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Help - all my fault!

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by var1016 1 view

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I decided to try Windows 7 and installed it onto a partition, with the aim of having dual boot.

I like it very much, but I had one or two problems - for example, I couldn't install my webcam drivers since they automatically load to C:\

Anyway the problem is that I did not have dual boot: the previous Windows version appeared in the boot screen, but was not selectable.

So as I have done before I formatted the drive and expected as I experienced before that the computer would revert to booting from C:\. It does not - it still points to E:\.

To avoid a clean install please tell me how to change the boot drive. I have tried using the repair option from the XP CD, but this refuses to recognise my admin password.

Thanks in advance

Paul

76 replies

by older mycroft

Gotta tip my cap to you though.

You've got more bottle than me. ;)

by var1016

Happy new year OM.

Well I was careful: I backed up data and prepared a Paragon recovery disc - which actually does bugger-all!

If I could get the thing to boot from C:\ just once, then of course system restore would take care of the rest.

I must say that I do like 7 though based on my brief acquaintance.

Rgds

Paul

by rob miners

Insert your XP CD and when you see ?Press any key to boot from CD? press a key. Now wait for the XP installer to finish loading up and you will be presented with the option to press R to Repair.

Press R.
The next screen will ask you which Windows? installation you would like to log on to. Normally the following will be listed:

1: C:\WINDOWS

Press 1, then Enter to continue.

You may now be asked for the Administrator password. If you know this type it and press Enter. If you don't know the Administrators password it may be blank. Just press Enter or type your username and password.

At the command prompt type:

fixmbr and press Enter

fixboot and press Enter

bootcfg /rebuild and press Enter

Wait until you are returned to the Recovery Console.

Once you are back to the Recovery Console remove the XP CD and restart your PC.

I am not familiar with Windows 7 and I hope that it is similar to Vista but if the above doesn't work try this.
Boot from the DVD and on the first screen click Next, click Repair your computer, click Next and select Command Prompt.

Now type in bootsect.exe /nt52 C:

by var1016

Happy new year.

I tried this, but without success. after fixmbr I got dire warning and it said that something zas incorrect or invalid and did I wnt to go ahead. So I typed Y and it said that the mbr had been fixed or set. I then did fixboot more questions and then bootcfg and I was asked to assign some references - I just typed 1 as this is the number assigned to C:

On restarting I got the same irritating screen that offered Win7 (no longer there as I have formatted the E partition) and "earlier version of Windows" that I cannot select.

Your second suggestion does not apply I think as I am trying to boot XP; I tried the command anyway, but it is not recognised.

Thanks for your efforts and best wishes

Paul

by oh smeg

Here you'll need to not only format but Wipe the HDD with something like Boot & Nuke

http://www.dban.org/

or Kill Disc

http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm

Then perform a complete reinstall.

If you want to install any Beta OS to this computer you will first need to disconnect the existing Boot Drive to be sure that you can restart the unit again in the form that you want it to be.

Col

by rob miners

Windows 7. Did you create a DVD, if you did use that to boot from and then run the second command. I am just hoping that it is similar to Vista.

by rob miners

with the Windows 7 DVD and ran bootsect.exe /nt52 C:

Removed the DVD and booted straight into XP. It was interesting as when I created the second primary partition I didn't allocate a drive letter for it and it cant be seen in XP and XP didn't show up in Windows 7. It was visible in Device Manager on both installs. bootsect.exe /nt52 C: works a treat.

by rob miners

I then booted from the Windows 7 DVD and did a startup repair. Back to dual booting with no problems.

I am using Windows 7 now.

by var1016

And indeed Microsoft does warn about this> I vainly imagined that if the whole thing was on its own partition it should be OK, which indeed it would were I able to select the OS on the boot page where the choice is offered. Unfortunately I cannot!

I am puzzled though that it is apparently very difficult to change the default drive letter for the boot process.

Best wishes,
Paul

by oh smeg

The Second OS writes files to the Primary Partition and in this case Windows 7 [b]AKA[/b] Vista MK 2 wants to be in charge of things and the only OS Installed.

Works a treat if you install a second OS [b]After[/b] this but is useless if you install it second.

As you didn't have any Data on this system instead of Backing up have you thought of making a HDD Image with something like Acronis True Image Workstation?

