posted
If you're running Vista, give Sevice pack 2 a miss. I installed it and after about a week it had corrupted my systems so much that the computer barely ran and seized constantly. It acted like gradual HD failure in nature but after pursuing that for a while I discovered my disks are fine, no bad sectors or errors to fix in chkdsk. I had Windows check its files in DOS using its own MS repair program but it found nothing awry. Checked for Trojans etc, in safe mode, nothing but the usual tracking cookies. It was unstable even in safe mode BTW, which made me think perhaps motherboard failure or something. So finally, running out of ideas, I uninstalled SP2... Bingo! Everything returned to normal.
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Vista has really made me look seriously at Macs. Though I keep hoping my computer will hold out atleast another year. So, it's missing a few keys and the screen is cracked and it is slow and out of date, all I really need is for Word to work.
Posts: 303 | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Not to pick nits here, but Vista is only up to SP1. If you truly installed anything labelled SP2, I'm afraid it might not have been from Microsoft, might not have had the best of intentions, and might have caused those problems intentionally.
Or that was a typo on your part and you meant SP1.
I can personally vouch for enjoying using a Mac over a Windows machine, but there is a learning curve and it can be difficult for people to overcome if they've got well set habits. My wife took a good six months before she was truly happy using it. On the other hand, I was good from the outset, except the one-button mouse thingy.
posted
Yeah, you're right I meant SP1. I was confusing it with XP SP2. So, skip SP1, is what I should have said. Most of the online comments have been that it does very little anyway. My system has been rock solid since I uninstalled it.
posted
Sholar, If you have an older machine and if all you need is Word, then there are several things you can do that won't cost much a but a bit of your time.
1. back up every file you want to keep to CDs or some other backup system
2. Go to http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download and download Ubuntu (~650 Mb). Burn the ISO file to a CD, place it in your CD drive, re-boot and follow directions. The OS is free and legal.
You'll end up with a faster running, more dependable machine with Open Office installed to replace Word. The machine I am currently on is a year 2000 generic box running at 800Mhz with 512Mb ram and a 40Gb hard drive system. It runs quite well.
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited June 28, 2008).]
quote:Sholar, If you have an older machine and if all you need is Word, then there are several things you can do that won't cost much a but a bit of your time.
1. back up every file you want to keep to CDs or some other backup system
2. Go to http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download and download Ubuntu (~650 Mb). Burn the ISO file to a CD, place it in your CD drive, re-boot and follow directions. The OS is free and legal.
You'll end up with a faster running, more dependable machine with Open Office installed to replace Word. The machine I am currently on is a year 2000 generic box running at 800Mhz with 512Mb ram and a 40Gb hard drive system. It runs quite well.
I don't want to insult the intelligence of Sholar but I think it would be wise to establish your technical competency before trying this. Even if you are familiar with installing Windows, installing a linux distro can prove challenging if you have a strange hardware config or some hardware that is off the beaten path.
I have used and installed and used Ubuntu and it is probably my favorite flavor of Linux but it is still vastly different than windows from a user perspective. It's not a bad idea, I just wanted to caution you as the above instructions make it sound like anyone can do it.
posted
Rommel, I think that the updates don’t hurt anything. It would ask you before it would install SP1, just say no. Wow, I sound like Nancy Reagan.
As for Mac, I'm sure they're fine computers but everyone I know that purchased one ultimately regrets it because there are so many software compatibility issues. They are by nature, obviously very proprietary in design and Apple won't let anyone in. They want to completely own their customers. That indebtedness to Apple usually just keeps costing more and more money since they know there are no other solutions available to their customers. There was a real bad Mac virus floating around last week too but to listen to them you'd think they are impervious to viruses. The truth is they are so insignificant that few bother to write viruses for them, it has nothing to do with their OS or hardware being any better. But the viruses are starting to come now and some of them are quite nasty. Apple engages in such deceptive advertising I would never reward them for such a greedy marketing and business attitude. All those “I’m a Mac” ads are rubbish but they know that nobody will make a reply because there is no one company that has ownership of the PC platform. IBM threw it wide-open many years ago and that is why computers progressed so much, so fast. If IBM had been as greedy as Apple, computers would be twenty years behind where they are now.
posted
We actually have macs and unix computers at my work. We use certain programs that are only available on mac and some only for unix. Of course, we could shop around and find similar ones for the pc, but once you establish things one way, it is hard to change. My biggest problem with mac is making powerpoint presentations. I do everything with right clicks so when I try to work on macs, I get very frustrated.
Posts: 303 | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Well it did at first, and I always told it no. then it started to update automatically. And it put parental controls on my buddy’s account I made for him for him I AFG for his “HAPPY” time and I can’t figure out how to turn them off. And the updates are filling up my hard drives. It also slows my computer when I am on the net and it takes up the downloading limit I have.
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