lager_brains

Hi Mark, Took a look at your site, couldn't find SP3 on there (I wouldn't install beta anyway but thanks). But, on my computer your website only stays on the screen for a few seconds and then get redirected to Lycos UK. Regards, Jez

I hear what some of you are saying, but doesn't having the latest service pack give you a kinda 'nice warm feeling inside' ! You know, that w2k is getting better and better (more solid and complete) thanks to the latest fixes. I run tons of apps, and don't really have any issues that I can think of (apart from that pesky webscan.exe error), so I don't know what I'm expecting sp3 to do for me. But...... .....could it not make my computer that bit more stable and run that bit more efficiently/faster/smoother ?? Maybe I might get less messages appearing in the event viewer as a result ?? Who knows !!!!!!!!!!!!

I've noticed now on TWO computers that before resizing the C: drive using Parition Magic that Word2000 opened fully within around 2seconds. After resizing c: with PM6 (and 7), I've noticed that Word2000 takes in excess of around 10seconds to open. The Word icons are what seem to holding up proceedings (as well as the Quick Launch icons - which seem to 'refresh' themselves). Also Excel seems to take longer to open than before. I've reinstalled SP2, this hasn't helped. And another problem I now seem to be having is that my cdplayer seems to spin at a zillion rpm yet doesn't actually do a lot (i.e. doesn't run the setup.exe file which is on the inserted cd). Please help, I have NO idea why this has happened. Machines are VERY clean otherwise, ran diskeeper, no beta or shareware software. Thanks in anticipation,

Yes, I have Diskeeper 6 and used this on both machines, no difference. FWIW, I use 'offline' filing (i.e. making directories available offline).

Hi AlecStaar, I know for SURE that Word is opening much slower than before. Others I THINK are opening slower (Photoshop & AutoCAD). I don't understand exactly what you mean regarding 'indexing service' and letting it 'run over your disks where it is housed.....' Can you explain a bit better for me (I've don't know what Index Service is) ? Thanks,

Hi Guys, I've tried reinstalling (not removing and installing) Office2000, no difference. Softwares both work fine once open, but they just take a lot longer to open than previously. Contacted PowerQuest - as usual, they'd 'never heard of it' but they are looking into this. Yes I understand I could reformat and reinstall everything, but that'd defeat the whole point of PM existing in the first place, right ?

Thanks AlecStaar, I tried what you suggested, unfortunately the cluster size is 4K. Any other ideas ??

I cannot for the life of me work out why after around several months of ownership of a Belkin Omnicube KVM 4-port switch box with no problems at all, it has now decided not to work. Basically, I have two machines, connected to this switch box and before I was able to switch between each machine with no problems. Then out of the blue, I have this problem (the pointer freezes or sometimes simply isn't there on startup - happens on either machine). Belkin reckoned it was to do with firmware so they sent me a replacement box, which worked the very first time I tried it. But now it too does not work (pointers freeze on startup with this new box). It all happens on start up. Start any machine up and at the point during the startup of W2k (SP2) where the pointer appears on the screen, I find it simply doesn't move and won't move. Occasionally, the pointer isn't there at all ! I cannot think of any software that I have recetnly installed which would have caused this. The only likely candidates (simply from a 'when they were installed' point of view) are; Winamp (very unlikely), McAfee DAT updates (possible ?), SP2 (very unlikely, it was working fine for at least 6 weeks with SP2 installed), I've also tried using a simply 2-button Microsoft mouse (instead of my preferred 3-button Intellimouse Pro) - this makes no difference 8) Please Guys, you've gotta help - this is desperate.

I'm thinking that with XP around the corner, could we see Microsoft stop 'supporting' W2K saying that 'it's there' in an effort to get us to go to XP ?? I'm very content with W2K (don't know about how others are fairing under SP2) so it could be that an SP3 might not be needed anyway. And I have no plans to go to XP ! Any comments ? I'm just curious what others might be predicting. Thanks, Jez

Thanks Bladerunner for your response.

I must admit, much as I really HATE some of MS's antics/business practices, that doesn't make it right to 'crack' their software.

Yes, but we're talking MS. Their OS are on 95% of the worlds PCs. Henry didn't own 95% of all gas stations/garages !

