Molland's Community

[keeba]

<rant>
I just replaced a bad hard drive in my 3 year old Compaq Presario.  This required restoring my system to the factory defaults using the system recovery discs that I created 2-3 years ago, which took me back to XP Service Pack 1. 

As soon as I hooked up my broadband connection, the Windows Updater started cranking away sending me security patches.  Fine, I thought.  Let the auto-updater get me back up to the current security level.  But after 12 hours or so of downloading and running the patches, most of them failed.  I thought, fine.  SP1 is too primitive and the updater isn't going to offer SP2.  I'll apply it manually. 

So I go to the Microsoft website to download SP2.  Back in the old days, you could download an executable and install it yourself.  But no.  Microsoft has 'simplified' the Windows update procedure.  Now you have to go to their Windows Update website [using IE of course, Firefox/Mozilla not allowed], read the standard 20 page EULA signing away your first-born and click through a wizard that allegedly figures out exactly what you need and does everything for you.  Except it doesn't.  It fails with the generic "The website has encountered a problem and cannot display the page you are trying to view."

All I want to do is download the %$&!-ing SP2 patch and install it!  Is that so much to ask?  Gawd, I hate Microsoft.
</rant>

[Mary]

Does that mean no Vista for you anytime soon?   

[keeba]

I wouldn't touch Vista with a ten foot pole.  See my other post on the subject for reasons why.  I was just noticing that the PC ads on tv are now advertising 'with Vista' as a selling point.  I'm going to need a new laptop sometime soon.  If I can't get one without Vista, I'm going the Linux route.

[Mary]

I'm hoping I won't need a new laptop anytime soon.  I just got one last spring.  I didn't really want to get that one, but my motherboard fried.