Brian Frank

My biggest gripe about Whistler/WinXP is the way MS wants to move it to a total net based/subscription based OS. Since the computer is mine, I SHOULD BE THE ONE WHO DECIDES HOW I WILL USE IT. I dont want MS patching up things automatically. While the ability to get my files from anywhere I want would be nice, think about the security problems! Ive heard that MS ultimate goal with the .NET strategy is to have everything web based. You think weve got privacy problems now...just wait till youve got to get everything off the web, including the OS. How the hell are you supposed to do a clean install if you have to download it. And even then, broadband is gonna have to get really quick, even using DSL or cable its gonna take a few HOURS to download the OS, before you install it. And thats provided something doesnt go wrong during the download... if something does go wrong, like a power outage...whoops! And what about laptops: now and for the forseeable future, onboard broaband connections are probably going to be a problem. I also dont like the fact that MS forced the movie maker program down our throats. Let me say again since it is my computer, I want to be the one calling the shots concerning it. Plus, I think Media Player 7 sucked in comparison with Winamp. MP7 sounded terrible, worse than real player. Skinnable programs are okay, but they could mess up some people when theyre working with a skin that really changes things or makes them difficult to see. After my fiasco with ME, Im gonna wait until I see how many problems surface in the first 3 months for XP, if I decide to make the jump to it. Another thing is that there is no reason why you should have a decrease in performance when you upgrade. I find it irritating to have to buy an insane amount of ram or other parts just to have a relatively quick OS. MS media based programs are bloated POS. If MS thinks its "anticipating consumers needs." it wont be with me.

You used V5 drivers for a V3?

Did you get the patch for AMD procs under 2k? Go to AMDs website and look around. AMDs chips have some problem running games under 2k, so they put out some tiny registry patch, just a few hundred k.

Another thing just came to me. 3dfx boards can cause problems if youve upgraded to or from a 3dfx board without installing, problems can, and usually do occur. I dont know why this is, but it is. If you have done the 3dfx board upgrade without reinstalling Win2k since the change, that's probably your problem. Also, win2k does support ATA66, but that doesnt necessarily mean it will take advantage of it. You may just have to reinstall win2k. Have you had heard of a lot of the DVD probs concerning this particular drive. If you have,or had, a 3dfx card Im betting thats your problem. But only if you havent reinstalled since the vid card change.

Are you sure youve got the A7V Im talking about...the original. It has the 2 usual IDE controllers ATA33/66 and then 2 additional ATA33/66/100s. If you have the DVD-hooked up to primary (or secondary for that matter), that is likely the cause of your problems, since the documentation states that the ATA33/66/100 controllers havent been said to run anything but hard drives. The ATA33/66/100 controllers are in front of the BIOS chip, NOT the Dimm slots.

Id heard about the no-show Voodoo 5 6000 (128 MB ram, 4 graphic processors) was expensive at $500. But $600 for a graphics card? You can buy a new computer for that price! Not a good one though. If you cant get a decent card for $150 or less, theres a major problem. Let me know when AGP 4x is actually used. Nothings wrong with nVidia, but $600 for once board? Get real, you dont have to shell out that much for one PCB. $200 is my limit, mainly because I dont have the budget nor the need to buy an uber expensive graphics card. But Ive seen some 3DLabs graphics cards for nearly $2000 (yes, I did type that correctly). INSANE PRICES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you running your system off the ATA100 controllers. In the documentation, they say that the ATA100s cant run anything but hard drives. Just have your hard drives on these controllers and have your other drives on the normal controllers. Ive got mine setup that way.

Awlrighty then, 42 pages...I can almost smell page 100...

Heres my other system, the test one. Pentium !!! 667 Tyan Trinity 400 (Via Apollo Pro133A) 192 MB SDRAM Voodoo 3 3000 AGP (overclocked under ME only to 182 MHz--with no fan just factory heatsink) Western Digital 17.2 GB ATA66 5400 RPM HDD Western Digital 2.5 GB ATA33 4500 RPM HDD(Mp3 drive) Toshiba 6x DVD-ROM SB 16 PCI OEM Realtek 10/100 NIC Slot Fan Intel stock HSF (Im not worried about Intels chips burning up as much as AMDs) 250 W PS HP 1280 17-inch monitor Win2k, WinME, and coming soon Linux-Mandrake 7.1 My other system in a previous post has a 300W PS and runs just Win2k

Here it is Asus A7V (KT133) Duron 600@680 (6x113) 384 MB SDRAM Vodoo 4 4500 AGP core clock oc'd to 176 MHz Maxtor 20.4 GB 5400RPM ATA100 Samsung 48x CD-ROM Toshiba 12x DVD-ROM Zip650 USB CDRW Zip100 USB Memorex Scanner Guillemot Maxi Sound Fortissimo D-Link DFE 530 TX SIIG 3-port Firewire Cambridge Soundworks FPS1000 MS Intellimouse Optical Kleer 17-inch monitor Logitech keyboard CoolerMaster Socket A HSF Antec HDD cooler for sucking air in Antec adjustable length slot fan in PCI slot 2 (IRQ for PCI2 cant be used on this board ) Antec 92mm case fan 1.44 Mistsumi floppy. I gotta get to work. I'll post my other system later.

