BladeRunner

Empty the Internet Cache (Control Panel>Internet Options>Delete Files) then you should be good to go. This is a classic symptom of a full or over-full cache.

If it all possible I'll use the onboard NIC personally. There is no difference in performance and neither will take up more resources or CPU time than the other. I've got a Broadcom Gigabit NIC on my current board and it does everything I ask of it without complaint.

As always Crucial is a good place to get the idea of RAM prices. A 256MB PC2700 non-ECC will set you back about £32 inc VAT 512MB PC2700 non-ECC about £62 inc VAT 1GB modules are still a lot of money. Crucial can do a 1GB PC2100 for £416 inc VAT Far too expensive for the average user, but if you want that maximum supported 4GB of RAM they are your only option.

The 3.2 Cat's have now been released for all you ATI owners out there. Pop along to http://www.rage3d.com/ and have a read through the front page story. They also have links up for the drivers and control panel.

The chances are that you would not be using IR on a server, can't really think of an instance when you would be. If you are spening thousands on a server OS to use it as a workstation, well at least you have prior warning that the support is not there. If you planning on using this OS as a workstation and are not spending thousands then you certainly don't have any valid arguments.

I'm afraid you wont find any, there are no generic USB drivers for NT4 (and there never will be from MS). Some companies have written their own USB stacks for NT4, however they are only compatible with the device they came with. The Iomega Zip drive is one example, as was an Epson scanner and a couple of HP Printers. The only option I see for you is an OS upgrade or seeing if a serial connection is possible for your camera. Alternatively I remember seeing Serial Media readers, they attach to a COM port and in turn read SmartMedia, CompactFlash etc.

Oh yer, my NEC LCD came in too (although that was on Tuesday, I forgot to report back, d'oh). That too is most excellent, in fact it is quite probably the best purchase I've ever made for my computer. I could never go back to CRT now - well actually I do have to on a daily basis at work, but you know what I mean

Go get that ATI! I've been "NVidia Free" for what, three weeks now and it was one of the best things I've done. The 9700Pro is an amazing card, it can just about be beaten in a few benchmarks by our friend the GF FX Ultra but then at what cost? If I was looking to buy right this second then I'd wait on the 9800. There is no way anybody can really warrant a 9700-9800 upgrade, but as prices will be similar even on launch the 9800 would be the sensible card to wait for. ATI's road map is looking good, they are ahead of the game and more importantly they have got their driver issues sorted out. The Cat 3.1's are great and in true "NVidia style" ATI are releaseing the Cat 3.2 drivers this month to really rain on the parade. I'm sure NVidia will get back on the ball, but the future for me is looking red, no matter what NVidia "paper release" ATI have got just as much waiting in the wings. Also at the moment ATI are actually managing to get their products released on time, not delaying for six months.

Well, if the problem existed before your last video card upgrade then we may have to start pointing the finger of blame at the monitor. One thing to try, if you are powering your monitor from the PSU in your computer, try powering it directly from a power socket instead. Is there any way you can attach this monitor to another computer so as to confirm if it's the monitor or something inside your machine at fault?

...and the weekly OS Vs Os thread is started. Well, the week was a whole day old before it appeard, somebody is getting slow.

5 minutes ago I ordered: NEC 1760NX 17" TFT (16ms response time) and it cost me......a small fortune. Should have her in my possesion in black tomorrow morning. I've now got that giddy feeling where I cannot wait to get my hands on it and see it in operation and then on the other hand thinking of all that money I've put on my credit card

preaching your anti-w.arez crap Sorry but preaching anti-w.arez is not crap. It's moral, sorry if you find this insulting, that somebody might actually want to stick up for the software houses but there are a few people out there who feel that w.arez are the lowest of the low. why are you being such a fag Any chance you could stop your anti-gay preaching? Dont cry about pirated software when hes not even trying to get support for it Don't see any crying about pirate software in this thread So quit your whining Nope, don't see any of that either. Sure this reply wasn't meant for another thread?

...and third the link no longer works

It's unfortunately not something you can avoid - like a failing HD it isn't that common but does occasionally happen. The problem used to be a lot worse, fail rates on TFT backlight's used to happen faily often. Laptop's with early TFT displays also used to suffer from them. If a backlight fails on an out of warranty unit then that is usually the end of it - you'd be looking at almost the price of a brand new TFT display just to have the backlight sorted out. Don't let this put you off TFT's though, as I said above it doesn't happen all that often and it's just unfortunate that it has happened to your mate, but think of it this way - it had to happen to somebody I'm hopefully purchasing a 17" Hitachi TFT within the next few weeks and apart from dead pixels (which again are not half as common as they used to be) the backlight is the only other thing that can really go wrong, but thankfully most are covered for three years.

Sounds to me like the back-light has gone. Time to call the manufacturer and arrange a replacement by the sounds of things.

