Computers and Related Hardware/Software

Timing is everything: My primary HDD tanked, but I backed it up a couple of days ago...

A quick drive out to Fry's for a new HDD, then a new XP install and I'm back up and running...

Whew. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:Timing is everything: My primary HDD tanked, but I backed it up a couple of days ago...

A quick drive out to Fry's for a new HDD, then a new XP install and I'm back up and running...

Whew. :sweat:

How about trying circuit city their liquidation sale started today.

Jav_sol wrote:How about trying circuit city their liquidation sale started today.

I've never ever bought anything from them... I'm not starting now. :beaten:

bmwracer wrote:
I've never ever bought anything from them... I'm not starting now. :beaten:

I've bought a couple of things from them, but it's still sad to see them go cause now the only electronic store left around here is Best Buy and walmart (if you count it). Less competition means worse prices for consumers. :grumble:

Jav_sol wrote:I've bought a couple of things from them, but it's still sad to see them go cause now the only electronic store left around here is Best Buy and walmart (if you count it). Less competition means worse prices for consumers. :grumble:

I haven't really seen that from an electronics point of view: I rarely ever buy anything from Best Buy... There's lots of alternatives online. :victory:

bmwracer wrote:
I haven't really seen that from an electronics point of view: I rarely ever buy anything from Best Buy... There's lots of alternatives online. :victory:

A lot of people don't like using their credit cards online because of security issues and what not. If you go the the Best Buy stores around here, they're always packed cause there are no other stores around.

Jav_sol wrote:A lot of people don't like using their credit cards online because of security issues and what not. If you go the the Best Buy stores around here, they're always packed cause there are no other stores around.

Drag.

I typically show up at a normally busy store a little before it opens and take care of my business relatively quickly... Smash and grab shopping, I call it. :beaten:

bmwracer wrote:

Smash and grab shopping, I call it. :beaten:

So, you smash the door down before opening time? :beaten:

I usually go to Fry's if I have to go to a brick&mortar, otherwise I do online with Newegg for computer items.

deseipher wrote:So, you smash the door down before opening time? :beaten:

Almost. :sweat:

I usually go to Fry's if I have to go to a brick&mortar, otherwise I do online with Newegg for computer items.

Yeah, same for me... :victory:

Something I should've realized, yet didn't expect when I was at Fry's: Almost all of the HDDs available for purchase are SATA now... The only PATA/UDMA/EIDE drive they had was a WD 160GB... :sweat:

I thought about buying a SATA drive, but then I'd have to buy a PCI SATA controller... :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:Something I should've realized, yet didn't expect when I was at Fry's: Almost all of the HDDs available for purchase are SATA now... The only PATA/UDMA/EIDE drive they had was a WD 160GB... :sweat:

I thought about buying a SATA drive, but then I'd have to buy a PCI SATA controller... :sweat:

I wonder if there's a performance hit if you use a PCI controller, but the hassle of having to buy one would be enough to turn me away. SATA drives are more prominent now, and even some motherboard don't have IDE connectors, going with only SATA.

On another note, another small Windows 7 addition makes using the OS a little better. I can now search Flickr and Youtube through Windows Explorer. The Flickr search is especially nice, as I can simply drag and drop files onto my hard drive. The only downside so far is that the search results are only limited to 100 images, and the Youtube search is even more limited, but there is an option to do an Internet search which then opens up a browser to Flickr or Youtube. Hopefully both searches are improved upon so I won't have to open up a webpage at all.

I should also mention the Problem Steps Recorder features as well. Simply awesome. What it does is record your keystrokes or mouse clicks, take screenshots during each step and saves it as a MHTML file, so if you have a problem you can show someone by simply sending the file and the person can view the process using IE. Even better, if you want to show someone how to solve a problem or use a program, you can record the steps you use and send it to the person and they'll have a step-by-step manual with screenshots to help.

deseipher wrote:I wonder if there's a performance hit if you use a PCI controller

I would think there would be, since the PCI bus runs at a max of 66MHz... :sweat:

And there's some tricky setup stuff for the BIOS and making sure the PCI card is compliant with the PC's PCI version... :sweat:

On another note, another small Windows 7 addition makes using the OS a little better. I can now search Flickr and Youtube through Windows Explorer. The Flickr search is especially nice, as I can simply drag and drop files onto my hard drive. The only downside so far is that the search results are only limited to 100 images, and the Youtube search is even more limited, but there is an option to do an Internet search which then opens up a browser to Flickr or Youtube. Hopefully both searches are improved upon so I won't have to open up a webpage at all.

Hmm.

But I'm still not going to jump in...

bmwracer wrote:
Hmm.

But I'm still not going to jump in...

Heh, can't blame you. It's only a beta at this point, and you can always read up on the features without having to actually try them, so there really isn't a need. I just like trying new stuff :beaten:

deseipher wrote:Heh, can't blame you. It's only a beta at this point, and you can always read up on the features without having to actually try them, so there really isn't a need. I just like trying new stuff :beaten:

So do I, but when it comes to a new OS..... :sweat:

Will you be able to revert back after it expires?

deseipher wrote:
I should also mention the Problem Steps Recorder features as well. Simply awesome. What it does is record your keystrokes or mouse clicks, take screenshots during each step and saves it as a MHTML file, so if you have a problem you can show someone by simply sending the file and the person can view the process using IE. Even better, if you want to show someone how to solve a problem or use a program, you can record the steps you use and send it to the person and they'll have a step-by-step manual with screenshots to help.

That really is awesome!...That would have been such a godsend when I was doing helpdesk/ tech support!!!

deseipher wrote:I should also mention the Problem Steps Recorder features as well. Simply awesome. What it does is record your keystrokes or mouse clicks, take screenshots during each step and saves it as a MHTML file, so if you have a problem you can show someone by simply sending the file and the person can view the process using IE. Even better, if you want to show someone how to solve a problem or use a program, you can record the steps you use and send it to the person and they'll have a step-by-step manual with screenshots to help.

Couldn't you steal people's passwords with that capability? :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
So do I, but when it comes to a new OS..... :sweat:

Will you be able to revert back after it expires?

I have Win 7 and Vista installed on two separate partitions, so I can simply format the Win 7 partition once the beta expires. :victory:

deseipher wrote:I have Win 7 and Vista installed on two separate partitions, so I can simply format the Win 7 partition once the beta expires. :victory:

Ah, sort of a pseudo dual-boot... A wise choice. :victory:

bmwracer wrote:
Couldn't you steal people's passwords with that capability? :sweat:

I'm sure that's a possibility, but it's up to the user as to what and when they want to record. Also, it's up to the user as to who they send the file to. If it's just for troubleshooting a program or as a step-by-step tutorial I see no problem with it. I've yet to dig deeper into this feature, but I'll try it out and whatever info I can find about security I'll be sure to post it. :victory:

deseipher wrote:I'm sure that's a possibility, but it's up to the user as to what and when they want to record. Also, it's up to the user as to who they send the file to. If it's just for troubleshooting a program or as a step-by-step tutorial I see no problem with it. I've yet to dig deeper into this feature, but I'll try it out and whatever info I can find about security I'll be sure to post it. :victory:

If I recall isn't there malware/spyware that supposedly has that keystroke-recording capability? :sweat: