spacesurfer

like what programs? all of them are there in i386 foldet as compressed files. for e.g., calc.exe is calc.ex_; mapaint.exe is mspaint.ex_

seems to be a driver issue. maybe, somehow an update to the newer drivers caused an incompatibility with your CD -ROM drive. It has nothing to do with computer being too old/weak, I think, since windows supports all kinds of CD/DVD drivers without additional drivers. If you're up for the challenge, try slipstreaming SP3, then installing it fresh and see if your drives are still not detected.

I actually did think about having the media center play two roles. I may have to reconfigure things. Like bring the cable modem to the living room as I believe it would have to be plugged into the home server and not a client computers, ie the two desktops. Then I would have to add wireless to both desktops as my house is not wired for networking. But I really don't want wireless on my desktops; I still trust the traditional wires. Humm....

If you used a program to make it look like vista, then most likely you'll have to reinstall the program as files like shell32.dll are overwritten. shell32.dll contains many of the ui icons. also, he really meant disk management, not device manager. right-click on my computer --> manage --> disk management.

Ahh! Now that just killed my hopes. But all was good inside information not readily given to consumers by manufacturers; especially regarding why NTFS costs more than EXT2/3. The main reason for my NAS was two purposes - for backup of my files (documents, videos, music, and programs). Second, have my files available using my laptop and the two desktops. And perhaps even stream videos to a media center pc in futures. I appreciate your information. It seems a home server pc seems to be a better options, but as I was deciding to build a media center pc, i'd have to pass on the home server for now.

I could not reproduce this with your instructions. I'm running XP SP3 so maybe it was fixed??

I'm looking for NAS HDD (hardware), not software.

Another case of unearthing a topic 6 years old!!

download a utility called tweakui from microsoft website. it can help you tweak your logon options. it may have been set to enter the password automatically and logon automatically when starting. uncheck that from tweakui.

I was considering a home server PC but it seems overkill for my purposes. I think for me a good NAS will do because my only goal is to share files and have them accessible without having to have all PC's on. Can anyone recommend a good NAS, preferably one that also has USB connectivity but not necessary? Also, are there any that supports NTFS. All that I have looked at uses the linux EXT format. Only reason for NTFS is so if I use it as a USB, then I can access the files. As far as I know, XP can't read EXT partitions, right? Thanks.

Although I passed on the visual style, I love the logon screen. I have started using it as my screen! There are so many good logon screens but almost all use the typical XP Kiddie colored shut down and arrow button. This one is great because the shutdown button matches the background and is polished.

I've been using one called VistaCG. I've tried many Vista-like styles but nothing compares to this one--not because it replicates Vista, but because it's just right. There are a few minor bugs but they can be overlooked. Link: http://spaceqcg.deviantart.com/art/VistaCG...terial-42413053. This one is 1.40. There is also 1.41 but there's some bug that I don't like in it.

You don't have to format both drives. It would be best if you did but you can install Windows on the current C: drive. Then, format d:, then copy files from c: to d:. However, this is a messy way of doing it. You will get two boot options, one form xp on d: and one for c:. to remove d:, you'll have to edit boot.ini. I recommend creating a boot CD, like bartpe. Format d:, copy files from c: to d:, then install on formatted c:. Otherwise, you cannot change drive letters! And partition magic cannot do it either!

I need a good file renamer utility. I mainly want to organize by digital photos. I want to be able to rename them in the format: Date.Taken_counter_description.jpg, where date taken is in the format yyyy.mm.dd (not yyyy-mm--dd). Any good ones you know of?

windows links time with bios so if your windows is loosing time, so will your bios. how can you tell? next time you loose time, reboot to old windows 98 boot disk and check the time there. you'll see the incorrect time.

@BlueFlame. Both are there. KB953230 and KB953235 are the collective KB's for all affected software. Once you click on the link, then you click on your product - which in this case is XP SP3 (or XP SP2 since both can be affected). Then, the KB# changes to the one specific for the software. So KB953230 changes to KB951748. I'm not sure exactly why, but it's the same KB # for SP2/SP3 and x64 but the download size is different. Anyway, I'm not sure what convention MS uses and why the KB# change but you should find all updates from the links provided as long as you choose your product affected. Remember, if XP SP3 is NOT affected, then the link may or may not be there for your product.

whatever it is, it's definitely related to your video card or video card driver. check your video card properties and set it to maximum quality, like 32-bit. If you have option for true color and high color, change them around and see if that makes a difference.

