers- a sure way to

>hose your system.



I figured I had nothing to lose since otherwise the next step was

going to be the Factory Restore Point.**

>

>Go to the Averatec website and download all the drivers for your model

>machine and burn them to CD. Install the drivers from the CD. If a "chipset"

>driver is listed, install it first and reboot the computer.



Yeah, it does have that.



>That will

>probably get the USB ports working by providing support for the "Enhanced USB

>Controller". Install the video and audio drivers next. Reboot and go to

>Device Manager and look for yellow exclamation points next to devices.

>Continue to install the drivers for those devices.



Okay. I'll do that. Thanks a lot.







**I figured I had nothing to lose with a driver scan since otherwise

the next step was going to be the Factory Restore Point. And

DriverAgent was actually linked to on the Averatec website.



DriverAgent didn't finish, but Driver Detective did and it claimed the

computer had no USB optical mouse driver, which is the kind of mouse I

had plugged in that wouldn't work. . Personally, I didn't think there

was a separate driver for optical mice versus ball mice, but what do I

know? I know that at the manufacturer's website, there were 9

drivers, but none of them mentioned USB. (I wrote this before I read

what you said about Chipset, but it accurately reflects my feelings

last night. The only one I thought might have helped me was an audio

driver, but the audio is third on the list of what needs fixing.

 

[Jim]

On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:33:15 -0400, mm

wrote:



>On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:23:01 -0700, Mark Adams

> wrote:

>

>>

>>

>>"mm" wrote:

>>

>>> On Tue, 8 Jun 2010 23:52:07 -0300, "news.microsoft.com"

>>> wrote:

>>>

>>> >You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.

>>> >

>>> >Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's not

>>> >enough to just install XP but you also must install the manufacturer's

>>> >motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't have the original install

>>> >cd's that's the way to go (and basically is for all pc's nowadays when don't

>>> >have original Restore disks).

>>>

>>> Great idea. It has two options, a list of drivers, but the only one

>>> that relates to a problem I know of is the audio driver. It doesn't

>>> show anything for USB. I should look for a generic USB driveer, I

>>> think, but how will I install it when Device Manager doesn't work?

>>>

>>> It also had a link to a DriverAgent page, which said Welcome Averatec

>>> customers, and offered a driver scan. Since it was recommended by

>>> Averatec I did it, and it froze the computer at 40% of the scan. Did

>>> the same thing 3 times.

>>>

>>> On my own computer, I dl'd the same program, same version number from

>>> the same site, and it ran to completion and said it had newer drivers

>>> for 12 out of 36 drivers. (Although none of those things are giving me

>>> problems)

>>>

>>

>>

>>NEVER use one of these driver detecting programs. They charge you money to

>>download drivers that are available for free from the manufacturer's website,

>>and they frequently offer obsolete or completely wrong drivers- a sure way to

>>hose your system.

>

>I figured I had nothing to lose since otherwise the next step was

>going to be the Factory Restore Point.**

>>

>>Go to the Averatec website and download all the drivers for your model

>>machine and burn them to CD. Install the drivers from the CD. If a "chipset"

>>driver is listed, install it first and reboot the computer.

>

>Yeah, it does have that.

>

>>That will

>>probably get the USB ports working by providing support for the "Enhanced USB

>>Controller". Install the video and audio drivers next. Reboot and go to

>>Device Manager and look for yellow exclamation points next to devices.

>>Continue to install the drivers for those devices.

>

>Okay. I'll do that. Thanks a lot.

>

>

>

>**I figured I had nothing to lose with a driver scan since otherwise

>the next step was going to be the Factory Restore Point. And

>DriverAgent was actually linked to on the Averatec website.

>

>DriverAgent didn't finish, but Driver Detective did and it claimed the

>computer had no USB optical mouse driver, which is the kind of mouse I

>had plugged in that wouldn't work. . Personally, I didn't think there

>was a separate driver for optical mice versus ball mice, but what do I

>know? I know that at the manufacturer's website, there were 9

>drivers, but none of them mentioned USB. (I wrote this before I read

>what you said about Chipset, but it accurately reflects my feelings

>last night. The only one I thought might have helped me was an audio

>driver, but the audio is third on the list of what needs fixing.



Driver Detective is rubbish . ( I have used it once , uninstalled it )

 

[Daave]

news.microsoft.com wrote:

> You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.

>

> Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's

> not enough to just install XP but you also must install the

> manufacturer's motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't

> have the original install cd's that's the way to go (and basically is

> for all pc's nowadays when don't have original Restore disks).



This information assumes that OP will be using a generic OEM *XP

installation* CD.



However, this does not have to be the case. OP now knows how to obtain

the *Avartec recovery CD* (what you refer to as an "original Restore

disk"). As long as he uses that, all the drivers are instantly included.

 

[news.microsoft.com]

"Daave" wrote in message

news:OUH24VjCLHA.980@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> news.microsoft.com wrote:

>> You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.

>>

>> Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's

>> not enough to just install XP but you also must install the

>> manufacturer's motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't

>> have the original install cd's that's the way to go (and basically is

>> for all pc's nowadays when don't have original Restore disks).

>

> This information assumes that OP will be using a generic OEM *XP

> installation* CD.

>

> However, this does not have to be the case. OP now knows how to obtain the

> *Avartec recovery CD* (what you refer to as an "original Restore disk").

> As long as he uses that, all the drivers are instantly included.

>



Can't say that's my experience. I have the original retore cd's came with

this Averatec 6100 laptop. I once had to redo the system when I upgraded the

hard disk and although memory is sketchy I do seem to remember there were a

couple of drivers "missing" hence Device Manager exclamations after install

was "complete" (modem was one me thinks). Is how/why I know they have their

drivers online

 

[Daave]

news.microsoft.com wrote:

> "Daave" wrote in message

> news:OUH24VjCLHA.980@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>> news.microsoft.com wrote:

>>> You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.

