Good on you, Brian. 
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Been working with my G grandson Noah. Last year, 8 years old he researched how to build a PC. Ordered the parts and did just that. I 7 13th gen, 64 gb ddr4 RAM, NVME drive, Gforce videoā¦etc.
Teaching himself Perl programming and another I donāt recall. Weāre talking If, then, else programming.
Heās running Windows 11 and doesnāt like it. He prefers 10. Says the interface is cleaner. Asked me how to install 10 without screwing up 11 'cuz his dad sometimes uses it.
Made a few videoās. Install Virtualbox, windows 10, xampp for Apache web server, MySQL database and php web development so he can learn to make his own web apps.
Share and map Windows 11 folders on the Win 10 proā¦ Set a static IP address, punch a hole through the firewall to port 443, install an SSL certificate, the whole 9 yards.
Iāve never heard a kid so stoked!
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He sounds smart to me @PaulyWalnuts.
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Creating some videos, I hit the start button. Talking on the phone through facebook (whatās that called?) and he says, āYour running Windows 7?ā
Nope itās 11 but like you, I hate it. Itās an app from Stardock.com called Start11. It makes it look like Windows 7. Then told him I could even make it look like a mac if I wanted.
This is the kid who, at 6 years old named the planets in order and when he got to Pluto, he said, and I quote, āPluto may or may not be a planet depending on who you ask.ā
Already says he doesnāt know what he wants to do for a living. Says he loves astrophysics, quantum physics, chemistry, and history.
His school told him if he could pass some tests he could jump a couple years ahead in school. He told them he thinks he should stay where heās at because he thinks jumping from the 4th grade to the 7th would be detrimental to his social development.
What kid uses words like that?!!
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My hand built machine runs Win10, but support has stopped for the OS, as of last week. I need to find out if I can simply upgrade my ATX motherboard to the new UEFI architecture from the 2017 ASUS B150M-C board I built it with, which has the old(BIOS). Win11 requires it. I was able to sign up for ongoing security(only) updates through 2026 though, so that gives a bit of time to buckle down and find this out.
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I have been running 11 on unsupported hardware for the last few years with 0 issues. There is a program called rufus that will let you bypass the M$ BS. It may be worth a shot if money is tight (as it is with most people right now) you may want to save a few $.
The video is a little out of date so it should be the same or similar
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Dang, Iāve used Rufus for years. Never knew it could do that.
Speaking of handy-dandy tools, my wife bought a new laptop since her old one was built in 2015 and wouldnāt run some app she wanted. Not to mention that old fashion HDD was rather a bit beyond their typical 5 year life span.
Found an app from Easeus called PC Trans.
Of course the new machine runs Win 11 and the old, 10. You install the app on both pcās, it scans to warn you of anything it canāt transfer (of which there were none), Start it on the old, then the new and a couple hours later, she had all her apps and setting on the new machine.
@whthek is your machine HDD or SSD?
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2 SSDās @120Gb each. Yeah, not alotā¦will probably add more storage as Iām about full. @woftam raises an interesting workaround, but I think Iād like to upgrade the MB if I can. Thing is, I havenāt kept up with the technology, and have to learn whether, or not, I can get a new MB that will accept my existing sound and video cards, memory, etc. Iāll end up spending a good chunk of change if I have to do that.
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Ah, the research. Used to love it. Then I started to look for a house in the Midwest to be closer to family.
Main criteria: Tax friendly states to retirees. Climate. NO Mi. winters where I grew up. No hot, humid swamp ass. The central valley here in Ca. is not as nice as orange county, but itās not bad. Fall, winter and spring are great. Summer, not so much. Triple digits. However, at 15% humidity, Iāll take 110+ over 95 and 100% humidity of Mi. ALL summer long.
Affordable housing. In the Midwest, we can find plenty of hoods with housing at $200,000 +/-. Nice houses and neighborhoods. Small cities with their own police department.
