Alison wrote:
> I did have the motherboard replaced about two years ago......everything was
> working fine until recently. Both the CD and the DVD drive have been giving
> us problems for a while.....sometimes they read and loaded the discs and
> sometimes they didn't. We purchased a wireless router and I went to do the
> install and the CD Rom drive would not read the disc at all and that is when
> we brought it in for repair. They checked the motherboard and said it was
> fine.
>
> As for the restore......I provided them with my HP System Restore Disc
> (win98 was pre-installed when I purchased computer) and I also provided them
> with my Win XP Home Upgrade Poduct Key.....they used their own disc. I had
> the Win XP disc but they said all they needed was the Product Key.
>

I had the same type of problem on my Dell. Both opticals quit working.
Dell sent a tech out he changed both drives out and still no optical
drives working. So he called in and they told him to check a couple of
entries in the registry and change them. It worked the tech said that
was a new one for him as he had never heard of that before. So you might
want to check with HP. Sorry but I do not know what he changed in the
registry.

AWWWWW. I forgot about that! Thanks Caver1... I have seen this before.
Here are my notes concerning the issue. HOWEVER, I only used this when
the optical drives were not shown in My Computer. But for anyone who is
experiencing that specific issue, here are my notes:

Click Start, then Run, then enter REGEDIT to open the Registry Editor

Navigate to the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Class entry

Under the Class entry, double click on
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

In the right-hand pane, click ONCE to select the UpperFilters entry

Make sure the UpperFilters entry is highlighted, press Delete, then Yes.

In the right-hand pane, click ONCE to select the LowerFilters entry

Make sure the LowerFilters entry is highlighted, press Delete, then Yes.

Close the Registry Editor by clicking File, Exit.

--
Michael D. Alligood,
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW Assoc.,
CIW Certified Instructor



"caver1" <phillip@what.com> wrote in message
news:JxM5h.29179$Cq3.6103@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com:

> Alison wrote:
> > I did have the motherboard replaced about two years ago......everything was
> > working fine until recently. Both the CD and the DVD drive have been giving
> > us problems for a while.....sometimes they read and loaded the discs and
> > sometimes they didn't. We purchased a wireless router and I went to do the
> > install and the CD Rom drive would not read the disc at all and that is when
> > we brought it in for repair. They checked the motherboard and said it was
> > fine.
> >
> > As for the restore......I provided them with my HP System Restore Disc
> > (win98 was pre-installed when I purchased computer) and I also provided them
> > with my Win XP Home Upgrade Poduct Key.....they used their own disc. I had
> > the Win XP disc but they said all they needed was the Product Key.
> >
>
> I had the same type of problem on my Dell. Both opticals quit working.
> Dell sent a tech out he changed both drives out and still no optical
> drives working. So he called in and they told him to check a couple of
> entries in the registry and change them. It worked the tech said that
> was a new one for him as he had never heard of that before. So you might
> want to check with HP. Sorry but I do not know what he changed in the
> registry.

AWWWWW. I forgot about that! Thanks Caver1... I have seen this before.
Here are my notes concerning the issue. HOWEVER, I only used this when
the optical drives were not shown in My Computer. But for anyone who is
experiencing that specific issue, here are my notes:

Click Start, then Run, then enter REGEDIT to open the Registry Editor

Navigate to the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Class entry

Under the Class entry, double click on
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

In the right-hand pane, click ONCE to select the UpperFilters entry

Make sure the UpperFilters entry is highlighted, press Delete, then Yes.

In the right-hand pane, click ONCE to select the LowerFilters entry

Make sure the LowerFilters entry is highlighted, press Delete, then Yes.

Close the Registry Editor by clicking File, Exit.

