One way of improving the performance of your Windows XP machine is to tweak the NTFS file system. In certain scenarios, simple changes can make a big difference; that's because hard disks are often a primary bottleneck in today's machines, which have fast processors and lots of memory. Let's look quickly at ten ways you can boost performance using NTFS (or not using NTFS) on Windows XP.

http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2005/02/08/NTFS_Hacks.html

I put a CDRW into my drive and I get: "To view the contents of this disc, you must install Sonic UDF reader.  Would you like to download Sonic UDF Reader now?"  Bad news.  Stop using Roxio, people!

The program attempts to download the software - and fails miserably.  So then I run a Google search - turned up a few links on www.roxio.com - except, it seems you have to "register" to get to the download page!

This file is for users that do not own a copy of Easy CD Creator and just want to read discs that have been written in UDF. 
The UDF Reader (version 5.1.1.213) is included with DirectCD 5.1, so if you have Easy CD Creator Platinum 5.1 or Basic version 5.11 or later you do not need to download this file.

Enables some MultiRead CD-ROM drives to read UDF formatted CD-RW discs (such as those written with DirectCD) under Windows 95, 98 and 98 SE, Windows NT 4.0 SP3 or higher and Windows 2000/XP.

Once installed, you do not need to take any special steps to activate the UDF Reader; it is constantly active in the background, waiting for you to mount a UDF disc. This is a free download for the convenience of users who do not own Easy CD Creator. However, Roxio only provides technical support for the UDF Reader if you purchased Easy CD Creator, and have a valid Tech Support ID (TSID) that came with the product. If you do not have Easy CD Creator, we do not provide technical support for this product.
 
Source: http://www.roxio.com/en/support/uk/ecdc/software_updatesv4.jhtml

Download link: http://www.roxio.com/en/jhtml/ftp/filedownload.jhtml?id=46
Too bad this link is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY useless if you do not own the product already!

I'm not going to bother attempting to find a hacked version, or some random link somewhere.  I'm just going to declare this disc as "unreadable".  What a joke.  It took me 15 minutes to look on their site, and 4 minutes to make this blog entry.  Go figure.  My data is still unreadable.

(Sorry about the JPEGed screenshot - I saved it as the wrong file by accident.)

Roxio makes you login to download free software - but to login/register, you need to own a Roxio product.  Whoops!

Early testing by Microsoft shows a reduction in IOPS of roughly 70% comparing Exchange 2003 to E12 on the same hardware.

You may have already heard Microsoft’s recent announcement that the next version of Exchange, currently dubbed E12, will ship as a 64-bit application only to run on x64 CPUs. This may have left you wondering what x64 is, how 64-bit technology is going to benefit Exchange, or what you should be looking for when purchasing hardware now, so when E12 ships you are ready.

Continued: http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Why-64-Bit-Good-E12.html

The PassivePortRange property specifies the range of data ports to be used by the FTP service in response to PASV commands.

PASV FTP requires the server to open a data port for the client to make a second connection. This is a separate connection than the typical port 21 that is used for the control channel. The second connection is used when data files are transferred back to the client. By configuring the port range, you can write firewall and router rules to allow external clients access only to the ports they need and reduce the attack surface available to malicious users. In other words, if you have applications other than FTP that are using the default port range of 1025-5000, and do not want to expose these ports through your firewall in order to enable PASV FTP, you can use this value to change the range that you must open through your firewall. If this value is not specified, or is set to an empty string, the default value of 1025-5000, as specified by Winsock, is used. If this property is specified, the valid range that FTP will validate is from 5001 to 65535 (see StartingNumber and EndingNumber below), and may be a range or a single number.

This property can be set only at the service level. In order to make the changes effective, the service must be restarted. If the value is invalid, the service will invalidate it and will not restart.

IIS FTP Passive Port Allocation
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/0d2a9b2e-b697-4bb3-8a61-0fad73a1fa08.mspx

Code examples
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/4b976f46-3751-4f6b-ab68-5e19fa73a7b1.mspx

Problem:

So I get a hold of a MDG Laptop - Model CL50.  Fails PnP.  Boot the system up, plug in a device, NOTHING happens.  So I shut it down, plug the same device in, reboot. The device works.

