svasutin

Of course it will happen. duh, that's what computers are for.

No, Dell does not ship WMP10. We downloaded the updates from WinUpdate and some optional componnents. As a check, I installed WinXp sp0, sp1, and sp2, but none could play DVDs with the base install, nor would it work with just WMP10. Using the key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Settings] "EnableDVDUI"="Yes" Did nothing for either mp versions. Real Player 8/8.5/10 also does not include a DVD decoder by default, it is a downloaded componnent if a decoder is not already installed (but my rp10 is pretty old). It seems nVidia and ATI desktop/retail cards include a DVD decoder with their drivers, so usually it appears with the Win Install. Also, Roxio/Sonic and Nero (retail) include decoders. Wmp 9 can also play DVDs with a Decoder. I guess this explains why so many motherboard vendors are shipping DVD software with their boards.

I was testing out my wireless speed, and decided to to try the MS Wireless Zero Config vs the Intel Pro Wireless (on my Dell) and the Linksys Wireless client on a home system. Turned out, the MS client was faster. Anybody else get similar results?

I think if you call Msft, you can get a downgrade for $20 USD off the regular OEM price of XP.

Considering 90% of my boxes are celeron/Piii/4+athlon/duron/sempron, and only 10% are 64b + pci-e video + SATA, most systems will stay with XP SPx. DX10 has software back-compatibility for dx 9.x and below, not to mention the whole sure video path thing (TPI). To a certain extent, I figure, if the MPAA doesn't want people watching DVDs, the RIAA doesn't want people listening to music, and Msft doesn't want people using their os's, then they should get out of the business or not expect me to spend as much. Going to Vista just doesn't seem to make sense for 90%, unless you just happended to skip over the whole XP thing. Perhaps when Vista Sp1 comes out, then I'll get into the whole tweaking thing again, but for the majority of systems, Vista just doesn't make sense. It might make sense for new systems, sometime in 2006, but for me, I've already sent out e-mails telling my clients to wait until SP1 (2007/8). Does anyone have a count as the the number of MS patches, updates, and slips for XP SP0, 1, and 2? I don't think I went to Win95 until version c, and then skipped the 98 thing until 98SE. Although I did go from NT4 to 2k rather quick. Only 1 person I know uses media center ed, my clients home/pro for their htpc. Media Center was much like Apple, you were locked into a hardware and software environment. I'm wondering if the Vista media center stuff will require hardware mpeg encoders, force people to use nVidia or Sonic decoders, and render into dv-ms, wmv files. As for HTPCs, I don't think these would ever need to be upgraded. It's not that Vista is bad, its just that my hardware and software was designed for XP x86. My systems do not contain software/on-board/shared RAM devices, nor do they have hdds less than 133 / 7.2k rpms. Each system is typically sold with a $150 CPU + 512 RAM, then, as requirements increase, so does ram and CPU power over the years. Going to a $499 USD Vista system will most likely be a downgrade for most of my clients.

Check for a protected recycle bin. Ensure your folder options allow you to view hidden and system items. Alt+Enter your drive, click disk clean up, click the 'Mo Opts' tab. In the sys restore section, click the 'clean up...' button. Then click Ok, yes, hope it doesn't hang. also try this: Start | Run 'cleanmgr /sageset:101' check all except for compress; on compress, click the words, then click the option button and set it to 500 days. Click ok Click Start | Run 'cleanmgr /sagerun:101' Sometimes it hangs, so you might have to End Process, but give it a minute. if it's a recycle thing, set the reserve to 0, create a new folder/text doc, then delete it, now try to empty your recycle bin. Run chkdsk <d>: /v /f /r /x Then go back the next morning; this is why I'm finding 32 GB to be a nice size. Issues on one partition are checked in less than a 1/2 hour. Nothing quite like having to reformat 160 GB, unless of course it is an in depth surface scan for data recovery.

Thank you folks, I wasn't sure if it was a Dell or Msft thing ~ guess it's both. In the end we searched and found a CD containing the Cybermedia Power DVD player you mentioned. It wasn't on the Drivers CD, nor in any download or Media Experience. For some reason, I thought decoders were always free, it was the encoding that royality restrictive. Guess I'll need to find a decoder for general systems. Thank you again

The other day I was helping a friend reInstall Windows, well, helping isn't quite the right word; it was on a Dell notebook and we used their disc. We updated firmware/bios, and then blanked out the hdd, reInstalled Windows from the Dell XPSP2 CD, and installed all the MS drivers, updates, and patches. No software, except from Msft. We went to watch a DVD, and found WMP10 couldn't play any DVDs. Can anyone confirm for me if this is normal, XP Can't play DVDs out of the Box. I would have thought one of the drivers, or even XP, would have contained a decoder somewhere. As always, thanks for your help.

