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http://www.msfn.org/board/welcome-forum-t3...tml#entry269823

I read through that link, thanks for posting it. It states that it's possible to put the the entire Profiles directory on a separate partition or drive, as long as it meets the following requirements: 1. It must be on an NTFS volume. Not a problem. 2. It must not be the path of another operating system user profile folder. Not a problem. And I don't read this to mean that the Profiles from both XP and 7 can't share the same partition; they just can't share the same path. 3. It must not contain any serviceable components. I don't know what that means? But then goes on to say that moving the profiles directory should only be done for testing purposes, and that you won't be able to install any updates, fixes, or service packs. WTH? If that's the case then what are the "testing purposes" under which you'd move it in the first place? Doing it just to know that you could? Is this Microsoft's way of saying that they think the best way to set up a a PC is to have EVERYTHING on one big partition? You've got to be kidding me? Is this something that began with Vista and has now carried over to Win7? I've never used Vista and know nothing about it, XP is as far as I've gone and it's worked flawlessly for me with the way I've set up my PC as described in posts 3 & 7 above. I have ZERO problems, no system crashes ever, nothing. I have multiple copies of a disk image of the OS installation, and any time I want to do an incremental backup of my data it's literally done in 5 seconds or less. Am I wrong in being ridiculously annoyed about this? How do Vista & 7 users back up their systems?

Do you have any links to more info on this? I don't use System Restore and have never done a repair installation, so I'm wondering if it would be a concern or not.

I have to ask... why don't you have it/them there in entirety? Is there some advantage to the way you're doing it? Does it affect the backup of your data in any way? My goal when I installed XP was to have the data (Documents & settings) completely separate from the OS. I have a disk image of the XP install (Norton Ghost) on a separate partition, on a 2nd internal HDD, and on an external HDD if I ever need it. With Documents & Settings on a separate partition I make incremental backups of my data in seconds (literally) to the 2nd internal HDD, and then off to the external HDD every month or so. This would be my goal with a dual boot with Win7 as well, so that's why I want to know if I can completely separate the data from the OS in Win7 so I can back things up the same way as I'm doing with XP. Whether we've been educated by taking classes in school or if we've educated ourselves by reading through various tech sites, we've all come to have our own personal ways of doing 'stuff' with our PC's, whether we're talking about multi-booting, backup strategies, or whatever. I read through the thread you linked to on the Linux forum about triple booting, and I've seen that method described before and it seems like a completely viable way to do things. I've read up on multi-boot strategies for over a year just to familiarize myself with them in case I ever wanted to do it, and the method I've settled on is the one that uses a small FAT primary partition with multiple logical partitions, as described here (and elsewhere): http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=581401

I kind of assumed it would be next to impossible to try sharing the same hierarchy of data folders... no big deal. Am I correct in saying the data folder in Win7 is called 'Users' ? Can I separate it from the OS and put it on a different partition like I can with XP? If so, is there any reason I can't put both XP's Documents & Settings and 7's Users on the same partition and just keep them separated? This is how my system is set up: C: Small primary partition with XP boot files D: Logical partition - Windows XP E: Logical partition (empty, for future use, possibly Win7) F: Logical partition - XP's Documents & Settings I'd like to put Win 7's 'Users' on F: too if possible, and have the paths to the data folders of each OS be as follows: WinXP - F:\Documents & Settings Win 7 - F:\Users I'd prefer to do it this way if it's possible, just because I don't want to create any more partitions than I have to. Or would I have to create an additonal logical partition for Win 7's data and make the path G:\Users?

Tried a search with a few different keywords but didn't find any posts about it. With WinXP I keep the OS and data (Documents & Settings) on separate partitions. I'm not in a rush to start using 7, but if I do get it at some point I was wondering if I could do the same thing and separate the data from the OS? Is the data folder hierarchy in Win7 also called "Documents & Settings"??? If I can do this, is there any reason I shouldn't put the data from 7 on the same partition that I'm using for XP? Thanks.

Thanks. One more question regarding your reply above. What if I don't use a CD but install off a partition on the HDD instead? That is how I've always installed XP. I've tested many different nLite configurations, tweaking them to try to find one I was happy with. It seemed wasteful to keep burning all those different configs to CD, so I have my nLited XP source on a separate partition on the HDD and install using Winnt.exe. Any issues with doing it that way?

