jaclaz

Sorry, I don't get it: 1) Your windows boots ONCE with modified LOGO, then on next boot restores original one? OR 2) Your windows NEVER boots with modified LOGO? The only setting that you can check is that in your MSDOS.SYS there IS a line LOGO=1 (see here for reference:http://www.mdgx.com/msdos.htm) jaclaz

In NT4/2K/XP/2003 the latest ERRORLEVEL generated is stored by system in variable called, guess what?, ERRORLEVEL, so that to log them you just need something along the lines of: ..... @ECHO OFF if exist %TEMP%\logfile.log del %TEMP%\logfile.log if not exist %TEMP%\logfile.log ECHO [Logfile start] > %TEMP%\logfile.log :doing_SOMETHING DIR C:\ ::this ^ is the SOMETHING action Echo DONE SOMETHING RESULTING ERRORLEVEL IS %ERRORLEVEL% >> %TEMP%\logfile.log ...... See here for more info and details: http://www.robvanderwoude.com/errorlevel.html jaclaz

Mine is not a batch file, but rather a state of mind... You download the file, furd19u_i.zip, extract/copy XMSDSK.exe and you just put this line in autoexec.bat: XMSDSK R: 20000 /Y Creates a 20mb RAMDISK as Drive R Then a line: PATH=R:\; Sets the PATH to use the RAMDISK. Than you change all %RAMD% with R jaclaz

Much better to install win2k as multiboot on D : drive. You sure about the MB? Could not find anything for the P3 /370-VP, only for the Commate P3/370A-VP, here: http://drivers.softonic.com/ie/4452/Commate_P3_370A-VP and new bios here: http://www.zdnet.de/treiber/man_prod/comma...rd-bios-wc.html jaclaz

Most probably your image is not in the right format: 320x400 pixels B x H 256 colours Bitmap format it MUST be called LOGO.SYS it MUST be in C:\ NOT in C:\WINDOWS\ To check if there is another problem, download a known working image, such as this one: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/cheryl.day/files/bootlogo.zip and try it, if it works, then it is your image that does not conform to the above. jaclaz

Correct. They won't if you tell them the TRUTH (that you have changed the motherboard with a different one). Or at least the above has happened twice to my friends, maybe they were not smart enough, or the MS guys on the other side of the phone were the wrong ones? jaclaz

It' just a guess, but since Task scheduler depends on RPC, you might need to start RPC with the other credentials, and probably doing this will give you other errors in the other services that depend on RPC. Another possibility as Task scheduler runs through svchost.exe, other instances with different credentials give the error. See here for service config: http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm These can help? http://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2004/06/23.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techi...nt/seclogon.asp http://support.microsoft.com/?id=285879 I do not know if it could work, but you can give a try to these programs: http://www.beyondlogic.org/consulting/proc...processutil.htm http://www.stefan-kuhr.de/supsu/main.php3 first one to see what's hapening, secomd one to try another method. jaclaz

For the record, NT4, Win2k, XP and Server 2003 boot in the same way. You look like you lost (how?) your bootrecord. The problem in resolving the problem, pardon the pun, might be easy or very hard to resolve, depending on HOW your hard drive is formatted. Should your 1st Primary and Active partition be FAT16, it is easy, should it be NTFS, it could be a big problem, unless you own a copy of NTFS DOS from Winternals. To help you I need this Info: 1) How many drives do you have on that PC? 2) How are they partitioned, primary, logical, active, FAT16, NTFS, etc.? 3) Would you eventually be able to get a supplementary hard disk? 4) Do you have a BOOTABLE NT4 CD? 5) Did you EVER installed Win2k on that machine? I know it looks like more question time than a helpful post, but with the above info I can point you in the right direction. jaclaz

This could be of help: http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm jaclaz

Did you try this: http://b0r3d.msfnhosting.com/ jaclaz

chee, sorry having not been that clear. What I wanted to suggest was that provided your "home" page (the one set in IE preferences) is www.google.com, you could make a page like this: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="CONTENT-TYPE" CONTENT="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> </HEAD> <body bgcolor="#d0d0d0"> <P ALIGN=CENTER><A HREF="http://www.google.com/"><FONT SIZE=7>HOME</FONT></A></P> </BODY> </HTML> and save it to your HD, then point your "home" page in IE to this local page. However, OPERA is the way to go, apart the nifty "user mode", it really rocks, I mean it is "THE FASTEST BROWSER ON EARTH", isn't it? jaclaz

