Just introducing myself

  • Thread starter Thread starter HelenEdith
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H

HelenEdith

I'm lurking here because I'm trying to install Windows XP Pro and when
it finishes copying the files from the CD and reboots, it fails to do
so because of a corrupt WINDOWS\system32\l_intl.nls

I've found some helpful advice here. I tried going into recovery mode
and *copying* the file from the installation CD, but having read the
advice here, I'd say I need to *extract* it rather than copying it, so
I'm going to try that tomorrow. (I found that out from a link here into
the MicroSoft site.)

I don't think there's anything wrong with my hard drive, as I've
encountered a similar error on two! In fact, the old 17GB hard drive
was the more helpful of the two because it actually gave me this error
message. The new 300GB drive with a 20GB partition for WinXP just said
"Disk error" which really wasn't helpful at all.

It could be worth my while checking my cables, and one poster here even
said that replacing his DVD reader was helpful. That might be worth
looking into as my DVD reader used to read both commercial and home
burnt CDs, but now only reads the commercial ones, so it ain't what it
used to be.

I also saw on a forum elsewhere that someone with this message
installed WinXP into two partitions on their hard drive and it ran from
the second one!

I do have some more playing around to do yet, so unless you can see
anything obvious that I'm doing wrong, I don't need a reply just yet,
but I could be back tomorrow with more questions if I exhaust all the
possibilities to no avail.

Right now, having acquired an IDE card which enables me to run more
hard drives, I'm seriously thinking about forgetting the Windows XP
install and going for Windows 98 instead. That's what I've been using
for about the past 8 years on the PC, although I should add that a bit
over a year ago it had a *serious* upgrade and everything except the
floppy drive, DVD reader, CD burner, sound card, 17GB hard drive, and
possibly some re-used cabling is *not* from my original system. If only
Windows 98 didn't suffer from so much memory leakage, I'd turn a
permanently deaf ear to my other half's constant blandishments to
upgrade to XP, and stick with the devil I know. Right now I've almost
convinced myself that I'd rather live with a quirky 98 installation
than a totally dead PC, which is what I've got right now:-(

Helen
 
I would say you have a hardware problem in either the dvd drive or the ide
controller, possibly but less likely is a memory problem.

Good luck.

Toby
 
Toby said:
I would say you have a hardware problem in either the dvd drive or the ide
controller, possibly but less likely is a memory problem.

Good luck.

Toby
Click to expand...

Hello Toby

I could have sworn that I replied to this message this morning, but it
hasn't appeared on Google, so maybe I didn't post it properly. Being
without my news client is not fun:-(

I should be able to rule the DVD drive in our out as the cause of the
problem as I've got separate DVD reader and CD burner drives, and
although the burner drive is slower, it will also read CDs and I can
set the BIOS up to boot from that rather than the DVD drive. In fact, I
was doing that for a while yesterday, but can't recall whether I
installed to the 17GB drive from it before setting the BIOS back to
pointing to the DVD reader. I can try installing from the CD burner
again to rule out problems with reading the CD.

We've also got two legal copies of XP in our house, and I've tried both
CDs, although I don't think I've given the second CD a good enough test
yet, so there's some more testing I can do there.

I don't think the hard drive is the problem as I've used two different
hard drives.

My other half is all for upgrading my BIOS. I've got an Asus
motherboard which I bought a bit over a year ago. I also bought a new
processor and new memory at the same time, so all of those components
are pretty new, and have also been running Win98 for the past year or
more.

It could be worth trying different IDE cables, as they may have come
out of the PC I upgraded from last year and are therefore older.

I also still need to try to *extract* rather than *copy* the file that
the PC is complaining about. I've been in recovery mode, but just did a
copy of the file, and that's not what MicroSoft tell you to do, so I
need to go back and do that properly.

