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Just ranting about my latest Win 7 install
smalltownguy:
--- Quote from: RayB on August 26, 2010, 11:59:58 am ---Defective drive -- Blame Windows 7. Yeah makes sense.
::)
--- End quote ---
RayB, I'm not blaming Win7 for the disk behavior. I knew it was flaky before I started. In fact, I really didn't WANT to attempt to put Win7 on a Celeron 1.3 with 512, but the buyer of this laptop requested it. I cautioned him about the risks of running an OS where the process overhead comprises >60% of the available ram, but he didn't care, he was hell bent on getting Win7.
I ended up having to stop for the night last night and try again this morning. I wiped the drive with the XP boot CD again, and did a minimal install of WinXP (after 2 failed attempts). Then I popped the Win7 install disc in, and after 1 failed attempt and 3 runs of CHKDSK later, I was able to successfully get Win7 to load.
Testing this morning revealed that I can run explorer, IE8 with 2-3 tabs open to youtube, ebay, and facebook, along with 1 -2 Office 2003 programs before the RAM really begins to peg out at 80% or so. Not bad, all things considered. The laptop plays non-HD youtube videos with no problems, DVD's play just fine, and although jittery, Media Center can be used.
I turned the laptop over the the buyer and STRONGLY recommended that he pick up a pair of 512kb SODIMMS to beef the machine up to 1GB. Heck, if you're gonna shell out $175 for a refurb laptop, the least you can do it put out $25 more for enough ram to get it running properly. He said, "I'll think about it." (read: no way)
Mark my words: in 2 weeks he'll be asking me for a RAM upgrade. Then the price goes to $50 >:D
AtomSmasher:
--- Quote from: smalltownguy on August 26, 2010, 12:37:09 pm ---Mark my words: in 2 weeks he'll be asking me for a RAM upgrade. Then the price goes to $50 >:D
--- End quote ---
Sounds more likely that in 2 weeks he'll be asking why his harddrive failed and he lost all his data.
smalltownguy:
Yes, well there is that too. :)
Acutally, that drive has been in use off and on for the past 8 months as a maintenance laptop. I've always known that the drive has bad sectors, but I've never had any other issues with it except when I go to re-format and install windows.
He'll be setting up a Carbonite subscription, so if the HDD crashes, he's covered.
Frigo:
--- Quote from: smalltownguy on August 26, 2010, 04:22:10 pm ---
He'll be setting up a Carbonite subscription, so if the HDD crashes, he's covered.
--- End quote ---
Provided he makes it that far... ;)
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