Stupid $%#% Windows computers

Originally Posted by: LordathestringsThat sounds like a hardware thermal problem. Check your CPU fan. The processor may be overheating.

i would totally agree...i think that's pretty much the problem cos i had that too before...only mine doesnt start back up on its own..i sent it in and they replaced the fan..they only charged for the service, not the fan...30 bucks US maybe?

Well... at least it's still running. The dust seemed to be the problem. Although I've never heard of that happening before. Hell, I've got 10 years of dust bunnies in my Mac and never had a problem.

As far as Windows...I'm getting nothing but the runaround trying to get a copy of the operating system.
FutureShop wants $260 (I can't upgrade cause the original is toast so I have to buy the complete package)
eBay has some thing called Vista 2000 for $15 but it sounds too risky and it's gotta be a rip off cause I know there ain't no such thing as Vista made in 2000.

I can't order Vista digitally from Microsoft cause they only accept American credit cards and $260 for an operating system that's basically just a dumbed down version of OSX seems like a waste of money.
I can buy a used dual processor G4 Mac for the same price... so I guess if I can't get Windows working, this thing is going on the scrap heap.

I'll just gut it and use the parts in a real computer. :)

You could always put Linux on it. It's free, and usually better than Windows in every single way imaginable.

Well, Linux is kinda hard to work with unless you're a programming (me) or a geek.

Well, something good happened. Kinda ironic too.
I was looking through old receipts and found one for my scanner that had a 3 year protection plan on it through FutureShop. So I thought to myself..self, I wonder if I got the same plan on the computer. Sure enough, I call the number on the warranty and they've got my records on their computer showing I'm covered under warranty for the whole computer until March 2008.
So, the computer screws up and it ends up getting saved by computer records after I lost the receipt.
ahh.. the ironing is delicious.

.. and Windows still sucks

Well, Windows may suck at some things, but try developing on VB under Mac OS X. HA! You CAN'T! Well, that's just my stupid little reason to stay on Windows.

Macs are pretty good, I can't say otherwise, but I'll probably stick with Windows when I have $1000 and need to save some extra money/

I think it's kinda funny sometimes. Like no matter what, if you have grown up on Macs, you will never change your mind and fight anyone who says otherwise. The same goes for Windows people. They will battle to the death to argue in favor of Windows if that is what they grew up using.

One thing I find interesting is the way people generally tend to go with the worse technology rather than the better one.
Like the Beta vs. VHS thing. Beta was a far better method of recording, better clarity, smaller tapes for storage. But everybody went with big VHS tapes instead.
Macs invented the whole Windows operating system over 20 years ago and Windows is nothing but a blatant copy of the Mac operating system. Except, they've made everything twice as hard and moved everything backwards.

There's over 200,000 virus's floating around targeting Windows but less than 10 for Macs. Yet everybody wants the Windows machine because it's slightly cheaper and there's more programs available for it.

It's like buying a car and the dealer says...'the tires are going to blow out every mile or so, and this car is the same as that one over there except the stearing wheel is on the wrong side and you have to click every button twice.. but it's a few hundred dollars cheaper"
"Gosh Mr. Salesman... duh... I'll buy the cheaper car cause it comes in more pretty colors"

My sole reason for buying a Windows computer was to prove once and for all, which was better. The second I sat down at the Windows computer, I noticed it was nothing but a blatant ripoff of the same operating system I'd been using for the last decade. Except the menus were on the bottom, the close boxes were on oposite sides and there were 3 times as many steps to do simple things such as copy a few files onto the desktop from a CD.
2 years later, and I haven't changed my mind. Every time I sit down at that Windows machine I start fuming about how 'dumbed down' everything is so that stupid people will know how to use it. It's a faster processor, but it's slower to use on a daily basis than my 1996 Mac.
And unfortunately, that's becoming true for OSX as well. They've taken all the best features of OS9 and tried to make them easier to use for Windows users. Unfortunately, they've lost some of the things that made it such a pleasure to use Macs and now they're dumbing down Macs for stupid people too.

Gosh... look at my pretty car.. oops... tire blew again.

.. and that's my groovy rant for today...I feel better now.

Originally Posted by: schmangeUnreal... I've got Mac computers that go back 10 years that I leave on 24/7 and they still work like new but this stupid Windows computer breaks down after less than 2 years.

I take it you aren't into computers mroe than just basic operations (MacOS is Satan, don't even get me started)

Originally Posted by: schmangeOne thing I find interesting is the way people generally tend to go with the worse technology rather than the better one.
Like the Beta vs. VHS thing. Beta was a far better method of recording, better clarity, smaller tapes for storage. But everybody went with big VHS tapes instead...

Believe it or not, a great deal of the adoption of VHS had to do with porn. The biggest porn producer at the time chose to focus on those, effectively killing the other format. And it's going on again now with Blu-ray vs HD DVD.

