X
xp dude
Guest
I am currently running XP Home Ed., and will be upgrading to XP Professional as soon as I get
enough information to do an optimized installation, hopefully by this weekend.I will keep my
questions as brief as is possible, only giving enough information as is necessary (hopefully).
My computer is about 3 yrs. old, with a 500 Mhz AMD K6-2 processor and 393 Mb RAM, 40G h/d, 52x
CD Rom, 12x CD-RW, LS-120 SuperDisk in place of floppy. The motherboard and floppy are the only
original components from when I built it in '98. The motherboard doesn't recognize 256 Mb RAM
sticks, so all I get is 384 Mb in addition to whatever gives me the extra 9 Mb. I've done the
most recent BIOS firmware update. I know I should get a new one, and a new processor, but with
Christmas and all that won't happen soon. I will say that it operates very well with XP so far.
1. Video Card Driver- My video card is a Quantum Raven 3D that I bought in '98 when I
originally built my computer. I'm not a gamer, so the 16 Mb videoRAM is more than adequate for
my needs. The problem is that XP installed a driver for a Banshee card (same manufacturer as
Raven). I've had about 6 system crashes in as many weeks, and the system blames the Banshee
driver (redrawing error- usually when doing a Search in Explorer, twice while switching
screens). The system will not change the driver using the 'upgrade' feature, nor will it use
the driver I specify. Is there a fix or workaround for this type of problem?
2. Optimal Hard Drive Partitioning- I am currently running NTFS on both partitions. I have been
thinking of partitioning my drive as FAT32 for the system area (say 15G) and NTFS for the
storage area (the remaining 25G). This is because I have heard (but not confirmed) that Windows
(in general) runs faster on FAT32 than NTFS. Is this true? Anyone have any ideas on an optimum
hard drive configuration for XP Pro that balances efficiency with speed? I am very open to
suggestions.
3. Windows Services- I am trying to find out which Windows Services can be disabled without
affecting performance or usability. My computer will not be on a network, and I use a dial up
modem for internet connections. I have several very good firewall programs, and don't really
need to use the built in system firewall (I don't think, maybe someone will show me I do need
it, but that's why I'm here, to learn). Also, along the same lines, what are some of the
reporting services I keep hearing that XP uses to send information to Microsoft? If this is
true, I would like to know how to eliminate these features.
4. CD-RW- I love the CD-RW features of XP, but if I enable the system IMAPI then I sometimes
have problems with 3rd party CD-RW software, mainly after writing a disk with, for example NTI
CDMaker 2000, I experience one hell of a system slowdown, so slow that it takes about two to
three minutes to open the program menu from the start button. Is there a middleground for this
configuration? The system CD-RW is very handy for general burning, but sometimes I need to use
3rd party software. Also, along these lines, when I install, for example, Easy CD Creator 5
Platinum, my system would no longer offer to write to a blank disk when inserted. Is there a
toggle to return control to the system's software?
5. All Users- Is there any way to set the system up without the duplicate My Folders and Shared
folders and documents? I am the only user, and I don't like the additional clutter, or the
added aggravation of having to wade through two different sets of folders to configure my
Programs menu folder.
6. RamDisk XP Pro- Any useful tips, tweaks, or tricks for using this handy little program would
be greatly appreciated. I currently use it for web page caching. I wanted to use it with my
download manager, but unless I download with the system downloader (which is resumable now, a
great improvement, needs to be queue-able as well)then I get transfer errors trying to save to
the RamDrive. Well, let me qualify that, when I use GoZilla Plus 3.92 I get transfer errors, I
haven't really tried some of the other managers (if anyone knows a good d/l mgr, please let me
know).
7. XP Professional Clean Install- If anyone knows any other tips, tweaks, or information for
clean-installing and optimally setting up XP Pro ( I have the full version, not the upgrade)
then please let me know. Also, is there a site where I can update most of the updates and
patches for XP Pro and save them to disk?
