Re: OT: new PC catch-22

Ancient_Hacker wrote:
Robert Baer wrote:



3) Go into the BIOS setup, first screen: *nothing* recognized; Primary
Master, Primary Slave,Seconsdary Master and Secondary Slave all have the
same message, to the effect "nothing available".


You have a problem with the BIOS, IDE cables, or BIOS setup. Check
that you have the newer 80-wire IDE cables, with the correct end going
to the motherboard. It MATTERS, it matters a LOT, as the 80-pin cable
has different grounding configuration at the MB end.

Also check your BIOS setup so the IDE ports are set to "auto".

---

Your complaint about Win98 not booting is noted, but you see MSooft
dropped support for Win98 a while ago, so they're not going to release
any motherboard glue chip drivers for Win98. MB makers might, but it's
still a struggle to get the chip drivers installed without the chip
drivers already running!

More echos: i *said* that i had the 80-wire cables, directly from ASUS, and while i did not mention it, i have been assembling and fixing PCs since 1980 as well as doing electronic tech work for over 40 years; so i do know one end from the other.
And by the same token, "auto" is the only mode i set the BIOS to if it does not default to "auto" which i see more often now than even 5 years ago.
Will have to use one of the older computers and go thru the OEM "upgrade" path on installing WinXP so that the drive becomes a "clean" drive with all programs but no users, no passwords, ready to clone for the other computers.
What a PITA, as that takes as long as a clean install.
However, each cloned drive then can be quickly configured by the user, making each one unique and look as if they had done not only a fresh install but also installed all of that software (saving a goodly part of a day on installation for each new computer).

.

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