Geek stuff, computer misc

[Catrin]

Athalon 64x2 Dual.... is that it?
Still running XP w/no issues

It sounds like you do indeed have 64-bit processors - cool ---- but you still may have a 32-bit operating system. XP did come in a 64-bit option (I think it was the Professional version) and there should be something on your system display that says which version of the operating system you have. What information does it provide for your operating system when you go to the start menu/control panel/operating system?

My display has a line for operating system type - and this is where it says that I have a 64-bit OS, but XP may display that differently - it's been a long time since I've worked with XP.

[Irulan]

It sounds like you do indeed have 64-bit processors - cool ---- but you still may have a 32-bit operating system. XP did come in a 64-bit option (I think it was the Professional version) and there should be something on your system display that says which version of the operating system you have. What information does it provide for your operating system when you go to the start menu/control panel/operating system?

My display has a line for operating system type - and this is where it says that I have a 64-bit OS, but XP may display that differently - it's been a long time since I've worked with XP.

I am still using XP home so I bet it's not the 64 bit. The geek child does like to build me nice systems... too bad he moved 2000 miles away.

[ny biker]

smilingcat, i have to beg my son to help and he'll only do it after i've done this...

i love this.

[smilingcat]

The flow chart is very funny. I loved it. Something every computer/electrical engineering geek would love.

I talked to some wizards about the Russian text and they told me that the registry is messed up somewhere. hmmm.... Well I could live with it. And my partner doesn't have to deal with control panel, system settings, so she wouldn't see it and don't care.

Soo just one problem. The speakers/sound.

Oh she's liking the quickness of the laptop. Noticeably faster without all that bloated junk and going from 250Meg memory to 1.5G. Everybody is a happy camper for now.

[Catrin]

The flow chart is very funny. I loved it. Something every computer/electrical engineering geek would love.

I talked to some wizards about the Russian text and they told me that the registry is messed up somewhere. hmmm.... Well I could live with it. And my partner doesn't have to deal with control panel, system settings, so she wouldn't see it and don't care.

So just one problem. The speakers/sound.

Oh she's liking the quickness of the laptop. Noticeably faster without all that bloated junk and going from 250Meg memory to 1.5G. Everybody is a happy camper for now.

Of course it is your choice whether to fix the registry problem - which would likely require a clean installation of Windows to be safe - but you might want to consider that at some point. You don't know what else might be wrong in the registry and that would have me uncomfortable. Of course your wizards likely have more experience than I and if they are not concerned then don't worry about it.

Have you uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers for your speakers/audio card?

I ran Linux for a few years, but my work requires that I have Windows and as I spend more and more time on the computer for my job, I find myself less inclined to play with different operating systems outside of work. All that being said, I have found Windows 7 to be just as fast on my computer at home as any Linux installation or other operating system. Imagine my surprise when I realized that! Of course, my computer at home is more robust than any computer I've ever worked with (so I can take home traffic microsimulation work) and that has a lot to do with it.

[Cataboo]

The flow chart is very funny. I loved it. Something every computer/electrical engineering geek would love.

I talked to some wizards about the Russian text and they told me that the registry is messed up somewhere. hmmm.... Well I could live with it. And my partner doesn't have to deal with control panel, system settings, so she wouldn't see it and don't care.

Soo just one problem. The speakers/sound.

Oh she's liking the quickness of the laptop. Noticeably faster without all that bloated junk and going from 250Meg memory to 1.5G. Everybody is a happy camper for now.

Were you using a legit copy of windows? There are some hacked versions out there that have different languages for the hacked parts.

Did you go to the manufacturers website and download the new drivers for the sound card? Delete/uninstall the drivers you have and reboot to let the computer detect new hardware?

I'd say you'd be better off with a fresh install to work out the quirks, but if your partner isn't going to mind?

[smilingcat]

Were you using a legit copy of windows? There are some hacked versions out there that have different languages for the hacked parts.