There is a Trial Version here that will allow you to Clone the HDD Boot Partition after you finish loading it completely and Activating Windows. It saves you needing to reload the thing if you keep a Base Install around. :)

http://www.acronis.com.au/enterprise/download/

Failing that you can use one of the many free Cloning utilities available

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=HDD+Cloning+utilities+free&meta=

I haven't used any of the free one so I can not recommend any.

Col

by cg it

the release notes warn you about installing Windows 7 Beta on a computer you might not want to lose stuff. Also the release notes recommend a clean install of the previous OS you want.

I'm doing the upgrade rather than try dual boot or a clean install on a comp.

by var1016

Fortunately if I am forced to do a fresh install of XP I shall not lose any data as these are all on a separate physical drive (and another computer!) It's just the huge bore of reinstalling all those programs - especially frustrating as I wasted time and discs making useless backups.

Paul

by var1016

Yes I created a DVD (the download is a .iso. And I'll certainly try what you suggest tomorrow.

Thanks

Paul

by thumbsup2

I was just about ready this next week to set my workbench PC with WinXP to dual boot with 7 and try it out.

Now I can watch and see what you go through and try to avoid the same mistakes! ;)

by oh smeg

I always pull the HDD and fit another one it's just so much safer.

I only dual boot the 2 different versions of any M$ Beta OS. If you load the 64 Bit first and then Dual Boot to the 32 Bit they generally work though if you do it the other way it's not always the case. :)

Though the 64 Bit Version looks OK so far. :D

Col

by thumbsup2

It's the workbench/tester PC, where I play! :D

There's nothing on it and it's isolated. It's used to plug in drives and wipe them before we surplus, test components of other computers to see if they've failed, check thumb drives for viruses before they hit the LAN, install software to 'try before we buy', test field installation instructions before we deploy a customized application or toolbar, check my email through OWA while updates are installing on the other computers on the workbench (cuz my desk is too far away to run check my mail), IM with my counterpart on the other side of the state, etc..., etc..., etc... It gets reimaged fairly often. Can't hurt it, except if I blow it up 'testing' something. :D

by var1016

Thank you...

Windows 7 seems to be very good; it is also fast - hoorah - after my experiences with the appalling Vista this is excellent.

Before I try Rob's suggestion I am going to try another keyboard; I have occasionally had problems with th arrow keys and am wondering if this is cause of all the trouble - the thought only occurred to me today.

Dinner first though - and a few beers...

Paul

by thumbsup2

OK, here's what happened to me today while I tried to install Win7 Beta to dual boot on an existing XP system. I learned a valuable lesson through the mess and thought I would share.

My goal was to accomplish the dual boot without using any boot manager, such as Partition Magic or any other boot manager tool, to create the needed 2nd partition on a drive which has an existing OS installed in only one partition.

First, since the original HDD didn't have two partitions, I couldn't simply resize. I tried several tools on UBCD to resize then create a second partition. But, nothing I tried would work (or would have been destructive). :( So, I ended up using Seagate SeaTools (had Seagates drives to work with today) and cloned the drive to save it, then wiped the original drive and repartitioned it into two separate partitions, then copied the clone back into the first partition. Everything booted fine back to the original WinXP with the new partition showing in Disk Manager. I didn't notice at the time, but that second partion was an extended partition, a problem as you'll see below. I should have known better though. It had a drive letter and shouldn't have had one at this stage. :(

I went ahead and booted to the Win7 Install disk, not realizing what was going to happen. It went through installation using the Advanced method, installing into the 2nd partition all the way up to where it needed to reboot the 1st time. Upon reboot, it BSOD'd with Stop error 0x00000024. I rebooted again and got the same BSOD and stop error. :( So, I rebooted into WinXP to check and see if things were still intact. Everything ran fine there and the 2nd partition was still there with a drive letter. That's when I actually noticed that it was an extended partition. As I researched and read more, it had finally dawned on me that Win7 was going to need a primary, unformatted partition. DUH!!! So, I rebooted to the UBCD and deleted the 2nd partition information using Ranick.

After deleting the partition information through UBCD, I booted back to WinXP and looked at the Disk Manager. This time, it showed the additional partition as 'unalocated'. Great! I've made progress! :) I then told XP Disk Manager to make it a PRIMARY partition, but DO NOT FORMAT it.

