Jeff Mottle Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 Just thought I'd share my experiences from the past 36 hours. That would be installing XP and various other apps and the probs I ran into. Well after having recorded all of settings before wiping the partition clean, I proceeded to upgrade from Windows 2000 SP3 to XP SP1. The install went as one would expect but as soon as the install was done and XP tried to load it consistantly hung. I reinstalled 4 times, disbaled services galore and still no luck. I was able to boot into safe mode but that was it. I tried installing the new video drivers but nothing would work, but before I threw XP into the garbage for good I took it to my brother-in-laws for one last look over. (He a network analyst) He pulled all of my hardware but the video card and the harddrive and even stripped it down to 512MB of RAM. And if you can beleive it, it BOOTED! So immediatly we assumed it must be some bad RAM, so we tested the RAM, but it was fine, so although in disbelief, we figured it had to be hardware. One by one we installed the hardware and found that of all things my AOPEN DVD-ROM drive was preventing XP from booting. Anyway I thought I'd share this for anyone else that runs into XP install problems. Hopefully I can save you 12 hours of install hell. Here are a few apps I highly reccomend: 1. UltraMon - http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/ - UltraMon is a utility for multi-monitor systems, designed to increase productivity and unlock the full potential of multiple monitors. 2. Boot Fast - http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platform/performance/fastboot/default.asp - OEM Boot Optimization tool for XP to speed up boot times. 3. Memtest86 3.0 - http://www.memtest86.com/ - Memtest86 is thorough, stand alone memory test for x86 architecture computers. BIOS based memory tests are only a quick check and often miss many of the failures that are detected by Memtest86. 4. Acronis True Image - http://www.acronis.com/products/trueimage/ - Awesome backup and drive imaging software. Like Ghost but I opted for this program becuase I liked it better and it actually recognized my brand new Sony DVD burner. 5. Trillian - http://www.ceruleanstudios.com - Awesome chat tool that will allow you to connect to all of the networks (MSN, ICQ, AIM, IRC, YAHOO etc through one app.) 6. Spam Inspector - http://www.giantcompany.com/ - A snap in for MS Outlook that redirects spam. I've been using it for the past 6 months and it rocks! 7. PestPatrol - http://www.pestpatrol.com/ This app is like Adaware, but blocks spyware and ad cookies on the fly. So far every time I have run a scan I have no cookies or spyware on my system. I used to have several hundred after each monthly scan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hess Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 Hey Jeff, Thanks for sharing your tales of woe. I just finished the first and second part of my XP optimization article, it should be up later this week. Got it down to using less then 60 megs of ram upon bootup. http://www.3dluvr.com/crossbow/incoming/pretweakprogs.jpg I'll post a link when its upped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted March 30, 2003 Author Share Posted March 30, 2003 Wow I can't wait to see your article Greg. Althugh I doubt I will get mine that low. A base install and I have over 30 apps/utilties instaleld. I thnk my services tay has 10-15 icons. yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 Jeff I have to ask: WHY did you feel you needed to go from W2K to XP? I have been very happy with W2K right from the start. Originally I was quick to jump because W2K would finally give me functional USB ports. But what is missing from W2K? Multi-processor support? If that's it, I would think you would buy a MP system whole, with a fresh OS. I was avoiding XP because of the lovely EULA that allows Microsoft to 'visit' your system to look around any damned time they please. But they added that wording to the W2K SP3 installer, so there is no winning. Ironic--SP3 was needed to fix a major security hole (an MS software defect) but to fix that hole we have to open the door wide to our 'friends' at Microsoft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hess Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/index.php - best registry cleaner ever I agree. But if you have a dual cpu system, you might want to go with his powertools variant of regcleaner. (Regcleaner has some issues with dual cpu systems). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted March 31, 2003 Author Share Posted March 31, 2003 I went to XP, becuase both my laptop and my other system are now XP and I had not had any issues with them and it was time to do a rebuild. Figured now was a good as time as any to upgrade. I also LOVE the fact that boot time is abut 1/4 that of W2K. If I run into any issues I'll let you know. Cheers, Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hess Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Jeff, Check your cgarchitect email . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojciech Klepacki Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Hi Jeff, Some nice free tools: http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/index.php - best registry cleaner ever http://security.kolla.de/ - spybot, it doesn't require any comment I have to agree with Ernest: "WHY did you feel you needed to go from W2K to XP?" rgds, Wojciech Klepacki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcahunak Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Hi, Here is alink to TweakXP.com Performance page. There are also lots of other tips and treaks to get your machine perform flawlessly without the need of any 3rd party apps. BTW: most of the simpla tips will work with W2K as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Knourek Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Hey Greg, you have that XP optimization article done yet? -dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hess Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 No Dave, I spent this past weekend helping my father remove the engine and transmission from a 1990 Dodge Stealth. One of his cylinders had some horrid compression, and the transmission needed a new transfer case, clutch, and flywheel anyway. Needless to say, as you can imagine, removin the engine from an automobile is not a quick snappy task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcahunak Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Hey Greg, by default, does the cluch appear as a service, or do you have to login... bla bla... Just to say, that I'm also waiting for that article. Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Knourek Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 While you have it apart Greg don't forget to replace the piston return springs. :winkgrin: -dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hess Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Hrm...nobody tell. www.3dluvr.com/crossbow/articles I uploaded most of the images for the article. the services.jpg is all the services I've disabled. (If you view the services as a list, the ones shown in the jpg, I disabled). The written blah blah part will be continued to be written as I get time. Clutches are a bitch to remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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