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#46
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, Earl Grey made these interesting comments ...
HEMI, Ken: I'm sorry that HEMI learned his lessons the hard way. That is how some of us learn! grin Please keep in mind that this was MY stupidity for incorrectly using a very dangerous utility like PM haphazardly, and NOT a Windows issue. Backing up before making important changes to a hard disk and using a UPS are second nature to most experienced users. And yet the newsgroups are filled with posts from people who are unaware of these and other precautions. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me! I bought my UPS boxes and two externals, plus Acronis True Image, unfortunately AFTER a really heinous rebuild. Gack! Somehow we as a user community need to be better at getting the word out that a relative handful of simple steps consistently followed can spare us from a lot of grief and frustration. Absent the very experienced and the newbies here, with a few nuts thrown in, my view is that in the main, most people have never experienced any of this and just want to send snap shots to their kids and do a little web surfing. But, when you see an OP with a subject like HELLPPP!, you know he learned a very valuable object lesson also. -- HP, aka Jerry |
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#47
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
HEMI-Powered wrote:
Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ... Which UPS do YOU use? APC, $150, great, 20-25 minutes on battery, great monitoring software. May be overkill if your needs are less, you can probably get by with Ken's estimated $60 boxes just fine. Check the current prices on APC UPSs. I like APC too, but the prices for their lower level units actually start even lower--around $40. I just checked on Amazon.com, and you may even be able to beat their prices. I'm currently using an APC unit I got for free, because it was discarded by someone who thought it had died. All I needed to do was replace the battery for somewhere around $20-25, and it was fine. -- Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User Please reply to the newsgroup |
#48
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
"HEMI-Powered" wrote in message
... I tried to separate basic design principles of all motor vehicles for the past 100+ years from the problems associated with simply redoing an older car. A major new vehicle STARTS at $2B and quickly goes up depending on a great many factors. Chief big hitters are design, development, testing, tooling, robots in the plants, etc., what finance bean counters call investment cost. I think some people would argue that as long as MS continues to implement past practices then any new OS will just continue on a "bad frame". Regardless of the CAD program used (language). As to your last, new trucks with body-on-frame now coming to market, e.g., the new GM pickups, are so completely redesigned by CAD and CAE systems that their stiffness is raised 40-50%, which translates into better handling, less noise, tighter feel, lots of things. OT: I read a lot about that. Plus, it explains Fords new Super Duty and Toyota's massive money ad's with their new Tundra. Easy example, there are some 25 computers in my 2006 Charger, talking to each other largely with multiplexed wiring systems. The exact number of lines of code is secret, of course, but based on what I knew as long ago as 2002 when I retired, it is AT LEAST as many as Vista. Whhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt?????? Where exactly does it store this data? My Charger, with its ability to shut 4 of the 8 cylinders down, ditto for the other guys that can do this, CAN get close to its city CAFE of 17, and I have gotten, 22, 23, 24+ on the highway, to its highway CAFE of 25. OT: maybe you can clear something up. I read many articles about the SRT8 engine system and how it was "buggy" and not shutting down to 4 properly. Most of it was speculation. You know the truth to the mater? If you really want to take the car biz into this NG, which is pretty OT, we should start a new thread. As long as we keep comparing it to MS |
#49
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
HEMI-Powered wrote:
Thanks, Lang, appreciate it. I have tried to turn over a new leaf from the flamer and anti-MS, anti-MVP creep I was last summer. LOL! I don't know what you were last summer (or don't remember), but I'm glad to see that you are what I consider to be a reasonable person. You don't agree with everything I post (nobody else does either g), but that's fine. Your opinions always seem always to be reasonable and well thought-out. We don't all have to have the same views on everything. -- Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User Please reply to the newsgroup |
#50
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
On Fri, 9 Mar 2007 17:00:47 -0800, "Justin" wrote:
If you really want to take the car biz into this NG, which is pretty OT, we should start a new thread. As long as we keep comparing it to MS My brand new Pirus gets 46 MPG and has multiple computer systems, two power trains, a gas engine and electric motor, no iginition key, the shift knob (actually is just a knob) is on the dash and so is the keyless "power" button that turns the car off and on. So there. I didn't even mention the regentative brake system or the continious variable smooth as silk transmission. giggle |
#51
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
"HEMI-Powered" wrote in message
... As to gas mileage of 500+ hp cars, who the hell cares? A Viper is north of $82K and a Z-06 Corvette is around $65K. Don't think people with that kinda change worry about $2,70 premium, do you? I do. I opted to wait on the SRT8 because of the bug I asked about in another thread. However between the SRT8 and a 500HP engine, depending on the mileage difference, it might just not be worth it (for me). If the difference between 0-60 is .2 seconds yet also 4MPG then as I said, not worth it. I'm paying 3.20 a gallon. If the price for the 500HP monster is much more then I guess the argument of "being able to afford it" can come into play. At this point I can swing an SRT8 but at 3.20 a gallon I'd be pushing the gas bill. I commute. Granted it's not a commuter but I want what I want. It beats people driving large SUV's 80+ miles a day |
#52
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ...
