Compaq, nothin but trouble..,Anyone??

[Flyingz]

This post is for any user with an compaq system. I had nothing but trouble w/ this. I met all compatibity requiremets(PIII 933, 320 RAM, 2 HD), now all I get is blue screens, and my computer freezeing. I sent in my comp, they found nothing wrong with the system. Digi Tech found nothing wrong w/ the sound card. Its STILL will not Run Pro Tools for more than 1 minute with out freezing. I've done auto insert deselect and DMA, like in the Manuel. I wish They could send a tech to my house to try to install this. In conclusion Compaq is a piece of sh.., I should of got a Mac. And help would be GREATLY appreciated!

[J-Dub]

I have a friend who had just bought a brand new compaq for doing music, he bought protools and soon found out that his compaq was the only system that wouldn't run it. He didn't say why specifically, it was just something about it being a compaq.

[QuikDraw]

Compaq loads a LOT of useless software, much of it set to run automatically. Some of it set to run in the system tray. None of it is necessary.

Have you eliminated ALL of the Compaq goodies from running when Windows runs? If you haven't, you should try it. I've fixed many Compaq problems by basicly turning it into a generic machine by eliminating all of Compaq's proprietary junk software.

I've never tried Pro Tools on a Compaq. I hope this is helpful.

Mike

[Mark_Knecht]

I run a Compaq machine at work (no Pro Tools) that used to have this problem. My solution was to get a retail version of NT (in my case, not yours) blow away the system drive and reinstall Windows. You'll hear this story from lots of Windows users. I've never had to do this with Linux.

Give some thoguht to this, but don't jump too quickly. Make sure you've saved all of your personal data as this process will reformat your drive.

It sounds like a reasonably new Compaq, which is good news. In the old days they used to use some Compaq specific things, like stange floppy controllers and what not, that caused problems. Now I think they're pretty compliant.

Good luck.

[Flyingz]

Thanks Mark, and quick for you replies. I had the tech just load the basic Windows ME edition. I also tryed installing Windows 98 and My comp kept on freezeing. Its like compaq only lets you load what came w/ the system. The Stupid thing is that compaq gives you a "quick restore" disk, instead of a plain Windowds CD, so you cant costomize anything.. I just got another Digi Card in the mail today. I'll see if it makes a difference.

[Mark_Knecht]

Good luck. Maybe you can find a copy from a friend somewhere and just try it out.

[Chuck1073]

Flyingz:
I'm running PTLE/Toolbox on a Compaq "Presario" with great results! It's my home studio which is used for radio/tv/multi-media
production and voice-overs.

The computer is spec'd like this:

Compaq Presario 5002 (off the shelf at Staples)
256meg ram
15gig main drive (5440)
30gig audio drive (7200)
native display adapter w/second S3 display
adapter for second monitor
AMIII audio card

In "Start-up" all of the extra stuff that
would be active in the background has been turned off so the machine starts "clean"

The compaqs are really basic "family freindly" PC's that some with a s*%tload of extra software "goodies" that can screw up Pro-tools pretty well. Once you get that stuff out of there though the machine runs the app. really well. I'm running the studio hard every week producing for stations from Boston to Portland, OR with no problems.

[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[pmklein]

You definitely have to get rid of all that Compaq crap they load in. I suggest you get a fresh copy of Winows and overwite the hard drive.

[David001]

Post deleted by David001

[Allen Hallada]

Hewlett Packard comes with all those software goodies too, pop up junk every 5 minutes. Here is how we solved the problem. Go into Start/Run/ type in msconfig and hit enter, choose "Selective Startup" and disable the "Load Startup Items", hit ok, restart. Go into My Computer, Properties, Performance. You should be running at over 95% RAM.
Also check your sound schemes setting in Start/Settings/Control Panel/Sounds (Sounds and Multimedia with Win ME)make sure Sound Schemes is set to No Sounds.
Lastly go through My Computer/Properties/Device Manager and go through each item and clicking on properties of each one making sure that there are no extra hardware components in each one that you are not using and that there are no IRQ conflicts under each one. I had a computer that had a bunch of game drivers and multimedia drivers that weren't in use anymore that caused a bunch of problems. I also had an extra Digi001 driver after a reinstall. If you were using PT Free be sure to remove the drivers for it manually before installing PTLE. I think it is described in the manual or call tech. support. Be sure to examine the Sounds,Multimedia section thoroughly for extra drivers and get rid of any drivers you aren't using. As a last resort you can disable the sound card that came with the compaq computer and just use the Digi001 as the only sound card.
Good luck.
Allen [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]