Brian Frank

Try the search function, as Ive seen many SB Live! series owners have issues.

Well, you can make a partition for 98, install, then boot off the Win2k cd and run the repair option on the setup screen. If someone would be kind enough to loan you partition magic, or you could buy it too, you can partition your drive and not have to reformat it for everything. If you do a reformat, load 98 and ME first and load Win2k last. Hopefully this helps.

If you dont want to reinstall Win2k or any version of Windows more than you have to, DO NOT INSTALL NORTON UTILITIES!!! If you do, dont run anything other than speed disk. Thats it. Win Doctor and System Doctor will screw up things because many of the "fixes" involve deleting registry entries as the first and sometimes only option 8). Win2k will foul up rather quickly, and basically screw your system up so you have to reformat. Everytime Ive used it, Norton Utilities has messed up the system. Dont use it on ANY version of windows...unless you get a kick out of reinstalling because of screw ups. Just a bit of warning I thought I'd pass along to a few souls.

So they dont get in another lawsuit about taking up the market.

Dont worry, I dont like multi-posts either, but things looked like they could get ugly, and that's not a good way to get popular around here. And Phasis, take a stab at which category you will post stuff in next time and try not to multi-post. It is confusing to keep track of which post of the same one you replied to.

Exactly. If anything you should probably stick with 98, since the issues with it are much less than ME. ME is just 98 with a face lift, and IMO a ton of bugs. But if you really are serious about it, you will need to get something like Boot Magic, since 98/ME do not have a bootloader like Win2k. Load both OS's first then install boot magic on the second installed partition and you should be able to dual boot. However, I havent tested this, so dont come back if you can only boot into ME or 98. Really, it is rather pointless since there really arent any differences because all your apps and games will run under 98 as well as ME. Actually, ME seems to be less compatible with things than 98. Just a warning... It probably will work, but Im not going to say absolutely yes it does, because I havent tested it out.

On the flip side, I dont like to reinstall more than I have to. I feel that yes, antivirus programs do take some hefty resources, its better safe than sorry. Plus, you can get a sh!tload of ram for dirt cheap, as well as get a 1GHz cpu--one way or another;), so you should be able to frag away without problems. Plus, you can always disable it for gaming you know. I feel the trade off is worth it, but if you end up reinstalling a ton, then AV programs are fairly worthless, just because of all the updates that have to be downloaded everytime. Just watch out for those files you backup then. I dont want to start another debate on this sort of stuff, but I just wanted to give my input... Whatever works for you is best.

Like I said...

Oh, thats the Promise Ultra ATA 100 onboard controller. Either install the drivers for it off the Asus CD, you can also download them--they could possibly be new than what's on the cd, or ignore it. If you installed it, you'd be able to use the controllers for your hard drives. Just make sure it installs then when you reboot make sure its not showing a conflict and then you can shut it down and start using the ATA100 controller. As for the USB header, Ive had some issues with that working right sometimes and other times not. It should be hooked up to USBPORT on the board, according to the manual anyway, but you could always try the other 10-1 pin header, USBPORT B, I think, or something like that. There is no driver for it because it's just a generic USB hub, so you dont have to worry about another driver to install. You can disable the promise controller in bios, but it would still show up in device manager, at least that was the case with the 1004 bios. Its in the boot options menu, if I remember correctly. *Edit* I just though of something: The 1007 bios was supposed to fix this, but there used to be an IRQ conflict between PCI slot 2 and the Ultra ATA100 controller. The only way around that is to take whatever card you've got in PCI 2 and put it elsewhere. Im not sure that's it, as I dont have anything in that slot, but the last time I did, thats what the result was.

This program is several releases old, and the same issues, namely f*cking up your registry, are still there. Either Symantec's has no clue or they do but dont want to admit that it's there. If the program hasnt shown improvement at all within the second release, dump it. Even Windows, while it has problems, does get some of those fixed. Norton Antivirus is the only program Im certain wont screw up your system that Symantec puts out.

Get the Nvidia 12.00 drivers, as they're supposed to run great under XP. The 11.00's and up improved 3dmark2001's scores from what Ive heard. Also, do you have Vsync enabled? That's likely the cause of your problems! Also, get the Nvidia refresh rate fix app. And yes, please dont do multiple posts of the same thing. Keep it in one...that seems to keep every one happy. It also keeps the confusion out too. And before you start, the flaming posts DIE NOW!!!!

Uhh...I dont think 3dmark99max works in Win2k, according to the compatiability pages here. Yeah, 3Dmark2000/2001 should be what your running. Just download it from Mad Oninion's web site. Duh! Here's a little tip: All the programs that say they'll run under both Win98 AND NT4 will run under 2k. You could try the compatability program, but I dont think you'll be able to get it to work that way.

Hmm...other than the elsa thing, there is no diff that I can tell between them and the 12.00's.

I guess you could try McAfee, but I dont know. Ive always used NAV, becuase that program works fine. Whatever you go with, find out how often they update the antivirus. I know Symantec updates NAV just about every week. There's PCCillin also...see about a trial and go from there.

Rip off of Jimi Hendrix....

The only Symantec package that hasnt caused problems as far as I know is Norton Internet Security both personal and family. They both contain a firewall and the best antivirus. The faily edition includes filters. I always h a t e the fact that magazine reviews seem to go through a product once and if it doesnt screw up anything and they like all the features, sure they'll go and reccomend it. Nobody in the magazine buisiness seems to want to actually do a long term testing on anything. Ive found a ton of stuff that has been said to work great has some major issues that the reviewers didnt discover. I also h a t e it when you get any product and then you find out all the bugs in it that you werent expecting. Windows ME anyone? But not just OS's, I mean hardware too. I have this friend who Im certain his FIC AZ-11 is bad, because it unexpectadly locks up on a boot up and this green line comes over the top. Even when we updated the bios, the bios still locked up several times. Windows 98 has been installed 3 times since he bought the board and the same thing everytime. End rant...for now.

I think eXPerience, but not sure about it.

Since Ive seen a post start going this way, I figured to put up another poll. Hehe.

I also just thought of something: the registry is the worst evil from MS.

Ive used several versions, but this trial that I tried reminded me of why I stopped using it. Plus, I think that Disk Keeper is better than Norton Speed Disk. This last fiasco with NU may have been the root of my CD Burner issues, the BSOD about ntoskernel.exe being screwed up, a drop of 500 points in 3dmark2000 for no good reason. Now after my reinstall, everything is working perfectly! If something doesnt cause you problems, go a head and use it. For me, it has fouled up my pc's, and Im on #4 as my main rig, and on all of them NU has screwed stuff up. Its just that Win2k is really sensative to changes unlike 9x, so even the smallest screw up, and it goes nuts, dont ask me why.

Here's what I think: the threads only get closed when things get out of hand or people really complain about someone being a real pain. Its a last resort to keep the peace, before things really get ugly. At least that's my theory...

I cant say this always works, but Ive found software (games or apps) that run under both 9x AND NT 4 will run under 2k. As for Quake 3, I thought that ran fine w/o having to fool around with it to get it to run.

Try setting the IDE hard drive detection to AUTO in bios.

I figured I just pass along some advice: Dont use Norton Utilities!!!! Most of the programs will screw up your system, and resulting in a reinstall!! Norton Speed Disk is the only program in the NU suite that is safe to use, but Disk Keeper is a better defrag utility. A word to the wise...

Yeah, coppermines do that, forgot about that one. Oh well, enjoy dual 1GHz!!!