Curley_Boy

Finally someone who has the same problems as ME!! (and posted on the same night!!) I have memory read errors in games too, and some games eg SOF II crash to the desktop with no errors. Unfortunatly no software updates I've ever installed (Windows SPs/Fixes, Drivers or Games Patches) have ever solved the problem, and the errors only seem to occur with the Windows 2000 family of OSes and nearly always with games (Lavasoft's Ad-Watch 2.5 is the only app I think of which has similar probs). The odd thing is the system and OS are both rock solid aside these odd errors. Couple of examples: Application popup: Lemmings: [Paul] Watch out, there`s traps about : LEMMINGS.EXE - Application Error : The instruction at "0x002e2099" referenced memory at "0x05be2470". The memory could not be "read". Application popup: Ad-watch.exe - Application Error : The exception unknown software exception (0x0eedfade) occurred in the application at location 0x77e989d1. I think the problems are likley to be RAM related (I have an AMD/VIA based PC with mixed RAM modules ). so I'll get a mem checker from one o the posted linked and post back with the results.

Thanks for the links, I think those files must have been left over from my ME/2000 dual boot setup.

Can someone tell me why when I close an application, it's button goes from the taskbar, but a space is left in its place. Usually when you close a program the other buttons on the taskbar resize themselves to fill the gap left by the closed program, and thus make the most efficient use of taskbar space. However im forever left with a gap at the right most edge of the taskbar (before the system tray). The only way I've found round this is to resize the taskbar to double size, and then shrink it again, and it resizes its buttons properly. Anyone any ideas on how to correct this bug? (Im using Windows 2000 btw)

!MAJOR RANT WARNING! Right ok, for as long as i can remember my PC has never worked right. It freezes, it gives me stop errors and apps fall over eachother like theres no tommrow!! I have: Changed *ALL* the hardware in my PC, Tried a different BIOS revision on the motherboards that have been in the system, (and tried every damned config setup each has) And for all the other bits n pieces Gfx cards, sound cards, modems, HDDs.. etc tried dozens of different driver revsions to no effect! (and resloting them into every concievable order on the MB i can think of) I have installed Windows 95/98/98se/Me/NT4/2kPro/2k Ad server/MS-DOS in total near to 300 times (no joke). In fact i formatted the HDD so many times it died. I have tried bare boot and numerous dual boot configurations too. Nothing i do changes anything whatsoever i still have the same problems... and its bancrupting me... no-one has a B***** clue whats going on!! As a last desperate plea for help before the bank manager comes for my soul, or before i go on a mad killing spree (which ever comes 1st!!) I would like to know one thing.. Can anyone ANYONE decypher this stop error for me... ---------------------------------------- *** STOP: 0X0000000A (0XE1200ADC,0X00000002,0X00000000,0X804BBE4A) IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL *** Address 804BBE4A base at 80400000, DateStamp 3ad7ad60 - ntoskrnl.exe ---------------------------------------- (base at 80400000, DateStamp 3ad7ad60 - ntoskrnl.exe ARE ALWAYS THE SAME, BTW) AND DON'T PLZ!! give me any links to anything from the MS F****** knowledge base cus i have tried everything they cud think of and its has done sweet FA. Right rant over, im logging off and cooling off, then seeing what Apple have over at thier site, thats how desparate things have become!

Thanks for all your replies I now have a rock solid system (I narrowed down the problem to over enthuiastic memory timings in the BIOS)

Hi all, just been visiting grc.com, which advises me to monitor and block external access to port 135 (which aparently is used by the RPC service, svchost.exe) Im currently running Tiny Personal Firewall 2, and have set the parameters up as follows: Description: RPC Protocol: TCP and UDP Direction: Incoming ---Local Endpoint--- Port Type: Single Port Port Number: 135 Only Application selected below: c:\winnt\system32\svchost.exe ---Remote Endpoint--- Address Type: Any Address Port Type: Any Port Rule Valid: Always Action: Deny Windows always needs this port open to access the net. So I can't close it (and grc will therefore still report it as 'open') are the settings above correct to block access to this port externally?

Warning long post! Im running Windows 2000 Professional at the moment, and although it runs most of the programs I like, not all of them (mainly DOS based stuff) run like they used to under 98. However I don't want to give up the stability of my 2000 system or waste valuable HD space with a dual boot setup.. So I've installed Virtual PC 4.3.2 and now have Windows 98SE running as a gest operating system along side, WinXP Pro, and Redhat 7.2 The emulation is perfect and all the guest OS are rock solid stable... however they are SLOWWwwwwwwwww! I've tried everything in the manual to make them run quick and to no effect... they can barely play sound files without stuttering and networking them has been a nightmare (still no luck under Redhat). Im downloading VMWare Workstation 3.1 as I type this.. What experiences (positive and negative) have you people had with these products and which would you reccomend (as I primarly need speed, and effective use of disk space, and system resorces). Thank you in advance.

