Messages

26

Living Room / Re: Windows XP Pro and SP2

« on: October 27, 2006, 01:58 PM »

I don't think so...hmm...

When I go to My Computer and then Help and About Windows, it's showing Version 5.1 Build 2600.  If SP2 was installed would it show it there?

27

Living Room / Windows XP Pro and SP2

« on: October 27, 2006, 01:51 PM »

Hey fellas,

I received my new computer (ref to this thread) and have XP Pro installed.

After OS installation, I did a Windows update and got all critical updates.  For some reason, SP2 didn't display as a critical update.  So, I searched microsoft for SP2 and downloaded it.

When it gets to the point of installing the update, I get an installation error: "C:/windows/system32/ftp.exe is open or in use by another application."

Should I reinstall XP and go for the SP2 update immediately before any other critical updates?  Do I need SP1 before SP2?

Thanks again for your help in the previous thread, guys.

28

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: October 14, 2006, 09:58 PM »

Will be nice Im sure. Many times faster than current 500mhz Dell thats for sure.

-dk70 (October 14, 2006, 09:15 PM)

That'll be an understatement.  I'm a kid of a pilot...with flying in my blood.  My dad is a WWII vet, who worked on C-47's and B-24's with the 5th AAF in the Pacific.  I grew up flying his Piper Cherokee since the age of 8 (no take-offs or landings, of course).  I've been hooked on Falcon 4, FS 98, CFS and B-17 The Mighty Eighth.  My next purchase will be either a new joystick or Flight Simulator X.  I can't wait!!!   

Well should you start to get picky with eyecandy demands in the latest games, want monster dual core cpu etc. the good thing is you most likely did a good deal with not much effort, tears or sweat.

-dk70 (October 14, 2006, 09:15 PM)

Couldn't have done it without you.  I submitted this query to a number of different forums, but this site is the only one that was actually helpful.  Funny that I'm also involved in political debates on certain other (unnamed) sites, and unaware that something seemingly cut-and-dry would cause such diversity in opinion.  It's peaked my interest, already.

And computer is easy to upgrade with faster video card and more ram. Best if ram is of same brand/type/model as the one already installed but should be minor problem.

Hard to buy perfect configuration when not sure of needs. May be gaming will bore you? Good you didnt spend too much then  Just about adequate for games and perfect for other tasks might be what you want.

-dk70 (October 14, 2006, 09:15 PM)

Welcome me to the 21st Century.  It's about time, I guess 

dk70, thanks again.

29

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: October 14, 2006, 07:13 PM »

OK, fellas.  I've got my order in.  Some slight changes from the above setup, though.  I decided to go with the 250GB HD and the 9-in-1 card reader.  Total, on-site, came to $794.94 plus $209.99 for the monitor. 

That brings the total to $1004.93 (minus $50.00 monitor rebate comes to $954.93).  Now, the best news of all...my "employee" discount brought the total down to $699.00 for the PC and $190.00 for the monitor=$889.00.  Take another $50.00 back with the monitor rebate and it comes to $839.00.

Considering no charge for shipping, the company saved me over $116.00.  Now I'm having buyers-remorse...wishing I had poured more money into a better video card or more RAM 

Thanks again, guys.  You're all exceptionally courteous in sharing your expertise and wisdom.  I truly appreciate the input.

 

30

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: October 07, 2006, 06:14 PM »

Budget changes again  Did you forget XP or found other solution?

-dk70 (October 07, 2006, 01:22 AM)

My wife is currently enrolled in college.  The campus IT dept gave her a free copy of XP Pro, since her biology class used software that required it.   

 
You want more headaches? Ok, External sound card might be better with some games as in more fps but integrated is not useless. So since on not without limits budget may be take advantage of that and spend more on the important video card? ATI 1300Pro is better http://techreport.co...et-gpus/index.x?pg=1 Use selection box at bottom to see benchmarks where it is compared to 7300GS. 10-20% faster overall for 10$ extra? No sound card almost let budget get away with that. Video card must have highest priority when it comes to games. So what about 1600Pro then  With no soundcard that will be 30$ more. Faster again and about to leave budget card label. GeForce 7600GT cost so much more it is another question but I would consider 1300Pro or 1600Pro. 1600Pro not really in same class as the other 2. Difference is bigger than that of 7300GS vs 1300Pro. As is extra cost... Must put foot down at some point but since video is so important I would do what it takes to get 1600Pro. Same you did when picking 160gb hard disk, extra cost but double capacity. Hope you see what I mean - priorities.

-dk70 (October 07, 2006, 01:22 AM)

OK.  I'll go with the integrated sound and 1600Pro.  Can't really afford to go with anything higher.  At any rate, I can always upgrade sound cards at a later date.  Price updated to $684.96.  Well within my budget range.