I then rebooted to the WIn7 Install DVD and ran through the install again. This time, it ran through all the reboots, connected to the internet, downloaded drivers for everything and came up just fine so I could start playing around with it. It can see the WinXP partition. I just had to assign a drive letter to it. I rebooted back to WinXP and it can see the Win7 partition with a drive letter already assigned and I can see the files. Everything is up and running either way I want to go. Yippeee!!!!!!!! :D

Lesson learned:

(1) Don't use Seagate SeaTools to create the partitions. It creates one primary and one extended partition, formatting both to NTFS. I remember now, running into the same problem years ago with WinXP when it first came out. Can't let the tools format the drive or the install won't run. Funny, back then though, we got warned right at the start of the setup telling us it needed to format the drive after it was already formatted. The Win7 install didn't tell my one word about it. It just BSOD'd after the file copy process. :(

(2) Win7, or any newer OS for that matter, needs a Primary partition to install itself into, not an extended or logical partition. I knew that years ago, but had forgotten. Danged tools make things too easy now a days! ;)

(3) Next time I do this, after I have used Seagate Tools (or whatever tool the HDD manufaturer gives us) to create two partitions on the drive and copied the clone back to the first partition, go into WinXP and delete the 2nd partition so it shows as 'unalocated' BEFORE attempting to boot to the Win7 Installation DVD.

Of course, as the years go by, when Vista or Win7 become the older OS and we're trying to setup a dual boot with some new fandangled OS to test it, the tools to resize an existing single partition and create a new one in the empty space will be built into the OS (it's in Vista and Win7 now). We won't need SeaTools or any of the other HDD manufacturers counterparts 'tools'. ]:)

by oh smeg

Actually work the way that they are required to/ :D

I'm betting they will not work at all particularly if it isn't a M$ Windows OS that is being installed. ]:)

Mind you I could have told you that without the need to perform the first install. :0

Col

by rob miners

and the beauty of it is that we learn from what went wrong. ;)

Have you played with Diskpart, it is pretty powerful. Mind you I have experienced times when it wouldn't find the hard drive until it was partitioned with something else. Then you could control the hard drive with it. :D

by var1016

The partition that I am using for these experiments was created with Paragon. Now as far as I know it is formatted NTFS; no problems at all with the installation, and if anyone should get the BSOD it should be me! I remember them well with Win98.

Meanwhile I have just reformatted the partition thus deleting Win7 as I am about to install the 64 bit version.

Paul

by thumbsup2

After finally getting mine installed, I didn't have much time to play. It had installed all of the drivers by itself, so I didn't think too much about it not working. As the week wore on, I played a little bit here and there. But, Windows Explorer is crashing everywhere, like when I try to get into the Control Panel or even right click on desktop icons. Aero isn't anywhere to be found, so I guess the onboard video isn't up to the task. Friday, I attempted to run ... ummm... can't remember the name now... that utility which checks the performance of the system and rates it, because I wanted to see the scores for this setup. It froze the system. :(

MB: Intel SE915GAGL using onboard video
(or was it a 945, can't remember now, not in front of me)
Processor: Intel P4 3.2GHz
RAM: 2GB (2 matched sticks)
HDD: Seagate 80GB 7200RPM

I think I'll wipe and start over with 7, this time adding a 256MB video card and avoid using the onboard.

by oh smeg

Windows 7 just might manage to do that. :^0

It's Powerful software I tell you. :0

Col

by rob miners

Vista discovery I am looking forward to testing it out. 13 hours to download. ;)

Already have XP Pro waiting for the dual boot on the same partition. I have a feeling that we will be getting a lot more questions as the masses dual boot their notebooks and PC systems.

Next step will be Vista and Windows 7 but it will be interesting to try with seperate hard drives as well for both XP/Vista in a dual boot environment.

;)

by oh smeg

I could give you a copy after all I have had this for a little while now.

If you had of asked I could have posted you a copy of both the 32 & 64 Bit versions. :)

Col

by thumbsup2

What do you mean by "Already have XP Pro waiting for the dual boot on the [b]same partition[/b]"?

Are you insinuating that you plan to install both on the same partition? I thought another partition was needed. ?????????

by var1016

Is just fine - so long as you have the option to select the first one!!!

Paul

by rob miners

I really mean't to dual boot on the same hard drive. As a rule when I dual boot it is only ever using two hard drives. Too many things can go wrong when it is installed on the same drive. You don't even need a boot manager. A batch file on both systems that will run diskpart to set the active partition on the drive and you are good to go.