The other possibility is that there's a long-standing fault somewhere
in the system (possibly motherboard, memory or IDE cables) as I've had
three major Win98 corruption problems in the past year since upgrading
my PC. I've reinstalled Win98 each time and copied my data back, losing
a few files each time. My other half has been keen to blame Win98 or my
email client software (Turnpike 4.5) for these and is the prime mover
behind the upgrade to XP, but maybe Win98 wasn't at fault after all.
(As far as Turnpike is concerned, it wasn't running when the last
incident occurred, so I think it's innocent.)

I'm just about ready to reinstall Win98 and forget about XP, but I'd
prefer to have XP as it won't have the same memory leakage problems I'm
experiencing with 98, and also the last twice I've reinstalled, I
haven't been able to get remote desktopping to work, and my other half
is sick of me borrowing his XP computer when I work from home:-)

Helen
 
HelenEdith said:
Hello Toby

I could have sworn that I replied to this message this morning, but it
hasn't appeared on Google, so maybe I didn't post it properly. Being
without my news client is not fun:-(

I should be able to rule the DVD drive in our out as the cause of the
problem as I've got separate DVD reader and CD burner drives, and
although the burner drive is slower, it will also read CDs and I can
set the BIOS up to boot from that rather than the DVD drive. In fact, I
was doing that for a while yesterday, but can't recall whether I
installed to the 17GB drive from it before setting the BIOS back to
pointing to the DVD reader. I can try installing from the CD burner
again to rule out problems with reading the CD.

We've also got two legal copies of XP in our house, and I've tried both
CDs, although I don't think I've given the second CD a good enough test
yet, so there's some more testing I can do there.

I don't think the hard drive is the problem as I've used two different
hard drives.

My other half is all for upgrading my BIOS. I've got an Asus
motherboard which I bought a bit over a year ago. I also bought a new
processor and new memory at the same time, so all of those components
are pretty new, and have also been running Win98 for the past year or
more.

It could be worth trying different IDE cables, as they may have come
out of the PC I upgraded from last year and are therefore older.

I also still need to try to *extract* rather than *copy* the file that
the PC is complaining about. I've been in recovery mode, but just did a
copy of the file, and that's not what MicroSoft tell you to do, so I
need to go back and do that properly.

The other possibility is that there's a long-standing fault somewhere
in the system (possibly motherboard, memory or IDE cables) as I've had
three major Win98 corruption problems in the past year since upgrading
my PC. I've reinstalled Win98 each time and copied my data back, losing
a few files each time. My other half has been keen to blame Win98 or my
email client software (Turnpike 4.5) for these and is the prime mover
behind the upgrade to XP, but maybe Win98 wasn't at fault after all.
(As far as Turnpike is concerned, it wasn't running when the last
incident occurred, so I think it's innocent.)

I'm just about ready to reinstall Win98 and forget about XP, but I'd
prefer to have XP as it won't have the same memory leakage problems I'm
experiencing with 98, and also the last twice I've reinstalled, I
haven't been able to get remote desktopping to work, and my other half
is sick of me borrowing his XP computer when I work from home:-)

Helen
Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother extracting any file. That's something I did in win98
days when trying to err, dunno. install drivesr maybe. extracting them
from cab files. Never for installing an OS, and I haven't had that
issue for win xp. It needs a file on the CD (which it would be
already), or on the hard drive - which it shoudl be copied there
already. I don't think extracting will help. And trying that from the
recovery console would be too much pain.


CDs - checked
CD/DVD drive - unchecked (I suggest having 2 in there anyway)
HDDs - checked
IDE cables - unchecked
IDE connectors - unchecked
RAM - unchecked <--though not sure if that's cause the problem.

IDE cables are easy to check/try diff. Make sure you get 80 wire IDE
cable for the hard drive, not 40 wire.

For testing IDE connectors
You could try moving the CD drive and HDD onto the same IDE connector.
THen onto the other one (there are 2). See if it makes a difference.
This is more for diagnosis, whether you want to keep it like that is
another matter.

As mentioned, I suggest 2 CD/DVD drives anyway so easy to test that.

You could try diff RAM. If you have 2 sticks, then try with 1. Test.
Then try with other 1.
 
