Win XP can't be depended on

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sim E Terry
  • Start date Start date
S

Sim E Terry

I formatted my drive about a month ago. I do this occasionally when things
get bad (and they always do). I installed SP2 that I had saved to my spare
drive when it first came out but didn't really get most of the new updates
for Win XP Pro. I back up things when I can but today....... I installed Win
Defender and got all the new updates for MS. When restarting, it just kept
rebooting, rebooting, adinfinitum. I couldn't even get into Safe Mode (it
also has done this before). I had my computer set up very well I thought.
But I am now reformatting and will reinstall. Again. Computers in general
and Windows XP can't be depended on when it gets right down to the nut
cutting. If you don't back constantly, meaning hourly, you're going to get
burned. I am pissed. I hope Vista is better. Win XP is the best so far but
far from being able to depend on it. I could have fixed this I'm sure by
spending 2 days farting around on the Internet looking for fixes to
everything but I don't have the time or the patience. Diatribe over.
 
If you get to the point, we can help. Are you complaining or have you
got a question to ask?

Thanks.
 
Yes, it's entirely too easy for users to mess up computers. For the more
difficult users we recommend etch-a-sketch(TM) instead.
 
Sim E Terry said:
I formatted my drive about a month ago. I do this occasionally when things
get bad (and they always do). I installed SP2 that I had saved to my spare
drive when it first came out but didn't really get most of the new updates
for Win XP Pro. I back up things when I can but today....... I installed
Win Defender and got all the new updates for MS. When restarting, it just
kept rebooting, rebooting, adinfinitum. I couldn't even get into Safe Mode
(it also has done this before). I had my computer set up very well I
thought. But I am now reformatting and will reinstall. Again. Computers in
general and Windows XP can't be depended on when it gets right down to the
nut cutting. If you don't back constantly, meaning hourly, you're going to
get burned. I am pissed. I hope Vista is better. Win XP is the best so far
but far from being able to depend on it. I could have fixed this I'm sure
by spending 2 days farting around on the Internet looking for fixes to
everything but I don't have the time or the patience. Diatribe over.
Click to expand...

Everyone has problems sometimes with computers, but based on your vague
explanation, yours sound rather excessive. I've done the reformat/reinstall
thing a few times with 3 different machines and XP Pro. No problems, except
once, when I created a few of my own.
 
Sim said:
I formatted my drive about a month ago. I do this occasionally when things
get bad (and they always do). I installed SP2 that I had saved to my spare
drive when it first came out but didn't really get most of the new updates
for Win XP Pro. I back up things when I can but today....... I installed Win
Defender and got all the new updates for MS. When restarting, it just kept
rebooting, rebooting, adinfinitum. I couldn't even get into Safe Mode (it
also has done this before). I had my computer set up very well I thought.
But I am now reformatting and will reinstall. Again. Computers in general
and Windows XP can't be depended on when it gets right down to the nut
cutting. If you don't back constantly, meaning hourly, you're going to get
burned. I am pissed. I hope Vista is better. Win XP is the best so far but
far from being able to depend on it. I could have fixed this I'm sure by
spending 2 days farting around on the Internet looking for fixes to
everything but I don't have the time or the patience. Diatribe over.
Click to expand...

If you have the time and the patience for BETA software like Windows
Defender then I'm sure that the occasional reformat is tolerable ;-)
 
No support for vast amounts of my hardware...won't even boot
my present machine.
Click to expand...

Support for HUGE amounts of hardware. Only OBSCURE and/or EXTREMELY new
hardware not supported. Did you try the Live CD first?
 
I run XP on two computers and it is very stable, doesn't crash and is
extremely reliable. Instead of blaming XP tell us your specific problem and
someone will try and help. I bet your problem is down to software (not XP)
you run or hardware or just you.
 
I formatted my drive about a month ago. I do this occasionally when things
get bad (and they always do). I installed SP2 that I had saved to my spare
drive when it first came out but didn't really get most of the new updates
for Win XP Pro. I back up things when I can but today....... I installed Win
Defender and got all the new updates for MS. When restarting, it just kept
rebooting, rebooting, adinfinitum. I couldn't even get into Safe Mode (it
also has done this before). I had my computer set up very well I thought.
But I am now reformatting and will reinstall. Again. Computers in general
and Windows XP can't be depended on when it gets right down to the nut
cutting. If you don't back constantly, meaning hourly, you're going to get
burned. I am pissed. I hope Vista is better. Win XP is the best so far but
far from being able to depend on it. I could have fixed this I'm sure by
spending 2 days farting around on the Internet looking for fixes to
everything but I don't have the time or the patience. Diatribe over.
Click to expand...
You have hit on why I don't use SP 2. I finally looked up
the specs, and without typing in 2 paragraphs, it wasn't
something I wanted on my computer.