Did you go to the manufacturers website and download the new drivers for the sound card? Delete/uninstall the drivers you have and reboot to let the computer detect new hardware?

I'd say you'd be better off with a fresh install to work out the quirks, but if your partner isn't going to mind?

Well, the install disk was created from the installed XP on my partner's laptop.And on the laptop, there is a bonafide MS sticker with the product key. It is a genuine MS XP. Laptop is from Dell.

And yes, you can create an install disk from pre-installed XP on a machine provided... that certain directories and files are there. This disk is burnt as a ISO disk, quite different than a usual disks. Also very different than a recovery disk. Not the same.

I don't want to do a fresh re-install.

The registry problem occurs in very obscure place and it has to do with authorization level. Sort of like you have admin rights versus user rights...

Oh, and service pack 2 is no longer supported by MS. However, service pack 3 (SP3) is out. I think you can just run the install of SP3 into your XP SP2.

So we are being legit here even though I have talked about Hackintosh and jail breaking of cell phones, droids and such. It just isn't worth my time to do so. (translated. I don't know how )

[smurfalicious]

Open Office FTW!!! I haven't looked back since installing it, screw MS and their changing file extensions to sell crap/inconvenience you. I'm a card carrying open source nerd girl and OO rocks my socks!

www.openoffice.org

[Owlie]

My friends who use OpenOffice love it. I wanted to stay with 2003 as long as possible, but my computer's little "event" back in October put an end to that. I actually thought about getting OpenOffice, but since I still had an available download of Office from the software center (and some of the graphing software I need apparently doesn't like OpenOffice's spreadsheet thing), I went that route and am now using 2010. It's okay. I like this version of Word better than I did 2007, and the review options are easier to find.

[Catrin]

I have heard decent things about Office 2010. I have tried Open Office over the years, several times. While I generally do like open source software I kept running across those elements in the suite that didn't work so well. I gave up on it. I will probably try it again at some point, but probably not while I am still in my current job.

[smilingcat]

I have to confess.

MICROSOFT BRINGS THE WORST OUT OF ME!! AND NOT ITS NOT ABOUT EXORCISM!!

AND ITS NOT ABOUT LOVE HATE RELATIONSHIP! PLAIN HATE HATE RELATIONSHIP!! DESPISE DOESN'T BEGIN TO DESCRIBE!!

EXCELL 2007 piece of garbage. Spend all day at the office trying to do a simple graph and it kept on freezing up on a brand new machine. okay so the number of data points were around 30,000. I was so ready to RAM THAT COMPUTER THROUGH THE WALL!!

LINUX and Open Office now that's better. OO I used it back when it was OO 1.0.x now they are up to 3.3.0 I tried the latest stable release and it is so good!! Haven't downloaded the 3.3.0 release candidate 7...

I just needed to vent.

As for virus protection AVG is free but not that great. It's like putting a band aid on a big hole in a dike (microsoft os).

just my personal opinion.

Get a Mac or Hackintosh and be done with it!! or go with Ubuntu, Suse, Mandriva, Slackware Linux. And if you want a small foot print to boot off a USB stick, get Puppy Linux, yes that is what it is called.

Thank you for letting me vent about MS windows 7 and excel garbage.

[Irulan]

Next time I post a windows related question, I am just going to state up front, "mac lovers go away". Yes, I know all about the "lack of issues". I don't like using them. I can't find anything on a mac system. it is counter intuitive to me. I don't want to relearn a whole new way to do it. Plus, the industry we work in uses mostly Windows. I rarely have "real" problems with windows, and I've fielded enough "help me with my Mac" phone calls from my mother to know macs aren't perfect, and nothing is. Maybe back in 1995 when the BSOD was fairly common Macs were vastly superior, but I don't buy it, not now. On top of it Apple has way too much proprietary stuff, don't EVEN get me going on that....hate iTunes...

back to our regularly scheduled discussion now.