Poxnor

Okay, this has to be the weirdest solution I've ever heard for the SBLive! crackling -- it was a suggestion I received from a little hole-in-the-wall-computer-shop's tech support...and it worked! One thing you have to understand about the SBLive! is that it doesn't like outputting high-volume line out signals. If it tries to output something at too high of a volume, it'll start crackling and popping. So go into your master volume control on the Windows 2000 taskbar. Set the Master Volume to less than half. And set all the other volumes (MIDI, Wave, CDAudio, etc) to half. Then just crank your speakers to get the extra volume back. This solved all my crackling problems (that I've tested so far). I was just so excited that I wanted to share this with all of you. I hope this helps some of you as well

<nod> I tried Turbo as well. It works quite beautifully. The reason I chose CPU Killer over Turbo was because CPU Killer has a command-line launcher (ie. you can start Warcraft II and CPU Killer simultaneously from a single shortcut). Best of luck!

I don't know how much help this will be, but I thought I'd post it for you anyway: I've never personally been able to get Warcraft II working properly under Windows XP. But, because I have 98SE on the same machine, I run it there... Instead of Mo'slo, I use CPU Killer (because Mo'slo wouldn't actually slow down my computer -- it was too fast...anyone with this problem should try CPU Killer). That's how I'm playing Warcraft II... Not sure how relevant this is for you though (ie. whether or not you have a 98SE boot).

Hello, I was curious -- is Windows XP Service Pack 1 Beta available for download anywhere? If so, where? Thanks for your help --Poxnor

That sounds like a good rule of thumb Thanks!

Hehe, way to go I read about this patch a little while ago on EidosGames.com. Thank you for your effort in helping to make FFVII work on XP. If soundfonts could work well for FFVII under XP, the game would be at 'perfect' level.

Oh, okay Thanks for your replies. Since it isn't openly available yet (and still has issues as you mentioned), I think I'll wait until the final version is out before I put it on this machine. --Poxnor the happy

Hey McBane, Not a stupid question at all, so no worries. Unless you upgraded from another version of Windows (as in, directly installed Windows XP over Windows 98/ME/2k/etc), the only way to uninstall Windows XP that I know of is to format your drive (using a boot disk could make this easier). Be sure to back up all of your important documents and programs before doing this, if formatting is the only option available to you. If anyone knows a better way of uninstalling Windows XP, I'd be most grateful to learn it as well --Poxnor

Hello guys, I am running Windows XP on my system, and all is going more-or-less well, except for two "problem spots" if you will. There are two things that consistently cause crashes on my system. I was hoping that maybe someone may be able to help pinpoint a cause or solution to either of these problems I've included my system specs at the bottom of this message. ----------------------------------- Problem 1: The Kazaa-Explorer Crash ----------------------------------- Problem 1 is as follows: Whenever I am running Kazaa, regardless of whether the window is opened, minimized, or even iconized by the clock in my task bar, problems ensue. If I so much as type a single letter of text in an open explorer window (ie. when I type in a web address to go to, or even if I type anything in the address field on my taskbar), the explorer window immediately crashes. I tried installing the Windows Update application compatibility patch which promised to resolve problems with Kazaa, but to no avail. If anyone has experience similar problems, and has any idea how to deal with it, your time for a response would be greatly appreciated (Thankfully, this problem isn't major, because I can always just close Kazaa when I want to type something in an explorer window, but that can be a pain, and sometimes I forget...I ran Windows 2000 Professional for a while, and I never had any problems of this sort with Kazaa). ------------------------------ Problem 2: The Patch From Heck ------------------------------ Alright, the second concern I am facing has to do with a patch released a while ago on Windows Update. It is the hotfix that supposedly resolves the "Your system has recovered from a serious error" message on reboot (From hereon, I'll just refer to it as "the patch") Problem is, that patch and my nVidia detonator driver do not seem to get along. (I know that sounds stupid, but it seems that those two entities hate each other or something, hehe). Here goes: When the patch first came out, I was running Det 23.11. I installed that little patch, rebooted, and everything seemed alright. That was, until the first time I tried to play any of my games (Worms World Party, Final Fantasy VIII, etc). I would get an immediate reboot as soon as the game started (as in, right after I clicked on the icon to start it). Figuring this was a blue-screen error, I turned off the auto-reboot option, and sure enough, a blue screen error it was. I apologize, but I did not have the sense to write it down. If anyone needs to know what it is, just post a message for me, and I'll replicate the problem and write it down this time. So, I uninstalled the patch, and everything worked just fine again. Then, the current dets (28.32) came out. So, I installed those dets, and decided, "Hey, let's give the patch a try again" So, I installed the patch again; but this time, the results were even worse. I'd get a blue screen right at WinXP startup (at about the point where the black screen with the blue scrolly thing disappears and the logon screen would appear). So, I went into safe mode, and decided to try a little experiment. In safe mode, I uninstalled my dets, and set my video driver to be just the default driver that comes with Windows XP. I rebooted, and everything worked fine. So, in the end, I wound up uninstalling the patch and reinstalling my 28.32 det, cause the standard Windows driver is icky, hehe. I was just wondering if anyone had experienced similar problems, or if the knew a solution. Thank you very much for helping me look into these problems. Your time is greatly appreciated ------------ System Specs ------------ Athlon 1.4 GHz, on Asus A7M266 256 Meg DDR Ram Asus GeForce 3 Ti500 (w/TV out) Soundblaster Live! 5.1 Dolby Digital Pioneer DVD Rom Plextor Plexwriter CD-Writer Panasonic E70 monitor If anyone needs any more information, please do not hesitate to ask for it. As I've said, and I truly mean it, your effort (in even reading through this entire question, hehe) is something that I am very thankful for --Poxnor

