Phalanx-Imawano

Well, I shouldn't have any popup ads since I have Popup Stopper running, unless there are some ads that found a way to get around Popup Stopper.

No problems here. Installed them on several computers, including 5 Windows 2000 Pro PCs (4 in office, 1 at home), and one Windows XP Pro PC at home, and everything's fine.

Seems that since the 30.xx plus detonator drivers, my Inno3D Tornado GeForce4 Ti4200 won't display anything on the TV out (on my TV, it just shows a plain blue screen, which it shows if Video In is selected and there's no video signal coming in). While in the NVIDIA properties it shows that TV out was detected, any attempt to activate it will just result in that blank screen on the TV, other than a "jump" (like when my monitor experiences a change in resolution or refresh rate) meaning the TV Out is trying to send a signal to the TV. Unfortunately I can't go back to the older drivers for some reason (Windows XP freezes after logon if I try to install drivers older than 30.xx and restart). As added info I have Windows XP Pro w/ Service Pack 1, DirectX9.0a, the latest Inno3D Drivers (not NVIDIA reference drivers, which give the same result anyway when I try them), and the Refreshlock utility (but I disable it when using the TV Out). Anyone else with an NVIDIA card have an issue with TV Out? I really miss using my 19" color TV to watch DVD Movies played from my PC.

Tried 8.2. It won't accept my key (for 7.2.5) so it runs in demo mode (i.e. will only work for 15 minutes then exit), and had some strange behavior when I tried changing resolution/display size while in TV mode. Besides I'm happy with 7.2.5. Gah! It requires a new key. Will do that later.

I too experience that problem. I guess it must be a WinXP compatibility issue (haven't tried it on any other system though). Just press F9 to skip the videos if you find them irritating.

The old MS Sidewinder 3D Pro (gameport version) as well as the MS Sidewinder Gamepad (also gameport version) works fine on my WinXP System (I have the Creative Soundblaster Live 5.1 and use its gameport). I just use the "MS Sidewinder Autodetect" option in the Game Controller app of the Control Panel and don't even download any drivers. Heck in my experience it works fine in WinXP and Win2k but I couldn't get it to work in Win98 nor WinME (for the Win9x OS's I resort to using the CH Flightstick Pro driver).

This might sound really stupid, but are Anti-Glare screens reversible (i.e. does it matter which side should be towards you?)? I recently bought one for my 17 monitor and noticed that the grounding wire (connected to one edge of anti-glare screen) is rather short and it wouldn't reach the back of my CPU (the neareast grounded metal object available) if I mount the anti-glare screen with the beige side facing the user (the plastic frame assembly is beige on one side and black on the other; the packaging shows the anti-glare screen mounted with the beige side out so that it blends with most monitors which are beige). I tried it backwards (black side out) which seemed to have no difference on the display's appearance, but at least the grounding wire could reach far enough to the back of the CPU though the black border does make my monitor look kinda silly.

Wow! TV Tool is really something! It works and displays well on the TV, even better than NView! (i.e. the desktop doesn't look stretched or pincussioned on the TV like it usually does with NView). Plus I like the color bars display which assures me that the TV Out is still functional while the PC Monitor is the active display. Can't wait to register it. 15 minutes of demo time is awfully short

Similar problem here. I could install the game on my WinXP Pro machine, but after starting it up the controls won't respond. Strangely, it works fine under Windows 2000.

