Microsoft has officailly lost my business

[footballdude2k3]

Well in a time span of 3 days my laptop stopped working, Vista has been acting up very poorly, and my Xbox 360 died, red ring o death. I was trying to burn a DVD a couple weeks ago and it took longer than usual but still worked. I tried to burn a cd with 79 pictures 323 MB on saturday, and it took 2 hours, tttwwwwooo hours for my laptop, it used to take 5 minutes no lie to burn that much information.

That was going to be ok thought because my Dad has a copy of XP laying around that he gave me, and a coworker actually has a copy of Windows 7 that he is going to let me have so that works out great since I will get to try that and if nothing else go to XP.

Then last night I got home from dinner with some friends and was going to watch Friends with my GF, I use my xbox for DVDs too so I turned it on and I made sure that I waited until after the new Xboxs had come out with the new chipsets that were supposed to fix this problem. Well I can tell you that they did not work, I rarely use my xbox and mine still broke, it sucks.

So I have decided that when the next generation of systems come out, if not sooner I will be going back to playstation, in addition, I will be buying an apple for a new computer when I need one in the next few years unless I decide to try Ubuntu at some point. So I know its not a lot of money that they would get from just one customer, but congrats Microsoft, you have lost me as a customer.

[FinalCut747]

Welcome to Apple. Hope you enjoy your stay.

[ct1co2]

Are you sure the issue with the laptop is specifically related to the OS? It's not something related to hardware, age of the laptop, memory, motherboard, has never been defragged, hard drive space nearing capacity, has a virus or malware impacting performance, etc?

[footballdude2k3]

no viruses, its 6 months old, 3gb ram, 70 gb free on a 320 hdd, dual core processor, pretty sure its not too old, and i defrag at the minimum once a month.

[basroil]

It sounds like none of these things have to do with software, just hardware. The laptop is NOT a microsoft product, and your 360 WAS recalled (you could call them up and ask for the fix). Perhaps vista is a bit screwy, but if it took you three days to decide something was wrong, that's just being careless, and no product will be able to help you, microsoft, apple, or not.

Better thing for you, get an external hard drive, usb flash stick, and lili for the flash stick. You'll be able to backup everything you had, and determine if the failure was software. If the cd works and burns in ubuntu, just reformat the computer with vista, and install ONLY the software you need. Most issues are caused by random installing and uninstalling of programs you may not actually need or that contain malware/contract ware (like those annoying toolbars and stuff). If it's hardware issue, tough luck, it'll happen to any laptop, and in fact MBP and MB have just as high a rate of failure as any other slot loader drive, and more than tray loading ones.

As for the 360, call up microsoft, they may be able to help.

EDIT: Can't really say recalled, simply that you get free servicing on it.

[ChasP505]

...congrats Microsoft, you have lost me as a customer.

Yawwnn....

[Dunedan]

Did Microsoft make your CD Burner?

Did Microsoft make your laptop?

And you know that Microsoft doesn't actually make the Xbox right? They do make the software that runs it - but other companies build the hardware.

Could have been a bad CD - that happens you know. Some of the CD-R's are just messed up once and awhile.

[HyperYagami]

I was trying to burn a DVD a couple weeks ago and it took longer than usual but still worked. I tried to burn a cd with 79 pictures 323 MB on saturday, and it took 2 hours, tttwwwwooo hours for my laptop, it used to take 5 minutes no lie to burn that much information.

300% guarantee you that's hardware.

people blame everything on microsoft, jesus.

[Todd Lambert]

people blame everything on microsoft, jesus.

It's usually a good place to start! ;)

[pwm2]

Have you verified that your Windows installation hasn't performed one of the favourite Microsoft tricks to make disk accesses slow? In case you get too many transfer errors from the CD, Windows likes to downgrade the DMA mode. If already using the slowest DMA mode, then it turns off DMA and starts using PIO mode. Suddenly, the computer will crawl. High CPU load and lousy transfer speeds.

Easiest fix - delete the IDE controller and restart the machine. It will autodetect the IDE controller and start with best mode again.

