Windows XP Repair Installation

[NickFitz]

So will try SP2 as that recognises more HW out of the box (the repair install was back to SP1)

I hope you didn't have it exposed to t'Internet while it was XP SP1 - even Microsoft acknowledge that an XP machine without SP2 simply isn't safe to connect to the outside world

[Platypus]

Memory test showed no errors (I only ran one pass)

Network card out again ... uptime now 5 minutes !

[Platypus]

I hope you didn't have it exposed to t'Internet while it was XP SP1

No chance - bloody thing can't see its network card

[Zippy]

No chance - bloody thing can't see its network card

I can't understand this (as in not seeing card at all). Any ideas NF?

[Platypus]

When the (old) NIC was visible, Windows crashed. Took it out, Windows was ok again. Put it back in, it's invisible again.

I'm swapping the NIC for a spare one I have...

[Zippy]

When the (old) NIC was visible, Windows crashed. Took it out, Windows was ok again. Put it back in, it's invisible again.

I'm swapping the NIC for a spare one I have...

Good thinking (oldie might be fooked).

Sorry. Am being a bit useless.

[NickFitz]

I can't understand this (as in not seeing card at all). Any ideas NF?

Off the top of my head (and probably not very useful, as I'm heading for bed and only came back in response to the call to action in TPD):

Is the card seated properly? It may sound like a dumb question, but I've been caught that way before.

Is the card supported? Almost certainly given that it worked before, but check out the model and have a quick Google to see if there are any known issues, etc.

Is the card defunct? If possible, swap it into a known-good system and see if it plays well there.

Oh, and tell your friend to get a Mac - whether it Just Works or not, you can at least say that you don't support them

[Platypus]

New NIC seems fine.

IE7 icon is playing up (seems to be a known problem) - upgrading to IE8

Now, how about the C:\program Files\Windows explorer window which opens each time windows boots?

EDIT: Zippy, you mentioned a Startup.ini file ... ??

[Zippy]

New NIC seems fine.

IE7 icon is playing up (seems to be a known problem) - upgrading to IE8

Now, how about the C:\program Files\Windows explorer window which opens each time windows boots?

EDIT: Zippy, you mentioned a Startup.ini file ... ??

Just lookin' - bear with me

[Zippy]

Prob meant the boot.ini file.Check for strange things in there (although explorer starting up isn't the end of the world)