Topic by sid512 2016-09-22 22:35:44

  • sid512
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hi
well, i'll try to make this a quick question, would be no use to write a long post or a rant, although it is quarter past 2 at night here as i type, but here goes.

I've decided to install windows xp on the computer, as it slows down and causes countless problems while using windows 7. so, i tried to create a bootable cd with a windows xp iso i found somewhere on the internet. it seemed to work well, but there were some strange problems in the end. for example, i was able to get into setup but afterwards some of the crucial files were missing or the setup could not find them, like winlogin etc. when i looked into the contents of the cd, a lot of files were ending with .exe_, instead of .exe. that might be the cause of the problem, but there were too many files and folders to deal with. as the outcome, i couldn't proceed with installation as planned.

so, the question is, how do i create a bootable windows xp cd which works perfectly fine, either by getting relevant iso files or so on. is it necessary to use a third party software for burning the iso? isn't the builtin windows 7 app good enough for doing the burning task.

if i recall correctly, a few people including dark might be still using xp, so they are likely to have more experience with this matter compared to others, hence the title of the topic.

also, I'm not sure how exactly the process of formatting goes, but what's a good way to install relevant drivers later on? are there some common drivers that are supposed to work with all type of systems? or is there any other arrangement to be made. i have a utility called driver pack solution, so will that be good enough. also, I'm aware of certain limitations of windows xp including youtube and others, but do they cause enough interference to prevent an average person from doing basic tasks? anyways, which antivirus would work well for xp as far as internet activity and files are concerned?

these are basically some questions i need a solution for as soon as possible. any help would be appreciated. and as a side note,
please keep unnecessary comments and opinion off this thread.

thank you.

He picked up the wrench and broke the guy’s wrist with it, one, and then the other wrist, two, and turned back and did the same to the guy who had held the hammer, three, four. The two men were somebody’s weapons, consciously deployed, and no soldier left an enemy’s abandoned ordnance on the field in working order.

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Reply by Dark 2016-09-22 23:02:56

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No idea on the exe files or other things.
I am still using xp, and given the problems I've had with my lady's computer and windows 7, (silly layout, outlook being a bastard, idiotic things in explorer),  I am not sorry to be doing so, though i confess the number of things xp doesn't work with these days is prohibitive so I'll be getting a windows 10 machine later this year.

(I don't expect windows 10 to be that much better than 7, but if I must have crap it might as well be the latest crap, and windows 10 does at least have an alternative to outlook for male).

For an antivirus I use avg, also C cleaner and malware bites to fix general problems.

As to what doesn't work though, the unfortunate answer is actually quite a few things things days, a lot of newer programs and games (even those like games from Vgstorm which should! work with xp), as well as quite a few things on the internet. Heck if it weren't for finishing my doctoral thesis I'd probably get a inwdows 10 machine now.

you can get around the utube problem by using yourtube, but other sites are causing problms, including a lot of general utility ones like google drive.

So yes, i like Xp and still believe microsoft should just make a more uptodate xp rather than all this other crap with their cruddy 3D and such, particularly to support 30 years worth of sotware, but hay as per usual microsoft is the only opinion that matters, they want more money and that is that, still I buy computers for what they do not anything else and it's trivially true windows is still the operating system with the most support in terms of games etc so I'm stuck with microsoft even though i don't agree with anything they've done since they stopped supporting xp, and I suspect windows 10 will be annoying, though at least it doesn't have the crappitude of outlook as a male program (what the hell was wrong with outlook express?).

Oh,

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

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Reply by arqmeister 2016-09-22 23:53:38

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At sid, finding an iso is going to be tough. I have tryed, and have encountered similar problems that you have described. You might try to torrent a clean iso, but even that is risky. If you really want xp, your best bet might be just to by a dvd off of ebay or amazon.

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Reply by Figment 2016-09-23 15:17:08

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@sid512

The files on the CD are compressed, so Microsoft changes one letter of the extension to an underline to denote that. Durring the install process, the compressed files are uncompressed and the original extension restored.

It's more likely you got a corrupted or modified image file.

I agree with Arqmeister that your best bet is to pick up a Microsoft original CD from eBay or Amazon.

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Reply by arqmeister 2016-09-23 19:58:31

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Also just for the record, firefox is still supporting xp, with no plans to drop it. I would lock down internet explorer, and use the combo of nvda and firefox. I say that because, jaws vidio intercept drivers don't play nice with firefox for some reason.

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Reply by Figment 2016-09-23 22:11:47

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Yeah, that's why I eventually gave up on Firefox. That video intercept driver is old technology that was created because there was a lack of accessibility hooks in operating systems.

Now, unless Freedom Scientific wants to rewrite large portions of JAWS, they are stuck with it.

Any program that's been around a while has old code in it that the developers would like to get rid of, except that it usually requires a major rewrite to do it.

