Dammit - I'm tired of this screwed up computer

[Duane Scarborough]

I've just spent about 2 hours on the phone, trying it help Nick (aka Eskimoboy) with a Mag problem, and could not get this *&^% computer to work right.

BTW, Nick had nothing at all to do with this aggravation. Hopefully, I helped him some. But I'm getting so damned tired of the computer problems.

I'm ordering another computer tomorrow (after I cool down some, and check my bank balance).

Grrrr.... !@#$%^&*()

Duane

[buster]

Duane,

Sorry 'bout your computer problems, I've been there believe me.

After I started having problems with two different units (that I bought new) shortly after
the warranty ran out, I started buying used ones.

I found an outfit that gets computers from business that go out of business, or just switch
out all their computers at once. They sell one to four year old good stuff, pretty cheap.

I bought about three or four over several years. I paid $200. for the biggest fastest one, and that lasted about a year. $80. for one that worked good two years. But the first one I ever bought was just a back-up unit for the shop. I only paid $55.00 for that HP.
It is still working good yet, and I use it as my main computer now.

I figured out that the higher priced ones are not necessarily the best, at least with used stuff. I know I'll never buy a new computer again, or spend much money fixing a used one either.

Good luck,
Dave

[Duane Scarborough]

Buster,

You've made a couple of good points.

There's probably really nothing wrong with this computer that couldn't be fixed by reformating the hard drive, and then re-installing everything. It's just such a PITA to do that.

I guess that I was just really frustrated last night. I've cooled off a bit since then.

Thanks,

Duane

[Duane Scarborough]

Dadgummit,

They should outlaw EBAY.

I found a NIB Dell 15R laptop like I was looking at last night. Yeah, I bid on it. Shame on me.

But at least I only bid a low price. (I know that I look dumb, but I'm much dumber than I look.)

"IF" I win this auction, maybe I should set up parental controls so that I can't go to EBAY anymore. Nah, that won't work, because I'd have the password.

Well, maybe it would work. I'm bad about losing passwords. Got a big case of CRS.

Duane

[Duane Scarborough]

Oh darn.

I got out bid.

The good news is that since I've started this thread, my computer has not given me even one little bit of trouble.

Duane

[buster]

Duane,

Your computer knows it is in deep do-do.

Dave

[Duane Scarborough]

Buster,

Yeah, I've wondered if printing out a Photo of a new, with all the bells and whistles computer, and hanging it nearby would keep it in line.

Duane

[Duane Scarborough]

Well, after a lot of thought, I have decided to go for it today.

I've watched several on-line demos of Windows 7. (I've been running XP Home) Looks like Microsoft has fixed the glitches that Vista had with Windows 7. It also looks like Windows 7 has some nice features that I've been hoping for.

I considered just buying a Windows 7 upgrade for this computer. But it's about 5 years old, and really, even if Windows 7 would run on it, it'd be marginal, at best.
Also, to change this computer from XP to Windows 7 would require a clean installation, which would mean that I would not have a working computer at all until ( IF ) I was finished.

It seemed to make more sense to just buy a new computer, with Windows 7 on it. That way I'd still have a working computer while I took my time getting the new one set up and working.

I did a little shopping, and thinking, etc., etc. And I decided to break the mold. I've always been frugal, and bought last year's (or the year before that) end of production left-overs. This time, I didn't go overboard with it, but DID order something that was still in current production.

2 things that have always seemed to plague me were either not enough RAM, or not enough hard drive space. On those 2 counts, I loaded it up. I ordered as much RAM as the processor could support, and a fairly big hard drive.

So what I ordered was a Dell Inspiron 15R Laptop, with an Intel I5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 750 GB hard drive. It wasn't the cheapest thing they had to offer by any stretch, but it was a LONG way from the most expensive.

(BTW, if anyone wants to go shopping, there are MANY variations for a Dell Inspiron 15R.)

And I paid about 1/3 of what I paid in 1986 for an IBM XT clone, which had "MAYBE" 5 % of this one's ability.

