[Tech4me]

[~147303] . Q6600 quad core 2.4ghz (OC up to 3.5ghz per core)
8GB of ram DDR2 G.skill memory rated at 1ghz but actual rated speed is 932 ddr2 (PCDDR28000)
windows xp pro sp2 soon to be dual boot with vista X64 Premium or Ultimate depending on the price
ATI 3870 512 GDDR4 (GPU: 777mhz but OC up to 862 Mem 1126 But OC up to 1226)
950 watt power supply from rosewill
Abit QuadGT MB with Intel X38 Chipset (supports dual video cards for CF both at 16X too)

Its a dawn GOOG job......NICE pc....Might need your help to build one .......Later.

[g4acre]

Hello All, I thought I would share this little bit of humer with every one to maybe make some laugh.lord knows we all can use a good laugh. and take note of #09 as it pertains to Vista in my opion.lol G4acre
h2. Murphy's Laws of Computing
1. When computing, whatever happens, behave as though you meant it to happen.
2. When you get to the point where you really understand your computer, it's probably obsolete.
3. The first place to look for information is in the section of the manual where you'd least expect to find it.
4. When the going gets tough, upgrade.
5. For every action, there is an equal and opposite malfunction.
6. To err is human...to blame your computer for your mistakes is even more human, it's downright natural.
7. He who laughs last, probably has a back-up.
8. The number one cause of computer problems is computer solutions.
9. A complex system that does' t work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine.
10. A computer program will always do what you tell it to do, but rarely what you want it to do.
Enjoy--- G4acre :^0

[Tech4me]

[~26780] . Murphy's Laws of Computing ....AMEN..
Here are my pc fixing Philosophy...:

1/ If its Slow.............Reboot.......

2/ Can't Logon........Login......Logup.......Logdown............Reboot...

3/ Got .......Reboot.......Still doesn't work......BLAME Vista........

[mphenterprises]

Hi All. Here is my philosophy on computer troubleshooting....Occam's Razor: All things being equal, the simplest answer is probably the best answer.




Now, trying to tie this into the article to bring things full circle, it's very simple. If one is a new computer buyer and has never used Windows XP for personal reasons, Windows Vista is a fine choice. If one wants to play graphic intensive games, Windows XP is the better choice. ...or for the individuals that have the hard drive space and system resources, do as I did and set up a dual booting system with both Windows XP and Windows Vista.

To make it seem even simpler, everyone has his or her own choice. Decide for yourself and learn as you go.

[darklightning]

Exactly. Vista is not the evil empires chance to get back at us. i think it is a great OS, better than XP. XP has isues with USBs, internet, terrible with oranzing itself and is confusing with the non-standard explorer window. Vista, with the live search functions, standard explorer and idiot-proofing, ir great for an end-user. Sure it takes more power than to run than XP, same as XP needs moer to run than ME(like that was EVER able to run, could hardly start up). Vista also does a much better job on alot of stuff. I personally agree with the masses that Premium is the way to go. Ultimate is over whelming, basic dosen't have enough stuff. My two cents.

And no, I do not have anthing to do with M$, I hate IE and some of their software and use Fedore on one box, I do like Vista though. :)

[random750]

Ive read that 64 bit versions of Vista run very well if you have 8 gigs of RAM. I wonder if the problem with Vista is that it really needs to run as a 64 bit system with a lot of Ram to work well.

Ive read several people say they duel boot Windows XP and Windows Vista. Why boot two different versions of Windows. If your willing to go through the bother of duel booting, why not use Linux. I duel boot between XP and Ubuntu. I do like XP better because there are more applications and games that run on XP but Ubuntu has some advantages you do not get in Windows. The latest version of Ubuntu came out this week and you can download it free. It comes with Firefox, Open Office and a dozen or more applications already installed.

Many people have an old computer that no longer boots up due to software issues. Most of those would run linux like a brand new machine. I think people who are not advanced users should think twice before installing linux on their only computer because if you run into problems it could be a pain in the butt. Anybody who is advanced enough to set up a Windows duel boot can as easily run Windows/Linux and get the best of both worlds.

[piyushsingh]

random750 said:

Ive read that 64 bit versions of Vista run very well if you have 8 gigs of RAM. I wonder if the problem with Vista is that it really needs to run as a 64 bit system with a lot of Ram to work well.

can you give a reference as to where you have read that. Though i m using a 32-bit version , but i an damn sure that a 64-bit version will outperform a 32-bit vista on a 2gig ram machine also. (given there are no driver issues) , forget about 8 gb.

[mphenterprises]

random750 said:

Ive read several people say they duel boot Windows XP and Windows Vista. Why boot two different versions of Windows. If your willing to go through the
bother of duel booting, why not use Linux.

>
>



Hi Random. I am one of those people who have Dual Boot Systems. I have both Windows XP and Windows Vista installed on my main computer. The specifications are listed within my signature. Now, I did try Linux and, at the time, I wasn't too impressed. I am fortunate enough to have an insane amount of storage space so I will, eventually, install Linux (Ubuntu) as a third Operating System.

