Floppy disk, do I need it?

[Justin Thyme]

Comment at the bottom.

"Heirloom" <nobodyhome@noplacelike.hom> wrote in message
news:%23$oTI%23sCIHA.4752@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
: I certainly hope your experience with Dell is better than the one I
recently
: had. Of course, I was trying to get a laptop for my wife, not a desktop.
I
: finally had to cancel the order because of all the 'delays' and 'back
: orders'.....all of which they knew about well ahead of time. This, I
know,
: because it was written up so many times that Google had pages and pages of
: hits about it. Admittedly, I entered the system about the time everyone
was
: placing orders for their school kids, but, Dell should have been more up
: front about the delays.
:
: Sure hope your experience is better!
: Heirloom, old and got a better deal locally
: anyway.
:

I'll let you know. My personal experience with Dell has been faultless. I
have a six- or seven-year old Dimension 8200 which has never hiccupped once.
The original hard drive began failing at about two years and I replaced it,
since then it's only the Millennium Edition OS that's starting to give me
pause (nobody's writing things for it any longer and more programs are
starting to restrict usage to XP and Vista).

I placed my order Monday for an XPS 210 and received confirmation and
approval Tuesday. Delivery is presently scheduled for October 13-18.

Ken Bland

 

[John John]

Justin Thyme wrote:

> I'll let you know. My personal experience with Dell has been faultless. I
> have a six- or seven-year old Dimension 8200 which has never hiccupped once.
> The original hard drive began failing at about two years and I replaced it,
> since then it's only the Millennium Edition OS that's starting to give me
> pause (nobody's writing things for it any longer and more programs are
> starting to restrict usage to XP and Vista).
>
> I placed my order Monday for an XPS 210 and received confirmation and
> approval Tuesday. Delivery is presently scheduled for October 13-18.

Are you getting it loaded with Vista?

John

 

[Justin Thyme]

My reply at the bottom.

"John John" <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message
news:OLixJ42CIHA.1164@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
: Justin Thyme wrote:
:
: > I'll let you know. My personal experience with Dell has been faultless.
I
: > have a six- or seven-year old Dimension 8200 which has never hiccupped
once.
: > The original hard drive began failing at about two years and I replaced
it,
: > since then it's only the Millennium Edition OS that's starting to give
me
: > pause (nobody's writing things for it any longer and more programs are
: > starting to restrict usage to XP and Vista).
: >
: > I placed my order Monday for an XPS 210 and received confirmation and
: > approval Tuesday. Delivery is presently scheduled for October 13-18.
:
: Are you getting it loaded with Vista?
:
: John
:
Short answer: No. Dell's XP series, and there are several, are pre-loaded
with MS XP.

Reason: There still seems to be too much discussion about Vista vagaries.
MS will, I hope, continue to support XP for some years to come, maybe longer
than I will be able to use a computer. Demand for XP in the field was so
great that companies insisted on keeping their computers with XP rather than
attempting extensive upgrades. As I will be moving from Me and having to
learn a new OS, I chose the one that had achieved considerable popularity
and acceptance since its introduction. As an aside, I intentionally ordered
this computer I'm presently using with Me installed, in lieu of XP, only one
week before Dell began shipping MS XP with its systems. At that time,
believe it or not, XP was being demonized by some magazine editors who'd
worked with pre-release versions and advised against it.

Ken Bland

 

[John John]

Justin Thyme wrote:

> Short answer: No. Dell's XP series, and there are several, are pre-loaded
> with MS XP.
>
> Reason: There still seems to be too much discussion about Vista vagaries.
> MS will, I hope, continue to support XP for some years to come, maybe longer
> than I will be able to use a computer.

Mainstream support ends in 2009, extended support ends in 2014. Some
people think that these dates are the same as the best before date on
the milk carton in the fridge. Depending on what you do with the
computer you can keep on using the OS well beyond those dates, it won't
spoil!


Demand for XP in the field was so
> great that companies insisted on keeping their computers with XP rather than
> attempting extensive upgrades.

Indeed. The cost isn't necessarily in the cost of the new hardware or
new operating system. It is most often the other older hardware or
software that is way too expensive to replace when or if it can't run
properly on the newer OS. Some companies have old expensive software or
specially developed software and modifying/replacing that software can
be prohibitively expensive.


