jaclaz

Sure, but this doesn't make the device "faster", nor by itself justifies the *need* for a faster mode . I mean, more or less a cache or buffer behaves as a funnel, the idea is to have a continuous flow on the narrow end no matter how "intermittently" the larger end is fed, i.e. AFAIK is all about "regularity" and not about "speed", possibly it becomes relevant with non-sequential reads, though I doubt it can deliver a data transfer higher than the "label" 33.3 of the bus. Actual tests (these are VERY old, if anyone can provide more recent ones it would be nice) on 16x drives: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/10-dvd-burners,911-14.html show an actual peak transfer rate of around 16x i.e. according to the Wikipedia article 22.16 MB/s, with the very faster one with 16.16*1.350=21,816 and 16.16*1,385=22,38 (usual mess between using 1000 and 1024), i.e. the faster of the lot exceeds the "label" specification by 0.16/16=10 %exactly (and on peaks only). So I don't think there is a "real world" *need* for the Ultra DMA4, the reason for it must be *something else* jaclaz

Sure , the speed of Ultra DMA2 is a fact (as per specifications), the question is if the speed transfer of a N x speed for a DVD-ROM reader/writer is in any way faster than that (I have no doubt that the CD is much slower at *any* multiplier). If the Wikipedia data is accurate, submix8c's Lite-On 20x should top at 27.70 MB/s, some 17% slower than what the specs (and conversely the 40 wires cable) should allow, so what is/was the reason to have also UDMA 4 (and conversely 80 wires cables)? jaclaz

Some Toshiba info here: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Toshiba-Opens-Windows-8-Pre-orders-Brings-Back-Start-Menu-300238.shtml http://www.cerneaworld.com/2012/10/desktop-assist-toshiba-also-prepares.html Possibly it's this one: http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/downloadDetail.jsp?pf=true&soid=3520679 though from the info around it seems like a "more complex" app than a simple Start button replacement. As well the Samsung one is seemingly contained within the "Easy Settings" app: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/XE500T1C-A01US? I have no idea if either is "locked" on specific manufacturer's hardware or can be used on other PC's. jaclaz

AFAICR, nothing beats Wassociate: http://wstudios.home.xs4all.nl/Associate/index.html jaclaz

Actually *anyone* can. Try typing "Zorin changelog" on google and press [ENTER]: http://linux.softpedia.com/progChangelog/Zorin-OS-Changelog-47533.html jaclaz

Not at all OT , I am wondering if the data on Wikipedia I referenced is correct or if there is something (like a buffering or whatever) that prompted the Lite-on guys to use UltraDMA mode 4, or if it is just a way to say that you can connect it with an 80 wires cable... I mean: both are well within the 33.3 MB/s of the "plainer" ULTRA DMA 2 jaclaz

How is that device (I presume a DVD-ROM reader/burner) "marked"? Higher than "24x DVD"? However the specific OP model: http://www.plextoramericas.com/index.php/dvd-rw/internal-dvd-rw/px-870a?start=1 should not have that speed. jaclaz

Sure , that was what I perceived (and nothing more, nor less). jaclaz

Just for the record, the whole Symantec approach is m00t. As a matter of fact WS.Reputation.1: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2010-051308-1854-99 means more or less (IMHO): There is a procedure to submit an app in order to have it white-listed, however: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH132220 though it may take weeks to be processed.... jaclaz

And, again: .... and since they run connected to an UPS and there is a backup Power Generator serving the building, these machines were NOT ever switched off in case of power outage (only for actual hardware faults or intentionally for due maintenance/cleaning). kids today, just kids having fun ... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090555/quotes?qt=qt0298600 jaclaz

And we all got what you meant , the only difference being the stance on this objective piece of info: Tripredacus thinks that measuring uptime and using it to make a point, *any* point about "good" or "bad" OS is meaningless metrics jaclaz thinks that while it is generally speaking meaningless metrics, the actual amount of uptime used in the given example is so trifling small that even IF uptime actually had some meanings, 26 days of it mean nothing anyway jorgeA thinks that uptime is meaningful and - in order to prove it - compares the meanigless 26 days of your Linux with his meaningless 1 day uptime experience with 7 BTW, anyone with enough hardware power can run multiple Operating Systems in multiple Virtual Machines, if you want something more "real" (in order to make a comparison) get CoLinux : http://www.colinux.org/ jaclaz

JFYI, same or similar for Vista or later: http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=17501 jaclaz

And I have seen Linux distro's that won't even boot the first time, what gives? Of course having Windows Update running automatically is a threat to a system's stability, you are allowing a third party (qualified as it might be ) to install *something* (normally completely UNlike *needed*) to your otherwise nicely running system, in most cases this works, sometimes it doesn't, this is "normal" and "expected" (and I suspect - though most probably "innocent" in this particular case - that you are also running some Symantec app on that system ). Since you weren't around at the time, check what happened with XP SP3 : jaclaz

