KDX Worldround Radio has existed for many years out of a single XP computer with tremendous good luck. But the wall is scribbled with handwriting and the time has come for wise men to upgrade.
I also have upgraded but only after seeking the counsel of the helpful ALPB members who guided me forward into a newly refurbished computer.
The new refurbished computer arrived today and was tested for 3-hours with excellent results and will become the new block on the block, providing all the services of KDX for our self-listening owner.
The OS is Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit and now I need your input before I put it on the internet. I wouldn't want unexpected hacks from Microsoft when they detect a sucker born during his minute.
What sage advice are you willing to provide free of charge out of the helpful spirit that personifies hobby radio?
I use AVG and never had anything mess up my computer.
Some others are Total AV and PC Protect.
Windows also has it's own firewall that protects you too, that is always updating.
Mark is "with it" and "on the ball" and I can tell you that this refurbished computer came with AVG Antivirus installed.
Unless something has changed I remember that Windows Firewall protects against traffic coming in from the internet but does not block outgoing traffic, which means that if malware sneaks in somehow it can transmit data out to the internet.
Many thanks for your input. That's my output to you.
Some things which I have observed:
Some older programs may not run on a 64 bit machine.
Win 7 file security is much more complex than that of XP and reading files created/modified on 7 may not be readable on XP...not a problem if you don't go back.
The email client Outlook Express used in XP is not available for 7.
Some legacy hardware does not work with XP due to lack of drivers. Won't be a problem if you are not using old plug in cards.
Disk activity is constant with 7 so I don't know if disk shutdown when inactive works as it does with XP.
7 supports a lot of media applications which are not available on XP, especially video and streaming apps.
As far as I can tell there is no reinstall disk available for 7 unless the seller sent you one. One of the first things you should do is make an image copy of your system disk so you can go back to the starting line if something goes awry.
This being said I have had very good experience with used machines. The one I use now was 2 years old when purchased and the only failure was a memory stick, yet despite this it kept running.
Neil
I've used AVG for years and was pretty happy, but I've recently become an enthusiastic convert to PCMatic. Using AVG, Malwarebytes, and Spybot Search and Destroy, I still occasionally got hit with malware and ransomware. PcMatic is not free but at just $50/year for up to 5 PCs it's close. It's allowed me to get rid of these other programs speeding up my PC and seems to be flawless in its protection. I doubt I willever go back to AVG.
Thanks to everyone who's given input about Windows 7.
Today for the 2nd time I went into it but am not going to connect to the internet nor install any programs until the image is burned to a Flash-Drive.
This computer has only a ROM DVD/CD Player so I can't burn to a disc.
I've spent a lot of time studying about the need to "Activate" the software by contacting Microsoft, and will be doing that by phone.
These re-furbished business computers cost about the same as the whole operating system in a box, so if I need the 32-Bit Windows 7 I'll watch for a computer that has it installed and load up with another computer.
You will need a network connection in order to activate.
Carl, you might not need to activate the Win 7. One of my used machines has XP and the other Win 7 and neither required activation. Usually, refurbishers install the OEM versions of Windows and they are ready to run.
If in doubt, contact your vendor.
Neil
ALMOST, but not quite, everyone has a computer at home and manage to get it to work. Yet most of them are not technically experienced, except to the degree that nowadays anyone can plug in a mouse and get printers to print.
So you'd expect us much smarter people with years of engineering including antenna work to be able to sail through computer projects while whistling the theme from Star Wars.
Oh hey! I just realized that Shostakovitch's Symphony No. 10 has almost the exact same theme as Star Wars! Never mind.
Try to understand this.
From what I don't know so far I think this computer has both 2.0 and 3.0 USB ports, and I am shopping for a Flash-Drive for storing the back-up image for the OS. I'm thinking 2.0 would be the safer bet since the other computer has only 2.0.
The next thing will be to select a SIZE for the Flash-Drive, since it will be dedicated to holding the OS image.
The "C" Drive is 30 GB, but the OS Image File will be what... only the OS? Or, will it contain everything in the "C" Drive or maybe the entire partition?
