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6926

General Software Discussion / Re: XP or Vista user — take the poll!

« Last post by f0dder on August 06, 2007, 04:50 AM »

If I'd have to give you one reason, it's FAR better security.

-moerl

That's what the kool-aid drinkers say, anyway.

All my mail is done through GMail, so it never even gets to my PC.

-moerl

All it takes is one unpatched IE/FF exploit, one compromised banner server... *boom*. That's not vista-specific though, same problem with 2k/xp.

Unlike many noobs out there, btw, I also leave UAC on. Everybody comlains about how annoying it is, but frankly, you get used to it.

-moerl

I absolutely hate it. It pops up way too often, and frankly I'd rather use a 2k/XP system with a non-administrative account, and either switch to an administrative account or use RunAs. That's more secure anyway, I feel very certain that UAC is going to get exploited.

I mean, come on, it just wants you to press "okay", doesn't even prompt for a password. And most sheep/people will click yes without knowing anyway. Besides, if the point is reached where UAC has to "defend" against something, it's already too late.

Sorry, I'm not buying the "better security" argument, and it wouldn't be reason enough to downgrade to that resource hog of an operating system.

6927

General Software Discussion / Re: WYFCA?

« Last post by f0dder on August 06, 2007, 04:42 AM »

I'm using quite often RTFM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rtfm), but people seldom care... Because of PICNIC! 

-yksyks (August 06, 2007, 01:30 AM)

Those people can FOAD

6928

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« Last post by f0dder on August 05, 2007, 06:19 PM »

As long a voltage requirements are met and you stick with the right type (ie, DDR-2 vs DDR-1), there shouldn't be problems with sticking a "too fast" stick in a motherboard that can only handle slower, the memory will just run at what the motherboard supports (and will be easier to overclock, if you're into that kind of thing).

I've seen DDR2-800 cheaper than DDR2-667, probably because it doesn't make sense to keep manufacturing DDR2-667 since the faster versions can fit in older motherboards as well... which would cause prices for DDR2-667 to rise as supply runs out. Such are the rules of a market economy, I guess

Btw it does sound like your store has a rather limited amount of options... check out www.shg.dk , to see what a standard online shop in .dk has (yeah, it's in Danish, but you should be able to navigate... and admitted, it's one of the better shops.)

6929

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Why do unzip apps have to be so complicated?

« Last post by f0dder on August 05, 2007, 04:02 PM »

Weird, I've never had a DEP problem... and I do have it enabled, and I do have NX-bit hardware. And... oops. Just realized I only had NX turned on for essential services >_<

Anyway, if a program crashes with NX enabled, it's doing stuff that it shouldn't really be doing. I'll try enabling for all programs now, and see how things go (I expect some compressors and game protections to fail).

6930

General Software Discussion / Re: WYFCA?

« Last post by f0dder on August 05, 2007, 03:51 PM »

Would probably have to be FOAD

6931

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Why do unzip apps have to be so complicated?

« Last post by f0dder on August 05, 2007, 03:43 PM »

Better stay away from Smart Unpack then, sounds like it's buggy... unless it's in fact another explorer extension bugging out.

6932

General Software Discussion / Re: XP or Vista user — take the poll!

« Last post by f0dder on August 05, 2007, 03:41 PM »

Unless of course an app you use hasn't converted yet...there really isn't any reason not to.

-wreckedcarzz

Give me a reason in favor of upgrading? I don't see any reason to. Vista or Linux or Mac OS X? dunno if one disease is better than the others.

6933

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« Last post by f0dder on August 03, 2007, 09:26 AM »

I ran my AMD64x2 4400+ system with one gig of ram, a bunch of harddrives, and a PCI-e GeForce6600 for quite a while and quite stable on a 400W PSU - but a decent-quality PSU.

As far as I understand, tomos isn't going to be running a SLI configuration or anything (considering that he's considering opting for onboard graphics). A 400W or 450W PSU should be quite sufficient. Heck, if the choice was between a quality 350W PSU or a whatever-cheapo 450+W PSU, I'd opt for the former.

6934

General Software Discussion / Re: Best corrupted file recovery software for .qex files?

« Last post by f0dder on August 03, 2007, 09:21 AM »

Darn, probably corrupted files, then :/

Dunno what to do, a long shot would be contacting the Quicken developers, but... that's a really long shot, we're talking continental distances or perhaps even interplanetary.

6935

General Software Discussion / Re: User settings storage debate

« Last post by f0dder on August 02, 2007, 06:10 PM »

the user is given the option of installing to the root of a removable drive

-Ehtyar

Hopefully it doesn't limit you to the root of the removable drive? I hate installers that think they know better >_<

6936

General Software Discussion / Re: User settings storage debate

« Last post by f0dder on August 02, 2007, 05:55 AM »

Separate installer? Please, no thanks. You'd have two basically identical downloads, except for one little configuration option. It could be an installer option...

