TheFlash428

If it is simply a matter of not getting an IP address, checking the IP config will answer. Most comerical routers will assign an IP address similar to 192.168.x.x, which is the most common private IP address space for small networks. As Mr Snrub mentioned below, if windows sees a connection, but cannot establish an address, you'll have an address similar to 169.254.x.x To correct this problem, open your Network Connections folder and open the properties menu of you LAN connection--make sure that under the properties of the TCP/IP, that "obtain an IP address automatically" is checked. Some other questions: In the device manager, are there any flags for the NIC card? -- have you tried updating the hardware device drivers? -- Did this problem occur immediately after installing SP2 (or any fresh XP install), or was it working before and then just stopped working? If the last is true, it may just be that the NIC card is fried--the key is always to try to figure what the last thing you did to the PC was prior to the loss of connection. Also, if you know when it happened, you may be able to try a system restore (if it is turned on).

Well, this was the first thing I though of too. Even though the BIOS settings are turned off, have you tried disconnecting the network cables and such and see if the problem persists? If the computer still turns back on with no network connection, at least you can cross this off the list

...or try a linux live CD, like Knoppix.

If you have XP Pro, "Run..." --> "gpedit.msc". From the computer configuration you can set startup/shutdown scripts, or under user configuration you can set logon/logoff scripts. Word of caution: group policy editor comes with the same warning as the registry editor, caution should be used when making changes.

You say you have no firewalls installed...but what about the Windows firewall that is part of the security center in WinXP SP2? If this is on, then that may explain why the other computers can't see or ping you. I would assume by you statement that there are no firewalls installed that you have the windows firewall disabled as well, but I thought I'd just throw that out there--sometimes it's the simpliest things that can be overlooked.

Control Panel --> Regional and Language Options --> Regional Options --> Customize... --> Time Change the format h:mm:ss to HH:mm:ss

Not sure where it is stored locally. If you go to the Windows update site, I believe there is an option to view updates which you have hidden. Here is a small tool you can use to view the update history of your PC. WinUpdatesList

Well, it sounds like you may have diagnosed your wireless problem, but there are a few things to check: One reason internet connections get dropped is because of signal interference--have you tried changing the broadcast channel your router uses? If you live in an area where there may be more than one household using wireless internet, this may be something to try. Another question, do you have a 2.4 gHz cordless phone? Often times cordless phones (and other household applicances) that use the same frequency as 802.11g can cause dropped connections, the most annoying thing is that if you live in an apartment or town home, it may not even be your phone causing the problem. The solution, get a new phone that doesn't operate at 2.4 GHz or get a 802.11a router. The fact that you use p2p apps really led me to believe that you had a virus or trojan of somekind, but if you still experienced this after an OS reinstall, then I'm not so sure... I may also have thought that there was an issue with the hard-drive integrity (and still may), but you say that this only occurs after the internet connection is lost? You may want to try and let it run for a while disconnected from the internet to see if you still experience the freezing--it may help to determine if the loss of connection is causing the slow down, or if the slow down is causing the loss of connection.

not much to add, but thanks a lot for the tips. I think reading this post has given me the idea on how to solve one of my problems!

This is a hidden system folder. it should be on your root OS drive (i.e. C:\). you may have to go into folder options and enable hidden and super hidden files.

I agree...in fact until SP2 I was a big promoter of Win2000. At first SP2 had some issues, but it's pretty much smooth sailing now, and definatly the best OS microsoft has released (IMO). From my experience it is faster and has much less bugs than pre-SP2 installs of Windows XP. SP2 does seem to work the best when integrated with a fresh installation, as opposed to being run as an update though, again, based on my experiences.

Are you sure you have the correct POP3 settings enabled (including correct port numbers)? The error message seems to indicate a lack of response from the server you are trying to download your mail from. I would check the address(es) for sending and recieving, check the port numbers under the advanced settings (not all mail providers use the default ports, your mail provider should supply you with this information), and also check the username/password settings.

