What's wrong with your PC?

[solvs]

I have given Apple a fair chance but unfortunately I think this powerbook will be my last apple product for a while.

You know Apple is moving to Intel right?

My homebuilt Win2000 PC is ok. I take pretty good care of it, but it has it's issues that pop up and it pisses me off that I have to work so hard just to maintain it. FireFox helps. What really pisses me off though is when my parents call me about some lame Windows problem. I keep telling them to get a Mac, and they wouldn't have most of the problems they do, but they always have some excuse. I should stop helping them, but they're my parents, so, you know...

Now my laptop... that thing sucks. It's a Dell with XP Pro SP2. Got it for work (which I've since quit). I need a new laptop. Preferably one where the taskbar and icons don't disappear and all the other stupid stuff that happens with XP.

 

[Nspace]

I still own a Powerbook; I was on here attempting to figure out why my airport on it works so poorly and how I might fix it

I find I have very little maintanence to do on my pc, every since I stopped using IE and moved to Firefox there have really been no issues for me. And as a graphic designer, with so many typefaces being released in cross platform formats such as OpenType, I really don't have any problems running my operation on my PC and having to work with other mac users. I go back and forth between my pc, to my powerbook to the g5's at school without any issues, its just that I find I work much more efficiently on a PC and find it to be more responsive. The only leg up that using a mac has for me is Linotype Font Explorer X, which is a great font management app, but fortunately a pc version is in the works.

Yes I am aware that apple is moving to Intel, but I don't overly like using the OS that much. I mean I don't hate macs, but as I said, I work more efficiently on a pc, like I notice a big difference in speed, and it is not really an adjustment issue really since I use most of the exact same applications on both platforms. In terms of PC's though I would never buy a prebuilt desktop, only build my own, and if I had to buy another laptop I'd definitely check out the Thinkpads first.

 

[kingcrowing]

connecting to wireless networks.
my apples can to it, my PCs cant.
seriously, my iBook connects within 2-3 seconds after sleeping, sometimes my PC wont when I have the wireless card LITTERALLY touching the antenna on my router, and somnetimes it wont even find the router when its in the same room, thats unexcusable for thew most widley used piece fo software in thew world...

 

[jefhatfield]

Yes I am aware that apple is moving to Intel, but I don't overly like using the OS that much. I mean I don't hate macs, but as I said, I work more efficiently on a pc, like I notice a big difference in speed, and it is not really an adjustment issue really since I use most of the exact same applications on both platforms. In terms of PC's though I would never buy a prebuilt desktop, only build my own, and if I had to buy another laptop I'd definitely check out the Thinkpads first.

when i first saw pc desktops running windows 3.1, i thought they were hideous and the windows 95 machines were not much better...but since windows 98, pre built pc desktops have been ok, and some of them have been fantastic

i like build to order via dell or sony and unless you have some really unusual needs, i think a top fo the line configured major brand pc can get most, if not all things done...at least internally

the really cool aftermarket parts, glass sides, neon lights and such are much cheaper to build yourself than getting a major brand pc with them like alien or a 3000 dollar dell custom...and building something unique is the whole fun of it...even if your best hand picked processor is available in bto and your best video card is also a major brand upgrade

if you want to build something crazy like a computer built into a desk designed around an f-16 cockpit in 1:1 scale and a grand worth of bose surround sound, i am sure some pc gamer has done that, and more

in japan, one techie/engineer built a pc with a built in, vibrating, silicon based...well, you know, to aid the "experience" of browsing the internet and so far, i don't think dell offers this option either i saw the thing in wired magazine or it was something our sleuthing igav produced here...or should have discovered for our viewing enjoyment

 

[reberto]

the ONLY thing wrong with my PC that makes me love my iMac is that the PC is LOUD as hell. I can barely hear my TV when the PC is on.

 

[ug.mac]

My feeling about PC is contradictories. I was playing games, watching TV on internet with a Windows-ONLY app, running P2P clients etc, they just working as perfect as I want to. But on another side, I need to protecting it from virus, getting BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) sometimes, working with very un-user-friendly windows explorer. I could live with those problems if they have became a problem, but I can NEVER EVER accepted that I have to reinstall the whole system with no-one-knows-why system failure every few month, WTF....

