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FunOne
Aug 20, 2000
I am a slimey vat of concentrated stupidity

Fun Shoe
What is the recommended free Antivirus these days? I just moved up to Windows 7 (a little late, I know) and its giving me some kind of warning.

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Toast Museum
Dec 3, 2005

30% Iron Chef

FunOne posted:

What is the recommended free Antivirus these days? I just moved up to Windows 7 (a little late, I know) and its giving me some kind of warning.

I'd go with Microsoft Security Essentials.

FunOne
Aug 20, 2000
I am a slimey vat of concentrated stupidity

Fun Shoe

Toast Museum posted:

I'd go with Microsoft Security Essentials.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Intrepid00
Nov 10, 2003

I'm tired of the PM’s asking if I actually poisoned kittens, instead look at these boobies.

FISHMANPET posted:

This sounds like exactly what Nagios is made for. Far from quick, but still plenty dirty.

AWS Cloudwatch custom metrics can do it too, but will cost you money and diffently isn't quick. You can do it fairly easily though with powershell and the .NET SDK.

Moses
Nov 19, 2003

You sound like you're in a cult...
Should I still care about background processes impacting performance?

Back in the day you would close out of whatever happened to be running, system tray type stuff, before running games, for example

Now, assuming those processes aren't using much/any CPU, is there any need to do this?

Galler
Jan 28, 2008


I don't bother closing stuff but I do run msconfig every now and then and turn off most of the poo poo that thinks it needs to run at startup and disable most non-microsoft services.

ToG
Feb 17, 2007
Rory Gallagher Wannabe

HKBGUTT posted:

Is it possible to use a Windows 7 OEM-key from a laptop and install using a Windows 7 retail cd and sucessfully activate Windows? I remember this beeing problematic with Windows XP.

Just in case it doesn't activate (I've had this issue alot) online, Just use the automated phone service. That always works for me.

Sweevo
Nov 8, 2007

i sometimes throw cables away

i mean straight into the bin without spending 10+ years in the box of might-come-in-handy-someday first

im a fucking monster

Moses posted:

Should I still care about background processes impacting performance?

Back in the day you would close out of whatever happened to be running, system tray type stuff, before running games, for example

Now, assuming those processes aren't using much/any CPU, is there any need to do this?

Depends what they are. Most things I leave alone, but I do turn off all the useless helper services that only exist to make some program I run once a week load 0.3 seconds faster, and the third-party updater crap that tries to phone home 15 times a day.

Sistergodiva
Jan 3, 2006

I'm like you,
I have no shame.

Does anyone know a good program for mounting various images in Windows 7? I've been using both alcohol and daemontools, but they are kinda bloaty and tries to make me install spyware with them etc. Anyone knows a simple and clean alternative?

NihilCredo
Jun 6, 2011

iram omni possibili modo preme:
plus una illa te diffamabit, quam multæ virtutes commendabunt

I switched to WinCDEmu a while ago. FOSS, portable, functional.

Sistergodiva
Jan 3, 2006

I'm like you,
I have no shame.

NihilCredo posted:

I switched to WinCDEmu a while ago. FOSS, portable, functional.

Thanks a lot! Just what I was looking for. If only more programs where like this and Transmission :(

Nintendo Kid
Aug 4, 2011

by Smythe

Sistergodiva posted:

Does anyone know a good program for mounting various images in Windows 7? I've been using both alcohol and daemontools, but they are kinda bloaty and tries to make me install spyware with them etc. Anyone knows a simple and clean alternative?

I prefer PowerISO, it's also good for ripping discs. The virtual drive manager thing for the images is very resource-light.

Toast Museum
Dec 3, 2005

30% Iron Chef
I'm a fan of Virtual CloneDrive.

WayneCampbell
Oct 7, 2005
You got me a gunrack?!? I don't even own a gun, let alone alone enough to nessecitate an entire rack.
What's that website that lets you build a custom install package from a long list of programs for fresh window installs? I can't for the life of me remember it and google is giving me nothing.

YggiDee
Sep 12, 2007

WASP CREW
I think you want Nitnite.

Galler
Jan 28, 2008


Toast Museum posted:

I'm a fan of Virtual CloneDrive.

Another vote for Virtual CloneDrive.

Srebrenica Surprise
Aug 23, 2008

"L-O-V-E's just another word I never learned to pronounce."
VCD only fails when you're mounting those awful PowerISO or MagicISO or whatever the hell interchangeable shareware crap software it's called, but Luigi Auriemma wrote tools to convert UIF, DAA, etc to ISO really quickly so it's easily the best ISO mounter.

