My Vista Box

Well I finally got my new computer up and running. I wanted a machine that was fast with lots of storage and room to grow. I think I have achieved that and more.

Unlike the strawman arguments found in the Apple advertisements where the PC is prepping for surgery to upgrade to Vista, I wanted a system made to use the new OS as it was supposed to operate.

Just a comment, I do find the hypocrisy of Apple in their ad campaign intolerable. Back when Apple had their own operating system—before they junked it and went to a Unix-based OS and Intel CPU chips—I tried one of their computers. After a short time I gave it away to a friend that wanted an Apple system. Their Soviet-style business model stinks and their computers are overrated. Clearly viewers of Oprah and AOL users are the target market for their computers.

If you want a more neutral evaluation of your computer’s ability to run Vista, run the Vista Upgrade Advisor tool at http://www.cnet.com/4520-33_1-6671810-1.html

Anyway, I went to tech nerd heaven a.k.a. Fry’s Electronics and purchased the following:
AMD dual core processor 5,000 MHz
2 GB 800 MHz RAM
Gigabyte GA-M59SLI-S5 Motherboard
Three 500 GB SATA II Hard-drives in RAID 5 Array
Antec 900 Mid-Tower Case for Gamers
Striker 600 Watt Power Supply
Nvidia 8800 SLI video card with 640 MB RAM

The Gigabyte motherboard was actually the second motherboard I tried for this system. Originally I had purchased an Abit Fatal1ty board but it would not work correctly so I took it back. The Abit board was very frustrating, I don’t know if it was the board or the Kingston RAM but the machine would randomly lock-up at various points in the start-up sequence, even when making changes to the BIOS. In addition, I could never successfully format the RAID 5 drive. I tried Windows XP Professional, Home and Professional x64 and none would install.

The only way to get an operating system installed was to break the RAID 5 apart and install on a single drive. But still there were random lock-ups.

The Gigabyte board worked perfectly the first time. Getting past the two hour step on formatting the hard-drive was concerning but the rest of the process went quite rapidly.
After installing to OS, which ended up being Windows XP Professional x64, I installed the drives from the motherboard DVD and ran Windows Update. After just four downloads the system was up to date. One of the updates was Service Pack 2 with an impressive 351 MB download; but at 2 a.m., that was a rapid download.

It took over five hours to transfer my music, photos and video files to the new computer via our home network. The 10/100 hub got quite a workout. I haven’t verified to transfer size yet but it was probably in excess of 250 GBs.

I still have some more preps to do to the system before I finally get Vista installed.

I went to the HP website and downloaded drivers. I found that my replacement Photosmart printer had drivers but my nice scanner was no longer supported. HP had a note where my scanner driver should be located informing me that my device must be more that seven years old and therefore is no longer supported. My HP Scanjet 6200c is a business quality scanner that connects via USB cable. It seems such a shame to part with it.

On a brighter note, I have found something to replace my Computer Associates anti-virus product. I bought the CA virus program because it is supposed to work on Windows XP Professional x64. It does seem to work except that it won’t scan incoming e-mail, which is probably the most vulnerable access point to my computer and the most likely avenue of attack.

It appears that the Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 will work on 64-bit versions of Vista and XP. It is less of a performance hit than Symantec or CA products. I was impressed that Kaspersky found two Trojans and another virus in my e-mail that were not detected by the CA anti-virus program. The Trojans were from spam while my friend that uses exclusively Apple products sent the other virus. The program made a great first impression. http://usa.kaspersky.com/products/internet-security.php

In order to keep my computer running properly, I will need to get the new version of Diskeeper to keep my drives defragmented and running their best. Since my Raid 5 array is more than 768 MB, I need the Diskeeper Professional Premier edition. http://www.diskeeper.com/defrag.asp

Thankfully, both Kaspersky and Diskeeper have demo programs that I can test drive on my Vista OS.

Lastly, I have decided to switch which version of Vista that I will be installing. I had planned to install Windows Vista Ultimate but I have decided to purchase Windows Vista Home Premier. The only difference seems to be features that I will not need.

Musings on the Ides of March

I have been wondering lately who has the worst public relations and marketing division. After a few seconds of thought I came up with the following list:

United States Department of Defense (especially the US Army) for its ongoing work in Iraq. Most Americans can name as many military victories by our Army in Iraq as New Yorkers can name political accomplishments by Hillary Clinton; namely, none.

The Republican Party whose specialty is the circular firing squad. Republicans spend so much time stabbing each other in the back that there is nothing left to oppose the Democrats. (Hence the appropriateness of this topic on this particular date.)

