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Tarting Up!

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by var1016

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I am about to "tart up" my computers; the newer one gets more memory, a better graphics card and a faster processor.

This means I shall have a spare dual core processor. For the old computer (2003) I have ordered a new motherboard: Asus M2V-MX SE (http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=101&l3=324&l4=0&model=1807&modelmenu=1 ) This accommodates the processor and the ram I have to hand (2GB). I also have a 40GB SATA hard drive coming. I will use the GEForce 8400GS graphics card from the other machine. Sorry about the long introduction; my question: will the Asus motherboard also recognise the old 40GB IDE hardrive that is in the old computer? I am interested in trying to run both hard drives with a view to "having a look" at Vixta.

Thank you

Paul

66 replies

by faradhi

on the MB. I would assume (and you know what they say about assume) that it will support the old drive.

Even if it does not, you can purchase a IDE 2 USB enclosure pretty cheap.

Have fun.

by var1016

Thanks Faradhi,

All will be revealed in due course, and hard drives are not too expensive!

Paul

by oh smeg

It supports

VIA? VT8237S South Bridge:
- 2 x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33
- 2 x Serial ATA with RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD

So that is 2 IDE Chanel's and 2 SATA Drives. You can easily plug in a IDE Drive and still use a IDE Optical Drive or 2 on the other IDE Chanel.

Col

by var1016

Thank you!

Of course I did look at the spec, but naturally, one needs to know what one is looking at (ouch!).

So is it possible to run SATA and IDE off the same motherboard? Sorry if this seems stupid, but I am trying to learn something.

best wishes

Paul

by oh smeg

You can run IDE & SATA Drives on the same M'Board.

On this one if I am reading it correctly and judging by the Picture I am you can have 4 IDE Drives and 2 SATA Drives connected to this M'Board.

Should give you enough room to do what most people require even if you use a Old HDD from another computer [i]Though from past experience I would advise to keep it backed up in case of failure[/i] that will leave you the option of 2 IDE Drives and 2 SATA Drives. I'm assuming that you will use a IDE Optical Drive of some kind here and not a SATA Drive to read/Burn CD/DVD.

Col

by var1016

Interesting indeed. The old computer has a 40GB hard drive which I assume is IDE and I have a 40GB SATA harddrive on the way from ebay. The DVD burner is I suppose IDE - I boughit two years ago and only found out yesterday that SATA applies also to optical drives!

I propose to use the SATA as the "main drive" with the old one for experiments with Linux... But this will still be a "second computer" - really just in the hope I can learn something without significant risk!

Best wishes

Paul

by oh smeg

You will need to leave the IDE Drive in this computer even though the OS isn't installed to it.

This is because the Actual Hardware always treats the IDE Drive as the Default Drive. If it is removed some critical Boot Files will be missing and the system will not boot to Windows. Summarily if it isn't fitted when Windows is installed to the SATA Drive and you then add the IDE Drive the System will not boot to Windows as the Windows Boot Files will not be on the Default Drive.

When Windows gets loaded it can change the SATA Drive to the C Drive and then to all intents & purposes it remains the C Drive till you shut down and restart the install process again.

Just keep that in mind and you'll not go wrong. The only thing that I'm unsure about with this M'Board is that it only states that it can use 2 SATA Drives that number seems a little small to me as all the ones that I have used except some SIS Boards could drive 4 SATA Drives.

Col

by var1016

OK the computer had factory-installed XP. I have a recovery CD supplied with the machine. Now if I understand you correctly, if I remove the IDE HDD and install the SATA one, with new motherboard ("Carte m?re" in France!) and processor the recovery disc will not work? That would be boring, but I suppose as I have another XP Home disc (and have ordered XP-Pro for the newer computer) I could then install the XP-Home on the old one into its SATA drive?

Sorry to drone on and on about this and I do appreciate your help!

Paul

by oh smeg

Feel free to ask anything you need to know.

Now for starters the Recovery Disc is very unlikely to actually work as it will not have the right or default Drivers for the New M'Boards Chip Set. When the system makers make a Recovery Disc they just include the drivers for the hardware supplied and then any additional software that they send out with the new computer. So it's not likely to work but if you have the time free you can give it a try first if you like.

The XP home will work but you may need to press the [b]F6 Key[/b] when the first Blue Screen appears on the Windows Installer as some M'Boards do not support the SATA Drivers and Windows XP doesn't so you need to install the SATA Driver before you can load Windows to the SATA Drive. To follow Windows Install procedures copy the SATA Driver to the Root of a Floppy and when prompted after pressing the F6 Key insert the Floppy into the A Drive and press enter.