>>>

>>> Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's

>>> not enough to just install XP but you also must install the

>>> manufacturer's motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't

>>> have the original install cd's that's the way to go (and basically

>>> is for all pc's nowadays when don't have original Restore disks).

>>

>> This information assumes that OP will be using a generic OEM *XP

>> installation* CD.

>>

>> However, this does not have to be the case. OP now knows how to

>> obtain the *Avartec recovery CD* (what you refer to as an "original

>> Restore disk"). As long as he uses that, all the drivers are

>> instantly included.

>

> Can't say that's my experience. I have the original retore cd's came

> with this Averatec 6100 laptop. I once had to redo the system when I

> upgraded the hard disk and although memory is sketchy I do seem to

> remember there were a couple of drivers "missing" hence Device

> Manager exclamations after install was "complete" (modem was one me

> thinks). Is how/why I know they have their drivers online



Then it's a crappy recovery CD.



Good advice, then.

 

[mm]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:23:01 -0700, Mark Adams

wrote:



>

>

>"mm" wrote:

>

>> On Tue, 8 Jun 2010 23:52:07 -0300, "news.microsoft.com"

>> wrote:

>>

>> >You mentioned it's an Averatec laptop. I have a 6100 works fine.

>> >

>> >Their site seems to have all the extra drivers you likely need. It's not

>> >enough to just install XP but you also must install the manufacturer's

>> >motherboard, audio, USB etc. drivers. As you don't have the original install

>> >cd's that's the way to go (and basically is for all pc's nowadays when don't

>> >have original Restore disks).

>>

>> Great idea. It has two options, a list of drivers, but the only one

>> that relates to a problem I know of is the audio driver. It doesn't

>> show anything for USB. I should look for a generic USB driveer, I

>> think, but how will I install it when Device Manager doesn't work?

>>

>> It also had a link to a DriverAgent page, which said Welcome Averatec

>> customers, and offered a driver scan. Since it was recommended by

>> Averatec I did it, and it froze the computer at 40% of the scan. Did

>> the same thing 3 times.

>>

>> On my own computer, I dl'd the same program, same version number from

>> the same site, and it ran to completion and said it had newer drivers

>> for 12 out of 36 drivers. (Although none of those things are giving me

>> problems)

>>

>

>

>NEVER use one of these driver detecting programs. They charge you money to

>download drivers that are available for free from the manufacturer's website,

>and they frequently offer obsolete or completely wrong drivers- a sure way to

>hose your system.



Well this is what finally happened tonight. Don't start your reply

until reading the whole thing.



I had already left the laptop with my young friend with instructions

to backup any personal data, things he wrote, etc. to CD's, when I

came home and read Mark's post that I'm replying to.



Turns out the CD writer wasn't working either (No CD in drive) so then

I was going to have him gat some google storage space and upload it

there.



Then I read Mark's post

>

>Go to the Averatec website and download all the drivers for your model

>machine and burn them to CD.



I made the CD and went there tonight.



> Install the drivers from the CD. If a "chipset"

>driver is listed, install it first and reboot the computer.



There was, also called 4in1, and I ran that driver .exe first and

rebooted, and I think it didn't help. Then I ran it again, and it

detected the USB flashdrive. Hooray.



>That will

>probably get the USB ports working by providing support for the "Enhanced USB

>Controller".



Yes indeedy.



>Install the video and audio drivers next. Reboot and go to



Installed audio, from the self-extracting file, and got a long string

of "Creation of folder Failed". In fact it didn't extract anything.

Did it again, same result.



Skipped video for now because video seemed good.



Did CPU Power, but it wanted to uninstall things. I guess because

everything was installed. Hmmmm. Maybe we should have uninstalled

and installed, but I just put that one aside for later, and then

skipped it.



Ran MousePad, or SomethingPad, Touchpad, because his cursor had been

moving, usually falling down the screen, when no one was touching

anything. Not enough time for me to decide if this fixed it, and my

young friend wasn't sure if it was better or not.



WLAN and LAN have been working fine so I put them aside for later and

skipped them.



I don't know what CARD is. And I forget now what the other two are.



>Device Manager and look for yellow exclamation points next to devices.

>Continue to install the drivers for those devices.



Device Manager still didn't work. Googled error message for CD

writing program and first hit said that the Plug and Play Service has

to be enabled. It wasn't. How did that change??



Also the error message when I tried to use Windows Help said the Help

& Support service was not working.



Ran services.msc and both services are disabled. Put both on

Automatic.



Sound now works, icon in systray for removing USB device appears, File

Manager works (and there are no yellow exclamation marks!.





The remaining questions are: What could mess up the USB so that the

chipset driver had to be reinstalled? How do such things happen?

And, any chance these services disabled themselves, or must my young

friend have done so?



Under grilling he admitted that he might have done something when he

was trying to stop something he didn't like. That could account for

the services but what about the USB driver?



He's 23, impatient, antsy, might even have DPDT or DBA or one of those

things people take ritalin for. Probably not but I like the line.



So everything is fixed except maybe the CD burning. (Reading works.)

He or we should be able to fix that.



And it was all in all the chipset driver, two services. and maybe the

Touchpad driver.



Thanks a lot Mark, Daave, news, mike S, windrider, Ken, and Jim.



He had no money for another computer and had been trying to fix up a

win98 box. This is much better.



>>

>> Also Help and Support from the Windows key won't work. It says it has

>> no Help and Support Service, and indeed it doesn't, although my XP has

>> that service.

>> .

>>