Let's start over. An apology

Executioner · 10-21-2003, 08:03 PM

Somehow I've gotten off to a bad start. How about if we start over from the beginning! I'm sorry if some of you find my user name offensive. I suppose I could have chosen something softer or more friendly sounding like Freddy Fish or Timmy Turtle,but I'm just not the type. Also,it was not my intention to offend Jim Sachs in any way. When I said he was wrong,I just meant that concerning that one point.I don't agree with him. (It's a moot point anyway, because the goldfish don't swim off-screen anymore). And it wasn't meant to be a blanket statement to include his marine aquariums. For some reason,when the tropicals swim off-screen it doesn't seem to matter. Jim's Serenescreen aquariums and this Lifeglobe Goldfish aquarium,are not only the best "aquarium" screensavers on the web,they're the best screensavers bar-none. Kudos to Jim and Feldon27 and Reichert and whoever else is responsible for making them. When I said "get real" I meant you don't have to respond to everything I say with hostility. But,maybe I was misreading your reactions. Perhaps we've all been a little thin skinned. Here's hoping we can be friends...............I thought the word was persnickety too.

Xylem · 10-21-2003, 09:34 PM

Absolutley. And I apologize, too, for my judgemental rudeness.

Thank you, Tiny, for reminding me of my manners.

.....I thought 'Xylem' was ...uhmmm, cuddly....

drfish · 10-22-2003, 06:21 AM

Main Entry: xy·lem
Pronunciation: 'zI-l&m, -"lem
Function: noun
Etymology: German, from Greek xylon
Date: 1873
: a complex tissue in the vascular system of higher plants that consists of vessels, tracheids, or both usually together with wood fibers and parenchyma cells, functions chiefly in conduction of water and dissolved minerals but also in support and food storage, and typically constitutes the woody element (as of a plant stem)

Cuddly? Very cool though, you manged to find a super geeky word that makes a great handle...

Jim Sachs · 10-22-2003, 09:42 AM

Executioner - I wasn't the slightest bit offended by anything you had to say.

I have nothing to do with the Goldfish tank, so I can't comment about that, but here's the story on the Marine Aquarium:

The sides of the tank are meant to be a couple of inches off-screen. When the fish swim into this area, they immediately turn around and swim back on-screen. During this time, they may also swim from the front of the tank to the back or vice-versa. It is necessary for them to have this off-screen "overrun" area or the bigger fish might pass through the coral on occasion.

Assuming I continue to work on this stuff, and don't give up entirely on computers in the next few days, the 3D background version and the Freshwater tank will have an even wider background which allows the fish to swim even farther off-screen. The camera would be able to pan back and forth within this larger environment.

f16pilot · 10-22-2003, 01:15 PM

Jim,
I have an Amiga 1000 lying around that I can lend you...

I figure you would feel more at home, since you did some of your best work on them. Of course you would have to port everything over using the IBM sidecar and the MAC emulator.

Actually I'm surprised to hear that you're working on such inferior equipment. I would have thought that you would have enough tech-heads around to keep you up and running. If you need anything, I would be more than happy to donate a better video card, if not a descent virus scanner.

I've been a fan of yours since the Porshe 911 and the Defender of the Crown. Whatever you do, DO NOT give up.

Jim Sachs · 10-22-2003, 02:45 PM

Yep, there are still about a dozen Amigas around here, used as doorstops and paperweights. I still have the original Amiga 1000 with all my old Defender artwork on a floppy (long before hard drives). When I bought that blank floppy ($10), I remember thinking "Wow 880K! How could anyone ever fill one up?"

Regarding Virus Scanners: I have Norton Internet Security, but the newly-installed OS wouldn't recognize it. Now the machine has gone into a stage where it gets about halfway through the boot process, then reboots...infinitely. Doesn't matter whether it's in Safe Mode or what.

feldon34 · 10-22-2003, 02:52 PM

Originally posted by f16pilot
I would have thought that you would have enough tech-heads around to keep you up and running.

