Heh, I love harrasing you guys about this

fraggard said:

Wild Card said:
Im in grade 12... :sad:

We had Solid State theory in grades 11 and 12 actually. So some of my knowledge is from there. Otherwise largely from my first year at the university.

in my 11th and 12th years of school, our 'solid state theory" still involved vacuum tubes

Orpheus said:
involved vacuum tubes

Your really that old?

Don't knock old equipment, we had plenty at our school :smile: The most scientific thing we did with a vacuum tube though was put marshmallows in it, creating giant marshmallows, which we ate.

Heh, I saw that experiment at a science exhibition Jeff. Great stuff.

We never did anything fun.. just copy down some notes... day after day.

That happens a huge lot, really. We've got some characters in our class who chose CS expecting something like The Matrix (I guess) and ending up with days and days of finite automata. Easiest way to turn someone away from this subject is to cut them off from their daily dose of bullet-time hacking, and give them theory on designing wierd devices made of circles and arrows (don't ask...).

Oh no... not... not... UML!? :sad:

No (not yet, at least. Hopefully not later too). Finite automata and Formal Languages is what it's called. Supposed to be a system used to define how finite state machines work.

You won't acheive anything by reinstalling windows just because you bought new memory and CPU. You don't gain much if it was a completely new PC apart from the hard drive.

That's assuming you have windows 2k/xp though. 9x and me are a lot less tolerant of things like that.

Not entirely true... I put in a new motherboard about a week ago (for my main PC) and I had to do a complete windows repair before it would even boot to windows (it would come up with some weird BSOD saying my OS was corrupt and whatnot before the repair) And I'm still getting some really funky error messeges when playing games/doing work.

Steam tells me that it can't find some DLL when I first load it, so I click OK and it still loads. Whatever. Then when, I try to join a game, the same error shows up. About 15 times though. (I click OK on each one). It works just fine ater that though (I can still play HL with no issues.) It's really odd, to say the least.

But anyways, I don't think you'll have to format or anything quite so drastic with just replacing the CPU.

My friend and I used to hate Windows XP to hell and back. But when he got a new case for his computer and a new hard drive, one of his friends installed Win XP pro. Since then, he started liking it a lot. I've stuck with Win ME because I have yet to get serious errors other than the blue screen of death many once or twice. I've heard people say ME has bad memory allocations, but I've witnessed Win XP home really suck down the ram. (where the heck does it all go?)

I dont really mind a reformat, I enjoy fooling with my computer :biggrin: But I need to know. ME? XP home? XP pro? I know for XP home I need to activate it which means I would have to buy a new copy (f**kers) my friend said when they installed pro, it didnt have any activation. Or would sticking to ME be better? Cause after all, the CPU is AMD Athlon XP 2500+ lol.

If youre a Windows man, and have a decent PC - go with XP Pro i'd say, never had ANY problems with it myself, and my PC is a slow hunk of 5/6 year old junk..

don't use XP, or XP Pro unless it is yours..

otherwise use the win2000 pro i ahem you..

of the two, i prefer the 2000 pro, it has less of the gadgets that eat ram IMO

Orph, many people can use the same copy of XP Pro. Just don't activate it or install the Service Pack and you should be good.

By the way, XP Pro is their most stable OS to date (with the ability to have intensive run-time stuff). XP home blows a nut. Also, the XP in Athlon XP is kind of a gimmick. The calling routines are different, but it runs the same as a P4 under Windows. Now if you get into certain versions of Linux (Which I'm not saying you should), they have developed Kernles based on certain processor architecture, so they actually tend to run faster on load times :smile: ... Most useless information I guess.

Yes, UML.....I haven't really had a reason to use it yet, since I haven't worked in a group environment with a project, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I will have to get to know it well (From what I saw of it, it looks disgusting).

I preffer win 2000 to any especially ME.

Its vertually the same as xp pro but with out the spinkee colours and also dont eat up as much ram.

Altho I do like XP pro.

