Brian Frank

Your thinkin of the Registry, pimpin. I dont go there too much, just because like the WINNT file, you can screw your pc up. There are somethings as far as autorun features for startup that can be safely removed, however, using a tweaking utility, you can do that w/o risk and having to remember which registry key its under and then all the subkeys. See what you get with both 3dmark 2000 and 2001. If you can hit pretty close to 3000 on 2001, you're doing very good. On 2000, you should get close to 4600 w/o a problem, just get DX8 though, because 2001 needs it and 2000 will run better with it.

Okay, Im trying to figure this one out here. Ive got a Global Win FOP 38 and hooked up to the PSU. The thing is my mobo says its got around 41C/113F at idle, and it has hit as high as 123F/51C at high. I am overclocking a Duron 800 to 1016MHz at a 9.5 muliplier and a 107MHz FSB; my ram is already set up to 133MHz in bios so my ram is running at ~140MHz I guess, and my voltage is ~1.7 Volts. I have an Asus A7V bios 1007 and this was doing it with my Thermal Take Chrome Orb and maybe slightly higher with the C Orb. Is the temp sensor whacked, bios reading it wrong, or both? Also, Im using a silicon-based heatsink compound from Radio Shack. I know the blasted stuff worked before. Could having a full tower case have anything to do with this? I have the think decked out with fans, airflow from front to back and a 300W PSU. Whats the deal?

Yeesssss!!! This stuff works great! Dropped the cpu temp by 10 F! Now I should be in the safe zone with the overclock now!

For 3dmark2000/2001 go to http://www.madonion.com they created it. As for the WINNT folder, I'd shy away from that one, mainly because that contains most of Win2k, and theres the major possiblility that you could screw something up if you're not careful. Ahh, finally got some good heatsink compound--AMD approved too. Something by MicroSi, I really dont care what it is, but it works really good. Definitely good stuff. Got X-Setup yet, pimpin, very good tweaks in there to optimize and suck out the most from your system.

Got anything in PCI slot 1? Sometimes PCI 1 and the AGP slot share an IRQ, which is a problem. Try putting it in another PCI slot if possible. Make sure youve got the latest drivers for all your hardware, not just the mobo and NIC. Have you tried different versions of the Via drivers? Linksys? Do you have Service Pack 1 installed?

Heres the easy way: Boot off the Win2k cd and select the repair option instead of the install. The cd should find your WINNT file no problem, and just use the recommended repair option. You should be able to boot between 98 and 2k w/o a sweat. If for some reason you can only boot into Win2k, or want to set the length of time till it boots to the preferred OS here's how: Right click on MY COMPUTER--properties--Advanced--Startup and Recovery. There you can change the boot time and default OS. You shouldnt need to mess with the boot.ini file with this. Ive used the above with no problems. It's ideal to install 98 first and then Win2k, but I havent had problems with installing Win2k first.

Anton, Win2k is extremely hardware sensative, so if you are able to boot into Windows on your new system, it'll be a miracle. It will be better to do the reinstall now, as opposed to later when Win2k throws fits about the hardware. It would be to your advantage to do a fresh install, because you'll end up having to do it somewhere on down the line. Win2k wont complain about the cpu or ram, unless the ram has some IC issue with other ram sticks--but thats a rare scenario, but it will throw fits if you swap mobos. Even if you remove all the hardware, Win2k will probably not run at its best, or be as stable as if you did a clean install. Bottom line: Save yourself the hassle and do it now so you dont have problems in the future. I know this isnt the most ideal thing, but it will be worth the effort in the long run.

I might have some hsf compound that might fix this, because its AMD certified. The shop I got it at is trying very hard to stay on top of the certified stuff. Its not Arctic Silver, but I dont think AMD is just giving cetifications away. I'll see how this goes, as I really dont have anything else to loose.

Well, that could go along with the new ATA standard--serial ATA, which *could* limit how data is transferred, possibly raising hell when it comes to backups. The thing that bothers me the most, especially if MS decides to go along with this, is for those of us that have more than 1 pc. Look, even an upgrade will cost $100, unless there's a promo upgrade, and even then, I personally dont feel like buying a copy for each pc I have. Of course if this does come about, Im betting that there will be a rush for for the activation. Ive heard that this activation code has even some of MS's people p*ssed off. Hmmm... Well some of that stuff I can understand for consumer pcs, but not for my personal hobby. The noise level will definitely have to be answered though, because the latest cpu's--the AMD T-Bird and the Intel P4 are puttin out some serious heat, and big and loud fans on top of massive heatsinks are the way that they combat heat. Die shrinks will help, but cpu fans cant be louder than 50db and be on a desktop, and there needs to be an inexpensive but good cooling solution. Yes, there are water blocks and peltiers, but those are expensive solutions and that is used basically by extreme overclockers. The earlier stuff is not set in stone yet, and XP isnt on shelves yet, so MS may here the complaints and work on something else. If the code is done just by the hard drive, then you can basically get a new machine and not sweat it. Of course we'll all have to wait and see what MS finally decides.

