Andromeda43

The Defrag program that comes with Windows 98 or SE is a good Defragmenter, but slow as heck. The Defrag prog. from Windows ME runs about 10 times faster and still does the same great job of 100% defragmenting a 98 or SE hard drive. I have carried it with me and shared it with all my 98 and SE customers for many years now. Find it on any Windows ME computer or ME install disk. It's also available for download at many Internet locations. Cheers! B)

Imagex not withstanding, what are you trying to accomplish as your end result??? I work with HD's with Restore Partitions on them all the time and I've never "blown away" the factory 'Restore Partition' in the process, unless I intended to. Once an OS is all set up, tweaked and tuned and your programs and internet email is all set up, make an Image file of the C: partition to a bootable DVD with a program like Norton's Ghost and you can 'blow away' that restore partition, because it's no longer needed. Again, "What are you trying to accomplish?" Curious minds want to know. Andromeda43 B)

SteelHeart, I know it's not always obvious, but you only have one CPU, ram and HD to handle all your programs. The CPU, for instance, can only do one thing at a time. (single core CPU's anyway). All running programs have to share bits of time on the CPU, the more things you ask it to do, the less time each program gets on the CPU. The more things you add to the CPU's work load, the slower the system will appear to run. That's why thousands of man hours are spent on these forums every year, telling people how to UN-Load their PC's to gain performance. And here we are again, doing the very same thing. You can't just keep adding and adding to the CPU's workload and not see any degradation in performance. I wouldn't dream of trying to watch a movie and download something at the same time. Everything has to go through that one CPU and ram. Not to mention that many of those operations have to rely heavily on your pagefile on a very slow HD. (HD speed compared to CPU and ram speed) Minimize the workload on your CPU when downloading and I'm confident you'll see your download speed increase. Good Luck, B)

No, a TSR has nothing to do with dos....in fact they didn't even exist in DOS. They only exist in a multi-tasking environment, like Windows. A TRS is a "Terminate and Stay Resident" program that usually appears as an Icon in your system tray. I've seen peoples system trays that extends half way across their screen. Schedulers and monitors are a good example. Your AV and some active AS programs will leave an Icon there too. (like Windows Defender) MS Messenger will run in the background and leave it's little icon in the system tray. I remove this all the time where the user doesn't even know what it is or where it came from. If its not something you need there.....then it certainly shouldn't be there! Of course SP2 adds more services.....think of it as a new and larger version of Windows. Dot Net and Firewall are just two examples. Every time you add something to Windows, like a Service Pack, the more load it places on the CPU and RAM. The registry that has to run in ram, also takes a huge hit from a service pack. I installed Office 2007 on my PC and it added 30% to the size of my registry. All that stuff takes up ram. Good Luck, B)

I'm just curious, what were you trying to do? Possibly an Unattended RE-Install of XP to solve some problem? I've done that myself on occasion, when I was new to Windows XP. Then I found out how useful the "System Restore" function can be to solve small problems and Ghost Backups to solve the really big ones. I've used this technique very successfully: ************************************************* Re-Installing Windows-XP If you need to reinstall Windows-XP and want to keep all your current installed applications and settings: 1. Start Windows-XP 2. Find the location of your source files (a folder called "I386" , May Be on Your Install CD or a folder on your HD) You may find several i386 folders on your PC but you want the one that has the .cab files in it along with the command file "Winnt32.exe". 3. Run WINNT32 /unattend ,,, For example, D:\I386\winnt32.exe /unattend (type this command into the RUN box, then press ENTER).... Leave just one space where I've put three for emphasis, at the end of the command and before the switch (/unattend). I've often needed to do this to repair something that had gotten corrupted and I didn't want to do a clean install. ************************************************************************ Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

Have you ever tried to install a software package and had it give you a message something like this: "Before continuing, shut down all running programs." ??? They don't say that just for the heck of it. Many programs like Anti-Virus programs, will interfere with the installation process to the extent of making it abort. I suspect that this may be your problem. I have a little Utility called "End It All 2" that shuts down all running programs. I use it often before installing new software or running my CD/DVD burning software. Installs go much smoother when they have full access to your RAM, CPU and HD. You can manually shut down programs but it's a lot harder than just running one little program like "End It All 2". The Java install program you should be looking for is: jdk-6u2-windows-i586-p.exe It's a big one, but it's the complete Java suite. I'd install nothing less. Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