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Reply by lukas 2016-09-24 08:54:45

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JFW video intercept drivers don't play well with a huge load of things, as a matter of fact. Back when NVDA was still a long way in the future to come, I had to install the demo of Jaws on someone else's computer in a few cases to get some important work, like scanning a book for school, done when my own computer was broken. There were a few kind people who were willing to let me do this, and then we all got a nasty surprise when I tried to uninstall Jaws when I was done with my work, their entire graphics rendering and sometimes even the graphics card driver itself broken as a result.

Dark, even Windows 7 can be customized very well to look almost like XP where possible. It takes quite a bit of time to do the initial setup but it's well worth it in the end, in my opinion. Mmany of the layout related issues can be customized at the control pannel, choosing the "Optimize for performance" toggle in File Explorer's folder options does wonders on most computers, etc. A lot of useful customizations can also be done when you access the properties of the Start button found at the desktop screen, including one where you can have the control pannel displayed as a good old menu instead of silly categorized groups of links.

Ever since I upgraded to Windows 10, I've been using Classic Shell which works wonderfully with the keyboard and screen readers, or at least NVDA, and I'm now recommending it to everyone who is blind, even on Windows 7, and even my sighted mother appreciates the Start menu layout this provides a lot more.

I found an awesome Powershell script for Windows 10 that automates a huuuuge number of tweaks, customizations, optimizations, and disabling unwanted services that are potential privacy concerns. This script was made by a Czech guy with a Czech description, so if there is interest in it, I can upload it to Dropbox for you all to download, as the script file itself is very nicely commented in English. Every tweak has an enable and disable part, so you can actually configure the script precisely to your liking by just commenting or uncommenting the parts you want or don't want respectively. Since I found this script, 90% of Windows 10 customization is done in a few seconds.
It can also remove all the preinstalled Windows 10 metro (modern) apps for you in a snap if you want, which is about the most useful thing I've ever seen done for 10.

I've been using NVDA, Firefox and Thunderbird for the ultimate screen reader / web browser / mail client combo, and I've never had to worry about Ie, Outlook or Outlook Express, Jaws not working, etc. With the initial bit of setting up and getting used to, this combination has proved to work by far the best and most seamlessly for me. Not to mention the benefits like Web Visum (even the old version can still be made to work in Firefox), the iCloud Bookmarks addon if this is relevant for you, etc.

Lukas

I won't be using this account any more or participating in the forum activity through other childish means like creating an alternate account. I've asked for the account to be removed but I'm not sure if that's actually technically possible here. Just writing this for people to know that I won't be replying, posting new topics or checking private messages until the account is potentially removed.

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Reply by pitermach 2016-09-24 09:10:15

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To burn a working ISO I used a program called CD burner XP (which actually works on modern Windows as well and is still maintained). Another option may be to use Rufus to put the ISO on a USB drive.

One thing to consider before you jump in head first into XP is that you should make sure you can find drivers for all your hardware (XP isn't as smart as 7 when it comes to this, so you may not have sound or networking at first for example). If this is your only computer, then you'll want to have your drivers ready on another CD or a flash drive.

<Insert passage from "The Book Of Chrome" here>

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Reply by burak 2016-09-24 12:17:21 (edited by burak 2016-09-24 12:17:39)

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Hello,
Where is that optimize for performance option? I couldn't see it under advanced options.

I post sounds I record to freesound. Click here to visit my freesound page
I usually post game recordings to anyaudio. Click here to visit my anyaudio page

burak's Website

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Reply by arqmeister 2016-09-24 15:45:06

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Hey Lukas, could you throw that script up if you don't mind? I have been looking for something like what you describe for a while for windows 10. One thing that drives me nuts, is how those default apps redownload themselves. One thing the start menu has going for it is that it is in alphabetical order.

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Reply by lukas 2016-09-25 11:37:15

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@Arqmeister: Well, with Classic Shell, you also get things sorted alphabetically, you have separate submenus for classic desktop apps and metro apps, you can customize what you want and don't want to be displayed, and you can even perform cool things like copying or deleting an item through the context menu without leaving the Classic Shell Start menu itself.

I find the program fast, lightweight, convenient and stable, never slowing my system down or anything like that. The only accessibility drawback is to go through its settings screen the first time, at least with NVDA, as it doesn't read the checked or unchecked state of things, so you have to figure that out by carefully looking what is currently enabled and what is disabled, but the Start menu itself really behaves as it should and keyboard navigation works like a charm. The feature I really love is that the search box doesn't get in your way if you keep its default configuration, in the sense that letters you type immediately start appearing in the normal Windows Start menu search box, preventing you from using keyboard navigation more efficiently unless you arrow to the programs or all programs item first and expand it, but if you do want to use the search box provided by Classic Shell, just press tab once anywhere and type away. :-)

Through Classic Shell's interface, you can also easily spot an empty program group which is left over from a software uninstallation, if the uninstaller is crappy and doesn't take care of this, which unfortunately happens in more cases than you might think at first.

