Month: February 2009

I am really annoyed that I am going to have to fill the task bar with icons to get even close to the way I used to organize access to the many applications and utilities that I use daily. It will look untidy. I will no longer be able to organize my start menu into genres that only show the application start icons. I do not like the fact that, in order to benefit from more security stability and speed, I have to entirely give up my way of working because somebody has had a vision. I do not like … Continue reading Windows 7 – What I do not like..

When you first get your new computer home, assuming that it is reasonably specified, it should almost burst into life. A computer with only Windows installed should see the ‘blue torpedo’ pass maybe three times before releasing the Welcome screen. The notification area, system tray, the bit by the clock (call it what you will) should have very little in it. In itself, this is not exactly a bad thing, so do not get too paranoid just yet. A great way to see what is installed on the computer is to open Control Panel, and then negotiate your way to … Continue reading Slow machines.. Software issues

What has happened to the concept of respecting your customers? How do the CEO’s of major stores and direct sellers sleep at night knowing full well that their company has sold underpowered junk to ‘would be’ computer users who do not have $$$$$ to spend? Oh, of course.. the end of year balance sheets.. How do major OEMs and direct sellers sleep at night knowing full well that they have sold underpowered junk to ‘would be’ computer users who do not have $$$$$ to spend? Oh, of course.. the end of year balance sheets.. Any XP desktop with onboard video  … Continue reading Slow machines.. Hardware issues

Benchmarks.. a exercise in futility? For those of you who just love numbers, here are the ‘read’ results of running HD Tune Pro on my hard drives. What they essentially show is that a large SATA II drive with a cache twice the size of smaller drives has a better transfer rate. Pretty cool, eh, but nothing that wasn’t known publicly.     320gb SATA II 160gb SATA II 80gb ATA/IDE 80gb USB Ext. Minimum 53.0 34.0 32.7 25.0 Maximum 112.1 73.2 56.3 30.6 Average 87.7 59.1 49.4 27.9           Access time 16.2 20.6 13.8 14.6 … Continue reading Hard drives.. In My Opinion

An error message when I tried to uninstall the Beta version.. not a good start. I should have been prepared for what followed. Second attempt to uninstall the Beta worked well enough. I had already downloaded the SP2 RC Wave 0, so all that was needed was a double click. Experience with the beta lead me to believe that all would be well in maybe 40 minutes. Oh yeah!! Forty minutes passed, as did one, two, three, four hours, and still the red activity LED is working overtime. The only saving grace is that I did not have to disconnect … Continue reading Vista SP2 RC..

There was a time when the only limit on how much memory could be installed in your computer was down to the size of your salary. The top module is of the 30 pin type and you could get silver or gold contacts. It could make a difference. The 72 pin module below it was not always a straight 72. In some cases it was 70 + 2. IBM MCA architecture machines used the + 2 pins to communicate the type and size to the computer, and they would not work in other makes which required the more standard 72 … Continue reading Memory.. a reason to upgrade, a reason to cry

If you haven’t heard of Ashampoo, the company is probably most famous for sending out e-mails offering cheap CD/DVD authoring software. I subscribe to their ‘service’ letter primarily as a check to ensure that one of my mail accounts is still working. I don’t need to buy their software because, in the past, new optical drives have always had bundled Ahead Nero or Cyberlink products included. Just recently, Ashampoo have been branching out into other utilities, and their latest is ‘DriverScanner’. Have you ever used a driver scanner? PCPitstop have one, as does ‘Driver-Guide’. I am always open to trying … Continue reading Ashampoo, Ashampoo, we all fall down..

Having run the the latest batch of Windows Vista updates three times only to see the system reverting to previous configuration, it was slowly dawning on me that something was missing. I had received updates for all kinds of things, but no actual SP2 update. In all honesty, I am not a fan of receiving major updates via Windows Update, so I went looking and came up with an official Vista SP2 beta standalone update. I didn’t time it exactly, but I would say that it installed in maybe 30-40 minutes to a point where I could use the computer … Continue reading Vista SP2 beta..

Microsoft are clearing up the confusion that was ‘Vista’ versions. Windows 7 Starter is clearly aimed at ‘Netbooks’ and will be supplied only with new machines. Windows 7 Home Premium has a feature set much the same as Vista Home Premium, and will be marketed as the primary OS for home users. Windows 7 Professional essentially takes the place of Vista Business but unlike its predecessor, will include Media center.It is a superset of Home Premium. Windows 7 Ultimate is aimed at the user who wants all that the Professional and Enterprise (volume license) editions have. It is a superset … Continue reading Win 7 Editions..