Vista can suck my balls.

[Iron Man]

Okay, my piece of shit computer likes to tell me that I have updates every single time I log in, and this one happens to be Service Pack 1. So, I am thinking "finally, something that will make sense" and I click update. It downloads, and my computer says it is installing the update, then it restarts.

THEN, it goes to a black screen where it is like 5604/95432 or something, and it stops. Now, my computer won't start up again without showing a blue screen. Fuck my life and my computer. Any suggestions before I throw it out a window?

[xXJust Jump ItXx]

We had a computer with Vista... it was shit.... we got Windows 7... I love it! If you can swap it out cause Vista is loaded with issues!

[Iron Man]

At the moment, I'm just using my Vista as a spacewaster and the monitor, connected to my laptop as a second display.

[Cognizant]

Is that all it says on the black screen?

[xXJust Jump ItXx]

Okay haha, Im bad at puter stuff :P but it doesnt sound to good...

[Iron Man]

Is that all it says on the black screen?

It was some kind of loading screen for the update, but it stopped at a number. I can't remember what, but that's not important right now. When I started it back up, it kept showing me a blue screen with an error code. I kept trying to run it in safe mode, repair mode, etc, but it automatically restarts or takes me back to the blue screen. This Windows Vista is about to become a paperweight or I might give it to the Professional Russian for target practice.

[Heavyrain4life]

... I'm not really good with computers, but it sounds like yours is totally fucked.

[Magus]

Can you see at least your bios screen when you start it up?

If yes, there is hope: LINUX


And this is what it looks. Not much difference, huh.

http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1487&pictureid=20870

Better yet. Check for my posts in show your desktop for more screen shots.

[Iron Man]

Can you see at least your bios screen when you start it up?

If yes, there is hope: LINUX


And this is what it looks. Not much difference, huh.

http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1487&pictureid=20870

Better yet. Check for my posts in show your desktop for more screen shots.

I was actually considering Linux, but I don't have any blank disks or a flash drive on me :/

With my computer, when I get the disk or flash drive, do I just plug it in, go to BIOS or whatever, and tell it to boot from that?

[Axw_JD]

you can use the Vista install disc to rollback the update. It sounds like your hard drive is kinda shitty (or the drivers for it) and it just failed to copy some files and corrupted them, stopping Windows from properly starting up.

To make updates safer and faster, since you are in Service Pack 1, make sure you install Service Pack 2 manually BEFORE trying to install that update again. SP2 has been out for quite a while and contains all updates since SP1.

Or you could download one of the free versions of Windows 8 and give it a try, it performs better than Vista and 7, and the only real cosmetic change is that the Start menu is now full screen instead of just a corner of the desktop.

[TheMatrix]

I was actually considering Linux, but I don't have any blank disks or a flash drive on me :/

With my computer, when I get the disk or flash drive, do I just plug it in, go to BIOS or whatever, and tell it to boot from that?

There are many ways to get Linux onto your computer. You should know that when people refer to "Linux", they're probably referring to a particular distribution of it, as opposed to the kernel itself.
You wouldn't want to only run the kernel itself, unless you are starting some kind of embedded system. But you seem to be looking for a desktop OS, so take a look at some popular ones here (https://www.linux.com/directory/Distributions/desktop). It's essentially personal preference to the one you choose, although some are commercial(you have to pay for the support). And if you want, you can even order a CD online from some distros if you don't want to burn one yourself.
Personally, I prefer openSUSE. But you may have a different taste, and you might want to try a few out. Another consideration is the desktop manager. If you're not super experienced, perhaps TWM with an Xterm isn't the best way to go -- you might prefer something like KDE or Gnome. If you're thinking about Ubuntu and Fedora, the default versions only include Gnome -- the other window managers are in a separate disk image.

You'll like Linux once you begin to use it. One thing you will have to realise is that most Windoze games don't play nicely on Linux, not even with Wine or CrossOver.

[Magus]

I was actually considering Linux, but I don't have any blank disks or a flash drive on me :/

With my computer, when I get the disk or flash drive, do I just plug it in, go to BIOS or whatever, and tell it to boot from that?

Aye. There should be a "start booting from"option with f11, f10 or f9, when the bios comes up.then you can choose if you want it from a cd or a flash drive among others. Although, I recommend the cd way.

