Weekend

Well I guess it’s weekend and we can all relax for a bit. That’s exactly what I did yesterday. Watched some TV and didn’t quite do anything at all.

Today I hope to get some time in the CCNA study again (which should be doable ;)) Asides that nothing much to do for the time being, well maybe some cleaning up and stuff but nothing major.

Windows Vista also seems to be running a bit more stable now that I have reset the BIOS (and the only thing I changed after that was disabling the 2 Serial and Parallel port) So hmm… weird stuff indeed.

Owh and I recently installed Windows Live Writer again, so I hope that will help in posting more frequently :) Sorry bout that folks…

Ah, coffee’s ready…

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Pooched

Well it turns out my Vista installation is pooched. I can’t even properly install Office 2007, let alone the Catalyst drivers correctly. After numerous attempts to fix it I have resided in the simple fact that it must be due to faulty hardware.

I have tested the memory, with Windows Memory Diagnostics – running in Extended Test mode – for more then 8 consecutive hours, without a single hitch. So no faulty memory. I have checked the DVD-ROM using CRC and compared the outcome with the one provided by Microsoft – perfect match. So no faulty DVD-drive nor installation medium.

Which basically leaves the following options:
- hard-drive
- cabling
- motherboard
- CPU

I am going to tests the hard-drive this weekend with the Maxblast CD I have at work – to make sure that’s not the issue. In addition to that I will unplug the 2nd hard-drive and completely wipe (by writing 0′s) the primary hard-disk. That should rule out the hard-disk and cabling.

Lastly, I have ordered a few new hardwarecomponents, as I was planning to upgrade soon anyway:

  1. ASUS P5PE-VM
  2. Intel Pentium D 820 (2,8 GHz, 2 MB)
  3. Spire CoolWave III, CPU Cooler
  4. Apacer Handy Steno HT203, 512 MB

Now you might wonder what the USB-Stick is for: well simple. Windows Vista supports ReadyBoost, which allows you to use external storage (such as an USB-Stick) for storing DLL’s instead of swapping them to the pagefile/disk. This decreases the load on your RAM, while maintaining fast(er) response then by paging it. Pretty nifty :)

On a more personal note, I recently started my CCNA-study and I must admit that I will have some hard studying to do indeed. But I know I can do it :D

Well, I have to run… catch you all laters!

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…. !

Here is a headsup for you all…

Got Office 2003 and hope to use that on Windows Vista? Well be sure that it has SP2 slipstreamed or otherwise it will not install at all.

Oh and if you have the Student / teacher edition – don’t bother trying to slipstream into it – as your license key does not allow you to create administrative installs :( And yes I found out the hard way :(

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It’s done!

Well I am now over on Windows Vista. And let me tell you – it went smooth as can be after 3 attempts :P

Apparently the DVD I burned wasn’t completely correct and working. Fortunately I managed to wing it by reinstalling Windows XP, and then starting the installation from my 2nd harddisk (I extracted the ISO to a folder)

Now that I am running it – and yes it’s registered, activated and what not else, I must admit that well, it’s a big leap forward. Of course there still are some things I would have loved to have seen resolved. Am I right Mister ATI? ;) (darn Catalyst Control Center crashes every now and then…)

Apart from that – everything works fine… Well I better reboot soon since I just installed Windows OneCare. Yup, that’s another freebie :) I love beta-testing :D

On a personal note, I had a birthday this weekend and I must say it was a great party. Had a lot of fun, and even more drinks. Kudos to Danny – and happy birthday again matey :D

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… Ready to rock!

Well, this is my last post from Windows XP. I hope to return while running Windows Vista. And yes it’s legit :-)

So… wish me luck!

PS:
If you are going to upgrade your Windows just like me, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE run the Upgrade Advisor so you at least know in advance which programs will and which won’t work.

To run the Upgrade Advisor, simply pop the Windows Vista DVD in your computer (any version of Vista will do) and click on “Check Compatibility online”.

Download and run the program, and presto! Your own custom report advising you whether Vista will run and which programs, drivers etc. won’t work or should be upgraded.

Well, I am off to install Windows Vista :)

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