Fun Weekend!

[GP]

TerryB,

I had both, Macs and PC and I'm sticking with the PCs. I never had a major problem with my machines, never had a virus or needed to reinstall the operating system. My current desktop, a Sony Vaio, is now 5 years old and never crashed. I do a lot of video editing too without a problem. I got a Vaio notebook last September which is running on Vista and I must say, I don't know why everyone hates Vista. It's a little bit confusing in the beginning, some things are different from XP, but it did not take rocket science to figure it out. I did also not have any problems with my existing software or hardware. Premiere Elements 3 runs without a hitch.
I love Macs too, they are just esthetically very pleasing and if I had more money than I could spend, I would probably get one too. PCs are just more fun.

Gerlinde

[Ausimax]

Yay! Lets hear it for the PC's. :wnw:

TerryB, like you, mine is a five year old white box, and has been reasonably trouble free. I would never buy a "Name" brand again, they are the only ones I have had trouble with. At least with a white box you know what hardware is inside them and you even have choices, plus you get all the manuals and driver disks as well. :wow:

I give my PC a reasonably hard time, with photo editing, video editing and music editing along with all the other uses one finds for them, as well as that I am a software junkie! If I see a new program I just have to "Try it out", which results in a lot of garbage which periodically requires vacuuming out, but its hard to get everything out and registry bloat gets you in the end.  >:(

I think the software junkie bit comes from my early computing days, I started off with a VZ200 (re badged Sinclair) then an Amstrad 256PCW they covered a 14 year period, and virtually if you needed a program to do anything, you had to write it your self, ergo when I finally updated to a Windows machine, where you could actually buy all those programs and even better still download freebies from the net, I was hooked. :D

Actually I rather enjoyed the challenge of the weekend, after five years of XP I had almost forgot how to do any of these things, as opposed to Win 95 & 98 where you seemed to spend half your time on the computer searching for fixes for some problem or another.

Glenna, pleased to hear you are still in the land of the living, hope you get your problems sorted out soon, have to get fixed up real soon otherwise you will be like me unable to discriminate between injuries and old age aches and pains. :'(

My philosophy is if I need a Mac - I will head for the yellow arches! :funny:


Max

[TerryB]

Thanks for the input Gerlinde and Max.

Max, I, too, am a software junkie and have been since W 3.1.  I've found EasyCleaner (http://www.download.com/ToniArts-EasyCleaner/3000-2094_4-10529179.html) does a terrific job of controlling the registry bloat and best of all it lets you undo any registry modifications that irritate the computer.  As you know, dll overwrites/incompatibilities still pose a bit of a problem but System Restore has always bailed me out provided I remembered to set a restore point before new software installation.

Gerlinde, one of the reasons for my considering a new computer is for a faster processor to speed up encoding in Premiere Elements 3.  I now have a P4 2.8 with Hyperthreading, 2 GB RAM and encoding takes FOREVER.  FYI, a year or so ago I got a Western Digital 1.5 GB two-disk Raid 0 drive in hopes that it would help.  If it did, it wasn't evident to me, then I read on one of the Adobe forums that the processor is the bottleneck.  Do you have a suggestion for a processor?  There are so many dual and quad core options that I'm dazed and confused.

[GP]

Terry,
encoding takes a long time, but that's of course all relative. I don't do anything else during encoding and have no additional programs open. Fortunately I have a notebook and a desktop, so I can use which ever computer is not working hard to entertain myself, while I wait for PE to finish encoding. Do you know the Muvipix.com site? If not you should check it out. You can get expert advise there on the forum and there is a FAQ with recommendations on computer hardware.
My desktop has also a P4, 3.2 Hyperthreading, 2 GB RAM processor, but I find it fairly fast. My notebook has a Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @2.4 GHz and 4GB of RAM. I chose Sony Vaio computer based on the features and software tailored for multimedia use. I believe Sony has a lot of expertise in that field ( that might be wishful thinking on my part  ;)). But check out http://www.muvipix.com/phpBB3/  if you did not come across this site yet, you will love it!

Gerlinde

[Hannie]

I love all this computer talk!

[TerryB]

I love all this computer talk!

Hi Hannie!

Join in and write something computeresque  ::)

One of the redeeming factors of PCs is that they keep my adrenaline level up.

[Hannie]

OK Terry, you asked for it!

After I shut down my pc it always immediately restarts again. I checked the keyboard, mouse and USB cord on another pc and it worked fine there, no unwanted restarts.
All the setting in the BIOS (WOL etc.) are correct.  I have searched many forum the last 2 years concerning this problem, have not found the right fix yet.
I have been in contact with the Asus support team but they never came up with anything useful. 

My computer has 4 USB ports at the back and 2 at the front.
Of the 4 ports in the back 2 are dedicated to remote wake up which I do not use, so I only use 2 of those 4 USB ports for my diNovo keyboard and mouse.
I use the 2 USB in the front panel for my Wacom tablet and scanner and printer.  If I don't take unplug these 2 prior to shutdown, the unwanted restart problems begin, very annoying.