Crono said:
Orph, many people can use the same copy of XP Pro. Just don't activate it or install the Service Pack and you should be good.

if i might ask, what good is it if you don't, or can't do either?

i mean, all the net junk floating around?

seriously, my dad has his legit copy of XP, but had yet to update it, and in the first 30 minutes online, and he already was getting awful crap.. some worm or somesuch.. i had to go sort it all out, and finally fixed it by updating the damned thing..

he had 56k and it took so long to do, he kept putting it off and... well you know :rolleyes:

anyways 2000pro is rock solid too, but can be registered to anyone..

I have a copy of XP Pro which I "stole" from my parents. I've had absolutly no problems with it, updates work fine ect...

Well Orph, if you're going to be online at all you have to protect your computer. Windows tools, even in 2000, aren't enough. I have Norton running in the background at all times. It's been ran and 'cleaned' so to speak, my system for so long that everything runs as if it wasn't even there (unless I'm installing something.)

In otherwords. I don't have the service pack, nor would I ever want Microsoft sniffing around my computer. I have certain things upgraded of course, but I don't care about thie "security leak" patches, they cause more problems then they fix. (One actually blocks all kinds of popups on your computer, so even directly called pop up windows (generally the windows that ARENT spam) never show up).
Their updates take too much freedom and tell you what YOU shouldn't be doing with your computer. I actually had programs that stoped working and everything, I had to roll the whole damn thing back. XP Pro with Norton is secure and stable enough for me, Even at my friends house through an unprotected connection I don't notice a difference. Secondly if you say "well Norton needs to be registered" to you I say....maybe. lol

i was asking cause i do indeed have XP pro, but fear using it for obvious reasons..

i was genuinely curious how you circumvented the "microsoft knows" step..

i might try somedays soon, but 2000 pro is so nice, i would be hard to persuade its much better, or at least enuff better to warrant my time.

Basically, XP is 2000, but it doesn't restrict graphics applications from the video memory, so in a sense in that area it is less secure, but it makes it run a lot faster. (XP Guards all of your memory and allows read/write based on a programs, well rights. and if they don't have proper rights they fail (crash) and if they do, they run slow because it happens every time memory is accessed.) XP just pooled the video memory, and allow anything running to access it. That's why you get Norton. And in all actuality it's a good trade off. I have stuff running way faster then it ever did with Win2k. (Same system as when I had windows 2000). I have never had any REAL problems with XP, or 2000 for that matter, but the only thing I HATE about XP in general is the default skin....ew....oh God, it's so gross, all bubbly and crap.... good thing you can change it.

Anyway, it in general also runs faster because it keeps more system programs loaded in memory (which you can shut off of course, just like in 2000). I think it's a good idea if you're mostly a gamming person to have XP Pro, just because all the compatability settings for EVERYTHING coming out is for XP in general. (which has some abilities that 2000 lacks). Um. as for registering, just make sure you're not connected to the internet when you install it... and hit NO when it asks you to register...this should be common practice lol. I never register anything, even if I have bought it, except Half-Life, because I had to.

Anyway, All I can promise is a game performance increase. But other then that 2000 and XP Pro are the same (I think I'm actually running Corperate, which is just like Pro but it doesn't bug you as much :smile: ).

corperate XP would bug you less in spite of your precautions..

i have yet to find a corperate version to add to my collection.

thanx for the heads up crono

I was under the impression that the OS relationship was:

XP Pro = W2K + Dumb bubiy interface

W2K = NT 4.0 + DirectX support = good OS

XP Home = WinMe + Dumb bubly interface

WinMe = Win98 + the letters "Me"

Win 98 = Win95 + the numbers "98" = s**tty OS

there are some gamers who refuse to operate other than 98se, i heard it was the gamers choice..

ME is 98 with a face lift. not 98se, but 98

anything above is better than ME

I know programmers who, for Windows, say 98se is the best Windows to date....I respect them as people in general so I haven't questioned them as to why lol. (I'm sure it's just because 98 had no resrictions on what you could and couldn't access as long as it wasn't being used by another program, thus all the crashing).

Also, XP Corp. IS XP Pro, it even says XP Pro on startup and stuff. there really are very few changes and they're not very noticable.

