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Stupid problem of the week

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  • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

    Bought an Acer netbook. No optical drive, no big deal, right? Well the netbook doesn't come with a restore CD (why would it there is no optical drive?) Windows 7 backup won't write an ISO or to a network only to writeable optical drive, the Acer software only writes to writable optical drives. You can't easily share an optical drive, daemon tools claims to offer writeable drive emulation but I couldn't find a single tool that I could download that actually would do as advertised. So off to PING. Man oh man turning that sucker into a bootable USB was hard ... the instructions were all wrong. Finally get it running and lo and behold I only have an 8 GB flash drive. Windows 7 takes 9GB then some other files. Getting creative, I disable hibernation saving 2 Gigs (allegedly) and set Windows to delete the page file on shutdown so of course my partitions still take 12GB and won't compress to my drive. This post, of course is a rant (don't try to solve my problem) Computing should be simple, it seems as if every person at every step of the way has conspired to make this process hard! Sure I can buy a USB Dvd writer or a 16GB USB drive (they are about the same price) but WTF. If I would have known ahead of time the true cost of a netbook I would have never bought it and just bought a laptop instead. 50 bucks for the backup, 50 bucks for the 2gig memory stick, sheesh. BTW, Windows 7 is a lot less annoying than Vista. I was going to install XP on this netbook but decided against it after enjoying 7.

    Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

    T Offline
    T Offline
    ToddHileHoffer
    wrote on last edited by
    #10

    I have an acer with no optical drive. So I purchased an dvd drive from wal-mart, installed Win 7 and promptly returned the DVD drive the same day. Problem solved.

    I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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    • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

      Bought an Acer netbook. No optical drive, no big deal, right? Well the netbook doesn't come with a restore CD (why would it there is no optical drive?) Windows 7 backup won't write an ISO or to a network only to writeable optical drive, the Acer software only writes to writable optical drives. You can't easily share an optical drive, daemon tools claims to offer writeable drive emulation but I couldn't find a single tool that I could download that actually would do as advertised. So off to PING. Man oh man turning that sucker into a bootable USB was hard ... the instructions were all wrong. Finally get it running and lo and behold I only have an 8 GB flash drive. Windows 7 takes 9GB then some other files. Getting creative, I disable hibernation saving 2 Gigs (allegedly) and set Windows to delete the page file on shutdown so of course my partitions still take 12GB and won't compress to my drive. This post, of course is a rant (don't try to solve my problem) Computing should be simple, it seems as if every person at every step of the way has conspired to make this process hard! Sure I can buy a USB Dvd writer or a 16GB USB drive (they are about the same price) but WTF. If I would have known ahead of time the true cost of a netbook I would have never bought it and just bought a laptop instead. 50 bucks for the backup, 50 bucks for the 2gig memory stick, sheesh. BTW, Windows 7 is a lot less annoying than Vista. I was going to install XP on this netbook but decided against it after enjoying 7.

      Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

      T Offline
      T Offline
      Todd Smith
      wrote on last edited by
      #11

      You can get a 4-16gb USB flash drive for ~$15-$20 and easily use that to boot Win7 from. Creating Bootable Vista / Windows 7 USB Flash Drive[^]

      Todd Smith

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      • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

        Bought an Acer netbook. No optical drive, no big deal, right? Well the netbook doesn't come with a restore CD (why would it there is no optical drive?) Windows 7 backup won't write an ISO or to a network only to writeable optical drive, the Acer software only writes to writable optical drives. You can't easily share an optical drive, daemon tools claims to offer writeable drive emulation but I couldn't find a single tool that I could download that actually would do as advertised. So off to PING. Man oh man turning that sucker into a bootable USB was hard ... the instructions were all wrong. Finally get it running and lo and behold I only have an 8 GB flash drive. Windows 7 takes 9GB then some other files. Getting creative, I disable hibernation saving 2 Gigs (allegedly) and set Windows to delete the page file on shutdown so of course my partitions still take 12GB and won't compress to my drive. This post, of course is a rant (don't try to solve my problem) Computing should be simple, it seems as if every person at every step of the way has conspired to make this process hard! Sure I can buy a USB Dvd writer or a 16GB USB drive (they are about the same price) but WTF. If I would have known ahead of time the true cost of a netbook I would have never bought it and just bought a laptop instead. 50 bucks for the backup, 50 bucks for the 2gig memory stick, sheesh. BTW, Windows 7 is a lot less annoying than Vista. I was going to install XP on this netbook but decided against it after enjoying 7.

        Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

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        C Offline
        Christian Graus
        wrote on last edited by
        #12

        I may have contemplated buying that netbook. Thanks for making me feel better. Weven locks down your app folder more than Vista, my app did not work on Weven when I first tested. But overall, I agree, Weven doesn't seem too bad.

        Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.

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        • R ragnaroknrol

          I thought the fountain might be pushing it. ;)

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          Rajesh R Subramanian
          wrote on last edited by
          #13

          Added points for a fountain pen with a rusty nib, just in case. :)

          “Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Campbell

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          • T ToddHileHoffer

            I have an acer with no optical drive. So I purchased an dvd drive from wal-mart, installed Win 7 and promptly returned the DVD drive the same day. Problem solved.

            I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #14

            Tacky :|

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            • T ToddHileHoffer

              I have an acer with no optical drive. So I purchased an dvd drive from wal-mart, installed Win 7 and promptly returned the DVD drive the same day. Problem solved.

              I didn't get any requirements for the signature

              E Offline
              E Offline
              Ennis Ray Lynch Jr
              wrote on last edited by
              #15

              Technically that is stealing.

              Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

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              • T Todd Smith

                You can get a 4-16gb USB flash drive for ~$15-$20 and easily use that to boot Win7 from. Creating Bootable Vista / Windows 7 USB Flash Drive[^]

                Todd Smith

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                Luc Pattyn
                wrote on last edited by
                #16

                Yep. I've got one of these[^]. :)

                Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [Why QA sucks] [My Articles]


                I only read code that is properly formatted, adding PRE tags is the easiest way to obtain that.
                [The QA section does it automatically now, I hope we soon get it on regular forums as well]


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                • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

                  Technically that is stealing.

                  Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

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                  ToddHileHoffer
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #17

                  Technically, it is not stealing. It is more like borrowing. Considering how much money my wife spends at wal-mart I don't feel guilty about it at all.

                  I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                  • T ToddHileHoffer

                    Technically, it is not stealing. It is more like borrowing. Considering how much money my wife spends at wal-mart I don't feel guilty about it at all.

                    I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                    E Offline
                    Ennis Ray Lynch Jr
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #18

                    Technically, it is Fraud and not stealing which is more likely a felony whereas the shoplifting would only be a misdemeanor.

                    Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

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                    • L Lost User

                      Tacky :|

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                      T Offline
                      ToddHileHoffer
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #19

                      It is not a dress. I was going to purchase an external DVD drive but the cheapest one at the store was like $60. You can get one online for about 1/3 the price. I didn't want to wait a week, so I borrowed it. If I never shopped at the store I would feel guilty about it, but considering all the money my wife spends there and the fact that wal-mart makes like a bazillion dollars in profits, I don't feel bad about it at all.

                      I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                      • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

                        Technically, it is Fraud and not stealing which is more likely a felony whereas the shoplifting would only be a misdemeanor.

                        Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

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                        T Offline
                        ToddHileHoffer
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #20

                        WTF are you talking about? What Fraud. You are allowed to return a product the same day. I didn't commit any fraud. I just decided I didn't want to keep it.

                        I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                        • T ToddHileHoffer

                          It is not a dress. I was going to purchase an external DVD drive but the cheapest one at the store was like $60. You can get one online for about 1/3 the price. I didn't want to wait a week, so I borrowed it. If I never shopped at the store I would feel guilty about it, but considering all the money my wife spends there and the fact that wal-mart makes like a bazillion dollars in profits, I don't feel bad about it at all.

                          I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                          L Offline
                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #21

                          ToddHileHoffer wrote:

                          I didn't want to wait a week, so I borrowed it.

                          ToddHileHoffer wrote:

                          considering all the money my wife spends there and the fact that wal-mart makes like a bazillion dollars in profits

                          In my opinion, that's tacky. Sorry, but I was raised differently than that.

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                          • L Lost User

                            ToddHileHoffer wrote:

                            I didn't want to wait a week, so I borrowed it.

                            ToddHileHoffer wrote:

                            considering all the money my wife spends there and the fact that wal-mart makes like a bazillion dollars in profits

                            In my opinion, that's tacky. Sorry, but I was raised differently than that.

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                            ToddHileHoffer
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #22

                            You are right. Everything about wal-mart is tacky. I hate the place, but it is convenient sometimes.

                            I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                            • T ToddHileHoffer

                              WTF are you talking about? What Fraud. You are allowed to return a product the same day. I didn't commit any fraud. I just decided I didn't want to keep it.

                              I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                              E Offline
                              Ennis Ray Lynch Jr
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #23

                              Your intent was not to purchase the item but to borrow the item and then return it which is a violation of the purchase contract according to common-law. Unless you went to the Store Manager (or otherwise authorized agent) and asked if you could purchase the item, with no intent of keeping it, and then return it then you made a fraudulent purchase. Because every one does it, or because you spend a lot of money at Walmart, or because you have some how justified it to yourself does not change the reality of your action. There is no rule or law that says if you spend, "x" amount or if you "feel" a certain way then you can perform a certain action that is otherwise illegal.