Quote: While your XP comments seemed to make sense (although there was a leak issue with XP SP1 that introduced a new memory mgmt issue, there is a fix that you can get for it) I do have a few comments on the Win2K side: -The interface can be subdued for the most part and returned to the "classic" (as termed in XP) look. The Luna interface can be completely canned, or portions of it can be retained (I keep the new start menu myself while sometimes removing everything else). -I haven't seen a piece of hardware yet that only works in Win2K and not XP, so an example would be nice. -You get more registry functions that can be managed through Active Directory, and these workstations will be able to manage Windows 2003 Server via MMC while Win2K will not. You also get Remote Desktop built-in using the Terminal Services tech from Win2K Server, which is much faster than using something like VNC or PCAnywhere, plus it doesn't require the permission from the user (another registry/policy selection). -If you are in a corporate environment, then you probably have volume licenses anyway and can get the corporate version of the CD which does not have product activation. In some cases, you can modify a file on the image, reburn it, and not even need to enter a serial number (this last part has been around for a while). As for me, I have found XP to be kind of a wash in performance. It's faster in some things (3D, CAD/CAM, etc.) while slower in other things (having more than 15 windows open at once, it might bog sometimes). However, I love having ClearType for my LCDs, and I really like Remote Desktop. Plus, I can still manage Windows 2003 server (.NET Betas) without issue and I have more options with AD management using XP on workstations. So, it's XP for me when using Windows, while I use Gentoo for Linux on servers. -Well changing the interface to classic mode would then cripple some of its features (eg My Computer in start button), plus I've tried it once and somehow it just didn't feel right - WinXP is better off with its new interface if you ask me. -I've read a number of complaints about external devices (particularly those using COM: and Firewire) such as scanners, digital cameras, and game controllers not working with WinXP, mainly due to driver support, though other problems are also reported. In fact I have one such device that just plain didn't work on WinXP but was okay in Win2k: my old Creative Labs Modem Blaster FlashII56 external modem - while WinXP detected it and installed a driver, somehow WinXP couldn't actually dial the modem (it kept reporting "port already open" even when the modem was idle - it could query the modem in the diagnostics tab, it just couldn't dial out). Also my Logitech Wingman Formula Force wheel - Logitech says its serial interface won't work in WinXP, luckily it also can connect via USB so I could still use it. -Well Windows Server 2003 is not yet deployed in my company, so it pays to be familiar with Win2k. Plus many corporate vendors like Nokia sell application products like Data Warehousing systems that still use WinNT Server or Win2k Server. -Again WinXP is still relatively new to my company, only a handful of PC's have it installed, most of the others have Win2k and Win98 since our IT department still purchases older OS's for cost reasons (obviously WinXP is more expensive than Win2k). Of course we won't go into Windows Server 2003 until it reaches it's final release (actually more like 1 year after). Also WinXP does have a few other niggles. One thing I found out about WinXP is that it's very picky about DMA support for DVD-ROM drives - if the drive was detected at bios level not to have DMA support, then WinXP will always configure it to PIO mode, but Win2k can still force it into DMA mode in those circumstances. Luckily I put Win2k on my parents' PC (to replace the hopelessly disgusting WinME which was loaded there prior), and that PC had such an issue with the DVD-ROM drive (the Creative 8x DVD-ROM, which seemed always to be set to PIO mode by the bios - I tried forcing DMA support at bios level, and the result was that the drive would not be detected).

I'm not sure what you need all that slimming down for (does your copy of WinDVD need lots of disk space and free RAM?). I have WinDVD (bundled with my GeForce4 Ti4200 vidcard), and can watch DVD titles on my WinXP Pro PC without hassle, though more often I use Windows Media Player 9 (WMP in WinXP has support for playing VCD's and DVD's). I just need to make sure that my DVD-ROM drive is set to DMA mode (i.e. in Device Manager, in the Advanced Settings tab of the properties of the IDE channel where the DVD-ROM drive is connected, make sure the Transfer Mode for the device pertaining to the DVD-ROM drive is set to "DMA Mode if Available").

My 2c about the two OS's (I have both at home and use Win2K Pro and Server at the office) WinXP: overall better for home/entertainment use -overall better compatibility with legacy software and games (I got old games like Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga running on WinXP fine; there are exceptions, like Resident Evil3, which works on Win2k but not on XP) -nicer interface, for me at least (I click on My Computer on the Start button more often than on the desktop due to screen clutter eg lots of open applications; otherwise I'll keep having to minimize all of them to find My Computer) -better gaming performance (by my estimate, at least 1000 more 3DMarks on XP than on 2k) -overall faster and fewer incidences of "bog downs" (a newspaper claims that WinXP solved the "memory leak" problem that plagued all older versions of Windows, inlcuding Win2k; they even recommend using utilities like RAMBooster with Win2k!) -setting up a home LAN with WinXP as the gateway/server is a snap due to the Wizard (Win2k requires doing it the "hard way") Win2k: overall better for corporate/enterprise use -keeps the feel of WinNT4 and Win9x (good for the office where tons of PC's with legacy OS's and software are everywhere) -legacy hardware support -better in network/security management; tasks of doing so are more familiar -absense of the Product Activation feature makes reinstalling and restoration much less of a hassle (remember that recovering and restoring a trashed PC in the office must be done in record time)

I'm not sure if this is related, but I encountered a problem of a InCD formatted CDRW becoming unreadable at one time. It happened after I installed the latest version of InCD (version 3.5.22.0b) in my home rig (which had WinXP). I then reformatted one of my CDRW's with it, then popped that disc into a PC with Win2k. That PC then asked to install a program called EasyCDReader, which I did install. After that I tried popping in another CDRW that was formatted by an older version of InCD into that Win2k PC, and that CD ended up unreadable until I uninstalled that EasyCDReader program. I took a close look at the new InCD program and discovered a new checkbox labelled "Format using CD-MRW" (CD-MRW is the new "Mount Rainier" format developed by Philips for Packet writing on CDRW's). I unchecked that, then reformatted again that CDRW I reformatted, and the problem disappeared. Seems Windows 2000 supports reading CDRW's of the older packet format, but not the Mount Rainier (CD-MRW) format.