Ive only heard of that reformatting in relation to Win2k. If your system runs fine, I really wouldnt bother with it.

Yeah, with all the fans I got in my Duron system, its loud. Im glad I dont leave that sucker open. Im also painting my case, for the fact that I can make it look cool.

IE 5.5, I'll wait on 6.0 as I havent seen any compelling reason to go to it yet.

Well, first off, you couldnt have had that entire setup for 1.3 years as DDR has only recently begun to appear on motherboards. As for the intellimouse, make sure youve got at least the 3.2 drivers for it. If it didnt come with your mouse, you should be able to download it from Microsofts website somewhere.

Ahh yes, an older Via chipset, and socket 7 to boot. If you've got all the latest drivers for everything and all the patches, you should be good to go, unless you dont have a 250 watt power supply. Socket 7 is just not great for today's gaming, and its not necessarily the socket cpus that are the problem, its the chipsets. Gigabyte has a couple boards based on an ALi chipset and those boards have caused problems consistently. If youve got everything patched up and the latest drivers, a bad chipset is still a bad chipset and the only way around that is a new motherboard and cpu. Possible problems other than the chipset just being a bad chipset: not enough power--make sure the power supply is at least 250 Watts; something is getting too hot, either the cpu or the voodoo 2 itself is getting past the point of functioning and it hoses up on you---this is an easy fix, just pick up a case fan and/or cpu fan, they're about $10 apiece; also on the voodoo 2, that's a video accelerator and not a full-fledged video card--the fix for that would be to make sure the on-board video or the video card you have has the latest drivers. Question: Is it absolutely necessary that you play CS on a server? Another thing, is this the only game(s) that crash or do other games and apps do this too?

Motherboard. Its a phrase some of us have picked up, and then automatically assume everyone in nerdland knows it too. My bad.

I get the jist of what you're saying, even though I dont speak a word of French. Try getting the latest drivers for it.

Well, thanks for the help, shs and clutch. Unfortunately, that didnt work for me. I did find out that the homepage of each site wasnt coming up, so I just got a different page on the site and bookmarked that instead.

Try running the emergency repair option off the Win2k cd. Boot off of it like you would to install, but hit 'R' instead of 'Enter'. I cant guarantee that will work, but its worth a shot if nothing else. It will attempt to find the WINNT directory, and will let you know if it has a problem.

Okay, this is at people who have a problem and rattle that off and then expect a fix w/o leaving their hardware specs. HOW HARD IS IT TO LIST THE DAMN SPECS?!!!!!

Sale! Sale! All souls half off, before I get rid of them. Hahahaha!

If youve got Win2k, make sure youve got Service pack 1 installed. Also, make sure you have the latest drivers for your chipset and mobo. Check MSI's website for them.

Yes, there is a service pack for Win2k...dont tell me you dont use the Windows update feature, its usually on the start menu, unless you deleted it. Getting the service pack will help, but it will take a while to download, so if youve got a 56k modem, start it right before you go to bed. DLS or cable, plan for an hour to download and install, but that depends on how good the speed is. Whats your mobo?

Okay, first thing, please dont double post. Second, I see your cpu and video card, but what's your mobo. Do you have Service Pack 1 installed? Do you have the latest drivers for your mobo, video card, modem, ethernet card? When we say specs, a lot helps if you list the mobo too. Are you overclocking? Do you have at least a 250 Watt power supply? Do you have good enough cooling on the cpu?

Its a D-link 701 hub, and a D-Link DSS 8+ router---I think that's correct. And we do have the workgroup set up as Franknet and all computers are members of it. Its just that Im probably doing something wrong because my win2k only box is the worst when it comes to networking from ME/98 boxes. That inhibits me when Im booted in ME on my dual boot box. Well thanks, I'll have to see how it does, shs.

If you have an Athlon or Duron cpu, get this patch right here. http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon-duron/amd_win2k_patch.html Yes, please list specs too. We can help you better if we know what youve got.