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Topic: Wow, what a nightmare |
erik
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Posted 18 Jun 2001 5:47 pm |
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So, after my brilliant idea to format my hard disk, i spent over 6 hrs trying to install Windows and my other programs. I've managed to get most of then working, but i still get bugs popping up. Should have left well enough alone.
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 19 Jun 2001 3:08 am
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erik, try to use it as a learning experience, and I mean that - not joking. There's a lot of people that would attempt that and never get it going. They would wind up having to take it in or have someone come to their house and get it straightened out (I know I've made house calls before and I have one on Wednesday to get a CD burner going).
PC's are not "plug it in, turn it on and everything works" as the advertisements suggest. There's always some problem to overcome. The more you know, or learn, the better off you are when a problem does arise.
For some, like myself, those kinds of challenges are fun - just to be able to "outwit" the PC and make it work anyway. |
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erik
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Posted 19 Jun 2001 6:28 am
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I spent at least 30 minutes on the phone with the assembler/retailer of the computer. He walked me through FDISK and FORMAT. He even got me a contact at the manufacturer. It is assumed it is either a bad Windows CDrom or just the OS itself. I just kept forcing programs on the computer with multiple restarts, and it's working, but buggy. BTW, all my consultation is free, even though i'm past warranty. One good thing about buying from an individual.
Jack, i'll ask you, see if you have come across this before:
When i load Windows 98SE it goes through the whole process smoothly, until the last page(around 6 minutes left)where it says "updating system settings", with the little box with the progress bar and playing drum. It gets stuck about a third of the way for about 2 minutes(time remaining(6 min) does not change), then it proceeds and the box flashes active/inactive (blue/gray) a few times then just as it completes i get a fatal error with codes like 0028:0000000, or similar. I have also had errors with my additional program disk supplied by the manufacture. The additional disk has graphics accelerator, and other drivers that replace Windows drivers, like modem, etc. PC-cillin virus software. It also provides a mp3 player, ripper,etc. I got most of the important stuff in. Didn't get the LAN drivers in, nor a voice/fax program. I don't need either, right now. So, do you think it's my O.S. or motherboard?
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 19 Jun 2001 8:24 am
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erik, Windows is the "OS" (Operating System). Apparently it is something it doesn't like about Win98.
What kind of CPU is it (Pentium, PentiumII, AMD K6, etc) and the speed. Also how much memory do you have?? Although memory shouldn't play a part in just installing the software if it is relativly small (e.g. less than 24mb) it could be a problem. Actually for Win98 you should have a MINIMUM of 64Mb. An older CPU could also cause some problems (such as a Pentium I or a 486).
The error code doesn't tell me anything and I doubt that the Windows Installation CD is bad (unless it is a copy - not an original CD). You may have to do another "clean" install and don't add any additional software such as the virus, MP3 players, etc until you get the basic Windows OS going. Sort of one step at a time instead of having multiple potential problem areas. |
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Bill Crook
From:
Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance
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Posted 19 Jun 2001 4:43 pm
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It has been my luck to have to reinstall Window SE a few times. In general it may take 3 or 4 attempts to re-load the O/S back on the computer. For some reason, (who knows,power glicthes,even your frig starting up running,etc,etc) the computer gets hung up.
Windows ME is by far is the worst O/S that I have ever tried to install. Even after it's installed,it works marginally at best. I would not advise anyone to up grade to "Windows ME".
I would suggest go from "Windows 98SE" to "Windows 2000 Professional" only. In my book, "Windows 2000 Pro" is what "Windows 95" should have been to begin with.
[This message was edited by Bill Crook on 19 June 2001 at 05:44 PM.] |
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Chip Fossa
From:
Monson, MA, USA (deceased)
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Posted 19 Jun 2001 4:59 pm
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Bill, thanks for your thoughts about ME.
I guess I'm stuck with it, as it came with
this under-a-year-old HP Pavilion PC that I
bought.
Of course, what would I know about ME verses
any of the other Windows OS's?
However, I have Roadrunner [AT&T] Cable, and all in all, it, and the PC seem to work OK for what I'm
doing.
Jack, however, likes ME....of course
Jack knows a whole lot more about the internal workings than I could ever hope to understand.
Can you give a couple of 'specifics' as to why you think ME is the worse of the OS's.
Thanks Bill,
Chip[This message was edited by CHIP FOSSA on 19 June 2001 at 05:59 PM.] |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 20 Jun 2001 3:27 am
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Windows 2000 is NOT an upgrade for Win98. Windows 2000 is designed for commercial workstation and server applications and is an upgrade for Windows NT.
