taken a break to reinstall winblows...

well there you have it, I've managed to screw up another perfectly fine XP install, and like the bone headed fool I am i wiped clean the system partition (not the project partition, OggCConv is safe, without checking any hardware versions or anything! well that sux but can I bring my Compaq 2100 laptop back from the dead without begging Compaq for help? the answer is yes and since there is literally NO information on putting windows 2000 on this machine available on the web i thought I'd write a little tutorial here.

First thing's first, make sure you have drivers for Ethernet, and a good install media available. It helps to have SP4 and the security roll up on cd too before you start but dont say I didn't warn you if you decide to do these with the web based install, I haven't tried it... just not my style. NOW first off getting some key info... I had to download Everest home edition and profile the system to find out most of this stuff but here's the specs for key hardware drivers not available on the Compaq web site.

MY specific model is 2108us.... *(atholon)*

Ethernet: National Semiconductor DP83815 10/100 Fast Ethernet Controller
Sound: Uli/Ali M5451 AC-Link Controller Audio Device
Modem: Uli/Ali M5457 AC'97 Modem Controller (shows up as a pci device under device manager)

I was able to Google all of these drivers, I posted them all along with 7zip and the Everest Home Edition tool (freeware downloaded off of Major Geeks). See the bottom of this post.

EVERYTHING ELSE is available on the Compaq web site, I just downloaded the display drivers and the Intel power management stuff.

Install Win2k, basic settings, reconfigure to taste and then install SP4 and the roll up (if that's your style, there are some hard core SP3 users out there, I don't know if this guide will run as smoothly though I haven't tested it.) After all of that is done install the drivers i've uploaded and you should be good and well on your way to installing AVG, Adaware and Spybot SD... or whatever else you install next on a fresh install. Hope all this helps; here's the link to the files:

2108US - Win2K Drivers & Utilities.zip

2108US - Win2K Drivers & Utilities.7z