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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Feb 29, 2008 15:57:17 GMT -6
If you go to dell.com, you can buy new systems with XP pre-installed, but I don't know about other computer manufacturers. Keep in mind that SP3 for XP will be coming out soon and I *believe* (not 100% sure about this) that XP will be retired by Microsoft on July 1.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 1, 2008 11:27:29 GMT -6
So far the patient is not doing well. I took the plunge and reformatted c: stuck a brand new, fresh out of the box Windows XP-Pro SP2 into the DVD drive, told the BIOS to boot from the DVD, XP loaded all the necessary files, went to start Windows installation... blue screen.
An hour on hold with Dell later, I am reinstalling Vista as I type, so I can download a BIOS update that should help with this (I need to disable native SATA support, OR disable Advanced Host Controller Interface). Apparently this is a 'known issue'.
Once I flash the BIOS I should be back on course. So three hours into this, and I have gotten no where... right about what I expected.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 1, 2008 12:19:28 GMT -6
Odd that you need to upgrade the BIOS in order to install an older OS. Not sure I understand that one ...
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 1, 2008 13:19:55 GMT -6
Now I am on hold with Micro$oft... 35 minutes and counting
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 1, 2008 14:01:55 GMT -6
Tell Manik Gupta I said hello.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 1, 2008 14:12:13 GMT -6
Back to Dell on hold, 30 minutes here now. Microsoft says the problem is a HD driver that Dell should be able to provide. 6 hours in and I still only have the C drive formatted. Manik claims to have never heard of you... that Manik always goofing around.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 1, 2008 15:16:46 GMT -6
Back to Dell on hold, 30 minutes here now. Microsoft says the problem is a HD driver that Dell should be able to provide. Dell and MS assigning blame to each other? Wow! Who'da thunk ... Manik claims to have never heard of you... that Manik always goofing around. Of course he claims he doesn't know me NOW ... bastard owes me money.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 1, 2008 15:21:29 GMT -6
HOT DAMN, I have an OS and the one I wanted. Just dumb luck though. On a whim a couple months back, I saw a USB floppy drive on ebay for $12 and bought it.
Turns out it was critical today. I had to load the HD drivers into the root of a floppy, and upload it when the XP setup started, held my breath and BAM Windows XP installation.
I hit the right tech support person at Dell, who could tell me EXACTLY which driver I needed and gave me detailed installation instructions... incredible as it may seem, it sounded like he was from the US too (if he wasnt, he sure knew casual American English and wasnt using 'school' English)
7 hours in blue screen hell... not too bad, you just have to keep your head about you and be persistent about getting specifics.
Obviously the BIOS was a red herring, something that didnt hurt me, and needed to be done, but in the end a diversion from the task in hand.
ALSO, Partition Commander... great alternative (and fast) for the formatting of the OS partition
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 1, 2008 15:48:13 GMT -6
In retrospect, perhaps it would've been easier to just keep Vista simply to run VMWare and use the XP VM for your daily work? IOW, Vista would've served merely as a host for the VMWare Workstation client.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 2, 2008 7:38:49 GMT -6
I considered that option. The rub there was the resources that Vista grabs. I have maxed out the RAM, 4Gb. Allow for the memory that is on the video card, I have 3.2Gb of system usable. With Vista booted, and NOTHING running in foreground, I and 1/2 of that available to me. Boot XP and then my critical software, and I am running pretty low. Right now with XP running and nothing in foreground up, I have 2.8Gb of available memory. MUCH more comfortable.
An additional note. When I went to format the c: drive (using Partition Commander) it was reported that I had only 3% of the disk space available on a 150Gb partition. I KNOW I didnt have that much software loaded. Near as I can figure, Vista loaded up the space with logs (writing logs is something Vista IS very good at), and probably explains why my system was continually locking up
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Post by Chicago Jake on Mar 2, 2008 10:27:59 GMT -6
Good work, Dr. Frankenstein!
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 2, 2008 15:57:01 GMT -6
Oddly, it seems like the next viable desktop OS from Microsoft might turn out to be Windows Server 2008 -- which is being released to combat a switch to Linux, which some folks with Intel-based PC's have been doing as of late, from what I'm given to understand. Although labelled a server OS, I hear it's also going to be marketed to businesses as an upgrade from XP since Vista never really caught on the way they anticipated.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 3, 2008 6:50:30 GMT -6
One not so minor issue befell the transition yesterday. It had nothing to do with either Vista or XP. When I bought this computer, I also bought a 1Tb external drive for doing backups. Maxtor to be exact. And I have been doing backups weekly, or so, for the past 6 months.