Or you can make your own Slipstreamed Install Disc by either following the directions here

http://tinyurl.com/6pfqo8

or the down loadable version of the same thing here

http://tinyurl.com/5q2jsw

Or you can use nLite available free here to make a Slipstreamed Install Disc with the SATA Drivers and any new Service Packs that have been included since your copy of Home was made

http://tinyurl.com/e2mo4

If you use NLite you'll need to look at the Guides Pages on that site so you can use the software but it's quite simple to do.

When you get your XP Pro Disc you can do a Repair or In Place Install by following the directions here but you'll need a M$ Branded Install Disc not a System Makers Recovery Disc as this option isn't supported with the Recovery Disc's.

http://tinyurl.com/g4bv8

If you are planing on keeping the IDE Drive in the system just remember to have it fitted before installing XP as the computer will not boot to Windows if it is fitted latter. There are only a few files that are copied to the IDE Drive but they just point the system to the SATA Drive for a Bootable OS. If they are not there the Hardware looks at the IDE Drive and when it doesn't find anything it spits up an error message along the lines of No Bootable Partition Found Insert the Boot Disc and continue.

It's a Learning Process that you are going through here and it is something =that you'll never forget after it sucks you in a few times. :D

OH the IDE drive will need to be formatted before you install XP to the SATA Drive. Or you can make a small Partition on it and just let the Windows Installer copy the required files there and use the rest of the drive to load your other OS's onto. Something about 100 MEG should be more than enough space on the IDE Drive for this partition.

Col

by var1016

"Feel free to ask anything you need to know."

Thank you; I hope you won't regret that generous offer...

You wrote: "The XP home will work but you may need to press the F6 Key when the first Blue Screen appears on the Windows Installer as some M'Boards do not support the SATA Drivers and Windows XP doesn't so you need to install the SATA Driver before you can load Windows to the SATA Drive."

The XP Home installed fine on my new computer (SATA)- which previously had Vista installed - and the motherboard I have bought for the second machine supports SATA; I presume that the SATA drivers will be on the CD that should come with the motherboard? If they aren't, then where do I find them?

Thanks again and also in advance!

Paul

by oh smeg

You just have to make sure that you use the one for the OS that you are installing XP in this case. However you may find a newer one listed on the M'Boards Makers Web site. As the M'Board CD is made before the M'Board is and there may be a few months between the time the CD was made and you get the M'Board so it is possible that the Chip Set maker may have released a new SATA Driver.

Normally this doesn't matter but if you hit any problems looking for a new driver may cure whatever problems you run into.

Just provided that you don't want to know to the Sub Atomic level why something doesn't work I will not have a problem trying to answer your questions though. :D

It's just the people who want the Definitive Answer to why this happened beyond all doubt that drive me crazy. :0

Col

by var1016

Hello and thanks for that. Now then... I have two new problems that make me feel very un-confident with all the mods we have been discussing - and they will almost certainly relate to the rebuild.

I have just installed XP-pro on my computer:
I carefully exported my Firefox bookmarks to a directory but cannot restore them, because they are a .JSON file; any ideas how I can recover them and import them into Firefox?

2nd problem is that when installing XP-pro I made a cock-up and got two installations (Drive C:\ and drive I:\) I removed the installation fom Drive I and formatted the partition, but I still have two versions coming up on the boot screen where I must choose. I went into the BIOS but cannot find anyway to remove this.

Sorry to try your patience yet again!

Best wishes

Paul

by rob miners

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Import_bookmarks

Remove this reference from the Boot.ini
Start, right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Startup and recovery, Settings and Edit.

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

by var1016

Thanks for your response. I sorted the FF bookmark problem, by using the backup facility to restore the files.

On the other one sadly, I deleted the file you mentioned, but it seems I should have deleted the other one, so now, no boot. Is there any way of restoring the thing? (Now running on the old banger!)

Thanks

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

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.

< add a bit > ;)
On the odd chance that that does'nt work follow the above steps and at the command prompt type in bootcfg /rebuild

by var1016

Thanks for your suggestion; unfortunately it didn't work, as at no time was there the opportunity to enter any command - it just asked me where I wanted to boot from and of course this didn't work. SO I have reinstalled XP Pro onto the I:\ drive; of course I want to get back into the C:\ drive again, but of course I cannot access the boot file option in C:\ Can you tell me where I have to copy the deleted command so C:\ will start?

