The "Joy" of PC: Windows Hell

[NW-Bound]

...That keyboard issue is ridiculous. Hope I can remember it in the future. Does the same thing apply to mice?

Yes. In fact, one of the configuration changes I tried was going from wireless KB + PS2 Mouse to PS2 KB + PS2 Mouse. The PS2 KB did not work, but I lost the Mouse too. Had to reboot via the power switch.

By the way, the wireless keyboard appears to Windows as a USB keyboard, because the receiver plugs into a USB slot.

 

[NW-Bound]

Seriously do some checking into whether Ubuntu Linux (I like the Xubuntu/XFCE variation) runs well on those computers. There are some occasional hardware issues, most can be resolved with a little tweaking, but a search will usually come up with the status for a particular model.

Xubuntu/XFCE variation has low demands so runs well on older PCs and has a more 'windows-like' desktop interface.

update: I cross posted with this:

At one point, I looked into switching to Linux, starting with the servers. Turned out that it had some compatibility problems with Windows, so I abandoned the efforts.

Just wipe windows. That makes the linux install easier. On the machines that I kept windows on as a boot option, I've never used it (though I do have other MACs in the house).

-ERD50

The compatibility problem I talked about was using Linux-based file servers with Windows machines.

I have many older HDs of 100GB or 200GB to install Linux on for testing. Installation was no problem, but I would lose my Windows application software collection I know well over the years.

 

[photoguy]

Your old software won't work under a VM?


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[GrayHare]

NW, thanks for posting that saga, it'll help solve the inevitable occurrence of similar trouble by someone else. Operating system updates are like street drugs, you never know what you're getting.

 

[NW-Bound]

Your old software won't work under a VM?

Don't know. I looked into Linux many years ago. The Wine project back then was in its infancy. Have not checked since.

 

[Sunset]

So once you turned off the fast boot and got the machine to see the new keyboard, and did a reboot, can you turn the fast boot back on ?
Would it know to use the new keyboard and not revert back to the installation keyboard?

 

[ls99]

Surely NW Bound can't have been bored the past few days. Resume normal breathing.

 

[aja8888]

I have so many PC hardware and software that I cannot abandon now. I have 6 desktops still running, and these are newer quad-core or dual core machines, not the older single cores. Two of the desktops have been reconfigured to run server software. I have way too much invested.

At one point, I looked into switching to Linux, starting with the servers. Turned out that it had some compatibility problems with Windows, so I abandoned the efforts.

By the way, my wife is using her Android tablet more and more. She needs no IT support from me on that. In fact, I bought it for her, but have used it so little I do not know all of its features.

Just curious here, but what in the world are you doing with so many computers now that you are retired? Are you running a business that requires server access and mega data storage? Are you hosting web sites?

Take note on what your DW is doing. Maybe you can find some middle ground and slim down to 1/3 the Win desktops and a Chromebook (Boy, do I love my Toshiba Chromebook!).

 

[Sunset]

Just curious here, but what in the world are you doing with so many computers now that you are retired? Are you running a business that requires server access and mega data storage? Are you hosting web sites?

Take note on what your DW is doing. Maybe you can find some middle ground and slim down to 1/3 the Win desktops and a Chromebook (Boy, do I love my Toshiba Chromebook!).

I think he is heating his house with them ...

I know we find our "computer room" gets about 5 degrees F warmer than the rest of the house when running just 2 machines all day.
Now I suspend mine whenever I walk away.

 

[NW-Bound]

So once you turned off the fast boot and got the machine to see the new keyboard, and did a reboot, can you turn the fast boot back on ?
Would it know to use the new keyboard and not revert back to the installation keyboard?

Ah hah, a very apt question. I thought about it too, but was too anxious to move on to fixing my Win 7 laptop, so just pushed the whole Win 10 affair aside and did not investigate.

Just now, did an experiment, and turned the fast boot back on. What's great now is that it remembers both keyboards and can work with either one plugged in. How about that? The boot may be perceptibly slower, but still a lot faster than slow boot.

So, Win 10 still has some redeeming quality.

Just curious here, but what in the world are you doing with so many computers now that you are retired? Are you running a business that requires server access and mega data storage? Are you hosting web sites?

