Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread

[aimeeandbeatles]

Well, it certainly runs those stubborn games more smoothly than my other one. And it has a 500 gig WD hard drive, which is a huge plus with me, as I was planning to get one anyways.

 

[lndm]

On an earlier note, The most common alternative to random access is sequential access.

Liquid crystals are delicate and can be snapped if put under pressure. The individual crystals are very small. Old LCD screens had thin glass holding the crystals in place that was also easy to break. I find modern LCDs to be more tolerant of bad treatment.

I think you'll do fine with vista, its teeth are mainly for show. Get into it and you'll be able to make it much more like XP. You'll want to turn off a few services and learn about the hard links to the user files so the access denials won't bother you. The start menu can be set to the classic view if desired.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I found a registry hack that let me take control of folders that refused to delete, without going through command prompt (it was in context menu, should be useful). I'll be looking around a bit for more stuff.

 

[Zelig]

If you don't have control of a folder to delete it, chances are good you shouldn't be deleting it in the first place.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

No, it was actually a folder I copied from my portable drive with the installer for ATI Tray Tools in it. As I don't have an ATI card anymore.

 

[lndm]

Zelig, do you by chance work for microsoft?

 

[Zelig]

Zelig, do you by chance work for microsoft?

No, Mac OS is an awesome multipurpose desktop OS, and various Linux distros excel for various purposes... however, people have far fewer illegitimate complaints about these operating systems than they do about Vista, so I don't get to respond to them as often.

FWIW, I imagine that if I actually worked for MS, I'd have to be less obtuse, and more friendly regarding Vista. All the official MS responses (via press releases, blogs, etc.) to problems with Vista are pretty neutered down, when they could have been calling out a lot of the complaints for being totally baseless.

edit:

And on that theme ():

I think you'll do fine with vista, its teeth are mainly for show. Get into it and you'll be able to make it much more like XP. You'll want to turn off a few services and learn about the hard links to the user files so the access denials won't bother you. The start menu can be set to the classic view if desired.

Really not much point in disabling services, unless the service is doing something you don't want it doing, it's pretty much useless in terms of affecting performance.

Also not sure why you'd want to get rid of the search bar on the start menu, it's magnificent, I can open any program on my PC in about a second by hitting the windows key, hitting a few letters, and hitting enter.

edit2:
Some nice sources re: services, for anyone who's interested:
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/ar...-unnecessary-services-a-word-to-the-wise.aspx
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=34&threadid=1678445&enterthread=y&arctab=y

 

[lndm]

Yes, but I don't like vista indexing my drives so the search is more or less out unless I'm looking for something I've lost. I tend to organise my things my way and don't have much need for the assistance.

I'd disable superfetch as I don't like my drives chattering unless I'm doing something. I don't tend to have access time issues anyway. I believe that if I started something I'll have to wait some number of seconds as a matter of course and if it takes longer than that, I've let my system get out of shape and should fix it (but it doesn't happen often).

I'd also disable user access control. I don't want my hand held so much. I don't put vista on the net, and if I did might consider a third party application level firewall.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I like UAC, it'll keep stuff from installing without my permission (especially after that run-in with WinFixer last year), but it'd be nice to disable it for specific programs (for example, it pops up whenever I open HWiNFO32, which I use quite a bit for diagnostics and sensors.)

My friend mentioned she'd like Vista on her computer, and I offered to help her find a cheap and legal copy online, and then she accused me of "ruining the fun." Go figure.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Yes, but I don't like vista indexing my drives so the search is more or less out unless I'm looking for something I've lost. I tend to organise my things my way and don't have much need for the assistance.

I'd disable superfetch as I don't like my drives chattering unless I'm doing something. I don't tend to have access time issues anyway. I believe that if I started something I'll have to wait some number of seconds as a matter of course and if it takes longer than that, I've let my system get out of shape and should fix it (but it doesn't happen often).

I'd also disable user access control. I don't want my hand held so much. I don't put vista on the net, and if I did might consider a third party application level firewall.

I turned it off at first too, but then when I reinstalled, I noticed that after a day or two, it only kicked in occasionally.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Another one: How much "breathing room" is required for the computer case fans to work as well as they can? Me and my mom are diagreeing -- I'm saying a lot of ventilation is good, she says it's just a big waste of space. (Also somewhat important as we live in small apartment.)

Thanks.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I like UAC, it'll keep stuff from installing without my permission (especially after that run-in with WinFixer last year), but it'd be nice to disable it for specific programs (for example, it pops up whenever I open HWiNFO32, which I use quite a bit for diagnostics and sensors.)

