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USB, hard drive and DVD problems

by nathanpsz2 / July 3, 2006 9:34 AM PDT

Just as the title says. Here are my problems:

1) USB devices: My computer won't boot if there's a USB device plugged in. It just stays frozen at the POST stage. I can't reboot with ctrl-alt-delete; I need to turn it off using the power button.

Also, if I plug a USB device (iPod Nano) in after Windoze loads, I get a message in the taskbar saying that "this device can perform faster" if I had a USB 2.0 port. This is strange because all my USB ports, on the back of my motherboard, and on the side of the case, are USB 2.0.

2) Hard drive: My SATA150 hard drive is being recognized as an ATA133 drive in the BIOS.

Also, in my taskbar I have the Safely Remove Hardware icon. When I click on it, it gives me the option to safely remove the C drive. I don't know if this could be called a problem; it's just a little worrying to have the option to "safely remove" my hard drive.

3) DVD: When I try to play a DVD using Windows Media Player, I get a message saying, "Windows Media Player cannot play the DVD because a compatible DVD decoder is not installed on your computer."

Here are my system specs:
DFI nF4-DAGF motherboard
Athlon 64 3700+ socket 939
2*512MB generic DDR400
ASUS X600
Western Digital 250GB SATA
DVD drive
DVD-R burner
Thermaltake TR2 430 watt power supply
Cooler Master Cavalier case
Windows XP Home

Thanks in advance for any help that anyone can provide.

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Sounds like you've reformatted. . .
by Coryphaeus / July 3, 2006 10:39 AM PDT

and reinstalled XP. What else are you not telling us?

1.) Typical behavior if the USB-2 drivers have not been installed.

2.) Same on the hard drive drivers.

Have you reinstalled all the motherboard drivers?

3.) WMP does not come with codecs for DVDs. You need DVD player software.

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I reformatted the drive...
by nathanpsz2 / July 3, 2006 11:35 AM PDT

...about 2 weeks ago and I reinstalled Windows. The first thing that I did after Windows insatlled was to install the USB, chipset, and network drivers that came with the motherboard.

Hard drive drivers? I thought that Windows XP had a built-in hard drive driver? Anyway, my hard drive is an OEM drive; it didn't come with any CDs or anything like that.

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XP does not have built in support for SATA hard disks.
by R. Proffitt Forum moderator / July 3, 2006 7:29 PM PDT

Installing Windows is not easy. But you had it proper before. Just repeat what you did the first time or check the install directions for your system.

Bob

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When I installed XP...
by nathanpsz2 / July 4, 2006 12:30 AM PDT

...it asked me if I need to install a 3rd party SSCI or RAID driver, which I did not. The only drivers that came with the motherboard are an SATA RAID driver and drivers for the chipset, USB and onboard LAN.

All of these problems started happening after I installed this motherboard and CPU; before I was using a P4 and an HP motherboard. My PC was originally an HP, and that's why I don't have any documentation or anything for the hard drive.

And maybe I should mention that I'm using XP Home with SP2 and all the latest updates.

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re: usb, hd, dvd problems,
by ramarc / July 4, 2006 4:56 AM PDT
In reply to: When I installed XP...

USB:
Have you installed the latest nForce4 ADM drivers? http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp32_x16_6.85
Also, make sure BIOS->Integrated Peripherals->OnChip USB is set to V1.1+V2.0.

HD:
SATA drives are typically exposed as ATA devices by the mobo unless you turn on RAID. As for your C: being removable, make sure its write policy is "optimized for performance." I'll do some more checking to see how to tell Windows its not removable.

DVD:
XP doesn't come with a DVD decoder. You need a third party product like Nero (full version), PowerDVD, WinDVD, etc. in order to watch DVDs. There's probably a decoder on your HP software CDs but with the new hardware, it may not think it's an HP PC.

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I have installed those drivers...
by nathanpsz2 / July 4, 2006 5:13 AM PDT

...it was the first thing I did after I installed WIndows. I don't have any CDs that originally came with the computer; it was a refurb. I'll download PowerDVD later today and tell what happens.

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usb
by ramarc / July 4, 2006 9:19 AM PDT

are you using front or rear usb ports? if it still complains about faster operation with the rear ports, something's wrong with the setup. if it only complains with front ports, then they may not be usb 2.0 compliant. (don't know what the diff is but my front's only work at 1.1).

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I've tried both
by nathanpsz2 / July 4, 2006 12:08 PM PDT
In reply to: usb

The USB ports on the back of the motherboard are USB 2.0, along with the ports on the side of the case. I get the same message if I plug the device into either port. BTW, the difference between USB 1.1 and 2.0 is the speed; I can't remember them off-hand, but USB 2.0 is a LOT faster than 1.1.

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