Before XP itself can shutdown, all running programs must be closed. You probably have way too many TSR's and Services running for a laptop with so little ram. To run XP you should have at least 1 gig of ram. Can you add more to that laptop? If I were doing a tuneup on your little PC, I'd shutdown all redundant services and TSR's (all those programs in your startup list in MSCONFIG. Then I'd apply the following tweaks to your registry to speed up the shutdown process. ******************************************************************************* Decrease Shutdown Time Cut the amount of time it takes your computer to shut down to only a few seconds. Click Start, click Run, and type regedit. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control. Click the Control folder. Right click "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" and click Modify. Set the value to 1000 (One Second) *************************************************** Automatically Ending Non-Responsive Tasks HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ AutoEndTasks = Set the value to 1 HungAppTimeout = Set the value to 1000 WaitToKillAppTimeout = Set the value to 1000 (One Second) *************************************************** Create a Quick Shutdown Icon for your Desktop This method of shutting down your PC will be much quicker than starting the process with the START button. It also forces stubborn programs to close. Create a New Shortcut on your desktop and put this line in the path box. %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -s -t 00 -f Save the shortcut and you now have yourself a quick way to shutdown Windows. On my own PC, using “Quick Shutdown”….Shutdown only takes five seconds. ******************************************************************** Give that a try and see if it helps. Andromeda43 B)

There's no reason I can think of why Ghost, run properly (From a DOS boot Disk) should ever take more than just a few minutes. Unless of course, your C: drive is horribly bloated. By careful drive maintenance I manage to keep my C: drive file-load to around 7 gigs, or less. Doing a Ghost Backup using fast compression, run from my Ghost boot floppy, CD or Flash Drive, I do a Partition to Image backup in less than five minutes, using my SATA 2 HD's. It's NEVER necessary to load the entire Ghost GUI onto the HD, or run it from within Windows. That's completely redundant. With Ghost 2003 or 8.3 that runs from a DOS boot disk, you can backup any number of PC's without ever breaking the licensing by installing one copy to multiple PC's. As a technician working on hundreds of PC's that may require making a backup before service can begin, I find Ghost 8.3 on a Boot Disk a great Service Tool. I use it several times a week to backup my own computers. By keeping all my HD's and partitions in FAT-32 mode, I'm able to also run cleanup batch files from my Ghost boot disk to remove almost 3 gig's of junk from my C: drive before doing the actual backup. That cleanup includes the Pagefile, old restore points and of course all temp files, etc. Everything on my Ghost boot disk is run from an Ansi-Color (DOS) menu. The disk will backup any system from DOS to Vista and I'm told, by my webmaster, that it also can backup a Linux HD. My latest trick is to run Ghost from a bootable SD Flash Memory Card and save the compressed image file to my 6 gig Flash Drive. Following a weekly backup with Ghost 8.3, I verify the image and then do an immediate Restore. After rebooting into Windows and running Windows Defrag/Analyze, my hard drive looks like this: I've not seen one defrag program that can reorder an XP drive as well as that. So, I guess you can well surmise that my vote goes to Ghost. Cheers Mates! Andromeda43 B)

Sir, What browser are you using? Knowing even that little bit, will help anyone wanting to answer your question. With so little info, I'm just drawing a blank..... B)

Boltsink, Do you know why some computers running XP (Home, usually) will have a restore point for every day the computer was turned on, , , and some only get a new restore point on some "Event" like installing new software of DE-Installing some software? It's so exasperating to need a restore point to fix some minor problem and find out that the last restore point was made a month ago. That's a long time to have to back up to, just to fix some minor problem. While searching for a resolution to this problem, I found this Visual Basic script from one of our Internet Forum contributors. Set SRP=GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\default:Systemrestore") CSRP=SRP.CreateRestorePoint("Hacked the registry", 0, 100) I copied this text into Notepad and then saved it as "SetResPoint.vbs" Any time this script is run, it will make a new Restore Point. Putting it in the Startup folder insures a new Restore Point will be created every time the PC is booted. He named his restore point "Hacked the registry" as more or less a joke. I found it stands out above the other restore points so I just left it that way. You can change that to whatever comment you like. I do this for my customers who wouldn't know a restore point if it bit them. It means that when they call me to fix something, I've got several restore points to pick from to fix their little problem. It helps them and it helps me. Cheers Mates! Andromeda43 B)

