Thinkpads Forum

Greetings all, this is a cracking site but some of it is pitched at PC professionals and therefore above my head.

I have a few questions and I would be grateful for 'Peter & Jane' type answers please

The 600e came with Pentium 2 192Mb RAM but running W2k Pro which was horrible and a DVD. The screen ran at 1024x768 and the system ran pretty quickly, loaded my broadband software and Norton 2005 with no problems.

I then decided to format the hard drive and load 98SE and this is where things have gone awry - My hard disc controller is showing a yellow exclamation mark and is in conflict (code 15) - PCI Multimedia Audio Device is now showing no driver installed - the display now runs only 16 colours at 640x480 with no option to change.

My BT broadband software will not load cos the screen resolution is too low and with Norton 2005 loaded it virtually stops.

1) How can I solve the screen resolution problem?
2) Is this machine too slow to run a broadband connection AND Norton 2005 ?
3) How do I get inside the machine to check on what RAM is loaded and how?

I've seen posts about downloading patches etc from IBM but without broadband and security software I'm a bit stumped. I have a desktop with broadband, can this be linked to the 600e to share the connection and firewall etc?

Thanks in anticipation

(ps Does anyone know if there's a keystroke for the Windows "Start" key?)

You'll need to install the proper drivers for your computer for the hardware to work properly. Consulting the forum FAQ as well as the Lenovo support site should help you there. As for the start menu, try Ctrl+Esc.

As AlphaKilo470 says, you can get answers to most of your questions by consulting the Thinkpads.com FAQ here in the forum.

b1ackb1rd wrote:I have a few questions and I would be grateful for 'Peter & Jane' type answers please

OK. Here goes.

b1ackb1rd wrote:My hard disc controller is showing a yellow exclamation mark and is in conflict (code 15) - PCI Multimedia Audio Device is now showing no driver installed.

The PCI Multimedia Audio Device is related to your sound card installation. You can probably leave that until you've got your broadband working and then download the appropriate driver. You should have at least one other yellow exclamation mark in your Device Manager under Hard Disk Controllers: Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller. You can also leave this until you get broadband working.

b1ackb1rd wrote:the display now runs only 16 colours at 640x480 with no option to change...1) How can I solve the screen resolution problem?

This is the default install behaviour that results from a default install. Your display adapter probably shows "Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA)" or something similar. To fix this without access to the Internet, you will need to use your desktop computer to download the following video driver onto a floppy disk (or burn it onto a CD), and then use that floppy (or CD) to install it on your 600E:
Video driver (NM2200) for Windows 95/98/Me - ThinkPad 380Z, 570/E, 600E

b1ackb1rd wrote:My BT broadband software will not load cos the screen resolution is too low

This does not make any sense. Maybe your BT broadband software is written so badly that it does not allow you to click on certain buttons when your screen resolution is 640x480? If so, that sucks, and I would complain, but otherwise, the screen resolution should have no impact on installing items, including Norton 2005.

b1ackb1rd wrote:...and with Norton 2005 loaded it virtually stops...2) Is this machine too slow to run a broadband connection AND Norton 2005?

No way. Your machine can do all that and more. Over the years, Norton has produced a number of clunkers, so maybe Norton 2005 just doesn't run well on your system under Win98. Personally, I wouldn't let any Norton anti-virus products touch my 600X, as I think they are incapable of writing proper programs that don't take over your system, but your results may vary. In general, though, these specific application problems seem unrelated to your Windows 98 installation problems.

b1ackb1rd wrote:3) How do I get inside the machine to check on what RAM is loaded and how?

No need to get inside the machine. Your available memory should display in the top-left every time you turn on your computer. Divide that number by a 1024 to get a rough estimate. You can access your memory modules by unscrewing one single screw on the bottom of your machine: the memory cover plate is the larger of the two square covers that are held in by single screws. You won't damage your machine by just unscrewing either of those two screws and looking under the cover.

Phil.

Cheers Phil, most of that registered!

The video driver went in ok but the link to the audio driver(aftpcw9x.exe) is currently down so that will have to wait.

Once the video driver went in the broadband software loaded ok, and I then put the dreaded Norton in last.

Everything works ok now and all 98SE critical updates and virus updates are in.

What a great site, thanks

And why don't you try install xp sp2?

It have most of the drivers required for your system.

I have a 600E, and XP Pro runs a treat with no additional drivers required to download! I'd install that, and with your 192MB of RAM it shoud fly.
I am on 96MB for the moment, and it is just about useable!

It used to be 224MB, and that was amazing, even on only a P2 400.

That's right!!! Go for Xp Sp2!!

mattyprice4004 wrote:XP Pro runs a treat...with your 192MB of RAM it shoud fly.

It should fly compared to what!?

It should fly compared to what!?

Compared to something that doesn't fly !

Maybe the "flying" is too much but it will work just fine.

b1ackb1rd wrote:Compared to something that doesn't fly !

lol

One more question gents please - is XP Pro better at working with low spec machines or will XP Home also work?

XP Home edition seems to be more readily available of fleabay and a good site cheaper.

Well if you install XP Pro (or Home for that matter ) then i'd suggest taking a look at one of the many online guides to windows services.

Many of the services which are by default set to start automatically at boot-up can be disabled.
Take a look at http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm and Google and you'll get a good idea of what services you can disable or just set to a manual start - then you can make a guess at what memory and system resources you can tweak your installation of XP to save.

warwound.

if you do decide to disable any services, actually listen to what it tells you to do- make changes one at a time to avoid mass confusion.

every computer i disable things on, i always go one step too far and have to figure out what stopped what from working.

Blackviper is a good guide to disable/modify the services.