I think that Jim is offended by the idea that anyone could comprehend his development setup, let alone maintain or recover/restore parts of it.

I too, assumed a long time ago that Jim would be using a double-redundant RAID system with networked data storage to another PC in the house and both on-site and off-site data backup. It's really amazing how safe your computer setup can be when you throw even a modicum of money at the problem.

Instead, his system is about on par with most of us on the forum with less backup/recovery facilities than even I. It's disturbing and frustrating. Much like arriving on the scene of a car wreck and being waved away by a jealous husband regardless of what medical credentials you show him.

10-22-2003, 08:25 PM

Whoa! I'm thinking we may need a whole new thread just from Morgan's last post. But in response to Executioner, I'm still chillin', and never did take any offense. I hope I didn't give any either. When I first started posting on the forum, there were a few times when I got a bit piqued, but have since either grown a thicker skin or have come to realize that most everybody here has a good heart and no intent to offend. Welcome (back) to the forum.

f16pilot · 10-22-2003, 09:44 PM

Jim,
Not to spin too far off the subject, but in reference to your continuous reboot, if you are running 2000 or XP you may want to try booting from a Windows 98 boot disk and do the following:

(assuming FAT32)**
Rename C:\Windows\System32\Config\System to System.bad
Copy C:\Windows\Repair\System to the above directory

** if NTFS, convert to FAT32 using Partition Magic boot disk first

You could also try doing the same thing using the Windows XP disk and selecting Repair Console.

This has worked in the past on several systems (W2K and XP).

Again, sorry for straying from the thread...

EVERRET · 10-23-2003, 12:48 AM

Originally posted by Executioner : Somehow I've gotten off to a bad start.

Dont worry about that.

Originally posted by executioner: For some reason,when the tropicals swim off-screen it doesn't seem to matter.

I agree, I like it better that way, it's more like a window than a tank.

Originally posted by Jim Sachs : The 3D background version and the Freshwater tank will have an even wider background which allows the fish to swim even farther off-screen. The camera would be able to pan back and forth within this larger environment.

I sure Hope to see this down the road !

Jim Sachs · 10-23-2003, 12:50 AM

Surely you are not talking about a FLOPPY boot disk after all of you spent so much time convincing me that floppy drives were obsolete.

feldon34 · 10-23-2003, 12:57 AM

Repairing XP or 2000 starts with booting up from the Windows XP or 2000 installation CD.

f16pilot · 10-23-2003, 04:30 AM

Trust me. Never lose your copy of the Windows 98 boot disk. Especially when it comes to resetting the administrator password on a 2000 or XP system.

feldon34 · 10-23-2003, 08:34 AM

How in the world would a 98 boot floppy help you with this?

Jav400 · 10-23-2003, 08:44 AM

You can actually use a 2k disc to "break in" on XP and bypass the log on password among other things, and XP is touted to be the most secure OS yet. heh

Jim Sachs · 10-23-2003, 08:54 AM

I have found the only configuration that will allow this machine to boot.

1. The BIOS must be set to boot to the CDROM as first choice, then HD0.
2. All the files in my backup copy of the Windows folder had to be renamed, not just the folder itself.
3. The Win XP CD must be in the CDROM drive.
4. When asked if you want to boot from the CDROM, DO NOT let it.
5. Forget trying to change video cards or anything else in the system -- it will hang at bootup.

Booting into the "Repair" facility of the XP CD is just about the most useless thing I've ever seen. What you would expect is for the CD to attempt to repair an installation by restoring corrupted system files, but you just get a DOS prompt which still won't let you mess with "protected" files.

feldon34 · 10-23-2003, 08:57 AM

Sounds like the Recovery Console.

