Computers: Sometimes It's Best to Leave Well Enough Alone

  • Thread starter Thread starter XploZiveToyz
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XploZiveToyz

XploZiveToyz

All American Un-American
The story I'm about to relate happened simply because I couldn't leave well enough alone. And unlike some stories, this story does have a moral. The moral is that if something isn't broken, just leave it the hell alone!
I have two computers that ! use for recording. One is an Apple and the other is a PC that was using Windows 7 as it's operating system. Both computers have been very stable over the three or so years that I've owned them. They've never crashed or even had the screen freeze up like earlier computers used to do and you'd have to hit Control, Alt, Delete to get them to unfreeze. I consider both to be excellent computers that have never given me one minute of trouble.
After bouncing around the internet reading various articles on Windows 8 I decided that I would probably suffer major depression, and possibly a bad end unless I immediately installed Windows 8 into my computer. Never mind the fact that 7 ran great and had never given me any trouble whatsoever. I wanted a clean install so I dumped everything and installed 8. I spent the major portion of that night and most of the next day reinstalling all my various applications and programs that I use for recording and music. I have a lot of them which is why it took all those hours to reinstall the stuff I'd dumped. So when I was done I fired it up and everything ran well until I got to Guitar Rig 5 Pro made by Native Instruments. Dammit, it didn't work! I un-installed it and reinstalled it. All to no avail. I contacted Native Instrument for help. I answered their many questions. I sent them various print screen shots. All to no avail. The computer was running well all except for the fact that GR5 didn't work. I went back and forth with NI for a week or so and they never figured out what the problem was. I then decided to install the Windows 8.1 Update Beta to see if that would fix the problem. It fixed the GR5 problem, but now the computer constantly crashed and the screen would freeze. Not even hitting Control, Alt, Delete would unfreeze it. I had to manually turn the computer off thus losing any work that I had done. I then spent the next three days reading various forums and trying different things all to no avail. I finally said, "Fuck this!" and decided to reinstall 7. However I decided to try 8 one more time. I did and now everything is running great. I reinstalled 7 into another drive on the same PC so I could compare 7 and 8. My findings suggest that 8 is just a little bit faster than 7, but not fast enough to warrant spending the money that I spent on 8. My suggestion to you is that if you're happy with 7 and it works well for you, then by all means keep it! There is no reason to fix something that isn't broke! LOL!
 
Go find Dr. Varney.....he can tell you computer stories that will make your balls shrink to the size of raisins.
 
#1 Never move to an OS until it's been out 18months or so and the bugs have been shaken out. (Otherwise you are just an unpaid beta tester.)

#2 If it works, don't mess with it.

#3 Bells and whistles don't help you if the damned thing rolls over and crashes all the time. Eye candy is not your friend.


Another big problem is there are still lots of "Ya gotta do these tweaks for any daw" articles out there on the web.
Unfortunately they can be a dozen years old back when we had <1Ghz machines that had to be tweaked to death just to do anything.
They are mostly invalid these days and messing with the low-level functions of a lot of pc's these days will make them unstable.
Always TEST your pc with some stressful projects and see how the cpu and disk meters react. If it works, DONT TOUCH IT.
 
LOL! I wasted a good week or so fooling with this stuff. DUH! LOL!
 
I can relate to all pc crashes and hardrive failures and anything that can wrong with pc's.

I agree and have 7's and an 8 around here. I have noticed Windows 8 seems to handle more advertisements better and commercial ad pop ups , which might have been Microsofts purpose for the new version.....advertiser friendly.
AS far as my audio 7,8, doesn't sound any better than XP or 95.

I was going through old magazines of recording and its funny to see all the old old pc's that were churning out gold records in their day.

but upgrade we must! lol ...what a crock
 
My uncle had a recent nightmare while upgrading to Win8 from Win7. Waste of time. I spent the best part of a day formatting, installing Win8, reinstalling all his applications, drivers, etc.

If it ain't broke, leave it the hell alone!

I'll stick with WinXP. I don't need a fancy, all singing, all dancing OS. Just one that works well with my set up.

:thumbs up:
 
I'm still on XP for my DAW computer and have no plan to switch any time soon. Why would I???

My XP computers are "snappy" ....my 7 computers seem to drag, and what they did with 8 doesn't look very appealing.
This trend by Microsoft to to make the OS as "dummy proof" as possible only feels like Microsoft telling me how I must use the OS.
With XP I still feel like I'm making the decisions.
 
Image your O/S hard drive before doing any major event!!!!!! :mad:

I bought my wife a Win8 computer for her birthday. I can't possibly see myself using that O/S for recording. I like Win7. I want to stay in its warm and cozy environment for the rest of my..... At least until this whole home recording thing passes.... It's just a fad, you know.

:)
 
There is a great free app on CNET called Start Menu 8. I found it day before yesterday by accident and its great. Makes 8 look and operate just like 7. With just one click you can go to the Metro part of 8 or vice`versa. When you start up the computer it automatically opens into the desk top mode that we're all accustomed to. It installs automatically and there are no adjustments to make at all. That app makes using 8 just like using 7, which I think is what everyone wanted in the first place. Windows 8 was primarily designed for touch screen pads not for use with a mouse, but this little app fixes that problem and does a damn good job of it. I was in Office Depot yesterday and checked out the little touch screen pads and 8 works great for that. It's simple to use and very intuitive for that function, but it doesn't work for the desk top. I don't care for a touch screen desk top. It's too much work. It works on a touch pad, but I'll be damned if I want to have to lean over my desk and touch my monitor. That makes no sense to me. Get that app. I bet your wife will love it!
 
