Phenomic

The first suspend after a fresh boot hangs 25% of the time. If the first suspend succeeds then the machine can suspend/resume forever, and run for weeks/months without a reboot. It’s not resume failure, it hangs going into suspend. Mobo is Asus M2NPV-VM with an add-on NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT, Win2k SP4, very clean install, no unusual devices. It worked fine at first, so my first suspect is that one the 175 Windows updates broke Windows 2000. Any ideas?

Thanks. I have all versions of Windows, but mostly I use Windows 2000 and Linux.. //

You mean the .dat files in \$AVG? Those are rather small and probably contain just file pointers to the Usn Journal. But the Usn Journal is constantly tracking changes to all files, it can grow huge and fragmented, and defrag utilities can’t defragment it.

Usn Journal speeds up virus scanning, but -- - Is it safe to use USN to keep track of "safe" files? - Does it slow down the file system? - Can a malware app simply include itself in the USN as a safe file?

I like the idea of an application filter, you’d be surprised how many apps call home without your knowledge or approval. Windows Firewall has never notified me of apps making outbound connections! The best one I’ve used is NVIDIA’s Active Armor firewall, it plays no favorites, it will even stop Windows’ own services if their behavior changes. But it’s harware-based and only works with NVIDIA chipsets -- Does anybody know of a good standalone firewall with app filter?

AVG 9.0 created a Usn Journal on all my volumes. Scan time improved from 13 min down to 4. AVG claims to keep track of "safe" files so it doesn't scan them every time. I have a paid version btw.

ha you like Win2k, good choice, it's the only M$ OS that works. 20 MB hive is not that big, but try NTREGOPT -- http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

XP installs just fine on AMD 785G/SB710 mobos, maybe you have some defective hardware. I was able to get AHCI running but it's buggy and there isn't much improvement over IDE. Option D: -- Have you tried Ububtu Linux? It works without install gymnastics, it's free and there's no Windows activation crap.

aaaah good catch, the hibernation file was in 2 fragments. I used Sysinternals pagedfrg.exe and it's fixed -- thank you! I had made a change to UMA+sideport memory in BIOS and maybe Windows re-adjusted hibernation file to match total memory(?)

I too think that prefetch is an anachronism and not necessary with modern hard disks. How does one turn it off?

I defragmented using XP's utility. Then if I run "analyze" again it still says "You should defragment this volume." Here's the report: Volume XP-1 (C:) Volume size = 298 GB Cluster size = 4 KB Used space = 14.04 GB Free space = 284 GB Percent free space = 95 % Volume fragmentation Total fragmentation = 11 % File fragmentation = 23 % Free space fragmentation = 0 % File fragmentation Total files = 33,749 Average file size = 493 KB Total fragmented files = 2 Total excess fragments = 17 Average fragments per file = 1.00 Pagefile fragmentation Pagefile size = 2.00 GB Total fragments = 1 Folder fragmentation Total folders = 2,498 Fragmented folders = 1 Excess folder fragments = 0 Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation Total MFT size = 59 MB MFT record count = 36,359 Percent MFT in use = 59 % Total MFT fragments = 2 I can defragment again and again but volume fragmentation remains in the double digits, but there are NO files listed as fragmented. What's going on?

Guess which Windows I prefer based on my chronological progression: Windows 3.xx (made Apple look good) Windows 95 (its creator was a gifted man) Windows 2000 (stable, reliable, simple UI) Windows XP (it was NOT better than 2000 so I went back) Windows 2000 (leaner, meaner, more reliable than XP) Windows Vista (it sucked so I went back again) Windows 2000 (looked even better after Vista fiasco) Windows 7 (it’s just Vista-Lite with new skins) Linux, Ubuntu/openSUSE (dual booting with Windows 2000)

