Warning! Do NOT apply XP SP 3!

AgentZero · #1 May 13th, 2008, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Fyron said:
*shakes head*

The vast majority of Windows licenses come bundled with new PCs. They could care less about trying to convince people to upgrade current machines from XP to Vista. Even new machines sold with XP are still making MS as much money.

And since as of June, every Dell sold with an XP license will count as a Vista sale for Microsoft, they've even got the "Your old OS is selling better than your new OS" PR angle covered. Ingenious. Although I wouldn't be my usual pedantic self if I didn't point out the ambiguity of your second statement. If they could care less, then they do care, but how much? Do they care a great deal? Or do they care very little, but still have a little leeway in case they need to care less at some point in the future?

Fyron · #2 May 13th, 2008, 03:59 AM

They do have some leeway, since at some point they'll care more about higher rates of Vista adoption than just the income.

David E. Gervais · #3 May 13th, 2008, 07:54 AM

lol, a bad workman always blames his tools. It's a crooked saw, the head on the hammer causes the nails to bend, the joints don't line up when I use the jointer... etc etc...

Same thing with Microsoft Windows, it's always Microsoft's fault.

I have not had problems with Windows ever since installing Win XP Home. My brother 'Always has problems'.. Windows is a piece of crap, nothing works, blah blah blah.. geeze David why is it your computer always runs smoothly?.. want proof that the END USER IS THE PROBLEM? My bro has 2 all new brand spanking whoop-*** speed demon computers one Desktop (XP Home) and one laptop with Vista. His computer takes a good 7-8 min to boot up, the laptop like 1 min. (my comp is booted in 20 seconds)

My Bro is a software gadget nut, anything that can 'Enhance the performance of his PC' through software is installed. I try to tell him the difference between the left and right side of the taskbar (left-side being one click shortcuts and right-side being 'memory resident ready to serve instantly' programs using system resources. We both have about the same things on the left, IE, Firefox, Trillian, Quicktime, Messenger, Win Media player, and a few others.

now, on the Right side,.. hoooweeee.. I got the volume control and the nVidia display thing. My Bro has that +AV, Spam filter, Spyware scanner, 3 Emali scanners to always instantly notify him if he gets mail, Printer support (no printer connected to his comp.. we now use a network shared printer) External USB software for his cam, HD, scanner, SD card reader, a firewall, destktop icon adjust, a super duper wallpaper viewer. a weather station, an internet clock, and about a dozen other 'totally useless' crap all running at the same time. (omg believe me when I say he has no less than 28 items 'actively running' on the right side of his taskbar. all booting up and fighting for resources at the same time.)

I open windows explorer it pops open instantly. on my bro's comp it can take a good 10 seconds and his HD goes wild trying to see if any of those 'active' programs need to take action. Get this,.. he was so pissed at his comp a few years ago he bought his current one and put the old one in his closet.. when my comp died (the HD crashed beyond repair) I offered him $250 for his old 2 ghz comp in the closet. That is still the comp I am using today. He always is impressed at how fast my comp is, and he has a new dual core whoop-*** comp. that still has the same problems. I remind him that 'my speed demon comp' was once his old piece of crap junk pile sitting in his closet. About a month ago I bought a new case (nice black one) and transfered the guts from the old to the new. It's an illusionary upgrade. only a facelift as they say, but I also upgraded the memory from 1gig to 2 gig. For me there is only a slight improvement is speed of operation. but I'm happy and it only cost me like $200 ($100 for the case, $75 for the gig and 25$ for a new GPU fan)

Oh I did have a little adventure,.. my computer 'USED' to auto-login when I booted up, it does not any more,.. but that happened right after installing Lord of the Rings Online.. I suspect that when it 'Required' .NET Framework V1.0 that fubar'd things. I have since Uninstalled LotRo and .NET v1.0 (I have .NET v2.0) but even using Tweak UI to set the auto logon does not work. something deep deep inside the registry is toggled and I have no idea what or where, but I do know it has been this way ever since installing LotRo. do I blame MS? not on your life.. the makers of LotRo are the ones responsible for this. Would they help to fix the problem they caused? not on your life. the windows logon is not part of their software.. so even though they caused the problem, they are not responsible. If I talk to MS I'm sure they would say "it is not reccomended to have both v1.0 AND v2.0 of .NET Framework installed at the same time".. LoL

Anyways, that's my story, I offer it as proof that Microsoft is NOT to blame for 99% of the problems people have with their computers. but 99% of the users blame Microsoft.