Thanks
Paul

by rob miners

when you boot up now I: becomes C: if you navigate to the root of the drive that you need to acces you will see boot.ini. You may have to turn on show hidden files and folders. Right mouse click on it and untick read only. Copy and paste between these lines ====== and overwrite the contents of the original boot.ini and save it.
===============================

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
======================================
The line starting at Multi is on one line.
< Don't edit the boot.ini in the root of C: >

by rob miners

When you have finished the above steps.
You will have to make the Partition Active from a command prompt, type:
diskpart
select disk 0
select partition 1
active

Press Enter after each command.
Type exit and press Enter
Type exit and press Enter
Restart the PC.

< add a bit >

by var1016

True Blue, more thumbs ups for you for all your patience. Sadly though I searched the entire C:\ drive and there is no file called "Boot.ini" (I included hidden files & folders). It is of course, the C:\ drive that I want to change - not the I:\ drive - if I can get the C:\ to work, then I will empty the I:\ drive.

It was irritating: I spent ages searching earlier for this file - I could find it on the installation disc, where it is simply called "Boot", 211 bytes!

Paul

by var1016

If it's a real pain for you dealing with this I shall uinderstand! I'll format C:\ do another install and reload all the stuff ; Thank God for partitions!

Paul

by rob miners

Open up a command prompt, and type:
diskpart
select disk 0
list partition

You will see something similar to this. Let me know what you see.
Partition 1 Primary
Partition 2 Extended
Partition 3 Logical

by rob miners

open explorer and go to the root of the drive that you are in. You should see a list of files similar to this.
AUTOEXEC.BAT
boot.ini
CONFIG.SYS
DrvLtr.txt
Dskchk.cmd
IO.SYS
MSDOS.SYS
NTDETECT.COM
ntldr
pagefile.sys
remind.bat
Sched.cmd
Wait.cmd

Navigate to the other partition/drive and see if you can find similar files. That is where to look if the boot.ini does'nt exist create it and add the contents.

by var1016

OK I'll hold my hand up: I do not know what the "root" of the drive is; I use the search function (including hidden files) and search the entire C:\ drive, but not one of the files you listed shows up. I must be doing something wrong!

Paul

by var1016

AFter about the fifth install of XP-Pro, which ws still playing up (Device manager hung, multimedia keyboard didn't work, and most irritating, the stupid number lock had to be pressed) I have given up and reinstalled XP Home which works fine!

Thanks for all your help OH & TB.

Paul

by rob miners

who thinks that they don't know you are doing OK. Root = C:\>

What was the result from my last post.

by var1016

Thanks: where does one type C:\>? (I did try in "My Computer"... Incidentally search does not show Boot.ini etc., in the I:\ drive either.

by oh smeg

The C:> is a DOS Prompt and you can see this when you open the HDD with a Boot Disc not from within Windows.

The Root of any Drive is the First entry of a file not in a folder so it is copied to the Root of that Drive.

I hope that helps to clear things up for you.

Col

by var1016

Partition 1 Primary 130GB 32kb
Partition 2 Extended 50GB 130GB
Partition 3 Logical 50GB 130GB
Partition 4 Primary 117GB 181GB

This is what I get: I don't understand because I have only three partitions - I know I arranged them! Anyway the 117GB one is Drive I:\

Paul

by rob miners

you may be better off starting from scratch.

Primary Partitions can be set Active so they can become Bootable.
Extended Partitions are created to house Logical Partitions.

Perform a clean install of Windows XP and delete the Primary Partition and recreate the Primary Partition on the fly.

1. Start your computer from the Windows XP CD. To do this, insert the Windows XP CD into your CD drive or DVD drive, and then restart your computer.
2. When you see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press any key to start the computer from the Windows XP CD.
3. At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to start Windows XP Setup.
4. Read the Microsoft Software License Terms, and then press F8.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to select and format a partition where you want to install Windows XP. At this stage you can select to delete the Primary Partition and recreate it. Then continue with the install.
Note: You can delete all Partitions from here.
6. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Windows XP Setup.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316941/en-us

by var1016

Thank you; I recall DOS prompts, but haven't seen one for years!

Best

Paul

by oh smeg

If you haven't yet installed the drivers for it. Is this a M$ Install Disc or a Rescue Disc from something?

