My Writings. My Thoughts.
Get Windows 7 for $49
// July 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Computers, Windows
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Pricing is valid through July 11, 2009
Pricing is valid through July 11, 2009
“Let’s Dance” Cadillac STS Commercial
// May 31st, 2009 // No Comments » // Cars
Power Supply Calculator for PCs
// May 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Computers
Note: Scroll down and click Start the calculator on the Journey Systems page
Moving Windows XP from Intel to AMD will cause a BSOD during startup (STOP 0×07E)…here’s the fix
// April 13th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Computers, Windows
Written instructions (lifted & modified):
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Take your hard drive out of the old computer (Intel) and place it in new computer (AMD).
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Place the Windows XP Installation CD in the CD Drive and boot the new computer from it.
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When the system has loaded all of the initial Windows XP Setup files, press Enter to start a Windows XP Installation.
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Press F8 if prompted, to agree to the Microsoft EULA.
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The system at this point should search for, and find, your windows installation already existing on the hard drive.
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It will ask you if you want to do a Repair Install of that installation. Yes! You do! Press “R” and confirm your choice.
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The system will copy over setup files and reboot. If you allow the computer to try to boot from the hard drive at this point, it will blue screen. Instead, boot from the XP setup CD one more time.
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Enter the Recovery Console (press “R” at the first screen)
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When you are logged into your windows installation and have the command prompt in front of you (C:\Windows), navigate to the following directory:
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C:\Windows\System32\Drivers
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Your command prompt should now read: C:\Windows\System32\Drivers and be awaiting you to key in a command.
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Run the following two commands:
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delete intelide.sys
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delete intelppm.sys
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Type exit and press Enter.
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Let the computer boot from the hard drive this time and Voila’! Your computer should run through what appears to be a typical first time Windows XP install.
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Install the necessary drivers for any new hardware, install a massive number of Windows Updates, and you should be back in business.
Credits:
About.com Article covering “Repair or Replace Boot.ini file in Windows XP”
25-year-old rows across Atlantic alone
// March 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // Poetry
Get Your Old Testament On
// February 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // Humor, Poetry
Pragmatic P.O.T.U.S. inaugurated today
// January 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Science, Sign of the times
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America
Now, here’s the part I’m interested in (lifted verbatim and without permission from whitehouse.gov/agenda/technology):
Employ Science, Technology and Innovation to Solve Our Nation’s Most Pressing Problems
21st-century technology and telecommunications have flattened communications and labor markets and have contributed to a period of unprecedented innovation, making us more productive, connected global citizens. By maximizing the power of technology, we can strengthen the quality and affordability of our health care, advance climate-friendly energy development and deployment, improve education throughout the country, and ensure that America remains the world’s leader in technology. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will:
- Lower Health Care Costs by Investing in Electronic Information Technology Systems: Use health information technology to lower the cost of health care. Invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records.
- Invest in Climate-Friendly Energy Development and Deployment: Invest $150 billion over the next ten years to enable American engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial-scale renewable energy, and begin the transition to a new digital electricity grid. This investment will transform the economy and create 5 million new jobs.
- Modernize Public Safety Networks: Spur the development and deployment of new technologies to promote interoperability, broadband access, and more effective communications among first responders and emergency response systems.
- Advance the Biomedical Research Field: Support investments in biomedical research, as well as medical education and training in health-related fields. Fund biomedical research, and make it more efficient by improving coordination both within government and across government/private/non-profit partnerships.
- Advance Stem Cell Research: Support increased stem cell research. Allow greater federal government funding on a wider array of stem cell lines.
Buy Karma Cookies from Archway
// December 24th, 2008 // No Comments » // Holiday
P.S. Have a Merry Christmas!
Always remember to be thankful for days when the big news is this…
// December 6th, 2008 // No Comments » // Sign of the times
Sweet Potatoes 2.0
// November 24th, 2008 // No Comments » // Cooking
You need this free online backup service
// October 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Windows
Reposted from November 7, 2007
I’ve been thinking over recent months about backing up some things on my computer that I’d prefer not to lose. Things like the “My Documents” folder, web browser favorites (and bookmarks), the single-file backup of the server that served what you’re reading right now…you know, stuff I should have a backup of.
