Computer online.

[Bluemage]

I recently (a week ago) had my desktop decide to die in two different ways. It was giving me grief for a month before that, refusing to start for the first
few (1-12) attempts, but a bit of poking would get it to fire up, and it ran well enough when it was up.

A few days before it died, it began failing to POST, giving me a speaker error code. The code said that no video card was detected... which I knew was bogus,
as my GTX 280 worked just fine when the PC started. I started leaving it on Standby overnight, to minimize the number of times I'd have to start it.

The day before it died, I got hit hard with viruses. I'm still not sure what got me, but the computer did some awful strange things. At one point, I
rattled off a phrase into Google, and it searched backwards. Yeah. So, I moved all essential files off my C
partition (I have 4 other partitions, including 3 other drives), nuked it, and reinstalled XP. As I was bringing it up from a restart (reinstalling drivers),
it decided to die, and none of my poking/prodding was bringing it back up.

It's now working, one week, a new motherboard, and 1.5 days of effort later. The funny part is that, as I was buttoning up the case, I realized that the
reason it wasn't starting wasn't because of the mobo's PCI-E port dying (as I thought), but because the graphics card wasn't properly seated in
the mobo- a quirk in my case made it possible to either seat it properly, or secure it properly. With some... unorthodox efforts (longer screws, different
holes, and big washers), I did both this time. Still, I bought a replacement part I didn't actually need.

Over the last 8 hours, I have almost all my programs reinstalled and running properly. I've expanded my anti-virus/anti-spyware setup (which was screwed
up by WSU's mandatory Symantec install before the reformat), and upgraded everything that had a new release since 2007, when I last reinstalled Windows.

All that's left is to fix my 40-50 game shortcuts that, because the new XP install rearranged my drive letters, don't point to the right places. After
that, I have three more programs to install, about 270GB of personal files (including >40k music files) to organize and comb for redundancies, and several
thousand browser bookmarks to do the same to.

My baby's back up and running, though, and that makes it all worth it.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Wiregeek]

Welcome back!

I'm looking forward to this when I finally decide to go Core i7, really, I am.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

[Bluemage]

I never left- I just had to pull out one of my backup computers. I own five PCs, three of which are at least somewhat net-capable.

Still, going from XP on a 3Ghz Dual-core, 4GB RAM, GTX 280 to Vista on a 2.2Ghz budget dual-core, 1GB RAM, integrated card laptop is unpleasant, to say the
least. It's good to be back on Armisael, instead of Mephistopheles.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Wiregeek]

I hear that. Worst-case scenario, if the core2 duo machine I'm on right now (Pandora) 'shits the bit stick', I can drag Tarkin out of the garage,
or pull The Work Laptop out..

neither of which provides a decent gaming scenario.

so, yes, welcome back 8 )
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

[Bluemage]

Update: Today, it decided (for kicks and giggles) to die again!

I tracked the problem down to one of my RAM sticks, which had liberated itself from its heat spreader, and refuses to function. Now, I'm stuck with 2GB of
RAM for the next week, because my dual-channel setup will POST, load Windows, pause before bringing up the login screen, and then go back to POSTing in an
infinite loop if I try to run on all 3 working 1GB sticks.

(By the way, have you ever tried to remove a RAM stick that's conveniently located behind a GPU brace (2'' wide strut running up the length of the
case)? It's not fun.)

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Sofaspud]

Y'know, I consider myself a tech-savvy kinda guy. Been building my own PCs for decades at this point. Done it professionally, too.

What you have going on there is bad mojo, man.

Seriously, break out the dead chickens, sacrifice a Mac, something.

(These days I'm running on a machine courtesy of Wiregeek Labs LLC, and it its bitchin' unto the nth degree. Thanks again, Wire! )

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

[paladindythe]

I'm actually surprised you're not running with Windows 7 RC on a system (or two). I've had very, very few issues with it.

I'm beginning to wonder if you have adequate ventilation. It seems like heat may be an issue in your case. Or is it merely parts failing in dramatic ways
all over the place, because they are Made in Taiwan?

