Hi,I am in the process of building a new system based around a P4 2.2GHz, GF4 4400Ti and SB Audigy player mounted on a Gigabyte GA-8IRXP MoBo. My 'old' drive contents (o/s :Windows 98, fully updated, but NOT a formal 2nd Edition (Windows98SE) installation) have been imaged onto a new IBM 120GXP 40GB and all seemed well. The 'old' original system is still up and running and is very stable. My intention is to achieve a dual boot system with Windows XP on a second drive.Before I proceed to install Windows XP I need to ensure that my imaged W98 installation is still stable. First impressions following installation of all the requisite drivers are encouraging and benchmarking with 3DMark 2001 produces a figure >9100 (2700 approx. on my old PIII800/GF2GTS 32MB/440BX Soyo MoBo) which isn't bad at all!However, I've run into a problem and am hoping there is a willing guru out there who can help.As my new system boots it stops while loading the Window's drivers and the following error message appears:'While initializing device NDIS: Windows protection error'In fact it is possible to get into windows by bypassing the NDIS.VXD file by loading all the drivers via the STEP by STEP configuration option and Windows seems OK.I deduce that this file has something to do with networking and/or dial-up connection as my system hangs whenever I try to run the diagnostics on my modem.Reinstalling Windows over itself either from within Windows or from DOS in an effort to correct the problem has not worked as Setup fails during the file installation phase with blue screen errors! Fortunately no harm has been done.Similarly, deleting the file and restoring it to the windowssystem directory from the W98 CD changes nothing.I don't want to be forced to format and reinstall from scratch as there is a hell of a lot of stuff on my HD (including FS2000/FS2002) and I just don't have the time or inclination to reconfigure everything. Ultimately, I imagine I will be moving over gradually to Windows XP but I need to ensure that my existing system continues to serve me well in the forseeable future and during the 'winding down' period of the transition.Having researched the problem I discover Microsoft have produced a fix but this appears to be Windows 98SE specific. This I have confirmed on trying to run the downloaded executable.I am hoping someone else has encountered this problem and can suggest another solution. Otherwise, I may be forced to be content with getting into Windows 98 via the Step by Step configuration approach and skip this offending ndis.vxd virtual device driver each time. Unfortunately this would mean access to modem facilities would be denied in Windows 98 which would be a real pain.Mike :-wave

Hi Mike...here is what I would do:1. Completely delete all networking from your pc using the appropriate control panel tools, both NIC and dialup. Reboot. Also, if your devices are good plug and play devices, they may try to reinstall, probably will try to reinstall...an old trick I use in situations like this is to remove the hardware, and then reinstall it when I've done the upgrade2. Go into the registry and search for every instance of "nettrans". (all the folders, there can be 01, 02, 03, etc) Delete all.3. Validate that your setup is now stable.4. Install your upgrade to XP. It will reinstall the components and hopefully should do so without error.5. Caveat: As you said above, the better choice would be to format and reinstall...this will not provide you the "best" system, but it should get it up and running.My 2 cents,btPS...since you say you have an image, I would insure I have a copy of my last known stable before I upgraded to XP...that can insure you don't get shut down and have to reformat if things go south.