Computer crashes etc.

Yeah...I just wished I would have done that before this...hehe. I was already going to make a new docs folder and keep it on a diff hard drive for my docs.

As for the pc tech, he is supposed to be here by 6pm est. and it is only 1:51pm est. presently. I was thinking if I do a full windows reinstall and get it fixed before he gets here then maybe I'd save some money.

Ok...new update. I reinstalled windows and now I can get back into the computer again! YAY!!!

However...only 2 of my hard drives are showing up now. It only shows the 2 40 GB ones. The 160 GB and the 200 GB one do not show up. I went into disk management and do not see them there either. I am now trying to troubleshoot to see how to get them to show up and be usable. I looked at them in the case and one appears to be missing its jumper. I have no idea where it is. Any ideas/suggestions?

Also, I forgot that my computer uses a RAID setup and had forgotten all about that. I may have to do another windows reinstall and try to set it up for RAID. I forget where it gives you that option in the setup.

I also need to figure out whether to cancel the tech coming out tonight or not since I might be on the verge of having it fixed.

Could it be that the reason the 160 GB and the 200 GB are not showing up is that I didn't set up the RAID controler? I remember having to set it up when installing win xp in the past during the setup. I forgot when it asks you if you have any RAID stuff you have to set up during the installation. Anyone got a clue on this? Is this why the other 2 hard drives are not showing up?

Also....I already installed windows and totally forgot about the RAID stuff. Should I simply go through it again and try to get the RAID set up in windows installation?

I also read somewhere that when setting up RAID to make sure you disconnect all the drives that have important data on them as to make sure you don't lose data. Is this something I would need to do?

Since this thread is no longer dealing with viruses/spyware etc. I have moved it to the Windows OS forum.

Regards Howard

Rgr

Any help to the couple above posts I made?

I can`t really help you with this as I`ve never personally used raid. Therefore this is outside my area of expertise.

However, there are plenty of members here who will be able to advise you.

Regards Howard

I seem to remember there being a step in the windows xp installation where it asks something about if you have any RAID stuff you need to set up and if you do it takes you to that step in the setup. Any idea anyone? Where are you Wazza? I need you! hehe

I seem to remember it being within the first steps of the setup process. It asks you to press F6 to load third party RAID drivers.

You may find this thread HERE useful.

Regards Howard

I figured out a way to get the RAID set up and the promise drivers installed. I did it within device manager by choosing "update driver" and having the disk that came with my MO in the disk drive.

Now I have to take care of the yellow question marks under device manager.

I got her up and running and everything is taken care of now! Thanks so much from the bottom of my heart for your patience and unbelievable help. You are all wonderful and I am very thankful. Thank you so much...all of you!

That`s great news.

Thanks for letting us know.

Regards Howard

One more thing...much earlier in the conversation someone said that having Norton Anti-Virus on the computer was a problem. I used to have it installed before my crash. I was going to ask if it is worth putting back on or not? Why would Norton Anti-Virus be a problem? It isn't the internet security suite, just the AV.

Basically, Symantec/Noton security products are crap, use too many system resources and aren`t that good at killing viruses either.

You`d be far better off with either the free AVG or Avast antivirus programmes and either the free Zonealarm or Kerio firewall programmes. You can get them HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

If you really want a paid for antivirus programme, then probably Kaspersky is the best. You can get that from HERE.

Regards Howard

Thanks again! You all rock!

It seems I'm not 100% out of the woods just yet. I am now having a strange issue where it seems that everytime I try to open my G drive, the 160 GB Maxtor hard drive, it freezes up on me.

The window that would be showing the contents of the drive will freeze up and my mouse pointer will intermittetly freeze on the screen several times. I have to try using ctrl+alt+delete to shut it down but most of the time have to hit the reset button on the computer. I sure hope this 160 GB drive isn't trying to fail on me.

I will try to check out the jumper configuration later and see what to do next.

Anyone able to help me with this issue? It seems that my 160 GB hard drive is acting funny. Everytime I try to open it in "My Computer" it seems to freeze things up on my screen. My mouse pointer will freeze up and stuff and when the pointer comes around again I have to use ctrl+alt+delete repeatedly to try to shut stuff down. I also noticed it does this when I double click icons on the desktop that point to programs in that same hard drive. Anyone know what might be causing this?