WayneCampbell
Oct 7, 2005
You got me a gunrack?!? I don't even own a gun, let alone alone enough to nessecitate an entire rack.

YggiDee posted:

I think you want Nitnite.

Thank you.

univbee
Jun 3, 2004




Toast Museum posted:

I'm a fan of Virtual CloneDrive.

This gets my vote as well.

On another note, is there such thing as software that will intelligently impose network rules when you're travelling? My dad often goes to remote parts of the world with only data-limited satellite internet and Windows will still try and pull monthly updates in those circumstances; I'd rather not lower the rules if I can help it because the updates will never get installed then. At the very least something with an on/off switch that'll change the Microsoft Update settings, and having support for other software with auto-updates would be a plus too.

NihilCredo
Jun 6, 2011

iram omni possibili modo preme:
plus una illa te diffamabit, quam multæ virtutes commendabunt

If the satellite connection uses a different network interface, the default Windows Firewall can set a rule to only apply to them (double click -> Advanced -> Interface Types, "Customize"). You can also set them to only apply to "Public" type networks, and tell your dad to hit the "classify as Public" option when he gets the popup for a new network.

Alternatively, you can just make two different policy files (basically firewall profiles) and have your dad switch between them as necessary.

Sab669
Sep 24, 2009

YggiDee posted:

I think you want Nitnite.

Wow, that's pretty cool. I usually just keep a flash drive with a bunch of installers on it but this might make it a little easier.

Propaganda Hour
Aug 25, 2008



after editing wikipedia as a joke for 16 years, i ve convinced myself that homer simpson's japanese name translates to the "The beer goblin"
Windows press conference in LA is just starting, Engadget has a pretty okay live blog going right now here.

TwoKnives
Dec 25, 2004

Horrible, horrible shoes!

Propaganda Hour posted:

Windows press conference in LA is just starting, Engadget has a pretty okay live blog going right now here.

The Verge have one going as well.
http://live.theverge.com/microsoft-live-blog-tablet-announcement/

Propaganda Hour
Aug 25, 2008



after editing wikipedia as a joke for 16 years, i ve convinced myself that homer simpson's japanese name translates to the "The beer goblin"

Yeah, they got better seats, too.

Propaganda Hour
Aug 25, 2008



after editing wikipedia as a joke for 16 years, i ve convinced myself that homer simpson's japanese name translates to the "The beer goblin"
Steve Ballmer is a very dour and strange looking individual

Inspector_666
Oct 7, 2003

benny with the good hair

Sab669 posted:

Wow, that's pretty cool. I usually just keep a flash drive with a bunch of installers on it but this might make it a little easier.

Ninite is pretty fantastic. It's made life so much easier for me doing reinstalls.

modig
Aug 20, 2002
Just bought an SSD and I want to move my current Windows 7 install onto it. I found a program call Paragon that is apparently designed to help with this. Is Paragon a good choice, or is there something else better? Or is there some reason moving the install is a bad idea?

*I'd rather pay $20 than spend time dealing with offsets and stuff, I also found instructions for that.

Achmed Jones
Oct 16, 2004



modig posted:

Just bought an SSD and I want to move my current Windows 7 install onto it. I found a program call Paragon that is apparently designed to help with this. Is Paragon a good choice, or is there something else better? Or is there some reason moving the install is a bad idea?

*I'd rather pay $20 than spend time dealing with offsets and stuff, I also found instructions for that.

I'd also like to know the answer to this!

Inspector_666
Oct 7, 2003

benny with the good hair
It comes up a lot, and usually the SSD will come with some kind of program that will clone your old drive.

zaepg
Dec 25, 2008

by sebmojo
I know Microsoft did an IT Conference for those wishing to get a free copy of Windows 7 back in '09. Any word if they'll be doing something similar with 8?

retro sexual
Mar 14, 2005
Lightweight alternative to Adobe Reader for pdfs for a new laptop? (Win 7)

Also, the shsc.info links in the OP no longer work (where I wanted to look for this info!)

HalloKitty
Sep 30, 2005

Adjust the bass and let the Alpine blast
I use SumatraPDF, it's probably as light as things get. I don't know if anyone has a better suggestion. If you have a new machine, I'd use https://www.ninite.com to install it and any other knick-knacks you may need in one go.

IAmKale
Jun 7, 2007

やらないか

Fun Shoe

retro sexual posted:

Lightweight alternative to Adobe Reader for pdfs for a new laptop? (Win 7)
Your choices boil down to Foxit, SumatraPDF and maybe Nitro PDF Reader. Adobe Reader's not so bad anymore, though - if you haven't used it recently I'd suggest trying out the newest version.

