One big problem

[jbredmound]

Well, the old box is purring along like the day I fired it up. It slowed down yesterday, and I started to panic, but it was just a stupid spyware registry key, and I stomped it!. Scot, I am coming into "planting season", with a bunch of tilling and planting to do, plus getting my chickens re-settled and getting the new barn organized (when it gets built...about two weeks), so I am going to delay the reinstall for awhile. I brought "System Mechanic" onboard, and that, coupled with the SP 3 re-install, has really brought this machine back to it's youth. I'm thankful, because the timing for a computer hassle was wrong (heat of summer or dead of winter...not spring or fall).Wow...it really is running like "the old days". So, when do we reach the point that they run, we use, and we don't have to reinvent the wheel all the time?

[Marsden11]

What's "cmdcons"?

The Recovery Console which you can install from your OS CD which gives you extra tools to fix your machine before Windows loads. It adds an entry to your Boot Menu. Some of the more useful tools from a command prompt would be FIXMBRFIXBOOTCHKDSK/R

[Peachy]

Peachy, Nathan ...  I'm thinking about running the CD-burning Backup tip in the newsletter. If either of you would like to write up your experiences, or just describe them here, I'd like to print it and give you credit in the newsletter.-- Scot

Sure Scot, here goes:Using Windows XP Backup Utility to save small backups to CD-R/CD-RWEver wondered how you could make scheduled backups of important documents and folders without having to buy a tape streamer? Well, with Windows XP's backup app you can and all you need is a CD-R/RW drive, a blank CD, and a packet-writing software. Packet-writing software allows you to format blank recordable optical media and have them accessible through a drive letter. The two most popular versions come bundled with your CD burner; Roxio's DirectCD or Ahead's InCD.To get started, first insert your blank disc and format it for use in your system using the aforementionned apps. Next, click on the Start button and open the Backup Utility application by clicking through to Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup. If you don't jave a tape drive installed in your system, Windows will tell you that, but that's okay because we don't need it. Select the Backup tab. You will see an Explorer-like two-pane window showing the contents of your computer including the floppy drive, all drive letter partitions, removeable drives, network shares, and an item called System State, which if you select will preserve your current registry settings. Below the panes you will see the Backup destination field, which will show "File" greyed out if you don't have the said tape drive. But don't worry because you will save the backup to file anyway. Below that is the Backup media or file name field. The default name will be "A:\Backup.bkf." That's correct; you can back up to 1.4MB of data to a floppy drive! Just change the drive letter to the one used by your CD burner with the formatted blank CD and change the name to whatever you want, including .bkf extension.Using the left pane you can expand each folder to see it's contents, shown in the right pane. To mark a folder for backup, just click on the check box to the left of the folder in the left pane. To select individual files, use the right pane and click on the check box beside each file. Just remember that you will have a capacity of only about 650MB on an 80 minute blank CD-R/RW. You can also packet-write format DVD-RW/+RW media with a capacity of about 4.5GB. When you are ready, click the Start Backup button. A Backup Job Information window will pop up. Fill in the description (useful for remembering what you backed up when you restore), select Replace the data on the media with this backup and then click Start Backup to start, or Schedule if you want to do it at some time in the future (this will create a new item in the Task Scheduler.) If you want to verify the backup, then click Advanced to select that setting.What if you selected too much data? When the backup compiles the files to be backed up, you will see a dialog box that quickly displays the files to be backed up and the file size of the backup. You will notice you have a Cancel button. Click that before the backup starts to actually write to the CD to cancel the job. Restoring would be the reverse of the backup. Just put the CD back in, click on Restore and Manage Media and select the backup from the list of available backup sets in the left pane. This is where the description you saved with the backup comes in handy.

[nlinecomputers]

...this backup, is it just data or will it restore the os too? unsure.gif

Only if your total OS is smaller then the media you put in on. I use BackupMYPC which is Microsoft Backup on steroids! It can backup to mulitple CD/DVDs!!!

[Peachy]

...this backup, is it just data or will it restore the os too? 

