http://www.bootdisk.com/ 001 February 2007
The BootLIST/HouseCall
Welcome to the Last Edition of The BootLIST and the First Edition of HouseCall
INDEX
1) NIC No Longer Works
2) USB Printer Stopped Working After Move
3) Clean Vista Install W/Upgrade CD
4) RAM "Really" Needed For Windows Vista
5) Do I Need DirectX 10?
6) Directory/File Space Utilities
7) Your Voice Is Beautiful
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1) NIC No Longer Works
Mr. Belaire telephoned - Hi bro. I am stumped. I have an older P2B with a 400 MEG Intel CPU that worked fine until I retired it. Now I need it as a backup computer but for some reason it will no longer see the network card. It worked perfectly before so what's the deal? Actually it sees the network card, installs the drivers automatically but it doesn't work.
*** Often just switching slots for your PCI card can make Windows see it correctly. Or, sometimes you perhaps forgot to install the
driver for it manually , even tho as you might recall windows had the driver built in. For older systems you often have to remove the network protocols in Control Panel | Network, reboot, and install NetBEUI, Client For Microsoft Networks and TCP/IP fresh.
Of course the NIC may have gone sour even tho Windows may say "This Device Is Working Properly" in Device Manager. On appointments I often hear "Why doesn't my CDrom work it worked fine yesterday?" Well, things do break with no warning. If you are going to fix/tweak your hardware it's a good investment to have some brand new spare cards and cables at hand to swap with to help troubleshoot the problem.
As an aside, take note that in your case make sure you have no cards in the first PCI slot [ie the slot next to the AGP slot], as often that can create the same niggle that you have, even tho it worked correctly before. Note that from Windows 98 and later "plug and play" assigns resources on the fly and even with the same hardware setup one card may fail to work as before even tho you didn't change anything.
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2) USB Printer Stopped Working After Move
JupiterJoan emailed - All I did was remove all the wires from my computer and moved it to another location in my home and when I went to put it back everything worked except for my USB printer. I did not add anything new at all. But why wont my printer work anymore?
*** My guess is that you put the USB cable from the printer in a front USB slot when in the past you had it in a rear slot or visa versa. Sometimes, with USB devices one has to install the drivers again [according to the docs] if you connect it to another USB port.
Please note that yes, in theory one "shouldn't" experience this niggle but alas, this is one of the niggles on site PC repair persons see every so often.
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3) Clean Vista Install W/Upgrade CD
EmmaSue called - I there a way to do a clean install of Windows Vista using the Upgrade CD on a PC with no operating system on it?
*** Try:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp
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4) RAM "Really" Needed For Windows Vista
Suzanne O. inquired - What RAM is needed for Windows Vista? I heard 512 MEG but what is really required for best results?
*** 1 gig minimum or 2 gig if you are buying or building a new system.
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5) Do I Need DirectX 10?
Rick wrote - I saw a TV commercial where they had this MAC guy talking to this PC guy and the PC guy was worried that he would have to upgrade his video card if he got Vista. Is this true?
*** Perhaps. If you want to play the newest released games then your graphics card will have to support the new MS DirectX 10. Check with your graphics card maker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX
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6) Directory/File Space Utilities
Ozanian wrote - What's the best way to find out what's taking up so much space on my hard drive?
*** I really like WinDirStat:
http://windirstat.info/
http://windirstat.info/wds_current_setup.exe
Yes there are others so see:
http://skyscraper.fortunecity.com/techie/842/
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7) Your Voice Is Beautiful
Need a high quality, low latency server for clans, guilds, and gamers. After all, your voice is beautiful, and it should be heard in a crystal clear, static free environment.
...even while fragging.
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