Where do I get the drivers for ASUS m-board

[casey.o]

I installed XP Home SP2. The computer itself has no brand anywhere on
the case. Might be homemade???? There is the official XP label on the
case with the product key, but nothing more. Using the program, CPU-Z,
the m-board is a ASUS M2A-VM
ATI Radeon X1250 chipset
ATI SB600 southbridge
Bios Phoenix version ASUS M2A-VM ACPI BIOS revision 1705 dated 3-28-08

I went to the ASUS website, and entered the model number. I was given
at least 35 possible files to download, with most being HUGE (100 to 300
meg) Yea, I'm on dialup....

And it's just a guess in the dark as to which files I need.

Following the advice on
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274306-45-video-controller-compatible-driver-windows-free-download

I began to search for these individual drivers. There are yellow
question marks in device manager for

SM Bus controller
video controller (vga compatible)
ethernet controller
PCI Device (appears to be Audio).
and another labelled "UNKNOWN"?

I'm including my worksheet below, which shows what steps I used and
files I downloaded.

The video drivers DID NOT work.
The SM Bus controller DID NOT work
The ethernet drivers DID work.
I'm still downloading the audio drivers, (3 hours to download)
I have no clue what the "UNKNOWN" thing is????

This is WAYYYYYYYYYYYY too complicated..............
Isn't there just ONE file that I can download somewhere to get every
driver for this motherboard??????

There has to be an easier way (I hope).


--------- MY WORKSHEET -----------

VEN 1002 - Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
DEV 791E - ATI RADEON X1200 Series

10-2_legacy_xp32-64_wdm.exe

GOT FROM
http://mirror.iprimus.com.au/drivers/video/ati/

----

lookup info - START HERE
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274306-45-video-controller-compatible-driver-windows-free-download
(See below)

then goto
http://www.pcidatabase.com


--------------------- below ------------------------
Hello and welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums.

You need to identify the device by its manufacturer to be sure of going
to the right site - many driver download sites area rip-off at best and
carry risk of malware at worst.

Go into Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager, find the display
adapter or tye VGA device with a yellow mark beside it, then right click
thta and go to Properties.

Click the Details tab, then scroll to Hardware IDs and note down the
four characters after VEN for Vendor and the four which follow DEV for
Device. Go to http://www.pcidatabase.com and input those details in the
relevant boxes and you will see the list of all the right manufacturer's
products but sadly, they aren't in order. Use Internet Explorers Edit
menu then Find to type in the DEVice ID and the search will find the
correct entry. Follow the link to the site for the correct driver and
download it.

Some will be executable files which you simply double click to install
then restart the system. Others will be in the form of a Zip file which
WinZip can decomporess and show the contents, then click Install or
Setup.

-----------

needed SM Bus controller
ven 1002
dev 4385
got from
http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp33501-34000/sp33927.exe

----------

video controller (vga compatible)
ven 1002
dev 791E
10-2_legacy_xp32-64_wdm.exe

Got from - http://mirror.iprimus.com.au/drivers/video/ati/

----------

ethernet controller
ven 10EC
dev 8168

http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=5&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&D
ownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#RTL8111B/RTL8168B/RTL8111/RTL8168%3Cbr%3ERTL8111C/RTL8111
CP/RTL8111D%28L%29%3Cbr%3ERTL8168C/RTL8111DP/RTL8111E%3Cbr%3ERTL8168E/RTL8111F/RT
L8411%3Cbr%3ERTL8111G/RTL8111GUS

-----------

PCI Device

ven 1002
dev 4383

Appears to be AUDIO

refered - http://www.pcidatabase.com/vendor_details.php?id=240

download here -
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&Down

 

[Paul]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

Answers scattered all over the place...

I installed XP Home SP2. The computer itself has no brand anywhere on
the case. Might be homemade???? There is the official XP label on the
case with the product key, but nothing more. Using the program, CPU-Z,
the m-board is a ASUS M2A-VM
ATI Radeon X1250 chipset
ATI SB600 southbridge
Bios Phoenix version ASUS M2A-VM ACPI BIOS revision 1705 dated 3-28-08

You can get the motherboard manual from the same place as the drivers
on the Asus site. Your chipset is described in there as 690G/SB600
for the Northbridge/Southbridge part. The X1250 would be the name of
the video block inside the Northbridge. That's a chipset GPU. The motherboard
could equally well have a PCI Express video card added to it,
if you were a DirectX 3D gamer.

