Hey All,
Tuesday, April 23, 2002, 3:56:34 PM, you wrote:
BW> I'd be interested in seeing one of these "standards" sheets. Unlike some of
BW> the other posts on this topic, I usually consider the "scorched earth"
BW> approach early on in the diagnosis process.
I don't like to scorch the earth, honestly. My feeling is that there
is a _reason_ (or a lot of little reasons) as to why the system is in
the state the it's in. The problem is there; it needs to be ferreted
out.
Having said that, FDisk/Format/Reinstall is a valid option. It's
especially valid if the customer simply doesn't want to pay for the
extra hours of troubleshooting. You can spend a _LOT_ of time obsessed
in the minutiae.
Steve, your step-by-step is simply awesome. Wow. I'm interested in a
couple of comments:
1. Too much memory in Win 9x. It's always seemed to me that Windows 9x
doesn't really know how to deal with memory above 128 megs. More
memory seems to mean worse memory management. Is this what you're
referring to?
2. Thanks for the tip about Sandra. What about other tools? We should
start a thread along these lines. :-)
Oh, here's Sandra:
http://www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk/sandra/
Cheers,
Mike Whalen
BW> If my user is complaining of
BW> three different problems, I place "scorched earth" at the top of the list.
BW> I consider it this way... I could spend (countless) hours chasing down
BW> squiggly problems that may be unfixable due to the mix of software installed
BW> on the machine. I figure that any machine that's been in use for about a
BW> year or more without routine preventative maintenance (ScanDisk, Disk
BW> Cleanup, Defrag, etc.) is so full of clutter and unused programs that the
BW> best investment of my time and their money is to do the Fdisk, Format,
BW> Install routine. It usually takes 4-5 hours to do the job right. I
BW> rationalize this by realizing that not only is this going to solve their
BW> problems, but it will probably improve performance and get rid of a bunch of
BW> junkware that they may have installed over the years. An added bonus is
BW> that installing Windows is also an excellent way to ferret out little
BW> hardware problems that may be causing the bigger problem. They also usually
BW> end up with updated drivers for all their hardware! Just my $.02 and I'd
BW> like to hear from others.
BW> brian.
BW> PCBUILD's List Owners:
BW> Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
BW> Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>
--
Best regards,
Mike mailto:[log in to unmask]
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