Author Topic: Microsoft thread  (Read 61168 times)

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Offline JMW IV

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #100: October 31, 2010, 10:39:47 PM »
hey dudes.

I am stuck with a windows mobile phone. no, not windows phone 7, windows mobile. 6.1. HTC Touch Diamond. its on my family's massive plan (like 7 or 8 phones) so i am not in a rush to dump it, since i am not paying for it anyway.

terrible story that involves my wife's blackberry, a ton of water, and my(former) blackberry.

anyhow, i have never used WinMo before, ever, but i am getting the hang of it.

some questions:

the windows live application let me sign up using my gmail account. does that mean my gmail account is is also my windows live messenger username?

i am using windows mobile 6.1. i know i can't upgrade to windows phone 7. but is it at all possible to upgrade this HTC Touch Diamond to Windows mobile 6.5? if so, could one of you that knows how to flash it, upgrade it for me, so that I don't do something stupid and brick my phone?

is there a suitable email client for windows mobile besides outlook?

Offline The Chief

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #101: October 31, 2010, 10:47:57 PM »
I've never owned or really even used a WinMo device - perhaps surprisingly to some - but as far as the question about Windows Live, yes your gmail account will be your user name I believe.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #102: November 01, 2010, 12:31:33 AM »
I'd recommend browsing around http://www.xda-developers.com/

They have a forum and there is a subsection for the Diamond as well, just be sure to go down to the older devices (pre 2009) and choose the diamond, not the diamond 2.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #103: November 07, 2010, 11:21:58 PM »
6 reboots, 17 updates remaining :bang:

Offline Potomac Cannons

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #104: November 07, 2010, 11:24:08 PM »
2 hours into upgrading to Office 2010...then Windows 7 next week.  I have a feeling this will annoy me into finally setting aside the cash for a Mac.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #105: November 07, 2010, 11:28:04 PM »
Windows 7 is actually pretty good.  And that's from a guy that owned only macs for close to 6 years.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #106: November 08, 2010, 09:11:07 AM »
6 reboots, 17 updates remaining :bang:

XP I take it?

Offline The Chief

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #107: November 08, 2010, 09:12:16 AM »
2 hours into upgrading to Office 2010...then Windows 7 next week.  I have a feeling this will annoy me into finally setting aside the cash for a Mac.

It took 2 hours to upgrade, or you've been using it for 2 hours?  It's a big change from '03 and earlier but honestly once you've used it for a while you just realize how much better it is.  Same thing goes for the new taskbar in Win7.  Give it a chance.

Offline Minty Fresh

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #108: November 08, 2010, 09:22:14 AM »
I am an idiot when it comes to technology (o.k., actually I'm an idiot when it comes to a lot of things, but this is a tech question).

I have an old gateway laptop computer that I want to give to my seven year old son.  He has recently discovered the internet and likes to visit some kids' gaming sites like Disney.com and Lego.com.  It's a really old laptop (I believe we purchased it in 2001 when we started graduate school) and runs currently on Windows XP.  This is also a laptop that was primarily used by my wife whose favorite hobby is downloading viruses and tracking software/adware.  Anyway, we decomissioned the laptop and installed some kids games on there for educational purposes (I Spy, Puzzles, Brainiac, etc.) just so we could have something for the kids to play with and learn at the same time.

Well, as I said, my son recently discovered the internet while at school and has been using my desktop to play his online stuff but essentially what this boils down to that I do not want him playing around on my PC (my wife killed my last desktop PC so I am very protective of it). 

We'd like to get this old laptop up and running for my son but we don't want to break the bank over it.  As I said, it runs on Windows XP and we have the fomatting CD for it.

My questions are:

1.  Is it reasonable to think we can get this laptop up and running just to allow him limited access to the internet?

2.  Will I have to purchase any updated hardware/software?

3.  How do I figure out if the sites he visits are compatible with this older software?

I know this is a tl;dr but again, I'm a technological idot so I really don't know much about what I'm talking about (as usual).  I can try to answer any questions to the best of my ability if it leads to help figuring this out....

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #109: November 08, 2010, 09:26:50 AM »
XP I take it?

Something is wrong with the paging file, it's the same 17 damn updates that aren't installing properly.  And by something I think it's that the hard drive is full :-[



Minty, do you know how to burn a cd image to a CD? Vista and 7 can handle them without software, I believe. Anyway, if so, go to www.ubuntu.com and just download the netbook edition. You can boot off the CD and your kid can go to lego.com or whatever, and you won't ever actually use the hard drive, so previous adware and such won't run and he won't be able to do anything permanent to the machine.

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #110: November 08, 2010, 09:33:12 AM »

My questions are:

1.  Is it reasonable to think we can get this laptop up and running just to allow him limited access to the internet?

2.  Will I have to purchase any updated hardware/software?

3.  How do I figure out if the sites he visits are compatible with this older software?

I know this is a tl;dr but again, I'm a technological idot so I really don't know much about what I'm talking about (as usual).  I can try to answer any questions to the best of my ability if it leads to help figuring this out....



