Author Topic: Gorram Microsoft! (Read 2789 times)

AZRedhawk44 · « **on:** October 12, 2011, 01:43:18 PM »

My last work laptop (3 months ago I retired it) was a Dell, running WinXP, 32-bit.

I replaced it with a Lenovo Thinkpad, running Win7 64-bit.

I have an app I support that I need to be able to compile/test 32 and 64 bit versions of it, so I did a Physical-to-virtual conversion of my old Dell laptop onto my Thinkpad using VMWare Vconverter, then running the VM on VirtualBox.

Worked pretty sweet.

Well, the Lenovo is a rancid POS and I shipped it off for warranty. I'm working off an ASUS I bought recently, running Win7 64-bit.

I copied my VM image to the new laptop. Start it up.

Windows XP wants to reactivate. But it can't, since I need to reinstall VM guest additions into the virtualized OS. But it won't let me get to a functional desktop and auto-logs off if I don't activate.

So I have to activate via telephone, listening to robo-gal tell me the strings of characters to verify activation. Yuck.

AZRedhawk44 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 12, 2011, 01:56:06 PM »

zOMG... robo-wench says it's not a valid product ID.

It's a fracking enterprise license key with unlimited activations, from MSDN.

GigaBuist · « **Reply #2 on:** October 12, 2011, 03:09:05 PM »

... and that is why I don't want my cash registers running a Microsoft OS.

I too have booted up a machine (no hardware changes!) only to find that my once valid MSDN volume license has gone proof.

GigaBuist · « **Reply #3 on:** October 13, 2011, 07:57:13 PM »

As luck would have it saw it again today, but this time without the licence being MSDN. Bought laptops for the other office workers here with Windows 7 Home Pro on them then I upgraded to Windows 7 Pro with keys purchased right from the MS online store.

Today one of them flipped out and said it was no longer genuine Windows. No idea how it lost its key, but it did, and the only reason I was looking at it is it was acting funky as heck which I attribute to going into that not-genuine mode.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #4 on:** October 13, 2011, 08:02:09 PM »

You are obviously pirates and should be hanged.

KD5NRH · « **Reply #5 on:** October 14, 2011, 04:31:56 PM »

Heck, I'm still irritated over the stupid inherent in "Please do not power off or unplug your computer" after I hit "shut down." Never mind that I might be shutting down because we've just kicked over to the 5-minute UPS and its drivers don't get along with 7, (or Vista for that matter) or because Starbucks is closing and wants me to go away now, they won't ask if I can sit tight for 2-20 minutes. M$ is going to take all the time it wants installing some random crap updates that rarely fix anything.

RaspberrySurprise · « **Reply #6 on:** October 15, 2011, 11:33:08 AM »

You should be able to choose a shutdown without updating option as well. But yes, it is a stupid idea.

Regolith · « **Reply #7 on:** October 15, 2011, 01:01:08 PM »

I thought there was an option to shut down without updating? At least, there is with XP SP3 and Vista. Don't know about 7, though I don't see why they'd change it.

mtnbkr · « **Reply #8 on:** October 15, 2011, 03:25:31 PM »

Quote from: Regolith on October 15, 2011, 01:01:08 PM

Don't know about 7, though I don't see why they'd change it.

Probably because people would never update their system, then bitch because they fell prey to a vulnerability fixed months or years ago.

Chris

GigaBuist · « **Reply #9 on:** October 15, 2011, 10:37:23 PM »

Quote from: GigaBuist on October 13, 2011, 07:57:13 PM

As luck would have it saw it again today, but this time without the licence being MSDN. Bought laptops for the other office workers here with Windows 7 Home Pro on them then I upgraded to Windows 7 Pro with keys purchased right from the MS online store.

Today one of them flipped out and said it was no longer genuine Windows. No idea how it lost its key, but it did, and the only reason I was looking at it is it was acting funky as heck which I attribute to going into that not-genuine mode.

OK, so a run of the HP diagnostic tools today showed that the HD in the laptop was actually dieing. That explains how/why Windows lost its key and went into non-Genuine mode along with the funky behavior.

Guess I can't really blame MS for that one.

Regolith · « **Reply #10 on:** October 15, 2011, 11:21:03 PM »

Quote from: GigaBuist on October 15, 2011, 10:37:23 PM

OK, so a run of the HP diagnostic tools today showed that the HD in the laptop was actually dieing. That explains how/why Windows lost its key and went into non-Genuine mode along with the funky behavior.

Guess I can't really blame MS for that one.

That seems to be a problem for HP laptops. My mother's HP laptop also had to have its HD replaced because it went batty, and she had only had it for around 6 or so months.

KD5NRH · « **Reply #11 on:** October 16, 2011, 02:28:15 AM »

Quote from: Regolith on October 15, 2011, 01:01:08 PM

I thought there was an option to shut down without updating? At least, there is with XP SP3 and Vista. Don't know about 7, though I don't see why they'd change it.

Haven't seen one, but the only time they tell you it's going to update is if you happen to look at the tooltip while hovering over the "shut down" button.

TechMan · « **Reply #12 on:** October 16, 2011, 06:34:46 AM »

Quote from: Regolith on October 15, 2011, 11:21:03 PM

That seems to be a problem for HP laptops. My mother's HP laptop also had to have its HD replaced because it went batty, and she had only had it for around 6 or so months.

