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Pastimes : Dream Machine ( Build your own PC ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Clarence Dodge who wrote (2726)	10/2/1998 10:10:00 PM
From: Howard R. Hansen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14778

Are there any opinions favoring external modems over internal? External modems cost more. For many internal modems a lot of the cost savings comes from using the CPU to do a lot of the signal processing built into external modems. I believe these are called Win modems. Many internal modems use a lot more CPU computing cycles than external modems. This can be a draw back if you try to run a another task while receiving data in the back ground. Unfortunately none of the advertising literature for internal modems tells you how much of a load the modem pus on a CPU. Hence it is very hard to determine how much you are giving up with the cost savings that come with an internal modem. As a side issue I just bought a 3Com U.S. Robotics 56K Universal Serial Bus, USB, external modem to save a COM port for other uses and with the expectation a USB modem would use fewer CPU cycles than a serial port modem. After I got the modem I read the fine print on the outside of the box. "USB connection available only after release of Windows 98. Will require software download from 3Com." No further information was available in the box on where to find the software on 3Com's web site, on how to install the software after you downloaded the software and on the USB capability of the modem. When I went to 3Com's web site and after doing a search on USB modem all that I found was two options. One option is to sign on as Beta tester for the software. The other option is to put your name on a list and they will notify you when the software is available. Several conclusions. One. I definitely recommend you do do not buy a 3COM U.S. Robotics 56K USB modem. Two. I expected 3Com would be conducting business in a much more professional manner than this. Three. I am going to keep the modem as I can use the modem on a COM port until the USB software is available. Four. I get connection speed that ranges from 44 to 49K with this modem.

To: Clarence Dodge who wrote (2726)	10/3/1998 12:27:00 AM
From: Zeuspaul	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14778

external modems non use of IRQ (is that correct?) You have to plug it into a COM port. The COM port uses an IRQ. If you opt for the internal modem you could disable the COM port and gain back the IRQ. As Howard indicated Win modems are software based. If you opt for an internal modem be sure and get a FAX modem. Zeuspaul

To: Clarence Dodge who wrote (2726)	10/6/1998 3:27:00 PM
From: Sean W. Smith	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14778

or you can use bootmanager and not worry about and have more flexilibty all at the same time. You ought to read up on it before you dismiss it. I do not think we are talking about the same thing. A boot manager is resident on the harddrive. If the harddrive fails so does the boot manager. Is that correct or am I misunderstanding how a boot manager works? I am not arguing against boot managers. Boot managers are great for their intended use. A bios select option is independent of the harddrive. If the first harddrive fails the bios select option still works. ZP, your absolutely right here. I wasn't considering the primary HD failure so you do need your BIOS boot ability for those circumstances. for all other normal circumstances the Boot manager will suffice and make switching much easier. A boot manager is used to choose between different operating systems. Do you agree? A KOT drive is used in the event of a drive failure or a software configuration bust. I see it as apples and oranges. Not Exactly. A Boot maanger is used to boot different partitions primary or extended, dos or non dos that exist on any physical drive in your system. It will automatically unhide and boot a primary parition and re-hide it if a different partition is selected at next bootup and will handle DOS, NTFS, HPFS etc. All this really has nothing to do with multiple OS's. The only drawback as you point on is if your primary fails. But the 99% of time this is not the case and for making and restoring images of drives you will find this a far easier and robust approach and then use BIOS boot when all else fails. What I am describing would compliment very well what you are trying to acheive. Sean