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Topic: Computers - never ending exspense

Barry Attwood
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1411
From: Enfield, U.K.
Registered: Aug 2003

posted May 06, 2006 02:22 AM

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I turned on my computer this morning and there was a nice message from Microsoft saying I was running on an unauthorised (copied) copy of Windows XP Professional, and this means I would not be getting any more security updates etc. But for £92 they can fix it, so I've had to shell out £92 to fix something I didn't know needed fixing. I had my computer specifically made for me, and was told that everything was "Kosher" and all my programs installed were legitimate, oh well we learn by our mistakes, still I can't grumble, what I was charged for my computer was about a two thirds less than a comparable spec from a retailer. I thought that I should warn forum members that Microsoft are checking each system to see if it is running "Genuine" Microsoft programs, so be warned!

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David Park
Master Film Handler

Posts: 346
From: UK
Registered: Nov 2003

posted May 06, 2006 02:50 AM

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My computer is set to watch for Microsoft updates, but not to automaticly dowmload them. I noted that a few days ago I was warned that an update was ready. It is a checker programme to check what you have, I guess you might have downloaded that update.
My computer system was bought normally from a large retailer so I hope when I do the download I will be OK.

--------------------
Regards,
David

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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004

posted May 06, 2006 02:55 AM

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If your computer comes with the original install CD's, then you're safe. Had a big crash on one of mine a few weeks ago, forcing me to replace the hard drive and the graphic card. I actually had to call Microsoft to activate the Windows license again.

--------------------
The Grindcave Cinema Website

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Kevin Faulkner
Film God

Posts: 4071
From: Essex UK
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 06, 2006 05:10 AM

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Yes this is a nice Microsoft ploy to weed out all the non legal copies of their software. They did say that they were going to allow only security updates because if they didnt keep computers safe then it would be possible for your computer to pass on something to others.

Just ecently there have been many updates to Windows XP and then further updates to correct the problems caused by the earlier updates and so it has been going on. 3 weeks ago they did an update which stopped HP printers, Scanners and cameras amongst some things from working and then had to patch the patch.

This is now getting so bad that I have now chosen to go over to OSX on a Mac which in my view works very smoothly and doesnt have the clunky feel of Windows.
At work we have a 50/50 split between Macs and PC's and we get very few problems with the Macs but the number of problems with PC's is on the rise. Most problems seem to happen after these so called security updates. As of this week all our PC's (which do have legal software) have had their automatic updates turned off so that I can update each machine manually say once a month and check to see exactly what they are wanting to update. I have been doing the same with our servers for some months.
Barry's problem is not unique and really he should have gone back to the chap who built his machine in the first place as the problem is really down to him.
If you have automatic update switched on then only allow it to download the updates but give you the choice to install what you think is needed. This can be done by selecting Security Updates in the control panels and then selecting the way you want these updates handled. This update (which lets face it isnt an update) is called the Microsoft Validation tool.

As you have probably guessed I have become very anti Microsoft....they are taking over the world [Mad]

[Mad]

Kev

[Smile]

--------------------
GS1200 Xenon with Elmo 1.0...great combo along with a 16-CL Xenon for that super bright white light.

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Jan Bister
Darth 8mm

Posts: 2629
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted May 06, 2006 06:46 AM

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I'm with Kevin here, allowing XP to check for updates but giving you the choice to download/install them is the way to go. But those worrying about their Windows installation not being genuine can rest easy. Microsoft won't track you down and throw a lawsuit in your face or anything like that, because even they recognize that you might not be at fault for it (i.e. Barry's experience). I don't even believe that this is a real "problem" that needs "fixing" - as long as critical security updates are still allowed, you don't really need the other updates available on the Windows Update website.

But maybe this is all just a bit too easy for me to say. [Roll Eyes]

[Roll Eyes]

I have indeed spent a LOT of time configuring and customizing my XP installation, and even removing a LOT of unneeded gunk from it using a very fine utility called XPLite - available from http://www.litepc.com/ - which lets you uninstall applications and components such as Outlook Express normally deemed unremovable. Things aren't nearly as integrated into Windows as Microsoft wants everyone to believe - I even used to run a copy of Windows 98 SE that was completely IE-free and exclusively used Mozilla as the web browser. (And who really needs Active Desktop, anyway!) [Smile]

[Smile]

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Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*

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Tony Milman
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1336
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 06, 2006 08:45 AM

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I am with Kev on this one- went over to the "Dark side" of Mac over a year back and I will never ever ever ever ever go back to the Windows side again.

