Dear Friends

I've encountered a problem thats new to me. I've been using w2k pro sp4 for quite some time, and all was okay until the other day when I turned on the PC and my BIOS (Award v.6PG) all of sudden kept memory testing over and over again. When I entered the BIOS setup it seemed like the BIOS settings had changed, and I had to adjust the settings to match my hardware config which is:

GA - 7DX
2 gb ram Kingston
2. 4 Ghz AMD Athlon +
x1650 pro agp - 512 mb Club
Seagate 60 gb on hdd 0 - two partitions or Exel Store 160 gb
Seagate 500 gb on hdd 1
Raid 2 x ibm deskstar 30 GB

After correcting the BIOS, I hopefully rebooted and all went as usual until after the dual boot options screen (the black screen with the white process bar) when the w2k Pro flash screen appeared the process bar that covers the whole length of the screen ran as it should but the 'starting up...' process bar never appeared. I got no error messages or anything and after waiting for 10 minutes I rebooted and tried to look over the BIOS settings once again to no good at all.

I tried to move my ram around and removing one and the other, to no good. I rebooted and tried to get access to my C: drive via the consol option on the w2k CD, that worked fine, but I didn't really know what to check for due to the lack of error messages.

I have been through trying to recover a w2k installations before, and dreaded really wasting time, instead of making a clean installation; so I went on with a clean installation. The installation went well until after the reboot then the same phenomenon with the eternal process bar on the w2k pro flash screen repeated itself again! Then I removed the Seagate (hdd 0) and replaced it with a new harddisk a Exel Store 160 gb, thinking that the Seagate had some flaws. Well that didn't change anything - I'm still stuck at the white w2k pro screen - it doesn't matter whether I try Safe Mode or any af the other options......I'm lossing my wits on this!!!

Please help me if you have any ideas or experiences, Kenon

Hows the BIOS battery?

I agree. Check your bios/cmos battery. If it's more than four years old, replace it. They're only a couple of dollars.

Thx a lot U guys, that was really the problem.

Unfortunately the technician at my trusted repairshop didn't even suggest to himself that this could be the source of the problem, or did he? Insted he plainly told me, maybe hoping for a sale, that I bought a brand new pc altogether, because the components was so ancient that I would be lost in the digital gap. I picked up my pc knowing that he clearly thought I would just spend money because I was really desperate for a quick fix, but thx to U and your advice I saved more than a 1000 euros, by just investing in a new battery costing 6 euros :-)

I'm shaken in my blind trust to the repairshop - because in the past they have really been great - but in the end the fault is my own - but I'm going to give the repairguy a harsh feedback, because I find his lack of thoroughness quite worring - the moral question is of course did he or did he not check the battery? I'll never know but the way he dizzed my pc components when we spoke on the phone, I wouldn't be surprised if he did and thought he could play the salesgame on me. I'm so glad due to U'r skills.

I have some more 'problems' with the same PC, but nothing comparred to the one with the battery (which really sounds funny I know), but it is getting late here in Denmark so I'll get back to U tomorrow, and I've been spinning around myself the last couple of days, so good night gents.

Thx, Kenon

'Something is rotten in the State of Denmark!'

Dear Friends

My last question hopefully is about when to install the SP 4 files? In conjunction to my earlier post I'm now set to continue with the customization of w2k but I'm in doubts about when to add the SP 4, I've tried this in the past with some smaller problems, and eventually managed to get it to work. Now I need to be afirmed in regard to U'r opinion, due to the many advices found on the Internet about this. Some pro installing it imidiately after the basic w2k is in place, others con this due to the msi - installation issues - with older software etc.. so what do you think?

Here is what I am about to do --> installing the chipset drivers AMD agp, netcard drivers, monitor drivers, graphic adapter drivers, printer drivers and SB soundcard drivers --> then update IE with the hotfixes etc...and finally install Office 2000 and then go for the SP 4 update.

After this is done --> continue with AVG antivirus, Sunbelts Firewall and Adware or similar software....and then conclude the whole matter by installng what ever else I need to bring my ideal PC back to the world.

best, Kenon

I usually install SP4 right after I’m done installing Windows 2000, and the associated chipset and sound drivers. I never had any problem doing that, as it allows me to see my external USB drive, which in turn I use to finish installing all the programs that I need. In my opinion, the more updates that you can add to your operating system before you go online, the less chances that you may catch something nasty before finishing your updates. Not to mention that you reduce download time; which is very helpful especially for people who are still using dialup to access the Internet.