[Goatbert]

Two days ago I bought a 12" PowerBook G4 1.5GHz with SuperDrive. I was almost done loading it up when I went to load Virtual PC and Windows XP on it (to make it easier to manage the Windows portion of our network there). At the very end of the XP install, as it was "Saving Settings", the Powerbook's HDD started making that all too familiar spin-up, clank sound. Rebooted, got the Folder with the question mark, booted the install CD and the drive was not found.

This is what I get for trying to make my pretty OS X laptop run Windows!

Took it back to a local Apple store, waited in line for 45 minutes behind a lady trying to return an iPod her son broke (put the dock connector in upside down) who couldn't understand the meaning of "accidental damage", but once that bit of fun was done they gave me (another) brand new PB 12" w/ SuperDrive. They were really helpful about it, and funny as a bonus.

All in all, it wasn't that bad, but I thought I was getting away from Windows crashing things when I bought the Macs

-Jeff

[twentyvfun]

Originally posted by Goatbert:
Two days ago I bought a 12" PowerBook G4 1.5GHz with SuperDrive. I was almost done loading it up when I went to load Virtual PC and Windows XP on it (to make it easier to manage the Windows portion of our network there). At the very end of the XP install, as it was "Saving Settings", the Powerbook's HDD started making that all too familiar spin-up, clank sound. Rebooted, got the Folder with the question mark, booted the install CD and the drive was not found.

This is what I get for trying to make my pretty OS X laptop run Windows!

Took it back to a local Apple store, waited in line for 45 minutes behind a lady trying to return an iPod her son broke (put the dock connector in upside down) who couldn't understand the meaning of "accidental damage", but once that bit of fun was done they gave me (another) brand new PB 12" w/ SuperDrive. They were really helpful about it, and funny as a bonus.

All in all, it wasn't that bad, but I thought I was getting away from Windows crashing things when I bought the Macs

-Jeff

That was a nice story. Good luck with your second one =)

[urrl78]

If it was a software problem it just doesn't make sense for you to get a new laptop. If the people there did not give the woman a replacement for accidental damage why give away a free laptop for a software problem. Doesn't make sense.

If it is hardware why blame it on Windows?

[amazing]

Originally posted by urrl78:
If it is hardware why blame it on Windows?

Well, the HD dying is a hardware problem, natch. The coincidence of its dying while loading Virtual PC just makes for some light comedy, just can't turn down making fun of that, surely??

[Ω]

Also word on the street is that XP on VPC blows.

[steel84]

I thought about using virtual pc, but i was a little scared to deal with windows on my mac. I mean that is the whole point of why i bought a mac, not to have windows. Has anyone out there had any good things come out of virtual pc.

[Garage81]

i loaded up VPC, and windows 2k.

played a game of solitare.

havent ran it again.

i just VNC in to a windows machine when i need to do something.

[Beerman]

Originally posted by Garage81:
i loaded up VPC, and windows 2k.

played a game of solitare.

havent ran it again.

i just VNC in to a windows machine when i need to do something.

I use VPC every day, and while it d/n run at the speed of an Intel machine, it is more than workable for what I do: graphics-heavy applications and VPN'ing into a Win2000 server. It is definitely faster than previous versions, much more user-friendly, and infinitely more stable. Very pleased with the upgrade.

[zzarg]

Originally posted by steel84:
I thought about using virtual pc, but i was a little scared to deal with windows on my mac. I mean that is the whole point of why i bought a mac, not to have windows. Has anyone out there had any good things come out of virtual pc.

if it wasn't for VPC I'd be using a real PC today. as it is, with VPC I am able to do SQL and ASP development on the road with my PowerBook (then I can't use Remote Desktop to get to my Win2K3 server)
I suspect most of my issues come from the fact my 12" PB (867Mhz with 1.12GB RAM) is a bit under powered, and the fact that VPC doesn't play well with Airport (MS only recommend using it on machines with Ethernet).
I have to admit that I am looking at a new Vaio T series or a Toshiba M200 rather than a new PB but at the moment neither platform is a clear winner because VPC does such a good job of blurring the lines. Now, of course, if CherryOS actually worked and I could run OSX apps on my PC the choice would be next to impossible !