CPU
|
NB+X1250 --- Mobo video output connectors
|
SB --- disk drive connectors, SMBUS to read DIMM SPD chips
|
SuperI/O (no driver)

I went to the ASUS website, and entered the model number. I was given
at least 35 possible files to download, with most being HUGE (100 to 300
meg) Yea, I'm on dialup....

The video is huge, the other should be reasonable. The idiots put
every chipset under the sun into one jumbo video driver, which makes it
hundreds of megabytes. It might have been twenty to thirty megabytes,
if it was made a bit more specific. This is a disturbing industry trend
that says "we're not paying enough for our server bandwidth".

And it's just a guess in the dark as to which files I need.

When you buy a retail motherboard like the M2A-VM, it comes with
a driver CD. When building the system, you pop the CD in after the
OS is installed, and it installs all the drivers for you. If you
lose the CD, you are made to suffer. A clever installer, might
image the CD and include a copy of the .iso on the hard drive.
Otherwise, it's probably tossed in some wastebasket by now.
(I still have all my CDs...)

At one time, you could buy some of those CDs, but I'm not
going to even go looking. I'm not sure estore.asus.com is open
any more. Their stock has been poor for a while.

They could easily stage that ISO on the support.asus.com page,
but... they don't. Lose it, and end up trolling Ebay for a copy.

Following the advice on
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274306-45-video-controller-compatible-driver-windows-free-download

I began to search for these individual drivers. There are yellow.
question marks in device manager for

I put some noted on the right here ------>

SM Bus controller ---- Inside the video driver. Path is...
AMD_Chipset_Driver_xp.zip\x86_x64\SBDrv\SMBUS\
video controller (vga compatible) ---- You want the video driver, but not over dialup
ethernet controller ---- Realtek RTL8111B LAN Driver 4.9MB
PCI Device (appears to be Audio) ---- Realtek (Jumbo HDAudio driver) 50MB
and another labelled "UNKNOWN"? ---- ATK0110 ACPI object. Possibly detectable with
Everest but not sure about that.
Asus download has the answer in the Utility section.

I'm including my worksheet below, which shows what steps I used and
files I downloaded.

The video drivers DID NOT work.
The SM Bus controller DID NOT work
The ethernet drivers DID work.
I'm still downloading the audio drivers, (3 hours to download)
I have no clue what the "UNKNOWN" thing is????

This is WAYYYYYYYYYYYY too complicated..............
Isn't there just ONE file that I can download somewhere to get every
driver for this motherboard??????

There has to be an easier way (I hope).


--------- MY WORKSHEET -----------

VEN 1002 - Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
DEV 791E - ATI RADEON X1200 Series

10-2_legacy_xp32-64_wdm.exe

GOT FROM
http://mirror.iprimus.com.au/drivers/video/ati/

Doing it this way, maybe you don't get the SMBUS one ?
Chipset driver include mega-video plus chump change chipset stuff.
Go to your Wifi site, and get the big one from Asus. Even if the
video portion of the Asus driver is no good, you do get the SMBUS
part.

----

lookup info - START HERE
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274306-45-video-controller-compatible-driver-windows-free-download
(See below)

then goto
http://www.pcidatabase.com


--------------------- below ------------------------
Hello and welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums.

You need to identify the device by its manufacturer to be sure of going
to the right site - many driver download sites area rip-off at best and
carry risk of malware at worst.

Go into Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager, find the display
adapter or tye VGA device with a yellow mark beside it, then right click
thta and go to Properties.

Click the Details tab, then scroll to Hardware IDs and note down the
four characters after VEN for Vendor and the four which follow DEV for
Device. Go to http://www.pcidatabase.com and input those details in the
relevant boxes and you will see the list of all the right manufacturer's
products but sadly, they aren't in order. Use Internet Explorers Edit
menu then Find to type in the DEVice ID and the search will find the
correct entry. Follow the link to the site for the correct driver and
download it.

Some will be executable files which you simply double click to install
then restart the system. Others will be in the form of a Zip file which
WinZip can decomporess and show the contents, then click Install or
Setup.

-----------

needed SM Bus controller
ven 1002
dev 4385
got from
http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp33501-34000/sp33927.exe

Naw. Kill two birds with one stone, with the Asus video driver.