But I concur with what the other said. It could also means you have a bad hard drive or a bad ram(rams do that too). (you know, in Linux, when something like that happens, it continues to work wih no problem, since system files are not rewritable, unless you do it manually after inserting a code and heading towards the system files).

I don't recommend fedora, there, Matrix. It's a headache for beginners. Mint, Ununtu, OpenSuse. Is the way to go. Everything is out of the box, or, whatever that means.

[Axw_JD]

A(you know, in Linux, when something like that happens, it continues to work wih no problem, since system files are not rewritable, unless you do it manually after inserting a code and heading towards the system files)

Not true. If its a hardware failure during an update to the critical system files -which is what the numbers meant when the system restarted- no matter what the OS is pretty much screwed and needs to be refreshed. Also critical system updates are a lot more common on Linux than on Windows. They are copy-protected in both (starting with Vista. XP was easy to break because of weak system files protection, and they weren't really protected before XP).

I wouldn't personally recommend Linux unless you know what you are doing. And if you do any amount of gaming on your computer, at the very least you MUST dual-boot.

[Magus]

Not true. If its a hardware failure during an update to the critical system files -which is what the numbers meant when the system restarted- no matter what the OS is pretty much screwed and needs to be refreshed. Also critical system updates are a lot more common on Linux than on Windows. They are copy-protected in both (starting with Vista. XP was easy to break because of weak system files protection, and they weren't really protected before XP).
On a personal experience. My computer's hard drive pin connector was loose. When I was updating it, somehow the hard drive got disconnected. Did'nt know what happened, restarted it, and every thing was in place. It's failproof, I tell you. Though, I decided to give another distro a try.

The only time I got the the kernel panic screen is when I tried to install the drive for the video card(because I didn't specify the shell to close Noveu).


I wouldn't personally recommend Linux unless you know what you are doing. And if you do any amount of gaming on your computer, at the very least you MUST dual-boot.

I recommend Linux if you do everything but gaming.

But if you manage to install the drive, you can take time to setup the game. Old games work best, though.

It's also good opportunity to tinker with your os and computer. Gives you a little insight.

[Iron Man]

In the future, I might just buy a new computer tower. I've had this thing since....2007 (I believe?) and it wasn't top of the line anyway. If Windows 8 miraculously is bug free, it will be a bigger bonus for me (unlikely)

[Magus]

In the future, I might just buy a new computer tower. I've had this thing since....2007 (I believe?) and it wasn't top of the line anyway. If Windows 8 miraculously is bug free, it will be a bigger bonus for me (unlikely)

8 isn't best for gaming. I'd stick to seven.

I have been thinking of buying one myself. But unfortunately, my savings were used as emergency money... :(

[Iron Man]

8 isn't best for gaming. I'd stick to seven.

I have been thinking of buying one myself. But unfortunately, my savings were used as emergency money... :(

Call me crazy, but I was going to buy a MacBook Pro last year after I had saved up enough money for my job. Ended up stashing that money until I really wanted/needed something.

[Axw_JD]

On a personal experience. My computer's hard drive pin connector was loose. When I was updating it, somehow the hard drive got disconnected. Did'nt know what happened, restarted it, and every thing was in place. It's failproof, I tell you. Though, I decided to give another distro a try.

The only time I got the the kernel panic screen is when I tried to install the drive for the video card(because I didn't specify the shell to close Noveu).

I recommend Linux if you do everything but gaming.

But if you manage to install the drive, you can take time to setup the game. Old games work best, though.

It's also good opportunity to tinker with your os and computer. Gives you a little insight.

I have had Linux fail on me in so many fabulously stupid ways it isn't even funny. I always keep at least one distro around for when I need it. Nowadays, that's mostly just checking code when I see weird stuff under Cygwin.

8 isn't best for gaming. I'd stick to seven.

I have been thinking of buying one myself. But unfortunately, my savings were used as emergency money... :(

On the contrary, from my personal experience, 8 has beaten or tied 7 on every single game I have thrown at it (which is a lot). The only problem of 8 is that Intel still has issues supporting a hybrid GPU environment (i.e. they haven't released WDDM 1.2 signed drivers) and nVidia hasn't released their final version of the drivers (but their preview ones are pretty stable). But those problems will be solved by the time it is available for the general public.