merkman

Well... here's the drill. Installed Half-Life and tried to start the game. Asked for the CD Key, then basically just died without an error or anything. Just never started. Tried installing the latest patch from the Internet twice, but there was a "corrupted" file error both times. Strange I thought, but I figured I'd start over. Uninstalled Half-Life AND the Sierra Utilities, rebooted, installed Half-Life, then tried to install Opposing Forces. When the update went to install... it failed. Again with a corrupted file error. Knowing the thing had installed fine in 98... that can't be true. So I uninstalled everything and gave up. If someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong I'd love to hear it. But for the moment, I don't expect to play Counterstrike in W2K anytime soon. =( System stats: Dual Celeron 366's 128MB PC100 RAM (2 64MB Samsung (no ECC) sticks) ABit BP6 w/ QQ-2 Bios (QQ was more stable, but this works ok) Voodoo 3 3500TV Video Card Xitel Storm Platinum Sound Card Two UDMA/66 HD (1 WD, 1 Maxtor) etc... Thanks, Merk

Alright... I'm going to calm down, despite a bunch of people who DON'T KNOW ME shooting off their mouths. Ahhh... better all ready. Now, I'm a Systems Administrator for a large company. How large? How about 200,000 people. Now, I have access to most OS's on the planet, through Beta programs, CPP's, etc. As a matter of fact, I ordered the CPP for my own use at home. I didn't use a Beta from the company, etc. So don't tell me I pirated, stole, or whatever terminology you use. You don't have a clue what your talking about. Why do I have advanced server at home? Because I can't learn about all the new features of operating systems by running Professional. Anyone with a clue would realize this. And I want to better myself any chance I get rather than taking shots at people I don't know... assuming they are pirating software just because it's expensive stuff. God, way off topic... to those that aren't the two rocket scientists above... sorry. Point is, I wanted to run Halflife on W2K. And I don't see why the game would run on Professional and NOT Advanced Server. Does Advanced Server have a lot of features Professional doesn't? YES! But are the operating systems basically the same? YES! So should the same software run on both? YES! Excuse me if besides continuing my computer education, I also like to have fun on my system. I bought the parts, put it together, and I'll do whatever I damn well please on it! Thank you very much. Don't understand why I couldn't get help, and instead felt the need to defend myself. God!

Greetings all. This is actually a problem in both Windows 98 and 2000. When I plug in my Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro for the first time, once Windows is already up and running... things install and work great. However, eventually I'll unplug a USB device or something... and the driver for the "HUB" on my keyboard no longer installs correctly. Reinstalling Windows gets things going again, but it seems like reinstalling the driver from the installation CD should work as well. However... I've had no luck. Anyone else experiencing this sort of thing, and know how to fix it? I'd like to have my USB scanner and the MS keyboard plugged into the PC, and then have my Intellimouse and Camera connection plug into the keyboard "hub". Thanks, Merk

Well... here's an interesting note. My sound card was causing me occasional grief in Windows 98. I suspected drivers all along, but for the hell of it I switched it's IRQ from a shared one with three other devices on 11, to one with just the USB on 12. Amazingly... when I went into 2000 to try and fix my USB "lag"... the mouse was working great! =) So note to all... could be USB lag if too many other devices share the same IRQ. Get your USB set to as individual an IRQ as possible. I wouldn't have figured it was one of those "sensitive" types... but now I know. =) Merk

Actually, I tried up[censored] to 3.1a yesterday... but the lagging seems to continue. I had this problem in Professional as well, but at some point I changed my configuration and it went away. I think I may have defined the CPU as "Standard PC", instead of MPS, and it started working. Then I went back to MPS and it continued to work. I'll give that a try and keep you all posted.

Thanks for the reply. Truth is, I went through and updated the driver from unknown device yesterday. When I did, I for the first time saw "Microsoft Integrated USB Hub" on the hardware list. Choose this driver manually and both 98 and 2000 work with my keyboard USB hub. So now my only problem is erratic or laggy mouse movement in Windows 2000. Using a USB Intellimouse Explorer and running a dual Celeron 366's machine on a ABIT BP6 motherboard with BIOS QQ-2. Merk

Sounds like my exact same problem. Have my Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer connected via USB, and the pointer "lags" as you mention. Tried connecting directly directly to the PC USB and through my Natural Keyboard Pro "hub"... both experience this. Anyone know what the hell is going on? I've tried Windows Update, MS Knowledge Base, etc... and I don't find using a PS/2 adapter a reasonable solution. =) Thanks, Merk