Duane

[Papee]

I hate buying a new computer, they always have it jam packed with stuff you really don't use. It always takes me a few days to get all the bells and whistles turned off that they seem to think you need. I'm really happy with windows 7, I was running Vista. I got the family pack deal, you can do up to three computers with the one license, and did three of mine. I'm glad to be rid of Vista, it was a pain to get some of my add ons to work like multiple monitors(5) and my graphics tablet.

[2006rubicon]

I got a compaq 486 DX-2 50Mhz that still works and it doesn't have ANY bloat ware on it cause the hard drive is only 270 megabytes......I'll sell it cheep!

[Duane Scarborough]

I've still got my first laptop, I think they called it a notebook back then. It no longer works, because the battery backed C-MOS gave it all up a long time ago.

It's also a Compaq, with a 4.7 MHZ 8086 processor, 1 MB of RAM, 40 MB hard drive, and a 2400 baud modem.

It didn't do Windows. Everything was mostly still MS-DOS based then. They'd just come out with a 40286 version, which ran Windows 3.0, but I didn't buy that model because all of my software was MS-DOS based.

I paid just over $2,000 for it. I think that the 40286 version was pretty close to $4,000 then.

BTW, it's not for sale.

Duane

[Duane Scarborough]

Dammit ! I was replying to this thread when my computer crashed AGAIN.

That's O.K. I made a full backup of its hard drive this afternoon, and the replacement is on its way.



Duane

[Duane Scarborough]

I ain't skeered, I have backup. !



Duane

[buster]

Duane,

In case your backup needs backup, mine should get the job done

[buster]

Hey Papee,

Did I read that right where you said you could do three computers with one LISCENSE? What's that all about, do you need a liscense to run a computer where you are at? I never heard of that before.

Have I been "computing without a liscense" all these years?

Dave

[Papee]

No Buster, no license needed, I was speaking of upgrading to Windows 7. I purchased the Family Pack upgrade for Windows 7 and it allows/licenses you to put the upgrade on 3 computers. I use my 10 year old laptop on my flat screen in the living room most of the time.

[buster]

Papee,

I understand now, here I was thinking the computer police were going to knock on my door and ask for my liscense,
registration, and proof of insurance.

[Duane Scarborough]

Buster,

Be scared. Be VERY scared.

Papee was just sugar coating it.

The computer police are keeping an eye on YOU.

What you really need is a PROFESSIONALLY made Tin Hat.

Dadgummit. Now I've got to figure out how to use PhotoBucket with Windows 7.



I think I figured it out.

Duane

[Papee]

I have mine ready!



Better get yours, big brother is watching!

Last year at the Black Hat and Defcon security conferences in Las Vegas, a former Air Force cyber security contractor and a former Air Force engineering systems consultant displayed their 14-pound, six-foot-long unmanned aerial vehicle, WASP (Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform). Last year it was a work in progress, but next week when they unveil an updated WASP they’ll be showing off a functioning homemade spy drone that can sniff out Wi-Fi networks, autonomously crack passwords, and even eavesdrop on your cell phone calls by posing as a cell tower.

WASP is built from a retired Army target drone, and creators Mike Tassey and Richard Perkins have crammed all kinds of technology aboard, including an HD camera, a small Linux computer packed with a 340-million-word dictionary for brute-forcing passwords as well as other network hacking implements, and eleven different antennae. Oh, and it’s autonomous; it requires human guidance for takeoff and landing, but once airborne WASP can fly a pre-set route, looping around an area looking for poorly defended data.

And on top of that, the duo has taught their WASP a new way to surreptitiously gather intel from the ground: pose as a GSM cell phone tower to trick phones into connecting through WASP rather than their carriers--a trick Tassey and Perkins learned from another security hacker at Defcon last year.

Tassey and Perkins say they built WASP so show just how easy it is, and just how vulnerable you are. “We wanted to bring to light how far the consumer industry has progressed, to the point where public has access to technologies that put companies, and even governments at risk from this new threat vector that they’re not aware of,” Perkins told Forbes.

Consider yourself warned. For details on the WASP design--including pointers on building your own--check out Tassey and Perkins site here.

[buster]

OK now, you guys are scareing me now. Luckily I got some tin hats of that model out in the shop! I think I better connect it in series with my old 102 inch whip CB antenna. That should be enough protection, that is, along with my bodygard here, if I can find enough tin to cover him too.