Ding. Best answer yet. What works for me is something else. Cheers.
I'm Finished With Windows
- Thread starter The Central Scrutinizer
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Ding. Best answer yet. What works for me is something else. Cheers.
HarryKeogh
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Hey Scrut...IIRC, I'm pretty sure you don't have an Intel powered Mac. Too bad. I use Parallels on my Macbook Pro so I could run XP on my MacBook. I only use XP to run Microsoft Money. I would have converted to Quicken for Mac but from the reviews I've read the Mac version isn't very good and Microsoft doesn't make Money for Mac.
Just want to give you a heads up that you may not be as happy with Quicken for Mac as you are with Quicken for Windows. Of course if you're rebooting every day you're probably not very happy at all.
Just want to give you a heads up that you may not be as happy with Quicken for Mac as you are with Quicken for Windows. Of course if you're rebooting every day you're probably not very happy at all.
The Central Scrutinizer
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The Central Scrutinizer
Penultimate Amazing
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I'm probably going to get a mac mini for out in the kitchen fairly soon. So I may go the route you just said.
H3LL
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I thought I would have a play with another O/S. I've been thinking of having a go for some time and this thread prompted me to take the plunge.
One thing that is immediately apparent is that it is far from clear what to do and how to do it without some tech knowledge and the ability to wade through techno-babble.
The opening paragraph of the Kubuntu site is:
Now this makes perfect sense to someone that has computing interest/background/career but so much gibberish to someone that hasn't. To many, I suspect the paragraph reads:
Compare with the opening paragraph for Vista:
Gosh! which one is going to appeal to most people?
Anyway...I'm going to have a play with Kubuntu. The last time I had anything to do with Linux was 1998...I wonder if things have changed
.
One thing that is immediately apparent is that it is far from clear what to do and how to do it without some tech knowledge and the ability to wade through techno-babble.
The opening paragraph of the Kubuntu site is:
Now this makes perfect sense to someone that has computing interest/background/career but so much gibberish to someone that hasn't. To many, I suspect the paragraph reads:
Compare with the opening paragraph for Vista:
Gosh! which one is going to appeal to most people?
Anyway...I'm going to have a play with Kubuntu. The last time I had anything to do with Linux was 1998...I wonder if things have changed
.
Molinaro
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When I spent 8 years doing onsite tech support I found that problem pcs were, in general, messed up because of what had been installed.
My PC boots in under 20 seconds. It has never rebooted on it's own, or hung.
When I was doing support, I would ask the users: "Do you use this program?" And over and over I would be told, "I don't know what that is."
And that is what I most often saw as the root problem with 'problem PCs'. The users just didn't know what they were installing.
The 2nd most common problem was a funky power supply. And that would be my 1st guess as to the source of Central's problem.
My PC boots in under 20 seconds. It has never rebooted on it's own, or hung.
When I was doing support, I would ask the users: "Do you use this program?" And over and over I would be told, "I don't know what that is."
And that is what I most often saw as the root problem with 'problem PCs'. The users just didn't know what they were installing.
The 2nd most common problem was a funky power supply. And that would be my 1st guess as to the source of Central's problem.
On the other hand there aren't any links on the vista home page to download and try it. There needs to be some kind of entry barrier to stop people downloading linux and breaking their computer without understanding the implications of what they're doing.
"Improved search and security? Great where do I click?"
And I might be being a snob about this, but if someone doesn't know what an operating system is, I don't think they're in a position make an informed choice about which one to install.
H3LL
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Starthinker
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I'll just throw in my two cents. We have computers that are on 24/7 that have been on for years and have only been rebooted when the power to the building has gone out (more common than you think out here in the boondocks). My Win2000 servers have been on for close to 5 years now and I have XP machines that have been on for at least 2. I've gone through hundreds of machines here over the years and XP has been so stable it almost put me out of a job. The only calls I get now are from the classrooms that still have Win98 machines that they let the children play with and from users who have modified their computers without letting me know. Set up correctly a PC will run fine.
