Thread: I'm dying

Good riddens. I'll see you in hell, sucka...

Originally Posted by SolSkye

I'll see you in hell, sucka...

I'll save you a spot next to the furries.

No need to fret. Remember that thread I posted a while back about my powerbook 17"? Well, I died too.


Now, I've been brought to the dark side and resurrected. New and improved. Muahaha.

Yeah, I'm gonna get a new computer anyway, but I'd still like to salvage this one. Other than being unable to run any game made after 1998, it's a good computer. We've been through so much together! u - u

You can imagine how I felt about my Powerbook Pro 17"... those mofos aren't cheap and I only had it 2 years...

Of course I could've fixed it for a cool 500$ but ef that...

Actually, I can't. I've had my computer for four years, got it for a present and can easily afford to replace it many times.

Backup your files, and wipe your computer, reinstall UBUNTU

Or just reinstall a crack of windows, whichever.

Yeh, I was thinking it might come to that. Won't be so bad. There isn't a heck of a lot to save that can't otherwise be easily replaced.

I looked up Ubuntu a bit. Will it be compatible with most/any of my Windows programs? Specifically, MSN, Paint Shop Pro, Flash and Notepad. How about games?

In regards to programs, there are many alternatives.

For MSN, you can use aMSN, but the most common is Pidgin (used to be GAIM). I actually used it while I was on windows, it's a very fast and clean program that is like trillian, but simpler. Multi-client, tabbed windows, etc. Though, aMSN does not have video, and I think no voice chat. Pidgin has neither. The voice chat on ubuntu is kind of lacking, but you can just get skype on ubuntu at any rate.

Paint Shop Pro -- GIMP is generally what people use. I have always hated it, but I think it's only because it's unfamiliar. It certainly is up there with Photoshop, plus it comes with ubuntu anyways. You just have to get used to the interface and all.

Flash -- I just checked a linux alternative website (if you search, there are plenty of sites that have big long lists of windows programs and alternative linux ones). But to be honest, most of them are shit. http://f4l.sourceforge.net/ That's for flash. It's probably very non-user friendly, not prepackaged and overall confusing and poor features. I mean, I am generalizing here, but unfortunately that is often the case. But see below

Notepad -- Yep. Ubuntu's "text editor" is quite nice. Plus it has tabbed windows for multiple documents, which is a plus. Plus there are "tomboy notes" which is a preinstalled program which is basically a note taking program. It's pretty cool.

Games -- Not so much, but see below.

Wine -- This is a windows emulator. Though, you should go into it expecting it NOT to work the way you want it to, or not at all. Many programs are laggy on it, or just don't work. Though, I would still say it is very, very helpful to have. I have heard success stories of people getting games like Counterstrike working. Some games are coded in such a way that they are much more compatible with wine.

To be honest, MOST programs for windows do not work on linux/ubuntu (note that ubuntu is a linux distribution, or version). In fact, it seems the majority of the programs that are for both operating systems were originally made for linux/ubuntu (firefox, Pidgin). Other programs that work on both are VLC, Skype, OpenOffice (which is okay, but still kind of sucks. I was a big fan of office 2007). You can get something like xchat or a ton of other programs for IRC, and ubuntu comes with a bunch of nice programs such as evolution, a mail client. If you want a list of all the applications I find *necessary* then just ask.

Generally, you have to work at it. I find installing it is a cinch, and getting the programs are all quick. But sometimes you have to find and experiment with other programs. I am currently using rhythmbox for music, and it was very hard for me to stop using iTunes. Personally, I have found rhythmbox to be the best, but it lacks many features still. However, it is instantly responsive always, which is a plus.

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My advice: Dual-boot with windows. Download a crack of windows (preferably XP). Make sure it has something to remove the activation requirement, and a serial code. Install your games and heavy software on that (for example, on my windows partition I have a 3D rendering software -- ubuntu has blender for 3D Rendering, but I hate it to be honest and it confuses the hell out of me. Some programs just don't really have ubuntu alternatives, unfortunately. But the windows dual-boot is the way to go. To do this, you essentially will do this...

1) Backup and wipe
2) After attaining a windows crack, install and crack it. You can also use a legal copy if you have one.
3) Partition the drive to make room for an ubuntu installation.
4) Install ubuntu on the new installation.
5) Transfer files to either windows or ubuntu (personally, I can access my windows drive on ubuntu, but for some reason not the other way around. though, it may be different for you).
6) Customize each one by installing programs and setting em up again.

If you need help with any of these steps or have any questions, just shoot me a message. You can send me a PM, or usually just send me an IM... MSN - [email protected] or Crouching Lotus0 For AIM

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Some other great features of ubuntu (in relation to the mac and windows equivalents) and things to know...

Expo - "Spaces"
Desktop cube - Representation of spaces.
You can have up to about, like, 100 desktops
Screenlets - Widgets
These are a bit hard to get, but just search around for screenlets, if you need help shoot me a message. They are just as functional as mac ones, way better than windows attempts at like yahoo widgets, but there are much, much fewer widgets created for ubuntu.
Scale windows - "expose"
This is an awesome feature! You can customize it to look just like the mac one, and you can have the scale show all the windows from all the desktops, or just your current desktops.