You want the Automatic Repair. If Automatic Repair doesn't work, then your WinXP is too hosed to repair and you need to reinstall the OS. (At this point, I'd be reaching for the 2000 CD).

f16pilot · 10-23-2003, 12:29 PM

Feldon27,
The Windows98 disk when used on a FAT32 formatted XP or 2000 OS disk will let you roam freely in the "DOS" side of the files. If you rename the two most important files (i.e. SYSTEM and SOFTWARE) located in the C:\Windows\System32\Config\ directory and replace them with the same files located in the C:\Windows\Repair directory, you can basically take your system back in time to when the OS was first installed (It's best to try SYSTEM first and then SOFTWARE if problems are still present). Most of the time, this will at least get you operational when all else has been exhausted. Additionally, if you rename the SAM file in the Config directory, the administrator password will be reset to "blank."

If the drive is NTFS formatted you can still do everthing above, but you first need to convert it to FAT32 via Partition Magic.

Marian Nichols · 10-23-2003, 01:46 PM

I am no expert, but I do not like the repair in WINXP, does not work, I just re-format.

feldon34 · 10-23-2003, 02:45 PM

Originally posted by f16pilot
Feldon27,
The Windows98 disk when used on a FAT32 formatted XP or 2000 OS disk will let you roam freely in the "DOS" side of the files.

Running XP/2000 on FAT32 is a major performance drain, plus FAT32 is more susceptible to corruption. 2000 was meant to run on NTFS5.

Originally posted by f16pilot
If the drive is NTFS formatted you can still do everthing above, but you first need to convert it to FAT32 via Partition Magic.

Spending hours doing this, playing Russian roulette with my data (sorry, I don't trust Partition Magic) seems to be grossly disadvantageous compared to installing 2000 on another hard drive, booting up off of the new drive and accessing the old drive that way.

10-21-2003, 08:03 PM	#1
Executioner Registered Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Washington State Posts: 13	Let's start over. An apology Somehow I've gotten off to a bad start. How about if we start over from the beginning! I'm sorry if some of you find my user name offensive. I suppose I could have chosen something softer or more friendly sounding like Freddy Fish or Timmy Turtle,but I'm just not the type. Also,it was not my intention to offend Jim Sachs in any way. When I said he was wrong,I just meant that concerning that one point.I don't agree with him. (It's a moot point anyway, because the goldfish don't swim off-screen anymore). And it wasn't meant to be a blanket statement to include his marine aquariums. For some reason,when the tropicals swim off-screen it doesn't seem to matter. Jim's Serenescreen aquariums and this Lifeglobe Goldfish aquarium,are not only the best "aquarium" screensavers on the web,they're the best screensavers bar-none. Kudos to Jim and Feldon27 and Reichert and whoever else is responsible for making them. When I said "get real" I meant you don't have to respond to everything I say with hostility. But,maybe I was misreading your reactions. Perhaps we've all been a little thin skinned. Here's hoping we can be friends...............I thought the word was persnickety too.

10-21-2003, 09:34 PM	#2
Xylem Registered Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Belleville, Michigan Posts: 68	Absolutley. And I apologize, too, for my judgemental rudeness. Thank you, Tiny, for reminding me of my manners. .....I thought 'Xylem' was ...uhmmm, cuddly.... Asus P5E3 Premium, Q9550, 8G DDR3, Palit Radeon HD 4870, Windows 7

10-22-2003, 06:21 AM	#3
drfish the Doc Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Zeeland, MI Posts: 5,357	Main Entry: xy·lem Pronunciation: 'zI-l&m, -"lem Function: noun Etymology: German, from Greek xylon Date: 1873 : a complex tissue in the vascular system of higher plants that consists of vessels, tracheids, or both usually together with wood fibers and parenchyma cells, functions chiefly in conduction of water and dissolved minerals but also in support and food storage, and typically constitutes the woody element (as of a plant stem) Cuddly? Very cool though, you manged to find a super geeky word that makes a great handle... I don't watch commercials.

