computer/web site help/ advice

Thanks! I'll give that a try tomorrow. I'm clear on viruses as far as I know - I ran a full scan a few weeks ago, and I know I've had trouble updating for longer than that.

 

- I downloaded a new copy of the SP1 just in case something was wrong with the file I had previously. Tried to install it, but got error 0x8007000D.

- Ran registry scan with CCleaner. It fixed 86 things. I restarted the system, then tried to install SP1 again. Error code 0x800F0900.

- Ran Chkdsk. It did a bunch of stuff. Turned off wireless, turned off avast antivirus, exited other background running programs. Tried to install SP1. Error code 0x8007000D.

We really need a face banging against the wall, fist pounding the table icon.

I've read that sometimes certain drivers can interfere with updates. I suppose I will go through the list of those next. Or is there a way I can boot into some sort of safe mode that would circumvent that sort of thing, and then install the update?

 

No luck.

- tried installing both the System Readiness Tool and the SP1 in safe mode. Same problems.

- downloaded a new copy of the SP1 (saved to generic documents directory because for some reason the system won't let me save to C:/Program Files). Tried installing new copy - same problem. Does this cover the directions above, given that I know it is a new copy, in a separate directory? Or is there something else in the software distribution directory that I also need to get rid of?

- Went into setup, turned off everything I could find. Same errors trying to install SP1, but the SRT installed this time. The logs show that it did stuff. Rebooted computer, tried installing SP1 again. Unfortunately, it still didn't work. Same errors.

I'm starting to wonder if I should just reinstall Vista, or upgrade to Windows 7.

One other thing to mention... for a long time now, I have gotten an error message upon booting the computer. It says that there is a driver that conflicts with Vista, that it has blocked. It doesn't directly name the driver; just indicates it is from an old CD burning program. I had tried to install this program a long time ago, but after installing it discovered it wasn't compatible with Vista. I uninstalled it, but it seems the computer thinks it left a driver behind. I'm not sure where to find the drive though. I've always ignored this as a minor annoyance when booting the system. Could it be connected to the upgrade problem?

 

Ben, have you used Ubuntu before? I know you can run most programs on there using Wine, but are there any limitations other than that?

 

Does anyone have an IPad? What do they like? Not like? I am really thinking about getting one...

 

Is there a proprietary issue re: Flash and iPad/iPhone?

 

Awesome

 

And it is said that romance is dead.....

 

Greatest of all ironyl ...

I decided that maybe I will just go ahead and upgrade to Win 7. Before doing so, I need to backup all my data and such. The software for the backup system... requires SP2.

 

I am at the end of my rope.

The update to Windows 7 requires... *drumroll* ... SP1!

 

Tariel, were you successful? I too am trying to install Windows 7, though my problem at the moment is that for some reason my disk drive is not recognizing software disks, likewise DVDs. It'll play an audio CD with no difficulty, though it does not pull audio CD info from the net and just calls it an unknown CD. While I'm almost certain I need a new drive, I can't find the reason it would read one and not the other two. All the drivers are up to date, Vista is running on a fresh install (the HP version that came with the PC), Security Essentials is loaded, up to date and protected and my computer says that it has every update available.

Why would it be doing this?

I want to install Windows 7 (not upgrade, just fresh boot-from-disk install) and my copy of Windows is indeed the full version, my computer just isn't picking it up, or the router software I'm trying to install or anything else that isn't just an audio CD. Gonna try using an external USB CD-Rom drive tonight but I'm just wondering if this a software/hardware/meatware issue or what. Any help here would be hot. Thanks!

 

Can you use the disk drive while in safe mode? You might want to upload something like Knopix onto a flash drive and run that OS and test the disk drives out on that to make sure they are dead.

 

You know, I haven't tried that. I didn't know I could switch to safe mode manually, I always thought it was something the computer would only do automatically if it detected a serious problem. How do I do that? A command in DOS? or at startup?

 

I didn't even think that the lens would be dirty, just because it hasn't been used or opened in so long but that just might be it. I'll run a cleaner tonight. Thanks!

Just curious, but would it read only certain media and not other types if it was just dirty?

 

It didn't work!

But I am so happy!

The drive wouldn't even load the cleaner disc but I used an external USB CD ROM and I am now typing this message from the cozy confines of a brand spankin' new copy of Windows 7 and I'm posting...wirelessly!

So while I may still have to buy a new drive, at least I accomplished what I set out to do and now have a malware free computer and a secure wireless connection!

Thanks, all!

 

Yes, I have been able to successfully upgrade to Windows 7, finally. A friend helped me with the initial work on doing so. We decided it wasn't worth it, time-wise, to deal with the whole SP1 issue. I needed it for going the 'keep your files intact' upgrade route. Instead we went with a fresh install.

The first install attempt didn't work well, actually. It seemed fine at first, but I soon discovered that the system had issues booting. It could boot just fine from a shut-down, but it could not boot from a restart. I did all sorts of scans trying to get it to fix itself, tested memory, hard drive, ect, but no luck. I finally did another install from scratch, and this time everything was good. I'm guessing there was some sort of corrupt file during the first install.

I'm slowly getting software and drivers back on the system. My latest challenge is playing flv files. I think I used to play them in windows media player. I've downloaded and installed the playflv plug in. I downloaded and installed the corresponding ffdshow. I made sure that ffdshow settings checked flv1 and flv4 files types. And yet I still get the error "Windows Media Player encountered a problem while playing the file" error message. Aurgh!! I've installed and uninstalled and reinstalled a couple of times. No happiness. Is there something else I am suppose to do to incorporate the plugin into media player? I assumed that running the installation of both playflv and ffdshow would do everything automatically.