Installing both on the same partition would have been possible if it will allow an upgrade. I don't do upgrades unless I boot from the new Operating System and install it first and then insert the old Operating System CD/DVD when requested.

Sorry about the confusion as I have partitions on the brain at the moment. I have just worked out how to hide a recovery partition and recover from it with Vista.

by wrleeii

If I understand your problem correctly, let me try to clarify a bit and see if that helps you to understand whether you are in a solvable situation or not.

Various versions of 32-bit windows disk management marks the partitions with their drive letters. You would need to use the Disk Manager to reassign the drive letters. Also, a partition is marked as the primary boot partition. Be sure that the C: drive is the primary boot partition.

The hidden boot.ini file on the C: drive (or active boot partition) defines the list of bootable partitions that is presented when you boot up. According to your description, you should have two entries there.

I do not know why your original installation is not selectable unless it isn't there anymore. I assume your machine is no longer bootable from the hard drive? In the past, a new windows version has updated the format of the partition table in a way that was incompatible with prior versions. A fix was to copy over a couple of the startup files that knew how to interpret the new format (fortunately the files were compatible with the older version of Windows). I don't know enough about Win7 to know if it might have modified the partition format.

Since your system is not working anymore, I would go ahead and use the original CDs to repair the original installation, if possible. Go ahead and let it rebuild the master boot record.

by var1016

But as I reported just now - the problem was the stupid HP keyboard - its arrow keys wouldn't work. Tried another keyboard and hey presto!

Best wishes

Paul

by var1016

Hello again.

Since I established that the keyboard was the problem, I reloaded Win 7 onto a blank partition (drive E:\) - I have a separate hard drive for all my data; this is drive G:\

Win 7 loaded up fine. Now if I go to explorer in 7, it sees drive C:\ - but not the original C:\ but a new one it has created for itself on drive E:\ - still with me?! And it has renamed Drive G:\ as Drive D:\

It does not "see" the original Drive C:\ which has XP on it and of course all my programs.

If I boot up XP, then all the original drive letters are there and explorer sees Drive E:\ - with Win 7 installed!

When I made the original installation, Win 7 was definitely on "Drive E:\" and downloaded programs also loaded to E:\ This time it is different.

All very strange I think.

Paul

by oh smeg

What you need to remember here is that the Drive letters are not Hardware Dependant they are allocated by the Software.

So when you have 7 Running it wants it's Boot Partition to be the C partition as it has created it that way.

As for 7 not seeing the XP install I would hazard a guess that you used a Old version of XP to actually format this Partition and that owing to the Security Changes in Vista and 7 it can not read this HDD Partition with XP on it. This is something that is a common occurrence with external HDD's Quite Often the Vista OS is unable to read them even though they work perfectly with XP.

The only solution here is to reformat the HDD with a newer version of Windows so XP after SP2 or newer would make it work and quite possibly retain your XP Drive Letters.

Col

by var1016

Well, well.

Umm, it was the bloody keyboard! Arrow keys don't work.

Tried my old and very good ?15 English multi media keyboard and no problem; selected boot direction and here I am.

I shall reinstall 7 as I think it is excellent - so far!

Thanks to all

Paul

by var1016

Thanks to you and the other great people hereabouts.

Bloody keyboard...

Paul

by rob miners

actually if CG IT hadn't posted the link and the information I may have missed out on Windows 7. I'm still a bit peeved that I wasn't invited in on the betas.

by var1016

They are not a problem; I just thought it was strange that whilst 7 was on E:\ yesterday, today after the reinstall, it is on C:\

On the original C:\ I have XP Pro SP3. The partitioning was done using Paragon software.

Best wishes

Paul

by oh smeg

That is why 7 is unable top read the XP Partition. :)

Col

by rob miners

and see if the XP drive has been allocated a drive letter. If not allocate one and you will be able to see it.

by var1016

Hello,

I have searched for Disk Manager and it does not seem to exist...

Rgds

Paul

by var1016

Thanks again.

I installed Paragon, and found that the oiginal C:\ drive was just named (*) SO I named it X:\ (for XP!) and now I can see it>

Best wishes

Paul

by thumbsup2

You have to remember, which ever OS is running at the time, it 'thinks' it's sitting on C and assigns letters for the rest accordingly.