Zero, to one step to get into the house. Wife uses a walker. 2, MAYBE 3 beds depending on the overall cleaning requirements. We have a house cleaner come in once a week here. We use 2 of 4 bedrooms and 1 and 1/2 bathās. The other full size doesnāt get used. She flushes the toilet a couple times, runs water in the tub and sink to prevent gases.
Of those 2 rooms we use is one that I used to build my wooden model ships. I havenāt used that in 18 months due to back problems which cause excruciating pain in my left hip. $360 a month for her.
City-data.com, to get median housing prices, crime statistics and average temps. Problem with average temps. 2 cities can claim an average temp of around 45 degrees in January, but one may be a low of 10 degrees with highs of 65. Another may be lows of 35, and highs of 55. Or something like that.
Same with summers, and my research shows the average humidity if 77% no matter where I look. Almost anywhere in the Midwest is humid.
Asheville N.C. July high = 91. avg. = 85. Jan. low = 22, Avg. = 48. This is the best climate Iāve found so far in areas that donāt see hurricanes. $500,000 for an inexpensive house. There are nearby cities with similar climates, that have higher crime rates.
Go to weather.com, pick a city, select last July of this year, find the high and low, divide by 2. Go to January of this year. Google police presence and safe neighborhoods.
Realtor and zillow.com to find a house. Obviously, photos to check for upgrades and the general shape of the houses.
Google maps to get an overhead view, then street view to see if yards are kept up, age of vehiclesā¦etc.
@whthek 430 words, including this last statement.
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And a new CPU?
Do you āUSEā that video card? High end graphic gaming or movie makingā¦etc? High end sound card? Harmon Cardone speakers?
You can save a lot of money by getting an all-in-one MB. Video has no GPU and shares RAM, but if youāre not using GPU, itāll still play most games. Just not the awesome graphics.
The sound chips on them are plenty good!
Of course, if the built in graphics card goes belly up, youāll have to add a video card ASSUMING thereās a free expansion slot. Most will. Iāve not seen any problem. DDR4 RAM, I trust? Plenty of new boards support that but watch the speed.
If youāre going to replace the SSDās Iād highly recommend an NVME. The fastest.
You already know all that:) But I killed an hour!
What do you use for a backup. Probably an imaging app? You can get a used 500 GB SSD from amazon for $40 to make backups to.
I use Image for Windows from Terabyteunlimited.com. $60.00 lifetime including upgrades.
Itās intuitive unless you want to use some of the features that Iāve not seen elsewhere. I havenāt looked in over 20 years, but the support forums and documentation are fantastic. Also supports linux.
Hmmm. Only 248 words. What else can I fit in here and still meet your limited attention span?
Stats on MY machine. That I can remember that is. MB, NZXT N7 Z590. 128 GB DDR4 RAM. Donāt recall, speed, 3600, maybe? 1 TB NVME drive, graphics card, NVIDEA GeForce RTX 3060, 12 GB Ram. (Inter cooled) 11TH Gen Intel i7-11700kf @ 3.6 GHZ. 16 cores. It is an older model, but it was half the cost of the latest i9 and is still PLENTY fast, though I donāt play games. I need the power of the video card for movie making and upscaling. Thatās pretty much all GPU, not CPU.
I couldnāt get a consensus on performance between the i7 and i9. I read the 14th gen i9 resolves issues of too high voltage frying the chips. 14th gen i7 = low $300ās 14th gen i9 = low $400ās. If I had to guess and based on my reading, Iād have to say the i9 might be around 20% faster than an already screaming i7.
AMD makes some wicked fast CPUās, but Iāve always used Intel just because Iām familiar with them.
Well, I saved you some brain cell melt as this is still only 437 words.
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Come to think of it, an 8 year old video card is obsolete compared to modern GPUāsā built in āAll-in-oneā chips/MBās. My research indicates recent Intel MBās DO have have GPU HDU processing. While, as far as I can see, they still share RAM, a machine with 64 GB RAM (or even 32 will be impressive). Weāre talking what, 8 GB ram for the GPU? 64 GB - 8 GB leaves you 56 GB. SELDOM used!
