My thread; my rules: Ease up. He was just trying to be helpful.
This, however, is good advice.
Nah; both work fine. Ubuntu just pisses me off lately. I forgive Puppy its faults and limitations because it’s intended to be limited, but I expect better from Ubuntu because of all its hype.
Why yes, twice; it is possible and the label is intentionally offensive, but you know the morons we make fun of.
The problem with reinstalling Windows XP is that it can be a pain to get all the updates. A vanilla SP3 install still often won’t have the most recent version of Windows Update and will refuse to work until you download a patch or two. And you definitely want all the updates. There are ways to get around this by getting an “Integrated” copy, but the legality of doing so is questionable. (I don’t think Microsoft would care if you have a legit license, but I’m not Microsoft.)
And, even then, you’ll need to have a lot of stuff ready ahead of time. You’ll need to go to HP’s website and get all the Windows XP drivers for your machine. You’ll want to have an antivirus already ready and install it before you take the computer online. (I currently recommend the free version of BitDefender.)
It’s also possible that, if your key was for an earlier release of Windows XP, your key won’t work in the SP3 version. I know I was at one time unable to use the SP1 key on the back of my computer when installing SP3. I had to install the version on the back of my box and manually upgrade up to SP3 and fix the updater to get rest of the files.
And if it turns out the problem is with your hardware, this won’t help all that much. If the gray-out and hanging problems still occur on Puppy Linux and Ubuntu, it may happen in Windows XP, too.
On an unrelated note, I’m not too big on “fanboi” because of what “boi” means. It’s a complicated LGBT term that, to oversimplify, refers to a gender identification between male and female that leans male. I’m not saying that’s where the term comes from, as the history of the reasons for the respelling seems to be lost to the electrons, but I can’t help but think of it that way.
Please don’t construe this as me saying “fanboi” is offensive and you shouldn’t use it. I’m just explaining why I personally am not a fan. It just feels wrong, kinda like a lesser version of using “gay” as an insult.
I’m basically just letting you know one reason why “fanboi” may come across as more offensive to some people than even “fanboy.”
If you don’t like the Windows model, why are you using Windows?
My point is that it’s not some weird thing with Linux, but a legitimate attempt to improve security. It’s not like you can’t reenable the root login if you’d rather work that way. (Not that I can think of a reason you would need to. “sudo csh” and you are running a csh shell effectively as root.)
Of course if a new security model is considered better, it’s going to be on by default. You seem to be offended that defaults have changed, despite knowing how to fix it. That just seems so weird to me.
I’d expect someone with your Linux expertise to be using your own custom distro, updating your kernel and everything manually (or at least using custom packages). It seems so strange to me that you’d rather go back to Windows unless you thought Windows did things better.
The beauty of Linux is that you don’t have to put up with models you don’t like.
THIS^
Any ‘this, as opposed to that’ approach (including the above) is unsound.
Rational computing practices and malware protection will reduce your risk profile for some types of malware arriving by some channels, but for other categories, updates/patches are a necessary solution (which is why Linux, OSX and Windows all get patches to close security holes in them)
I always assume the only posters who ever use the term “fanboy”, or now, I suppose, “fanboi”, are ones themselves.
Answered above.
I Googled variously to find a solution to various issues, learned that Toshiba-related information seemed non-existent, and that Linux fora were dominated by pretentious twits. Perhaps I’m not your typical techno-freak. Forty years ago I was flying around the world repairing mainframes no one else could fix, but spending hours fighting with poorly written documentation isn’t my idea of fun.
Various annoyances could have been dealt with, but the peculiar inability to slow the clock was intolerable. (Maybe my fans are jinxed, but I’ve had trouble. That code to adjust clock speed isn’t documented seems part of the Microsoft business plan imposed on vendors.) Does a laptop burning blisteringly hot when it’s in the idle-loop seem like Linux at its best?
I installed Cygwin, tried it, and was very happily surprised. Next case.
Thought I should mention, but running ubuntu 14.04 , the only application that grays out for me , is palemoon. Bit of a hassle, but sometimes I am wondering, while the OS is sound, the applications may be the root cause of his problems.
Declan
Well, that type of gray out sounds like it may not be a graphical issue at all. It’s just the way the OS indicates that the program is not responding. (Every so often, the OS will check in with an app to make sure it’s still running. A good app will always respond, no matter what it’s doing. If it doesn’t, that usually indicates a problem.)
I don’t think Windows XP had such an indicator. It might add “(Not responding)” to the title bar, but that’s it. Later versions will fade the window towards white.
Still, if multiple apps gray out all the time, it’s probably still a hardware problem.
As for your problem, look up how to refresh Pale Moon. You likely have an addon or config setting that is causing problems. Or it could be Flash, which is poorly programmed on Linux. Heck, it’s even poorly programmed on Windows now. Every time Firefox hangs on my machine, it’s due to Flash.
Anyways, I told the OP in a PM the easiest way I know to reinstall XP, and promised to tell him other things he should do to “harden” it.
I already mentioned BitDefender. I would also recommend installing Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit. This is a differnet program from Anti-Malware, and it just hardens other applications, particularly web browsers.
