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4801

Living Room / Re: How AMD plans to take over the market by adding DRM directly to CPU

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 29, 2007, 06:28 PM »

The net effect of all this will ultimately be stasis - people will simply stick with Windows XP and their current hardware. The result will be a hardware market crash as people refuse to buy new systems or upgrade to new hardware and a software market crash as new software demands the new OSes and hardware.

Hell people will start stockpiling replacement parts!

I find it particularly interesting that while all this paranoid rubbish is being churned out you have companies like iTunes removing DRM from music. Presumably this has come from public and legal pressure to open up its market place - how long will it be before similar moves will hit the movie market?

4802

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Xara X1 for $19 (less than £10)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 29, 2007, 06:19 PM »

Carol: Indeed I was a RiscOS user... did my computing A-level on an Archimedies A3010 - happy days.

I remember booting the machine, and running ArtWorks (from floppy), editing an image and printing it, before my dad's 486 had even finished booting Windows v3 from its, massive, 400MB harddisk.

-Ampa (April 29, 2007, 03:48 PM)

I still have an A5000 upstairs (hasn't been switched on in a long time). It originally came with 1Mb of memory and I upgraded it to 8Mb and a 120Mb hard disc.

I did huge amounts of stuff with it (DTP/WP, Graphics stuff and MIDI based music) and I still think it was the most intuitive OS I have ever used (in fact Windows 95 took ideas from the RiscOS interface) and so quick because it booted from ROM and not a disc. The other advantage of the ROM was it was impossible to infect the OS with a virus or other malware.

4803

General Software Discussion / Re: Can you disable XP's Recovery System partly?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 29, 2007, 03:07 PM »

It should work fine.

Actually you can use multiple DVDs but it is flaky.

If you have the 9.1 Workstation version try booting from a rescue disc and then try to validate the archive.

IIRC the thing that cured invalid archives (that weren't actually invalid) was that you have to insert the last disc of the set first to open the archive - it won't accept the first disc and just says it is invalid. Another good example of Acronis quality control.

As I said though, trying to restore from multiple DVDs is like pulling teeth - I gave up after 40 minutes of disc swapping as my brain was about to explode with frustration!

4804

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Xara X1 for $19 (less than £10)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 29, 2007, 03:02 PM »

I have used Xara since before it was called Xara (ArtWorks on the Archimedies) and have to say that each and every update has brought great new features that really add to the product.

-Ampa (April 29, 2007, 02:31 PM)

Ampa - are you an ex-RiscOS nut too ? I started with ComputerConcepts ArtWorks and loved their DTP app Impression too - showed what you could really do with programming if you put your mind to. I used to run both concurrently on a machine with only 8Mb of memory - and that was considered a big machine at the time!

4805

General Software Discussion / Re: Can you disable XP's Recovery System partly?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 29, 2007, 09:31 AM »

You don't want to use DVDs anyway.

I tried using DVDs to backup my system using TrueImae 9 (Workstation version) and the discs worked OK but the image was spread over 3 DVDs and the disc swapping to restore the image was intolerable - I spent more than 40 minutes swapping discs and as far as I could tell it still hadn't restored a byte. I copied the images to a hard disc and restored from there and they worked fine.

Moral is - even when the DVD images are good and work (and I too have had images that say they are invalid but verify and then work magically another time)  you can't reallistically do it from DVD unless you have an image that fits onto a single disc!

4806

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows Vista

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 28, 2007, 11:46 AM »

No axe to grind because I don't use l Linux but if you buy hardware with Linus in mind (eg. WiFi and Printers that are supported well) and you only do typical PC type things then Linux is fine for prime time. Having said that Windows 3.1 was probably fine for that too - and even MSDOS in its day.

The big probs only arise with unsupported hardware and if you have very specific software needs (eg. games and esp. professional level Graphics/Audio Visual). For Office type stuff, which I would guess is over 75% of the market, there is no problem.

4807

General Software Discussion / Re: Can you disable XP's Recovery System partly?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 28, 2007, 07:23 AM »

It doesn't completely replace system restore.

System restore also notes key files that have changed (and backs up previous versions). So if DLL libraries change or drivers are installed previous versions are saved in case of trouble.

As I understand it ERUNT allows you to back up the registry - this is useful but restoring an old registry after a hardware change or the installation of new software may not roll back your system to a safe or stable state as you then potentially have registry entries pointing at drivers or libraries that are at best the wrong version or at worst may not even exist!