Nuf said, Cheers!

MrToxin · #4 May 13th, 2008, 08:09 AM

Mr. David, that is a perfect example of a flagrant ID10T error on your brother's side. :V

Azselendor · #5 May 13th, 2008, 08:12 AM

That is so true.

I helped a friend get his computer up and running after it crashed. Dell force-fed him Vista. He couldn't use it. Constantly cussing his computer. I used it with no problems (once I figured out where things moved to) remotely. After a week of him not being able to use it, it downgraded to XP.

He won't stop cussing it.

He doesn't understand why I can use it so easily and with few hassles.

I bought my first XP-run machine when XP first came out with SP1 for it. I haven't reformatted it or anything since. Almost 7 years and it turns on a dime. Meanwhile the computers used by my office mates and family have to be cleaned out and reformatted every few months.

In fact, my office mates started demanding macs be installed, but the owner didn't want to splurge the money on what he felt were over-priced linux computers. So he had me install window blinds on all the computers with the mac theme. That alone cut complaints about windows.

I do think Microsoft made some bad design choices with Vista, but that happens. You can't please everyone. For most users, Vista was too jarring of an experience from the usual XP. Windows 95-XP were all the same basic design, just updated without moving stuff around too much. XP to Vista was like going from Windows 3.11 to XP overnight.

Fyron · #6 May 13th, 2008, 03:12 PM

Quote:

David E. Gervais said:
If I talk to MS I'm sure they would say "it is not reccomended to have both v1.0 AND v2.0 of .NET Framework installed at the same time".. LoL

Actually, there isn't any problem doing that, and its necessary to be able to run 1.x .NET apps. IIRC, installing .NET 2.0 gets .NET 1.1 installed during the prerequisites phase anyways.

narf poit chez BOOM · #7 May 13th, 2008, 05:41 PM

You say 'It's a poor workman who blames his tools'.

I say 'Anyone who says that has never tried to pound in a nail with a rock'.

phalzyr · #8 May 15th, 2008, 12:07 PM

David: Microsoft has a program called TweakUI that is very handy. It can make your machine auto login again. It provides easy access to some hidden registry values that are very useful to tweak (And does so in a safe way)

I agree with you totally. Any user that installs a lot of crap can majorly slow down/unstabalize their machine. AS a tech I see this way too often. "My computer is so slow now..."

Unfortunately too many useful program do this, and some are even preloaded for you when you get a new PC. I tend to format and do a manual install whenever I get a new PC to get rid of Dell's/Gateway's/etc's advertise crap they install for you that can cause slower unstable machines.

If you are unfamilair with registry areas where program auto run from their are also useful tools to look at those area and check/uncheck them (Rather than just removing the registry line and being screwed if it was soemthing you needed).

Suicide Junkie · #9 May 15th, 2008, 01:39 PM

Quote:

phalzyr said:
David: Microsoft has a program called TweakUI that is very handy. It can make your machine auto login again...

Uhm.

Quote:

DG said:
...but even using Tweak UI to set the auto logon does not work.

David E. Gervais · #10 May 15th, 2008, 04:25 PM

a little FYI,..

I found the fix for the auto-login problem, it appears that XP has a way to do this. in the 'RUN..' command type "control userpasswords2" (without the quotes) a dialog comes up for "User Accounts" (not the same one as 'User Accounts' in the control panel) simply select the user from list, and 'uncheck the box' for "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer"

it then logs in bypassing the login password screen.

NOTE: This is not recommended for people who have multiple users who want to keep their info private or need different user settings and prefs. It works for me, I'm the only user of my comp, and I have no personnel info on my comp that can be stolen, or if stolen would have world shattering results.

Cheers!