While that is true, not everyone has RAID or wishes to get RAID, not to mention an extra hard drive. RAID is a nice feature, but its one of those things that really isnt necessary unless youre running a server. Plus, many consumers dont know what RAID is-other than some bug killer-no pun intended. Also, many boards dont have an extra set of IDE controllers with ATA100/RAID. Usually, only Asus and Abit really focus on getting these features for consumers--and they are expensive. If someone wanted to just get an ATA100 card not including RAID-its a $100 or so, where as Partition magic costs maybe $50 or less. And you dont have to get a new hard drive, unless yours is full. Im not bashing on your setup, but for most people, RAID may not be a viable option. Even if you do have 2 hard drives, you still have to go into Win2k (using a dual boot with win2k and win9x)and set the default partition if you want the default boot to be something other than Win2k. I just posted this because a lot of people dont know how to dual boot without reformatting their hard drive and ask here how to do a dual boot, so I got sick of it. This wasnt to cover all possible ways to dual boot. No hard feelings, RAID is a very nice option if you can get it or really need it. But not everyone does.

Ive seen other board from Gigabyte have problems with video cards-namely the GA-5AX, but who knows sometimes you can get a bad combo of hardware. The hardware is perfectly functional,but working together they dont like each other. Ive really only heard of video card problems with Gigbyte boards on different OSs too (98,2k, and now, Whistler). You could try resetting your BIOS too. Does the board have an ALi chipset?

Yeah, I figured it was F. Get a better HSF, at least a coolermaster-$10. And then get at least another fan for your case. If you get some mondo HSF, make sure itll fit over your CPU, some mobos cant have huge HSFs on the cpu because theyve got capacitors or some other obstruction in the way--bad news for you. I seem to remember you getting and Abit KT7A-RAID. You cant fit a Global Win on it, so Im told. But the Duron doesnt put out quite as much heat as the TBird, but do get something else other than the stock fan. Thats a little toasty for your cpu. Im overclocking, and I havent hit above 102 F. Ive also decked out my case with a few fans. If you do get a few fans in your case, keep the airflow in one direction as much as possible thatll help keep things cool inside your case. You can get a hold of some decent sized fans for $10 or less at Best Buy. Also, having a slot fan will help a lot with cooling. I cant use one of my PCI slots on my board due to some little IRQ-based oversight, so Ive put an adjustable Antec 2-fan blower in that slot. If youve got 256 megs of ram, Id worry about my heat first, hard drive second, and more memory last. Good luck ------------------ Whaazzzupppppppppp! Asus A7V Duron 600@680 384 MB SDRAM PC133@113MHz Samsung 48x CD-ROM Toshiba 12x DVD-ROM Zip CD650 USB 4/4/6 Zip 100 USB Maxtor 20.4 GB ATA100 Voodoo 4 4500 AGP Guillemot Maxi Sound Fortissimo SIIG 3 port 1394 PCI Adapter D-Link DFE-530 10/100 NIC Creative Cambridge Soundworks FPS1000 MS Intellimouse Optical Kleer 17-inch @ 85Hz 1152x864x32 desktop

Okay, Im not a Mac user, and yes Jobs did essential ripoff the PARC. However, tell me this :Do PCs come with options like an optical mouse, DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (superdrive), an easily servicable case (power Mac g4), onboard Firewire ports? Up until the release of the iMac, Im pretty sure computers were classic beige. With the release of Mac OS-X, Apple said that it was based on Unix, for stability purposes. They came up with the Aqua interface, and now WinXP is touting it Luna interface--or whatever its called. Once again, MS continues to amaze me by taking someone elses work and call it there own. I dont use Macs because I can use the PC better. I just think that Gates needs to come up with something fresh--ON HIS OWN! Apple does need to get up to speed an get some 1GHz Macs out soon. The reason Macs are more expensive is because of price and demand. Apple took its once computer world dominance for granted and lost big time. Most PCs run some form of Windows, just because Apple wasnt on the ball. It cant be ignored that Macs exist, and will continue to do so. Apple lost major ground to Windows through stupidity. When most computers run Windows, its a little hard to have a Mac answer to the Celeron.

About making this a hot topic: Lets not and say we did.