Microsoft After five years and at least as many billions of dollars in development markets Windows Vista with “Wow”. What a great slogan. You can even say it backwards.

Speaking of Vista, I will soon be installing my copy of Windows Vista Ultimate on my new super computer. Once I get it running I will post my review.

The James Cameron Hoax

Dear Mr. Cameron,

Please stick with fictional movies, oh, sorry you are. It is hard to get less factually accurate than Al Gore but you’re off to a good start.

If it was really Jesus, why did you get to make this announcement?

Do you possess some insight that real scholars lack?

Where are the nails holes and marks on the skull from the thorns?

What did the BBC miss when they reported on this in their 1996 documentary?

Maybe you should read Who Moved the Stone? by Frank Morison before you make too big of a fool out of yourself.

It takes more than some dubious relics to debunk Christianity.

Do your homework.

Ways to Know That You Have Lived a Long Life

You’re old enough to remember when France actually won a war.

Sears & Roebuck published the most entertaining material you could find in your neighbor’s outhouse.

Fireflies were the best nightlights a kid could have.

Milk was delivered in bottles or fresh from the cow.

The Three “R”s of education were reading, Writing and ‘rithmetic not Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Everyone in your neighborhood walked to school.

“Depression” was a word describing the economy not an excuse for selfish people to get drugs from their doctor.

Barack Obama, the Democrats’ Colin Powell

Barack Obama, the Democrat phenomenon of the 2008 Presidential Campaign, is probably at or near his peak of popularity and as voters get to know him, his popularity will fade significantly.

Obama is for Democrats what Colin Powell was a few years ago for the Republicans; namely, at “tabula rasa.” Both men were initially popular because voters knew nothing about them but attached their own hopes, desires and beliefs to both men. Until they actually took a position on things, voters want to give them the benefit of the doubt and think that each man is “one of us.”

Powell alienated a majority of Republicans by embracing abortion and other liberal social positions. His initial strength of appearing apolitical and above the frey of politics was subsequently revealed to be something much different. Powell had no core values guiding his politics. He was just another squishy, liberal Republican.

Obama is called a different type of Democrat. This is wishful hoping and not reality. He has no new or original ideas. He doesn’t have a new way to fix any problems or right any wrongs. For many disillusioned Democrats, he is an empty vessel that they can invest their hopes and dreams in. This is a fictional construct.

Obama represents a repackaged collection of the same failed policies that are the hallmark of modern socialists and liberals at the core of Democrat party.

Solomon said “there is nothing new under the sun.” Not much has changed in the 3,000 years since. Obama is just the same lies delivered by another messenger.

Ten Questions That Deserve More Thought

These questions are things that I wish I had more time to write about on my blog.

Why is it that every time Governor Schwarzenegger announces a new policy initiative, the media—for the sake of reporting both sides of the story—then refers to the Republican response to the governor’s proposal?

Why do Border Patrol agents go to prison while drug smugglers get immunity?

If mankind is to blame for climate change, how did the Ice Age end?

How is mandating corn derivatives as additives in gasoline good public policy when it creates higher corn costs that result in economic hardship south of the border, higher fuel prices and no measurable energy savings?

Why does Nancy Pelosi need a taxpayer funded 757 jet to commute to work?

Can you name one accomplishment in her life that makes Hilary Clinton qualified to be the next President?

Who would make a better President candidate, a lapsed Catholic or a “good” Mormon?

Why is almost every CPU manufactured by Intel a Pentium when the name has no relationship to the function or capability of the chip? (Originally it was the successor to the 486 CPU hence 586 or Pentium, but that was twelve years ago.)

If men were not alive at the same time as dinosaurs, why do cultures around the world have stories of dragons and other similar creatures?

Why are institutions of higher learning the strongholds of diversity and multiculturalism when “University” conveys the assumption of universal Truth that can be known through study?

Anna Nicole Smith

In the news today several more men have come forward claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby daughter. A coworker commented to me today, “It sure looks like Anna Nicole Smith slept with just about everyone.”

My response was, “Finally; Hillary has an excuse.”

Windows Vista Secrets

One area that I have been diligently researching for several days is the issue of Windows Vista and which versions are 32 bit, 64 bit or both. Microsoft has neglected to document this up front. Yesterday I was finally able to get some definitive answers to this mystery.

Vista is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, but some are easier to obtail than others.

The following Vista versions are available as 32 bit programs when purchased retail.
Home Basic
Home Premium
Business

At this link you can upgrade your 32-bit Vista to 64 for a nominal fee.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/64bit.mspx

Windows Vista Ultimate has both 32 & 64 bit versions on the installation DVD.