There's a popular thread in the XP forum about how to enable AHCI on XP and they have to create a registry entry, etc.: http://www.msfn.org/board/compiled-faq-gui...tml#entry785969 Just to clarify, they have to go through some extra steps because they're trying to enable AHCI after XP is already installed, right? Again, just to clarify, since the purpose of this thread is to describe how to integrate the driver during the XP installation, does that mean that you don't have to do anything else after XP is finished being installed?

The Icon Workshop program didn't work, it told me I needed their Cursor Workshop program so I downloaded that. I was able to flip the cursor image and change its orientation from \ to / , but it doesn't 'behave' like a left-handed cursor because Windows still thinks the tip of the pointer is in the upper left, so what I have is a left-handed mouse pointer that behaves like a right-handed one. Edit: I looked through the help file and found the issue - I needed to change the position of the 'hot spot' for the cursor from the upper left to the upper right. It now behaves like a left-handed mouse pointer. I'll give it a try ASAP. Thanks -X- for the tip. Edit 2: It worked perfectly, thanks.

Yes, that's what I'm talking about, but I want to know if there's a way to make a left-handed (mirror image) version of the one I'm already using.

If I was unclear I'm sorry. I'm not talking about using the mouse left-handed, I'm talking about having a mirror image of my mouse pointer. I have my taskbar at the top of the screen. If I go up and mouse-over my clock or any of the icons next to it a little box pops up directly underneath the mouse pointer with info about that item. That's a tool tip, right? On these websites I'm having issues with it's the same thing, except when the info box pops up it's half hidden under the mouse pointer. A right-handed mouse pointer runs this way \ on your screen with the tip of the pointer being in the northeast. A left-handed pointer would be the opposite, and I'm thinking I'll be able to see all of the info boxes when they pop up if I could get a left-handed version of my mouse pointer.

I don't know jack about graphics, so laugh it up at my expense if you want to. I'm right handed. When I go to sports websites and do a mouse-over to get additional information about games the little box that pops up (like a tool-tip) gets covered up by my mouse pointer, so I'd like to know if there's a way to make a left-handed version of it. Thanks.

Dumb question of the day - what happens if you don't integrate the drivers, but install them after the XP installation instead? I have a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard (ICH9). I've been installing XP temporarily on a PATA drive to test different nLite configs and AHCI has been turned off in the BIOS. I've finally got an nLite config I'm happy with and now want to tackle this AHCI issue. I turned AHCI on in the BIOS and attached a SATA storage drive (just to have one attached to the system) reinstalled XP (still on the PATA), and had an unknown PCI device showing in Device Manager (expected, obviously). I clicked on 'update driver' and used the modded 32-bit v8.9.0.1023 driver shown on the first post in this thread and everything seems fine, no issues in Device Manager. Does that mean that it 'worked' ? I also made a new nLite install and integrated the driver (still installed XP on the PATA), and that worked too. I guess what I want to know is... are my results relevant, or does the AHCI issue only apply when you have XP installed on a SATA drive?

Tough one, huh? I'm still stumped myself.

Just ran into this yesterday on a fresh Win98 installation with the 98 SE SP 2.1 and 98SE2ME installed. I was trying to install 3D Color Changer 4, a program I've installed many times without incident. I tried installing it yesterday and right from the start I got the error message you see in the screen shot. I downloaded a fresh copy of the program and same thing. Never seen this before... any ideas? My apologies to the forum. I was hitting <ENTER> and trying to figure out why my cursor wasn't advancing to the next line and before I realized it I had submitted the post 5-6 times. I've reported the situation to a mod.

Thanks for the additional efforts, but I've basically given up with it - no matter what I try I can't get a driver installed. I looked through my box o' hardware junk and found a 56k modem I used to use and it installed without problems, so I'm at a loss to explain why I had so many problems with the other modem. My mother is going to take it and the driver CD back to the shop and see if they can do anything with it with one of the PCs there. In the mean time she's back up and running so I guess that's the important thing.

Thanks for the additonal help, guys. That HXFSetup program came with all the drivers I downloaded and is also on the driver CD I just got. I've used it every time I've tried to get the driver installed. It does its thing and then the 'add new hardware' wizard starts, etc. As far as removing/reinstalling the modem, each time I've tried to install it I've used a fresh Norton Ghost image, so there's no trace of any modem ever being there. What about installing Win98 with the modem already physically installed in the motherboard, think that'd make any difference?

