These days with software downloads all coming pre-packaged with installers, or using Installation Wizards bundled with Windows, it has become very easy for anyone to install new packages or update old software or drivers. The download, unzip, and then click-once-or-twice and watch-it-install culture has became a part of every day computing life, especially since the advent of all the add-ons available over the internet for our browsers and other 3rd party software being given away free to all and sundry.

However, every now and then, particularly with older computers (and I mean like only more than three or four years old!), you come across a situation where you need to actually know how to install a piece of software manually. I had a situation like that trying to install an audio driver on an older Compaq laptop recently, and it was quite a shock to the system!

First up, don't panic. If you extract the files from a cabinet for installing a driver and you don't see a setup.exe or install.exe file, then you will need to go down the manual driver update route. After extracting the files to a folder (memorise the location!) then the first thing to do is right click on My Computer>Properties, then click on the Hardware Tab, and select Device Manager. Expand the category of hardware device you are installing the driver for, right click on the device, and select Update Driver. Hard as it may be to do, the next step is to bypass the Hardware Install Wizard, so select the "Not This Time" option and click Next.

Now select "Install from a list or specific location", and don't be intimidated by the fact that this is designated "Advanced"!  Click Next, and in the next dialog box select "Don't Search. I will choose the driver to install", and click your friendly neighbourhood Next button. In the following dialog box, click on Have Disk, then Browse to the folder where you have extracted the files to (Have Disk doesn't necessarily mean a floppy or CD, you can navigate within your computer's hard drive also). Once you have navigated to the folder with the extracted driver files, within this there will be a file that has a *.inf extension. Select this file, click OK, and Windows will update the driver for you. A little bit of extra navigation, but simple if you follow all the steps above.

You Have Been Served By:

El Presidente

Amazing what can go wrong with a computer, here's another couple of memory issues.

Laptop number one was infested with viruses, and we needed to reformat it and install a fresh copy of windows on it. However, once Windows setup had loaded the necessary files onto the computer, we constantly got an error message stating "process1_initialization_failed" and would then shut down the installation. We tried several fixes, and then went back to the old memory drawing board! On a hunch I checked the specs of the computer, a Compaq Presario 2200, and it turned out that the memory upgrade that had been installed was one grade faster than the motherboard was designed for (runs on DDR2-400 PC3200 RAM, and had been upgraded with two 512MB sticks of DDR2-533 PC4200. DDR2 RAM in general is backwards compatible, meaning that faster RAM can be used in a computer with a chipset designed for slower RAM, it just runs at the slower clockspeed. However, when it came to actually installing and setting up Windows for that particular laptop's configuration, it couldn't handle it and was bombing out. So I reached into the memory drawer, got out a 256MB stick (the minimum to run Windows XP) of DDR2-400 PC3200 RAM, installed Windows XP with no problems, and then reinstalled the faster upgraded RAM, and the computer worked like a charm!

Laptop number two (an ASUS) was only a few months old, but had no guarantee here in Hungary. It had suddenly developed the habit of displaying the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), and once again after checking the drivers/software and any recent installations/updates, the only thing remaining to troubleshoot was hardware. At this stage it wasn't looking good for the laptop, as the Blue Screen of Death can often be an issue on the motherboard, particularly with a new computer. Just to check, I removed the 1GB memory stick from the expansion slot (this model supports 2x1GB stick and had been fully upgraded), and checked that it was the correct RAM for this model. It was indeed the correct specification RAM, and so I tried to boot the laptop with just the 1GB remaining in the system slot, and hey presto, it booted up and continued to run without major issues. I installed another stcik of RAM in the slot in place of the old one, and this didn't work either - not only was the RAM fried, but the slot itself was dead, and had probably caused the issue. Another one solved, even if the laptop was a bit downgraded now, it works fine.

You have been served by:

El Presidente

Sometimes I also do some computer repair, and I was asked to deal with a computer that does not work at all. It did not power up. First I tested the power supply, it was perfect. I disconnected everything from the motherboard, leaving only the processor and the RAMs. Nothing.

So I decided it must be the motherboard. But then I had a strange feeling, that I should test the power button. I tried it, just for fun. I disconnected the cable of the power button from the motherboard and used the good old screwdriver trick to start up the computer. It worked. Ribanc.