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PCBUILD - PC Hardware discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 16 Mar 1998 16:09:08 -0600
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Hello-
        I have encountered a very frustrating problem that is occuring on my
computer.  Just so I don't leave anything out I will give you what our
system is:  Pentium 166MMX, 32 Meg RAM, 24x BTC CD Rom, 16 bit OPTI sound
card, 850 meg harddrive(primary), and 250 meg hardrive(slave), we are
running Win95b.
        I first found this problem when I tried to install a Win95 game and it
wasn't working properly, I went to the technical help and they told me to
do the following.  Right click on My Computer --> Properties -->
Performance.  Under that tab is where we found our error.  Instead of being
set up for optimal performance, our system had several errors.  Down where
it usually says "Your system is configured for optimual performance," we
had these errors.  1.  Compatibility mode paging reduces overall system
performance.  2.  Drive c: (850 meg) using MS-DOS compatibility mode file
system.  3.  Drive d: (250 meg) using MS-DOS compatibility mode file
system. 4. Drive e: (cd rom) using MS-DOS compatibility mode file system.
I'm not sure if our Drive A: was also listed because we have had this
problem before.(more about that later)  Then I went over and clicked on the
Device Manager Tab.  I went down to were it says Hard Disk Controllers and
double-clicked on it.  Doing that listed these three things.  1.  Primary
IDE controller (single fifo) NOTE: This has a circled exclamation point in
front of it 2. Secondary IDE controller (single fifo) NOTE: also has an
exclamation point in front of it.  3. Standard Dual PCI IDE Controller
(this device has no exclamation point next to it)  When I clicked
Properties on one of the devices with an exclamation point next to it I got
this message:  This device is not present, not working properly, or does
not have all the drivers installed.  See your hardware documentation. (Code
10).
        Well I took this problem over to my uncle's house, because he is WAY
better with computers then I am.  The only solution we could really think
of is that it must be something on one of the hard drives.  So I deleted
everything on the d:, except for a couple of programs and zip files.  Then
we totally formated the c:\.  After that, we installed our CD-Rom and then
we installed Win95 back on.  When we re-installed it we went back under My
Computer -> Properties->Performance.  BOOM, our system was configured for
optimal performance!  Well, my uncle went home and I preceeded to put our
computer back together, re-installing all of our old programs.  I just
finished up re-installing Netscape Communicator and I was prompted to
re-start the computer.  I clicked restart and it began to restart our
computer.  Right before Windows could load up I got and error message(you
know, those ones with the blue background and white lettering) anyway, it
read this:

Your multi-function device(Standard Dual PCI IDE Controller) has some child
devices using 32 bit drivers and others using compatibilty mode drivers.
This configuration is not supported, so your computer has been halted to
prevent corruption.

After you restart your computer, Windows will use compatibility-mode
drivers for each child device attached to this multi-function device.  If
you want to use 32 bit drivers you may be able to obtain an updated driver
for the device that caused the problem by contacting your hardware
manufactor, or you can disable the device.

Press any key to continue

I quickly went back to my computer->properties->performance to see that
drives C:, d:, and e: were using MS-DOS compatibility mode just as before.
Then I went the Device Manager and the exclamation points were back on the
same places as they were before.  After a cursing fit, I called up my uncle
and I went over to his house.  We working on the computer and formated the
drive(c:\) again and  re-installed Windows.  After messing with the sound
card the whole day we finally got the system back to optimal performance,
and we everything working on it(by that I mean CD Rom, Sound Card, etc.)

So now my system was back at normal but I noticed one thing different that
I should probably note.  When I went in Device Manager and then into Hard
Disk Controllers instead of saying Primary and Secondary IDE controller, it
said something like GENERIC IDE CONTROLLER.

I began re-installing everything again and after a while(about a day or so)
I restarted the computer, before Windows could restart I got that
Multi-Function Device, Child Device Blue screen error again.  This, as you
probably already guessed, screwed up my system again, and as I type my
system is not configured for optimal performance, I have the same errors as
listed above.

Right now Windows is not reading my CD Rom, but I haven't even tried to
re-set it up yet.  I don't remember if that happened before, but I think it
did after I installed Netscape Communicator.(after I had to restart, and
then got the blue screen error.)

So heres where you guys come in, I need some advice about what to do or how
to fix this problem.  I'm not really sure what could be causing this
problem.  Do I need to download some kind of new drivers for my hard
drives?  Is my motherboard bad?  Could the CD-ROM driver be the culprit?  I
have no idea.  If you guys need any additional information please feel free
to e-mail me.

Thanks in advance
Eric Rozner
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