XP?
Posted by: u5227470736789439 on 01 January 2009
Simple question.
What is the best way to buy a new legal copy of XP?
I could pop down to PC World tomorrow [or this afternoon] and get one, if this is the most sensible idea. I am not over worried about the price. All I want is a legal opperating platform. I have Office 2000 which works okay on XP, IME.
I have less than no interest in Vista, but would use 98 series two if this could still be had.
ATB from George
I am not so
What is the best way to buy a new legal copy of XP?
I could pop down to PC World tomorrow [or this afternoon] and get one, if this is the most sensible idea. I am not over worried about the price. All I want is a legal opperating platform. I have Office 2000 which works okay on XP, IME.
I have less than no interest in Vista, but would use 98 series two if this could still be had.
ATB from George
I am not so
Posted on: 01 January 2009 by GML
I don't know if this is any use to you George but Amazon Market Place have new copies from £45.
Posted on: 05 January 2009 by u5227470736789439
A legal copy of XP has been loaded and the PC is a clean sheet, ...
BUT!
My one friend strugglked like mad with drivers for the sound, and video cards. Eventually he got there with downloads of the appropriate versions for the hardware, and by then we reached a point where we shall start from scratch again tomorrow, the battle lost today, but the war to be won tomorrow ...
Don't you just love PCs? ******s! Well I don't and I sat there, helpless, while my friend struggled to find a way of making it work! At least he knows exactly what to do with it tomorrow! Supper was not gettting cooked, so we went out in the ice and bought the ingrediants for a rejuvenating meal, and decided that the morning would bring back a sense of direction to things!
Gosh, I like the idea of a MAC!
ATB from George
BUT!
My one friend strugglked like mad with drivers for the sound, and video cards. Eventually he got there with downloads of the appropriate versions for the hardware, and by then we reached a point where we shall start from scratch again tomorrow, the battle lost today, but the war to be won tomorrow ...
Don't you just love PCs? ******s! Well I don't and I sat there, helpless, while my friend struggled to find a way of making it work! At least he knows exactly what to do with it tomorrow! Supper was not gettting cooked, so we went out in the ice and bought the ingrediants for a rejuvenating meal, and decided that the morning would bring back a sense of direction to things!
Gosh, I like the idea of a MAC!
ATB from George
Posted on: 05 January 2009 by fatcat
George
If you haven’t already, log onto the Microsoft website and download XP service pack 3.
If you don’t manage to sort out the drivers you could try the following.
Download the 10 driverpacks from the site below. (it will take a long time)
http://driverpacks.net/DriverPacks/
Burn the driver packs onto a DVD.
If you instruct windows to search for updated drivers, it will find them on the DVD and install.
If you haven’t already, log onto the Microsoft website and download XP service pack 3.
If you don’t manage to sort out the drivers you could try the following.
Download the 10 driverpacks from the site below. (it will take a long time)
http://driverpacks.net/DriverPacks/
Burn the driver packs onto a DVD.
If you instruct windows to search for updated drivers, it will find them on the DVD and install.
Posted on: 05 January 2009 by Jim Lawson
Great link, fatcat. Thanks for taking the time to post it.
Jim
Jim
Posted on: 06 January 2009 by u5227470736789439
Good news! The was a conflict in the software for the mother board based soundcard which was leading to the whole PC restarting the moment the play was applied on DVD replay, and we neatly sidestepped this by fitting a PCI soundcard of considerable vintage, which the Windows recognised without need for any special software drivers ... !
All's well that emd's well. ATB from George
All's well that emd's well. ATB from George
Posted on: 06 January 2009 by Roy T
You sure do suffer for your computing.
Posted on: 06 January 2009 by u5227470736789439
Dear Roy,
If I could afford a MAC, I would buy one tomorrow!
On the other hand I can now actually play DVDs for the first time in three years - I have a about fifty - and earlier watched two very sad films: It's All Gone, anout the deaf Ibiza DJ, Frankie Wilde, and the the great Polanski film, The Pianist.
Now the computer [a very kind Christmas gift] is not telling me I have a Microsoft validation problem, which is daft, I should have a good machine that will carry on for a very long time. It is phenomenally fast compared to anything I ever had before.
Compared to other items in daily use computers are still rather flakey!
ATB from George
If I could afford a MAC, I would buy one tomorrow!