I will!!! Thanks for telling me about it. reps to you!!! :) (They'll show up when you hit 50 posts)
 
Thanks. That app made me like 8! I disliked it intensely because of all the extra work I had to do in order to get to where I wanted to be. That app fixed the problem. Make a post about it after you try it because I'm sure it will help others in the future. Especially people with new computers because I'm pretty sure all the newer computers come with 8 preinstalled.
 
Bollocks...

rip-cassette1.webp
 
They do. That's the only reason I considered Win8.

I have to buy a new laptop soon because mine died recently and I'm really dreading the possibility of having to get Win8. I was on vista for 5 years before now, and I'm comfy with it. I wish I could stay there but I'll be forced to at least Win7.

Searching online has yielded results for new win7 machines, for now at least. It probably won't last too much longer.
 
My advice is get 8 and download that free app I talked about, and you will be as happy as a lark! Don't worry about 7 because just about any new computer you buy is going to come with 8 already installed. To buy 7 from Microsoft will set you back at least $199.00. 8 is a little faster and has more features than 7. And it is stable.
 
My advice is get 8 and download that free app I talked about, and you will be as happy as a lark! Don't worry about 7 because just about any new computer you buy is going to come with 8 already installed. To buy 7 from Microsoft will set you back at least $199.00. 8 is a little faster and has more features than 7. And it is stable.

Actually, W7 Home Premium OEM is $91.00. If I bought a new PC that came with W8, I would rather just start it with what I know. Workarounds are not something I wish to add to my daily tasks. Just my opinion...
 
, and what they did with 8 doesn't look very appealing.
This trend by Microsoft to to make the OS as "dummy proof" as possible only feels like Microsoft telling me how I must use the OS.
With XP I still feel like I'm making the decisions.

I find WIndows 8 , after a few months now, cumbersome and requires more mouse clicks and has some really odd totally new things on just shutting down the pc , and these hidden desktop features that require mouse "movements" where as the desktop icon approach in earlier versions are much faster.

the whole thing I think, is they want 8 to be like a Smart Phone and for the users to download APPS everyday, and all the time. I truly think they are pushing APPS with Window 8. Im used to it now, after a few months, and its not gotten faster or easier. The old STart button is gone...now its hidden to the right corner! so you have to wiggle your mouse just right to make a thing pop up, then go to settings and select POWER DOWN!! lol....its really different than all the other WIndows.

then theres a simulated way to have a old style desktop, and that's where I am 99% of the time...but its not about me.

this is about selling things to young people who live in APP World and are used to 29 advertisement videos playing on every website. I truly think Windows designed this to run more advertisements, it sure seems like the Win 8 gets a lot more advertisements and many are video advertisements...I had 3 video advertisements running at the same time the other day. Its whacked.
 
Normally I would agree with you Jimmy, but in this case it's really not a work around, although in a way it is. You do it one time and that's it. You download it, open it, and it installs itself. No setup, no nothing. If no one told you were using 8, you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference, except to think that it was running a little faster. I have 7 and 8 in the same computer on different discs so I'm positive about what I'm telling you. Until I got that app I liked 7 best, but since installing that app 8 is now my favorite. The reason is because 8 now looks and handles just like 7, but its faster and has more features. Until I got that free app I would have told sixer2007 the exact same thing you told him.
 
Normally I would agree with you Jimmy, but in this case it's really not a work around, although in a way it is. You do it one time and that's it. You download it, open it, and it installs itself. No setup, no nothing. If no one told you were using 8, you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference, except to think that it was running a little faster. I have 7 and 8 in the same computer on different discs so I'm positive about what I'm telling you. Until I got that app I liked 7 best, but since installing that app 8 is now my favorite. The reason is because 8 now looks and handles just like 7, but its faster and has more features. Until I got that free app I would have told sixer2007 the exact same thing you told him.

That sounds all good, but I am talking about my recording PC. I would never try to get things working with a new OS that is not needed. In fact, I may become a dinosaur as far as helping members here because I have no desire to try to troubleshoot something that is not needed in my personal place right now.

I spend enough time beta testing Cubase 7. Which I love even with the flaws.

I have a friend who texts me every other day, asking why his shit don't work in W8. I can only say 'can't help you there buddy, you are on your own now'.

Funny though, the hardest thing was telling him to 'FIND THE FUCKING START BUTTON'!
 
Even with the app to make 8 feel more like 7...it doesn't really put back the same functionality, it's more of a smoke-n-mirrors kind of thing, which at least give you the illusion you seek....but that's just it, Win 8 sucks major balls, and that you need a 3rd-party app to make it feel like an older version of Windows is a pretty crappy way to have to go.

Personally...I don't think Win 7 GUI is all that great either. I hate the fact that things got move around, I hate the start menu, I hate that when you click on a folder, you have to sometimes wait 5 minutes for the stupid green bar to finish moving before it opens.....not to mention the STUPID administrator pop-ups that simply require you to say "yes" to go forward, so like WTF is the point??? I don't see that as any real "security" feature.
Yeah, it's all about making the GUIs feel like a stupid iPhone......
 
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