----------

video controller (vga compatible)
ven 1002
dev 791E
10-2_legacy_xp32-64_wdm.exe

Got from - http://mirror.iprimus.com.au/drivers/video/ati/

Not enough fun factor. You can certainly try this, after the
SMBUS part is fixed. There's nothing wrong with just installing
a video driver, and I'm sure some later Catalyst driver would
also work.

----------

ethernet controller
ven 10EC
dev 8168

http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=5&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&D
ownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#RTL8111B/RTL8168B/RTL8111/RTL8168%3Cbr%3ERTL8111C/RTL8111
CP/RTL8111D%28L%29%3Cbr%3ERTL8168C/RTL8111DP/RTL8111E%3Cbr%3ERTL8168E/RTL8111F/RT
L8411%3Cbr%3ERTL8111G/RTL8111GUS

Tracing it down on the RealTek site is fine. That's certainly
an alternative if you don't like the 4.9MB one on the Asus site.

-----------

PCI Device

ven 1002
dev 4383

Appears to be AUDIO

refered - http://www.pcidatabase.com/vendor_details.php?id=240

download here -
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&Down

The 1002 actually stands for ATI/AMD, so 4383 would be the
spigot the HDAudio chip connects to. The HDAudio is actually
RealTek as noted. So if you use a PCI database (like this one)
[ 879KB! ]...

http://pciids.sourceforge.net/pci.ids

4383 SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)

you'll not be getting the whole story. The motherboard manual
already tells you it's RealTek ALC883, so you can traverse
the realtek.com.tw site and dig up a jumbo driver in the
HDAudio section. Probably best downloaded over the Wifi.

The RealTek Audio includes several UAA hotfix files. If
the driver detects your current SP2, it may install UAA
first. HDAudio consists of UAA + RealTek_specific parts.
On some OSes, the UAA part is already done. It's probably
built into SP3 for example. Sometimes the UAA part fouls
up, and then you're in for real fun.

*******

As for your unknown, I used the Asus forum to dig up the answer.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=1&model=M2A-VM&SLanguage=en-us

The "Unknown" is likely the ATK0110 ACPI object. A number of boards
have this stinker. (There is a second type of "unknown" which disappears
after you install one of the Asus utilities on the installer CD
in the motherboard box. You don't have that one.)

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...oard_id=1&model=M2A-VM&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

It's in the "Utilities (20)" section of the download page, and is
a tiny 119KB utility. You can get that one over dialup. The ACPI
object is a way for the OS to get in touch with some hardware controls.
Normally, it would take a messy hardware driver addition by an application,
whereas installing the driver for the ACPI object is considered a more
elegant solution to accessing hardware controls on the motherboard
(especially, custom controls that would not normally be exposed).
When regular program developers want to do stuff like this, they
rely on things like GIVEIO type driver kit.

In some cases, installing and then uninstalling Asus AI Suite, removed
one of those unknowns. You're lucky, in that the ACPI Object actually
has a named "ATK0110" so there's no mistaking how to get it.

I can tell you, the first time that damn thing showed up,
we didn't know how to get rid of it In this case, at
least Asus labeled it properly, even if you'd have needed
an "Aha!" moment to spot it. A number of motherboards, it would
be harder to figure out. (Hint - go through the entire Utilities
section, before concluding you don't need any )

You should head off to your Wifi spot, and visit the Asus site
and "fill up your bucket"

It's too bad the original CD is not available for download,
as that would be the intelligent way to do it. The CD
usually has a sniffer, to figure out what to install. Some
of those CDs, actually cover several motherboards. And the
sniffer can tell the motherboards apart, and pick the
right drivers.

Paul

 

[casey.o]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

Answers scattered all over the place...


You can get the motherboard manual from the same place as the drivers
on the Asus site. Your chipset is described in there as 690G/SB600
for the Northbridge/Southbridge part. The X1250 would be the name of
the video block inside the Northbridge. That's a chipset GPU. The motherboard
could equally well have a PCI Express video card added to it,
if you were a DirectX 3D gamer.

CPU

Thanks Paul

The video card *IS* the ATI, because my CPU-ID program even has their
logo shown. I had to trim this message because AIOE has a fit about
large quotes. I much appreciate your help, but it would really help if
you could just post the download URL where the video driver is located.
I just wasted an hour on the ASUS site, and cant find it. I was in the
download section, I found the audio drivers, although I'm not sure which
one to use. I also found that thing for the "unknown" problem.