On the other hand I can now actually play DVDs for the first time in three years - I have a about fifty - and earlier watched two very sad films: It's All Gone, anout the deaf Ibiza DJ, Frankie Wilde, and the the great Polanski film, The Pianist.
Now the computer [a very kind Christmas gift] is not telling me I have a Microsoft validation problem, which is daft, I should have a good machine that will carry on for a very long time. It is phenomenally fast compared to anything I ever had before.
Compared to other items in daily use computers are still rather flakey!
ATB from George
Posted on: 10 January 2009 by u77033103172058601
With a Mac George would not have had the troubles he did have, but one pays a price for the convenience and reliability of a Mac.
To hijack an old adage...If only everything in life was as reliable as a Mac.
To hijack an old adage...If only everything in life was as reliable as a Mac.
Posted on: 10 January 2009 by fatcat
quote:Originally posted by Nick from Suffolk:
but one pays a price for the convenience and reliability of a Mac.
To hijack an old adage...If only everything in life was as reliable as a Mac.
Finding and installing a couple of drivers is not really a problem to the average person.
Although a MAC is probably a good option for anybody with below average technical aptitude and women.
Posted on: 10 January 2009 by u5227470736789439
To clarify the issue with drivers in this case. The correct drivers were downloaded and installed. There was a conflict which produced the same effect two times and both after a complete new XP instal.
On pressing play with a DVD then the computer simply crashed and restarted.
Now I do appreciate that this can be fixed, and indeed was fixed as outlined above with an additional piece of hardware not requiring additional drivers to be installed, but it is symptonatic of the fact the Windows has to accomodate a huge range of possible hardware, and that it is therefore excessively complicated, and by no means guaranteed to work in every case.
MAC has the advantage that it has the software optimised for a much smaller range of hardware options.
I think it is quite amusing that there is a comment that any half competent person should be able to fix up Windows to work. We all have our quite particular individual competences. Mine do not happen to fall in the computing area, but certainly do extend to areas which would fox most people, and take in some extremely complex technical aspects ...
Although a MAC is probably a good option for anybody with below average technical aptitude and women.
Thie italicised comment could only be made by someone with some fairly high self-regard. Just because I could do something that you are not competent or able to do, would not provoke me to write such jibberish.
George
On pressing play with a DVD then the computer simply crashed and restarted.
Now I do appreciate that this can be fixed, and indeed was fixed as outlined above with an additional piece of hardware not requiring additional drivers to be installed, but it is symptonatic of the fact the Windows has to accomodate a huge range of possible hardware, and that it is therefore excessively complicated, and by no means guaranteed to work in every case.
MAC has the advantage that it has the software optimised for a much smaller range of hardware options.
I think it is quite amusing that there is a comment that any half competent person should be able to fix up Windows to work. We all have our quite particular individual competences. Mine do not happen to fall in the computing area, but certainly do extend to areas which would fox most people, and take in some extremely complex technical aspects ...
Although a MAC is probably a good option for anybody with below average technical aptitude and women.
Thie italicised comment could only be made by someone with some fairly high self-regard. Just because I could do something that you are not competent or able to do, would not provoke me to write such jibberish.
George
Posted on: 10 January 2009 by fatcat
quote:Originally posted by GFFJ:
Although a MAC is probably a good option for anybody with below average technical aptitude and women.
Thie italicised comment could only be made by someone with some fairly high self-regard. Just because I could do something that you are not competent or able to do, would not provoke me to write such jibberish.
George
George
It is obvious a man who regards himself as having average technical aptitude made the comment.
The comment was not aimed at you. I intentionally removed your name from Nick’s quotation.
The philosophy that “one pays a price for the convenience and reliability of a Mac” is lost on anybody who doesn’t have a problem using/maintaining a PC.
Posted on: 10 January 2009 by u5227470736789439
Thanks for the clarification!
ATB from George
ATB from George
Posted on: 10 January 2009 by Fraser Hadden
quote:...Windows has to accomodate a huge range of possible hardware, and that it is therefore excessively complicated...
This makes Windows necessarily complicated, not excessively so!
Fraser
Posted on: 15 January 2009 by Guido Fawkes
quote:If I could afford a MAC, I would buy one tomorrow!
