Zxian

There was another post like this before... searching found it again. http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=59126

*playing the average joe\jane* - "Search... for drivers? You mean I actually have to do something to my computer?" Don't even start talking about building drivers... I'd guess that the people who frequent here are among people who are in the top 5% (at least) of the computer-knowledge/intelligence scale. I'm not meaning to sound snotty or anything, but it's pretty true that we're all nerds here...

How would you suggest subdividing these forums?

It's a good suggestion, but like Martijn said, we have to keep in mind those people who don't have English as their first or primary language. Question is a word that people often learn before Query when learning English. Thanks for the input. If you have any more suggestions, let me know.

@digiratiprime - Wow... that looks like a very very handy piece of software... *downloads* Thanks!

As for deleting files and folders... that has to do more so with the filesystem rather than the OS. The read/write/execute permissions in Linux/Unix are what give that type of security.

Honestly... I doubt that you'd notice a major performance difference with anything like this. The NT5 kernel has very sofisticated memory management, so your best bet is probably just to leave it alone.

Well... like you said, it does solve a lot of problems. It's not my magic cure, but it's definately the first thing I suggest doing when it comes to Windows errors.

I'd say this is software... it's not something that you'd find on Windows Update, and it's a media player, like there are many others out there. Moved to correct forum

You should physically measure your monitor. If the horizontal and vertical dimentions have an aspect ratio of 4:3, then the 1280x1024 resolution will give you a distorted image. If you want to try for yourself, draw a box that is say... 800x800 pixels in Paint or Photoshop, then measure the box on your screen (with a ruler). The sides should be the same length. If they're not, then you've got a distorted image. 1280x960 is the correct resolution for screens of this size/ratio. Just a note... LCD monitors are made with square pixels, so there's no problem with mis-matched aspect ratios here. If you view the monitor at the rated resolution, you're fine. My original question just came up because even in the day when LCD monitors didn't exist, the 1280x1024 resolution did and people used it. Since 99% of consumer monitors have a physical aspect ratio of 4:3, this is just wrong...

Moved to correct forum.

Why do people always answer questions related to IE with "Get firefox" ? IE 6.0 doesn't just crash on its own when viewing websites. It's like saying that Windows, Linux, or OSX would just crash when running a program. If it does that, then there's a problem with your setup. To answer the original quesiton, I'd stay away from IE7 right now. It's in Beta status for the time being, but it will be available for Windows XP SP2 when it goes final.

Interesting... It's true that most people have no clue about Linux. My step-mother didn't even know about Firefox until I brought it up at the dinner table last night. I guess the biggest problem is that people are often too scared to change the way they do things. Can you imagine trying to teach all the drivers out there how to use paddle shifters in cars? Sure, they're better than the manual stick, but it's not what people are used to (most definately not for people who drive automatic).

Mmm... Starbucks...

Some people simply prefer the good ol' gray to anything with colour. I've got it at work, and it doesn't bug me all that much. Some people say that their computers run "much faster" without themes, but I've never noticed a huge performance hit from them. Maybe on stone aged computers, but never anything recent (i.e. 3 years or less). It's simply a matter of personal preference. Please use the proper tags from now on. For more info, look at the posting rules at the top of the forum (it's a sticky).

Moved to Unattended Forum.

Moved to Windows Vista forum.

Right... but from what I can see, 1280x960 is also listed as a SXGA. SXGA+ is used in laptop screens, and is a 4:3 aspect ratio (1440x1080). It just seems odd to me that 5:4 exists at all...

I've been wondering for a little while now about this. AFAIK, computer monitors and TVs are meant to have a 4:3 ratio for the display resolution (except for widescreen, but that's another matter). Pretty much all the display resolutions you see for a standard monitor are this. - 800x600 - 1024x768 - 1152x864 - 1280x960 - 1600x1200 And so on... How in the world did 1280x1024 get thrown in there (Aspect ratio = 5:4)? Considering that I've never seen a CRT monitor with an aspect ratio of 5:4, it seems odd that it's an option for me at home on my CRT. When you view it on a CRT monitor with physical dimensions with a 4:3 ratio, you end up with distortion. I'm guessing that LCDs with this resolution have the proper physical aspect ratio, but it still seems odd to me to have it this way in the first place. Any leads as to why this is the way it is... or is it just because there is no hard-set standard for display aspect ratios?

Ok... There have been some odd posts here... In any case, have a look through my Windows XP Troubleshooting guide. Specifically at the part about Windows drivers and Windows Errors. Follow the instructions there (specifically, the sfc /scannow part) and then post back here. It sounds a lot like either a driver or system file corruption problem.

As for the original question have a look here. I think that should be what you're looking for.

For OEM, it can only be used for one computer. However, you can re-install Windows on that computer as many times as you want. For VLK, what you said is half-correct. A VLK can be installed on an infinite amount of computers, since there is no activation required. However, doing so is illegal. I just made that bold and red to emphasize rule #1 on the MSFN rules (see link at top of page). Like I said, unless you know the ins and outs of VLKs, you shouldn't be using them. A VLK is given to a company by Microsoft with a certain number of computers that it is allowed to be installed on. If the VLK is licenced for 1000 computers, and the company installs it on 1001 or more, they are breaking their contract with Microsoft (which can lead to serious legal action).

Probably because the answer you were looking for could have been found yourself. It's a very common problem on forums to have people ask questions to which the answers already have been answered (sometimes many times). I'm not trying to be rude here, but in future, you should carefully read the stickies at the top of each forum before asking a question. They often have links to guides and information that might answer your question. Once you have done a thorough search for your question, then you can post here. Enjoy your stay at MSFN.

I think that would be... FOR %%i IN (A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z) DO RD /S /Q %%i\recycler I basically just pulled that one from my RunOnceEx files and edited it to your needs... Hope this helps!

Pretty much what he said. OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer In terms of software, it usually means that the software comes with something else. For Windows, this means that it comes with hardware (i.e. a computer). Pretty much all licences of XP that are purchased along with a computer are OEM. This also means that the copy of Windows that you just purchased is tied to that particular computer (can't transfer the licence to another computer). VLK - Volume Licence Key This is a key that is meant for large corporations. Basically, if you don't know what it is, you shouldn't be dealing with it.