XP Driver help!!!

[religion2386]

I have 4 computers at my house and NONE of them are working properly. Granted none of them are brand new, but all have been reformated and have Windows XP like they did originally. The problem is I dont have ANY cd's with driver reinstallation on them. My Acer laptop audio doesnt work among other things, my IBM and HP desktops the audio works, but I cant download or use any software! I dont know what to do...Ive heard you have to call and order cd's and Ive also heard you can download them from a website. Can someone please give me some information. 4 computers not working is killing me!

 

[wmorri]

Oh boy. Ok, you said that your laptop doesn't work, that isn't very descriptive, can you give us details. Did it work before you formatted?

On your desktops. What happens if you just put a game or something in a drive and try and load it will it work? Or what will it do. When you say that you can't download anything, what happens when you try.

I guess what I am getting at is if you could give some more details it would be a big help.

Cheers!

 

[religion2386]

ok thank you....Yes the laptop worked prefectly AS did both desktops before the reformat. I used 1 XP CD for all of them and the same key.

I dont have any games, just software like....convertxtodvd,nero,etc...Pretty much everytime I try to open anything it just gives me some type of error.

Acer Aspire 3000 is the laptop.
IBM and HP desktop not sure about the exact models.

I just dont know where to get the drivers I need...Basically really confused..so if you need any specific info just let me know! Thanks

 

[A True Folder]

You'll get your drivers from the manufacturers websites, you do realise that unless your XP is a VLC (volume licence and you own the licence) using it on four pc's is illegal don't you

 

[religion2386]

I know there is a licence key on the bottom of all the computers. Couldnt I just install XP and type the designated keys for each of the machines?

 

[A True Folder]

You could try it but the Windows installs you have are likely to be Retail and the keys will be OEM, if that is the case then they probably won't work

 

[religion2386]

ok yes I understand what your saying. So lets say it wont work...Is my computer not functioning right because of no drivers installed? Im confused on whats wrong and what I need to do to fix my problems.

 

[A True Folder]

can you go into device manager and look for yellow exclamation marks, if there is a problem with drivers then the exclamattion marks will be there

The Acer will be a driver but I suggest you'll find more than one problem when you look in device manager

The other two will be motherboard (and probably others) drivers as well.

Device manager will reveal all

To access device manager- right click My Computer > select properties > select hardware tab > click device manager

 

[wmorri]

I dont have any games, just software like....convertxtodvd,nero,etc...Pretty much everytime I try to open anything it just gives me some type of error.

Do you know what the error(s) are?

 

[religion2386]

im not sure im ar work...says something about the location has been moved or deleted. Something of that nature but I dont know enough to quote it at the moment...These are driver problems arent they?