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Author Topic: sick pc  (Read 13420 times)

tigertiger

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #50 on: October 25, 2009, 10:27:52 am »

Perhaps now newer machines will be installed with MSWindows 7, older machines with MSVista installed will be on clearance price.

To be honest I have had no problems with Vista.
However, MSOffice 2007's 'Compatiblility Mode' (for earlier versions of MSOffice aps) is a bit clunky. Seems like a fudge to me.
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dodgy geezer

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #51 on: October 25, 2009, 10:44:09 am »

Some hardware is good for 10-15 years or more. But then you run into what are called 'legacy' problems.


Yup. That's exactly what I'm complaining about.

There was a time in the 90s when hardware development was so rapid that it made sense to junk old hardware. The older stuff wouldn't perform anything like as well as the newer stuff, and all sorts of memory and disk addressing limits that the old systems had were being breached. 'Legacy' meant something in those days...

But now hardware development has slowed down, and a machine more than 5 years old is still quite good. My EeZeBilt web site runs 24/7 on a 10-year old P3 in my attic. However, if people were to use computers for the 'standard white goods' 10 year period, a lot of companies which based their business model on a 3-year replacement turnover would be losing money.

So we see instances of people building intentional software incompatibility into new software, to force a replacement. I have no complaint about changing a machine to get a real benefit, but I do complain about an operating system which degrades over time when it shouldn't, an industry-enforced treadmill of software change so that they can make a profit, and drivers only being written for the latest systems to force a replacement when it is not technically required.

And these are things you don't get with Linux...
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Colin Bishop

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #52 on: October 25, 2009, 10:57:43 am »

I don't think Linux is exactly lily white. An "undocumented feature" (to refer to it kindly) denied access to some vital data my Brother had on a University system and it took their IT department days to work out a solution. My brother isn't exactly a novice either, he teaches weapons communications at Dartmouth.

Oh, and if you tour HMS Daring you will find all the screens in the ops room displaying the Windows logo.  :o

Colin
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omra85

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #53 on: October 25, 2009, 07:08:11 pm »


Oh, and if you tour HMS Daring you will find all the screens in the ops room displaying the Windows logo.


I can just see it now -

"Your weapon system has encountered an enexpected error and will have to close. Do you want to report the fault to Microsoft?"

Still, if all the Worlds armed forces have the same system - peace in our time!!

Danny
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The long Build

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #54 on: October 25, 2009, 08:18:21 pm »

I can just see it now -

"Your weapon system has encountered an enexpected error and will have to close. Do you want to report the fault to Microsoft?"

Still, if all the Worlds armed forces have the same system - peace in our time!!

Danny

 {-) {-) {-) {-)  but probably true !!  .. Wonder if they Will  get   "Please run the " Windows Genuine Advantage programme"  pop up... >>:-(  I Have , I do , and yet every now and again it crops up again..
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Colin Bishop

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #55 on: October 25, 2009, 08:20:53 pm »

More likely that the computer shuts down in the middle of a battle to install updates...

Colin
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AlisterL

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #56 on: October 25, 2009, 08:55:48 pm »

Why is a PC any different to a radio, or other electronic item? They last for a lot longer than that.

Some PC's do, that is absolutely true. But some don't. Thus my warning is based on averages. If you have bought quality equipment and not the el cheapo stuff then absolutely you should see that equipment last longer than three years. But not everyone does that and some people do not realise this and as such everyone should be aware of the risks after that 3 year period.

As other have stated, a PC is quite a bit different from a radio. I would be inclined to compare a radio to a PC sound card rather than the PC as a whole...

Quite amusingly, I had typed up a reply on my laptop, went to post it only to find I had lost my connection to the internet, so this is a retype as I went to my 8 year old PC to see what was happening. Fortunately it came back again - but I notice that right this minute it has again disappeared - so you will have to wait to read this reply!
Oh and in my 8 year old PC the fan on the video card died so I'm expecting to have no video one day and it wouldn't surprise me if one day the damn thing just doesn't turn on. SWMBO has a budget and it doesn't include a new PC as yet.

Whilst linux may be an option for some, as Colin rightly points out it is not nirvana either. While there are some very good distributions available, my favourite is OpenSuSE, if one is to work with linux then one be prepared to get udner the covers, use the command line and generally pretend to be interested. I think you can probably end up with a non-functional PC running linux a lot easier than with Windows.

That damn internet connection still hasn't come back...

Oooh - it's back = post quick!!
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Alister

dodgy geezer

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #57 on: October 25, 2009, 11:04:01 pm »

Why have I been unable to post a reply to this thread all day? I have been able to post to other ones....
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dodgy geezer

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #58 on: October 25, 2009, 11:18:15 pm »

"I don't think Linux is exactly lily white. An "undocumented feature" (to refer to it kindly) denied access to some vital data my Brother had on a University system.." Colin

No one said that Linux didn't have bugs. All systems have bugs. In some areas Windows might even perform better than Linux (though I can't think of any...). I'm not saying that Linux is always better than Windows (though I personally believe this). What I'm complaining about is deliberate design decisions being made to lower user service in return for more profit, and Linux does not have this.
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dodgy geezer

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #59 on: October 25, 2009, 11:22:47 pm »

Sorry about the multiple posts - for some reason I can't post a single long response, but I can do shorter ones.....