As for the script, here it is:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9167051/Win10.ps1

Like I said, I really think this is immensely amazing andpowerful, yet so simple in principle, but the guy who made this must have spent hourslooking for all the various registry keys and whatnot to tweak, etc.
I really do recommend to look through the entire script carefully before running it, though, as you can't see the accompanying article on its download page which explains everything in great detail, so you will at least get a good idea of what this does and even be able to configure it the way you wish through its extensive comments.

@Burak: I'm sorry, I mentioned the wrong place to look for this! You have to get to the properties of My Computer somehow. If you don't have My Computer on your desktop or in the Start menu, there should be a System control pannel applet instead. This gets you to the same place.

There, click the Change Settings link, locate the Advanced tab and click the first of three or so buttons labeled Settings. If your screen reader reads control groupings, this is in the Performance group which is what you want. The radio button you want to change is the very first control in the dialog in the tab order. It can either be set to Optimize for Performance, Optimize for Appearance, Custom, or Let Windows Choose the Best Settings for this Computer, roughly translated.

Hope this helps, and once again I'm sorry for the previous missinformation. :-)
Lukas

I won't be using this account any more or participating in the forum activity through other childish means like creating an alternate account. I've asked for the account to be removed but I'm not sure if that's actually technically possible here. Just writing this for people to know that I won't be replying, posting new topics or checking private messages until the account is potentially removed.

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Reply by burak 2016-09-25 11:49:22

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Hello,
Thank you, Lukas. I took care of that.

I post sounds I record to freesound. Click here to visit my freesound page
I usually post game recordings to anyaudio. Click here to visit my anyaudio page

burak's Website

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Reply by arqmeister 2016-09-25 20:40:30

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Thanks Lukas, i'm going to play with this for sure. I haven't used classic shell in a while, mainly because i was put off by a rumor that said that microsoft would try to remove it if it was detected on your system. Not sure why i bought in to that, but i'll download it now, lol.

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Reply by lukas 2016-09-25 20:46:04

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Well, maybe it is said to be incompatible by the Windows 10 upgrade assistant that forces the upgrade on 7/8 systems, and maybe it does get flagged as incompatible if you try to install it on a running 10 in some cases, but this has not happened to me. The most recent version claims to support even the Aniversary Update and installed with no problems for me. I have disabled the Compatibility Assistant service and other crap like that, so I'm not getting these annoying messages that only interrupt my workflow and productivity any more.

Lukas

I won't be using this account any more or participating in the forum activity through other childish means like creating an alternate account. I've asked for the account to be removed but I'm not sure if that's actually technically possible here. Just writing this for people to know that I won't be replying, posting new topics or checking private messages until the account is potentially removed.

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Reply by arqmeister 2016-09-25 23:14:45

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I ran that script, and it's great, thanks again. It feels a lot better to use now, no more crap on my system.

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Reply by lukas 2016-09-26 09:58:06

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Great, glad it worked to your liking.
Don't forget to use Ccleaner and Mydefrag/Defraggler every now and then, too, to keep it running smooth.
Lukas

I won't be using this account any more or participating in the forum activity through other childish means like creating an alternate account. I've asked for the account to be removed but I'm not sure if that's actually technically possible here. Just writing this for people to know that I won't be replying, posting new topics or checking private messages until the account is potentially removed.

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Reply by afrim 2016-09-27 07:06:49

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Hello,
I'd like to clear something. Not sure where you got it from, but Freedom scientific mirror driver works very well with Firefox and other applications. I've never encountered any problem with it.
I've installed Jaws on both Windows 7 and 10.

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Reply by lukas 2016-09-27 18:13:36

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I didn't get it from anywhere, I experienced it several different times on different machines going all the way from xP and Jaws 8 or some low version like that all the way up to 7, 8 and 10 and Jaws 14 or 15 or whatever it was. I'm not saying there are no computers where this works, not at all. I'm just saying the number of machines where it can potentially go all wrong is alarmingly high.

Lukas

I won't be using this account any more or participating in the forum activity through other childish means like creating an alternate account. I've asked for the account to be removed but I'm not sure if that's actually technically possible here. Just writing this for people to know that I won't be replying, posting new topics or checking private messages until the account is potentially removed.

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Reply by afrim 2016-09-28 09:40:46

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It's strange really, I've never encountered any problem with that driver on all my three computers plus others where I have installed JAWS.
Does it occur on specific brands, or is it a problem for certain type of drivers?

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Reply by lukas 2016-09-28 10:16:23

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The problem starts occurring not when you install and start using Jaws but rather when you try to uninstall it. That's not the only reason I consider JFW and FS a pile of crap but one of the most important ones. I've seen it happen on Lenovos, HP's, Acers, Fujitsus and even one or two Dels, which all probably have completely different graphics card drivers, so I'm not sure what the pattern could be there.

Lukas

I won't be using this account any more or participating in the forum activity through other childish means like creating an alternate account. I've asked for the account to be removed but I'm not sure if that's actually technically possible here. Just writing this for people to know that I won't be replying, posting new topics or checking private messages until the account is potentially removed.

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