I have to prepare before I go to a WIFI place, because my laptop battery
only lasts about 25 minutes, and the fast food place I go does not have
outlets. So most of the time I download from my car, using an
inverter. It's just too hard to do lots of searching in the car, (and
cold this time of year). I always prepare a text file at home with the
urls. Then I just copy and paste them into my browser, and let it
download.

You explained it well, but I'm not finding the files or that manual you
said.

I'd be happy to pay someone for a copy of the CD for this m-board, but
I'm sure I wont find anyone. Im not sure how they copyright those
things, but I'm not too woried about it for a driver disk. This
downloading is a huge hassle, when the stuff is spread out all over the
place. Like you said they make a HUGE file with tons of video drivers,
but if they do that, why cant they just put ALL drivers for this MB into
one file and be down with it.

You were correct about that "unknown" one, and what it rerads.

Thanks


BTW. I now have 4megs RAM on this puter. I got a bunch of computers that
were in a flood, and while all the drives were shot, the RAM is still
good. I found some that fit in here. Now if only I can get the
drivers, and with any luck, get a modem to work, I'll have a FAST
machine.

 

[Paul]

Thanks Paul

The video card *IS* the ATI, because my CPU-ID program even has their
logo shown. I had to trim this message because AIOE has a fit about
large quotes. I much appreciate your help, but it would really help if
you could just post the download URL where the video driver is located.
I just wasted an hour on the ASUS site, and cant find it. I was in the
download section, I found the audio drivers, although I'm not sure which
one to use. I also found that thing for the "unknown" problem.

I have to prepare before I go to a WIFI place, because my laptop battery
only lasts about 25 minutes, and the fast food place I go does not have
outlets. So most of the time I download from my car, using an
inverter. It's just too hard to do lots of searching in the car, (and
cold this time of year). I always prepare a text file at home with the
urls. Then I just copy and paste them into my browser, and let it
download.

You explained it well, but I'm not finding the files or that manual you
said.

I'd be happy to pay someone for a copy of the CD for this m-board, but
I'm sure I wont find anyone. Im not sure how they copyright those
things, but I'm not too woried about it for a driver disk. This
downloading is a huge hassle, when the stuff is spread out all over the
place. Like you said they make a HUGE file with tons of video drivers,
but if they do that, why cant they just put ALL drivers for this MB into
one file and be down with it.

You were correct about that "unknown" one, and what it rerads.

Thanks


BTW. I now have 4megs RAM on this puter. I got a bunch of computers that
were in a flood, and while all the drives were shot, the RAM is still
good. I found some that fit in here. Now if only I can get the
drivers, and with any luck, get a modem to work, I'll have a FAST
machine.

The video driver is in the "Chipset" section. If you click this
link the download starts immediately.

"180,76 (MBytes) 2008.01.18 update"

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/AMD_Chipset_Driver_xp.zip

The audio driver is in the "Audio" section. The audio one is downloading
here and I copy the download URL from my download window and this is what
it is. The same driver is apparently used by more than one motherboard.

"Realtek Audio Driver V5.10.0.5904 for Windows XP 32bit/XP 64bit

72,6 (MBytes) 2009.10.10 update"

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5G43T-M_PRO/Realtek_Audio_V51005904_V6015904.zip

*******

If you set a Restore Point before installing the driver, that
helps ensure you have backout options later. WinXP has the
ability to "roll back" one level of driver, by using the interface
in Device Manager. You can also use System Restore to roll
back a driver installation. I only mention this, as you've
put a fair amount of work into your install, and now wouldn't
be a good time to ruin it.

System Restore has a couple interfaces. They couldn't, of
course, put all the interface elements in one place.

Programs : Accessories : System Tools : System Restore
Control Panels : System, then System Restore tab

I generally leave System Restore covering C: and not the
other partitions.

You can also use backup methods, to protect your freshly
made installation. Which would also give you a "rollback"
capability. I use that more now, than bothering with
System Restore. Because it covers me against more kinds
of mistakes.

Paul

 

[casey.o]

The video driver is in the "Chipset" section. If you click this
link the download starts immediately.

No wonder I could not find it......