Thank you for your reply Sorry I took so long to reply -- I've been away for a while. Do you know where I would be able to report the problem with the hotfix? I don't get a nice little dialogue box asking me if I want to submit an error report when I reboot after the blue-screen. Thanks for your help! --Poxnor

Heyo guys, I figured out the solution to one of my problems -- the Kazaa crash. I simply installed KazaaLite in place of Kazaa, after uninstalling Kazaa then running Ad-aware to remove those foul adware thingies. Has anyone thought of anything about the hotfix-invoked crash? Thanks guys

Find a system slowdown utility, would be my recommendation. I know I use one called "Turbo," but I can't remember where I found it. Try looking around the net. They are pretty easy to find. The thing I like about Turbo is that it works, even on faster computers. A lot of the others have either difficulties on faster computers, or you have to pay to get the product that slows down fast computers.

Hello guys and gals! I was wondering if I may be able to get a bit of advice from all the friendly folk out there. I'm going to be installing WinXP Pro onto my box in a few days (after Christmas). But I want to keep a 9x OS around for compatibility purposes (Final Fantasy VII <grin>). I'm going to be using PartitionMagic 7.0 to manage by multiple OSes. So I'd just like to pose the question to all of you: Which would be the better second OS to keep around, 98se or ME? Personally, I've had some bad experiences with Windows ME becoming quite unstable (even to the point of it crashing on its very first boot after install). But I've heard that with proper tweaking, it can become a good OS. Can anyone offer any support or refutation to this? Also, another thing I'd like to know: Does ME provide any bonus, or added features over 98se? Is anything taken away, or lost from 98se? Are there any tweaks that would improve stability or performance on either OS? How about the order I install my drivers, etc. in? Would these things make a big difference, or is that mostly wives' tales and hype that order of install matters? Now, I know that this topic can get quite heated, so I'd like to personally ask everyone to keep this to a cool and reasonable discussion, hehe. Can you guys do that for me...flames scare me Thank you very much, in advance, for your advice, opinions, and help! --Poxnor AMD T-Bird 1.4 GHz (266) Asus A7M266 Motherboard (AMD Northbridge, Via Southbridge) 256 Megs PC2100 DDR(266) RAM SBLive 5.1 Dolby Digital Creative Labs GraphicsBlaster RivaTNT Plextor PlexWriter 16/10/40A Umm, that's about all the important hardware I can think of, if it matters...drop a line if the hardware of my computer is going to play an important role in the 98se vs. ME debate, and I can post more specifics

