Grunth0s

There is always the option that Steam is running in Offline Mode, in which case, nothing will download

and....my work laptop ...

What service pack level is your XP install? Is it XP Home or Pro?

I am afraid you will have to use Google for the tools, I personally don't have any of them, or know where to find them. I have seen them for Windows XP and 2000, just not yet for 2003. There are emergency tools available to purchase that would help, you may want to have a look at the Wininternals Website for these.

OK, first things first... Is the computer part of a domain, or is it just a standalone windows 2003 enterprise server? SAM=Security Account Management Database, or basically, where all the account information is stored. If the computer is part of a domain, then there will be a domain SAM, and a local SAM. Safe Mode logon would be with the local adminsitrator account which was created when you installed the server. Did you build this server? or is it one that was built for you? DCPromo is the command to make the server a domain controller within a domain. There are tools available on the internet which will give you the ability to boot to a disk, and add a local administrator account on the server. I can't give you any specifics on this however, as these are classed as hacking tools.

You should still be able to repair this with the repair console (F8 during win2k startup), without impacting your 2k installation. Also, you should be able to re-install over the top of the existing 2k install without affecting the XP install (other than adding an extra win2k option to your boot.ini). Just don't let 2k try to format anything as part of the install, and point it to the same location as the one you had previously (I am pretty sure it will let you, but it will b***h about it).

If this 2003 server is part of a domain, then you can start the server in Safe Mode, as this will not then interrogate the domain SAM. From there, you can log in with the original Local Administrator account, and create a new account that can be logged on. You may also create a virtual server on another machine, join it to the domain, DCPromo it, and then modify the domain settings that way. If it is not part of a domain, then try the safe mode option anyway.

DOSBox should do the trick, have a look on Google for it. Think the current version 0.63 Edit... Saved you the search ... DOSBox Link

If you start the machine with the monitor switched on, and then turn the monitor off once Windows is loaded, will it still see it as new hardware when you turn it back on?

Glad to be of service

I don't know about 'checking' the profile... Perhaps you could create a new user, and use that to test if the problem still exists? Also, there is a wealth of Event ID information at eventid.net which may help to track down the problem

One suggestion would be to re-create your user profile, and try it again. A lot of the 1000 errors refer to issues with the HKCU registry key getting corrupted. A fresh profile will get round that.

Changed it again... Click Image for Full Size

Deleted ... wrong thread

Well, you've started off alright. I have used Joomla on a couple of projects, which have worked out pretty well. Think you're major project with this one is to get it looking right, with your own styles and layouts. Once you've done that, then it is all about content, get that right, and the community will join you.

Not that I am aware of.... I don't ever recall seeing an expiry option on a computer account...

Happy to be of service

From memory (and I could be wrong), if you double click on the tray icon, you get the option express or custom installation. Take the custom option, then untick the updates you don't want. There is a tick box (or something) which says something along the lines of 'don't ask me to install these updates again' Make sure that is selected, and those updates will go away.

Quick question... Are you installing all of the windows updates or just the critical ones? I have seen issues with MS Update applying driver changes which causes a machine to fail. TDI.SYS is one of Microsoft's driver files, so it sounds like one of the patches has corrupted this, or one of your devices needs a different version of the file. Personally, I would never let windows update anywhere near my driver files.

Have you tried installing a different browser? Preferably one not based on IE, like Opera or Firefox You can also test to make sure you are correctly resolving website names. Go to a Command prompt and ping a website, for example ping www.msfn.org If it comes back with an unknown host message, then there is a problem with your connection somewhere, probably in the name resolution. NTL problems however, are often fixed by powering down both the PC, and the cable modem, and then starting them back up (modem first).

What motherboard is this? and what is the speed of the memory installed? I know some motherboards (older Asus boards particularly) could only work with certain speed/number of slots configurations, so basically, you could populate 4 slots with PC2100, only 3 with PC2700 and only 2 with PC3200. The BIOS would still count all the physical RAM, so 4 1GB sticks of PC3200 would show 4GB in BIOS, but the motherboard would only give the operating system what it was restricted too, so in this case 2GB (2 x 1GB PC3200). Not sure why this restriction was there, I think it was a physical issue with the memory controllers on some of the older VIA chipsets.

One thing to clarify... During the setup of windows, you would have been asked for an admin password. Later, post install, you would have been asked for the username for the normal account. If you go into safe mode, you will see an additional account called administrator, this is the account that you were asked the password for during installation. The post install account that you named Mike will still be an administrative account, as this is the default first user. Either of these accounts will give you administrative access, however, the adminsitrator account will not be visible unless you are in safe mode (I think there is a way of getting it in normal mode using ctrl-alt-del twice at the log-on screen (don't quote me on that though!)) It is possible that you have used the administrator account in safe mode to reduce the permissions on the default first account, and no longer have administrative rights on your own PC.

What are you actually seeing in your browser window when you try to connect? I am assuming that as you are on NTL, then you are cable? Have you a router connected, or are you just using the cable modem? The fact that you can get mail and MSN would tend to indicate some kind of a browser hijack has occurred. There are a couple of tools out there that may help, but I would start with a good antivirus, then a spyware scan, then Hijack this (google search for the download location).

Trying Talisman now, still got to work on the customisation aspects, so this may be changing quite a bit through the month ...

I would consider using NLite to integrate the S-ATA textmode drivers from the floppy directly into your install disk. This would negate the need for the F6 and floppy drive completely, and pre-install the S-ATA drivers into your build CD.