That's as ridiculous as saying that a pickup truck can do the same job as a 10 ton dump truck. There are similarities yes, but they certainly are NOT the same. RMDIR is a remove directory command. NOT a command that can selectively remove just one file in a busy subdirectory. Anyway, for us old time DOS users, why should we even try to use something different when we've already got the answer in a very Powerful command such as Deltree? I've done whole tutorials on Deltree and I'm certainly not going to repeat it here. Maybe it's just too complex a command for some folks to grasp. I rest my case. Use any dang'd thing you want but don't flame me for using what I want! OK? Because there are thousands of us old DOS users that just don't want to hear it. B)

At the risk of being flamed (again) let me state that I still use "Deltree.exe" from Windows ME. It's one DOS command that was left out in Windows XP. With that command tucked away in my C:\windows\system32 folder, I can run this single command in a batch file to clean up those uninstall files on any computer. deltree /y "C:\windows\$Nt*$\" There is also a log file for each one of those uninstall files. It uses this format, "KB32968.log" Just look in your windows folder and you'll find them. This line takes care of those too: deltree /y "C:\windows\KB*.log" I've removed both groups of files, hundreds of them, that have been on peoples computers since the day it was first installed. Like the restore files in Windows ME, they just never go away. Cheers Mates! B)

Well, you can do one of three things. 1. Attach a grounding wire to the metal tip of the AC iron, right next to the plastic handle and attach it to a good source of Earth Ground. 2. Use an isolation transformer between the AC powered soldering iron and the AC source. A third option is a top-o-the-line soldering station where the heating element is powered by DC voltage and a third wire extends from the heating element to the third wire (ground) on the AC plug. Cheers Mate! B)

You hog-tie yourself stipulating OEM ink. I buy all my ink for my Epson printers from a family owned company here in Florida. I know them personally and I also know that they are extremely fussy about the quality of the inks they sell. I used to refill my Canon 5000 black ink carts with Epson Black ink purchased from my source here in FL. It worked just fine. So having something that says Canon on it is immaterial. Check out this site, Please. http://www.inkproducts.com Cheers! B)

If you use a burning program like Nero, it as a verify option that you can set, to scan the disk once it's written to make sure it matches the data on the HD exactly. That's the only way I know of, to verify the integrity of a CD or DVD. Cheers mates! B)

For many applications.... They measure it with a yard stick, mark it with chalk and cut it with a chain saw. And, they call that accurate! B)

I first encountered "Spybot Search & Destroy" at version 1.3 several years ago. Ver 1.4 was a big step up and likewise ver 1.5. The incremental updates in ver 1.4 was a real God-Send to us still using Dial Up Networking. It's become an Irreplaceable part of my Security Software package. Thank you, guys, for the upgrade! Andromeda43 B)

Since cases are like underwear, to each his own, I wasn't even going to comment, then you had to say you liked simplicity. ME TOO! Simplicity to me, means plenty of room for my two DVD burners, my Floppy drive and Internal Card reader and my two HD's. Also, having enough room inside to I don't have to unplug the drives to get to the ram, etc. Then there's the matter of 'how large a mobo can it accept' and how many fans can you mount in it? And, of course will it take the really BIG, dual fan PSU's, without overcrowding the mobo or upper drive bays? I found a case called the "PacMan Case" which I've been using for quite some time now, for my own PC's and those I've built for others. It's deeper, front to back than many cases and its clean lines and white faceplate make it the most universally acceptable. I don't say that anyone should run right out and buy a "PacMan" case, but for its sheer simplicity, it tops the list, for me. Here's the PacMan case NOT fully loaded. Have fun! Cheers Mates! B)

I set up new computers and monitors for people all the time as a part of my home computer repair business. LG seems to be one of the clearest and sharpest ones I've set up. Acer is the worst! It just seems too bright and I can't dim them down enough to get things to look right. I don't know who makes the Dell LCD monitors, but Sony made many of their CRT's. I'm using one now. The "Trinitron" logo in the upper frame was a dead give-away. It's a beautiful monitor. The best bet is to walk into a store and actually SEE what you're buying. To get a standard picture (Image) on a wide screen the image will usually be 'S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d' to fit the screen. I really hate that on the wide screen TV's! If you're just surfing the internet or playing games, no big problem, but if you're doing photo editing or running AutoCad, you might want to keep the original Aspect Ratio, where round things actually look ROUND and not oblong. In that case a standard shaped screen would serve you best. Good Luck on your quest, Andromeda43 B)