George
A Macintosh is a better computer than any PC running Windows from the point of view of its operating system. OS X is an industrial strength OS built on Unix, which was designed to run on a complete range of computer systems. Apple has done a wonderful job of creating an Amiga like interface for Windows and providing, free of charge, a superb set of development tools. Apple ties its system to its own hardware to preserve quality in a similar way that Naim encourages the use of Naim components. I'm sure there are commercial reasons for Apple doing this too.
That said Unix is far from perfect and a modern OS to replace it would be interesting. Unix is essential the same as it was in 1970. It is essentially the same as Linux, Sun Solaris and a whole bunch of other variants. The most advanced desktop OS I've used is Amiga OS - no software, of course, which rather negates its usefulness, but an object lesson in how to design a computer system.
Windows is ... don't get me started .... fine for running games. It is a nightmare to develop software for it and I admire those that have - except for those who programmed MS Word, of course. Microsoft should have built on MS-DOS - amazingly Word Perfect running on 1980s DOS computer will still format text faster than Word for Windows on the latest specification computer: simply because WP was written in machine code by top notch programmers.
So comments like ... a MAC is probably a good option for anybody with below average technical aptitude ... is from somebody who doesn't really understand computer software. It is is argument I've given up on really, as Windows users always seem fanatical to me and try to justify their choice using bizarre reasoning. Why not just say they bought it because everybody else did - I'm sure they didn't buy it after extensive experience of it against the other choices. As I work day in and day out with both Unix and Windows systems I feel qualified to say that the Mac is simply a much better computer and that for me, that it happens to be the cheaper option, is a bonus.
You'll love the Mac when you eventually get it. In the meantime I hope you can solve your problem with your Windows machine.
ATB Rotf
Posted on: 16 January 2009 by u5227470736789439
Dear ROTF,
I shall get it running as I wamt, but it is a bit like trying to run through treacle. It becomes a crawl!
Considering how easy it is to use a MAC, and how efective - particularly on the music front, important for me - wharever enthusiasm some may have for Windows based PCs, it would be MAC for me in a flash!
ATB from George
I shall get it running as I wamt, but it is a bit like trying to run through treacle. It becomes a crawl!
Considering how easy it is to use a MAC, and how efective - particularly on the music front, important for me - wharever enthusiasm some may have for Windows based PCs, it would be MAC for me in a flash!
ATB from George
Posted on: 18 January 2009 by fatcat
quote:Originally posted by ROTF:
A Macintosh is a better computer than any PC running Windows from the point of view of its operating system. OS X is an industrial strength OS built on Unix, which was designed to run on a complete range of computer systems. Apple has done a wonderful job of creating an Amiga like interface for Windows and providing, free of charge, a superb set of development tools. Apple ties its system to its own hardware to preserve quality in a similar way that Naim encourages the use of Naim components. I'm sure there are commercial reasons for Apple doing this too.
That said Unix is far from perfect and a modern OS to replace it would be interesting. Unix is essential the same as it was in 1970. It is essentially the same as Linux, Sun Solaris and a whole bunch of other variants. The most advanced desktop OS I've used is Amiga OS - no software, of course, which rather negates its usefulness, but an object lesson in how to design a computer system.
Windows is ... don't get me started .... fine for running games. It is a nightmare to develop software for it and I admire those that have - except for those who programmed MS Word, of course. Microsoft should have built on MS-DOS - amazingly Word Perfect running on 1980s DOS computer will still format text faster than Word for Windows on the latest specification computer: simply because WP was written in machine code by top notch programmers.
So comments like ... a MAC is probably a good option for anybody with below average technical aptitude ... is from somebody who doesn't really understand computer software. It is is argument I've given up on really, as Windows users always seem fanatical to me and try to justify their choice using bizarre reasoning. Why not just say they bought it because everybody else did - I'm sure they didn't buy it after extensive experience of it against the other choices. As I work day in and day out with both Unix and Windows systems I feel qualified to say that the Mac is simply a much better computer and that for me, that it happens to be the cheaper option, is a bonus.
You'll love the Mac when you eventually get it. In the meantime I hope you can solve your problem with your Windows machine.
ATB Rotf
Change the word Windows to MAC in your quotation below and I would agree with you, as would anybody who read your post above.
Windows users always seem fanatical to me and try to justify their choice using bizarre reasoning.