Just data. If you want to restore the OS I would recommend Symantec Ghost 2003 or PowerQuest Drive Image 2002.

[oblivion]

History: I was hit and hit hard by a Trojan several months ago. I dumped it, reinstalled Norton, fixed my address book, and did a few other repairs that I don't remember now.I think my problems really date back to this.Having gliches coming up, I decided to try to repair W2K, or install over and go get the Service Packs, etc, that I would lose.Well, the puter won't run the W2K disk.

I had something similar, although it was 98se and the trojan was IE6 sp1. After many virus tests, attempts at diagnostics, removal of everything I'd installed in recent times (firewalls, AV software, spam and spyware tools, system updates, you name it) I pretty much stripped my system back to bare bones, and still it was crashing.One thing I learned with the "kill the Windows tree" route is that a backed-up registry you can browse with something like Resplendent Registrar for all your lost software keys is A Good Plan.Also, it's probably a good idea to kill off \Program Files\Internet Explorer before starting the reinstall; it's very easy to achieve a real hotchpotch of versions of various IE components and diagnosing that stuff is painful.But, all that aside, my main reason for sharing this is: DON'T MISS SIMPLER POSSIBILITIES!Because after I'd reinstalled, I still had problems. You know what? My CPU was overheating, as a result of a failed fan. I went through every software diagnostic tool I had, every registry tester I could find, and because I wasn't getting any consistency, blamed the only thing I thought all the problems had in common: Windows. Of course, they all had something else in common too: they were all happening on the same hardware. So check your hardware too; don't just rely on software to diagnose it, take the case apart and look in the box! (Or ask a friendly, hardware-savvy techie to do it if you're not comfortable with that.)I'm also concerned about your W2K disk. Does it run in other machines? Have you run a lens cleaner over your drive? (Believe me, dust and grime can be a bigger problem than you think!)

[Cluttermagnet]

I shudder at the thought of a wipe, because 75% of my software is downloaded stuff, and I don't know how long it would take me to go get it all back.

This is one of the few areas where I thoroughly learned my lesson. I eventually got in the habit of creating folders and squirreling away a copy of each and every downloaded install utility, even those I thought might come in useful but have not yet installed (a significant percentage of total downloads). Fairly often, I pop a CDR in the burner and use Nero to copy everything in my "Download" and "Download Installed" folders. On this machine, still only about a 200-300M burn. So I have multiple (session closed) CDR copies floating around here, each slipped into a CD envelope and labeled on the CD with the date and a few other remarks. I have so many copies I can afford to give some away to my friends occasionally and 'share the wealth'.

[mykey]

You should be able to boot from the 2k CD. MS has provided bootables OS's since Win ME. Check your BIOS configuration, usually under "advanced settings"..."Boot Device Priority". If that fails your CD-Rom drive may not support Boot from CD.

[johnwhorfin]

Another suggestion for a free back-up program is Karen' s Replicator, a program created by Karen Kenworth. It is available at her Karen's Power Tools site, and more specifically here: Karen's Replicator. The program has a lot of flexibility and will allow for scheduled , incremental backups as well. Highly customizable with filters for inclusion as well as exclusion.

[ibe98765]

Another suggestion for a free back-up program is Karen' s Replicator, a program created by Karen Kenworth.  It is available at her Karen's Power Tools site, and more specifically here: Karen's Replicator.  The program has a lot of flexibility and will allow for scheduled , incremental backups as well.  Highly customizable with filters for inclusion as well as exclusion.

One major problem with Karen's Replicator is that it won't back up open files. It also didn't seem to generate any log or message saying that it couldn't back up the open file! So when you actually need that file, you will find that it isn't actually there. Too many people ASSUME that their backup is working without taking a detailed look at the logs or what was actually backed up.On WinXP, it is better to use the free included backup utility which includes Shadow Volume Copy. It backs up both open and closed files, regardless. The built-in wizard will guide you through creating a scheduled backup job that will run automatically.