Well a suprise result it seems, VMWare Workstation 3.1 is the winner, i've got it stable, Fast (vast as emulation under windows can be), and networking has made progress, v happy with it Thanks for the replys guys

Well on the performance side of things im running a 1.2GHz Athlon processor, with 256 RAM and 2k Pro. I was just testing an mp3 file under my emulated OSes (because even mouse movment, and text input was slow). I've set up 2 of my guest OSes (Win 98SE, XP Pro) to use MS Network File/Print sharing under TCP/IP with static addresses (as i have with my other genuine PCs on my lan). I have set the shared networking component in VPC to 'Virtual Switch, Local, Host & External'. Thus far this has allowed my 2k host to view the VPCs on the lan and connect to thier shares (but the guests can't see or connect to the host). Redhat... hmmm well I think Linux is daunting for any newbie, so theres no problem there as of yet thats any fault of VPC (since I can't even figure out the network config). It will take my a LONG time to get used to doing even simple tasks under Linux it seems so for now I'll simply concentrate on getting decent emulation for 98 and XP.

Is there any way to stop the toolbars showing when playing an OpenGL application in fullscreen mode on Windows 2000? I have 2 custom toolbars on my desktop in addtion to the taskbar, set to autohide & always on top. However when playing a full screen OpenGL game e.g Quake 3, i can still see the top edges of the toolbars at the bottom and side of my screen.

On the subject of communications devices, The modems I have had in this machine have given me no end of grief.. I had a Diamond SupraExpress 56i V PRO and it kept giving my a stop 0xA error with the drivers supplied by Diamond. (The default 2k ones wouldn't even let the modem dial). I now have a Diamond SupraExpress 56i PRO V CC (Using the diamond drivers). Im wondering if the stop error is related... trouble is i don't have another modem that 2k recognises to test it with!

How is a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error to do with RAM? I have tried replacing the RAM with all sorts of different quantities and speeds... the error is still the same (and i've had 2 different motherboards remember, chipset & manufacturer). I'm posting on viahardware also to see if anyone can find a way of turning of ACPI in the BIOS, and then I'll try removing the NIC (as that is the only peice of hardware thats been installed in the machine throughout). I'll keep you updated

OK i don't even know if this post belongs on this section of the boards (apologies if it doesn't) anyhow here goes: I currently I have a Windows 2000 PC, and want to set up a dual boot config with either a Linux distro, or FreeBSD. The thing is, which is best for my needs? I play a variety of games, watch DVDs, surf and listen to MP3's regularly, ie basically average desktop stuff. I would like the stablilty (and the price bonus) of switching to open source based software and UNIX based OSes, but im unsure which path to follow. Is there anyone here who has a 2k/Linux/FreeBSD set up, that could offer any pointers as to what i should do? Cheers anyhow

Well I've read the link you've posted (ta btw) and opted for a Windows 2000 / Mandrake 8.2 set up. Im d/l the latest ver from an ftp server at the moment.... *sigh* i'll be here for days on my dialup at this rate!

Been having a thought about what sampson said too. Apperently BIOS 3R on the KT7E, has ACPI enable by default (there is no option to turn it off). I have always prompted windows setup to disable ACPI support becuase i know for a fact that bits of my hw don't support it (SB PCI 128 for example). Could this be the source of my stop error? As metioned before the DateStamp, base address and ntoskrnl.exe are *always* referred to, and it's always a read error. This happens about once every few weeks or so Also 9x/Me/NT4 support ACPI either differently or not at all, could this also explain the absence of such errors on these systems...? As an addtion to my post on my hardware, the processor runs at an average temp of 50'c. (it used to be 35'c before i upgraded my processor from a 750MHz model) The internal case temp is average 23'c (open) and 28'c (closed). I also have a 300W PSU, is that enough for all the hw I have? I know that Athlons can be very picky about thier PSUs.