A bootable Ghost Image on DVD will work fine for restoring to multiple computers. However if the OS in question is XP, all the PC's in this exercise would have to be absolutely Identical. Otherwise, XP will fail to boot when it finds itself on a different set of hardware. Windows 98 wasn't like that, but XP sure is! So you'd need a new Ghost Image for each group of identical computers. A backup of an older PC won't work on a new one with a different mobo, etc. But, for making a backup on any one PC, a Ghost boot Cd with Ghost 2003 or 8.3 (2005) will do the trick. NO need to ever install it on the PC being backed up. So registration and licensing per PC is a non-issue. Good Luck in your quest. Interesting topic! B)

Learn how to use "Search" and you'll never need to open a thread to ask such a question. There's been at least 100,000 words written in this and other forums about the value of the Pagefile. It's been around as long as windows has. Ever hear the expression "Virtual memory" ? It was one of the largest selling features when Windows first came out. It suggested that you'll have as much "Memory" as you have space left on your HD. Windows will manage the size of the pagefile as needed, making it larger and smaller as the need arises. If, you don't turn it off or otherwise muck it up. Cluberti's explanation is as good as I've ever heard, in a single post. Thank you sir! Personally, I decided many years ago to just let Windows manage my pagefile and keep my little grubbies off of it. Windows works best that way. I do delete it before doing my Ghost backups, but on the next boot, Windows just makes a new one and goes on normally. I also delete all the old restore points and all the garbage files that windows generates. That saves me about 3 gigs of space in my Ghost backup file. Good Luck and Happy Computing, Andromeda43 B)

I've always suspected that HP software, like Kodak software, is written in some third world country that hates us. My resolution for several customers who bought HP printer/scanner (AIO) devices is to box it up and take it back to the store and DEMAND their money back. Then buy an Epson. They install much easier and then work better. I recently moved an almost new HP AIO device from a windows XP PC to a new Windows Vista PC. Both were HP brand. It wouldn't install. It took much scouring through HP's archives and sub pages to finally find the new Vista drivers. The customer would have NEVER found them. They were not easy to find at all and the download file was about 76 megabytes. Thanks HP! HP like several other computer vendors, sometimes "adjusts" windows to fit their proprietary hardware. M$ don't even want to talk to you about it. They'll usually tell you to talk to the vendor. good luck, Cheers Mates! B)

Windows XP (or now Vista) is like a 500 pound man, who says, "Why do I need to slim down?" The answer should be obvious, to everyone, but maybe not to the man himself. Windows XP doesn't realize that it's horribly bloated. If you could ask it " are you OK? ", and if it could answer you, I'm sure the answer would be, "Sure!". Bold was on the right track, getting rid of the bloat, but some thought that he was "over the top". Removing a few redundant files from the HD doesn't really impact how fast a program runs, for instance. Or how fast a web site appears on your screen. I too like a clean, lean and mean PC, but simple HD maintenance can take care of that, or most of it anyway. I was an avid reader of that forum for a long time and gained quite a few "insights" from the posts there by Bold and others. I'm sorry to see it gone.

I was shopping at "Cheap Guys computers" in Longwood, FL just today. I saw a device that looked just like the one in the above link, hanging on the rack. It was a bidirectional IDE - SATA adapter. With it you could attach an IDE drive to a sata mobo, or a SATA drive to an IDE mobo port. I've been using an IDE to SATA adapter for well over a year, on several different PC's and it works great. It greatly increases the data transfer rate for a 7200rpm IDE drive. With this new adapter, you can easily use the new SATA drives on the older IDE only mobo's. It was list priced at $19.95. That's a steal for what it's capable of doing. Cheers! B) PS: I've searched the internet for that info about Seagate and I can't find it. I've seen nothing on Seagates web page. Where can I read the info in full?

Besides the obvious, which has already been mentioned several times, I regret the pearls of wisdom posted by all the other contributors to that site that now will disappear into oblivion, never to be seen again. It's like a vast library of computer knowledge going up in smoke. So-long Bold, we'll miss you and your forum. Have a good life! B)