The Anything Related To Windows Thread

[Chairman Meow]

Blue screens for me too, more than any other version Windows I've ever used (that would be from 3.1 - 7).  Back to XP for me, that extra 3gigs of RAM isn't worth it if my computer crashes almost hourly.

[B coma]

if it's any consolation, this thread has convinced me to keep my copy of Windows 7 the hell away from my Macbook.

[FortNinety]

Come to think of it, I honestly don't know why I bothered with it in the first place. Other than others saying that it was silly for me to nab XP with 7 just around the corner, plus it was free.

Other than the nifty desktops, I honestly can't think of any advantages the platform provides, at least for the time being. Everything that I'm interested in playing, which is mostly indie titles, were all done in XP and me thinks that's going to be the ideal platform for a while since they're mostly so low profile.

So is this all I really need?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116515&cm_re=xp-_-32-116-515-_-Product

The sooner I hear confirmation, the sooner I can buy it and get Steam on this sucker. Kinda miffed that I'll be missing out the killer holiday weekend deals... then again, can't I just buy stuff now and actually install them at a later date? I'm assuming that I don't have to re-pay for the two games I already purchased a while back, correct?

[dmauro]

Steam is all about your account. Install on however many computers you want (not always true, some games have additional DRM, but mostly it's true), but you can only ever have one computer logged into your Steam account at a time. So you can buy the games now, and install them later. I bought UT3 months before I actually installed and played it just because it was on sale.

[FortNinety]

Cool. That's what I figured, but better best to ask beforehand.

BTW, think this is a safe purchase?

http://cgi.ebay.com/MS-WINDOW-XP-PROFESSIONAL-SP3-OEM-W-COA_W0QQitemZ110462028020QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19b80cc8f4#ht_1418wt_1167

[Chairman Meow]

Cool. That's what I figured, but better best to ask beforehand.

BTW, think this is a safe purchase?

http://cgi.ebay.com/MS-WINDOW-XP-PROFESSIONAL-SP3-OEM-W-COA_W0QQitemZ110462028020QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19b80cc8f4#ht_1418wt_1167

Hey Fort, check your PMs.

[FortNinety]

Well, finally got XP running on this Mac, and thus far, all is well. Other than an unexpected issue early on in the installation process that I was lucky enough to not encounter the last time I tried out XP (and which was almost the final straw, enough for me to swear off Windows on this Mac forever), it's been smooth sailing. Got bluetooth up and running, plus there's zero video issues!

Granted, XP is not nearly as sexy as 7, but since OS X trumps them both in that area, I just need something that will work. And XP just feels nice and tight (even more so than Snow Leopard in certain regards). At least I was able to swipe some 7 desktops! Plus, I know I can reconfigure the theme to my liking. Trying to get my hands on this...



... Oh, and wouldn't you know, I can't seem to access Steam, but me thinks that's just because everyone is downloading some wacky Black Friday deal. lol

[dmauro]

Check that Windows Firewall isn't blocking it for some reason because you shouldn't have a problem getting connected to Steam. Windows Firewall is in the control panel somewhere (one of the things about 7 is that made that stuff much easier to find and deal with, that is turn off).

Accept my friend invite and I'll send you your copy of L4D2.

[FortNinety]

I guess I should maybe start a Windows XP 101 thread...

Followed your suggestion and Steam began downloading almost immediately. But now that I have it, can I turn the Firewall back on or do I need to keep it off whenever I want to play? I'm assuming that I should have it on whenever possible...

Also, what's the deal with anti-virus software? Sorry, but because I'm a Mac guy, I've never had to bother with it... I absolutely need it, don't I? I'm pretty safe with my web surfing; I never download or click anything that I don't know what it is. But still, guess I should get something, just in case. What's my best options? Anything good that's cheap?

[dmauro]

I don't use any anti-virus. I just check for spyware occassionally and then when feeling like it, do a quick online check for viruses (there are websites for that). I don't have the firewall on, I just let my router do the blocking. Our router is locked up though so no one else can get on it.

I would just leave the firewall off myself, but if you want to turn it back on, try running Steam again with the firewall on and the firewall should ask you if you want to block it or not. Or you can go in and manually add Steam to the allowed list somehow I'm sure. I'm not very familiar with it because I just don't use it.

[dhex]

i use avast for antivirus. it's free for home use, updates regularly, has a relatively small footprint.

add steam to your firewall exceptions (second tab under "security settings for firewall" if you're using vanilla xp install) and whatever programs you're running on steam and it won't be an issue.

[FortNinety]

Sweet. I'm re-encoding some avi's/burning a DVD in OS X in a moment, but the chance I get, I'll do the necessary adjustments to the firewall. As for anti-virus, I'm assuming this will work just fine?

http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

Okay, next question: I have an old Radio Shack USB adapter to use a PS2 Dual Shock for, you know, play games. But it doesn't seem to really interface with the stuff I've tried thus far, so is there some kind of program to help this out, or do I need to nab the device's specific driver?

EDIT: Just discovered Joy2Key! Though I need something to decompress rar files. Hmmm....

Also, my only major/minor interface gripe is how stuff I continually tell the operating system to always hide in the task bar keeps popping up. Is that just one of those things that XP does that I should just accept? Just wondering.

[dmauro]

What sort of stuff are you referring to?

[isfet]

to decompress rar files, i generally use winrar.  it's kind of old now i guess, but it seems to cover absolutely every kind of compression around, so it works out.  plus, i think the guy who made it is dead now or something, so...his LEGEND LIVES ON THROUGH YOUR DOWNLOAD.

[dhex]

Also, my only major/minor interface gripe is how stuff I continually tell the operating system to always hide in the task bar keeps popping up. Is that just one of those things that XP does that I should just accept? Just wondering.

edit cause i misread: depends on what's popping up. some stuff (Adobe suite, java, etc) bring their icons back to the taskbar whenever they're updating, which is usually always.