New Moderator
Also, I've been getting a number of exotic errors whenever I have to reboot (which is frequently): "disk read error", "disk boot failure" (i.e. the computer can't find my HD), and "err1err3". These go away after if I leave the computer off a few minutes then try to reboot, but then one of two things happens: (a) the computer freezes immediately after loading Vista and needs to restart, or (b) it works fine for a random amount of time then BSODs. For a while it wasn't so bad; then when I ran sfc while attempting to fix chkdsk, sfc came back with "sorry bro I couldn't do anything" and followed it up with a disk read error and it's been all downhill from there.
The BSODs mention ataport.sys in the error report, which combined the RAW filesystem message indicates to me there's something wrong with my HD. The fact that the errors go away after the thing is left idling indicates it might be a hardware issue as opposed to a software one, but on the other hand my partition/boot sector could just be boned.
Conclusion: I need to go stimulate the computer mechanics sector of the economy. =(
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~ Ogordemir ~
When I feel like being awesome in another way.
Liberal Arts Major
I had the (Sort of) same thing happen about a month ago.
<->
"What the fuck is Alice doing in Wonderland anyway? Who the fuck told her she could leave the god damn kitchen in the first place?" -Random guy on Xbox Live
New Moderator
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~ Ogordemir ~
When I feel like being awesome in another way.
Liberal Arts Major
Mine took a while to die.
While it was on, I would get random mini-freezes. The entire OS would lock up, the hard drive would make a noise, and the hard drive light would flicker. It took anywhere from 1-3 minutes to let up and work again. :/
After about a week or so, it finally died when I run a chkdsk on it. It completely snapped and wouldn't even load the OS. It just blue screened while trying to, and the start up repair wouldn't work.
I went and installed Linux onto a thumb drive, and Linux itself confirmed the entire disk was screwed.
Thankfully, I didn't lose much data. A few days before the true death, I had the sense to back up some important files, but I still lost A LOT.
<->
"What the fuck is Alice doing in Wonderland anyway? Who the fuck told her she could leave the god damn kitchen in the first place?" -Random guy on Xbox Live
New Moderator
I have a live edition of SUSE sitting around that I can use to try to get my data back in the event that everything goes entirely south, but I would rather not use SUSE or any Linux distro as my main OS (especially since I have another computer right next to this one that dual boots SUSE 10/XP) so I guess this might be a good time to switch to Windows 7.
Students get it for $100 or something, right? I might go for that. Pirating OS's is a bitch.
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~ Ogordemir ~
When I feel like being awesome in another way.
Liberal Arts Major
I couldn't even get it to MOUNT it was that fucked up.
I used a bit of 7 when I set up my Mom's laptop, and it's really nice. The UI is quite an improvement over Vista's.
<->
"What the fuck is Alice doing in Wonderland anyway? Who the fuck told her she could leave the god damn kitchen in the first place?" -Random guy on Xbox Live
New Moderator
I couldn't even get it to MOUNT it was that fucked up.
Ah, well, there's also that possibility. =(
I was recently trying to get my parents to replace their 7 year-old computer and so my experience with 7 consists entirely of going into the control panel and explorer of BestBuy and CostCo display models. I'm not sure "big icons" is necessarily a usability improvement over bars for the taskbar, but it sure looks cleaner.
That's about all I know.
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~ Ogordemir ~
When I feel like being awesome in another way.
Liberal Arts Major
Namely, the new task bar.
I'm honestly not a "big" fan of this. I'd prefer most programs be stuck in the system tray, especially programs like MSN, AIM and such. Not actually ON the taskbar itself.
And the fact there's no Classic start menu. >_>
This one was just a wtfwhyitgone?! because the Classic start menu > New.
<->
"What the fuck is Alice doing in Wonderland anyway? Who the fuck told her she could leave the god damn kitchen in the first place?" -Random guy on Xbox Live
Liberal Arts Major
If you CAN get onto your computer, I'd recommend saving as many files as possible.
And... I'm not sure if it's the same in the states, but for the love of god, avoid BestBuy for Computers. >_>
...Most of their desktops come with Norton installed >_>
<->
"What the fuck is Alice doing in Wonderland anyway? Who the fuck told her she could leave the god damn kitchen in the first place?" -Random guy on Xbox Live
Liberal Arts Major
Tried that a few times, got BSOD'd while stuff was transferring. On the flip side, I moved a vast quantity of my text data to my laptop when I moved to Seattle, so even though there's some stuff I'm going to lose (i.e. like 100 GB of movies and TV shows) it's not really significant.
And... I'm not sure if it's the same in the states, but for the love of god, avoid BestBuy for Computers. >_>
...Most of their desktops come with Norton installed >_>
Ideally, we'd get something from HP or whatever online, but Best Buy happens to be about the only place we know of in Boise that sells cheaper computers, now that Circuit City and CompUSA both went bankrupt or somesuch.
Norton isn't so bad to have around. I got it on my laptop (not from Best Buy) and whenever I have to reboot I just close the dialogue when it asks me to renew my subscription then hit enter when it asks if I'm sure I don't want to be protected. Over all it's probably only cost me around a minute or two of my life. >_>
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~ Ogordemir ~
"The sciences have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age." ~ H.P Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu
Liberal Arts Major
Norton is a shitty anti-virus product.
Also, I'd maybe recommend going with Acer. I've been using an Acer desktop for the last 3 years, it's been great. It's a hell of a lot more reliable then the last 2 computers we've had. (Hads tons of problems with first PC, quite a few with second which were created by a small local computer shop.)
My parents have 2 Acer laptops, and they're pretty good.
<->
"What the fuck is Alice doing in Wonderland anyway? Who the fuck told her she could leave the god damn kitchen in the first place?" -Random guy on Xbox Live