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"That" <t...@would.be.telling> wrote in message
news:2Y6Lc.210$Gx2...@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
the Dell 62200.exe files that this guy is referring to in his article are in
fact a Dell OEM version of the IONetworks stack that I have previously referred to.
InsideOut Networks seem to know what they are doing in this area - the USB stack
works well, and the matching drivers for their WatchPortV USB camera also work
very well - as I have previously announced, the WatchPortV is in fact the famous
3Com HomeConnect USB cam, renowned as one of the best USB web cam solutions ever
offered in the retail environment.
I'll have to pull the Dell OEM install apart at some stage and work out what
memory device driver they have bundled that allowed the guy to use 'disk on key'
devices that he was describing. Could be useful to know and use at some time in
the future here.
I agree with your comment too - Microsoft should hang their heads in shame at
the shabby way in which NT4 (undoubtedly there best ever product) has been
treated :-(
See my comments at http://nt4ref.zcm.com.au/usb.htm for a more thorough
assessment by me of their behavior.
Calvin.
Maybe one of the reasons NT was so stable was it's lack of PnP and
drivers popping in and out?
By the time USB became stable, most of MS's efforts on NT were on NT5
(Win2K).
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> Maybe one of the reasons NT was so stable was it's lack of PnP and
> drivers popping in and out?
Exactly so, in my opinion. I've argued all along that PnP was one of the dumbest
moves they ever made. On the whole I find it SO unreliable that it has been
christened 'plug and f#$k it' here. The rate of PnP misconfiguring /
misdetecting any device I find is about 10-15% of instances. Often the device
will function, but is 'crippled'. The rate of misconfiguring SO badly that it
renders the machine unusable/unstable is about 1 - 2 %, these are VERY BAD
statistics!
If Microsoft had any brains at all one of the first things you would be offered
during OS setup would be a switch with a title of: "Disable all PnP features" -
I know, a very unrealistic expectation, since the PnP is now all pervasive
throughout the OSes (Win2k and above) but the fact is, a manually configured
machine and peripherals (by somebody who knows what they are doing) is far less
likely to have any problems. Even in the new OS world of 'shifting sand' I try
hard to 'lock down' as many settings as I can, this does seem to help.
I know I am probably 'preaching to the converted' here, but I wanted to go on
record publicly stating my opposition to the approach taken. This, along with a
ridiculously large footprint of Win2k and above, are the primary reasons why I
have NO intention of moving away from NT 4.0 until I am left with absolutely NO
choice. The probability that what replaces my NT4.0 installation will be
non-Microsoft is also extremely high.
Calvin.