I just started a new job and they bought a HP Pavilon 502n with XP Home as the Operating System. The company is moving in six months. We will be installing a brand new system so this is just temporary. The present server has Netbue as the protocal. My problem is everything works fine however, my workstation does not see the server. All other workstations either has 98se or ME as an operating system and there are no problems. I did try to shop for a computer with 98 and/or ME as an OS but we just can't find anything other then XP or XPpro. As I said earlier it just has to work for six months. Are there any patches, downloads or things I need to do to this operating system so that it will see the server short of having someone built a machine with ME or windows 98? What kind of problems will I run into if I reformat and install one of the above mentioned OS? I don't want to create more problems then I already have. I'd like to go back to work on Monday and have an answer no one there knows so I hope some of you can come up with a solution. I will certainly appreciate it and refer this forum and website to the individual in charge Thanks for the help!! Lost in Cyber Space Nick

Win XP if you dont already know does not have NetBEUI installed by default. Before dumping your new machine to downgrade just install the protocol. Follow this link for directions on installing it. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q301041

CLK, Thanks for the quick response! I'll certainly try that when I go in on Monday and I'll let you know how it worked out. Nick

Nick, Even if you do install NetBEUI, things may not work too well. Last I heard, XP home does not join a domain. Check at Microsoft for a comparison between XP Home and XP Pro. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Nick...you can still buy 98 if you want it. In fact, I'd recommend you take the proprietary brand name PC back and get your $ back....go to a small family owned computer store where they sell nothing but computers and computer peripherals and buy a custom made PC....then you can put whatever OS you want on it instead of being forced to use whatever the brand name manufacturer shoves down your throat. Chain stores are good places to buy software, but if you want support and service, a small PC business that's locally owned is more likely your best bet to find consumer satisfaction. As for brand name computers...they're ok if you're a big business and you're buying 250 PC's at once....it's a lot easier for us network administrators to rollout 250 PC's if they have identical hardware....makes using an image or a RIS install that much easier....but every network admin I know has a custom built PC (usually built by themselves) at home....and that pretty much says it all when you know the professionals use custom built PC's home over proprietary computers.

Curt, If there's no other way to do this I'll probably end up doing exactly that. This HP I purchased at Circuit City and has 1.3ghz 128sdram, 40GHD with CD-RW with all the software ect. ect. at $500.00. So the price is right but if it don't talk to the server its just a waste of money. Do you think I'll be able to get something similiar for about $500 from my local PC Proffesional? I can't see them making any money doing it for $500.00. I'll do a little homework and see what is available. I agree I'd rather work with someone that can give me service and design a system that will work with what we presently have. However, being forced to think outside the box got me to this site and it really is a great learning experience. You all have been very helpful. Thanks for your input. Nick

You can get netbeui here. Just use winzip to unzip the files instead of running the *.exe. There is a regestry hack to make XP play better with other non NT based MS OS's -http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/913/