But having said that, for a home user or small business that doesn't have 100's of machines to deal with, Mac's are great. They're also great for the user who doesn't have much experience with computers. PCs and Macs both have their place.
I've never seen a WinXP reboot on it's own except when overheated and that's most likely the motherboard protecting itself, not XP. I would second what Molinaro said about the power supply, too.
But having said that, for a home user or small business that doesn't have 100's of machines to deal with, Mac's are great. They're also great for the user who doesn't have much experience with computers. PCs and Macs both have their place.
I've never seen a WinXP reboot on it's own except when overheated and that's most likely the motherboard protecting itself, not XP. I would second what Molinaro said about the power supply, too.
Starthinker
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These are the people Macs were made for.
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos
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I never have this problem.Scrut said:
Something is seriously farked up. I presume you have at least a gig of RAM.
Hmm. This has never happened to me, either.
~~ Paul
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos
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Which process(es) are using all the CPU?Scratchy said:
~~ Paul
gumboot
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From personal experience...
My first computer was a package deal from a retail store, and it wasn't bad, but it had a spotty up and down record with Windows.
Then, about four years ago I bought a new computer which I built myself. I have never had OS problems with this computer since. I have gone from 98 to XP, and have swapped virtually every component in the entire machine. (Actually as of my new case purchase just the other week, everything has now been upgraded at some point).
I've run the computer for days and days non-stop, and have put some hefty demands on it, running multiple system-sucking programmes at once.
I've never owned a Mac, but virtually everyone in film production here uses Macs, and being computer illiterate, most Production Managers constantly ask you for help. I personally find the Mac OS incredibly frustrating. But that's probably just a lack of familiarity.
Personally I have never had any problems with a PC or XP, and I have every intention of staying with a PC.
Not to say there's anything wrong with Macs, but the problems in the OP do not appear to be a case of a bad OS. I suspect the problem is hardware or installed software.
-Gumboot
My first computer was a package deal from a retail store, and it wasn't bad, but it had a spotty up and down record with Windows.
Then, about four years ago I bought a new computer which I built myself. I have never had OS problems with this computer since. I have gone from 98 to XP, and have swapped virtually every component in the entire machine. (Actually as of my new case purchase just the other week, everything has now been upgraded at some point).
I've run the computer for days and days non-stop, and have put some hefty demands on it, running multiple system-sucking programmes at once.
I've never owned a Mac, but virtually everyone in film production here uses Macs, and being computer illiterate, most Production Managers constantly ask you for help. I personally find the Mac OS incredibly frustrating. But that's probably just a lack of familiarity.
Personally I have never had any problems with a PC or XP, and I have every intention of staying with a PC.
Not to say there's anything wrong with Macs, but the problems in the OP do not appear to be a case of a bad OS. I suspect the problem is hardware or installed software.
-Gumboot
Sorry, have to add my 2 cents to the pile of XP machines working perfectly fine.
As mentioned, a good quality PC, setup correctly and maintained well works fine. Certainly I've seen problem PC's, who hasn't, but with the hundreds of Windows desktops / servers I've dealt with, severe problem machines like the one Strut seems to have are quite honestly very rare.
I think to a certain extent, Office PC's can often be a little more stable that home PC's due to restrictions on what can be installed etc.
As for a potential reason for the rebooting, it could be that you have Automatic Updates enabled. If set a certain way, it will reboot after installing a critical update.
To me, the main issue at times can be the manufacturers. I've had good experience with Dell's as I use them on most of my sites. However, they do admittedly come with a ton of preloaded crap. And on occasion, this preloaded crap can have unusual consequences. As a general rule on most of my sites I have a base image of XP that I use to wipe new Dell's with, strictly to remove unnessary applications. Strictly speaking, this is not necessarily a fault with Windows.
I've had very strange behaviour and major issues with all sorts of different OS's although I'll be honest that my experience is overwhelming in the windows world. I've had Mac's that have simply corrupted the filesystem, causing me to have to rebuild it off the CD. I have to admit this works pretty well. But still, it highlights the failures that all computers are prone too.
