Lifergeek.com

Windows 7 on Inspiron 8600

Lets start with the specs on this machine:

• Intel Celeron 1.6ghz processor
• 120gb hard disk, only 60 to be used for this. (note: this is not the original HD, last one ground to a halt)
• 2gb ram (maxed out)
• Broadcom 440x 10/100 lan
• Internal card for Wireless, Intel WM3A2200BG
• nVidia GO5650 (custom Dell unit, can only use drivers from dell)

I had to download the following drivers from Dell:

• nVidia GO5650 video driver for WinXP (R69136.exe)
• Sigmatel STAC 9750 AC97 driver for WinXP (R90698.exe)

I had to download the follwing drivers from Intel’s website:

• Intel® PRO/Wireless Drivers-Only for Windows Vista

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We all have thought it, what would it be like to have something connected to the TV which could lat us control every aspect of what we see on it.  Today, your cable box could also be a DVR, recording shows for you to watch in a heartbeat anytime.  Cable providers provide ever expanding libraries of movies to rival the once big names like Blockbuster or Hollywood Video.  Weather, traffic, streaming video from various sources, even HD video.  Why would you need a HTPC?  Well, not everyone does.

A HTPC makes the most sense if you own alot of our own video or wish to have online content to play.  Most to all Cable providers shy away from letting you add your personal library to what your cable box can show, unless you want to put it on a line in with a different device.  Not always ideal, but that depends on your point of view.  To me, a HTPC should be video or content at your fingertips.  If you have to get up and change a DVD or flick a switch, you did something wrong or just aren’t there yet.  Should you be able to browse?  Chat?  Play youtube video?  Sure, if that’s what you want it to do.

Your HTPC should be more than just a PC connected to a massive monitor.  A good interface can make everything work so much better.  That leave you with a few choices, both limiting each other:

• What hardware will you use?
• What interface?
• Where will your content be?

Lets take a look at my progression to my current solution…

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               Hi there everybody, thought I would drop in and make my introductions and get right to business.  The Name’s Ray and I do consider myself a geek.  A quick rundown of my geek credentials, I have a Blackberry Curve which I love, an iPod, a spiffy PC built myself, an unholy love for Bawls, and almost every video game system made since the originaly Nintendo.   I lose the occasional Geek cred when I say things like I have never seen the original Star Wars Trilogy, but I get weird looks when I say I love Kevin Smith Movies so I guess it all evens out in the end. Other interests of mine include sports, writing, making things (i.e. Tinkering, crafts, woodworking), playing and watching poker, playing and watching golf, going for long drives at night, pretending I can rock a hot dress…did I go to far? If you can’t tell I also enjoy dropping in a bit of comic relief from time to time. Figured I would get right into it with something that has been on my mind the last 48 hours.

            So Wednsday was the tear jerking Scrubs finale, or at least so I expected. It almost felt like instead of connecting loose end, Bill Lawrence (executive producer) came by with a pair of scissors and cut them all off. Instead of providing story it was more like, “let’s give the fans everything they want in one episode, who cares if it fits or not.” (continue reading…)

As some of us may have already, I have offspring. Three beautiful girls to be exact. Being mine, they have been exposed to a large variety of tech and general geekyness. Thus ‘Project Geekchild’ was born. But to find the right candidate. The one kid to embody all my geek legacy to. I mean who’ll upgrade the linux servers at home once I’m gone?

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Well, as no stranger to Windows 7 (I tried the beta before finding my ‘deal breaker’), I downloaded the RC DVD for my x64 desktop with abandon. I even stopped all other downloads on my home network just to speed up the transfer. I managed to get it installed late last night with some of my typical OS tools like Firefox with it’s army of plugins.

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From as long as I can remember, there has always been a drive in my life and it typically has been tech related. As a kid, my Uncle Donald took me into a room in his house and showed me his brand new TRS-80. He sat me down with a book on BASIC and off I went. Every time after, I asked to play with the computer when we visited almost weekly.

I moved on to my own computer, a C-64 as some would remember was popular at the time and I had begged my parents for months for one. Christmas that year was filled with joy for me, but was the beginning of the conternation of my parents as I would dissappear for hours on end.

Computers were not my only love. I was always interested in gadget, be it a blinky light or a cool device with lots of functions. My first pocket knife was something I played with alot, always finding a use for it. Today it’s a Leatherman but the idea is the same. It’s always to have the right tool for the job, but sometimes you just have to make it work, enter a knife/pliers/cork screw/screwdriver/saw like device, and you have the makings of a working project. MacGyver was in my list of favoriate shows growing up.

Wires never daunted me. Give me a spool of wire, a few siwtches, a battery and a few lights and I would sit for hours. So when it came to performing surgery on my new floppy disk drive to add a fan or cut a jumper, I was on it.

Computers have changed alot since then, and I went from playing with Basic on a C-64 to building Unix servers with barely a thought. I’ve worked in the tech sector for over 14 years now and it has been the one illicit love of my life as any girlfriend, ex-wife or current wife can attest to. Herein enters this blog. I wanted to create a place where I could comment and show off all the goodness I manage to find and do.

Now I’m a little more three dimentional than just a tech guy. I’m a geek at heart, but I also enjoy many other things (although many are ‘geek’ related). I run the consoles track at a convention Ubercon.com. I try to may my way to at least 3 conventions a year. I’m a amature digital photography buff along with a dash of video. Collecting comics was a long love only to be replaced by the digial alternative offered by Marvel. And in the past few years I’ve been budding a love for food and BBQ.

So, take a moment and tag me on twitter at @TDP4 to let me know you found me. Otherwise, sit back, read a little or just add me to your RSS reader and I’ll do my best to show you come cool things. Well, at least I think they are.