Problems with old computer!

[Brak]

Hey guys, I'm on my newly built computer now (even though its just sitting on the floor of my living room) and i got it setup pretty well despite some hair-pulling while building it. But i'm having problems with my other computer.

It got the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME error, and it turned out that my HD was faulty, so Dell sent me a new one, and it was installed yesterday, and I installed windowns. but now I'm having a few problems.

My resolution wont go over 600x800, and when it is at that, the colors get crappy, i have to keep it at the lowest setting to even operate. That computer uses an integrated graphics card, and i think drivers might be my problem. This leads me to my next problem

I cannot get onto the internet. I have a cable modem attatched to a router is that means anything. This computer that I'm on now could set up a connection no problem (as you can see), but I've tried to set up a connection every which way and it still refuses to work! Can anyone give me some clear help or direction as to how the hell i do this? with all these wizards and stuff im getting a bit lost.

thanks for the help everyone

[BigEvil]

More than likely, you are missing the drivers for the monitor and the nic card. Go to the Dell.com websight and look for the drivers for you specific PC. Dell.com will ask for some numbers off of the side of the computer to figure out what's what. Follow the instructions for downloading and installing them. You will probably need to put them on a CD from another pc first.

[thecavemankevin]

go here: http://support.dell.com/ and enter in your service tag code (from the side of your computer) and then download the VGA and NIC drivers needed. You'll either need to put them on a CD or jumpdrive/flash drive and then put them on your non working PC.

Also, on your non working pc, right click on "my computer" and click properties. then go to the hardware tab and select "device manager." More than likely you will see your NIC, VGA and probably your Audio controller showing errors. You may see others too.

But get your NIC and VGA up and running then once you establish a connection you should be able to right click on those other non working items and hit reinstall driver from the internet/windows update. That should hopefully resolve the problems.

[RapidTransit]

I cannot get onto the internet. I have a cable modem attatched to a router is that means anything. This computer that I'm on now could set up a connection no problem (as you can see), but I've tried to set up a connection every which way and it still refuses to work! Can anyone give me some clear help or direction as to how the hell i do this? with all these wizards and stuff im getting a bit lost.

thanks for the help everyone

Cable companys do not like routers, you have to clone your MAC address from your NIC to the router, that way there they think its a computer connected and not a router.

[rkjunior303]

Cable companys do not like routers, you have to clone your MAC address from your NIC to the router, that way there they think its a computer connected and not a router.

what?

that's a crock. just about every Linksys router is plug-n-play with cable modems. i've NEVER had a problem getting connected to the internet when my router is hooked up to our cable modem.

go to dell.com and download the proper drivers for your NIC and video card, that will solve your problems.

[sbpyro]

what?

that's a crock. just about every Linksys router is plug-n-play with cable modems. i've NEVER had a problem getting connected to the internet when my router is hooked up to our cable modem.

I'd agree with you except that the first time I set up a cable modem to a router you did have to clone the MAC address. The latest setup I did was just plug an play.

[RapidTransit]

what?

that's a crock. just about every Linksys router is plug-n-play with cable modems. i've NEVER had a problem getting connected to the internet when my router is hooked up to our cable modem.

Um I fail to see any valid point to your argument, thats great for you that yours worked with no problem. I just did an install with Comcast cable for a friend it wouldn't work, unless the MAC address was cloned. Interesting? It's also known that Comcast hates routers, except for the ones you get through them.

Also some more info on the problem would help, what errors are popping up etc. What version of Windows.

[BigEvil]

what?

that's a crock. just about every Linksys router is plug-n-play with cable modems. i've NEVER had a problem getting connected to the internet when my router is hooked up to our cable modem.

go to dell.com and download the proper drivers for your NIC and video card, that will solve your problems.

Agreed. I have seen some funny issues with DSL and routers, but never with an at-home cable ISP, esp. if the router has NAT.

[robnix]

Agreed. I have seen some funny issues with DSL and routers, but never with an at-home cable ISP, esp. if the router has NAT.

It all depends on who your ISP is and what their policies are.

As far as Comcast goes, they use MAC address caching on their network, at least in my area. If you put a router in place after having a PC connected directly to the cable modem, then yes, you'll get an IP address on the router more quickly if you clone the PC's MAC. However, you can avoid doing this by simply unplugging both the cable modem and your router for a few minutes, then plugging the cable modem back in, letting it power up, and the powering up the router. Log into the router and you should be able to renew the IP address.