Dan Cameron - Latest Comments in Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

Re: Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

JaredB — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:50:19 -0000

Hopefully you set them up with a configuration where they won't have to worry about that kind of thing anymore. It's definitely possible, with good planning.

Re: Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

Dan — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:47:16 -0000

If it's someone else's I don't like wiping computers, especially if they never back-up. I normally do a repair on the system through the installer (the second repair not the first) and that cleans the OS but the result was still not acceptable. The real problem was drive letters, the OS was on E: and somehow they installed apps to C: and trying to install anything (e.g. AVG or Windows defender) gave installation errors even with the direction of installing on E:.

I ended up going a different route: Reinstalling windows but instead of formating the drive I kept it intact and that process wipes everything and saves the document folders. Similar the awesome install and archive in OS X.

I just wish windows had better options for installation, e.g. archive and install. And better application support so if a program needs to uninstalled manually it could be done logically, instead in windows you have to modify the registry in 3-4 places and then search out 2-3 more places to delete the program. I also hate the activation and entering serial numbers.

Re: Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

JaredB — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:14:16 -0000

Just saw your latest pownce post on this, but I didn't see an entry on here for it, so I'll just comment here.

I didn't realize that you were trying to fix the installation instead of reinstalling from scratch. I'd always recommend (regardless of the OS) reinstalling from scratch after something goes wrong, especially for spyware, etc. It's way to much of a headache to try to "clean" it, and after the system has been compromised, you can never really be sure that it's fully clean anyway, so you might as well reinstall.

Re: Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

Dan — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:20:47 -0000

Oh, I forgot to point out that they use their 3-1 printer a lot and I doubt linux has the support needed to get it all working like it should.

Re: Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

Dan — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:01:47 -0000

It's not the logic in the statement it's that the statement will be made. And without the newer chips and lots of ram VMs are slow and I'm sure they'd use the VM more than the linux install. Which I think a lot of people would do since they're more familiar with it and then it's not worth buying the extra hardware.

Re: Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

JaredB — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:57:31 -0000

What wouldn't they be able to do if they had a Windows VM on top of Linux? I guess if they're really into 3D games or something, but then again there are games on Linux as well... :)

But seriously, I think it's a viable option for many people, because they can run a stable (and probably faster than Windows on the same hardware) OS for 90% of their needs (web surfing, etc.) and have Windows available in a VM for the things that require it, and if the VM gets hosed they can restore it from a backup, or at least keep using the main OS for most things they'd need to do.

Re: Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

Dan — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:07:56 -0000

I know you're not joking but I'm more afraid of receiving calls every week because they "can't do anything" than the frustration of spending hours or days reconfiguring windows.

Re: Once again I’m fixing someone’s computer…

JaredB — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:02:02 -0000

Any operating system will allow you to install programs that will trash the underlying system. It only happens more often on Windows systems because there are so many more Windows computers out there.

I know we joked about this earlier (and I'm suspecting it's the same computer we were talking about then), but I'm actually serious in recommending that you install Linux for them. It's very likely to work with most of their hardware, and you can always install a Windows VM for them as well if they've got any apps that require Windows. Then you could just back up that VM file and restore it anytime it gets screwed up.