Look, this isn't for everyone. Seriously. I spent five whole days losing my mind just trying to get things running on my AMD Phenom X3 setup. The biggest headache was definitely the ATI 4650 card—it’s not officially supported, so I had to go full nerd mode. I was manually hacking IDs into two different driver files, hunting down the right boot file, and even relying on a DVI-to-VGA adapter just to see anything on the screen. And honestly? Even now, if I slip up during an update—like jumping to something like Snow Leopard 10.6.8—the whole thing could just go south real fast, haha.
If you’re messing around with an osx86 (hackintosh) setup, your best bet is grabbing either the 10.6.6i or the 10.6.2 distribution. If you happen to be running an AMD processor, you'll want to go with a legacy kernel once you've finished partitioning the drive—but honestly, you're gonna have to hunt down specific patches online because everything depends on your exact hardware combo. It's a bit of a rabbit hole. Also, before you even touch the Windows side of things, make sure you set up a primary partition; later, you'll use Disk Utility within the OS X installer to wipe it and reformat it to Mac OS X's native format. Now, if you've got an Intel chip, things might be a little smoother. You can probably just grab the retail 10.6.3 version and stick with the standard vanilla kernel. But I'm telling you again, there's no magic button here. If you want this to actually work on a standard PC, you really need to spend some time scouring the web to cross-reference your components against an HCL list. http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Been grinding away at push-ups and planks for about two months now. Before this? Absolutely nothing. Just life getting in the way, laziness, you know how it is... I’m actually thinking about hitting the local Gold's Gym again soon after a two-year hiatus. Though, looking back, I've had these little bursts of motivation before where I'd go for a few months and then just quit entirely, so if I actually stick to it this time, it'll be a miracle. This was shot on an old 0.3 megapixel camera, so the quality is pretty trash. If I finally get my act together and join a gym, I'll post some updated shots once I've put in some real time. Honestly, these pecs showed up way faster than I expected, haha.
So, less than two months of light warm-ups and focusing on chest work, and here's the result:
Windows 7 RTM is the build slated to drop as the official release on October 22. Anyway, if you head over to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows, you can check out the latest stable Desktop and Server versions of Windows.
Windows 7 has been out since July and honestly, it’s running like a dream. I actually went through with an upgrade instead of doing a clean install, and man, am I glad I did.
Personally, I’m seeing my Windows 7 x64 pull about 1GB of RAM just sitting there idling. Back when I was running Vista x64, it was eating up closer to 1.5 GB, so it looks like they actually did some decent optimization this time around. Not that it really matters for me since I’ve got 4GB of RAM under the hood, so I don't feel the squeeze. But hey, why'd you make the jump to a 64-bit system? Honestly, you might be better off sticking with x86. I only bit the bullet on the 64-bit version because I was hitting that 3.2 GB ceiling, and I needed the headroom. Guessing the 32-bit version probably uses a bit less memory...
Just wanted to drop a quick brag about how things have been going lately. After the upgrade, Windows 7 is running smoother than silk. The only thing I had to do was wipe my old ATI drivers before I even started the process. To my surprise—and honestly, I didn't see this coming—even though I’m running an x64 system, the driver for my HP LaserJet 1010 just worked perfectly right out of the box. It’s printing like a charm, which is wild because I’ve heard plenty of people complaining that they had to hunt down and reinstall those specific drivers just to get anything to come out of the machine. On the first try, my logoff function was totally busted; the whole system would just freeze up on me, forcing a hard reset. And don't even get me started on sleep mode—my USB mouse was basically a paperweight after the computer woke up. But now? Both functions are working exactly as they should. The absolute best part, though, is that I managed to keep all my accounts and settings intact, which definitely wouldn't have happened if I'd gone with a fresh, clean installation.
