Bursar

It's caused by a couple of corrupt files. I had the same problem on my Win2k machine when I did my last reinstall. Go to: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q193/3/85.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0 The bit under the "Clear Contents of the WindowsUpdate Folder" cured it for me.

If you're talking 6.47 drivers, then that might be where the problem lies. The official Nvidia driver release is 6.31. A lot of people have reported scuccess with the 6.47 drivers, but they are leaked betas and not an official release. Try it and see what happens. Also, log onto Windows Update, and make sure have all the Compatibility Updates installed.

Down: If you're really a student, you should be able to get MAJOR reductions on the price of MS software. I know students in this country (UK) get massive discounts. They buy the product at massive reductions, and get a box with some forms inside. They just need to fill in these forms, get the college to sign and send them off. MS then send them the software when they've verified the forms.

Depends on the games. If it's Quake engine games, there is a Z buffer setting you can change. In halflife you need to change the vale of gl_polyoffest. You'll find it in one of the cfg files. Have a look at http://www.tweak3d.net they should be able to explain it better than me.

Hmmm, useful points to bear in mind. However, I'm looking to play online so a CD key for Q3 would be required. I am looking to buy the games though rather than obtain them from 'other sources'.

You don't need to reboot. Turn the modem on. Right click My Computer and choose Manage from the menu. Click on Device Manager on the left half of the screen. Now right click on something on the right hand side (doesn't matter what) and choose 'Scan for hardware changes'. After a second or two it will pick your modem up, and you can then dial up.

If you're using NTFS, you'll find it more or less impossible. If you have FAT32 partitions, you could boot with a Win98 disk and do the copies that you need.

The reason I said I was going to get one of them is basically down to time. How games can you play at once? I don't think there'd be a huge amount of point in me getting both games. I was hoping that I'd be able to pick up one of them for less than full retail price now as they've both been out for a while. I had a look around one or two of the mod sites that have been mentioned, and whilst WFA looks quite smart, I think Q3 Fortress looks slightly better. But I'd probably try both of them. If I can pick them up for a bargain price, then maybe I'll get both. I was going to say that I was leaning towards Q3, but I've just checked out the Tactical Ops for UT website and it looks like a cross between CounterStrike and FireArms. How does it play? Do players keep respawning, or do you have to hang around once you're dead until the map changes?

Yes thanks I have it. I can't post it as Microsoft say that is a big no no. If you call up their support people, and tell them you want the patch, they'll send you an email that contians the ftp site that you can get the file from.

You just need to change your cursors click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel double click the Mouse icon click the Pointers tab Choose a new set of cursors from the dropdown that includes an animated hourglass click OK I like the 3D White scheme personally.

Is there anything in the Event Log that tells you what is causing the problems? You can access the Event Log by clicking Start -> Programs -> Administartive Tools -> Event Viewer. If you can't see the Administrative Tools group, right click the task bar, choose properties. Click the Advanced tab and check the 'Display Administrative Tools' box. Click OK. The Administrative Tools group will now be available for you.

Have you searched your Win2k CD? They're probably on there somewhere.

Don't forget to download the patch. I don't know what it does as I don't have the game. I just noticed one was available on FilePlanet.

Yeah, it's made by Transmeta. It's meant to be compatible with x86 but only use a fraction of the power. You can get more details at http://www.transmeta.com

To be honest, I don't use power saving options at all. I turn them all off. There are just too many opporunities for the machine to go to sleep and not wake up properly. About the only power saving type feature I use is that my PC turns itself off when I shut it down. Saves me having to lean forward about 3 inches and press it!

Initially, I would check the connections to the motherbaord. You should have a row of pins where you plug on things like the speaker, power LED, hard drive LED and so-on. It could be some of those are wrong and are causing problems. Pull them all off and try again. What video card are you using? If it's AGP and you have a PCI card kicking about, try that instead. If it's a PCI card, you probably won't have an AGP card lying about, but can you borrow one to try it?