Exactly Donald, they didn't complain because Henry didn't have a monopoly; he made cars and others made fuel. So others could join in and make cars also..... MS however make the OS AND they make software. By making OSs they CAN and they HAVE dictated HOW WELL software runs on their OS and which ones can run BEST. That's your/my loss.

LOL (I can see this analogy is going to get out of hand !!!!) BUT already we are nearly ALL driving Ford's ! So by making the cars AND the Petrol, they (MS really) can control things just how they (MS) like it. If someone brings out a competitive fuel, they can change their cars to run bad on it (with the aid of a Service Pack - at the next routine service of course !) so we go back to Ford's fuel ! Seriously Bladerunner, EVERYWHERE I've read, Wordperfect is better than Word, Quicken is better than Money, Netscape is better than IE, Realplayer is better than Media Player, Linux/Unix/Mac is better than Windows etc etc etc. BUT MS has market share. Anything good/better comes out, they buy it and then what happens to it ? I'm not saying MS hasn't done anything for PCs, of course not, I'm just saying that WE don't have as big a choice or freedom of choice, or don't have the best possible set-ups because it isn't always in MS's interests that we do. BTW, I want to refine my analogy; Ford make cars, supply petrol and own the VAST majority of Petrol Stations (Ford just bought them all) !

I DO think MS are out of order as a company and they DO use their strength and size to pummel ANY competitor out of their way. A simple analogy would be, "Ford Motors making cars AND supplying the World with petrol. Other car manufacturers could become very uncompetitive because (extending my analogy further) Ford could keep secret the chemical structure of the petrol, or they could put in additives into the petrol to make their engines run better than the competition's etc etc etc. This type of behavoiur would put other car companies out of business or make them look uncompetitive or unattractive to the consumer." I know this is only an analogy BUT THIS IS EXACTLY how MS behaves. THAT IS WHY THEY ARE A MONOPOLY (All the world's cars could end up being Ford's) ! That's a FRIGHTENING thought ! Seriously though, look at APIs, JAVA, NETSCAPE, Realplayer etc etc etc etc (the list is large). We have/had the best under our noses, but MS just want to spoil the party by being a Bully. And to who ever said that MS don't charge too much for their products, I'd say that over the years I've paid over $1000 for UPGRADES to Office. How much has it REALLY changed ? PS Before anyone says, no I'm not pissed off that MS are that rich and I'm not !

Quote: Yeah. Drivers are fun huh? Thats why i dont jump on the band wagon to soon when a new OS comes out. I will wait and watch quietly for a little while b4 i snap-up XP Pro. I will wait for SP3/SP4 first b4 going to XP. Either way i think the future looks bright for all the current NT based OS's. -Mua Hi Mua, I agree with the above, but am not so sure about it 'looking bright for all current NT OS's' (I assume you also include XP in that). But I know where you're coming from. The reason I say 'am not so sure' is because of this dreaded 'Product Activation' thingy. I've heard a lot of negativity towards this so far (mind you I've been reading a lot of negativity towards MS in general recently - about XP and office XP, so I could be just a tad overdosed !). But in anycase, I don't like the sound of it. Also, I HOPE MS don't BULLY us re: W2K and XP, by stopping to support us on W2K early so as we go to XP sooner. I don't know if this'll happen, we'll just have to wait and see. Regards, Jez

Quote: I think one of the 'great things' that XP will improve over w2k on is application compatibility....so the beta testers tell me anyway. This will be of use to me and other network administrators who suffered a little going to Win2k from NT4 on a network with hundreds of different kinds of apps to support. On a home note though i have experienced some difficulties with older apps on W2k and apparently XP is going to resolve some of those issues. BUT! If SP3 is a huge improvent i may be at the back of the queue with ya! -Mua (and dont even start me on WinPatchMe!) Yes Mua, I've heard that in this area, XP excels. Jez

