Laptop problem

78

Founding Member
Dazed and Confused
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
19,745
27,635
Founding Member
Wipe the drive and reinstall the OS. If that doesn't work, replace the drive and install a new OS. If that doesn't work, get a new laptop with a new drive and a fresh OS. Failing that, just say f*ck it and get a Mac.

I'll be that's the best advice you got all day. :lol:
 

grengadgy

Founding Member
Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
8,013
4,832
Founding Member
Wipe the drive and reinstall the OS. If that doesn't work, replace the drive and install a new OS. If that doesn't work, get a new laptop with a new drive and a fresh OS. Failing that, just say f*ck it and get a Mac.

I'll be that's the best advice you got all day. :lol:
:facepalm: Just tẃo devices playing nasty, can happen on any computer.
 

pilot-in-fla

Deplorable
Lifetime Member
Jan 15, 2015
24,196
8,976
If you're running Windows 10, the included Windows Defender does a good job with keeping viruses and other malware in check. If you have an earlier version of Windows, it might be called Microsoft Security Essentials. Make sure it is turned on to get automatic updates. Some of the hardware makers still have deals to include Norton and, in those cases, Microsoft Defender may be turned off.

Before updating to Windows 10, I used SlimDrivers to get the latest drivers. It is free although they have a paid version that will do a little more automation as far as updating the actual drivers.

Getting a Mac should be your very last resort. If you do that, you'll find that none of your printers or other devices is likely to work. Better to just start out with a new Windows system.
 

78

Founding Member
Dazed and Confused
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
19,745
27,635
Founding Member
Lol, you guys need to recalibrate your sarcasm meter. I was totally joking.

PIF, did someone from Apple sleep with your wife?
 

pilot-in-fla

Deplorable
Lifetime Member
Jan 15, 2015
24,196
8,976
Lol, you guys need to recalibrate your sarcasm meter. I was totally joking.

PIF, did someone from Apple sleep with your wife?

No, much worse -- I actually owned Apple hardware.

Back in 1981, I selected the Apple III for my consulting business which I had just started. I eventually had three of the units at the time Apple cancelled the line and completely orphaned it. I was forced to move everything to IBM PC/XTs which had become available. Naturally, none of the software I had purchased could be used either. I learned lesson one then.

Later, I bought an Apple to support my ISP business so we could provide technical support to our customers with Mac systems. But this system was also obsolete within a year and could not be updated to the then current operating system. That was lesson two.

I have a good friend with a Mac. He keeps coming by to print stuff since he can't get printers to work on his Mac. I'm told Brothers and maybe some others can be connected -- I tried to help him hook up an HP printer but no cigar.

Do they still have that dippy mouse with only one button. That used to drive me crazy.

Maybe I shouldn't admit it, but I still run legacy dBase III code for some of my personal financial stuff. It runs as well if not better than it did 20+ years ago. In the Mac world, it would have had to be reimplemented at least each time Apple changed it CPU architecture.
 

Swamp Donkey

Founding Member
7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
78,161
109,975
Founding Member
dbase III dude? Srsly? Are you running it off floppy disks? You still using Wordperfect 5.1 also?

Open office is free.

I guess you don't have to worry about viruses.
 

pilot-in-fla

Deplorable
Lifetime Member
Jan 15, 2015
24,196
8,976
dbase III dude? Srsly? Are you running it off floppy disks? You still using Wordperfect 5.1 also?

Open office is free.

I guess you don't have to worry about viruses.

LOL -- I use Libre Office but the database application doesn't do what the old standby dBase III does. And no, it doesn't run off floppy disks. I run it on a 64 bit Windows 10 system in the DOS Box.