 

[sean.ferguson]

Nothing is wrong with my Windows based desktop at all - It runs somewhat nicer than my mac too, I just like variety.

 

[hob]

The last PC I built was about 4 or 5 years ago. There's nothing actually wrong with it, except I started cannibalising bits for my brothers PC...

But I don't use any Windows system anymore if I can get away with it. Not that I like Linux, so what am I left with? Oh yeah, Mac OS X. Why use anything else? I must say, I'm tempted to get the old PC out and download a copy of HL2... But then I would have NO time on my hands...

The other month I decided to reflash my phone, but the motorola phone tools are windows only. So I dragged out my brothers PC (which is now collecting dust as he has an iBook) and plugged it into my desktop system - my 20" Cinema Display with the apple keyboard, mighty mouse etc. and it all worked! I felt so.... dirty.... running windows on such a beautiful display...

Windows isn't that bad, but something clicked in my head about 3 years ago and I just decided I'd had enough - I could see the virus situation was going to get worse, and I was right. The only Windows machine in my life is the one I use at university to edit in Avid... which invariably crashes out and loses half my work... (it's happened twice in two weeks...)

That is what is wrong with Windows!

 

[revenuee]

there won't be anything wrong with my HP box as soon as i dump windows off of it and throw on Linux

it's an old machine ... Pentium 2 400 --- my parents were using it until a few months ago when they got an iBook ... my dad swore he was going to use it for himself so that my mom would have the ibook

he loves that iBook though ... After i set up two separate accounts and turned on fast user switching for them ... my mom can check her emails and keep her Word and Excel files open and my dad can work on his iLife projects <-- i love that i converting them

 

[liquidh2o]

since I've been home my wife's PC has been a PITA.

Wireless signal for hers was too low to access the internet, even though it's closer to the wifi router than my powermac. So I had to figure out a way to move the router closer and to not make it an eyesore that would get the wife's disapproval.

Second, the Power supply went tits up. Swapped it out.

Then the wife says MS word doesn't work anymore. For some reason it deactivated itself. No problem, went through the online activation, SORRY, you've reached your limit of activations ( a whopping one in my case).

Click on the "activate by phone" option, nothing happens, Brilliant!

Call the generic 1-800-microsoft #. Hold for 10 minutes, customer support, explain situation.... hold 10 minutes.... let me transfer you.... 10 minutes... tech support guy "rename this file".... ok.... "now let me transfer you to the activation center... hold 10 minutes.... long fricking ID code follows, followed by a just as long activation code.

about an hour later I'm done with that, wife is happy, I slink back into my chair and whisper sweet nothings to my powermac for being so good to me.

 

[tutenstein]

What's wrong with my PC? Gateway

I had a Gateway Desktop with Windows XP. The hard drive crashed in less than two years. I maintained it very well. Trend Micro Internet Security, Anti-spyware, Defrag, Disk Cleanup, etc. Still crashed. I stupidly did not have an extended warranty.

For some reason I bought another Gateway. A windows media center edition.

Within a year, it started to shut down unexpectedly. I sent it in for repair. It had a power source problem.

Then in the last two months, it again would just crash, then restart as if nothing happened.

Then this past December 11th, it crashed, then would start-up, but it was a constant loop.

On December 12 I bought an imac isight 17" G5.

I just couldn't take it anymore.

I could see if I just blindly used a PC and didn't take care of it, but I did.

Now I have no worries.

 

[biohazard6969]

i don't have a PC but i want one, like a previous post said, a PC is fine if you don't abuse it, you have spyware and viruses because of something you did, my brother has a Vaio desktop that is pretty ugly but it WORKS. if i didn't own a mac i would definitely have a sony. but i digress, the point is that i don't personally own a PC but i would like to, mainly for playing games, that is definitely one thing that is lacking on macs. sure there are games out there for them, but to play them at their best, you need at least a powermac, or the 20" imac to run doom 3 at the highest settings

 

[Laser47]

Nothings wrong with my pc, I just like using my mac better.

 

[jaduffy108]

My pc works great and so did my last one. Used it for about 4.5 years without any stability issues and found it much faster than my Powerbook. Now running an AMD x2 dual core with a gig of ram and find it much nicer to use than any of the dual g5 systems I use at school. I have given Apple a fair chance but unfortunately I think this powerbook will be my last apple product for a while.

