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I'm Finished With Windows

The Central Scrutinizer said:
Done.

I've had my latest Windows machine for almost 5 years now. I've had my Mac for 18 months. Both machines stay on all the time. I use the Mac for just about everything, because it is the superior machine. I use the Windows machine (Dell Inspiron) for Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax and nothing else.

So I come home tonight, and my Windows machine is froze up. Again. I have to power it down. This is approximately a weekly occurance. Sometimes more, sometimes a little less. Weekly is an average.

So in the past 18 months, my Windows machine (no viruses, no spyware, no adware) has froze up 78 times. In that time period (18 months), my Mac has never, I repeat never, froze up. Let me repeat that - in the past 18 months, my Mac has never froze up a single time. Not once.

So, I'm done with Windows. I'll move my Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax over to the Mac versions, and then that's it. I'll leave the Windows machine unplugged in the closet in case I would need it for some reason (I can't imagine why), but from here on out, I'm 100% Mac!!!
Click to expand...

What version of Windows? I'm not a great fan of Windows, but I'd suspect a hardware fault rather than software in your case.
 
Hey Scrut! If you're done with that laptop, you can send it to me! I have a museum for computers that it might go in! ;)

PS 1: I have a W2K desktop that has been stable for the last 7 years. When it was my at-work desktop running not just Office but SQL and AD and other stuff, it usually ran for many months non-stop. And it did so flawlessly. Now it's at home, and is Mrs Zep's PC...and it STILL runs W2K as solid as a rock.

PS 2: I use both PC and Mac, and I adore the Mac X OS to bits (and we have all the way back to Mac 128's in our museum). But I don't knock Windows 2000 or XP (or 2003 server) either - they have their place, and properly set up, they are very reliable, noteworthy products.

PS 3: I'm finding Kubuntu is slower than Windows on the same platform...what am I doing wrong?
 
Zep said:
...snip...

PS 3: I'm finding Kubuntu is slower than Windows on the same platform...what am I doing wrong?
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I had Kubuntu set up as a dual boot on this very PC and I found exactly the same thing - it seemed to be significantly slower. I put it down to drivers etc.. Interesting that you seem to be experiencing the same thing.
 
Darat said:
I had Kubuntu set up as a dual boot on this very PC and I found exactly the same thing - it seemed to be significantly slower. I put it down to drivers etc.. Interesting that you seem to be experiencing the same thing.
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I haven't noticed that, however I do notice that Kubuntu's latest release autoloads beryl and some desktop effects. I wonder if this doesn't slow things down. I have had issues with Beryl and workability.
 
Latin might be a better language than english but I aint learning it because no one's speaking it.

Or

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but I wouldn't know because I'd never eat the filthy thing.

Macs are filthy things like that
 
I always diagnose computer problems by graphing the flow of information and noting where the problem is within that flow.

I have paintakenly taken the time to graph your problem (no no.. no thanks necessary.. its on me)

Chair -> The Real Problem -> Keyboard -> Computer -> Operating System -> Monitor -> You

Now before you get all pissed off at me.. it takes your machine 15 minutes to boot up.. 15 freaking minutes.. clearly your setup has serious problems that are not related to windows.. and by messed up I dont mean common everyday ordinary messed up.. I mean completely messed up.. full blown crazy messed up..

You didnt notice a problem when it was taking 2 minutes to boot, or 3 minutes, or 4 minutes, or 10 minutes, and at 15 minutes you still did not think that this was a problem.. the problem you cite is that the machine freezes up..

I've tried to formulate my opinion using more technical words but I cannot seem to do better than "Thats full blown crazy messed up"
 
rockoon said:
I always diagnose computer problems by graphing the flow of information and noting where the problem is within that flow.
Click to expand...

Having to reinstall the operating system every couple of months is not a feature.

Microsoft's selling point is that their products are easier to use. In the same way that Dell's selling point is their customer service.
 
strathmeyer said:
Having to reinstall the operating system every couple of months is not a feature.
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Umm, who said anything about reinstalling the OS every couple of months?