I am afraid no drivers exist for this card under Windows 2000/XP. This card was long discontinued before the release of these OS's and to add insult to injury Diamond were bought by Sonic Blue - so no new drivers from that direction either. You can download the Win95/98 or even WinNT 4 drivers from here Not sure if that link will work, if not pop along to www.sonicblue.com and follow the links to support, Diamond, Legacy Graphics & Modems.

Knowledge Base Search. One possible solution here

Oh for the love of...... Is this going to become a weekly topic? No less than twice a week we get a "which OS is better" thread. Can't people just do a search and see what has already been said on the subject?

New cards are famously expensive on launch and usually remain that way for at least a few months afterwards. So performance alone is probably not your only consideration. I personally upgraded from a GF4 to a 9700Pro and honstly consider it a worthwhile upgrade, so I'm sure you'd feel even better by going from a GF3 to one. The options you have as I see it are: Buy a 9700Pro now, cost around £250inc VAT (UK) Wait until the release of the 9800 and then: Buy a 9700Pro, possible cost around £200inc VAT (UK) Buy a 9800, estimated cost £300 - £350inc (UK) Wait until the back end of the year and wait for the new cards on .13 architecture. Once again this will see the current cards drop in price. If you run at a decent resolution, like all the details switched on with AA enabled and the like then the 9700 is an excellent card. I play most things now at 1280x1024 with every single detail possible on and it still runs smooth.

When you say RPG is that exactly what you mean? If so as just posted Morrowing & Neverwinter Nights have probably got to be the best out there. Closely followed by the now old, but still great Baldur's Gate series. Diablo II is anything but an RPG. Dungeon Siege is a step in the right direction, but even that feels more "hack & slash" than RPG.

Well as we speek the 9700Pro is the very best "available" card on the market. The GF4 cards cannot touch it, drivers are sound and the 2D IQ is also better than anything NVidia are producing. The GF FX is supposed to be available now, but there are very few around. There was one guy over at www.futuremark.com who was posting his results with one. However even though the GF FX is supposed to be a better card in the majority of benchmarks the 9700Pro still wins. That combined with the terrible cooling solution NVidia have used (The GF FX actually takes up two slots and is also really loud) still makes the 9700Pro a better buy (as it is available for £250inc VAT & Delivery here in the UK). ATI have the 9800 due for release in the not too distant future and of course this is building on top of the 9700pro, so that will be a faster card. However once again this is a future card, although not too distant. If you want the very best right now that will last you for a long time then the 9700pro would be a very good choice.

I'm certainly not saying don't try Intel directly. Give them a call, explain the situation and say "OEM or not, this should simply not happen" and see what they have got to say. I'm only going on my past experiences with Intel and OEM CPU's. Don't just send it to them, call first.

When Adaptec came out with DirectCD it actually worked pretty well, and, was quite reliable. I remember using it a lot. After Roxio took it over, there were problems Roxio didn't exactly take EasyCD over. Roxio is just the name of the division that looks after the software, it is exactly the same people who always were working on it. Roxio was simply a name change. Anyway, back to the subject in hand. That is a very useful link actually and I can actually see the use of such software. Packet Writing is not my favourite technology and at home I tend to create CD's the "proper" way. The girlfriend on the other hand wants the ability to be able to drag and drop files onto the CD-RW drive and so that is what she has. As of yet she hasn't had any disks go bad, but I think I may well go and grab myself a copy of that software ready for when things do go wrong.

Trust me, if this is an OEM CPU Intel will not be interested in looking at it. I cannot believe [H] had any luck either, they probably threatened to slag off Intel and they bent over backwards. You could try your vendor, they will have given you anything from 30days to twelve months warranty, so you may have more luck there.

I haven't actually updated my MCP qualifications for a while. In fact the last official qualifications I had was actually back in the WinNT days. I do still use the letters "MCP" now and again, but I guess I am really doing so illegally. The thing is, when I go for interviews for new jobs the paper qualifications get you nowwhere (well they wont get you that far if the company who is hiring are worth their salt). My experience and references count for a hell of a lot more than a few paper qualifications that as others have said "those with no real-world skills can gain". It is just a matter of cramming as much information into your head at the last minute and away you go. My solution for all this: I would love the exams to actually cost more to take. Now I know that doesn't sound fair, but it will maybe stop a few people just getting these papers without having the skills. Secondly, the exam should take longer and it should be a "simulation" rather than a series of questions. Exam room is a workstation and a few servers in a domain with AD etc. Examiners monitor you as they "break" things that make up the most common faults. During the exam they also throw some of the less common faults at you and watch your method when it comes to troubleshooting and finding the problem. The whole exam would be similar to say a driving test where your actual skills are put to work rather than how much you can remember. More hassle? Yes More expensive? Yes End result, less people with the qualifications and they actually mean something to the industry at the end of the day.