Hell froze over.

[John Corliss]

< snip >

John, I seem to remember that you have removable racks for your hard
drive(s). If you have extra rack(s), in other computers,

Sorry, only have one computer. Three hard drives though.

then you
might consider installing XP as a FAT32 system. It will make moving
files to/from the other computer(s) easier.

I've still got my backup hard drive sitting as it was. I can switch
cables and boot to ME just as it was. As for copying over files, even
though my main drive is now NTFS, that's not a problem.

Knowing how paranoid you (we ?) are you may be using an old computer
for stuff that you want to do without having an internet (potential)
vulnerability.

John,
Mostly I like cloned internal backup hard drives for restoring files
that I've messed up. I've also worked wonders on uninstalling things by
cloning in reverse. XXCopy has served me very well while using ME. I've
had to install several "equivalent" programs to replace old freeware
friends that I've been running for years.

--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls and other such idiots. No adware, cdware,
commercial software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware,
shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez
please.

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=]

I installed the (freeware) XP Taskswitch Powertoy and now
alt-tabbing is problematic. There's no way to uninstall it either,
from what I can tell.

Weird.

Taskswitch.exe
Alt-Tab Replacement

With this PowerToy, in addition to seeing the icon of the
application window you are switching to, you will also see a
preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple
sessions of an application are open.

I have never installed that PowerToy, yet I have that functionality in
XP home SP2. The PowerToys I have installed do show up in the
Add/Remove dialog, though. Other than looking through the list again,
I don't have any suggestions for you. (Maybe it's under Alt-Tab
Replacement but you were looking for Taskswitch or something.)

 

[Bob S]

I have caved in after four years of holding out and have installed XP. It
really sucks, big time. However, I'm still going to stick it out and beat
it into submission.

As a result of this change, I have two questions:

1. Which version of the K-Lite codec pack does everybody recommend?
(Although I've always prefered the Coda codec pack, my experience has been
that it doesn't work as well in XP)

2. Crap.... I forgot. The last two days have fried my brain.

--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls and other such idiots. No adware, cdware,
commercial software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware,
shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez
please.

"matters relating to freeware", is that how you would describe this post
John? It would appear that the thread is mainly about WinXP and need I
remind you that WinXP is not freeware.

That's alright John, you can do that since there is nothing stating that you
can't - and the FAQ say's you can - correct?

Bob S.

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=]

"matters relating to freeware", is that how you would describe
this post John?

His question was about K-Lite codecs. In a subsequent post in the
thread, he asked his second question; it was about XXCopy.

It would appear that the thread is mainly about
WinXP and need I remind you that WinXP is not freeware.

Most of the posts are about freeware, but there are a few just about
XP. Maybe most of the posts haven't gotten to your server yet. You're
right that this group shouldn't be used for what's-good-or-bad-about
XP, unless those issues are related to freeware.

 

[badgolferman]

Well, I don't want to discuss Windows in this group. Suffice it to
say that I had to compromise too much in the way of lost features and
older programs that no longer work. However, I must admit that it
does have a few good points. I'm sure that as time goes by I'll
become more used to it.

All that's left for you now is .NET

 

[jmatt]

"older programs that no longer work."

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/deployment/appcompat/default.asp
Deploying Windows XP-Application Compatibility
http://www.worldstart.com/archives/computer-tips/2002/08-20-2002.htm
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-08-22.htm
LangaList Standard Edition 2002-08-22

4) Most Old Software Never Dies--- Even In XP

 

[Al Klein]

All that's left for you now is .NET

HEY!

This is a family newsgroup.

 

[Domsters]

XP,
is the only pay ware on my system.
All else are freeware from this group,100+.
If Xp were free.....!!!!!!
M$ finally did something right.
No question!
Domsters

 

[Doc]

You're
right that this group shouldn't be used for what's-good-or-bad-about
XP, unless those issues are related to freeware.

Exactly.

 

[Doc]

Hell will freeze over ...... reminds me of a joke I once heard


Thermo Midterm

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington
chemistry mid-term exam. The answer by one student was so 'profound' that
the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is, of
course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

**BONUS QUESTION** Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic
(absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law,
(gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or
some variant, but fell short in producing a demonstration argument. One
student however wrote the following: "First, we need to know how the mass
of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that the souls
are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think we can safely
assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no
souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at
the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these
religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will
go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since
people do not belong to MORE than one religion, we can project that all
souls go to Hell. With the birth and death rates as they are, we can
expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now we look
at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states
that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same,
the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as the souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls
enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until
all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in
Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes
over.

Considering then the postulate presented to me by Teresa K. during my
Freshman year: that 'it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with
you' and taking into account the fact that over two years later, I still
have not succeeded in having relations with her; then #2 cannot be true,
and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze."

This student received the only "A" given.

 

[Steve H]

I have caved in after four years of holding out and have installed XP.
It really sucks, big time. However, I'm still going to stick it out and
beat it into submission.

As a result of this change, I have two questions:

1. Which version of the K-Lite codec pack does everybody recommend?
(Although I've always prefered the Coda codec pack, my experience has
been that it doesn't work as well in XP)

2. Crap.... I forgot. The last two days have fried my brain.

You didn't fancy the Linux route then ;0

Regards,

 

[B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson]

I installed the (freeware) XP Taskswitch Powertoy and now alt-tabbing is
problematic. There's no way to uninstall it either, from what I can tell.

Look for a 'CoolSwitch' entry.

BeAr

 

[Wald]

All that's left for you now is .NET

You forgot Java.

Just kidding John

Wald

 

[bambam]

Exactly.

