New computer

[Karried]

well, not sure if it had anything to do with my downloading a torrent app but my computer crashed and burned yesterday. I was able to get most of my files copied and backed up. But that thing was going crazy.... the Hardrive passed the test... but from past experience, I'm pretty sure it was the hard drive.

So, I bought a new Dell today.... sheesh, things just never stop breaking around here.

[mmonroe]

So what are you doing to do with your old computer?

[kevinpate]

Ray's RAM Stay
Home for wayward RAM

Say lil' ram chip ... no shoulder to sit on, mommaboard stayed out too late and got fried or busted, lonely, uncertain where to go? no worries?

C'mon over to Ray's RAM Stay, we have a socket just for you!

At Ray's RAM Stay, you'll meet new friends, have a chance to get fired up forlife again, and become part of a growing community of chips just like yourself. We're a fairly new establishment but we're exciting, we're active and we're looking for like minded chiops just like you to come and grow with us and light up the way for new information paths for our pet humans.

If Ray's RAm stay sounds like your type of hangout, just have your temporary placement counselor contact our senior groundskeeper kevinpate via private mail. We'll arrange your transport to your new place in Ray's RAM Stay.

[Karried]

lol....now that's a great ad.

I'm actually thinking of having it repaired so my kid's won't beg me to add silly little programs like torrents and online games all the time... putting my computer at risk!

So interpreting your ad, are you saying you can diagnose, repair and thus protect my new computer from my children?

The Geek squad, after a few assorted blank stares, lost my confidence vote.

[kevinpate]

God gave parents a way to protect our computers from our children .... car trunks, they're not just for luggage

[Karried]

Yeah, I tried putting the kids in the trunk.... that backfired as they kicked dents in my car.. lol, so now I'm back to getting my old computer fixed so they can have one too.

[mmonroe]

It's this type of stuff that makes me want to get back into the IT field again... guess I better go learn Vista... or "Windows 7" whenever it comes out.

[Karried]

I've been playing around with Vista, nothing really all that new that I can tell. Sort of bugs me actually, too many prompts and alerts... I'm just not used to it yet I guess. What am I missing?

[mmonroe]

Well... from 9x up to XP, we've had the same basic hierarchy structure. Vista has changed the way we view our folders and the location of certain items.. I havn't played a whole lot with Vista, but just trying to click around and finish what were small tasks in XP are now great feats in Vista... took me thirty minutes to figure out an internet connection over at my parents house when they got a new router and computer. It was easy to tell you the different between home and pro in XP, but with all the different flavors of Vista, I couldn't tell you the difference between the home premium or basic to the Business Ultimate... dumbest marketing ploy by Microsoft ever... dummies.

[SoonerDave]

I have played with Vista for some time now, and it is a rather substantial facelift over XP. On the tech side, the networking stack has been completely rewritten, and as such is the source of MANY performance headaches - particulaly when it comes to large file transfers over networks, and then most significantly on 1GB networks. Other network problems arise when Vista is copying to XP or Server 2K3 shares - sometimes impossibly slow performance. Add to that Vista's penchant for arbitrarily losing network gateway info, or not coming out of hibernation cleanly, or generally screwing up on your local network, and you have a perplexing problem...

It gets worse. Vista's much-heralded SP1 actually broke some USB-based devices, further extending Vista's poor perception within the IT industry. I know one large company here in town that has put off Vista deployment for at least another year.

On a given piece of hardware, assuming you can find Vista drivers, Vista will run somewhat slower than XP. The degree of that difference depends on the kinds of applications you run - some organization say the performance difference is immense, others say it isn't.

My recommendation? If you have a working, stable XP-based system, and have applications you are happy with, there is no compelling reason to go out and shell out the bucks for a Vista upgrade. If you could get by on 512MB for XP, you'll probably need 1GB for Vista.

Vista's reinvention of various aspects of the user interface range from the annoying to the downright infuriating. User Access Control, wherein Vista dims the screen and asks your permission to do just about everything, is one of the first security annoyances you'll turn off. As mmonroe pointed out, the simple task of making a network connection is now a Herculean effort in Vista, couched in icon-animaed generalities that some hybrid video game enthusiast/ease-of-use "expert" convinced the Microsoftians was "better," which it is not.

Is Vista bad? No. Is it compelling? Absolutely not. Where XP offered the refinement of the 32-bit engine fostered in NT, or NT brought true multitasking over the abortion in the single-threaded 16-bit Original Windows world, Vista offers no such revolutionary changes to the base system. The glass interface is cool for about five minutes, and the rolodex of windows is fun exactly twice, then you never run it again. You do get the fun of hoping your various software or hardware manufacturers have released driver and performance upgrades to keep up with the latest Vista "quirks."