>As I will be moving from Me and having to
> learn a new OS, I chose the one that had achieved considerable popularity
> and acceptance since its introduction. As an aside, I intentionally ordered
> this computer I'm presently using with Me installed, in lieu of XP, only one
> week before Dell began shipping MS XP with its systems. At that time,
> believe it or not, XP was being demonized by some magazine editors who'd
> worked with pre-release versions and advised against it.

There is always a certain amount of reticence in accepting anything new
and operating systems are no different. Many refuse to switch to newer
Windows until there is at least a service pack release. As for Windows
XP the magazine editor probably had a quite old beta or he had little
experience with the NT platform. Personally, I have never thought of
Windows XP as anything much more than Windows 2000 with eye candy.
Today I still hold much the same view, however XP has better hardware
support and the Professional version has features that can make it
easier to maintain in a networked environment.

I have no doubt that you will be quite satisfied with XP, I think you
would probably also be satisfied with Vista, providing that you would
not want to run older hardware or software on it.

John

 

[Justin Thyme]

Comment at the bottom.

"Heirloom" <nobodyhome@noplacelike.hom> wrote in message
news:%23$oTI%23sCIHA.4752@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
: I certainly hope your experience with Dell is better than the one I
recently
: had. Of course, I was trying to get a laptop for my wife, not a desktop.
I
: finally had to cancel the order because of all the 'delays' and 'back
: orders'.....all of which they knew about well ahead of time. This, I
know,
: because it was written up so many times that Google had pages and pages of
: hits about it. Admittedly, I entered the system about the time everyone
was
: placing orders for their school kids, but, Dell should have been more up
: front about the delays.
:
: Sure hope your experience is better!
: Heirloom, old and got a better deal locally
: anyway.
=====================================
As promised (October 10), I can tell you that response and delivery time for
the Dell computer I ordered was just plain unbelievable. From the original
estimate of 2-3 weeks it took exactly two days for Dell to build my computer
to order (though nothing unusual was requested) until the FedEx delivery
truck delivered it yesterday.

I unpacked the three boxes (speaker, monitor, and tower and keyboard) and I
am now wondering how I'm going to move the good stuff on this current
machine to the new one. Slowly. Deliberately. Cautiously. I assume I can
perform a few operations on the new computer before connecting to the DSL
line, but maybe no significant ones. I have never undertaken this task
before and I have no one looking over my shoulder to offer guidance. I am
less fearful of screwing anything up than I am of losing letters, research,
saved e-mails, pictures, and valuable application programs.

But where there's a will there's a way.

Ken Bland

 

[Heather]

Hi Ken.....

I moved things over from WinME via floppies and mostly CD's. I had
about 1200 mp3's for instance that were already backed up onto CD's.

However, I now have a jump/flash drive that is 2 GIG and that would have
done the trick. Just back stuff up onto it, plug it into your new
computer, and copy or move it over.

Cheers...Heather

"Justin Thyme" <enigma-40513@mypacks.net> wrote in message
news:eHbyKvcDIHA.3884@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Comment at the bottom.
>
> "Heirloom" <nobodyhome@noplacelike.hom> wrote in message
> news:%23$oTI%23sCIHA.4752@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> : I certainly hope your experience with Dell is better than the one I
> recently
> : had. Of course, I was trying to get a laptop for my wife, not a
> desktop.
> I
> : finally had to cancel the order because of all the 'delays' and
> 'back
> : orders'.....all of which they knew about well ahead of time. This,
> I
> know,
> : because it was written up so many times that Google had pages and
> pages of
> : hits about it. Admittedly, I entered the system about the time
> everyone
> was
> : placing orders for their school kids, but, Dell should have been
> more up
> : front about the delays.
> :
> : Sure hope your experience is better!
> : Heirloom, old and got a better deal
> locally
> : anyway.
> =====================================
> As promised (October 10), I can tell you that response and delivery
> time for
> the Dell computer I ordered was just plain unbelievable. From the
> original
> estimate of 2-3 weeks it took exactly two days for Dell to build my
> computer
> to order (though nothing unusual was requested) until the FedEx
> delivery
> truck delivered it yesterday.
>
> I unpacked the three boxes (speaker, monitor, and tower and keyboard)
> and I
> am now wondering how I'm going to move the good stuff on this current
> machine to the new one. Slowly. Deliberately. Cautiously. I assume
> I can
> perform a few operations on the new computer before connecting to the
> DSL
> line, but maybe no significant ones. I have never undertaken this
> task
> before and I have no one looking over my shoulder to offer guidance.
> I am
> less fearful of screwing anything up than I am of losing letters,
> research,
> saved e-mails, pictures, and valuable application programs.
>
> But where there's a will there's a way.
>
> Ken Bland
>
>

