dr_kromm | If you can read this . . .

. . . then my new PC is working, has my data, has software installed, can see the net, and knows where my LJ is (among other things). And that means that I'm covered in packing material, dust from behind the old computer, weird grit from inside the new computer, and so on for a good reason, and I can now go take a shower knowing that I won't have to pull everything out again to make it work. At least not for a few years. Heh.

Wins this time:

Fastest switchover ever, despite the "meh" items below! Rah!
Core 2 Quad with 4GB of 1,066MHz RAM. Dang, this is fast.
Samsung 22" monitor. This was surely the right choice. I can feel my eyestrain melting away already. And perversely, it fits where the old 19" monitor went, because new LCD monitors are more svelte and aren't 30% frame.
Logitech G7 mouse. Wow, but this is cool. I can change dpi on the fly with buttons, and I can swap battery packs like one of those quick-shooting champs swaps pistol magazines.
Microsoft Office 2007. Okay, so while Microsoft isn't perfect, this software is still far faster, cleaner, and better-looking than what I had on my old box. I'll have to spend a few weeks getting Word to work the right way, but that's life.
Windows Vista x64. Specifically, it's very fast, saw my LAN right away, and supports all of my new hardware. And again, while Microsoft isn't perfect, it came through for me: My ancient mail client and text editor, which I can't bear to part with, and which are probably 16-bit applications from the Dark Ages, run better than they ever did. (And eat just about none of my RAM . . . woohoo!)

Meh:

Windows Easy Transfer. It isn't easy and it doesn't transfer. After dropping $60 on an Easy Transfer Cable, I ended up doing most of the transfer by USB key and the rest by bouncing my data off my old computer and onto my new one via my LAN.
Stupid bit of plastic. A tiny shred of wrapper down inside the battery well of the mouse prevented the battery from making contact. It took an hour to troubleshoot this (I mean, I don't own a fiberscope). It wouldn't have been there if the mouse hadn't been inside a bag inside a clamshell case inside a box. Overpackaging sucks . . .
Headset mic. This has nothing to do with the new PC, I think. But the mic on my relatively new headset doesn't work (at least not well), meaning that the Shiny New™ experience is slightly tarnished by a cranky piece of old kit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I can read it, so either your system is working or mine broke in some spectacular, bizarre fashion.

Yes, it seems to be working just fine. There are some odd little kinks -- "Where are my Word macros?!", "Oh, that's right . . . I forced the printer install and now I have to do it again," "Aw, crap, I forgot that [software title] isn't standard and has to be installed by hand," etc. -- but I should be up to full speed by tomorrow. Right now, I'm tweaking Word to behave properly. I rather hate how it assumes you'll be writing business documents instead of roleplaying games. Stupid Word. Everybody knows that only gamers read anymore.

At least I'm getting a good workout, between lifting computer cases around and running up and down the hall with a USB key in my hand. The latter happens every 20 minutes, as I discover some new thing that Easy Transfer didn't transfer. The wired router has no ports free and the old PC doesn't have wi-fi, so I can't just haul stuff over the LAN or WLAN, hence the running around with USB keys. At least we have lots of them; I think our drugstore gives them away when you buy Kleenex.

You're doing it again. :) Verbose doesn't begin to describe it.

I'm a hack writer, so what do you expect?

I'm having to deal with compatibility issues on my G4. I just bought an Ion USB turntable, installed the software—and discovered that it can't actually save music in a format my copy of iTunes can read! Apparently I need iTunes 8.01, and to install that I need to have System X.4 or higher. But a couple of programs on my system will only run under System 9, and the newer versions of System X no longer contain a System 9 emulator. So I've downloaded a new printer driver, which works fine, and next I have to acquire a FileMaker update, and then the newest version of System X! All this just makes my brain fall out.

Of course, if I can get it all working, then we can copy and store

chorale's eight feet of vinyl, and stop having to find physical storage space for it. It's kind of sad to think of it going, but it's all obsolete technology now. . . .

So anyway, I find it comforting to read of someone else (a) struggling with computer issues and (b) triumphing over them!

Yes, device compatibility is a horribly big deal. We have a printer with no Vista support, for instance, and I hacked it to work with Vista anyway, but it wasn't easy or intuitive. I spend a lot of time doing this sort of thing. Whenever spin doctors from either of the major camps -- PC or Mac -- says "It just works!" or "Plug n' play!", I know I'm in for another week of square pegs and round holes.

And hopefully the disk drive won't eat itself for lunch. :-)

If it does, I blame Seagate. :)

More seriously, I hope it lasts. I'm a tad worried by some Vista behavior, though. Windows Search (indexing service) and SuperFetch are grinding away at the drive 24/7. They also eat RAM.

I have enough memory that the RAM use isn't an issue; shoot, I have far more free RAM than my previous PC had installed RAM! But I can't help but wonder about HD health. Online "experts" opine everything from "Ah, you don't need those services! Shut 'em down!" to "Don't complain to me when you shut those down and Vista horks." The first bunch offer conflicting advice, too: "Set the value of this registry key to 0." "No, set it to 2." "No, 0 is right, but you have the wrong key." "Bah, who needs keys? Just use services.msc."

Gah. I just want the drive to last a few years. If it does that, I don't care about indexing one way or the other.

If you can read this . . .

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