Bursar

If you have PCI slots in that 486, you'll probably find it cheaper to get a PCI card. Most companies charge extra for ISA these days.

I can't help with the security hole list, but I can help with other things. We have got 2 servers that run Windows 2000 Server. One is our Backup server (Legato Networker), and the other will be a replacement Internet Map Server (running Geographic mapping software). The key things to arrange are that all of the hardware and software installed into the machine is Windows 2000 compliant. We had a minor problem in that one of servers ran Netware 5.11 for a while (as a test - we are mostly a Novell site). In order to get Windows 2000 Server installed, we had to change the Adapatec RAID controller for a Mylex one, as the Adaptec card wasn't suitable for running under Windows 2000. Providing you have these basis covered, you should be fine. The other thing to mention (but not until the servers have arrived), is that you need lots of expensive Windows 2000 training, as your NT 4 experience won't really help (you can exagerate this point a bit to ensure you get the training!!).

How can you have something be buggy, but still the best? A lot of people have a lot of problems with the Nvidia drivers. Until they get sorted out, a lot of people are going to resist buying new GeForce cards. At the time I bought my G400 MAX, the TNT2 Ultra had just been released. I seriously thought about buying one, but in the end, I fancied the Dual Head options offered by the Matrox card. Since then, all I have really read about Nvidia are driver problems. New drivers are released on a regular basis, and as has been mentioned before, you need different releases of drivers for different games. No manufacturer is perfect, and some people will have problems, however, my Matrox experiences so far have been flawless. I'm still running a Mystique 220 in my second PC at home, and it is rock solid. I was mildly interested in the GeForce II cards, but given the drivers are still buggy, I don't think I'll bother. I have no particular loyalty to Matrox, and if Nvidia got themselves sorted, I'd jump ship straight away. In the mean time, I'll stick with what works.

Windows 2000 Professional (and Windows NT 4 Workstation before it), are very similar to their bigger Server brothers. The key difference is in the amount of connections the non-Server products will accept. NTW would only accept 10 connections from other PC's, after that anyone else trying to connect would basically get a 'server full' error. I believe that Windows 2000 Pro is the same. Therefore if you want to run 15 PC's, you will need to spend the extra money to get the Windows 2000 Server, along with the required number of client licenses.

Oh well, hope you don't have to upgrade to the 4.5 version. That's the version that officially supports Windows 2000, and it causes the PC to srop about 50% of its performance. I tried it on 6 PC's, and everyone slowed down. In the end we binned it and got Norton. No problems since. The 4.5 release does work fine on Windows 95 and NT4, but on Win98 and Win2k, it sucks the big one!

I've just re-installed SiN and patched it up to 1.05, and everything seemed fine. Then I ran the res upto 1600x1200 using the default Open GL driver and the game went into a window. I dropped it to 1024x768, and I got the same result. This makes the game a bit unplayable, as movement lags about 1 second behind the mouse. Has anyone got this working properly, or is there another patch I need? ------------------ PIII 500 Intel 440BX-2 Motherboard 2x128MB PC 100 RAM Maxtor 92049U6 20.4GB 7200RPM UDMA66 Maxtor 52049U4 20.4GB 7200RPM UDMA66 Matrox Millenium G400 MAX Sony DDU220E IDE DVD-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 3Com EtherLink XL PCI (3c900B Combo) Adaptec 2940 Ultra Wide SCSI controller Sound Blaster Live! Value Windows 2000 Professional And no overclocking in sight!

The Specs for Windows 2000 Server are as follows: +++ 133 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible CPU. 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended minimum [128 MB minimum supported; 4 gigabytes (GB) maximum]. 2 GB hard disk with a minimum of 1.0 GB free space. (Additional free hard disk space is required if you are installing over a network.) Windows 2000 Server supports up to four CPUs on one machine. +++ As you can see, it's fairly hefty. Be aware that it optimised to run as a server, therefore priority is given to tasks that run in the background. This can be changed by: Right click My Computer and choose Properties. Clcik on the Advanced tab. Click the Performance button, and choose the application response type you require. You can also do this under Windows 2000 Pro.

Does it still do it without the DirectX 8 beta installed? Simply removing DX8 and re-installing DX7 may not be enough. You might have to format and re-install to be sure its gone. It's one of the prices you pay for using leaked beta software I'm afraid.

Server or Pro? With Server, there is a wizard tha goes through setting it all up. With Pro, you can use it more or less out of the box for Internet Connection Sharing. If you want more, check the Help files (I know it sounds like a cop out), but they really are very good. Much better than the Win98 help files.

I'll install Sin on my PC at home tonight and see what happens. My spec is a bit different to yours, but it may help highlight the problem a bit more. (Have you tried installing all of the patches for Sin?)

Your problem with Mcaffe, is that 4.5 is only version that is meant to be used with Windows 2000. Trouble is, it about halves the performance of your PC. I have a couple of people checking with the software developers to see if there is any possible solution. The offical NAI respsonse was (and I quote) "disable email scanning and internet download scanning" Erm... Don't think so somehow. So their product went in the bin, and in came a nice shiney copy of Norton AntiVirus 2000 which runs flawlessly. I also have the Lanman problem, so thanks for the hint for that.