Exhibit A

Originally Posted by: GargyI take it you aren't into computers mroe than just basic operations (MacOS is Satan, don't even get me started)

My point exactly. :D

Yeah, my father and I had one Mac and we messed with it some in the mid '90s... I'm never so much as touching one of those again if I can help it.



And don't get me started on Quicktime and iTunes


EDIT (And I did not read the whole thread to see if somebody else suggested this yet): This just hit me, but have you tried changing the boot order in BIOS when you tried using the recovery discs? One of the F keys will get you into BIOS at startup (Too bad you don't have a Dell, you can access the boot/diagnostics menu without going into BIOS with F2) and you can change what yoru computer boots up from. Usually it should be the hard-drive since thats what Windows is on, but you can set it up to boot from USB or the floppy or optical drives. I don't know enough about compaqs to talk you through it, unfortunately (since every PC manufacturer has different BIOS layouts from the factory). IF somebody else said this then disregard my edit (but not the Apple Sucks rant, I mean that with all my heart)

Yeah, I have an aftermarket, dual, right and left click mouse. (Dismount high horse) That is one feature that could be improved upon. Although Really, whats ur deal with quicktime and itunes?

Taken from a recent newsletter from a consumer advocate radio guy...

Dell Computer continues to take it on the chin. The company now faces a lawsuit from the state of New York for cheating people on rebates and financing offers. New York alleges that Dell conspired to cheat people in those areas, and Clark has received a lot of calls to that effect. People were expecting some kind of rebate or service and Dell failed them over and over. Dell vigorously disputes the charges. But the bottom line is that you’re going to be in trouble if you buy a Dell, dude. Consumer Reports recently rated which computer companies are best in support after the sale. No one was even close to Apple. The company got a top rating in all categories. The worst rating went to Compaq in all categories. Dell got a poor rating on average wait time and a fair rating on solving problems. But calls to Clark’s show tell a different story. So, which computers break the most and which break the least? In desktops, Apple computers break the least while Gateway breaks the most. In laptops, there was a five-way tie for worst between Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, HP and Apple. That’s right. Apple did not do well with laptops, a category where Sony got the best rating.

Originally Posted by: WeslabaYeah, I have an aftermarket, dual, right and left click mouse. (Dismount high horse) That is one feature that could be improved upon. Although Really, whats ur deal with quicktime and itunes?

File association: Quicktime associated with all my video files and I wasn't able to modify any videos in a GIF animator because of it. iTunes also does the same thing; for the three hours I had it, it wreaked havoc with all my music (protecting songs I already had or burned from CD, but perhaps this was a pebcac).

I'll stick with PC/Windows... 1: replacement stuff doesn't cost so damn much, 2: VisualBasic... need I say more? and 3: Its nice to go to the store and find a game that works with my comptuer.

Originally Posted by: GargyI take it you aren't into computers mroe than just basic operations (MacOS is Satan, don't even get me started)

Actually, it's the opposite. I make my living using computers about 12 hours a day for everything from studio recording to teaching guitar lessons, designing web pages, working on photos, email, web browsing, mastering, recording etc etc.. then several hours at home doing publicity, making sure that when you put "Schmange" into any search engine, a few thousand hits come up about everything I've got for sale.
There's 900gb of hard drive space filled with things like several hundred plug-ins for Cubase like Absynth, Pro-52, Moog, Spektral Delay, dozens of reverbs, phasers, The Grand, B-4, PSPvintage Warmer, T-Racks, Rage, iTunes, MP3 trimmer, ... plus every software you can think of.. Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Premier, Flash, StudioMX, Sibelius, GuitarPro, Firewalls, Photogrid, MSOffice, Pagemill, Wordperfect, Recycle, Speedtools, Quicken, Business Attorney, inDesign, AfterEffects, Filemaker, BiasPeak, StarryNight Pro.. hundreds of shareware applications including several I wrote myself and three other 300gb hard drives filled with REX and Wav loops organized by chords and BPM. Plus a second computer just for browsing the net and an iBook so I can work outside in the summer editing loops in ReCycle.

I basically spent the last 10 years taking a Mac G3 and upgrading it to the fastest G4 processor I could find, tricked it out with the maximum of everything, added two 21" monitors etc. Then found the fastest ways possible to organize files and open them.

Even searches are fast and intuitive using FileBuddy.
With Windows, a stupid animated picture of a dog comes up wagging it's tail.

Basically, I was using Windows computers back when it was DOS with Windows 3.1 Before that it was Fortran and Basic on huge room sized computers with fridge sized hard drives and punch cards.

Another cool thing about the Mac is that to type out this entire post, all I had to do was type the words "stupidwindows" and hit the space bar & it typed it out automatically using 'TypeIt4me' from the last time I had this discussion 2 years ago.

so there... thhpppttt..

Originally Posted by: GargyYeah, my father and I had one Mac and we messed with it some in the mid '90s... I'm never so much as touching one of those again if I can help it.