Sorry to say, but I'm quite certain that there is no solution to this, at least yet. Myself and several other people were originally involved in an attempt to get FF7 running under Win2k, and unfortunately, this was as good as it got under 2000 as well (everything but the chocobo races). We also made a valiant, but seemingly fruitless attempt on WinXP with the same results. Personally, I wouldn't use my time trying to make it run under either of these OSes until a revalataion from a higher power comes (read: a patch from either Eidos or Microsoft, depending on what gets patched -- if anything does in the end). Sorry to say

Hmm, I know that my situation may not entirely apply, but here goes: I also own an A7M266, and I have an SBLive!5.1. I had a problem very similar to your under Windows 2000. I tried everything from PCI Latency fixes, to different custom-made driver sets by 3rd parties, to moving which slot it was in. In the end, though, the solution I found that worked was much, much simpler. I opened up my volume control, and set the Wave, Midi, CD (etc) playback volumes to 50%. I then set the master volume control to about 20%. Finally, I cranked my speakers This worked beautifully, hehe. It was actually a fellow from a little hole-in-the-wall computer shop that explained to me that many of the Creative soundcards don't have the highest-quality audio decoders on them (regardless of what they advertise), and as such, if they are sent a really high amplitude signal (in other words, a really loud thing to decode), they wind up mucking it up and decoding it into static and empty noise (that results in skips). So, when I moved up to Windows XP, I immediately did the same thing (50% on my Wave, Midi, CD, etc. And with XP, I found I could actually bring my master up to around 50% without problems too). And I haven't had any problems. Now, I realize that I'm using a Live!5.1 and you're using an Audigy, so the problem and solution may not be exactly the same. But I figure, knowing Creative, they'd leave a mucky problem like in their product line from one generation to the next. So perhaps it would be worth a try to just turn down the Windows volume control settings a crank your speakers Tell me how it goes -- Poxnor

Personally, I would recommend SoundForge for your needs. It may be a little more than what you're looking for... But you can play and edit mp3 files. You can rip from CD to mp3. You can convert all sorts of file types. And it's all standard Windows interface. Again, it may be a little more than what you expect. But give their free trial a try. http://www.soundforge.com , I believe

Heyo, Though I've never experienced this myself, I've heard something to the effect that FF7 and the Ge2 don't get along after a certain detonator driver (21.81, or 12.41? I don't really remember). I'd look up the information, but unfortunately, I have to run... It's at www.eidosgames.com --> Forums --> Final Fantasy VII Read through the many posts regarding GeFs and FF7. Most have to deal with people not being able to get Hardware Accel to work for them (which I thought DirectX 8.1 solved practically single-handedly <shrug>), but I remember seeing some other stuff as well. Good luck --Poxnor

Heyo, I'm trying to help a friend, who's computer has a rather persistent problem that I cannot figure out. When running Word XP (Under Win XP), sometimes the computer entirely locks up. While I am typing, occassionally, the top half of the cursor will have moved to the right to reveal the top half of the next letter I typed, but the bottom half of the cursor will not have moved, and the bottom half of the next letter I typed will not have appeared. The system is completely unresponsive -- with a complete mouse and keyboard lockout (pressing num Lock doesn't even toggle the light on the keyboard). I thought that this may have been a video driver issue, so I went to the website of the company that makes the motherboard (as the video chip is integrated onto the motherboard on this computer) and I downloaded the most recent driver. Unfortunately, there was no WinXP driver available, so I downloaded the Win2k driver, and it loaded fine. However, I received the the same problem with both the WinXP default driver that was loaded on WinXP install, and with the new Win2k driver. The same problem occurred under both Word 2000 and Word XP (I tried uninstalling and reinstalling, even with a different version of Office), but to no avail. All the latest WinXP updates from WindowsUpdate have also been installed, as well as Office XP SP1. If anyone has any suggestions as to what may be a cause of this, I would be very grateful for their feedback I've provided what I can recall of my friend's system specs below, along with some comments. Unfortunately, my friend got suckered into buying some pre-packaged system, and I cannot even open her case without voiding her warrenty <grumble> But anyhow, here they are, with some comments attached: PS. I don't know if it's important, but this computer runs like a bloody dump truck...it tends to lag and be generally choppy. It isn't exactly the fastest computer in the world (Celey 600, 256 Meg RAM), but even my mother's computer (PIII 450, 192 Megs RAM) runs faster / smoother than my friend's. Does anyone else find this odd? - Celeron 600 - S741-LMR Motherboard is written on the box, and I presume that this means there's an Amptron PII-3741LMR motherboard inside, as that's the closest match to the name I could find anywhere, and the specs seem to match http://www.amptron.com/html/m741lmr.html - Integrated SIS 620 Video - Integrated Sound - ACPI is turned off on the computer /* Would reinstalling WinXP w/ACPI support maybe help solve this problem? I've heard ACPI is notorious for both helping with and/or causing problems */ That's about all I can think of for now. But if anyone would like any more information, or could offer any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask me -- I would greatly appreciate any feedback I could get. Thanks =)