>>same here. I love my pc (AMD X2 4800) with a NVIDIA FX3450. It has been rock solid...and i'm throwing HUGE files at it. For Pro graphics work..especially 3d...PC is the way to go...period. 3dsMax isn't even offered on the Mac platform! A friend of mine recently bought the Quad Mac with the FX4500...he is terribly disappointed. The graphics performance is a joke...a very BAD joke. He feels ripped off actually and it's doubtful he will EVER buy another Apple computer. For me, I prefer Apple for general computer tasks, email, etc. "Digital lifestyle" stuff...Apple works VERY well. I will probably replace my Powerbook with a merom based Powerbook in Jan 07, but..... after two decades of supporting Apple exclusively, I think i'm through buying Apple's "pro" gear. The apps, drivers(!!!), etc *I* need just aren't optimized for the platform. Maybe that will change...and i hope it does...cuz believe me, i would love a true high performance dcc machine running on OS X. That has yet to materialize. I was an Apple apologist..big time. Not any more. My PC experience has been an eye opener...a very pleasing experience. If i wanted a OS X look and feel...it is easy to make XP look almost identical to OS X...but personally, i don't care.

Also, I'm r-e-a-l-l-y sick of the Apple Cult mentality...such as this thread as well as most on this site represents. I like the PC world's lack of religious..blind faith. Refreshing.

peace

 

[p0intblank]

My Windows machine is actually in very good working condition, but that's because it is custom built. I do have some issues with Explorer, though. It sometimes lags when copy/pasting a file or opening a folder.

 

[macEfan]

lets see............

-my Windowz PC has bad frount USB ports
-It runs very hot
-It takes 2x longer to load the OS

 

[maya]

It has Windows XP installed on it.

I do not own any PC other than a Macintosh.

 

[EricNau]

i don't have a PC but i want one, like a previous post said, a PC is fine if you don't abuse it, you have spyware and viruses because of something you did, my brother has a Vaio desktop that is pretty ugly but it WORKS. if i didn't own a mac i would definitely have a sony. but i digress, the point is that i don't personally own a PC but i would like to, mainly for playing games, that is definitely one thing that is lacking on macs. sure there are games out there for them, but to play them at their best, you need at least a powermac, or the 20" imac to run doom 3 at the highest settings

You seem very confused. You can get viruses without doing anything wrong. The average Windows computer lasts only about 18 minutes from the point of first connecting to the internet, to the point of infection.
I didn't do anything wrong to my PC, yet it froze all the time, I got the Blue Screen of Death on a normal basis, and I had McAfee the whole time.

 

[ryannel2003]

As of right now my Dell is slow as hell becuase it has Net Nanny installed b/c my brother's are a little... something! Right now my HP is fine becuase I reformatted a couple of weeks ago! I also installed SP2 and it's been fine. I don't expect it to stay that way!

 

[alexstein]

Physically speaking there is nothing wrong with my Windows boxes (Sony VAIO P4 2.2GHZ, IBM Thinkpad P2 266MHZ). No broken hardware but both machines had a HD failure in the past year. Both HD were replaced with bigger and ones.

Aesthetically the VAIO is one ugly blueish grayish box an eyesore if you like. The IBM Thinkpad is an incredibly well build machine it's almost 8 years old and I still use it every so often to fix/scan error codes of my car using the VAG-COM software.

Usability of both machines is fairly good since I take good care of them no viruses or spyware whatsoever on either one. However there is the fact that both systems run Windows XP and I really don't like to use it anymore that much. It feels clunky and bloated and foremost I love computing they mac way now days.

 

[Mikael]

Nothing wrong with the five WindowsXP mahines I use more or less daily. They're quite reliable, actually.

connecting to wireless networks.
my apples can to it, my PCs cant.
seriously, my iBook connects within 2-3 seconds after sleeping, sometimes my PC wont when I have the wireless card LITTERALLY touching the antenna on my router, and somnetimes it wont even find the router when its in the same room, thats unexcusable for thew most widley used piece fo software in thew world...

What you're describing isn't Windows' fault. It's the fault of badly designed or faulty equipment.