[jbredmound]

Thank you! I just put Karen's site in the ole favorites bin for later review.This thread has taught me a great deal...like a short course in diagnostics.Everything is still good here, by the way.I am still contemplating what my semi-permanent back-up strategy will be, so all of this information is very useful. Thanks, Again!

[jbredmound]

Alrighty then! The Disaster Report, brought to you by Mylanta.I had a few backups...when I decided to throw caution to the wind and install W2K SP4. Well, it got hung up (I'll describe it on the Apps forum. and we crashed (Mayday, Mayday).Couldn't come back via GoBack, last good config, via safe mode, or via DOS. Chunked in the ERD, and the @@##@$$$#@ had gone bad on me (why are we still using those poopy little disks for anything but transferring between computers on a short term basis?)Anyhow, I had to reformat; of course, I hadn't selected a reformatting tool, yet, so I did it the old-fashioned way.I elected not to use a couple of my backup disks, going to the sites, etc, for what I wanted (I figured, they won't be corrupted). Then I got to the CD I needed, containing OE stuff, like address book, settings, etc, along with my Favorites from IE. Thing was corrupted! I have jumped through several thousand hoops, including making a copy of it via Roxio, all to no avail!Favorites will rebuild itself in short order, as the stuff I really cared about I remember how to find. I used this forum (the favorite tools thread, et al, to find some of my utilities (my own post was useful)) The loss of the address book is the only real blow. I'll get mail from many of the folks in a short time, I'll snag some email addresses from Fwds, and I'll have to make a few phone calls.Bright side:Since we moved and and made the major changes in our lifestyle, ol' jb has had minimal computer budget. The budget just expanded to accommodate a good backup program, as the better half says she is not going through this again. Other than ducking a few randomly thrown CDs and Floppys , and hearing a few choice words that she has heard before , I don't know what she means .I have added this thread to my "New, Improved Favorites", so that I can digest the advise and comment here in preparation for a real backup solution. If anyone would like to add anything, that would be cool. If a mod wants to break this out, that's OK, too. Oh, one last thing. My primary email account is not receiving mail right now. I went to my ISP website and got the config info, but I have obviously done something wrong. Sooo, I'll have to wait until 10 am tomorrow, when Dale (who is our "help-desk) is in the office, and we'll hash it out until it works. I'm a bit to burned out to continue on alone.

[oblivion]

Anyhow, I had to reformat; of course, I hadn't selected a reformatting tool, yet, so I did it the old-fashioned way.I elected not to use a couple of my backup disks, going to the sites, etc, for what I wanted (I figured, they won't be corrupted). Then I got to the CD I needed, containing OE stuff, like address book, settings, etc, along with my Favorites from IE. Thing was corrupted! I have jumped through several thousand hoops, including making a copy of it via Roxio, all to no avail!

If I could think of an obvious smilie signifying huge sympathy, I'd have used it.I've worked in the PC industry since (okay, okay, I won't go on about it) and I've heard so many people say "of course it's good practice to regularly reformat and reinstall to keep everything running sweet" that I've got to the point where I won't always argue...But really, what does that achieve?You need a completely reliable backup strategy for it to be in any way useful. You get burned by the inclination to do it and a lack of good backup, and it maybe teaches you to be more careful about backups. You could argue that this is A Good Thing.So how do you ensure your backups are reliable?By testing them - USE that verify option!By making proper rotational backups - so if the most recent's a crock, there's at least a chance that the one before is okay.That takes time and effort, and most people won't invest those things. Yeah, even me, Mr Holier-than-thou preaching from his quiet corner.The alternatives? Well, we can trust Kindly Uncle Bill's inbuilt Windows registry backups to save us from all the nasty things that can happen when the power spikes, or little Johnny installs some dodgy program that messes everything up. And, indeed, that's what most people do, most of the time, and because a valid registry can still contain vast amounts of garbage before anything is obviously wrong, it appears to work well.My own choice is a bit more proactive. I use various registry tools to do proper analyses and - subject to backups (exporting the registry to another drive works well) let them do their stuff. Jouni Vuorio's jv16 Power Tools is an excellent program. It doesn't hide quite so much under the covers as the equivalent tools from the big boys (Symantec and Network Associates for instance) so you can make some useful decisions about what to let it do and what not to. And it doesn't even cost money.So you can keep your registry in trim without having to initialise a new one every so often. What else does a reformat and reinstall give you?Well, a less fragmented hard disk, and a complete cleanout of things like cookies, downloaded junk and temp files.And no-one here knows about that sort of disk housekeeping?In my view (and ymmv, and everyone's got stories where everything else failed, I know) fdisk and format are the tools of last resort.You want to relay the tracks on your disk because you think you might be subject to track drift? Puh-leeease. But, if you insist, Steve Gibson's Spinrite will help, I'm sure.But - to belabour the point in my earlier post one more time - check your hardware (which includes your installation and backup media) and use the tools at your disposal (Microsoft even supply some with the OS!) to find out a bit more about why your system's misbehaving before assuming that you need to rebuild the OS from scratch.And, of course, if it ain't broke... [Fx: steps down from soapbox]

