I tried all three and none seemed to work for the wireless connections. I am now able to connect to the web with an ethernet cable and modem, but this isn't much use.. I have also noticed that I lost every other program installed in the Programs and Features menu, so things like the mouse/touchpad wont work properly.

Is there any way I can re-access things the way they were before I added this new partion to the HDD? If not I guess I'll just have to keep trying to find a network adapter and something to make the mouse work properly, as well as fix anything else I come across.

This is such a hassle, wish I had left it as it was.

Did you select the right version of Windows from the drop-down menu? As in, you didn't try installing the 32-bit drivers for a 64-bit version of Windows.

Beyond that, I'd also install the other drivers from the site. Don't understand why the same laptop model uses different wireless cards and touchpads though, that's just bad manufacturing IMO.

Edit: oh, no wonder it's bad manufacturing: they're a subsidy of Acer

I didn't get a drop-down menu during the setup, so I don't know whether that's the problem, all three are recognised in Programs and Features but yet Device Manager still lists the Network Adapter driver as missing... Really stuck as for what to do. I've redownloaded my webcam and mouse drivers, so that's okay now.

This is such a hassle and I've not even gained anything from it.

When you go to the website to download it, there's an option to select which version of Windows 7, not during install.

Do you have a restore disk / factory reset restore partition on the HDD? Either of those should include all the system drivers.

Okay, whilst downloading Itunes so that I could use my phone as a personal hotspot, I realised that I had actually installed the 32x bit version as opposed to the 64xbit one. Looks like a clean install has sorted everything out so far. Still had to re-download the things from the packard bell website but at least they work this time.

Thanks guys. Now to get Microsoft Office for cheap somehow.

Open Office? http://www.openoffice.org/

For some reason my GPU (Radeon 6850) won't downclock under light use. Even when I'm just on the desktop with nothing going on, it still sits at 300 MHz core, 1000 MHz memory instead of 100 MHz core, 300 MHz memory. Any ideas what's going on? I'm using Windows 8 Consumer Preview with the 12.2 drivers for W8. Don't think I had the problem with Windows 7, not that I'm sure it's OS related.

Edit: Reboot fixed it.

Edit 2: Fix one problem and another one appears. I have my computer set to never sleep, and I've been downloading a bunch of games off Steam, so I just turn off my monitor and leave it. But every time I walk back, my downloads are suspended.What's up with that?

post limit, new thread up:
http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1358707-the-community-tech-thread-no-113/