So, if you boot to XP, it thinks it's on C, no matter where it's physically sitting. If you boot to 7, it thinks it's on C, no matter where it's physically sitting.

All you have to do is assign driver letters for where the 'other' OS is sitting so they match. Like, give them each the letter O for Other. That way, you're never lost! ;)

by var1016

Thansk for your suggestion.

I am still baffled why on the first installation 7 was in E:\ whilst now after the reinstall it is C:\!

Paul

by oh smeg

I've just looked at my test unit. It's a 2.53 Dual Core Intel with a 512 MEG ATI PCIE Video Card a ABit M'Board 8 GIG of RAM configured as 2 X 4 GIG Sticks, 2 IDE DVD Burners and 1 X 200 GIG SATA HDD.

This unit is dual Booting both the 32 & 64 Bit versions of 7 the 64 Bit is installed to the Primary Partition on the 200 GIG Drive and the 32 Bit Version is installed to the extended Partition these partitions are roughly equal in size. I didn't pay that much attention when I was formatting the HDD close enough was good enough for me one is set to 96 GIG and the remainder of the drive is the other partition.

When you boot the 64 Bit Version it loads to C Drive has the Optical Drive as only 1 is currently showing marked as D and the second partition marked as E. When you load the 32 Bit Version it shows the 32 Bit on Partition 1 and is marked as the C Drive. The 64 Bit OS is on Partition 0 and is shown as the D Drive and the 2 IDE Burners are shown as Y & Z but I moved them to the end of the drive chain when I was setting it up as I like all Optical Drives and other removable Media there. But that's just me you can add another HDD if you want to without issues arising to incorrect Drive letters being allocated. The new drive just appears after the last HDD in the list so there are no Software issues.

I hope that helps you understand what's happening here though it will probably only make you more confused. :D

Col

by var1016

If I understand you correctly I believe that the same thing is happening here; I am certain that at the time I had two versions of XP running the "second" version was running on another drive letter - not C:\ in other words just as on my first 7 install.

Incidentally I thought of downloading the 64bit version but imagined that even more programs etc. wouldn't work with it. I realise that this is a bit off-topic, but have you had problems with the 64 bit version?

Paul

by var1016

Thanks for the reply about 64 bit. I have installed Acrobat 9 without problems. I have also installed Office 2000. I am amazed how fast Word is in opeing documents now!

Some organisations, Skype for instance have been very quick off the mark in producing 7-compatible versions of their software. I have to say I am surprised that Google has not yet come up with a compatible version of Chrome. I found out about the so-called "fix" but it is not satisfactory.

Paul

by thumbsup2

... that aspect of your post confused me too. I've never seen an installation of any OS which 'thought' it was on E after rebooting.

Of course, it might be that you were in XP looking at where 7 was installed and it 'showed' as being on E from there. ;)

Perhaps it was the Paragon Boot Manager which was controlling the drive letters you were able to see. After formatting and starting over without Paragon, things are back to 'normal'.

by rob miners

right click on My Computer, select manage, and then click ?Disk Management".

by var1016

Thanks Rob.

I found it OK in XP; perhaps it doesn't exist in 7. I'll have look next time I have 7 up (groan)

At the moment I am downloading the 64-bit version, just to see what a 64-bit OS looks like.

I would use 7 more, but of course I cannot make Remote Desktop work although My Network Places works fine.

Rgds

Paul

by oh smeg

But it is defiantly the way of the future as 32 Bit will be as usable as 16 Bit is now.

But having said that I haven't had much time to play the only thing so far that didn't want to install was Adobe Reader 9. If it works on Vista it seems to work on 7 64 Bit so far at least. :)

Though I did find that the trial version of Office 2007 [i]That I have here[/i] isn't correctly recognized by the 7 Installer and it claims that the Publisher is Unknown. But Office 2003 loaded and works as well as it does on XP. As I don't use the Trial Version of 2007 maybe the copy I have doesn't work I'll have to have a look at that sometime.

Just something interesting that I just noticed I installed the ABit uGuru Utility on the 64 Bit and it loaded but when I checked which version it is an old one which isn't supposed to be Vista Compatible. It's quite possible that I dropped the wrong one to the Thumb Drive as I have a large store of Utilities and Useful Applications on my main system. It's something I'm going to have to look at though. :)

Col

by oh smeg

Whenever I Dual Boot a System the second OS when running is always on the C Partition/Drive depending on how I loaded the thing. I look at the Partition Drive Names that I gave them to see which partition is actually in use but the Boot part is always listed as C:.

