Watch out Win2K users
Written: Nov 06 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Readily available in retail chains
Cons: Poor support NT and Win2K Server Editions
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| agelina's Full Review: HP CD-Writer Plus 9300i Series |
I bought this drive retail (CompUSA) because I was impatient and didn't want to wait for mail order. Variants (9350i, etc) are basically the same. My goal was to put it on my Win2K Advanced Server (Win2K A.S.) box. The drive claims to support Win2K. Support is very limited, though.
Win2K A.S. recognized the drive and added it as a CD-ROM. I attempted to install Adaptec E.Z. CD Creator (version 3.5, bundled), and it would not recognize the drive as a burner. I tried swapping the drive from master to slave, put it on a separate IDE channel, etc. No dice. The HP MyCD software would also not install on Win2K A.S. After a review of HP's support website, I found this in small print under 9300 series "Supported Operating Systems":
"NOTE: The above listed drives are not supported on any version of Windows CE, NT Server or Windows 2000 Server."
So I dumbed down my machine and installed Win2K Pro. Adaptec E.Z. CD still did not work, but HP MyCD would now install. I got the drive to burn, but not well from disc to disc (even when CD and burner were installed on separate IDE channels). Had to use the hard drive as an intermediate step. HP MyCD is Mickey Mouse (tm) software compared to Adaptec. If you're used to control, you have to give it up. If you want the Adaptec version (4.02c) that works with Win2K Pro HP makes you buy it for an extra $9.95 at http://www.hp.com/cposupport/information_storage/support_doc/lpg40837.html. I think this is a pretty shady practice. The drive should come with software that works for the platforms it claims to support.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
agelina
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Member: Andrew Gelina
Location: Needham, MA
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
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