Posted on: 18 January 2009 by Guido Fawkes
Sorry Fatcat, but Windows users are forever trying to fix something or other that doesn't work - mainly because the system is fundamental poor in that it uses dynamic link libraries. And still people try to say it is a great product - bizarre really surely that qualifies for fanaticism.
Most Mac users I know just get on quietly with what they have set out to do and use the computer as a tool. I prefer the Macintosh because I have to work fairly long hours at a computer and need a machine that is easy to programme and won't let me down - Windows PCs are neither, but unfortunately I sometimes have to use one because our customers do. Strange: they wouldn't by a car where a wheel kept falling off, but they are content to buy an expensive computer with an OS prone to viruses and other malware - oh well, keeps me in a job.
All our important systems run Unix - as I said before it is not the best system by a long way, but it is much better than Windows - surely only fanatic would disagree with that.
If you are a Windows programmer you have my utmost admiration. If you work supporting Windows, well you'll have a job as long as it exists.
For my own computing I use Amiga-OS. So I've know real axe to grind and just commenting on what I see from working in a rather dull industry that has stood still for virtually the last 30 years.
ATB Rotf
Most Mac users I know just get on quietly with what they have set out to do and use the computer as a tool. I prefer the Macintosh because I have to work fairly long hours at a computer and need a machine that is easy to programme and won't let me down - Windows PCs are neither, but unfortunately I sometimes have to use one because our customers do. Strange: they wouldn't by a car where a wheel kept falling off, but they are content to buy an expensive computer with an OS prone to viruses and other malware - oh well, keeps me in a job.
All our important systems run Unix - as I said before it is not the best system by a long way, but it is much better than Windows - surely only fanatic would disagree with that.
If you are a Windows programmer you have my utmost admiration. If you work supporting Windows, well you'll have a job as long as it exists.
For my own computing I use Amiga-OS. So I've know real axe to grind and just commenting on what I see from working in a rather dull industry that has stood still for virtually the last 30 years.
ATB Rotf
Posted on: 18 January 2009 by fatcat
NO ROFT. NO.
Maybe in ROFT’s world, what you say is true. But it is obvious your world is full of computer geeks. I.E. people who are very knowledgeable about computers.
In the real world, the majority of computer users buy a PC because it’s convenient to do so. They nip down to Comet, Curry’s, John Lewis or some other local computer emporium and pick one up. They don’t then go to work, the pub or club and start spouting the reasons they bought a PC as opposed to a Mac. The majority don’t even state they bought a PC. They say, “I’ve bought a computer”.
On the other hand the majority of Mac users let you know they’ve bought a Mac and they drone on about the reasons that they did so.
Mac’s advertising is based on getting the message across that Mac’s are superior to PC’s. You must have seen the Mitchell and Webb adverts.
There’s no getting away from the fact that Mac owners purchase Mac’s because they think they are superior and they like to let everybody know about it.
I don’t have an axe to grind. I own two PC’s and one Mac. I don’t actually prefer one above the other, but professionally I have to use a PC, due to the fact that the Mac cant run any of the software I use.
PS. The term geek was not meant as an insult. I wish I was intelligent enough to be a computer geek.
Maybe in ROFT’s world, what you say is true. But it is obvious your world is full of computer geeks. I.E. people who are very knowledgeable about computers.
In the real world, the majority of computer users buy a PC because it’s convenient to do so. They nip down to Comet, Curry’s, John Lewis or some other local computer emporium and pick one up. They don’t then go to work, the pub or club and start spouting the reasons they bought a PC as opposed to a Mac. The majority don’t even state they bought a PC. They say, “I’ve bought a computer”.
On the other hand the majority of Mac users let you know they’ve bought a Mac and they drone on about the reasons that they did so.
Mac’s advertising is based on getting the message across that Mac’s are superior to PC’s. You must have seen the Mitchell and Webb adverts.
There’s no getting away from the fact that Mac owners purchase Mac’s because they think they are superior and they like to let everybody know about it.
I don’t have an axe to grind. I own two PC’s and one Mac. I don’t actually prefer one above the other, but professionally I have to use a PC, due to the fact that the Mac cant run any of the software I use.
PS. The term geek was not meant as an insult. I wish I was intelligent enough to be a computer geek.