The main issue I believe is that PC's in general have a vast and largely uncontrolled field of hardware, with innumerable combinations that make it so that on occasion, you get one that just doesn't play nice with the equally vast and uncontrolled swath of vendor and 3rd party drivers for Windows.
For every problem PC you point to, I can point to 3 or 4 or 5 that are working perfectly fine. It rains on a persons emotional rant I understand, but there you have it.
As mentioned, a good quality PC, setup correctly and maintained well works fine. Certainly I've seen problem PC's, who hasn't, but with the hundreds of Windows desktops / servers I've dealt with, severe problem machines like the one Strut seems to have are quite honestly very rare.
I think to a certain extent, Office PC's can often be a little more stable that home PC's due to restrictions on what can be installed etc.
As for a potential reason for the rebooting, it could be that you have Automatic Updates enabled. If set a certain way, it will reboot after installing a critical update.
To me, the main issue at times can be the manufacturers. I've had good experience with Dell's as I use them on most of my sites. However, they do admittedly come with a ton of preloaded crap. And on occasion, this preloaded crap can have unusual consequences. As a general rule on most of my sites I have a base image of XP that I use to wipe new Dell's with, strictly to remove unnessary applications. Strictly speaking, this is not necessarily a fault with Windows.
I've had very strange behaviour and major issues with all sorts of different OS's although I'll be honest that my experience is overwhelming in the windows world. I've had Mac's that have simply corrupted the filesystem, causing me to have to rebuild it off the CD. I have to admit this works pretty well. But still, it highlights the failures that all computers are prone too.
The main issue I believe is that PC's in general have a vast and largely uncontrolled field of hardware, with innumerable combinations that make it so that on occasion, you get one that just doesn't play nice with the equally vast and uncontrolled swath of vendor and 3rd party drivers for Windows.
For every problem PC you point to, I can point to 3 or 4 or 5 that are working perfectly fine. It rains on a persons emotional rant I understand, but there you have it.
scratchy
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We couldnt figure it out, since the machine doesnt even react to ctrl+alt-del when it bogs down.
Central, sounds like you are comparing a five year old Dell of unknown power and quality, (and unknown Windows version, 98 was a mess compared to XP) to an 18 month old Mac. This is not a fair comparison!
Many Windows machines come from the integrator underpowered and with less than the best quality hardware. You need to buy them wisely. I build my own Windows machines with good hardware for less $ than I could buy an equivalent quality Mac. Their performance and reliablity have been stellar.
The one thing about Windows machines that sucked big time was the spyware epidemic. But if you know what you are doing you can avoid that almost completly.
Many Windows machines come from the integrator underpowered and with less than the best quality hardware. You need to buy them wisely. I build my own Windows machines with good hardware for less $ than I could buy an equivalent quality Mac. Their performance and reliablity have been stellar.
The one thing about Windows machines that sucked big time was the spyware epidemic. But if you know what you are doing you can avoid that almost completly.
Daald
Muse
I have been building my own machines for quite a while. I make sure I buy high quality parts and properly burn in a machine before I put it to daily use. I have never experienced the problems you describe.
The problems listed really sound to me as either hardware problems(cheap memory/motherboard/power supply) or peripherals with poorly written drivers.
The problems listed really sound to me as either hardware problems(cheap memory/motherboard/power supply) or peripherals with poorly written drivers.
Beanbag
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Part of the problem is all the "helpful crapware" that system manufacturers load on the hard drive. I have an interesting assortment of Compaq and HP machines (yes, I know they're the same company NOW, but they weren't when I got these machines), and the list of stunningly useless software and features that had been dumped on the drive was astonishing. All kinds of pop-up offers, notifications that a better version was available for a few $$$, helpful suggestions, all wasting resources and my time. Naturally, they were on the system restore disks as well, so every time I'd reload the system, I'd have to start pruning crapware yet again.