I would not use Internet Explorer on XP, since you’re stuck with version 8. Firefox and Chrome are fine. But if you really want to harden them, I’d run them with Sandboxie. This will allow you to completely segregate your browser from the rest of your OS. Install your browsers and get all your addons before using it.
If you use your web browser to download files from untrusted locations, test them in the sandbox first. You may even want to use a separate one, so you can completely wipe it if there’s a problem. Only take trusted apps outside the sandbox. Read the documentation for more info on how to do that.
As for browser addons, I generally recommend Adblock Plus for security reasons. It is the least obtrusive way to block most third party Flash. Ads are generally where the malware comes from on any decent site. Even if you plan on viewing ads in some places, you should use it and just shut it off on those sites.
Another option would be to use Flashblock or to set Flash on “Ask to Activate” in Firefox’s settings. This is more intrusive, but has the advantage even more Flash content, including Flash content that belongs to the site in question. This isn’t just a security advantage, but also a performance one. Flash is poorly optimized and having multiple bits of flash content on a page can be overwhelming. I personally use it and Adblock Plus together.
To answer the question asked earlier upthread, as long as security programs and current browsers support XP, I don’t think it’s too dangerous to use. As long as you practice good computer hygiene, you can use it, even if it’s not ideal from a security perspective. If my netbook hadn’t coincidentally given out around the time for the switchover, I’d still be using XP myself.
I just didn’t give this advice before because I think it’s a shame to leave Linux for the problems the OP is having, and hoped he could get it worked out to his satisfaction.
Well, it has not happened in a while ,so I am just going to assume that one of the palemoon updates fixed it, at least for now. Either that , or it is the flash, as one of the sites that regularly tanked the browser was straightdope. So it might be the adds are not playing nice with the browser, I dont have any addons for PM.
Declan
I pulled the plug. The last straw was that I need to print some CAD drawings for my portfolio, but everything available for Ubuntu locked up my system, the same system I created some of those drawings on in XP. Ubuntu is an amazing resource and disk space hog with nothing to recommend it but its price, and you get what you pay for.
Now I can spread viruses and single-handedly bring down Western civilization with a computer running an OS that is no longer supported by its manufacturer.
if your system truly locked up, then your system is a piece of junk. dodgy/failing hardware or buggy drivers is the pre-eminent cause of system hangs.
shrug I hone my 3D CAD skills on Elementary OS (an Ubuntu derivative) and even use CDE as my desktop environment because I hate myself. Works just fine.
it’s no longer supported because it’s 13 goddamn years old. Apple has dropped support for Snow Leopard, which was released the same year as Windows 7. Ubuntu LTS releases are only supported for 5 years. Microsoft supports XP for almost 3 times as long as its competitors do and still people complain.
Read the thread. I use an old OS because I have an old computer, with no likelihood of getting a newer one soon. Ubuntu either locked up because of that or because it’s a resource hog. Either way, I know I can get my work done using a different, older OS.
Firefox and Chrome are now adding built in malware checking, using Google’s VirusTotal, which uses multiple antiviruses to scan. It greatly improves security on the downloaded front. So you may just want to have your downloads folder automatically outside of Sandboxie.
Plus antivirus manufacturers are getting more and more annoying in their free products, from what I’ve heard. Since downloads are the most common vector for getting new programs, I see this as good news. Although it does suck that Firefox doesn’t yet have a per-file opt out–that’s coming around Firefox 35. (It’s on 33 right now.)
Thanks for your help, BigT.
In order to keep operating my XP system, I had to accept an agreement with Microsoft
allowing them to periodically remove any changes made to their files by freeware or
unlicensed software downloads. My XP runs as a partition in UBUNTU 8. When
FIREFOX 22 proved invasive and overbearing, I did a Win add/delete on Firefox 22.
I installed version 12 from an archival flashdrive. FF 12 did not erase my bookmarks or force me to use Google Search. FF12 can even display Facebook and YAHOO in flatscreen using the
WIN2000 OS. My conclusion is that Microsoft still wants to support XP in a nonconspicuous
way. Maybe the uproar in China over XP planned obsolescence is a factor.
Microsoft usually sends data to my XP immediately prior to the sign off.
Singanas 10-19-14
I approve. My backup Vista computer crapped out and I reinstalled a dual boot Linux Mint / Ubuntu combo. It works for me. If it didn’t, I would try something else.
I am an intermediate user. I have not had dropzone’s bad experiences, possibility due to the differences between a laptop/desktop environment. I’ve noticed that Linux requires some tweaking, though solutions online have worked for me. Oddly I find fixing it less frustrating perhaps because I know I’m mostly working with freebees and not some company trying to jerk me around. Yes, this attitude isn’t necessarily the best one, but it’s what I have.
Windows 7 seems more stable than my copy of Linux Mint, FWIW. Mint is way more stable than win98 was though.
Apropos nothing, I’d like to buy a new desktop now, but the Win 8/8.1 nonsense deters me, along with the lack of clear guidance by Microsoft regarding the upgrade path from Win 8 to Win 10.
You are doing CAD on XP? Ha, that is so cute.