However, I'm getting very sick of Windows in general ... I find my self getting lazy when creating directories lol. I'm thinking about whiping it and putting Gentoo Linux on it along with a verion of Whine-X (to use DirectX applications) and then I should be good to go, I hope. However, this is a HUGE endavour. If I do it I'd have to wait until Summer...because I think I'll need a month at least of free time to re-build my file system under a different format.

I'm glad I helped, I don't think that happens usually lol.

shoot crono.. go all the way, i hear Lindows 4.5 is the next step in OpSYS's

linux is your friend :biggrin: so much fun having virtual desktops and lots of xterms open fiddling around with your conf files :biggrin:

as for XP pro, i operate minimal security and have never had problems with it... im not saying your dad did, Orph, but viruses and worms usually come when you start opening dodgy emails or somesuch :/

as long as you exercise common sense on the internet, youll be alright 99.9% of the time IMO.

edit: (ok, so I dont have a static IP or anything, but it still pays to exercise caution, the best security tool you can have IMO)

My friend has a copy of XP pro, dont ask me where he got it, lol I dont know. Im pretty sure its not legit though. I've seen first hand what XP pro looks like, but I've never seen 2000. Hence Orph, I did download it when you gave it to me but I never did anything with it because I just dont know. Anybody got screens or something like that?

Also, my computer isnt on the internet yet. My parents dont want me having it because they think I'll become isolated from the world in my room (which would probably almost be the case :biggrin: ) lol. But come my 18th B-day (June 20th) my parents told me that if theres anything I want (ie: bus pass, restaurant, movies, games etc) I have to pay for myself. They looked pretty happy about that decision. So I told them 10$ a month would therefore cover my internet bill (since we pay 40$ a month)

BTW, lets clear up a misconception -

bar those hotlink things on the left of explorer windows ( i think) , pretty much all the spinkiness you see in XP pro can be turned off.. to make it look like a normal shell again :smile:

you dont have to use it the way XP wants you to :razz:

my version of XP and 2000 pro, both look/feel like win98

i never much cared for the colors and fanscy,smancy looks of XP or 2000

but look at XP pro, remove the pictures and you have 2000 pro.

really?

Wild Card said:
really?

yup, if you've seen XP pro, you've seen 2000 pro.

and you can make both look exactly like 98, same interface and all, just without the crashing to bluescreen.

Orpheus said:

Wild Card said:
really?

yup, if you've seen XP pro, you've seen 2000 pro.

and you can make both look exactly like 98, same interface and all, just without the crashing to bluescreen.

Im gonna miss that screen... Until I go to school and start using the s**tty computers!

Pretty much.

The one thing I like that they added in XP is the details window on the left hand side... If I didn't use that then I'd turn off web-style windows. It's just nice because I don't have to goto properties :smile:

However, with videos it can be annoying since it loads the first frame and resizes it and such (memory sucker right there).

But other then that it's pretty smooth. MUCH smoother then 98.

Honestly, I don't remember what 98 looks like lol.
But I remember ME (I think they had differences). And 2000/XP look exactly the same. Except the windows interface is smoother with or without the bubbly crap. Also, I kind of like the log in interface, and if I don't I can hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and get to a text login (Well, as text as Windows gets).

Also, I said Gentoo Linux, because I would also use it for development/WebServer purposes. If you're just in it for the games and applications, Lindows or WinLinux would do just fine. However, didn't they change the name of Lindows since Microsoft sewed them because it's similar to their name?

[EDIT]

You know what's sort of sad?

Do you guys even know what the blue screen of death is?
Its the UNIX equivilent of a Segmentation Fault.
In UNIX/Linux/BSD/Solaris, well, anything but Windows. When you have a program which accesses a piece of memory that doesn't belong to it, the OS interveens and give a segmentation fault error...what does that mean? well, it says "segmentation fault" and goes back to the OS, no problems! However, Microsoft, in the early stages, made it so the whole damn thing shut down instead of inplimenting a garbage collector which went behind your program (gets called when a seg fault happens) and free's the memory you might have been using.(there are more specifics to this, but for the sake of an explination I'll leave it at that).
Now, which sounds better to you? lol I'd perfer to have a seg fault then my computer to crash (not to mention there would be other programs running and it would cause all sorts of fragmenting hell to your hard drive).

