Topic: computer problems ( pulling sticks)

[unclejpl4x4]

So who else has win7 and have you had any problems?

I keep getting the Blue screen ,sometimes it will just restart for no  reason.  some times it will just lock up.

I have tried different drivers    im ready to shoot this POS.

now i got finger out where the blue screen log is stored
  

[V-Man]

So who else has win7 and have you had any problems?

I keep getting the Blue screen ,sometimes it will just restart for no  reason.  some times it will just lock up.

I have tried different drivers    im ready to shoot this POS.

now i got finger out where the blue screen log is stored
   

   That's why I sent you the Ubuntu Linux Joe.  Just do all the "UPDATES"  for 9.04 before you do the upgrade to 9.10...

That way you will not miss any of the little fixes in 9.04 and have problems with the 9.10 after you upgrade...10.0 is due out in April, and guess what....it's all FREE.  You got any question PM and I'll give you me number...

[Plekto]

Feh.  Ignore the Ubuntu crowd and get Ubuntu+ instead (known as Mint Linux).  This works virtually the same but comes packaged with the multimedia and sound and other drivers ready to go.  For someone transitioning from Windows, it's perhaps the easiest solution that I know of.

Yes, there is a learning curve (which you had with Windows as well), but the ability to track down and fix anything that is wrong and once it's fixed it stays that way is huge.  After a few weeks of tweaking, most Linux boxes are as stable as a refrigerator.  They really become cahs-register reliable.

[Dingman.]

My new work computer has windows 7 on it. and i haven't had a problem with it.

I like it MUCH better than vista's which is what i have on the home computer..

[Wermz84]

Windows 7 is the most stable thing MS has put out in a long time, and I even Hate the Evil Empire so that is huge for me to say?
Did you do an upgrade (Never do them) or a clean install?




Of all the Linux distro's Ubuntu is the most user friendly, but it still has it's problems.   People who are converting to linux definatlely have to "want" to do that.  The Karmic Koala edition (9.10) has some nice features but they did some really stupid stuff in that release.  Like not being able to hide the list of all users on a machine at login is a huge security risk.  We'll see if they fix it.


I'm still running Hardy Heron on my main machine.

[unclejpl4x4 [OP]]

i just reinstalled win 7  after linux failed to install   so far no problem  i stll hate it

[b0x]

W7 is a great OS.  Like Wermz84 said "Did you do a clean install?" I would look at your hardware. You may be having an issue that unrelated to a windows caused issue. Also, Is your comp able to upgrade to W7?

By the way what is the BSOD code your getting?

Cheers

[Plekto]

The requirements and bloat are downright silly, though.  Most of us need a whole new box to run W7.  I like Mint because it is Ubuntu with window dressing and all the goodies you'd normally have to install anyways(sound and video drivers, mp3 player, flash, and so on) and a dev team(two guys really) that really listens to suggestions.  The idea was a ready-to surf the web version of Ubuntu.  And it really makes most of the headaches go away for first time users.

http://www.linuxmint.com/

It's also very fast and everything is snappy and instant on a modern machine. It feels 4-5 times faster than W7 most of the time.  Plus there's no DRM or other idiocy running behind the scenes.  No firewall or Virus issues either, since once locked down there are no back doors or zero-day exploits.  The more I play with it and experiment with it, the more impressed I am with it.   

[V-Man]

i just reinstalled win 7  after linux failed to install   so far no problem  i stll hate it

   Why couldn't you install the Linux Joe?   What kind of problems did you have? Just ask and i'll PM you my number..

[unclejpl4x4 [OP]]

comp is farked as soon as it boots it locks up   im at a loss  even in fix it mod it locks up.   im at the piont of geting a HD  and go from thare   

[V-Man]

comp is farked as soon as it boots it locks up   im at a loss  even in fix it mod it locks up.   im at the piont of geting a HD  and go from thare   

  It locks up when you try to install linux or boot Windows?

Try setting the bios back to the default.

[Magnusian]

I have two desktops running Win 7 and one laptop running Win Vista, have yet to have ANY issues with Win 7 but I do get the occasional bluescreen on my laptop with Vista, but that's due to bad ram. I also run several Red Hat enterprise servers (which I hate, because the software running on the servers REQUIRES Red Hat 4 to work without hassle), and a few FreeBSD machines (web server, shell server, router, spare desktop).

