Intel 330 SSD in Dell Latitude D830 with Windows XP needs AHCI not ATA mode

Just fitted a 120GB Intel SSD model 330 into a 3yr old Dell Latitude D830 running Windows XP Pro. The drive imaged over and loaded ok (although I wasn't able to use the Intel Data Migration Software - it crashed on install). Imaged it with some third party software instead and a cheap USB SATA adapter.

I noticed the boot time wasn't improved as dramatically as I'd expected. Ran the AS SSD Benchmark test and some of the figures were on the low side, especially the 4K-64Thrd Read value of 17.26MBps. But it did remind me in the top left that the controller was using the BAD old PCIIDE driver (dated 2006) and so wasn't in AHCI mode.

Switching ATA to AHCI isn't straightforward, however check out the post from kent1146 here.

This method worked perfectly, even down to the identical Intel 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI controller. I used the current Intel Matrix Manager 8.9 download (note Rapid Storage Technology isn't compatible).

After rebooting back in AHCI mode, the AS SSD Benchmark came in at 103MBps for the same test - now thats more like it. And boot time is rapid.

SBS 2008 DHCP server not registering DNS from workgroup XP

Made sure I was set for
- secure and unsecure registrations
- separate username in DHCP
- member of DNSProxyUpdate group
- deleted reverse records
- restarted services repeatedly

and kept getting DNS registration failed in DHCP audit log

but this KB saved the day
A Windows Server 2008-based DHCP server does not register DNS records for earlier version DHCP clients that do not send option 81 to the DHCP server

the hotfix dowload didn't actually work for me - was a Vista x64 version that reported incompatbile with SBS 2008.

However going back to the problem PC and adding the local domain suffix (xxx.local) into the TCP/IP settings did the trick

Who to blame - Microsoft or cheap kit?

So that cheap router you bought to connect to the internet was meant to save you some £. Turns out one of the cheap models out there, the Billion 5200 series doesn't get on with the latest big update from Microsoft - Windows XP Service Pack 3. Billion blame Microsoft - which I can't see. Surely the router should be stable and not go into a constant reboot cycle, irrespective of what random data gets hurled down the line at it. I'm sure there must be worse hitting it from the internet side. At least they've made updates available.

So next time you have to make a choice on cheap kit or recommended kit that costs a bit more but is likely to have had better design and testing, you might want to think twice.

Wonder if there are any other dodgy routers to come out of the closet yet? Just waiting those phone calls once SP3 gets the green light through Microsoft Update ...

XP SP3 finally puts in an appearance

After a false start or two in the past month Windows XP Service Pack 3 finally arrived on the server's Update Services list this morning. So much for a quiet time catching a rare sunny day.

I dived over to the Microsoft Downloads page to get a copy for my test machine, no luck can't see it. Surely they haven't pushed it out to Update Services .... and yes I can see it on WindowsUpdate too ... without making a download available for techies.

Anyway tracked it down from the notes on the Microsoft Update site in the end. If you're looking for it you'll need to go here for the Network Install Package.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5B33B5A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4

Install went smoothly, rebooted and no errors in Event Viewer. Everything looks ok.

Be interesting to see whether that rumoured 10% performance boost comes off, would certainly help this 3yr old PC :-)

0x800700C1 fix

Probably spent way too long getting this school PC working again ...

In short
As you tried to login to Windows XP Home (SP2) it showed a message and logged out again.

A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license for this computer. Error code: 0x800700C1

The suggested fix for error 0x800700C1 had been try re-registering regwizc/licdll or see 310794 from MS and if they don't work reinstall/recover XP - and more than likely lose your applications and settings.

In short, the answer I found was to uninstall Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) using Safe Mode, which gets rid of the Windows Genuine Advantage that's causing the error. Then reboot and reinstall SP2 which resets WGA. I had to activate again (prob from resetting wpa.dbl earlier) and then install IE7 from MS Downloads before I could run WindowsUpdate.

[After reinstalling IE7 I got error 0x800703EE from WindowsUpdate which I traced to c:\windows\system32\wups2.dll - file length was 0 bytes. Deleting the file and reloading WindowsUpdate fixed that.]

Would you like Mac with your Windows?

For convenience and to stop having to restart the iMac to get into Windows XP, I needed Parallels Desktop for Mac. This is a very smart piece of software. The retail box came with an old v3.0 build but you can just download and install the latest build - build 5582 at time of writing. Use the activation code from the boxed copy.

Considering what the program achieves in terms of emulating Windows XP within OS X and the complexities that must involve, the install pretty much sailed through (a bit surprising considering the horror stories in places like MacNN Forums). I chose to use the existing Boot Camp version of XP which it spotted and updated with its own drivers. XP needed activation again after installing, and then again after I'd rerun the Boot Camp version and gone back to Parallels. The last one was via the Microsoft automated telephone activation. Fortunately that did the trick - breathed sigh of relief.

The verdict - so its a bit slower in OS X but entirely usable, very well thought out and very convenient for quickly checking something under XP or running an XP only program. I discovered the drag and drop by accident, moving a file to the XP desktop rather than Mac wastebasket - fortunately it wasn't anything large like a DVD ;-)

A kicking from iMac Boot Camp

So I spent the afternoon getting one of those nice shiny iMac 20" loaded up. Nice piece of kit, I could be tempted over the Wintel fence - but then I cheated and loaded the 10.5 Leopard upgrade with Boot Camp and fired up Windows XP Home. It feels quick even with some anti-virus loaded - I used AVG.

So the top tips for loading Boot Camp are, after starting the Boot Camp Assistant from Applications > Utilities and you're about to restart with the XP setup disc, make sure you've got a PC USB keyboard and mouse attached. I used a Dell set I had to hand. The Apple keyboard and mouse from the iMac aren't recognised by the Windows XP installer and you get stuck at the first Press Enter to Continue.

As you're going through the XP install you get an option to format the partition that the Boot Camp Assistant prepared or leave it unchanged. Choosing the unchanged option kept giving me 'disk error' when XP finished the first part of the install and went to restart. There's a note here.

To complicate matters further if you've set the partition to be larger than 32GB it will only format as NTFS. This isn't a problem for Boot Camp or XP but it will restrict you to read-only if you're subsequently viewing the XP partition from OS X. So I went back (again), removed, installed, chose the 32GB button and the install ran through smoothly. Don't forget to insert the Leopard CD once you're in Windows XP and all the relevant Apple drivers will load up.

BTW the Dell keyboard and mouse worked OK with the Mac/OS X so when you get stuck in a loop with the Disk Error, you can use the Alt key at startup to get back to OS X. Also holding the mouse button at startup ejects the CD.