I Hate Setting Up New Computers

[WillieB69]

Blah.... My wife's laptop died on her and she has more or less taken over mine. Since this is tax free weekend in Missouri, I went out and bought myself a new laptop this afternoon. Of course with all new electronic toys, you have to tweak them a bit and I have spent the entire afternoon setting everything the way I want it. I'm loving Windows 7 but trying to get everything configured to make me happy has definitely been a learning curve.

Before you all tell me the wife should have gotten the new laptop, she got the better end of the deal. This thing isn't bad by any means but it's nowhere near the machine my wife is now claiming as hers.

 

[BetterBob]

Yeah, getting all of your applications and preferences swapped over is a huge PITA.

But it's generally worth it.

And I'm still not comfortable with 7... Well... not as comfortable as i am with XP anyway.

 

[DaveP]

I bought an HP laptop loaded with Windows 7 64 bit a few months ago. I had to figure out things that were different like control panel, where the config utils were, and sort through programs that used to run fine on XP 32 bit but needed the 64 bit version to run under Win 7.

I downloaded OpenOffice.org from the Sun site and I'm liking it just fine. Compatibility with Win 7 is just fine and it loads complex MS Office files perfectly.

I canned Windows Explorer and loaded Firefox, which I use on all my PCs.

Some utilities I used to use required new versions and the network activity indicator in the taskbar was missing, so I found a program called "network activity indicator" for Win 7 that works and looks just like the one in XP.

Windows Security Essentials is a highly rated anti-virus program that runs well on Win 7. It is unobtrusive, doesn't hog resources, and is effective. It was highly rated by Maximum PC magazine a while back for best of the free antivirus programs.

Once I sorted through the add-on programs that came with the laptop, things settled down. Now it's just like an old pair of jeans that fit just right.

 

[WillieB69]

Windows Security Essentials is a highly rated anti-virus program that runs well on Win 7. It is unobtrusive, doesn't hog resources, and is effective. It was highly rated by Maximum PC magazine a while back for best of the free antivirus programs..

So will this replace others like AVG or Avast?

 

[NCC]

Of course with all new electronic toys, you have to tweak them a bit and I have spent the entire afternoon setting everything the way I want it.

You're so lucky! When I get a new computer (or reinstall OS & Apps) it takes me a week of evenings to get it the way I want it. I have to admit though, I like a fresh install.

BTW, I successfully sidestepped Vista. It appears you did to. That must've been MS's least popular OS ever.

 

[angelique510]

I hear ya!

Removing all the programs you don't want. Adding the programs you do. Installing drivers for all your peripherals (still can't get my cam to work). Changing all the defaults from IE, Outlook and Google, to Firefox and Yahoo. Tweaking all the settings and adding plug ins. Checking the "keep me logged in" on all the websites you go to. Transferring and organizing craptons of files from your old computer.

I also used to take a week to get that all done. With this new computer it wasn't bad at all - except for the cam. I like Windows 7 and the $30 "Easy Transfer Cable" was worth every penny.

~A

 

[USMC.CAR]

Blah.... My wife's laptop died on her and she has more or less taken over mine. Since this is tax free weekend in Missouri, I went out and bought myself a new laptop this afternoon. Of course with all new electronic toys, you have to tweak them a bit and I have spent the entire afternoon setting everything the way I want it. I'm loving Windows 7 but trying to get everything configured to make me happy has definitely been a learning curve.

Before you all tell me the wife should have gotten the new laptop, she got the better end of the deal. This thing isn't bad by any means but it's nowhere near the machine my wife is now claiming as hers.

But...It's like christmas. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I love messing around with new computers. I often do these setups for my friends just because I am a computer literate person and they just intrigue me so.

 

[WillieB69]

BTW, I successfully sidestepped Vista. It appears you did to. That must've been MS's least popular OS ever.

I did have the misfortune of owning one desktop computer with Vista. I promptly sold it and bought our laptops which were loaded with XP. This neew one has Windows 7 and I'm really liking it. None of the weirdness that came with Vista so far. I think Windows Mellinium Edition might ahve given Vista a run for it's money for worst ever but it would still be a close race.

the $30 "Easy Transfer Cable" was worth every penny.

I seriously considered one of those and kinda wish I had now. At least for my email contacts if nothing else. Most of my other stuff is backed up on Mozy.

 

[angelique510]

I think Windows Mellinium Edition might ahve given Vista a run for it's money for worst ever but it would still be a close race.

Oh, thinking about having to choose between ME and Vista.... horrors.8-o

~A

 

[WillieB69]

Oh, thinking about having to choose between ME and Vista.... horrors.8-o

~A

If those were my only Microsoft choices, I'd be going Linux or Macbook.

