mnas

Sounds like you need the VIA 4in1-drivers. Get them from www.via.com.tw This is not related to your file-access-problem though. That has to do with something else. Permissions perhaps? Or maybe you just installed WinXP ServicePack2 on one of the computers and got the internal firewall activated.

You could set up a trust relationship between the two domains. Check out Microsoft's website about this. I bet they have lots of case studies involving domain trusts.

It would be nice to get some more info about how the server is set up. Was the OS was rebuilt from old backups or not? If the OS is installed without the use of a recovery disc or some other kind of backup, all accounts will be gone. Every account in WinNT has a SID, a unique ID-number. If you install a domain controller and recreate the accounts manually the SID's will be different. The domain part of the SID will also be different. Example: Let's say we have a domain with an NT4 PDC called PDC1 hosting a domain called MYDOMAIN and a few clients named CLIENT1, CLIENT2, etc... Then one day the PDC fails and we have no backup of the account database. So a reinstallation of the OS follows and we set the server up as a PDC for a domain called MYDOMAIN. Now this is important: Although the domain we created is named exactly the same as the old one it is NOT the same domain. There is a lot of information behind that name. A lot of unique identifiers are generated when the domain is created. The Netbios name MYDOMAIN is used kind of like an alias for something much more complex. So, our client machines still think they are connected to a domain called MYDOMAIN. But, they generate messages saying that they are unable to contact a PDC for the domain MYDOMAIN. Why is that? There IS a domain called MYDOMAIN! I set it up myself! I know it! Now, as stated above. It is NOT the same domain anymore. The new PDC doesn't know anything about the old one. What we need to do is reconfigure the clients to belong to the new domain. This is done by removing them from the old domain and put them in a workgroup. And then connect them to the new domain. When a workstation (client) connects to a domain controller the DC creates a computer account for the workstation. This makes it possible for the client to ask the DC for information needed to process a login. As before, correct me if I'm wrong.

Here's what the Intel manual has to say about power supply connectors for the 915GAV-board: --- 2.8.2.2 Power Supply Connectors The board has three power supply connectors: • Main power – a 2 x 12 connector. This connector is compatible with 2 x 10 connectors previously used on Intel Desktop boards. The board supports the use of ATX12V power supplies with either 2 x 10 or 2 x 12 main power cables. When using a power supply with a 2 x 10 main power cable, attach that cable on the rightmost pins of the main power connector, leaving pins 11, 12, 23, and 24 unconnected. • ATX12V power – a 2 x 2 connector. This connector provides power directly to the processor voltage regulator and must always be used. Failure to do so will prevent the board from booting. • Alternate power – a 1 x 4 connector. This connector provides additional power when using high wattage PCI Express x16 graphics cards. - INTEGRATOR’S NOTE When using high wattage PCI Express x16 graphics cards, use one of the following power supply configurations to avoid system instability: • The preferred method of power delivery is to use a power supply with a 2 x 12 main power cable. In this configuration, use two connectors to provide power to the board: - The main power connector - The ATX12V connector In this configuration, the alternate power connector is not required. The 2 x 12 main power cable can provide up to 144 W of power from the +12 V rail. • An alternate method of power delivery is to use a power supply has a 2 x 10 main power cable. In this configuration, use three connectors to provide power to the board: - The main power connector - The ATX12V connector - The alternate power connector --- There is also a section of the manual about how much power you need from the power supply. From what I can tell, 350 Watts should be enough. (If the power supply really is good for the 350 Watts.) Did the error occur during high load or idle?

Hi jayp2083 Do you have any other problems with your computer? Do other applications or games crash or is it just Sims2 that causes the bluescreen? Do you know what chipset your motherboard has? Also, do you have any other pci/isa cards in your computer?

About MAC addresses: I don't believe the MAC address is of much importance to the domain structure. If I'm not misstaken it is only used by network hardware (routers, swtches, etc) and the network protocol of the OS. If it were critical to the PDC role you wouldn't even be able to change a failed NIC in a domain controller. Or use multiple NIC's in a PDC. Am I right? Feel free to correct me if I'm not.

A friend of mine asked me to help him with this "DirectX9 Sims2 problem". I told him that his graphics card was too old. So he bought a new one (Geforce 5200). I installed the card and the drivers for him. Checked the DirectX version. Still didn't work. So I tried a few of the solutions posted here. Still didn't work. And then suddenly I just found the easiest fix. (I knew something was wrong when I ran 'dxdiag' and the Display tab showed no Direct3D support.) In the display properties dialog (you can find it in the control panel) there is a section called Troubleshooting. (Or Performance in Win98, I think.) This is under the Advanced settings. You get there by: -Opening the Control panel -Double-click Display -Go to Settings -Click Advanced Now you should see the Troubleshooting tab (or Performance tab on Win98). On this tab there is a slider. Make sure it is set to maximum. Click OK until you're back to the desktop. You might need to reboot your computer. Launch Sims2 and have fun. I hope this helps a few of you out there.

I just wanted to mention that it's not always possible to disable an integrated component in BIOS. This is typical if it is a brand-name computer (like Acer).

Hi! To start with; it wouldn't be a bad idea to do a full reinstall of you operating system. You have loads of bloatware slowing down your machine. Or perhaps you could ask a friend (somebody who knows his/her way around a computer) to help you optimize your system. Or maybe you just like it like it is. Anyways... I found a few suspicious entries in your log. ... C:\WINDOWS\System32\cc325040.exe ... ... O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [2a952157a896] C:\WINDOWS\System32\cc325040.exe ... ... O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [WayBlah] C:\DOCUME~1\Owner\APPLIC~1\ITCHPU~1\soft name defy.exe ... "cc325040.exe" is most likely what is causing you trouble. To get rid of it do as follows: 1. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del (or rightclick the taskbar and select Task manager). 2. Go to the processes-tab and locate cc325040.exe in the list. 3. Right-click cc325040.exe and select End task. Answer Yes. Do the same with the "soft name defy.exe" process, if it is present. Now follows some registry editing which can screw up your computer totally if done wrong so make sure you don't do anything else than what is stated here. 4. Click Start and select Run from the start-menu. 5. Type regedit and press OK. You should now see the five main keys of the registry all starting with "HKEY_...". 6. Browse your way to the following key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] 7. On the right hand side you should now see a list of the processes that runs at windows startup. Among them you will find the cc325040.exe. Select the line that says [2a952157a896] C:\WINDOWS\System32\cc325040.exe and delete it. 8. There is an entry in the [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] (plz note "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" not "HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE") key called WayBlah that I'm not really sure about but I would remove it as well. It might be the process that created cc325040.exe in the first place. 9. Close the registry editor. 10. Now remove both the files "C:\WINDOWS\System32\cc325040.exe" and "C:\DOCUME~1\Owner\APPLIC~1\ITCHPU~1\soft name defy.exe" using Explorer. You should also check if there are any strange entries in your Startup folder on the start menu. I hope this will help you. /MN

Hi! Sims 2 needs a graphics adapter that can handle "Transform and lighting" which is a DX9 function built into the graphics chip. Old cards like S3's with 8MB of memory are WAY too old for this game. You should at least get a Geforce FX5200. They are rather cheap. Just make sure your computer can handle the card before you go and buy one. to ineedhelpfast: What kind of graphics card do you have?

Hi! 43 C sounds like a really low temperature for an overclocked CPU. If the CPU-temp rises above 60 C, you should do something about it. But you shouldn't have any problems at 43. The CPU can take temps up to 90 C without taking damage but it probably won't run very stable.