That's pretty selective snipping there Doc!
The majority of posts in the thread are about freeware, those that aren't
are mostly just trying to help John with some configs.
As far as I can see there are no recommendations for payware\shareware
programs. What is your problem?

 

[Mark Carter]

I made the switch from 98 to 2K three years ago, and still use 2K as my
main OS. I have loaded XP on an older backup machine and use it on my
laptop. The jump (from 9x to XP) is gonna be a big one, and the default
XP installation is a PITA, but it can be wrestled into submission.

On the whole, I find XP fairly simple to install. I like the Classic
view, which not only cuts out the horrendous sugary look of the default
settings, but makes it run faster, too.

A few times over this year, I've had to configure XP machines for our
office. I dispair at the large amount of cr4p that's shoehorned into it
- like AOL, virus scanner, and how it likes to use Microsoft as an ISP
when you first configure it. On the box it says that you get a "free"
virus scanner. What they don't tell you is that it's time-limited. This
makes my life tedious, as it means that I then have to uninstall it.

Still, if you think XP is bad, I'm wondering what the nightmare that
will be Vista will be like.

It would be nice to see an OS that had the power of Linux with the
simplicity of Windows. Something like an Amiga OS, for example.

 

[Mark Carter]

Hell will freeze over ...... reminds me of a joke I once heard

Discussions have also been made as to whether computers are male or female:

Five reasons to believe computers are female:

* No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.
* The native language they use to communicate with other
computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
* The message "Bad command or file name" is about as
informative as, "If you don't know why I'm mad at you, then I'm
certainly not going to tell you".
* Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory
for later retrieval.
* As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

However, another group of computer scientists (all female) think that
computers should be referred to as if they were male. Their reasons follow:

Five reasons to believe computers are male:

* They have a lot of data, but are still clueless.
* They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the
time they are the problem.
* As soon as you commit to one you realize that, if you had
waited a little longer, you could have obtained a better model.
* In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
* Big power surges knock them out for the rest of the night.

Taken from:
http://www.joke-archives.com/computers/compmale.html

 

[Daniel Mandic]

Yeah, XP is really to the limit. What a culmination of NT-Technology!!!
Well, needs powermachines but I never saw a faster multitasking
Computer-OS. 50, 100 Tasks ... amazing! 1 start, hours of computing,
thousands of tasks and crashes and, 1 shutdown. ;-)

On the whole, I find XP fairly simple to install. I like the Classic
view, which not only cuts out the horrendous sugary look of the
default settings, but makes it run faster, too.

I also went back to classic view. My machine could drive the candies
but I loose Resolution. Going to 1280x1024 might help, but my monitor
cannot drive more than 1024x786.

A few times over this year, I've had to configure XP machines for our
office. I dispair at the large amount of cr4p that's shoehorned into
it - like AOL, virus scanner, and how it likes to use Microsoft as an
ISP when you first configure it. On the box it says that you get a
"free" virus scanner. What they don't tell you is that it's
time-limited. This makes my life tedious, as it means that I then
have to uninstall it.

Still, if you think XP is bad, I'm wondering what the nightmare that
will be Vista will be like.

It would be nice to see an OS that had the power of Linux with the
simplicity of Windows. Something like an Amiga OS, for example.

NT4 (sp2) was my starting signal to dismiss AmigaOS3.1/2000/MC68060,
and to concentrate computing-purposes on the NT-Basis.
Linux is capable, due to UNIX. But I would not say MS´s NT5.x does not
have features, Linux can do as well ;-) Indexing etc. (mostly speed
related, not really important though)

Although the AMIGA OS is still the best Video-OS for small budget (no
extra hardware required, like Videocard etc..), and for High-Quality
(Rooster, Genlock etc...).




Kind Regards,

Daniel Mandic

 

[Bob Adkins]

I have caved in after four years of holding out and have installed XP.
It really sucks, big time. However, I'm still going to stick it out and
beat it into submission.

Yep, that's my methodology too John: If you can't join it, beat it!

In the Windows Explorer, click "Tools,,Folder Options"

Check or un-check the options as follows:

*Use Windows Classic folders
*Show hidden files and folders
*Do not hide extensions of known file types
*Show protected operating system files
*Do not remember each folder's view settings (mega bloat!)
*Restore Previous folders at logon


For tidiness, use a nice hidden dock like Object Dock or RocketDock, and
keep all icons off the desktop.

If you are not using NTFS, do so. It's way more reliable than FAT32
Learn to use the Windows Explorer with finesse. It's very powerful.
Use the Camera Wizard. It catalogues your digital photos perfectly by date.
Learn to use IE6 options. It's fast, secure, and blocks popups if set up
correctly.
Download the NeoWin themes patch, and grab some nice themes. They do not add
bloat, and can add serious eye candy.
Want the ultimate in eye candy? Download XPize. It updated the XP icons left
over from Win9X (legacy). Theoretically you could get a tiny performance
hit, but it's well worth it if you like gorgeous system icons.

One last bit of XP wisdom: XP almost never crashes, but there's nothing you
can do about that. You'll just have to get used to it.

 

[technomaNge]

I have caved in after four years of holding out and have installed XP.
It really sucks, big time. However, I'm still going to stick it out and
beat it into submission.

Great, now navigate over to
http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12
to learn how to secure it.

Black Viper's site is gone, but majorgeeks retains a copy
of BV's instructions.


technomaNge

 

[B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson]

Black Viper's site is gone, but majorgeeks retains a copy
of BV's instructions.

Here's a free tool which does most of the necessary steps to secure
Win2k and WinXP:

www.ntsvcfg.de/ntsvcfg_eng.html

Quite interesting background information can be found there, too.

BeAr