"Elbow" <tokyoelbowNOSPAM@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bvkoqq$svoo9$1@ID-220360.news.uni-berlin.de...
> Thanks,
> Just needed to know before zapping the drive.
> I just hope it isnt a Japanese BIOS.....
> If so, I'll be back.
>

If it was an original Win2000 installation then there is indeed a chance the
BIOS is Japanese language.  Older than that and they all tend to be
English - but navigating around a Japanese BIOS is pretty straightforward.
If it looks like a CD-ROM then it probably is.  I've developed a technique
for booting to the BIOS on unfamiliar desktops and notebooks - F1, F2, DEL
keys pressed in rapid succession usually does the trick..

A piece of advice - if you have the means and ways install your WinXp
English on a separate partition first.  Assuming that one or more devices
aren't correctly recognized and automatically configured by WinXp then you
could use the drivers in the System and System32 folders in the Win200
Windows folder to either install (if the drivers are compatible) or else at
least correctly identify the errant device.  My method is to search for and
copy every "inf" file from the Japanese installation to a folder on the
desktop of the English Windoze installation.  Then, when an Unknown new
device dialogue appears I point the installation program in the direction of
this desktop folder.  It will usually initiate the installation program and
offer a name foe the hitherto 'Unknown' device.  Once I know what I'm
looking for it's a fairly straightforward task to either dig out the correct
drivers from a system CD or download the latest drivers from the
manufacturer's homepage.

BTW English or Japanese keyboard?  Are you OK telling English OS to use a
Japanese keyboard?



-- 
jonathan
--
"Never give a gun to ducks"