Building Another Pc

[NanLaew]

^^ No, it's all USB 2.0. There's not too much 3.0 stuff about right now AFAIK. I got off the constant upgrade and latest gizmo merry-go-round a few years back!

^ I did spec out the EVO and decided that for this small footprint multimedia machine, I didn't need the extra bells 'n' whistles. I don't have high-end mutimedia peripherals or do any gaming so this should do for now.

It got built last night btw. What's the going rate for a LEGIT copy of Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate? I like the multi-language options of Ultimate but has anyone tried it and is the switch back and forth between English and Thai pretty easy?

[welo]

USB3.0 or eSATA comes in handy when you want to connect an external harddisk. But this is actually the only use-case I can think of now where both matter. So you are probably right. I just wish my Laptop had eSata because USB2.0 sucks big time for exernal storage systems

Switching language is only a view clicks but requires logging out and back in again (create a shortcut to the 'change display language' dialog on your desktop, then it's only dblclick, select language from dropdown, click OK, click logoff in the dialog box and it will log you off, you'll then have to login again)

If think the display language setting is stored per user account if you want to setup two different user accounts.

welo

[Spoonman]

regardless of earlier posts extolling the virtue of SSD as boot drive, here is my half pennyworth.

Forget SSD drives for at least 2 more years they are rediculously expensive and give you nothing more than a marginally faster boot time, better off getting a 300GB velociraptor as boot drive and for the same price a 1TB caviar green drive for everything else. The people who are recomending SSD are probably building fast gaming or video machines. Sure it will boot faster, but thats about it, or maybe they work for companies trying to sell you that 5 second faster boot.....

I disagree, I love my SSD, I purchased it for the quicker loading of programs, everything I do now pretty much happens instantly.

[NanLaew]

USB3.0 or eSATA comes in handy when you want to connect an external harddisk. But this is actually the only use-case I can think of now where both matter. So you are probably right. I just wish my Laptop had eSata because USB2.0 sucks big time for exernal storage systems

Switching language is only a view clicks but requires logging out and back in again (create a shortcut to the 'change display language' dialog on your desktop, then it's only dblclick, select language from dropdown, click OK, click logoff in the dialog box and it will log you off, you'll then have to login again)

If think the display language setting is stored per user account if you want to setup two different user accounts.

welo

My laptop has eSATA and it is great for my line of work when I have to back up large files for my projects.

I ended up with 7 Pro as didn't see the price differential between that and Ultimate justifying Bitlocker and the multi language support.

Loaded up OK and installed the add-on VGA but a couple of times it has shut down/restarted unexpectedly. I will check the connections and re-seat the RAM and see what gives.

[welo]

My laptop has eSATA and it is great for my line of work when I have to back up large files for my projects.

I ended up with 7 Pro as didn't see the price differential between that and Ultimate justifying Bitlocker and the multi language support.

Loaded up OK and installed the add-on VGA but a couple of times it has shut down/restarted unexpectedly. I will check the connections and re-seat the RAM and see what gives.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Remember that this is most likely a blue screen (BSOD) - use this app to read the BSOD minidump log file: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html. If it can't find any, then Windows is either not configured to store the reports (AFAIK it is enabled by default), or it points to a power stability issue (from my personal experience).

Btw do you use a UPS and do you have grounding at your place?

Good luck!

[welo]

Btw it seems that you can install multi-language support on Windows 7 Pro.

http://www.andrels.com/wp-en_US/index.php/...emium-editions/

Not sure if this conflicts with the Windows EULA or not.

welo

[NanLaew]

Not BSOD as such, just stops and reboots.

Anyway, I fired it up and Windows Update said it needed 24 urgent updates! Pretty impressive for a new build with bugger all installed!

So I let it get on with it and it says reboot, which I did so for the last 20 minutes it's been displaying "Preparing to configure Windows. Do not turn off your computer" with the little blue thingy going round and round and the HD LED randomly flashing away. How long do I have to put up with this sh!t? Reminds me soooo much of a Vista SP1 update....

Patience isn't one of my virtues when it comes to MS products so I cold-cocked it. Seems to be OK now.

Edited June 7, 2010 by NanLaew

[welo]

Not BSOD as such, just stops and reboots.

Anyway, I fired it up and Windows Update said it needed 24 urgent updates! Pretty impressive for a new build with bugger all installed!

So I let it get on with it and it says reboot, which I did so for the last 20 minutes it's been displaying "Preparing to configure Windows. Do not turn off your computer" with the little blue thingy going round and round and the HD LED randomly flashing away. How long do I have to put up with this sh!t? Reminds me soooo much of a Vista SP1 update....

Patience isn't one of my virtues when it comes to MS products so I cold-cocked it. Seems to be OK now.

Windows is set to automatically reboot after a BSOD by default. Often the blue screen will only flash up for a second, or - if the screen is slow to switch resolutions - it will not show up at all.

I'm not saying that I'm absolutely sure it is a BSOD, but IF it is, you might find a hint in the error message to what causes the reboots. And statistically it is more likely to be a BSOD than anything else.

You can either use the program to access the error log of recent BSODs.

or disable the automatic restart option - the PC will then stop on a crash and display the blue screen until you do a hardware reset or power-off.

[dave_boo]

Not BSOD as such, just stops and reboots.

Anyway, I fired it up and Windows Update said it needed 24 urgent updates! Pretty impressive for a new build with bugger all installed!

So I let it get on with it and it says reboot, which I did so for the last 20 minutes it's been displaying "Preparing to configure Windows. Do not turn off your computer" with the little blue thingy going round and round and the HD LED randomly flashing away. How long do I have to put up with this sh!t? Reminds me soooo much of a Vista SP1 update....

Patience isn't one of my virtues when it comes to MS products so I cold-cocked it. Seems to be OK now.

You do realise that Win7=Vista with a changed UI, slightly better security (buckets an advance, home groups a regression), DX11, and some tricks to make the responsiveness seem a bit better. Seriously, it is anywhere from 10% better to 10% worst (with the exception of Win7's greatly improved download speed over Vista)!

[siamect]

How long do I have to put up with this sh!t?

Well you don't have to...

Using an OS is an active choice starting with an analysis of the available alternatives, comparison, decision, purchase... etc...

You have the rights and the possibilities to jump off the train anytime...

Martin

[welo]

You do realise that Win7=Vista with a changed UI, slightly better security (buckets an advance, home groups a regression), DX11, and some tricks to make the responsiveness seem a bit better. Seriously, it is anywhere from 10% better to 10% worst (with the exception of Win7's greatly improved download speed over Vista)!

You want software companies to start from scratch each time they develop the next version of its OS?

Vista might not have been as bad as its reputation, and Windows 7 might have been hyped to some extent, but I don't know many people who'd prefer Vista to Windows 7...

Besides, this is pretty off-topic, but I couldn't keep my mouth shut..

Edited June 8, 2010 by welo

[NanLaew]

How long do I have to put up with this sh!t?

Well you don't have to...

Using an OS is an active choice starting with an analysis of the available alternatives, comparison, decision, purchase... etc...

You have the rights and the possibilities to jump off the train anytime...

Martin

At least you spared me a sermon on Apple or Linux! It's going great guns now. For now!

You do realise that Win7=Vista with a changed UI, slightly better security (buckets an advance, home groups a regression), DX11, and some tricks to make the responsiveness seem a bit better. Seriously, it is anywhere from 10% better to 10% worst (with the exception of Win7's greatly improved download speed over Vista)!

You want software companies to start from scratch each time they develop the next version of its OS?

Vista might not have been as bad as its reputation, and Windows 7 might have been hyped to some extent, but I don't know many people who'd prefer Vista to Windows 7...

Besides, this is pretty off-topic, but I couldn't keep my mouth shut..

I guess I was raving about the need for two dozen "urgent updates" on a machine that's got less than 2 hours on the clock and hasn't any third party software on it as yet. But I appreciate that the o/s is what's old and needs patching, not the sleek new PC.

I am off to the US for the weekend. I saw a USB 3.0 PCIe card on TigerDirect so will get one of those for 'future development' as well as some Corsair RAM.