[Rod.H]

Update: Today, it decided (for kicks and giggles) to die again!
I tracked the problem down to one of my RAM sticks, which had liberated itself from its heat spreader, and refuses to function.  Now, I'm stuck with 2GB of RAM for the next week, because my dual-channel setup will POST, load Windows, pause before bringing up the login screen, and then go back to POSTing in an infinite loop if I try to run on all 3 working 1GB sticks.

Odd. XP I believe will run on 3x1GB, of cause that's with dual-channel off. I've never thought of testing that as I only have ever run 2x1GB dual-channel, with varying speed sticks. Now featuring OCZ DDR2 PC2-9600 Reaper HPC Edition sticks

(By the way, have you ever tried to remove a RAM stick that's conveniently located behind a GPU brace (2'' wide strut running up the length of the case)?  It's not fun.)

No, but I've had to do so with sticks hiding under a power supply or in the gap of powersupply & drive blocks or with one end hard up against the graphics card...... I didn't think there is an aftermarket case with a non-removable GPU brace. Hey is your main desktop a Dell XPS?

--Rod.H

[Bluemage]

To address everything people have said in the last few posts:

-I just got XP reinstalled and a massive collection of programs put on, so my software situation is just the way I like it. I'm not about to get rid of it
to install Win7, reinstall it again to get a dual-boot set up, and then have to deal with the complications of trying to upgrade the RC to a full version when
the time comes. I am interested in Win7, but it's not worth the hassle.

-As for ventilation, I live in a house with central air, so it never gets too hot. My room is ~5 degrees warmer than the rest of the house (guess why), but
that translates out to 70-75 degrees year-round. There's at least a foot of free space behind my case, plenty of space in front, I semi-regularly
air-blast dust out of my case, and the case itself has 6 120mm fans in it. I'm fairly sure heat isn't an issue. Heck, the first version of this rig
got hotter playing Oblivion than this one gets with Crysis.

-The RAM is about 2 years old. It's four sticks of this, originally purchased
~2 years ago. I have a hard drive and a sound card in it that are 4 years old, and they still work fine.

-I probably could get dual-channel turned off, but it's not worth the effort right now. As it is, I'll just get my replacement stick in a week, pop it
and the working 1GB I removed in, and be back to 100%. I don't plan on doing anything tougher than SotS or emulating my N64 and PS games (because I like
save states), so I don't need it right now.

-It's not a Dell of any sort. This is a custom PC that I bought in 2006, and have since rebuilt several times. The only original parts from that PC still
remaining are the hard drive (now disk 2 of 3 installed) and sound card. I keep it in [url=]this case[/url], a Lian Li full-tower. The brace is removable,
but due to where the PC sits (and how friggin' heavy it is), the amount of work that'd take is actually more than the work I put in trying to work
around it.

The system has been stable since the RAM issue, so it shouldn't be a problem once I get the replacement in. It's been a very good rig, really- this
was just one piece of hardware dying, a jury-rig I made the last time I put it together working itself apart, and three years of heavy usage without sufficient
security coming back to haunt me, all at once.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Black Aeronaut]

Bluemage - the jump from XP to Win7 isn't really a painful one. For certain, there are programs that for XP that aren't compatible with 7, but
that's usually because they're either old as dirt or are so cheap that it goes beyond indie programming. Other programs have compatability issues
simply because Windows 7 doesn't play by certain rules anymore. One example of this is that both virtual cd/dvd drive mounting softwares I've used on
XP don't work on 7 (Deamon Tools and Magic Disk). No big loss there, however, as both were quirky at best on XP.

Anyhow, my recomendation is this:

Research your current line-up of programs. Anything that offers a 64-bit solution will be supported in Windows 7, no questions asked. XP has no 64-Bit support
unless you're using the rarely seen 64-Bit edition, ergo all 64-Bit Windows Apps are built for Vista, which is what 7 is based on. For those that
don't, you might need to find a replacement. Note that I said 'might'. 7 is pretty forgiving compared to Vista and whatever you have in there might
work. Just to be safe, though, do a bit of shopping around prior to the big switch.