Found something. The miracles of a quick google search!
http://dailyapps.net/2008/05/tip-quickly-disable-uac-for-specific-specific-programs/

I also made it so 7-Zip will open zip files, as the built-in one.... I just don't like it. And also made a normal account for mom so she can mess around in Vista without me worrying about her messing up my desktop or anything. (She said she wanted to try it.)

 

[Zelig]

Yes, but I don't like vista indexing my drives so the search is more or less out unless I'm looking for something I've lost. I tend to organise my things my way and don't have much need for the assistance.

I'd disable superfetch as I don't like my drives chattering unless I'm doing something. I don't tend to have access time issues anyway. I believe that if I started something I'll have to wait some number of seconds as a matter of course and if it takes longer than that, I've let my system get out of shape and should fix it (but it doesn't happen often).

I'd also disable user access control. I don't want my hand held so much. I don't put vista on the net, and if I did might consider a third party application level firewall.

Indexing in Vista is toned down from XP, it doesn't index your entire drives, just your personal folders, which you can further tweak. Indexing you start menu speeds up the search box on it, which is super useful.

Superfetch is one of the best features of post-XP Windows, without it, you're simply wasting any unused RAM, and there's essentially no downside to it. It only has heavy HDD access on boot, and even then, it's got low I/O priority, so it shouldn't affect performance of anything else.

UAC wasn't a bad idea... but that isn't enough to convince me to ever enable it.

 

[lndm]

I turned it off at first too, but then when I reinstalled, I noticed that after a day or two, it only kicked in occasionally.

I tried it for longer than that, if that's what you're thinking. I found it inconvenient when looking at cds and the thought of new things on the drive being double handled was what I didn't like.

Another one: How much "breathing room" is required for the computer case fans to work as well as they can?

Breathing space is unnecessary. What is important is how much air gets to the parts and how hot it is before it gets there.

Indexing in Vista is toned down from XP, it doesn't index your entire drives, just your personal folders,

Another thing I find inconvenient. Usually I know where my personal files are... so I might be searching for a system file, windows wont find it and then I have to suggest it looks harder (unless I turn all this off).

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Breathing space is unnecessary. What is important is how much air gets to the parts and how hot it is before it gets there.

My mom's computer desk leaves very little room (about 1/2 of an inch) between the desk and the side of the case. Wouldn't this be bad for it? (For comparison, I have about 6 inches between the side of the case and the desk. I sometimes stick papers or books down there, so it's not totally wasted.)

 

[lndm]

Sorry, I was thinking about inside the case. Yes, the distance from the wall can be important. There's the surface area available for the air to escape, and the inefficiency of the air turning the corner against the wall (puts pressure back into the path of the oncoming air). The simple way to figure it is to listen for increased fan noise caused by it working against these pressures. (then of course, double it for good measure)

 

[Zelig]

I tried it for longer than that, if that's what you're thinking. I found it inconvenient when looking at cds and the thought of new things on the drive being double handled was what I didn't like.

Neither indexing nor precaching should be screwing with stuff from disc drives.

Another thing I find inconvenient. Usually I know where my personal files are... so I might be searching for a system file, windows wont find it and then I have to suggest it looks harder (unless I turn all this off).

Indexing shouldn't work like that, search will simply be faster in indexed locations, it won't fail to find something that isn't indexed.

I also have indexing disabled in general, since I know where all my stuff is, but I can't think of a good reason to disable it for the start menu.

 

[Gelion]

Visiting again

<problem fixed after another re-install>
If anyone wishes, these quesitons are still puzzling me:

- I am wondering what is Microsoft's policy with regard to a corrupt OP disk. I.e. if I bought a new hard drive would I retain my copy of Vista?
- Is it possible (in theory) to transfter OP (Vista) files from an old laptop(PC) disk to a new one?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

IIRC, it's only a "different computer" if you change the mobo.

Thanks about the air circulation. Another one: If you buy a new, standard low-end desktop, and then only replace the parts when they crap out, how long would it approximately be before everything's replaced? Not looking for the exact time, more like a general time frame (e.g. "a few months" "maybe 10 to 15 years," etc)

 

[Cutlass]

IIRC, it's only a "different computer" if you change the mobo.

Thanks about the air circulation. Another one: If you buy a new, standard low-end desktop, and then only replace the parts when they crap out, how long would it approximately be before everything's replaced? Not looking for the exact time, more like a general time frame (e.g. "a few months" "maybe 10 to 15 years," etc)

There really is no way to know. Parts don't have a certain lifespan.