I wouldn't bother extracting any file. That's something I did in win98
days when trying to err, dunno. install drivesr maybe. extracting them
from cab files. Never for installing an OS, and I haven't had that
issue for win xp. It needs a file on the CD (which it would be
already), or on the hard drive - which it shoudl be copied there
already. I don't think extracting will help. And trying that from the
recovery console would be too much pain.
Click to expand...

It tells you how to do it in
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830088&Product=winxp
and suggests that as a second step in diagnosing the "*.nls Files
Missing or Corrupt" during startup. It isn't actually that difficult
when you've got a "cookbook" to follow.

I had a go before I'd read the article and I used the COPY command
where I should have used the EXTRACT command.

I don't hold out much hope of it working, as I'm leaning towards a
hardware issue.
CDs - checked
CD/DVD drive - unchecked (I suggest having 2 in there anyway)
Click to expand...

Easy enough to check as I've got two.
HDDs - checked
IDE cables - unchecked
IDE connectors - unchecked
RAM - unchecked <--though not sure if that's cause the problem.

IDE cables are easy to check/try diff. Make sure you get 80 wire IDE
cable for the hard drive, not 40 wire.
Click to expand...

My other half seems to know what to get. He also says that it's changed
and some of it's more modern, particularly the stuff that's made for
hanging up to 4 hard drives on. (I've just got an IDE card so that I
can expand the number of hard drives I run, so we'll be getting more
IDE cable anyway, so we just need to get an extra bit to substitute for
what's currently in there!)
For testing IDE connectors
You could try moving the CD drive and HDD onto the same IDE connector.
THen onto the other one (there are 2). See if it makes a difference.
This is more for diagnosis, whether you want to keep it like that is
another matter.
Click to expand...

No, I definitely wouldn't want to keep it that way, but it could be a
useful test.
As mentioned, I suggest 2 CD/DVD drives anyway so easy to test that.

You could try diff RAM. If you have 2 sticks, then try with 1. Test.
Then try with other 1.
Click to expand...

I think there may be 2 sticks in it. I've got 1GB of RAM. I hope I can
get at it without having to move the whole case, as I really don't want
to have to undo all my external cables if I can help it. This PC has
been growing and spreading for about seven years now, and there are all
sorts of cables snaking around behind it! SCSI scanner, LapLink
parallel cable, a couple of other parallel cables, plus monitor, etc...

Helen
 
HelenEdith said:
It tells you how to do it in
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830088&Product=winxp
and suggests that as a second step in diagnosing the "*.nls Files
Missing or Corrupt" during startup. It isn't actually that difficult
when you've got a "cookbook" to follow.

I had a go before I'd read the article and I used the COPY command
where I should have used the EXTRACT command.


I don't hold out much hope of it working, as I'm leaning towards a
hardware issue.
Click to expand...

ms link says it's problem with Starting windows rather than installing
windows. I guess install is completing, then it restarts, then it
screws up.
Since it's with starting windows, there's a good chance that extracting
and copying the file over will work.
have you tested the cd - if the CD you have works on other computers?
Easy enough to check as I've got two.


My other half seems to know what to get. He also says that it's changed
and some of it's more modern, particularly the stuff that's made for
hanging up to 4 hard drives on. (I've just got an IDE card so that I
can expand the number of hard drives I run, so we'll be getting more
IDE cable anyway, so we just need to get an extra bit to substitute for
what's currently in there!)
Click to expand...

I think those IDE cards are usually IDE RAID cards with an option
(perhaps called by some JBOD-just a bunch of disks).
By the way. I just checked my notes regarding an IDE RAID card I tried.
It didn't work correctly when I used the standard IDE ports and the
ones on the card. I had to only use the ones on the card and disable
the standard ones in the BIOS. The RAID Card has its own BIOS.
The card had 2 connectors, so in numbers it was an improvement on the
MBRD ones, since on the old I had 2 connectors but needed 1 for the
CD/DVD drives.
It's not clean though. You have to mess with it, its own BIOS.

