Posts by Ryan Alvarez2

Peter Cruz7 said:I honestly wasn't expecting much, so I figured I’d just pop into the theater to unwind and chill out—but man, was I wrong! It had the exact opposite effect on me. I actually walked out of the cinema feeling super stressed and totally on edge. I ended up rushing straight home just so I could head over to IMDb and give it a well-deserved one-star rating.
Good for you guys if you actually managed to find some kind of life lesson in that movie...

I mean, it’s totally normal for a movie like this to hit different depending on whether you're a guy or a girl, right? I guess it just makes sense!

The movie doesn't really have a moral or anything, but I guess you’re kind of supposed to just get that from the start, right? 😁

I mean, I can totally see you acting just like Heigl did in that movie. 😁)

ps. Thanks for the reminder that he totally deserves a 10 on IMDb. 😉 Thanks! 😁

driftingmarlin70 said:Every single time I boot up my Computer, I get this pop-up saying my firewall is turned off.
I just turn it back on and everything works fine... but why do I have to manually enable it every time the system starts up?

It's about the Windows firewall; I used to use Outpost before.

Maybe check your Windows firewall settings in services (just type Services.msc into the Run box)

The Windows Firewall service should be set to start automatically.

The movie’s actually a pretty solid comedy with a killer cast. I mean, it doesn't exactly reveal anything we haven't heard before, right? But seeing how everything plays out is honestly super fun and hilarious.

That scene with the vibrator in the restaurant—priceless. 😂

velvetdrifter42 said:This movie needs to be banned because it is just an indescribable amount of pure stupidity! Fuck you, seriously, I almost had a nervous breakdown watching this garbage. I honestly cannot wrap my head around how anyone could agree to film this, produce this, or actually act in this piece of shit!🙄
It’s no wonder people today have absolutely no clue what connection or love even means!🙄

Like they say in the movie, The Ugly Truth hurts, doesn't it? 😂 (So, come on, tell us what specifically got to you and what parts you related to... 😉 😁)

Richard Gray4 said:The plot was totally predictable. If it were just some cheap B-movie, I wouldn't care, but even so, it’s a decent enough watch if you just want to zone out for a bit. Honestly though, why doesn't anyone make movies with actual twists anymore? It feels like all the good inspiration has been sucked dry or something. What happened to creativity?

I think you might have missed the genre here. Maybe just stop watching comedies and find yourself a thriller or some drama instead.

Jeremy Davis7 said:So, what actually makes Windows 7 better than Vista?

I just picked up a new laptop that comes with Windows Vista pre-installed, but it’s definitely beefy enough to handle Windows 7.
Vista is fully updated and seems to be running pretty smoothly right now.

Is it even worth jumping over to Windows 7 right now? I mean, what am I actually gaining?
Is the difference big enough to justify the hassle and the cash (though money isn't really a huge deal for me)?

PS.
Cash isn't the issue here; I'm more curious about things like usability, how clean the UI looks, security, aesthetics, and all that good stuff.

🙂

It's more functional, cleaner, more secure (at least according to Microsoft), and way more attractive.

Plus, it's much better at handling older software compared to Vista.

If you aren't worried about the price tag, then yeah, Windows 7 is definitely the way to go over Vista.

I was reading on Computerworld that Amazon has some discounts on Windows 7 if you use a coupon. I wonder, though—do they ship out to the US easily?? 🙄

casualridge10 said:yeah, Virtual PC 2007 works fine on 7

From what I gather, it really just depends on whether your CPU supports virtualization.

I guess XP mod seems pretty alright to me. No messy installs required—if things go south, you just reinstall and you're good to go! It’s actually great for testing stuff (and running those old programs I don't want cluttering up my 7 setup, like Access 2003 which I still need).

Kevin Gonzalez79 said:I think I'm gonna grab the 32-bit Home version today. Maybe!$317 So, if I'm gonna be using this software for like five years, there's really no point in grabbing the 64-bit version if my processor isn't 64-bit, right? That's how it works, I guess?

So, I've got this laptop running a Core 2 duo T7500 with 4 GB of RAM, a GeForce 8700M GT with 512 MB of VRAM, and a 160GB hard drive spinning at 7200 RPM.

That's a 64-bit processor, so I guess it’s probably better to go with the 64-bit version, though you might run into some software issues. Maybe double-check if everything you use actually supports 64-bit first!

Justin Gray81 said:😲😲😲
Wait, is this actually for real? 😕
Do they ship to the USA? But seriously, though.
I see some promo codes floating around here... so I was wondering, do I need to log in to grab them, or is there like a membership fee or something? Maybe?
Thanks for the info! 🙂

One more thing... what exactly does OEM mean?

