burpnrun

@X09: No. Any loader needed for an OS that you install just goes in the partition of an install, so if no Linux partition/OS, then no other loader/s needed. And, no, I didn't try BootIT NG, based on Multibooters' comments. The thing I like about OSL2000 is it's rescan of all partitions at boot time. Adding new OS's is a snap, and all that's usually necessary is to make sure that install/partition has a loader of some type in it. Then, when OSL2000 boots, just interrupt the screen that appears briefly telling you what partition/system is will default to (if not interrupted), and choose your partition from the list OSL2000 presents. The sequence is: Post > MBR (when installed, OSL2000 puts its MBR in Track 0 where the usual MBR would be, plus another 27K of code consisting of all its tables and logic and user settings, etc; IOW, OSL2000 is totally contained in Track 0, nowhere else). There are no "OSL2000 directories" required in one or more directories on your hard disk ... nada ... zip ... zilch. If you don't allow a primary partition for Win7 to create the 100 mb partition, then Win7 install automatically puts it as the "boot" directory in the Win7 install it subsequently creates. What I do, from scratch (eg), is to make P1 and P2 Linux partitions, P3 a NTFS partition, then P4 is the extended. Win7 will automatically install itself into P3, and "boot" will be a directory within that install automatically.

X509's post is valuable information. I read the Multibooters site thoroughly nearly a year ago, when I migrated from Win2000 and boot.ini to Win7, then tried GAG and OSL2000. The latter, OSL2000, is vastly superior to all the others. I have used OSL 2000 now for over 6 months, starting with the free version. But that version will drive you nuts waiting for the ever-increasing (designed to annoy you) pause when booting with the (if you want to eliminate this delay/annoyance, buy the paid version) message. So I paid the $39 or so, and haven't looked back. Run multiple Win7 and 4xLinux distros, plus DOS (don't ask why). Never failed me, and the fact that it quickly (1-2 seconds) rescans the whole disk at boot, ID'ing new OS's for you, is a definite plus. Just remember to install Linux loaders (eg., Grub 1/2, LILO, etc) to the root partition, so they will be picked up by OSL2000. I probably test 2-3 new distros/month, and no probems to date. PS. You will have a LOT less problems, and more flexibility re: portability, etc., if you do NOT have the 100 mb "win 7 boot" partition but, instead, have it as a directory within each Win 7 install. Easily avoided when initially setting up partitions on fresh disk. I did not put XP on the system, since I was worried about the bad (disappearing partitions) interaction with Vista/Win7 noted on Multibooters. I also did a DD (dd if=/dev/sda of=/trac-reg.bin bs=32256 count=1) of the Superblock where OSL2000 installs everything, then did a restore of it, to test, and everything worked fine. So that's invaluable if something trashes the superblock. One thing. I notified the Multibooters author that you will never get support from OSL2000 author. Maybe corporations will, but not mere mortals. Fortunately, everything works without problems. YMMV

Thanks for the reply; the BootLand link is QUITE good (albeit long). For anyone surface reading this thread, the TAKEAWAY is: keep using XP (old style) partitioning, trusting nothing to Vista and Win7 Disk Management and Partitioning. Best compatability, least grief, no discernible performance difference. When the "new 4K sector HDD" issue becomes mainstream in terms of usage/takeup and problems, revisit the subject of partition boundaries to see how vendors (incl MS) are dealing with the changes/problems.

I read that Win7 (and Vista too, IIR), when partitioning a new HD, start at sector 64 as opposed to XP which would start at 63 (hope I have this right). 1. Is there any benefit in pre-partitioning a new non-4K HDD, to start at sector 64, for XP? Assume SATA2 in "compatibility" mode. I mean, if Vista/7 have improved performance by not having to split a read or whatnot over two sectors, would the same benefit accrue to XP? Also, any problems? 2. Really the same question about Linux, since I intend to dual/triple boot OSs. (Saves posting in two different forums) 3. A general question on XP and the new 4K HDDs: If the answer to #1 is, "Yeah, fine", can't the "pre-partitioning at sector 64" technique be effective for XP and the new 4K drives? TIA. PS. Forgot to mention. I intend to have the first partition as a Fat16 for DOS ... not so much for DOS, as for having XP's NTLDR/Boot.ini setup there. Would DOS be more susceptible to partitioning starting at 64 vs 63?