No, that is a wrong conclusion of my post. It is no problem to get Windows 2000 installed onto such system, but the AMD/ATI SATA Controllers should be set to "IDE Mode". That means, that the AHCI support of the SATA Controllers have to be turned off within the BIOS. No, my post is just a logical conclusion of the fact, that no AHCI supporting W2k drivers are availble. W2k is an OS, which was developed at a time where AHCI support was not actual at all. Double answer: Yes. I used IDE mode in BIOS and slipstreamed Win2k with 2 different versions of AHCI driver, but Win2k would not recognize disks connected to the SATA controller. (Although I assume Win2k would work with disks connected to the 40-pin IDE controller.) That’s disappointing because Win2k works fine with NVIDIA chipsets. I assume that Win2k must have a SATA driver since none is included with the original OS. What version of AHCI works with Win2k and AMD/ATI SB7xx southbridge? Good morning Fernando. I posted above about both Win2000 and XP because they're basically the same OS. Do you have a recommended procedure for installing Win2k on the new AM3 mobos with AMD/ATI 790GX/SB750? Asus website is showing Win2k support for M4A79T Deluxe and chipset drivers available for download. Thanks.

My device manager looks similar with AHCI mode enabled, if AHCI is disabled in BIOS the whole "SCSI" tree is gone. And likewise, Speedfan is unable to read HD temps and SMART info in AHCI mode, but works fine in IDE. My mobo is Asus M4A78T-E and I didn't benchmark with/without AHCI to see if there's any improvement.

No, that is a wrong conclusion of my post. It is no problem to get Windows 2000 installed onto such system, but the AMD/ATI SATA Controllers should be set to "IDE Mode". That means, that the AHCI support of the SATA Controllers have to be turned off within the BIOS. No, my post is just a logical conclusion of the fact, that no AHCI supporting W2k drivers are availble. W2k is an OS, which was developed at a time where AHCI support was not actual at all. Double answer: Yes. I used IDE mode in BIOS and slipstreamed Win2k with 2 different versions of AHCI driver, but Win2k would not recognize disks connected to the SATA controller. (Although I assume Win2k would work with disks connected to the 40-pin IDE controller.) That’s disappointing because Win2k works fine with NVIDIA chipsets. I assume that Win2k must have a SATA driver since none is included with the original OS. What version of AHCI works with Win2k and AMD/ATI SB7xx southbridge?

Windows 2000 does not fully support AHCI. Not really (see above). Thank you. Are you saying that Windows 2000 cannot be installed on a machine with AMD 790GX/SB750 chipset? Have you tested for sure? Does that include all of the new socket AM3 mobos from Asus & Gigabyte. Would Win2k run in IDE mode as I mentioned above?

Good man, you fixed another one! XP is just a buggered up version of 2000 with skins added.

Why do that? It wouldn't work anyway. In the time you spent doing all this you could have reinstalled Wind0ws.

Don't buy into the "Windows Permissions" bull$hit, anybody can boot your PC with a Linux Live CD and have access to everything.

How often do you need to change drive letters and why? The DosDevices registry hack is best, you can do it in VBS script even though VBS cannot officially write binary values, or use "REG.EXE add" in a batch file .

Thank you! I hope this helps many people because mobo makers have poor software support. XP This looks easier and faster than creating a slipstream CD. In other words, it seems better to install XP in default IDE mode and install AHCI driver after? Right-click on the AHCIX86.INF and select "Install"? But doesn't XP need a text mode driver as well? I noticed that the Recovery Console tales MINUTES instead of seconds to load, something wrong here. Basically do the same thing as in XP. However: does ahcix86.sys support Windows 2000? 2000 That's a very good question. NVIDIA chipsets do support Win2k. XP and 2000 are the same kernel, so it should work, but so far i can't get Win2k to recognize SATA hard drives even though the install CD loads on a SATA optical drive. Do you have a 790GX / SB750 chipset? I'm willing to experiment. Maybe the thing to do is install 2000 on an IDE/PATA hard disk and install AHCI drives after?

Thank you all for sharing. I too have an Asus mobo with 790GX / SB750 chipset. I have 2 questions: (1) How do you enable AHCI mode AFTER you have installed XP? (2) How do you do the same thing in Windows 2000? I slipstreamed AHCI SATA drivers into the installation CD but Win2K will still not install.