Replies

Thanks Ted and Nate. It looks like the major concern will be the location of the boot record (MBR). I give it a try based upon your thoughts and using steps as if both partitions are on the same drive. I did note that Partition Wizard can be used to change a drive to primary and vice versa, but I don’t see that as addressing the boot record issue. As long as I have the drive backed up, I should be safe from any screw-ups.

Using an ad hoc connection is it possible to link an XP computer to a wireless printer? I ask because I don’t have a router and would linke to use the printer wirelessly with my laptop. Can this connection be a permanaent one?

After my earlier post, I got to thinking about the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit OS’s. Are the tools mentioned in Fred’s article and other posts equally effective in both OS’s? As most, if not all, of the utilities mentioned are 32-bit only, can they completely address a 64-bit registry or only the x86 portion?

This article and the above comments were extremely timley for me as I just purchased a new laptop and have been googling on the topic of registry cleaners to prevent any resulting registry catastrophes. As usual in these types of situations, there are more than one point of view. I’ve taken the more conservative approach with the new machine, using CCCleaner and Glary Utilities (not always using the Registry Cleaner option), even though some users have mentioned issues with both. I have also used ASC free, Slimcleaner and Power Tools Lite 2011 on other machines, but as someone pointed out, registry cleaning can be over done. While it was not pointed out whether the version of jv16 Power tools was the paid or free version (Power tools Lite 2011), I assume that it was the paid version. So if the paid version is safe, hopefully the free version, as it most likely has fewer features, is safer.

I also agree that a followup article on uninstallers would be very interesting.

Thanks everyone for the comments above. It looks like I’ll hold off on upgrading 11.04 for a while. The longer it’s out, more issues may arise.

I’m a bit late to this party but I can understand certain frustrations some people are having with linux. I do not consider my self an expert, especially in linux distros, but I have tried Ubuntu (since version 6.04), Mint (8 and 9), PC Linus 2010, and Puppy(4 and 5) and have had some issues, however all were resolved except for one. That one being getting my linksys wireless USB adapter to function on a deskktop. My other desktop machine with a Ralink wireless PCI adapter works just fine under linux. If your wireless doesn’t work, an ethernet connection may be your only resolution. As is not generally acceptable with a laptop, perhaps linux should not be used.

Thanks for the clarification Clint.

I appreciate it.

Thanks to all for the pointers.

I’m still not clear on whether it’s preferable to use the Gateway supplied XP CD (version prior to any service packs) that came with the machine or use the OEM XP SP2 CD. Are there any benefits to using the Gateway CD? Can I install from the OEM CD using the product Key from the gateway CD? I have reinstalled OS’s before, but did not have to decide between using an older version supplied by the machine maker or a newer OEM version. Thankfully, it appears that the only service pack I’ll need to install is SP# in either case.

Thanks again for any direction.

Woody,

Thanks for this article as it is very timely for me. I have been looking around for VPN software to put on my recently purchased netbook. In searching thru the various applications offered, I have concerns about the security of the provider and whether they are potential providers of my personal information to 3rd parties. Not all have easy to decipher privacy policies.

Since I am just starting out with this and have limited knowledge of setting up VPN, a free easy to use was also a major consideration. I did look at OpenVPN and ItsHidden, but I didn’t quite understand how the client needed to be set up. I also didn’t like the fact that a user had to sign in.

I finally installed SecurityKISS (it is based on OpenVPN), which offers both free and paid services and was simple to install. It also does not require any sign in. While the free version is limited to 300MB per day, it is more than provided by most free VPN providers.

Do any of you knowledgeable readers have any advvice for me regarding VPN software and providers?

Thanks to all for the info above

To oddjob,

In Firefox go to Tools/Add-ons/ Get Add-ons and type in “Force-TLS”

I had, until very recently, a Dell GX110 PIII 866 with 512MB Ram on which I ran Ubuntu (all versions from 8.04 through 10.04), Linux Mint 8 and 9, PC Linux 2010 and Puppy Linux 4.3-5.0, all without issues. As you can see I used the machine for trying out various flavors of Linux.

I had no significant video issues, even though the 810E chipset is not known to be very good. However, I didn’t use any of the applications you name. You may need to research the hardware requirements of the applications you want to use to see if your machine can support them.

Peter,

Thank you very much for the pointers above. I had attempted “option b” but was unsuccessful. I’ll give it another go. If I still have issues, there are the other two options you present. Thanks again.

FLJack

Gerald,

Thanks for the info in your reply of May 15. I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner, but I’ve been traveling.

While the method you suggest removes the kernels and modifies the boot screen, my desire is to leave the kernels and just edit the boot screen so they do not appear as options. In doing so, they do not clutter the boot screen, but are available should there be any issues with newer kernels. In Grub, this modification was very easy, but in Grub 2, it seems it is not. I had been looking through the Ubuntu and Grub forums prior to my original post, but had not come across a solution as yet. While this may seem like an irritant, this is actually one of the things I enjoy about Linux is the constant learning process. Also, as mentioned buy others, it repurposes old machines quite well.

Thanks again for your help.

FLJack

I had an issue with upgrading from 9.10 to 10.4 using the Update Manager. I installed 10.4 using a disk with the “alternate” image, rather than doing a clean install, so my documents and settings would be unchanged. While I’ve had no real issues with most operations, I now have problems with the system not shutting down on “reboot” or “shutdown” commands after periods of extended use. Also be aware that from 9.10 on, Grub2 is the default boot manager. While techies may favor this move, as an occasional user of Ubuntu, I don’t care for the new version. The previous version of Grub was much easier to configure/customize, especially the number of kernels that would display on the boot up screen, of which I now have several appearing.

I suspect a clean install would have prevented my shutdown problem from occurring. I’m also considering replacing Grub2 with the earlier version.