Jonic

Your problem might be caused by your power supply. Those symptoms are typical for insufficient power.

Check this guide http://unattended.msfn.org/ .

I would recommend an upgrade to SATA only if you buy two identic hdd and put them into a raid configuration. This way you will see a noticeable performace boost. And if you do get sata drives, be sure to get a new model that supports NCQ.

The WD use a jumper for backwards compatibility (you have to set it on Sata 150 tranfer mode operation).

Even if there was such a reg tweak, it wouldn't do you any good. They put that requirement because the game engine uses some hardware functions that are not implemented in older video cards.

You should check the hdd also, using powermax (you can find it on UBCD, or on maxtor's site).

Is there a way to tell Windows to make two partitions instead of just one (as done by "Repartition = Yes" - option) ? And if it is possible can you specify the size of each partition (by percentage preferably) ?

I've got a strange error using tha last wpi version (2.9.8). I am trying to test my last entry, and therefore I click on Select none and then I select what I want to install (one application). Then I hit Begin Install only to see 6 or 7 seven applications, that I never selected, getting installed. If this helps I am running it on 1152x864, and the last entry is the first one on the second row. I've just noticed that this happens only if I have two rows. If I reduce the number of applications and they fit to one row - everything works just fine. By the way Hasi - very usefull application!

If you want to check your hdd for physical defects you can use programs from the manufacturer's site (powermax for mator, seatools for seagate, etc.). But from what you've said I don't think there is anything wrong with you hard disk.

This could be a software problem too. Uninstall all your codecs, download the newest version of xvid, divx and ac3 (these 3 codecs should be enough for most movies) and try again.

You should try this : - first try the second HDD alone (on the first IDE channel and using the cable that was on that channel) and install Windows. If you still have problems they are related to the hard disk. You should scan it with powermax (you can find it on maxtor's site). - secondly if you didn't encounter any problems so far switch the hdd to the second IDE and see if it's something wrong with it. - if still no problems switch cables - if still no problems - you should try again with both hdds - and if problems start appear - it's probably mainboard related