I sent you a PM. I'm not really sure how things work over in Europe, but I've bought from them here in the States before. There aren't any membership fees or anything; you just sign up as a customer, and then you just pay for whatever you order.

Justin Barrett said:I guess I've had this Terratec Cinergy 1400 TV tuner sitting around for about three years now—definitely paid a decent chunk for it back then! $150Man, there aren't any drivers available, and they won't work with Windows Vista, so I'm just streaming them... 🙂

That’s honestly all down to the company itself. I guess that’s one of the main reasons why I’d much rather pick up gear from big-name brands—they actually bother to support their own products properly!

Kevin Gonzalez79 said:Is this for the Core 2 duo T7500? http://shopper.cnet.com/processors/i...03.html#info-5 Should I grab a 64-bit CPU? I didn't realize mine was 64-bit, but looks like it is

Yeah, it's 64-bit.

Noah Ruiz73 said:I think we had a little misunderstanding there, buddy! It’s not like I was asking you for anything or that I’m confused. I was just sharing my take on the forum. Sorry if you felt like you needed to jump in and explain things to me 🙄

If that first sentence didn't sound like a question, then my bad.

Noah Ruiz73 said:When I brought up drivers and hardware, I was talking about the issue with external gear (specifically a digital TV tuner in a PCMCIA slot)! So, yeah, it totally makes sense that you aren't running into that same issue.

The fact that Linux is free is really a whole different story.
My point was about stuff being outrageously overpriced while still being full of bugs and glitches. You can't even compare that to Linux. Not even close.

And then there's the whole other thing—how a price in the USA can jump from $179.99 to some insane amount once it hits the local market $573!?!

But that’s not even the question. Just a sad reality of the crazy world we live in!
.

Honestly, I agree they went way overboard with OS pricing. Realistically, it should be closer to $50, but hey, neither of us gets to decide that. Most people around here just buy a whole new computer when they want an upgrade anyway. Laptops go for about $400 here, and then the price climbs depending on what specs you want.

I haven't actually seen anyone clearing out Microsoft products off the shelves. (Actually, the shelves always seem pretty much the same 🙂)

Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise, and Ultimate for computers with hardware virtualization include XP mode (a virtual XP machine).

You can download the file for free and the install takes maybe 10 minutes or so (just one reboot)

Give it a shot and see if your card works in XP mode.

I tried this last night, which is what I was talking about earlier.

Noah Ruiz73 said:And who on earth is actually going to buy this at such an insane price point!? 🤔

Mainly because even this OS isn't immune to the old bugs, like how unstable it gets when you're running third-party software—or even its own stuff (like Media Player, for instance). And don't even get me started on the lack of support for all the different audio formats. You're basically forced to go down a rabbit hole hunting for codecs and plugins just to get things like FLAC working. It's honestly unacceptable!

Plus, the way they just ignore slightly older hardware (like those DVB-T TV tuner cards for laptops) because there aren't any drivers? That's just a shockingly amateur mistake.
They’ve baked most drivers right into the OS, but for a huge chunk of people, there's just zero support. Especially with manufacturers who couldn't care less about a product that's a year or two old since they're too busy pushing the latest model. It just goes on and on like that...

To be fair, Windows 7 looks great and runs way faster than Windows Vista, but that doesn't justify the price tag. And then you've got those famous patches 🙄
So, yeah, if you buy an original copy, you better be ready to dive straight into updates the second you finish installing. Pretty much the same deal as anyone grabbing a free version!

It's all the same old story... Boring and overpriced. After all these years, billions in revenue, and Bill being way too well-off in retirement—free is the only fair price for 7. 👍

The answer to your question is pretty simple—everyone who didn't want to deal with the headache of Windows Vista.

Regarding the codec situation, I don't see what's confusing here. Did you seriously expect Microsoft to provide support for every single third-party codec out there?! 🙄

So far, I haven't run into any hardware where I couldn't get a driver to work (I've got a roughly 3-year-old Dell laptop with a Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB SATA drive with an ATI Mobile 1400, and everything works perfectly; I have a much better setup at home and even that didn't have issues, not even with RAID 0)

I wouldn't say it's *just* polished up; Windows 7 actually added a ton of new functionality. A lot of what's there is stuff Linux users have already seen or used for ages.

And no, I'm not a fan of Microsoft's pricing, but we can probably all agree there's a free solution available through various Linux distros—Ubuntu is actually one of the coolest ones right now.

As for current prices here in the USA, we're looking at $139.99 for Windows 7 Pro 64-bit OEM, $99.99 for Home Premium, and $179.99 for the Ultimate version. (Newegg)

Maybe try VLC Player.

