windows
windows xp with sp3… waff
Hmmm… I have just installed sp3 for windows xp, (in PL and EN version)… because of test purposes, I made it at vmware virtual machine (at clean install)
so the thoughts:
- no visual changes (maybe just in properiences in “my computer”
) - no performance improvements (hard to test in virtual machine environment, but in a few days I’ll test it at some laptop or PC and make a comment)
- instalation is rather simple, and with no complications only one reboot is needed (it is a 3 times better than vista SP1
) - I’m going to test NAP, because it is the most interesting thing which was implemented in SP3…
so… see you in the future
big icons on the desktop
After fresh install of vista i found a very big icons on the desktop… It is very annoying, so I found a way to change it:
1. Right-click on a unused area of the desktop
2. Pick View
3. Select Classic Icons
c-media ac97 audio device problem with windows xp sp2
My friend asked me to reinstall his windows xp, because it us unstable. I noticed that almost all capacitors on his motherbord are damaged (bulged). His CPU was Athlon XP. I had an old ECS K7S5A motherbord, so I suggested him to change the MB. As he agreed, I started to install the windows xp (license connected to his old MB, but who cares ). As the system with SP2 didn’t see the audio. There was an exclamation mark, and the information of code 10 (microsoft explanation):
“If the device has a FailReasonString value in its hardware key, that string appears as the error message. The driver or enumerator puts this registry string value there. If there is no FailReasonString in the hardware key, you receive the following error message:
This device cannot start. (Code 10)”
Ok, but why oryginal drivers from ECS site does not work. I googled a lot, many same questions, but no answers (just some tips, but always useless). I didn’t give up. After almost 6 hours of fight, i tried to install the realtek ac 97 drivers (instead of c-media). And this succeded :). If you have same problem… just download: genuine realtek ac 97 driver, and that’s all
Changing Office 2003 key, and so on…
Yesterday I did a corporate cd image, sth about easy install to all our client computers (same for everyone), I tried to guess, how to change an office 2003 license keys, as they are encoded in registry. The most difficult was office 2003. But I googled a great tool Win Key Finder (it has an option to change keys).
You can easly download an acctual version (1.73_RC2) from my mirror.
Risk of defragmentation
1st rule: Never defragment drive, when you have a small doubt that it can be corrupted!
2nd rule: Never defragment encrypted drives!
3rd rule: Do not stop defragmentation… disconnect the power from your PC… there is a big chance that you will never see your desktop again