Posts by Catweazle

Blue29, the important thing to consider here is what you've stated to be your reasons for having a computer - music, games, internet!

The fact that you want games dictates that you need a Windows PC. Forget Mac, forget Linux. Although some games are available for those platforms, the mainstream of PC Gaming is Windows.

I'd also advise against buying a 'Name Brand' PC for one simple reason - you'll pay more for less performance! PC games are pretty much the most demanding task that you can use a PC for, and they require high performing machines. If your budget stretches to it, try to get hold of an Athlon64 system, with at least 512Mb or preferably 1Gb of RAM installed, either a Radeon9600XT or GeForceFX5900XT display card as a minimum, or preferably a Radeon 9800 Pro, GeForce FX5950 or better.

You're best to purchase a 'White Box' PC - one that's been assembled by a local PC supplier - or purchase the components and assemble it yourself. You'll get nothing more than an OEM copy of Windows XP and the basic warranty on components with your system, but the savings on all that Support and Service will enable you to have a better performing system for your money.

Oh yes! And don't forget to ensure you have lots and lots of hard drive storage space.

Looks like it to me.

You should find all the info you need here:

http://homepage.hispeed.ch/rscheidegger/p2b_procupgrade_faq.html

You got all your Windows updates installed? You got up to date Antivirus protection installed and background scanning? If you're connected via Broadband, have you got a firewall in place?

Reason I ask is because it sounds very much like you've been hit by 'Blaster'. Yep! That thing is still doing the rounds and hurting people. I've even heard of quite a few people recently who done a fresh install of Windows on their system, only to be hit by 'Blaster' even before they could connect to 'Windows Update' and download the security updates.

Check this out and see if it applies to you.
http://www.pchell.com/virus/msblast.shtml

You should find identifying and removal information in that article.

If that's not the case, the most likely next reason is a hardware problem, and you should check your system for overheating problems.

By the way, for people who have an early release copy of Windows XP, which doesn't install Service Pack 1, locate the 'Security Update CD' information on Microsoft's Website for your location. Microsoft will send this CD to you, free of charge, and it includes all security updates, for every Windows version, issued before November 2003.

Install Windows, Install the updates from CD, then connect to the net, and you'll never get 'Blasted'.

he was untruthful

Looking forward to playing this on my trusty Pentium 100 laptop! :p

[img]http://home.insightbb.com/~brandonz14/unrealfloppy.jpg[/img]

Seen any little tidbits lately that have made you chuckle? Share 'em!

telephoned "Tonight Live"!

Darwin -> award

named Catweazle came

I had this happen to a machine of my own recently, after it copped a virus.

Some persistent work and scanning with up to date antivirus, Adaware, Spybot and Trojan Remover, together with several reboots, eventually eliminated the problem. Along with the 'Task Manager' problem, I'd also lost 'Device Manager', 'Add/Remove Programs' and several other functions. All came good with persistence.

of barmen and

(No, I'm sure that would have been 'Muggle' as in Harry Potter)

lulu -> intrigue

An XP1700 that's 18 months old is likely to be a Palamino. They run a tad hotter than the later Thoroughbred XP1700s, and I'd be checking that the initial installation of it hasn't used silicone based thermal compound. If it has, it's likely to have dried out by now and become less efficient. Removing the heatsink, cleaning heatsink base and processor die, and replacing it using a better quality compound would be a good idea for a system of that vintage.

Here's the instructions from 'Arctic Silver' website. Try to avoid using the white silicone based crap that you get cheaply from electronics stores - it's nowhere near as good as a decent thermal compound.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

An 'In Place Upgrade' (or repair install) of Windows XP has a certain procedure to follow. Here's the instructions:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341&Product=winxp

my way back

(Now where were we a page or two back? :lol: )

How the heck does that fit?

:lol: Had me bewildered too!

Tiring of all

sweet romance with

penned behind my

It's actually quite remarkable just how many people, quite competent in their everyday computer usage, just don't have a high enough level of literacy to be able to cope with formulating search criteria to use.

I'm sure you'll find that's a POST error being reported.

The hard drive's been formatted and the system is unable to find boot files to start from. It simply needs BIOS altered to tell it where to look.

heh heh......

Rather eliminates the need for a forum, doesn't it?

I don't think you'll find a solution. Halo is a pretty demanding game, and your Radeon 7000 isn't enough 'grunt' for it!

Which drive is it saying is 'Not Ready'?

Have you got BIOS configured to boot from CD? From floppy? From Hard drive?

You need to tell BIOS Setup where to look for boot up files, as obviously they are gone from your hard drive after you formatted.

You can either boot from your Windows CD or from a 'Startup' floppy disk.

Use 'Help' or <F1> to bring up the help balloon, type in 'create mail account' as you search criteria and you'll bring up the instructions you need.

You'll also bring up the full 'Help' index along with it, and you should spend a bit of time reading through the assistance contained in there.

Here's your best resource:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308041&Product=winxp

I'm sure you'll fix your problem by following the instructions in this article.

http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/web/34E6020A37B34EB2CA256E41006BBD50

JimF, there's no need to 'get technical'! An 'In place upgrade' (refresh install) of Windows XP should fix the problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341&Product=winxp

I'd be rather cautious with the 'Stinger' utility actually.

