Major Headaches

[capnvic]

Originally Posted by marklwood

Was this by chance Geek Squad? This is their answer to everything. Next, they will tell you you had a virus and they have to charge you more to fix it. There is a side benefit to reloading your operating system. It will clear out anything that you may have inadvertently installed. If you do not take your system on the internet, you probably don't need an anti-virus or anti-spyware. Those can be disabled, and don't require a new operating system install.

I feel like your root problem is with the video card, or lack thereof. There is only so much you can do to try and work around this. I really hate to give this advice, but, I think you should consider a different machine for your gigs. You don't need the latest and greatest processor. I run my shows on a 1.8 GHz pentium single core. I bought the one I am using from PacificGeek for $80. I just checked, and they have a 3.2GHz with XP Pro for $140. What I do spend my $$ on is the video card. I would pair this with the 256MB PNY Verto GeForce 6500 for $52 also upgrade the memory to 2gb for another $40 and for less than $250 you have good solid machine. Please don't think I'm a shill for these guys, I am only pointing out 1 of many options. I would just hate for you to waste your time on a laptop that when it is all said and done, will barely, if ever, run Hoster songs, not to mention videos.

I would check the NVIDIA settings and run the card in a configuration that would utilize less memory. Do you know if the video card is using shared memory or has its own dedicated memory?

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by capnvic

I would check the NVIDIA settings and run the card in a configuration that would utilize less memory. Do you know if the video card is using shared memory or has its own dedicated memory?

I'll answer this one for them. No, it doesn't have dedicated memory. That is why I suggested to set aside memory in Bios.

[aswisher]

Thank yous for all the advice.
I am going to a Dart shoot this weekend and will not be able to work on the laptop but when I return I had already bought a 320 gig hard drive which I was going to upgrade anyway and start from scratch with XP Pro.
Yous have already been more help then the geeks which I ma not to impressed with anyway based on a few thngs asked them on other issues.
I will then follow all the posts and try and fine tune the laptop and hopefully it will work allright and maybe have to ask a little more indepth in the areas of the settings.
Thank yous all for your help in this matter and wish I had something in the advice area to share back.

thank yous
Mike

[ddouglass]

Mark don't tell him we are geeks too We just have a little more specific knowledge about the MTU programs in relation to computers.

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Mark don't tell him we are geeks too We just have a little more specific knowledge about the MTU programs in relation to computers.

Thanks for the smile, Dale