Re: win98se and xywrite for new computer

["Patricia M. Godfrey" priscamg@xxxxxxxx]

J R FOX wrote:
> It came with a full driver disk from the mfr.
> for every Win from '95 through XP, plus drivers for a
> non-Win opsys or two. I tried to install W98 SE,
> using those mfr. supplied drivers. It was still very
> much a No Go, along the lines you mentioned.
There are two problems with those mfr.-supplied driver
discs. 1)
Manufacturers often change components within the lifetime of
a model
(never mind across sub or sub-sub-models), depending on
which circuits
or boards or chips are cheap this week (Dell is notorious
for this). So
the disc will contain drivers for half-a-dozen or more
different VGA
adaptors, sound cards, etc. Finding the one that goes with
your system
can be a matter of tedious trial and error. 2) Often the
drivers on the
disc are out of date, and one must go to the mfr's Website
and download
the right one.

Case in point: my previous machine. It was sold me by the
dealers (I
still haven't decided if they were crooks, idiots, or both)
as having an
ECS mobo. After much back-and-forth with ECS, we determined
that in fact
it was a PCChips one (they're the same company, different
divisions).
All of the ECS drivers on the disc worked except that for
the AMR modem.
On that, Windows kept reporting New hardware found. I would
click "Have
disk" and point to the appropriate directory of the CD. And
Windows
(which kept ID'ing it as "Unknown Hardware") would say
"there are no
drivers for your hardware on that drive." I decided AMR was
just a tech
not ready for prime time, and pulled the card (to avoid the
constant
"New hardware found" notice) and used an external modem.
Then, after I
had learned that the board was really PCChips, I had the
bright idea of
going to the PCChips site and trying its driver for the
modem. Did so,
and it worked properly; installed without a whimper.

Patricia M. Godfrey
priscamg@xxxxxxxx