Soundblaster Live! Speakers fix
Written By: Jesper Bentzen | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 4913 | Print Tweak | 2/17/2002
This tweak is for all the people using a Soundblaster Live soundcard with Windows XP and the latest drivers from Creative. Somehow you are not able to run the program called Speakers located in the AudioHQ menu, but this will fix it.
1) locate the file called ctsurmix.exe in your creative soundblaster folder.
2) Right click it and select properties and then compatibility.
3) Select win2000 compatible mode and it should work again.
Enjoy...
Data invalid fix for WinXP problem
Written By: Alec | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 4221 | Print Tweak | 2/15/2002
This is a fix for if you ever had a "data invalid" problem that nags you while you were installing and swapping out cards with Windows XP.
This error appears to be due to a protection problem in the Windows registry and can occur with a variety of drivers (sound cards and SCSI drivers have been reported). To fix this problem, go to Start, Run... and type "regedit" without the quotes to run the Registry Editor. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetENUMPCI
and you will see a number of keys of the form "VEN_xxxx", where xxxx are strings like "1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_00011103&REV_04". Under each of these folders will be another folder with a long numerical name. Open each folder and look for the "DeviceDesc" which matches the hardware you are trying to install. Right Click on the "VEN_xxxx" for that device and select 'Permissions' and then tick "Allow" for "Full Control". Close Regedit and then continue with the installation of your device.
I cannot guarantee it works for everyone, but although I swear by it after swearing at it(XP), it should help you if you ever had casual problem.
Performance Fix For XP Systems Using Radeon Graphics, with 512mb RAM Or Greater
Written By: Matt Hauer | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 6407 | Print Tweak | 1/31/2002
I noticed a serious hit to graphics performance, using ATI Radeon 64 DDR, after upgrading to XP Pro on one of my machines. But yet it didn't phase my other system, which was duplicate, except that the problem child had 512mb RAM, the other had 128.
After some experimenting I found that upping the AGP aprature size to 128 did the trick. For those who don't know this setting is in the bios under "Advanced Chipset Features" usually. Access the bios by hitting DEL or F2, depends on your system, during startup.
Usually this setting doesn't matter a whole lot because todays cards manage their own app size along with the OS (XP slacking), and usually have a min of 32mb on board memory, so settings above 64mb are usually not needed. A rule of thumb is to set the size at half of the total system memory.
Enable AGP 4x On VIA Chipsets
Written By: Kevin Cox | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 16568 | Print Tweak | 1/26/2002
Serious gamers may notice a decrease in framerate compared to previous versions of Windows when using XP on their Via-chipset based machines. This is partly because of XP’s built-in support for Via chipsets. A quick check in the Device Manager will reveal the lack of some items, such as the “Via CPU to AGP Controller.” What’s worse is downloading and installing the latest Via Drivers won’t help under normal circumstances. This guide will get you the controller back and increase your framerates.
1. Download the latest Via 4-in-1 drivers here - http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2#4in1
2. Navigate to wherever you saved the drivers, and unzip them to a folder.
3. Open the folder and find the Setup.exe. Right-click it and choose Properties.
4. Click the Compatibility Tab.
5. Check the box labeled “Run this program in compatibility mode for: ” Choose Windows 2000 from the drop down list.
6. Click “Ok” to close the dialog.
7. Double-click the setup and install the drivers as usual.
8. When you reboot, you’ll notice the “Via CPU to AGP Controller” in your device manager, as well as a few other Via items that weren’t there before.
This works because, ultimately, XP is running Windows 2000’s engine under the hood. Hopefully Via will resolve this driver issue in the future, but in the meantime, this works quite well.
Get Rid Of Pesky Un-Signed Driver Installation Warnings
Written By: Ken Poirier | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 8742 | Print Tweak | 12/22/2001
Many new drivers aren't signed by Microsoft so WinXP will warn you or even prevent you from installing new drivers for a device. To prevent this warning or to allow new un-signed drivers to be installed do the following:
1. Go to start/run/ then type secpol.msc
2. Browse to local policies/security options
3. Change "Devices: Unsigned driver installation behavior" setting to Silently succeed.
4. Reboot Computer.
Ken P
Fix file listing problem with dvds on XP
Written By: Jonas | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 8854 | Print Tweak | 12/20/2001
I had a problem with not being able to list files from my cds on my new laptops dvd drive (with winxp home). I could play files from the cds but not browse files on the cd. After intstalling ASPI drivers it all worked fine. Hope it helps someone else.
Fix problems with USB DSL/Cable modems
Written By: TELSON | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 16167 | Print Tweak | 12/6/2001
Some usb dsl/cable modems may get disconnected after a little while. A possible reason that could cause this problem is that in windows xp there is an option that allows the computer to turn off a usb device to save power. To disable this option:
1) click start, highlight my computer, right click and select properties and a window will pop up with the system properties
2) click on the hardware tab and press the device manager button
3) expand the universal serial bus controllers
4) Double click on the USB Root Hub.
5)Select the Power Management tab and UNTICK the "allow the computer to turn off the device to save power"
If you have more than one USB Root Hub, then you should apply the steps to each one of them
That's it, you won't need to restart the computer!
Install XP from DOS
Written By: Phil | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 27662 | Print Tweak | 12/2/2001
If XP will not install from the CD or if you have a new drive with no operating system on it yet try these:
Install Windows XP from the hard drive with Windows 98 already installed:
Boot Windows 98
Insert the XP CD into your CD reader
Explore Windows XP through My Computer
Copy i386 folder to C:\
Go into C:\i386 folder and double click on winnt32.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive
Install Windows XP from DOS (ie. no OS on a new hard drive):
Boot with a Windows 98 Start Up disk
Insert the Windows 98 CD into the CD reader
Run smartdrv.exe from the Win98 directory on the windows 98 CD (file caching)
Type cd.. to back up to the root directory
Insert Windows XP CD into the CD reader
Copy the i386 folder to C:\
Go into C:\i386 folder on C: and type winnt.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive.
Installing XP WDM Drivers for the Terratec EWS88MT Audio System
Written By: Eric H | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 4752 | Print Tweak | 11/25/2001
After Loading XP you will see "Multimedia Audio Device" with an unidentified icon in Device manager. When loading the Terratec Drivers you will get an error message saying the drivers are not signed.
- click ignore, install anyway -
then you will get an error message saying the install was not completed due to a part of the .inf being invalid and device manager will show about 10 unidentified new components (your SystemWave through Audio 1 to 8)
- DO NOT TOUCH THE COMPUTER AT THIS POINT and DO NOT REBOOT -
wait 30-45 seconds and the system will rescan itself and one by one the devices will disappear, once you are back down to one Unidentified Multimedia Audio device reload the drivers again.
This time they will install properly with no errors and you will have all the proper audio channels for your system.
Driver Updates to the 5.0 WDM version can be found at http://www.terratec.de
Fix Problem with disconnect with ASDL/Cable modems
Written By: Powerworks | Authors Website: Visit | Views: 40454 | Print Tweak | 11/21/2001
With some ADSL/Cable modems (especially USB) you may have a problem with getting disconnected after a few hours, here are two ways to fix that.
Disable Hibernation
Right click on your desktop, click the screen saver tab, once there you should see a power button at the bottom of the display properties dialog, click that, ones dialog appears click the hibernate tab, and uncheck enable hibernation.
Disable Windows Messenger
Go to your start menu, click run.
In the Run dialog type gpedit.msc
Go to Computer Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Windows Messenger
Once there right click Do not allow Windows messenger to be run, go to properties.
Check the box next to enable.
That should fix the problem.