I know this is an inordinate amount of questions, and I have searched around, but cannot find
answers. I really do appreciate the effort of anyone who responds to any of the questions, and
I thank you in advance.
enough information to do an optimized installation, hopefully by this weekend.I will keep my
questions as brief as is possible, only giving enough information as is necessary (hopefully).
My computer is about 3 yrs. old, with a 500 Mhz AMD K6-2 processor and 393 Mb RAM, 40G h/d, 52x
CD Rom, 12x CD-RW, LS-120 SuperDisk in place of floppy. The motherboard and floppy are the only
original components from when I built it in '98. The motherboard doesn't recognize 256 Mb RAM
sticks, so all I get is 384 Mb in addition to whatever gives me the extra 9 Mb. I've done the
most recent BIOS firmware update. I know I should get a new one, and a new processor, but with
Christmas and all that won't happen soon. I will say that it operates very well with XP so far.
1. Video Card Driver- My video card is a Quantum Raven 3D that I bought in '98 when I
originally built my computer. I'm not a gamer, so the 16 Mb videoRAM is more than adequate for
my needs. The problem is that XP installed a driver for a Banshee card (same manufacturer as
Raven). I've had about 6 system crashes in as many weeks, and the system blames the Banshee
driver (redrawing error- usually when doing a Search in Explorer, twice while switching
screens). The system will not change the driver using the 'upgrade' feature, nor will it use
the driver I specify. Is there a fix or workaround for this type of problem?
2. Optimal Hard Drive Partitioning- I am currently running NTFS on both partitions. I have been
thinking of partitioning my drive as FAT32 for the system area (say 15G) and NTFS for the
storage area (the remaining 25G). This is because I have heard (but not confirmed) that Windows
(in general) runs faster on FAT32 than NTFS. Is this true? Anyone have any ideas on an optimum
hard drive configuration for XP Pro that balances efficiency with speed? I am very open to
suggestions.
3. Windows Services- I am trying to find out which Windows Services can be disabled without
affecting performance or usability. My computer will not be on a network, and I use a dial up
modem for internet connections. I have several very good firewall programs, and don't really
need to use the built in system firewall (I don't think, maybe someone will show me I do need
it, but that's why I'm here, to learn). Also, along the same lines, what are some of the
reporting services I keep hearing that XP uses to send information to Microsoft? If this is
true, I would like to know how to eliminate these features.
4. CD-RW- I love the CD-RW features of XP, but if I enable the system IMAPI then I sometimes
have problems with 3rd party CD-RW software, mainly after writing a disk with, for example NTI
CDMaker 2000, I experience one hell of a system slowdown, so slow that it takes about two to
three minutes to open the program menu from the start button. Is there a middleground for this
configuration? The system CD-RW is very handy for general burning, but sometimes I need to use
3rd party software. Also, along these lines, when I install, for example, Easy CD Creator 5
Platinum, my system would no longer offer to write to a blank disk when inserted. Is there a
toggle to return control to the system's software?
5. All Users- Is there any way to set the system up without the duplicate My Folders and Shared
folders and documents? I am the only user, and I don't like the additional clutter, or the
added aggravation of having to wade through two different sets of folders to configure my
Programs menu folder.
6. RamDisk XP Pro- Any useful tips, tweaks, or tricks for using this handy little program would
be greatly appreciated. I currently use it for web page caching. I wanted to use it with my
download manager, but unless I download with the system downloader (which is resumable now, a
great improvement, needs to be queue-able as well)then I get transfer errors trying to save to
the RamDrive. Well, let me qualify that, when I use GoZilla Plus 3.92 I get transfer errors, I
haven't really tried some of the other managers (if anyone knows a good d/l mgr, please let me
know).
7. XP Professional Clean Install- If anyone knows any other tips, tweaks, or information for
clean-installing and optimally setting up XP Pro ( I have the full version, not the upgrade)
then please let me know. Also, is there a site where I can update most of the updates and
patches for XP Pro and save them to disk?
I know this is an inordinate amount of questions, and I have searched around, but cannot find
answers. I really do appreciate the effort of anyone who responds to any of the questions, and
I thank you in advance.