 

[Heirloom]

Have to agree with Figgy on this one! I have four of the "thumb drives",
two of them are 2G and two are 4G. They are wonderful for the moving of
any data. One of them is a Sony 4G 'Vault' and even has a compression
proggy built into it.
Check on eBay.....I got one of the 4G units for $7.50. Of course, to do
that requires watching a number of auctions and making a last second bid,
<g>.
I know you can do it..........
Heirloom, old and time for a movie

"Heather" <figgyd@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:OLnqUIdDIHA.3712@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hi Ken.....
>
> I moved things over from WinME via floppies and mostly CD's. I had about
> 1200 mp3's for instance that were already backed up onto CD's.
>
> However, I now have a jump/flash drive that is 2 GIG and that would have
> done the trick. Just back stuff up onto it, plug it into your new
> computer, and copy or move it over.
>
> Cheers...Heather
>
> "Justin Thyme" <enigma-40513@mypacks.net> wrote in message
> news:eHbyKvcDIHA.3884@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> Comment at the bottom.
>>
>> "Heirloom" <nobodyhome@noplacelike.hom> wrote in message
>> news:%23$oTI%23sCIHA.4752@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> : I certainly hope your experience with Dell is better than the one I
>> recently
>> : had. Of course, I was trying to get a laptop for my wife, not a
>> desktop.
>> I
>> : finally had to cancel the order because of all the 'delays' and 'back
>> : orders'.....all of which they knew about well ahead of time. This, I
>> know,
>> : because it was written up so many times that Google had pages and pages
>> of
>> : hits about it. Admittedly, I entered the system about the time
>> everyone
>> was
>> : placing orders for their school kids, but, Dell should have been more
>> up
>> : front about the delays.
>> :
>> : Sure hope your experience is better!
>> : Heirloom, old and got a better deal locally
>> : anyway.
>> =====================================
>> As promised (October 10), I can tell you that response and delivery time
>> for
>> the Dell computer I ordered was just plain unbelievable. From the
>> original
>> estimate of 2-3 weeks it took exactly two days for Dell to build my
>> computer
>> to order (though nothing unusual was requested) until the FedEx delivery
>> truck delivered it yesterday.
>>
>> I unpacked the three boxes (speaker, monitor, and tower and keyboard) and
>> I
>> am now wondering how I'm going to move the good stuff on this current
>> machine to the new one. Slowly. Deliberately. Cautiously. I assume I
>> can
>> perform a few operations on the new computer before connecting to the DSL
>> line, but maybe no significant ones. I have never undertaken this task
>> before and I have no one looking over my shoulder to offer guidance. I am
>> less fearful of screwing anything up than I am of losing letters,
>> research,
>> saved e-mails, pictures, and valuable application programs.
>>
>> But where there's a will there's a way.
>>
>> Ken Bland
>>
>>
>
>

 

[Justin Thyme]

My comment at the bottom.

"Heirloom" <nobodyhome@noplacelike.hom> wrote in message
news:%23iUB7ufDIHA.5328@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
: Have to agree with Figgy on this one! I have four of the "thumb drives",
: two of them are 2G and two are 4G. They are wonderful for the moving of
: any data. One of them is a Sony 4G 'Vault' and even has a compression
: proggy built into it.
: Check on eBay.....I got one of the 4G units for $7.50. Of course, to do
: that requires watching a number of auctions and making a last second bid,
: <g>.
: I know you can do it..........
: Heirloom, old and time for a movie
:
: "Heather" <figgyd@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
: news:OLnqUIdDIHA.3712@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
: > Hi Ken.....
: >
: > I moved things over from WinME via floppies and mostly CD's. I had
about
: > 1200 mp3's for instance that were already backed up onto CD's.
: >
: > However, I now have a jump/flash drive that is 2 GIG and that would have
: > done the trick. Just back stuff up onto it, plug it into your new
: > computer, and copy or move it over.
: >
: > Cheers...Heather

My thanks to you, Heirloom, and to you, Heather, for the thumb drive
recommendation. I use a 1GB flash drive for storing pictures and the
thought had occurred to me that such a device might work for transferring
critical files as well. I am grateful for your assurances that it can be
done. If I remember (and at my age that's debatable), I'll post again when
the job is completed.

Ken Bland