Thanks for the additional replies, sorry that I haven't been back to the thread. I still can't get the modem to work. There's a sticker on the back that says "AOpen FM-56SVV" so I had my mother go to the shop where she had the modem installed to see if she could get a driver disk. The guy there said they only sold one kind of internal AOpen modem so he gave her a driver CD which I now have here. I reinstalled Win98 with the com ports enabled in the BIOS, but even with this supposed 'correct' driver CD I'm still having an issue getting the driver installed. Windows recognizes the modem on boot and says it's found new hardware, 'PCI Communication Device' or words to that effect, but when I direct the installer to where the drivers are it says it was unable to find any. I end up doing it manually with the 'have disk' method, and go to the same driver location, and when I do that I get a message that says "the driver you have chosen wasn't specifically written for the selected hardware and may not work correctly. Installation is not recommended." I got this same message with the other drivers I downloaded. I went through with the install and afterwards it says everything is working properly, and everything is fine in Device Manager.... but I have other issues. It says it's installed on Com5? The modem diagnostics doesn't show a hardware ID for it, and it says it can't open the port when I when I select 'more info.' If I try to dial out it fails immediately. And yes, it's an HSF modem, and apparently it's one of the combo types that Submix mentioned, because after I install the modem driver another 'add new hardware' box pops up with something about 'modem sound' or 'modem wave.' I appreciate the help. Here is the info I got off the modem itself: Conexant HSF CX11252-41Z 0649Y1XM SUN HOLD THD-0301L 3VDC G611S AOpen FM56-SVV P/N: 91.AC001.2810

No, COM 1 & 2 don't show up in Device Manager, but they're enabled in the BIOS, on 'auto'. They weren't enabled in the BIOS when Win98 was installed.

I probably should have mentioned, it's an internal PCI modem. I don't see anything in the BIOS that looks like it would be an issue. I guess I can look for another driver but based on the Conexant chip on the modem itself I think I've downloaded ones that should work.

(move this to the Hardware forum if necessary) My parents (who don't live in the same city as I do) let someone 'fix' their PC but weren't happy with the results so they brought it to me so I could go over it (I built the PC for them originally). I ended up reformatting the HDD and reinstalling Win98 but I'm having trouble getting the dial-up modem installed (no broadband where they live). I don't know what kind of modem it is so I've downloaded a few drivers based on the chip on the modem. Typical big downloads with drivers for multiple operating systems. Unzipped it, ran the hxfsetup.exe that came with all of them, and the Add New Hardware thing pops up just like when you're installing any piece of new hardware. I direct it to where the driver files are unzipped but it says it can't find any. This has happened with with all 3 drivers I've downloaded. Frustrated, I tried using the Modem applet in Control Panel to add it. Clicked on 'have disk' and directed it to the where the inf and driver files were and everything seemed to be going along as it should. Got to a certain point in the process and clicked on 'next' and get a screen that asks me which port I want to use the modem on, but the only choice it shows is the printer port. Ugh. Maybe it's because it's been years since I installed a dial-up modem but I don't ever remember having to select which port I wanted to use it on. Any suggestions or other information I should provide to figure out how to get the modem working?

Just prevent them from being displayed, or prevent Windows from assigning drive letters to them? Tweak UI can prevent them from being displayed in Explorer.

I thought it was scanreg/opt ???

Problem solved. It wasn't the ethernet port, it had something to do with communication between the port and the cable modem. Following a suggestion I got, I did a loopback ping to verify that the port was ok. Then I read through the troubleshooting issues in the cable modem's manual. It looked like I was going to have to call my ISP, but then I saw where it said to reset the modem before calling. I did that, waited a couple minutes, and everything was fine. Something I'm curious about (since I know very little about network related things).... what happened that required me to have to reset the modem? The modem worked fine with the fully functional PC I had it hooked up to all along, but not with the PC I was having the issue with. Then after I reset the modem it worked fine with that PC, but not the original one, so I reset it again and then it worked with the original one again. Also, I have a NIC card in the first PC. One of the first things I did when trying to fix the problem myself was to put it in the second PC. When I did that I wasn't surprised that I had a successful connection (without resetting the modem), yet with the built-in ethernet port I had nothing until last night when I reset the modem. Network stuff is a mystery to me, it's an area I've never learned much about. If anyone wants to offer an explanation I'd be glad to hear it. If not then I'll just be happy that I have a good connection again.