[steveyg777]

so, a few years back i read a magazine that said to change the type of computer in device manager to standard pc because it made the computer run a little better or faster.

so now i've got my laptop and i've noticed it getting slower and thought that i would do this... VERY BAD MOVE!!!

i can still boot windows and everything - it meant that i had to let the computer reinstall all of the drivers for my hardware - but i have noticed in the device manager now that there are two instances of 'standard pc', there is also a new section titled 'other devices' with about 15 devices that seem to have no driver for them - some mention 'ISA' so i am guessing that changing to standard pc means that windows thinks my laptop is now a desktop pc with ISA slots???

i find that when i put my laptop lid down the thing shuts down, when i press the power button it turns off straight away (doesn't even shut down!). i had had the laptop configured for ages to do nothing when i closed the lid and give me shut down options when i pressed the power button. i look in power options and i can only cinfigure the monitor screen and hard disk power off options - every other option is not available. when i do bring up the shut down options i can no longer choose standby.

i have also realised that i can not turn on my wireless connection - i've tried all sorts to get it to work with no avail! the laptop is an acer ferrari and when i call up the manager app it says that bluetooth and wireless are not present (by the way i can still get the bluetooth button to work - correction - it starts up with the button on but if i turn it off it won't let me turn it on again). the emanager and presentation manager buttons on the laptops casing don't work either (i have to access them via software route).

my questions are:

1) is it possible that something is going on with the acer part of my system - with regards to the buttons and also the wireless and bluetooth?

2) can i change my computer type back to 'acpi uniprocessor pc' (yes it is compatible) and will this solve all of my power option limitations/other device entries?

3) have i got any of my suspicions right and is there anything i've missed?

by the way - i really, really , really don't want to reinstall windows xp all over again because:

1) it has taken me about 3 months and COUNTLESS hours to customise my system to a T (i was hoping to get it perfect and then backup an image so i have a better 'starting block' in the future if i reinstall the system)

2) i haven't got the windows install discs on me because they are at another location, far away and i can't get them very easily at all - i do have an image to reinstall from however but it would take forever to recustomise everything again!

every bit of help is a life saver - thank you in advance!!! even ideas are appreciated...

Steve

[Augie65]

Did you try System Restore to a time before you changed everything?

[steveyg777]

yep. already thought of that. it did nothing

is there a way of doing something through the registry?
could i act as windows when it installs itself the first time and install particular files through a command prompt? (just throwing out ideas if anyone knows how to do these things)

[ozrom1e]

Welcome to TSG....

Do you have the recovery disks for this computer?

What is the make and model number of the computer and some system specs would be great also?

[Frank4d]

I know this is not what you want to hear, but you cannot change from "Standard PC" to "ACPI Uniprocessor PC" without reinstalling Windows.

[steveyg777]

Originally Posted by ozrom1e

Welcome to TSG....

Do you have the recovery disks for this computer?

What is the make and model number of the computer and some system specs would be great also?

sure thing:

acer ferrari 4005 wlmi laptop

1 gig ram
80 gig hd
amd turion (ml-37 i think) (64 bit) cpu 2.0ghz
ati radeon x700 w/ 128mb ram (dedicated)
win xp home
wireless
lan
dvd-r drive

anything else that would be helpful?

here's a link-

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Acer_Ferrari_4005WLMi__6269043

steve

[steveyg777]

i thought i'd make it a little easier:

Acer Ferrari 4005WLMi - Turion 64 mobile technology ML-37 2 GHz - 15.4" TFT
General
System Type: Notebook

Built-in Devices: Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial, Bluetooth aerial

Width: 36.3 cm

Depth: 26.6 cm

Height: 3.5 cm

Weight: 2.9 kg

Localisation: English / United Kingdom

Processor
Processor: AMD Turion 64 mobile technology ML-37 / 2 GHz

64-bit Computing: Yes

Features: 3DNow! Professional technology, PowerNow! technology, HyperTransport technology, Enhanced Virus Protection

Chipset Type: ATI Radeon Xpress 200

Cache memory
Type: L2 Cache

Installed Size: 1 MB

Ram
Installed Size: 1 GB / 2 GB (max)

Technology: DDR SDRAM - 333 MHz

Memory Specification Compliance: PC2700

Configuration Features: 2 x 512 MB

Storage controller
Type: IDE

Storage
Hard Drive: 100 GB - 5400 rpm

Optical storage
Type: DVD±RW / DVD-RAM - integrated

Card reader
Type: 5 in 1 card reader

Supported Flash Memory Cards: SD Memory Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card

Display
Display Type: 15.4" TFT active matrix

Max Resolution: 1680 x 1050 ( WSXGA+ )

Widescreen Display: Yes

Colour support: 24-bit (16.7 million colours)

Video
Graphics Processor / Vendor: ATI Mobility Radeon X700 - PCI Express

Video Memory: DDR SDRAM - 128 MB

Audio
Audio Output: Sound card

Compliant Standards: AC '97

Audio Input: Microphone

Input device(s)
Type: Keyboard, touchpad, 4-way scroll button

Telecom
Modem: Fax / Modem

Max Transfer Rate: 56 Kbps

Protocols & Specifications: ITU V.92

Features: Wake on Ring

Networking
Networking: Network adapter

Wireless LAN Supported: Yes

Wireless NIC: Acer InviLink 802.11g

Data Link Protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g

Remote Management Protocol: DMI 2.0

Compliant Standards: IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED

Expansion / connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free):

2 ( 0 ) x memory
1 ( 1 ) x CardBus - type II
1 ( 1 ) x Memory Stick
1 ( 1 ) x SD Memory Card
1 ( 1 ) x xD-Picture Card

Interfaces:

Miscellaneous
Features: Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately), administrator password, system password, wake on LAN, Wake on Ring

Compliant Standards: ACPI 1.0b

Power
Power Device: External

Voltage Required: AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )

Battery
Technology: 8-cell Lithium Ion

Installed Qty: 1

Run Time (Up To): 3 hour(s)

Operating system / software
OS Provided: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Software: Adobe Acrobat Reader, Norton AntiVirus, Cyberlink PowerDVD , Microsoft Works Suite, Acer System Recovery, Acer Launch Manager, NTI CD-Maker, Acer eManager, Acer GridVista

Manufacturer warranty
Service & Support: 1 year warranty

Service & Support Details: Traveller warranty - 1 year

[steveyg777]

with regards to the comment from Frank4d and to notify everyone that this IS solvable (i should have done this a long time ago - sorry!)

the answer is that i got my laptop working again!!! how:

i copied the 'acpi uniprocessor pc' driver files from a friends laptop over to mine and restarted. it fooled my laptop into thinking that it was the computer (that it actually should be) and worked fine, just to make sure i then uninstalled relevant drivers so that it could find the hardware again and reinstall all drivers!

woo hoo!!!!!

thaks for your help guys!