Posted on: 18 January 2009 by u5227470736789439
Well I managed after a false start to download volume one of Aksel Schiotz [said Schutz, like the German composer] complete recordings 1933 to 1946 from the Danacord record compnay via amazon[dot]co[dot]uk for the princely sum of 6.99 GBP.
MP3 of course, and not quite the last word in Hifi to say the least, but a waste of time and money? Certainly not!
Interestingly it plays with horrible peak distortion on Windows Media Player, but very nicely on the VLC media player, which is definately more old fashioned and simple, and happens to work rather well on anything from CDs, DVDs, and, apparently, MP3 downloads.
Certainly this is not about to become my choice method of getting great music, but it seems viable where it is the only way!
A start is being made here on the "brave new world," albeit a small one.
I see little value in this sort of thing beyond the fact that it broadens what can be had. Where it offers something unique and beyond value in money terms, then the fiddle is definitely worth it!
ATB from George
MP3 of course, and not quite the last word in Hifi to say the least, but a waste of time and money? Certainly not!
Interestingly it plays with horrible peak distortion on Windows Media Player, but very nicely on the VLC media player, which is definately more old fashioned and simple, and happens to work rather well on anything from CDs, DVDs, and, apparently, MP3 downloads.
Certainly this is not about to become my choice method of getting great music, but it seems viable where it is the only way!
A start is being made here on the "brave new world," albeit a small one.
I see little value in this sort of thing beyond the fact that it broadens what can be had. Where it offers something unique and beyond value in money terms, then the fiddle is definitely worth it!
ATB from George
Posted on: 19 January 2009 by Guido Fawkes
Yes I agree - though with development it could serve the desktop user, but if that was going to happen then I feel it would be better to write a new desktop OS.quote:Linux/Unix is not better for the pc user simply because it is extremely hard to install, doesn't have a common graphical or software user interface, and requires a strong knowledge of the command line environment to maintain. However, it is without doubt way faster than the others because it doesn't tie you to going through the layers of an OS. This is what makes Unix/Linux better for web servers and the larger applications in business and government.
Yes that is a driver for virus writers, of course, but the ease of writing virus for a particular environment also makes it attractive.quote:Viruses and malware are a measure of Windows dominance of the market.
Microsoft has a good marketing department without doubt. MAC-OS9 is very easy to network even using TCP/IP (preferred AppleTalk myself); however, I never went a bundle on resolving software conflicts.quote:Remember that, prior to porting the Apple OS to UNIX, it was so restrictive and so network unfriendly that Windows simply galloped away with the market.
A decent OS without a GUI would have been nice though. Just type WP, hit return and Word Perfect was there ready to use. No OS clutter just a program loader. Of course the memory management had limitations, but that could have easily been solved.quote:It was impossible for Microsoft to build on DOS, for reasons of which I am sure you are aware
Yes and Ethernet; those Palo Alto guys were really clever. Shame there aren't guys like that around now.quote:Also, it was Xerox who gave the world the concept of windows and the GUI.
Thanks for your interesting post - do you find working in IT is OK. I used to find it interesting, but in these last few years I'm finding it pretty dull. It seems commercialism killed off most of the exciting ideas.
ATB Rotf
Apologies to George - for the hi-jack of his thread.
Posted on: 19 January 2009 by Guido Fawkes
quote:Originally posted by avole:
Rotf,
To answer your question, I'm currently taking an enforced lay off to re-train as a chef. No, it's been just a job for a few years now, if I'm honest.
Good luck with becoming a chef.
Posted on: 19 January 2009 by u5227470736789439
Dear ROTF,
No problem with thread drift!
It all makes interesting reading for an amateur really grappling with it all for the first time. I first had a computer with 98 series two on it [in 1999], which worked nicely, except for crashing if it was playing music at the same time as trying to work in Excel!
XP seems okay in the main, and this new PC is a lot faster and more capable of multi-tasking than my first one, but it is a learning curve to confound the beginer for sure!
ATB from George
No problem with thread drift!
It all makes interesting reading for an amateur really grappling with it all for the first time. I first had a computer with 98 series two on it [in 1999], which worked nicely, except for crashing if it was playing music at the same time as trying to work in Excel!
XP seems okay in the main, and this new PC is a lot faster and more capable of multi-tasking than my first one, but it is a learning curve to confound the beginer for sure!
ATB from George