Avoid anything GNU/Linux ("Linux"), this means Ubuntu(rd), Debian (what Ubuntu is based on), Red Hat, Arch, DSL, etc. They're all crap, especially as a normal person's desktop OS, and you'll never find them to be anywhere near as useful as Windows if you're just an average Joe. Avoid Apple at all costs too, mainly because of the Apple Tax, OSX is a great OS, but if you're anything like the typical Mac user, you will have no idea what the true capabilities of the OS really are. Don't mean to sound like I'm insulting your or anyone else's intelligence, but unless you want to do a lot of learning, screaming, crying, begging, IRCing for help (terrible stuff), reinstalling, fixing, banging-your-head-against-your-desk-because-someone-didn't-update-dependencies-for-mission-critical-software, etc. *nix ain't for you.

If you -really- want to get into the *nix thing despite my attempts at talking you out of it, try PC-BSD, it blows the socks off of Ubuntu when it comes to true new-user friendliness. Their website is also top-notch and geared towards helping people migrate over to it. I don't use it myself, but it is based off my favourite UNIX, which is FreeBSD (if OSX can be called a true UNIX, then any *BSD oughta be too, FBSD is OSX's other daddy). Those I know who do use it enjoy it, and you would learn a lot about how to actually use any *nix system with this as a first *nix.

That said, if you really want something truly spectacular, give OpenSolaris a look over once you're more familiar with the whole *nix thing, it's a great little UNIX that actually makes for a wonderful desktop experience. However, I still find that Microsoft offers the superior desktop OS. You gotta keep in mind that any OS is a tool, and some tools are better are some things than others and vice versa. I'd never use Windows (or even Windows Server) as anything more than a desktop OS, it's not good at that, it's good at being the world's best desktop.

/end rant

If you can supply as much info as possible about your issue, I may be able to help you resolve it. From what you've said, I'm going to have to assume that by "getting a HD" you mean that the installer quits right at that point. If you have any hardware experience, I would suggest re-seating the RAM and trying again (skip if you don't know what RAM is, or what it looks like, or what the inside of a computer looks like, or if opening your computer voids it's warranty), if it fails again try a different DVD drive (if you have one). If that doesn't work, or you've had to skip tmy first two suggestions, download a copy of memtest86+ on another computer, burn it to a disc, and then boot it. It'll take awhile to run but once it's done report back.

[kneedownnate]

Avoid anything GNU/Linux ("Linux"), this means Ubuntu(rd), Debian (what Ubuntu is based on), Red Hat, Arch, DSL, etc. They're all crap, especially as a normal person's desktop OS

I'm a computer idiot, but a friend won't run anything but linux on his computer and I get around on it just fine.

If you -really- want to get into the *nix thing

I see this kind of thing all the time and have to wonder if we're seriously so lazy as a society that we can't even be bothered to say linux 

[Plekto]

I don't know - I''ve seen it both ways, though technically the general term is Unix or *ix if talking about multiple branches/variants.  Neither bothers me, though, since all that really matters is knowing what the hell the other person is talking about. (I guess it's living here in L.A. - able to understand is everything - grammar and spelling and so on is a very minor concern)

BSD is very good, but I dislike the black box approach to it as well in that there are parts of the system that are licensed and proprietary.  It's as a result, tons harder to find patches and user made fixes and so on than Linux derivatives, which are almost the opposite.  You log onto a typical forum and they can't hardly stop yammering and tweaking and going on and on about every last detail you never knew you didn't even want to bother with.  One is a treasure hunt and the other is a confetti canon.     But if you DO need a quick fix, you can get the answer in minutes just with a few simple searches.  Often it's literally as simple as applying a user's custom bit of code/configuration settings or a command that you can cut and paste.

That said, BSD *is* more stable and more secure out of the box, and makes for good business setups.  BSD for home use is generally considered to be overkill, though.

For home use, Mint or another similar "enhanced" Linux variant works every bit as well.   You load it up, tweak with it for a couple of hours, and you're viewing youtube, posting in your forums, and reading your email.  It doesn't play games, run fancy PC-only rendering or CAD software, doesn't grok SQL and the like, but it certainly does 98% of the other normal "computer" tasks that typical users want.   Get online, email, watch and listen to stuff, and maybe use a word processor or connect a flash drive or digital camera to it.

