I am still studying in the Surveying degree in Melbourne (RMIT), but before that, I have worked in IT for over ten years serving small and medium businesses. If you got any questions that you want to know about general computer use, upkeep, or small business suggestions, let me know!
Also, if any surveying firms local to melbourne need a surveying assistant for the summer, PM me!
Win 7 basic reinstall
Hello,
I have a netbook running windows 7 basic. I want to upgrade to a SSD to give the old piece of s### a bit more kick. The unit did not come with the Win 7 install disc which would have been useless anyway as it doesn't have a CD drive. How am I going to get Win 7 back on after I install the SSD?
Would I be better off just buying win 8.X for the fresh drive?
Cheers.
Win 7 basic reinstall
First off, you're right, a netbook is a piece of sh**. There is only so much you can do with a netbook, an SSD would certainly help, but at the end of the day they are held back by their mobile-phone-esque processor.
If you want to move to an SSD, unfortunately Microsoft do not provide free ISO downloads of windows 7 starter (though they do for every other version, for some reason).
Your best bet is to download and backup your install using Macrium Reflect. That same program will also make a bootable USB so you can restore the backup you made onto the SSD you are putting in. Best of all, it's free (at least for what you are using it for).
You can also go the easy route of buying a USB based DVD drive, they only cost $50-$100 these days.
Personally, I would *only* put linux onto a netbook. They are useless for anything except minor office work, e-mail, and webbrowsing. If that's what you're going to be doing on it, linux will run both faster and with less viruses (98% of viruses are written for windows, linux is more or less invulnerable).
A good version of linux to run would be this: http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=159 . Again, it comes as an ISO, so you would need to burn it as a DVD then boot it from a USB DVD drive. There are ways to install it from USB, but they don't make it easy.
Hope that answers your question!
Win 7 basic reinstall
I should also mention, for those who are not familiar with linux, it is very similar to running an Apple macintosh. In fact, both mac and linux run on the same code. Linux is free to install on any machine you like. However, since 99% of business runs on Windows, you don't hear about it much.
One *huge* advantage it has is that it is much more efficient, and thus runs better on s***ty hardware. Hence why I recommend it for netbooks.
That being said, it's not for everyone. If you are using it for typical web browsing tasks, it's great. If you are trying to do something specialized with it, your mileage will vary. For example, there is almost no surveying software that runs on linux :(.
I posted over in software about my issues with trying to install Carlson SurvePC on a non Carlson Win7 tablet.
What do you know about Windows 7/8 and Bluetooth? I have been having a very hard time making the tablets I have tried connect correctly to our Sokkia SRX
Thanks
First thing to say, is you're definitely not the only one. It is not a problem with windows but a problem with bluetooth. It is an ugly, horrible standard. It was basically meant to be a wireless version of USB, but it fails miserably. There are four different versions of it, which are in theory backwards compatible, but are in practice hit or miss.
On top of that, laptop manufacturers *love* going with the lowest bidder for bluetooth and wireless cards. If it saves them 50 cents per unit, they will do it. Basically if your computer does not have intel bluetooth, you have a snowballs chance in hell of hoping it will be stable.
Your best bet is to find a usb based bluetooth adapter that is reliable. Personally I find targus products to be reliable.
Here is a targus one: http://www.amazon.com/Targus-USB-Bluetooth%C2%AE-Adapter-ACB10US/dp/B0002K6RK0 .
Also it goes without saying, that if you get a usb based one, disable the built in bluetooth first.
You may also have to step back bluetooth versions of adapters until you find the most compatible one. General rule of thumb is that the further back you go (4.0, 3.0, 2.0, etc), the longer the range it will have, but the slower it will work.
Once you find a bluetooth adapter that works reliably, go buy a dozen of them. Bluetooth adapters (even good quality ones), are usually fairly cost effective.
Your post is very timely for me, and you'll probably get many more questions.
I have a laptop with Win 7 64-bit on it. I want to install the 32-bit version in hopes that it will then run some legacy programs that won't load on the 64-bit. Will the processor handle the 32-bit system OK? Thanks!