I'd be interested to know which IDE card you're buying.
No, I definitely wouldn't want to keep it that way, but it could be a
useful test.


I think there may be 2 sticks in it. I've got 1GB of RAM. I hope I can
get at it without having to move the whole case, as I really don't want
to have to undo all my external cables if I can help it. This PC has
been growing and spreading for about seven years now, and there are all
sorts of cables snaking around behind it! SCSI scanner, LapLink
parallel cable, a couple of other parallel cables, plus monitor, etc...

Helen
Click to expand...

the only thing I find that sometimes gets in the way is the cpu
heatsink.
nowadays I use a torch to ensure the ram goes in right. especially
important if cables are everywhere.

side note- and not meanign to create a prob that doesn't exist. but,
cables all over the case may mean the cpu gets a bit hot - not so good.
maybe your BIOS has a 'health' section to check cpu temp. Otherwise you
could easily check temp with some windows software.
 
ms link says it's problem with Starting windows rather than installing
windows. I guess install is completing, then it restarts, then it
screws up.
Since it's with starting windows, there's a good chance that extracting
and copying the file over will work.
have you tested the cd - if the CD you have works on other computers?
Click to expand...

I'd better give it a try. Both of the CDs were still sealed in their
cellophane bags when I first used them, so we haven't tested them on
other computers unless my other half did so today. He's building a
computer on the kitchen bench at present - tells me not to do any
cooking that will generate steam:-)

Stephen's research today suggests that maybe I need to remove my modem
(which is only in there for safe-keeping as I get my Internet via the
onboard network card these days) and my SCSI card as it could be lack
of drivers on those cards that are causing the Windows start-up to
fail. There may be a fallacy in that logic somewhere as it has to
Plug'n'play them eventually...
I think those IDE cards are usually IDE RAID cards with an option
(perhaps called by some JBOD-just a bunch of disks).
By the way. I just checked my notes regarding an IDE RAID card I tried.
It didn't work correctly when I used the standard IDE ports and the
ones on the card. I had to only use the ones on the card and disable
the standard ones in the BIOS. The RAID Card has its own BIOS.
The card had 2 connectors, so in numbers it was an improvement on the
MBRD ones, since on the old I had 2 connectors but needed 1 for the
CD/DVD drives.
It's not clean though. You have to mess with it, its own BIOS.

I'd be interested to know which IDE card you're buying.
Click to expand...

I can't find a brand name on the box, but it does say "made in Taiwan"
and it also clearly states that you can use it for expanding the number
of hard drives on your system. It doesn't mentione the word "RAID"
anywhere. My motherboard has the capability of running RAID. It's also
got slots for SATA drives. I was thinking that those had to be RAID,
but from rereading my motherboard manual last night, I don't think they
do. Anyway, we've got lots of IDE hard drives lying around, so
expanding the number of IDE drives I can run suits me. Ultimately, I
probably ought to get an external case that I can put a drive into and
when I fill it up, just take it offline and put another one in. And my
digital camera is *only* a 6MP model!!!
the only thing I find that sometimes gets in the way is the cpu
heatsink.
nowadays I use a torch to ensure the ram goes in right. especially
important if cables are everywhere.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, Stephen's been doing the hard drive instals for me.
I've done a couple for myself, but he was volunteering:-) He keeps a
torch handy.
side note- and not meanign to create a prob that doesn't exist. but,
cables all over the case may mean the cpu gets a bit hot - not so good.
maybe your BIOS has a 'health' section to check cpu temp. Otherwise you
could easily check temp with some windows software.
Click to expand...

The cables are on the outside, not the inside. Behind my computer is a
regular spaghetti junction.

The motherboard does have some temperature information available via
the BIOS, and I think there ought to be a utility with it which I've
never loaded which gives me the option to look at that sort of data
from within Windows.