Im beginning to think that ME stands for Microsoft Evils...not Millenium.

Whoa, if that is in C, you wouldnt be running that pc, cuz your Duron would be extra crispy. If its in F, its kinda warm. Get a CoolerMaster at the very least, theyre around $10, and invest in a case fan or two. Im pretty sure your temp is in F, cuz I dont think that processor would be able to get that hot before it was toast. BTW, what are you using to measure the temp?

Okay, heres the short version of the GUI: Xerox invented the GUI with the PARC. Steve Jobs saw the PARC project and scrapped there current new Apple. They had to get something big with the horrible sales of the Apple III, and this was the Lisa project. Legend has it our (in)famous Bill Gates was working on this Lisa project. Jobs became an overbearing slave driver, so the Lisa team put him in management. Later, Jobs introduced the Lisa as the original Macintosh. Meanwhile, Gates was working with MS to develop Windows. Windows was a rip off of the Mac OS, but Apple lost the lawsuit over "the look and feel." Windows outsold the MacOS mainly because it was backwards compatible with DOS. This is what I know. The term paper I did was on the history of the Mac. Unlike MS, they have innovations, whereas Windows incorporates MS "innovations" (read ripoffs) into the latest version. It seems that everytime something cool comes out on the Mac, a few months later, you see PCs sporting something inspired by it. Take the iMac; now you go into places like Best Buy and there are PCs without the classic beige anymore. Even though I prefer Win to any other OS, I still believe that without Apple, the computer industry would not be where it is today.

Right now Ive got the PS fan, a case fan in back, a HDD cooler, to suck air in, and an adjustable slot fan. Ive got a coolermaster socket A cooler rated at 4200 rpm, but its running at 4800rpm to 5000rpm. CPU temp is 32-40C/93-100F and mobo at 23-27C/74-79F. Is this pretty cool? Will getting an Orb HSF make my cpu any cooler. Ive got a 300W PS and my specs are on the signature line. ------------------ Whaazzzupppppppppp! Asus A7V Duron 600@680 384 MB SDRAM PC133@113MHz Samsung 48x CD-ROM Toshiba 12x DVD-ROM Zip CD650 USB 4/4/6 Zip 100 USB Maxtor 20.4 GB ATA100 Voodoo 4 4500 AGP Guillemot Maxi Sound Fortissimo SIIG 3 port 1394 PCI Adapter D-Link DFE-530 10/100 NIC Creative Cambridge Soundworks FPS1000 MS Intellimouse Optical Kleer 17-inch @ 85Hz 1152x864x32 desktop

ME seems to have some issues with networking in general. I dont know what it is, but I'd say if you really didnt need ME in the first place, go back to 98, or better yet, go to Win2k. To do a fresh install: back up everyting you need first-except game saves,I havent been able to restore the game saves ever-; then reformat your harddrive; load ME. If you just bought the upgrade, you need to have a FULL version of 98/95. If you bought the promo upgrade you can only use it to upgrade from 98.

Well, I was thinking of having the title as "How Cool is My System" but I wanted people to reply. I remember that guy who thought his rig was so "dope." He ticked off so many people too. The main thing that concerned me was that before I used some heatsink compound, my HSF was cooling the CPU into the mid 20's C. I used some Radio Shack compound. Does that stuff suck, or did I put too much or too little on. I put just enough to lightly cover the core ( I could still kinda see its color).

One thing I forgot to mention is that if youve already got a partition set aside, and your running the NTFS filesystem, you can format that partition under 2k to FAT32. Just remember, the Win9x line CANNOT READ NTFS, not without a utility.

Frequent flyer miles? I wish.

GQ2, if all you do is surf the web 128 is fine, but anything else, you will want more ram. I dont know how you got this insane idea that Win2k functions just fine without anymore ram above 128. MS seems to put out more bloated OS's every time. Win2k will run much better with more ram. The bare minium Win2k will run on is 64, but Ive tried that before, its not a pretty site. The bare minimum you really should run Win2k with is 128 megs. The more ram, the better. You obviously dont seem to have heard about Unreal Tournament and Quake 3. Most gamers running Win2k will tell you 128 is okay, but its better to have at least 256. I dont know how you got the idea that Win2k can be pushed around in a speedy manner with 128 megs. Windows ME can function very well with 128. But ME is a different OS than 2k. ME is the supermodel and 2000 is the bodybuilder. The diet for the supermodel isnt gonna fly for the bodybuilder.

You should be able to get any DVD drive and itll work fine. However, its better to get a name brand drive,like Pioneer, or whatever you can get, youll probably shell out around $150 for a good,name-brand drive with extras. I have a Toshiba 12x, bare bones drive for $115. I have an older 6x in my test system, they seem to hold up very well.