It Has Been Good Working With You

drifter17 · Post by **drifter17** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:43 am

If your having problems such as malware or viruses I would suggest you get rid of windows and install Linux. Mint is a very user friendly version or Ubuntu is good as well. just download it, burn it to a disk and install the new OS. I have been using it for years and have converted most all of the people in my office to it. They love the fact they dont have to run any anti virus software. works very well on older machines. just my 2 cents. If you need any assistance I will be glad to help

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 5:31 pm

I bought a new ADSL modem/router. Now that I have finally gotten it setup, it seems to be working well. For a device that was suppose to be almost a self starter, it sure was not a plug and play affair and my ISP really did not want to spend much time with me (I think because I did not buy a modem from them).

I bought a Netgear DGN2200 v4. I hope I don't regret that. I have never had anything built by Netgear.

My GOTO computer is still not working though. But it will if I have to buy a new motherboard for it.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:06 pm

drifter17 wrote:If your having problems such as malware or viruses I would suggest you get rid of windows and install Linux. Mint is a very user friendly version or Ubuntu is good as well. just download it, burn it to a disk and install the new OS. I have been using it for years and have converted most all of the people in my office to it. They love the fact they dont have to run any anti virus software. works very well on older machines. just my 2 cents. If you need any assistance I will be glad to help

I really don't know much of anything about Linux but I have a question what do you do with it once you get it up and running? Will Ms Wor work on it? Will internet explorer? What about Quicken? PowerPoint?

What can be ran on it?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:56 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:I really don't know much of anything about Linux but I have a question what do you do with it once you get it up and running? Will Ms Wor work on it? Will internet explorer? What about Quicken? PowerPoint?

What can be ran on it?

One of the good things about Linux is that MS programs do not run on it!:D(per se)

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:30 pm

JPG40504 wrote:One of the good things about Linux is that MS programs do not run on it!:D(per se)

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 11:43 am

I have used Netgear products for quite some time and never had a problem with any of them.

Preference for home networking equipment
Netgear - good performers (never had to call support so I can't speak to that) good quality, clean consistent UIs, worth the extra cost IMO I will definitely continue to purchase Netgear products.

Linksys - good performers, decent support, used to be great quality, but beginning to wane, The UIs tend to be inconsistent across product lines.

DLink - is a no go for me. Had two of their products, flaky drivers, inconsistent UIs and poor quality, poor support and poor performance. Never again.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 11:56 am

JPG40504 wrote:One of the good things about Linux is that MS programs do not run on it!:D(per se)

But isn't that the biggest argument against Apple. All the programs used by most today won't run on it?

I guess this is where I'm different. I'm after results not after the adventure of getting those results. I kind of look at computers as a necessary evil to get what I want done.

Ideally I would like my computer to be like the the electric plug in the wall. When I plug something into it I want the electricity. I don't want to have to understand how it is generated, I don't want to have to mine the coal or drill for the oil or manage nuclear power. I just want electricity.

I am a great fan of main frames and data centers. I would love to have a terminal where I could type my email message, post to a forum, balance my check book, write a letter and never have to worry about Windows, upgrades, releases, drivers, programs, viruses and all the rest of the overhead that comes with PC's. Let the guys that get their jollies doing it worry about the updates, viruses, downloads, uploads, programs and all.

I'm leaning more and more toward Apple. Or perhaps toward their sales pitch.

I want to be able to plug in a printer and let the machine worry about it not me trying to chase down a driver. When I want to hear music I want to be able to go to the music site pick the music and listen. I don't what to have to worry about mp3 mp4 wmv and all the rest.

Interestingly I have a Windows XP bought about a year after XP came out that has on it only the programs I first installed when I bought it. I don't upgrade or download anything to it. I use it to do the work I bought it to do. The only program that ever changes is the Tax program I use they come out with a new one every year.

The only thing I did download was Chrome and Safari and the only reason was I knew if I went to Apple I could not longer use IE so I wanted to understand both before I switched to see if I could live with them.

So far I hate Chrome it is way way way way to evasive it is almost like Google is capturing every keystroke. Safari is nice but it seems to be more seamless when I run it on an apple machine at the Apple store.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 2:08 pm

It has been good and I do believe that I am back to stay. I have not fixed all of my problems in all of my computers but I do have this one that is working.

It is an older Dell Dimension 2350 that is barely fast enough to use in the Internet and it slows down if I try to load too many programs simultaneously. What I am hoping is that it keeps my up on the internet until I get one of the others fixed.

I have not worked on the GOTO machine. I have to decide how I am going to approach it. I need to isolate the problem without the benefit of error messages or beep tones. It does not load Windows. In fact, I am not sure that it completes the POST. I am guessing bad BIOS, bad memory, or bad MB. This is the computer that lost CPU cooling and I don't know how long it ran without cooling for the processor.

The computer that belongs in my shop and is used primarily for Autocad and Sketchup but also for online shopping and the forum, appears to have a bad power supply. I just completed an order for a replacement PS.

Computers have not been good to me this past month. It makes me wonder.

Getting the modem/router working with this one has also been a real challenge. Right now I am operating through an Ethernet connection between the modem and the computer. I can not make connection via the wireless interface even though the wireless adapter has served me well for a couple years (connecting the shop computer to the network in the house).

All of my network equipment right now is Netgear though I do have one laptop equipped with a DLink network adapter. The connection works fine but the computer, an old , old Dell Latitude, that is slower than molasses in the winter time.

drifter17 · Post by **drifter17** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:48 pm

Most MS programs will not run on Linux without the use of an emulator such as "wine". but this is not needed because for most MS programs there is a Linux alternative most of which to not cost anything, MS Office- OpenOffice or LibreOffice do the same thing and are free they will also work on you MS machine and i recommend both. as for internet explorer no it will not work on linux thank god, it is one of the best virus seeking programs known to man. but linux will run firefox or google chrome both good browsers.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 9:36 am

One more computer (the shop computer) is now up and running. I thought I had a bad power supply so I bought a new one. It arrived yesterday, three days in advance of the projection.

The first thing I did was a physical inspection to verify compatibility. It is identical to the old one. So I plugged it in with the intention of measuring all of the outputs. NO OUTPUTS! What? No outputs is the reason that I bought a new one. Now what?

To make a long story short - there is an inline connector between the CPU and the front panel. One would probably call this a "start switch". The front panel "start switch" provides a soft start signal to the mother board. That inline connector was not seated.

Yup, I now have a functioning computer and a spare power supply.

On the bright side - I am now one step closer to "recovery".

The only computer problem left is the GOTO computer. The right approach there might just be a new motherboard and processor. If I did that, I could almost honesty state that "I built my own computer".

At least all of this computer work has kept me occupied during this period of medically necessitated reduced physical activity. I would have gone crazy just sitting and watching TV.