I suspect that I'm not going to progress my problems this evening. It's
already after 10pm and after sitting up late last night surfing for
information about my problem, I'm tired. It's even possible that I
won't make a concerted effort to solve it until the weekend. I don't
want to push myself past my limits, and as Stephen will kindly spin up
my hard drive (the one that came out of Win98 and has a few but
hopefully not too many corrupted files on it) in his PC, I can find my
camera club stuff that I need for later this week and so I'm not in a
huge rush to get my PC running. Of course, if I go out on a
photographic mission and download my SD cards to the Jobo Giga One and
fill that up and have nowhere else to put pictures, I'll soon change my
tune:-)

I'll post at the weekend if/when I've resolved the problem.

Helen
 
Please do update,

I really don't want the whole shopping chat chat garbage though. My
interest is in the technical aspect here. Problems. Solutions.
Troubleshooting methods.

Nothing mundane

So save me from having to read-

"Both of the CDs were still sealed in their cellophane bags "

"we haven't tested them on
other computers unless my other half did so today. He's building a
computer on the kitchen bench at present - tells me not to do any
cooking that will generate steam:-)"
 
Please do update,

I really don't want the whole shopping chat chat garbage though. My
interest is in the technical aspect here. Problems. Solutions.
Troubleshooting methods.

Nothing mundane

So save me from having to read-

"Both of the CDs were still sealed in their cellophane bags "

"we haven't tested them on
other computers unless my other half did so today. He's building a
computer on the kitchen bench at present - tells me not to do any
cooking that will generate steam:-)"
Click to expand...

I don't mean to appear rude. I'm just being to the point.
 
I don't mean to appear rude. I'm just being to the point.
Click to expand...

That's all right:-)

The long and the short of it appears to be that I needed to read my
Asus motherboard manual more closely. My other half read it and didn't
skip over the bit about RAID (which I'd skipped because I'm not using
RAID) and the manual clearly states that WinXP and Win2000
installations require you to have created a RAID driver floppy to use
during the installation. I expect we'll be creating that tonight. The
manual tells us how to do it.

So it does appear that the original error message can cover a multitude
of sins, and we're hopeful that we've found the right one this time!

If that doesn't do the trick, we'll start substituting memory and IDE
cables...

I'll update later. Might not be tonight, though.

Helen
 
I've got a bit further. Did the XP installation again, this time
pressing F6 so that I got prompted to put in the RAID driver floppy. It
went all the way through copying stuff and booted off the hard drive on
the second attempt, which was after we'd removed the SCSI card that my
film scanner hangs off. XP spent 40 minutes configuring itself and then
when it rebooted we were back to that spurious l_intl.nls message.

I might give it one more try with my soundblaster and modem cards also
removed (I'm on broadband so I'm not actually using the modem card
anyway) in case one of them is also causing a problem, or I may just
revert to 98 for now. Oh, and we haven't tested my memory or data
cables yet. I'm inclined to think that they're probably not the
problem, though. The soundblaster card could be a good candidate as
it's been behaving weirdly under 98 ever since I got the Asus
motherboard. I expect I can live with on-board sound, so taking that
out might even be a really good idea.

I've got a business trip which has come up quite suddenly and I want to
get my hard drives sorted out before I go, not least because I want
somewhere to put the contents of the Jobo Giga One so that I can take
it with me and fill it up again in my spare time while I'm away:-) So
reinstating 98 for now seems like a good option, and I'll do battle
with XP again later when I've got more time.

In fact, if I can get remote desktopping working again with 98 (it once
did) then maybe I'll forget about XP for now. I can live without IE7
and I've been living without software to process RAW files for well
over a year and can continue to do so.

Helen
 
I'm still plugging away at the XP instal.

We're starting to doubt the Asus motherboard. It's been running a Win98
system for the past year and a bit and I've had three unexplained
episodes of hard drive corruption which have required me to reload
Win98.

Now it doesn't seem to want to run WinXP at all and we're thinking that
a motherboard costs about the same as an hour and a half of consultancy
and if we send the PC away to get it fixed, it will probably incur
rather more than a mere hour and a half of consultancy charges.

