Win2k shutdown issues and others

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 3:44 pm

Having been stuck with ME for quite a while, I grew tired of the crash monster and replaced it with Win 2k. Now however, my computer cannot shut down properly. It always stops on a blank blue screen(not of death, just like a backdrop) and my Intellimouse power goes off. I have to turn it off manualy

Any ideas?
Also Outlook Express doesn't run full stop and all DOS programs end with Invalid COMMAND.COM System Halted so I hae to Ctrl-Alt-Del them.

Apart from this it's quite good - only two crashes in about that many months.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 4:49 pm

Is this an ATX system? If so, you may have a bad setting in your power management setup. Reset the BIOS power management options to their default values and check the hardware profile for bad or misssing drivers. Also run a full check on your hard disk.

Windows 2000 is usually fairly good at shutting down, but I have found issues when some older pieces of hardware are installed that don't properly support the ACPI interface.

As for your DOS programs causing a system halt, is this happening when you run any DOS app in particular or just running the command prompt?

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 4:52 pm

I always thought Win2k doesn't technically have Dos in it's operating system, doesn't one have to startup in Dos or something like that, i have only installed it once on someone elses machine and then only messed wiht it for a while so i don't know the full story.

@Outlook what version have you got, would it be worth d/l the latest and installing that?

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 5:12 pm

I always thought Win2k doesn't technically have Dos in it's operating system

Technically it doesn't. The DOS command interpreter (the bit where you type things) is command.com, and all OS's from Win3.11 to WinME sat on top of this. Windows 2000 and XP use a command emulator called cmd.exe to allow backwards compatability with older software. This is where K's problem is occuring because the system is still trying to use the older WinME command interpreter which no longer exists.

The following article on Microosft's knowledge base should help solve the problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/search/pre ... us;Q282064

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sat Apr 06, 2002 5:14 pm

As regards the shutting down and BIOS settings I'll have to try that tomorrow as I wouldn't want to wake people by booting up my desktop

As for the DOS, that is just by double-clicking on the .exe for games like Duke Nukem and QBasic. This gives the same effect as running the command prompt and doing it through there. I get system halted when the program quits. This is a problem when the program is some kind of menu or frontend and then runs the game which is a separate executable, because its instruction never appears to reach the intended target

Hmm, Outlook Express; I probably could get a new version (shoulda thought of that) but I use Opera anyway and I recommend it - stops the taskbar getting clogged up when you have 10 threads open at once

Thanks.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 5:52 am

Originally posted by K0r/\/f1@k€$
Hmm, Outlook Express; I probably could get a new version (shoulda thought of that) but I use Opera anyway and I recommend it - stops the taskbar getting clogged up when you have 10 threads open at once

IE 6 is quite a lot faster than previous versions IMO, so that might be worth it, you can customise the d/l and only d/l the important things that you need, should get done pretty quick then

@Opera, i used it a bit in the past, my only problem was that the email automatically opened into a preview window and i couldn't figure out how to turn it off and preview windows are one of the main causes for viruses infecting machines...

Demis · Post by **Demis** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 6:19 am

Originally posted by K0r/\/f1@k€$
As for the DOS, that is just by double-clicking on the .exe for games like Duke Nukem and QBasic. This gives the same effect as running the command prompt and doing it through there. I get system halted when the program quits. This is a problem when the program is some kind of menu or frontend and then runs the game which is a separate executable, because its instruction never appears to reach the intended target

Not many DOS-based prorgams work on either win2k or winXP beacuse they just emulate the whole DOS thing. There are some things to try though. right-clicking then "properties" on the programs gives you some choices of what memory to use or which amount that sometimes gets them to start. Also winXP gives the options for this programs to be emulated under other OS like win98 or win95 but i never got that to work

.

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 10:58 am

Well played Mr Flibble - that fixed the DOS problem. Now if only I could get sound in those DOS games...

(Roll on your Win 2k magic again plz

)

Unfortunately it still doesn't shut down

any other ideas?