From my experience, I've had 3 drives go bonkers on me - 2 Seagates (a 1 Gig and 1 2 Gig - each suddenly began developing and getting more bad sectors 1 year after purchase; which momentarily made me weary of Seagate), and a Quantum Fireball 20Gig (instantly died when one of its chips melted - I never trusted Quantum again, especially when the store that sold it to me advised me the same later on). Never had a Maxtor die on me, though the latest Maxtor I have (40Gig) did have strange read/write problems for awhile (Windows XP would bog down, then the drive would disappear, then it would go to PIO mode!) until I reformatted it (perhaps the problem was caused by the fact that its file system was NTFS converted on the fly from FAT32; later I reformatted it fresh into NTFS, it recorded the bad sectors, but basically has no read/write problems for now). My newest drive is a Seagate Barracuda 80G (which has taken over the function of the said Maxtor) - a nice thoroughbred drive that runs fast and well.

What's important is that TCP/IP is working, that each PC gets its own IP address, and that the IP addresses all belong to the same subnet you defined for your network. I find it best to stick to the 192.168.0.x series (which is what the Network Wizard in WinXP sets your LAN to if you opt to have Internet connection sharing) and setting the subnet to 255.255.255.0 of course), and to give each PC a static IP address. Also be sure to have Client for Microsoft Networks installed (but binding it only to the LAN connection, not to any Internet connection) for File and Printer sharing. My home LAN consists of 1 WinXP PC, 1 Win2k PC, and 1 Win98 PC and they can all see each other.

Is there a way to disable a specific message, as to a specific device? Here's the scenario. After upgrading one of my hard disks (added a Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 80GB in place of a Seagate 30GB) I decided to set up a partition dedicated to the Windows Swapfile (Windows XP Pro). Not sure if the size was really recommended, I set the partition to 2GB (FYI: I have 512MB of System RAM), and had the swap file fill it almost to the brim (Windows won't let it completely fill the partition - it wants 5MB free space there) and had its size fixed (i.e. min size=max size). As a result, each time I start Windows the "Low on disk space" error keeps appearing for that partition, and I have to keep clearing it. For that case the message is unnecessary, since nothing else than the Swapfile will ever get written to that partition (to help make sure, I had all permissions on that partition set so that only Administrators and SYSTEM can read/write to it; all other users are denied access). So going back to the question, is there a way to turn off that message just for that partition?

Thanks for that piece of info, though that would turn off the warning for all partitions if I'm not mistaken. Would like to know though if it can be done for just that one partition, since I woudn't mind a warning from the other partitions (which are of course the user partitions where my files and apps are stored) for reasons of maintenance.

I've experienced that too, with two specific circumstances: 1. When an outgoing Dial-Up connection is established, especially an Internet Connection. 2. If Microsoft Outlook (not Outlook Express) is installed. I uninstalled Outlook and it vanished. I also noticed major slowdowns while connected to the net and downloading either from Kaaza or using a download manager (Getright). Again I saw svchost.exe going 99%. After disconnecting from the internet (closing the dial-up connection) svchost.exe took a rest.

Quote: Well, TheSam, if you've got Win2K, then if you're thinking of upgrading to a better mouse in the near future, I can't recommend the corded Blue Mouse from Microsoft enough (and I'm very critical!). By comparison, my old wheelmouse is so sluggish. In the UK, the corded Blue sells for about £24 including tax. There's a black one available as well. Although wireless mice are catching on, they have two disadvantages: 1) weight (they need batteries). 2) the batteries periodically need replacing and you have to watch for signs of malfunction. 3) you've got the transmitter and receiver to install into the motherboard and configure (BIOS). 1) Hmm, the cordless wheel mouse (not optical) that came packaged with my Logitech Cordless Freedom keyboard weighs just about the same as my previous Logitech Wheelmouse even with batteries (it uses 2 AAA batteries) 2) That's why I use NiMH rechargables, and have 2 spares to swap with asap when they run out (when the spares go in, the flat ones go into the charger, and they swap again when the spares run flat). Wierd thing is the batteries on the cordless keyboard are still the same ones I got when I first bought the keyboard and I haven't had to change them yet while the mouse's batteries had at least 5 recharges already (or is it that a cordless keyboard doesn't consume as much power as a cordless mouse?) 3) The radio receiver that picks up input from both my keyboard and mouse plugs into the PS/2 ports (it has two plugs, one for the keyboard, one for the mouse, which can alternatively be connected to a USB port but I prefer PS/2). Nothing needed on the motherboard side (in fact it's totally plug-and-play with Windows ME and XP, and the standard mouse driver for MSDOS works too).