I wish we could run some serious diagnostics on the motherboard.
There's apparently something on the WinXP CD that might help. We're
starting to think that maybe the IDE support on that motherboard has
something wrong with it. Not even flash upgrading the BIOS has made any
difference.

So it's down to probably being a memory, cabling or motherboard
problem. I'm running out of time to mess around with it, so we might
end up mounting my hard drives in other PCs on our network so that I
can access my data and get it moved to the new 300GB drive, and if the
worst comes to the worst, my other half might get it going while I'm in
India. I hope it will be fixed before then, but with other commitments,
there isn't much spare time to do the fixing.

Helen
 
HelenEdith said:
I'm still plugging away at the XP instal.

We're starting to doubt the Asus motherboard. It's been running a Win98
system for the past year and a bit and I've had three unexplained
episodes of hard drive corruption which have required me to reload
Win98.

Now it doesn't seem to want to run WinXP at all and we're thinking that
a motherboard costs about the same as an hour and a half of consultancy
and if we send the PC away to get it fixed, it will probably incur
rather more than a mere hour and a half of consultancy charges.
Click to expand...

if you changed cables and hdd, then - since you already experiemnted
with CDs both installed CD drives) then by process of elimination, it's
the MBRD
I wish we could run some serious diagnostics on the motherboard.
Click to expand...

well, standard method are ver reliable. Techies don't usually do
diagnostics for any computer component.
Sometimes they do RAM, but that takes so long, like more than a night.
So, easier to just change it.

If you put the hdd in another computer using the same cable, and it
works, then that'd be one way to say your MBRD has a problem. Though
maybe it's just strict and just needs a really good cable. so you
should try a few cables.

A MBRD does not cost as much as you think. MAybe less thatn $100. Look
on ebay. Issues are buying the right one(compatible with your processor
and ram), buying from a guy that has good feedback.

And you main issue afterwards is installing it which is time consuming.
If you don't have time, then maybe one route is to diagnose a mbrd
problem yourself and then pay somebody to replace the mbrd.
Or you could replace it yourself - a learning experience




There's apparently something on the WinXP CD that might help. We're
starting to think that maybe the IDE support on that motherboard has
something wrong with it. Not even flash upgrading the BIOS has made any
difference.
Click to expand...

HW problem, you have to get used to changing HW fast. Win XP CD won't
help.
So it's down to probably being a memory, cabling or motherboard
problem.
Click to expand...

to diagnose. try diff memory, cabling , hdd.

That won't take too long

if still probs. then suspect is mbrd, and replace it. That will take
time.
I'm running out of time to mess around with it, so we might
end up mounting my hard drives in other PCs on our network so that I
can access my data and get it moved to the new 300GB drive, and if the
worst comes to the worst, my other half might get it going while I'm in
India. I hope it will be fixed before then, but with other commitments,
there isn't much spare time to do the fixing.
Click to expand...

you don't need much spare time to change memory cabling or hdd. But
replacing MBRD takes longer, and you've gotta be willing to spend the
time learning how to do put the heatsink on the processor and to
monitor cpu temp - respumably in bios. So, as mentinoed, consider
payign soembody to do that.
 
My other half found a setting in the BIOS in the Advanced menu which he
turned off. He disabled the OnChip SATA Boot ROM option. By itself, it
didn't appear to solve our problems.

Then he decided that maybe my 17GB IBM drive was too old and he swapped
it for a more recent Seagate drive and simultaneously changed the data
cables. One or other of those actions resulted in WinXP being installed
successfully and being subsequently able to boot reliably.

So it looks like success at long last and that the Asus motherboard is
OK after all.

Now comes the fun: my SCSI card (for my film scanner) has to go back
in, and we're going to instal the IDE card so that I can have four IDE
hard drives running.

Helen
 
HelenEdith said:
My other half found a setting in the BIOS in the Advanced menu which he
turned off. He disabled the OnChip SATA Boot ROM option. By itself, it
didn't appear to solve our problems.