[Magnusian]

For the *BSDs it's not very hard at all to get patches for anything. Software updates for example, is something FreeBSD Ports is really great at, it's not only for installing software, but for keeping yourself up to date. Which is why Debian mimics it with APT and Gentoo rips it off with Portage. Updating the system is usually only a few commands and a reboot, though if you know what you are doing you can even upgrade kernels without a system reboot.

And let's not forget the non-*BSD UNIXes, OpenSolaris has a HUGE community, I doubt you'd find anything involved with it to be all that proprietary these days, though with Oracle at the helm, that might change. There's also Darwin, but a lot of the software developed for it is proprietary and requires OSX-only components to work, but it's still pretty good in it's own right.

All that and anyone using any *nix really ought to be on freenode IRC, in their OS's respective channel asking for help if they can't figure out what's wrong. While you will come across a lot of elitists, most of the people in the various channels there are more than willing to help people out, at least in the *BSD channels, we delight in helping new users learn what it means to really use a computer.

I see this kind of thing all the time and have to wonder if we're seriously so lazy as a society that we can't even be bothered to say linux  

Except that I wasn't referring to just Linux, if you're talking about the UNIXes as well as any OS running The Linux Kernel, then *nix is the easiest way to lump together that which shouldn't really be lumped together. You can't really call "Linux" a UNIX not just because it's only a kernel, but because the OS that it is usually used with is "GNU's Not UNIX" (GNU). The closest it gets is "UNIX-Like" in functionality and usage, but they are entirely different animals. It's like calling a platypus a beaver, they might be pretty close in looks and some of what they do, but in the end one's part duck and the other one builds dams. This doesn't even touch on the starkly different design philosophies behind the development of each.

And to anyone who wants to correct me by saying that the *BSDs are only UNIX-Likes as well, I'll have you know that that's just because of SCO's double-standard when it comes to what is a "true UNIX" or not. Look at OSX, it's considered a true UNIX but it's the b*std three-way love child of Darwin, Mach, and FreeBSD.

If anything, I'm sick of the "you should switch to Linux" argument based around the fact that can do what the typical luser needs, that's like buying a $20k professional table saw with joiner and planer attachments just for ripping plywood, when a $1k table saw (Windows) already does the same thing because someone told you it's cuts are accurate to within 0.0000000000000001 degrees, not to mention the 30 extra adjustments you need to make to get such a cut. Windows is by far the easiest OS to use, and due to how many people not only use it, but how many things require it's use, the only one that the non-power user should use, anything else is overkill for their needs. As for security, the only thing that protects my Windows machines is a hardware firewall, I don't run AV or anti-spyware/malware software on my Windows machines, don't have a need. Security has little to do with the OS and more to do with how someone's using it and what they're running on it.

I must apologize for derailing this thread, my original intent was to keep the OP using what he already has and solving his problem instead of throwing random OSes at it until it went away. From past experience this sounds like a potential RAM-related, and if anything his issue should be resolved instead of this thread diving into the depths of argumentative OS fanboyism.

[V-Man]

I must apologize for derailing this thread, my original intent was to keep the OP using what he already has and solving his problem instead of throwing random OSes at it until it went away. From past experience this sounds like a potential RAM-related, and if anything his issue should be resolved instead of this thread diving into the depths of argumentative OS fanboyism.

    This thread started because he was trying to upgrade to Windows 7 and it was causing him nothing but trouble....He asked for a copy of Linux, So I send him A Manual and DVD.    

I Know you are trying to get your post numbers up, but it's counted by the number of posts made...Not by words per rant..  

 You sound almost as bad as the Customer at the coffee shop that went running to the manager because I was not running windows on the laptop, and I was going to "hack" into the internet with Linux..    The customer stopped the manager when he was walking around, and asked why he wasn't worried about me getting on the net and if he was going to stop me.. The Manager looked at him and said " NO It's FREE access"  What did you think he was doing Cracking my server?"


   This was a collage kid taking a "LAW Enforcement course"

Have Fun..

