Brian Frank

There are two versions of the Kyro II: one with 64MB and one with 32. Hercules makes both versions, and there is another company, but I can't recall who it is. Go look at Anandtech for more info on it. ATI has had a history of driver issues. In fact, they were unable to produce any drivers for one card under Win2k. NVidia does have some sweet products, but I wouldn't mind a little competition. The Kyro II somewhat, kinda can match a GF 2/3 card in some things. Generally, it's closer to a GTS or Pro. As for the Radeon, and anything else ATI puts out for the time being, I'll stay away from. I don't care about 32-bit color if the card won't work right because the company can't produce halfway decent drivers. ATI is killing it's cards with their drivers. Let me sum up how well a Radeon performed: I had a Voodoo 4 4500 AGP 32MB SDR that worked better than the Radeon AGP 32MB DDR. I still have a Voodoo 3 3000 AGP and that runs all my games except one just fine.

Actually, you don't even need to edit any files. Here's the safe way: Right click on My Computer--Properties--Advanced tab--Startup and Recovery. Of course before this, if you install Win98 after Win2k, run the repair option off the Win2k CD. Just boot off it and when it comes to the screen asking if you want to install it, hit R to choose the repair option. Make sure you read what pops up so you can just let the CD-repair fix the booting itself. You don't need a ERD for it to work. However, like clutch said, it's better to do the Win9x install first, then the NT OS. I haven't had any problems either way.

FAT32 begins to breakdown after 30GB, so It's probably best to go with NTFS, since that will start to breakdown after over 1 Terabyte.

You will need to have a FAT32 partition for ME set aside, so you will need 3rd-part software--Partition Magic is very good. Second, please know that Win9x does not read NTFS. Okay, once you have your partiton setup, go ahead install ME and let it finish all the setting up, then boot off the Win2k CD and run the repair option by hitting R to repair the Win2k install instead of Enter to install Win2k on the selection screen. Boom you're done. You should have a bootloader that you can choose between ME and Win2k. Win2k will be the default with 30 seconds until it boots into it. If you want to change the booting w/o editing the boot.ini file: Right click on My computer, go to Properties--Advanced tab--Startup and Recovery. Change to your liking and enjoy.

You should look at the Antec SX1030 or SX1080. They are full tower cases, which should be what you really ought to go for. Aopen has a case, the HX08, or HX04 (can't remember), that's supposed to be really good for modding. I just picked up a dual P3 board and it is HUGE! 12.5x10.5 inches, my midtower I have is fairly cramped with it. Plus the drives that stick out are in the way of the DIMM banks, but there is enough space there that I could install another DIMM. It's just that the drive has to be manuvered around. Firstly, a dual board is going to be rather large, so make sure you have plenty of space. Second, look for something sturdy. I used to have an Aopen case that while heavy was a solid as a rock, so I would definitely look at Aopen. With a full tower, you have more to mod, as well as enough space. Do know that the Antec case will run you a little over $100, but from what I've read it's a very good case. It comes with 2 fans, and the fan in the 300W PSU adjusts its speed according to the temp. I don't have either one, because the full tower I got was cheap, but sturdy enough for me. However, I've never seen a case quite like that Aopen. In short, look at Aopen or Antec.

Your talking about the Slot A Athlon, right? I've heard of some issues with the Slot A Athlon with a Via KX133 chipset and the original GeForce 256, but it wasn't related to the desktop resolution. This is probably a stupid question, but I'm just covering my bases: Do you have drivers installed? If so, which one? You need this patch, at this link: http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon-duron/amd_win2k_patch.html This is regardless of the type of Athlon, and it's just for Win2k. Could you list your specs please?

What filesystem are u using? I've heard of a batch of IBM drives going bad. It looks like the drive could be going bad.

It's faster in benchmarks alright, but not in real life. If you've already got enough ram, you'll do fine, since Win2k runs better with more ram than the speed of ram, although faster can't hurt.

Yup. No reg entries either. I've never come up with that problem before. Of course, I could do a reinstall, and that would most likely fix it, but I don't want to do that. Well, at least I'm not the only one running into this, Dragon Lord. If I find a fix, I'll be sure to post it.