75 % of the problems resolved.

If you have an external hard drive for a backup (I use an 80
Gb in an external drive enclosure, with on-off switch,
lights- power and activity), and a usb connecting cable, and
I use drag and drop for CONSTANT backups)

That will save you MANY headaches.

The updates you want/don't want are a trial and error sort
of thing.

I don't accept ALL the backups (I know I'm going to get some
noise on this one-- but it works for me)

Do what works for you. It has taken me some 3-4 YEARS to get
it figured out (I'm not a tekkie by any stretch), but I now
have a computer I can reformat roughly every 3 months (on
GPs)

Don't give up on computers. Just learn how to do it
properly.

Use Nero 6.6 as the minimum standard for burning your backup
CDs. I use AVAST4 (free) for AV, AdAware Pro, SpyBot 1.4,
and I find that XP Pro is the one OS Microsoft "finally got
right."

There is no perfect OS, as there is no perfect computer.

Would you REALLY prefer a scratch pad, pencil, and
calculator?

Last thought.

My ex-brother- in- law, sister's husband, was a VERY
high-level engineer for the government (now retired).

He designed computers at the logic level, but had to tweak
hardware and software frequently.

He HATED computers.

Called them "Those G*D* infernal MONSTERS!"

He was the first person I heard say, "Computers are like
women: can't live with 'em, can't live without them."

Hopefully, you'll find a way to peacefully co-exist.

Good luck!


Tallahassee
 
Yes, it's entirely too easy for users to mess up computers. For the more
difficult users we recommend etch-a-sketch(TM) instead.
Click to expand...

Be nice! ;-)

Can't a newbie bitch occasionally?

I've been bitching about computers for 25 YEARS now!


As my computer engineer bro-in-law says, "They're like
women: Can't live WITH 'em, can't live without 'em!"

One expression the government (feds) have (inside joke)
about computers!

"Computers are WONDERFUL devices the hour a day they work!"


Good luck!


Tallahassee
 
Everyone has problems sometimes with computers, but based on your vague
explanation, yours sound rather excessive. I've done the reformat/reinstall
thing a few times with 3 different machines and XP Pro. No problems, except
once, when I created a few of my own.
Click to expand...
smirk chuckle cough.

"Been there, done that."

I think too many of blame our own lack of knowledge and
experience on "the damn computer!"

I've personally invested several DAYS of blood, sweat, and
tears (literally on all 3), to finally find a solution
that-- had I known it--

would have taken 2 minutes.

If ONLY I had asked!

Amazing how many things we can find out from others if we
don't get hung up with

"I'll figure this )(*&)*(&)*(&)*(7 thing out if it
KILLS me!"



Good luck!


Tallahassee
 
I formatted my drive about a month ago. I do this occasionally when things
get bad (and they always do). I installed SP2 that I had saved to my spare
drive when it first came out but didn't really get most of the new updates
for Win XP Pro. I back up things when I can but today....... I installed Win
Defender and got all the new updates for MS. When restarting, it just kept
rebooting, rebooting, adinfinitum. I couldn't even get into Safe Mode (it
also has done this before). I had my computer set up very well I thought.
But I am now reformatting and will reinstall. Again. Computers in general
and Windows XP can't be depended on when it gets right down to the nut
cutting. If you don't back constantly, meaning hourly, you're going to get
burned. I am pissed. I hope Vista is better. Win XP is the best so far but
far from being able to depend on it. I could have fixed this I'm sure by
spending 2 days farting around on the Internet looking for fixes to
everything but I don't have the time or the patience. Diatribe over.
Click to expand...
The biggest problem with Windows lies between the chair and the keyboard.
 