Good thinking about the monitor! You do not want to mess what is inside box but have to set up monitor anyway so might as well look for alternatives. Looks ok, best buy if good.

No matter this is a ready to go computer I would still do own check of components. Like running a ram-tester, checking bios settings. I hardly trust myself and external sources I believe only want my money  All this is very easy and painless or I wouldnt say it - but return with later questions, many here can guide you through. 5-10 minutes of demonstration and you could build own computer. Basically all you need is a screwdriver, same shop and Dell uses. They dont do much more so when box arrives dont be afraid of tinkering a bit and dont put up with things that only work 50%. Dont experiment though... 

-dk70 (October 07, 2006, 01:22 AM)

Noted.  Thanks again for your help! 

*One note of interest regarding OS.  On my way home from work today, I was listening to Kim Komando's radio show.  She mentioned that beginning Oct 27th, PC's shipped with XP Pro will include free upgrades to Vista.  PC's with XP Home will include upgrade coupons for $50.00.  Not that I'm interested in Vista--just something I thought I'd mention.

EDIT:  One more question...this one about RAM.  I did some light research on ECC vs Non-ECC RAM.  It appears (from what I understand) that many motherboards will support ECC RAM, but will not actually correct any errors.  I thought I'd save some money and take a chance with Non-ECC.  Opinions?

31

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: October 06, 2006, 08:30 PM »

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Tuesday I'll plan on ordering THIS  PC, thanks to dk70's suggestion:

¤AMD Athlon 64 AM2 3500+ Processor

¤1GB DDR2 PC4200 Non-ECC Memory (1GB x 1)

¤160GB 7200RPM 3G SATA II Hard Drive

¤16X DVD+R/RW-R/RW Dual Layer Drive

¤3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive

¤SoundBlaster Audigy SE Sound Card

¤GeForce 7300GS 256MB PCI-Express

¤500 Watt Power Supply

PC Total is $664.95.  I decided to save $40.00 and go with this monitor for $159.99.

Grand total (not subtracting my discount/plus shipping) $824.94

Is that a little refined from the first post?

Thanks again for your help, guys.  You've all provided me with a cornucopia of expertise and insight.

Least I can do is make a donation here...wish I could repay you all for your help.  And thanks, mouser, for an exceptional site!

32

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: October 04, 2006, 02:16 AM »

Thanks for the replies, fellas!  Now, to pick your collective brains:

i would not recommend this:

1) you dont need cdrom and dvd drive.  just 1 will do fine.
2) CRT -> i HIGHLY suggest you get an lcd.  i recently moved to lcd and the different is dramatic in terms of desk space, convenience, image quality.

i wouldnt worry about the pci-e but i would absolutely worry about the monitor.

i also would try to decide if you are going to upgrade to xp pro for real, and if so, get a machine which comes with xp pro - you really dont want to have to upgrade it..

this price doesnt seem so great to me, but i don't know these things so it might be.

-mouser (October 03, 2006, 11:40 AM)

Ok mouser...you win.  I go with the LCD.  As far as the OS, I have a copy of XP Pro.  I would opt for no OS, but couldn't find the option, so downgraded to Home and saved $59.00.  Also, about the price, I will print off the final configuration and give it to my employer.  They'll call in and find out what kind of discount I (they, technically) will get.  Is it a pain to upgrade from Home to Pro?  If so, when I get the PC, should I immediately reformat the drive and do a clean install with Pro?

Remember that Pentium4 uses a lot of power and runs pretty hot... not a problem per se, but a thing to consider.

And I definitely agree with mouser on the monitor issue, go TFT. Also no reason for both CD and DVD, DVD drives can read CDs as well.

-f0dder (October 03, 2006, 06:26 PM)

That's why I hang out here, f0dder.  Indespensible folks like yourself...I didn't realize a DVD drive could read CD ROM's.  I know, that's probably rudimentary to you guys.  I've been out of the loop for some time.

All information duly noted.  Thank you!

-dk70 (October 03, 2006, 10:46 PM)

Ok.  I think I'm following your line of thought here.  I see why you chose that PC; because it supports PCIe cards, offers upgrade to dual core and the best system for the price.  But will I see any difference right now, in a gaming experience, without a dual core processor?  And, if not, how soon would I really need to upgrade it?

Thanks, guys.  And sorry about the initial price limitation of $500.00.  I honestly thought my budget restricted me to it.  After careful consideration (skipping rent payment for a couple of months and acquiring the taste for dirt ) I can comfortably double it.  Also, I have to keep in mind it'll be a little less than the price shown.

33

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: October 03, 2006, 11:24 AM »

Ok fellas, check this out and tell me what you think.  I've "built" a system online at globalcomputers.com (where my employer will get me a discount).