Until now, I’ve relied entirely on an external USB hard drive that always has a fairly current image of the entire computer. While it provides some level of protection, it doesn’t do anything for the odd “act of god” that can happen now and again. I’ve wanted online backup that’s reliable, but also cost-friendly for home use. I believe I’ve found exactly that…
The name is lame. Mozy. It sounds like it might do a lazy job of just mozying around until it decides to backup my bytes. Good thing I didn’t stop when I first read the name, or I would have missed out on an amazing service.
A relatively small download and quick install and I was ready to begin backing up my files. It went ahead and picked out what it thought was best. Not bad, but it exceeded the 2GB of gratis storage you’re given. I hadn’t even gotten this service out of Park and into Drive yet…so, I cut out “My Pictures” and the backup set dropped to a reasonable 59MB. A minimal interface packed cleanly into a small window is central command for Mozy. I clicked a button and it began “encoding” my files. After a minute or two, it began to upload those files to the Mozy service. A few minutes after that it was done.
Mozy client performing a backup
Restoring is the most important part of any backup system. Having a backup of data you can’t restore won’t do you any good. It’ll probably just make a bad situation feel really bad. Mozy seems to have a handle on this concept and they have taken some good approaches to getting your data back to you. You have four data delivery choices:
- Right-click Restore – Integrates with Windows Explorer. You locate the place you’d like to restore files to, right-click and choose the “Restore Files in Folder” option.
- Virtual Drive Restore – Integrates with Windows Explorer. Access your backup files via a virtual drive mounted in your computer. It looks and acts like a hard drive.
- Web-based Restore – Very robust interface for navigating your backup set and restoring individual files or entire folders.
- DVD Restore – For a fee the folks that run Mozy will burn DVDs and FedEx Priority Overnight them to you.
The only limit to this wonderful service is a very generous 2GB storage limit for free accounts. The 2GB storage limit can be converted to unlimited storage for $4.95/month (USD). This makes it one of the least expensive online backup services I’ve ever seen.
Black Friday 2008 is coming…
// October 26th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Deals
My favorite site has a couple of Black Friday ads posted, and more are coming:
Vista Cannot Add A Shared Printer from XP (But Now You Can)
// October 23rd, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Computers, Windows
Seriously. If you want to print from a Vista computer but your printer is shared by another computer running Windows XP, then you need to hack up your XP registry a bit. Apparently, no one at Microsoft has yet come to believe this is worth fixing. The Microsoft recommended fix is just to install Vista everywhere, right? Well, that’s wrong. The less obvious (but more productive) fix is for XP.
Learn how to increase your IRPStackSize from the folks @ Microsoft…
For a point of reference on what number to land on…I went with 30 (values between 3-50 are valid on XP). The HP LaserJet 1200 (PCL) I was trying to share then worked like a charm.
FireWire Sucks And You Shouldn’t Use It
// October 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // Computers
Clarification; I’m not fond of anyone using FireWire for routine data transfer (e.g. copying files to/from an external hard drive). IEEE1394a/b drivers (a.k.a. FireWire 400/800) for Windows (Vista back to 98SE) are mediocre at best, and dangerously unreliable far too frequently. Why do you think Apple (the inventors of FireWire) stopped using it with the iPod?
I am very sad to learn that “FireWire Target Disk Mode” is collateral damage. It’s occasionally very useful.
Read an article about the sun-setting of FireWire…
Even the Mac fanboy messiah (i.e. Steve Jobs) helps support my opinion. Don’t use FireWire. ‘Nuff said.
NASA Scientists Might Want To Put That Bonus Aside For Now
// October 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // Science
NASA Scientists Earn A Bonus
// October 18th, 2008 // No Comments » // Science
- sacguy said: Thanks for the procedure. It worked. I had a hard...
- Speed Up Vista said: Finally someone who can write a good blog ! . This...
- Arlene said: You write very well....
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