Hi, Ken
5 installs -- you seem to be quite determined to make it work.
Hopefully someone will correct any errors in my recommendation.
Perhaps you should try a clean install. Start by running your current
system and create a CD or thumbdrive with all the drivers for your system.
You might download them from the motherboard builder, or you might copy them
from their current location in your current system to a similar folder
structure on your CD. I've never tried this, but hopefully someone else
will chime in with a procedure to get the exact driver arrangement
transferred to a CD so they can be installed on the clean system. Print out
a list of all the drivers so you can compare them when the clean system come
up.
Once you have your driver CD set up, remove the hard drive and replace it
with a spare whose contents can be erased. Do a clean install of Vista
using your upgrade cd, using the procedure here:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp. This
gives you a 'free' 30-day trial, avoiding activation hassles if you have to
reinstall a number of times as you are learning to get it right.
Assuming this system runs, compare the drivers to your list. Do what you
have to do to make them match the original system. It should run as well as
the original system and you can expand your system in stages to get it the
way you want it.
-Paul Randall