What operating system do you need drivers for?

It sounds like you're sorted now, but if you've got Cold Fusion, there is a free download for a Forum application. I don't have the URL to hand, but you should be able to find it on the CF site. It's not overly featured, but should be customisable. It does however rely on you having a Cold Fusion server.

There are two things you can try. The first is make a boot disk from a Windows 9x machine and use that. On the 9x machine, either format a new disk and select 'Transfer System Files' (I think that's how it is labelled), or if the disk is already formatted, drop to the Command Prompt and type 'sys a: <Return>' After a bit of whirring you'll get the message 'System Transferred'. Your disk is now ready. The other alternative is to boot the Windows 2000 Recovery console and try from there. I have no idea if this will work though. The steps for this are as follows: Insert your Win2k CD, and reboot your machine so that it boots from the CD. When the Setup Notification page appears, hit Enter. Press R to repair an installation of Win2k. Press C to start the Recovery Console Select the installtion you want to repair (normally 1). Type in the Administrator password when prompted for it. You are now at the Recovery Console prompt. As I said, I have no idea if this will let you do what you need to do. The preferred route would be to create a boot disk from a 9x machine.

I'm looking to change my graphics card. My G400 MAX has done sterling work for the past couple of years, but I feel it is now time to move on. I've been looking at the latest Geforce II Ultra cards (I know, more money than sense). However, there have been lots of reports about driver problems and compatibility problems with games and applications. Given that I'm now considering one of these cards, I'd really like to know the truth. If anyone can give me their take on the latest Detonator drivers along with any problems (or lack of) that they've had I'd appreciate it. ------------------ PIII 800EB FC-PGA Intel D815EEA Motherboard Intel® PRO/100 Integrated NIC 2x256MB PC 100 RAM Maxtor 92049U6 20.4GB 7200RPM UDMA66 Maxtor 52049U4 20.4GB 7200RPM UDMA66 Matrox Millenium G400 MAX AOpen 52x IDE CD-ROM Yamaha CRW4416S SCSI CD-RW Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer USB Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro US Robotics Sportster Flash v90 External modem Iiyama Vision Master Pro 17 Adaptec 2940 Ultra Wide SCSI controller Sound Blaster Live! Value Windows 2000 Professional

Excellent. Thanks very much. Before I lay down the dosh, I just need someone to take my G400 MAX off of my hands. Details are at: http://www.ntcompatible.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ubbcount.cgi?board=7&topic=000065&page=1

I am a gamer, that's why I want an Nvidia card. The G400 is simply superb at 2D, but the 3D oomph it has is definately lacking in modern games. If Matrox would announce the G800, then maybe I'd stay with a Matrox card, but there's no telling when they're likely to do that. The GeForce2 Ultra card however, will kick booty all over Radeon in 3D performance (don't take that as an invite for a flame war) which is why I'm prepared to pay the big bucks for it. According to SharkyExtreme, the GeForce2 Ultra managed the following scores in Q3A on max settings. 1024x768 = 111.8fps 1280x1024= 76.4fps 1600x1200= 52.7fps The Radeon 32MB DDR got 67.5, 43.6 and 30.6 respectively. In 3d Winbench 2000, the Ultra scored 120, whilst the Radeon managed 91.7. As I said, I don't want to get into a war about this, but it's these numbers that are pushing towards the Nvidia card.

3Dfx cards are best suited to games running in Glide. If MGS and MI4 don't have a Glide opiton, then you may well have to either suffer with the poor performance, not play the games at all, or change your video card. Voodoo cards have never had stunning performance in D3D (but I think the later cards are getting better at it).

Make sure you can take the switch box back if it doesn't work properly. With some of the boxes, when you switch the keyboard and mouse from machine A to machine B and back again, machine A will no longer detect the keyboard and mouse. Just something to watch out for.

[Edit - Now sold] [This message has been edited by Bursar (edited 24 October 2000).]