Andromeda43

Tingsters, Don't worry about it. Your computer and Windows is handling it the correct way. Just enjoy the speed that the new SATA drive is giving you. I find that my own SATA drive is about ten times (10X) faster than my old IDE drive. Enjoy! Andromeda43

Two questions,,,,two answers. 1. The easiest way to work with files on a FAT-32 HD is to boot up the system with a Windows 98 boot floppy (or CD). Then just use dos to move from folder to folder. If you don't know how to use DOS,,,,,get a book and learn it. You'll be very glad you did. 2. Once you go NTFS you can never go back without a complete re-format of the drive. Think twice before you do that. I maintain complete control over my own HD's by keeping them all at FAT-32. I won't give up that control for anything....ever! (OK, call me a control freak!) I regularly back up my entire HD using Ghost 2003, a DOS program. I store that file on a DVD which will boot up the system and do a restore, even to a brand new HD. Had I gone to NTFS for my OS partition, I couldn't do any of that. If you have your OS on a FAT-32 partition, you're very fortunate. Keep it! Cheers, Andromeda43

The answer is "YES". NO DVD player will actually play a DVD without the appropriate software. Yes, Media Player 10 from Microsoft will probably do it, with the appropriate codec's, But, there are a dozen or more equally good players out there that will also do a very good job. Why not just Google for "DVD Player" and see what pops up? I'm currently using the latest version of WinAmp to play .avi files that a friend downloads from the internet for me. I haven't tried a DVD movie yet. The alternatives just go on and on. Pick your player! My own DVD drive came with a CD of drivers and a very good DVD movie player. Have you looked on your own DVD drivers CD? Cheers, Andromeda43

I just tried chkdsk in a batch file and it ran without asking me any questions. What question does it ask you? And are you using any switches after chkdsk? Here's the list: Checks a disk and displays a status report. CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/C] [/L[:size]] volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name. filename FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for fragmentation. /F Fixes errors on the disk. /V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every file on the disk. On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any. /R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information (implies /F). /L:size NTFS only: Changes the log file size to the specified number of kilobytes. If size is not specified, displays current size. /X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary. All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid (implies /F). /I NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index entries. /C NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder structure. The /I or /C switch reduces the amount of time required to run Chkdsk by skipping certain checks of the volume. ************************* I'm really curious about that error message. Cheers, Andromeda43

I haven't done this in years, but I think it was: Echo /y > chkdsk or maybe it was: Echo /y | chkdsk It then passes the /y entry off to the program after the > symbol. If I'm wrong, I know someone will jump on an opportunity to correct me. That never fails. How soon we forget how to do things like program in DOS, when we don't use it often. I still write and use batch files on a daily basis,,,,I just don't use that command. Good Luck, Andromeda43

As a tech, the first thing I would do, to preserve everything on that drive, would be to take that drive to a working PC and install it as the SLAVE. Then access it, or at least try, from within windows. If windows couldn't read it, then some file recovery software may be required. If the heads crashed or the logic board on the drive is fried.....you're just S.O.L. Only a data recovery company could then get your files back,,,,ones that were not damaged, that is. Would this be a good time to repeat my montra? Backup, Backup, Backup! Cheers, Andromeda43

Since the day I first brought my new SATA drive home, my Windows XP has worked just fine on it. But, whatever it takes, upgrade to SATA whenever possible, especially for your OS drive. It's just Sooooooo much faster than IDE. Cheers, Andromeda43

I just love it when MS takes an OS, tweaks and fiddles with it and bills it as "More Stable" and then charges a greatly increased price for it. They've done that with every new version of Windows all the way back to good ol' 95. Personally, I can crash XP Pro just as easily as I could '98. Stability is all in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure that 2003 Server is just great for doing the job that it was specially designed to do.....but for the average home user, it's just another MS P.O.C. Cheers, Andromeda43

I've assisted several of my own customers in buying and installing external USB card readers. File transfer seems to be faster and you can read one memory chip after another in quick succession. Once installed and running, most people prefer it to using the old USB cable method. Spend the $19.95 and get the reader. You'll be glad you did. Cheers, Andromeda43 PS: You can write to the memory chips too. So you can use them to back up critical data files from your PC, just like with a Flash Drive.

you're absolutely right..... When windows is installing, it wants to reboot the PC but it hasn't loaded the CD rom drivers yet. A real problem. My own fix. Before starting the install, I use a boot floppy, (which installs the CD drivers), to partition and format the HD. Then I use DOS to make a folder for 98. I usually just call it: C:\win98 Then I go into the CD and the \Win98\ folder and then type in: copy *.* C:\win98 That puts all the cab files and Setup.exe on the hard drive and you can remove the CD from its drive. Then just go to that new folder on your HD and run setup.exe /ie /is Windows 98 will now load from its own folder on the HD and you won't have to worry any more about whether it can read the CD or not. When the install process is complete, the CD drivers for windows will be loaded and everything will work just fine....like its supposed to. And windows will never have to ask you to insert the CD if it needs a new driver, etc. Everything it needs is right there on your HD. Cheers, Andromeda43