Why you ask? Well, there are several reasons. The main reason is professional. I have clients who use all three systems and I need to be as proficient as possible within each of them. Second, my own personal use. I am like a sponge. I love knowledge and the more information I can acquire the better. Finally, sheer pride. :D Just the fact that I can say, " I have three Operating Systems installed on my computer." is a cool thing to say, don't you think?

[Evildave]

I gots four OSs installed. Two versions of Ubuntu, XP and 2000. :) The last two are virtual machines.

I can't recommend virtual machine software enough. Just boot with your most stable OS and run the rest as virtual machines. VirtualBox is free, and it works just fine. No getting a coffee (in another state) while you shrink/move partitions. No fuss, no muss.

The BIG thing it does for you is these virtual machines can go anywhere. Just copy the files and configurations to the next machine, and all that software 'just works' on the other machine. You can put them all on one partition and boot Windows or Linux and run the virtual machines on either. Both native OSs can have the same shares to the virtual machines, too. It's a great way to keep certain software 'always available' however you boot, and cuts setup time when you do install or re-install an OS way down, as lots of your software is preconfigured. Install OS, then the VM, then copy the drive images & settings, and you're pretty much ready to go.

If you have hella-lotsa storage and RAM, virtual machines are for you.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Evil. Yes, I am definitely a proponent of Virtual Machines. I originally used VMWare when testing Ubuntu. Since I still have my original version of VMWare, I will initially install Ubuntu back under that and, maybe later if I feel like it, might switch to a fully Tri-Boot System with Ubuntu under its own partition. I have a total of 3TB (Terabytes) of hard drive space so I am good in that area for a long time.

If I can bring this full circle, the main point that both EvilDave and I have made is this: the informed consumer can make any choice he or she chooses. Whether he or she wants to buy a system with Vista, upgrade to Vista, downgrade from Vista, or create a multiple boot system with different Operating Systems, the choice is solely on the consumer.

[rgreen4]

As I have said previously, I tried Ubuntu 7.10, thinking it would be a good install for my older laptop which won't support Vista with its integrated ATI 9000/9100 chip. After stuggling with the wireless for several hours, I discovered that the Broadcom wireless chip in my laptop isn't supported by Linux. I then tried it on my desktop since it's connected to the internet by ethernet, and that worked, but it couldn't see the structure and files on my NAS which was set up for Windows. So, the only thing I could do with it was access the internet.

Not having the time to fool with it, and since I had functional Vista and XP on that machine, to answer a problem a member had with W2K, I reformatted and installed W2K on that drive. Later this year, after I retire and have more time, I may give it another shot.

[Evildave]

Yeah, the under-supported and undocumented 'proprietary' wireless drivers are a problem in Linux.
To solve the wireless issue, you can boot the live CD, then open a shell and type 'lspci'. That'll tell you what the wireless device is. Then you can use that as a search term for google.
In my case that's: 0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03)
So take that model number and type it into a search engine along with 'Ubuntu', and usually you'll find a few articles that address it. Sometimes adding 'HOWTO' to a search narrows it down, but often doesn't turn up any results. If you find hundreds of articles complaining of the problem, usually someone has solved it and posted how.
www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Ubuntu+BCM432
And after a certain amount of groping, comes up with an article like this...
[http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=297092]
Under 7.10, it had to be a specific version of ndiswrapper that needed to be downloaded and built, and Dell's version of the Windows driver to make it work.
There were also sound problems in 7.10, and under 7.04, the bluetooth wasn't recognized, either.
When I installed the 64 bit 8.04 version, there were no sound issues and the ndiswrapper that was installed worked just fine with the Dell driver. There were some fresh new sound driver issues in the 32 bit version though. Anyways, under both versions I was able to install the 'Windows Wireless Drivers' tool, then tell it to use the .bcmwl5.inf file, and it worked immediately.
So on the plus side, it gets easier every time, but it would've been MUCH easier if I had been more selective about the PC hardware I bought in the first place. Better research into Linux hardware support compatibility ahead of time would've avoided all of the issues completely. Of course, what I actually did was buy a Windows machine, got Vista, and decided not to run Windows anymore. For a long, long time I'd been developing for Linux under virtual machines. When faced with Vista, and the breakage of ALL of the native Microsoft development tools I had paid lots of money for, Linux seemed a lot more easy and familiar.
Anyways, a virtual machine is the easiest way to 'try' Linux and even run old OS versions for support. It's really easy to keep VMs around dating back to the 90's, whereas those older OSs usually don't work well with the new native hardware. For instance, it's interesting to boot Win98 and have a live wireless connection working for it. To Win98 it looks like a wired connection.
Ubuntu 8.04 will even install into a file on a Windows partition with Wubi, and you can use Windows Add/Remove to uninstall it if it still doesn't work the way you like.

[mdembski]

6 months of troubleshooting?? If my new PC does not do 90% of the functions correctly in the first week, it gets returned as defective. There is no reason to put up with this. If consumers don't make it clear they need a PC that works, the vendors have no reason to deliver.

[Jesant13]

I never knew that the operating system my computer has; Windows Vista Home Premium, was the most popular version of Windows Vista. It doesn't surprise me that much though, both Dell and Consumer Reports recommend Windows Vista Home Premium. :)