Someone...ANYone

I haven't noticed an speed increase with over 384MB of RAM. However, it all depends on what you're doing and other hardware too, specifically the speed of your hard drive.

I haven't had a problem with em. I've heard the Durons and Athlons have a bigger risk of crushing the die. The Durons especially are problematic with getting the die crushed. If I'm worried, I saw a little tip about making pads for the P3/Celermine out of electrical tape. The biggest issue with the orbs is having enough space around the socket for them. I may file down the orbs on the side a little as they're really close to a capacitor or two. Pimpin, try setting the drives to auto, if you haven't done so already. Also, let it sit for a while and do something else, before you start going nuts. Shut it down and leave it be sometimes fixes things, I have no clue why though.

Uhh, you're saying you want to dual boot w/o 3rd party software? I'm pretty sure that you can't change the filesystem without formatting the drive unless you get 3rd party software. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any software that won't destroy the partition to change the filesystem. Since your going to do a dual boot, I highly suggest you have everything formatted to FAT32. Win9x CANNOT read NTFS. So there, I think I kinda answered your questions. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Of course if you have just one partition as NTFS, and all your data you want saved on a different FAT32 partition, you should be okay. I'll give you more info if you dual booting.

I'm not totally positive, but isn't AvP Gold just for Win9x? That may be a major problem.

I haven't done much with Linux, but yeah, Mandrake is good. That's the only distribution I've run before. It's a highly recommended distro of Linux by the community, since it's good for both newbies and Linux vets.

Oh, yeah...all the Memorex CD-ROM drives I've seen or had have croaked at some point. Mine probably didn't last more than 6 months. I'll never buy a cd-rom drive or cd-player from them again. Memorex is crap in these lines. I have 2 Toshiba DVD-ROMs and they have run flawlessly, plus other products they put out are very high quality. I would recommend getting a CD-ROM drive from them, since I have yet to experience a bad product from them.

Hehe...sorry, 3dfx hasn't had their page updated in quite a few months. Try downloading the reference drivers for the card off the downloads link.

My Duron800 @ 1016MHz gets as hot as 120F/~50C under stress--depending on the weather temps too. GlobalWin FOP 32-I. My Pentium 3 667 (not OC'd, yet) runs right around 79F with a Thermaltake Chrome Orb-ripoff clone.

Well, I'm going dual Pentium III's. I only need to get the 2nd P3 667, and I have some local guys helping me find the one with the right stepping. Dual rig: MSI 694D Pro-AR (Promise ATA100 RAID) 2x Intel Pentium III 667MHz 2x Thermaltake Chrome Orb 256MB PC133 Western Digital ATA66 5400RPM 17.2GB Toshiba 12x DVD-ROM 1.44 Floppy 3Dfx Voodoo 3 3000 AGP Realtek 8029 10/100 PCI NIC This will be when I'm done. Just need the other cpu. Hey Pimpin, I didn't know you could OC your modem.

Okay, I am really pissed right now. I just got an MSI 694D Pro dual cpu board with the Promise ATA100 controller. I'm really confused about it, because the Promise chip itself says PCD20265 but it has a FastTrack BIOS screen and menu after the mobo BIOS. I have tried several different drivers from both MSI's website and Promise's site, and the driver off the CD-rom. I also tried to install the driver of the same chip (supposedly) PCD20256 off my Asus A7V mobo. No matter what, it still shows a conflict with the controller. I cannot seem to get a hold of the correct driver, so if someone could point me to the right one, it would be greatly apprciated. Motherboard MSI 694D Pro AR (I think). MSI has been no help.

Never mind...even though my board is a 694D Pro-A, I had to get drivers for the Pro-AR. Makes me think they mislabeled the box. Runs great.

I don't have a GF3 based card, but still here's a suggestion: Tried installing different drivers? I know this is a shot in the dark, but fixes come from wierd places sometimes.

How long has it been doing this stuff? Since you installed Win2k? Do you have any Service Packs installed?

That is a pretty long card from the looks. Makes me glad for smaller cards.

For a good, cheap replacement that runs great, pick up a card using the GeForce 2 MX chip. You should easily be able to find one for $100 or less,depending on features and other stuff.