Customability - Ubuntu is very customizable. You can make it look vista or mac. I personally go with "clearlooks," a preinstalled blue version of the default, as it is stable and simplistically pretty and all.
Desktop corners - Like in mac, you can set different corners, and even edges of the screen (I would find that inredibly annoying, but to each his own) to do things. Currently I have the top left doing "scale windows" for all windows, top right for "expo" (spaces), bottom right for scale window for windows on the current desktop, and the bottom left for screenlets.

There are about four ways to get programs --
Easiest way -- Add/Remove programs. You go to applications, and you click add/remove programs. You can search and have a nice menu that talks about different categories of programs. You just right click, say "mark for installation" look for more programs, mark more for installation (or uninstallation). When you have selected all of your programs, you click apply, and it installs everything for you.

What's nice about ubuntu, is because it's open source, you don't have to click a million agreements and stuff... it "clicks next" for you, essentially and installs everything for you. Sometimes it doesn't have a program you want, or it won't let you remove a program because it's linked to another. This is when you get to the next way to get or remove programs...

Different way (not much harder) -- Synaptic Package Manager -- Another big thing for looking for files. It's a bit more technical, and has more things like plugins and stuff such as drivers, etc., and you can remove programs and the ones they are linked to, as well. This is a bit more powerful.

Less user friendly, a little harder, I suppose - Terminal - Ubuntu's "MSDOS," except actually widely used. Apparently it's very powerful. I don't really use it that much, because the only script I know is "sudo apt-get install program." It generally does things for you once you do that, but it is obviously a bit less user friendly. You don't REALLY have to learn to use it, but many say it's quite nice.

All the above are included in the ubuntu install, or at least in the updates that immediately follow the install.

Another way is if the package you are trying to download is not in any of the above. You have to search the net and find the .deb of the program to install it. This can be annoying trying to find the program (I think you have to do this with screenlets, as it's not recognized in any of the above), but once you do, it's rather easy to install.

And the major pain in the ass - Compiling the program. Sometimes programs aren't prepackaged to install on their own, and you ahve to compile it to install on your computer. I've never done this... I tried, but after the first step I was lost. Most programs that you need do NOT need compiling. I don't do it, personally. I just avoid programs where I need to.

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That should get you started

Thanks a lot. Like I said, I'm going to get a new computer for games anyway, which means Windows, so I can always just put Flash on that. Aside from that, I'm sure I could adapt to the alternatives. I don't plan on using this one a whole lot, I just don't want it to be useless. ^________

You could try installing AVG - Free, running your computer in safe mode and open nothing but AVG. Then do a full system scan, and set all actions to "delete".

You've probably already tried this though with another scanner, but AVG has picked up things for me that other scanners couldn't.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

I second the GNU/Linux recommendation. The Ubuntu distribution (either with the default GNOME desktop environment or with KDE or Xfce) is pretty user-friendly for Windows converts, and as with most other GNU/Linux distros, all the software is free. Since this is an old computer, you should check out Xubuntu, which is just like Ubuntu (it's even made by the same company) except that it uses the Xfce desktop environment, which is much less demanding on your hardware. As a result, it should be considerably faster than Windows.

Always when having viruses i formate the computer and reinstall the operation system to be 100% sure that the virus is gone.

Originally Posted by dsr

Since this is an old computer, you should check out Xubuntu, which is just like Ubuntu (it's even made by the same company) except that it uses the Xfce desktop environment, which is much less demanding on your hardware. As a result, it should be considerably faster than Windows.

Okay, I'll look into that.

Originally Posted by Grod

You've probably already tried this though with another scanner, but AVG has picked up things for me that other scanners couldn't.

Right-o. Thanks

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

It says it scans for viruses, but does it remove them, too?

I'll second Ubuntu/Kubuntu as well. In fact, I'm about to finally install it myself, as a dual-boot.

I'd just like to point out, dsr, that I don't believe linux distributions are made by a "company." Except for like, red hat linux and some other perhaps more obscure distributions, but ubuntu and its counterparts are not made by a company, I don't believe.

If you're running windows, make sure you turn off System Restore (only the most useless feature ever). Aside from wasting disk space, system restore has the nasty habit of backing up your viruses.

Originally Posted by wasup

I'd just like to point out, dsr, that I don't believe linux distributions are made by a "company." Except for like, red hat linux and some other perhaps more obscure distributions, but ubuntu and its counterparts are not made by a company, I don't believe.

What, then, would you call Canonical LTD? An organization?

I would call it the "commercial sponsor of ubuntu" that neither owns it nor is primarily responsible in its coding. Ubuntu is made by anyone who feels like programming it.

Originally Posted by Replicon

If you're running windows, make sure you turn off System Restore (only the most useless feature ever).

Ok, how do I do that?

Yeah, wasup, I was referring to Canonical Ltd. Its CEO Mark Shuttleworth and his $10,000,000 contribution is the only reason Ubuntu exists. While individuals certainly can make contributions, especially to the contrib repository, the company Canonical makes all the design decisions and runs all operations.

Originally Posted by Mark75

Ok, how do I do that?

The specific, click-by-click instructions vary with the flavours of Windows, but in general, you want to go into your control panel, under "System" and find it somewhere. It might be under "advanced" or it may have its own system restore tab.

I know some disagree with turning it off, but really, the only thing it's good for is restoring your system if you fsck up your registry. By no means should this be considered a valid back-up system, given that if your hard drive fries, it's not like system restore will help you (here's an idea - let's do our backups onto the same drive hehe).