Col

by var1016

I have never tried Remote Desktop with Vista, I shall check the link,
Thanks very much

Paul

by var1016

I am now running the 64-bit version of 7. When I think of what a nightmare the remote desktop business was in XP, this is child's play - thanks very much - it took about 20 seconds...

By the way Google Chrome doesn't work in the 64 - it works in the 32. No problem with Firefox 3.1 beta 2.

Rgds

Paul

by rob miners

all that experience that you are clocking up is working. ;)

by var1016

I was a bit quick in saying how easy it was! Yes I have full access to all the files etc., on the second computer, but there is no Internet connection.

I'm afraid that I have found the networking "help" very confusing and despite its diagnostic funtions have not been able to rectify the problem. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Paul

by oh smeg

Here to configure the Second computer to gain Internet Access.

Please Take Note here that is not the Wireless Setup Wizard by the Network Setup Wizard.

You only ran the Remote Desktop Procedure and this doesn't establish a Internet Connection though if you allowed the Install to setup your Network Connections it should be working.

If you did allow the system to install the Network Connections during install check the Network Leads again now. You could have dislodged one end when you changed the Keyboard Mouse back. :)

Col

by thumbsup2

Personally, I've always preferred the WD tools as they used to only partition and not format unless you wanted them to. That was our preferred manufacturer for a long time. It's been years since I've actually used any of the Seagate/Maxtor tools to prepare a drive for use though, so I had forgotten what they would do. :8}

See what happens when you get old? You forget everything! The whole thing sure brought back a lot of memories though! ;)

by oh smeg

Listen Youngster I am old actually old enough to know better and I still don't listen to my better judgment.

The Wifes son got a friends mother to bring over her computer for me to fix. Yes I know better but I thought well if I can help why not. [b]Famous Last Words[/b] those where.

When she arrived I found her to be a complete [b]Space Cadet[/b] she didn't even know where she lived let alone some basic things like who her ISP was or why the Data on her NB was no longer on the HDD after sending it back to the maker and having the HDD Replaced.

Anyway I came to the conclusion that I was having nothing to do with the boy and never again claiming to be involved in him being on the planet in any way other than not killing him earlier for inflicting her on me. Things have got so bad that several people have asked [b]SWMBO[/b] was she married before meeting me. :D

Anyway after this woman left I turned on the Wifes son and told him never again, it was then that he told me that her son had died the previous night in a car crash. Apparently this little bit of information wasn't at all Important so I didn't need to know as it's not computer related. He insists that I wouldn't be interested as it doesn't affect how computers work. X-(

I still feel lousy about that and every time I get an E-Mail from her I still shudder.

Now shall we start talking the advantages of DR DOS over M$ DOS? :p

Col

by oh smeg

Is that my Video Capture Card doesn't work with it. This is a bit strange because it comes with Vista Drivers in both 32 & 64 Bit Versions but for some reason under 7 64 it doesn't want to accept the Driver.

Works perfectly under 7 32 Bit though.

Col

by var1016

Hello Col,

And thanks for that.

No problem with the connections - the physical ones that is, since if I boot XP instead of 7 then I have my remote Internet connection - and anyway now I am able to work ont eh second computer it's just the Interne that doesn't work.

There is no "network Wizard" in 7 as such, but I have been through the Neywork stuff and find it ather complicated: they offer Home, Work or Public - I have tried them all!

AFter a load of struggle today I got Network Places to work and Remote is great: you just have to type in the name of the second computer and away you go - except for Internet. In XP it asks for a name, you give it and it tells you it doesn't exist. But on the other hand, thanks to you guys around here, it works!

Paul

by rob miners

your IP Address in Windows 7 like you did for XP. You are better off connecting through a Work environment.

by var1016

This of course is one of the problems with Remote Desktop.

To set up an IP address one must first have an IP address. To find this I do ipconfig /all. Unfortunately if there is no internet connection, then there is no IP address (no internet connection). In XP even if I cannot do the remote desktop, the second computer is still connected to the Internet.

In XP, the address changes from time to time. I know when this has happened because then I cannot connect. SO I switch over to the other computer, run ipconfig, get the new address, switch back to the first computer, enter the address and I am OK for a while!

