Computer Woes

[Nessie]

This is not something for the forum in general, which makes it off-topic, and I don't need advice right now as I fixed my computer problem by myself...but not before I replaced my entire older computer.

For seven years now I've had this cool gaming PC and it was responsible for helping me create my videos. It began life as a Windows 7 machine but we all know by now that Microsoft is literally forcing updates to Windows 10 on us so eventually I capitulated, but couple months ago now, the machine got stuck in an eternal restart loop which had every appearance of being a mechanical problem -- an opinion reinforced by the fact that a full Windows Recovery did nothing at all to help. It just kept going 'round and 'round in a circle like the Energizer bunny.

I thought, well, this machine did do a lot of work and I ran it hard, so it just might be at the end of its life. Seven years isn't unreasonable. I replaced the machine with a new, lower-power office kind of PC since without videos that I have to do, I don't need the race car version of a computer any more. But I did not toss the old tower because I wanted to get it diagnosed and then decide what to do with it (keep the hard drive and recycle the hardware, or maybe even fix it if it turned out not to be costly).

The old tower sat around unplugged and idle for about a month and a half 'til I got around to calling a repair service.

And that guy told me that he gets a lot of this. What he does is wipes the hard drive and re-installs Windows -- his way -- and for $99 he could do this and he was certain it would fix the problem.

I could not help but think that if Windows 10, its very own self, caused the problem, perhaps he was asking me for $99 to re-install the problem. So I booted up my new Windows 10 office computer (which, knowing what OS it contained, I was now looking at with a jaundiced eye) and did some digging on other operating systems...if that guy can wipe a drive clean and install, so can I...and one day later...

Lo and behold, the gaming PC is mechanically A-Okay. It's a happy machine. Now that it's a Linux machine, it hasn't restarted by itself even once.

So now I had two complete PC towers, one Windows 10 and one Linux Mint. And I have no doubt in my mind about which OS I'm just really, really mad at.

I bought a gadget that lets you switch between two towers from the same monitor and keyboard ($34). Windows sleeps until I need it and it's online only when necessary, with the Ethernet connection disabled and its update schedule tightly controlled.

I even have a live USB stick to surf from the Windows machine without exposing my Windows 10 to the Internet. The spyware that's loaded inside Windows alone is enough to motivate me to do that, let alone the fact that it tried to kill my older machine in cold blood.

This arrangement is futzy and weird but it's working okay.

I'm sharing this story to encourage my fellow computer users to consider thinking outside the Windows box. If you can. I know Windows has taken over everything. I know that almost all the programs are written for Windows. I know that for some, it's not possible.

But maybe, maybe, you could just make yourself a live USB stick of something else, go online, and see what life is like without Windows 10.

That's what's stuck in the office machine. A Linux USB stick. Windows slumbers peacefully.

Nessie

P.S. I work with Macs professionally. I would, and I used to, and they're great, and I would recommend that you do it. But Macs and their software are too expensive for just my home use.

[Fred588]

First, let me say I am sorry you had this problem. One thing you might have tried, before wiping the hard drive but after setting up the new computer, is to try connecting the old boot drive to the new computer as a secondary drive. That might have allowed you to salvage any data files that might have been on it.

Second, this is something we should all expect to happen from time to time and we should do what we can to mitigate damages. I sit surrounded by four computers, not counting my laptop, collectively hosting roughly a tenth of a petabyte of storage, so its something I try to prepare for. I am sure this is not bulletproof but here are some things I do that others might wish to consider.

1. No data, other than those files that are essentially built in to the operating system or various software products, is stored on my boot drives. They contain only the operating systems and applications. All of that is backed up on the original DVDs or can be re-downloaded if needed.

2. All data, including raw video, edited video, photos, and all text files, with the exception of my email archives, is stored on external disks, and these are in pairs so everything is on at least two entirely separate drives.

3. The really valuable stuff is kept in three places, one of which is one of several cloud servers.

4. Only one of the four computers is connected to the internet or even can be connected without a significant effort.

5. I am always at least a month behind in allowing Windows to self update and I look at reviews before doing so. You can prevent MOST automatic updates from taking place by use of a setting that tells Windows you are on a metered internet connection. This is true in my case.

[Nessie]

First, let me say I am sorry you had this problem. One thing you might have tried, before wiping the hard drive but after setting up the new computer, is to try connecting the old boot drive to the new computer as a secondary drive. That might have allowed you to salvage any data files that might have been on it.

Unfortunately, I tried wiping the drive and reinstalling via Recovery BEFORE buying the new PC since I hadn't figured that I was replacing the whole tower exactly yet. Now that I have a second tower, though, I will try to remember that.

I sit surrounded by four computers, not counting my laptop, collectively hosting roughly a tenth of a petabyte of storage, so its something I try to prepare for. I am sure this is not bulletproof but here are some things I do that others might wish to consider.

