On the other hand, configuring all the apps and user data files takes time beyond that: he just did a friend's laptop system which had become seriously infected with gods-only-know-how-many viruses: shuffling all the user data files off the system, wiping the drive clean, doing a complete reinstall of OS and packages, then configuring everything and reinstalling the user files took about six hours end to end (approximately 15G worth of user data files and 9 application packages were involved).
1) Be sure you have hardware which is adequate to the task. A late-model, 1Ghz or faster system, 512M to 1.5G RAM, a fast hard drive of 80G or better capacity, a good monitor with at least 1024x768 display capability, [EMAIL PROTECTED] depth if you want to run Photoshop CS(2) effectively.
2) I would advise installing Windows XP with whatever the latest update packages are, nothing earlier.
3) Configure your system with two accounts: one as administrator for doing updates, application software installation and system maintenance; the other as a user account that you will do your work in. This minimizes the chances of problems from virus intrusion or accidental changes to system configuration.
4) For Windows, be sure you have GOOD anti-virus software installed and kept up to date, particularly if you on a broadband connection, and if there is firewalling software available for the system, be sure to enable it...
I'd generally recommend that na�ve users pay the money for a qualified consultant to do the job correctly, it's cheaper in the long run. My only hesitation is that I've seen a lot of supposedly qualified consultants do such a hack job of it that the money spent is wasted, in which case (for me!) it's much more rewarding to buy a book or two, learn what is necessary and how to accomplish it, and do it myself. At least that way, if I screw it up, I know *I* did it and how, and I can figure out what I did wrong and then do it correctly.
Godfrey
On Apr 25, 2005, at 5:48 PM, Joseph Tainter wrote:
The Pentax content here is that I want to get Photoshop CS 2 and its PEF converter.
My Windows 98SE installation has finally brought me to the point where I will accept the pain of formatting two hard drives and starting over with a clean installation, reinstall a lot of software and utilities, spend months configuring same, etc.
A local shop will do this for me for $70 per hour, and estimates 2 or 3 hours. To save this, would one of you gurus be willing to answer a couple of questions about doing this myself at home? If someone is willing to, please contact me off list:
jtainter at mindspring dot com
Thanks,
Joe