For a HTPC, 800MHz is the lowest you can go for capture. You will benefit the most from more RAM, however, install XP with 128MB of RAM; this will disable many features for you. Install Chipset + Network Drives, WinUpdate, then Install your new RAM and everything else. Keep UPnP enabled for full use of WM Connect. If you have anything 'on-board' then it should be replaced with a product that has its own controller; this includes USB/Firewire. You didn't list anything for sound. You might want to check your IRQs. Try moving your cards around so each device to have its own IRQ, then use /pcilock in your boot.ini Disable as many devices as you can from inside the BIOS (Secondary Master, Serial, Parallel), then add /fastdetect:Com1,2,3,4 to your boot.ini Download the reg tweaks and run them, and reboot. If you want a common interface, check out Nero 7.0. It includes (well so did 6.6) utilities for media sharing. If this is going to be a media server, don't use home, as it will limit your connections to other systems.

From ZDNet http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-5843300.html?tag=nl.e589Titled: From Intel's labs: Virus hunters and power savers. Talks about having systems shut themselves down during an outbreak. Is it just me, or does this sound like a way for the RIAA to stop sharing of infromation. People gotta learn, the opposite of freedom is security, and freedom requires responsibility for actions. The common cold and poor will always be with us. Too many people are way too freaked out about privacy and security. In order to get a web page, you have to send a return address or the page won't go to your system. Security, sure, only install from the CD, live with bugs, and never connect to the internet or get email. I know too many people who have privacy, AV, spyware, firewalls, track erases, and everything else on their systems, running all the time. Their 2+ GHz systems benchmark closer to MHz systems, and they still get viruses. Why? Because they click 'yes' or 'allow' for something they know they shouldn't. Tyring to recover these systems always takes longer. The death of free and open computing will come from people's lack of personal responsibility and laziness. People will cry, "the government needs to protect us, if you're not doing anything wrong, then why should it matter?"

You know, I seem to remember something from tomshardware.com about and issue with sli boards. In the mean time, I'm thinking,...

@ripken204 Ya, I know, just my two cents

Well, don't worry about your boot.ini. What is the brand and power rating of your power supply? It could be that you power supply cannot handle all the drives and video card in your system. This issue would show up when XP needs to request information from a drive, and hence the drives spin up, but your power supply can't handle all your devices. Also, who makes your motherboard, and what model? With 2 GBs of RAM I don't think it is a windows issue; if it was 3, then I'd consider the memory a potential problem. So how do you install Windows? Without a floppy, and without some kind of slip CD, you should not be able to install windows.

I just want to be clear, You modified your boot.ini to have /noexecute=alwaysoff And then reInstalled your drivers (less the nVidia ATA/IDE). One other question: If you are using a slip CD, did you apply any Reg entries to mod the default services?

Ever wonder why modern washing machines don't have a hot rinse cycle? Turned out the energy required to heat the water cost/was more than the time/cost it took to dry the clothes. Hence, you could save a minute or two, but the time was not worth the cost. The moral, using too many fans decreases the overall efficiency. I suppose the question is, does a CPU at 30-39 C run better than one from 40-49 C. I'm pretty sure the cool n' quiet technology has quite a bit to do with cycles on demand. hmmm...

coo

here you go: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;878474

Well, for the best longevity, Look to amd's site, click the x2 link, and look for recommended motherboards. Select the highest CPU speed (but buy the slowest for now). Next, cross reference the board against the windows logo. Now you should have a board and system to see you to Vista SP1. If you're doing video editing, the ATI 2006 edition is a good starting point.

the good thing about nVidia ide/sata/raid drivers are, it makes your system run faster, the bad thing is, it's not always compatible and does cause crashes. Works for some (especially software used for benchmarking), but causes problems for much more.... Your's seems to be the first case I've heard of when dealing with SATA alone. As for your Event errors, I forgot to write, right-click each event, then clear your log, click no when prompted to save. This way you can pinpoint the exact one. You know, from all the errors I was getting from nVidia, I started pointing my clients towards boards with the VIA chipset; my clients are educated about updating. Although, now with the kt8xxxx not supporting AMD x2's, a bug in the chipset, I'm wondering if I should stick with VIA (no dual, but less strange problems)

For a test, I attempted USMT, but there are just too many prompts when files can't be copied (ntuser.dat), also, it takes too long to be run at shutdown/restart. Perhaps only settings should be used; but I'm thinking it's ok to lose settings. My next task will be determining the specific device drivers to back up.

