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My old computer died the other day and I'm picking up a new one tomorrow. I always load the OS myself and for the last few times I've stayed with XP Pro SP3 because it's stable and reliable for what I use the pc for. I've heard decent things about Windows 7 but for now I'm thinking of staying with XP. If you had the chance to reload your pc today would you stick with XP or move to Win 7, and why? No flavors of Unix are an option, I'm sure it's a great OS but I want Windows...

Most Windows 7 customers are satisfied with the new operating system, according to tech analyst house Forrester Research, but many stick-in-the-mud types still see no reason to upgrade from the OS that refuses to die - Windows XP. Forrester published the results of its study (subscription required) about take-up of Microsoft’s old and new operating systems this week. It found that 86 per cent of 4,559 US punters who took part in the survey were happy with Windows 7. However, the same research also reaffirmed that there’s still plenty of love out there for Microsoft’s aged Windows XP, with 43...

I am able to reboot but it keeps locking up. I can launch a browser but it goes nowhere. Firefox or IE. I was able to run defrag. I delete some old files and the first ones would delete then it would lock up. I have System Mechanic 7 (iolo) which I do not like. The real time anti-virus you cannot turn off. I tried to remove but had problems with that. I was using System Mechanic to run daily clean ups and to recover ram. Had an old game I was able to remove. I can reboot but have...

IE 6 browser is antique, but there are still companies continue to use the current IE 6 is still very common in the enterprise side, but even Microsoft’s long-term partner Intel is also still using relatively surprising.

News of a newly discovered bug in VBScript and Windows Help files in Internet Explorer that could allow a remote attacker to run an arbitrary command has reached Microsoft on Friday and they immediately sat down to investigate the matter. After two days, they confirmed that this vulnerability "could allow an attacker to host a maliciously crafted web page and run arbitrary code if they could convince a user to visit the web page and then get them to press the F1 key in response to a pop up dialog box", but that there has been no news about attacks...

The presence of a hard-to-detect rootkit may have caused Windows XP machines to freeze up after applying a patch from Microsoft last week, according to preliminary analysis of the problem from Microsoft's security team. Microsoft's users forums filled up with reports of Windows XP users experiencing the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) after applying the 13 patches released by Redmond last week. The problem was later linked to one specific update - MS10-015 - a patch for an "important" kernel flaw - and it was discovered that uninstalling this package unfroze affected machines. The Blue Screen problem affected a...

Working on someone's PC which can only handle 768MB of memory. The problem is this: crucial.com says there is a 32MB (stick?) somewhere installed in the PC, so until I find a way to disable that 32MB, I can't install one 512MB stick and another 256MB stick to equal the 768MB (because that "phantom" 32MB puts me overboard). Right now, if I put in both a 256 and a 512, it's too much memory and the screen freezes up and I get the dreaded BSOD. Any idea where crucial.com is picking up this 32MB? My guess is that it's the...

I want to "wipe the slate clean" on my Dell laptop, and reinstall Windows XP. I boot from the operating system CD, and get to a menu that shows existing partitions. FAT is about 10 Gb and NTFS-OS has about 230 GB. The system asks me where I want to put the new XP. I tried the FAT partition but it's too small. I selected NTFS but the system said it is a potential problem to have two operating systems on the same partition. I have backed up what I need, and am OK with wiping the disk clean. In...

There is this older Toshiba laptop running Windows XP. It loads but I can not log in. It says it is loading the settings but then it logs off, the desktop never loads. I tried safemode but AVG is hard to use in safe mode. There may be a virus but why would it do this? I think AVG may have quarantined a file the computer actually needs or something. Does anyone have a clue?

HOW TO UPGRADE WINDOWS 7 BETA OR RC TO WINDOWS 7 RTM (RETAIL VERSION) You can’t upgrade directly from a pre-release version—at least, not without a quick and easy workaround. Here is that workaround...The ProblemWindows 7 checks whether or not the current version you are running is a pre-release copy, and prevents you from upgrading further. For reference purposes, this is the error you’ll see when you try and upgrade.The SolutionThe solution is to edit a file inside the Windows 7 DVD—which you’ll have to extract to the hard drive to proceed. If you are using an ISO image for...