No ---- Real Questions. Troy, after Ancient Troy? Nope, not named after the Trojans! grin I answered this question in another NG, but the short version is that there an 1850s, then 1870s+ small farm town by coincidence maybe 1/4 from my house called Troy Corners. A Classicist was doing the naming? Which UPS do YOU use, Jerry?... Manufacturer & Model. APC RS-900, both PCs, about $150 with my nephews OEM discount last year. It fits my peculiar needs that I outlined yesterday with all the hits I take, but I think the MVP Ken in the other NG speculated that a good UPS can be had for as little as $60. I didn't go that low because I wanted a bit more battery life and whole lot MORE surge protection, and my limited investigation also suggested that APC had good monitoring and warning software. Don't know how true all this is, and nobody really wants to find out, but I do hear a beep every now and then when it tells me it has switched to battery. But, the events are so short they almost never even register in its history. On my PC, which is more susceptible because of higher loading on the electrical box circuit than my wife's shows only one hit for 4 seconds. I know there were more but of too short a duration to record. Sometime last year, it was on battery power for maybe 8-10 minutes and my PC, monitor, and external HD kept on a clickin' just fine. Cheers, You, too, Spence. -- HP, aka Jerry |
#53
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ...
O.K. You posted it here. Thanks. DSH "HEMI-Powered" wrote in message ... What is that, not familiar with it. My two are APC, about $150 each, 20-25 minutes for my PC, monitor, and external HD. Batteries need to be replaced every 4-5 years as total battery time drops, I think in the $50 range. Thought I had posted somewhere, guess my brain has gone soft. grin I reply to posts serially so sometimes miss what people say later on, and most of us don't read every other reply to reply to reply, we just launch in, so some redudancy is there, but I don't view that as a negative. -- HP, aka Jerry |
#54
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, Ken Blake, MVP made these interesting comments ...
HEMI-Powered wrote: Thanks, Lang, appreciate it. I have tried to turn over a new leaf from the flamer and anti-MS, anti-MVP creep I was last summer. LOL! I don't know what you were last summer (or don't remember), but I'm glad to see that you are what I consider to be a reasonable person. You don't agree with everything I post (nobody else does either g), but that's fine. Your opinions always seem always to be reasonable and well thought-out. We don't all have to have the same views on everything. Ken, you and I tangled more than once in my earlier life. Pretty much, I decided to stand down from about Labor Day until just last month, then slowly put my toe in the water, and try this time to see the glass as half-full instead of my former half-empty. Thanks for the complement, I'll try to reinforce the good behavior and suppress any lingering baddies. -- HP, aka Jerry |
#55
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ...
