James_A

The reason why WU and MBSA did not list KB951748 on XP SP3 systems was due to a mistake in detection by Microsoft -- they revised the security bulletin on January 13, 2009 and now state that this WU/MBSA detection error has been corrected. .

...and the last real-world test (in the UK magazine CustomPC) showed a write speed only one-quarter of what OCZ claims. Also, life is limited by how many times you write to the drive, not just how long it is plugged-in. So, as crahak says, "not mainstream soon".

Have you now resolved this, Nerwin? I was hoping that someone with a bit more experience would come back on this topic, but apparently not, so here's my opinion... If those registry entries exist and are set to 0 then some form of Group Policy set them. Group Policy is enforced at logon by winlogon.exe and at regular intervals whilst Windows is running. If it is still in effect, then you should find the registry values have been reset to 0 again. Files involved locally are ntuser.pol (in %allusers%) and also ntuser.pol in all individual user profiles. Also under two folders under the WINDOWS\system32\GroupPolicy folder you will find two registry.pol files. (From: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...a_dcm_rhwh.mspx)My suggestion is to axe all those .pol files. (At least 2x ntuser.pol and 2x registry.pol.) You might need to boot up under something else to kill them, since the OS will normally be hanging on to them. WHAT is grayed out? .

The first point sounds like what is happening here. It seems this ISP does not want to hand out IP addresses, unless the modem is first rebooted/reset, since there was apparantly no response to the ipconfig /renew command. Strictly speaking an APIPA address (169.254.x.x address) means only that there is no DHCP server response. It tells you nothing about whether the adapter or connection is working or not working. If resetting the modem reliably gives a new connection, that suggests that everything else is actually working OK.

The actual Policy (IIRC) is called "Protect all network connections" Also, have you looked in the Registry at: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ WindowsFirewall or HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ WindowsFirewall ?

Never mind the P4, in the UK that's being cruel. 8Gb kits are almost unobtainable. The nearest possible is 4 x 2Gb for the equivalent of $200 plus shipping So that would be something like a GA-EP45-DS3R. That's if you can decide between -45- -45C- or -45T-, then -DS -3 -3R -3L or- 3P. Then repeat all those numbers for a GA-EP45-UD3R etc etc etc. Why so many variations? Comparing them all is an exercise in futility, at the Gigabyte website. Assumig that I, too, go with Gigabyte, what's the criteria to use to decide between them? .

The F-Secure Rescue CD (v3.00) updates itself automatically with the latest definitions, if it has an Internet connection. Or you can update it manually from a USB drive. So it's never more than a few hours out-of-date. .

HAHAHA Shame on you all -- next time read the topic before posting! (and especially check the Intel processor Family, Model and Stepping details already posted.) --

If you want to learn more about the RAM that you have, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_RAM No, that is not really the manufacturer. That is the name of the people who wrote the BIOS (the startup chip). What name is on the outside of the case? OR, what names and words are on the motherboard inside the case? .

Since a WD1600BB is a 160GB Western Digital Caviar Blue drive, you could instead use Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows Go to http://support.wdc.com/product/download.as...WD1600BB-98DWA0 and take your pick from: -floppy -CD or -Windows .

Here in the UK, the ONLY OEM/System Builder version of XP available is SP3 -- and has been for several months. The CD (and booklet) still says "Version 2002" on it but that doesn't mean anything much, because the CD also says "Includes Service Pack 3" and "© 2008 Microsoft Corporation". .

You've already identified it as a Deskpro EN SFF, which is all you need to know to download the correct audio and network drivers from hp.com. The only thing you might still need is the BIOS ROM family, if you are thinking of reflashing the BIOS. Start it up, press F10 to enter the BIOS, press Enter to select English, then select System Information on the next screen (this is usually pre-selected for you). That will give you the BIOS ROM family, which will be 686Pn or 686Tn or 686Jn (where n is a number). Compaq produced full drivers for Windows 98, Windows NT and Windows 2000. Like the very similar Deskpro EX, these models were already being phased out by the time Microsoft released Windows XP. Start at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechS...dSeriesId=96268. The 1.0GHz Pentium III is about half-way down the list. .

I never do! (That's why I said "apparently". I was referrring to the opinions expressed in the comments.)

I recognise those three file names. They're the same as if you buy Vista from Windows Marketplace: Source: Rob Mensching's blog.Read the article here: http://robmensching.com/blog/archive/2007/01/28/What-do-you-get-when-you-download-Windows-Vista-from.aspx Then read the complaints made in the comments because, apparently this can NOT be turned into an ISO and can NOT be made to run from a DVD. Even worse, if you downloaded the 64-bit edition you can't install it from a 32-bit XP. Ever. At all. .