Salvation came when I came across an honest-to-ed OEM Windows XP disk. I spent a couple of days reinstalling XP using the OEM disk on all the machines, using the original key number for each machine, and presto, no crapware, and much better performance. The only machines I didn't OEMize are the machine I use for video editing 'cause it's a Windows XP Media Center machine and has some really funky cards (FM and TV tuner, video capture, and the like) that I don't have the individual drivers for yet, and a Compaq laptop that runs fine as-is and I don't want to take the chance that the OEM version won't find the correct drivers.
XP has been good to me as long as I was careful what I'd installed on the disk.
That said, I've been investigating Ubuntu Linux versions. The latest release is a lot more user-friendly for non-techs, but (say what you will) Windows installs are a lot less intimidating. My gripe with Ubuntu is that the standard install comes with a lot of codecs and features disabled because in some parts of the world their unlicensed use is illegal. This wouldn't be a problem IF there was some place on the web that explained how to turn on these features IN PLAIN ENGLISH. I managed to finally get everything they way I wanted it in the previous version, but when I moved to the latest release, it went back to paranoid mode, and the instructions for the previous version don't work on this version. Maybe in a few years.
Beanbag
Salvation came when I came across an honest-to-ed OEM Windows XP disk. I spent a couple of days reinstalling XP using the OEM disk on all the machines, using the original key number for each machine, and presto, no crapware, and much better performance. The only machines I didn't OEMize are the machine I use for video editing 'cause it's a Windows XP Media Center machine and has some really funky cards (FM and TV tuner, video capture, and the like) that I don't have the individual drivers for yet, and a Compaq laptop that runs fine as-is and I don't want to take the chance that the OEM version won't find the correct drivers.
XP has been good to me as long as I was careful what I'd installed on the disk.
That said, I've been investigating Ubuntu Linux versions. The latest release is a lot more user-friendly for non-techs, but (say what you will) Windows installs are a lot less intimidating. My gripe with Ubuntu is that the standard install comes with a lot of codecs and features disabled because in some parts of the world their unlicensed use is illegal. This wouldn't be a problem IF there was some place on the web that explained how to turn on these features IN PLAIN ENGLISH. I managed to finally get everything they way I wanted it in the previous version, but when I moved to the latest release, it went back to paranoid mode, and the instructions for the previous version don't work on this version. Maybe in a few years.
Beanbag
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I'm still running Windows 2000 on my personal computer. It's given me minimal problems. As long as games that I'm interested in keep coming out which will run on Windows 2000, I won't be changing the O/S.
I haven't used a Mac in seven years, but from what I remember back, the idea that they don't crash was false. They crashed often enough, and always when you hadn't saved your work in awhile (arrrrghghgh!!!). Folks complain about crypic Windows error messages, but those hex codes can be helpful in tracking down the problem. Mac errors messages back then were said nothing more than "Type 1 error" or other general error number. Good luck trying to figure out where the problem was. Then there was the good ol' bomb error icon which meant you had to reboot.
Anyway, that was then. As to how they are now, I couldn't say.
I haven't used a Mac in seven years, but from what I remember back, the idea that they don't crash was false. They crashed often enough, and always when you hadn't saved your work in awhile (arrrrghghgh!!!). Folks complain about crypic Windows error messages, but those hex codes can be helpful in tracking down the problem. Mac errors messages back then were said nothing more than "Type 1 error" or other general error number. Good luck trying to figure out where the problem was. Then there was the good ol' bomb error icon which meant you had to reboot.
Anyway, that was then. As to how they are now, I couldn't say.
Angus McPresley
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Christ in a porno, there's no way it should take anywhere near that long. Sounds like your Windows wasn't configured properly or something.
I can't remember the last Windows crash I had. The last Mac I used crashed all the time. But a sample size of one of each constitutes no evidence either way. Both are quite reliable these days, and easy to use; if they're not, for whatever reason, it's time to call in help.