Windows XP Professional, but 32-bit or 64-bit?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

You don't disconnect the black IDE connector from the ribbon cable.

Grab it on each outside end of the connector, pull on it, and it will release from the DVD drive.

They are tight because there are 40 pins that hold those connectors to the drive.

You can kind of wiggle it out a little one end at a time, but not too much. The straighter out you can evenly pull on it the better.

[Alan255]

Thanks Paul.  And, I'd located a YouTube video on this very topic.  Presenter just pulled the ribbon cable, and a very loose IDE connector pulled out.   Mine much tighter, but came out and no damage.  Grey cable, no red line along one side, but printing, hence goes back same way round.  Foolproof, can only go back the same way, 'missing slot' is at base.   No black lead connected to it.

IDE connector onto motherboard is firm.

Going ahead, ordering that eBay replacement you linked, Only £7.  Will install that, if CD plays, will then order new DIMMs.  One expense at a time,.

[Alan255]

Yes CD-drive is black IDE connector to black IDE socket with 40 pins.  Ribbon cable stays attached. Looks the devil to have fitted in 15 years ago.  Motherboard similar, blue to blue , easier for the builders.  No obvious tears in ribbon cable.

YouTube video presenter did mention "sound card", unable to see where located.  That is a next search.  

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I forgot what the red line means.  I haven't had any PC's with IDE cables in them for years, and the ones where I did, if they had SATA ports and SATA power connectors, I bought SATA cables and SATA drives and got rid of those bulky IDE cables for better appearance and case ventilation.

If my memory serves me right, the red line is on 80 wire IDE cables and the ones with no red line are for 40 wire IDE cables.

The 80 wire ones are supposed to provide better performance.

The 80 wire cables seem to have more lines in them than the 40 wire ones.

[Alan255]

Thanks, and solved the 'missing red line mystery'.  I have 40-pin IDE connector hence no red line.  Am keeping as close to original as possible,  easier for me.  IT tech changes so rapidly.

Have also ordered the replacement CD/DVD drive from eBay,   ETA 21 or 22 January.  I zoomed in on reverse of product, manufactured January 2006, barely older than mine!  Supplier still has 5 (also refurbished) similar drives in stock.  

The drive from central London to my house (in Farnborough, Hampshire) about 40 miles.  More than enough jolting, especially on non-Motorway roads, for mechanical shock.  Also, desktop was driven from the Currys/PC World retail store to their IT workshop and back again.  Store puts such in big plastic & lidded boxes, but contents still jump about en route.  

Will also attempt right-clicking on the relevant part of W XP Media Player, may provide some clue.  And search more videos for the sound card. 

£7 is a cheap fix though.  Delivery will be from Rochdale, Yorkshire by Royal Mail.  They and commercial equivalents are excellent: bubble plastic, thick cardboard exterior, clear addressing.  Supplier has excellent customer rating.  Should be all OK!  Have a great weekend!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

The 80 wire cables have 40 pin connectors.  It something to do with the data transfer being faster with 80 wires than 40.

Might be a two way, vice one way thing.

Looks like a neat, historic city.

Our town of O'Fallon, Illinois, was founded in 1854. 

Fortunately, all of our roads are paved from wherever the mail has to come from.

You have a great weekend too!

[Alan255]

Hi again Paul, you're kept very busy with HP users having problems on startup, recovery, and Windows 10 problems!  I had problems (on Toshiba!) importing latest photos, managed in the end.  Farnborough, Hampshire's greatest fame is its aircraft history.  Samuel Cody (born in Iowa) relocated here, and was 1st person to fly powered plane in UK. hence this location (it's officially a town) vies with the Wright bothers 1st powered flight in Ohio.  

[Alan255]

Samuel Cody's flight was in 1908, 5 years after the Wright Brothers in North Carolina (they came from Ohio, so I assumed they'f fly in their own state!)  Your city has far more open space than mine!

Replacement CD-drive ETA remains 21st or 22nd.  The 80 strand cable would give cleaner analog and/or faster signal.

Exhausted troubleshooter on Windows XP.  Next time, will replace graphics card, connect that to monitor and see.  Cannot recall if tried CD-drive before removed graphics card.

Enjoy your weekend and huge thanks for helping we army out!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Good morning:

Is that a screenshot of your dc7600 with those 3 devices that need drivers?

If so, you probably need these...

HD Audio device...

Install this driver first, restart the PC

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp32001-32500/sp32395.exe

Then install this driver and restart the PC.

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp39501-40000/sp39852.exe

Ethernet controller:  If memory serves me right, it has a Broadcom ethernet adapter...

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp42001-42500/sp42470.exe

The video controller...do you have the nvidia graphics card installed or removed right now?

Thanks for the background on your town.

Our town while smaller in population than yours (around 30,000) is incorporated as a city.

We're located about 15 miles east of St. Louis, MO.

I moved here because of my two non-consecutive assignments in the U. S. Coast Guard, and I retired from the service and we remained here.  We liked the quality of life out here in the Midwest, so I asked for a follow-on tour of duty in St. Louis.

We are located just north of Scott Air Force Base, so there is a little aviation history here too.

[Alan255]

Good afternoon Paul. Quaint old Britain refers to urban centres as towns, unless officially granted city status (latter usually demands a cathedral and a university), hence some towns are still towns but with say 200,000 residents.  Swindon, Wiltshire is about 250,000.  Guildford, Surrey has both a cathedral and a university but is officially a town.  Historic of course, but Winchester,  Hampshire has a cathedral and university but a far small er population...it is a city.

I probably do need new drivers.  On the latest photos, the graphics card, the Nvidia one with i think the PCI Express slot or socket. was NOT reattached. This evening, I reattached it.  On starting up, what WAS a good DIMM (previously on slot 4, the white socket of Channel B), THAT gave out the 5 red beeps.  So am now using DIMM #1, the only good one left now.  Have been taking cover off and replacing a lot, not moving desktop around, I don't understand.  DIMMs cannot be this fragile?

Anyway, also checked online, seems(?) sound card, video card and graphics card mean the same thing, or all are part of the graphics card.  With a music CD on the CD-drive, again unable to play.  BUT I redid the Troubleshooting, and it ended up stating Nothing wrong with CD-drive.  But it'd previously stated No disc in drive along with stating number of tracks and duration.

It's a Windows Media Player 9 Series, and Error message reads OxCOOD11BA, it's come up before.  

Replacement drive ETA 21st or 22nd and cheap fix, or attempt at such.  Eliminates one aspect.  Cannot tell if graphics card is original.  The output from graphics card to monitor have 4 rows of 15 holes (less one).  The port covering metal thing, the graphics card is screwed into this,  that piece is shinier (chrome) than the other 'blanking off' metal bits (anodised steel?) AND lacks the Hewlett Packard identifying codes.  Not much to go on, but maybe the graphics card is NOT original.  And the previous drivers were NOT updated.

During my online searching for where the sound card was located, HP Troubleshooting advice pages kept mentioning the drivers.  It looked complicated to me.

But, I'll try installing the 3 links you sent.  Cannot proceed, on which ever CD-drive I use,  if cannot play a CD.  And no spare DIMM now.