---:Hardware:--- System Board: ABIT KT7E (KT-133E Chipset, VT8363E, VT82C686B) BIOS 3R, AWARD v6.00PG [uSES FAIL-SAFE SETTINGS] (VIA 4in1 4.38 driver) Processor: AMD Socket A Thunderbird 1100MHz (100Mhz External FSB) Memory: 2 Modules in DIMM0 and DIMM1 respectivley fastest first.. DIMM0: 128Mb (Generic) 133MHz, CAS latency 3 DIMM1: 128Mb (Hyundai) 100MHz, CAS latency 2/3 Storage: Maxtor 5T030H3 30GB HDD ATA-133, 7200rpm (Operates at ATA-100), Primary Master Partions: {NTFS 5.0} 27.9Gb [C:\ (BOOT)] Maxtor 52046H4 20Gb HDD ATA-100, 7200rpm, Primary Slave Partitions: None as yet Toshiba DVD-ROM Drive SD-R1002 (Updated Firmware) 24x4x4 Secondary Master Addin Cards: AGP: ABIT Siluro 3 Ti 200 (AGPx4, BIOS 3.20.00.18, 64MB DDR RAM) Nvidia Detonator 28.32 PCI 3: Diamond SupraExpress 56i PRO V CC (Diamond 2.1.2.164.010c driver) PCI 4: Creative Sound Blaster PCI 128 (CT 4700, using default driver) PCI 5: Realtek RTL8029(AS)-based PCI Ethernet Adapter (using default driver) COM, PRINTER & INFRA-RED PORTS disabled in BIOS Display: Relisys 770B Monitor (Default driver) Input Devices: PS/2 Keyboard PS/2 Microsoft Intellimouse (Uses default driver) ---:OS:--- Windows 2000 Professional SP2 (ACPI Disabled) Could anyone give me a good step by step testing stratiegy? Thinking about it, its more likley an issue with Windows 2000 and a piece(s) of my Hardware as the 9x/NT4/Me varients didn't have alot of the problems im experiencing.

Is there any way to stop my desktop icons from getting all messed up and out of place whenever i quit a game/app (e.g Q3/JK2/SOF2)? I think it probably happens because i run my games at a lower resolution & refresh rate than my desktop, im not sure.

thanks m8, that's the quickest reply i've had in my life lol

Have you tried the 'rebuild icons' option in the repair tab with TweakUI?

I've managed to download Tyrian 2000... and using VDMsound: 1. SFX Freeze the game on startup 2. Midi can lock up intermittently 3. The game is Slowwww even in Turbo mode. Still it *does* actually load now, which is more than can be said for v2.0. I'll continue testing to see if I can make any improvements. Guess it's silent mode from now on.

Has anyone been able to get Worms (an old Team 17 DOS game) to work under 2k? I've tried vdmsound and cli2nop, and messed around with the dos box settings for hours but it just goes to a black screen on startup.

Well here's an odd thing... I've installed the lastest VDMsound build and patched duke3d.exe with CLI2NOP. I can get the game to run perfectly with Midi and SFX for about 30secs or so on my 2k PC... and then it just crashes out with a load of garbage to the command prompt. I've tried all sorts of different settings with VDMSound, CLI2NOP, Duke3d setup and the NTVDM settings... but i can't get it run stably. Is this worth pursuing further, or a lost cause do you think?

OS: Windows 2000 Professional GFX Card: ABIT Siluro 3 Ti 200 Drivers: NVIDIA Dentonator 28.32 The problem is that my icons get shifted from thier positions, like all over the desktop if I quit from an app with a lower resolution than the one im running my desktop at (I think thats the prob anyhow). Eg Quake III runs at 800x600x32 (60Hz) my Desktop is set to 1152x864x32 (75Hz). When I quit Q3 my icons have repositioned themselves all over the place, its really annoying! Only odd thing is it doesn't happen all the time like that, just alot of the time. Hmm...

I'm currently wondering whether or not to buy a Sound Blaster® Audigy™ Surround 5.1 I could really do with an upgraded sound system, as im using my PC alot for listening to MP3s and watching DVDs at mo (and my PCI 128 doesn't cut the mustard anymore). Creative's UK online store offered the above card and speaker set for £127, which is as much as i would be willing to pay at the moment. Could anyone suggest a place where i could buy the product for a cheaper price, or suggest a different combo.. of equivilant quality? Secondly i need to know whether the above products would work with my current chipset/software setup: VIA KT-133E Chipset (ABIT KT7E) BIOS 3R, Award 6.00PG Win 2000 Professional.. Possibly XP Pro within the coming months The card would also be sharing IRQ 7 with my USB controller..

Can anyone tell me whats up with my soundcard? I can record my voice through a microphone, but whenever i try to record sound from a file e.g. WAV or MP3 it just remains silent. I have installed the creative programs update for my sound card, but to no effect. I've trying recording from just about any program that supports audio.. and with different file formats, but nothing works. Windows 2000 Professional Creative SoundBlaster PCI 128 (CT4700)