Were I you, with hind site, Iād get an Intel all-in-one MB, built in video and sound. You can probably find a MB that supports DDR4, Donāt forget the thermo paste. An LG socket CPU, GPU, video for $150 bucks or less.
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No, No, and No. I just like building my PCās so that they look fuller(more components) when lit up with case lighting, and a clear side window! Yeah, crazyā¦lol
There was a time when I had many games loaded on my machines, and Steering wheel/pedal combos which used more resources, but these days, no.
Iām gonna hit Simon up @woftam and ask him to help walk me through Rufus.
I was actually thinking about buying a new Apple machine instead. To work in tandem with my iPhone. But, not sure yet.
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Currently, nothing! Iāve got photoās, and bookmarks backed up onto flash drives. Anything else thatās on here, I wouldnāt miss, Bri. I just enjoy building machines, and then viewing my handiwork, like cable management, neatness of the build, through my clear side window. Strange? Yupp, yupp..I know, I know..lol
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Apple may be spelled with 5 letters, but itās a 4 letter word as far as Iām concerned. No reasonable explanation other than I never did want to learn yet another OS. Windows, Linux and, back in the day, Novell, Unix and OS 400.
Being the geek I am, Iād have to know all there is to know about a mac. I DO like timeshift and the ease of installing/removing apps. Itās architecture is very similar to Linuxā¦
At this point in my live I have no use for a mac. It canāt do anything that I need, that I canāt already do.
Not so crazy. I too have a Christmas tree. Just canāt see it. Too much shit on the counter where itās at. Nothing of value on that counter, mind you. Empty cigar boxes, Harmon Cardone speakers just piled upā¦ One laying on its sideā¦ I mean not setup for stereo. Canāt hear stereo anyway. Deaf left ear.
Cordless power tools, begginā strips, Kitchen appliances, duct tapeā¦
Hearing: Kept me out of the army. Everything sounds like itās coming from the right. Enemy sneaking up from my left. Snaps a twig. I turn to the right. Die. Iād wake up in hell and the Devil would say something like, āWTF, dude?ā
Speaking of stereo, a friend of mine had just gotten one of those new fangled quadraphonic sound systems. Invited us over for steaks and show me his new toy.
Him: Check it out. Should sound like a theater.
Me: I dunno, sounds like itās all coming from my right.
Him: What? Try this, should sound like an amphitheater.
Me: Nope.
Few more tries, heās getting MAD. Tells me Iām crazy. Mean time his wife is watching and starts laughing.
Jim. You may remember he canāt here on his left side?
Called me a son of a bitch! Whatād I do? I told the truth is what I did.
I watched him put my steak on his grill, waits 15 or 20 minutes to add the others. Tells me mine is going to taste like shoe leather.
I said, āWhatās new?ā
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I like building computers, I donāt like installing an OS and apps. Make an image of a drive, drive dies, build a new machine, whatever. Boot from a flash drive, restore from an image.
'Course I come from the enterprise world. Donāt like your job? Miss a backup. Cuz thatās the day the special smoke will come out of the server.
Full backup Friday, back up whatās changed every day of the week and keep the backups in a couple safes we bought and kept at 2 hotels, lest one burn to the ground. Different parts of the city, lest the whole damn block burns down.
Redundant email, sql and internet servers. Multi national LLP. Main office was in Medford Or, backups in both Jersey City and Tianjin China. Those too were backed up and stored off site.
I had to put a desktop background with an image identifying which server was at which location. When I tested the 1st one in Jersey my monitor flickered for less that a second, then I was looking at an email server. Ah, but which one?
Did anything happen? Am I still on my local server, or the one in Jersey? Had to check the IP address.
DAMN. Only 204 words excluding this statement. Sorry about that. I know youāre trying to work on your attention span.
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VapeServer !!!
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I was just about to post that! Prick!
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Thatās Prick Sir to you grunt !!!
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Okay, Sir Prick!
Howād you know I used to eat like a pig? I say, āUse toā because I canāt find another 15 pounds.
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