Yes, but looks like he's using vista.

Ok, per crahak's suggestion, I converted all to VM usage. One thing that surprises me is that NIS 2007 uses less memory than Symantec Antivirus 10. Considering that NIS is a firewall + antivirus, I though it would use more. An also the reputation of Norton products... what am I missing here?

I thought it would be a great idea start a thread on how much memory is used by your antivirus program and all the apps associated with it. This will help others decide which programs are memory hogs and which are lean. Please post the exact program name and version. Then post the services and their memory usage. If you are using an all-in-one security suite, please mention that and add up memory usage of all components. Please list usage in VM Usage KB as reported in Task Manager. Go to View, then select columns and check Virtual Memory Usage. Thanks crahak. Here are two that I have observed. The memory usage was taken when the system was as idle as possible. Memory usage can vary so this is an approximation. [symantec Antivirus Corporate 10.1.7.7000] Rtvscan.exe 64,748 K VPTray.exe 5,172 K ccApp.exe 3,608 K DefWatch.exe 1,632 K ccSetMgr.exe 3,808 K ccEvtMgr.exe 3,984 K Total 82,952 K [McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.5.0i] FrameworkService.exe 5,708 K mcshield.exe 76,144 K mctray.exe 948 K shstat.exe 2,144 K UdaterUI.exe 3,256 K vstskmgr.exe 7,360 K naPrdMgr.exe 3,020 K Total 98,580 K [Avast Antivirus 4.8.1201] ashServ.exe 23,544 K ashdisp.exe 4,204 K ashMaisv.exe 3,196 K ashWebsv.exe 20,556 K aswupdsv.exe 484 K Total 51,984 K [Norton Internet Security 2007 10.2.0.30] AluSchedulerSvc.exe 2,520 K AppSvc32.exe 13,144 K ccApp.exe 22,640 K ccSvcHst.exe 37,428 K Total 75,732 K Updated to VM Usage per crahak below. Your help appreciated.

I think it's because ghost does a sector-by-sector image capture and it also saves your partition boot record; whereas ImageX does not capture the boot record by default unless you tell it to. I don't know the command for including boot sector but the GUI version (GImageX) has an option for "boot".

well then that area will be wasted because you can't add anything to that area. The 30+ programs you got there on the left is for commonly used programs, not all your programs. For all your programs, you are supposed to click on "All programs". Surely, you aren't using 30+ programs that frequently!

Okay, then try this: Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt. Then, read what it says under (default). Normally, it should say txtfile. So, if you navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\txtfile, you will see Edit there. But if you see other than txtfile, then maybe you are using another program for viewing txt files. Navigate to whatever says instead of txtfile and see if it's there. Otherwise, go to file types in folder options and see if you see Edit there and delete it there.

first thing first, if you've already installed XP SP3, then you don't need to install updates other than those released after SP3. You may want to check out this post: http://www.msfn.org/board/Windows-XP-Post-...-I-t119895.html for security updates release post-sp3. Since you mentioned you are crawling, you need to learn about CD/DVD images first, then jump into virtual machines - or virtual OS's. I would stay away from VMWare at the moment as it has a lot of features but more complicated and daunting. Try something simple like Virtual PC 2007. You will need an XP install ISO (a CD/DVD image) to install it in the virtual machine; hence, you should learn about CD/DVD images first. Also, when you download these updates, save them locally on your hard drive. So, you don't have to install updates from the windows update site because if you do you lose them. So, instead follow the links in the link above to download them and save them locally, then install them.

Are you talking about the ugly black shadows under the icons? If so.... did you use Windows update to install SP3? If so, did you also update your video card driver? If so, is your video card an Intel driver? If you answered "No" to questions above, then stop reading. Haha... Seriously, I notice a similar problem with updating the Intel video driver using Windows Update. After the windows update of the driver, it makes some changes to the system and the tweaking program for graphics properties is also changed to something much worse then it used to be. And, of course, the icons are messed up. No matter what you do, the ugly shadow remains. This has happened to many computers where the OPTIONAL Intel video driver update was installed in addition to the critical updates. I don't know what the fix is though. May try uninstalling that update. I haven't tried myself.