4808

General Software Discussion / Re: More offensive — Resource bloat or Feature bloat?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 28, 2007, 05:56 AM »

The program that amazes me is iTunes - it regularly maxes out an Athlon64 X2 4600+ process for long periods just downloading podcasts! Madness

4809

Official Announcements / Re: Power Supply on my PC just exploded: i'll be mostly offline this week crying

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 28, 2007, 04:50 AM »

You should be able to boot from it - but I'd guess it depends on your BIOS settings (may be worth a look if it doesn't work immediately as there are settings to allow PCI cards to respond to the BIOS)

4810

General Software Discussion / Re: More offensive — Resource bloat or Feature bloat?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 28, 2007, 04:47 AM »

Why the heck should I have wait forever for Word to load, just to sort a list in a simple .txt file alphabetically?

-app103

In my experience, word (at least the office2000 version and previous) is a blazingly fast loader - also when the "office loader" application is set not to run at system startup. I was forced back on a pmmx-200/64ram, 5400rpm IDE drive that didn't support UDMA, for a while - and that's after I had been used to a P4/2.53/512meg/7200rpm-fast-drive. Yet, word was still fast loading (although the as-you-type spell checking was a bit heavy on the CPU ).

I do agree that integrating a lot of functionality isn't always the best way to go... but some tools can also almost be too single-purpose-minded. Ah, achieving the golden balance...

-f0dder (April 27, 2007, 05:53 PM)

I agree in the days when I used Norton AV Word loaded incredibly slowly - with NOD32 it is pretty quick.

Actually I am sure the biggest impact on my system during startup and during running is WebRoot Spysweeper. It has always been a resource hog but I don't want to run my system without decent antispyware as I am only using the XP firewall these days.

Combination of Outpost FW and Spysweeper was a real killer on my system response!

4811

Official Announcements / Re: Power Supply on my PC just exploded: i'll be mostly offline this week crying

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 28, 2007, 04:39 AM »

f0dder, you mean something like this: IDE Hard Drive to SATA port Converter? i don't need an enclosure because i already use one..

btw, thanks Carol for pointing out the terms.. i didn't know IDE is now known as PATA..

-lanux128 (April 27, 2007, 06:46 AM)

Yep - thats the sort of thing I meant - but app103's PCI card is a good solution if you have a PCI slot - and probably cheaper if you want more than a couple of drives. I presume the PCI card will run normal ATAPI optical drives too.

Check out http://www.novatech....page.html?NOV-ATA133

4812

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 28, 2007, 04:36 AM »

I bought mine in early July - just luck I guess!

4813

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Xara X1 for $19 (less than £10)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 27, 2007, 09:17 AM »

You don't have to hold off - it says new orders of Xtreme or Xtreme Pro get a free update.

Actually I am pretty annoyed as the Pro discs only shipped in January - let's see what they offer existing users.

[edit] Actually I have just written to their marketing department suggesting that Pro users should get an 'at cost' upgrade for the media and shipping costs since it is unreasonable to expect loyal users to cough up every couple of months! I'll feed back if/when I get a reply.

As usual anyone tempted by the x1 offer and any further upgrade pricing please use the link in my sig to place you order and I get a few pennies at no cost to you.

Cheers

4814

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows Vista

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 27, 2007, 09:14 AM »

Vista licensing (non-OEM) covers both 32 and 64 bit in the same license (AIUI you have to request the 64 bit disc though by contacting MS). You can only install one copy though (so you can't install both versions).

4815

Official Announcements / Re: Power Supply on my PC just exploded: i'll be mostly offline this week crying

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 27, 2007, 06:13 AM »

If you do a quick search you will find there are quite a few PATA (IDE) -> SATA converters (and vice versa - be carful you order the right one). Some of them even let you use IDE optical drives on SATA interfaces.

4816

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 27, 2007, 03:45 AM »

Thanks for modifying your reply - disagreement isn't a problem but lets try and keep civil folks.

4817

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 26, 2007, 04:54 PM »

Nope I have the Plus version

4818

General Software Discussion / Re: How do you backup your files?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 26, 2007, 04:44 AM »

I made the mistake of upgrading from Acronis TrueImage Home to the Workstation with Universal Restore precisely for this reason.

In my experience Universal Restore is crap and a waste of time. I have not succeeded in restoring an image with universal restore and have it boot up. The best I have achieved is that it gets into a start/reboot cycle before Windows passes control to the user.

I have tried this a number of times with different hardware as I assumed my first image was not ideal (it was an old install of windows and was showing signs of developing problems). I then tried doing the same thing with a new installation with different motherboards (both AMD Athlon64 based but with different mobo chipsets). I had absolutely no success with this even though this is precisely what Universal Restore is supposed to be designed to do.

