Drivers are driving me crazy !!!!

Hi all,
I'm new here - was introduced by a friend. Looks like a very interesting and comprehensive Forum.

I have a problem that has had me tearing my hair out of late and am hoping someone may be able to help.

As I am one of the few ppl in my area that is even remotely computer savvy, I get friends of friends phoning me to have a look at their PC as it seems to be "broken "

More often than not, they have a second hand machine that was sold to them without a Driver disk in sight - No MBs, Modems, Vid Cards - nothing.

My question is - has anyone got any ideas how to solve this problem without actually dismantling the machine, searching for models and S/Ns and tracking them on the net?

I don't do this for money (coupla coldies sometimes) and I don't have the time or fuel to run back and forth.

I would REALLY appreciate if someone could suggest or point me in the direction of some kind of shortcut.

Thanx
DeeGee88

 

Hi DeeGee88 and welcome to the boards. To help finding drivers etc. download and install AIDA32 from Here .

Download the "Enterprise" version, you can d/l either the zip file or the self installing exe. I recommend the exe.

Run AIDA 32 and it will tell you much about the system it is on and will also give you links to MOBO, Cards and driver suppliers.

By the way it is freeware!!!

Post back if this helps or not.

 

Hi JohnB,
thanks for your response - I am D/Ling it now.
Unfortunately, most of these idiots (Oops !! twits) let the problem continue (or worse) try to fix it themselves before seeking advice and do more damage than is necessary.

The upshot is, that by the time I get near their PC, it is flat out booting let alone being able to supply me with ANY information re: its specs. Most of them have got to the "I need my Hard Drve formatted" stage.

I'll try that proggy and see what eventuates.

Thanx again.

 

Another source of driver info is from the "Device Manager ". Right click on My Computer then click on Properties>Device Manager. Click on the device you want info on and then click on properties. There should be a "Driver" tab to click on that will give you some details on installed drivers and their location.

 

What about the newer old standbys of "HWINFO/HWINF32 "?

http://www.hwinfo.com/

HWiNFO is shareware, meaning that you can test the program for free while the checking of it is useful for you. The public (unregistered) version has all the features as the registered version except the "Create report file" feature. The other disadvantage is the message that HWiNFO isn't registered and that you have to press a random key while the results are shown.
If you think you could use this program and don't want to see that stupid message, or if you continue using it after a trial period of 14 days, you should register. Otherwise after this period HWiNFO becomes an illegal copy and you are on the "honor system" to delete it.

Ad?........
HWInfo
Do you need to know the specifics of the hardware components of your desktop or notebook? Hardware Info (HWInfo) identifies your system's components. It provides information including recognition of CPUs, serial and parallel port enumeration, printer and HW key identification; video cards, RAMDAC, and TV tuner detection; and more.

You can also use this program to obtain reports from sensor chips (temperature, voltage, and fan speed monitoring). This software is periodically updated (usually once per month) in order to provide the most current results.

===============
Only takes a second or two to download these. OPen the zips and read the docs to see if this is something you'd be interested in.

 

Thanx John & Ann,

Have tried Aida 32 - brilliant proggy, but I think what I need is one that will run from a floppy from C:\. (a DOS version)

As I said, most of these systems have got to the "I'm not playing this game anymore" stage & won't load the OS anymore so anything written in VB or the like is a no-go.

Great proggy none the less - I know I have learnt a few things a bit sus about my machine.

Dennis

 

If the VB file in question is a VBS file [script], it can be run at the command prompt. Windows has a file named Cscript.Exe which does this. The last paragraph is what you need to know, never done it myself, though.

To run scripts using CScript.exe

Type a command at the command prompt using the following syntax:
cscript [host options...] [script name] [script options and parameters]
Host Options enable or disable various Windows Script Host features. Host options are preceded by two slashes (//).Script name is the name of the script file with extension and necessary path information, for example, d:\admin\vbscripts\chart.vbs. Script options and parameters are passed to the script. Script parameters are preceded by a single slash (/).

Each parameter is optional; however, you cannot specify script options without specifying a script name. If you do not specify parameters, CScript displays the CScript syntax and the valid host parameters.

CScript Example
Several sample scripts, which are installed along with Windows Script Host, are also available for download at (http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting).

Suppose, for the purposes of this example, that you have copied the Chart.vbs sample script to the following folder on your computer:

c:\sample scripts\chart.vbs
You can run the script with and without a logo as follows.

To run a script with or without a logo

Start the MS-DOS command prompt.
Enter the following commands at the command prompt (modify accordingly if your sample scripts are located in a different folder):
cscript //logo c:\ "sample scripts "\chart.vbs
cscript //nologo c:\ "sample scripts "\chart.VBScript