If you upgrade to WIN2000, there are minimum hardware requirements and you must have special WIN 2K compliant drivers for your devices - and many devices do not have drivers for WIN2K. Also WIN2K does not support multimedia applications like the "consumer" versions. Many computer manufactures that sell "consumer" version PC's have not certified those PC's for WIN2K and do not support WIN2K for those machines. On those machines if someone installs WIN 2K they are on their own.
Windows ME requires minimum hardware and if you do not have the minimum hardware requirements it will not run properly. I've seen some that have tried WIN ME with older hardware, such as a Pentium 1 or an older AMD K6 processor and with small memory and it will not run or run properly. However, if you have the hardware to support Windows ME it does run better than the older OS's.
I do not get the "blue screen of death" - with Win ME (the windows system fault that hangs up the PC and it has to be powered off/on to restart).
Software is another area. I have one customer that it took 2 years for it to sink through. He would buy a $4 software package (game, etc) that was an old obsolete version and many designed to run on old 8086 or 286 machines and with older DOS and then try to run it on his newer machine with WIN98 and they wouldn't run properly or hang up and some would not even load. After I finally told him "don't call me" he got the message and quit buying the old junk. Point is, some older software will not run with the modern Operating Systems (either the consumer or the Win2K commerical versions). As the operating systems are upgraded a lot of the backward compatibility is gone. e.g. Win2K (and Win NT) is not designed to support DOS programs.
The upcoming Windows XP will have even more stringent hardware requirements and many PC's that are running Windows ME will not be able to run XP. There will be those that don't have the proper hardware that will try and then claim XP is a piece of crap. |
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erik
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Posted 20 Jun 2001 1:11 pm
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Jack,
My system goes something like this:
Amptron system with Xcel 2000 chipset
Slot 1 or socket 370. 66mhz and 100mhz bus supported. I have a Celeron 533mhz processor.
126mg ram, up to 768 supported
64bit 3D AGP graphics accelerator w shared memory up to 8mg. 16 bit duplex sound system.
1 32 bit PCI exp slot or,
1 8/16 bit ISA slot
52x CDrom
10g Maxter HD
floppy drive
modem and LAN support (LAN driver won't load now.)
Bundled software for Corel Word Perfect 8, Gamut mp3, wav rip/play, PC-cillin, SuperVoice fax/modem, MediaRing Talk, etc.
I bought it from www.mini3.com The system i got is no longer on that site. They've upgraded componants. |
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Bill Crook
From:
Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance
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Posted 20 Jun 2001 6:17 pm
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Jack....
| Quote: |
| Windows 2000 is NOT an upgrade for Win98. Windows 2000 is designed for commercial workstation and server applications and is an upgrade for Windows NT. |
You are absolutly correct. I had forgotton that I set the computer up as a work-station. (Eventho I operate it like a standalone system.)
It sounds like Erik purchased on of them packaged computer deals where everything is pre-loaded. He may need to run the "Restore" CD disk to get his system back.
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erik
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Posted 20 Jun 2001 6:31 pm
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No restore disk. I started all they way from erasing FDISK primary to FORMAT, and fresh install. I just have bugs somewhere.
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Bill Crook
From:
Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance
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Posted 20 Jun 2001 6:43 pm
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Erik....
I went out and looked at the site where you purchased your system, It looks like they sell the pre-loaded computer systems. You should have gotten a bunch of CD disk with it. In general,these disk contain all files and programs necessary to get the computer back to the original sale status. (includeing O/S system) As you noticed, you didn't get any thick manuals on any of the software at all.
You might try to do the re-install from these disk as oppose to useing a true M/S operateing system.
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 20 Jun 2001 8:56 pm
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Hey Eric; just get your manual that came with the computer and lookup Recovering Software and go by the instructions; and like Bill said it will tell you the CD's that came with the computer and prompt you on which one to load and how to do it.
Ricky[This message was edited by Ricky Davis on 20 June 2001 at 09:59 PM.] |
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erik
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Posted 21 Jun 2001 4:16 am
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Thanks for the tip, Mike. I'll see what i can do with that.
Bill and Ricky, yes i have the CDroms for reloading. I have a genuine Windows 98SE CDrom, then i have one CDrom with all the other programs, then i have a seperate CDrom for Corel. My problem is in Windows and the "system settings". I will attempt to try mike's suggestion on getting the hard drive back to factory condition.
Thanks to everyone.
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