[Country]

I just found this forum and noticed than in discussing backups, no one has mentioned the use of the old XCopy command set up in a "batch" file. This is one of the most helpful commands from the old DOS days.This is a little long - hope the moderator lets it get posted - but the process that follows enables me to do a complete data backup in about 8 minutes and I think it will be very helpful in your consideration of various backup plans.Basics - create a ".bat" file, write a line of text in the "bat" file which will run the XCopy commands. XCopy can then search the folders & sub-folders you designate, find any new or altered files since the last time the command was run, and then copy those files to a folder of your choosing. If the folder doesn't exist, then XCopy will make the folder for you.I have a network system with 3 computers - my wife's, mine and the "3rd" computer which does the Internet conneciton. The XCopy setup does the search on both mine and my wife's computer and that enables me to click once on a shortcut on my desktop and do a complete back up any of the latest files I consider important enough to save.JB. when you wrote that the FedEx truck had arrived with your spindle of disks, I figured you were far out of any city. I, too, permanently moved to The Country about 3 years ago and it has changed my computer/software/hardware buying practices drastically. Also, being far away from my normal outlets for computer parts, I realized I had to have a good way of saving my info in case/when there is a catastrophy.When I power supply problem fried two of my hard drives, I ended up doing a fresh install of W2000 and came up with a backup system that I find to be fairly easy to remember and do.First, after the install of W2000, I installed my basic everyday programs (Word Perfect, Lotus 123, IE & OE, etc.) - the programs I needed to get back up and running. Then the ghost/clone of that fresh install, like others suggested, got me a CD-R that I, hopefully will be able to use to replace the "basics".With those programs backed up, I figured I could later, as needed, install any program that I lost in the crash/reformat. What I needed was a simple system to backup my data files. Luckily, I had done a backup of some data files before my drives got fried, but I had been lazy and lost over a year's worth of digital photos.I hit upon XCopy. It is a command that will selectively search where you want it to for any altered files - the ones with the "a" attribute set. Then it will copy those files to a folder of my choosing.The reason this works so well is the command switches that go with XCopy.First, my situation - also living on a farm, I am building my own house - or least doubling the size of the original one made in 1918. I take digital pictures of everything for future reference. Also, with a digital camera, about many more pictures are taken of every day things since you don't have to get them developed.The graphics had been sorted in many folders under a "Pictures" folder and the number of files grew weekly, and they were placed in different sub-folders according to the subject matter.There was no way I was going to spend hours each week going to each folder and viewing the details of the files to determine which picture I had already backed up.The total size of the main pictures folder was greater than one 700 meg CD-R.None of the prior posts indicated if you know the old DOS basics, so I apologize if I step on any toes by being too specific.A "bat" files is run by the OS just like a "com" or "exe" file.Going to Explorer and selecting a folder and clicking on File->New->Text Document will create a new file - which you name something like "backup.bat". Windows will warn you about changing the extension, but you want to change the extension.Then, to open the "bat" file to write the XCopy commands, you right click the file and choose "Edit". There you will have a blank text file in which to type.For some examplesLets say you have spreadsheet files concering the farm, your checkbook and some old stocks you got before the bust in March 2000 in a folder - C:\money. Each file is in a separate sub-folder named farm, ckbk, stocks. You have word processing files in C:\myfiles and several sub-folders for separate catagories - farm, business, family, doctorYou have a ton of picture files in C:\camera and many sub-folders for separate catagories - barn, asppatch, cows, fence, construction, family, d-days, C-mas 2002 - with some sub-folders in those folders.Note the lack of a space between "asppatch". Since XCopy is an old DOS command, it doesn't like the long file names in directories - long, spaced file names are okay.So, you are going to have to find each and every file that has been changed or added and then copy those files to a location of your choosing - without going to the new location and creating a new folder for each catagory needed to save a particular file.Create a folder on any drive - say D - D:\backupsTo save your spreadsheets, from C:\money and each sub-folder, you will write a line of text in your backups.bat file as follows:xcopy c:\money\*.