[hldan]

I use Virtual PC 7 with Win2k on my 17" PB. Now I do have 2GB Ram but the most you can allocate to VPC is 512MB which works very well. I bought it with Windows XP but 2000 runs much smoother. I have to use it for a couple of my business apps which of course are PC only.
Virtual PC doesn't get the credit it deserves. The PC's on my job are terrible. They aren't the latest models so they are quite sluggish and very unstable thanks to our I.T. department.
Virtual PC saves me from being forced to using 2 separate computers especially if what I need from the PC side is only 2 programs at best. It would be a great waste of time and money to have 2 computers and barely use the PC so VPC is the best thing.
It's very stable and it runs speedy. It's not designed to replace a physical PC and I say this because it's not good with connecting peripherals other than my printer.
The Mac is in a much better position using this program than those new apps for Windows that run OSX because VPC has been out for years and perfected. To me it's the greatest app ever and a secret weapon for Mac users (with a fast Mac of course) because if relatively basic new Windows app comes out and someone says, "Oh well, it's PC only" I don't have to cringe, I can still use that app too.
I have used Virtual PC for years and never had software problems so the app has never had negative effects on any of my Macs.
Again, I only use it for a couple of programs so it's no reason for to buy a physical PC so it's perfect for that reason.
It's great to go on a business trip and take one computer and run any app required.
One last thing, it works perfect and I mean perfect with my Airport wireless connection. Not once have I had to configure it. It shares my Macs I.P so I not sure why the previous poster was having issues.

[bleee]

I'm trying to use VPC 7 with my 12 inch powerbook with 1.25GB ram. At first I installed Win2K on it but some how (don't ask me how) I managed to corrupt the VPC image file so my Win2K image would never boot again. I'm trying Windows XP Pro now it's a but slugish even with all of the "pretty gui" effects turned off and 512MB of ram allocated to it. It's a waste of 5 gigs if you ask me but it's good to have around when you have those only Windows apps you need to run.

[Goatbert]

Well, I've got VPC7 installed with XPSP2. When I get to work next week we'll see if I can manage to get it to join a domain so I can manage Active Directory through it. If I can, it will be everything I need.

New PowerBook seems to be running great. Not only is the hard drive not dead, but the SuperDrive seems quieter.

-Jeff

[hldan]

Originally posted by Goatbert:
Well, I've got VPC7 installed with XPSP2. When I get to work next week we'll see if I can manage to get it to join a domain so I can manage Active Directory through it. If I can, it will be everything I need.

New PowerBook seems to be running great. Not only is the hard drive not dead, but the SuperDrive seems quieter.

-Jeff

OT but wow, love your system. Gotta love the ones with disposable income. And don't try to down play it. I'm jealous!

[Goatbert]

Originally posted by hldan:
OT but wow, love your system. Gotta love the ones with disposable income. And don't try to down play it. I'm jealous!

Unfortunately I've now disposed of most of it. Mmm, ramen.

-Jeff

[MilkmanDan]

Originally posted by Garage81:
i loaded up VPC, and windows 2k.

played a game of solitare.

havent ran it again.

i just VNC in to a windows machine when i need to do something.

I ran VPC with XP and got 20 spyware/adware things within 20 minutes. Ran some software to get rid of them, have not turned it on since.

[Beerman]

Originally posted by MilkmanDan:
I ran VPC with XP and got 20 spyware/adware things within 20 minutes. Ran some software to get rid of them, have not turned it on since.

If you just use it to run a program without accessing commercial internet sites, you should be able to avoid those type of programs. That kind of stuff d/n just install itself unless you do something to help get the process started. I use VPC to access 2-3 websites, all of which are privately-run sites that utillize a login and are for business partners only. I do not get email on it, nor do I surf with it, and my copy is clean and runs great.

[amazing]

Numerous studies show that an unpatched XP is infected within 20 minutes of being put on the internet. So, while you're trying to patch it by downloading SP2, it's quietly and pervadingly getting infected. No surfing or other action necessary, just being exposed on the internet.

