Geek lite question

[random axe]

Does Windows XP lie about its version?  I have two almost identical ThinkPads, both of which have XP 5.1 SP3, with identical build version names, but there are distinct differences.  For instance, both machines have the same amount of RAM and same video hardware, but Explorer reports slightly different amounts of physical memory available to Windows.  Also, at the login screen one will warn me if Caps Lock is on, and the other won't mention it.

I'll never understand why on some Windows machines I can get Explorer to agree to use my settings (like, say, always displaying the file tree . . . er, the Folders view in the Explorer Bar . . . but on other Windows machines it picks its own defaults and screw you.  But I've sort of accepted that by now.

[stormneedle]

I don't think it can lie, but I haven't tried to look. I take the reports of resources as rough guides, though, rather than rely on them. The caps locks log-on check in Server 2003 is in the Control Panel>Keyboard, but on my laptop it's somewhere else.

The defaults for the Explorer view are in (Explorer) Tools>Folder Options>View Tab>"Remember each folder's view settings" - you can force all folders to be "my way or the highway" by setting up the view you want, turning that setting on, and then clicking the top button to force that view on all folders. I turn it off, and also unhide system files and unhide extensions, and apply that to all folders.

[random axe]

you can force all folders to be "my way or the highway"

I really can't.    I can reliably get Windows to let me make certain changes, like showing hidden files and not hiding extensions, but I can't make it always show me the file tree or always default to the Details view.

Seriously, if I could force the file dialog boxes (like Save File, Open File, etc) to NEVER show me thumbnails, I'd consider that a pretty big victory.  Got to take what you can get.  Man, you go to save an image to a directory that's already got a few hundred images, and that dialog box is a dog, even if Explorer's set to cache thumbnails.  I don't want the damned thumbnails.  At the resolutions I use, I'll recognize the file by its name long before I'll recognize the thumbnail.

It'd also save me a lot of time if I could convince Explorer not to look ahead when I'm expanding directories.  If a directory has forty subdirectories, and each of them has a bunch of files, and I try to open that directory . . . Explorer grinds to a halt while Windows tries to load all that directory information ahead of time in case I want to go look at the subdirectories.  Load it when I get there.  You don't need to pre-read the encyclopedia; I'm probably only going to look at a few articles.

Of course, why preloading directory information should be such a task that it slows down the machine is a whole other stupid issue.  And, yeah, I have Fast Indexing turned off, although occasionally I have to turn it off again.  The Windows Search tool is such utter complete crap that I sometimes go looking for free replacements, but the last decent one I found doesn't work properly in XP (because it's too old).

Meh!

[random axe]

Another annoying thing that it used to be easy to make Windows do:  I can't make applications always open new windows maximized.  Seriously, I virtually never tile.  I just switch windows.  I don't like to drag and drop; I'd much rather select files and use the menu commands.  Way more reliable.

But it seems like every damned application now wants to open new windows in some stupid size of no obvious merit, and I constantly have to maximize the windows.  It's not such a chore, but WTF?  I wouldn't mind a text INI file where there was an Always Maximize=Y option, but I'm not effing around with the registry or whatever.

[SANMAN]

Back to your surge protector.  A few years ago, I plugged one into a UPS and it caused the UPS to catch fire.  Apparently, there was an issue with this particular make and power frequency that caused problems when these two were used together (TrippLite).  I've dealt with powering large equipment for years and know all about the crazy things you have to do to prevent EMF interference, like crossing cables at 90 degrees or running control cables down one side of the building and power down the other.

Pink Floyd did that when they were here for the Division Bell tour, the amp cables, video, etc. went down one side of Bobby Dodd stadium and power went down the other.

[bit zero]

Back to your surge protector.  A few years ago, I plugged one into a UPS and it caused the UPS to catch fire.  Apparently, there was an issue with this particular make and power frequency that caused problems when these two were used together (TrippLite).

Cheap UPS's output square waves or stairstepped approximations of sine waves, instead of real sine waves.

Some surge protectors see the edges of those square waves as spikes.  One long continuous spike instead of the little ones they expect.

Not a good combo.  Use dumb power strips on cheap UPS's, or get better UPS's.  For APC, that means the SmartUPS line instead of the BackUPS line.  I dunno what Tripp-Lite's equivalent is.

