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Returning to Windows

OmnutiaOmnutia
edited January 2010 in Technology
It was somewhat begrudgingly that I installed Windows 7 on my new hard drive but here we are.. and I have some questions, having gotten a bit behind on what's what in the windows world.
1) I'm already set to limited user, should I throw AVG on top of that as well?
2) What do people use for docks in these parts? Rocketdock compared to Gnome-Do.
3) Has Windows EXT3 partition reading gotten any better? I need to transfer some files across.
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Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    edited January 2010
    1) I'm already set to limited user, should I throw AVG on top of that as well?
    2) What do people use for docks in these parts? Rocketdock compared to Gnome-Do.
    3) Has Windows EXT3 partition reading gotten any better? I need to transfer some files across.
    1) You don't need an anti-virus if you aren't stupid. I don't use any anti-virus whatsoever. As long as you don't click on anything shady, use a non-IE browser, and are behind a NAT, and always install all the updates, you are safe. If you are smart on the web, you can avoid all viruses and such without any anti-virus software which does nothing but slow down your computer. If you must, you can use Microsoft's Windows Defender and/or Microsoft Security Essentials. They are both free, and hurt your performance less than other solutions.

    2) What do you need a dock for? In Windows 7, I don't even use Launchy anymore. I just press the window key, then I type in what I want to launch. WinKey, f, i, r, e, enter. If you need to use the mouse, the windows taskbar is perfectly fine "dock".

    3) AFAIK Windows is incapable of reading any file systems other than FAT13/32, NTFS, and ISO9660. If you want to copy files from an ext3 partition, you must mount it with some other means like putting it in another computer and mounting it over the network. If you use a Linux LiveCD you can mount NTFS and transfer files that way.

    4) superuser.com
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited January 2010
    What witchcraft is this?! They made the Windows key do something useful?!!

    3) I've used a program that will mount EXT3 to Windows but not very elegantly.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • AprecheApreche
    What witchcraft is this?! They made the Windows key do something useful?!!
    Uh, it does the same thing it's always done. It opens the start menu.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited January 2010
    What witchcraft is this?! They made the Windows key do something useful?!!
    Uh, it does the same thing it's always done. It opens the start menu.
    But before that was something who's purpose was to alt-tab you out of games when you meant to hit alt or control.

    4)I have a blank 1TB drive so I want to get on top of defraging as early as possible. What do people here use? I used to use JKDefrag because it ran from just an exe file.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    But before that was something who's purpose was to alt-tab you out of games when you meant to hit alt or control.
    Microsoft knows how to keep its long-term customers happy: the Windows key also retains this functionality!
  • ChurbaChurba
    Microsoft knows how to keep its long-term customers happy: the Windows key also retains this functionality!
    However, it can be turned off both in windows, or even easier, with a handy butterknife.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    4)I have a blank 1TB drive so I want to get on top of defraging as early as possible. What do people here use? I used to use JKDefrag because it ran from just an exe file.
    Windows defragger is no longer absolute crap. No extra programs are needed. It even defrags itself on a weekly schedule by default.
  • ......
    edited January 2010
    Google answers all your questions.
    2) What do people use for docks in these parts? Rocketdock compared to Gnome-Do.
    The taskbar in Win7 pretty much functions like this by default.
    3) Has Windows EXT3 partition reading gotten any better? I need to transfer some files across.
    Windows has never been able to read EXT3 partitions, and likely never will.
    4)I have a blank 1TB drive so I want to get on top of defraging as early as possible. What do people here use? I used to use JKDefrag because it ran from just an exe file.
    Windows has had build in defragging since ages, and it was already good from XP onwards (you just had to add SysInternals' pagedefragger). They even added the default background defragmenting in Win7 because people are too stupid to frequently defragment their partitions themselves.
    Post edited by ... on
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited January 2010
    Yes it can Nineless. Do you want something?
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • ChurbaChurba
    Googleanswers all your questions.
    image
  • AndrewAndrew
    Upon actually googling whether a lightsaber could cut through superman, I found this response on a yahoo answers page.
    Short answer: No.

    PLASMA
    A Jedi lightsaber is plasma contained in a magnetic field. Plasma is basically the form of matter which stars are made of. Pre-Crisis Superman has flown through the heart of a star without being harmed. Therefore, he is immune to plasma.

    Post-Crisis Superman was not as invulnerable, e.g. a nuclear explosion would weaken him. Assuming a lightsaber contains power similar to a nuclear explosion, it could similarly disrupt his invulnerability during impact. See FORCE OF IMPACT below.

    RED LIGHTSABERS
    Superman receives his power from the radiation of our yellow sun, and is weakened when exposed to radiation from a red sun. It is possible that a sith lightsaber, being red, might have similar properties.

    Even so, Superboy Prime was defeated after being plunged through Krypton's red sun - which weakened him, but did not destroy him. Therefore, a red lightsaber which hypothetically had the same properties as a red star should have a similar effect, i.e. it would injure him, but not "cut" him, much less cut through him.

    FORCE OF IMPACT
    If Superman were rendered vulnerable by a lightsaber, it would likely create a momentary weakness in that spot, allowing the physical impact to cause damage. However, lightsaber blades, being made of plasma, presumably have a very small mass. Therefore, the force of the impact would be negligible.

