This newsletter tracks new information, and improvements in existing information, on www.aumha.org, my website supporting Windows desktop systems and leading application software. I also include small, useful items that might not find a permanent place on the site, but that I would like to pass along.
Click here to subscribe. If you subscribe, you will receive email notification when there is a new edition of the newsletter. (You will not receive the newsletter itself by email. That's why I call it low-tech.) My intention is to provide a new and further way to serve the more than 50,000 people per month (and growing) who visit my site. Previous newsletters are available online, and their content searchable through this site's search engine. Enjoy! — Jim Eshelman
CONTENTS of this Issue
- NEWS & VIEWS
- WINDOWS 95/98/ME SUPPORT ARTICLES
- REGISTRY PATCHES
- KNOWLEDGE BASE Articles: Error Messages
- KNOWLEDGE BASE Articles: Hardware
- KNOWLEDGE BASE Articles: MS-DOS Compatibility Mode
- WINDOWS XP: Articles & Information
NEWS & VIEWS
If you're wondering why the newsletter is earlier than usual this week, the answer is pretty simple — I won't be around for most of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. So I won't be staying up late Saturday night, or getting up early Sunday morning, to write it. And quite a lot of material had accumulated this week.
Remember, there is no fixed schedule for The E-List. (Hey, it's free!) When I have enough new material, out comes another issue. There will likely be times throughout any given year when you won't see a new one for a few weeks. At the moment, new material has been coming much faster, so the newsletter comes out more often.
Which reminds me... How many of you are bothering to read this, anyway? Because your subscription is confidential, I don't get the list and have no idea how many are subscribed. About 40,000-50,000 people visit the www.aumha.org site every month (averaging about 10 hits each), but there have not been enough hits to this newsletter page to make the "top 30" on my site stats. Considering that there have been about four new issues per month, less than 70 people are reading this per week. (For all I know, there are only 7!) Is this newsletter of interest or value to you? If so, please recommend it to your friends. (Did I mention that it's free?) As Bartles & James used to say: We thank you for your support.
Also, the XP wave is starting to roll across my site this week, with a lot more information for people who want to learn now about the operating system millions of people will be using within the next year. My "Windows ME & 2000" page has even been renamed "Windows ME, 2000 & XP" (accessible off the site's entry page). See below for a number of XP-related items.
REGISTRY PATCHES
This week, many new Registry patches have been added to www.aumha.org — but you won't find most of the additions on the Registry Patches page. Instead, you will find them scattered across the site, in various places where I thought they would do the most good. (If you really want to find them all, use the site search engine and query on the word "registry" — that will find them all.)
I have searched the MS Knowledge Base articles and other resources that are linked from my site, and, when they recommended Registry changes (as a solution for a problem, to change a feature, etc.), I've created a patch file that you can download and execute — to make it easier to apply the fix. Download links for these files are right next to the link to the article recommending them. I strongly advise that you back up your Registry before applying any of these patches. Also, please read the applicable article first, because it may be that the Registry patch doesn't apply to your exact situation.
There will be more of these as time goes by. Those already added on various pages of the site include:
Besides these items scattered around the site, I have also reorganized the Registry Patches page a bit. It should be easier to navigate now (it was getting crowded). A new patch on that page is the Remove NOIDE Flag Registry patch. The need for this Registry modification is explained in the MS KB article
MS-DOS Compatibility Mode Problems with PCI IDE Controllers. As always, though, please, read the article first! This Registry entry that this patch removes was originally put there for a reason.
KB ARTICLES: Error Messages
While Initializing Device NTKERN: Windows Protection Error Win98, Win98 SE, Win ME
This error message can occur during Windows installation, after the first restart. Defective RAM commonly causes this problem.
Invalid VxD Dynamic Link Call from BANCOM Win95, Win98
This one occurs when you restart your computer after you have removed all network components. It may be caused if the Banyan Vines protocol is still installed, even though it is not listed in Network properties. Step-by-step instructions are given for resolving the problem.
KB ARTICLES: Hardware
Computer Shuts Down or Stops Responding Due to Noise Produced in the Intel MTH Chip Win95, Win98, Win98 SE, NT 4, Win 2000
You may have read about this one. Computers that use the I820 chipset and that access SDRAM modules may intermittently shut down or stop responding. Intel has found that noise disturbances may occur in communications between the motherboard components and the Memory Translator Hub (MTH). Intel has canceled shipping MTH chips until the MTH2 chip is released. This MS Knowledge Base article gives a link to a diagnostic tool to determine whether you have this problem. If you do, you need to contact your computer manufacturer for help.
KB ARTICLES: MS-DOS Compatibility Mode
This is kind of a big deal. Let me take a moment and explain why it is kind of a big deal.