So, I finally made the jump over to Windows 7 x64. The download was a total drag, though—took way longer than I actually wanted it to. I finally got it rolling around 7:30 PM. After that, I was stuck sitting there for nearly an hour and a half just waiting for the system upgrade to finish up. Spent the rest of my time scanning the registry, just being extra cautious since this isn't exactly a clean, fresh installation. I ended up tossing a few programs that weren't playing nice with the new setup, and right now I'm grabbing Windows XP mode for Virtual PC to see how that handles itself. The system seems to be holding up pretty well so far. We'll see how it behaves down the road, but if things start acting glitchy, I'll just bite the bullet and go for a clean install. Fingers crossed I don't have to.
Man, this download is crawling... I'm sitting here at 41%, and even with my shaky 10 Mbps connection, it’s taking forever. But hey, since I'm running a legit OS, I can afford to be patient. I was reading some forums online saying an upgrade can take anywhere from three hours to way longer depending on how beefy your rig is and just how much data we're talking about. I mean, I remember back in the day when an installation would wrap up in under thirty minutes tops. Oh, and thanks for the screen capture, by the way! 🙂 Quick question though—do I need to go ahead and wipe my ATI graphics drivers or my printer drivers first, or does the setup handle all that automatically? Basically, once the ISO finishes downloading, is it enough to just fire up the upgrade?
So, I somehow stumbled onto the MSDN site for my fax machine today. Out of nowhere, Microsoft dropped the Windows 7 Professional x64 and x86 versions there. I’m currently in the middle of downloading the 64-bit version for the week, so I was wondering how you guys handled the installation. Did you go with a totally clean install or just run an upgrade? Honestly, an upgrade sounds way better to me since I'm running Vista business SP2 x64 right now, and I really don't have the patience to set up my entire system from scratch again.
I mean, seriously. I clicked on this thread just because the title caught my eye. Then I get in here and realize every single post is from 2002 and suddenly 😲
Trying to get a quote via fax? Forget about it—it’s just not happening. That's why I stick strictly to legitimate software. I'll probably give Windows 7 RTM a spin once it drops, assuming our IT department can snag it through MSDN.
First time was back when I was 18, but I could never really stay consistent. By "consistent," I mean I’ll hit the gym hard for three months, then disappear for half a year or more... been doing that dance for about three years now. I mostly view the gym as just a hobby, you know? Just trying to bulk up without making it my entire personality. There are definitely those types of guys there who make you want to turn around and walk right out the door. But honestly, who cares? Like they say, nobody's actually going to eat you. You’ll run into some guys acting like they’re geniuses—even though they clearly aren't—trying to drop "expert advice" on you, so just be ready for a certain number of unsolicited "personal trainer" pitches. Then there are the chill, experienced regulars who see you messing up a rep and’ll give you a genuine tip if they see you struggling. As for how people look... man, I've seen it all. I once saw this guy who had to be 450 pounds, shaped like a literal beach ball, showing up to lift and ride a stationary bike. So, trust me, you’re never going to be the biggest outlier in the room. Just use your head, stay consistent (unlike me), and the results will follow. Ask one of the trainers to whip up a mass-building program for you, show you the fundamentals, and then just work, work, work....
P.S. I might actually jump back in once finals week is over, but I'm probably just setting myself up for another cycle of hype followed by total disappointment in my own strength and stamina. Especially once I try hitting chest again.
If you're messing around with Windows Vista or probably even Windows 7, my advice is to stick with the x64 version only if you’ve actually got enough RAM under the hood—I'm talking 4GB or more.
Look, I'm not saying Windows Vista is rock solid or anything. Obviously, things are going to smooth out once they drop the next service pack. Usually, an SP2 is this massive overhaul, while an SP1 is more like just patching up all the holes they found right after launch. We saw the exact same thing happen back with Windows XP—that thing was practically a different OS entirely once Service Pack 2 finally hit. It changed everything.
I mean, generally speaking, you probably shouldn't, but honestly? It all comes down to the people actually using the machines. Once they rolled out SP1, Vista finally stopped acting up and stabilized. Plus, there isn't really anything groundbreaking about Windows 7 that makes it worth the hassle. If someone’s Vista setup is running smooth and doing its job, there's zero reason to go chasing after an upgrade.