Well... I've got a Dual Celeron 366 running at 550 on a ABIT BP6 motherboard and I've had no trouble, per se. I mean, I'm running a fairly "full" system. Heck, I've got far too much on and in one box... but once I set the IRQ's manually in the BIOS so certain slots have their own IRQ, all is well. Used to have trouble with the Xitel because of my Dual-Boot setup, but that was with Beta or RC versions of 2000. Final works great. I'm using the latest Aureal drivers, and they work super. Post your hardware config, and maybe you'll get more suggestions. Take care. Merk

Reasons I've been dying to go back to my Xitel Storm Platnium instead of my SB Live Value... 1) The Optical Out connects to my DD Receiver and provides a great alternate to my Four Point 1000 Speakers. 2) I prefer the 3D sound from the Xitel. Games like Half-Life sound good and do have sound "movement" with the Live... but the Xitel is the most realistic IMHO. 3) Aside from the Wave Studio software that comes with all Creative sound cards... the extra software wasn't terribly useful. I like the simple setup with the Xitel. So anyway... I'm not having any troubles with W2K yet, but I didn't get around to configuring all my other devices last night. We'll see how it works the next couple days, and then I'll try to provide an update. Merk

Dying to hear if Aureal or Microsoft finally solved the Vortex 2 driver problem with a PC in Windows 2000 running in SMP mode. I want to go back to my Xitel Storm Platnium so I can route sound out to my stereo receiver as I desire... but that means going back to the Vortex 2 sound card that made Windows 2000 go bad in SMP mode. Any information and assistance is extremely appreciated. Sincerley, Merk

So am I hearing this right? The Vortex 2 / SMP problem is fixed with the final version of Windows 2000? If so... my SB Live Value is coming out and I'm reinstalling my Xitel Storm Platnium I've been dying to get back to! If anyone else can comment on Windows 2000 Final performing in SMP mode I'd sure love to hear it!!! Merk

Have been tinkering with lots of different multimedia ideas lately, and I found a video I want to download to my PC. However, I can't figure out how to "capture" a RealPlayer streaming media video to a .mpeg or other file type playable in Windows 98/2000. Can anyone provide any assistance with this? Thanks, Merk

Maybe that's why I put OT (aka OFF TOPIC) in the subject header. Thanks for the help.

I received the $12 Hoontech I package yesterday, with a coaxial and optical out for my SB Live Value sound card. I connected their "audio cable" to the "add-on" board, put the add-on board on my SB Live Value Edition card, and mounted the digital outputs on the back of my Enlight case. Well, I booted into Windows 98 and tried playing wave files, mp3's, or other sounds out through my home stereo with no luck. Maybe I'm missing a configuration setting, but so far no dice. Any help is appreciated. Glenn Merkel

Well... after experimenting with ripping DVD's, I've managed to corrupt my Windows 98 O/S, and I'm going to have to format my hard drive and start over. Don't ask me how I did it, but suddenly I can't go into My Computer or Windows Explorer without a blue screen of death that locks my PC tighter than an Everlast chastity belt without a key. Anyway... I've backed up my e-mail, install disks, documents, etc. to my second hard drive. Now I'm going to replace my Xitel Storm Platnium with a new card I'll get on the way home. The question is... what to get? I'd like something with an optical digital out, so I could output sound to my stereo as I do now. However, I realize the Xitel Vortex 2 card is one of the only optical out sound cards out there. "Why replace it then?" you may ask. "Aren't Vortex 2 sound cards supported in Windows 2000?" The answer is sometimes right now. I've got a ABit BP6 motherboard with two socket 370 Celeron 366MHz processors, and appearently the current Vortex 2 drivers for 2000 aren't multi-processor compatible. So, I'm in the lerch. I realize the Live is probably my next best bet... but I don't really want the regular Live, and I understand the new ones are having problems in 2000. Does anyone have the Gamer-X, and have you got it running? Well... I better get some work done. However, thanks to those who have helped me understand my vortex 2 troubles, and maybe I can get some suggestions here that will really solve my problem. Thanks, Glenn Merkel

Yeah... I thought of that. But I'm assuming they will work in 98, even if they don't in 2000... and since I'm not likely to get all my games running in 2000, this setup will work for now. Currently, I'm just trying to stay logged on to Freei long enough to get IE 5.0 and all the other 98 updates running. Then I'll reinstall Windows 2000 RC2... and then maybe worry about 2151. We'll see. =) Glenn Merkel