Yes, a lot of users are dumb (I know this sounds arrogant, but unfortunately it's true) - the question the application would ask wouldn't be "Do you want to store in %APPDATA% or application folder?", but rather something along the lines of "Are you going to use the program from a removable device, or do you just want a regular installation?" - phrased better by some HR person, and with a proper dialog box that explains the choices better, not just a YES/NO MessageBox.

6937

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« Last post by f0dder on August 02, 2007, 05:11 AM »

Maxtor drives = a lot of heat - be sure to get two 120mm case fans and have intake right in front of the harddrives if you're going with maxtor. Dunno about samsung, never really used those myself... I'm buying western-digital from now on, they seem to be faster and run a lot cooler than the maxtors I've had.

6938

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« Last post by f0dder on August 02, 2007, 04:44 AM »

Well, with that usage on-board graphics should be just fine

I wouldn't be very comfortable about a shop that doesn't mention which brand the powersupply is, though. It might be 500W or 550W, but if it can't deliver stable voltages when under load, you're going to have an unstable system. Also, if it's not energy efficient, you risk getting a higher power bill if you have the system on a lot.

Does the shop offer some picture of the casing? Especially inside pictures. It's important that the PSU isn't going to be located right above the motherboard, as with some smaller cases.

6939

Developer's Corner / Re: Dev-C++ Questions ?

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 07:03 PM »

mahesh2k: for OpenGL, google for NeHe's tutorials. Dunno if there's Dev-C++ specific versions, but if you need something that specific, you should probably wait with doing OpenGL and LUA and start with some more generic stuff, imho.

LUA? www.lua.org - again, if you aren't yet familiar enough with your compiler/IDE to compile from source and use that, wait a bit with LUA.

So indeed, start by familiarizing yourself with the GNU GCC compiler (which is what Dev-C++/MINGW uses), fiddle around with the Dev-C++ IDE and find the various compiler/linker settings (hint: to reduce exe size, you don't want to include debug/symbol info, and you want a release and not a debug build).

Also, things like C++ iostreams introduce more of a size hit than printf(), but they're also immensely more flexible.

6940

General Software Discussion / Re: User settings storage debate

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 06:59 PM »

Flexibility, please.

It's not a hard task coding up a configuration class that supports using both the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER, of course, since HKLM requires administrative privileges) as well as external config files (whether that be XML or LUA, please no .INI).

As for other configuration files (and where to store an XML or LUA config file), support both %APPDATA% and "alongside the program", to make everybody happy and support both Vista (as well as non-administrative NT4/2000/XP) and portable uses.

It's also not hard coding the program logic that decides whether to use %appdata% or alongside-the-program:

#1 - "userconfig.xml" present in app dir? -> use "portable mode".
#2 - "userconfig.xml" present in %appdata%? -> use "per-user settings" mode
#3 - config not found, ask which mode to operate in.

A HKCU registry check could be added either before, after or instead of step #2.

Ehtyar: one advantage with the registry is that entries are sorted, so lookups can be done with a binary search. Also, there's less text parsing to be done since it's a binary format. It's centralized, and very easy to backup HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

6941

Site/Forum Features / Re: compose hotkeys

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 06:24 PM »

AbteriX: does it have hotkeys though? That's what I'm all about

6942

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 06:21 PM »

I've been chugging away on less than half that for years so think I'll be happy with AMD

-tomos

A big advantage with intel is that you can get a motherboard with intel chipset... imho those are generally better than what you get for AMD platforms, especially now intel has introduced their "raid matrix" sytem

I currently have a Socket-939 AMD64x2 4400+ system, which is pretty sweet - but I'd definitely go for a core2duo system if I were to purchase something new now. Then again, what will you be using the system for? Doesn't sound like too bad a system

6943

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 07:40 AM »

The AMD64 computers are a good bit cheaper!

-tomos

I do wonder, really... I haven't checked up on performance reviews for quite a while, but the low-end core2duo are pretty cheap now. You should decide how much you want to pay for a CPU, then find & compare benchmarks between similarly priced core2duo and AMD64x2... obviously comparing gigahertz won't do it.

re nvidia, they are only offering: 512MB Nvidia Geforce 8500GT (Geräuschlose Kühlung) PCI-E, which is i think a lot more than I need

-tomos

Oh, shop has very limited choices? And you can't shop somewhere else?