In other words, get SP2 on a CD from a friend, or by downloading it onto a Mac and burning to CD, before getting on the internet, then install VPC and patch it before connecting in any way to the internet. Once it's patched, then you've only got the various viruses et al to worry about.

[crazeazn]

Originally posted by amazing:
Numerous studies show that an unpatched XP is infected within 20 minutes of being put on the internet. So, while you're trying to patch it by downloading SP2, it's quietly and pervadingly getting infected. No surfing or other action necessary, just being exposed on the internet.

In other words, get SP2 on a CD from a friend, or by downloading it onto a Mac and burning to CD, before getting on the internet, then install VPC and patch it before connecting in any way to the internet. Once it's patched, then you've only got the various viruses et al to worry about.

can you show me these studies? cuz that seriously sounds like ********. computers dont just break by themselves. ive been running win xp since its alpha stage and i dont have any spyware or issues whatsoever. any operating system if not used properly will have issues. however, i will say that its a hell of alot easier to mess up a xp/2k box from internet surfing than it is a mac.

[amazing]

Originally posted by crazeazn:
can you show me these studies? cuz that seriously sounds like ********. computers dont just break by themselves. ive been running win xp since its alpha stage and i dont have any spyware or issues whatsoever. any operating system if not used properly will have issues. however, i will say that its a hell of alot easier to mess up a xp/2k box from internet surfing than it is a mac.

Open mouth, stick foot in, without even Googling for some reference? Here's one reference from just a very brief search: Turns out I was wrong, XP is infected within 18 minutes. And that was on low-speed dialup, broadband is much faster with the infections.

http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec082904.html
http://www.techweb.com/wire/30000109
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5313402.html

[PBG4 User]

Originally posted by amazing:
Well, the HD dying is a hardware problem, natch. The coincidence of its dying while loading Virtual PC just makes for some light comedy, just can't turn down making fun of that, surely??

Reminds me of when the HD in my TiBook died during MWNY 2001. I was refreshing two different IE windows when my HD started making the 'ping of doom' sound.

So you're not the only one who's had their Mac taken out by MS software.

[PBG4 User]

Originally posted by amazing:
Numerous studies show that an unpatched XP is infected within 20 minutes of being put on the internet. So, while you're trying to patch it by downloading SP2, it's quietly and pervadingly getting infected. No surfing or other action necessary, just being exposed on the internet.

In other words, get SP2 on a CD from a friend, or by downloading it onto a Mac and burning to CD, before getting on the internet, then install VPC and patch it before connecting in any way to the internet. Once it's patched, then you've only got the various viruses et al to worry about.

Placing a router between your PC and your internet connection will eliminate 99% of the problem. The rest is user error (i.e. surfing to an infected site using IE which will allow ActiveX programs to run and do whatever they feel like to your PC).

I'm amazed at how many different computers try to get past my router on a daily basis. If the ISPs would actually do something about it, I'd mail them the IP addresses so they'd quarantine the computers at those addresses until they were malware free. But alas, it is not to be.

[crazeazn]

Originally posted by amazing:
Open mouth, stick foot in, without even Googling for some reference? Here's one reference from just a very brief search: Turns out I was wrong, XP is infected within 18 minutes. And that was on low-speed dialup, broadband is much faster with the infections.

http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec082904.html
http://www.techweb.com/wire/30000109
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5313402.html

it goes back to my point about user error, computers dont break down by themselves. all those machines infected do not just sit there and get infected. its ALL user error or mess-ups. according to that logic then every single windows xp box out in the world should be infected. the articles you pointed out are from the same source just rewritten by different people.

[Link]

Yes, the machines DO just sit there and get infected. Plug a machine into a network that's unprotected, and you'll get it. No, computers SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET INFECTED THAT EASILY AND ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT'S SIMPLY "USER ERROR" IS A MORON!

[crazeazn]

Originally posted by Link:
Yes, the machines DO just sit there and get infected. Plug a machine into a network that's unprotected, and you'll get it. No, computers SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET INFECTED THAT EASILY AND ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT'S SIMPLY "USER ERROR" IS A MORON!

name calling isnt necessary. but i will concede it.