"180,76 (MBytes) 2008.01.18 update"

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/AMD_Chipset_Driver_xp.zip

The audio driver is in the "Audio" section. The audio one is downloading
here and I copy the download URL from my download window and this is what
it is. The same driver is apparently used by more than one motherboard.

"Realtek Audio Driver V5.10.0.5904 for Windows XP 32bit/XP 64bit

72,6 (MBytes) 2009.10.10 update"

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5G43T-M_PRO/Realtek_Audio_V51005904_V6015904.zip

I downloaded one of the older ones on dialup. (50megs). It worked.
That file to fix the "unknown" also worked.
I also found the manuals PDF files. They are good. I got tow of them,
not sure the difference yet, I just finished the 2d one.

*******

If you set a Restore Point before installing the driver, that
helps ensure you have backout options later. WinXP has the
ability to "roll back" one level of driver, by using the interface
in Device Manager. You can also use System Restore to roll
back a driver installation. I only mention this, as you've
put a fair amount of work into your install, and now wouldn't
be a good time to ruin it.

System Restore has a couple interfaces. They couldn't, of
course, put all the interface elements in one place.

Programs : Accessories : System Tools : System Restore
Control Panels : System, then System Restore tab

I generally leave System Restore covering C: and not the
other partitions.

You can also use backup methods, to protect your freshly
made installation. Which would also give you a "rollback"
capability. I use that more now, than bothering with
System Restore. Because it covers me against more kinds
of mistakes.

Paul

I'm still trying to figure out how to control these system restore
things. Every partition has a unremovable file on it which is
somethinbg about restoring. I'd prefer to just have it on C:

BTW: Partition Magic allowed me to reformat D: thru G: to Fat 32. I
dont know if I could do it to C: without losing the OS. Probably not
wise. I may use PM to reduce the size of C:, so it's mostly just for
the OS and programs.

I got this Puppy Linux that boots up from XP (exe file). Kind of a
weird setup, but it requires a Fat32 format to work. It seems to insist
on loading to C:. Not worth risking XP though. It's fun to play with
but I dont see getting much use out fo it. Once I want to modify
anything it gets far too complicated for me.... I can do dos like the
back of my hand, but linux commands are all greek....

 

[Paul]

No wonder I could not find it......

I downloaded one of the older ones on dialup. (50megs). It worked.
That file to fix the "unknown" also worked.
I also found the manuals PDF files. They are good. I got tow of them,
not sure the difference yet, I just finished the 2d one.


I'm still trying to figure out how to control these system restore
things. Every partition has a unremovable file on it which is
somethinbg about restoring. I'd prefer to just have it on C:

BTW: Partition Magic allowed me to reformat D: thru G: to Fat 32. I
dont know if I could do it to C: without losing the OS. Probably not
wise. I may use PM to reduce the size of C:, so it's mostly just for
the OS and programs.

I got this Puppy Linux that boots up from XP (exe file). Kind of a
weird setup, but it requires a Fat32 format to work. It seems to insist
on loading to C:. Not worth risking XP though. It's fun to play with
but I dont see getting much use out fo it. Once I want to modify
anything it gets far too complicated for me.... I can do dos like the
back of my hand, but linux commands are all greek....

That's probably WUBI that was on the Puppy CD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_(Ubuntu_installer)

"Wubi adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which
allows the user to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed
within a file in the Windows file system

(c:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk)

as opposed to being installed within its own partition.
This file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk. Wubi
also creates a swap file in the Windows file system

(c:\ubuntu\disks\swap.disk)

in addition to the memory of the host machine. This
file is seen by Ubuntu as additional RAM.

I've never used it, but it appears to be a way to
store a Linux OS on a Windows partition, and offer the
chance to boot Linux from a Windows boot menu at
startup. The root.disk would be a relatively
large file (GB sized) which holds the Linux file
system within it.

Partition Magic can manipulate C:, so be careful
what you wish for. If Partition Magic is used to
resize C:, the OS shuts down, Partition Magic runs
as a separate boot step, and the OS is booted again
later. Don't do anything to C:, that will prevent it
from booting later Partition Magic will probably
warn you about a few ways you could shoot yourself in
the foot, but I'm sure there's some way, to make
things such that you have to start all over again.