[Plekto]

If anything, I'm sick of the "you should switch to Linux" argument based around the fact that can do what the typical luser needs, that's like buying a $20k professional table saw with joiner and planer attachments just for ripping plywood, when a $1k table saw (Windows) already does the same thing

But that's the rub.  Windows might have been like that with XP after two major patches and about a full decade of debugging/hacking and tweaking by the software developers, but it's the start of a new cycle with Windows.  That means 3-4 years of crashes, glitches, and essentially having the whole planet act as beta-testers.  Plus it's a bloated hog for resources.  There's no rational reason why one should need more memory, a faster CPU, or any of that just to do what can be done with the better dual-core netbooks on XP or BSD/Luinux/etc.  I could go on, but the fact is that there are real reasons why someone thinking of switching should seriously consider alternatives.  Plus, you don't have to pay a dime for most of these alternatives.  

"New Windows 7!  $1000 hardware upgrade and $200 software purchase required *XP to be canceled shortly)
vs
"BSD/Linux - use what you have already. Free. *requires some learning)
I know which I'd chose.  But that last part about requiring some learning seems to scare off everyone.  Sad, really.  Because Microsoft isn't ever going to get better as long as they still hold onto backwards compatibility and draconian control of the OS.

*EDIT*
Law enforcement and law school pinheads are always amusing 

[Magnusian]

You sound almost as bad as the Customer at the coffee shop that went running to the manager because I was not running windows on the laptop, and I was going to "hack" into the internet with Linux..    The customer stopped the manager when he was walking around, and asked why he wasn't worried about me getting on the net and if he was going to stop me.. The Manager looked at him and said " NO It's FREE access"  What did you think he was doing Cracking my server?"

Actually, I've been banned from a coffee shop for almost the same circumstances! I had a shell open to my server at home to check on some things and the manager of the shop came over and told me I was hacking and had to leave when I was doing what to me is akin reading one's email. Of course this was after a time a few months earlier at the same place where I was running airpwn just to see if anyone would notice, apparently goatse was not a pro image choice because the same manager came over and "politely" requested that I stop and leave.

Happened at an Apple store once too, I was using one of the display macbooks to check on the same server and one of their "geeks" powered off the machine and told me to leave because "only hackers use the terminal application." I JUST WANTED TO CHECK MY LOGFILES GEEZE! (btw, postcount doesn't matter to me, I just smell a straw man here, that's why the long posts)

Plekto, I had a nice big wall of text all typed and ready to rebutt you but in the end I doubt I can convince you otherwise on your views. However, I will note that I have a 6 year-old athlon xp machine that runs windows 7 home premium more than adequately with all the bells and whistles, and I survived over a year of Vista on it too. My work machine also cost about $500 to build and runs 7 business, I use this machine for designing analog IC layouts with a CAD package that actually has a Linux port, however the port is 32bit, and runs like crap because it doesn't support multiple cpus.

Then again, my ancient dual PIII Xeon compaq proliant loves FBSD 8.0, not so sure such a beast could handle the latest Windows server (though it did come with 2k3 server standard on it, I swear I nuked that install the moment I got the machine), not willing to try it either. I somehow doubt that most people have computers this old though, I'm sure some do. I was asked to "fix" a 486 running Win 98SE about 2 years ago. They wanted me to upgrade it so it could play the latest games... I felt so bad for the owner that I burned all 420mb of their hdd to a CD, threw out the computer, and gave them a newer one (admittedly, it wasn't a great system, 800MHz PIII but basically the best system I had aside from my laptop and athlon xp main desktop) loaded with XP. I don't know why the non-savvy think they can use the same computer for almost 20 years and expect it to be anywhere near as capable as a modern system, it had an ISA network card complete with BNC connector for crying out loud! In the end I couldn't bring myself to even bother charging them for the work.

Hah! Still had to textwall it, oh well. Be glad I deleted the 4 paragraph rant about XP's inferior memory management compared to Vista and 7. And the two paragraphs on how GNU hasn't seen a major release since 1997 and that all Linux users use a 13 year old OS.

I will agree that the typical user really shouldn't and doesn't need loads of memory or a fast CPU, and that Windows is kinda bloaty, but the fact of the matter is that all OSes experience bloat. Look at the Linux kernel, 2.6.x is ten times the size of 2.0.x kernels! And as for kernels, Windows has a hybrid kernel, which arguably is much safer for the system for the the average non-tech-savvy user to be on since they're not doing everything in kernel mode. I could go on for hours if I let myself, practically have.

e: Why does it seem like I'm the only person who's been using Windows in all it's forms for 20 years without any problems (excepting that trash that was ME, though there are ways of making stable) that were a direct result of the OS and not a hardware failure.