I know the point you were makming, but Quake II won't install if Windows 2000 is configured in that way, and that's point I was making. Probably best if we agree that weare both making different points before things escalate!

I'm thinking about buying one of the above items (that also includes the FM Tuner), and I have read the notes about driver issues under Win2k in the Hardware Compatibility section of this site. I was just wondering if anyone has any other comments about the product, and if they consider it to be worthwhile. Basically I'm a lazy git, and can't be arsed to go downstaris and watch TV all the time. Has anyone tried recording programs to hard disk? If so, does it work, and what are rough disk space requirements? If it makes any difference, I'm in the UK, so would be buying that model. TIA ------------------ PIII 500 Intel 440BX-2 Motherboard 2x128MB PC 100 RAM Maxtor 92049U6 20.4GB 7200RPM UDMA66 Maxtor 52049U4 20.4GB 7200RPM UDMA66 Matrox Millenium G400 MAX Sony DDU220E IDE DVD-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 3Com EtherLink XL PCI (3c900B Combo) Adaptec 2940 Ultra Wide SCSI controller Sound Blaster Live! Value Windows 2000 Professional And no overclocking in sight!

Changing the regional settings for your keyboard and so-on is not the same as setting the System Locale. When I buy some software, I'd rather it said English UK than English US. Quake II will not install if your System Locale is set to anything other than the language of the Quake II CD. I know you can just copy the data to your hard disk, but installation routines are there for a reason. The fact that Quake II requires correct localisation settings is not a big deal, simply because you CAN copy the data. The next application that checks your locale may not be so forgiving. In that case, I'd rather have the correct setting. And if you're that bothered about being pointed at the correct seacrh engine, just mark it up in your favorites. Personally, I tend to use AskJeeves for all my searches, and that defaults to the UK site. So far I haven't failed to find what I was looking for.

I would imagine that the people posting here are in a slightly similar situation to you. You only have NT, and so want info on that O/S. The people posting compatibility notices only have Windows 2000, so that is what they post. I know it isn't quite the same as real world testing, but have you visited websites that are related to the games you are insterested in? The official sites should carry the suggested spec, and the fan sites are likely to report any problems. Between these resources, you should be able to find out the chances of something working for you.

You can do it, but you will a couple fo things first. The first is that the network card must support PXE. The latest 3Com 10/100 cards do, but double check if you're going for a different brand. Second, you must have a Windows 2000 Server that is acting as DNS server, and has a copy of the Windows 2000 Pro software stored on it ready to roll out to new machines. You then create a boot disk on the server, and after that it's pretty automatic. If I were you though, I'd spring for a CD-ROM drive, as they aren't that expensive, and it will save you a lot of grief. You may also find problems when it comes to running some applications, or applying patches. For instance, Office 2000 requires the CD-ROM to be present when you install the SR-1 patch. This will be impossible on your new PC, so you won't be able to patch it.

You can install it as it is meant to be done by changing the system language. I had the exact same problem, and I was the phone to a Microsoft support guy for about 10 mins whilst he found out how to change the language. The steps are as follows: Go to the Control Panel and double click 'Regional Options'. Click the 'Set Defualt' button. A new dialog will open from where you can select the correct System Locale. It's a bit bizzare, because it isn't natural to look at that Set Default button to change the Locale information, but there ya go. Happy fragging.

To download it, visit: http://freespace.virgin.net/philip.mansfield/tweakui/tweakui2k.zip

OK, I've posted it. You can get it from: http://freespace.virgin.net/philip.mansfield/tweakui/tweakui2k.zip Hope this helps.

If you mail it to me, I can stick it up on some webspace, and then I'll post the link back in here. philip.mansfield@wcmc.org.uk

The easiest way to do this is to change the current G drive to Z. Then change your current D drive to G. You can then move the Z drive (the original G) over to D. Hope this makes sense

No comments on this? Surely someone must have one. What the person that posted the message about the driver problems?

This is irritating, I know. My PC will try to dial out for no apparent either (and I have a DUN connection shared with Win98). The Win98 machine isn't trying to access any net services as far as I can tell. I have disabled Dial on Demand, and will see how it goes. What you can also try is to install ZoneAlarm. It is free (for personal use) firewall software, that will not allow applications to access the net unless you specially tell them they can. By installing it, you will get prompted everytime a program tries to connect. It will remember applications, so you don't have to keep telling it to let IE out on the net One major problem I found with it (and I'll admit I didn't spend much time trying to fix it), is that your online games won't be allowed to connect to servers. And because they run full screen, you probably won't see the 'Let application X access the internet?' message. You can probably get around it by ALT-Tabbing or something, but I didn't have time to look into it. Give it a go and see what you think. It will make more or less invulnerable against port scanning and other hacking attempts. Very important if you DSL or some other always-on connection.

I can't think of anything that will specifically cause this error, apart from incompatibilty between the version of InstallShield that the developer used and Windows 2000. Is it possible for you to reinstall Windows 2000? I had problems installing Acrobat Reader, but it installed fine after I wiped the PC (I was going to do this anyway so it wasn't a major problem for me).

I've had this problem with one or two apps, but they did install correctly. They usually got right to end, and then the message 'This application has caused errors and will be shut down' (or words to that effect) appeared. The application still ran ok though. Which apps are you trying to install?