Originally I thought about the USMT, but it doesn't work with Outlook Express. I can't tell you how much I hate olx. Also, the USMT is kinda only works well for Msft products. There should be a way. I suppose I'll try and just do a backup or the registry, and hope double-clicking it will restore most everything.

Actually, only the 2006 ed. does not have a fan. You might need to look into the ati 9600 to avoid the fan.

Get people off Win98, it just isn't updated, sure IE and olx are, but for the most part, Win9x support has ended. Hopefully soon Msft will release Starter Edition in the US. chilifrei64 has the right idea. Force them to log on as an admin when they want to install. Education is the best, I personally don't use av software, but when I did, I really liked Trend Micro. Msft Firewall or Zone Alarm Spyblaster, Spyguard, Spybot Firefox Everything in IE set to high restrictions. Giant/Msft Anti-Spy Of course, a customized XP slip with kill bits, hosts files, and other registry security settings set is really a good start. As for "I think stuff is still there" Always start in safe mode. end the explorer process, just use the task manager to navigate. delete system restore, temps, cache, cookie, conent, history, config.sys, autoexec.bat. check the HKx\Software\Msft\Win\CurrVer\Run... install in safemode, always run after installing and never reboot until all products have been run. You need to ensure everything is unchecked (advanced mode), before you run. I've found some spyware/viruses that allow anti spyware to be installed, but change settings to make products ignore them (maked as ok) Also, set your download directories to each folder in the root drive, and not just the whole c drive (some anti-spy fail at system volume info folder and never get to windir).

Use the pegsus's for the DVD encoding. As for software, see if you can find Dazzle DVD Complete Deluxe It's a good starting package. Only supports 4:3 and stereo, but can do just about anything. It works best when you have tmpgenc export m2v + wav/mp3/mp2 files (rather than just an mpeg2 file). Your 5 episods should be rendered into 1 file. If you place your episodes into separate files, your DVD will pause between chapters/movies. Your max bit rate should be less than 7 mbs, you min above 1.5 mbs. CBR, DVD-R, lpcm (wav) and 4-6 mbs will has the best compatibilty for use with home dvd players. Dazzle DVD Complete Deluxe will let you choose a background, set chapter points (skipping to the next episode), have moving chapters images, have moving backgrounds, overtures, hold multiple movies, with the option of what to play first, second,..., and select what action to take after the last video has played (stop, go to root menu, etc). It can do everything you say. I use when I get people who want home videos to DVDs (Rather than adobe's collection). Since it's an old package, you most likely will only be able to create the files on your computer, so also purchase Nero Burning ROM 6.6 Ultra Edition Use NeroVision Express 3 to view you DVD, and then use Nero Burning ROM to burn your video DVD. Generally DVDs are done in Several Parts: What ever you have done 1 Capture (lossless) Pegasus 2 trim/cut/paste (lossless) 3 Render (lossy) 4 Render again because the size didn't fit on the DVD or it was too small Dazzle DVD Complete Deluxe 5 Set Chapter Points 6 Select DVD Menu Theme or make your own 7 Select DVD Labels or make your own 8 Create Files Nero Burning ROM 9 View DVD (check for errors) 10 burn DVD

If you have SATA II drives on an SATA (I) controller, you need to turn off auto speed detection by placing a jumper on it. Otherwise, try having Msft tell you about the error: Ensure error reporting is turned on: Right Click My Computer, Select Properties Lick the advanced tab Click the Error Reporting button Check the Enable Error reporting radio button Check both win and programs check boxes Click Ok Click Apply Next, in the Start Up and Recovery Section of the same tab (Advanced) Click the 'settings' button Check everything except for Auto restart Select Complete Memory Dump Click Ok Click Apply, Click Ok *** Optional Doc Watson Click Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Informaiton Click Tools Dr Watson Note your Log and Crash Dump locations try 50, 50, full Check Dump Sym, Dump All thread, create crash dump Uncheck Visual, sound *** Generate the BSOD Look up the error Right Click My Computer, Select Manage Click Event Viewer Look for your BSOD red x error under Application, Security, and or System Double-Click the http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp url Hopefully you're not the only person with this error.