[random axe]

I had a decent UPS years ago, but it eventually died, and it was too expensive to replace.  Now, both of the machines I regularly use are ThinkPads, and the batteries may be old and crappy but they basically have built-in 45-minute UPS systems.  So that's OK.

It's just inconvenient when there's a thunderstorm that lasts more than an hour or so.

[sm0k4]

I'm going to be taking some hardcore classes in grad skool this fall, just want to drop this here and say Imma prolly be need(les)in some sciency and computery geek genius info of various sorts.

ps. sorry I haven't been around much. Work and school and...redditAHEM. 

That shit is crack.  It's like bejeweled blitz except with words.

[Lindsey Buckinghmof]

Your attendance is ... appreciated, Ms. Hontas.

[flipper]

Any help I can provide is yours.  Just drop by when you can and

[random axe]

Durrrrr . . . OK.  Trying to swap not-really-working old Dell machine at work for working-much-better old Gateway machine.  Old Gateway machine has far too little RAM, though.  We don't do games or multimedia stuff, but several of our machines really do need more memory, for that matter.

According to the manufacturer, this machine has a PC133 DDR slab of RAM.  The RAM itself says PC2100, which google says is a 266 mhz chip.  I'm not the original owner of this machine, so I suppose the chip in there could already be a replacement.  I want to put in a gig of RAM if I can.  There are two slots.  If I put in RAM rated to higher mhz, will it just run at whatever the upper limit of the motherboard is, or will it not work at all? 

Newegg will sell me a gig of DDR PC2700 RAM in a single slab for $40, but I want to make sure it'll work, naturally.

The machine I'm using at the moment (also at work) is a Dell Dimension 4300 that could also use more memory.  It apparently uses PC133 SDRAM (really? pre-DDR?), which is unfortunately more expensive, but which I probably have some of lying around somewhere.  I'll have to open this machine up to see if both slots are in use already or what.

Still cheaper than buying new refurbished machines and easier than trying to transfer everything over and over.

[random axe]

Possibly a stupid question, but:  Adobe (assholes) has a terrible pop-up context menu for their Flash player, of course.  It frequently doesn't offer options people might actually want, such as What Is The Source Of This Crap Flash Film? or Seriously, Stop Playing That.

Hotmail (which I still use for shopping confirmations and newsletters and spam trapping) has constant Flash ads that are not only desperately annoying -- I automatically boycott anything that shows up in them -- but also routinely bog my machine like a mutha.  I could block them easily enough if I could see where they're coming from, which is presumably why Adobe doesn't make it easy.  The lame Exploder View Source function is no help, as it does not give me the source for the entire page.

I tried googling, in case someone else was maintaining an easy list of URLs that source this junk, but no luck.  I haven't bothered installing Adblock, etc, because I mostly use Opera, which lets me block whatever I want.  Am I missing an easy way to find the source URLs of these Flash ads?

[Lindsey Buckinghmof]

NoScript stops all JavaScript and Flash code by default. You can permit all objects on an instance-by-instance basis, or by address. Your permissions can be temporary (revoked when you quit the browser) or permanent. There's also a trust setting, which I don't fully understand, in which you can allow some contents from certain sites that you don't trust, meaning they can't do certain things that would ordinarily be permitted, etc. It's good code. I like it A LOT. http://noscript.net/

[random axe]

Really?  Because it sounds like a constant pain in the ass.  Sounds like it -- that's what I always think when I read reviews of it.  I only use IE for stuff Opera doesn't do well / do easily / do easily in conjunction with the other stuff I use Opera for.  That means Hotmail, Netflix, YouTube.  So I'd be setting exceptions and rules and junk for everything I use IE for.  It sounds like a chore.

Any real browser makes it so easy to do the targeted kill on offending elements.  Exploder's just horrible.  I know I have an old version of Exploder, but if MS couldn't even get close to Good in eight or nine tries, why keep going through the hassle of 'up'grading?  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me nine times (and counting), shame on me.

But I can't get rid of IE, and these are old and slow machines, so I don't want to also install Firefox if I don't have to . . . meh.

Farking Microsoft.  Farking Adobe.  They damage Western Civilization far more than they help.  Boils on the crusted buttocks of everything that's wrong with technology, the both of them.

[Lindsey Buckinghmof]

NoScript is for FF. Not sure if there's a Chrome or Opera plugin. sorry.

NoScript is a real pain only if you go to really shitty websites that are entirely flash ads from different websites. Think about that for a minute.