    In short, hitting Superman with a red lightsaber is like hitting a normal human with a wet noodle.
    Source(s):
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_and_abilities_of_Superman
  • ......
    Upon actually googling whether a lightsaber could cut through superman, I found this response on a yahoo answers page.
    THANK YOU GOOGLE! THANK YOU NERDS!
    Do you want something?
    Yeah, fix your name. It doesn't line up.
  • JasonJason
    Microsoft knows how to keep its long-term customers happy: the Windows key also retains this functionality!
    However, it can be turned off both in windows, or even easier, with a handy butterknife.
    Or by not hitting it until you need it.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Or by not hitting it until you need it.
    Seriously. People still hit the windows button by accident?
  • ChurbaChurba
    Currently on skype with fred, using the new windows seven. He is confused by the strange noises. I'm not even kidding.
  • RochelleRochelle
    Currently on skype with fred, using the new windows seven. He is confused by the strange noises. I'm not even kidding.
    That's pretty amusing.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited January 2010
    Turns out Windows 7 has a really bizarre login noise for pidgin and doesn't give you any kind of visual cue.

    Also: No virtual desktops makes me feel like some kind of digital caveman.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    edited January 2010
    Omnu -- have you been using your tablet? Did you notice any weird "tablet PC" features that you couldn't turn off? I used Win7 for like 3 days and then went back to XP, because it has all these features that are probably good if you have a real tablet PC, but are super annoying with a Wacom, and according to my investigation, they can't be turned off.
    Also: No virtual desktops makes me feel like some kind of digital caveman.
    I never actually got the hang of using virtual desktops, of understood why I'd want to. Anyway, there are a bunch of 3rd party programs that can give you virtual desktops.
    Post edited by Funfetus on
  • AprecheApreche
    I never actually got the hang of using virtual desktops, of understood why I'd want to. Anyway, there are a bunch of 3rd party programs that can give you virtual desktops.
    Virtual desktops are amazing because you can basically separate based on tasks.

    Let's say you are doing three things at once. You are photoshopping some arts, you are writing some blog posts, and you are reading some articles. If you don't have virtual desktops, you're going to have a cluttered taskbar/dock. You'll have to keep switching different combinations of programs in and out.

    If you have virtual desktops, you can keep everything related to a single task on a single desktop. Then you just switch to the desktop of the task you want to work on. It's pretty amazing. *nix systems have had this feature for a very very very long time. OSX just added it very recently. Windows never had it. The OSX implementation is kind of bad. The 3rd party Windows implementations are even worse.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Virtual desktops are amazing because you can basically separate based on tasks.

    Let's say you are doing three things at once. You are photoshopping some arts, you are writing some blog posts, and you are reading some articles. If you don't have virtual desktops, you're going to have a cluttered taskbar/dock. You'll have to keep switching different combinations of programs in and out.
    Because minimizing and maximizing is soooooo hard. Sounds like a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good solution to a non-existant problem.
  • AprecheApreche
    Because minimizing and maximizing is soooooo hard. Sounds like a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good solution to a non-existant problem.
    It's like minimizing and maximizing different combinations of things simultaneously.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    He is confused by the strange noises. I'm not even kidding
    Vista makes this waterdrop "bloo-bloop" noise on my laptop from time to time. It interrupts my music, and is irritating as hell.
  • ......
    I never actually got the hang of using virtual desktops, of understood why I'd want to.
    Sounds like a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good solution to a non-existant problem.
    I agree with this. I've never enjoyed using Virtual desktops, it's a hassle and provides no benefits. As some of you might remember from desktop screenshot threads, I don't use the taskbar in Linux. We already have Alt+Tab. No need to add another shortcut to change to another desktop AND THEN Alt+Tab to the correct window.

    Under Windows 7 the taskbar doesn't get cluttered up unless you set it to expand all + window title. Which is a rather archaic thing that doesn't offer any improvements without other problems. Virtual Desktops are a useless feature. Fluff. It's no superior way of managing windows.

    And like your CPU, you can only work on one program at a time anyways.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    Omnu -- have you been using your tablet? Did you notice any weird "tablet PC" features that you couldn't turn off? I used Win7 for like 3 days and then went back to XP, because it has all these features that are probably good if you have a real tablet PC, but are super annoying with a Wacom, and according to my investigation, they can't be turned off.
    Ah, I turned that off strait away. It's under "Programs & Features" --> "Turn on and off Windows features.".

    The point of virtual desktops is much like having groups of Windows you can switch between in one go. I've got three windows open just transferring files from the old computer to this one, if Windows had proper virtual desktops I could put them all on one desktop and not have to alt + tab them individually. It's an efficiency thing.
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    Yeah, it does make sense to be able to group windows, though I've rarely felt the need for it.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    Ah, I turned that off strait away. It's under "Programs & Features" --> "Turn on and off Windows features.".
    Hmmmmmm...I may try that again down the road, then. I guess I"ll have to switch to 7 eventually anyway. It's funny, though, because I remember looking through everything and being able to turn off a few things, but not the things that were really bugging me -- things like not being able to right-click+drag with the pen. The research I did online seemed to indicate that others were having the same problem.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited January 2010
    The specific item you're looking for is "Tablet PC Components".. I think.

    Sweet! Moved across all the files from my other hard drives into one place. Taking up 500giB before I start deleting stuff.

    I'm eyeing the Antec P180 case to replace my rickety old chassis. Mostly for it's sound reducing features and smaller size (Already having an MATX motherboard.).
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    edited January 2010
    The Mini P180?
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    The Mini P180?
    Oh yeah, I forget they make a full sized version.
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    edited January 2010
    The Mini P180?
    Oh yeah, I forget they make a full sized version.
    It's not that quiet because of the 200mm fan, unfortunately. The P182 and P183 are significantly quieter, I believe, as is the SOLO.

    Mind you, I'm only getting this info from SPCR:
    Mini P180 review conclusions

    The SOLO is only a little bit bigger than the mini P180, in fact.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
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