And don't get me started on Quicktime and iTunes


EDIT (And I did not read the whole thread to see if somebody else suggested this yet): This just hit me, but have you tried changing the boot order in BIOS when you tried using the recovery discs? One of the F keys will get you into BIOS at startup (Too bad you don't have a Dell, you can access the boot/diagnostics menu without going into BIOS with F2) and you can change what yoru computer boots up from. Usually it should be the hard-drive since thats what Windows is on, but you can set it up to boot from USB or the floppy or optical drives. I don't know enough about compaqs to talk you through it, unfortunately (since every PC manufacturer has different BIOS layouts from the factory). IF somebody else said this then disregard my edit (but not the Apple Sucks rant, I mean that with all my heart)

Yeah... did all that. booted into Safe mode using every combination available... it just ends up back at the recovery screen stuck at disc #4 that won't load because it's corrupted. Tried going into debugger mode and all it tells me is that windows won't load because a file is missing.
I think the power problem was actually being caused by dust... unbelievable cause I've never even heard of that before... blowing into a computer fixes it... unreal. Windows got corrupted from shutting down too many times and the recovery discs (all 6 of them) won't load cause it won't get past disc #4.

I'd have the problem fixed by now on a Mac... just put in one install disc and do a clean install, then use conflict catcher to put the old files back into the new system and desktop resetter to put my icons back in place.
Got a problem with the computer... easy, just reinstall the system folder or rebuild the desktop. At the very most, use Norton Disc Doctor to optimize and clean up the hard drive.

Originally Posted by: WeslabaYeah, I have an aftermarket, dual, right and left click mouse. (Dismount high horse) That is one feature that could be improved upon. Although Really, whats ur deal with quicktime and itunes?

Quicktime is kinda clunky and needs a redesign but it's stable. Unfortunately it won't play .aif movies and takes forever to decide it can't figure it out.
The Pro version is not much different from the freebie version. Playing movies is a 3 step process because you have to select full screen mode twice, then use the pull down menu to start it..so it's a pain in the butt to watch more than one video.

iTunes is slow as hell so I never use it. I'd rather use the Control Strip to search for every MP3 and just use the pull down menu or a shareware app.
Most times it's just easier to grab a dozen MP3's onto quicktime and open em all on the desktop so I can quickly switch between em and compare mixes.
I'd never buy MP3's at the iTunes store either. I already own the CD's so I'm not paying for em twice. It's easier to just use a search parameter on Google like intitle:index.of + "mp3" + "Beatles" -htm -html -php -asp
Besides, all the best bootleg stuff and alternate studio mixes are on usenet anyways.

Macs: Have a very pretty casing (IE: MacBook), A very pretty OS (OS X) and, for the most part, and very easy-to-use one too.

Windows: Most of them have a less attractive casing, A..... less attractive OS that is harder to use (with the exception of Vista that is a hell lot more pretty and is dumbed down for idiots), but (yes, the but), has way less compatibility issues with games, software and of course, computer hardware.

Overall: If I could afford it ever 4 years, I'd go with a Mac. I wouldn't hesitate to take the MacBook that costs $1099 or more over the Windows computer that costs $500-$600. Macs just look better (which is a big plus for people like me, and my friends, who all want MacBooks), and are easier to use for recording. I'm pretty much sick of Vista asking me everything, and also prompting me to upgrade to Linux:




But really, go with a Mac if you can afford it. Save yourself the agony of starting off with Windows if you've never used computers for recording and/or programming/coding before. It's just so much easier and dumbed down (not always a bad thing, by the way), and just has so much more pretty stuff to it. It's a big plus for recording (they're so damn quiet!) and with other people who are like "OMGWTFBBQ YOU GOT A MACBOOOOOK!" and then want to use it. I would just say get a Mac, because they're just the overall... better of choices. I swear by Windows because of the compatibility... I need my Paint.NET, I need my FL Studio 7, I need my Office, I need my Visual Studio .NET, etc... etc... etc...

I do, however, have upgraded the harddrive in this laptop from 80GB to 250GB, and am running Windows Vista and Mac OS X Tiger on separate partitions. Not that I'm advocating pirating Mac OS X to try this, check out osx86project.org and see if you like it. It saves you money, and with the 2.5GHz processor and 2GB of RAM on this laptop, It gives me more than a MacBook would ever give me... Except it's not as pretty. And it wasn't built for Mac OS X. And I still feel like a geek for putting OS X on my Toshiba. So yeah.

Macs win in the war against Windows.

I've never owned a Mac, but everyone I know that has one is extremely pleased with them. A friend of mine has one and has had it for over a year and it hasn't crashed at all. That in itself is amazing to me. Computers crashing is just a part of life with PC.

I'll probably always own a PC though, my work uses PC and they have a pretty attractive purchasing program and pay a part of the cost for a new computer for me every three years. It just has to be a PC and be compatible with the computers we use at the office. I'm due for an upgrade now, but I'm stalling because of Vista - haven't heard anything good about it yet. So I'll hold off until they get all the bugs worked out of it.

As with everything - it ends up being a personal preference thing.