And the support just keeps on a comin'... http://www.eidosinteractive.com/support/faqinfo.html?fqid=256&gmid=44 Suitably ironic that they cannot even spell chocobo

Thanks for your feedback It's very much appreciated! The odd thing is, Excel runs fine...so I'm not too sure if this is a matter of OS intensity. It would be odd to have one program running fine, and it's practical equal to be occassionally locking up the entire computer? Just out of curiousity, though, could you describe to me what a page fault is? I've heard the term many times, but I'm not sure exactly what it entails. Thank you very much --Poxnor

Running certain software can also cause this too. I don't know all the causes (and there are definately many, from what I've seen). But one I do know of (for certain) is running versions of BlackICE Defender Firewall previous to 2.9.caq I know this exact cause probably doesn't apply to most people, but in case it does...

Hey guys, I've been having the aforementioned BSOD pop up on my WinXP computer from time to time (every five minutes), until I read a posting on an obscure little corner of the net (I'm terribly sorry -- I'd give credit to the person who posted it, but I honestly can't find the site anymore, or remember whose advice it was I read). I see a few people around here have been having the same BSOD problem, so I thought I'd post this here: To anyone who uses BLACKICE DEFENDER...umm, don't It would seem that using it under WinXP, at least for now, is the cause of many evil BSODs (or sudden reboots, for those of you who have BSODs turned off), and could be a major contributing factor to the IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAT_OR_EQUAL BSOD. Now, this just comes from my personal experience, but since I removed BlackIce and installed McAfee Firewall (which, in my opinion, seems no where as good), I haven't had a single BSOD. I'm running on about 1.5 hours without a BSOD. So I suppose this could be a fluke. But I'm hoping that this turned out to be a solution, so I thought I'd pass it along. If I wake up tomorrow to a BSOD, I'll be back to complain about it, and look really stupid PS. McAfee Firewall installed about as easily as...umm, I'm tired, no analogies are coming to mind, hehe. It installed with much difficulty. I've made a little one-zillion step guide to installing it and having it work under XP, so if anyone is curious for that, just give me a buzz and I'll post it PPS. It's 5:30 AM local time, which is probably why I sound weird and dopey. Either I'll edit this message tomorrow morning so I don't sound so stupid, or I'll get a good laugh at it and decide to leave it as is for humour value. Nighty night all!

I meant the display of blue screens, hahah (the instant reboot upon BSOD option) Don't we all wish we could turn them off for good...

It appears that NetworkICE has released a patch for BID that claims to eliminate this BSOD problem. If anyone is using BlackICE and having this problem, give it a try: www.networkice.com -> Support -> Downloads I have yet to try it myself (I had uninstalled BID and switched to Sygate Beta 5, which seems to work nicely). But for anyone still on BID, this patch may help

Heyo, I seem to recall that Nero was on the list of Applications that are aided by the WinXP Application Compatibility Patch, though I'm not sure which versions it was. If you haven't already installed this patch, you may want to grab it at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com I'm not sure if this'll fix your problem or not (or if you've already installed this fix), but it may be worth a shot. Best of luck