Oh I get it... thats how you fix your computer every couple of months after you mess it up?

It is true that a reformat of the drive and a reinstall of the OS every few years is usualy a good idea, but not because it takes 15 minutes to boot up... and this is true for every computer regardless of the OS.

If your computer takes 15 minutes to boot up, there is a serious problem. If the problem isnt the hardware, its the wetwares fault for installing the software that is causing it.
 
strathmeyer said:
Having to reinstall the operating system every couple of months is not a feature.
Click to expand...
A good thing that on a properly configured and maintained PC, this isn't necessary. I can point to offices full of Windows PC's that have run for 3, 4, 5 years without a reinstall being necessary.

We really need to realize some of the main differences between office and home users. Unleash an unknowledgeable home user on a Windows PC and sure, they can get it turned inside out seven ways to Sunday, but even here, there are far more examples of Windows PC's running over several years than the commonly tossed out gem of reinstall every few months.

If we're to bring say believers in the paranormal to task for remember this hits and forgetting the misses, shouldn't we apply it to more mundane topics as well?

Microsoft's selling point is that their products are easier to use. In the same way that Dell's selling point is their customer service.
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I would imagine Microsoft has a vast array of selling points for their OS's. Ease of use being just one of them. Ease of use is hard to quantify. My own view would be biased to a degree simply because of my long familiarity with Windows products.

As for Dell's customer service I have to argue that taken on its own, one could argue it sucks. However, in comparison to other vendors, HP, IBM, Toshiba, Sony etc. I'd argue that Dells service and support for their PC's is decidedly better.
 
strathmeyer said:
Having to reinstall the operating system every couple of months is not a feature.

Microsoft's selling point is that their products are easier to use. In the same way that Dell's selling point is their customer service.
Click to expand...
Really, what on earth are you talking about? I've never had to reload a PC (to fix it). Indeed, it's always been sold to me as a good point of Macs that if anything goes wrong, you just reinstall the OS over itself, because it doesn't use a registry or anything. I suspect this is no longer as true as it was, though.
 
Zep said:
PS 3: I'm finding Kubuntu is slower than Windows on the same platform...what am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

I don't know that you're necessarily doing anything wrong. I much prefer GNOME over KDE, as I found KDE to be somewhat bloated and suffering from feature-itis. I also find the GNOME interface to be easier to customize. Plus, IMHO KDE is just plain ugly. :blush:

You might want to look at some of the stuff here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=189192

The main items of interest are ensuring DMA is enabled, and applying the filesystem tweaks. The rest of it isn't going to yield dramatic results.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
Done.

I've had my latest Windows machine for almost 5 years now. I've had my Mac for 18 months. Both machines stay on all the time. I use the Mac for just about everything, because it is the superior machine. I use the Windows machine (Dell Inspiron) for Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax and nothing else.

--snip--
Click to expand...

You must be a dumb a$$ or a $ucker for punishment. 5 years on this machine with all these problems?! You wouldn't drive a car with a flat tire, but you live 5 years with this?

I can't ever remember when Microsoft forced Windows on me. I make a choice whenever I use Windows. Just like I make a choice whenever I use my Mac. And also when I maintain my web server. (which is running Linux)

If it doesn't work for you, then move along. Fact is, it is your decision that is the problem, not any OS. At least be adult enough to admit that instead of putting the blame on something else.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
Done.

I've had my latest Windows machine for almost 5 years now. I've had my Mac for 18 months. Both machines stay on all the time. I use the Mac for just about everything, because it is the superior machine. I use the Windows machine (Dell Inspiron) for Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax and nothing else.

So I come home tonight, and my Windows machine is froze up. Again. I have to power it down. This is approximately a weekly occurance. Sometimes more, sometimes a little less. Weekly is an average.

So in the past 18 months, my Windows machine (no viruses, no spyware, no adware) has froze up 78 times. In that time period (18 months), my Mac has never, I repeat never, froze up. Let me repeat that - in the past 18 months, my Mac has never froze up a single time. Not once.