It really sounds like a Rescue Disc and not a M$ Install Disc. The Rescue Disc's do not have all of Windows on them and are limited to the Original Hardware. If you try to use these on a system that they where not made for they will do things like this as not only do they not have the correct drivers they actually install the wrong ones.

But if you like you can try a In Place/Upgrade install but only if you have a M$ Branded Install Disc the Slipstreamed Recovery Disc's do not support this option.

http://tinyurl.com/g4bv8

Col

by var1016

Hello. Yes I am a cheapskate; I bought this XP Pro cheap on ebay. It is new and unused with Licence etc., but is as you suggest a two-disc HP reinstallation package. Now the funny thing is that the keyboard (for which of course I had to install drivers) worked fine in the first three installs as indeed did that stupid number lock (why is that even there??) Before each reinstall of course I formatted the drive. Anyway I have reinstalled my XP Home version, another cheap OEM deal that works perfectly. After I have rebuilt the second computer (which is, I am sorry to say the original reason for this thread)I shall try again with the Pro version. Incidentally I did install extra memory yesterday and it works fine; I now have over 3GB and installed XP Pro in fifteen minutes start to finish, which was some compensation after reading that "the installation will finish in 39 minutes"!

Again, thanks very much for your support.

Paul

by var1016

The CDs I have do offer the repair option and as I wrote earlier, they are branded HP and dated 2006.

For the keyboard I have HP's driver saved on another drive (like lots of other stuff: thank God for partitioning!) and the keyboard worked fine in the other installations!

Best wishes,
Paul

by rob miners

Num lock is a toggle key that is used to switch the pad between number entry and arrow keys. Some BIOS features allow control to be turned on or off.

In Explorer select Tools, Folder Options View and Untick Hide protected operating system files. Then you will see Boot.ini.

by oh smeg

Way of doing the install that works with a Format and destroys everything on the Partition that it is being installed to. This is a quite common thing or it may be the Windows Repair Option which is very unlikely. :D

As for the Keyboard maybe the drivers for it or at least something very close are on the Disc's that you got and on the last install something went wrong with the install. It does happen and while not common I have had to restart from scratch occasionally.

Anyway Beast Of Luck with this Paul.

Col

by var1016

Hello again.

Thanks for the link.

I have never heard of the F Lock key. As you know, there are three lamps on the right of the keyboard: "Num lock", "Caps lock" and Scroll Lock". Only the second category is any use to me; why we have number lock I have never understood - and I became rather annoyed having to switch the stupid thing on in my last XP-Pro installation. Scroll lock is another mystery!
By the way, searched for Boot.ini and Autoexec.bat in XP-Home and they aren't there either! Funny because I do remember having seen them somewhere in the past.

Best wishes,

Paul

by var1016

Yes - found it - complete with that command! And all the other suspects are there too!

Thanks
Paul

by var1016

This one does work like a standard disc: it tells me that another version is installed on the drive. I then open Paragon and format the drive - I used to know how to do this using some DOS command, but DOS seems no longer to appear - and I have forgotten anyway!

The keyboard drivers are on another drive so I suppose this will have to remain one of those mysteries!

All the best

Paul

by oh smeg

NTFS Partition anyway only a FAT 32 or lower depending on which version of a Boot Disc you use. Anyway when it comes to XP FAT 32 is the only one recognized anyway so the FAT 16, & 8 isn't important here.

If this is a Full Version of XP you should have the Repair/Upgrade Install Option like the one listed here

http://tinyurl.com/g4bv8

If you have that you can perform a Upgrade from Home to Pro and still retain the working drivers for your system. Though you will loose any Service Packs and Hot Patches that are not on your Install Disc's. This will keep the Keyboard drivers and allow you to use Pro with the better features if you wish.

Best of luck anyway.

Col

by var1016

That's interesting: it suggests that I can use the "full" XP Pro disc to perform an upgrade from XP Home. MS doesn't appear to refer to this process, preferring to concentrate on those upgrading from a previous version of Windows.

I have loaded both the Home and Pro discs, and I get the same screen asking me what I want to do and the Pro disc as I wrote before does offer the repair option. Having wasted rather a lot of time uninstalling and installing things, I think as an experiment, I shall install XP Home again on my spare partition and then attempt a "Repair" installation of Pro, which if I understand you correctly, will perform the upgrade.

Thanks to you (and TB) this has been a fascinating learning experience!