Take note on what your DW is doing. Maybe you can find some middle ground and slim down to 1/3 the Win desktops and a Chromebook (Boy, do I love my Toshiba Chromebook!).

No Web site hosting. Until I quit 4 years ago, these machines were capital equipment to support my consulting work. And I still have several older machines back from the failed startup days.

The server setup was to provide network storage for file archival purposes for both past technical data and now personal MP3, photos, etc..., as well as networked PC backup.

I think he is heating his house with them ...

I know we find our "computer room" gets about 5 degrees F warmer than the rest of the house when running just 2 machines all day.
Now I suspend mine whenever I walk away.

I use my laptop the most, and do not leave my desktops on all the time, not even the servers. In addition to the 2 PC-based servers, I have 2 smaller 1GB standalone NAS, one of which I leave on 24/7. Been thinking about converting it to a SSD.

By the way, my machines are "distributed" through the house (connected with 1 gigabit Ethernet), so no concentrated heating.

 

[NW-Bound]

By the way, the older PCs I had from the failed startup days got some special peripheral add-ons, such as IEEE-488 bus interface to control lab instruments, flash memory cards on PCMCIA (remember those?), etc... Gosh, I have not turned them on for more than a decade. These PCs also had peripherals that were expensive back then, such as Sony DAT drives, Exabyte drives, etc...

PS. Besides the 6 still running desktops, I have my beloved laptop, and my wife is also using 3 netbook PCs in addition to her Android tablet. She left the netbooks through the house, so has one handy when she needs it. They do not burn much power, and do go to sleep. Two of the 3 netbooks were eligible for Win 10, and have been updated.

 

[jim584672]

I hardly ever use Windows on bare metal now. I have Virtualbox in Ubuntu which runs Windows if I need it. Also Wine in Ubuntu will run most simple Windows programs without a problem. A big plus is no worry about viruses with Linux.

 

[dixonge]

I'm planning on going into retirement w/ 2 Android phones, two Win10 laptops and one more portable device, probably an Android tablet. Also a media drive and backup drive. But that's it! Keeping it as light as possible, as repairable as possible. But then we'll be traipsing around South America with no particular home base, so...

 

[Beldar]

Join us NW_Bound, come over to the dark side.​

 

[dixonge]

I hardly ever use Windows on bare metal now. I have Virtualbox in Ubuntu which runs Windows if I need it. Also Wine in Ubuntu will run most simple Windows programs without a problem. A big plus is no worry about viruses with Linux.

I just gave up on Linux, again. I have a large scanning project and there are evidently NO drivers that function with my scanner on Linux. Plus a genealogy program I purchased awhile back, Windows only. The reasons I had to keep dual-booting back over to the Windows side just kept growing, and I finally just deleted the linux partition and gave it back to Windows. This might be the last time I get angry and try to abandon all major OS'...

 

[Lakedog]

Join us NW_Bound, come over to the dark side.​

+1
Switched to Macs in 2012 (and very glad that Windows is in the past - only wish I had done it much sooner).

 

[Sunset]

Maybe I was lucky, as I used Simple Scan, in linux and it works fine for me.

I think it came with Ubuntu.

I do wish the tax software folks would write it for Linux, but no such luck.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have never used any Mac computer in my life. PCs were ubiquitous in the megacorp world, so I had no choice.

Just a couple of years ago, was given old iPhones from my children when they upgraded. The iPhones were very easy to use, but the hassle of using iTunes just to load MP3 files soured my desire to get a Mac.

I liked Linux a lot (started to play with it back in the mid 90s), but my collection of software keeps me from moving over. Virtual machines and emulators always have some limitations. And then, once I set up these PCs to do what I want to support the legacy software, can just disconnect them from the Internet to protect them.

It's the Win 7 laptop that I use the most that gives me the most trouble. I use Quicken a lot to track my finance, to download credit card charges, etc... I want to stay on top of everything to detect fraud as soon as possible.

There might be some equivalent financial apps on other platforms, but I need time to investigate.

 

[ejman]

I have never used any Mac computer in my life. PCs were ubiquitous in the megacorp world, so I had no choice.