So, I'm done with Windows. I'll move my Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax over to the Mac versions, and then that's it. I'll leave the Windows machine unplugged in the closet in case I would need it for some reason (I can't imagine why), but from here on out, I'm 100% Mac!!!
Click to expand...

Sounds more like it's a hardware problem.

Are you sure it isn't?
 
Rat said:
Really, what on earth are you talking about? I've never had to reload a PC (to fix it). Indeed, it's always been sold to me as a good point of Macs that if anything goes wrong, you just reinstall the OS over itself, because it doesn't use a registry or anything. I suspect this is no longer as true as it was, though.
Click to expand...

Just something I remember from college:

Macs
Always
Crash,
If
Not,
The
Operating
System
Halts

---
My roommate in college had a Mac, and the first thing he did when he got it was chuck the twenty pound set of manuals. He figured just rebooting would fix any problem.
 
I used to have a Win 95 or 98 PC that started taking 15-20 minutes to boot and I couldn't figure it out. The little color bar going across the bottom of the screen would start running fine, then hesitate, then stop. It would resume sporadically, in fits and starts, and sometimes the machine would finally boot, but about half the time, it would simply die and I'd have to start the @#$% process all over again. I couldn't track the problem down, and finally took it into a shop - actually, a guy running a little business out of his townhouse.

He called me the next day after finding the problem. I had McAfee's antivirus software running, and somehow it had gotten set up to run at boot time. So it was launching itself while the rest of the computer was trying to finish the boot process, and it was doing it in the background, so there was no visible indication as to what was going on.

So TCS's problem may not be hardware-related.
 
[Rule8] Kubuntu :mad:

Installed it as a duel boot with XP.

Not surprisingly, I want XP as my default O/S until I'm familiar with Kubuntu.

Yes, Kubuntu seems slow.

I installed Kubuntu...It's my PC...I'm the one that will be installing everything...I'm the one that input my user and password on install.

Why the [rule8] do I have no w access to \boot\grub\menu.lst

All I want is to change the default 0 to default 5 (or is that -5). [Rule8][Rule8][Rule8]ing [Rule8]

Also wanted BUM (might help)

Needs some obscure file that the developer didn't mention [Rule8][Rule8][Rule8]ing[Rule8]

Looked at forums for details on how to get access to menu.lst. All I got was some argument about su and sudo

Yup...Great fun :(

Kubuntu...VERY user friendly....Ha!

I'll give it a little more of my time....Failing that...What's the quickest way to delete Kubuntu(Would an old Restore Point trash it?)

.
 
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I'll give it a little more of my time....Failing that...What's the quickest way to delete Kubuntu(Would an old Restore Point trash it?)
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Not even slightly. A Restore Point will not restore partition information - the Restore Point functionality is designed to roll back certain XP system data; it is not a panacea for rolling back the machine to some point in the past.

Therefore you would have to delete the partitions and reformat them to a file format XP understands - NTFS or FAT32 (or FAT16 but why the hell would you do that eh?).

Looked at forums for details on how to get access to menu.lst. All I got was some argument about su and sudo
Click to expand...

su = super user.

The super user gets to do things a normal user cannot - this is to stop a normal user doing stupid things that can mess up a system. (Such levels of authority exist in Windows land but aren't really used).

Now what su does is let you execute a bunch of commands as said super user. sudo lets you do one thing.

So:

Why the [rule8] do I have no w access to \boot\grub\menu.lst
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Is because a normal user should not be able to write to things that can mess up the system!

I think sudo konqueror& might be the easiest way to let you get about this (from a terminal of course). What this will do is open up a Konqueror session as the 'root' or 'super user' - from there you can **** things up as much as you like! :) Navigate to the file and then you can edit it in Kwrite or similar.

(The argument was probably about the fact that sudo is used in the K/Ubuntu world because there is no root password (which su would ask for) and some people think this is not a good way of going about it).
 
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