* d:\backups\money /s /m /y i/ /s - copies directories & sub-dir unless they are empty/m -copies the file and turns off the "a" attribute/y - copies the files without confirming replacement of existing files/i - copies more than one file and assumes the destintion is a directoryThis command will have XCopy go to C:\money and search for any files with the "a" attribute set. If it finds one, it will copy the file to D:\backups (and here is the good part - if there is not currently a sub-folder of "backups" named "money", it will create it for you) and reset the "a" attribute on the original file to show that it has not been altered or changed since you ran XCopy. XCopy will go to each sub-folder of C:\money and do the same - again creating a sub-folder if needed.Make another line for each main folder that you want to back up:xcopy c:\myfiles\*.* d:\backups\myfiles /s /m /y /ixcopy c:\camera\*.* d:\backups\camera /s /m /y /iAnother good part about XCopy creating new folders if needed is that when you burn your backups to a CD, you can then go to the d:\backups folder and delete all the sub-folders. When you run "backup.bat" the next time, if needed the folders will be re-created.Then - start up your CD burner, put in a CD-R, make a folder of the current date, drag all the folders from d:\backups to the folder with the current date, and burn it.You have a current backup of any new or altered files since the last time you did it. Depending on how much has been added/changed, you may get from 10 to 30 backups on a single CD-R.You mentioned saving downloaded programs for later use or re-install. I created a seperate folder "add to CD" and then created a separate batch file so I could run the two batch files separately to put the programs/patches/etc on a separate disk from my data files.The end result will be a half-way current (I do mine about every 7 to 12 days) backup of all your, what you consider, important files. If you later add another main folder which you also want backed up, just "edit" the batch file and add a line to direct xcopy where to go.I realize some of the text in the XCopy lines could be shortened, but when I put the batch file together and it worked, I also operate on the theory - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks for an interesting post, Country- and welcome aboard! Since I'm running Win98SE, I can definitely do this. I'm going to play around with xcopy a bit and see if I can come up with a reasonable .bat file to do backups with. So far as avoiding data loss, this technique ought to work fine. Thanks to ibe for reminding me that Replicator will fail to copy open files and to warn about that. I did have that in the back of my mind. I'm not so good about remembering to backup anyway. I do manually burn CDR's from time to time. All I seem to value is my fairly large collection of install programs for various utilities. Most were downloaded via my painfully slow dialup. I also like to keep back copies of 'important' emails not immediately deleted after reading. I should add in the contents of My Documents and all its sub-folders, then I would be OK. Probably there are very few files on my HD that are truly valuable, but I do have to look at my time investment as having value. No doubt having a working drive imaging utility like the PQ ones or whatever is also a good idea. I like the idea of having an image of a newly installed, pristine OS with all patches preserved in case of disaster. I do have an older version of Drive Image- I mean really old- DI 2.0 if I remember right. Any obvious 'gotchas' using that old version on a P4 Win98 machine? It says it is compatible with MSDOS and Win95. I have made a few images with it that did seem to be creating complete snapshots of C:, but I have never actually tested them. Obviously I should. I guess my reluctance stems from the possibility that the image swap might fail, leaving me with nothing whatever on C:. Since the OS on this box is a bit hosed anyway, mainly in the sounds area, I plan to reformat eventually and try to get everything basic running right and then take an image of that. Plus yet another image after reinstalling a lot of utilities. I just want to do it at a more convenient time. Now is not good. In addition to Norton Ghost and Drive Image, I also like Country's idea of just cloning a pristine OS to a different partition or better yet a second HD. In a disaster I could boot to DOS with my rescue floppy and reverse clone the OS image back onto C:. I really do need to try a few of these techniques. To date, in about 7 years and over several computers, I have never had a disaster requiring a complete OS & software reinstall. Typically, I do manage to criple parts of the OS eventually, but not to the point that Format C: seems essential. Heck, I have a working copy of Win98SE on my P2 333MHz box that is 'original' and still quite usable after 5 years. The most I ever did on that box was to install SE over itself a couple of times.