10-22-2003, 09:42 AM	#4
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Executioner - I wasn't the slightest bit offended by anything you had to say. I have nothing to do with the Goldfish tank, so I can't comment about that, but here's the story on the Marine Aquarium: The sides of the tank are meant to be a couple of inches off-screen. When the fish swim into this area, they immediately turn around and swim back on-screen. During this time, they may also swim from the front of the tank to the back or vice-versa. It is necessary for them to have this off-screen "overrun" area or the bigger fish might pass through the coral on occasion. Assuming I continue to work on this stuff, and don't give up entirely on computers in the next few days, the 3D background version and the Freshwater tank will have an even wider background which allows the fish to swim even farther off-screen. The camera would be able to pan back and forth within this larger environment. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-22-2003, 02:45 PM	#6
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Yep, there are still about a dozen Amigas around here, used as doorstops and paperweights. I still have the original Amiga 1000 with all my old Defender artwork on a floppy (long before hard drives). When I bought that blank floppy ($10), I remember thinking "Wow 880K! How could anyone ever fill one up?" Regarding Virus Scanners: I have Norton Internet Security, but the newly-installed OS wouldn't recognize it. Now the machine has gone into a stage where it gets about halfway through the boot process, then reboots...infinitely. Doesn't matter whether it's in Safe Mode or what. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-22-2003, 01:15 PM	#5
f16pilot Registered Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 7	Jim, I have an Amiga 1000 lying around that I can lend you... I figure you would feel more at home, since you did some of your best work on them. Of course you would have to port everything over using the IBM sidecar and the MAC emulator. Actually I'm surprised to hear that you're working on such inferior equipment. I would have thought that you would have enough tech-heads around to keep you up and running. If you need anything, I would be more than happy to donate a better video card, if not a descent virus scanner. I've been a fan of yours since the Porshe 911 and the Defender of the Crown. Whatever you do, DO NOT give up.

10-22-2003, 02:52 PM	#7
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Originally posted by f16pilot I would have thought that you would have enough tech-heads around to keep you up and running. I think that Jim is offended by the idea that anyone could comprehend his development setup, let alone maintain or recover/restore parts of it. I too, assumed a long time ago that Jim would be using a double-redundant RAID system with networked data storage to another PC in the house and both on-site and off-site data backup. It's really amazing how safe your computer setup can be when you throw even a modicum of money at the problem. Instead, his system is about on par with most of us on the forum with less backup/recovery facilities than even I. It's disturbing and frustrating. Much like arriving on the scene of a car wreck and being waved away by a jealous husband regardless of what medical credentials you show him. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

10-22-2003, 08:25 PM	#8
klyntun Guest Posts: n/a	Whoa! I'm thinking we may need a whole new thread just from Morgan's last post. But in response to Executioner, I'm still chillin', and never did take any offense. I hope I didn't give any either. When I first started posting on the forum, there were a few times when I got a bit piqued, but have since either grown a thicker skin or have come to realize that most everybody here has a good heart and no intent to offend. Welcome (back) to the forum. Last edited by klyntun; 10-22-2003 at 10:47 PM.

10-22-2003, 09:44 PM	#9
f16pilot Registered Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 7	Jim, Not to spin too far off the subject, but in reference to your continuous reboot, if you are running 2000 or XP you may want to try booting from a Windows 98 boot disk and do the following: (assuming FAT32) Rename C:\Windows\System32\Config\System to System.bad Copy C:\Windows\Repair\System to the above directory if NTFS, convert to FAT32 using Partition Magic boot disk first You could also try doing the same thing using the Windows XP disk and selecting Repair Console. This has worked in the past on several systems (W2K and XP). Again, sorry for straying from the thread...

