Note:<888> 5/14/98 Thursday 9:10 P.M. EST: Well I have my new computer system up and running now. It is running without any problems. I reinstalled the system and key programs, and restored from backup the data files. Below is a summary of what I went through.

Well, I just about have the system up and running normally again.
However, I still only have 16 meg memory, but 32 meg EDO are about
$55 when I can afford them. It is working pretty great. I just had to
fix a sound file that was corrupted. I have an MMX Pentium motherboard
and IBM Cyrix 233 processor for $209 all together and a new case for
$30 from Chinese vendors in North Haven, Connecticut named Ming.
I have been working on the system since last Wednesday when I purchased
it.
The first main problem was the onboard video does not work properly,
possibly
since I only have 16 meg memory, and it kept my floppy controller from
working
properly to install software for setup. I fixed it by using my old
Diamond
SVGA card which only has one meg memory. Possibly Win95 does not
recognize onboard video properly. I next got the CDROM going in DOS
to install the Win95 software and other programs. The free MSN disk that
one
gets from Microsoft has Internet Explorer 4.01 on it, and with my MCI
ISP besides IBM.net, I get the Microsoft Network for free. I also have
onboard sound but my Soundblaster SW32 card is better. I tried to enable
both, but there were not enough IRQs. I also had
plug and play recognized my X2 modem on IRQ 9 and it did not work, so I
put it it on
IRQ 5. I also changed my memory setting in the cmos setup to 7ns instead of 6ns for my two 8 meg. 72 pin simms. I started installing software on Monday morning, and Netscape
Communicator 4.04 brought down my whole system, so I uninstalled it and
last night and I had to reinstall Win95 again to fix the corrupted
files. I am not sure what the problem is. I restored the data files from my tape backup after downloading Colorado Backup 3.11 from HP. For some reason I could not find my version on floppies. I edited the system today, and everything seems to be running fine. I do not plan to work on the bookmark anymore, since it is too time consuming. I might incorporate the existing bookmark, sometime in the future to finish off the project. Of course I will continue using the internet for diverse activities. I will go out for a walk shortly. CIO

Note:<888> 5/9/98 Saturday 4:00 A.M. EST: I had to delete some sound files to free up space on my server. Just about done and off to bed. CIO

Note:<888> 5/9/98 Saturday 3:30 A.M. EST: This is what I can remember from the last few days. First I updated Scott's Index www.mikescott.net/scopor01.htm . On Wednesday I got up about 2:30 P.M.. I drove up to North Haven, Connecticut to HM Computer Consulting, 355 Sacket Point Road., Unit # 13, North Haven, Connecticut 06473, telephone # 203-288-9568. I purchased a Pentium MMX motherboard TX ProII Chipset w/512K with Sound, Video, and Controllers on Board plus and IBM Cyrix M2/233 VGA, with CPU fan for $209, plus Mini Mid Size Case for $30, with tax of $14.34 for a total of $253.34. I drove back and began the long tedious job of upgrading my system. I took some parts from my 486 system like the SoundBlaster SW 32 card, Diamond Speedstar Video Card, and 3 1/2 Floppy Drive, and two 8 meg 72 pin memory chips. I configured them in with the new parts. I had trouble for about a day getting the floppy disk drives working, so I bought a new floppy drive for $40 from Stables in Old Greenwich on Thurday and on Friday a floppy comtroller cable from Computer SuperCenter for $7.95. I eventually installed both 3 1/2 inch floppy drives. The problem was caused by the onboard VGA which I disable when I put my old video card in. I also had to install DOS Cdrom driver, so as to install Win95 on Cdrom and MCI MS IE 4.01. Basically it took a lot of fiddling around to diagnose the problems. Once I had the system up and running on Friday about 6 P.M., I noticed my Logicode X2 56,000 modem was not working. Apparently something is keeping it active when it should not be so as to startup. I finally put in my old Zoom 28,000 to get on line. I updated the Win95 updates and Networking and TCP updates. I still have a lot of system tweaking to do, and downloading and installing software. I have a tape backup of critical files that I will have to restore sooner or later. Thus I have a lot of work ahead of me for the next week. Hopefully I will figure out the modem problem. The system also needs more memory when I can afford it. However it is a great responsive system, and I think it is a worthwhile investment. Today is my birthday, so I plan to go to sleep soon to get some well deserved rest. I have had little sleep for the last three days, and I am very tired. Have a good day. CIO