Technical

Computers, Phones, Gaming. Hints and tips for technical things.

Goodbye to Microsoft Vista (End of Life)

~ Ron Walker ~ 14 Comments

As of today, Microsoft Vista has reached ‘end-of-life’. There will be no further updates or support of any type for the operating system. Some loathed it, some had very few problems with it.

As I post this I am uninstalling Vista. I have used it since 2008. That Vista machine ran my 5 webcams for security around the house, and a weather station that sent pictures and weather updates to my weather website. I am changing that computer over to Linux now.

Vista served me well for the two simple tasks I needed it for. Now I need to find two replacement programs to for the weather and webcams, that run on Linux.

Do you remember your days with Vista? There were a lot of snags with that version as I recall, I was glad to move on up to Win7.

Comments Welcome.

A walk down memory lane regarding Windows.

~ Ron Walker ~ 7 Comments

I was given an old computer last night. It seems someone had wanted it worked on, and then decided they would rather get a new one than pay to repair it. So the person that was going to work on it, needed it gone now. It has been sitting in the storage area for a long time apparently. There was a mailing label affixed to the top proclaiming, Windows 98 Works Great! Just the box and nothing else. I figured at the least It would be a challenge to get it going if it had a problem, and at the most I might use it for Linux.

I dredged up an old keyboard and mouse. Turns out the mouse port was dead so I worked with it some and managed to get a usb mouse to work. I was actually surprised when it booted right up with Windows 98. There were a ton of memories going through my mind looking at that old splash screen. How far we’ve come, and yet in some ways how far we have fallen. This simple computer was only 450mhz, with a tiny 75mb or Ram. A small hard drive of 13GB. It was more responsive booting up, shutting down, and loading programs than my high-end computer. We have fallen in love with all the eye candy now, and it takes tons of horsepower to make all of it work.

Actual Picture by me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little computer only had 3.5GB used on the drive and that was with a large number of programs installed, including Office and Windows 98. I think a clean install of Windows 10 is around 11GB.

Sadly there is not much I can do with it as even Linux has grown to need more horses than this little box can put out. It was fun though to see a computer actually booting Windows 98. Nostalgia has its moments. When was the last time you used Windows 98.

Comments welcome,

We’re back up and Blogging, I learned a lot this day.

~ Ron Walker ~ 2 Comments

I copied the Blog and Database to the new domain ( a couple times!) and learned to explore all the nooks and crannies to ferret out settings so that the copy worked on the new domain. I thought I would never get the redirect to work so that visiting the old url brought you to the new one seamlessly. Finally beat it though. I even fixed up a custom 404 Error page just in case like some of you have. I found the code on a site and used it. Then decided to check out a couple of sites I follow to see if they had any custom 404’s. Too my surprise I had selected one that is like or very much like Views and Mews by Coffee Kat. They say great minds think alike.

I still have not figured out why on WordPress reader it is showing an icon of a wolf’s head for me this morning, but I was working on a lot of things and may have activated that favicon at some point yesterday when I posted from the old URL.

I could have gotten it all done yesterday but there was an error in my providers hosting. Once they fixed it this morning 5 mins after contacting them, it started propagating around the world like it should have and the site finally came up with the test file. That’s the way it goes sometimes. I can’t complain as I have used them for 8 years now and received any and all help I asked for 24/7

I can say it’s a great feeling to be finished and use it now. Looking forward to once again having a good time with all of you. If anyone notices anything out of sorts I’d appreciate a heads up. Try clearing your cache first to see if that fixes it.

Comments always welcome,

I feel like an expectant Father

~ Ron Walker ~ 2 Comments

I haven’t made a post in a couple of days and I am dying to make one. I found this opportunity to do so as I need to update everyone on a URL change.

I decided to move my Blog to its own domain so it could run smoother and maintenance would be simpler. As it is I have two websites and an Arcade on my current host and the resources are getting a tad skimpy.

As some of you may know, you order a domain name, then you get the service you want and then the waiting game commences. Your domain name stored by Domain Name Servers (DNS) which have to propagate all over the world. When someone types in your URL it finds your domain easily. This as they say can take 24 to 72 hours.

So I have been working around the house, chomping at the bit waiting to access my new digs and get the blog transferred. I have seen it happen before in about 2-3 hours but that was long ago in a galaxy far away. So I go wash dishes, then check the DNS servers. I go weed eat the yard, then check the DNS servers. I watch TV, then check the DNS servers. I’m beginning to think that a watched domain never registers, just like a watched pot never boils as they say.

I’m sure it will kick in here soon. I have had it take 24 hours and I think I am nearing the 24 hour mark before long. I’ll make it or I’ll just have to take some medication and start learning to knit.

Anyway if any of you stop by here and my redirect doesn’t work properly when I get things transferred, The new URL will be http://www.rons-country.com or just rons-country.com  Anyone coming there from the Forum will get the proper URL by clicking on the Blog link there then you can save it or edit your current bookmark.

Here’s hoping for DNS propagation by tomorrow!

Comments welcome.