--
Michael D. Alligood,
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW Assoc.,
CIW Certified Instructor



"caver1" <phillip@what.com> wrote in message
news:JxM5h.29179$Cq3.6103@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com:

> Alison wrote:
> > I did have the motherboard replaced about two years ago......everything was
> > working fine until recently. Both the CD and the DVD drive have been giving
> > us problems for a while.....sometimes they read and loaded the discs and
> > sometimes they didn't. We purchased a wireless router and I went to do the
> > install and the CD Rom drive would not read the disc at all and that is when
> > we brought it in for repair. They checked the motherboard and said it was
> > fine.
> >
> > As for the restore......I provided them with my HP System Restore Disc
> > (win98 was pre-installed when I purchased computer) and I also provided them
> > with my Win XP Home Upgrade Poduct Key.....they used their own disc. I had
> > the Win XP disc but they said all they needed was the Product Key.
> >
>
> I had the same type of problem on my Dell. Both opticals quit working.
> Dell sent a tech out he changed both drives out and still no optical
> drives working. So he called in and they told him to check a couple of
> entries in the registry and change them. It worked the tech said that
> was a new one for him as he had never heard of that before. So you might
> want to check with HP. Sorry but I do not know what he changed in the
> registry.

This looks to be remarkably similar to an issue I'm pursuing.

I've just reformatted the disk, and installed a fresh copy of Windows XP
Home SP2. The PC still freezes (this has been an issue for quite some time).
There seems to be a regular pair of events in the System event log that
accompanies such a freeze:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: ACPI
Event ID: 5
Description:
AMLI: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port address
(0xcf8), which lies in the 0xcf8 - 0xcff protected address range. This could
lead to system instability. Please contact your vendor for technical
assistance.

The other is the corresponding 'read' event.

The corresponding link to Microsoft's site gives the following information:

*********************
Product: Windows Operating System
Event ID: 5
Source: ACPI
Version: 5.2
Symbolic Name: ACPI_ERR_AMLI_ILLEGAL_IO_WRITE_FATAL
Message: %2: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port address
(%3), which lies in the %4 protected range. This could lead to system
instability, etc.

Explanation

The system BIOS attempted to incorrectly access hardware resources
concurrently with the operating system. This type of access cannot be
synchronised and can cause system instability.


User Action

Contact the system vendor for an updated BIOS and follow the vendor's
instructions for installation.

*********************

I cannot seem to find a suitable BIOS update, but am awaiting a response
from the system vendor.

However, following a comment in another forum, I changed the Plug and Play
Operating System setting in the BIOS to No/False. This setting is recommended
in a Microsoft article (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/314068)
anyway. Following that, I was able to run the PC for a good couple of hours
as it downloaded and installed a large amount of updates from Microsoft
Update. It hasn't frozen since, but as that was only last night, I can't be
certain of success yet. However, prior to that, the PC was freezing so
frequently as to be unusable; it was freezing pretty much immediately on
trying to run updates from Microsoft Update, and also trying to install an
update from another site, so there has been a definite improvement.

I'll update these comments as I investigate further.

"Alison" wrote:

> Just had a Windows XP Home system restore because of corruption. Ever since I
> got it home it keeps freezing. It freezes at least once an hour during any
> operation, ie. internet, outlook email, documents, etc... It completely
> freezes, no mouse, no keyboard, no ctrl+alt+del.....nothing! I have to shut
> down the whole computer and then restart it manually......upon start-up each
> time there is no scan disk.
>
> What could be the problem?!?!?
>
> Thanks for any help!!!

It's frozen again, I'm afraid, this time when running Microsoft Update. It
was accompanied by the same errors in the System Event Log.

Looks like I'll need to continue that search for an updated BIOS.