I sit surrounded by two towers, two cast-off laptops, and a thrown-away Mac from 2011 which is allowed to hang out eternally because it is stuffed with professional Adobe graphics software which ages very well.

All of that is backed up on the original DVDs or can be re-downloaded if needed.

I was backing stuff up on DVD as I created it, so I got it all back except for one corrupt DVD. Without video projects, my necessary files aren't all that big any more. Years ago I did try a 2TB external drive (to back up video work) but...the bigger they are the harder they fall, and yes it did. My videos have been archived off for years -- DVDs, some more than once, and on the one surviving external drive.

5. I am always at least a month behind in allowing Windows to self update and I look at reviews before doing so. You can prevent MOST automatic updates from taking place by use of a setting that tells Windows you are on a metered internet connection. This is true in my case.

I had rather taken my Windows for granted until this happened and I've been reading voraciously on Windows 10 now. Caution with those updates, according to nearly all sources everywhere except Microsoft (who obviously disagrees) is a very very very good idea. I have them turned totally off right now and Ethernet, by default, disables when I dual-boot out of Linux and into Windows.

Nessie

[Duncan Edwards]

Welcome to my world. I maintain 150 Windows 7 and 10 computers, among many other things, and your story is not unique. In all likelihood there was a driver update that disagreed with your machine and kept forcing the reboot. Reinstalling the OS simply takes you back to an earlier update level and removes that particular issue but typically invites others. There are many, many, variables in the process and without 30 years of experience and some innate diagnostic abilities I'd have run through Microsoft with a machine gun long ago.

But you did several somethings very smart. First you didn't pay someone to do what you very obviously could do yourself. That's great. Even better you discovered that there is more than one operating system and Linux is a great one if you are up to it. Over time you will figure out ways to improve on your current setup. The key is just don't stop tinkering with improvement. Don't let this stuff intimidate you. And I'm sure that you won't because you've already proven yourself smarter than 98% of users out there.

[Nessie]

I'd have run through Microsoft with a machine gun long ago.

Machine gun? That sounds lovely. May I also lob a hand grenade at it? Suffice it to say that in my home, Windows 10 is now being treated like a malevolent being that deserves a lifetime in solitary confinement.

Even better you discovered that there is more than one operating system and Linux is a great one if you are up to it.

Linux is fast, clutter-free, and far as I can tell, it doesn't spy on you. In live mode (the USB stick stuck into the office tower) it also forgets everything it found out about you whenever you re-boot. If it blows up, you can just erase the stick and put the original files back on. I can access the Windows part through the Linux OS and upload files from that, but while the stick is active, you cannot write anything to the actual hard drive at all. It is read-only and runs all in RAM. It's set to read the stick first during reboot, so to go back to Windows you just yank the stick out and restart.

I can't help but think this has got to be a decent virus-and-malware barrier for uselessly wasting time online.

I just whap a button to go to the older tower. They are both up and running right now.

Don't let this stuff intimidate you.

Oh, I'm doing fine. But Windows 10 is definitely on my dirt list.

Nessie

[rhinodynamo]

It's gonna drive me into debt, but I'm determined to stay on MacOS. I've used one for about 5 years, and aside from a few unique quirks, generally more reliable. Will probably trade in one MacBook for one with better specs this year.

[Mr Mudster]

I started using Linux in 1994. Back then it was downloaded onto floppies and took about 4 hours to install properly! No pretty graphical interface, just a stable operating system. And, as time went on, I upgraded to newer and better versions.

Linux Mint is one of my favorite new distributions. I like anything built around Debian (which is probably the most stable core distribution). And it sure runs rings around Windows for speed and reliability, as well as security. And I have a couple old non-PC appliances (including one commercial satellite receiver) that I've installed Linux on. One of them serves as my home DLNA server (to play back my music files on my phone, TV and other streaming hardware).

It's too bad that it is still a Windows world out there. 87% of computer users (about 10% of the computer users are Mac'ites, and are smarter than the average bear!) don't know what they're missing.

[Duncan Edwards]

Linux Mint is one of my favorite new distributions. I like anything built around Debian (which is probably the most stable core distribution). And it sure runs rings around Windows for speed and reliability, as well as security...

I'm running that on the laptop I use for my MPV Photo work. Works great.

[Nessie]

And it sure runs rings around Windows for speed and reliability, as well as security.

Linux Mint Cinnamon 64-bit here.

Nessie

[Nessie]

I'm running that on the laptop I use for my MPV Photo work. Works great.

Ahh...well, it's doing a fine job for you!

I do have Photoshop on my Mac but am making a serious effort to migrate to Gimp since it isn't going to be possible to maintain Photoshop on my budget.

Nessie