Just love this interface [Smile]

[Smile]

--------------------
Tony

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 06, 2006 10:10 AM

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I got my first Macintosh in 1987 (Mac SE) and it's been Apple all the way!

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Barry Attwood
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1411
From: Enfield, U.K.
Registered: Aug 2003

posted May 06, 2006 10:42 AM

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They say you learn by your mistakes, but the cost of my hi-spec computer (a year ago that is!), compared to a high street retailer was hard not to go for, so I've had to spend another £92 a year later, but at two third the price of a retail outlet with the same specs, I suppose I shoudn't really grumble too much, but it was excruciating typing in my credit card details for the extra £92!

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Kevin Faulkner
Film God

Posts: 4071
From: Essex UK
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 06, 2006 11:46 AM

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Well thats another £92 richer the Gates empire is [Frown]

[Frown]

I'm certainly well hooked on the Mac now for home use. I have been using them for years in work but am now really enjoying OSX for home use. Its so stable. I am at alst working on stuff for my website and I have got Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Firefox (browser) and Entourage (email) all open at the same time. The Mac hasnt fallen over at all and is still nice and perky [Smile]

[Smile]

Kev.

--------------------
GS1200 Xenon with Elmo 1.0...great combo along with a 16-CL Xenon for that super bright white light.

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Jan Bister
Darth 8mm

Posts: 2629
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted May 06, 2006 01:56 PM

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I got nothing against the Mac, and OSX is certainly great... but you guys are making Windows sound useless altogether. [Eek!]

[Eek!]

I run WinXP Pro on a home-built system on surge protectors and a battery backup... it's stable as a rock and always on, 24/7, non-stop for the past 3 years. Yes, I too can run Mozilla, Winamp (music/video player), Trillian (chat software) and Folding@home from Stanford University all at the same time, [Wink]

[Wink]

My current uptime is 19 days, 11 hours and 18 minutes as of writing this post, and that's nowhere near my record uptime (somewhere around 8 weeks). It's only because I am occasionally asked to reboot after installing some hotfixes that the uptime is ever reset to zero. What else, it's set up to make a complete image of the system drive to a secondary drive every Friday before I get home from work which means I'm disaster-proof... well, my whole point is that Windows can work beautifully... (and I am proud of my computer) - that said, Apple's new Intel-based Macs are shaping up to be very impressive indeed, last but not least for their ability to dual-boot Windows and Mac OSes and have access to the best from both worlds.

Has anyone ever had a Commodore Amiga, btw? Now THAT was an incredible machine. (Still have mine in the closet.)

[Smile]

[Smile]

--------------------
Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 06, 2006 02:40 PM

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Jan,

No offense meant to Windows users! My wife uses XP on her HP tablet and my son prefers Windows (more games!). I'm sure in certain quarters Mac vs. Windows inspires almost as much emotion as DVD vs. Film!

Doug

--------------------
I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Jan Bister
Darth 8mm

Posts: 2629
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted May 06, 2006 03:47 PM

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Do you mean to say that Windows is much more work, based on crusty old technologies, yet a lot more rewarding and enjoyable? [Big Grin]

[Big Grin]

(And, no offense to any of you cine enthusiasts, just kidding - after all I'm one, too!) [Smile]

[Smile]

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Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*

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Michael De Angelis
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1261
From: USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted May 06, 2006 10:22 PM

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Ooooooh!

Big Brother (Windows) is watching you [Eek!]

[Eek!]

Jan, glad to hear that your home IBM based PC is free
of disturbances. You are one of many that have
the Windows PC 'OS' licked.

But for the most part, when the IBM based machines
go down, they can be very time consuming to get back
on track.

Dell laptops have caused many people grief,
and Dell's customer tech service in in Delhi, India.

So if you don't get the proper response and help,
it is best to casually request the phone tech's
badge number.

They will freak out.

The new GX 680 models are 'thin', and have
caused us some problems at work.

It seemed that the Windows 98 SE, was more
reliable.

Apple has a unique way of placing features
into their OS, and then later removing them, and
then placing them back again as a new incarnation.

It is all to keep the public on their toes to purchase
a new workstation frequently.

If I hear once again, - Oh, my machine is too slow-
I think I will want to kill myself.

Michael

--------------------
Isn't it great that we can all communicate about this great
hobby that we love!

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Kevin Faulkner
Film God

Posts: 4071
From: Essex UK
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 07, 2006 04:56 AM

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Michael, I also hear that at work all too often. "My machine is too slow....I need a new one!"
Once the machine has been defragged and all the dross is removed they of course speed right up again.
Yes Win 98SE was very stable but Win ME was the real pits it just got slower by the day until it eventually just fell over. XP is great if you know exactly what your doing with it and take some of the Microsoft "Big Brother" out of it. What will Vista bring?
Mac OSX...well it just goes on & on & on..............