As with most PC problems, what you're describing is likely related to the fact that the one building the computer choose to use cheap parts. A PC can be really cheap to build, but it's not very smart to buy these cheap parts and expect to get a very solid machine. I always buy quality parts and that's probably the reason why my PCs have always worked more or less flawlessly.

You seem very confused. You can get viruses without doing anything wrong. The average Windows computer lasts only about 18 minutes from the point of first connecting to the internet, to the point of infection.

That's strange... I've been running the three XP machines at work connected to the internet for about 6000 hours without any infections. That is without any anti virus/spyware software installed. The two XP machines at home have been running for approximately 3500 hours without getting viruses. Neither of these have any anti virus or anti spyware software installed either. Windows is being kept up to date, though. That's pretty important.

 

[EricNau]

That's strange... I've been running the three XP machines at work connected to the internet for about 6000 hours without any infections. That is without any anti virus/spyware software installed. The two XP machines at home have been running for approximately 3500 hours without getting viruses. Neither of these have any anti virus or anti spyware software installed either. Windows is being kept up to date, though. That's pretty important.

How do you know if you have any viruses if you don't have Antivirus software to check for them?
And just because a virus isn't known yet, doesn't mean you don't have one.

 

[TechZone]

Here is my PC #

P4 3.4ghz OC to 3.7ghz
1gb Ram
160gb Harddrive
Ati radeon 9800 Pro ( This is the Prob) Need a new video card.

 

[liquidh2o]

Nothing wrong with the five WindowsXP mahines I use more or less daily. They're quite reliable, actually.


What you're describing isn't Windows' fault. It's the fault of badly designed or faulty equipment.

As with most PC problems, what you're describing is likely related to the fact that the one building the computer choose to use cheap parts. A PC can be really cheap to build, but it's not very smart to buy these cheap parts and expect to get a very solid machine. I always buy quality parts and that's probably the reason why my PCs have always worked more or less flawlessly.


That's strange... I've been running the three XP machines at work connected to the internet for about 6000 hours without any infections. That is without any anti virus/spyware software installed. The two XP machines at home have been running for approximately 3500 hours without getting viruses. Neither of these have any anti virus or anti spyware software installed either. Windows is being kept up to date, though. That's pretty important.

I'd imagine your work has either a physical firewall installed, or is using windows built-in firewall. If not, going 6000 hours on an unprotected XP box without any "infections" is quite a feat.

Just for grins, you should try running spybot.

 

[Mikael]

How do you know if you have any viruses if you don't have Antivirus software to check for them?
And just because a virus isn't known yet, doesn't mean you don't have one.

Well, I use online scanners occasionally (like every 6 months, maybe longer between runs). I just ran Panda on the computers at work and we haven't gotten any viruses in the last year. I realise that this may be hard to understand for most people on this board, though. Guess you'll have to take my word for it.

I'd probably join in on the Windows bashing if I had encountered the problems you guys have. Thing is that I haven't and my Windows machines don't crash, nor get viruses and spyware. Then again, I don't surf shady porn sites or download software via peer2peer or what not. I have used my Windows machines without anti virus programs for close to ten years now and haven't been bothered by viruses so far, so it's working for me.

The thing to realise is that the absolute majority of malicious code is avoided by staying away from crap you shouldn't be dealing with in the first place. Do you really need to surf strange porn sites? Download gig after gig of data from strangers? Open unidentified mail attachments? These are the "rules" (or whatever you want to call them) that I follow and it works! See, it doesn't even involve magic!

But, now, let's get back to the passionate bashing of good 'ol Windows.

I'd imagine your work has either a physical firewall installed, or is using windows built-in firewall. If not, going 6000 hours on an unprotected XP box without any "infections" is quite a feat.

Just for grins, you should try running spybot.

Yeah, it probably has now, using a Netgear router. It was unprotected before though. The same goes for my computers at home (no firewall until fairly recently). Windows' built in firewall is of course enabled, but I have no idea how well it works in practice...

By the way, Panda antivirus is quite capable at detecting spyware and it found none on my last run.

EDIT: And just so that I'm not misunderstood: I'm not saying that Windows is secure. It certainly isn't. I just find it fairly easy to avoid all the trouble. I'll admit that I'm going to be an easier target for some worms and stuff, but I'm not really losing any sleep over it.