Post #148,199
3/24/04 3:29:22 PM
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Serious question.
I've heard so much about how with XP Microsoft finally "got it right". The usual stuff about how "it doesn't crash as much", etc.
I am just.not.seeing.it. I have XP Home at home and Pro at work. They both suck. Applications won't install. Applications won't run. Things freeze up. Why should hot synching a f*cking Palm be SUCH a big deal (as in, it won't do it)? Why does double-clicking a program icon produce. . . .nothing? Why do I keep having to reboot to "fix things"?
I simply cannot detect any real operational differences between XP and '95. Except perhaps, this takes up 8 times as much space. Am I just having bad luck?
I've decided, btw, that my next machine will be a Mac (unless Linux wonderfully suits my needs at that point, which I doubt). I can't see wasting any more money on Microsoft's constant failure to produce an acceptable OS.
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Post #148,200
3/24/04 3:34:29 PM
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I haven't had much trouble with XPH
but I don't use it much. I turned off as much of the glitz as possible (there's some setting for Maximize Performance or some such in one of the Settings).
If things are flaky you probably need to do the usual stuff:
1) Check the registry with something like Norton Windoctor
2) Check for spybots with Spybot Search and Destroy or similar
3) Make sure your hard drive isn't too full or too fragmented (yeah, it's grasping at straws).
There's always backup, reformat, reinstall but I've been fortunate that I haven't had to do that since Win95B.
XP doesn't seem crashier than Win2k to me, but I prefer 2K anyway.
HTH a bit.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #148,201
3/24/04 3:36:23 PM
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What do you consider your NEEDS?
I have been running it for a good long time at home.
Debian's new Debian Installer is wonderful and it works pretty much.
I play heavy 3d games, Listen to music compile program, write things in Office (yes that Office)
Evolution for Mail, Gnome or KDE are really virtually the same, aren't they Peter?
Just fire the questions away.
--
[link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg],
[link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey
'In view of the fact that Microsoft is acondemned monopolist and on the other hand the internal messages andfinancial transactions of SCO look ever doubtful, Microsoft should bereally anxious that to the own company something does not remainsticking from the Gestank of the SCO.' --Plagarized from [link|http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040322133607169|GROKLAW]
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Post #148,204
3/24/04 3:45:39 PM
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I had a person with 3 machines convinced that XP would solve
all his problems, after spending about 100 hrs over several months installing re-installing uncrashing and de virusing he called again convinced I needed to reinstall from scratch. I suggested he call someone else because I was extremely busy. I havnt heard back.
thanx,
bill
In Bush\ufffds America, fighting terrorism abroad is used as a pretext for vanquishing civil liberties at home. David Podvin
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #148,248
3/24/04 5:55:47 PM
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Serious Answer.
If you think that XP is no better than 95, then either your PC has serious problems you have severe software issues.
Anyway, buy a Mac.
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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Post #148,258
3/24/04 6:06:45 PM
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OT: You're a funny fellow.
[link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=637|#637] - Shilling for Windows 2000.
[link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=44604|#44604] - Shilling for Debian.
[link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=52798|#52798] - Shilling for Knoppix.
And now... :-)
Seriously, I'm amazed that you have time to become such an expert at all of these things. Thanks for taking the time to do so and letting us know your experiences.
Cheers,
Scott.
(P.S. You need to update your .sig ;-)
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Post #148,263
3/24/04 6:10:55 PM
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I do not.
My current experience teaches me this:
1. You want Debian Linux on the server
2. You want OS X on the desktop
3. If you want Windows, there's something wrong.
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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Post #148,266
3/24/04 6:13:18 PM
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you want windows
so when the kids go looking for porn it invariably gets a virus and kacks.
thanx,
bill
In Bush\ufffds America, fighting terrorism abroad is used as a pretext for vanquishing civil liberties at home. David Podvin
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #148,267
3/24/04 6:13:57 PM
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Re: you want windows
Says more about you than me :)
(Do I detect the voice of experience?)
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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Post #148,364
3/24/04 9:46:58 PM
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experience enough that when Da and Ma leave the house
the cat5 cable goes with
thanx,
bill
In Bush\ufffds America, fighting terrorism abroad is used as a pretext for vanquishing civil liberties at home. David Podvin
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #148,419
3/25/04 12:09:20 AM
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And the Cat-5 cable under the kid's matress?
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #148,462
3/25/04 8:39:41 AM
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If they are smart enough to score one, let em
In Bush\ufffds America, fighting terrorism abroad is used as a pretext for vanquishing civil liberties at home. David Podvin
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #148,255
3/24/04 6:02:10 PM
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XP is
NT with fewer bugs, more cycle-stealing gizmos, a shitty browser, clownish themes, and pervasive antialiasing of fonts. The latter is the only feature that is worthwhile. I went back to "good enough NT", 2k, for my infrequent Windows needs.
