(sigh) Nomenclature Error: The IBM was the Good, fast HD; the Maxtor the dog - And.. for the first time ever, I witnessed (auditioned?) the dying of a drive, precisely after I'd (re-transferred) off the last useful bits among the detritus! Very next boot, prepping for a clean install of 98-lited SE: Promise ctrlr spins the little /_\\ thingie, lookin for What is? on that port; finally finds the ID and the Maxtor stone-head crunches and crunches and ultimately, GENERAL FAILURE! (Now a Valued employee of the DC Cabal, under Rummy).

As to the xfer: well, it was 98% ? successful; copied all the files (I wasn't willing to count..) and when swapped to Master: booted rapidly to a C:> repeatedly, using up my tolerance for HIMEM.SYS not found, esp. after I saw the diverse causes (and frequency of appearance) of this symptom, Googlewise. After a few stabs at adding the explicit Device command in config yada yada, being sure it WAS in fact THERE -- I took this as nature's way of reminding me that a clean 98-lite SE install is the *best* innoculation against the M$-OSPOS disease. RRR

Knoppix not an option for this user + eBay. (Which some Need - merely to feed selves in this Repo-trashed expiring economy; especially if they are *old* too. So don't knock it.) It's why I have to get this sucker running adequately, and all the detritus stripped out from the get-go.

Will have to try this dance again sometime, on a spare HD - nice puzzle, faking out BillyCo's studied, intricate attempts to make life hard for All, at All times.

Gawd what a MASSIVE Universal Waster of the Time for a Life - *ALL* Billyware was invented to BE! Few can afford to *pay* for the suffering entailed, so must buy the latest crap preinstalled, instead of repair: Billy AND bin-Laden both Won. (But Windoze we did to Ourselves)



Ashton
Fuck You Billy, Bally and your ilk.