The easiest way to find out is to do a fresh install of windows, get rid of any software you won't be using, download firefox and net nanny or some equivalent and see if the sites work. My guess is you might be light on RAM, but ram for older machines can get expensive so I'd just give it a shot with what you have

Offline The Chief

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #111: November 08, 2010, 10:47:46 AM »
Anyway, if so, go to www.ubuntu.com and just download the netbook edition. You can boot off the CD and your kid can go to lego.com or whatever, and you won't ever actually use the hard drive, so previous adware and such won't run and he won't be able to do anything permanent to the machine.

Will the netbook edition run on a regular laptop?  They used to do a hardware check for Atom CPUs but if they've removed that restriction then this is a great idea.

Sounds like a great idea for his wife, too :lol:

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #112: November 08, 2010, 11:14:24 AM »
Will the netbook edition run on a regular laptop?  They used to do a hardware check for Atom CPUs but if they've removed that restriction then this is a great idea.

Sounds like a great idea for his wife, too :lol:

I don't know, to be honest, but the regular edition is ok too or you can get a very light install from another flavor of linux. I know some Knoppix fanatics.

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #113: November 08, 2010, 11:38:56 AM »
I am an idiot when it comes to technology (o.k., actually I'm an idiot when it comes to a lot of things, but this is a tech question).
I don't know, to be honest, but the regular edition is ok too or you can get a very light install from another flavor of linux. I know some Knoppix fanatics.

there seems to be a disconnect somewhere

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #114: November 08, 2010, 11:41:12 AM »
there seems to be a disconnect somewhere


Maybe 5 years ago. These Linux on disk distributions are very user friendly. Just follow the menus and then click on Firefox.

Offline Minty Fresh

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #115: November 08, 2010, 11:46:23 AM »
I don't know, to be honest, but the regular edition is ok too or you can get a very light install from another flavor of linux. I know some Knoppix fanatics.

there seems to be a disconnect somewhere

Yeah, PA really could've mashed his forehead against his keyboard and I would've gleaned as much information from that as I did from his post.  :lol:

When I say idiot I mean that I have only ever heard of Linux and have never tried it out for myself; and Knoppix?  WTF is THAT?!?

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #116: November 08, 2010, 11:49:18 AM »
Yeah, PA really could've mashed his forehead against his keyboard and I would've gleaned as much information from that as I did from his post.  :lol:

When I say idiot I mean that I have only ever heard of Linux and have never tried it out for myself; and Knoppix?  WTF is THAT?!?

http://www.knoppix.com/

It's a lot less taxing on your system, but you are NOT guaranteed to have things like Adobe Flash which you'll need to play with legos online. That post was targeted more at Chief.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #117: November 08, 2010, 11:50:14 AM »
Download ImgBurn
Download Ubuntu
Burn Ubuntu to a disc using ImgBurn
Boot from said disc

Now I nominate PA to flesh out that list and make you a step by step guide with accompanying youtube video ;)

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #118: November 08, 2010, 11:51:23 AM »
Download ImgBurn
Download Ubuntu
Burn Ubuntu to a disc using ImgBurn
Boot from said disc

Now I nominate PA to flesh out that list and make you a youtube video ;)

haha I slept for 3 days with a sinus infection and now I have a crap ton of work to do. That's why I was on the board in the first place. Plus I ran a bunch of code last night without dividing two numbers properly and I have to do it all over.

In short, no :lmao:

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #119: November 08, 2010, 12:07:38 PM »
Yeah, PA really could've mashed his forehead against his keyboard and I would've gleaned as much information from that as I did from his post.  :lol:

When I say idiot I mean that I have only ever heard of Linux and have never tried it out for myself; and Knoppix?  WTF is THAT?!?

I would seriously just try wiping the laptop you have now and reinstalling windows and see if the sites work. If not, then try other stuff

Offline The Chief

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #120: November 08, 2010, 12:14:32 PM »
You make it sound like that's so much easier, when for hardware that age...  it will probably be harder, in all honesty.

By all means, give it a shot.  If you can get what you need that way, it should be fine.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #121: November 08, 2010, 12:15:43 PM »
You make it sound like that's so much easier, when for hardware that age...  it will probably be harder, in all honesty.

By all means, give it a shot.  If you can get what you need that way, it should be fine.

Yeah, my way involves burning a cd and booting. If it doesn't work, no harm done.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #122: November 08, 2010, 12:18:06 PM »
In fairness he's already got the XP disc, so no harm in trying that either, but I'll be really surprised if it's not missing a driver or two when the install finishes.

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #123: November 08, 2010, 12:22:09 PM »
You make it sound like that's so much easier, when for hardware that age...  it will probably be harder, in all honesty.

By all means, give it a shot.  If you can get what you need that way, it should be fine.

really? with the original install discs it shouldn't be too bad- it's a laptop, so it's doubtful any hardware was added. the worst part will probably be installing/downloading the windows service packs

Offline The Chief

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Re: Microsoft thread
« Reply #124: November 08, 2010, 12:24:45 PM »
He said the laptop is from 2001, same year that XP came out, so I'm just guessing that video and possibly network drivers aren't going to be on the install disc.  They might be, just depends on what hardware the thing's got in it.  It's certainly worth a shot.