It supports a ton of different formats and honestly works pretty great.

Quick little update on virtualization for Windows 7.

Virtual PC 2007 just isn't working on Windows 7 (you basically get stuck with an option to 'check for solution' or just cancel)

But, it turns out Microsoft built XP Mode specifically for Windows 7—it’s virtualization, but handled at the hardware level instead of just software. You can read more about how that works here.

My work laptop can't handle hardware-level virtualization, but I checked my laptop at home last night and it should be able to do it, so I'm gonna try it out tonight. (I really didn't feel like reloading the XP image again 🙂)

Has anyone actually messed around with Virtual PC for Windows 7 yet??

Microsoft is putting together an XP pack for Windows 7, and I'm just finishing up the install now... Word is it works way better than the standard Virtual PC (I think 2007 was the last version)

I'll give it a spin and let you guys know how it goes. 😉

Quote : steeltiger5

silvergardener93 said:It’s a pretty slick week, and honestly, the OS seems "smart," but let's be real for a second—in my experience, Windows XP just feels way faster across all my apps.

So, I was running some tests the other day—testing out WinRAR and WinZip compression, processing an AVI file with ConvertX, and moving files between partitions—and man, Windows XP is just killing me. It’s losing like 10% to 15% in write speeds and data transfer rates. I guess it's just getting slower every single week!

I tested this myself, and honestly? This week hasn't even been 1% faster than Windows Vista.

I've got 4 GB of RAM (effectively 3.25 GB) and my Core 2 Duo is overclocked to 3.4 GHz!

Since my laptop came pre-installed with Windows Vista (64-bit), I can't really compare it to Windows XP. I never actually bothered installing XP on this machine because, honestly, I just didn't feel like dealing with the headache of hunting down all those drivers. I figured I’d just hold out until Windows 7 came along, so that's exactly what I did! The only real tweak I've made to the laptop so far is setting up a RAID 0, which seriously sped up my hard drive. Now, when I'm moving files to or from an eSATA drive, I'm hitting speeds over 100MB/s, whereas before I was stuck at maybe 30-40MB/s. Huge difference!

Honestly, I’m seeing such a huge jump in everything lately! Everything feels way more stable, and even those programs that were total nightmares on Windows Vista—either refusing to run at all or acting super glitchy unless I messed with a bunch of settings—are working like a charm now. It's a massive improvement, I guess!

So, the laptop’s rocking 4GB of RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and it's running on a SATA hard drive now.

Quote : steeltiger5

steeltiger5 said:I'm thinking about finally pulling the trigger and upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7. A ton of my programs—Google Earth, Windows Messenger, stuff like that—have been acting super glitchy lately, so I guess it might just be time for a change!
So, can you actually upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7? And more importantly, will my files still be there? I guess it should work, but maybe check your backups just in case!

Honestly, you'd probably be way better off just doing a fresh install from scratch instead of trying to deal with an upgrade. I guess it’s cleaner that way!

Quote : steeltiger5

darkviper7 said:Wait, what????
Man, the American version has been out for months now. You pretty much need the Ultimate edition, otherwise you aren't getting anything done!

Exactly! It's showing American as an option for the download, along with like 30 other languages too.

driftingnomad68 said:If you just grab Windows 7 from a retail store and get it activated, everything should run smooth as silk without any random crashes or anything. I guess that’s really your only solid bet! 👍

You don't even have to go out and buy it at Best Buy... If you're tight with Microsoft (like I am), they might just send it over to you. Or, I guess, you could just download it online if you've got an MSDN license! 😉.

I've been messing around with Windows 7 (both 32 and 64-bit) for a few weeks now. I'm still running into a couple of headaches on my home rig (the 64-bit one), especially with the driver for the original Xbox controller. It's being a real pain, I guess.

I'm pretty happy with things so far, I guess! Hopefully, it stays this way.

The treadmill is just kicking up dust while I’m busy stacking up jokes for the winter.

Like you can tell from this update, things are getting pretty hectic, so I might be MIA from the web for a few days...

Later!

So, she’s all about the lacrosse scene, while I’m mostly into surfing (online, obviously) and a few other combat sports.

I’d really love to know who you think you're actually talking to here... 😁 👋

Wow, talk about being ghosted... my post is getting totally ignored 😠

northernraven4 said:I'm super curious to hear about your experiences with coaches—whether you've worked with one before or are still training with someone now.

With my coach (she's a woman), she doesn't really yell at me much, but she's definitely always giving me orders. 😁

They've been using it for quite a while now.

Supposedly, they're feeling a whole lot better. 🙄