Booted into Win for first time in 6 months...

[Brunellus]

I feel so dirty. I booted into my Windows partition for the first time in maybe six months this weekend.

The reason? I got Civ 4, finally. I know that it can run fine in Linux under Cedega, but since my / and /home partitions are reiserfs instead of ext3, there are still some known issues. (very un-Ubuntu to run Reiser, I know...my next clean installs will be ext3)

If only Sid Meier/Firaxis would release a native Civ4 for Linux, I'd be ecstatic. ECSTATIC. I haven't had a good chance to look at things, but they're essentially opening the whole structure up to be modded (much in the same way that iD's been doing with their shooters for years). I wish they'd take the last step and release for non-Windows platforms....

....because I hate Windows now. Viscerally. My windows install is now plagued by hard lockups that even CTRL ALT DEL won't fix. I have no idea where to begin to troubleshoot them; I don't know where the logs are. My first instinct when the thing crapped out on me was to scramble for a textmode console...and then I remembered I wasn't in Linux.

The worst thing about the instability is that it's unpredictable. There's really no way for me to tell when the system will halt catastrophically. My best guess would be that it has something to do with my video drivers or some other device driver, but Windows doesn't even return a BSOD. It just...stops.

It's beginning to look like we're going to have to designate the one stable windows box downstairs as the WinTendo.

[Rackerz]

Lol, I'm liking the WinTendo.

[bruce89]

My Windows install has gone mad ever since I resized its partition. Installers will fail, and it takes 2 minutes to login. I can't reinstall (I think), as I have used all 3 installs up.

[Brunellus]

My Windows install has gone mad ever since I resized its partition. Installers will fail, and it takes 2 minutes to login. I can't reinstall (I think), as I have used all 3 installs up.
that's probably the most helpful thing I've read.

does it lock up hard?

[TravisNewman]

My Windows install has gone mad ever since I resized its partition. Installers will fail, and it takes 2 minutes to login. I can't reinstall (I think), as I have used all 3 installs up.
you can call them to get a new product key. If you call them they'll give you almost anything you want. I lost a product key at work and called them and they just gave me a new one no questions asked.

[Brunellus]

the downer is that I don't actually have my own license for WinXP--it's an OEM machine, and all I have are the "recovery" images which would wipe my working ubuntu install.

[ubuntu_demon]

It's beginning to look like we're going to have to designate the one stable windows box downstairs as the WinTendo.

Nice name for a windows box :-D

[ember]

Well - you may ask a friend whether he can lend you an installation CD. I think it is not illegal as long as you own a key for the OEM installation.
It is also possible to do a repair install, but I would not recommend this. Usually this just makes everything worse ;)

[NESFreak]

hard lockups anywhere. When i didn't had ubuntu i thought i could live with it. But... times have changed. The times of forced rebooting twice a day are over. I'm happy with ubuntu. But unfortunately ubuntu made me hate windows more than ever. About a yeur ago i was searchin for a good linux distro. After several video an wireless isues i stoped searching. Used partitionmagic to get my partitions back together. Now i can't even use chkdsk. It claims my hd is broken. Because my hd is claimed to be broken i cant defrag. Today windows is loading everything slower than ever.

[TravisNewman]

the downer is that I don't actually have my own license for WinXP--it's an OEM machine, and all I have are the "recovery" images which would wipe my working ubuntu install.
and it didn't come with a windows cd? I hate when pc manufacturers pull that.

[MetalMusicAddict]

Yea. Dell does that crap. It doesnt really cost that much to press a cd. ](*,)


Well - you may ask a friend whether he can lend you an installation CD. I think it is not illegal as long as you own a key for the OEM installation.
It is also possible to do a repair install, but I would not recommend this. Usually this just makes everything worse ;)

Normally it doesnt work to use an OEM key with a normal install disk. I got it to install by changing a couple of numbers on a install disk but after that it wouldnt let me register. I thought I could do this for a friend to rebuild his Dell. It might be possiable if you can get it to register.

[WildTangent]

Yea. Dell does that crap. It doesnt really cost that much to press a cd. ](*,)



Normally it doesnt work to use an OEM key with a normal install disk. I got it to install by changing a couple of numbers on a install disk but after that it wouldnt let me register. I thought I could do this for a friend to rebuild his Dell. It might be possiable if you can get it to register.

The disks for retail and OEM packages are the exact same. You can use a retail key with a disk from a OEM package, and vice-versa. Also...you can use your OEM key again, you just need to phone Microsoft to activate it.

-Wild

[AndyCooll]

I wiped XP off my boxes at the beginning of the year and created an XP VMware image instead. Since I installed Linux in June 2005 my XP drive had gradually been used less and less. I got to the stage where I only ever needed XP for a couple of tasks and dual-booting was such a pain.

Indeed now the only reason I have my XP image is to play Football Manager. I love that game and have bought every version that's come out in the last 10 years. However I'm finding that I'm not even playing FM very often now, it's too much hassle. I'm at the stage where when the next FM comes out in Nov/Dec I'm no longer sure I'll be buying it.

:cool:

[MetalMusicAddict]

The disks for retail and OEM packages are the exact same. You can use a retail key with a disk from a OEM package, and vice-versa. Also...you can use your OEM key again, you just need to phone Microsoft to activate it.

-Wild

I beg to differ sir. :) They arent exactly the same. look HERE (http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Convert_OEM_Windows_XP_disc_to_Retail_Windows_XP). I cant find the exact info I found before but basicly its 1 string of text to change to let the retail disk accept a OEM key. I had a problem registering though.

Wait. I found the info.


Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini

WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it up, it'll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, ie is it a retail cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem cd that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP cd that acted like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys.

Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM

So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read:

Pid=51882335

And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:

Pid=51882OEM

Note that this does NOT get rid of WinXP's activation. Changing the Pid to a Volume License will not bypass activation. You must have a volume license (corporate) key to do so.

[djsroknrol]

I feel so dirty. I booted into my Windows partition for the first time in maybe six months this weekend.

You should be ashamed of yourself...:-D


It's beginning to look like we're going to have to designate the one stable windows box downstairs as the WinTendo.

I love that..is it trademarked?

[plasticM]

The worst thing about the instability is that it's unpredictable. There's really no way for me to tell when the system will halt catastrophically.

Annoying isn't it. My Ubuntu fails to boot half the time, completely randomly (Windows is fine thanks). Any ideas anyone?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=558001