Well the DAMN, no no thats to refined a word, GOTDAMBED FUCKIN PIECE OF SHIT HEMORRHOIDED ASSHOLE thing crapped out on me during the rebuild process. Basically at the point where I was going to upload all of my spreadsheets/documents/bookmarks/email addresses/contacts/web site htmls, etc. If it had more than 30 hours of service I would be surprised. I can get a replacement drive, its under warranty, it the missing data that hurts. The damn thing just sits there clicking (I assume the armature has an issue). I am calling Maxtor today.
I have been able to piece some information together from a variety of alternative sources, my laptop, jump drives, the previous computer's hard drive. Everything older than 6 months is back, some things (like my quicken files are back to within 3 weeks of current), and I did a hard copy printout for some files that were critical.
Lesson: Much like your retirement portfolio, diversify your backups
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Post by Liz of Chris & Liz on Mar 3, 2008 8:16:24 GMT -6
Gordon, sorry to hear of your misfortune. I used to have a Maxtor external hard drive for back up & yup....it died on me one day....just froze up, no access, no nothing. It's still sitting in the closet waiting for me to bring it outside & crush the living shit out of it with a sledge hammer (ah...spring!!). Luckily I was not in the middle of needing the damn thing when it up & died, but it was freaking frustrating! I replaced it with a Seagate drive. Good luck to you!! Liz
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 3, 2008 9:49:44 GMT -6
Update... even though the drive is under warranty, it will cost big bucks for data recovery. Starting at $700, but the tech person said that it sounds like the heads are faulty and that could likely be $1200 to recover.
On the plus side, I can get a new hard drive (well THAT is comforting, like I want another).
LIZ... Seagate owns Maxtor now, so it may not be a good thing.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 3, 2008 9:55:01 GMT -6
Lesson: Much like your retirement portfolio, diversify your backups Sounds almost like you need RAID-level backup storage.
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 3, 2008 11:38:17 GMT -6
BB, we may have hit on the next "big thing"
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 17, 2008 11:18:39 GMT -6
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 18, 2008 5:53:46 GMT -6
With the lack of acceptance of a flawed Vista, and all the talk that Micro$oft is pushing up the schedule of Windows 7 to 2009, you have to wonder if management there will ever learn their lesson.
Instead of pushing up the debut of Windows 7 (if the rumors are true), Micro$oft should be going out of their way to GET IT RIGHT.
Another piece of crap out of Redmond will make XP an underground economy unto itself. Micro$oft is a de facto monopoly and sure as hell is acting like it when it comes to Windows (shove anything down their throats, they will have to eat it). If Apple was smart, they would make their move into the PC OS environment. Granted, Apple has had its issues too, but a viable OS alternative might just be what is needed.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 18, 2008 8:38:10 GMT -6
That's where Desktop Linux is starting to make inroads. According to the stats, it has been slowly creeping up into acceptability as a workstation OS -- but I agree, Apple has more of an advantage here, if only they would recognize the opportunity they have.
BTW, my new Dell pre-installed with XP/SP2 is on its way -- should have it by the weekend, so we'll see how this little adventure goes ...
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Post by Exildo Wonsetler Briggs III on Mar 31, 2008 10:17:05 GMT -6
WTF??
I come in this morning to do some work and find my sound isn't working. That's weird. It WAS working. I check to make sure I didn't mute things, but all seems fine. I do the obvious and reboot, only to find my computer wont boot!
I get my Vista CD, boot from that and perform a "repair," only Vista says it can't repair the problem!!
FUCK!!
I have now done two system restores, with no luck!
FINALLY, it has now just come up!! RIGHT as I type this! I had installed Vista Service Pack 1 Saturday night and thought all was working well.
It now is booting, but I just checked and the computer is back to a point BEFORE the service pack upgrade. GOOD!
I think I'll NOT install that upgrade again!!
WHEEWWW!!!!
..........Bob (who has another computer running, thankfully!)
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 31, 2008 10:34:54 GMT -6
I had installed Vista Service Pack 1 Saturday night and thought all was working well. AHAHAHAHA! I *love* those Bill Gates April Fools Day pranks! AHAHAHAHAHA!