Just a couple of years ago, was given old iPhones from my children when they upgraded. The iPhones were very easy to use, but the hassle of using iTunes just to load MP3 files soured my desire to get a Mac.

I liked Linux a lot (started to play with it back in the mid 90s), but my collection of software keeps me from moving over. Virtual machines and emulators always have some limitations. And then, once I set up these PCs to do what I want to support the legacy software, can just disconnect them from the Internet to protect them.

It's the Win 7 laptop that I use the most that gives me the most trouble. I use Quicken a lot to track my finance, to download credit card charges, etc... I want to stay on top of everything to detect fraud as soon as possible.

There might be some equivalent financial apps on other platforms, but I need time to investigate.

I have tried various linux financial apps (Grisbi, Gnucash, Kmymoney, and some others I've forgotten about) and have found that after using Quicken for 20+ years the migration is daunting. Importing the large Quicken data files I have became a very difficult process requiring lots of manual corrections and then learning the new program was a pain. I ended up running Quicken 2010 in a WINE environment within Linux Mint. Works for me and that's what I intend to continue to do indefinitely.

 

[Lsbcal]

Have you considered simplifying all this stuff NW ?

I'm on a constant KISS campaign myself.

Of course, sometimes this stuff is just fun.

 

[photoguy]

By the way, the older PCs I had from the failed startup days got some special peripheral add-ons, such as IEEE-488 bus interface to control lab instruments, flash memory cards on PCMCIA (remember those?), etc... Gosh, I have not turned them on for more than a decade. These PCs also had peripherals that were expensive back then, such as Sony DAT drives, Exabyte drives, etc...

Yeah I'd be very surprised if these worked under a VM. I use oracle's free VM and it works fine for software only programs. But it still hiccups on my HiDpi screen.

I just gave up on Linux, again. I have a large scanning project and there are evidently NO drivers that function with my scanner on Linux.

Vuescan (https://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/supported-scanners.html) has been a lifesaver for me in supporting old scanners for which the manufacturer no longer provides drivers. It has a linux version.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have tried various linux financial apps (Grisbi, Gnucash, Kmymoney, and some others I've forgotten about) and have found that after using Quicken for 20+ years the migration is daunting. Importing the large Quicken data files I have became a very difficult process requiring lots of manual corrections and then learning the new program was a pain. I ended up running Quicken 2010 in a WINE environment within Linux Mint. Works for me and that's what I intend to continue to do indefinitely.

Argh, I still remember the hassle of moving from MS Money to Quicken. And that was when I used MS Money only to track investments, not also all expenses like I do now.

Have you considered simplifying all this stuff NW ?

I'm on a constant KISS campaign myself.

Of course, sometimes this stuff is just fun.

Maintaining the PCs is no fun. But using the old w*rk related software can be, as it now supports the same effort as a hobby. One never knows when he needs to compile a CPLD design and burn a chip, or running SPICE on a circuit design, or to compile an optimal state estimation algorithm.

 

[aja8888]

One never knows when he needs to compile a CPLD design and burn a chip, or running SPICE on a circuit design, or to compile an optimal state estimation algorithm.

I'll ask my ROMEO group tomorrow if they have had a need to do that since they all retired and do other fun things. It does sound like work, though. Maybe you should consider employment again?

 

[NW-Bound]

There are many posters here who are into restoring or fixing classic cars. Or they build or restore antique radios with vacuum tubes. Some do intricate wood working. That's tough work too.

My hobby interest is more along what I loved to do when growing up, and when I had to make a living. When I was growing up, I did not have the equipment, the money, nor the technical knowledge that I do now. And when I was making money, I had to build or design what they paid me to do, not exactly what suited my fancy.

 

[aja8888]

There are many posters here who are into restoring or fixing classic cars. Or they build or restore antique radios with vacuum tubes. Some do intricate wood working. That's tough work too.

My hobby interest is more along what I loved to do when growing up, and when I had to make a living. When I was growing up, I did not have the equipment, the money, nor the technical knowledge that I do now. And when I was making money, I had to build or design what they paid me to do, not exactly what suited my fancy.

Oh, sounds like it's a hobby. From your first dozen or so posts, it sounded like you were frustrated and it was more like work. Got it!