Zxian

Kel's idea is probably the best, if not a little outdated. I haven't had a floppy-capable system in ages. A similar idea is to get UBCD and use one of the disk-wiping tools there. It's a bit overkill, but you can be sure that whatever entry in the partition table that's locking the Linux partition will be erased. Yet another option to try (and less dramatic) is to download Knoppix and burn it to a CD/DVD. You'll be able to boot into a graphical Linux environment, which runs directly from the CD drive. Once booted, run 'gparted'. You should be able to delete the locked Linux partition from there. Hope this helps.

I'd agree with geek on this one. I had my original hard drive that came with my Dell laptop die on me a while back. I had replaced it with a larger, faster drive, and then upgraded to Vista Business (up from XP Home). It's still under warranty until early next year, so I called them up and explained the situation. They asked me to run the pre-boot diagnostics that all Dell systems have onboard (no - not the partition, this one's BIOS based) and so I did. Once the error was identified, they simply agreed to have the system returned to the depot (there are some other issues as well - hardware related). Hardware problems (such as your overheating) are just that - hardware. They have nothing to do with the operating system. Also, just make sure that you're not running the laptop on a long-pile carpet or a blanket of some sort. Regardless of BIOS updates and operating systems, that's a sure-fire way of killing any laptop.

I'd never pay for Linux. I'm using Fedora9 on my linux workstation, and CentOS for my servers. Both are very simple to use and manage. I personally find rpm and yum much easier to use than deb and apt. Of course - if you want the best *nix server OS, then FreeBSD is the way to go.

A lot of software incompatibilities that I've dealt with comes from software that's coded poorly - writing files to places where a program has no business being (Filezilla and XML settings comes to mind). Microsoft has been telling devs for years - put your configuration files in Application Data where they belong, not in the program's directory. The only other problem I have is with Notebook Hardware Control. That program seems to lock up my whole system from time to time (can't pinpoint why), but the developer hasn't made any attempt to make the software Vista compatible, nor has he updated it in over a year.

Check the thermal paste. If my hunch is correct, it has dried up and changed shape - causing it to separate from the CPU and the heatsink. I think that your CPU is probably throttling itself to keep it from burning out. Pull off the heatsink and reapply some good fresh thermal paste.

Did you try reinstalling the chipset drivers, as well as clearing out the USB tree in Device Manager?

Erm... how do you expect to get video without a graphical interface? The command-line shells are just text (until you start running overlays on them). As far as I know, mplayer isn't a standalone player on any OS - it requires another program to interface with. If you want a really lightweight GUI, XFCE is the way to go. Moved to correct forum

Here are my two workstations. Workstation 1 (XP Pro 32-bit): Workstation2 (Fedora9 x86-64) Feel free to ask any questions.

Erm... No. The only major update that OSX has seen that's worth any merit is Leopard. In my experience, the other updates are equivalent to what Microsoft does with Service Packs. Your comparison to Windows 2000/XP/2003 is also flawed. Windows 2003 is a server OS - XP was a workstation. Microsoft has gone back to the way they had things with Windows 2000, basing both Vista SP1 and Server 2008 on the same kernel. However, that does not mean that they are the same operating system. And they also cut out a large portion of their userbase in the process. All OS9 apps had to be scrapped (there was some compatibility layer, but honestly - it sucked), and users were encouraged to ditch their old machines and buy new ones. We're running into the same story with Snow Leopard - bye bye PPC. Tell that to anyone still using PPC apps on an Intel machine. There's also the fact that, like crahak said - they have a very limited set of hardware to support. Browse any Mac forum and you'll find plenty of threads on hardware incompatibilities. The hardware that OSX is sold on is faster than most standard PC hardware - but that speed also comes at a steep price.

Huh... so it does. I'll admit - I was playing around with .NET at the time (I was just learning how to put everything together) and didn't test everything to it's fullest. I'll see if I can fix that bug when I get some free time.

If you've damaged a wire coming from the PSU, stop using the computer now. If the wire is completely cut, cover the broken ends with electrical tape, and don't use any plugs connected to that wire (directly or indirectly). If you've simply cut back the plastic sheath, cover the bare wire with electrical tape. Another thing to double check - make sure that the AUX12V connector (square 2x2 plug) is plugged into the motherboard. Your system might work without this, but you really should have it plugged in. I'd simply recommend getting a new PSU. You can find a decent Fortron PSU for about $30. Here's an example of a PSU that will work just fine for your system - Link.

Apple awesomeness strikes again!!! FTFF Apple...

@emadhandy2002 - Have you tried reinstalling all of your chipset drivers? Another thing to try is to uninstall the entire USB device tree in Device Manager. Right click on My Computer and select Properties. On the Hardware tab, click on the Device Manager Button. Make sure that there are no yellow question marks or red X's anywhere. Scroll down to the bottom where it says "Universal Serial Bus contollers". Right click on each entry and select "Uninstall". Now restart your system. Wait for windows to reinstall your USB drivers (which might require another reboot) and then try using a USB device. What model of Aopen motherboard do you have?

I don't even want to think about how loud that system would be...

Exactly. Many people have known for a long time that, if harnessed correctly, the parallel processors on modern GPUs can outperform CPUs on a massive scale. The main problem, up until recently, has been direct access to those GPU subprocessors. We've already seen that future graphics cards are becoming more than just video cards - the GX280 includes the Aegia PhysX processors onboard, making it handle both graphics and physics calculations.