It should be obvious to anyone who's listening, that 98/SE just won't due for the Gamers or Audiophiles. They need to be at "State of the Art" to run all the very latest software. But, for the average home user that just wants to do email, keep their golf scores or club records, Windows 98/SE is just fine. And will be till those folks can no longer operate their PC's. Heck, I see PC's every week that only have Pentilum II or AMD K6 processors, and sometimes as low as 32 megs of ram. There is NO WAY IN HECK that those old PC's could ever run XP. So what those folks need is a tech like myself that will take the time to clean, tweak and tune those old PC's to work as efficiently as possible. You won't get that from the "Geek Squad"....I promise you. There are still millions of businesses world wide that use custom made software, written to work in DOS or windows 95/98. Those people will never chage to XP. The "little guys" just can't afford it. 98 rules and XP drools! Cheers, Andromeda43

There are very few absolutes in the home computer world. If you liked 98/SE and the ability to shell out to dos, edit your autoexec.bat and config.sys files with Sysedit,,,,then you hated ME. For MOST tech's, there was no middle ground. That restore thingy was a nightmare. If the OS really screwed up you couldn't get at the restore files to do a restore, and they would build up to the point where they would over-run the HD. I use System Restore Remover on every ME machine that I have to work on. On a few systems though, that program will NOT install. So I boot up with my old 98 boot disk and run this command from a little batch file I have on the FD. Deltree /y "C:\_restore\*.*" That cleans out that folder. Then you can shut off the Restore feature in windows. One Plus that I found in ME was the refurbished DEFRAG program. They took out some redundancy (about 50 bites of code) and made it run about 10x faster than the old '98 defrag. If you're doing any work on the older 98 OS, grab the Defrag program from any ME machine and copy it to the 98 machine for a much faster Defrag. It works equally well for 95 too. I carry it with me all the time on my Utilities CD and install it on every 98 machine that I work on. I even wrote a little batch file to do the install for me in about two seconds. Cheers, Andromeda43

I know, it may seem like I'm being very dense this morning, but can you explain that comment a bit further? I myself run Ghost 2003 from a DOS boot FD or CD. If the process ran any faster, I'd be standing by with a fire extinguisher. My current OS is Windows XP-Pro+SP2, and I run my 120gig WD SATA drive from a Buslink controller card. I set the drive up with FDISK and formatted it in DOS, before Restoring the OS from a Ghost Image made off of my old IDE drive. I have 5.66 gig's of stuff on my C: drive and it only takes Ghost 3 minutes to back it up to an Image file using FAST compression....storing the image file on the second partition of my SATA hard-drive. I don't play old DOS games or anything like that and I've been amazed at the performance of my SATA drive on everything I've ever tried to do with it. SATA Rocks! Cheers, Andromeda43

While the music is playing, windows is trying to load other programs in your Startup group. You've got lots of good hardware there, but just one processor. The music has to time share with the other things going on, thus making it choppy. Either disable the startup sounds all together or use something very short like ding or chime. Cheers, Andromeda43

You didn't get the message! A Hosts file is only good for a very short time. In some cases, only a few days. It's like a daily update to your AV program. I'm really not sure what this Unattended Cd is, but leave the Hosts file out of it. Cheers, Andromeda43 PS: the best re-install CD for windows 98/SE is a Ghost image on a bootable CD. I do this all the time and it works like a charm!

On just about every Compaq that I've seen, you must tap the F10 key while the red Compaq logo is still on the screen during boot up. Then the bios will open up. Also, most Compaq computers have the CD set as first boot by default. But it must be a bootable CD. You may need to get a boot floppy with the CD rom drivers already on it. If you use a 98 machine to make a boot floppy, it will install the CD drivers for you. Good Luck, Andromeda43

I haven't run nLite yet, because when I tried, it said I needed Dot Net Framework installed. When I did install Dot Net Framework, it screwed up so many things on my PC that I had to do a Ghost Restore and blow it off. So, back to the topic of "Themes"..... If I actually ever did get nLite to work,,,,themes would be one of the first things to GO. I already have Disabled it, but it's just another piece of C.R.A.P. and should be totally removed anyway. If its already Gone, count your blessings and leave it gone. Take that from the "Voice of Experience". Cheers, Andromeda43

I'm a professional Computer Tech. If i were setting at your keyboard, the very first thing I would do is go to Add/Remove programs and De-Install McAfee. That's a real piece of C.R.A.P. Get rid of it and start over. MS Firewall is dependent on several other services to be running before you can turn it on. Check it out in "Services.msc" and right clik on Microsoft Firewall and look at Properties then Dependencies. That will tell you all the programs that Firewall is dependent on. If those programs are not in Automatic mode......them put them in Automatic mode. Then replace McAfee with AVG 7 FREE from www.grisoft.com. You'll have a much better anti-virus program (free) and without all the problems that McAfee causes. Good Luck, Andromeda43

There are versions of windows XP out there, floating around in cyber space, that require NO keys and NO activation. If you want one....... go git one! It's really that simple. And they aren't even that hard to find. (urls's deleted) Shucks, jus PM someone that you might think would have one.....but, don't push a Legal Forum like this one to the breaking point by discussing it here. OK.....get the message?