Well, if you didn't before, now you know :smile:

So I hear that XP pro and 2000 pro are pretty much the same, lol. What about opinions on ME? Cause I can either change OS or stay with ME.

yeah, webstyle can be coolness, except when you are like me and have several 700 megs movies.. it can freak out the system sometimes and bork out torrent.. :sad:

Wild Card said:
So I hear that XP pro and 2000 pro are pretty much the same, lol. What about opinions on ME? Cause I can either change OS or stay with ME.

crono has stated on several posts the pro's and con's of each WC.. please don't make him think it was all for not :sad:

if you have truly had no issues with ME use it.. but remember upgrading can be tricky.. i have done it successfully dozens of times, but on occasion it borks.

since my version of ME is OEM, and my 2000 is an upgrade only, i always have to go with ME 1st..

if you are unsure how to upgrade.. seek assistance and have them onhand, cause without a driver, and if 2000 cannot provide it, you will be pissed, i promise.

Bit Torrent, now there's a memory sucker if I ever saw one.

Wild Card, put XP Pro on your computer.
There, problem solved lol.

ME will do certain things like...not recongize all the nice new memoy you put in... (It doesn't go past 512 or utilize it for that matter).

Secondly, with the added security and such it should run smoother, as in less hic-ups or errors.
Also, the only bad thing about upgrading from ME to XP pro, is that it will keep your file system format (which is FAT32 at the moment). NTFS is a bit more reliable. But I wouldn't suggest formatting it and starting over or anything, that is always the last resort. Also, keep that windows ME cd handy, it's a nice start up disc lol. (you can boot dos from it and run fdisk, which is what you should do when you're "formatting" anyway, fdisk allows you to remove the partition and then when you install it will format for you and create a new partition.)

[EDIT]
Up here WC.

Also: [quote]
my 2000 is an upgrade only
[/quote]

. . . ew dude.
[/EDIT]

when did he say anything about ME? Other than it resembles 98. Or is that exactly it?

ME was the last OpSys to have a proper install disc for reformatting.. i have yet to figure out how the 2000 one works.. it fails every time..

WC, crono mentioned numerous times that ME is inefficient about memory and such.

me being the ass that I am/

Keeping the same specifications:
AMD Athlong XP 2500+
512mb DDR 2700
GeForce 4 MX440 64mb DDR

Would I see a difference in gamming by going to XP pro or 2000 pro? or better load times better general environment?

Dude...I said it three pages ago lol. XP Pro doesn't restrict programs from memory. Meaning, it goes faster, especially for run time stuff (games) with added security measures so that it doesn't let EVERYTHING in, but just installed programs. This is where an anti-virus comes in handy.

Mostly what I was saying is, XP pro is better, but be forwarned because it's all bubbly and crappy when you first boot it, you have customize a few things for it to be nice. (Change the theme to classic, change start menu to class, shut off automatic update, etc, etc.)

Then it will be pretty nice...for Windows :smile:

Crono said:
Dude...I said it three pages ago lol.

Here's to me being a blonde :biggrin:

I think I'll get the XP pro from my friend then and install that.

Wild Card said:
I think I'll get the XP pro from my friend then and install that.

be sure to shut OFF auto-update, and stay away from microsoft.. and you should be fine :smile:

yea, thx Orph, writes it down I wont forget! :biggrin:

--Come time to reformat--
"Now, where did I put that piece of paper...?"

Write this down too: If you reformat to fix problems you will be one of the first to go when HE comes.

...what? nothing.

wtf mate

Don't format your hard drive.

It was a joke referencing a cult following a being who would eventually come in to power over Earth ... that's all, jeez. :biggrin:

[EDIT] It is a joke. [/EDIT]

Hey whats that small power clip on the mobo? the little 4 pin thing? cause I dont have the plug on my PSU for it.

Uh...I couldn't tell you, you're the one who has the manual for your board..look it up, it'll be there.

Abit in all their greatness. TBH, their manual isnt worth a dime. The english part is really poorly written. They said something though about the power demands of P4's and Athlons