Thu, 2004-10-14 22:00
This is why I haven't been around much lately.
Over the last couple of days I have been struggling with my computer.
It used to run win2K but picked up a virus through IE which caused it to continually reboot.
I tried repairing win2K a couple of time and only managed to wipe out things in documents and settings such as email and bookmarks for firefox.
So I booted into an old version of Mandrake and access any files that hadn't been lost by the repair process and burnet them to cd.
Formatted a partition and tried to install win2k to it but somehow the key wasn't accepted.
Formatted again and installed XP SP1 with virus protection and firewall then tried to get SP2 and was silly enough to attempt the recommended windows update procedure where they tell you what you want. This of course timed out and gave another virus time to get hold.
I still managed to directly download SP2 and install it and after every reboot I was getting a virus detected and since I didn't have the authorization details and didn't want to pay for the privilege I down loaded Mandrake 10.1.
Now mandrake 10.1 was nearly fine, although I had problems accessing the web and if I logged out only a blue screen with a mandrake logo was displayed, no prompt nothing at all only option is to hit the kill switch.
By this time I was well into the second day of this fun adventure.
So I went shopping and picked up a Linux mini book which includes Fedora Core 2.
Fedora installed fine but I still couldn't access my cable connection.
So I got one of the old pc's from downstairs and connected it to the web then downloaded all the Linux how to's and BPAlogin, a login client for telstra cable.
Now after a little reading and playing I am happily connected to the web, and I must say I really like Fedora.
So today my challenge is setting up the local network and installing other software and backed up files.
The only downside I can see at the moment is limited access to IE which I only use for testing anyway.
So is there a moral to this story, I don't know but maybe it will prompt some of you to Back Up your files, email etc and maybe it will encourage some of you to move to linux.
Thu, 2004-10-14 23:27
#1
The big windows crash
Good for you Tony. I thought Suse 9 was the first Linux distro I would consider as a desktop day-to-day machine, but proved too unstable.
I installed Fedora Core 2 a couple of weeks ago, and it is fantastic (especially when using the cool Plastik theme 
which is in as one the options).
If I where to leave my Mac life behind (which is unlikey 
) I'd be more than happy with Fc2.
As for IE, that is the only downside to it all (which is a paradox of a statement :roll: ) But you can get the Windows app emulators (Wine I think it is).
Thu, 2004-10-14 23:39
#2
The big windows crash
Sounds like a frustrating couple of days , my sympathies are with you.
Just to blow my own trumpet 
this is why when I put together my last system I installed two drives on the first I partioned and installed three OS one xp and two W98 one clean the other a testbed then imaged all three straight away to a hidden partition on the second disk
and off to removable disk as a bootable image then every once in a while I image the systems again as current configs; all program files, dbx files, bookmarks are always either defaulted to a partition on the second drive or backed up there on a regular basis the other thing I make a habit of is going to the symantec site and checking on the latest threats and updating my firewall rule sets along with downloading any new 'virus removal tools' from symantec for which I keep a full set on the second drive. So in theory I shouldn't give a hang if a OS gets compromised I'll just wipe it and copy an image over it, well that's the theory but I never tested it before I went live (big mistake) I'm sure it will all go pear shape the day I have to put it to the test 
I'm with you on the Linux switch but keep getting cold feet at going back to command line working and last time I played around with Knoppix I found out that it is nigh on impossible to get linux to work with Winmodems so that put me of a bit.
Anyway as you say moral of the story is backup, backup, backup
disaster strikes the best of us.
Glad your back with us,
Hugo.
Fri, 2004-10-15 08:26
#3
The big windows crash
Tony - I run Windoze and Linux desktops, and Linux webservers that I control remotely via shell. The only advice I can offer as to a good, reliable desktop machine from which to comfortably go about your daily work is to get a Mac. I've used Macs since the eighties and have only once had a major problem, which involved opening the side and pressing a reset button. Sorted! Oh yes; and there isn't a single virus yet written that attacks OSX. I'm not an evangelist; just someone who likes a tool that does it's job and makes you feel happy to use it 
Fri, 2004-10-15 08:30
#4
The big windows crash
roytheboy wrote:
I'm not an evangelist...
Of course you are, you're a Mac user! :roll:
I'm desparate for a G5 iMac. 
Fri, 2004-10-15 08:35
#5
The big windows crash
co2 wrote:
Of course you are, you're a Mac user! :roll:
Yes, but my point is, I love Macs because they demand to be loved, not because I don't know any different
Fri, 2004-10-15 10:11
#6
The big windows crash
roytheboy wrote:
The only advice I can offer as to a good, reliable desktop machine from which to comfortably go about your daily work is to get a Mac.
I'd wish to be as lucky as you. The first -- and until now the last -- Mac i bought was my iMac back in 1998. And it didn't work to well, see also the article I wrote about it.
I'm quite happy with SuSE 9 as a server and Windows XP as client. While SuSE 9 is far more stable than Windows XP, it certainly lacks Photoshop, Office and Internet Explorer...
Konqueror, on the other hand, is really good.
Fri, 2004-10-15 10:21
#7
The big windows crash
Being a power-hungry graphics user who likes to push Photoshop to its limits, I have only ever owned high-end Macs with plenty of RAM and VRAM so maybe I have been spoilt. And as for Konqueror: I am finding it an absolute pain to code for with CSS [subtly moves back on topic], although not as bad as IE of course
Long live Firefox
Fri, 2004-10-15 10:45
#8
The big windows crash
Hi roytheboy,
I'd love to get a mac one day.
When I was in first year at uni studying IT, a couple of friends and I went to an IT exhibition. There was a beautiful new Mac sitting on a desk in front of us.
We congregated around it and spent about 10 minutes trying to work out how to turn it on
I think given a bit more time I would have had it worked out, I was so close.
Fri, 2004-10-15 11:41
#9
The big windows crash
roytheboy wrote:
Being a power-hungry graphics user who likes to push Photoshop to its limits, I have only ever owned high-end Macs with plenty of RAM and VRAM so maybe I have been spoilt.
Well... I know. If you spend a lot of money on a Mac, it could be a nice toy to have. On the other hand, I'll rather invest my money (if I'd had it) in a decent dual-processor PC, where I can get spare parts everywhere. And for ok prices...
Quote:
And as for Konqueror: I am finding it an absolute pain to code for with CSS [subtly moves back on topic], although not as bad as IE of course
Isn't Safari, the all great MacOSX browser, based on the Konqueror Engine (KHTML)? I just do my testing on Konqueror, my main browsers are Internet Explorer, and maybe Opera. I found out, that Konqueror seems to render stuff smaller, kompared to Internet Explorer. A lot smaller...
Quote:
Long live Firefox
Is it only me or is Firefox very slow, compared to IE and Konqueror?
Fri, 2004-10-15 11:56
#10
The big windows crash
rck wrote:
Well... I know. If you spend a lot of money on a Mac, it could be a nice toy to have. On the other hand, I'll rather invest my money (if I'd had it) in a decent dual-processor PC, where I can get spare parts everywhere. And for ok prices...
...each to their own
Quote:
Isn't Safari, the all great MacOSX browser, based on the Konqueror Engine (KHTML)?
Yes, but I believe that they rewrote substantial parts of the engine, and I for one prefer FireFox to Safari, no matter how popular it is amoungst other Mac users.
Quote:
Is it only me or is Firefox very slow, compared to IE and Konqueror?
...it's just you