I wanted to be able to shut down my pc without having to unplug a bunch of stuff first so I installed a pci USB card with 4 ports. I used those to bypass the 2 problem USB ports in the front panel and it worked, no more unwanted restarts.
I am still looking for a way to fix the 2 USB ports in the front, it just doesn't seem to make sense that they should make the computer reboot at shutdown.

Hannie

ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe
Intel Conroe E6600
nVidia 7950GT 256MB
HDD1: Samsung 80SATA II
HDD2: Samsung 400Gb SATA II
2048MB F2-6400PHU2-2GBNS
Creative XIFI Xtreme Music
DVD Plextor 750A
Logitech di Novo keyboard
OS: XP MCE
Samsung 970P 19"
Bios is up to date and drivers up to date

[TerryB]

I am still looking for a way to fix the 2 USB ports in the front, it just doesn't seem to make sense that they should make the computer reboot at shutdown.

Hannie


Try this, Hannie:

Instead of using the standard technique of Start>Turn off Computer>Turn off, do a Ctl-Alt-Del, click the Task Manager menu bar where it says Shut Down, hold down Ctl and click Turn Off.

Let me know if that helps.

[glennab]

I just can't take it any more.  Gotta get my 2 cents in.  I think the following post from Tess says it all.
ELEGANCE.

For all the Mac v Pc users, a little humour.


[/quote]

Look at the Mac (I have the same model at work).  And then the mess surrounding the PC. And I can't imagine a time when one would see the bottom Mac dilemma. I concur that Macs are more pricey than PCs.  However, being a right-brainer, I want a computer I can use, and not have to spend inordinate time working on their innards.  I have a Mac Pro at home, as well as a 1998 G3 that's still chugging along.  When I first opened my Mac Pro I couldn't believe what I was seeing: a pristine, clean, machine with 4 ports into which I can plug more hard drives.  No "spaghetti." Even the interiors are elegant.

That said, I think a lot has to do with the type of computer one first used.  We creatives had to get Macs, because PCs were strictly for number crunching, and I don't recall there being any software for art and design for PCs in the beginning.

At work, we re-route our older Macs for routine stuff, like doing scans; as a rip for an Epson printer, etc.  They still work like champs; no down time.  And the newer models are incredible.  This is a small thing, but my I-Mac at work has little speakers at the bottom of the monitor that sound great, yet I can play my eclectic playlists and no one else has to be annoyed by them.

Iron Man, who's always worked on PCs, wouldn't touch a Mac.  He hates to have to use mine for anything.  If his goes down, OMG!  I have to say that troubleshooting his computer has helped him get a handle on his temper!

It's the comfort factor.  Those of you left-brainers who love tinkering with hardware must be in heaven with your PCs.  That's awesome.

I, however, shall always have a Mac!

GK

[VBrestorer]

Hannie:

Have you tried unplugging just the scanner or just the tablet?  If you find that leaving one plugged in without the other, that will further pinpoint where the culprit is.  If that test doesn't yield any results, try reversing/swapping the USB ports those two peripherals are plugged into.  i.e., plug the tablet into the port the scanner is plugged, then plug the scanner in where the tablet was plugged.

Good luck.

Larry

[Tori803]

Hannie,
Leo Laporte (from the TechTV's show "Call for Help") suggests three approaches to finding a problem when the computer restarts instead of shutting down:

1. Windows XP includes a Startup/Shutdown Troubleshooter in the Help and Support Center. Search the List of Troubleshooters.

2. Disable Automatic Restart in the System properties sheet. Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, select Advanced, click the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery section, and clear the cleck mark next to Automatically Restart. Click OK.

3. Check out James A. Eschelman's Windows Startup and Shutdown Center troubleshooters:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm.

If none of these work, at least you still have your workaround.

[Hannie]

Larry:
Your tip is one I had not tried yet so I gave it a try.  The computer still start up after shut down. 
I have swapped and reversed the USB ports.  I even tried different connectors on the motherboard, makes no difference.   Another thing I did is uninstall all the USB ports, restart the computer and one by reinstall all the USB appliances with a shutdown(restart!) between each one.

Tori,
I have tried all the tips a the MS helpcentre.  Automatic Restart is disabled, I have also unchecked everything in power management regarding automatic restart.  (also in the BIOS)
James's Windows Start up and Shutdown Centre troubleshooters I have tried as well. 
The difference with my computer there is that mine actually will shut down for about 3 seconds and then it starts up again.

Glenna, one of my daughters has a MAC and she loves it.  When I use it I can never find anything but that is only because of my lack of flexibility to learn a new OS!

Thank you guys for taking the time and trouble to look for fixes, very much appreciated!

Hannie

[schen]

I have a question for the Mac users: when I connected my camera to a Mac, iPhoto took over and sucked all the pictures into the computer.  I can browse them by iPhoto but I can't find them any other way.  Where are they?

[glennab]

Hi Shujen

Click on the Home icon (above Applications on the upper left of the finder screen) and you'll find a folder called Pictures within which is another folder called "My Pictures."  They should be there.

GK

[schen]

GK,

When I did that, the pictures were opened by iPhoto.  I was trying to navigate to the folder in PhotoShop but was not getting anywhere.  The last time I use Mac was 1984.  Did not have digital camera to worry about  :(

Shujen