> I have 64 MB of RAM, and let Windows control the size of my swapfile (usually 2x the size of my RAM bank). But why would an OS want to page swap to the CD-ROM? It can't write anything to that device!?

Well, on my machine, when I had my CD drive #1 connected with my Hard Drive #1 as slave on the Primary IDE, any time the machine would page the CD light would flash as the HDD light flashed. Perfect sync. After moving both CD drives to Secondary with both HDD's on Master I no longer get the CD LED flashing when it pages. I guess it's just something to do with being tied in with the HDD.

> Dracimas: I put the jumper across pins 4 and 6 for Master/Single on the WD. Could that possibly make any difference? Are you saying that what the diagram says for WDs is *not* optimal?

I can't say for sure, but I think the pins are null when shorted horizontally instead of vertically. I said 3 and 5 because that's what I was told, but it'd probably work with no pins at all. As for their little diagram, I don't know why they don't change it. Cable Select and Slave are correct, and so is Master... as long as you have a slave present, but if you remove the slave, you have to change the jumper, or it'll either lock the machine, or won't detect the drive at all. Now I'm sure someone reading this will have an exception, seems like I've seen the exception myself, but I deal with these everyday here at the university and everytime there is a problem with booting after a CD drive has been added or removed, it turns out to be this jumper setting.

> Pin oxidation? Random overheating? Radiofrequency emissions conflict between daughtercards? My hydro got spiked by a lightning hit 15 km away? A new bizarro hardware virus? Defective IDE ribbon cable? Well, fortunately, I do know where pin 1 connects on the cable :-)
>
> Thanks!
>
> Wolf "Cat hair sucked into the CD-ROM bay?" spirit

Drac "Glad you have things straightened out for the time being. Good luck" imaS