Windows Network Problem

[Arkady Rossovich]

After a comment from Jaguarr in the Mac thread.What he said is a good point,there is no thread for Windows users...and im sure people have questions or thoughts about Windows..and i might as well make a thread for it.

Ill start the thread off with a question.If Windows shuts off wrong,and it is unable to restart..and when you turn it on again.You see a message saying that Windows had to shut off in order to protect the files and information..do you get a new hard drive..or do you try and fix the problem?

 

[Kritish]

Microsoft accounts for over ninety percent of the home computer market. This isn't like with Mac or Linux where there's so few users that you can manage to have just one thread for everything that can possibly go wrong.

 

[black_dust]

After a comment from Jaguarr in the Mac thread.What he said is a good point,there is no thread for Windows users...and im sure people have questions or thoughts about Windows..and i might as well make a thread for it.

Ill start the thread off with a question.If Windows shuts off wrong,and it is unable to restart..and when you turn it on again.You see a message saying that Windows had to shut off in order to protect the files and information..do you get a new hard drive..or do you try and fix the problem?

That message only appears when the shutdown process has failed, all you need to do is check the disk and windows for errors (should start running that on auto once booted up again anyway) Only time you would ever need to by a new harddrive is when it blows up. If windows has really gone bad, just format the drive and start again.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

I happen to have another question about Windows.Is it true that,for example if my computer had to be completely erased and re-booted...would it take a whole day to re-install my Windows?

 

[Mister J]

I've re-installed Windows on different machines (some with ancient hardware) and the most it ever took was a few hours.

Found this over at PC World

Before you begin, gather your Windows and application CD-ROMs. Back up your data files (just to be safe), and then clear two days off your calendar. If everything goes smoothly, you can reinstall Windows in a few hours. But you have to assume something will go wrong: You may not be able to find a necessary CD, or data won't be where you thought it was, or something will simply refuse to work.

I guess it just depends on the individual install and machine. I've been lucky.

 

[Badger]

The actual Windows install itself doesn't take that much time, it loading/finding the drivers and then getting caught up on updates that takes for-freaking-ever.

 

[strikezone89]

i think there should be a Windows Vista Only thread. for how many issues that piece of crap OS has had.
thank god i had my xp pro cd still.
tried vista for a few days, then..........tossed it.

 

[D4rkShaDoWz]

hey guys, i'm currently running Vista and I want to dual boot into XP since Vista has issues...

anywho, i have two options

1. create a partition and install on the partition
2. use a clean, wiped external drive

of course, ima back up and make tons of room

 

[Badger]

Use a separate drive if that's a option. Partitioned drives can be problematic.

 

[D4rkShaDoWz]

Yeah I think that's the solution. I have a second drive in my laptop with just some pictures and stuff. If I back up the stuff and install on there (partition it) I won't ruin the OS since there is none on the drive.

 

[Kable24]

I have a Vista question and I can't find the answer anywhere. I have a profile and my wife has a profile on our Vista laptop. We are both admins on the accounts. I have a printer networked through my desktop upstairs. I can print from my Vista laptop to the XP desktop no problem, but my wife on her account can't. I checked to make sure her printer settings were the same as mine and they are. Her profile is identical to mine and yet it won't print for her. Any suggestions?

 

[Badger]

You might check the firewall settings, I think they are user/account specific. Also, how is the share on the desktop for the printer setup. Does it include all administrators or is it specific to users or accounts? That might be worth checking as well.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

When using windows,do you have to use an official Windows disk..or could you use one of those back up disks that also come with some other programs that come with some computers when you buy them?

 

[strikezone89]

When using windows,do you have to use an official Windows disk..or could you use one of those back up disks that also come with some other programs that come with some computers when you buy them?

what, no you dont need to use the windows disk when you startup.

now, if your trying to install windows then... yes you need a disk.

unless you get the xp installer from off the net and get a crack

 

[Kritish]

what, no you dont need to use the windows disk when you startup.

now, if your trying to install windows then... yes you need a disk.

unless you get the xp installer from off the net and get a crack

Who would pirate XP? That would be the lamest act of piracy ever.