"..Oh, and if you tour HMS Daring you will find all the screens in the ops room displaying the Windows logo..." Colin

Of course you won't see Linux offered in a big commercial procurement. It's free, so no one can make a profit out of it....
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Colin Bishop

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #60 on: October 25, 2009, 11:37:10 pm »

Quote
Sorry about the multiple posts - for some reason I can't post a single long response, but I can do shorter ones.....

Maybe you need a new PC.....  {-)

Colin
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funtimefrankie

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #61 on: October 26, 2009, 08:04:44 am »

Sorry about the multiple posts - for some reason I can't post a single long response, but I can do shorter ones.....
linux  undocumented feature? :-))
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dodgy geezer

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #62 on: October 26, 2009, 09:24:15 am »

linux  undocumented feature? :-))

Ha Ha!

It's certainly an odd feature - I could post on other threads with no problem, but for some reason the board rejected the (longish) message I was trying to put up here.

I think I must call a halt to this rant - I'm running on a 7 year old machine, so I had better conserve the electronics.... :)
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Bryan Young

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #63 on: October 26, 2009, 12:25:26 pm »

Sorry about the multiple posts - for some reason I can't post a single long response, but I can do shorter ones.....

"..Oh, and if you tour HMS Daring you will find all the screens in the ops room displaying the Windows logo..." Colin

Of course you won't see Linux offered in a big commercial procurement. It's free, so no one can make a profit out of it....

I had this problem after installing upgrade 8. Once that was removed all is OK again. But the damn thing keeps popping up to tell me I have upgrades waiting ( no 8 again! Very annoying).BY.
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tigertiger

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #64 on: October 26, 2009, 12:58:27 pm »

If you mean IE8. I had so many problems, and it got so slow, that I swithched to firefox.

Something I had resisted doing. This is because I am a 'if it ain't broken don't fix it' person. I am used to living with sub optimal, but IE8 was just to far for me.

I have found firefox much better as a browser, faster, and less aggro.
I still have IE8 installed, but rarely use it.
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funtimefrankie

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #65 on: October 26, 2009, 01:00:30 pm »

In vista you can use "hide updates" so it doesn't keep asking you
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tigertiger

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #66 on: October 26, 2009, 01:04:13 pm »

Hi Bryan

Just out of interest. What version of Windows are you running. 95 or earlier by anychance?
I am curios because of what you said about floppy drives.
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funtimefrankie

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #67 on: October 26, 2009, 04:25:55 pm »

My only proble with Firefox is/was downloading bank statements from RBS, ok from Alliance & Leicester.
RBS just sits there and says downloading, but it isn't.
Back to IE and all OK.
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Bryan Young

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #68 on: October 26, 2009, 05:59:44 pm »

Hi Bryan

Just out of interest. What version of Windows are you running. 95 or earlier by anychance?
I am curios because of what you said about floppy drives.
Windows XP with all the bells and whistles except IE8. Upgraded various cards over time. The machine came with a 3.5" floppy drive that I've never used....a redundant gizmo filling what could be a useful space. Bryan.
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tobyker

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #69 on: October 26, 2009, 06:38:54 pm »

Backed up all my data on the external drive - my lad is up from hampshire with the details of the PC he built himself with kit from overclockers.com, and we've just ordered the bits for one for me - shipping tonight.
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malcolmfrary

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #70 on: October 26, 2009, 09:45:12 pm »

That should be a 100% cure  :-))
It does go a little against the grain to not fix something, but that's modern life.  If it had been a laptop, in all probability the answer would have been "Mend it with a new one" straight away.

Quote
The machine came with a 3.5" floppy drive that I've never used....a redundant gizmo filling what could be a useful space. Bryan.
You could always dig the floppy drive out and plant a hard drive in the meccano in its place.  All it needs then is somewhere to plug it into for power and data, and a cover plate to hide the hole.
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tobyker

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #71 on: October 27, 2009, 02:57:11 pm »

When we've got the new one going, we'll do a strip and rebuild on the old one, just to see if we can get it working properly again.
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tobyker

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #72 on: November 01, 2009, 07:46:16 pm »

Yippee! The box of bits is up and running - humungous clear LCD screen  = I've just been looking at hama's work photos again - I must go back to Stockholm. The only outstanding problem is that though I've saved all my contacts from Outlook express in XP, I don't seem to be able to get them into Outlook in 7. And by the way, assembling a pc is very easy - all you do need is some advice on which bits to get so they all talk to each other.
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dodgy geezer

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Re: sick pc
« Reply #73 on: November 01, 2009, 08:12:30 pm »

Yippee! The box of bits is up and running - humungous clear LCD screen  ...

That's perfectly normal for a Microsoft machine - they need rebuilding after a few years of use.  And because nobody uses any other operating system, nobody realises that a computer doesn't have to be as bad as that....
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