What computer/OS are you using?

[Nichi]

Asagi is dying. I'm actually serious this time; it's not a case of "settings I didn't know existed stacked with 3 broken updates showing up all at once"

It appears to be a hard drive failure; as Windows got to the desktop when I first booted today...and would not respond; eventually Explorer crashed and I was left with everything nonfunctional, not even Task Manager would come up. Now, she won't even get past the Welcome screen.

I'm currently attempting to run Spinrite, while considering what to do if it doesn't help. I have a barely used 250GB drive exactly like what's in her now lying around, but at the same time, part of me wonders if I should look into a new laptop now. She's been mostly good over the past 2+ years, but I wonder if maybe this is a sign I should finally consider an upgrade.

EDIT: Spinrite appears to have fixed the problem, thankfully. Credit to Red for sending that to me several months back

[Bella]

Not to make light of HDD failure (which can be positively devastating if things aren't backed up properly), but that hardly seems like a reason to retire a computer... especially when they're relatively cheap and easy to replace.

[NejinOniwa]

Yeah. My advice is to get a replacement disk and start copying things over. The OS can also simply be transplanted in this way, if you know what you're doing.

[Nichi]

Well, I do have a spare hard drive I could put in her (Exact same model as what Asagi came with, so no change in performance). I was intending on saving it for her successor, but I might just use it in her and order a different drive later if and when I decide on getting a new laptop.

Also, while I do have a set of DVDs to restore the original OEM Windows 7 setup, part of me is tempted to go with Mint or Fedora if I put in a new drive; because I really want something running Linux

EDIT: So, I'm thinking of dual booting. However, I'm caught between various options:

Windows 7 side
- Home Premium 64-bit (From the restore DVDs I burned earlier this year. She'd run as she always did, but would require me weeding out bloatware again)
- Professional 64-bit (Nice clean installation, would preform equally as well as the Home Premium setup. Seems like a nice 3rd option)
- Ultimate 32-bit (Restores lost Windows 3.x compatibility, but I'm uncertain of it's performance; as Asagi always used a 64-bit edition of Windows)

Linux side
- Mint w\ MATE (I feel this interface fits Asagi better than Cinnamon, the current version is a Long Term Support version, but the lack of a native download for Skype is off-putting; I have to download the Ubuntu version and hope it works)
- Fedora w\ LXDE (Lighter than my preferred Mint setup, has a native version of Skype, but new versions of the OS are rolled out a bit too quickly to be practical for somebody who has to wait 2+ hours to download an ISO of the latest version over his crappy internet connection)

Any advice? Or, should I only run one OS instead of dual booting?

[Nichi]

Ok, so I jumped the gun and decided to do an install of Linux Mint just for testing. There is a native Skype for it (It's the old 2.2 version, though; which I had issues with on 2k on her old Fedora setup), and Mint came with Flash, but I had forgotten how terrible Flash on Linux was; the audio and video are terribly out of sync (Even on 2k, it was like that).

I'm thinking about scrapping the idea of Linux on Asagi and just sticking with Windows 7; after all, being able to watch AT4W is a bit more important to me

EDIT: I think I will, since Flash performance just seems better on Windows

[Chocofreak13]

glad you figured it out. and i still advise looking into a replacement. if nothing else, Asagi can become a backup computer. considering the litany of problems you've been having over time, and this failure, it could be a sign of either a greater problem or what's to come. computer failure happens, though it shouldn't happen so quickly or frequently. a more solid laptop sounds like what you need. :\

what model is asagi again, anyway?

[Nichi]

She's a Compaq Presario CQ61-411WM, circa 2009

[Bella]

That's really weird that you're having those issues with Linux, I've never experienced anything like that in years of Linux usership. Though most of that time was spent on Ubuntu, which is the most popular (and therefore best-supported) distro.....

I still contend that a hdd failure is a bad reason to replace a computer. Not being able to run Linux is also a bad reason to get a new computer, unless you ABSOLUTELY need to run Linux for some reason. But if you did, you'd probably be able to see past the inconveniences of having poor sound quality and flash support...

[NejinOniwa]

Linux Mint is Ubuntu-based afaik.

[Nichi]

Actually, it turns out that's just what Asagi's speakers normally sound like. I typically use headphones with her when watching videos, which is the reason why it sounded so odd to me (Windows sounds the same as it always has, although Nyan Cat sounded like it did on Linux). My bad on that part ^_^;;

Also, apparently it seems this problem with Flash and Linux is something fairly recent; Adobe claims it's an issue with video drivers, while everybody else claims that Adobe doesn't care about Linux enough to give it anything more than baseline support. Ultimately, Adobe discontinued development of the Linux version for all browsers earlier this year, aside from Google Chrome.

As for replacing Asagi, the main reason I talk about it is because I really need something with more muscle for travel; because of my shitty internet situation on top of Spoony putting his videos on this "SpringBoard" video site, I'm stuck either (1) fighting with my internet connection to load an episode or (2) fighting with Asagi to get her to play it at a watchable framerate because of how stupidly heavy SpringBoard's player is, when the exact same video in the same quality or higher on another site (YouTube, Blip, etc.) would play perfectly.

[Chocofreak13]

and like i said, no reason she couldn't be a spare computer.

that said, compaq always felt a little....cheap, to me. even back when i was young i could sense that Shitty (her first form was a Compaq Presario, something in the 5000's) was, well, shitty. it didn't matter much at the time, and compaq isn't the worst brand in the world, but for the power you'd need, i'd go with a more stable brand. :\

[Nichi]

True. Although, Laptop the Laptop is a legendary Compaq; held together with duct tape and has a broken left mouse button, but somehow still turns on and works; as long as I use an external mouse

[Chocofreak13]

shitty was still a functioning computer well after her release date, so if anything this proves that they just don't make em' like they used to. :\

[Paul]

I have a Pentium 2-based Presario tower, which is quite the only computer I didn't bother fixing since the layout inside the case is just the worst I've ever seen.

Also rooted my i9300 with a JB-based custom rom (BLAZING fast and absolutely great) and was quite a little "WTF?" when the new bootsplash came up:  http://en.samaanet.com/?p=3941
It's the first GIF

[Nichi]

Compaq's desktops have never been that good IMO. I personally prefer their laptops