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 31, 2008 10:38:25 GMT -6
oh man... I missed SP1 fun...damn!
Bob, obviously you are going to have to wait til after the first 5 or 10 patches for SP1 to make sure all of the corrections are corrected.
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Post by Exildo Wonsetler Briggs III on Mar 31, 2008 11:09:00 GMT -6
oh man... I missed SP1 fun...damn! Bob, obviously you are going to have to wait til after the first 5 or 10 patches for SP1 to make sure all of the corrections are corrected. Gosh, to think I would have expected Bill to have checked on that before posting the service pack upgrade! ;D ;D NO FUCKING UPGRADE FOR ME!! The funny thing is, Gordon, when I inserted the CD to boot from it, I accidentally put in my XP disk first and got the message asking if I wanted to install XP. I pondered that for a few moment . . .
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Mar 31, 2008 11:15:13 GMT -6
My new Dell Inspiron arrived 10 days ago -- got it pre-installed with XP/SP2. So far, very nice -- *except* I can't connect it to my HP LaserJet 3100 printer. Found some rather obscure Web sites that sell USB printer cables with adapters (it doesn't use a standard Centronics 36-pin cable), but some of the online forums suggest that it would still be a 50/50 shot getting it to work ... even if I downloaded upgraded drivers *or* bought a parallel printer card for the desktop system. Looks like my next purchase will have to be a new printer ...
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Mar 31, 2008 11:40:53 GMT -6
One of my reasons for backing up to XP was that my HP "All in One" Printer/fax/scanner/copier would only make one copy in print mode under Vista. So if I wanted multiple copies I had to print it one at a time or make copies of the printer output. HP said that it wouldnt be coming out with a Vista driver because, at 2 years old, I had "legacy" hardware. Back in XP, it works just fine again.
Ahh that "Get behind me Satan" moment... Bob, you know you REALLY want to, walk to the light Bob, theirs peace in the light
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Post by Chicago Jake on Mar 31, 2008 23:13:03 GMT -6
...... Bob, you know you REALLY want to, walk to the light Bob, theirs peace in the light It's nice to know that my work on this Earth will never be done.......Jake (who would never blow shit to the true morons of the world; only to those who are smart enough to know better)
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Post by Ardbeg... innit on Apr 1, 2008 5:19:27 GMT -6
youre right Jake, that one was not intentional
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Post by Exildo Wonsetler Briggs III on Apr 6, 2008 12:39:30 GMT -6
OK . . . I have OFFICIALLY FUCKING HAD IT with VISTA, that piece of SHIT!! I have spent the past two days begging my freekin' computer to work correctly, but it just looks me straight in the eyes and says, "You have GOT to be kidding!!"
FUCK VISTA!!
I am in the process of making sure my backups are in good working order. I'm looking through the entire hard drive to find any and all bits and pieces I need to save. I have backed up a complete image of the hard drive in addition to a separate data file, which contains most (I hope all!) of the necessary document files, pictures, etc etc.
I'm going to reformat the hard drive then reinstall XP. I have the CD set to "bootable" so hopefully things will go well. Lord knows, I've had to boot from my VISTA CD a dozen times over the past couple of days so Windows can "repair" the shitty system.
Say a prayer . . .
I think I'll have a beer first . . .
..............Bob
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Post by Robin Hood on Apr 6, 2008 17:13:12 GMT -6
Well, I just read an article about Windows 7 which will be the next microsuck nightmare. Get ready to bend over. Remember what Steve Jobs did with Mac OS X, Microsoft is gonna do the same thing. They are recoding the whole shot, the only way you will be able to run pre Windows 7 programs will be with an emulator. I will post the link to the article as soon as I can find it again.
Windows has needed to be recoded for a while and I don't think it is a bad idea, XP is just outdated with how it interacts with hardware. Vista is what you get when you try to recycle the code into something it was never meant to be.
I have 2 main issues with Vista, #1 performance wise it just sucks #2 Microsoft is shoving all the DRM crap down our throats with out even so much as giving us a glass of water.
I have successfully switched to Linux and don't plan on leaving. The few programs I have that won't run under Linux I have managed to find some really good alternatives within the open source community. I have only one that I can't easily replace, it is called SwishMax and it is a flash authoring software, however I am REALLY REALLY close to being able to run it using WINE.
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