Keep your opinions coming Guys ! Its always nice to hear from around the world. As far as I'm concerned (and this is really my own personal, non-professional opinion, so please don't flame me!)..... I think MS may be in for a bit of a shock. Firstly, I think the timing of XP could be wrong for W2K users - that is if they are expecting/hoping them to upgrade to XP. I personally waited a fair amount of time before I was able to jump to W2K (from NT). I then waited a fair amount of time for SP2. Now, I'm really happy with my PC, what I can do with it and what it can do for me. I really have no complaints. But, no sooner has all this happened, they are going to bring out ANOTHER Operating System. I say, "give us a break!". CrayKillerMan, I too have all the latest and greatest software, but there just comes a time when you realise that you haven't totally exhausted what you have and what they are proposing you have isn't THAT much different than what you've already got. So why upgrade ? To say "I've got the latest and fastest software" ? Been there, done that....get's tiring. The other thing I think MS may have miscalculated is the 'Product Activation' thingy and the .NET stuff. None of my software is cracked, but I will admit that I am 'sharing' A VERY SMALL PROPORTION of software (Office, Autoroute, W2K) over my 3 home machines (over 2 people). Still that's wrong, but I guess MS are targeting even people like myself (as well as the 'hardended' pirate). We shall wait and see ! Thanks guys, Let me hear what you think ! Jez

Mua_dib, I read somewhere that XP is best on a latest PC and with large amounts of RAM.......'better with a new/latest pc than as an upgrade' (is what I've heard). I may well go to XP myself one day, but DEFINITELY I will NOT be one of the first in the queue (more like one of the last !). Also, I'm a little tired of getting the latest just for the sake of it - which I'll admit being guilty of in the past. Actually, I was happy with NT but I needed USB, so off to W2K I went. And I am glad I did but it's been expensive in terms of time/money/learning curve (learning curve as in installing OS, drivers, hardware issues etc etc as I am not an IT expert). Also, I'm not too sure about where MS is heading with licence issues and $$$ as far as the latest Office XP and Windows XP are heading towards (or indeed whether it is something I agree with). Basically I'm happy with what I've got and can't see much improvement as being essential. What 'great things' is it in XP which you are expecting ?? Regards, Jez

rgodart, <<<Finally all the drivers are out (after a year of waiting) and i'm not plannig to go trough the same troubles with winxp >>> I know exactly what you mean, I definitely don't want to go through that again ! In fact, these days I'm also putting off a lot of (what I would call) 'automatic' upgrades, e.g. office 2000 -> officeXP.....whats the point ?

Psychosword, I had this problem and I uninstalled/reinstalled Office to cure it. I found this article AFTER reading all of Microsoft's stuff..... http://cuip.uchicago.edu/pipermail/compteach/2000-December/000237.html

Hi, I have two computers connected together in a small network, and which I can toggle between using a KVM switch box. Is there a way I can 'share' my outlook messages. In other words from which ever computer I open Outlook, I'd like to see the same messages, same contacts etc etc. I log into each computer under a different name and of course each computer puts the outlook.pst file within it's respective C:\My Documents\Local Settings\application data\Microsoft\Outlook\ folder (by memory, so might be wrong). So there are seperate outlook.pst files for each computer. Can I not have them pointing to the same place ?? If so, how ?? Don't tell me registry edit (I don't feel confident touching the registry) Many thanks,

AllanV, This sounds promising, but I cannot find MS mail under Mail in Control Panel (Mail = "Outlook Mail Profiles")? BTW, I do have Office 2000. Jez

;( So Guys, the answer is ........

Hi Guys, I have a small network at home (3 pcs) all using W2K. I have a HP Laserjet 4 Plus Printer (and an Epson 3000 Color Stylus). At the moment I am JUST trying to get the Print Server to work with the LaserJet Printer FIRST. I have the latest drivers, all machines have SP2, all machines are fresh reinstalls of software, disks have been formatted and the machines are singing.... But I CANNOT get my newly purchased Netgear Print Server to work. I've checked the cables, I've even had Netgear send me a second Print Server (they suggested that the actual box may have been faulty) BUT I cannot print a test page without it printing a load of garbage. Any ideas. The printers I've had for a long time, they work fine if I plug them in the back of a PC. The first Print Server they delivered would only work fine if I connected the HP to the 3rd Parallel Port, the other 2 printed out garbage. The second Print Server they sent me simply prints garbage on all 3 parallel ports. The guy at Netgear ran out of ideas saying that these printers are very common and should not present any problems. Can anyone throw some light on this ?? Or is there a 'better' print server out there that I should be using ?? D-Link ?? Thanks for any help. Jez