Paul

 

[casey.o]

That's probably WUBI that was on the Puppy CD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_(Ubuntu_installer)

"Wubi adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which
allows the user to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed
within a file in the Windows file system

(c:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk)

as opposed to being installed within its own partition.
This file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk. Wubi
also creates a swap file in the Windows file system

(c:\ubuntu\disks\swap.disk)

in addition to the memory of the host machine. This
file is seen by Ubuntu as additional RAM.

I've never used it, but it appears to be a way to
store a Linux OS on a Windows partition, and offer the
chance to boot Linux from a Windows boot menu at
startup. The root.disk would be a relatively
large file (GB sized) which holds the Linux file
system within it.

Partition Magic can manipulate C:, so be careful
what you wish for. If Partition Magic is used to
resize C:, the OS shuts down, Partition Magic runs
as a separate boot step, and the OS is booted again
later. Don't do anything to C:, that will prevent it
from booting later Partition Magic will probably
warn you about a few ways you could shoot yourself in
the foot, but I'm sure there's some way, to make
things such that you have to start all over again.

Paul

The file is PrecisePuppyLinux570Retro.exe
I dont recall the URL because of the language issues (see below).
Anyhow, you load Windows, and just run it. It installs on C: in a
folder, puts a thing called Grub on there, which I understand is what
makes it load (from the little I understand about it). It did not try
to reformat the drive or anything. I made a clone of XP on a spare HD
to test it out. It dont harm windows. It makes a dual boot which
defaults to XP, but I can select Puppy and boot there if I want. But it
wont load on a NTFS format. On my slower XP machine, I have Fat32 on
C:, so it installed just fine. It was not on a CD, I downloaded it
direct at a WIFI. But the first time I downloaded it, I got a Chinese
version. (it did not say the language). I downloaded several more
versions, and ended up with a Russian one, and finally an English one.

Puppy loads to Ram, and is made to be run from a CD or boots from a
Flash drive. That computer dont boot from a flash drive, and I have no
way to make a CD, so this installer is ideal. But I cant install it on
this faster XP machine because I haev NTFS. Although I converted D:
thru G: partitions to Fat32, there is no option in the installer to
select another partition (which sucks). Even though it loads to RAM, I
want it on the harddrive. I'm not gonna insert a CD everytime I want to
use it. Not to mention booting from a CD is wayyyyyyy to slow......

I also have an older version (2007) of PcLinux on CD. Thats made to
boot from the CD. That works, but it takes at least 5 minutes to load.
They say these Linux CD installers are portable, but why anyone would
regularly tolerate the waiting so long to load it, is beyond me. There
is an installer on this PcLinux, but it insists on creating another
partition. Wont just install to D:. So, I scrapped that one. I may at
some point try to make a bootable flash drive. I think this faster
machien can boot from a flash drive, but I'm not sure how to set that up
in the bios. I'd think a flash drive would boot asd fast as a hard
drive.

Either way, I now feel safe to add the .exe version of Puppy to a
harddrive, without wrecking windows. But it MUST be a Fat32 partition.

Since I dont have much installed in XP on this ASUS machine, I may just
use PM to change C: to Fat32, and reinstall XP. But I was wondering if
I could clone it to another drive, change the format, and clone it back.
But I'm not sure if the clone would turn the partition back to NTFS????

 

[Paul]

Either way, I now feel safe to add the .exe version of Puppy to a
harddrive, without wrecking windows. But it MUST be a Fat32 partition.

Since I dont have much installed in XP on this ASUS machine, I may just
use PM to change C: to Fat32, and reinstall XP. But I was wondering if
I could clone it to another drive, change the format, and clone it back.
But I'm not sure if the clone would turn the partition back to NTFS????

A clone operation would preserve whatever file system type it finds.

Honestly, I've never tried to revert WinXP on NTFS to FAT32.

I'd try to install the OS on the file system I wanted,
from the start. That would be my solution. My WinXP is
currently on FAT32, and was installed that way.

If, after your attempted conversion, it didn't work, I'd
try a "fixboot" from the WinXP installer CD recovery console,.
That's in case the problem was a need to fix up the partition boot
sector inside the C: file system header.

As long as you have a trusted and tested backup method,
you can do as many of these experiments as you like.

Paul

 

[Paul]

This ("it finds") might seem a bit ambiguous, as what if the drive being
cloned to (destination drive) already has a file system on it? So I'm
assuming you mean whatever file system is on the *source* drive will be
cloned to the "destination" drive (regardless of any prior format of the
destination drive).