Another nugget on this page is that all 32 bit versions of Vista are limited to 4 gigabytes of RAM while 64 bit OS can support up to 128 GB of RAM depending of which version that you are running.

32-bit versions of Vista will support 16-bit applications but the 64-bit OS won’t unless you are running Microsoft Virtual Machine 2007, which will be a free download later in the year. Virtual Machine will allow 64-bit operating system to operate 16-bit programs in a virtual environment running older versions of Windows. Virtual Machine 2004 is available for download now.

Also Microsoft is offering an upgrade special that can save you money over the retail prices. If you buy either full or upgrade version of Vista Ultimate, then you can also purchase license for two copies of Vista Home Premium for $49.99 each. This is simply a key to use same DVD that you already purchased to install the operating system on additional computers. See the link below for details.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/familydiscount.mspx

Why 24 Nukes Liberals

Why is it that when any of the big three television networks nuke part of the United States they are considered visionary and creative but when Fox does it on their show “24” they are going beyond the bounds of good entertainment?

NBC nuked Charleston South Carolina back in the 1980’s. Others programs and movies have nuked Kansas, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, New York, Maryland and many other places. Not too long ago, CSI Miami foiled a dirty bomb plot in south Florida. The whole plot of Heroes this season is preventing a thermonuclear detonation in New York City. Another movie, Manhattan Project, showed in detail how to design and build a suitcase-sized nuke. Why is it when 24 lights one off in southern California that all hell breaks loose in the media?

This is really crazy. The more you think about it, the less this feigned outrage seems to make sense. But look again.

Most of these movies and TV shows can be put in two categories. They are obviously fiction—Sci-Fi, thriller or action flicks—or blame the warmongering US military. If you stay in either category then the Liberals will leave you alone or even endorse your production.

Many nuke films in the 1980’s had the political undercurrent that we couldn’t control our own weapons and shouldn’t have them; especially the ones targeting the peace loving peoples of the Soviet Union. In the NBC film and many others, we nuked ourselves because we couldn’t control our weapons. War Games taught that the only way to win is not to play.

24 dares to get into the realm of the possible. Their program however doesn’t blame Republican administrations for having militaristic ambitions that they can’t control. Instead in 24, they actually have the gall to say that Islamic Fundamentalists want to harm our country and destroy our way of life. These terrorists would do this if they could. Unfortunately for Liberals, this is the same message that George Bush has been proclaiming since 9-11.

The Liberal hate and outrage is triggered because Bush supporters believe that something like 24 is portraying will happen if we don’t support the Bush administration.

It is unfortunate that the Liberal hatred of Bush is greater than their sworn oath to protect and defend the United State from all enemies. As a result, the Liberals have become the domestic enemies that the Founders warned us to vigilantly oppose.

Hasta la Vista, Windows

I’m really looking forward to getting myself a computer that can put Windows Vista to the test. Unfortunately, I will not be running out on January 30th to buy the new operating system from Microsoft.

First, I want to know if there are drives available run my hardware. When I upgraded to the 64 bit version of Windows XP many of my otherwise perfectly fine printers, cameras and other gadgets no longer worked. The lack of support by manufacturers was significant.

In addition all my trusty computer utilities were instantly obsolete. In fact most software companies still don’t support 64 bit operating systems. I had this wonderful OS with no antivirus, defrag or registry cleaning ability. Many programs that I rely on would not work and were not going to be supported by software makers. This included many 32 bit programs. By design no program with 16 bit code will run on a 64 bit OS. This includes Windows Vista. There are supposed to be both 32 and 64 bit versions of the new OS but information is not easy to find on the Microsoft site.

While a few companies finally did patch their code enough to run on a 64 bit OS, most also decided that I must be a business if I run a 64 bit OS and priced their products accordingly. Microsoft doesn’t even fully support the 64 bit version of XP. Their new OneCare product with anti-virus and other utilities will not work on their 64 bit OS.

64 bit computing is here to stay but will Vista be fully supported by the industry from the introduction on January 30? HP will not even release a list of their products that are supported in Vista until the 30th.

Will hardware manufacturers have a variety of drivers ready? Will they let us Beta Test their drivers and then find something that works or have they done their homework?

Based on my experience with 64 bit computing thus far, I recommend caution before blindly upgrading to Vista. In fact, Microsoft doesn’t even allow me to upgrade my OS to Vista. I must wipe the drive and start over.

If Microsoft can’t fully support their own software, what hope is there that the entire industry will do better?