How about Zero Surge -- any good? Don't know, Spence. YOu and I are cross-replying right now, but I didn't do a real deep dive. I did a bit of investigating and relied on my nephew's PC and networking knowledge. To whatever truth there is, he says that APC is a well-known, reliable brand, in use in its larger models in businesses. He has used earlier versions for years. So, a personal testimonial works for me! I doubt that any reputable brand will be OK. I'd check the amount of surge protection, the rated battery life, which is a function of the load you plug into it, and its software. I have had just as good luck with no-name HW, such as the two Hammer 200 gig externals I bought, as I have with the name brands. "HEMI-Powered" wrote in message ... Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ... Which UPS do YOU use? APC, $150, great, 20-25 minutes on battery, great monitoring software. May be overkill if your needs are less, you can probably get by with Ken's estimated $60 boxes just fine. -- HP, aka Jerry -- HP, aka Jerry |
#56
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, Ken Blake, MVP made these interesting comments ...
Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ... Which UPS do YOU use? APC, $150, great, 20-25 minutes on battery, great monitoring software. May be overkill if your needs are less, you can probably get by with Ken's estimated $60 boxes just fine. Check the current prices on APC UPSs. I like APC too, but the prices for their lower level units actually start even lower--around $40. I just checked on Amazon.com, and you may even be able to beat their prices. Really! I've bought mine, but Spence just asked for the model number, which turns out to be RS 900, so I'd guess that it is a step or two up from what you're recommending. My nephew and computer builder said this is what I needed and it fit with my limited research. Nobody ever has enough money, and I don't throw mine around, but I'd rather "squander" an extra $80-100 and feel safe than try to buy something at WalMart, which isn't to say the lower prices units are at all bad. Ken, it is like firemen in your city - you pay them a big salary but hope to hell you never need their services! grin I'm currently using an APC unit I got for free, because it was discarded by someone who thought it had died. All I needed to do was replace the battery for somewhere around $20-25, and it was fine. I like that price! -- HP, aka Jerry |
#57
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ...
Nope. Pagefile CAN be defragmented -- I do it every couple of weeks. How do you manage that? As best I can see, Windows built-in defragger, the only one I've tried since Norton System Works 2006 refused to run correctly, says that its blocks cannot be moved. And, how much of a performance improvement do you see, and how do you know? Launch times go down, when you know an app or Windows is paging and you see a difference, you work on huge bitmaps? It isn't that I am arguing with anyone, I just don't see it, but that doesn't mean it ain't so. Incidentally, maybe 2 or 3 times a year, I will double backup each of my two extended partitions to 2 separate externals, verify I got good writes, then just reformat the NTFS drive and copy the files back. Yes, the copy process itself causes fragmentation, but it isn't until a defrag analysis shows I really need it that I try. "HEMI-Powered" wrote in message ... Today, D. Spencer Hines made these interesting comments ... I do see a marked performance bump. Spence, since I have all the possible data files I can on D:\ and E:\, defragging C:\ has very little effect, only very minorly on app launch times, which I only do once a restart. And, the big hitters like the pagefile, cannot be defragged. And, I don't do nearly enough churning on my two data extended partitions to cause much of a problem. But, exactly the opposite may be true for you or others, it all depends on how your system is organized, what you do, and how you measure improvements. -- HP, aka Jerry -- HP, aka Jerry |
#58
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, Justin made these interesting comments ...