Just for the record: If you change your motherboard, you do not need to FORMAT (i.e. wipe out ALL info on Hard Disk), but being it XP you almost certainly will need to: 1) Re-install Windows XP 2) Re-activate it (if it is an OEM version, M$ WILL NOT DO IT) 3) Re-install all applications The above means that DATA only will be left untouched. The re-install is due to the fact that the hardware , hence related drivers will be different. There are some ways to "transport" the OS to other hardware, but they do not prevent the activation problem, and usually are far to complicated to be worth it, however if you are interested, find here a couple brief tutorials http://www.theeldergeek.com/move_harddrive.htm http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html jaclaz

You need to find out which make/model your motherboard is. Then go to the manufacturer site and download latest BIOS update. Make sure you get the one for your model. Depending on manufacturer, you might need to download a bios flashing utility too. You will need to follow the instructions given by manufacturer, tipycally: 1) Make a boot diskette 2) copy downloaded program(s) to diskette 3) reboot from diskette Please note that flashing BIOS is somewaht a risky affair: It is HIGHLY recommended that your PC is powered through an UPS and surge suppressor, as if the power fails whilst updating BIOS you could have an unbootable system. Also, given nowadays poor floppy quality, it is recommended that you double check the files on the floppy can be read without errors. If you post your Motherboard details, it would be possible to give you more detailed advice. jaclaz

chee, I think it would be easier if you just make an html page with the background colour you like and set it as "home page" in IE prefernces. As this page is on HD it will load in no time. Then you can put on this "local" start page a link to your "real" home page. This would solve just the initial blank page flash though. I think you cannot really do what you plan, as sometimes text images will not show correctly. You could use OPERA, that allows to set "user mode" views, just now I am editing this post on a page with black background, white text, writing in a box with yellow background and black text. jaclaz

Good info, thanks! jaclaz

I am sorry to say that, but if you are positive that: 1) Hardware is OK(no overheating) 2) NO VIRUS/SPYWARE/ETC is installed 3) NO memory/processor hungry processes are running in background 4) NO conflicts between devices your next option is to re-install from scratch. One last possibility before taking the suggestion above is trying to see if there is some "non-due" activity on the PC by means of these tools: Filemon and Regmon http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/utilities.shtml jaclaz

Yes, maybe, but you really should give your post a meaningful title, see rule #12 here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=18408 jaclaz

Yep sure, it is not called skin (can't say why!) but boot logo or boot splash. It is a 256 colours bmp 320 pixels wide and 400 pixels high that is in the root directory under the name LOGO.SYS. A quick search on Google will give you hundreds of links, here is a short simple tutorial: http://www.spcug.org/reviews/vlba0010.htm Please note that a copy of the splash screen is embedded in the hidden system file IO.SYS, if win 98 does not find a suitable LOGO.SYS file, it gets the image from within IO.SYS. The other two screens you can chsange are as follows: To change the shutdown graphic screen, you can substitute a 320x400 pixel bitmap of your choice (no other size will work). The files to replace reside in your Windows directory, and have the non-bmp names: "Please wait while Windows is shutting down" - logow.sys "It is now safe to shut off your computer" - logos.sys If you feel the above is too complicated, you could download the Logocycler (now FREEWARE) here: http://www.dementiasoftware.com/ Or find here: http://www.kisser.net.au/tontodan/Newlogo.html more info and links jaclaz

It could be some kind of overheating, check that fans work ok and have a look at task manager what you have running. I had a friend with same kind of problems that had a virus that used tftp.exe to download itself, once downloaded the antivirus cleared it, but it started again tftp.exe.....thus stalling system. jaclaz

you could try to uninstall devices, reboot, then let plug 'n play ask you for the drivers. To uninstall devices, right click MY COMPUTER > Hardware Tab > Device Manager button once there, select (highlight) each sound device and Remove it. Reboot, Let Windows re-detect devices, if it asks for them point to the new drivers. jaclaz

well, maybe then it's some flickering in DNS service or cluttering of "information highways". I had the same kind of problem when the 9/11 terrorist attack happened. To get some news from Europe I had to connect to ASIAN sites, as nothing WEST would work, due to everybody trying to connect to the States. jaclaz

How long ago started happening? I have had same kind of probs, since two or three days ago, but as I have a satellite link, I blamed it. Quite curiously trying to reload the site after a few seconds worked almost always. jaclaz

You could also try this mountvol thing: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=27871&hl= jaclaz

Thanks, it might be useful jaclaz

No, you do not need any bootmanager apart the win2k one, please see my post here for an explanation and links to handy tools. http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=25365&hl= jaclaz