[Plekto]

http://rss.slashdot.org/%7Er/Slashdot/slashdot/%7E3/kVsw8quWIQ0/Microsoft-VP-Suggests-Net-Tax-To-Clean-Computers

This and the "Don't hit F1 while browsing" alert today from Microsoft(apparently XP is just permanently broken and since it's near the end of its life cycle, so what...) - they just... Good luck with Microsoft as your partner in bed.  I'm no longer playing that game of self-abuse.  Last straw, game over.  They can kiss my rear end if they think I'll support taxing me to do what their OS should do by default.

[Magnusian]

I suggest you re-read the link you posted, it was not Windows-specific. Though I definitely think the guy is crazy if he thinks that anyone would be game for having yet another useless tax.

Also, why should Windows have to do stuff by default that nobody else does? Running any *nix does NOT make you safe from malware/viruses/spyware, only safe from stuff made to run on Windows. Sure, there's a lot more of that stuff in the wild for Windows, but that's no excuse for not plugging the gaping security holes in many Linux distros. Ignorance is not a good security policy, especially when a lot of exploit code for *nix machines, and the software that runs on them, is usually a simple Google away. Heck, point out to me any *nix software that is similar to Defender that comes packaged with the OS.

Who cares if XP is broken anyways, it's almost a decade old, most *nix users don't use 10 year old versions of their preferred distro unless it's for very specific reasons. Find a better argument, please. Honestly, Microsoft should've dropped XP support the moment Vista came out anyways, it takes 2 braincells to properly migrate from XP to Vista or 7 problem-free, and if people can't be bothered to do post-install config so they can complain about incompatibilities, that's their problem, not Microsoft's.

Please, try to look at both sides of the issue instead of taking the "M$ 15 3V1L 50 U53 L1NUX" approach.

[Plekto]

My issue is that it is an executive from Microsoft trying to pimp this as a law to pass.  My idea of their company just went down quite a lot.  It already wasn't that great to begin with, I'll be honest.  But this is just wrong thinking.

[unclejpl4x4 [OP]]

well im still dead  i have not messed with it since my last post ,  lots of good reading thx for the replys.

[V-Man]

well im still dead  i have not messed with it since my last post ,  lots of good reading thx for the replys.

  If you won't so far from me Joe I'd offer to drive down and help.  A day's worth of driving is a little too much for me, to come down for a few hours and then turn around and head home.  

    I'll call ya on the phone and try to talk you through it if you like...Although some people think I should just go back to my CP/M and Machine Language days cause I'm not worth to run windows... .


Anyways PM if you want to talk...

[unclejpl4x4 [OP]]

I came up with a theory as to my problem...  my old comp died and i think it was to a STD.
even tho the new comp had updated an working macfee( and could not find a infetion) i belive it was carryed over by the exturnal HD( also scaned and clean) .

I did pick up a new HD but befor i install it for shits and giggles im gonna take the tower over to staples and for 30$ have them stick there fingers in it.

at this piont i got nothing to losse.   

[Plekto]

You might try to reformat the drive completely with a non-Windows partition.  It will nuke everything since the virus won't have any place to possibly hide.  From there, it should be easy to drop Mint or BSD on it for fun and get it working.  Might as well try considering that if that all fails, you're no worse off than being stuck with Windows anyways.

Think of it as an adventure - like getting a new little beater truck to try off-roading in.

[unclejpl4x4 [OP]]

You won't belive this  so im back up and running............ staples did there thing  and was thinking the MB was bad    the tech reseated my ram  and ran the comp for 2 days no problems ........... I did notice one of the sticks is in a diffrent slot.  but so far it's fast and working. 

Man i fell like a

but im still weary on turning windows updates on  think ill back up first

[87pickup]

Im a pc and windows 7 was my idea

[unclejpl4x4 [OP]]

Im a pc and windows 7 was my idea

thx

I still notic when i try to wake it up it gets all squerly and i have to hit the reset butten  but for now i got other things to do ill mess with it later

[Rocksurfer]

Im a pc and windows 7 was my idea

So was Me.....

[unclejpl4x4 [OP]]

well it seems if i wanna use the computer i have to reseat the ram   tiger direct  o wait its sunday