 

[hova]

i picked up an asus laptop with win7 on it earlier this year, and i like 7 muh better than xp or vista(blech). i had an issue trying to load backtrack and lost everything due to a bad shutdown. kids first year of picture , gone . all 800 gigs of music , gone.


as far as setting everything up , all i do is remove the crap that came with it , add firefox , open office , and of course gimp. then i call it a day. then i take all 3 days to download and update counterstrike:source.

call me a minimalist...

 

[5cardstud]

I got Windows 7 ultimate 64bt and I love it I put windows office 2010 on it and like it too. Both my main PCs have 7 ultimate 64bt. and I have a little pc set up with windows xp to play my older games on. I'm supposed to be able to play them in compatibility mode on 7 but it just won't play one game and thats why I got the xp one. The game is an old windows 98 game but I like it. I have all 3 hooked ut to my hd tv through a KVM switch with a long range wireless keyboard/mouse so I can recline and surf or play games. It works pretty well with the hotkeys to change from 1 pc to the other. No more having to run vista with the user control disabled and half the program and other garbage removed. I abhor vista.

 

[hova]

what game cant you play in compat mode ? i had some problems that were easily fixed with an sd card and that demon program that makes a virtual hard drive...cant remember the name of it off hand , but you basically make the sd card like an old ATA drive , thats what the problem i had was , something to do with the allocation table or something...



god that was forever ago...

-hov

 

[Apophis]

Of course there's also the PC/MAC hybrid. I've Macified a Toshiba netbook but sound and wifi aren't compatible with OSX 10.6. I just picked up a Dell Mini 9 and I'm waiting for the 32gb SSD to show up so I can Macify that. Doing some research I found that the Dell mini works great on OSX. Other than that, I have an Alienware M11x with Win7 and it works great.

Anyway, specs on the Dell if anyone's interested:
Intel Atom N270 1.6ghz w/512K L2 cache
2GB ram
Intel GMA950 graphics
8.9" WSVGA LCD (1024x600)
802.11 a/b/g
4 cell li-ion battery
SD card slot

I'm waiting on the following:
8 cell li-ion battery
32GB SSD

I pieced it together, but all said and done, under $300. All you need besides that is a copy of OSX 10.6, an external dvd (with power) and a program called netbookcd.

Have Fun!

 

[5cardstud]

what game cant you play in compat mode ? i had some problems that were easily fixed with an sd card and that demon program that makes a virtual hard drive...cant remember the name of it off hand , but you basically make the sd card like an old ATA drive , thats what the problem i had was , something to do with the allocation table or something...



god that was forever ago...

-hov

I know you'll probably think I'm dumb for liking this game but it's an old 98 game called recoil that was put out by Zipper interactive and Electronic Arts. There is another kids game called recoil but it's not the same one. I tried everything and it just keeps comming back that you need windows 95/98 to run it. I can get it to work in xp though.

 

[jctennis]

Can't go wrong with Linux. I have been using Ubuntu exclusively for about 2 years now, and I just can't deal with MS anymore.

 

[hova]

gimme the link on that mini 9. i have been eyeballing a ee901 or a 1000ha , but i really want something 9" or smaller. the 10.1 is like a laptop to me , but the 701 and 900 ee's are celery processors , and i would rather have an atom...yes , i said celery. thats how quick my last celeron mobil chip was...

iirc 95/98 had a different partition type (fat?) , its been a while , but i dont remember if that was ever really a problem or not. ill look into it , i remember there being a driver that was needed to run 98/95 stuff.

i think i remember recoil... i still play tribes and its from...98ish... hell of a time getting it to work , but it brought back so many memories of dialup and my hardcore ati ragepro 33 ....lol...


-hov

 

[Apophis]

hova, I found my Mini 9 on ebay. Just search for Dell Mini 9 or Inspiron 910 or Vostro A90. You'll find lots there. Just limit your search to laptops/notebooks or you'll get tens of thousands of items.

 

[hova]

is themini 9 the previous version to the mini 10? it seemed to be the same as all the other n270 netbooks. the only thing im not liking on the asus gig , is the shiny screen...

backtrack will be my main , with xp sp2 as a secondary.

how does gaming go on a nevbook?


-hov

 

[5cardstud]

Can't go wrong with Linux. I have been using Ubuntu exclusively for about 2 years now, and I just can't deal with MS anymore.

So how hard was it to switch and become at ease with linux? I looked at different OS but don't think I could ever learn how to run them like I do windows. Well except for IE8. I had MS calling me for ever trying to get IE8 to run right. It's the worst browser they've ever had.