By "other" this computer has some useful extras like VLC Player, AVG Antivirus and a few more. Will all of it end up in the Image File?
Wait a minute... it's Symphony No. 1 that sounds similar to Star Wars.
You might want to cue Symp. 5 as you set up your system. The movements reflect struggle and turmoil which is resolved in the last movement where the human spirit triumphs.
Now for a tech tip or two. Going by my memory the virgin install of Win 7 was about 7 GB for an image. It is now around 16 GB with all the programs installed since the beginning. My data disc is separate so these numbers are only for the OS and programs.
You might consider a USB drive instead of a flash drive for backup. I use one called "Passport" which supports USB 3 and it stores 1 TB and costs about $50 at last look. With USB 3 backup should go very quickly. This is a Western Digital drive so the free Seagate Disc Wizard can be used for backup.
Neil
Radio 8Z says: "You might consider a USB drive instead of a flash drive for backup."
I thought that a Flash-Drive is/was the same as a USB (thumb) drive.
I have been thinking about a USB drive this whole time.
This is one of my favorite projects in awhile because there's no deadline.
Continuing soon.
Carl, I am showing my digital age. Before flash drives "USB drive" meant a hard drive (which means rotating storage (which means a motor inside which spins a magnetic platter)) which plugged into the USB port for data transfer and had an external wall wart supply to run the electronics and motor.
The Passport I mentioned is a rotating storage drive but it gets all the power it needs from the USB port. Very simple to use and lots of storage/$. They are reliabe as long as you don't drop them.
Neil
Thank you for so many helpful comments about Win 7, backups, and all.
I'm going to do this:
"You might consider a USB drive instead of a flash drive for backup. I use one called "Passport" which supports USB 3 and it stores 1 TB and costs about $50 at last look. With USB 3 backup should go very quickly. This is a Western Digital drive so the free Seagate Disc Wizard can be used for backup."
Now that I know what a "USB drive" is, since it worked for Radio8Z (for making a backup image), it should also work for KDX. so why should I try something else?
Can ADDITIONAL storage be saved to the "Passport" over time, or is it dedicated to the OS Image backup?
The first Passport I bought immediately appears as a disc to the system and can be used as any other disc for storing files and can be partitioned if desired to appear as multiple drives. Anything which can be stored in a file can be stored on this disc as can multiple files so the OS image and other data files can be saved on the same physical disc. If using Seagate Disc Wizard you want to create a disc image and not clone the OS disc. The term "image" is a bit misleading in that it is not an exact physical copy of the OS disc but is rather a file created to contain the OS files, thus it appears as any other data file which the backup/restore program can use to recreate the saved OS "image"..
The second Passport I obtained didn't appear as a disc out of the box because it had been facory formatted with some new file format intended for backups but a web search revealed that this was not necessary and formatting the disc in the NTFS format made it act as any other Windows disc.
There are other discs and software available for these purposes and I only mention Passport and Wizard because I use them and they work. Also note that the free version of Seagate Disc Wizard does not allow incremental backup which is OK by me because it is simpler for me to keep track of the backups I make. My OS backup takes about 8 minutes and the time saved with incremental backup is not worth it considering the extra complexity. I also keep my data files in a separate partition on my system disc so I can backup the OS and the data independently.
Sometimes I wonder if the "priesthood" of IT people intentionally make simple things complicated so users have to run to them all the time for help.
Neil
Had to pause for awhile to wait for the Passport USB 3.0 HardDrive so as to make an Image of the Windows 7 O.S. for security backup, and the drive arrived today.
This computer is HP 8300, successor to the HP 8200.
While the HP website's documentation for the 8200 shows several 2.0 USB ports and a few 3.0 USB ports, the 8300 documentation mentions almost nothing about the USB ports except there are USB ports shown on the pictoral drawing of the innards.
What I therefore assume is that the 8300 features 100% USB 3.0 ports and HP just forgot to write it down.
It probably doesn't matter, except in the amount of time saved by using the 3.0 standard.
The weekend is dedicated to following through on this stage of the project before connecting to the internet and loading applications.