Bursar

I made my own BayBus in a 3.5" bay cos I didn't fancy using a 5.25" bay for it. I've got other plans for that... Check the link in my sig and have a look at the mods section for how I did it. It was relatively straightforward, and I'm a complete novice at soldering and electronics!

three: Blimey, that case is tiny, no wonder you have cabling problems! The PSU being where it is must be a real pain. Right over the top of the CPU, restricting airflow. I don't have any pics of the inside of my case, but I have a few of the outside... The case: Closeup of the vent holes at the bottom: Closeup of the BayBus:

Have a look in the Registry under... HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Everything that loads at startup is listed there. Just delete the entry that relates to the offending application.

I have 45 files in that folder for a total of 1.01MB. Personally I would remove HalfLife, make sure you have Win2k fully patched (SP1 and all Compatibility Updates), then reinstall it and patch it to the latest version (1.1.0.6). You should find it will just work. I haven't had any probs with HL under Win2k, and I've been running it since just after its release.

Is it straight HL you're playing or a mod? If it's just HL, make sure you have all the latest pacthes for it, as they often include slightly updated sprites and HUD graphics. If you are up to date, see if the files are on the HL CD and just copy them across to the right place. If it's a mod, re-install it. That should help. I'll check my own HL setup tonight when I get home (about 3 1/2 hours) and let you know what I have in that folder.

Is it not all explained the ISA manuals??

I haven't toyed with XP, but have you looked at the ACPI related BIOS settings? Might be worth making some changes there.

If you're so completely inept at operating a Windows based PC that you have to reinstall the OS every 2 weeks, then you probably won't need to activate the software at all anyway. The current Whistler beta allows full access to the OS for 14 days. After that you have to activate it. The final release will have a 30 day grace period before activation is required.

The Client32 software actually creates an account on the NT/2K box with the same username and password as the Novell account. If you're using ZenWorks as well, you can specify the level of access that they have under NT/2k such as User/Power User/Administrator and so-on. You can also lock down certain things such as the Control Panel. If you don't have ZenWorks, it may be worth investing in.

I heard about this. Funniest thing was I got an email from St Bernard software (they write Open File Manager - a backup utility) to say they have been more or less wiped out by it! And to think I'm using backup software from a company that can't teach it's employees about simple safe-computing practices ;(

If you're trying to restore your Winnt directory and registry, then you will run into major problems. You'll probably find your best bet is to put a fresh Win2k installation on the RAID disks, and just restore your data. Reinstall all your apps from scratch. I know it's a pain and it'll probably take days to get the machine to look and behave like it did with the old SCSI disk, but it is the easier route in the long run.

Tell me about the queues! I live in St Ives, but work on Huntingdon Road, near the BeefEater pub. The A14 is a nightmare in the morning. Hoorah for a motorbike! We'll have to arrange a lunch time meet up!

Wasn't sure which forum to post this in, so thought this one would do. Taken from the Network News website... Microsoft acknowledged last week that the stress of a large user load on its flagship Windows 2000 operating system causes premature ageing. In what appears to be a small bug or 'Easter egg' unearthed last week, once any user group exceeds 500, the hair colour of the person icon representing the group changes to grey, presumably from the virtual stress. An advisory note released by Microsoft confirms that the issue is present in Windows 2000 Server and Professional, and affects built-in, local and global groups. But the company also stressed that in no way does this "affect the functionality of the group or the users for whom the hair colour of the icon changes". To reproduce the problem, simply create 499 users in the root domain. Add the users to a local built-in, global or user-created local group. Create and add a few more users to exceed 500, then apply the changes and click 'ok' in Active Directory Users and Computers. You will then notice that in the member's tab for the domain users, the icon's hair is grey. The advisory is available here. heheh.

Oh yeah, knew there was something else I was meant to do

I get it fairly regularly on my home PC and occaisionaly on my work PC (both Win2k), but I get it a whole shed load on another machine at work which is NT 4 Workstation .

I emailed you a URL with a UK company that sells rounded SCSI cables. Not sure if they have the right number of connectors, but you could call and find out... http://www.kustom.co.uk/

Plycon are a good site, but they're US based. BladeRunner was after a UK site.

