xp vent

[Brett_Tabke]

I've been 3 weeks with winXP (new laptop).

Man - does this thing bite.

q1: how do you turn off the single click to activate stuff? (load programs, etc)

[photon]

Windows Explorer --> Tools --> Folders Options... --> Click items as follows

[Brett_Tabke]

doh - thanks.

[Fiver]

on a related (XP) note, someone at work has an image that gets set to their background when they lock the machine, but I can't figure out how to get rid of it. it's not their normal desktop background, and the active desktop stuff is just not what i remember from other windozes

anybody know of what i speak?

[photon]

Screensaver?

[TheDave]

Everywhere I look I see people having problems with XP. Makes me so happy I hated it from the start and never installed it for myself ;) I prefer 2k with a dash of '98 for the older machines

[Mardi_Gras]

>Everywhere I look I see people having problems with XP.

Don't look here ;) Using XP since June - rock solid, very few app crashes and the system stays stable regardless. There is no way I could go back to Win98, which crashed one or two times a day on me.

Glad you're happy with 2K, though :)

[ogletree]

What did you people install. XP has been the best thing MS has ever done. Agreed that is not saying much. I love it. I have never had problems with it. Of course I know how get rid of things that bother me. Trust me Brett if you came from Win 98 you might not like it at first but you will never want to go back after a while. It does not crash, it has an awsome system restore, really cool built in MS Terminal client, VPN easy to set up, Built in remote control ability. I love it.

[TheDave]

I'm not really 'happy' with 2k, I just prefer it ;)

*rant alert*

You know what really s***s me the most about software upgrades, and I'm not being OS specific, they seem to move stuff around just for the sake of it. I'm sure the software designers are thinking 'lets take this really common tool, and move it over here, under this menu, in this sub-menu, that should make em waste a few minutes' and somehow this is meant to make me happy with my upgrade :/

[bunltd]

Hmm, having forcibly upgraded to XP pro on one of my main systems in the past few, I can say it is definitely more stable, less likely to randomly crash, is quicker and all in all, I think I like it... although in my case a forcible upgrade = dead raid 0 = pain in my rear

LisaB

[DrDoc]

I like XP too. Then again, I liked 2k as well. When I first got this machine I tweaked XP till it crashed (to know its limits) then I reinstalled XP and tweaked only the safe stuff. But yeah, it takes a while to get it running the way you want. Still, I agree it is more stabile, and it now runs as a well-oiled machine ;)

XP is good. Just messy to "clean up" after a new install...

[knighty]

XP rocks!

Use 2K pro at work - very stable only few crashes in 6 months

XP Pro at home - never crashed - EVER! (much more features the 2k too)

[RobinC]

I've just had the pleasure of updating home to pro (at home), everything went perfectly, then I discovered that the ppl who sold me my computer didn't include a driver disk... No problem (I thought), it'll be normal stuff in XP install... Nope ;-)

So then I thought "Ok, can't use the mobo ethernet to get the drivers for itself, lets install my spare ethernet card and use that"... Oh dear, XP didn't boot with it...

After one day (where I downloaded the drivers at work) I decided to do a complete fresh install since I was at it - reorganised my partitions (not quite finished yet), 4 partitions - System, Programs, Data, Swap. Spent 5 hours last night reinstalling my normal software (and no doubt another couple of days trying to remember what else I used ;-)

Apart from the install woes, I've not had a problem with XP - though I think the default look is ugly, but tweaks here and there, and quite a lot of good software to replace normal windoze stuff, and it's actually pretty useable.

In the 10 or so months since getting it I've had the computer turned off for a total of about 48 hours now (was a lot less till this install stuff ;-)

Found one or two programs that crashed it, but *very* rare. So long as you think of vanilla XP as a starter system and start adding functionailty to it, I think it's the best one yet (but being an Amiga user, that is't saying much) ;-P

Robin

[edited by: lawman at 10:10 am (utc) on Nov. 12, 2003]
[edit reason] No politics - See Foo Charter [/edit]

[Fiver]

hmm..

so nobody knows how to get rid of the background that only shows up when you lock your machine?

[Reflection]

so nobody knows how to get rid of the background that only shows up when you lock your machine?

Have you tried locating where this background image is located?

[richlowe]

Right click on taskbar. choose properties. Start menu, put it in classic mode.

Next, Start, settings, control panels, system, advanced, Performance(settings), set best performance.

Background is the same place it's always been, under display control panel.

Also, you can stop the service (and set to manual) called, I think, themes. Not needed if you are in classic mode.

Richard

[TheDave]

Fiver, I think if you are using an active desktop. You know how when you set a jpg to be your desktop and it asks if you want to enable active desktop to display it, it leaves the background image that was there as the default to use when the active desktop isnt available, ie when you lock the computer. So if you disable active desktop, and then set the background picture, then re-enable active desktop it should work. I havn't used XP, this is how 2k works tho.

[killroy]

Stybility wise I couldn't go back, was at one crash per 30 minutes in the end. Now I only reboot for power cuts, around once a month.

Admittedly, I spend around 1 hour setting thiungs up after na XP install and it's so different from a default install I stall can't use a standard XP desktop properly after running it for months.

Brett, try it, I can basically go back to the look and feel of win98 with the stability and enhancements of xp.

SN

[jimbeetle]

>>I can basically go back to the look and feel of win98 with the stability and enhancements of xp

Now that would be nice. Have XP on one machine which I've basically disowned -- anything goes wrong with it, don't call me. Just can't wrap my head around where the heck things are. Click here, click there, wind up back here, try here -- just always chasing my tail.

Have managed not to touch that machine for about 6 months but sooner or late will have to replace this old war horse P3 so will have to deal with XP sooner or later.

[lorax]

I've seen a few XP installs and am loathe to get anywhere near it. Too much junk going on in the background from what I saw.

It's taken me 4 years to learn and customize Win2K the way I want it. Safe and reliable now. The next step will be to a Linux desktop - if only I could find the same apps I'm using now for Linux.

[lgn1]

In google type:

making xp look like Windows 2000

Visit the sites that come up, and with a few settings
you can make XP look like Windows 2000.

With SP1, XP Pro is quite stable, and with the tweeks to
get rid of the telletubies interface, im happy with it.

I heard of some people having problems with Office XP
with XP laptops, but it works great on my desktop.

[mil2k]

XP is the best MS OS EVER. The graphics are a big pain but it takes just 5 mins to tweak the settings.

[Fiver]

thanks theDave