WHEW!! I feel your frustration!!

As far as any Windows XP problems related to you (and actually it wasn't
an XP problem, but a hardware BIOS problem), the GeForce 2/XP install
failure is the only one I can think of...

It sounds like there were problems long before Windows XP. You were
installing/upgrading a bunch of stuff, and something went bezerk along
the way...

I'm not clear, have you reformatted and tried installing XP fresh on
your new drive? I have found XP extremely stable and easy to install if
there are no hardware conflicts/problems. If you are reluctant to do a
completely new install, why not do a dual boot and see if you are able
to install XP clean. During setup, pick the advanced setting and select
the partition where you would like XP. You can then select from a menu
at boot which OS you want.


-----Original Message-----

Kathy & ALL,

Can you identify other Windows XP problems you identified while beta
testing Windows XP?

Recently, my Gateway Essentials PC suffered a stroke and has been in a
coma ever since!  In a nutshell, I was not able to recover ANY data
after this crash.

History of "my STROKE VICTIM"

*       OEM OS:  Windows 98se w/ MS Office 97 SR 2
*       All MS critical patches loaded and current
*       Upgraded MS Office 97 to Office 2000 Professional w/SP 1
*       Numerous OS lock-ups, printer failures, driver casualties, Word
problems, etc.
*       Upgraded OS to Windows XP Professional
*       Noticed improved performance immediately and then...
*       I decided to re-install Office 2000 Professional SP 1
*       Major problems begin
*       Outlook won't start, Appl closes immediately after starting,
etc.
*       Install MS patch which addresses these specific issues
*       Did they work?  No.
*       Further troubleshooting from MS ended with editing the XP sys
registry
*       Bad idea.
*       Entire system took a nose dive
*       Deleted all references in the sys registry referencing Office
and
attempted a 'clean install' of Office 2000 Professional
*       Unsuccessful.  Same problems as indicated before
*       Began to troubleshoot OS compatibility even though I was aware
of
all the bugs with Office 2000 Professional
*       Then one day IT happened...
*       I was in the midst of downloading yet another patch, this time
for
Windows XP
*       She flat-lined
*       Many days of work got her breathing again, but is currently in a
vegetative state

This is what I've done:
although not indicated, BIOS was configured with each iteration!!

*       Installed new Western Digital 80 GB hard drive as Primary Master
*       Installed old IBM 20 GB hard drive as Primary Slave
*       Half the time, BIOS didn't't recognize the SCSI Controller
*       installed driver from manufacturer website
*       Problems recognizing CD-ROM drives
*       installed drivers for cd-roms
*       edited config.sys & autoexec.bat files for cd-rom drivers
*       no success, unable to boot from either floppy or cd-roms
*       checked cables, jumpers, etc.
*       Nothing is happening
*       made an ms-dos startup disk from the internet and this gave me
hope
*       ms-dos versions are not compatible, but at least was able to
boot
*       re-installed EVERYTHING! re-seated EVERYTHING! Started over...
*       Finally, hardware recognized!  Eureka!  I may just have saved
her!
*       Proceed to load Windows XP Professional Start Up disks
downloaded
from MS
*       After final set up disk loaded the following problems were
encountered:
*       A.  1) press enter to install 2) F3 to Quit; so, naturally, I
pressed ENTER
*       Receive error msg about SCSI controller
*       re-installed driver
*       same thing multiple times
*       B.  And, the most recent problems include loading startup disks
*       XP Professional CD starts
*       I do all the "normal" install things
*       XP proceeds through formatting (I selected NTFS)
*       XP begins installation setup
*       XP then gives an error msg stating: "cannot find file 'ASMS,'
please
enter the location of this file"
*       Well, hell!
*       Remove CD, files there.  Nothing unusual
*       Checked CD in my laptop.  No problem.
*       Copied files to floppy and setup continues for a few more
minutes
*       Setup stops
*       Needs more files
*       Result:  CD-Rom drive was not actually a drive; just a name
CDROM01
*       Started over again
*       Re-installed EVERYTHING including hardware
*       Success? ALL hardware loaded perfectly!  2 HDs & 1 CD/DVD ROM &
1
CD-ROM RW
*       Begin installation of Windows XP Professional for a final time.
This puppy's gonna make it!
*       NOT!
*       XP formats, begins setup, and the error 'no hard drive
installed,'
setup is unable to continue
*       Re-seated everything one more time and configured BIOS
*       Now, BIOS is able to recognize the two hard drives, but not the
CD-ROM drives with no changes in physical hardware connections or setup

Can someone HELP me ???

If you've made it this far through my email, I bid you my sincerest
appreciation and gratitude for any suggestions and/or help you can
provide...

Regards,
Lorelei Cox
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