+1 for TMPGEnc. I'm still at TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 with DivX Authoring, and haven't needed any new funtionality (yet) that would force me to upgrade. Be aware that the vendor and your computer authenticate quickly over the internet when you fire up the program. No big deal.

Per my previous post, I've had a chance to do some light comparisons between the previous and current board, and memory configurations: Previous: M2NPV-VM, Athlon X2-6000 (Brisbane) @ 3.1 GHz, 2 x 2 gigs G.Skill DDR2-800 @ 880 Dual Channel Current: MA785G-UD3H, Phen II/550BE @ 3.6 GHz (18x200), 2 x 2 gigs G.Skill DDR2-800 @ 800 Dual Channel, with & without extra 2 x 1 gigs Patriot DDR2-800 (also in dual channel mode) G.Skill 2 gig pieces: 5-5-5-15-23-2T (run at 1.9v, both boards) Patriot 1 gig pieces: 5-5-5-16-21-2T (run at 1.9v, both boards) Results using Memtest86+ v4: M2N: 3,530 (remember, this is at 880 MHz, a 10% o/c, for the 2 x 2 sticks) 785: 3,895 (2 x 2 sticks, 550BE=3.6 GHz (18x200), Bus = 200, i.e. stock except for CPU multiplier) 785: 3,839 (as above, but with 2x2 and 1x1 gig sticks populating all 4 slots, dual channel) (loss = 56 for slightly mismatched 1 and 2 gig sticks) I can get the 550BE and memory way above that, juicing the bus, voltage, etc. But I thought it would be interesting to report back on the effect of slightly mismatched memory stick timings in dual channel mode. All runs "unganged". My conclusion is that the difference is so minor that it might even be a statistical blip, so there's no problem. The 785 board runs the combined pairs at the slower Patriot's speed, evidently. I don't know whether the difference would be so minor if the CAS was 4 on one, and 5 on the other, etc. Maybe someone could comment. One other observation: The Nvidia M2N board and the AthlonX2 did very well in memory bandwith vis-a-vis the 785 chipset, considering the former is 3 or 4 year old technology. Of course, the above 785 timings are at stock settings except for the CPU multiplier (550BE normally 15.5 x 200), and a quick test of leaving the 18 multiplier stick, and raising the bus to 220 (10% overclock), yields a stable memtest of about 4,300 on the 6 gig memory configuration. That's all, folks. (edit) P.S. I was NOT successful at unlocking the 550BE. Despite (even) reducing the multiplier to 15 and using the AOC + Hybrid option (all cores or auto), combined with a + .15v increase, the board would not post on the subsequent reboot. Needed to short the battery and reboot to clear CMOS to defaults. Guess that I lost the lottery. The BE was a C2, manufactured 0949EPMW, DGI boxed.

Thanks for the reply. I did a lot of googling today, and found that the best way to deploy the sticks is 2 - 1 in one channel, and 2 - 1 (gig) in the other channel. Seems it shouldn't make too much difference. I've ordered a Gigabyte GA-M785G-UD3H and a Phenom II 550BE from NCIX, and it is supposed to be here tomorrow. What I plan to do is see how the current M2NPV-VM with 2 x 2 of DDR2-800 (X2-5000BE @ 2.8GHz) stacks up against the stock configuration of the new board and CPU, first using the 2 x 2 and then adding the 1 giggers to each channel. I suppose I'll use memtest+ for this, since I have to do it on the new board anyway, and it will give a quick snap of read/write and bandwidth, etc. If I remember, I'll post the results here. I plan to set them up unganged. According to what I have read, it shouldn't make too much difference. The new machine's for my wife, who plays WOW 99% of the time (4830/512m on her current M2NPV-VM), and surfs and looks at her e-mail the other 1%. Will use Win7x64 Home Premium. Love XP, but all good things come to an end eventually. I really expect Win7 to be a bear to get "usable" without the glitz and useless fluff.

If I understand correctly, you are using the Front Panel USB port on your case? Have you tried one of the USB ports on the backplane that are physically on the MB? Sometimes running off a MB header to the Front Panel USB port doesn't work, but using the backplane's USB port will work. If this is the case it could be that the Front Panel port is not quite up to snuff, USB 1 vs 2, misconfigured on the MB header, etc. Try the backplane first. If that doesn't work, software/drivers issues might be the next place to look (are they up to date, got any "optional" USB filter code installed, etc.)

