Ali

do you have too many SPYWARES on the system? are you connected to high-speed internet? do you have alocal network or use network devices (printer, router, etc.)? Use Ad-aware to scan for spywares. see if you can use a firewall software to track down all the network activities. please let us know!!!

one more thing!! good luck if you have an integrated VGA or you have it on a labtop. you are stock with it forever!!!!

Quote: Buy an Nvidia card. You'll be set. Yea sure, but for a dual monitor you pay a good $200++ Even if you pickup a cheap Radeon VE for less than $100 CDN you can throw any S3 product away for good. i have had so much problems with this S3 cards (Savage 4, 2k, etc.) that i'm sick of all S3 products. for some reasons they gave up on making new drivers too!!!!

Quote: Hey dragon not to share your thread but I was wondering the same about my situation. I will also be playing alot of games, dvds etc on my system. I own both win2k pro and winXP pro. Which do you guys feel I would be more happy with. Thx I like XP better because it is more flexible taht 2k (with my favorite "msconfig" at least). they are both good OS's but you know!!! XP is supported a lottle better now and i had some Video capturing problems when i used 2k on my system (Video for windows not supported under 2k) for me XP is the best. (gaming, work, internet, dvd, a lot of video editing)

Quote: From my experiences alone, the Audigy drivers have compatibility issues with XP... i have installed a hundered of them, i got one for my brother too, never had any problems.

just wipe the drive why bother. in these cases i use norton ghost and ghost the whole thing over from any other hard drive, then followed by a full format (not quick if i have the time!) Kill that ID10T!!!

I don't care!! as long as I can use "msconfig" to see what's on startup that's enogh!!! (a little fix on this post: there is this advantage of having MSCONFIG in XP which makes the life easier!!! )

Unfortunately there are many different modems which use the same connexant chip, and most of the time they use ifferent drivers. If "Soft 56k" (that is picked up by windows XP) doesn't work you have to install the drivers from its original cd (if it has any XP compatible ones) if not then good luck on searching on google for Win XP Connexant 56k modem drivers. ther is no more advice other than checking your line for noise and etc. (contact telephone company?!?) Sorry i can't help any better, i install these Connexant modems everyday and everytime the color of the box changes I cry!!!! Imagine doing services!!! :x

i already have a poll running on that!!!! it seems like you have to find out what program is slowing your computer down and reinstall some of the device drivers too. i think it is a common problem if you have not installed SP1 on a CLEAN installation of windows (windows only without apps or some of the drivers) i had some problems too... good luck.

just got XP SP1 about 2 weeks ago, but i have a feeling my windows is not as stable. i had to reinstall my graphics and audio drivers and my explorer crashes and restarts on every little event. I'm not overclocking the system anymore and ran Ramtester and Burn-in tests on the computer but there is no Hardware problems. no problematic programs on startup, no viruses or spywares. has anybody else had any problems with SP1? any suggestions?

Hey guys!!! and girls???! (I beg your pardon but all Canadian technicians are male, or if I don't stereotype, all the ones i have ever seen are!!) that'a besides the point!! (getting into conversations with the girlfreiend too much) :x after installing SP1 you have to install the "Problematic"programs again. after i did a clean installation, i installed SP1 before even i installed the drivers (right after installatin of windows). now in fact i don't seem to have as many problems!! well, i think the upgrade has a lack or something and it does not work for all the programs that are already installed. it is proven to me...... I HAVE TESTED TI MORE THAN ONCE>>!>!>!> :x (Kids... take my advice and don't stick to computers too much, they drive you nuts!!!) thank you all

I need a DVD Backup Program ASAP! please if you know anything that works so i could copy this DVD into my HDD in any format letme know. Thank you

i think i'm going to try some more programs that i have been already truggling with!! Every program i try it has a lack of somesort. Easy Divx does rip the dvd's but i can't get the sound to work. I got another program called Easy DVD, i could never get it to work since the beginning. i think i'm going to stick to my VOB files a little longer. i'm going to give a last try to this DVDx and see if it works. my brother was working with it and he ended up with nothing. i have to try it myself!! thanks a lot for all your responds, if there is anything else, tricks or something i really appreciate it if you let me know. thanks again.

Thank you very much for all the replies. I used the Divx program, but the sound didn't seem to be there on the final .avi file. i tried stereo and AC3 options but still no sound. i don't have the actual dvd disk now but it somehow created the scenes in the temp. folder and i can play thoes at full resolution and sound (even AC3 works, it has a seperate file that i can play with Power DVD XP). It's better than nothing. in fact it is just like the dvd itself with .VOB after it!!!) ;( I'm a rokie in this so i have no idea what is going on!!! is there anyway that i could use the .VOB files and convert them to .MP2 or MPG ? thanks again, i appreciate all your responds

Windows media player 9 series crashes all the time on many formats. even the files that i have been able to play with 8.1. is it a common problem too?

Quote: .... but the thing is about routers they cost a fortune so yeah that's out of the question for now untill i can afford it then yeah i will eventually get one. Neo There are routers that cost less than a $100 Canadian. (D-Link for example is $89 CAD) are they more expecsive over there?

i had a lot of networking issues with zone alarm at work and at home. so i got rid of it altogether. it has an option where you could add trusted IP add. to access your computer. but i find it not working properly all the time. ;( i think it is a problem with the program itself. i could never get it to work when it came to networking part! ;( I decided to get rid of it when a hacker hacked into it and kept putting viruses on our main computer at work. ;( ZA couldn't stop the guy. he could change its settings. i installed a router with firewall built into it and i never saw that guy again.

try this http://www.drd.dyndns.org/howto/cdboot.html

I really appreciate your responce. because of my job it seems to be important to know how people feel about this.

You know it is kinda freaky!!! ever since i have posted this topic from this morning this computer has not done anything funny yet. i have NOT made any changes to my software or hardware but its working!!! I think it understand me now :x i have been working with these things too much i guess :x

the problem is it shows the intro movies and then just exits the program (like it crashes and windows terminates the task) it won't show any 3D and hardware generated scenes, not even the main menu. if you run it in compatibility mode then it runs with no problems.

AHHHHH.... I always hated NT4. Burn it down!!!!!! :x

I think Win 2k pro is $150CAD more expensive than XP Home if you want to buy it as OEM. if you don't care about the money go with XP Pro which costs as same as 2k Pro. you can do the math from here!!!!

Any programs running in background? once some network service gave me such a problem but when we disconnected the network plug it seemed to go back to normal. I don't remember how we fixed it. (this doesn't seem to be the same problem as you are having since you have taken the NIC out) Have you tried leaving the task manager open to see what program has the most CPU usage at the time when mouse and/or keyboard stops responding. there might be a clue.

how many stcks of memory are you using? ;( if you are using more than 1 stick, one of them could be bad. put them on one by one and test the system with each of them to see if you get the same problem. if the memory is not good Win XP may give you a blue screen or later you may end up with corrupted files. :x TIP: a better way is to run a memory test on each stick for few hrs. you can download a trial version of bunch of them from download.com