For some time now, since at least August, I've been acquiring parts and building up a computer (for scarletcharnel). The hardware was the easy part. I had a bit of a time with a Linux (Xubuntu) install to test things out. I purposely held off on installing Windows (not my choice of OS, but this isn't my machine) until I had all the hardware that it would have ( Read more... )

Since I'm asking about Windows software, I might as well ask a bit more. I know there are some programs that can vastly improve the experience of using Windows, such as using Foxit in place of Acrobat, and Opera (or FireFox, or.. pretty much anything) in place of IE. What others are there? Any programs that are on the "The Windows install isn't ( Read more... )

Last weekend I got sistaur's computer into a reasonably useful state, but in doing so removed an (outdated) anti-virus program or two. Since it is Windows (XP), I suppose there ought to be some sort of anti-malware program. The problem is, I have no idea about that. I haven't had to deal with keeping Windows secure for some time ( Read more... )

I made the switch from Windows to Linux a few years ago. At first I ran two computers side by side and switched between Windows and Linux. As I got more comfortable with Linux I used the Windows machine less and less. When the Linux machine had hardware trouble (a worn out CPU fan) I used the Windows machine and found I hadn't used it in over a ( Read more... )

I've been using Linux as my primary desktop OS at home for a couple years now and a few days ago when I fired up the Win2K machine for something (which the Linux machine can now do) I looked at the log that the UPS monitor keeps. I'd used the Windows machine in 2002, but only once or twice in 2003 and 2004. If I hadn't had trouble with the CPU fan ( Read more... )

...but it can be made more tolerable than it is "out of the box."

Generally when I find I need some application for Windows, the first place I look is TinyApps which has links to programs that are for DOS or Window(95/98/NT/2k/XP) and small enough to fit on a floppy. Even if floppies are fading into history, it's a nice measurement. A small ( Read more... )

That message is one I expect to see if I made changes to some file and tried to exit the program without having saved the file. That's fine. I like that reminder. It's useful and has saved me headaches and re-work.

What I do not like is using Word, saving the file, printing it, and then being asked if I want to save changes. Huh? I made no ( Read more... )

It took (yet another) a Google search for "Windows Explorer Annoyances" that lead to a page about Windows Explorer harf on Windows Me but, finally, I have what *I* want. The trick? Command-line switches that XP's help seems not to mention.

How about them apples? Windows XP is what you get when you infect the stability of Windows 2000 with the ( Read more... )

Windows XP sucks. That is all.

Windows Explorer in XP, or whatever XP calls the file manager, is trying to be helpful. That means it is really being annoying. On the desktop is a shortcut for "Documents" that opens the file manager to a documents directory. This directory is, however, not the one I really want. I want C:\home\neubauer instead.

I figured I'd just change the ( Read more... )