random observations of software and computers

[chad]

my laptop of 11 years finally blew up on friday evening.

i bought a new acer for $229.00 at a place called micro center in mnpls yesterday.

my old one cost almost 2k. this one had 4-5 times the power for a couple hundred dollars.

the last one i bought required expensive software. now, almost anything is available for free via a cloud service, app, or expanded freeware.

as someone who used to be a big player in the industry in a former life, i can only imagine the impact this sort of hing has on the economy. the hardware is almost free, the software is all free, or almost all free. really hit me how much things have changed.

last time i bought stuff

old laptop = $2,000
photoshop 7 = $699
ms office = $199
alevus search and replace html = $39
desk to pdf = $39
ftp pro = $59
nero = $39

yesterday

laptop = $229
getpaint.net = free
open office = free
info rapid search = free
pdf ghostscript printer driver = free
ftp from browser = free
built in burning software = free

and before all the linux "you could have save more $$$ nerds," windows 8.1 came with it, is very easy to figure out, and actually works.

edit: found getpaintnet, so no need for photoshop either.

[mamboni]

Deflation.

[Hatha Sunahara]

Supply and Demand.


Hatha

[Carl]

No, it's not 'supply and demand' it's a quantity production system.

The most difficult aspect they face is manufacturing the 'want' for the products they produce in mass.

[Jerrylynnb]

Chad,

How do you recover from having your new laptop infected, without your knowing it, after visiting some website as part of your regular internet explorings, or, as a result of installing some nifty app you got from a friend, or, in many other ways you can't anticipate.

One way or another, you wind up with unwanted popups, popouts, popdowns, regcleaners, and any number of other deeply embedded processes on your new laptop that you inadvertantly picked up as you went about your normal internet activities.

I'm an old timer (a very old timer - I was there BEFORE pc's existed), and I learned early on the only way to recover from unwanted process was to start from scratch and re-install the operating system - it would usually take only about an hour or two, and all acquired unwanted crap was gone, but, it meant having a clean copy of your operating system and drivers, and, also, all the apps you work with.

But, when you buy a new laptop, you don't get the CD's for windows 8.1, but, you get something like a "restore" process, right?
The few times I tried that (for friends who had their laptops clobbered with viruses), the restore process would always fail near the end. The laptop would become worthless without purchasing a clean copy of windows, and struggle trying to get all the drivers and special processes that went along with the laptop, for a clean re-install.

So, how do you handle restoring your system?
Or, do you have some new method to prevent acquiring unwanted junk processes that really really works (I can't imagine such a thing existing)?

I am currently working with very old PC's, now, and I would also like to get a new laptop, but, I wonder how I would go about re-installing the system from scratch to get rid of anything I pick up along the way. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Dogman]

New system , make recovery disks and an image disk right at the get go. In fact most new systems prompt you to do so. The system image disk is your backup as from the factory.

After that as programs are installed, use a good backup/image program and try and remember to do at least a system image dvd burn when ever there is very much change with the programs that are installed.

I have never had much luck with backup software to do incremental backups, so I just do it the lazy way and do system images every now and then, If you do a major op system upgrade, and down load it from microshit, keep several copy's of your keys on paper. The keys will work if you have a major crash (hard disk fail), that forces you to use the recovery disks to restore back to factory. The keys allow you to download the upgrade again to the same machine. (no cost)

Since I do not generate a bunch of data with my machines anymore, making images works for me. Have found most backup/programs are confusing to use and for some reason they fail when needed.

Have hated it since they quit sending the op/system disks , and force you to make your own. (recovery disks)

[chad]

getting viruses is largely a result of acting poorly. my laptop that just died hasn't had anti virus on it since 2006. i'm not putting it on the new one, either.

- all new systems usually come with a partition of reinstallation software instead of a disk. you can create a disk out of the box.
- install malwarebytes for free, and let it run in the system tray
- don't let people use your pc
- don't install anything that's free
- don't run local email, only use email that's in a cloud (harder to execute exes)
- don't open anything in email that's a greeting card, some funny video, etc.
- don't visit porn or gambling sites or anything like that- stick to legit web sites

no need for anti virus.

[ShortJohnSilver]

Don't use Internet Explorer, use FireFox; to FireFox add AdBlockerPlus and Ghostery.

If visiting a "dodgy" site, hit Ctrl-Shift-P to get a private window - this window won't store any cookies or put any info into your history - when you close that window all the info is gone, nothing remains on your hard drive.

[Jerrylynnb]

Dogman,

Not to pester, but, have you actually performed a full restore from a restore CD you created?