The last plan I heard was that there was going to be two versions of Office XP. One is the full walk into a shop plonk down a few hundred quid and take the software away version. The other is a subscription based version where you buy the software from a shop but at a lower price. You then do your upgrades over the web direct with MS to renew the subscription. This should be relatively pain free. If they can handle the Activation features of their new software this should be easy. The subscription gives you the right to use the software for 12 months. I would guess that all updates would be included in this fee, as they are generally made freely available anyway. The only problem is that the subscription revenue goes straight to MS. This could put some software retailers into financial difficulties a year or two from now when people are still running their subscription services rather than getting a new copy from the retailer.

Just received this email from our MS Select supplier. "Product Activation potentially affects you with the arrival of the Select CD shipment that was due for issue on 17th April 2001. Initially, the only products affected are Office XP and Visio 2002. In due course, however, more products will be subject to Product Activation including Windows XP and Project. Historically product keys were included on Select CD cases but that will cease to be the case where Product Activation is in effect. To install a product that is subject to Product Activation, a Select customer will need to acquire a Product Activation Key. Currently these keys are being provided by our local Microsoft Activation Centre. The Centre is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The European centre number is: XXXX Select customers will need to quote their enrolment number in order to obtain the appropriate key for a product. Upon calling, the Customer will also be asked which products they are installing and the quantities. This information is requested only for guideline purposes. Once you have this key it may be used for installations. Different products have different keys. Customers signing a new enrolment will be notified of their Product Activation Keys with their acceptance letter too. You must remember that the Volume Licence Product Key is assigned specifically to your organisation. You should only distribute it to employees or third parties authorised to install and distribute licences pursuant to the terms of your Select Agreement. Different procedures apply to Product Activation for non-Select customers. Keys will be available via an online system in due course. Customers with multiple enrolments are requested to obtain Product Activation keys for each enrolment." So there we have it. Select customers will be required to get activation keys, but one key per product per organisation is all you need. So it shouldn't be too much of a headache after all.

Quote: Well i have heard it is a good game but i can't find a link to download it You should be able to download the technology tests from FilePlanet. Failing that, visit your local software shop and buy a copy.

You can download the technology tests from FilePlanet. They should still be available. Go and do a search.

THC - I think you have a valid point to a degree when you say that some people just want to get the best of their system in playing games rather than enjoy the experience of playing the game. But these people would probably be better off running 3DMark or something similar rather than actually playing games. At the end of the day people are going to want more for their money. More bad guys on screen, more high resolution textures, more intelligent AI and so-on. These things come at a price though, and that price is a hardware upgrade for the consumer. The game companies aren't stupid (reagrdless of what you might think of them) and they don't intentionaly release a game that is targetted at the hardcore gamers with top end systems. Doing so will limit the income that that title will generate. However, the ability of Serious Sam (the game this thread started about) to draw massive environments and fill them with dozens of bad guys naturally requires a fair amount of computing power. Both in terms of CPU and graphics. If the engine was cut back and the distances and number of bad guys on screen at once was limited, there would be little to distinguish this game from the many FPS games released to date. That would be a financial disaster for the publisher. Croteam spent 5 years developing this game (and the engine behind it) so it's only fair you do it justice by running it on a compentent PC. Otherwise, go and get a console. Then your copy of game X will run at the same speed as your friends copy of the game and all these problems go away.

Be aware that you can't connect the CM to a hub. It will need to run from a PC or via a router. For the PC route, you'll need two NICs in one machine (one for LAN, one for CM). This is how I'm running mine, and it's fine.

Quote: Unless they plan other ways You are also meant to be able to do it over the Internet, so it shouldn't be a huge problem. Over the first month or two of release of the OS, do you really think they are going to employee hundreds of people just to give out activation codes? After a few months, sales are likely to even out, and large companies will either not be required to use a code, or can use the same code for hundreds of machines. This should make it easier to get through on the phone. Quote: Originally posted by EM I am wondering if registration/activation is required every time the OS is installed. From the current info, I would say that if your hardware doesn't change, then nor will your activation code. A simple wipe and reinstall shouldn't cause any problems at all.

And why are you looking at the full version anyway? Get an upgrade. It's much cheaper. My upgrade to Win2k from NT 4 cost me around £100 (IIRC). You can do a full clean install from the upgrade CD, so there is no worries from that point of view. [Edit] The EB website lists the upgrade for $179, so it's not that bad.[/Edit] I would expect to pay the same again for XP Pro as well (don't want no consumer level rubbish on my machine thank you very much!) [This message has been edited by Bursar (edited 17 April 2001).]