I'll answer my own post with an update on what I'm gonna do. I found that a local shop sells the SB Live Value's for $52. This would give me the basics for input and output, but no digital connections. I then went to Hoontech's homepage, as I remembered them creating SB Live add-on's. Sure enough, they have developed several, and for now I ordered their first solution. It's a set of digital outputs (SP/DIF and optical) that connect to the header on a Live or Live Value, and will allow me to output the way I do with my Xitel (Vortex 2) sound card today. This add-on was only $12, and so for about $65 or so (tax and such) I should have a solution that will work with Dual CPU's in Windows 2000, provide me with digital outputs, and if I decide to upgrade further in the future, Hoontech has more advanced options with digital inputs and outputs, MIDI connections, etc. Or the Live Drive may be available seperately by then. Now, if I could just remember how to fdisk my NT partition, so I can redo my entire C drive... both the FAT32 and NT stuff. =) If someone doesn't mind reminding me with a quick e-mail I'd appreciate it. Thanks! Glenn Merkel

And how about the drivers for Aureal Vortex 2 sound cards... has anyone with a MPS tried these to see if MX-300's or Storm Platniums are working now? I'm still trying to decide what to do about my Xitel locking up Windows 2000... but I'd love to just get some working drivers and call it good. =) Glenn Merkel

The MPS problem I know about is using my Voodoo3 3500 with a Vortex 2 sound card. Most have the Diamond MX300, and others have confirmed a problem with the Xitel Storm Platnium. I have other sound cards, but I'm able to use my Four Point Surround Speakers for "surround" sound with the Xitel, and I can switch to my stereo speakers thanks to the optical digital out on the card. So I hate to change, but since Aureal and Microsoft are ignoring the MPS problem for now... I'm thinking of switching to a Live. The review of the X-Gamer seems pretty good, and I'd prefer that to having cables plugging into the FRONT of my PC with the Platnium. Anyone tried the X-Gamer Live with RC2 or newer? Glenn Merkel

SHS, thanks for the reply. Although, I must admit thats REALLY bad news for me. I'm a CPP user, not a full beta tester... so I'm not likely to get RC3 and have a chance to get my Vortex 2 working from the sounds of things. That means 2000 won't be my all-in-one O/S solution until the retail hits in March or whenever. Or until I get a new sound card. Doh! Anyone know where the cheapest place to get the Live Platnium would be? =) Thanks again for the help! Glenn Merkel

Seldzar, you the man... but I have a question. Have you tried getting a Vortex 2 sound card working in Windows 2000? I have a dual CPU system, and neither different drivers for cards or DirectX 7 have gotten sound working in games on my PC. Guess I may end up switching to a SB Live Platnium or some other sound card... but I hate to do it, since the Vortex 2(, mine is a Xitel Storm Platnium,) has worked very well in Windows 98 and I love having the optical digital connection. Sorry to bother you, but any help is appreciated! Glenn Merkel

Still no luck here. I think my Xitel Storm Platnium (another Vortex 2 sound card like a Diamond MX300) is really causing all the trouble. Games look like they are going to start, but just stop without any errors or screens coming up. And while I tried up[censored] DirectX 7 last night, it didn't seem to help at all. I guess I need a SB Live for my Dual CPU machine, as many are just having headaches trying to get the Vortex 2 chipset running in Windows 2000. ------------------

Saw the Platnium Edition at a CompUSA in Washington (the state) Wednesday. Since its basically the same card as a SB Live, just with the Live drive and some extra software... I'd suspect it will work just as well as the Live in Windows 2000. However, I'm still trying to get my Aureal Vortex 2 sound card working, and haven't tried it myself. Thinking of doing so soon. =) Glenn

I've been able to install NHL 2000 without errors, but when I try to run the 3D Configuration Utility, it never comes up. Running the game brings up a warning message that my video card wouldn't setup properly, so my settings are being switched to 'software' mode. I just ended up uninstalling when I couldn't get it to work. I don't even want to know what software mode would look like. If anyone got that configuration utility working in Windows 2000, or knows how to edit a configuration file to get it running right... I'd love to hear what you did. Glenn Merkel

Fifa 2000?!?!?!? How the hell did you get that? It isn't out in the states yet is it? Maybe it is but that would be news to me. If you don't mind e-mailing me the files your speaking of... I'd be happy to try them with NHL 2000 and let you know what happens. Thanks, Glenn Merkel