Paul

by var1016

OK I installed XP Home on my spare drive and installed some drivers and a couple of programs, so I could experiment. On attempting a XP-Pro "repair" installation, I was asked for an Administrator password. So I went back and created one and made a second attempt. On the prompt, I entered the password, but it told me that the password was not valid! So for the time being I am a bit stuck. All suggestions welcome as usual.

Paul

by var1016

If you mean pressing on the prompt, yes I did, and just got the prompt again!

Thanks,
Paul

by the scummy one

why the PW will not work. Try renaming the administrator account and setting a PW for it. Double check caps lock, etc..

by var1016

Hello and thanks again. I have searched the CD (including hidden files) but HP_Administrator doesn't appear. Would you know where I might locate this password?

I am trying to see (following a suggestion by OH Smeg) if I can use the XP-Pro disc to upgrade the XP-Home I have installed on a spare drive; if I can make it work then I shall upgrade my C:\ drive version.

Paul

by var1016

Thanks, I'll try it. Could this be anything to do with the fac that the version of XP-Pro that I have is, as I mentioned earlier in this thread an HP restore set? The OS disc seems to have all the functionalities of a normal disc though, and I am assuming that the password relates to my computer, not to the operating system.

Thanks agin for taking the trouble!
Paul

by var1016

I just remembered that whilst I had set up a password in Control Panel, I had not enabled password in the Bios.

I have done this and will try again - sorry to be a bit dumb!
Paul

by the scummy one

is not essential and is only used to access the BIOS to make changes.
If you setup a BIOS PW, you may also setup a Boot and/or HDD PW. However these may impede your ability to do things. I would leave the BIOS PW as not set for now. If needed it can be set later.

by the scummy one

If it is a recovery cd for an HP product, likely it will not work properly unless it detects the HP product for which it was intended for.
I have not tried doing things in this fashion before. But I want to check, does the CD have an admin password listed on it?
My HP media center PC has 2 administrator accounts. Administrator and HP_Administrator. Both were installed by default from their image.
I wonder if it is trying (by recovery) to use HP_Administrator instead of Administrator?

by the scummy one

only an upgrade version would work. However Oh Smeg probably has much more information on this than I do. As I said, I have never tried this before.
The closest thing I have done to this would be to 'upgrade' NT4 SP4 to NT4 SP3 to fix problems.
I am sure that it would work though, from a standard XP CD, but not sure from a vendor CD.

What happens if you install outright from the XP Pro CD?

by var1016

Hello again.

I have done several full installations from this disc, and superficially it seems to work. However last time I did it it seemed to be a bit troublesome. I think I will attempt another full installation, although knowing how to perform the upgrade if possible could be very useful.

Paul

by the scummy one

not just formatting it from XP. Get a boot cd or boot floppy and wipe it completely clean. Just to make sure that no remnants are left behind.

After that, then install the system, and when prompted, add the SATA drivers

After that install the the motherboard drivers and other drivers that the system should need. Then run MS updates (such as SP2) handy. Install them all and reboot. Install an antivirus and latest update(s), and then connect to the Internet and update anything else needed.

by var1016

Thanks Scummy

I have already done the reinstallation. I used Paragon to format the drive, and annoyingly XP Pro is running perfectly and fast too. It's a real Grrr thing, because it is the sixth time I have installed it (formatting the drive every time) and this time of course it has t o be on the I:\ drive rather than the C:\ drive. I'll wait a day or two to check and if all is OK, I'll re-arrange the HDD as the novelty of reinstalling programs is wearing off!

Best wishes and thanks again

Paul

by oh smeg

When you run the Repair/Upgrade Option from a M$ Install CD you do not get asked for a Password. However there is a Master Password that can be set when you initially install the OS on both Home & Pro versions on the same Page where you enter the Computers Owners Name and so on.

I've only ever seen the Master Password Prompt when one has been previously used on the Install. As the process is exactly the same for both a Repair & upgrade I have done this many times in the past without a single problem. So if you didn't add a Master Password when you installed Home it has to be something specific to the Install Media you are using. If there had of been any problems with this process I would never have suggested it in the first place.

Hope that is useful to you.

Col

by var1016

Hello again and thanks once more for your input.

On the Home version I had installed as an experiment, I had not registered a password, so I went back and registered one in User Account and again in the Bios. This didn't work. This was a clean install on a formatted drive too. The big question is: is it possible by some jiggery-pokery to get round this one? It would be nice to be able to use the pro install disc for upgrading purposes.