Next, have all your installation files on hand. I keep afolder on my big 1TB external labeled "Archives" where I keep such a stash. Much more handy
than an actual back-up image in some ways.

Now, just to be safe, go ahead and back-up your system data and make an recovery image of your Windows partition on an external hard drive. This will save you
some trouble later on, because...

Step Four: nuke your XP partition and install Windows 7. IIRC, you said you have your documents on a seperate partition, yes? Smart man! Windows 7 will work
with you on that. It just takes a minute or two of fiddling with your library folders so they point to the appropriate folders on your documents partition.

Rather nice feature, the Libraries folder - allows you to link your document files to a common folder so they appear to be in the same place. Bonus points for
being able to designate a default 'Save To' folder for each library and being able to nix or add libraries as you see fit (defaults are Documents,
Music, Pictures, and Video libraries). I know it seems a bit troublesome, but I think it's a worthwhile thing once you get the hang of it.

If Windows 7 doesn't work out for you, then you should still have that back-up you made, right? Good. Nuke 7, reinstall and restoer XP - you're back
to the way you were before.

Believe me, I have been a rabid opponent of Vista, but Windows 7 is definitely worth a shot. It makes Vista look like a slug and is generally far more
pleasant to use, even if you hate the taskbar-reminiscent-of-Macintosh.

[Bluemage]

Thank you for the advice, blackaeronaut. I already knew how I'd go about the upgrade (having done similar tasks before), but the insight into Win7
compatibility was good to have. If anything, though, it convinced me to delay getting Win7 even more. Confused?

Let's just say that every compatibility issue you've brought up is more than a minor hurdle to me. I use Daemon Tools (which I've never had a
problem with- never- in ~7 years of use) and Magic Disk both on a near-daily basis. Losing those programs would be a
major blow.

Second, you mentioned that some programs aren't compatible because they're "old as dirt". I'm an avid retro-gamer. I play the original
X-COM every few months, just beat Kings' Quest 6 for the first time, have been meaning to finally beat Simon the Sorcerer, and play Doom nearly every week.
I still have my original install disk for Rebel Assault. Old games are one of my favorite things to collect and play. XP can play anything (except
MechWarrior 4 and the Journeyman Project) I want to play. Vista... well, I still can't get X-COM to work in any decent form, and Alpha Centauri won't
even start. I hold no hopes of Win7 being better- if anything, it'll be much worse.

I haven't gone to 64-bit for much the same reason. Most 16-bit programs are literally incapable of running there, and I have a ton of those.

Win7 doesn't have anything to offer me to make up for this, either. Vista's looks? I have my XP set up to look like that already. Faster than Vista?
XP already is. DirectX 10? They might as well call it DirectX 9.1- it doesn't do anything really noticeable that I can see. Libraries? I have my own
storage scheme I use- it does everything I need it to, confuses everybody else, and forces me to know what I have where, which I see as a bonus, since it makes
me think. One of the things I made a point of doing with the recent wipe was updating my "Utilities and System" folder- my equivalent to your
"Archives". Better search functions? I barely use what XP has, and usually kill the search-indexing processes to save memory. Touch-screen
support? Don't make me laugh. The new toolbar? I don't even use the XP one- I still use the Classic toolbar, which Win7 doesn't have.
Compatibility with Vista-only games? Maybe this will convince me eventually, but at the moment, the only game I know of on the list is Halo 2, which I
don't like.

Given all that, why would I go to the effort of nuking the fresh XP install I just finished setting up, only to find that it won't do what I want, and be
forced to nuke it again and reinstall XP? When Win7 comes out, I'll add more RAM to my laptop, Mephistopheles (named because it came with Vista and
doesn't have XP drivers available for its snazzier features (like the DVD remote and touch-panel volume control, making its continued XP-free existence a
devil's bargain for me), and upgrade it to Win7. Until then, it's not worth my time.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[firvulag]

Have you tried DosBox to get your games running Bluemage? I can confirm it works under the
32 bit version of XP Pro, and according to their compatibility page X-COM is supposed to work. I've only tried it with Crusader and it runs nicely except
for the video, but I may have screwed up the install.

