Windows hell
Filed under Soapbox on March 28, 2007
Keywords: Microsoft, Windows XP
Spurred by poor framerates in City of Heroes, I decided it was time to do an upgrade to the computer. I couldn’t afford anything top of the line, but I could get my machine up to the recommended specs for CoH for under $200. The last of the components arrived yesterday, so I spent the afternoon pulling out the old motherboard and processor and installing the new.
When I booted up for the first time, Windows failed to run. This had happened to me a few weeks back during my ill-fated attempt to overclock my system. I set the bios to the “fail-safe” defaults, but Windows still failed to load. So, I called in the big artillery: my dad.
He informed me that Windows XP gets a little testy if too much new hardware is thrown at it. See, it has this little “anti-piracy” feature that registers the components, and if too many of those components are missing, it thinks it is being installed on a new machine and requires a reinstall of the OS.
Now, I was using my old hard drive, so I just needed to “repair” the current installation. However, the repair strips away any updates–including service packs–and installs the base files.
The computer was still downloading and installing “critical” updates when I left for work this morning.
I am not a Bill Gates/MS-hater, but I am not at all happy that I was forced to waste my evening on a reinstall when it took less than an hour to swap out the components.
March 28th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
And that my friend is how I became a Mac fan-boy! Too many nights like that…life is too short. Oh snap! Glad to hear things worked out…I gave up on PC gaming and play Xbox360 way too much now
I wish they had more offerings like COH on consoles tho.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Yeah, I seem to know more people who game on a console than on the PC. Heh, I remember the days where lunchtable conversations were all about Bard’s Tale, Pool of Radiance or Wasteland, and we’d spend the afternoons around the computer monitor trudging through 8-bit “3-D” dungeons.
You and I really need to get together for lunch, or hang out on a Saturday. Where are you working now?
March 29th, 2007 at 8:52 am
That wouldn’t cause your OS to not run. If it were the “anti-piracy” measure, it would ask you to re-validate the OS (either by calling Microsoft or by connecting to microsoft.com). More than likely there was a conflict with the BIOS on your new board that caused the re-install to Windows.
It really has nothing to do with “installing too much hardware at once”. By the way, it’s always good to only install one piece of new hardware at a time, that way if you DO have a conflict, you’ll know exactly what piece it is.
And of course you don’t get that with a Mac. You can’t upgrade those at all.
March 29th, 2007 at 10:23 am
I was hoping to hear from the resident MS insider.
Now that you mention it, I did have similar issues when I tried “overclocking” my old system by adjusting the BIOS settings. I didn’t have to reinstall the OS, just reset the BIOS. So, the actual issue is that Windows doesn’t like changes to clock settings or voltage in the BIOS after it’s installed.
Oh, and I won’t be going to Mac anytime soon. I didn’t switch when I was a graphic design student; there’s even less motivation for me to do so now.
March 30th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Or maybe your BIOS doesn’t like Windows.
Changes in BIOS can cause all sorts of issues, and not just with software. It’s not hard to fry something if you aren’t careful.