What happened to me, years ago, was that a friend would have a laptop that either had a bad hard drive, or was overrun with viruses, so, i would try to restore from a restore disk (or process), and everything would work fine up until the final step - then the laptop would just hang - what's worse, it wouldn't boot at all after that. That happened twice that I recall, but, it was several years ago so maybe they are better at making sure their restore process works by now. That is why I am asking - it is easy for a PC developer to include a "restore" process, but far more expensive for them to have a quality control group go through and prove that the process actually works (I used to work in QC and I know how developers hate us and deride us with disdain anytime we found problems).

That is way I am asking, because, if your hard drive goes bad, or if any of the components
need replacing, or some app you installed messed up your reg, then that is usually the only time we actually do a full system restore, and, that is when we find out whether or not it actually works and your laptop will boot like it did when new out of the box.

If I were to buy a new laptop, I'd create a restore CD first thing, replace the original h/d with a new compatible one, and try to recreate the system to the new h/d from the CD - that would be the only way I'd know for sure that the restore process actually works, but, if it didn't, I'd probably be in for a real hassle trying to get the vendor to fess up to it (since I would have opened it up to replace the original h/d).

So, if you have any experience going all the way through with a full system restore, I'd sure like to hear about it.

Thanks,

Jerry

[Dogman]

Dogman,

Not to pester, but, have you actually performed a full restore from a restore CD you created?

What happened to me, years ago, was that a friend would have a laptop that either had a bad hard drive, or was overrun with viruses, so, i would try to restore from a restore disk (or process), and everything would work fine up until the final step - then the laptop would just hang - what's worse, it wouldn't boot at all after that. That happened twice that I recall, but, it was several years ago so maybe they are better at making sure their restore process works by now. That is why I am asking - it is easy for a PC developer to include a "restore" process, but far more expensive for them to have a quality control group go through and prove that the process actually works (I used to work in QC and I know how developers hate us and deride us with disdain anytime we found problems).

That is way I am asking, because, if your hard drive goes bad, or if any of the components
need replacing, or some app you installed messed up your reg, then that is usually the only time we actually do a full system restore, and, that is when we find out whether or not it actually works and your laptop will boot like it did when new out of the box.

If I were to buy a new laptop, I'd create a restore CD first thing, replace the original h/d with a new compatible one, and try to recreate the system to the new h/d from the CD - that would be the only way I'd know for sure that the restore process actually works, but, if it didn't, I'd probably be in for a real hassle trying to get the vendor to fess up to it (since I would have opened it up to replace the original h/d).

So, if you have any experience going all the way through with a full system restore, I'd sure like to hear about it.

Thanks,

Jerry

They do work!

Have had to restore back to factory settings more than once over the years. The disks do work, as long as the ones you burn are good, When burning important disks I slow down the burn speed and use my best disks to make sure the best copy can be at hand when needed. Always hated to do it because it took me back to square one, factory default. The last time I had to do it, I used the recovery disk and the latest disk image dvd made. Still some loss but not as severe as going back to factory. I have tried to do backups, but I think one of the anti virus programs I was using at the time was messing up the backup log or what ever the system used, so the backups were not recognized by the system, no matter what tried. So all I use anymore is the recovery dvd and the latest standalone image that has been burned to disk.

You could do what you said, make the disks the windows wants you to make and then swap drives, but all you get is the basic factory setup, which to me means complete reloading of all my programs and hours/days of downloading to get the system back to near the way it was. Disk images I believe in, may not get things exactly back as before, but better than going back to the factory setup.

[Buddha]

I'm kinda an old school P.C. guy, I was astounded when I bought my rig about 4 years ago, Dual core, 4 GB ram, 500 GB HD, cost under $400 from MicroCenter, uncle bought a laptop from the same place a little over a year ago, cost the same as yours, 229.00.

And yes getting viruses is a result of no common sence, DL Avast free anti virus, it's great, I even have it on my phone. Don't DL porn, SCAN EVERYTHING that you DL, Be careful with email, don't dl things from sites you don't know, and let such sites, redirect you etc...

Puters are so cheap now because of the Smartphone thing, the one I carry around IS a fucking computer but it fits in my pocket. That's the thing now days, P.C.s and laptops are "obsolite", Smartphones, and Tablets, that connect to a keyboard are the "in" things, though I'll just stay oldschool, nothing like a tower P.C. or real laptop IMO.

Also one can get any software for free from piratebay, I have photoshop pro, and intrumental making software FL studio 10 producers edition with plugins, would cost $700 or $800 for the latter, all free, just be careful, DL Peerblock and update the lists, and SCAN ALL DLS before opening.