Ok,
I have been reading for about 3 hours now trying to get some understanding to fix my eMachines C2685 but the fix doesn't seem to be clear.
Background: I baught an eMachines several years back - I know I should have been flogged then and wasn't but I'm sure I'll get some of that here. Then one day both the USB ports and the audio quit working. I baught a USB card and installed it but it was driving my son nuts not to have audio. He's 15. Finally, I decided to replace the mobo - something I had not done before but was willing to try. I read a few things about mobo replacement and thought I could do it without to much difficulty. I moved all of my files to storage, completed an XP Home clean re-install (using Ghost disks provided - they don't give you real OS disks), re-registered using the key code I got from using "magic Jellybean", used the computer for a couple of days to make sure the software was still OK, and then made the change to a Biostar P4M80-M4 mobo that was supposed to be compatible.
Now when I try to power up I get a brief flash of Windows XP, then the Biostar background, then briefly a text indicating configuration set up, then a display right after that reads something like "Were sorry, Windows did not start correctly, a recent hardware change may have caused this......" then it waits for a countdown timer and tries to restart. There is safe modes, last known configuration, and finally start normally. I have been into the BIOS and all of the settings seem to be correct.
I thinking that using the Ghost CDs that the manufacturer provided won't help much. I am willing to buy a new OS but I don't know which kind - OEM or Retail - to use to do a repair install? Or do I need to do something else?
(Here comes the flogging - "You should have never baught an eMachines - they are disposable junk". Well I vow never to purchase eMachines again.)
Scott
I have been reading for about 3 hours now trying to get some understanding to fix my eMachines C2685 but the fix doesn't seem to be clear.
Background: I baught an eMachines several years back - I know I should have been flogged then and wasn't but I'm sure I'll get some of that here. Then one day both the USB ports and the audio quit working. I baught a USB card and installed it but it was driving my son nuts not to have audio. He's 15. Finally, I decided to replace the mobo - something I had not done before but was willing to try. I read a few things about mobo replacement and thought I could do it without to much difficulty. I moved all of my files to storage, completed an XP Home clean re-install (using Ghost disks provided - they don't give you real OS disks), re-registered using the key code I got from using "magic Jellybean", used the computer for a couple of days to make sure the software was still OK, and then made the change to a Biostar P4M80-M4 mobo that was supposed to be compatible.
Now when I try to power up I get a brief flash of Windows XP, then the Biostar background, then briefly a text indicating configuration set up, then a display right after that reads something like "Were sorry, Windows did not start correctly, a recent hardware change may have caused this......" then it waits for a countdown timer and tries to restart. There is safe modes, last known configuration, and finally start normally. I have been into the BIOS and all of the settings seem to be correct.
I thinking that using the Ghost CDs that the manufacturer provided won't help much. I am willing to buy a new OS but I don't know which kind - OEM or Retail - to use to do a repair install? Or do I need to do something else?
(Here comes the flogging - "You should have never baught an eMachines - they are disposable junk". Well I vow never to purchase eMachines again.)
Scott