Nice list fdv -- thanks. One correction: the KB article for WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe is not N/A, it is KB949104 Looking foward to that, too... .

Interesting, I never had that. What motherboard are we talking about here? Well, it was more than one motherboard, they were not exactly new (far from it), but one had a Via chipset, one had an Intel 8xx chipset. I've never had a battery kill a motherboard (temporarily) before, so it was a big surprise to find they wouldn't spin the fans or POST with that battery in. And it really does give 380 watts output. At 80% efficiency, it therefore draws about 475 watts from the mains. (Because 80% of 475 Watts is 380 Watts.) Read the technical report: Antec_EA-380_380W_80PLUS_Report.pdf (one page PDF file). 80 PLUS is always worth having. The extra purchase cost will be recovered in lower running costs. ActivePFC adds to the overall efficiency, too. As always, learn the good brand names: Antec, Corsair, Enermax, Tagan, SeaSonic ... (everybody has their own favourites). No company is perfect, but none of those will explode at 50% power output, unlike the no-name brands. _____ Also, don't get the 20+4 pin connector confused with the EXTRA 4 pin connector that also goes to the motherboard. .

Sorry, I missed your reply to my questions -- but my reply would have been the same as puntoMX. Trying memory which is both a different brand and a different size and finding nothing works, just leaves the motherboard as the common factor. .

Well, after a long rambling discussion, it's good to see this back ON topic -- and within budget, too! I wish we had those sort of prices here in the UK. My reqular online suppliers have just hiked some prices by 44% more or less overnight, due to the fall in the £ / $. It's easy to nit-pick, but 8GB of RAM implies a 64-bit Operating System, which is a whole new ball-game that has not been discussed earlier... .

From repair experience, the power supply is the most likely culprit. The green light simply shows that the standby power is still available, but that doesn't mean that the PSU will give enough power to start anything up. It's not always the cause, but without any other info it's always the first thing to suspect. Also don't ignore the battery. Yes, really, that coin-shaped silver object. I've just had a computer in for repair, which failed to do anything at all, checked everything and swapped in-and-out everything. Finally, put the battery in another motherboard and had exactly the same symptoms. That particular battery is like the death-pill to any motherboard. Usually you can tell when the battery is failing -- not this one. .

+1 for debunking the myth. However, I do wish that people who refer to Peter Gutmann would at least spell his name correctly. <cough> nber.org <cough>. I use DBAN (see above) to security wipe drives, but the first thing I do is to turn off all that PRNG and multi-pass crap. I want to wipe the drive, not test it to destruction. Incidentally, CMRR is one of the few places in the world that could recover anything at all from the current generation of drives after just one pass.

Not with those drives, the areal density on the drive platters is the limiting factor. .

Whoah! All I asked about was an adapter! jaclaz, thanks for the pointer to eBay.co.uk. My regular suppliers want about 3 to 5 times the price. Cheapo is the way to go for the drives/motherboards I have lined up for this. Plus, I might actually be able to buy something in the UK that's half the price quoted by newegg in the USA (instead of twice the price which is more "normal") Andromeda43, thanks for the photo of one of these actually in use and the tip about fixing the data cable. Seeing one actually installed is much more informative than the marketing photos I have seen so far. We used to fix AGP cards with the same glue technique about 8 years ago, before the later generation AGP sockets (with catches) came out. As for the side-issue debate that's now started, first Generation SATA is both 150 AND 1500, once you put the right units in, because the one thing missing is the units. Since 1B=10b (1 Byte = 10 bits, with 8b10b encoding) SATA first Generation is both 150MB/sec and 1500Mb/sec. It's also 1200Mb/sec if you prefer to use the 8-bit byte pure data as your measurement unit! Last, thanks to you both for the info about real-world experience and the bluecouch tests. I was not sure whether it was worth throwing money at these IDE drives, to connect them to a mobo with SATA ports, but it definitely looks worthwhile now. .

Oh, yes, of course. I have "voting bumps the time" (in Admin CP) turned off on my board, which is why I didn't think of it. Looks like xper has it turned on, then.

Well that's nowhere near the full story, because the following statement is true: provided you qualify it, by adding the words "for IE7". KB956390 contains a SP2QFE branch and a SP2GDR branch. There is NO SP3 branch. Both branches have 32 files. Neither branch has shdocvw.dll in it. .

I go to the Windows XP forum (http://www.msfn.org/board/Windows-XP-f34.html) In the list of topics, there is "Poll: SP3 made system booting slower" Last Action column gives : Today, 07:58 AM Last post by: Tarun I click on the Last Post link and now it says Yesterday, 06:34 PM Those are the same post (post #7) yet the post times are not even remotely connected. Why does the board give me a 13 hour 24 minute time-difference for two views of the same post??? (All my times are set to GMT) .