--

"It was half way to Rivendell when the drugs began to take hold"

Hunter S Tolkien "Fear and Loathing in Barad Dur"

[Bluemage]

X-COM works fine under XP- especially since I have the (XP-compatible) Gold Edition. Said Gold Edition doesn't work under Vista, which is the problem-
there are a bunch of game tweaks I use that I only have for the Gold version.

I already use Dosbox for some of my really old games. It's really fussy (good luck getting the CD version of Star
Trek: Judgment Rites to even run), but it works.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Black Aeronaut]

This might work for you then... I've heard that Microsoft offers an additional free addy to Win7 - an XP VM that blends all-but-seemlessly into the
operating system - meaning you can shunt and shuffle files between the two like it was the same OS. I can't provide any of the details ATM, nor can I
provide any links, but I'll see what I can dig up later. I will say this - I've heard from the blogs of the professionals that used it that they were
pleasantly surprised at this little tidbit that Microsoft produced and that while it's not perfect (what VMware solution is?) it's close enough for
them to work with.

[Bluemage]

...this has potential. Quite a bit of potential. I'll have to do a bit more research, but if this can handle my games like XP can, it would actually make
Windows 7 worth having.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Bluemage]

So my replacement RAM came in today.

It was the wrong type. Close to what I needed (1GB DDR2800 from the correct manufacturer), but the wrong product number, and no heat spreader.

Apparently Google Product Search thinks that this and the product I wanted are the same thing, despite the differences between the two. I'm beginning to
agree that this is bad mojo.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Bluemage]

Got second stick of replacement RAM today. Installed it. The computer fired up fine, so I brought Firefox up and... couldn't go online!?

Apparently, reinstalling my RAM convinced my new mobo that my Ethernet port wouldn't work, regardless of how I reinstalled the drivers, or how much other
assorted malarkey I did in Device Manager.

The last 4.25 hours were spent reinstalling my old mobo, restoring its drivers, and finding out that I had apparently never properly set up my RAM timings.
The computer's running again, though- let's hope it stays running without any more problems *knocks on wood*.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[Black Aeronaut]

Sheesh... And I thought Toshiba being jerk-offs about the video drivers for their laptops was bad...

[Bluemage]

Welp, we just had a short power blackout around here, and it gave my PC, which I've been leaving active or on standby for the last few weeks because of
some startup problems, a hard shutdown. At first, it wouldn't POST- gave me a beep code which could either mean "Memory error", or
"Graphics failure".

Since my shiny GTX 280 is barely a year young, I was fairly sure it was the RAM. I replaced two of my four 1GB sticks earlier in the thread, so I assumed it
was the two remaining originals. I took the first out of slot 1, and swapped a replacement out of slot 4. It fired up, POSTed, but then froze at the BIOS
logo screen, or at a RAID driver message that you don't see in a working startup. (Note: these issues were one of two of the "startup problems"
referenced above; the third was a tendency to BSoD and restart 3-15 seconds after restart.)

So I took the other original stick out of slot 2, and swapped the other new one out of slot 3 to replace it. It POSTed, and let me into the BIOS, which it
wouldn't do before. Saved, restarted, and it came right up into Windows.

Replacements are already on order, but I'm stuck on 2GB of RAM until then. And I was so looking forward to playing Borderlands tomorrow...

I should be back to 100% in time for Ninja Blade, though, so that's not so bad.

---

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.

[ECSNorway]

blackaeronaut wrote:

---

Sheesh... And I thought Toshiba being jerk-offs about the video drivers for their laptops was bad...

What, you mean the whole "No, you can't install the video card manufacturer's drivers, you have to use ours that never get updated" crap?
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Black Aeronaut]

ECSNorway wrote:

---

blackaeronaut wrote:

---

Sheesh... And I thought Toshiba being jerk-offs about the video drivers for their laptops was bad...

What, you mean the whole "No, you can't install the video card manufacturer's drivers, you have to use ours that never get updated" crap?

Yeah, that'd be it. Thank God Windows 7 supports the hardware without any extra downloads.