Thanks a lot for your help both of you.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:29 pm

Glad to be of help.

Most DOS based games require the IRQ and memory IO address to be entered into the games inital setup. The defaults for Soundblaster compatability are IRQ5 and IO330. You can get this information by opening the system properties box in the control panel, select the ahrdware tab, click on device manager, find your sound card, open the properties on that and looking at the resources tab.

Also, what type of sound card do you have? Some models of PCI cards simply didn't have any DOS compatability.

As for your shutdown issue, can you tell me what make and model computer or motherboard you have? There may be a specific driver required to complete the powerdown process.

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:47 pm

In the control panel it says IRQ 9 and the IO has three values which are hex. This is an AC97 onboard jobby. I'll try changing something in the BIOS in a few minutes.

As to the make etc do you want the full works? The motherboard is GA-7ZM with a Duron 900, 384MB RAM, a LAN card, a modem, ATI Radeon 8500. If you need to know anything else please let me know.

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:59 pm

I tried changing the IRQ to 9 in the BIOS which resulted in an unbootable system. It is now at the default setting (5) and I get no sound in DOS. IO is @ 220F - 22F

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 2:15 pm

Here's a harder one - my friend has Win 2k as well, and his system randomly reboots at all times

It is not fun seeing as the longest it lasts is just finishing booting up, and the shortest is not even showing the IDE data. He has tried the usual stuff - swapping memory, removing cards etc, but to no avail. Got any words of wisom for him?

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 2:17 pm

Don't try to change the BIOS settings, for some reason Win2k doesn't like that very much. If you need to change the settings you should be able to do that straight from the resources page for your sound driver. Otherwise set your DOS games to the values in the device manager and you should be able to get sound out of them.

When you upgraded to Win2k did you install the VIA 4-in-1 chipset driver or just use the default drivers that 2k installed for you? The VIA driver includes the onboard IDE controller, ACPI power interface, USB and IRQ polling drivers. I recommend donwloading and installing it from the Gigabyte website. They also have updated drivers for the GA-7ZM's onboard AC97 audio chip, which may help too.

BTW that is a very nice graphics card you have there.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 2:20 pm

Here's a harder one - my friend has Win 2k as well, and his system randomly reboots at all times It is not fun seeing as the longest it lasts is just finishing booting up, and the shortest is not even showing the IDE data. He has tried the usual stuff - swapping memory, removing cards etc, but to no avail. Got any words of wisom for him?

Actually yes. This bug was recognised by Microsoft in february this year and an update is available from Windows update. Unfortuantely if you can't get into windows for very long you may have to reinstall the operating system to get the update.

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 2:30 pm

Mr Flibble, if this works I will worship you because I have a LAN party on Wednesday and if his computer isn't wokring...

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 2:44 pm

Originally posted by K0r/\/f1@k€$
Mr Flibble, if this works I will worship you because I have a LAN party on Wednesday and if his computer isn't wokring...

...we will personally fly to Seattle and strangle Bill Gates, before chopping his nuts off with a +13 Invisible Venomed Bandyclef. I HATE MICROSOFT

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 3:37 pm

BTW that is a very nice graphics card you have there.

Well, I had to buy a new one after Kameleon broke my TNT2 so I decided to splash out

It was worth it

Could you point me a link for that update please because I can't find it.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 4:39 pm

Sure.

http://www.giga-byte.com/support/d_vk7.htm#link7zm

That will take you straight to the files you need.

@Kameleon: I prefer the +4 Wifflebat of Uncontrolable Hideous Laughter. Not as dangerous, but much more amusing.

K0r/\/f1@k€$ · Post by **K0r/\/f1@k€$** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 4:54 pm

Ah, sorry, I meant the Win 2k fix for my rebooting buddy

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Sun Apr 07, 2002 5:08 pm

It's part of service pack 2, which is about 100MB. If you're using a modem to connect you might want to contact Microsoft or a computer reseller about it.

Otherwise, if you're keen to do a big download here it is:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/do ... irect%3Dno