This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use (code 12). Resolved!

So I had this customer earlier who I spent almost 3 hours on the phone trying to resolve this issue. The guy had an old Dimension XPS and decided to upgrade his Video card from an ATI AGP 128MB to an NVIDIA 9400GT PCI 1GB! So the issue started with the display lagging whenever he scrolls up or down and when moving individual windows. We checked device manager and there was a yellow mark on NVIDIA 9400GT.

Here are the things we tried:

1. Uninstalled and re-installed video driver.
2. We went to BIOS setup (F2 on startup), Integrated Devices> Video Controller, then we changed AGP to AUTO.
3. We even reseated the video card and CMOS coin battery.

All these didn't make a difference. It's true that ATI Control panel from the old GPU won't uninstall so this may also be causing the problem. Upon research we stumbled upon a forum http://discussions.virtualdr.com/archive/index.php/t-231257.html

posted by MPTECH

I finally contacted MSI and here's what they told me:
Ensure you have latest Bios update for your board (If you have not done so already). Please try with clearing the cmos setting on Jbat1 jumper/SW1 Switch or removing the battery on the mb out for 1 minute and put it back in with power off. Turn system back on load optimized default setting in bios cmos, save exit. If you didn’t start out with a clean/fresh load of Window please do so for best result.

We ended up doing so and it worked. Thanks MPTECH!

Configuring updates stage 3 of 3 RESOLVED!

This Issue is one of the toughest I've handled. Almost every time I encountered this I end up doing an Operating System re-installation. But I found a solution that actually works!

This is from the http://social.technet.microsoft.com forum.
Posted by NADER ZAVERI

You wouldn't even need to do a roll back of the sytem. Here is what you need to do.

1. Boot the computer into the “Safe Mode” options by pressing F8 prior the Windows Logo.
2. Select the option “Repair Your Computer”
Note: If you do not have this option, you will need the client’s Windows Disc. Once you have that disc, boot into it as if you were to install windows and after you select the language you will get the “Repair Your Computer” option.
3. Now you can get into Command Prompt
4. From the Command Prompt window, navigate to \Windows\winsxs folder
5. Then type: rename pending.xml to pending.old.xml
6. Now reboot the PC, you might still see the configuring updates, but this time it will go away.

And walaa, there you go, problem fixed.

Thank You

Indeed, THANK YOU!

The Dell Dock download

One of the interesting applications for Dell computers is the Dell Dock. Aside from being an eye-candy, the dock also serves to organize the programs and shortcuts so that they're not cluttered on your desktop screen. This can go on the top, bottom, or at the sides of the screen. Dell Dock first came out to complement the style and look of Windows Vista. It looked even better when used on Windows 7. In my opinion it was made in attempt to rival the MAC DOCK but it falls a bit short on that attempt. But at least there's something we could use as PC users that's almost as good.

Anyways, there's a negative side to using the Dell Dock. It seems to take up a lot of memory especially if you have the Vista Side Bar running with it. This will make your computer run slower if you don't have enough RAM memory.

So if you're still interested in getting the Dell Dock for your computer it's available at http:www.delldock.com

AC adapter wattage and type cannot be determined

What do you do when 1 day your Laptop's Battery is no longer charging and you get an error message like this when you boot up the computer. It's not an error message you'd want to seen in the morning. So here are the steps you should do in this kind of predicament.
1. Do as the error message says and Reseat the AC power cable, while you're at it, reseat the battery as well.
2. If your battery is still 10% full, you could update the BIOS of the computer.
3. Press F2 and check the Battery Health and Battery Info. You will have and idea whether the battery or the AC adapter is the one causing this problem.
4. Test using a known good AC adapter and Battery.
5. If after trying a different AC adapter and Battery and it's still showing this message or if it's still not charging, Tech supports usual nest step would be to send a technician to replace your motherboard.
6. For Studio XPS 16 and Studio XPS 1340, and upgrade from 95W to 130W AC adapter has been rolled out by dell because power requirements for these systems seems to be more than they originally expected.

Coverage of Expired Warranty Support

One day, your computer crashes. You run a hardware diagnostics and all test passed. You're not tech savvy at all and have no Idea how to resolve this problem. You're aware that your warranty is expired but you still decided to call Dell's renowned technical support to see what they can help you with. The operator tells you that you have to Pay $59 for support since you're out of warranty.
You decided to pay it anyway even if you couldn't understand the rep's strong foreign  accent. The rep gives you your confirmation number and you're transferred to a technical support person who seems to know what he's doing. He takes your confirmation number and guides you to fixing your computer. It takes him less than 30 minutes to fix it. You're completely amazed and thought the $59 was worth it.  But at the back of your mind you still have no idea what the coverage of the Expired warranty you paid for was.  So I'm here to tell you what it's all about.


Facts about your Expired Warranty Support (EWS)
1. The $59 is non-refundable except on occasions when no troubleshooting was done on the part of Dell.
2. The support group who will assist you is Dell's Hardware tech support, not  Solution Station (Software Dept)
3. Re-installing of windows and slow performance issues are covered.
4. The support period is 30 days only, unless the case has not been resolved in that time frame, then it would be indefinite..
5. Virus removal and data backup is not covered by this service.
6. You can call as many times as you want or as many hours as you want. It's all covered. Hehe!
7. lastly, EWS does not cover parts replacement. If parts are physically or mechanically damaged, the

The House Button

If you're a new user of a Dell laptop there are probably things on this computer that you don't see on others laptops. The House button is probably one of them. This is a fascinating fact I learned when I first worked with Dell computers.A lot of people just use their laptops as portable DVD (or Blu-ray) players. So why bother with booting up the computer when you can just press a button and it will automatically bring up a program that plays movies from your disc without having to go through windows?

Check your Dell computer's warranty online

Every day a there's a Dell computer that expires and Dell is making lots of money from customers whose warranty is expired but needs assistance with their computers. Although the company usually sends notice or calls a few days before the due date, somehow the email gets lost or the call doesn't go through. Next thing you know your computer has problems and you're having second thoughts of calling technical support for assistance because of the uncertainty of your warranty.

Dell XPS computers, by default, only have 1 year warranty. So if it's been a year and you don't recall extending your warranty when you bought the computer or after, chances are your warranty is expired.

But how do I know for sure?!