sun 15-apr-07
Progress today. Discovered that HP sent me a 64bit version of the flavor of Vista that I bought. In XP days - 64bit was on the splash screen and very hard to miss. But not Vista x64. Does SysInfo tell you? Does MSConfig tell you. NOOOO. Kaspersky - my current AV software told me.
This explains why things like iTunes and my stock trading programs don't work. But, my scanner works. My printer works. Now that I know what the problem is - maybe I can get iTunes to work. Heck iTunes has to work.
I got my beloved text editor working and my tax software going today.
| Works | But |
| Kaspersky AV | Do we know if any AV really works. |
| Thunderbird | Web links fail sometimes. Free |
| Firefox | Some plugin funkiness. Free |
| BP Diary | It is a cute little japanese freeware thing for tracking blood pressure reading. Works fine. |
| Open Office | Works fine. Open Source. Free |
| The Gimp | Works fine. Open Source. Free |
| EverNote | Seems to work. Freeware. |
| Roboform | Worked fine. Needed to get latest version. |
| Google Earth | Works great. It loves the big fast machine. Free |
| Dreamweaver 8 | There are two updates to this. I could install the first one but not the second. And - the install process kills off windows help. Fortunately, I blundered into a Register Hack to repair the damage. And FTP doesn't work. Revision: FTP works sometimes now! |
| WS-FTP | Have to download a patch. And, Vista insists that the program will not work. Put, it doesn't. If it didn't you wouldn't be reading this. |
| iTunes | It installs. But, it will not burn a CD and no way will I trust plugging my iPod into the machine. Free. |
| IFranView | You have to fight to get it to install. Free. |
| EditPad Lite | Needed a newer version. Heck mine was from 1994. Free |
| TaxAct 2006 | But - Even after installing it keeps asking permission to continue. Sort of like in the Mac Ad. |
You may notice that I have installed very little purchased software. Roboform - couldn't get online without it. Dreamweaver - an indulgence. TaxAct - hey it costs $12.95 every year. WS-FTP - for some reason I bought a copy a couple of years ago. I am using a 30day trial of Kaspersky. Don't know if I'll spring for it. The idea is lighten up my use of the expensive software suites in preparation for migration to Mac.
With great glee, I removed my "Trial Copy" of Microsoft Office this morning. Open Office.
Today's issue was with HP. The had scheduled a program to "every 5th day run every 10 minutes" and nag the good people about signing up for internet service. There was a "Don't ask me this again button" - but it didn't work. I tracked it down in the bowels of the scheduler and crushed it. But, what happens to regular folk? Will they be hassled for as long as they own the machine?