                              Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

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                              • T ToddHileHoffer

                                Technically, it is not stealing. It is more like borrowing. Considering how much money my wife spends at wal-mart I don't feel guilty about it at all.

                                I didn't get any requirements for the signature

                                R Offline
                                R Offline
                                realJSOP
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #24

                                Now you've done it. You're pure evil now that you've swung one back in the direction of evil "Corporate America". I don't do that either, but I'm not gonna give you a hard time for doing it yourself...

                                .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                                -----
                                "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                                -----
                                "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

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                                • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

                                  Your intent was not to purchase the item but to borrow the item and then return it which is a violation of the purchase contract according to common-law. Unless you went to the Store Manager (or otherwise authorized agent) and asked if you could purchase the item, with no intent of keeping it, and then return it then you made a fraudulent purchase. Because every one does it, or because you spend a lot of money at Walmart, or because you have some how justified it to yourself does not change the reality of your action. There is no rule or law that says if you spend, "x" amount or if you "feel" a certain way then you can perform a certain action that is otherwise illegal.

                                  Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane

                                  R Offline
                                  R Offline
                                  realJSOP
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #25

                                  But he followed the rules of the retail outlet. Wal-mart has a money-back-no-questions-asked return policy as long as you have the receipt. All's fair, and all that.

                                  .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                                  -----
                                  "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                                  -----
                                  "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

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                                  • T ToddHileHoffer

                                    WTF are you talking about? What Fraud. You are allowed to return a product the same day. I didn't commit any fraud. I just decided I didn't want to keep it.

                                    I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                                    Lost User
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #26

                                    Except that you didn't return the product, but only the physical medium on which it was carried.. which is why all these "old rules" make no sense anymore. IMO, if they didn't want you to do this, they should put some effort into preventing you from doing it. Otherwise it's too much like putting your computer outside and then reporting theft when it's stolen. Now I don't know what the police is going to do about that (actually I do know: nothing. they never do anything.) but I know for a fact that my insurance does not cover this. So I'm pretty much siding with you here, I think. Anyway why didn't you just pirate it? Same end-result, but faster..

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                                    • M Member 96

                                      Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:

                                      I was going to install XP on this netbook but decided against it after enjoying 7.

                                      Yeah I've pretty much made my mind up to ditch xp finally for w7. I run w7 as my host and xp as my virtual machines and it's jarring going back to xp and not in a good way.


                                      Yesterday they said today was tomorrow but today they know better. - Poul Anderson

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                                      D Offline
                                      Dan Neely
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #27

                                      Amen. I've been Weven at home since the RC, coming to work sucks and not just because of the hardware on my laptop vs my desktop of doom (50% fewer physical cores, 75% fewer logical cores, 48% lower clock rate, 20(???)% lower IPC, pathetically slower and smaller mechanical HD vs SSD). Fortunately the W7 rollout is beginning and I volunteered to be part of the first wave. :jig: Unsurprisingly the irRational bloatware I have to use is unsupported and mostly incomparable and will have to be virtualized. I :laugh: to avoid the :(( 's.

                                      3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18

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                                      • L Lost User

                                        I was going to suggest daemon tools.. but I guess that didn't work then But, this just makes me think "how hard would it really have been to abstract the storage medium for the backup away?", and I'm thinking, not that hard. But maybe there's a very good reason for it all..

                                        D Offline
                                        D Offline
                                        Dan Neely
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #28

                                        harold aptroot wrote:

                                        But, this just makes me think "how hard would it really have been to abstract the storage medium for the backup away?", and I'm thinking, not that hard. But maybe there's a very good reason for it all..

                                        Is upselling people to higher priced windows SKU's a valid version. AFAIK pro and above support windows backup to the network. :rolleyes:

                                        3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18

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                                        • T ToddHileHoffer

                                          It is not a dress. I was going to purchase an external DVD drive but the cheapest one at the store was like $60. You can get one online for about 1/3 the price. I didn't want to wait a week, so I borrowed it. If I never shopped at the store I would feel guilty about it, but considering all the money my wife spends there and the fact that wal-mart makes like a bazillion dollars in profits, I don't feel bad about it at all.

                                          I didn't get any requirements for the signature

                                          D Offline
                                          D Offline
                                          Dan Neely
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #29

                                          Newegg doesn't list any below $40. I've got a USB to Sata/Pata adapter with a power brick big enough to run a desktop optical drive if needed; but for $20 an external DVD drive would be a useful buy.

                                          3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18

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