It sound like your LAN adapters are set to "obtain an IP address automatically", or by DHCP. If both computers are linked only to themselves, then I am guessing that there is no device assigning DHCP addresses. What you would want to do is go into the properties of each LAN adapter and set the IP address manually to set up a privat network. An example of such a configuration would be: Computer #1: IP address: 192.168.1.1 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1 Computer #2 IP address: 192.168.1.2 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway: 192.168.1.2 (Keep in mind I'm assuming that these PC's are connected only to themselves, and that there are no servers or routers involved). One other problem you may encounter, however, is the fact that I believe in order to directly connect two PC's using a LAN connection, you would need to use a crossover cable as opposed to a standard ethernet cable (but I'm not 100% positive). One workaround to this issue would be to place a network hub (or switch) between the two computers. Any simple hub would work, e.g. Netgear; these are usually pretty inexpensive and can allow you attach multiple devices.

I think you're better off using Nero burning ROM, not Nero Express, for this (at least that's the way I do it). You will have to have extracted the boot image from your original CD, which I believe is described in the guide. Choose CD/DVD-ROM (Boot) Browse and load the extracted image file. Under expert settings, choose "No emulation" and number of loaded sectors should be "4". It should boot just fine.

I have used the Dell CD's with NLite and not had any problems, but you should know that the product key included with the CD will usually on work on the computer it came with (or at least only with Dells). If this is recovery CD rather that an actual OS CD, then it probably won't work. I purchased a Dell laptop not too long ago with XP Pro. Now I almost never use the computer as it comes out of the box (as I would assume most people here), but the problem was that Dell did not provide the media for the operation system, so modifying and re-installing the OS was a little more difficult. I had an XP pro, SP1 CD that came with another Dell I have. I was able to slipstream SP2 and updates and make the changes I wanted with NLite and install using that disc (keep in mind that I had paid for a license for XP pro with both computers). But anyway, it worked fine--I guess my point is that it is not necessarilly the Dell CD.

My guess is that you can't select the CD rom as a boot device? Did you go into the BIOS setup (at startup) and check to see if you can boot from the CD drive? Also, I'm not sure that with this system you would want to load XP...with only 128MB of RAM and a 565 MHz processor, XP will be pretty slugish.

What do you know, you can do it. What I was doing wrong was trying to undock it from the right-side edge, but needed to use the left side.

I did understand the problem, but to clarify...as far as I know, you can't actually move the "Quick Launch" toolbar (anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), but you should be able move a toolbar you created as instructed in the link I provided. If this doesn't work than no, I don't think I know a solution to your problem.

I agree, Outlook 2003 is awesome...but it does seem as if this entire package as a whole (especially Outlook) is a little more resource hungry, and seems to comsume more RAM than the 2000 version--but if you system is up to it, it is definately the better version.

It almost sounds like you're looking for the old Office 2000 (and previous) Shortcut bar, which is no longer available in the 2003 version. There are several workarounds that can be found using a simple Google search--here's one that I think suggests what you are trying to accomplish. Shortcut Bar Workaround

This would be my suggestion all the way. If you don't have the $$$ to pay for Microsoft office, Open office is a great free alternative--I would definately check it out.

Deleting or removing messenger should in no way remove all those other programs. Are you sure they were there to begin with? If you have system restore on, I would try that. Hopefully it hasn't been that long since this happened and you will have a restore point prior to the incident. Go to Start Menu --> all programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> System restore. And I agree--you will probably need those disks one day. Always a good policy to save any and all software that comes with a PC/Laptop.

All these things being said--I can say from personal experience that using "foreign" or other special characters (¡, ¿, ƒ, ˆ, etc), will thwart most would-be hackers using less than super equipment from cracking your password. Most of tools used commonly used by password crackers simply do not employ these characters. ...but as far as totally "uncrackable", I would have to agree with field--impossible given adequate equipment.

Check the router DHCP settings, make sure it isn't set to maximum 1 connection or something like that.

Office 2K3 will run on Windows 2000 (but it must be updated to SP4).