[Country]

Thanks for the greeting Cluttermagnet. I too had often thought about doing a complete backup, but never really did until the disaster with the power supply. Luckily I had made half-hearted attempts at doing some backups or I really would have been sunk.If you decide to try the XCopy process, you can mail me direct through the forum and we will work out anything I forgot in the original post or any problems that arise.The only drawback to the XCopy process is there is no one place to go get ALL the data files, but then these backups are for an emergency. The only alternative would be a complete clone of the drive (divide 80 gig by 700 meg) every week, or so, and you'd have enough old CD's to flash the space shuttle as it went past while in orbit.I'm using PQ Drive Image 4.0 for the disk image. It seems to work pretty well and I have tested it to ensure that it does work. I don't see any problems with using DI 2.0 on a P4. Since DI goes into DOS mode to make the clone, DI 2.0 should work on any system. I have used DI 4.0 on a AMD K6/2 350 Mhz which is comparable to the PII. That machine is running W2000, but again, since it goes into DOS, I wouldn't think it would matter which OS it is running on. I don't use it enough that I have it automated or completely understand every aspect of it, but it is pretty straight forward for just a clone. I would imagine that it could also pull out specifically dated and/or altered files, but since it works in DOS mode, I don't want my system going through the shutdown, re-boot process on an automatic basis. Plus, it is easier to do the XCopy by clicking on a desktop shortcut, start my burner program and burn what I want than to have it all done in DOS by Drive Image, then wait for the re-start of my system, etc. Again, I can see exactly what is going on and be aware of any glitches.That P2 machine you've got with an "original" Win98SE install is doing great. I got the SE update for WIn98 (compared the update disk with an OEM SE disk and the files were the same except for the install and setup files) and ended up taking it off and going back to a straight Win98 version. The SE version started hanging on shutdown. Never had that problem with Win98.Plus, in the ongoing controversy of leave it on/turn it off, I have opted for the "leave it on" with my systems. Unless a storm comes up, or I have to leave my house over night, the three systems on my LAN are on 24/7. Only when I completely trash my resources with running several high intensive memory hogs do I end up re-booting.I only like the idea of my system shutting down and re-booting when I tell it to and when I'm watching it for any bumps or grinds that might occur in the process.I, too, have only a dial-up connection, plus I am so far out in the country that the phone line signal degrades and the fastest connection I can get is 26.4 - and that was only after I upgraded to W2000. With Win98 the best I could get was 14.4. I never knew a different OS would speed up my connection but nothing else was done to the system or by the phone company.With that minimal speed, I definitely save every download that I decide is worthwhile (and some not so worthwhile) and burn it to CD. That is where the technique with XCopy also comes in handy. In additon, so I know where to find them, I have made a separate word processor file with a list of the programs listing on which disk and which drawer they are in. Otherwise, it'd take hours just going through each disk trying to find anything particular program I wanted.Maybe I have too much time on my hands, but after the one disaster I had, I would rather ensure an easy re-install with a good backup of my data where I know I can find it.After many years and wasted time, I finally have learned that sometimes, even though I want to know the cause, it is best to just wave a white flag, scratch the whole system and start over.With the price of hard drives these days, if a spare drive (60 gig for $50) is in a budget, cloning the frest drive for a re-install is the best way. That way you can test it immediately without destroying your original drive, and it can be changed out in a matter of minutes.I have literally got a stack of old hard drives that still work but are too small for any real use. A fresh install of W2000, IE & OE, word processor and spreadsheet will easily fit on a hard drive that is only a gig. I just hook that drive up as a slave, clone to that drive, take the drive out, label it and put it where I hope I can find it in an emergency.I don't worry about all the other programs I end up installing unless I use them every day. When I have had to do a fresh install of my entire system and just start out with my basics, it might be weeks before I get around to want to "play" with another program and realize it hadn't been re-installed yet. Well, if I can go a couple of weeks without needing a program, then I figure I don't need to bother with the aggravation of setting it up on a fresh install to clone and use just to get me back up and running again.Of course, I also save all patches and updates, if any, for the program in the folder on the CD with the original file.I'm glad I was able to suggest an alternative to use on backing up various parts of a system.