Sim E Terry said:
I formatted my drive about a month ago. I do this occasionally when things
get bad (and they always do). I installed SP2 that I had saved to my spare
drive when it first came out but didn't really get most of the new updates
for Win XP Pro. I back up things when I can but today....... I installed Win
Defender and got all the new updates for MS. When restarting, it just kept
rebooting, rebooting, adinfinitum. I couldn't even get into Safe Mode (it
also has done this before). I had my computer set up very well I thought.
But I am now reformatting and will reinstall. Again. Computers in general
and Windows XP can't be depended on when it gets right down to the nut
cutting. If you don't back constantly, meaning hourly, you're going to get
burned. I am pissed. I hope Vista is better. Win XP is the best so far but
far from being able to depend on it. I could have fixed this I'm sure by
spending 2 days farting around on the Internet looking for fixes to
everything but I don't have the time or the patience. Diatribe over.
Click to expand...

Here are some suggestions.

1. When you have your system back running again one of the very first
things you need to do is to go into Control Panel - System - Advanced
and click on the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery (bottom)
section. In the Startup and Recovery window click on the checkbox for
"automatically restart" to clear it. That should keep your computer
from getting into these "reboot loops" in future.

2. You should always repeat always repeat always get the critical
updates for Windows XP and install them as soon as they are made
available. Most of these critical updates are to fix newly discovered
vulnerabilities within Windows or Windows components. Malware
creators (the bad guys who write new viruses, worms, trojans, etc) are
always among the very first to download these critical updates. What
they then do is to reverse engineer each update so as to identify
exactly what and where the vulnerability is. Then they create a new
piece of malware to exploit that vulnerability and start distributing
it. Anyone who does not install that critical update is therefore
quite likely to be infected by this exploit.

3. As others have said, Windows Defender is still a beta product, and
the basic definition of beta is "too full of bugs to be released". So
if you install beta software you should be prepared for at least some
problems.


My own system with Windows XP installed has never been reformatted, at
least not since I installed W4WG 3.11 back in 1993, and I upgraded it
from Windows Me to Windows XP within a day or two of the release date
in 2001.

With the System Restore function in Windows XP it is usually very
simple to recover from a botched update or install and most other
misadventures.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Unk wrote:

The biggest problem with Windows lies between the chair and the
keyboard.
Click to expand...

Without more information, that is making the same sort of assumptions about
the original poster that the original poster made about Windows - don't you
think?
 
Gordon said:
www.ubuntu.org
No reboots, no BSOD.
Click to expand...

Thats fudging the issue isn't it? Just because the screen doesn't turn blue,
it doesn't mean Linux never hangs! A kernal panic might not be a common
event but will still take your system right down given the chance. I've
worked on a lot of operating systems and I'm yet to find a single one that
has never crashed.

I'm not overly taken with the Linux desktops anyway, though I will say
Ubuntu has been the best distro for me for some time now, for when I do need
Linux for something. KDE and Gnome still tend to end up looking like "not
quite right" copies of Windows. If you want to run a UNIX, have *you* looked
at OS X lately?

--
--
Rob Moir, MS MVP
Blog Site - http://www.robertmoir.com
Virtual PC 2004 FAQ - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk/win/VirtualPC2004FAQ.html
I'm always surprised at "professionals" who STILL have to be asked "Have you
checked (event viewer / syslog)".
 
Funny as how many millions of people depend on, and count on Windows XP -
all the time!

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
 
Sim said:
I formatted my drive about a month ago. I do this occasionally when
things get bad (and they always do). I installed SP2 that I had saved
to my spare drive when it first came out but didn't really get most
of the new updates for Win XP Pro. I back up things when I can but
today....... I installed Win Defender and got all the new updates for
MS. When restarting, it just kept rebooting, rebooting, adinfinitum.
I couldn't even get into Safe Mode (it also has done this before). I
had my computer set up very well I thought. But I am now reformatting
and will reinstall. Again. Computers in general and Windows XP can't
be depended on when it gets right down to the nut cutting. If you
don't back constantly, meaning hourly, you're going to get burned. I
am pissed. I hope Vista is better. Win XP is the best so far but far
from being able to depend on it. I could have fixed this I'm sure by
spending 2 days farting around on the Internet looking for fixes to
everything but I don't have the time or the patience. Diatribe over.
Click to expand...

While I agree with all the other posts that XP is in general pretty reliable
I don't know how happy I would be if I was in an intensive care unit and the
equipment was running Windows XP.

Kerry
 
Unk wrote:



Without more information, that is making the same sort of assumptions about
the original poster that the original poster made about Windows - don't you
think?
Click to expand...
No, I don't.
For some people, even a GameBoy is too much technology.
 
Unk said:
No, I don't.
For some people, even a GameBoy is too much technology.
Click to expand...

That is probably true, the question was how can you judge that from one
newsgroup post.
 
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