thewizard75

... that the settlement between Sun and Microsoft prohibits Microsoft from distributing their JVM anymore, with full maintenance stopping in september of this year. See http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/ for more info on that. I don't know for sure, but it's very possible that MSFT removes their JVM with XP SP2 to be compliant with that settlement as well. Get Sun to make a faster JVM...

Microsoft disabled the name www.windowsupdate.com for a while, but it works again on my system. But, as they pointed out when they disabled windowsupdate.com temporarily, the proper URL is windowsupdate.microsoft.com -- so try that...

Definitely a strange problem, one I haven't heard of much before. It sounds like some sort of connectivity problem between the onboard NIC and the switch (could be due to cable, etc.). However, one thing it could be is a duplex mismatch between your onboard NIC & the switch it connects to (which is most likely to happen if either the switch or the NIC card is hard-coded to be full-duplex, but not both). See http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/473/46.html#auto_neg_valid Could try modifying network link settings (per the above) and see if that fixes it. Beyond that, do the typical things: 1) Find the latest drivers for your onboard NIC. 2) Find the latest BIOS for your system (not likely to fix this problem). 3) Try the same system on a different switch port.

Just so we have some reference point, what NVIDIA driver version are you using? and the drivers for the promise card? You can always try downloading the latest from http://www.nvidia.com and http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Support/Driver/Driver_GA-7DXR.htm Anyways, maybe we can help a little more once we know what driver versions you are using =).

Could be the cable you're using... is it the 80-wire ATA cable, or something different (like rounded cables?). I've seen this problem before with old 40-wire cables...

I might be wrong, but if it's anything like the logitech line ... it's not supported in w2k/wxp when connected via the sound card gaming port (this might be wrong...). Other than that, did you make sure that the card has the gaming port enabled?

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ent...be?OpenDocument Seems to mention that file, and says it's part of Intel AMS support files, whatever those are. But at least its a start. Why you got that on a fresh install, I don't know... virus maybe?

Perhaps the two laserjets have different ROM versions? I've seen other printer artifacts between two "identical" printers, only to find out later that the ROM versions were different. Normally the sticker tag with serial & model number will also contain ROM revision. Additionally, you should be able to tell the laser to print a status page that will include this information. Other than this, really can't think of anything.

If the home computer is the one in your signature that is being overclocked ... I have seen overclocking cause this problem before. Try not overclocking it and see if that helps. Since you said this is happening both at home and at work, it could also be a virus that is being tracked back and forth.

with FIC motherboards and it turns out that they were faulty... Could also be a PS problem, but from how you describe it, it is more likely a bios problem... have you checked for updates?

I've seen this before with a power supply that is not large enough, and with a system that is not sufficiently cooled. You might want to check these two factors...

You will, however, still be able to use Sun's own virtual machine from java.sun.com ... I have been using this on my WXP system for some time and it works like a charm.

And I'm assuming that you are using speakers without their own amplification. Some sounds cards (such as the SB Live!) do not include an on-board amplifier, relying on external speakers for additional amplification. If the Avance Sound Manager sound card is like the Live!, then this is what you're experiencing...

Not to get into a big discussion, but if you go here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/support/contact/default.asp you will note that you get two free technical support cases via email or via phone. I have literally requested dozens of hotfixes (for 2000 Pro, XP Pro) using this method: 1. Log on to online support. State that to fix the problem I need the fix described in knowledge base article QXXXXXX. Please email it to __________ . 2. No more than two days later, I receive an email from a Microsoft technical support spe[censored]t containing the file. They also ask if it fixes my problem. 3. I install the hotfix, and note that it fixes my problem. Then I email them saying yes, it did fix my problem. 4. I get a reply from the support guy that because all they did was provide me with a file, it doesn't count against my two case limit. As I said, I've done this more than twenty times, and it's the same pattern. Now, every single one of my friends and aquantances (10+) who have done similar things have gotten exactly the same result. But all of this was in the US... maybe internationally is different, I don't know... Edit: Corrected spelling typo. I really don't have any idea why microsoft withholds many fixes (except security ones and a few others). Also, the fact that you have been having much problems wiht MS tech support is troubling... perhaps submit a complaint to the UK equivalent of the Better Business Bureau (so at least they know it?).

I am an individual (no fancy contract or anything from Microsoft) who purchased Windows 2000 off the shelf for my old machine some time ago. I sent an email to MS tech support asking for the updates mentioned in those articles... and they emailed them to me at no charge. Perhaps phone support is different, but email worked.