Here's the specs:

¤Intel Pentium D 840 3.2 GHz Dual Core Processor

¤Windows XP Home (to be upgraded later to Pro)

¤1GB DDR400 PC3200 Memory

¤250GB 7200RPM 3G SATA II Hard Drive

¤52X CDROM

¤16X DVD Drive w/Cyberlink Software (whatever that is...)

¤ATI Radeon 9500 256MB AGP (I know it's AGP, but the system I'm working with didn't offer a PCIe card)

¤Integrated 10/100 Network Adapter

¤3.5" Floppy Drive

¤17" .27 CRT Monitor

Price (before my employee discount) $759.97

The system I built upon is THIS one.  Let me know if you think there's anything critical to upgrade or downgrade at this point.

And thanks again.

34

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: October 01, 2006, 06:19 PM »

its true that agp is being phased out, but im not sure how much you care about that - it's not like it really effects you except if you wanted to upgrade one day to a faster graphics card, and by then in a few years youll want to upgrade the whole thing, so i'm not sure it matters.

-mouser (October 01, 2006, 05:37 PM)

Noted.  Hmm...so AGP isn't to be crossed off the list entirely then.  Thanks, mouser.

f0dder, I was planning on the AMD Athlon 3600+

Oh, and forget about the budget being $500.00...I have (just don't tell my wife)

I don't really need a keyboard or mouse but must have a new monitor.  The one I'm using is a 17" Gateway EV700 that's defective.  It's darkened so bad that I had to download a program called Monitor Calibration Wizard to brighten it back up.  I'm thinking about a 17" LCD, depending on the price.  I don't have any space limitations, so a CRT monitor would be OK, too.

35

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: October 01, 2006, 05:33 PM »

Thanks for the advice about not buying a PC that uses AGP.  I didn't know it was being phased out.

I work for my local EOC (emergency operations center).  They have a corporate account with Tiger Direct (or globalcomputers.com, actually) and said they'd get me a custom built computer at a discount.

Tomorrow I'll place the order.  Anything specifically (like PCIe) I should ask for?

36

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: September 30, 2006, 01:53 AM »

Tinyvillager, thanks for the link.  I'm bookmarking those sites.

here's another peice of advice:
if it were me, id rather have a lower power cpu and a bigger lcd monitor.
i don't notice cpu power much but the screen is something you look at constantly.

-mouser (September 29, 2006, 01:48 PM)

Haha.  Now that's a great example of unconventional wisdom!   

37

Living Room / Re: Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: September 29, 2006, 01:22 PM »

Thanks for the replies, fellas.

So, let's say I do want to be able to play games.  Maybe not in ultra-high resolution mode, but a moderately solid system.

Mouser, you're post got me to thinking.  I was considering building one myself, but if something goes wrong, I'm not sure I'll know what component is faulty.  Of course, I do have this 500MHz Dell I'm typing on right now, as backup to get online and possibly figure out any technical problems.

Deozaan, that barebones system looks quite promising.  Other than RAM and the OS, what else would I need to complete it?

38

Living Room / Buying New PC. Suggestions?

« on: September 28, 2006, 07:19 PM »

What suggestions would you fine people make for me to purchase a PC?  Difficulty:  My budget is around $500.00.

Listening to Clark Howard on talk radio, he's just about discouraged me from Dell.  What do you guys think?

39

General Software Discussion / Re: Watermarking Videos?

« on: January 20, 2006, 01:44 PM »

Thanks, dajo.  I'll pass the word along to my admin.  Someone at my site mentioned, also, that his DVD drive came with software that allows you to watermark videos.  But AviSynth is probably a better choice, since it doesn't require you to buy and install hardware.

40

General Software Discussion / Re: Watermarking Videos?

« on: January 15, 2006, 10:32 PM »

Hmm,you'll have to jump through a few hoops to do it with freeware...

Here is a guide i found on Videohelp.com using VirtualdubMod...

http://forum.videohe...ewtopic.php?t=248307

-tinyvillager (January 15, 2006, 07:48 PM)

Thanks, tinyvillager.  I'll throw this at him and see if it's something he's willing to use.  And, if I do find a freeware, I'll definately post it here.

And mouser, I've lurked your site for quite some time.  It's good to talk to you.  Excellent site!  Keep up the good work.

41

General Software Discussion / Watermarking Videos?

« on: January 15, 2006, 04:00 PM »

Hello good people!

I am a moderator of a great website (www.golom.com not to be spamming, though).  The admin there has sent me on a task to find a freeware application that will allow him to place a watermark on videos. 

These videos will be original content and not taken from other sites, unlike ebaumsworld.com's unethical practices.

Thanks to all of you in advance and, by the way, you have a great collection of software here.  I'm going to mention your site over on Golom's, if you don't mind.