"John Blight" wrote:

> This looks to be remarkably similar to an issue I'm pursuing.
>
> I've just reformatted the disk, and installed a fresh copy of Windows XP
> Home SP2. The PC still freezes (this has been an issue for quite some time).
> There seems to be a regular pair of events in the System event log that
> accompanies such a freeze:
>
> Event Type: Error
> Event Source: ACPI
> Event ID: 5
> Description:
> AMLI: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port address
> (0xcf8), which lies in the 0xcf8 - 0xcff protected address range. This could
> lead to system instability. Please contact your vendor for technical
> assistance.
>
> The other is the corresponding 'read' event.
>
> The corresponding link to Microsoft's site gives the following information:
>
> *********************
> Product: Windows Operating System
> Event ID: 5
> Source: ACPI
> Version: 5.2
> Symbolic Name: ACPI_ERR_AMLI_ILLEGAL_IO_WRITE_FATAL
> Message: %2: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port address
> (%3), which lies in the %4 protected range. This could lead to system
> instability, etc.
>
> Explanation
>
> The system BIOS attempted to incorrectly access hardware resources
> concurrently with the operating system. This type of access cannot be
> synchronised and can cause system instability.
>
>
> User Action
>
> Contact the system vendor for an updated BIOS and follow the vendor's
> instructions for installation.
>
> *********************
>
> I cannot seem to find a suitable BIOS update, but am awaiting a response
> from the system vendor.
>
> However, following a comment in another forum, I changed the Plug and Play
> Operating System setting in the BIOS to No/False. This setting is recommended
> in a Microsoft article (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/314068)
> anyway. Following that, I was able to run the PC for a good couple of hours
> as it downloaded and installed a large amount of updates from Microsoft
> Update. It hasn't frozen since, but as that was only last night, I can't be
> certain of success yet. However, prior to that, the PC was freezing so
> frequently as to be unusable; it was freezing pretty much immediately on
> trying to run updates from Microsoft Update, and also trying to install an
> update from another site, so there has been a definite improvement.
>
> I'll update these comments as I investigate further.
>
> "Alison" wrote:
>
> > Just had a Windows XP Home system restore because of corruption. Ever since I
> > got it home it keeps freezing. It freezes at least once an hour during any
> > operation, ie. internet, outlook email, documents, etc... It completely
> > freezes, no mouse, no keyboard, no ctrl+alt+del.....nothing! I have to shut
> > down the whole computer and then restart it manually......upon start-up each
> > time there is no scan disk.
> >
> > What could be the problem?!?!?
> >
> > Thanks for any help!!!

John Blight wrote:

> This looks to be remarkably similar to an issue I'm pursuing.
>
> I've just reformatted the disk, and installed a fresh copy of Windows XP
> Home SP2. The PC still freezes (this has been an issue for quite some
> time). There seems to be a regular pair of events in the System event log
> that accompanies such a freeze:
>
> Event Type: Error
> Event Source: ACPI
> Event ID: 5
> Description:
> AMLI: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port address
> (0xcf8), which lies in the 0xcf8 - 0xcff protected address range. This
> could lead to system instability. Please contact your vendor for technical
> assistance.
>
> The other is the corresponding 'read' event.
>
> The corresponding link to Microsoft's site gives the following
> information:
>
> *********************
> Product: Windows Operating System
> Event ID: 5
> Source: ACPI
> Version: 5.2
> Symbolic Name: ACPI_ERR_AMLI_ILLEGAL_IO_WRITE_FATAL
> Message: %2: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port
> address (%3), which lies in the %4 protected range. This could lead to
> system instability, etc.
>
> Explanation
>
> The system BIOS attempted to incorrectly access hardware resources
> concurrently with the operating system. This type of access cannot be
> synchronised and can cause system instability.
>
>
> User Action
>
> Contact the system vendor for an updated BIOS and follow the vendor's
> instructions for installation.
>
> *********************
>
> I cannot seem to find a suitable BIOS update, but am awaiting a response
> from the system vendor.
>
> However, following a comment in another forum, I changed the Plug and Play
> Operating System setting in the BIOS to No/False. This setting is
> recommended in a Microsoft article
> (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/314068) anyway. Following
> that, I was able to run the PC for a good couple of hours as it downloaded
> and installed a large amount of updates from Microsoft Update. It hasn't
> frozen since, but as that was only last night, I can't be certain of
> success yet. However, prior to that, the PC was freezing so frequently as
> to be unusable; it was freezing pretty much immediately on trying to run
> updates from Microsoft Update, and also trying to install an update from
> another site, so there has been a definite improvement.
>
John,

Try turning off any power management settings you have in your BIOS and let
the o/s handle them.

