Update your video driver. Check for newer in optional Windows Updates or on the manufacturer's Support Downloads webpage for your model.
For Storage Controller: Update the chipset for your model mobo from manufacturer's Support Downloads webpage.
Unknown device could be anything, often Fax modem, card readers, webcam. If you need it then it will become apparent.
Update: I tried updating the drivers, but they didn't bring the cards back up; the option to roll back the current drivers was grayed out; uninstalling the cards & reinstalling with the base drivers resulted in the same thing, so I gave up and did another reinstall of the system... Guess what? Same stuff was knocked out device manager, and this was after just an install and the few critical updates it does automatically... and again I can't fix the video drivers. Not only that, but after I tried removing the cards & installing a current driver, which installed fine then rebooted the system, sys restore came on again... So I shut it off and went to bed...
So this morning I do another install for 64-bit; this time everything was ok. The video cards were up, that unknown was gone and the controller wasn't flagged. Only now I have no confidence in this system at all, so I get my quicken installed and start getting my accounts up to date, and get ready to pay bills while I can... I'm in the middle of logging stuff in and bam! blue screen of death.... it reloads, startup repair kicks in, goes for about an hour, and can't fix it. Can't get in via Safe Mode either... Another reinstall....
I'm giving up on the 64 bit until I have more ram, so I install the 32 bit. It comes up and... those devs are knocked out, but not the video, so I'm good, not really concerned about the other two...
But now there's no internet!The ethernet adapters are working, so I call my ISP tech support and guess what? An outage in my area about 20 minutes ago.
All that was a few hours ago, 'net recently came back up, so I'm a bit happier. Only now I'm afraid to update anything at all, and having my drive imaged doesn't help me feel any better about it. Gotta do it though...
The minimum for x64 is 2GB. It would be wise, like you said, to go with x86 until you get at least another gig of RAM. Most people would say go with at least 4GB for a very smooth experience. Sorry it didn't work out for you and I hope this doesn't discourage you from using Windows 7.
- Fred
Oh I'm not discouraged... I do like it when it's running right, like now. I'm sure once all these flukey things are ironed it it'll be fine. I just never had so many issues with getting a system up and running.
I forgot to mention that, during the internet outage, I ran 2 cycles of the extended memory test. No problems were found. I'm thinking maybe outdated motherboard drives could be causing all of it, since the hardware is really the only thing that was common across all installs. That or the BIOS. This machine is 3 years old, old enough to be outdated for 7 I guess. I can't find a bios update though; I'll probably be calling the mfr, I think it's Phoenix, on Monday.
Time to look for MB drivers...
It doesn't seem that old. Like you said, it might be the mobo, but the GPU and processor are fine.
Absolutely untrue, unfounded and VERY bad advice to give to our readers who may need the safety that System Restore provides them in case of an emergency. I personally have used it hundreds of times on XP, Vista and 7 with no problems. Only on a few occasions has it failed, and that is usually resolved by running it in Safe Mode. PLEASE do not advise novice users to turn off a control in their system that may save them a lot of heartache and time, just because YOU don't like it.
If you want to stop from posting bad advice, I'd suggest following your own advice as well. System Restore has ALWAYS been advised by security companies to be disabled, as it offers a nice hiding spot for malware to reside, so it can continually reinfect the system. That's been a known fact for years now, and has not changed.
Secondly, you may be the only person on any forum to suggest that it works well. If you take the time to read around and do your own research, rather than base your comments on your opinion (the very thing you blasted me for doing), you'll see what I am talking about.
If you don't like what you deem to be my opinion....don't offer your own opinion as your evidence. That's like arguing that chocolate ice cream sucks because you like vanilla.
In all honestly, please do some reading online. In the rare event System Restore works....all it does it put your system back to the spot right before you had the issue anyway...setting the system up for a repeat. it is also a known fact that storing your "back-up" or recovery method on the same physical drive is a bad idea as well. Add in the fact that System Restore can only fix software issues...which are usually easy to solve, and better to solve than rolling backwards...and it is very hard to make a case to keep System Restore enabled. I'm not even going to mention the point about SSDs and their size limitations...but that would be yet another strike against System Restore.
EDIT: Just found this link as well on these very Boards. Check out #13.
Optimize Windows 7
I'll break our tradtition and agree with you on this one. Although running it on a system with 2 GB cancels out one of it's biggest benefits, Windows 7 x64 should run just fine with only 2 GB of system memory. You will have slightly less headroom for apps, given the fact that x64 OSes use a little more memory, but that doesn't mean you'll have issues with stability. I also had a system running on 2 GB while waiting for a memory upgrade, and it ran just fine.
Last edited by DeaconFrost; 21 Jun 2010 at 08:58.
I stand firmly by my comment that it was irresponsible of you to advise a novice user to turn off System Restore, no matter what you may think about it. It DOES work, and should be the first line of defense in case of a system failure. It can give you the chance to fix a problem before having to completely reinstall.
The thread you referenced clearly states that this is only a suggestion for those severely pressed for hard drive space and also warns of the inability to perform a restore. It is NOT listed as a blanket optimization strategy in any way.
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