Through its XP Mode, Microsoft Windows 7 can extend the useful life of legacy applications and peripherals. With a feature called XP Mode in Windows 7, Microsoft hopes to make it easier to use legacy applications and equipment. In this video, ZDNet’s Ed Bott, blogger of Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report, shows you how the new XP Mode works and suggests a few possible uses for the feature.

If you’re like of lot of Windows users out there, you skipped Vista and are still running XP on your computer. You’ve been waiting for October 22 and now that it’s here you’re ready to try Windows 7. You’re system is relatively new, about three- to four-years old, and you’ve run Microsoft’s Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and your hardware is well on par with Windows 7’s requirements. However, you’re not quite ready to give up XP just yet. Maybe you have some applications that failed the Upgrade Advisor’s compatibility check or maybe you got burned during the Vista debacle. No...

XP's long reign over the hearts and minds of corporates will end on October 22 when Windows 7 is launched, predicts analysts Forester. Soothsayers in Forester's tarot reading division have pulled the Death card for Windows XP on the corporate desktop. Forrester’s Benjamin Gray said that businesses needed refresh aging IT infrastructure. There was also a predicted end to XP support and getting copies of the operating system was becoming trickier. Windows 7 had an XP mode which means that most of the software that businesses have will run on the new operating system. This will improve the OS's chance...

As usual on the upcoming Patch Tuesday next week, Microsoft will be issuing a series of critical patches to fix security vulnerabilities for its popular Windows computer operating system. But this time, the company is getting a bit more attention than it's used to for its patch release schedule

As an IT Professional, this is a topic of great interest. Many of you are probably home XP users, I think these are some decent suggestions on how to keep getting support for Windows XP, even though support officially ends today from Microsoft.

Netbooks are a relative newcomer to the world of portable computers. They sit comfortably at the opposite end of the spectrum from the "desktop replacement" notebooks, those laptops with big screens, beefy specs and full-sized keyboards. Netbooks sacrifice optical drives (CD/DVD drives) and have generally modest hardware specifications, smaller screen sizes and shrunken keyboards. They also tend toward smaller hard drive sizes ... oftentimes much, much smaller. What you get in return is a small PC that is truly ultra-portable, weighing less than two pounds in some cases. In other words, a netbook is an ideal travel companion. Is a...

Windows XP updates are causing more and more problems with my laptop and I have Norton's Systemworks 2008, Systemworks Premier 11.0, and Ghost 12.0, as well as several other freeware programs. I believe that Microsoft is intentionally trying to destroy Windows XP with unstable patches and service packs, so as ... to sell their new operating system coming out soon. I'm seriously considering going to an Apple for my next computer, because I'm sick of Microsoft trying to squeeze more money out of me every two years, for a quote better system unquote. Am I wrong, or just too disgusted,...

Excerpt - Redmond, WA (AHN) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is pulling the XP operating system from its product line come Monday. The move comes 18 months after the company launched the Vista operating system. Although Microsoft will not sell the XP program any longer, they will still generate revenue from providing support for the software as it will no longer be free. Microsoft will offer extended support packages for XP until at least 2014. ~ snip ~

Just a couple of questions to people who have installed xp service pack 3. Is it worth the installation? What benifits are they? I did a little research and found a ton of info and a lot of people complaining about problems, would you recommend a person with mediocore pc problem solving skills install this?

At this stage, the best thing that you can say about Microsoft's attempt to transition its users to a new, next-generation operating system is that nobody was actually killed. Even so, it might be appropriate to have a bronze plaque installed where the first copy of Vista was sold, so that visiting dignitaries will have a place to lay ceremonial wreaths. It's simply not competing well against XP. Worse, it's opening the door a crack to Mac OS and Linux. Resistance to Vista is so heavy that major makers like Dell are exploiting legal loopholes that will allow them to...