Hi there,
I have a work pc here that I am trying to ressurect. It was my pc until I grabbed a better hand-me-down from our engineers!
The problem I am having is that I am able to load Win 98SE and am able to get all the way through it and get the typical error message about the "display not correct"--fix that with the drivers from Cyrix...(BTW--anyone seen any support pages anywhere for the MediaGX--since Via took them over--National Semi perhaps?). What happens is that when I go double click the "my computer" icon--the window opens and the system freezes. Just gets stuck--no three fingered salute to help here, just reboot; however, when you open explorer, everything shows up fine. What is also odd, is that before I load the drivers in (i.e. the video and sound from cyrix), the floppy won't access at all from explorer or the freezing window. I got around it by preloading the hd with the driver exe in dos, before loading 98 on.
Ok, now the video and the sound work. I ran the system file checker in the system info checker and it came up with 1 corrupt file and I replaced it from the cd. Ok. Voluntarily rebooted the machine--everything boots ok. Go to open the "my computer" icon--system hangs 20 seconds later--mind you, that I have only put Win98 on it--nothing else. Threw in Norton System 2000 cd--checked with win doctor--again a few problems, all fixed. Reboot again, same result. System Hang. Ok. Replaced ram...still does it...replaced ram again...still does it. Replaced ram and hard drive--still does it. I am loading it with no other cards in it at all, btw. I went to the System Integrator Website (Powerspec.com)--no help (unless I pay for it--and I could probably figure out all these tricks and saved my money!) Went to ViaCyrix--no support at all (maybe I should try National semi...) Even tried to find the Taiwaneese company that manufacturers it--found them--no support. (BTW--forget a bios fix--it is a Phoenix Bios! What a piece of junk!) Finally went to micro$oft--no luck.
Ok. This is when I come to the pros. I figure this is a good one--something to try the patience of any grizzled IT warrior. Any ideas (except throwing it off my roof) would be appreciated.
Thanks,
mike