10-23-2003, 12:48 AM	#10
EVERRET Leopard Shark Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: california Posts: 115	EXECUTIONER Originally posted by Executioner : Somehow I've gotten off to a bad start. Dont worry about that. Originally posted by executioner: For some reason,when the tropicals swim off-screen it doesn't seem to matter. I agree, I like it better that way, it's more like a window than a tank. Originally posted by Jim Sachs : The 3D background version and the Freshwater tank will have an even wider background which allows the fish to swim even farther off-screen. The camera would be able to pan back and forth within this larger environment. I sure Hope to see this down the road !

10-23-2003, 12:50 AM	#11
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Surely you are not talking about a FLOPPY boot disk after all of you spent so much time convincing me that floppy drives were obsolete. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-23-2003, 12:57 AM	#12
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Repairing XP or 2000 starts with booting up from the Windows XP or 2000 installation CD. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

10-23-2003, 04:30 AM	#13
f16pilot Registered Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 7	Trust me. Never lose your copy of the Windows 98 boot disk. Especially when it comes to resetting the administrator password on a 2000 or XP system.

10-23-2003, 08:34 AM	#14
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	How in the world would a 98 boot floppy help you with this? "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

10-23-2003, 08:44 AM	#15
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	You can actually use a 2k disc to "break in" on XP and bypass the log on password among other things, and XP is touted to be the most secure OS yet. heh Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

10-23-2003, 08:54 AM	#16
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	I have found the only configuration that will allow this machine to boot. 1. The BIOS must be set to boot to the CDROM as first choice, then HD0. 2. All the files in my backup copy of the Windows folder had to be renamed, not just the folder itself. 3. The Win XP CD must be in the CDROM drive. 4. When asked if you want to boot from the CDROM, DO NOT let it. 5. Forget trying to change video cards or anything else in the system -- it will hang at bootup. Booting into the "Repair" facility of the XP CD is just about the most useless thing I've ever seen. What you would expect is for the CD to attempt to repair an installation by restoring corrupted system files, but you just get a DOS prompt which still won't let you mess with "protected" files. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-23-2003, 08:57 AM	#17
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Sounds like the Recovery Console. You want the Automatic Repair. If Automatic Repair doesn't work, then your WinXP is too hosed to repair and you need to reinstall the OS. (At this point, I'd be reaching for the 2000 CD). "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

10-23-2003, 12:29 PM	#18
f16pilot Registered Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 7	Feldon27, The Windows98 disk when used on a FAT32 formatted XP or 2000 OS disk will let you roam freely in the "DOS" side of the files. If you rename the two most important files (i.e. SYSTEM and SOFTWARE) located in the C:\Windows\System32\Config\ directory and replace them with the same files located in the C:\Windows\Repair directory, you can basically take your system back in time to when the OS was first installed (It's best to try SYSTEM first and then SOFTWARE if problems are still present). Most of the time, this will at least get you operational when all else has been exhausted. Additionally, if you rename the SAM file in the Config directory, the administrator password will be reset to "blank." If the drive is NTFS formatted you can still do everthing above, but you first need to convert it to FAT32 via Partition Magic.

10-23-2003, 01:46 PM	#19
Marian Nichols ~Author~ Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Rocky Mount, NC Posts: 7,429	I am no expert, but I do not like the repair in WINXP, does not work, I just re-format. Write paranormal mysteries. Six books so far.

10-23-2003, 02:45 PM	#20
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Originally posted by f16pilot Feldon27, The Windows98 disk when used on a FAT32 formatted XP or 2000 OS disk will let you roam freely in the "DOS" side of the files. Running XP/2000 on FAT32 is a major performance drain, plus FAT32 is more susceptible to corruption. 2000 was meant to run on NTFS5. Originally posted by f16pilot If the drive is NTFS formatted you can still do everthing above, but you first need to convert it to FAT32 via Partition Magic. Spending hours doing this, playing Russian roulette with my data (sorry, I don't trust Partition Magic) seems to be grossly disadvantageous compared to installing 2000 on another hard drive, booting up off of the new drive and accessing the old drive that way. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman