"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...
Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...
And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick...
Kubuntu is late.
Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions.
cf.:...
@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...
Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...
Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...
"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system."
Point truly missed. Both use a...
whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article.
I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...
If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...
I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....
How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...
@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...
The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel.
The first bug that I found was applying the median...
Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...
I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...
Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...
In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...
In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...
For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...
Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...
Talkback
Although the cause of the problem is the use of OEM installtion disks intended for Intel computers on AMD computers, either by OEM's or by individuals using unsuitable branded OEM installation disks, Microsoft have known about this issue since 2004.
Clearly these faulty computer installations will still be around in significant numbers and, knowing this, Microsoft should have provided a simple work around to overcome the problem, not least in their own interests since they will now be heavily criticised anyway, notwithstanding that the original sin isn't actually theirs.
Microsoft's advice in kb888372 is only of value if the problem is known to the invidual (unlikely in most instances) before attempting an SP3 update since after a failed update to SP3, access to the computer, even in safe mode, appears to be impossible.
For those with a little (or a lot) more skill, it may be possible to effect a repair using the Console, Ultimate Boot Disk or similar. Maybe even using a Live Linux disk - something I have done to effect a repair or recovery on a number of occasions.
As I understand it, the problem is exacerbated by a change in the name of the AMD driver whereby SP3 only sees, recognises and updates the inappropriate Intel driver, which shouldn't even be on the computer, hence it installs and configures the updated Intel driver(s) without recognising and updating the AMD driver(s). Clearly a big no no!
In conclusion, Microsoft appear to have slipped up badly notwithstanding that they have previously pointed out to OEM's the error of their ways. Microsoft had the knowledge to have ensured that SP3 recognised these particular systems and installed correctly .
I installed XP SP3 on my Lifebook S2110, which has an AMD Turion 64 CPU, with no problems. Whew. After what I have been through with Vista on the Lifebook S6510 (and the S2110, for that matter, although not as much), I would have been really unhappy if SP3 had caused problems.
I wish that I could say that I am surprised and/or disappointed to hear that Microsoft knew about this potential problem, and probably could have figured out a way around it, yet they neither made the situation much more obvious nor made the effort of resolve it. Unfortunately, I am neither - about all I can say is that I am disgusted, as usual.
I have a Shuttle computer (2002), very noisy, with an AMD Athlon 2700+ processor. I now only keep and use it as a legacy computer because of the huge amount of structured data on it. The XP installation disk is a gold holographed OEM pre SP1 disk. Over time, I have updated via SP1, SP2 and Windows Update from a clean install in Octber 2004.
Notwithstanding the offending registry entry and the presence of Intelppm.sys, I have previously managed to update to last Beta of SP3 without any problems. I therefore wonder if there has been any change in the Release Candidate of SP3 (a different files size) which has caused the much reported problems since there were no reports of these problems from the Beta releases of SP3 so far as know.
Comparative SP3 executive file sizes:- Latest Beta - 315 Mb, Download Release - 342 Mb, Executable File on the CD Release Version - 316 Mb.
There has been a suggestion, not actually verified, that using the CD Release Version has not caused any problems.