Running 7 on the first computer of course I cannot get an IP address to enter.

What is baffling is that 7 will provide the remote connection just by my entering the name of the second computer. This does not work in XP.

Paul

by rob miners

about investing in some new hardware. I have notices that 8 port 10/100/1000 Switch's have dropped in price recently. Using it with a couple of patch leads should make your life more bearable. Plug the modem into the switch as well as the PC's and you may be allocated an IP Address on both of the PC's. It may or may not work on both PC's for internet connection but at least you could have a static IP on the second PC and internet access on the primary PC. Something to consider anyway.

by var1016

Well of course I bought a modem router last year; I couldn't make it work and then of course realised that I would have no more free phone calls, so I sold it on ebay fortunately without losing too much money.

Budgetary factors mean that I shall have to stay as I am in this regard for now!

Paul

by rob miners

we're in the same boat old mate. I have stuff falling over all around me and at the moment I can't replace it. I had to go back to an old 10Mb hub as one of the newer ones went to silicone heaven. I'm using a second hand modem since my modem joined the hub. I'll be in strife when I run out of spares.

by var1016

Indeed - and up sh1t creek without a paddle!

Paul

by oh smeg

I'm not allowed to spend any money because [b]SWMBO[/b] has cracked up complaining about just how much I spend. It's worse knowing you have the money available but not being allowed to spend it. :(

My scanner stopped working about 2 weeks ago and I have yet to get the time to test it to see if it has actually failed or if it's just a USB Thing happening here. I had a Powered USB Hub stop working which the Scanner isn't plugged into and several other things stopped working at the same time. I've since pulled that Hub and the other items have started working again but the Scanner doesn't want to play nice here. But what's worse is if the scanner is broke I can not go out and buy a new one as I'll get beat up.

But even yesterday [b]SWMBO[/b] demanded that I scan something in and Laminate it for her son. I just looked all upset and asked How? I don't think I'll go on from there because it's painful. :D

Col

by oh smeg

SE915GAGL M'Board uses a 915 Chip Set just like the name implies. :D

Now if I remember correctly didn't those 915 Chip Sets have issues with Vista? I seem to remember that they where Vista Capable not Vista Ready.

Though using any Video card would make an improvement.

Col

by thumbsup2

Couldn't remember if it was 915 or 945, meaning it could be an SE945GAGL for all I could remember at the time. Special order for Gov't use.

I was going to put a graphics card in it this morning in my spare time, but found my spare parts bin doesn't have any PCIE cards left in it. All I've got left is AGP and some REALLY old PCI Diamond (8MB) cards. Can't use the AGP, no slot on the MB. And, I don't even want to mess with an old PCI card.

Guess it's time to get me a new workbench 'puter and get get rid of all my spare parts! ;)

by oh smeg

And is one of the few things I can get away with doing replacing the guts of a Case. [b]SWMBO[/b] would be none the wiser if I dumped a Quad Core CPU & M'Board into an old Case it would just be the same computer.

But I'm under [b]Pain of Death[/b] with computer parts at the moment she thinks that I spend too much money on IT gear. So I'm being quite and biding my time till I see something that I really want and then I'll see what I can come up with. Currently it looks as if I need a new scanner and Optical Disc Printer the scanner has just stopped working and reports Unknown Device when I plug it into a USB port that is only a couple of years old and should be OK but the Optical Disc printer is a different story. It's an old Canon i965 that I can no longer buy new Ink Tanks for and as 2 or the 5 Colors are no longer working it really needs to be replaced. :(

Back in the Good Old Days when I worked for a Boss it was never a problem upgrading computers or replacing external things that I wanted. [b]Hum I mean Needed for work.[/b] :D

I just bought a few pieces of metal to use in my new Lathe only a few $ worth and got into no end of trouble for buying that. What makes it worse is it wasn't even for me [b]SWMBO[/b] organized me to do the work but I'm apparently not allowed the buy the necessary materials to help her Fiend out. X-(

And I do mean Fiend not friend. :0

But you are right it's not a good idea to use a PCI Video card here it just wouldn't play nice with 7.

Col

by var1016

Well you have my sympathies.

Even sadder, here I have a good Canon scanner in perfect working order that I would give you if you were next door. As it is it will probably be thrown away.

best of luck,

Paul

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