Oh I forgot, dual-head. Bill gets twice the head he used to.
-drl
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Post #148,257
3/24/04 6:05:29 PM
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Re: Serious question.
If you have XP "out of box" and put it on the Internet without further ado, chances are 1 in 1 that you have one of the RPC server exploits. This would show up as icons that don't fire, reboots, flaky cut-paste behavior etc. etc.
Look into it.
-drl
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Post #148,416
3/24/04 11:58:39 PM
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Wot 'ee said.
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Post #148,420
3/25/04 12:10:57 AM
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Does indeed sound like the problem
Especially when one recalls [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=127308|this] thread and the like. ACagle should probably read through the posts in this [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/board/search/?field_searchUser=22&field_searchSubject=&field_searchContent=rpc&field_searchSignature=&field_searchForum=-1&field_boardid=1&submit_ok%3Amethod=Search|search].
I came across a couple of Win98SE machines at work that were horribly infected with viruses. They were crashy, useless boxes until they were disinfected.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #148,426
3/25/04 1:38:19 AM
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Windows XP is a wonderfully reliable and stable application
And then you connect it to the internet.
Somebody forgot to add "secure" to the above list during the design phase. I have a security briefing powerpoint somewhere at work which contains the slide "Windows =" + graphic of swiss cheese.
"I'll stop calling the current administration 'Orwellian' when they stop using "1984" as a playbook."
J. Bradford DeLong
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Post #148,523
3/25/04 1:20:11 PM
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...too bad we asked for an OS ;)
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Post #148,509
3/25/04 12:00:50 PM
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Various responses.
1) RPC server exploits: Don't think so, as I've applied every patch and anti-virus update there is. Plus, I had ZoneAlarm on it within 5 minutes of connecting. I'm pretty security-anal. The various applications that won't run are fairly standard ones -- Photoshop Elements, Minolta slide-scanning app, etc. They quit working, reboot, they work. That seems like a typical Windows-tripping-over-its-own-feet thing.
2) Linux: I'm afraid the requisite apps still aren't there yet. E.g., SPSS or similar, EndNote, Adobe/CorelDraw, surface mapping. Can't live with 'em.
I actually had Win2k at work functioning pretty well for a long time. Now they've given me XP and it's problems, problems, problems. Why should I have to wait another 2-3 years before they get yet another OS stable enough to use properly, only to screw it up again?
At the moment, I'm working on converting everything I have to Mac-compatible software and planning on the Big Move with my next purchase. I just have yet to see why everybody (in the press at least) is saying how wonderful XP is.
Okay, maybe compared to ME.
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Post #148,512
3/25/04 12:16:42 PM
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sounds exactly like the setup my friend had
slide scanner and photoshop, he could do less every day until it froze and he would reboot. Over a period of weeks forget about it reboots wouldnt help. It would be reload the OS. I still here him screaming "I just want the fucking thing to work!!" painful
thanx,
bill
In Bush\ufffds America, fighting terrorism abroad is used as a pretext for vanquishing civil liberties at home. David Podvin
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #148,517
3/25/04 12:31:24 PM
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Re: sounds exactly like the setup my friend had
"I just want the fucking thing to work!!"
Well, in my case it's more like "Why won't you just do what I fucking tell you to do?!"
Althuogh the problems predate Adobe being installed.
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Post #148,591
3/25/04 6:17:13 PM
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Re: Various responses.
Download the latest ENTIRE service pack and reapply it. Reapply it every time you install another application.
Once you boot up, go to Windows Update and install until nothing is left.
-drl
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Post #150,709
4/10/04 6:15:39 AM
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Re: Serious question.
Rock solid here on two systems. (The third, being in storage pending a rebuild to Linux, doesn't count).
Of course, I have a Smoothwall firewall between me and the Internet. And my W2K server runs Outpost behind that.
And immediately downloading and installing ZoneAlarm is no good. Chances are you're already infected. Download on another machine, burn to CD, install XP on target, install ZoneAlarm, then connect target to internet. Either that or slipstream XP SP2 into your install set (note that I have yet to do this).
Failing that, it'll be a harware issue. If it uses a VIA chipset, have the Hyperion drivers been installed? Is there any hardware not on the HCL?
qts
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Post #150,721
4/10/04 2:21:09 PM
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Default XP firewall will work as well.
XP has a built in firewall which will get the job done. The main issue with it is that it does not control outbound access, and doesn't allow for different settings based on the application and subnet.
It should keep you from getting wormed until you can get something better in there, but one VERY important note - do NOT connect the computer to the internet until you bring the computer up and you are logged in, as the XP firewall in the default install state does not start until after your machine starts up. This was fixed in a SP, don't remember which one.
Nobody wins in a butter eating contest
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