Hi, new here. I registered as technical user, but I am still learning a lot of things. In fact, I enrolled in a technical school recently and am loving every minute of it. Greetings!
I was once the proud owner of this here Sony Vaio desktop, but I have found myself less than pleased with it recently. I have a few questions to go along with this lil' story o' mine.
I have had this computer for two years, and during that time I have had my tinkering whims get the better of me. However, this computer will just not let me do any of the things I want to do. Is this really how far proprietary issues go, or do you think maybe I should be able to do some of these things?
First of all, it won't let me install XP Pro instead of XP Home, because it says my version of XP Pro is an older version of Windows. That just ticks me off, because I should be the one who decides what OS is on my computer. I much prefer an older version of Pro than any version of Home. It won't even do a clean install of XP Pro after a complete format of the hard drive. It gives me the non-system disk error I'm sure you have all seen many times from leaving a disc or floppy in a drive during a restart.
Second of all, it won't let me install Linux on a separate partition, and it won't let me install any second OS on a partition or onto an external hard drive. My Seagate external hard drive I bought mostly so I could try doing that despite the constrictions of the Vaio.
Heheh, well, I finally figured out it wasn't going to happen and am, in fact, running Knoppix right now to have Linux on my desktop when I want, but I can't just abandon Windows. I need a Windows OS just to do 99% of what I own a computer for, but it would be nice to be able to save some of the changes I make while I am playing with Linux. This computer, of its own accord, will not take any permanent Linux installation I have tried other than Fedora 4. It won't take Redhat, Suse won't connect to the Internet, which I haven't had the patience to troubleshoot this week. It won't take Slax Linux or PC Linux OS either.
What's worse, the laptop I am getting from school soon, because it is paid for as tuition and I could use a laptop without paying for it now, is going to be a proprietary machine as well. It is, as I am sure anyone reading this might have guessed, none other than a Dell.
I guess my biggest question is what computer should I desire to do all these different things? Do you think that these problems I am having are general problems anyone would encounter attempting such things, or do you think it sounds like someone should be able to do some of these things?
Right now, to be honest, because I recently did all my experimenting with Linux, I have to do a clean install of Home XP with the system recovery dvd today or tomorrow. I know it sounds like I have no other life than to pester this computer, but it sure is being stubborn and not letting me have all the fun.
Anyone think this goes beyond proprietary issues and think maybe I should be able to do some of these things? I'm not looking for full-blown explanations of how to do something, I'm just wondering if I am wasting my time trying to do anything other than boot up the factory-installed boredom the computer came with. Not to be negative, but it is hard to appreciate my Windows Home XP after all this experimentation turned out nothing for me.
At least, programming with Visual Basic redeems the Windows installation's boredom factor to some degree!