If you are not using a server with multiple machines to administer centrally then the TrueImage Workstation edition offers nothing over and above the Home Ed. and is not worth the upgrade price - plus with the Workstation version you have to pay an annual fee to download updates.

4819

General Software Discussion / Re: What fonts do I actually need?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 25, 2007, 05:01 AM »

Another pointer is www.fontfrenzy.org but it just takes you to the same page.

Actually this is really useful (in addition to MainType or Extensis Suitcase) because it lets you instantly par back your system to just essential Windows fonts for when you aren't using font intensive apps and restore the system back to normal instantly for when you want to use DTP.

Great little find and free! (registerware after 40 days)

4820

Living Room / Re: Help! PC hanging on first boot

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 24, 2007, 07:48 PM »

The (Antec) PSU that came with the Antec case I bought for a friend has one of those teeny-weeny connectors for measuring rpm speed, nifty enough. Can't remember if my own Antec PSU has one, I don't keep that kind of monitoring software running

12.5-12.9v does seem a bit excessive, I'm not too fond when there's more than 0.2v deviation from the specified voltage.

-f0dder (April 24, 2007, 04:44 PM)

If you have the connector you should keep it connected then the BIOS can let you know if there are problems even if you don't have Windows software monitoring it.

4821

Living Room / Re: Help! PC hanging on first boot

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 24, 2007, 10:25 AM »

PSU fans often aren't detected - does the PSU actually have a fly lead to connect the fan to the motherboard? Most don't in my experience (I have bought many PSUs over the years and have yet to see one with a detectable fan) and then the BIOS has no way to know even if there is one!!

4822

Developer's Corner / Re: Windows Activation - When installing from an image

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 23, 2007, 06:33 AM »

One final thought - if you are shipping out server + lots of computers isn't this exactly what MS set up the corporate license scheme for? As I understand it with a corporate license each machine is not activated individually. It should be cheaper than individual XP licenses too.

-Carol Haynes (April 23, 2007, 05:46 AM)

Another option that would work with corporate licenses and be legal, would be if you had an individual corporate license for each company you are selling pc's to. I don't know how easy it is to buy a corporate license on behalf of another company, though.

-app103 (April 23, 2007, 06:02 AM)

That's what I meant - basically they are supplying to corporate institutions and providing installation support so they should be able to sell a corporate license with the boxes.

4823

Developer's Corner / Re: Windows Activation - When installing from an image

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 23, 2007, 05:46 AM »

You can activate images by entering a new serial code.

Go to the activation page and when it tells you it can't be activated there is a link to enter another serial number. Once you have done that it should activate.

Alternatively create a new standard installation but when you are installing and it asks for the serial number ignore it and go on with the installation. The installed version of windows should run for 30 days before insisting on a serial number and activation. Once you have it all installed you can then image the installation and you have a clean installation which has not been serial coded or activated. After 30 days you will of course have to activate any new installation from the image immediately.

The other thing to consider is for this approach to work you really need all your PCs to have absolutely identical hardware.

Not sure if you can still do it but the old version of Norton Ghost had a method of rolling out new installations (CDs of Windows 98 used to ship with a Ghost Image) - when you restored your system to factory settings it asked for a serial number before installing Windows.

Maybe there is a rollout switch for the windows installer that allows this sort of thing to be automated.

One final thought - if you are shipping out server + lots of computers isn't this exactly what MS set up the corporate license scheme for? As I understand it with a corporate license each machine is not activated individually. It should be cheaper than individual XP licenses too.

4824

General Software Discussion / Re: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 23, 2007, 04:41 AM »

Strange JeffK - I got the upgrade for free.

I emailed them a while back out the version 2 beta and they sent me a copy. It upgraded itself to version 2 with no problems (using the internal link to check for update).

I am sure that they posted out an email ages ago that version 2 was going to be a free upgrade for current customers - I can't find it now, maybe it was just if you took part in beta testing? (my participation consisted of downloading it and installing it!)

4825

General Software Discussion / Re: To cut or not to cut - The lousy MS Office ribbon

« Last post by Carol Haynes on April 23, 2007, 03:57 AM »

I don't object to change (or the ribbon idea) what is daft is that they haven't offered it as an option!

If users could choose the ribbon or trad interface that would be ideal as it would cater for experienced users who like to customise or just find the old ways more efficient for them and also the '1st graders' with the nice pretty piccy interface.

Changing shortcuts is just plain stupid - talk about setting out to alienate their user base ! Good shortcuts become instinctive with use - changing them is like giving users a whole new keyboard with the need to learn to type again from scratch.