I have to confess that I did like the Word Perfect use of the function keys. Other than not supporting a WYSIWYG screen, it seemed a lot more productive than Word or its various variants. And you could always user "reveal codes" to actually see the formatting codes. Sometimes there seems to be no way to delete an wayward invisible Word formatting code.
 

oxrageous

Founding Member
It's Good to be King
Administrator
Jun 5, 2014
36,935
97,630
Founding Member
Pilot is still pissed at Apple over 1981. :lol: There's been a lot of progress since then.
 

crosscreekcooter

Founding Member
Cunning Linguist; RIP
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
11,023
12,243
Founding Member
If you're running Windows 10, the included Windows Defender does a good job with keeping viruses and other malware in check. If you have an earlier version of Windows, it might be called Microsoft Security Essentials. Make sure it is turned on to get automatic updates. Some of the hardware makers still have deals to include Norton and, in those cases, Microsoft Defender may be turned off.

Before updating to Windows 10, I used SlimDrivers to get the latest drivers. It is free although they have a paid version that will do a little more automation as far as updating the actual drivers.

Getting a Mac should be your very last resort. If you do that, you'll find that none of your printers or other devices is likely to work. Better to just start out with a new Windows system.

I'm still using 8.1 but prolly gone make the switch to W10 in the next week or so. I do have Essentials but actually depend on AVG and Malwarebytes for virus snd malware protection.
I had 15 drivers out of date and trying to update that many is a royal pain in the ass. Thanks for the tip about SlimDrivers. I checked it out and read a couple reviews by CNet and Majorgeeks and both had good things to say so I downloaded it and have updated 6 of my drivers tonight. For a free utility it seems to do a pretty good job with no hitches. While it took about 45 minutes to do those, that's still a lot faster than searching for each manufacturers site and making sure you are getting the right program. I noticed they also have a free cleaner and didn't know if you used it and if so did you have a preference for it over CCleaner.
 
Last edited:

78

Founding Member
Dazed and Confused
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
19,745
27,635
Founding Member
No, much worse -- I actually owned Apple hardware.

Back in 1981, I selected the Apple III for my consulting business which I had just started. I eventually had three of the units at the time Apple cancelled the line and completely orphaned it. I was forced to move everything to IBM PC/XTs which had become available. Naturally, none of the software I had purchased could be used either. I learned lesson one then.

Later, I bought an Apple to support my ISP business so we could provide technical support to our customers with Mac systems. But this system was also obsolete within a year and could not be updated to the then current operating system. That was lesson two.

I have a good friend with a Mac. He keeps coming by to print stuff since he can't get printers to work on his Mac. I'm told Brothers and maybe some others can be connected -- I tried to help him hook up an HP printer but no cigar.

Do they still have that dippy mouse with only one button. That used to drive me crazy.

Maybe I shouldn't admit it, but I still run legacy dBase III code for some of my personal financial stuff. It runs as well if not better than it did 20+ years ago. In the Mac world, it would have had to be reimplemented at least each time Apple changed it CPU architecture.

Game reset:

* You bought a Mac the year Reagan was shot and figured out after the fact it was proprietary.
* You made the same mistake a few years later.
* These two experiences alerted you to the fact that computers become obsolete.
* Your friend can't figure out how to print from his Mac.

For shame.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
 

pilot-in-fla

Deplorable
Lifetime Member
Jan 15, 2015
24,196
8,976
Game reset:

* You bought a Mac the year Reagan was shot and figured out after the fact it was proprietary.
* You made the same mistake a few years later.
* These two experiences alerted you to the fact that computers become obsolete.
* Your friend can't figure out how to print from his Mac.

For shame.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

LOL -- well, the Apple III machines I purchased in 1981 weren't Macs -- they were more like a business version of the Apple II; they featured 80 character displays and upper and lower case letters. You could get software like Wordstar and Visicalc. At that time, people were still using MCST (Mag Card Selectric Typewriters) for word processing so the Applie III was both more economical and could do more. As I recall, we had a Qume daisy wheel printer which worked just fine.

The problem was not that the machines were proprietary but that when Apple cancelled the machine they provided no upgrade path. My business was expanding and I needed more hardware and it didn't make sense to support two sets of incompatible files, etc. The local Apple guy said the only option was to buy costly Lisas and that would have required new software and converting all of our hundreds of files manually. We went with the IBM PC/XT instead, converted the files one time and never looked back.

