michaeljbrooks

The service pack seemed to install properly and re-boot, and at the boot-up screen where Windows XP asked whether to turn 'automatic updates' on or off I chose off since I never want Windows to access the Internet without my permission. After the 'automatic updates' window disappeared there appeared a bright blue blank screen where Windows XP 'froze' for a half hour or so until I finally re-booted. After re-boot Windows XP got to the login screen where I input my password as usual. My chosen Windows XP background screen appeared but the desktop icons and task bars would not apppear. I could bring up the Windows task manager window so I shut down Windows XP and the identical behavior appeared the next two times I tried booting up. I booted into 'safe mode' and un-installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 using the 'Control Panel-Add or remove programs' function. It is fortunate that I am distrustful of Internet updates and always download update programs that can be removed and re-installed solely under my control. My computer is now operating fine as it was before I installed service pack 2. I concluded that Windows XP Service Pack 2 is not ready for prime time yet.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=8425 It appears that I will be using older nVidia Detonator drivers for my GeForce card until my next video card purchase of an ATI Radeon. As far as I know, ATI drivers do not force Macrovision on consumers or otherwise fail to work with Conextant bt878 encoders. I always buy computer equipment with Conextant bt878 or bt879 encoders for television input or output because of their widespread driver and software support (other than nVidia).

I suggest that you read the forums at http://www.ocworkbench.com on ECS motherboards before buying a K7S5A. I briefly had a K7S5A before returning it for a refund. I could eventually get it to work, but the motherboard is built cheaply and the processor retention mechanism does not hold the processor very securely. If you are very careful about applying pressure to the processor when latching it in place and are careful about attaching the heat sink and careful about flexing the motherboard when inserting it into the case and careful about flexing the motherboard when inserting RAM the K7S5A motherboard can be made to work.

I had not used the NT Compatible game compatibility pages for a few months until today. Formerly all the results for each game starting with one alphabet letter displayed on one Web page regardless of number of entries, which made it fast and easy for printing and scrolling. Today I found that I have to page through many Web pages to get to my desired results (I was looking for Myst III Exile and had to page through several 'M' game Web page results). Is there some way to get the results to display on one page like I could do a few months ago, or am I stuck with wasting more of my time to find desired results?

NT 4.0 only officially supports DirectX 3. The hack from a beta version of Windows 2000 allows DirectX 5. The hack detailed at this site when it was ntgamepalace fooled NT 4.0 game checks for DirectX 6.x, but did not really support DirectX 6.

If I were in your situation I would get Windows XP if it was the same price as Windows 2000. Windows NT4/2000/XP are all much more stable than the Windows 9x operating systems but Windows XP is more stable than Windows 2000 is more stable than Windows NT4 if the device drivers are all compatible.

I have made two orders from half.com in the last year. There are many different individuals and firms selling items through half.com so my experiences may be worst than some. The first time I bought something (DVD-ROM movie) from half.com the order did not ship for several weeks but I did finally receive the order. The second time I ordered from half.com (in April 2002) two books at the same time from the same vendor and I only received one book. It is June 2002 and I am still trying to get my second book or my money back. The customer service at half.com is really bad, but I think part of the problem is that the customer has to deal with the cumbersome half.com process instead of being given a direct contact with the vendor whom is selling merchandise.

I have installed Windows XP Professional on three computer systems, and there is one consistently annoying bug which I would like to remedy. When setting up an Internet Service Provider dial-up connection, the password can be saved with the configuration similar to earlier versions of Windows. The password is displayed with black dots for characters similar to previous versions of Windows. I assume this black dot display is for security. The annoying bug which occurs with Windows XP is that Windows XP Professional adds extra black dots to the password display. By experience I have found that the original password is retained and the dial-up connection works correctly if every other parameter is correct, but myself and every other user whom has used the saved password feature have initially assumed that Windows XP is somehow screwing up the saved password and over-type the password during every dial-up connection until it is found that the saved password is actually correct. This bug is especially annoying when there is some other dial-up parameter which is preventing connection for the first time when initially configuring Windows XP. Is there some method to force Windows XP to display the same number of dots as there are characters in the saved password, similar to previous versions of Windows?

I tried http://corporate.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp to see how it worked from the PC with Windows NT 4.0 on it. The PC with Windows NT 4.0 on it has Internet Explorer 6.0 and I have no good way to remove or install software on that PC, and when I try to access http://corporate.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp all I get is an error message that cookies are not enabled even though I enable cookies in the Internet Explorer 6.0 options (and close Internet Explorer, reboot, etcetera, in various attempts). So the http://corporate.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp does not seem to be an option and from previous reports there are no Windows XP updates there anyway. Any other suggestions for a free way to get the XP updates?

Under Windows NT 4.0 using the Windows Update Web page with Internet Explorer 6.0 I get the 'personalize windows update' but there is no 'See Also' or 'Display the link to the Windows Update Catalog' when trying any of the options. It would be much more convenient for me if they would just have a URL (ftp or http) from which to download update files like most other software companies.

How do I download a standalone file for the new Windows XP application compatibility update without using the Microsoft Windows Update page? I need to download an application compatibility update file on a separate computer (which is running Windows NT 4), burn it to CD-R, and take it home to update my home computer which has an (at best)unreliable Internet connection. Actually I need this capability for all Windows update files like service packs, etc., and I cannot seem to find anywhere on the Microsoft Web site that describes how to just download an update file for use on a computer other than the one being used to download the file.

I did not have much luck at http://web14.compaq.com/falco/sp_list.asp either. I had a Compaq IJ200 which had no driver support for Windows 2000 either. I think I did read somewhere that a Lexmark Windows 2000 printer driver for one of the Lexmark printers would work with a Compaq IJ300 but I do not remember any details. Lexmark used to manufacture Compaq's printers, and probably still do.

I use the beta WDM reference Aureal drivers from vortexofsound.com under Windows 2000 and they work well. You have to install the beta drivers per the instructions at vortexofsound.com exactly because Windows File Protection will screw up the driver installation if you do not since the beta WDM reference Aureal drivers are not 'certified' by Microsoft. Windows File Protection sometimes screws up driver installations anyway but you have a better chance if you follow the instructions. Also, do not run the separate Aureal A3D 3.12 update driver program under Windows 2000 since it was designed for Windows 9x and will screw up A3D under Windows 2000 in my experience.

I have a SQ2500 card which does the four-speaker sound and A3D fine under Windows 2000 Professional with the Aureal reference beta WDM drivers. The four-speaker option has to be re-set every time the computer is booted which is a glitch with the Windows 2000 drivers.

I had a lot of Service Pack 2 problems until I disabled Windows File Protection. Neither of my parallel-port flatbed scanner drivers are 'certified' by Microsoft and if they are prevented from installing properly by Windows File Protection the Windows 'blue screen' happens every time I print with a parallel-port printer. There is another thread on one of the ntcompatible.com bulletin boards that describe the required registry hack plus sfc.dll hex edit that has to be performed to disable Windows File Protection under Service Pack 2.