If you don't need gaming at all, onboard graphics will work just fine for you. But if you do any kind of gaming that uses 3D graphics, onboard solutions tend to be too slow.

reviews say picture better with the DVI connection

-tomos

Haven't really been able to tell with my TFTs in 1280x1024@60Hz... but I suspect it might matter for larger displays, especially with higher refresh rates.

Afaik the whole HDMI thing is more about being able to play copy-protected content, but again - haven't really looked into it.

6944

Living Room / Re: new PC options:-

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 06:23 AM »

a) there's basically two versions of DVI, single- and dual-link. You need dual-link if you want to run insane resolutions. Two outputs are normal for any recent graphics cards. Also, if you only have analog monitors (regular VGA/D-SUB), don't despair, cheap dvi->vga exist, and most cards today come with at least one.

b) hm, onboard graphics that comes with HDMI? fancy. I have no experience with HDMI, so can't really comment on that... but as long as you can connect your monitor to it, you should be just fine

c) as long as you get the right type of harddrive (IDE vs. SATA), it's really a no-brainer... it's just about impossible to mount harddrives wrong. For IDE drives you'll have to worry about MASTER/SLAVE jumper setting, for SATA drives there's no such thing, making it even simpler.

Personally I'd go with an nvidia based card instead of ATi, I've had bad experience with ATi drivers... I'm currently running a passively cooled GF7600, and it works just fine.

Since you're getting a discrete graphics card, don't worry about onboard graphics for the motherboard... I'd go without, personally (although it could come in handy if your graphics card blows up).

Any reason you're going for AMD64 instead of core2duo? price? . Anyway, if you do go for AMD64, be sure to get a motherboard with socket AM2.

6945

General Software Discussion / Re: XP or Vista user — take the poll!

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 05:49 AM »

Yes but if we are talking about Windows list price is $500 - so ROM costs are pretty insignificant.

-Carol Haynes

Will probably be factored into the end cost with an outrageous multiplier, though...

Regarding updates - ROM based would mean that there would be more incentive to get it right in the first place! Also there would be less need for security updates (which are the majority).

-Carol Haynes

I wonder if we'll ever see that, really - almost seems unthinkable to get it right in the first place with modern software, especially something as complex as an operating system ...and a (non-flash) ROM-based approach means that if something needs to be fixed, the fix release cycle will be much longer than it is today.

The other big advantage is an almost instantaneous boot process!

-Carol Haynes

Dunno about that, really - a very big time of booting systems are spent on BIOS initialization and device init... but other than that, sure, ROM ought to have faster read and lower seek-time than a harddrive

There's also the issue of ROM size, by the way... Vista-on-chip, anyone? :p

But it's an interesting idea, and afaik Microsoft has gone to some lengths to make the windows kernel ROMable (ie, running directly from ROM instead of having to be copied to RAM first). Having the very core part of the kernel and a few boot-time drivers in ROM doesn't seem like a particularly bad idea to me, except that it means even more os-vendor lockin than we have to day.

6946

General Software Discussion / Re: XP or Vista user — take the poll!

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 05:03 AM »

True - but it isn't really as secure as true ROM based systems.

-Carol Haynes

You can use public-key cryptographic verification for the ROM images - should be doable in hardware, and would make it next to impossible to flash tampered images.

what are the disadvantages?

-Carol Haynes

More expensive to come out with "software updates", ROM is probably still more expensive than optical media, etc...

6947

General Software Discussion / Re: XP or Vista user — take the poll!

« Last post by f0dder on August 01, 2007, 04:35 AM »

Trouble is most end users can't easily upgrade ROM sets.

-Carol Haynes

Flash ROM, baby

And no, wouldn't be too hard securing it against malicious "updates".

6948

General Software Discussion / Re: Best corrupted file recovery software for .qex files?

« Last post by f0dder on July 31, 2007, 09:50 PM »

I was using Quicken 7 without the patch, but yes- they were working perfectly.

-wreckedcarzz (July 31, 2007, 09:23 PM)

But you've never checked them out with the patch, before the crash? Have you checked out the post-crash files without the patch? - just trying to eliminate all error sources

6949

Living Room / Re: How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

« Last post by f0dder on July 31, 2007, 08:30 PM »

Imho having to follow an exhausting list before asking something is a bit taxing - I don't mind helping people if they show they've put at least a little effort into the subject. On the other hand, some people are way too lazy, on the asmcommunity board we often get people who want homework help, or have been doing nothing whatsoever doing a whole semester, then suddenly realize they need to pass an exam...

6950

General Software Discussion / Re: Best corrupted file recovery software for .qex files?

« Last post by f0dder on July 31, 2007, 08:27 PM »

wreckedcarzz: did the files work with your particular quicken version before the crash?