new OS blues by NewOldBrownCoat

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT'S BLOG

NewOldBrownCoat

new OS blues
Friday, August 19, 2011

Been having computer troubles. I was running a cheapo used mini tower running Windows XP Pro, for about the last six months. working fine. It died last week, mother board trouble, I think. So I got my, and Mrs BC's, laptops, both running XP Pro, both used, backup machines, all configured up and all the hardware and cabling lashed together. It looked like terrifying space monkeys had attacked, but it was working. I used it HERE, THIS MORNING.
Went out to the same local store where I bought the mini-tower and both laptops. Bought another mini-tower for $ 120. It worked in the store. Brought it home , hooked it up, OY!, whatta mess.

It runs Windows 7, which I've heard SOME good things about, as compared to Vista, which everybody agreed was a piece of total go'se. First thing it did was restart itself about 6 times in a row, every time the logon screen came up. It got past that, and then put up a message about " Don't touch anything, I'm installing 1857 updates." Then a message about " You must restart your computer for all these updates to be effective." Then a message about " Do not turn off or unplug your computer because I must install 12 more updates." Finally got restarted, and it won't install Firefox, won't install Adobe Flash Player, won't even connect to the Internet with Internet Explorer.

Finally accessed the copy of Firefox on my backup drive, and THAT works.

I'd take it back to the store and yell at the guy who sold it to me, but it isn't his fault. The machine works. But Windows 7 just went down in my book as just as big a piece of crap as Vista. If it wasn't such a long walk to Redmond Washington, I'd go there and give Bill G and nis minions a piece of my mind-- and maybe a couple whacks with a used mini-tower...

COMMENTS

Sunday, September 4, 2011 6:31 PM

TALKLIKEABROWNCOATDAY

*** NewOldBrownCoat:
It sounds like the shop sold you an "as-is" used machine.

That is a recipe for disaster.

In general, you should only buy used computers that have had their OS freshly re-installed from trustworthy media by someone who either knows what they are doing, or uses tools that are Pakled-proof.

*** Stegasaurus:
Citation, please.

I would accept a list of at least three (preferably ten) exploits that are loose in the wild, and which can NOT be defeated by a properly secured Win XP.

I was initially impressed that one major security flaw (AutoPlay) is seemingly easier to fix, though I recently encountered a security flaw related to the context menu for DVDs in Win7. Ugh.

Monday, August 29, 2011 5:35 AM

STEGASAURUS

A little late in responding to your post, but I can understand your pain, NOBC. I'm an IT Tech for the college here, and we're transitioning from systems that have been running XP for the last decade to Win7. It can be a HUGE change for most, since most end users rely on the visual aspects of the operating systems more than on the command-line back ends. Not to mention the different flavors of the OS (Home, Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate - and 32bit or 64bit versons of each!) can make is super difficult when trying to re-add software folks are most comfortable with and have used for the last decade.

That being said, I can state without reservation that Windows 7 is an amazing operating system, and I highly recommend it to everyone that cares to hear my 2 cents about it. Windows 7, coupled with Security Essentials, is far more secure than XP could ever be. Yes, it can be a pain to configure, but in the long run you'll be running far less system scans and OS rebuilds.

Like I said, I definitely feel your pain there. But try to stick it out. I think you'll end up appreciating Windows 7 more than you think.

Maybe. :D

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