[snip] As to your last, new trucks with body-on-frame now coming to market, e.g., the new GM pickups, are so completely redesigned by CAD and CAE systems that their stiffness is raised 40-50%, which translates into better handling, less noise, tighter feel, lots of things. OT: I read a lot about that. Plus, it explains Fords new Super Duty and Toyota's massive money ad's with their new Tundra. Not to try again to turn this into a car group, the Japanese and Koreans are not only formidable competitors, they are improving at an accelerating rate. The American Big Three have come a long, long way but their rate of improvement is flatter, thus the differences, while not huge, are getting wider. Lots of reasons for that, and lots behind any hoopla you may read about wages, healthcare, pensions, and the like. I do not evangelize American cars, and certainly not Chrysler products, nor do I disparage my competitors. There is simply no upside to going negative. But, there is a lot more to this very complex industry than most people see on the 6 o'clock news, just as someone familiar with the overall development process of the entire MS suite of products could describe. Easy example, there are some 25 computers in my 2006 Charger, talking to each other largely with multiplexed wiring systems. The exact number of lines of code is secret, of course, but based on what I knew as long ago as 2002 when I retired, it is AT LEAST as many as Vista. Whhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt?????? Where exactly does it store this data? Non-volitile RAM of some secret sort. No HD or optical, of course. Memory needs to be almost exclusively non-volital so the car doesn't lose its collective brains if the battery goes dead. Usually, about all a driver has to do if that rarity happens is maybe reset the clock and their radio stations. Give you a fun example which isn't classified anymore. Everybody has sophisticated anti-theft systems that are based on communication between a key fob with a chip in it talking to the security computer. So, why can't a thief just swap out the computer, it is well-known where it is just by reading the service manual in the library. So, we hide a 2nd computer someplace else and move it around, telling service techs to replace an unrelated module if it is compromised. And, in the pre-9/11 days, we were using encryption bit lenghts longer than the Feds would let us export beyond the U.S. and Canada. I retired in January, 2002, so I am way, way out-of-date after only 5 years, but I can assure you that all of my competition is at least as good, and they each have patented their various systems. As to computers in the cars, the biggies are the engine and trans controllers, but there's a giant one to control all the stuff in the body, with smaller ones doing things as simple as controlling the door locks, heater settings, audio controls in the radio, etc. So, not all of the 25 or so are at all that large, but the bigger ones when I was aware of it - and the true numbers are VERY confidential - suggest that they ran into the tens of millions of lines of code each. And, remember that in cars, for emissions and safety, we design for 100-150,000 miles and 10 years, so the code MUST work at least that long. Now, are there SPs? Of course. Some are done the way MS does critical updates, via recalls, and some are done during normal service and the customer doesn't necessarily even know it. But, big but, the testing is pretty sophisticated and when we blow it, it can be VERY expensive,over hundreds of thousands of cars. Easy example: my wife's former 2006 Jeep Liberty had its battery go dead several times last year. I thought it was her short driving cycles, being we usually ride in my Charger. Turned out, though, to be a body computer software glitch, fixed through a normal service recall, that was telling some lower amperage components to turn on even with the key off. So, if you didn't drive enough to keep it charged, it'd die. One whack at the Japanese, as good as they are. About a year and a half ago, Toyota recalled some 1.5 MILLION small SUVs and the first of the CUVs built only between 2002 and 2004 or so. But, instead of page one, it was buried in the paper. I'm not being critical, those people make damn fine vehicles. Just not everyone of them. My Charger, with its ability to shut 4 of the 8 cylinders down, ditto for the other guys that can do this, CAN get close to its city CAFE of 17, and I have gotten, 22, 23, 24+ on the highway, to its highway CAFE of 25. OT: maybe you can clear something up. I read many articles about the SRT8 engine system and how it was "buggy" and not shutting down to 4 properly. Most of it was speculation. You know the truth to the mater? Prior to 2007, the 6.1L HEMI did not have MDS (Multiple Displacement System) so I'm not sure what buggy is. I've not heard that, but that doesn't mean it ain't so. The big reason for adding MDS to what is a balls out performance engine is that just one or two mpg put it into the Federal gas guzzler range and we were dinging customers $2100/car for the tax. That didn't win us many friends. I wish I could afford one; they are dirt cheap compared to an upscale Euro performance sedan such as a BMW 7- Series, but ours can get into the mid-40s which is too rich for my blood. If you really want to take the car biz into this NG, which is pretty OT, we should start a new thread. As long as we keep comparing it to MS Sometimes I go overboard on analogies and metaphors, but also sometimes it helps for us to relax, take a breath, and put something as large as Vista or Vienna or whatever into some perspective we might be able to relate to. -- HP, aka Jerry |
#59
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, Adam Albright made these interesting comments ...
