• How Do I Silence My Modem?
• How Do I Install Windows XP On A SATA Hard Drive?
• How Do I get Windows To Recognise A Missing CD-DVD Drive?
• What is the BIOS? 
• What is the CMOS?
• How do I change the BIOS settings?
• My computer is running slowly, what do I do? Stage 1 - read the briefing paper.

 

How Do I Silence My Modem?    

The minute your modem makes contact with your ISP (after it has dialled it) it starts screeching and wailing as if it is in pain. This can be extremely irritating. It is easy to stop.  The following should work with most versions of Windows.

1. Click the Start button
2. In the Start menu click Control Panel
3. In Control panel click the Phone and Modem icon
4. The phone and modem options window opens.
5. Click the Modem tab and then click the Properties button at the base of the window
6. In the Modem Properties window click the Advanced tab
7. In the advanced tab window a dialog box called Extra Initialisation Commands should be visible.
8. In this box type: M0 (the 0 being Zero)
9. Click OK to exit
10. You could also use the volume control on the Modem tab in the modem properties window to turn off the modem speaker

An alternative for a PC with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed.

1. Click the Start button
2. On the Start menu click Control panel
3. In the Control panel click the Network Connection Icon
4. Right Click on the Dial Up Connection icon for your ISP
5. From the drop down menu select Properties
6. In the Properties window you will see a section marked Connect Using. Below this will be details of your modem
7. Click the Configure button
8. The modem configuration window will now open
9. Near the bottom of the window you will see an option marked Enable Modem Speaker. There should be a tick mark inside the box on the left of this option
10. To Disable the modem speaker simply remove the tick mark, Click OK then Exit all other open windows.

How Do I Install Windows XP On A SATA Hard Drive?    

Serial ATA (SATA) drives are the latest type of hard drive and should present no problem when installing Windows. However Windows XP doesn’t contain the necessary drivers to see the drive so that it can install itself.  This means that you will have to load the appropriate drivers first.  This will probably only occur if you have fitted a new hard drive to your system.

To load Windows XP onto a SATA drive you need to proceed as follows:

1. Copy the SATA drivers (these can usually be found on your hard disk, pc or motherboards support disk.  Usually these consist of SATA Folders and TXTsetup.oem files. Alternatively they may have been supplied on a separate CD/floppy disk that accompanied your SATA drive, assuming you purchased it separately from the pc.)
2. Insert the Windows XP CD (full retail version – you should not need to follow these instructions if your pc came with a recovery disk) into the CD-ROM and reboot your PC
3. At the Windows Setup Screen (this should be the second screen after installation starts) you should see, at the bottom of the screen, a message saying “Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver.”  Press the F6 button.
4. When the next screen appears press S to specify an additional device and insert the floppy disk containing the SATA drivers into your floppy drive
5. Windows will next ask you to select a driver from the provided list.  Select the appropriate ATA RAID Controller (Windows XP).
6. The SATA drivers on your floppy disk should now load
7. After the drivers have loaded Windows XP will recognise your SATA hard drive and you can continue installing the Windows XP operating system

How Do I get Windows To Recognise A Missing CD-DVD Drive?    

There are a number of reasons why the operating system does not recognise your CD-DVD drive including:

• It has broken
• The connection to the CD/DVD drive has become loose
• The computer cannot recognise the drive
• There may be a driver problem
• There may be a registry problem
• A particular piece of software may have ‘hijacked’ the drive for its exclusive use

Open up your computer case and physically check that the ribbon cable is connected properly to the CD/DVD and the IDE controller on the motherboard. You also need to check that the power cable to the CD/DVD drive is also connected. If these connections are OK, then it is likely that when you turn the machine on the light on the CD will flash and it will be possible for you to eject the tray.  If this is okay then is the CD/DVD recognised by the BIOS?

The BIOS looks at what hardware and memory you have on your machine and checks that it can communicate with it prior to the operating system kicking in. If the hardware is not being recognised then the BIOS is the first to complain.  When the computer starts it show a list of devices it recognises.  Watch and see if it displays your make and model of CD/DVD (normally prefixed with “secondary master/slave”.  If you don’t see this you will have to go into the BIOS setup to change the setting (see the FAQ on this)

You should ensure that the configuration is set to 'automatic' so that the BIOS automatically picks up the CD/DVD drive. Once again, in the BIOS menu, you should see the CD/DVD drive details displayed under the Secondary IDE Master or Slave sub menu.

Driver Problems

If the BIOS recognises the CD/DVD drive then the problem may be driver related. To check for this you need to take a look at the Device manager options in Control panel. You might also check the CD/DVD drive manufacturers' website to see if a later driver is available. If so download and install it.

1. Click Start, Control panel
2. In the control panel window click the System icon
3. The system properties window will open, click the Hardware tab and then the Device Manager button
4. Look for your CD/DVD drive in the available list and click the + (plus) sign to expand the menu
5. Does the CD/DVD drive have a ? next to it? If it does then click on the Actions menu and, from the drop down list, select Uninstall. This will uninstall the CD/DVD drive.
6. After the driver has been uninstall, again click the Actions option and select the Scan for hardware changes option
7. Windows will now scan for any new hardware and should pick up your CD/DVD drive.
8. You can look at other options here, such as “troubleshoot” and the drivers section which will ask you if you want to update the driver (or “roll it back”).  To do this you will have to have the new driver.  However, if the driver has become corrupted, reinstalling from the original disks can solve the problem.
9. If that doesn't bring your CD/DVD back then you may need to edit the registry

Editing the registry can be dangerous, so before you begin make sure that you have a backup copy of your registry saved in a safe place. Create a System restore point prior to changing registry entries.  This is not for the faint hearted!  Please call Virtual Riders for assistance if you are unsure as to what you are doing.

1. Click Start, Run and type regedit in the dialogue box
2. navigate to the following key:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and look for the Upper Filters value
3. Right click on the Upper Filter Value and, from the drop down menu click Delete
4. Next navigate to the following key:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and look for the Lower Filter value
5. Again Right Click on the Lower Filter Value and, from the drop down menu, click Delete
6. Finally exit the registry editor and reboot your machine

What is the BIOS?      

What is the CMOS?    

How do I change the BIOS settings?    

One of the most common uses of Flash memory is for the basic input/output system of your computer, commonly known as the BIOS (pronounced "bye-ose"). On virtually every computer available, the BIOS makes sure all the other chips, hard drives, ports and CPU function together.  The BIOS is special software that interfaces the major hardware components of your computer with the operating system. 

The first thing the BIOS does is check the information stored in a tiny (64 bytes) amount of RAM located on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip. The CMOS Setup provides detailed information particular to your system and can be altered as your system changes. The BIOS uses this information to modify or supplement its default programming as needed.

To enter the BIOS Setup, you must press a certain key or combination of keys during the initial startup sequence. Most systems use "Esc," "Del," "F1," "F2," "Ctrl-Esc" or "Ctrl-Alt-Esc" to enter setup. There is usually a line of text at the bottom of the display that tells you "Press xxx to Enter Setup."

Follow the instructions on screen.  Note that tampering with these settings can seriously damage your computer.