Cheers.




--
Linux is ready for the desktop! More ready than Windoze XP.
http://tinyurl.com/ldm9d

"Computer users around the globe recognize that the most serious threats to
security exist because of inherent weaknesses in the Microsoft operating
system." McAfee

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try that if my recent experiments haven't
worked.

Since my last post, I've found an update facility on the motherboard's
manufacturer's site, and have run an investigative tool. It suggested I have
the most recent BIOS, but I did update the motherboard drivers. We'll see...

"NoStop" wrote:

> John Blight wrote:
>
> > This looks to be remarkably similar to an issue I'm pursuing.
> >
> > I've just reformatted the disk, and installed a fresh copy of Windows XP
> > Home SP2. The PC still freezes (this has been an issue for quite some
> > time). There seems to be a regular pair of events in the System event log
> > that accompanies such a freeze:
> >
> > Event Type: Error
> > Event Source: ACPI
> > Event ID: 5
> > Description:
> > AMLI: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port address
> > (0xcf8), which lies in the 0xcf8 - 0xcff protected address range. This
> > could lead to system instability. Please contact your vendor for technical
> > assistance.
> >
> > The other is the corresponding 'read' event.
> >
> > The corresponding link to Microsoft's site gives the following
> > information:
> >
> > *********************
> > Product: Windows Operating System
> > Event ID: 5
> > Source: ACPI
> > Version: 5.2
> > Symbolic Name: ACPI_ERR_AMLI_ILLEGAL_IO_WRITE_FATAL
> > Message: %2: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal IO port
> > address (%3), which lies in the %4 protected range. This could lead to
> > system instability, etc.
> >
> > Explanation
> >
> > The system BIOS attempted to incorrectly access hardware resources
> > concurrently with the operating system. This type of access cannot be
> > synchronised and can cause system instability.
> >
> >
> > User Action
> >
> > Contact the system vendor for an updated BIOS and follow the vendor's
> > instructions for installation.
> >
> > *********************
> >
> > I cannot seem to find a suitable BIOS update, but am awaiting a response
> > from the system vendor.
> >
> > However, following a comment in another forum, I changed the Plug and Play
> > Operating System setting in the BIOS to No/False. This setting is
> > recommended in a Microsoft article
> > (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/314068) anyway. Following
> > that, I was able to run the PC for a good couple of hours as it downloaded
> > and installed a large amount of updates from Microsoft Update. It hasn't
> > frozen since, but as that was only last night, I can't be certain of
> > success yet. However, prior to that, the PC was freezing so frequently as
> > to be unusable; it was freezing pretty much immediately on trying to run
> > updates from Microsoft Update, and also trying to install an update from
> > another site, so there has been a definite improvement.
> >
> John,
>
> Try turning off any power management settings you have in your BIOS and let
> the o/s handle them.
>
> Cheers.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Linux is ready for the desktop! More ready than Windoze XP.
> http://tinyurl.com/ldm9d
>
> "Computer users around the globe recognize that the most serious threats to
> security exist because of inherent weaknesses in the Microsoft operating
> system." McAfee
>
>
>
>

Reading through these pages, it's amazing how many people have similar
problems with XP freezing!
When it happens to me, it's usually when booting up or just after. Outlook
appears to habe a major effect too. When it freezes nothing responds at all,
not even cntl+alt+del...!
I have tried many of the ideas suggested here, chkdsk, memtest, pcpitstop
etc, and am now thinking I may need to update some drivers.
Can someobe tell me how to do this please? I assume it is done through
device manager, but when I select 'update driver' I always get the message
'unable to find a newer driver etc etc' Is the internet searched
automatically or do I need to download the new drivers first and then tell DV
where to find them?

Incidentally, under usb devices I have about twenty entries - how do I find
out which are which? I only have about 15 usb ports so some of them must be
dead ends?