On Fri, 9 Mar 2007 17:00:47 -0800, "Justin" wrote: If you really want to take the car biz into this NG, which is pretty OT, we should start a new thread. As long as we keep comparing it to MS My brand new Pirus gets 46 MPG and has multiple computer systems, two power trains, a gas engine and electric motor, no iginition key, the shift knob (actually is just a knob) is on the dash and so is the keyless "power" button that turns the car off and on. So there. I didn't even mention the regentative brake system or the continious variable smooth as silk transmission. giggle I take nothing away from them who feel the need to drive a Prius, and it is a fine car. But, to take a quote out of the Top Gun movie, I feel the need - for speed! I was in college during much of the muscle car era, lasted only a year before getting drafted and when I got home, it was over. So, I'm enjoying a mid-life crisis. I quoted mpg for my HEMI in another reply, but I consider 15-16 city driving exuberantly and low 20s on the road to be top notch for a 4100 lb car that can do 0-60 in under six seconds. Don't bother telling me nobody needs that, 'cuz it is true, but people also don't need 3-seat huge SUVs and drive around alone. BTW, Toyota, Honda, and the major hybrid manufacturers are under heavy fire from ****ed off customers who actually believe the CAFE numbers. Sometime, when I am waxing philosophically, I'll describe how CAFE is really tested for and how absurd a standard it really is, but not tonight. -- HP, aka Jerry |
#60
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XP Pro SP2, Vista & Vienna -- A Useful Progression?
Today, Justin made these interesting comments ...
"HEMI-Powered" wrote in message ... As to gas mileage of 500+ hp cars, who the hell cares? A Viper is north of $82K and a Z-06 Corvette is around $65K. Don't think people with that kinda change worry about $2,70 premium, do you? I do. I opted to wait on the SRT8 because of the bug I asked about in another thread. However between the SRT8 and a 500HP engine, depending on the mileage difference, it might just not be worth it (for me). If the difference between 0-60 is .2 seconds yet also 4MPG then as I said, not worth it. I'm paying 3.20 a gallon. If the price for the 500HP monster is much more then I guess the argument of "being able to afford it" can come into play. At this point I can swing an SRT8 but at 3.20 a gallon I'd be pushing the gas bill. I commute. Granted it's not a commuter but I want what I want. It beats people driving large SUV's 80+ miles a day I replied to you on this, but I'm unaware of a bug, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. When you retire from a car company, your sources of up-to-date information pretty much dry up. However, if you're aware of bugs in anything, even though it sounds like you did buy, you can easily use the VIN and the sticker on the door jamp to get the build date. I won't go into details, but there were some color mismatches between the front fascia and fenders of early -built Chargers in several colors, including the Inferno Red I wanted. I nosed around a little and discovered that the supplier paint process problem was corrected almost completely in a redesign that went in around June 1, 2005, and the rest got fixed later. My car was built mid-June and has a little mismatch, but it is fine. So, while again I do not disparage my own products, depending on what rings your bell, it sometime can be worthwhile to wait a bit. But, the total production run of SRT8 vehicles, and also the R/T Daytona, is really quite small so if you didn't special order after you verified that the MDS bug had been squashed, it may have been difficult to find a "good" one. For my own curiosity, exactly what were the symptoms, really **** poor mileage, drivability, what? In my car, I can watch the tach and sometimes see the cylinders go on or off, but the transition can take place in as little as 50 ms so none but the most skilled drivers can detect it. Basically, though, 4 shut down immediately if you lift the gas and only a short distance at steady state will shut them down. Works great, withing physical limitations. And, from what I've heard, GM's Displacement On Demand is equally effective. This is a far cry from muscle cars that had to struggle to get 6 or 7 in the city and 9 or 10 on the highway. If the rumors of a 500hp monster are true, I would expect it to be pricey. More can be done with engine tuning using the controller computer, and the premium Euro brands can get quite a few more ponies per liter, but the break-even point for economics suggests that 500 is about it without maybe going to 7.0L as Chevy did. -- HP, aka Jerry |
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