Some have said this is merely another link in the evolutionary changes in Windows, that all previous versions have had the same or similar driver and application issues - that may be true, but as noted before, there were compelling reasons to uprade. That element is missing this time around.

I bought a brand new Dell XPS 1530 with Vista preinstalled - and after a week, I repartitioned the drive and installed XP in a dual-boot configuration on it with no problem whatsoever. And I'm tickled to death I did. I can play with it when I have the time, inclination, or patience. If I want to get work done, I boot into XP.

If you've got the time and inclination, go for it and give Vista a shot. If you're worried about missing something great, rest easy. You're not.

[solitude]

According to Bill Gates, Windows 7 will be out much sooner than expected. A week or so ago, Microsoft even hired away Adobe's main GUI guy to design the user interface for Windows 7. That was quite a shock for them to bring in someone from outside - and he's good. I think in the long-run, Vista will be remembered much like Windows ME.

Here's a little about Microsoft bringing in Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom guy:
Adobe guru to improve Windows interface
This is kind of exciting to me. They needed fresh blood so bad working on Windows 7.

[SoonerDave]

Dang it, solitude, you posted something I **KNEW** I'd forget!

MS is moving the release of Windows 7 up by as much as a year. Microsoft has been more or less forced to accelerate the release of the next version of Windows, because Vista has been an unqualified failure - certainly in terms of Microsoft sales expectations. For the first time, there have not been droves of people standing in line to upgrade merely because MS said to - and the real telling sign is the lack of widespread corporate adoption of Vista, combined with the outright rebellion of some major retailers such as Dell.

The earliest versions of Windows 7 strongly suggest MS intends to morph the OS into a 'net integrated entity that blurs the distinction beween desktop computer and 'net applicance. They will attempt to create a Windows online world comparable to that which has been created in the gaming community via XBOX Live.

Philosophical rant coming: Microsoft is a middle-aged geek trying to stay relevant in a world that is becoming immersed in non-desktop-oriented devices in which it has little or no influence or relevance. Even in 2008, Microsoft's lifeblood is the revenues from licenses of Office and their operating systems. They've tried to create 'Net relevance with msn search and content-oriented offerings, but have had little success - culminated with the failed effort to buy the presence they could not create for themselves with their attempted takeover of Yahoo. MS really, really thought they could leverage enough clout to convince people Vista was a necesary upgrade, and that's failed, so now Microsoft has been left with no choice but to accelerate the release of its only "ace in the hole" - the operating system - in a world where a monolithic OS is becoming less relevant with each passing day.

[Karried]

Can someone help me with connecting to XBOX Live?

I've never had a problem before but the IP address keeps Failing. The Router is connecting but the IP address won't pass.

Does Vista require something different?

[SoonerDave]

Karrie, be glad to help....not entirely sure I understand your problem. XBOX Live doesn't know or care anything about Vista, unless you're using Vista as your connection sharing tool.

When you say "the IP address won't pass," what exactly do you mean? An invalid IP address given to the XBox usually causes the XBox to fuss at you if you specify it...the other thing I wonder is if perhaps your router, if it is handing out addresses automatically, might have handed out an address the XBOX has used previously, but doesn't know it's been reissued to a different device.

Way out in left field, of course, but if you could provide a bit more detail, I could be more helpful.

[Karried]

SoonerDave, I'm sending you a PM

[Karried]

Okay, I got it.. after countless wasted time on the phone with tech support.. I figured out two things.. if you don't put the WEP security code in exactly correct as in a CAP E instead of lower case E, the router will not be able to assign an IP address and that the new girl at Xbox support knows less about IPs than I do. I told her I couldn't use the IP from my computer and the same IP on the XBox but she wouldn't listen.... so that was a colossal waste of time.. but all is well in my world as my Xbox has returned home today and I can finally connect and play once again ....I'm just about the luckiest person in the world about now.

It's the little things that make me happy.

[okcpulse]

As a safe bet for me, Karried, I assigned a static IP address from my router's IP table in addition to the WEP key. That way, all malfunctioning bets are off. When I buy my first house, however, I am going to run Cat6 to every room.

Working in Computer Security, I will never trust wireless, encrypted or not. Besides, since my router uses 802.11g, Windows Media Center Extender for XBOX 360 doesn't work well, and I plan to transfer most of my DVD collection to my media server once it is up and running.

[Karried]

Yeah Chris, I would love to have my Xbox hard wired.... there is no doubt in my mind that it lags like crazy due to the wireless connection. Some people dispute that but I know it is true.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Yeah Chris, I would love to have my Xbox hard wired.... there is no doubt in my mind that it lags like crazy due to the wireless connection. Some people dispute that but I know it is true.

Don't feel bad...The only lag on my 360 is my playing ability