http://www.bootdisk.com/ 0021 September 2007
HouseCall
Welcome to the 21st Edition of HouseCall
INDEX
1) CrossLoop – Simple Secure Screen Sharing
2) 132 Gig Drive Limitation
3) Printing Problem With Some Websites
4) A Single Bad Block On A HDD
5) Is It Difficult To Replace A PSU?
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1) CrossLoop – Simple Secure Screen Sharing
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2) 132 Gig Drive Limitation
Ivan posted - I just purchased a 320 gig hardrive Seagate. When i went to install xp and make a partition its only showing 131gig and nothing else. Anyone know why?
Lil' Dave responded:
Not familiar with your PC. You need both bios support, and XP SP1 or greater to "see" a drive greater than 132GB for partitioning its entirety. XP SP1 or SP2 can "see" partitions on an added hard drive that already exist from another computer beyond 132GB. But, if your PC, for instance, didn't have bios support for such a larger capacity hard drive. That's all you can do with it is read it.
Paul R. added:
You may have one or two problems.
1. BIOS -- if your BIOS can't handle drives as large as 320 Gb, then you have to do something to get around this problem. You might be able to update your BIOS (my preference) or install a driver that may have been included on a CD with your hard drive. You can find out whether it is a BIOS problem by hitting some function key (or maybe the escape key) during boot-up, and note the size of the hard drive it sees.
2. The original WXP installation disk's partitioning software may not be able to handle the 320 GB drive, so it reports 131 GB. If this is the case, you might be stuck. The drive could be partitioned by third party software freely available on the net, but I don't know whether the original WXP can be safely installed and run to update itself to SP2 on a hard drive whose size it does not recognize.
Andy said:
The short answer is you're using the original release of Windows XP, which supported only 28-bit LBA for disk access, limiting its disk addressing to 131,000 MB. Slipstream your XP CD with SP2 to fix the problem.
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3) Printing Problem With Some Websites
kwstroud wrote - When trying to print from a particular secure web site, users with IE6 I get an error and IE shuts down. Users with IE7 and Mozilla can print OK.
*** I also cant print from some websites using another [my favorite] browser, ie Firefox, but for those websites I use IE. You always want at least 2 WWW browsers installed and working on any PC. Note that many people who have websites only test it with their specific OS and their specific browser and incorrectly assume that's if it works at home or in the office, it will work anywhere. People have to test their websites with different browsers and even various versions of the same browser to make sure it works with the majority of their visitors.
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4) A Single Bad Block On A HDD
David S. questioned - My wife's 5 1/2 years old XP laptop had some problems that I traced to a single bad block (using chkdsk /r /f).
My question is how badly does this bode for the hard drive? Is a single bad block after this amount of time a sign of it failing soon or could it go on for several more years?
*** A single bad block is no big deal. Yes it can go on for several more years with no problem. The big deal starts if you have, lets say, 3 or 5 bad sectors and then next month you have 7. Then you know for sure that your hard drive hasn't much time left.
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5) Is It Difficult To Replace A PSU?
Buck T. wrote - I suspect the PSU on my ahem, Powerspec PC is failing. Is it difficult to replace a PSU? I've installed network cards, and a disk drive a couple of years ago, and it was do-able for me. Is the PSU much more difficult? Any brands to avoid? IIRC, mine is about 700w or so.
*** It really depends on the computer design. For example, if you have a standard PC one can get a new PS almost anywhere and no, its not difficult to replace as many people with no PC experience at all do it all the time. If you have some sort of "slimline" or "mini" design it may be very difficult to find a replacement PS, if one can find one at all. For example, I'm currently writing this from a super mini tower and the PS is in two parts. I have no idea where I'd get a new PS if I needed one.
However, chances are that you have a standard PS as you say its 700 watts which aren't used in the "mini", and/or "slimline" cases. One way to test a power supply is with a small digital voltmeter which go for about $20.
Power Supply Reference Sheet
Here are the ATX allowances for power supply voltage spec deviation, measured at the motherboard power connector, negative test lead on the chassis frame for reference ground.
+12VDC output +/- 5% (11.4V to 12.6V) This rail may deviate up to +/- 10% if the supply is under peak loading.
+5VDC output +/- 5% (4.75V to 5.25V)
+3.3VDC output +/- 5% (3.14V to 3.47V)
-5VDC output +/-10% (-4.50V to -5.50V)
-12VDC output +/- 10% (-10.80V to -13.20V)
+5VSB +/- 5% (4.75V to 5.25V)
If measurements show that the voltage deviations are outside the ranges specified above, then it's time to get a new power supply. Generally when a power supply starts to fail the voltages go up. For example, on many PCs I've replaced hard drives on the 5 volt line when it reads perhaps 5.4 volts. Whether that was the reason for the hard drive failure I dont know, but I'd always insist on a new PS before I put in a replacement drive. After all, one has to guarantee the new HDD and after loading all the customers data you certainly dont want to go back an redo the job.
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