GreenNight
Feb 19, 2006
Turning the light on the darkest places, you and I know we got to face this now. We got to face this now.

I also use this:

http://www.patchmypc.net/

To install simple programs and to keep them up to date. Works great.

modig
Aug 20, 2002

Inspector_71 posted:

It comes up a lot, and usually the SSD will come with some kind of program that will clone your old drive.

The intel drive I got pointed me towards some software, but it couldn't handle the fact that my previous install was bigger than my SSD. So I bought Paragon which lets you not move folders like Users. I was not super impressed with Paragon, there is a button like "use all of target drive regardless of how much you copy there" which only freezes the program in such a way that you need to reboot before you can use it again. Also I did something that convinced it that it only needed to copy zero bytes over. All in all I probably ran it 10-15 times before I finally hit go, because I had to figure out which settings actually worked.
Also it provides no help with configuring windows to know about your new Users location, so I had to boot into safe mode and do that myself.

IAmKale
Jun 7, 2007

やらないか

Fun Shoe
I'd suggest just reinstalling Windows and then copying over whatever you need from the old drive. There are settings within Windows that are set differently when it's install on an SSD - cloning a drive from an HDD to SDD would require you to go in and manually change those settings. Installing from scratch gives the installer a chance to optimize the OS so it can reap the full benefits of solid-state storage.

Flipperwaldt
Nov 11, 2011

Won't somebody think of the starving hamsters in China?



Karthe posted:

I'd suggest just reinstalling Windows and then copying over whatever you need from the old drive. There are settings within Windows that are set differently when it's install on an SSD - cloning a drive from an HDD to SDD would require you to go in and manually change those settings. Installing from scratch gives the installer a chance to optimize the OS so it can reap the full benefits of solid-state storage.
SSD Thread says: Re-run the Windows Experience Index test and Windows should adjust all those settings appropriately.

Reinstalling has other benefits, obviously.

Xenomorph
Jun 13, 2001
In an Active Directory environment, shouldn't the connecting clients be listed in DNS on the DNS server? Only some are - Windows 7 systems, I think. The Windows XP systems aren't listed in DNS.

From the server, I can right-click a Windows 7 system and go to Manage. But not the XP systems, as it can't resolve their names.

What should I be checking on the XP systems? What Group Policy can I enable to push the setting out to all XP systems?

Edit:
My Windows 7 systems definitely added themselves to DNS, and my Macs have added themselves a dozen times each (apparently they register DNS for each network adapter they have).

Double-edit, the Windows XP systems have "Register this connection's address in DNS" disable. Enabling that seems to get their DNS info updated.

How can I force that with a Group Policy?

Policies/Admin/Network/DNS Client/ "Dynamic Updates" seems like it would do it, but it doesn't make the setting stick.

Xenomorph fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Jun 19, 2012

IT Guy
Jan 12, 2010

You people drink like you don't want to live!

Xenomorph posted:

In an Active Directory environment, shouldn't the connecting clients be listed in DNS on the DNS server? Only some are - Windows 7 systems, I think. The Windows XP systems aren't listed in DNS.

From the server, I can right-click a Windows 7 system and go to Manage. But not the XP systems, as it can't resolve their names.

What should I be checking on the XP systems? What Group Policy can I enable to push the setting out to all XP systems?

Edit:
My Windows 7 systems definitely added themselves to DNS, and my Macs have added themselves a dozen times each (apparently they register DNS for each network adapter they have).

Double-edit, the Windows XP systems have "Register this connection's address in DNS" disable. Enabling that seems to get their DNS info updated.

How can I force that with a Group Policy?

Policies/Admin/Network/DNS Client/ "Dynamic Updates" seems like it would do it, but it doesn't make the setting stick.

I wouldn't be changing stuff in GPO to fix the issue. Something is wrong.

Has someone turned off dynamic updates on the domain in the DNS server? Right click the domain name in DNS Manager (forward lookup) and look to see what the dynamic updates is set at.

edit: Also make sure someone didn't turn off the DHCP client service through GPO for xp machines. Also is your DHCP server setup properly and handing out the proper DNS servers and DNS suffix(option 15 if I recall) (I don't think this matters for dynamic updates but for resolving it would).

IT Guy fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Jun 20, 2012

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NihilCredo
Jun 6, 2011

iram omni possibili modo preme:
plus una illa te diffamabit, quam multæ virtutes commendabunt

What do you guys use to make .gifs from video clips? Photoshop is being a bitch and online tools have awful results.

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