Finally I should say that the latest Pro install is running perfectly - yes including number lock and keyboard - bizarre!

All the best,
Paul

by oh smeg

Having this many errors on the one computer with the same install Disc must be a nightmare.

All I can think of here is that you have a Hardware issue that needs looking into. Have you got a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD that you can use to test the hardware? If not it is available here for free download

http://tinyurl.com/3jnpy

It really sounds as if you have some kind of Intermittent occurring at least on the Install so a Deep Test seems to be called for where you can torture the hardware into giving up the ghost well any bits that are not quite right at least.

Do you really still want to look at Vista? If you do you really are a gluten for punishment aren't you? :^0

All I can say is that this shouldn't be occurring and it's never happened to me previously either though I have had a few Windows Installs go bad and need redoing but not to this extent.

Every time it's happened there has been a problem to so all I can think of here is to look at the hardware involved here and start off with the Power Supply in this computer. If it is a bit old it may be going off slightly and throwing the voltages off causing problems so have you got the ASUS Probe installed and working? Also try blowing out the PS to remove any buildup of dust in it but remember to stop the fan/s spinning or they will generate Power and may hurt things more than they currently are.

Between the Ultimate Boot CD and the ASUS probe to check the Temps and Voltages there isn't much that isn't tested.

Now you need to say really nice things about Windows every day for at least 5 hours or it will continue to hunt you down. Of course you could try shooting your install disc's and starting from scratch all over again just to show them [b]Who's the Boss[/b] Not sure if it will help but it will certainly make you feel a lot better. ;)

Col

by var1016

Thanks yet again (this is a reply on the Ultimate Boot DIsc Issue).

I took the opportunity to download DVD43 Decrypter and used this as Nero 8 (or I perhaps!) made a balls of it. DVD 43 worked perfectly. As soon as I have a bit of time I shall have a play with it. Thanks for the tip - it looks really useful.

By the way (reverting to the original topic) I think that I have been stuffed by the ebay bloke who sold me the Asus motherboard, so I have ordered a MSI one instead for the "new" project. Typicaly it will probably end up being better than my "new computer" - and all for sending emails and chatting here - mad obviously!

Best wishes

Paul

by oh smeg

DVD 43 has sometimes caused problems on some systems. So if you get any screwy problems try stopping DVD43 or uninstalling it to see if the problems stop.

If you have problems with DVD43 try this one which seems to work OK and doesn't produce any issues

http://tinyurl.com/6rtyuf

Col

by var1016

Lies between the chair and the keyboard (although the Administrator password remains a mystery).

I have a fresh install (again!!) of XP Pro and it is perfect. All previous rubbish removed again. Just run Spybot, Lavasoft etc., will now defrag and away we go (I hope).

The motherboard in this computer is not an Asus on (still waiting for that) but an EC Nettle 2. I shall certainly try what you suggest though. Computer was new last October - came with Vista and I am not going back there thank you very much. I now have a very good feeling about XP Pro.

Just looked the Ultimate Boot CD site and found a download. I suppose that I am not likely to do any damage with this resulting in yet another reinstallation?!

Thanks for all your support

Paul

by oh smeg

You need a Burning Application like Nero. or something else to turn the download into a Bootable CD but as it is just a Download that isn't actually installed from a Trusted Site it shouldn't prove a problem.

Well lets put it this way I have yet to have a problem with it at lest. If you are at all concerned download the ISO Image as it is very unlikely to be infected with anything. I could be biased here as I only use ISO Images myself and burn them to CD or DVD as I consider them far safer than the individual files but you'll want to use a Download Tool as this is a reasonably big file and if you suffer any dropouts you don't want to start from the beginning all over again. You should have a AV Product on the drive as well so something like NOD 32 available from here

http://tinyurl.com/33jxpt

Not sure what your preferred Burning Software is but that shouldn't cause any problems either.

Col

by var1016

Hello again.

No I was not concerned about viruses etc., I meant my doing damage using the software! I have been studying some of the features, especially the bit about passwords (that topic again) and it all looks pretty advanced for me!

Best

Paul

by oh smeg

So while it is conceivable that you could do some damage it's unlikely to actually happen because it is a different Operating System that runs before Windows can load. The Diagnostic Tests all run under DOS or Linux and have nothing to do with Windows unless you try to change things.

So it shouldn't be an issue.

Col

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