OS and Disk Space

I purchased the Compaq with XP Home installed. The first thing I did was to reformat the HD then install XP Pro (first mistake).

Now to use my tv I needed a graphic card with svideo output. So I purchased a Radion 9200. However I could not get it to work correctly. Apparently the Compaq did not like having two video cards installed at the same time so I uninstalled the Compaq video card. Now Compaq cuts corners by bundling the sound and video card together, so when I uninstalled the Compaq video card, I lost my sound.

Also the drivers for the Compaq were on the drive so when I did an FDisk I lost them. Going to the Compaq web site was useless. I eventually got them to send me out disks to reinstall the original XP home but by then I had MAME completely configured and did not want to start over again.

I put in an old soundblaster card I had lying around but that only put out a tiny bit of sound. I was able to amplify that sound through the TV speakers so the sound problems were solved.

Now right around this time, someone with way too much time on their hands came out with intro videos for all the roms. I must have them. So I got them. But the mixture of all the roms, chds, control panel pics, snaps, intro vides, etc. was too large for my 40 gig HD.

So what to do, remove roms and chds or upgrade....

I purchase a 200 gig external usb drive. No problem now. I have plenty of space for other games. And I used it, HOTD, HOTD2, HOTD3, The You Don’t Know Jack series, Virtual Cop, Mech Warrior, etc.

I have began to notice that the longer you have your MAME, the more money you will put into it.