I have seen quite a few HDD failures over the past few years, on newer computers. My pet theory is that the HDD manufacturers have lowered their quality standards during the recession. This is so they don't have to reject as many drives and just hope that they don't fail. They also know how disposable our society is.

erictank · « **Reply #13 on:** October 16, 2011, 05:21:41 PM »

Quote from: KD5NRH on October 16, 2011, 02:28:15 AM

Haven't seen one, but the only time they tell you it's going to update is if you happen to look at the tooltip while hovering over the "shut down" button.

My computers (yes, plural) have always popped up an icon in the taskbar, bottom-right corner, stating that updates were available for download and/or installation. Usually there was also a pop-up balloon saying that. Not sayin' I didn't also get the "shut down after update" notification, but it was typically not a surprise.

KD5NRH · « **Reply #14 on:** October 16, 2011, 05:58:28 PM »

Quote from: erictank on October 16, 2011, 05:21:41 PM

My computers (yes, plural) have always popped up an icon in the taskbar, bottom-right corner, stating that updates were available for download and/or installation. Usually there was also a pop-up balloon saying that. Not sayin' I didn't also get the "shut down after update" notification, but it was typically not a surprise.

Is that on Win7? Bear in mind that 7 is even worse than Vista about hiding tray icons when it's not supposed to.

Doggy Daddy · « **Reply #15 on:** October 16, 2011, 10:03:18 PM »

How is it that I've been a beta tester for Microsoft for over 20 years and still haven't gotten my first paycheck?

DD

RevDisk · « **Reply #16 on:** October 16, 2011, 10:22:03 PM »

Quote from: GigaBuist on October 12, 2011, 03:09:05 PM

... and that is why I don't want my cash registers running a Microsoft OS.

I too have booted up a machine (no hardware changes!) only to find that my once valid MSDN volume license has gone proof.

I looked over that micro footprint PC you sent me the link to. $95 for the PC, $20 for RAM, $20 for a HD (assuming you're not doing some boot over LAN thing), $20 for keyboard/mouse, $80 for the monitor, and whatever USB accessories you need. Not sure why most folks don't do that. Get a cheap NAS for storage, and use cheap PCs for general stuff. If it blows up, get another PC out of the closet and keep working. Enterprises are moving over to this with Virtual Desktops.

Wouldn't mind a thread on how you intend to design the cash registers. I'm guessing Linux on the micro PCs, with some Java or whatever custom front end?

GigaBuist · « **Reply #17 on:** October 17, 2011, 12:29:10 PM »

Quote from: RevDisk on October 16, 2011, 10:22:03 PM

Wouldn't mind a thread on how you intend to design the cash registers. I'm guessing Linux on the micro PCs, with some Java or whatever custom front end?

Not much to it really.

Debian GNU/Linux as the base OS, customized OpenBravo POS (Java) interface, a PostgreSQL cluster as the DB server.

The actual register will be those Atom boxes, dual VGA display (one for the customer, one for the cashier), 15" Elo touch screens, generic ESC/POS protocol receipt printer and cash drawer, a rather pricey but durable wireless handheld barcode scanner, Heartland E3 PIN Pad for credit and debit payments, and a silicon USB keyboard that can be brought up from below on the rare occasions a cashier needs to actually search the product DB.

erictank · « **Reply #18 on:** October 17, 2011, 05:19:19 PM »

Quote from: KD5NRH on October 16, 2011, 05:58:28 PM

Is that on Win7? Bear in mind that 7 is even worse than Vista about hiding tray icons when it's not supposed to.

Hmmmm. Point. The computers I was thinking of were Vista and earlier machines. And Win7 certainly does make tray icons less visible, which I don't particularly care for.

RevDisk · « **Reply #19 on:** October 17, 2011, 10:46:09 PM »

Quote from: GigaBuist on October 17, 2011, 12:29:10 PM

Not much to it really.

Debian GNU/Linux as the base OS, customized OpenBravo POS (Java) interface, a PostgreSQL cluster as the DB server.

The actual register will be those Atom boxes, dual VGA display (one for the customer, one for the cashier), 15" Elo touch screens, generic ESC/POS protocol receipt printer and cash drawer, a rather pricey but durable wireless handheld barcode scanner, Heartland E3 PIN Pad for credit and debit payments, and a silicon USB keyboard that can be brought up from below on the rare occasions a cashier needs to actually search the product DB.

Very nice. Total run $500 per?

Nice thing is, assuming you set it up correctly (which I know ya will), no licensing costs and the parts are easily swappable. I honestly wish more folks ran LAMP. I can't explain how much I hate friggin Exchange. Lemme know if ya need any help with postfix. It can be a pain to get running, but it's stable as a mofo once you get it running right.

grislyatoms · « **Reply #20 on:** October 17, 2011, 11:19:52 PM »

Got a copy of "B-17: The Mighty Eighth" from GOG a couple days ago. Started thinking it would be so much more enjoyable with a game controller for pilotage/Norden bombsight/gunner positions. Well, hey howdy I found drivers to allow Xbox 360 controllers to interface with a PC. Cooking with gas now. Or, so I thought.

Come to find out, after tweaking drivers and wasting a lot of time, that MS requires one to purchase a proprietary dongle for the controller to work. Won't interface via USB or Bluetooth, has to be via their dongle. Well, that just ticked me right off.

The technology is there. I own licenses for the products. Leave it to Micro$haft to add yet another bit of unnecessary, useless (otherwise) hardware.

News:

Author Topic: Gorram Microsoft! (Read 2789 times)