lost_packet

Check that your Windows Time Service is running. Run > type: "services.msc" and hit enter. Make sure the Windows Time entry is set to Automatic (double-click on it; look at "startup type" and then click the "Start" button underneath).

http://www.my5gb.com Free, FTP, no advertising and can even run mySQL and (limited) PHP

I'm currently evaluating Windows Server 2008. I like the new server functions, and would like to take a look at the Aero interface. My Asus A7N8X motherboard has an nVidia nForce2 400 chipset. This is now classed as "legacy" on the nVidia site and no Vista (hence Server 2008) drivers are available for it. Fiddled around with later build drivers (failed to install entirely) and older drivers for XP (sound and USB working, video controller not). Thus I seem stuck with the built-in MS graphics drivers, as my ATI card driver (which is available for Vista) won't install before the chipset video controller is recognised. Anyone found a workaround for the nVidia chipset issue, or am I consigned to legacy land until I buy a new MB?

Like Zxian I used to be a Fedora user (and I loved v7, by the way), but the number of updates to deal with just became too much for me - like a new kernel every two weeks? Plus the fact that the updates for each version are dropped after 12 months. Then I came across recommendations for CentOS in the Fedora forums. CentOS is the stable version of what Fedora is a testbed for. I like it because it is more stable than Fedora and has a life-cycle of at least five years. Excellent OS for a server and pretty nice as a desktop.

Back up to speed! I was wrong. It is the BIOS. I took the battery out again, put on the shorting link for a second, inserted the battery and went through the BIOS setup program: First boot - Sempron 2200+ Adjusted the BIOS setup once more, rebooted: Wheee! - Sempron 2600+ So thanks to BIOS flat-earthers jcarle and nmX.Memnoch for their persistence. Only trouble is, I had to put my thoughts of buying a new motherboard and quad-core CPU on the back-burner after this...

http://www.sighost.org/sigs/CPU_program.gif shows my last attempt at writing the CPU ID with Central Brain Identifier. It is not hard-coded in these particular AMD processors. I had a similar problem a couple of years back on another computer where an Athlon became a Sempron (an issue for AMD CPUs, maybe), although then the speed was not affected, and I successfully re-entered the ID. I don't believe this is a BIOS issue, except as the original cause of the re-programming. After the new batttery, I loaded BIOS defaults, rebooted, then set the parameters (FSB speed and multiplier) to what was there before the incident. From what I read on my Web searches for an answer to the problem, the sequence at boot-time is that the BIOS reads the CPU ID from the processor, and then the OS reads this speed from BIOS. My problem is that the CPU ID itself is indicating a processor of the wrong speed, so everything following is skewed. Ponch, thanks for the tip. I'll see if the AMD site has anything better than CBI.

I did this on a friend's PC just the other day. First you have to get rid of that enormous screen (which invites you to register or upgrade) which pops up, or you'll never see anything behind it. On the taskbar, right-click and select CLOSE. Right-click on the "a" of Avast's icons on the system tray - select "about Avast" On the window which opens, you'll have a button which allows you to enter the new key for the Home version. Yes - I'm wondering why they made it so difficult as well.

My BIOS battery went down and I received the usual "CMOS checksum error" on my Windows 2003 Server machine. Upon restarting with a new battery, I saw my processor ID - instead of being an AMD Sempron 2600+, had become an Athlon 1100Mhz. This is NOT a BIOS issue, I believe - the FSB frequency and multiplier are set as they were before the battery outage. It seems to be that the ID string in the processor itself became corrupted, and the BIOS defaults to the nearest and slowest processor. I've tried re-programming the CPU ID string with a utility called Central Brain Identifier, but the new values are refreshed at the next boot - back to 1100Mhz . Anyone have any suggestions about how to restore the correct CPU ID, before I "overclock" (change the multiplier) the d@mn thing in the BIOS to regain that lost speed?

I had good results with Acronis Disk Director (http://www.acronis.com) earlier this year when I inadvertently hosed the MBR and partition table on my triple-boot drive. It recovered all of the OS partitions faultlessly, and fairly swiftly. Unlike Active Partition Recovery (which has never done worked in any useful way for me), Disk Director is an application you'll find a space for after you get the partition information back.

Perhaps even more amusingly, some of us access the forums using a Linux OS to read about the developments in Windows' software. I also manage a site, hosted on MSFN's Apache server Hosting, advising Windows users on the best strategy to avoid security breaches. You see, if you are fascinated by computers, you won't discriminate between apples and peaches...

I suppose you know that the largest proportion of spam is now sent from open proxies (that is, other personal computers which have been infected with a botnet trojan)? The botnet herders are very accomplished at falsifying the email headers. Therefore, Mailwasher's "bounce" function is positioned somewhere between useless and harmful - you are actually doubling the spam traffic on the internet if you bounce, and whichever poor Joe's machine sent the email has no idea why a message from a stranger has returned to their account. You will NOT reduce your volume of spam by bouncing messages, except in isolated cases. Just switch off Mailwasher's bounce function and live with the spam. Adding more filters to the MW list may help to distinguish the spam mails from the ham more clearly.

A baskingly sunny 24.8°Ré here in central Europe. B) Why can't you lot agree on a sensible system like the Réaumur scale?

Free "Power Toy" TweakUI from MS has all you need - look under templates and de-activate or remove those you don't need http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/c...wertoySetup.exe BTW - 3 minutes to launch the context menu, even with a lot of "new" file templates, is way too long. Does your machine have spyware issues or is it underpowered?

Yes, I'm using it on Windows 2003 (server-to-desktop adaptation) here as well. What is particularly interesting is that with a fresh install of the OS, the problem now shows itself MUCH more frequently than before, so zakgj01's help is even more useful.

"Thumb Drive" here. At least to me, its shape resembles more a thumb than a pen.

Version 2.1.5 Personal. The best one they ever made, IMHO. Glad to hear it. For future system integrity, may I suggest a backup?

An install of Sunbelt "Kerio" (not at all the chirpy Kerio firewall I knew and loved from before it got sold out) bluescreened me on restart. Fortunately, I had a recent backup to revert to, which is a must for me before any system-wide change such as removing and installing firewalls. I'm sorry that you seem not to have had such foresight.

Nick, I'm sure your [advertised program] does the job well enough, but zakgj01's solution is free to download and use. As you are also a first poster advertising your business, your reply comes close to commercial spamming .

TweakUI (at least my version 2.10.0.0) will create these templates and delete unwanted ones from the "templates" menu. Saves a lot of twaddling around with VBS files or Regedit. TweakUI is free from Microsoft: Download TweakUI .

It's likely your Windows Installer registry entries have become corrupt. I've had this problem with installs of Paintshop Pro and Dragon Naturally Speaking - the installer would launch as soon as I opened the application; cancelling the faux install usually let me use the program normally. Try running the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility from Microsoft. Beware of the warning in the Readme, however: