Posts by goldeagle2005

Agreed. Besides, I feel that Windows is much much easier to use than the Mac. Plus, the sheer range of software available for Windows makes it the winner.

Notice all comments seem to pertain to the term 'dog food' and are ot at all related to the blog... :)

I haven't really used Macs all that much (regular Windows maniac here), but I have to agree with you. Microsoft has been touting the Security horn so loudly for Vista that it makes XP seem like swiss cheese in terms of holes. Granted MS have a LOT of projects going on in their stables, but that does not mean you release an insecure product, like the first release of XP. Sure, Service Pack 2 plugeed those holes, but after how many years? The truth is that Mac OS, being built on Unix code, is extremely secure. So why does this realisation dawn so late on MS? Probably because they command so much of the market, they really won't lose much if they ship an insecure product. What matters to them is quantity over quality, which I'm afraid will not keep them going forever. However, I for one disagree that the OS wars are over. Infact, I believe that after the release of Vista, Windows addicts will start touting how MS implemented the security better than Mac. Let's wait and see how things turn out.

By jove, Davey. You've hit the nail on the head. There has been so much noise created by parents that the kids are playing violent games and that the games should be banned. Ofcourse, such people don't think twice when they give their kids the money to buy a game without proper supervision. So who do we blame here? The game companies or the parents? I've noticed that most parents tend to object to games because they portray violence, sex and the like. But these are the same parents who allow their kids to watch violent movies and sexy music videos. Would such parents shout to ban TV itself? I for one believe that this is an extremely unfair accusation. What really matters is the child's upbringing. If you've imbibed good morals and values in the child, he or she will take the game to be what it is -- a game, and not some sort of altered reality. Like they say, it's not what the world offers you, but what you take from the world which makes a difference.

Dude, I couldn't agree with you more. I just moved from a metro to a small township and believe me, I've had one hell of a time getting new equipment. Case in point. I needed a crossover cable so I could connect my two PCs. I asked the guy if he could do it. He flashed a pearly white smile, enough to blind the guy in the next shop and confidently chirps "Yes Sir. How many metres of cable?" I told him my requirement and he gets to work, a crimper in his hand. After a few minutes, I can see that this kid is having trouble crimping the darn thing, when like a blessing, his 'knowledgable' friend pops in. He brazenly asks his friend "I need to make a crossover cable. I've crimped one end, how do I do the other end?" This had me stumped. But before I could tell him, his friend says "Just reverse the cable sequence on the other end". Needless to say, the cable didn't work. I then asked him to just give me a few plugs and made the cable myself.

That's the situation everywhere, and the only thing you can do is educate yourself to make sure you don't get scammed.

fragmented_user, you have written something that easily balances a thin line -- Which OS is the best. While I have been using Windows since 1999 and am exceptionally good at it, it still isn't the best OS out there. There are tons of bugs, application/driver incompatibilities and the excessive bloat. Take Windows Media Player for example. It's a versatile Media Player, but it lacks the most popular codecs (Xvid, DivX etc). After the installation of a driver pack, it plays most files, but it is still bloated, with a memory footprint of 10-15 megs on launch. Compare the scenario using Mplayer on Linux. It too takes some time to load (I'm very finicky. Load time of over 3 seconds annoys me no end). But it plays most poplular formats after installation. However, it is extremely buggy and crash prone.

So where does this leave the end user? That depends on what he's willing to put up with -- a buggy app or a bloated app. Not very appealing options. I suppose the best thing to do is to deal with the situation as best as you can until you find the perfect app. here, perfect is a relative term. Use what suits your purpose best and don't go around yelling 'Windows is better than Linux' or 'Mac rules'. The only 'best' OS out there is the one you're most comfortable with and the one that gets your job done. Like alc6379 said, a computer is a tool. Let it …

So now we're supposed to anticipate the Internet's behavior? That's rich..

I hope not. That's be a disaster

No complaints. I found the layout slicker than usual(bet you thought I'd say snot). The colors are easy on the eyes and the user isn't overwhelmed by the graphics. Also, load times have improved quite a bit. Hey Dani, just for old times' sake, could you have the old versions of the site available too?

I have to agree.I am a die hard fan of symantec products, but NIS2005 was a total piece of junk. I installed it on a fresh install of Win XP as it came with my mobo CD. Firstly, the installation was slow and buggy. After setup and a reboot, it took ages for the computer to startup, as NIS was loading 4 components for the A/V and 6 for the firewall. I tried disabling the firewall, but no joy. The machine was as slow as ever. I uninstalled NIS, but the damn thing had messed up the OS so bad, I formatted the hard drive. This time, I installed plain NAV 2005. The OS felt sluggish after this, but it wasn't as bad as before. I kept NAV and installed ZoneAlarm for the firewall.
Lately, I've felt my system getting sluggish. I uninstalled NAV and voila...slick system. This time I installed avast! a/v home edition. I must say it's fast. It has a virus database of around 40,250 compared to 70,000+ for NAV, but I haven't faced any problems yet. I guess I'll retain avast!.
Any of you guys used avast!, do let me know if there are any issues with it.

I beg to differ. I find the AMD more stable than the intel counterparts. My old Athlon XP 2000+ ran like a kitten for 6 years. I'm a hardcore computer user which meant that I left the machine on for 5-6 days at a stretch using the stock heat sink and overclocked to 2GHz, with a downtime of maybe 3 hours for maintenance. I've seen intel CPUs crash and reboot 2-3 times in a day. Not so with my AMD. Also, the intel prescotts are notorious for running hot.

I know people may disagree with this, but this has been my experience.

Here's an example from my college(yes. not school, but college)...

Our labs needed a fresh install of Windows 98. The lab in charge popped in a Windows 98 CD in the drive, and as the BIOS was set to boot from CD first, it booted off of the Windows 98 CD, and presented the Windows 98 bootup menu. This left the lab in charge totally flummoxed. He kept staring at the screen for 15-20 seconds with a blank look. After that, he simply switched off the main power. I was shocked at this level of incompetence. He didn't reboot the machine. He simply switched off the main power.

If this is the state of the lab in charge, I shudder to think about the rest of the faculty...

okay, sp apart from the OS, what other programs will be able to fully utilize the power of such a machine? heh, Doom 3's got nothing on Vista...

Those guys thinking up the DRM methods are crazy. Just olain crazy. What next, the PC Cabinet should support DRM? Maybe the computer desk ought to be smartened up....geez, they're all nuts

I noticed the OP said he's running AVG and Kaspersky. Might I suggest removing any one AV app as multiple security programs can lead to degraded performance too.

I never had that problem.

Good for you!

What a bunch of nerds.

Welcome to the club, fellow nerd :D

Just FYI... if this issue started roughly a week ago, it can be attributed to a recent Windows Update released which cause all systems running Windows Vista x64 to Blue Screen. The update was KB973879. It caused systems to Blue screen after you immediately log in, with codes 0x7E and 0x50. It also caused systems to Blue screen if you unplugged a USB device. The fix was to simply boot in Safe Mode and remove uninstall the update. The update was later pulled from Windows Update so there's no chance of you catching it again.

I don't think there's a way to differentiate the version of Windows based on the Product Key. However, could you elaborate what you mean when you say

We cannot access the HDD

?

If the OS is installed, you could just get to the Windows Advanced Options menu by tapping on F8 when the system boots. That would list the flavor of Windows installed.

I haven't tried this with a WiFi connection, but Windows Mobile does have an app known an Internet Connection Sharing using which you can share your phone's data connection and browse the web on your PC. First thing to do is setup a Sync Partnership between your phone and computer using Windows Mobile Device Center. Once that's done, launch ICS on your phone and select your WiFi connection from the list. Tap "Connect" on your phone and you should be online. If it doesn't work, post back.

Ahhhh, we have to build our post count, don't we :)

And that's what I'm doing right now too :D

4s my record. Installing the OS on 2, upgrading the 3rd and actually chatting and listening to music on the 4th

This is fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

Agree with Suspishio about the stuck KB membrane part. If the system is in warranty, call Dell and have them replace the keyboard

I've seen this error along with a few others after Microsoft goofed with a Windows Update. The systems affected all had Windows Vista x64. The trick to fix these is to remove update KB973879 and reboot.

Actually I had a similar issue. Deleting filters did not help, ultimately had to reload the OS. Before you do that though, try the system in Safe Mode and see if it works. Also, try using System Restore to roll back the system to a point where it was working and see if that helps.

Some apps work in Safe Mode. Restart in Safe Mode with Networking and see if it works. TO start in SMWN, power the system up and at the BIOS sign on screen, tap F8 until you get to the Windows Advanced Options Menu, choose Safe Mode with Networking and go from there. If they update fine in Safe Mode, It's probably a firewall issue.

All this discussion after a simple "No". I like, I like :P

I agree with Suspishio. It seems like your GPS software is unable to lock on to the GPS satellites and keeps falling on Cell tower triangulation. Try rebooting your device and see if that helps. I know it did on my HTC Touch Diamond

Are you using Google Maps or a different software?

If this is a Dell system , you might want to head to support.dell.com and check if Dell has any drivers available for the card. Once on the site, click drivers and downloads and go from there.

What's the model # of that system anyway?

And sure Windows 7 is better. Thats what they said about 98, Millennium and Vista.
If it is better (it should be it looks exactly like Mac's Leopard) I should get one for free just for paying for their failures.
How is it a COMPUTER company which had 4% of the market a few years back can make a better operating system than Microsoft?

Try using a Mac in place of your Windows box. Unless you have Mac variants of all your apps, you'll go nuts trying to get any productive work done... that's besides the time you'll need to get used to the layout of OS X

Also check that your system BIOS is not set to automatically start the system

A 4 year bump!

Most systems do install the monitor drivers, though they're mostly detected as a Generic PnP monitor. That works just fine too.

Or you could launch msconfig in Vista, go to the Boot tab and set Windows Vista as the default OS and delete the entry for Windows 7.

But then again, as he mentioned

Can save this to the desktop and then use 'My Computer' to copy it to the networked drive

I would think he has read and write access to the shared folder.

Try mapping the network location to a drive letter and see if that works.

As you say you've backed up your pictures (and hopefully other data as well). it would be much easier to just go ahead and reload the OS.

I agree with jbennet. Tru opening System Properties and disable System Restore. Then, run Disk Cleanup and delete all junk files reported (this can take some time depending on how many files are to be cleaned). Run chkdsk /f and reboot system. Once you've rebooted, check the free space and post back what happens

I agree with stvrich. I had a similar problem on my home computer where most websites would open but apps like Avast would not update, Windows Update failed and Y! Messenger could not connect. It turned out to be an issue with my ISP and they rectified the fault. You might want to get your internet service and your servers checked out.

For all its flaws, I will say that Vista has a very robust file protection mechanism, especially for boot files. If indeed you received this error, I would first recommend any vendor supplied diagnostics to check and ensure there's no fault with the hard drive itself.

[bump]
Anyone any ideas?

Okay, have you tried plugging in the old minitor again?

Considering that he can see and move the cursor on the screen, this is NOT a faulty monitor. In fact, this is purely a software issue. If Last Known Good did not work, I'd suggest a complete reinstall of the OS.

One more suggestion is to try and restore your system registry from a backup. Follow instructions here

For system specific info, logon to support.dell.com and click "Drivers and Downloads". On the next screen, enter your system's Service Tag number. Once done, click on "Manual" and then check the part about reseating the hard drive. If the HDD is not detected after the reseat, I'd say there's an issue with the hard drive; not the motherboard.

Chicken Biryani

heh... leakage. Bit level leakage. lol

bin it dells are shite

Gotta love scientific, logical explanations like this

This regularly happens with hard ware . What is actually occuring if you are leaving your machine of for too long is that it is actually creating it to loose its durability and therefore causes leakage in the harddrive. Anywhere that you keep your computer on more than a month is not healthy for the hard drive. My best suggestion is try to do a reformat. The best way to prevent this is shut it down and doing a regular debug.

"Lose it's durability"? That does not make any sense... I have a number of machines which have been left on for months (running a personal web server) and have not had any kind of problems

And what exactly do you mean by "leakage in the hard drive"??????

Your system's hardware config along with the details on that Blue screen would help us in diagnosing the issue.

I just installed Windows 7 Ultimate RTM on my system and had a peculiar experience.

I was running Windows 7 Ultimate RC and decided to blow it for the RTM. My first hard drive is 250 Gigs with one primary partition (40 Gigs) and the remainder in the second partition. I had a number of files stored on that second partition and the OS on the 40 Gig partition. I had also created a Windows 7 RC System Image using the Windows Backup tool before installing the RTM. I booted off the RTM DVD and deleted the 40GB OS Partition and installed it there. When the OS loaded, all partitions and files were as I left them. I did notice that after the RTM setup was complete, Disk Management showed an extra System Partition before the OS partition which was not there earlier. I then realized that I needed a few files stored on my RC installation and so I used the System Image Recovery option from Windows Recovery Environment and reverted back to the RC. This is when the trouble started. Disk Management showed that there was no System Partition, which is understandable since I know that the RC had not made any such partition. However, after the Image Restore was complete, I also realized that my data partition (D: ) was empty. I then copied the required files to a flash drive and ran a chkdsk on drive D: to no avail. Essentially, the files on my …

Hmph! I can get HP at dirt-cheap price via work, but Pro or Ultimate are out of own pocket.

I thought you'd get Enterprise or Ultimate at work. Home Premium?

Did you try contacting Toshiba about repairs? If on the other hand, you really are interested in trying to repair the system yourself, try going to the Toshiba website and see if you can download your system's specs and tear down guides.