 

[strikezone89]

Who would pirate XP? That would be the lamest act of piracy ever.

until vista releases a service pack. then id pirate xp.

plus i only did it once cause my aunts comp. was running windows98. so anything would be better than an 9x os

 

[black_dust]

Who would pirate XP? That would be the lamest act of piracy ever.

I use to have a pirate copy of Xp on my system a few years ago

 

[Asteroid-Man]

I happen to have another question about Windows.Is it true that,for example if my computer had to be completely erased and re-booted...would it take a whole day to re-install my Windows?

No. It'll take like 1 hour on avg. But if you have specific programs that you want to put back on and put back on all your files in an organized fashion it could take up to 12 hours. But installing Windows ALONE is around 1 hour

 

[Asteroid-Man]

I use to have a pirate copy of Xp on my system a few years ago

I still do

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Who would pirate XP? That would be the lamest act of piracy ever.

I've been using the same pirate xp since XP was released, but I used a crack to make it registered so I can run Media Player 11 and I put Vista Inspirat, Rocket Dock, Yahoo Widget and TopDesk to make it look like a Vista

 

[Asteroid-Man]

hey guys, i'm currently running Vista and I want to dual boot into XP since Vista has issues...

anywho, i have two options

1. create a partition and install on the partition
2. use a clean, wiped external drive

of course, ima back up and make tons of room

Want to get maximum benefits from that? Here's what you need.

-One RAM card of 1 GB or more for Vista
-One RAM card of 512 MB for XP
-Dual Core Processor to split between the two

With more ram, you can make more Partitions on the same Hard drive but if you want MAXIMUM MEMORY STORAGE then get a second hard drive for the XP

 

[Asteroid-Man]

If Windows shuts off wrong,and it is unable to restart..and when you turn it on again.You see a message saying that Windows had to shut off in order to protect the files and information..do you get a new hard drive..or do you try and fix the problem?

Ok, so if I understand correctly:

Windows is shut down wrong. You turn it on and it says "You're previous work period resulted in an error which made Windows shut down improperly. Please chose how you would like to start your system:

1. Last successful login
2. XP Professional/Home
3. XP Professional/Home (With bootable CD)
4. Safe Mode
5. Safe Mode with Networking"

That could be a little off, I'm going by memory here. Now if that is the case go to number 2. Hurry up cause there is a countdown that will chose an option for you. If when it goes to the Windows logo your computer Re-Starts, and it goes back to the same menu mentioned above, hit the F8 button on your keyboard. This will give you immediate access to your hard drive. Try the recovery. If you can't get access to your C:\ drive then either you've damaged you C drive or you're OS. In this new menu there is a "Restart Safely" option. Hit that and insert your XP recovery CD. It will say "Hit any button to boot from CD". Hit a button and try re-installing XP when the window comes up. Not working? Restart. When you get to the "Hit any key..." menu again DO NOT PRESS ANYTHING this time. When you go back to choosing how you want to start your PC hit F8 and go to install. Create a new Partition (if you left room from the first time you installed XP) then install it there. If you don't have room, try installing OVER the previous partition. If it says unable then you messed up your OS. So now you must delete the C Drive partition (losing all your files and programs) and then create a new partition. At this time XP will re-install.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

I have another question that is similar to Windows,and i want to hear some advise...i have a CD that has images on it.I deleted those,and i put a few new images onto the CD.But now when i try to put the CD into the tray,and try to view it..it freezes and the CD just runs with no screen asking to view the images or copt them or etc.So i have to use a small control pannel window to shut off the program,which makes the window blue taskbar dissapear for a few minutes.What's wrong?

 

[D4rkShaDoWz]

Want to get maximum benefits from that? Here's what you need.

-One RAM card of 1 GB or more for Vista
-One RAM card of 512 MB for XP
-Dual Core Processor to split between the two

With more ram, you can make more Partitions on the same Hard drive but if you want MAXIMUM MEMORY STORAGE then get a second hard drive for the XP

I am running 2 GB's of ram, Core 2 Duo, and a laptop with dual HD's.

I figured out how to do it though. To make sure I'm right, I'm going to install XP on my old PC.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

Well,it's good to see others are putting their questions in the thread also.