FACT 1: The rule-of-thumb is that MS-DOS Compatibility Mode errors are caused by conflicting or failing Real Mode drivers. FACT 2: Windows Millennium Edition is most distinguished from its predecessors by the fact that it has no Real Mode functions. FACT 3: There are now two Knowledge Base articles discussing how to resolve MS-DOS Compatibility Mode errors in Windows Millennium Edition.
Do you see why I think it's kind of a big deal? (It's certainly worth more than "honorable mention.")
In general, MS-DOS Compatibility Mode may be in use for any of the following reasons:
- An "unsafe" device driver, memory-resident program, or virus hooked the INT21h or INT13h chain before Windows is loaded.
- The hard disk controller in your computer was not detected by Windows.
- The hard disk controller was removed from the current configuration in Device Manager.
- There is a resource conflict between the hard disk controller and another hardware device.
- The Windows protected-mode driver is missing or damaged.
- The Windows 32-bit protected-mode disk drivers detected an unsupportable configuration or incompatible hardware.
- You are running Windows ME and have used Drive Copy 2.0 by PowerQuest to copy the contents of one hard disk to another hard disk.
Other causes exist, but these are the main ones. The following two KB articles have emerged addressing this hardware condition. Both include Windows ME in the list of versions to which they apply:
WINDOWS XP: Articles & Information
Microsoft has released several information links, and the computer press is having a field day with the energy and interest building around the forthcoming Windows XP operating system. Win XP is essentially a minor upgrade of Windows 2000, but with a separate edition customized for general consumer use. Historically, Windows 2000 and its predecessors in the Windows NT family have been of interest primarily in technical and other business environments, and to some categories of "power users." With Windows XP, the stability and strength of the Windows NT kernel will be brought, for the first time, to an OS targetted specifically at home and other general consumer use.
I have added links to a number of articles that answer most of the substantial questions that I have seen emerge on newsgroups this week. (I am specifically not entering into the public debates concerning WPA in this newsletter — not, that is, until the insanity around it dies down. In the near future, I will add one or more links giving some actual facts about WPA which just might (mirabile dictu!) cut through most of the "I lost a kidney while baking Neeman Marcus cookies" variety of tall tales already spreading in geek and Yo Ho Ho circles about Microsoft's latest and most visible effort to displace software piracy.)
Here are some informative links, added to the site this week:
- Windows XP Home Page Just what it says. This is the official MS page introducing Windows XP.
- Expert Zone The propaganda page MS would like you to start reading regularly regarding XP! (Sorry, just joking. A buddy of mine is responsible for Expert Zone, and I just had to kid him a little bit <g>.) In fact, it really does have some useful and informative stuff!
- Consumer Desktop PC Design Checklist for Windows XP What hardware do you need for the best performance on the forthcoming Windows XP operating system? Microsoft is ready to tell you. Download their current checklist here. This is a recipe for "How to build a Windows XP computer."
- Windows XP Preview Program Can't wait to get your hands on Windows XP? Even if it is still a Beta? Even if it means it may crash your otherwise perfectly functional computer (since that's exactly what Beta software can be expected to do much of the time)? If so, this page will tell you how to get on the bandwagon now.
- Comparing the Home & Professional Editions of Windows XP. I recommend three reading sources for this:
- Windows XP Home Edition vs. Professional Edition: What's the difference? by Paul Thurrott. Even if Paul sometimes gets on my nerves (like, say, when he self-servingly attacks the MS-MVP program, requiring me to self-servingly defend it <g>), I have to admit this is the best and most useful comparison I've seen anywhere.
- Windows XP Home Edition Microsoft's page describing specific features of the Home Edition -- the one most consumers will want.
- Windows XP Professional Microsoft's page describing specific features of the Professional Edition -- the one most businesses and some "power users" will want.
Happy computing, everyone!
Jim Eshelman
(Comments about The E-List can be sent to: elist@aumha.org)
THE NECESSARY LEGAL STUFF
DISCLAIMER: Any information given in this newsletter, or on any other part of the www.aumha.org website, is researched by me and believed to be accurate. However, I cannot guarantee, and do not guarantee, that all the information provided will work on all computer systems, for all users, all the time. Also, I sometimes make mistakes (that's life!), and it is possible I made one or more of them here. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. In other words, I rely on the best information sources I can, and do my best to get it to you accurately; and, thereafter, you take your life in your own hands if you trust me on it. Neither James Eshelman, this site, outside contributors to this site, people quoted on this site, nor my cat is/are responsible for any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application of any information presented here.
The E-List. Copyright © 2001 by James A. Eshelman. All Rights Reserved.
Return to the TOP of the Page.