Details:

   Motherboard: 
    CPU Type   Mobile Intel Pentium M, 1300 MHz (13 x 100) 
    Motherboard Name   Compal CL50 
    Motherboard Chipset   Intel Odem i855PM 
    System Memory   256 MB (PC2100 DDR SDRAM) 
    BIOS Type   Insyde (05/21/01) 
    Communication Port   Printer Port (LPT1) 
  
   Display: 
    Video Adapter   MOBILITY RADEON 9000 (64 MB) 
    Video Adapter   MOBILITY RADEON 9000 (64 MB) 
    3D Accelerator   ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 (M9) 
  
   Multimedia: 
    Audio Adapter   Realtek ALC202(A) @ Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-1] 
  
   Storage: 
    IDE Controller   Intel(R) 82801DBM Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CA 
    IDE Controller   Winbond Secure Digital Storage Device Driver 
    Disk Drive   FUJITSU MHS2040AT (40 GB, 4200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100) 
    Disk Drive   Winbond Secure Digital Drive 
    Optical Drive   QSI CDRW/DVD SBW-242 (DVD:8x, CD:24x/10x/24x DVD-ROM/CD-RW) 
    SMART Hard Disks Status   OK 
  
   Input: 
    Keyboard   Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard 
    Mouse   Microsoft PS/2 Port Mouse (IntelliPoint) 
  
   Network: 
    Network Adapter   Intel(R) PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter 
    Network Adapter   Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
    Modem   Smart Link 56K Modem 
  
   Peripherals: 
    Printer   Adobe PDF 
    Printer   Microsoft Office Document Image Writer 
    FireWire Controller   VIA VT6307 Fire IIM IEEE1394 Host Controller (PHY: VIA VT6307) 
    Infrared Controller   Infrared Port 
    USB1 Controller   Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - USB Controller [B-1] 
    USB1 Controller   Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - USB Controller [B-1] 
    USB1 Controller   Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - USB Controller [B-1] 
    USB2 Controller   Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - Enhanced USB2 Controller [B-1] 
    USB Device   USB Mass Storage Device 
    Battery   Microsoft AC Adapter 
    Battery   Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery 
  
   DMI: 
    DMI BIOS Vendor   
    DMI BIOS Version   
    DMI System Manufacturer   
    DMI System Product   
    DMI System Version   
    DMI System Serial Number   
    DMI System UUID   FFFFFFFF-FFFFFFFF-FFFF0002-3FB8623A 
    DMI Motherboard Manufacturer   Compal 
    DMI Motherboard Product   CL50 
    DMI Motherboard Version   Null 
    DMI Motherboard Serial Number   123456789AB 
    DMI Chassis Manufacturer   COMPAL 
    DMI Chassis Version   N/A 
    DMI Chassis Serial Number   None 
    DMI Chassis Asset Tag   Not Assert Tag 
    DMI Chassis Type   Portable 
    DMI Total / Free Memory Sockets   2 / 1 

Solution:

Find Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System - remove it.  Install Intel chipset drivers and reboot.  All system device are re-detected - and - PnP works!

Picked me up one of these.  Looks sexy.  Hopefully the card will work well.

HostRAID™ Serial ATA II controller supporting RAID 0, 1, & 10 for data protection and increased performance
4 Serial ATA 3Gb/s ports, PCI-X 133 MHz, low-profile form factor with Native Command Queuing, RAID 0, 1, and 10 for desktops, workstations and entry-level servers

Intel IA-32, AMD32, EM64T or AMD64 type servers
PCI 2.2 compliant systems
PCI-X 64-bit/66-133MHz
PCI 64-bit/66MHz
Support for both 3.3 and 5 volt PCI signaling

Details: http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/product/proddetail.html?sess=no&language=English+US&prodkey=AAR-1420SA&cat=%2fTechnology%2fRAID+Controllers%2fSerial+ATA+II+RAID

Drivers: http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/drivers_by_product.jsp?sess=no&language=English+US&prodkey=AAR-1420SA&cat=%2fProduct%2fAAR-1420SA

Update - card works beautifully.  My drives are happily migrated over, and everything is well.  Remember - Adaptec, and 3Ware.  Keep Promise away from your computers - and everything will be well, and stay that way.  Don't every use a Promise card.  Period.

Explains the concepts, architecture, and implementation details for registry-based Group Policy, shows how to create custom Administrative Template (.adm) files, and includes a complete reference for the .adm language.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=652e8fd2-8de0-473e-927d-572a64df844b&DisplayLang=en

3C905C and all derivatives don't have x64 drivers. (3C920, et al.)

I have had increasing number of problems with these cards, not just the desktop cards, but also their server stuff.

Intel desktop/server gigabit NIC are the way to go.  I've started phasing in Intel NICs; hopefully they work better.