You guys are not going to believe this. I managed to get the machine working. Now wait for the fun part.

1. Its a laptop.
2. It doesn't have a parallel port on it.
3. I'm using a docking station.
4. I've loaded Windows XP on it.
5. I've not made ANY changes to the set-up, its still working on ACPI mode.
6. All services and start-ups are running etc.
7. Not loaded the RM Clock utility
8. Not done any optimization at all.

AND IT STILL WORKS FINE. Motors are running smoothly and faster than the machine can handle and there is no hesitation at all.

Sod's law that I got my SmoothStepper today too. Infact I rebuilt this laptop to use with the SmoothStepper and previously I'd tried this same laptop with all the 'recommended' changes and my motors didn't even move!

The only difference is that I'm now using the Development version of Mach3 instead of the lock-down version because that is what SmoothStepper needs.

I'll try this set-up for a few days and if things work then I may have a Brand New SmoothStepper for sale in the UK :-)