[AT] computers OT

charlie hill charliehill at embarqmail.com
Sun Dec 12 16:11:25 PST 2010


I think if you go to outfits like Tiger Direct you can find "barebones" 
systems with no software installed.  I know they have (or had the last time 
I looked) desktops that way.  I never noticed about notebooks.

Charlie Hill

-----Original Message----- 
From: mpnc282 at juno.com
Sent: Sunday, December 12, 2010 4:46 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: Re: [AT] computers OT

I think you can order computers from Microsoft that don't come with all the 
"bloatware" that is installed on them from the major retailers. I think I 
will check out that option when it's time for a new computer. I'm running 
XP, and quite frankly it works just fine, and I have no intention of 
upgrading this computer. I did try Microsoft Security Essentials for a 
while, but it let through a nasty that was a pain to get rid of. Mike M

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Mike Sloane <mikesloane at verizon.net>
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] computers OT
Date: Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:35:55 -0500

I tend to disagree with a couple of Phil's comments: I moved 4 older
PC's from XP to 7 with minimal problems (mostly, as mentioned, sound and
video cards that didn't have new drivers). But I downloaded and ran the
free "upgrade adviser" from MS first, and that application told me
exactly which items would be a problem and to get new drivers , etc.
before trying to install 7. It also told me NOT to do an "upgrade" but
to do a "custom" install (I have no idea what the difference is). None
of the four machines have more than one gig of RAM (the minimum needed
for Windows 7), and they run just fine, if a little more slowly than
under XP. Since I wouldn't even dream of using Norton on any computer I
own, conflicts aren't a problem. I do use MS Security Essentials, and
have not had a single problem. I also disable the software firewall and
use the firewall in my wired/wireless router.

The upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 was very simple, although it seem to
take hours.

My biggest gripe with Windows 7 is the difficulty in setting up network
file sharing if you don't want to be bothered with their "homegroup"
arrangement, which limits file sharing to just a few folders.

Mike

On 12/9/2010 12:41 PM, pga2 at BasicISP.net wrote:
> Most of the systems I work on here at Acer/eMachines/Gateway now have
> Win7. If you want to upgrade I suggest you get a full copy of Win7
> and skip the upgrade disc. The upgrade has issues with some programs
> and will not run successfully until those programs are removed.
> Norton Antivirus is one big one. I know the upgrade is cheaper, but
> it will be a far sell painful experience if you start with the full
> package and a clean hard drive. One additional thing, the upgrade
> will not work with a Xp system, only Vista. Read the upgrade box
> carefully before buying, a lot of places will not accept any open
> software as a return. I like Win7 personally. It is nowhere near as
> buggy as Vista was in it's initial rollout. It just seems to work.
> Another tip, if your sustem has less than 2Gb of RAM you really
> should upgrade to at least 2Gb, more than 3Gb or so will not be
> recognized unless you go to the 64-bit version. If you go with the
> 64-bit version, you should have at least 3Gb and 4Gb would be better
> for best performance (More's law does apply here). On the 1Tb hard
> drives, we have been having quite a lot of drive failures (bad
> sectors) on the 750Gb and up hard drives, regardless of brand. We get
> Seagate, Western Digital and Hitachi, mostly. All three seem to have
> problems. Don't be surprised if your system chokes and pukes after a
> few weeks to a few months. I would recommend a DVD or CD to store
> backups, NOT an external hard drive. Too much possibility of data
> loss with the HDDs.
>
> Phil
>
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