Hi There New here so hi! I have a strange problem, I have a brand new install of XP, fully up to date with all the MS patches, but when I boot the machine 2 things are happening 1) when checking fr IDE devices, the system hangs for about 15 seconds before continuing with boot. 2) the blue progress bar when loading XP takes over 5 minutes to complete before windows opens... i counted the blue bar going across the screen 93 times!! My lodgers PC uses XP and the blue bar appears no more than 5-6 times! I am not to concerned about problem 1) but have put it here as they may be related? I have checked the HD with WS diags no problems.... could the problem be cable config related? I have an 80wire IDE cable going to the HD on the pri channel, but only a 40wire connecting the 2 cd drives on sec IDE? I would really appreciate any help! regards Dave Wheeler PS - my system setup is as follows: ASUS A7V266-E GEFORCE 4 MX 4400 ATHLON XP 1800 1 GIG DDR RAM 80GB WESTERN DIGITAL HDD SOUND BLASTER AUDIGY PLATINUM EXT

Hi- I'm not sure what blue bar you're even referring to? Is this something in XP home ed.- I run Pro. I would look to be extra sure that all of your jumpers are set correctly first. I don't really think the 40 wire conn. on your optical drives is a big issue - though you could change it out just to eliminate that prob. Go to www.blackviper.com & see how much junk is running that you don't need/use. Shut off everything that you can. I did this for Win2000 Pro & eliminated 22 things. I would recommend a small notebook to keep with your system when you make changes- jot it down so you can keep track. Hope this helps some? adkmom

Hi The blue bar I am reffering to is the progress indicator that si displayed when XP (pro) loads, the splash screen I've heard it referred as. have got a new cable and will try that, if not I will look at the site you suggest.... thanks a lot for your help. regards Dave