[Extremeboy]

Sorry for the delay.

I got some input from Artellos, one of the tech admins here.

Are you using a P/S2 or a USB mouse + keyboard?

If you have a pair of other plugs then plug those in instead and see if it works.


Sometimes the plugs are a little annoying in requiring drivers and will stop responding.

Let us know how it goes.

[aamhinc]

No luck... It is a Dell Optiplex GX520, and while there is a different keyboard here in the office, there didn't seem to be any port besides, USB, Cat-V, audio ports, a female connector for a printer, and a male connector for something else... nothing that would match this keyboard.

Thank you both for your help!

I hope the holiday season is going well for you!

(besides this debacle!)

[Extremeboy]

Sorry, I couldn't get back to you earlier.

I'm out of ideas, I'm going to ask for some assistance and get back to you ASAP.

[aamhinc]

Thank you very much! I'll be here ;)

[Extremeboy]

Hello.

I spoke to my colleagues and we decided that the best option here would probably be just a dual-install on top of your existing system. All your data files should remain in contact so no worries on that.

Here's how to do it if you are not familiar.

Performing a Dual/Parallel Installment

Boot to the Windows XP installation cd by pressing a key when the "Press any key to boot from cd" prompt appears at the top of the screen.

• At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press Enter to set up Windows XP.
  
• Accept the License Agreement by pressing F8
  
• With your current installation selected in the box, press Esc
  
• Select C: Partition1 [NTFS] in the box and press Enter
  
• To continue setup using this partition, press C
  
• Now you should see formatting options...choose the last one, Leave the current file system intact (no changes), and press Enter
  
• To use a different folder, press Esc
  
• Name the folder WINDOWS0 (just type a 0 (zero)) and press Enter

Note: The Windows installation should begin. This will install Windows to a new folder, leaving your data intact. Any programs installed on the old directory will have to be reinstalled to the new one. Device drivers will also have to be installed for all the hardware to work as it should.

Note: The data will be located in the Documents and Settings folder (C:\Documents and Settings) under your old user account name...so when you set up the new installation, give yourself a slightly different user account name.

---

Let me know how it goes. Sorry, that we can't do much more unfortunately. :(

With Regards,
Extremeboy

[aamhinc]

my options after pressing escape are:

-: Partition1 [FAT] 39 MB ( 31 MB free)
C: Partition2 [NTFS] 76246 MB ( 55552 MB free)
Unpartitioned space 8 MB

Which one should I go with?

[Extremeboy]

Well, it should be the one where your windows was installed.

Since I don't think you can install windows in a 39MB area, than it must be this one:

C: Partition2 [NTFS] 76246 MB ( 55552 MB free) ;)

With Regards,
Extremeboy

[aamhinc]

Windows has been reinstalled!

Thank you very much!

When I start up it gives me the two choices of XP and the first one takes me to a working version of windows.

I do see all of my files and will be backing all of these up in case there is another problem with my computer.

You have been a great help and I can't thank you enough.

I do have 2 questions as I am getting my computer back to a preferred state.
As far as the drivers go, printers, scanners, etc. are easy to reinstall, but I am unsure about the drivers that came pre-installed (soundcard, DVD drive, etc.). Should I go to dell's website and download all drivers for this model to be safe? Or is that overkill and possibly installing conflicting drivers?


I started re-installing programs that I use regularly, Microsoft Office was no problem, but I hit a snag with Intuit's QuickBooks. I noticed that while none of the programs are listed under programs in the start menu, the information is still in the folders in C:\Program Files . I am reinstalling all programs I want to use, but this meant that I had to use a different name for the file when installing quickbooks. I fully installed quickbooks, but it won't start up. I get an Unrecoverable Error and it quits out before it starts. Do I have to uninstall the old programs before installing them again? Is this interfering with the install?
Here is the error log that I get when I try to start QuickBooks:
QBWINDLL.c (308) : MESSAGE: Mon Dec 28 09:36:20 LVL_ERROR--Returning NULL QBWinInstance Handle..QBWINDLL.c (308) : MESSAGE: Mon Dec 28 09:36:20 LVL_ERROR--Returning NULL QBWinInstance Handle..QBWINDLL.c (308) : MESSAGE: Mon Dec 28 09:36:20 LVL_ERROR--Returning NULL QBWinInstance Handle..QBWINDLL.c (116) : CHECKPOINT: Mon Dec 28 09:36:20 CQBWinApp::InitInstance -- Initializing QBWinInstance Handle..QBWINDLL.c (147) : CHECKPOINT: Mon Dec 28 09:36:20 CQBWinApp::InitInstance completed..QBW.c (235) : CHECKPOINT: Mon Dec 28 09:36:20 CQuickBooksApp::InitInstance Initializing Quickbooks (AfxOLE)..QBW.c (239) : CHECKPOINT: Mon Dec 28 09:36:20 Operations Started..QBW.c (445) : CHECKPOINT: Mon Dec 28 09:36:43 Calling MauiMain for further initialization..LicenseUtility.cpp (1013) : CHECKPOINT: Mon Dec 28 09:36:44 Initializing QBLicense Adapter for version 19 and flavor pro, which will initialize .NET EC if in Handshake Mode..DBManager.cpp (678) : MESSAGE: Mon Dec 28 09:36:54 LVL_ERROR--Unable to open service fr.om SCM for checking service status 1060..DBManager.cpp (708) : MESSAGE: Mon Dec 28 09:36:54 LVL_ERROR--Query Service State gave fatal error..SendErrorAPIs.cpp (262) : MESSAGE: Mon Dec 28 09:37:02 LVL_ERROR--QuickBooks has experienced a problem and must be shut down....

Any ideas?
(and let me know if this should now be posted in a different forum)

I can't say enough good things about you and this site!

Thank you very much for all of your help!

- Jeff

[Extremeboy]

Sorry. I have been busy recently. I will try to get back to you ASAP. Glad it's working though. :)

[Extremeboy]

Hello again.

Apologize for the delay.

Quote

As far as the drivers go, printers, scanners, etc. are easy to reinstall, but I am unsure about the drivers that came pre-installed (soundcard, DVD drive, etc.). Should I go to dell's website and download all drivers for this model to be safe? Or is that overkill and possibly installing conflicting drivers?

Yes, that should be fine but if you have the DELL driver's CD then you can just insert that and let it install automatically. There shouldn't be much conflicts as long as the older versions are overwritten/removed. If they are not functioning properly, then it would be a good idea to re-install those drivers.

--
Regarding that QuickBooks problem, I'm not exaclty too sure myself. Never used it myself personally so don't know what really good advice I can give you but it might be worth a try by backing up your previous data if there are any and then do a fresh clean install of that program and see how it works out.

Hope that helps and let us know how it goes.

With Regards,
Extremeboy