I am thinking of getting a newish (AMD AM3, AM2+, AM2 - capable) motherboard with 4 DDR2 slots. I also have 4 gigs (2 x 2) of one vendor's DDR2 memory (Patriot - CAS 5) and 2 gigs (2 x 1) of another vendor's DDR2 memory (G.Skill, also CAS 5). Actually, I have more sticks lying around, but these are the closest match and each pair has always worked without problem in dual channel configurations. The timings vary only at the 5-5-5-x-2T level (and "x" differs only by 2 numbers or so), these values are in the SPD, and both are 1.8 ~ 1.9 volt stuff. My question is whether I can dual channel these separately, to get 6 gigs? More clearly, 2+2 in one dual-channel pair (e.g., slots 1 and 3), and the 1+1 dual-channel pair in slots 2 and 4. Afterwards, hopefully, I would have 6 gigs of RAM operating successfully/quickly in dual-channel mode. Target OS would be Win7_64. Any thoughts on repercussions or gotchas? TIA.

9x & ME: Fading Memories I recently tried to put 98se, then ME, on my Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard. Using a PATA drive, each basic installation went on, albeit with system.ini, esdi_507.pdr and other tricks mentioned in the forum threads. With a SATA drive, however, the best I could do was to get 98se to to the initial desktop after install. At that point it essentially froze. I never was able to get ME all the way through the installation routine using SATA. No PATA Compatibility mode, eh? Even if I had been able to run these base installs, they would still be lacking drivers, in my case, NVIDIA/Asus, to make use of the motherboard resources and, by extension, the LAN, USB, and PCI-E functionality to name a few. Fun, interesting, but not much utility The effort that has been made by contributors to this forum ... in advice, answers, code, updates and retrofitting, tricks and workarounds, is extraordinary. It's probably because DOS, then Win 3x, then Win98 & ME were so much fun to play with, although it wasn't so much fun at the time if, for example, you had plunked down good money for the latest and greatest DOS 4.x only to find that it was "slightly ahead of its time", a.k.a. a turkey. All the effort now means that older boards, say NF2 and before (in my case), will continue to shine with 98 & ME versions and upgrades, and for that many folks should be appreciative and thankful. But for newer boards, 754, 939 and now the AM(+) and whatever the future holds, anything older than Win2K is essentially a no-go. Not impossible, I imagine, if you are quite techically inclined and purposeful, but for the average technical smarts of the 9x generation, probably effectively dead. I will miss the fun and thrill of trying to get another 30 bytes of low mem in DOS, or tuning Win 3 to run in Real Mode like a speed demon on a Harris 286 where I had replaced the stock crystal with a "daring" 20 Mhz part. But I guess those days are over. Putting the latest and greatest skin on XP, or listening to suckers moan about Vista, just doesn't have the same cachet. Not even close. So I'll stay with openSUSE that I've been using as my prime machine for the past 18 months with absolutely gorgeous font display, far ahead of Vista capability, boot into Win2k or XP if I have the need (very seldom), and just lean back and recall "the good old days" when I have a spare moment. Thanks greatly for the fine memories.

FWIW, I have been successful in putting a base WinME install from an OEM CD onto an AM2 chipset. By base, I mean I got the desktop, everything works, but I haven't yet been successful in changing the Asus/Nvidia W2K drivers for the chipset, IDE, LAN, etc to work with the board and WinME. Despite that, the thing is fast, but I got 3 entries each for the base, primary and seconday IDE channels. Still works. I can put up with it since it's my main machine with SATA, and all I do is disconnect the SATA and connect up the IDE when I want to experiment. Board is an Asus M2NPV-VM (430/6150) with PCI-E. I attached a WD 80 gig IDE drive, FDisk'd and formatted a single primary Fat16 partition of 2047mb with a custom WinMe boot disk. I was using the onboard 6150 display adapter attached via digital (not analogue) port to a Samsung 213T LCD. I kept the whole 2 gigs of RAM in during the install, and did not touch system.ini at all. My reason for starting with WinMe, rather than Win98se, is that if this doesn't work, then for sure Win98se won't. The art of the possible first, then back up. I tried half-heartedly first using a 250 gig SATA drive, but was rebuffed - mouse & screen froze during install. BTW, anyone trying to install WinME should be very careful to not use the mouse more than absolutely necessary during install. First install try it hung two-thirds of the way through the install when I moved it to see if it was still working. As I blow my brains out on trying to modify the Nvidia drivers, I'll let you know what happens. I've ghosted the workable/basic Drive C: WinMe onto a newly created drive D:, so that should help if I screw up, going forward.