I guess there is a misunderstanding. The original thread is not much about "looks" but more about "substance", the idea being to have (as it should be) a more modern NT based system NOT linked in any way to Internet Explorer and all the related nonsense. jaclaz

Just so you know, using uptime as some sort of feature of Linux is an invalid argument. NOT really . The point is the actual AMOUNT of uptime. I have some NT 4.00 and 2K running 24/7 since 2002 or 2003 only switched off/rebooted a few times to replace disks and/or PSU's, that is some "uptime", not 26 days, uptime starts to be of *some* relevance when you start counting it in years.... and of course a lot of things depend on the actual usage the machine has. jaclaz

BUT , are you after making a "better", more "flexible", more "comprehensive" app or a more "popular" one ? (not always they are the same thing ) jaclaz

There have never been AFAICR SCSI2SCSI "converters" (or at least they must have been peculiarly "rare"), I have only seen "passive" adapters (pinout converters) or "full fledged" ISA, MCA (SIC!) or PCI SCSI cards. Additionally (and I do have my experience with mixing SCSI things ) I don't recall any similar issue , as far as I know you can "mix together" all kind of SCSI devices, of course performance may depend on the "slower" device.... It would be interesting if you could provide some data .... jaclaz

Start with providing more info on your hardware. Be aware that it will be tricky , see here for an UNfinalized similar thread: jaclaz

@ChR Asking for help on a WAREZ release is a good recipe to get banned in no time. See Rules of this board: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?app=forums&module=extras&section=boardrules JFYI nliting a non-original source is a perfect recipe for disaster (as most WAREZ would have been already modified - possibly through the use of the same nlite) I am not banning you (for the moment) but this thread is going to an end right now. jaclaz

... but to connect a CD/DVD drive I don't think that an ATA33 speed is a real bottleneck..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-ROM#Transfer_rates http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-ROM#Technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA#Speed_of_defined_transfer_modes jaclaz

I have been driving a pickup with a 4 (four) cylinder engine where only 3 (three) actually got ignition, eventually the engine jammed, what gives? OF COURSE a clicking HDD is trying in the best way it can to tell you that it is gonna die soon, with the exception of a few models that produced a noisy click when parking heads on the ramp.(nowadays very few disks use a parking ramp). Of course it depends on a case by case basis, I have really OLD disks that were clicking because they had developed some bad sectors areas, by simply re-partitioning them in such a way to avoid the bad areas they stopped clicking and lasted several years, but the clicking (with the exception mentioned) is a sort of warning that should make you aware that there are *some* issues (and of course you are perfectly free to ignore this alarm bell) Well, there is nothing as deceiving as SMART status, more or less it means "nothing". Strangely enough, we have an actual good report from Google (now severely dated): http://research.google.com/archive/disk_failures.pdf That amounts (summed up) to: if SMART status says that a disk is going bad, it is going bad if SMART status says that a disk is good, it may be actually good or fail tomorrow (you can flip a coin and have the same level of accuracy) Please also note that any "new generation" of hard disks may behave in several ways differently from a previous one. jaclaz

Yep Also commented starting here: jaclaz

Yep ,the "biggest chunk" of changes was introduced with XP, and this is IMHO the reason why Ken Kato's VDK worked perfectly with 2K and sometimes could not be stopped/uninstalled/reinstalled/restarted in XP (and this could suggest that the VSS subsystem actually introduces some added "locking" at least with disk objects). Back to topic, never heard of a "disabled file locking" kernel , maybe for the sake of the tests getting higher privileges (System) might be enough? Just in case: http://www.grubletrang.com/SoftwareList.aspx http://www.grubletrang.com/Software.aspx?app=PowerPrompt jaclaz

Which make/release is the BIOS? The most likely is that the grub4dos MBR first sector is recognized as "non-suitable", there are a number of BIOS releases that will do that, the debate being if this was done for incompetence (I tend to believe this) or in a deliberate sabotage attempt (as some other people are convinced of). Read this: http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=10503 BUT there are also several other reasons possible, including size of the USB device and filesystem used. Additionally HP's (some models) like most Lenovo's use a "queer" BIOS CHS geometry of 240/63 (instead of the usual 255/63) at least on internal devices (there are no "solid" reports of this applyung to USB devices too AFAICR). http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23147 Make SURE that you also read the aging but still substantially valid FAQ#10: http://jaclaz.altervista.org/Projects/USB/USBfaqs.html jaclaz

Doesn't this bring us back here : and to .ini files? jaclaz