Update on the offline PIII issue! further help required! ;-)

11 Aug 2004

hey! quick update on the PIII problem . . . . . a few issues left before i do something i'll regret ?
i now have a working PIII 733MHz 128Mb 40Gb PC . . . .it was a power switch problem, and a new case sorted it! though one of the memory sticks doesn't seem to be working? and the floppy lights up permanently but doesn't boot?
it's running WinXP, and i think Win98 would be a lot quicker on it, so i'm on the verge of a reformat/install! i've always had to boot from floppy to reinstall Win98 so far with my PI ? can i install/reformat from CDROM if i set the BIOS to boot from CD ? i needed to boot a floppy to install a CD driver on the machine i use now, and couldn't format the HD if the HD was in use as the boot device ?
it has a 56k PCI Simple Communication Interface ( dunno

) modem, onboard 64Mb graphics accelerator ( using main RAM ) and USB etc. would Win98 disable the PC in any serious way? my modem is the single most important component ( for obvious reasons! lol

) i have a PCI 28k modem available, and the 56k card that requires a jumper to be set right ( it is ! ) but . . . .
i can finally get my dual-boot Linux/KDE installation running alongside Win98 without worrying about HD/RAM size. i can install/set-up ok, but again, would i be losing anything?
any reason why i shouldn't format?
cheers
neil ;-)

11 Aug 2004

Aaaarrgghhhhhh!!! Too many questions!!!! I might be able to help you if it was presented one question at a time. It's been a while since I was a frontline techie for britain's largest electrical retailer, but I'm sure I've sill got the knack!

11 Aug 2004

Wow Neil, I bet you're worried you might receive no reply to these questions....and terrified that you might receive one!
lol

Mike.

11 Aug 2004

Neil,
Try swapping the memory into a different slot. Check the speed and put the Slowest in slot 1.
Floppy Ribbon cable is in the wrong way round. The coloured stripe needs to be at the other side on the back of the floppy ONLY.
Win 98 CD didn't come with "Boot from CD" as standard.
Provided you have the Driver disk for your Modem etc. (usualy part of the Motherboard driver CD) then no problem. If you haven't, get another modem which has a driver disk.
XP is a great deal better than 98 if you can live with it being a bit slow. XP likes memory so if you can give it another 128MB (or more) it will be considerably faster.

11 Aug 2004

ummmmm ummmmm cant help you there just reading that all made my brain hurt :shock:
but im ya woman if you wanna know how to get limescale of a glass shower screen....... :twisted:

11 Aug 2004

Quote by neilinleeds
the floppy lights up permanently but doesn't boot?

First bit of advice. Try turning the cable round. There's a pretty good chance it's plugged in the wrong way if the light in on constantly. Failing that, check the BIOS. I built a computer once that did the old floppy light on constantly an wouldn't boot problem so did everything I could with components, including trying two additional cables, and another floppt drive. Turns out one of the default BIOS settings was wrong, but I can't remember which one it was for the life of me! redface

12 Aug 2004

Quote by MikeNorth
Wow Neil, I bet you're worried you might receive no reply to these questions....and terrified that you might receive one!

erm . . . . . yes . . . . . . lol

Quote by JQL
Win 98 CD didn't come with "Boot from CD" as standard.
Provided you have the Driver disk for your Modem etc. (usualy part of the Motherboard driver CD) then no problem. If you haven't, get another modem which has a driver disk.
XP is a great deal better than 98 if you can live with it being a bit slow. XP likes memory so if you can give it another 128MB (or more) it will be considerably faster.

erm . . . . yes . . . . . i thought as much . . . . . no i don't . . . . . . and no i can't . . . . . . ;-)

Quote by RedStilletto
that all made my brain hurt

erm . . . and mine . . . .

Quote by YellowFrog
It's been a while since I was a frontline techie for britain's largest electrical retailer, but I'm sure I've sill got the knack!

erm . . . . and would you believe i once worked for ICL / Epson ???? no, neither would i ! :lol:
cheers guys, i think i have a solution . . . . . or maybe not . . . . . . .
and apologies once again !!! :smile:
neil x x x x ;-)