[oblivion]

I, too, have only a dial-up connection, plus I am so far out in the country that the phone line signal degrades and the fastest connection I can get is 26.4 - and that was only after I upgraded to W2000. With Win98 the best I could get was 14.4.  I never knew a different OS would speed up my connection but nothing else was done to the system or by the phone company.

The OS doesn't make much difference - but if the modem is something that the OS thinks it knows about, and if the default modem initialisation string varies from one OS to another, then that might. Also, things like the MTU settings might be different. (I found a useful program yesterday that can help determine the ideal, but that was at work and I can't remember the details. Remind me in a couple of days and I'll try to root them out.)Personally, I have a bad habit of working out ideal settings for my modems, writing them to the modem as defaults and then overriding anything the OS might have done by passing a soft reset (ATZ) to the modem in the "additional settings" bit of the modem config. That approach has done well for me in the past - butt it does rely on having a modem that you have good documentation for. My old USR Couriers, for instance.

[oblivion]

(I found a useful program yesterday that can help determine the ideal, but that was at work and I can't remember the details. Remind me in a couple of days and I'll try to root them out.)

Here y'go. An article with all sorts of useful info about optimizing internet connections, including a link to the program I mentioned:Speedguide.netHope it helps - although I haven't tried it out myself, yet, so it'd be interesting to hear how you get on...

[Country]

Oblivion,Thanks for the link. I downloaded the program and ran it last night, but haven't let it do anything to my system, yet. Since it looks like it will change some Registry settings, I need to study it a little bit. It appears to do what TweakDun.exe does to change the MTU settings.The program has a tab for "Settings", but which also has a drop-down menu to select your Network Adapter. Running the MTU test shows I can change the MTU from 576 to 1500, but I can't really tell if it is saying that is for the NIC, or the settings for my modem.Speedguide's home page gives a DOS command to check the highest MTU for my ISP. Going up from 576, I get consistent 0% loss up to 1425, but get some 0% and some 25% loss when I go higher than that.Also, the site describes how to edit the Registry for Win9X, but not W2000.If I decide what route to take to try to change the MTUs I'll let you know how it turns out.Thanks

[Turbo]

For the record, earlier in this thread it was mentioned that one would need boot floppies to install Windows 2000. Not true. Only Windows 95 and 98/98SE require boot floppies. All other Windows install CDs are bootable, even Windows NT.

[Brona]

Hello,I suppose using KillDisk software to erase your drive clean. KillDisk erases the whole drive so you are quite sure any unnecessary program will be erased. After that you can re-partition and re-format your drive and start using it from scratch. Head to www.killdisk.com for more info and download issues. KillDisk also posses some highly secure erase algorithms like DoD M5220 and Guttman's.