The reason for purchasing the Mac later on was different -- to support customers in the field with Mac equipment. It was fine that it became obsolete but I expected more than one year's use from it.

As far as my friend who can't get his Mac to work with a printer, what can I say? He has a 13 year old daughter so there really is no excuse. But I think it gives the lie to the claim that Macs are somehow easy to use.

And how about that single button mouse? Do they still use that?

I've got another piece of legacy PC software for embroidery machines. New programs are pretty pricey -- a few thousand dollars. And the file formats are not only proprietary but there is no simple way of converting them to more common formats. I have literally thousands of them. In the PC world, however, I'm able to run that program fine under Windows 10 and use a USB-linked floppy disk to create files to use on the embroidery machine.
 

URGatorBait

Founding Member
Ox's Former Favorite Poster
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
34,886
32,913
Founding Member
The Apple thread in the PF makes complete sense now :lol:
 

URGatorBait

Founding Member
Ox's Former Favorite Poster
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
34,886
32,913
Founding Member
Actually one doesn't have anything to do with the other.
jlaw-okay.gif
 

URGatorBait

Founding Member
Ox's Former Favorite Poster
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
34,886
32,913
Founding Member
Don't feed the trolls. :(
Lighten up nancy. I was just joking with pilot.
I dislike Apple as much as he does from a financial and tech standpoint, but it's not personal for me like it is for him. His hate is deep seeded.
 

pilot-in-fla

Deplorable
Lifetime Member
Jan 15, 2015
24,196
8,976
Lighten up nancy. I was just joking with pilot.
I dislike Apple as much as he does from a financial and tech standpoint, but it's not personal for me like it is for him. His hate is deep seeded.

Not really personal for me. I have my own history but tech changes so rapidly that holding a grudge doesn't make any sense.

The real question going forward is whether or not Apple's success to date is based more on a personality cult regarding Steve Jobs. For example, would the Apple Watch have been a success if Jobs was on stage pushing it to hie faithful followers?

If you looked back a couple of years ago, a lot of the "tech" reviewers were only comparing one Apple product to another; they didn't even consider competitive offerings. Now you're seeing a lot more folks willing to admit that the Samsung phones have moved ahead of Apple in many regards.
 

URGatorBait

Founding Member
Ox's Former Favorite Poster
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
34,886
32,913
Founding Member
Not really personal for me. I have my own history but tech changes so rapidly that holding a grudge doesn't make any sense.

The real question going forward is whether or not Apple's success to date is based more on a personality cult regarding Steve Jobs. For example, would the Apple Watch have been a success if Jobs was on stage pushing it to hie faithful followers?

If you looked back a couple of years ago, a lot of the "tech" reviewers were only comparing one Apple product to another; they didn't even consider competitive offerings. Now you're seeing a lot more folks willing to admit that the Samsung phones have moved ahead of Apple in many regards.
If Jobs were around, the product would probably be better.
Lagging behind competitors all the same, but better than it is today.
Seems to me they are on a downward spiral, and aren't really very innovative these days.

I personally would never select their products for personal use. I prefer android and samsung in particular.
 

G 2

Founding Member
Gator Great
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
5,844
10
Founding Member
Not really personal for me. I have my own history but tech changes so rapidly that holding a grudge doesn't make any sense.

The real question going forward is whether or not Apple's success to date is based more on a personality cult regarding Steve Jobs. For example, would the Apple Watch have been a success if Jobs was on stage pushing it to hie faithful followers?

If you looked back a couple of years ago, a lot of the "tech" reviewers were only comparing one Apple product to another; they didn't even consider competitive offerings. Now you're seeing a lot more folks willing to admit that the Samsung phones have moved ahead of Apple in many regards.
The Apple Watch has sold more smart watches than all other brands combined. It has done well for what the product is, especially considering the price. Apple products are well made and well designed. Of course they charge a hefty premium for them.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Help Users

You haven't joined any rooms.