Are you trying to install the original MS-DOS Wing Commander 3, or the re-released one in Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga? I have the latter and got it to work (the intro video locks up, but after I killed it with Task Manager the rest of the program installed fine).

Quote: The technical term for this is 'blooming'. It's caused when the electronics in the monitor have to switch from one colour to another quite quickly (as happens if you maximise a window). It's normally a sign of cheap electronics in the monitor and isn't user fixable. The only thing you can do is return the monitor and try a different one, or get it refunded and go for a different type of monitor altogether. Hmm so that's what "Blooming" is. I notice the word once in a while but had no idea what it meant.

I'm trying to set up a home network that can connect to the internet where one PC shares its connection with the rest (there are 3 PC's in all); the PC's have different OS's. The PC that is sharing its connection is running Windows XP Pro. The other two PC's are to access the internet via the XP PC though a simple LAN. One of them has Windows 98 (not SE), the other Windows 2000 Pro. I have no problems getting the Win98 PC to access the net. The Win2k PC on the other hand is a challenge to me - it won't run the Network Setup Wizard file generated by WinXP, nor will configuring the network properties to the setup similar to the Win98 PC work; whatever the case, the Win2k PC won't connect to the internet. Has anyone gotten the setup I want to work (the support pages at Microsoft's website claim this is possible, but no specific steps are given)? Or should the Win2k PC be the one to share its internet connection with the WinXP PC (and the Win98 PC)?

On the client, the DNS Server IP that you will enter in its NIC properties should be the IP address of the host, not the ISP (so it should be 192.168.0.1). On the host, the DNS Server setting for the NIC should be left blank (If DNS server settings are required by the ISP, they are to be entered in the Dialup settings of the host, not the NIC settings). Not sure about the email client - in my setup I only use the email from the ISP on the host computer. The client only uses web based email. On the host machine, the default gateway setting on the NIC should be left blank, while on the dial-up properties it should be whatever is recommended by your ISP (thankfully my ISP says it should be left blank). Web browser settings - "automatic detection of settings" should be unchecked. I haven't checked to see if a proxy is still needed on the client since my ISP does not require a proxy server.

I have the Sidewinder Gamepad and Sidewinder 3D Pro Joystick, both gameport versions, plugged into a Soundblaster Live 5.1 card of my WinXP Pro machine, and each works fine with no special drivers (I use the Sidewinder Autodetect). The 3D Pro works even when daisychaned to the Gamepad (so long as I press the button that disables the gamepad for the joystick to work, and at least make sure the Joystick is detected in the Game Controller properties in Control Panel). Just strange that the old 3D Pro gameport version works like a wonder in WinXP and Win2k, but I can't get it to use the Sidewinder driver in Win98/WinME (there I have to resort to the CH Flightstick Pro driver, because the Sidewinder 3D Pro driver only responds with the "Not Connected" message). Dacs: The Sidewinder Gamepad gameport version has a gameport socket between the triggers where you connect another gameport device to it for daisychaining, though it seems only Sidewinder gameport devices (specifically the Gamepad and the 3D Pro) will work in this setup (if a 3D Pro is part of the chain, it should be the last controller on the chain). The USB versions cannot be daisychained (because there's no USB port on the controller), instead you use a USB hub to have multiple game controllers connected (though many game controller manufacturers discourage this with warnings of instability).

I once had the MS Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel gameport version on a Win2k machine. All I did was use the MS Sidewinder Autodetect in the Game Controller icon in Control Panel and it worked fine - NFS5 handled well too. I don't remember about the joined x/y axis thing though, I think I just used whatever default settings were available. I gave the thing to my cousin though, and got myself a Logitech Wingman Formula Force Wheel - works great on any OS with USB support, plus I like the way it's wired - only one cable (the one that goes to the pedal assembly) connects to the wheel assembly; all other cables including power supply and USB connect to the pedal assembly, resulting in less cable mess.