Link Oy... I want.

Octopuss - what is this "everything else" that you talk about?

It's pretty gutsy enough to compare Vista to Windows Millenium... I've been running Vista on my laptop, which is over two years old now. Pentium-M 1.86Ghz, 2GB DDR2-533, 160GB 5400RPM hard drive. For what I do with it - the system flies, and works far better than XP did. The only troubles I've had are with my university WPA network, but that thing has been buggy since day one, so I'm not about to place the blame on Vista. All the people comparing Me to 2000 need to learn their facts. Windows 2000 was a branch from Windows NT (which is where XP and Vista have come from as well), while Windows Me was based off Windows 98. You people are comparing apples and oranges here. Does nobody here remember all the discussions 7 years ago when XP was released? "Aww... boo!!! XP is slow compared to 2000. What a piece of crap... boo Microsoft!"

It was quite normal for the GX150's to have 110W PSUs. The systems themselves drew much less power than that, using onboard graphics to help cut down on power requirements. The easiest way to know if you're within limits is to get yoursell a Kill-A-Watt meter, or something of the sort. Plug the KAW into the wall, and then the computer's power cord (and only the computer) into the KAW. Start up the computer and then run Prime95 to stress the CPU. What model of Geforce4 do you have? My first guess would be that if the system as-is draws less than 60W at load, you should be fine to put in the video card. The Kill-A-Watt meter is useful for other things as well. I've used it to track all kinds of power consumption. Sadly, my whole entertainment system still leeches ~10W when everything is off.

For the most part - attached devices draw their own power (they've got their own power cords). Printers, scanners and so forth don't need to be included in PSU calculations. You might be able to get a new PSU... but the question here is - is it worth it? I'm guessing that the old PSU will cost you nearly as much as a new one will. Upgrading old computers really isn't worth it unless you can find parts second hand for dirt cheap (websites like CraigsList are great for that kind of thing).

Exactly what I said. AFAIK, It's now been confirmed that Snow Leopard will be Intel only. I'd disagree on this one. I purchased my laptop just before the first Core Duo chips were available (sadly, didn't really have the opportunity to wait). Dispite this, and it having "only" 2GB of RAM, it handles Vista quite well, and for what I do with it, Vista is a far better OS than XP was. Microsoft did the right thing by releasing a 32-bit version of Vista. However, I'd hope that Windows 7 is 64-bit only, since by that time, 32-bit only machines will be over 5 years old... I'd hope that people wouldn't spend more money on the OS than their computer is worth.The lifestyle cycle of Windows vs OSX has also been debated endlessly, and sorry to all the mac-addicts out there, Microsoft's cheaper. I'm sure that closer to the release date, prices for Snow Leopard will be released, and people will continue to complain about the "high price of Vista". People forget that each upgrade to OSX along the way has been over $100 spent. If you kept up to date along the way, that's $600 for your operating system. Even Vista Ultimate doesn't look so bad now, does it? Heck - An OEM copy of Vista Home Premium can be purchased now for $100, and that includes all service pack and support for the next however many years.

Maybe... maybe not. I would not recommend installing the video card, since you would be pushing your PSU to the limits when the system is at load. A fully loaded PSU generates more heat and is comparatively unstable to one that's running around 60-70% of it's capabilities.

Wow... what a biased article. This claim of "1000 innovative new features" is a bit far fetched. I'll bring down one of their top marketing ploys right now - Time Machine. All Unix and Linux systems have been able to do something like this with rsync. While it might not be as mindless of a setup, the feature and the functionality is all there (I wouldn't be surprised if Time Machine is based on rsync). There are countless features in Vista and Server 2008 that I'm sure many people here know about, and that if spun the right way, would be "All-new-wow-jazz!!!". Let's face it - Apple has a far smaller market share than Windows. Mac users have also been known for having a bit more money to play with. Let's face it, a basic MBP is not cheap by any standards - starts at $2099 CAD. A well equipped Lenovo ThinkPad, on the other hand - call it $1500 after taxes. Unlike Microsoft, Apple has the ability to simply tell it's users "Dump that two year old hardware and buy a new computer - just so you can run Snow Leopard". This is also part of the reason why Snow Leopard is going to be "more optimized" - they're only making it for Intel systems - bye bye Motorola/IBM support! Advanced multi-core support - I think Microsoft got there first. OSX pre-Leopard did alright with multi-core scaling... but it wasn't really all that stellar. 16TB of RAM... I think that's a mis-terminology here. 16TB of address space has been available to any 64-bit Windows OS. Who's actually got 16TB of physical RAM installed in their system? Taking advantage of the GPU - how is this new? The entire OSX GUI has been based off the GPU for years (came with OSX 10.3). That was one of the key selling points of expose when it was unveiled back in 2003... Comon guys... don't market old technology as "new and improved". You're simply re-inventing the wheel here. /rant

This is why ASUS motherboards are great... just dump the BIOS image onto a FAT32 formatted USB key and stick it into your computer on bootup. Choose the AWDFLASH option and you're off to the races. Let us know how things go!

Actually... the case doesn't have better cooling. The hard drive cage blocks the incoming airflow horribly, and the fan grilles are more restrictive than those on the NSK4480. Side fans are gimmicky and do very little for cooling a system. Front to back airflow with as little impedance as possible is the way to go. The Ultra PSU is alright... but it's still a low quality PSU by any comparison. It's one thing for your computer to look nice... but I'd much rather have a computer that looks "ok" and performs well.