Metropoulos Forum

I recall someone sent me a patch to do this before, but I can't find it since I installed on a new hard drive from scratch.

Any suggestions??? ***Wink***

VG

If you have no luck finding a patch after a while, I've got an official microsoft disc that will install SP1 with no internet connection required. The only thing you need is a legitimate key installed and it's ready to go.

a tip incase you didnt know about XP and XP pro.

have u heard of OEM?

an oem version is one that comes with a purchased computer.( gateway, dell, ect) OEM does not have tech support. usually its the company you bought the computer from that gives you support i believe.

anyway anyone can go into a computer store and with the purchase of something computer retalated ( i bought a tube of thermal grease for the cpu for a 1.99) can ask to purchase a OEM version of xp or xp pro.
you can even find places online that sell OEM versions of xp - some with sp1 but most you find will be full install with sp2 as well. even some that dont have sp1 or 2 installed( these will be even cheaper) but with interent connection you can download the updates with windows update.

win xp pro goes for 199.00 retail - in the box

i paid $89 for the OEM version of winxp pro.

u dont get the box and the only difference is you get no tech support with an oem version. other wise its completely the same with full updates from windows update available.

i dont need no stinkin box or tech support!

i have done this twice.... thats two at less than retail for the price of one!

yeah u can get hacks and pirated versions but why mess with your OS?

enjoy,

Mark

Kick ass!

Yeah, great info. I'll look into it.

Would still like to hear any options for my current install too. Thanks.

george

Also: can I change the install from a MPS standard computer to an ACPI install, or do I need to do a clean install from scratch?

george

VelvetGeorge wrote:Also: can I change the install from a MPS standard computer to an ACPI install, or do I need to do a clean install from scratch?

george

i believe you would need to clean install that tweak. maybe someone will disagree but im 99.9% sure of it.

Mark

ACPI machines can be switched to MPS, but not vice-versa. You'd have to re-install. If you need to upgrade XP to SP1, here's the link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/down ... fault.mspx

Thanks. When I reinstall- how do I specify ACPI? Don't I need to hit F8 at a certain time or something?

George

I thought the MPS uni/multi proc and ACPI uni/multi proc selection was all done as a driver update through Device Manager now, the Alienware-built machine I'm sitting on gives me all of them as driver options but I ain't clicking one to see, ya know what I mean?

So are you saying you need just SP1 sent to you? I can try it, but it's gonna be big......

The link worked for SP1, thanks.

I'll see about doing an install later (when I'm not emailing customers ect) and see if I can do ACPI.

VG

Try hitting F5 instead of F6 when it asks about SCSI hardware and whatnot on boot. Maybe this page can help you out a bit as it's all about XP clean installs and has a specific section on changing the hardware abstraction layer.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_insta ... ows_xp.htm

Pete

Just install whatever version of XP that you have. After it's all installed go to the Windows Update site. It will ask you to update the update software. Say OK. Reboot. Go back to Windows Update site. When you get to the page where it has the two buttons "Express" and "Custom" enter this in the address bar of IE:

javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck='all')

Hit Enter or the Go button to the right of the address bar. It will look like nothings happened. Then hit the "Express" button on the page and it will install all the updates.

That's what I've been doing for ages and it always works for me.

Bad Kitty wrote:Just install whatever version of XP that you have. After it's all installed go to the Windows Update site. It will ask you to update the update software. Say OK. Reboot. Go back to Windows Update site. When you get to the page where it has the two buttons "Express" and "Custom" enter this in the address bar of IE:

javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck='all')

Hit Enter or the Go button to the right of the address bar. It will look like nothings happened. Then hit the "Express" button on the page and it will install all the updates.

That's what I've been doing for ages and it always works for me.

As of March 4 this month MS fixed that so it wont work anymore.