NT 4 acts like someone else is running computer!

[Muse]

Running Win2000 SP2, I installed SP3 and found my boot times go from 2:10 or so to around 5 minutes, sometimes over 6. So, I Ghosted back my SP2. I read a post on these forums that if you have your boot drive on a Promise TX2 Ultra100 IDE controller (I do) you have to have the latest drivers and BIOS for the Promise card or you can't install SP3. So, today I download these and install. I haven't even tried installing SP3, because I've spent most of the day trying to get my OSs to work with the new Promise Windows drivers (I'm also running Win98SE and NT 4 SP6a). Win2k and Win98SE seem OK but NT is doing some really weird things! When I install the new NT Promise driver, after I reboot, after a minute or two (sometimes maybe 5) everything just goes haywire. I'm sitting here doing _nothing_ and things start opening, closing, dialogs appear, disappear, it's just wacko! It's as if some invisible person is at my keyboard and mouse and going nuts in double time. I think it has something to do with my mouse, a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer optical. I don't have the driver installed in NT. I thought maybe installing the Intellimouse driver would fix this, but it doesn't. In fact (and this is the mind-blower), installing the Intellimouse Explorer mouse driver causes this behavior even if I don't install the Promise driver in NT! That is to say, either the correct mouse driver for this mouse or the new Promise IDE controller Windows NT driver causes this bizarre behavior. Again, I've been saved by Ghost, and the only thing I can do if I want my NT to be usable is to NOT install the mouse driver and leave the old Promise driver installed. Does anyone have any ideas?? Thanks! :Q

 

[Muse]

Bump me up...

 

[Muse]

No ideas?

 

[ebaycj]

your problem is you are using too many os's. drop the inferior nt4sp6a and win98, and you will be fine 😀

ebaycj

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: ebaycj
your problem is you are using too many os's. drop the inferior nt4sp6a and win98, and you will be fine 😀

ebaycj

I don't use them much but there are times I'm real glad I have Win98SE and I think I'll feel the same about NT at some point. Fact is the mouse has been acting up in W2k too, it's just different. It doesn't disappear or go crazy, it just jumps sometimes. I'm 98% sure it's a hardware problem. I am waiting for a call from an MS tech support guy and will fill him in and try to get him to send me a new mouse.

 

[JustinLerner]

MS should provide support for their latest Service Pack, but they will not provide help for multiple-boot resolutions.

I agree with the previous post. You haven't described any real need to maintain three OSs, but since this is what you want, you will have more difficulties juggling the three and adding or updating OSs. Remember, each OS has it own boot process and needs to see certain things to boot properly.

If you think your mouse is faulty, borrow another good (modern, non-optical) PS/2 mouse or buy one for $10 and test it on your PC.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: JustinLerner
MS should provide support for their latest Service Pack, but they will not provide help for multiple-boot resolutions.

I agree with the previous post. You haven't described any real need to maintain three OSs, but since this is what you want, you will have more difficulties juggling the three and adding or updating OSs. Remember, each OS has it own boot process and needs to see certain things to boot properly.

If you think your mouse is faulty, borrow another good (modern, non-optical) PS/2 mouse or buy one for $10 and test it on your PC.

I happen to have a generic (probably not "good") PS/2 mouse which I bought at a computer show for about $4 just in case when I was building my "new" system around last June and July of 2001. I used it initially and then went to a cheap USB mouse that also came without a driver and I bought at maybe the same computer show for $6. Both mice have always worked fine for me in all versions of Windows. I switched out the Intellimouse for the PS/2 mouse while on the phone with an MS tech support guy and guess what? I rebooted NT 4 SP6a and the mouse went nuts (or something went nuts) shortly after booting. Things opened, things closed, all rapid-fire. After things settled down after 15 or 20 sec. my taskbar was at the top of the screen. I hadn't done anything. The MS guy rested his case and said the problem wasn't the Intellimouse and said I should pursue the idea that my install of the new Promise Windows drivers and/or the new Promise BIOS was responsible for my problems. Interestingly, things settled down and the mouse seemed to work OK without a reboot. I said goodbye to the MS guy, rebooted and the problems did not return. However, I figured the Intellimouse would still not work and I called Promise and the guy sent me the previous Promise BIOS, which I guess I will flash and see what's up. I guess I have to test several different ways since I suspect the Promise BIOS AND the Windows drivers. It could be one or the other or a combination. Having several OSs is a mixed blessing. It makes things more complicated but you can test on different OSs and you learn more. That's why I multiboot. The reason I set up multiboot on this machine is that I do database programming, development and support for a living and having multiple OSs lets me test problems in a different environment. It's helpful to have the ability to run on different OSs because my users use different OSs. You can get dramatically different results in different OSs at times.