I tried it out on a system which was 'Netsky' infected, and found the (rather general purpose) utility to be quite 'brutal' in its approach.

While it certainly cleaned the infection, the end result was a Windows XP system which had the user locked out of quite a bit of Control Panel's functionality - including Add/Remove Programs, System Properties, Device Manager, and a few other applets!

coming from its

French -> cuisine

aawww! c'mon!!!!

Just how does bloody 'stinky cheese' run?

****PASS*******

:lol:

three types of

The repair is called an "In place upgrade" and this KB articles describes the process.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341&Product=winxp

Man, you never even read it!

The cardboard goes in, the glue goes under the socket, and it's clamped down for pressure.

Then the cardboard comes out, the processor and heatsink are reassembled, and all's well!

The whole idea of the tip is to make the socket more securely fitted to the mainboard, to avoid any warping that might be evident.

'm Sorry -> Dani

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I'd bet this instance is a driver issue now

That sounds like a wager to me, rather than a definitive statement.

I'm afraid that's not quite right.

Windows XP will operate most games, either with compatibility mode or with the use of official or unofficial 'patches' for the games, but it will not run all of them, unfortunately.

No-one is looking for your personal info. They're looking for entries relating to the stuff that you didn't put there! The spyware that has got into your system and is stopping things from working as they should.

Posting the log will enable people to identify problem entries, and suggest the actions you need to take to fix it.

Nile -> cataract

I'd be trying that. In fact, I'd be trying a 'vanilla' CD-ROM if one is available.

Some optical drives simply cause problems. Mitsubishi drives seem troublesome at times, and I've heard of DVD drives having installation problems as well.

But the problems you're having seem to point to a conflict between optical drive and the drive controller, or an incompatibility between motherboard and RAM.

What Optical drive have you got. I'm betting it's the problem.

I disagree with the 'Blaster' diagnosis.

I've dealt with the exact same problem, exact same modem previously, before MSBlast was around. It was a driver issue then, and I'd bet this instance is a driver issue now!

Is that Windows XP a legitimate CD?

Did you use Fdisk to create a small partition for Windows 98?

Did you then use the Windows XP CD to create a partition, format it and install Windows XP?

It really sounds like you're using old Windows 98 techniques for Windows XP. That hardware should be fine. If it's not working, boot from the Windows XP CD, remove all partitions and create a new one(s). Install Windows XP formatting to NTFS.

If that works, then you know the harware compatibility issues are fine.

Remember - you don't need fdisk for Windows XP, only for Windows 98. XP has it all contained in the setup routine. ;)

a:: barton 2500's ALL over clock to Barton 3200's with out Much temp increase

b:: if some one uses 'sucks' to describe CPU performance then don't listen to them

c:: if playing games either you want the 9800 ati, or the 5900/5950 nvid otherwise don't bother.

d::consider getting a decent pair of hard drives and running them in stripe mode

e:: there are some nice lan boards on ebuyer that have duel gig lan and look good, if that's what you're into.

a: Wrong! Some Barton 2500s will NOT reach the necessary 200 MHz fsb

b: Agreed. Actually you could tell someone saying that they're a dipstick!

C: If you wish to play the most recent games at high screen resolution, and with Anisotropic filtering and AntiAliasing features set at a high level, then the statement is correct. Otherwise, it's a load of twaddle. Even a GeForce4 MX will run most recent games, albeit at reduced display settings.

d: RAID configuration does very little for games.

e: Dual LAN can be a bonus, but only if you've a need for it.

suRoot, you should really get your facts straight before making blunt statements. ;)

Yes, you can dual boot.

Use FDISK to make a partition of around 3 to 4 Gig, format it FAT32 and load on Windows 98. That should be enough room for your old games.

Boot from a Windows XP CD after you've finished setting up Win 98, create a partition in the remaining unpartitioned space, and install Windows XP to it using NTFS file system for preference. The Windows XP install will create the dual-boot for you in the process, as long as you've got Win 98 installed first.

And add more RAM. 128Mb isn't really even enough for Win98, and 384Mb is a minimum for Windows XP to run well. If your PC has a reasonable display card, then your processor is fine, and you'd really only need RAM and perhaps extra hard drive space.

I'm using Windows XP, Award BIOS on some systems, and drives in excess of 32Gb with no problems.

Are these drives being partitioned and formatted FAT32 with FDISK? If so, why? The Windows XP CD will partition and format the drives, and use NTFS as well. IF FDISK is used to create partitions over 32Gb, then problems can result, as XP doesn't like FAT32 volumes in excess of 32GB, and rightfully so, as they are innappropriate to use.

In this particular instance, Windows XP is quite possibly having problems starting as well because of the change in drive controller. Was the XP installation reset first to use generic IDE controllers, before the controller card was installed and the drive connected to it?

That's too broad a scope for simple answers here to address. Google is your friend.

www.google.com

Don't use one word search criteria. Use terms like 'What is a motherboard' or 'how does a motherboard work' 'What does BIOS do' 'How do I change BIOS settings'

You'll uncover articles and discussions, and the best thing you can do is read, read, read.

Your motherboard basically is your computer, and the BIOS is the chip on it which contains code to let every little part of it find and interact with the rest. That's a pretty big field you're walking into there! ;)

hard boulders and

roof, only to

thought but I

(sorry for the double post, but you're not getting away with that! :lol: )

Or so I