This is more a comment about the "clone" word than anything.

I try not to get too hung up on policing definitions for this
topic. I have one tool, which clones at the partition level (feed
it a partition, and it'll do its best). But at some point,
you might not end up making an exact copy, and maybe it's only
an exact copy at the "I ended up with the same set of files"
level of clone. For example, Macrium will resize a cloned partition
for you, and strictly speaking that isn't a clone any more.
Because it's a different size.

Most tools refuse to meddle with numbering of things in a way
that will affect booting. So moving data from one disk, to another
semi-occupied disk has its limits. You can't really expect developers
to want to mess around with boot.ini or the BCD file, as part of
their copy operation. At some point, making modifications to the
thing you're copying, makes it no long a copy, but more of an
"installation process".

Cloning only works cleanly, and without reservations or gotchas,
if the destination disk is empty.

Just of out curiosity Paul, have you happened to notice any "practical
disadvantages" of that, short of the 4GB max file size limit, of course?

That's the funny thing. For all the scorn heaped
on FAT32, I can't say I've had a problem with it.
The computer is on a UPS, and I've hardly ever had
that partition shut down dirty. CHKDSK has recovered
maybe a dozen files during checks, since WinXP was installed.
So occasionally, stuff ends up in limbo. Usually smaller
files of some sort.

And that's critical, unless he has nothing to lose.

Maybe seeing a picture of a damaged platter will
help justify backups ? This is from one of my
dead drives, opened up last week. It has a gouge
in the platter, about half way out I had no backup
at the time this happened (fifteen years ago).
I wish I could remember what I paid for this thing.
It had six platters (a lot, by modern standards).

http://i62.tinypic.com/2itph1l.jpg

Paul

 

[Hot-Text]

--------------------- Look below For the right
Tools ------------------------
|I installed XP Home SP2. The computer itself has no brand anywhere on
| the case. Might be homemade???? There is the official XP label on the
| case with the product key, but nothing more. Using the program, CPU-Z,
| the m-board is a ASUS M2A-VM
| ATI Radeon X1250 chipset
| ATI SB600 southbridge
| Bios Phoenix version ASUS M2A-VM ACPI BIOS revision 1705 dated 3-28-08

The names of actual companies
and products mentioned herein may be
the trademarks of their respective owners.

| I went to the ASUS website, and entered the model number. I was given
| at least 35 possible files to download,

It's all there ASUS website for your Computer
You need to identify the device by its manufacturer

But where is
Field Value
Company Name
Intel Corporation
or
Device Description
North Bridge:

I see you know
the Device Description
for South Bridge is

| Following the advice on
| tomshardware.com

That website no good

| I began to search for these individual drivers.
| There are yellow question marks in device manager for
|
| SM Bus controller
| video controller (vga compatible)
| ethernet controller
| PCI Device (appears to be Audio).
| and another labelled "UNKNOWN"?

Uninstall the UNKNOWN
then
Scan for Hardware Changs
A Dial Box will open up
at the top will have the true name
for the UNKNOWN Drive

For all 5 of them
Uninstall
One at a time and
Scan for Hardware Changs
One at a time

Then a the top of Dial Box
the true manufacturer name
for that Drives will Show

| The video drivers DID NOT work.
| The SM Bus controller DID NOT work
| The ethernet drivers DID work.
| I'm still downloading the audio drivers, (3 hours to download)
| I have no clue what the "UNKNOWN" thing is????
|

Tomshardware.com
That website no good
If they where
they would gave
you this Link

http://www.lavalys.com/
It have the tool to help you identify
the device by its manufacturer
The Links to the drives

I have the Old
hardware-diagnostics _home_edition_beta
by Lavalys
<
http://web.archive.org/web/20041205091152/http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en >

It will give you Detailed Windows information,
including operating system installation date and product key,
system services and system drivers list, process information,
installed patches list, environment variables list,
system folders list and system files content.

Run the Report Wizard
Easy-to-use method to produce report files of the system,
by either using pre-configured report profiles
or custom selection of information.

Have a Good Day
< http://www.hot-text.ath.cx/everest/Reports/ >
MYNEWS-Report.htm 225 KB
NNPT-Report.htm 229 KB

MYNEWS-Report is like yours a
Motherboard Name Unknown