What on earth are you talking about?

So they get a whack at yo butty any way yo shake it. So what again was yo point, boy?

Yeah, what JRosenfeld said! And, to do that, you're going to have to download and run several programs. Here's my favorite list. ******************************************** These are the programs I use every day to keep my own PC spotlessly clean. I suggest every person having any Virus or Spyware issues get these programs and use them immediately. Do check for updates to all your security software on a DAILY basis. SPYWARE BLOCKERS/REMOVERS: a-squared (a²) is a complementary product to antivirus software and desktop firewalls on MS Windows computers. Antivirus software specializes in detecting classic viruses. Many available products have weaknesses in detecting other malicious software (Malware) like Trojans, Dialers, Worms and Spyware (Adware). a² fills the gap that malware writers exploit. a2 FREE can be downloaded at: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/ Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Download a2 Free now" Spybot Search & Destroy, a great anti Spyware program. Can be downloaded from: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_desc...id,22262,00.asp For instructions on how to set up Spybot for best operation, download the instruction sheet from my website. http://theshadow.members.atlantic.net AdAware SE/Personal. Another top notch anti Spyware program. Can be downloaded from: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download506.html Spyware Blaster, a great Spyware Blocker. Protects both I.E. and Mozilla Firefox. Can be downloaded from: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2859.html ANTI-VIRUS PROTECTION: AVG 7 FREE: World famous AVG will keep your computer free of viruses, trojans, dialers, etc. By default, it updates and scans for viruses on a daily basis. Can be downloaded from: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/ Save to your desktop and run the install from there. Immediately get updates. More than one may be required. Stinger: Stand Alone Virus Scanner Check for new version, once a week. Can be downloaded from: http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ Save to your Desktop and run from there. vCleaner, Stand Alone Virus Checker from Grisoft. Can be downloaded from: http://www.infinitevelocity.com/tips/tips_vcleaner.htm Save to your Desktop and run from there. REGISTRY CLEANER: Easy Cleaner, the best Registry Cleaner I've found so far. Can be downloaded from: http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm Just scroll down to "Download & Installation" and click on the first floppy disk symbol. FIREWALL: The XP windows firewall is only a 50% firewall, blocking incoming hackers but doing nothing to stop any ET that's already on your PC from "Phoning Home". It seems like almost every program you install anymore, wants to "Phone Home". It's a good idea to NOT allow this activity. My suggested Firewall to prevent this activity is the FREE version of a world famous product called "Zone Alarm". ZA can be downloaded from: http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/cata...lid=dbtopnav_za And, while you're there, notice their FREE security test. This test uses Active-X controls and will only work if you access it from Internet Explorer. (will NOT work from Firefox or Netscape) It's a long download on a dial-up service. You'll probably just want to skip this test. If it does find something, it won't remove it unless you buy the full retail version. Just download the FREE version of ZoneAlarm. ************************* Hey, this ain't Rocket Science.....just common sense stuff. Andromeda43

And, I would want this or need this, WHY?

I have done the upgrade to SP2 on many computers. Here are some common-sence rules to follow: 1. Use the upgrade CD from Microsoft....not a downloaded file. A file could have errors. 2. Go into MSCONFIG and disable all programs starting up on boot,,,especially AV and AS software. Turn off any Firewalls. 3. Clean up your hard drive, getting rid of all temp files, temp-int. files, etc. 4. Run Chkdsk, then Defrag your HD Do a clean boot, insert the Upgrade Cd and start the upgrade. Your monitor should have absolutely NO effect on the SP2 upgrade. Good Luck, Andromeda43

It seems like registry cleaners are a lot like Anti-Spyware programs. Every time you run a different one, it will find something the previous one missed. I've run several registry cleaners, some of which I had to pay for....and NO one program seems to DO IT ALL. So as part of a weekly maintenance routine, I use several. I set up a new PC yesterday and ran my favorite registry cleaner, then ran a registry defrag (compressor) program and it was able to compress the registry by 13%. I think that's a factor that many so-called registry cleaners just ignor. The little (free) program I used is called "NTREGOPT.EXE". Use This Link Remember, that the registry is one of the first things that load into RAM memory during a boot-up. Keeping it clean and slim and trim should be on everyone's mind. Give it a whirl! Cheers, Andromeda43