Month: April 2012

Every now and again, I like to go into Event Viewer to see what Windows is throwing out of the cart. You can always rely on having some errors, warnings etc. and sure enough, I had some. One was a PMEM error. This was simple enough. I removed the vestiges of an old Lotus Organiser 6 installation and the PMEM key from registry. The next was a DHCP error with the integrated NIC. Apparently, the NIC’s IP address was outside of the range set in the router. It wasn’t but I uninstalled the NIC, but didn’t check the box to … Continue reading Event Viewer fun and games..

There will be a mini-deluge of comparisons in a bid to make Windows 8 look better, and the most popular topic will be speed. This is the boot time result from Adrian Kingsley-Hughes’ tests recently.. taken from here.. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/windows-8-consumer-preview-vs-windows-7-benchmarked/19927 OK.. using Bootracer, just as AKH did, here are my results. First, Windows 8 This was to the Windows 8 desktop, and it must be noted that ViStart was blocked, and had to be started separately. It took a further 8 seconds before the ‘full’ desktop opened ready for use. Also note that Windows 8 is NOT running all of the … Continue reading Windows 7 vs. Windows 8

I was answering a query today about the transition from XP/Office XP to Windows 7/Office 2010. The OP asked why home users never get the chance to voice concerns re features that are going to appear in the latest and greatest Microsoft software. A good question.. notwithstanding the fact that Windows 8 was released recently under the ‘Consumer Preview’ tag, and that 8 million or so downloaded it, how would the average user get to try it out? Assuming that 180 million is the total of all Windows users, and removing two thirds of that number to account for business … Continue reading Consumers are left out in the cold..

I was an early adopter, well maybe just an early subscriber, but this offer is too good to miss.. A free upgrade from the original 7gb storage to 25gb.. http://vasudevg.blogspot.ca/2012/04/how-to-upgrade-existing-skydrive.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Also, get Skydrive for Windows here.. https://apps.live.com/skydrive/app/9a65e47d-606a-4816-a246-90f54bf7a3ea  And you thought that I was too old to accept change? Pah..

I am by no means a full time astronomer but when I am out on my balcony at night, puffing away on my cigarette brand of choice, I like to look at the night sky. Living on the edge of a city, I can’t see too many stars, but it is nice to be able to find out which ones I can see, and to be able to tell the difference between real stars, roving satellites and airplanes and the Ornge emergency helicopter service. I used to have this program running on XP and Vista, and it is a great … Continue reading Star struck for Windows 8

So will Windows 8 be able to handle movies? Not with Media Center, it won’t. The Home version doesn’t appear to be getting it, and users with 8 Pro will maybe have to pay for it. It is certainly no great loss for me. I have only ever watched one movie on my computer and that was via Windows Media Player. I have a large TV not too far from where I sit now that is excellent for movie watching. Windows Media Center.. Wasn’t it meant to be the control centre for home entertainment? I seem to remember a host … Continue reading No Media Center?

The ‘dock’ Yes, that nasty popup thing that gets in the way of everything. Even if you set it to ‘autohide’ it still pops up like a crazed gopher each time that you go near to it.. http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/five-free-docks-to-enhance-your-windows-7-desktop/6355080 So how is this atrocity of coding better than an XP fully customizable Start Menu? There was a time when computer users were asking ‘how do I get rid of this thing?’ Maybe, when facing a operating system which has no Start Menu, it will not seem so bad after all. Maybe if Microsoft had made it easier or even less of … Continue reading So, what is ‘trending’ today?

Well, I have now made a better and more permanent fixing point for the ground/earth cable. Using a 3/32 twist bit, I sank a hole roughly below the power switch. This ensured that the cable would not be a problem to tighten down and that , in the event that the cover ever had to be removed again, there would be enough ‘play’ such that it would damage the connections on the board to which it is attached. I have tried to ‘short out’ the USB ports since I made the change and I can’t make the computer shut down. … Continue reading CoolerMaster CM690 II – Revised fixing point for the ground cable..

XP gets support until 2014 As of 10 April 2012, Vista gets a reprieve and will now get security updates up to April 2017 Windows 7 gets support until 2020 Windows 8 will be most likely be out later this year and will get support until 2022/3 If Windows 8 does as well as Vista, and it’s by no means written in stone that it will/won’t, Microsoft could well be doing support for FIVE operating systems before XP support runs out in 2014. Personally, I find that prospect quite funny. Am I being mean? No, not at all. Along with … Continue reading That’s a lot of Windows support, eh

Did you know that an ISA video card, e.g. the old Trident cards from the early days, can put up a display on a screen which enables you to recover from a corrupted BIOS. The only problem is the complete and utter lack of an ISA slot in today’s PCs. And you thought they were just junk? PCI VGA is detected by any system, but it will do nothing to help recover from a serious BIOS fault as ISA could do. A Microsoft serial mouse from the same period and a 5 pin DIN standard keyboard will give you mouse … Continue reading AHCI can be a real pain