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

You mean something like this: if not exist D:\nul GOTO :ERROR1 if not exist D:\programs MD D:\programs if not exist D:\programs\folder MD D:\programs\folder if exist C:\installs\FILENAME.EXT COPY /V C:\installs\FILENAME.EXT D:\programs\folder if exist C:\installs\FILENAME.EXT DEL /F C:\installs\FILENAME.EXT GOTO :NEXTACTION :ERROR1 ECHO DRIVE D: does not exist! .... aborting.... GOTO :END :NEXTACTION ::WHATEVER ELSE YOU WANT TO DO :END jaclaz

Yes, I think so, actually the key I posted is on W2k system, so maybe XP has got the 2 added at the end. However before trying to delete it, you SHOULD BACKUP your System, with a tool like ERUNT: http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/ From what I gathered, the Mountpoints key works like this: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints\ registry key there is a value for EACH drive letter A to Z (actually it seems that apart from A and B, the other letters are created the first time you mount a disk, but are not deleted when you unmount it). Under each letter there is a value _UB: _UB=hex:02,00,00,00 means FLOPPY (so that A and B have got this value) _UB=hex:05,00,00,00 means CDROM, either "real" or "virtual" i.e. VirtualCloneDrive has this value All other letters, whether mounted (mapped) or not have a LONG hex value, which is the value assigned last time it was mounted. Then there is a value BaseClass=Drive that is the same in all letters. Then there is a value Version=dword:00000000 the 00000000 changes from letter to letter, I have to find why. A mounted (mapped) drive letter has subkeys, first of which is _Autorun whilst non-mapped ones have NO subkeys. If you map a network drive from Explorer, Subkeys are automatically addded and they are removed when you disconnect drive, but the letter, the _UB, Baseclass and Version values remain the same of last mapped drive. Same thing applies with virtual disks such as VDK.EXE ones, and if you use the "net use" command. You can safely delete with regedit non mounted letters (I did it with letters to which I had mapped network and virtual drives, but did not dare to do it on B or on any mounted device) jaclaz

Well, I think it is becoming ridiculous, if one does not know what Google is, he does not even know what the Blaster Worm is, as he probably uses his PC as doorstopper! Definitely he won't know what 823890 & 835732 hotfixes are, it has got no animated avatar, does not know this board exists. jaclaz

As it seems that it was my post that started this, I think it is better to clarify HOW my post was made: 1) It qives an effective answer to the problem posted (I do not think this can be called not being helpful, nor "disturbing"). 2) It gives advice on how one could obtain the same result directly, without need to wait for someone to read the message and help. 3) It has some HUMOUR in it, I honestly do not think that it is either rude or arrogant, besides, judging from cancer10 reply, it seems like he has, luckily enough, the sense of humour which maybe some other people is missing. As I try to be as helpful as I can, I think that answering this kind of questions takes time that cannot be devoted to help other people in far deeper troubles. This is just common sense, just like you won't phone your father at 3:00 A.M. to ask him if you should put gasoline or diesel in your car, you should refrain from asking questions which answers are readily available on the net, that does not need to be set in rules. Besides, I haven't set Forum Rules, but becoming a member I have read and accepted them, and I expect all others to do the same. (see rule 7.B) jaclaz

Try going here with regedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints\ and delete the "Y" key and sub keys. I use this freeware tool: http://www.elby.ch/en/fun/software/index.html and, if needed, this accessory: http://www.dkweb.ch/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=157 jaclaz

Yes, double check BIOS settings Jumper settings on back of drives Cables And you might need an update for drives that big: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...&NoWebContent=1 http://www.hexff.com/w98_hd.php jaclaz

Here are a couple links: http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.mspx http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcen...moval.tool.html However next time I suggest you to enter the sentence " Blaster removal tool" in Google http://www.google.com and press the ENTER key or left click mouse on "Search" button. jaclaz

Maybe stupid comment, but wouldn't it be easier to set Cdrom to W: so you still have X: Y: and Z: ? jaclaz

Very interesting, thanks, but does it actually works? To me, this sentence does not seem a promising one: jaclaz

Yes, you are right, it's just me not considering ME a real Dos, as you have to patch it to run it from Hd. However there is an alternative to sysinternals one, for win9x and ME, now: http://diskinternals.com/products/ntfs-reader/ (haven't tested it yet) jaclaz

Maybe your drives are formatted NTFS? Reminder: DOS 6.22 and Win95 1st edition FAT16 ONLY DOS 7.1 aka Windows95 OEM2 win98 winME FAT16 AND FAT32 Win NT 4.00 FAT16 AND NTFS Win2k/XP/2003 FAT16,FAT32 AND NTFS Bootdisk should be Dos 7.1 jaclaz