Kev.

--------------------
GS1200 Xenon with Elmo 1.0...great combo along with a 16-CL Xenon for that super bright white light.

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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004

posted May 07, 2006 05:15 AM

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I've been around Macs since the late eighties. Indeed, they don't crash often but they do crash and it can sometimes be really bad. I've also had a PC, and not a cheap one, for the last 4 years. 46 months without a glitch and then, everything went wrong. I'm glad that 100% of my work these days is done on a Mac.

--------------------
The Grindcave Cinema Website

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Michael De Angelis
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1261
From: USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted May 07, 2006 01:21 PM

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Kev & Jean-Marc,

Oh yes the dreaded ME [Eek!]

[Eek!]

What will Vista Bring? ? ?
Frankly, I'm afraid to ask.

I have been running OSX Jaguar, and hope to
Upgrade to Tiger soon.

I have had a few crashes with OSX, but nothing very serious.
Since using it, I have found that it is best to keep the
Computer Desk top free and uncluttered.
I have since taken all of Documents, Files,
Picts, and have sorted them into their appropriate
place under the 'GO' Menu, in the Home Folder.

If a problem arises: I open Disk Utility and run Disk First Aid,
to repair the Permissions.
If that fails, I defrag the drive with Disc Warrior v.3.0.3 or Tech Tools Pro 4.

Michael

--------------------
Isn't it great that we can all communicate about this great
hobby that we love!

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Jan Bister
Darth 8mm

Posts: 2629
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted May 07, 2006 01:50 PM

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Vista? Well, it's built on Windows Server 2003 which supposedly means Vista will be much more secure than even Windows XP. Needless to say, Microsoft's security record is very much questionable although they have improved a lot as of late. Some say that Vista will otherwise be little more than eyecandy, with its hardware-accelerated 3D "Aero Glass" interface. Other improvements, such as systemwide index search and a new filesystem, may simply not matter to most users - even power users like me - and often are already available for XP as additional downloads, sometimes from Microsoft but largely from third parties as well.

Personally I'm not terribly excited about Vista. They claim it's the biggest "evolutionary jump" since going from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 but I just don't see it.

Even as a hardcore XP user, I'm more excited about Apple's Intel-based PCs and their new Boot Camp dual-boot manager. [Smile]

[Smile]

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Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*

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Kevin Faulkner
Film God

Posts: 4071
From: Essex UK
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 07, 2006 05:10 PM

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Michael go for Tiger it's really cool and runs so smoothly. Why not just do an upgrade. Tiger doesnt contain classic so if you do clean install like I did then make sure you keep a copy of your old classic system and apps folder. You can just put these back on your hard disc after and Tiger will find them and use them.

Jan, I thought that XP and server 2003 were the brother and sister of the 2 OS's and that Vista was a complete new build. As for Apples intel machines...I wouldnt go there at the moment. They are having problems with running existing products such as the Adobe stuff. Adobe are now writing a new suite of software for these machines and their version os OSX. But why would anyone want to run the dreaded windows stuff on a Mac anyway?

Kev.

--------------------
GS1200 Xenon with Elmo 1.0...great combo along with a 16-CL Xenon for that super bright white light.

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Carlos Plaza
Junior
Posts: 22
From: Setauket, NY USA
Registered: Mar 2006

posted May 11, 2006 09:12 AM

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My experience with both platforms, is that, when running with software (unless you have a badly written application) both systems seem to work OK most of the time. BUT...in specialized hardware environments, with 24+ channel recording (ala ProTools) or high def video editing cards (Avid, DecLink, etc.) both platforms can be funky. I have experienced XP hanging and slowing down, requiring a restart or cold bootand even sometimes reinstalling drivers. I have experienced OSX having extensions (Mac's word for drivers) disappear, which may also require reinstallation. For both sides, it is not a perfect world.

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Jan Bister
Darth 8mm

Posts: 2629
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted May 11, 2006 09:22 AM

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To be fair, both XP and the Mac OS depend on drivers written by third parties to support whatever hardware you install/connect... and often it's the drivers rather than the OS itself going haywire and messing things up. For sound recording in particular, advanced soundcards with well-supported ASIO drivers (for WinXP) are a good idea. [Smile]

[Smile]

(ASIO drivers are special low-latency drivers allowing response times of 2ms or less, unlike the standard DirectSound drivers which are more in the 50-100ms range.)

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Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*

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