Posted on 06/21/2006 11:08:30 PM PDT by Lexinom
Our household needs a new computer system. Your ideas/suggestions are appreciated!
I realize some of this may not be possible, but here's a list of what we would like:
* This computer should boot quickly, in a matter of a few seconds. * This machine should not attempt to "help" with everything, or offer "tours" * This machine should do exactly what I, the user, command it to, immediately, and without trying to help. * No extras should be loaded. * The CPU should be able to last for 20 years or longer, and the drives should be redundant (mirrored). * It should be possible to boot into a bare-bones "DOS" mode, with NO GRAPHICS, no pre-emptive multitasking, etc. * It should be quiet. * Nothing besides the bare bones operating environment /operating system should ever be loaded unless I expicitly install it.
Here is what we do NOT like:
* A machine that takes more than 15 seconds to boot (inexcusable with today's hardware). * Extreme speed i.e. lower CPU lifespan. 1-2GHz should be MORE than sufficient. * Noise from fans. * Extreme graphics - no games. * Extraneous unwanted programs that come with the O/S - bare bones only. * Commercial/marketing stuff loaded onto the system. * An operating system that tries to "help" with everything. * A machine that refuses to turn off instantly but second-guesses user commands. When I say "off" by flicking the power switch, I MEAN NOW, not thirty seconds from now.
Any thoughts?
What your describing used to be called a 'typewriter'.
I readily concede it's not for everyone. It's just what I and a few million other folks are looking for. I posted it here, and Ernest_at_the_beach gave me a very realistic possible solution, in Slackware Linux.
Was that a format and complete new install of XP or probably an XP upgrade on top of W2k?
The upgrade is is pretty bad if you don't purge the W2K.
Also, $200 wasn't too shy of what it cost to buy another PC that includes a new XP disk with it.
Finally, after HOURS, traced problem to the Level-1 Cache in the CPU itself.
It boots - after about five minutes. Routine operations, like running WIndows Explorer literally take 5-10 minutes to complete.
Found a floppy, created DOS boot disk, flashed the bios, no dice - still a crash
I had a similar thing happen during a hard drive failure. I replaced the HD and I was golden. About a $60 fix in a laptop.
Probably not Internet-capable though...
Boot time... my buddy's new 20" iMac boots in 22 seconds to a usable desktop.
Your other post - the hard drive failure - is a possibility here. Sadly it's a RAID-0 array. Once I can get the data off of them (mostly C++ programs I've written), I don't think I'll ever do Raid-0 again since it ties you down to a specific RAID controller.
The damnable thing now is I haven't "registered" the operating system, and therefore cannot log in - even though I paid $200 for it. The first thing M*****t says to do to get the PRoduct ID to get support is "Click the Start Menu..." Not much help when you CAN'T EVEN LOG IN.
Except for the 1-2GHz requirement, you are describing a Commodore 64...
After about 3 minutes of spinning the hard drive intently, it abends, with the standard "Program has encountered serious error and must be shut down. Would you like to send the information to [you-know-who]?"
Finally the kicker... It immediately, automatically, without any input from me, restarts itself and performs exactly the same boondoggle, ad infinitum!!!!!!!! Not even killing the task from the task manager reliably stops it. Machine must be shut down the HARD way, holding the power switch for four seconds.
Another funny thing: depending on the laptop's mood, sometimes it automatically turns back on after shutdown, EVEN HARD SHUTDOWNS! The only way to shut it off is to let the battery run down. I am not joking.
Sounds like the Visual Studio Program is potentially corrupted. A simple reinstall with the disk you already have should give you a crack at seeing if that was the problem for free.
Regarding the computer coming back on, either you have a bad power button or it somehow at times goes to sleep mode rather than off when you tell the software to turn off.
Is there some reason you can't reformat your computers and just reinstall your programs? It is kind of well known that after a couple of years, the software data on a computer tends to fragment all over the place and make running the computer at 100% efficiency tough.
I have all my program and operating system disks.
I back up all my work files off the computer and if I need to have special instructions regarding how I connected to a network, passwords and so forth, I already typed them all in a text file and saved that as well.
You should be able to hard format it all and start again. This will tell you if it is hardware failure or software viruses. Also costs you only time if you do it while watching some TV! :)
Seriously, get thee to an Apple Store and look at OS X on a Mac.
The PC has become so powerful that its resources are abused, weighed down with parasites from the marketing dept., to the extent it eventually becomes more cumbersome to perform even a simple task on it that to do the same thing on one of those old, long-obsolete systems. In short, the increase in load has exceeded the increase in performance, all things considered.
The exception is the brand-new PC that hasn't had a chance to be exposed to the parasites, the three-dozen dead-weight processes that send browsing habits to some central database or the program whose sole purpose in life is to constantly scan the Real Networks site for a software update.
Your other advice is all sound - I don't disagree with a word and in fact practice many of the things mentioned, except everything was backed up on this machine on a separate hard drive, not to CD-ROM. I've heard the newer CD-ROMs disintigrate after a few years, and have half a mind to invest in a tape backup system, the de facto standard. Again, newer isn't always better, and in fact usually reflects a lower-manufacturing-cost product, not higher quality.
There are so many examples: A $3,000 turntable like a Linn Sondek with a diamond needle playing a well-kept vinyl record will produce superior reproduction to a high-end CD player playing the same music on CD.
The reel lawn mower was invented 100 years before the standard rotary machine. A powered reel lawn mower (now used mostly on golf greens, and selling for at least $1,000 for a cheapie) will give far a superior, carpetlike cut with no grass whitening to anything the typical junk sold by Home Depot or Wal-Mart can.
An 8x11 analog camera with bellows will outperform the latest digital gizmo from Canon, and only analog cameras can be used for astrophotography because they are not subject to electronic noise.
All these old technologies cost more but provide superior performance. I am seeing a parallel in the computer world as well - lower costs by piling a hodge-podge of COTS solutions together. The hardware is improving, certainly (though physical limits are looming before us). But the software, in terms of core function, seems to be in an evolutionary slump.
http://www.owlriver.com/tips/tiny-centos/
Still, I don't think that you can realistically get by without at least an optional GUI these days in a personal desktop.
If you order any computer from a major vendor such as Dell obviously you will have to reformat the hard drive. Better you build your own from scratch. You want quiet, so
Those huge Zalman CPU fans are extremely quiet. You can now buy power supplies that are fanless and silent. Since you obviously hate waiting, forget your CPU speed limit and buy the fastest dual core processor you can afford and a fast hard drive.
If you want serious reliability and longevity, get a server motherboard with ECC RAM. You don't need gaming graphics, so your won't miss the lack of SLI, and many server mobos have built in video. Check that the mobo works with your flavor of Linux before buying.
Booting in a few seconds is unrealistic. 20 year life span is absurd, it will be obsolete in five. If your "household" includes kids, they are not going to be able to play their games on this computer.
What's that? Oh, OK. Bill says to tell you that resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.
The argument for running that software: You are connected to the Internet directly, with no firewall. That's like sleeping around without using a condom!
The argument against running such software is rooted in A) that's the firewall's job, hardware designed specifically for keeping out germs, viruses, cancers, what have you; B) The A/V programs are performance hogs. To give a concrete example: I develop/fix/maintain software for a living. To perform a build with Semantic AV turned on takes two hours. To perform a build with it off takes 30 minutes. In a crisis situation, that extra 1.5 hours is crucial.
Again, I've never, ever gotten a virus until this one time, due to an oversight. And I have relied exclusively on hardware for this function.
However, for anyone uncertain how to set up the firewall, your advice is excellent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.