Then he decided that maybe my 17GB IBM drive was too old and he swapped
it for a more recent Seagate drive and simultaneously changed the data
cables. One or other of those actions resulted in WinXP being installed
successfully and being subsequently able to boot reliably.

So it looks like success at long last and that the Asus motherboard is
OK after all.

Now comes the fun: my SCSI card (for my film scanner) has to go back
in, and we're going to instal the IDE card so that I can have four IDE
hard drives running.

Helen
Click to expand...

glad to hear it. I hope you don't have any bad luck with the IDE card.
Out of interest, does the IDE card come without a disk? (if no disk
then good)

'cos my IDE RAID card came with a disk, had 2 connectors on it, but
actually was to be used isntead of the MBRD IDE connectors. So as far
as quantiity of IDE connectors were concerned, I wasn't better off. It
had its own BIOS.

If yours doesn't come with a disk, that's very promising, 'cos it
indicats it's not some chunky thing with its own BIOS, and perhaps is
really a neat additional few IDE connectors. I have no idea how the
standard BIOS will see it though. I am a bit skeptical of it being as
nice as it looks.

So, when you say "now comes the fun" I hope you're only joking, and not
too hopeful, because you may be disappointed!
 
glad to hear it. I hope you don't have any bad luck with the IDE card.
Out of interest, does the IDE card come without a disk? (if no disk
then good)
Click to expand...

It's got a disk with it. We haven't tried to instal it yet.

[snip]
So, when you say "now comes the fun" I hope you're only joking, and not
too hopeful, because you may be disappointed!
Click to expand...

I think I no longer have any expectations of this computer. We've
wasted at least two weekends on it, and one of them a holiday weekend.

If the IDE card doesn't work, at least I've got the 300GB drive in my
case. My 160GB drive is temporarily in my other half's case, and my
80GB drive is lying around. I've been saying I really need a server,
and if the IDE card doesn't work out, I might go down that route.

The most important thing is working: I can remote desktop to my work
computer, so I can work from home without having to borrow my other
half's computer.

All the other important things are related to my photography and a bit
of ordinary correspondence. I don't anticipate any problems with the
correspondence, but still have to reinstall my SCSI film scanner. My
Epson Stylus Photo 1200 printer is up and working, and if my flatbed
scanner won't work, I'm putting it on my Win95 Dell, which I'm
resurrecting for any odd programs that XP won't run, and where the
flatbed was originally installed. I'm hoping that my version of LapLink
will work on XP as that will save me putting the Dell on the network.
It will be slower to access it, but should keep it away from nasty
viruses.

Helen
 
HelenEdith said:
glad to hear it. I hope you don't have any bad luck with the IDE card.
Out of interest, does the IDE card come without a disk? (if no disk
then good)
Click to expand...

It's got a disk with it. We haven't tried to instal it yet.

[snip]
So, when you say "now comes the fun" I hope you're only joking, and not
too hopeful, because you may be disappointed!
Click to expand...

I think I no longer have any expectations of this computer. We've
wasted at least two weekends on it, and one of them a holiday weekend.

If the IDE card doesn't work, at least I've got the 300GB drive in my
case. My 160GB drive is temporarily in my other half's case, and my
80GB drive is lying around. I've been saying I really need a server,
and if the IDE card doesn't work out, I might go down that route.

The most important thing is working: I can remote desktop to my work
computer, so I can work from home without having to borrow my other
half's computer.

All the other important things are related to my photography and a bit
of ordinary correspondence. I don't anticipate any problems with the
correspondence, but still have to reinstall my SCSI film scanner. My
Epson Stylus Photo 1200 printer is up and working, and if my flatbed
scanner won't work, I'm putting it on my Win95 Dell, which I'm
resurrecting for any odd programs that XP won't run, and where the
flatbed was originally installed. I'm hoping that my version of LapLink
will work on XP as that will save me putting the Dell on the network.
It will be slower to access it, but should keep it away from nasty
viruses.

Helen
Click to expand...

that's the spirit! workarounds work!
 
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