The downgrade is intended to help when you have bad cables resulting in transfer errors. But with one DVD drive I had, it happened whenever I inserted a damaged disk. Somehow, the broken sectors on the disk either made the drive too slow or resulted in incorrect checksum received by Windows.

So yes, suspecting Microsoft really is a good start.

[basroil]

Have you verified that your Windows installation hasn't performed one of the favourite Microsoft tricks to make disk accesses slow? In case you get too many transfer errors from the CD, Windows likes to downgrade the DMA mode. If already using the slowest DMA mode, then it turns off DMA and starts using PIO mode. Suddenly, the computer will crawl. High CPU load and lousy transfer speeds.

Easiest fix - delete the IDE controller and restart the machine. It will autodetect the IDE controller and start with best mode again.

The downgrade is intended to help when you have bad cables resulting in transfer errors. But with one DVD drive I had, it happened whenever I inserted a damaged disk. Somehow, the broken sectors on the disk either made the drive too slow or resulted in incorrect checksum received by Windows.

So yes, suspecting Microsoft really is a good start.

I think you said it yourself, your disk was bad and/or bad cables. Sorry, but both those are classified as hardware issues. Nobody here's saying that the software isn't the one slowing things down, we are all saying it's bad hardware that is at the root of the problem. Rather than treating the symptoms, it's better to treat the root of the disease instead.

[Moppie]

This thread just got a whole lot shorter and if people start using to preach about why one system is better than the other it will get closed.



footballdude2k3 it is clear you have a hardware problem with the laptop.
That is not microsofts fault, and it is most likely repairable.
If that is enough of a problem for you to go and buy a Mac then do so, or if you would like some help diagnosing the problem so it can be fixed then let us know.

Otherwise, as I've said to many others before, whining and complaining about it on the internet won't fix anything.

[pwm2]

Whatever preferences people have for different systems - this link is still relevant since it shows how to fix a known Windows problem that has hit a lot of people and that results in CD burners starting to take hours to burn, instead of just minutes.
http://club.myce.com/f61/troubleshooting-enabling-checking-dma-windows-vista-xp-2000-me-9x-101616/

[Dunedan]

Have you verified that your Windows installation hasn't performed one of the favourite Microsoft tricks to make disk accesses slow? In case you get too many transfer errors from the CD, Windows likes to downgrade the DMA mode. If already using the slowest DMA mode, then it turns off DMA and starts using PIO mode. Suddenly, the computer will crawl. High CPU load and lousy transfer speeds.

Easiest fix - delete the IDE controller and restart the machine. It will autodetect the IDE controller and start with best mode again.

The downgrade is intended to help when you have bad cables resulting in transfer errors. But with one DVD drive I had, it happened whenever I inserted a damaged disk. Somehow, the broken sectors on the disk either made the drive too slow or resulted in incorrect checksum received by Windows.

So yes, suspecting Microsoft really is a good start.

BAD IDEA!

Depending on what version of Windows you have, deleting the IDE controller and then just rebooting could mean you won't be able to boot up period.

You can easily change DMA modes in the devices properties if you're concerned about this - though I've never heard of it happening.

[ThomGascoigne]

This thread just got a whole lot shorter and if people start using to preach about why one system is better than the other it will get closed.



footballdude2k3 it is clear you have a hardware problem with the laptop.
That is not microsofts fault, and it is most likely repairable.
If that is enough of a problem for you to go and buy a Mac then do so, or if you would like some help diagnosing the problem so it can be fixed then let us know.

Otherwise, as I've said to many others before, whining and complaining about it on the internet won't fix anything.

Do you work for microsoft?

Why won't you let people express their own opinions about microsoft?

[In2Photos]

Do you work for microsoft?

Why won't you let people express their own opinions about microsoft?
It looks to me like he has let people express their opinion about Microsoft. This thread is still going and the original post is still intact. I fail to see your point here.

[Nemesismachine]

Basing your decision to switch to apple because of Vista is a bit premature, IMO. EVERYONE knows Vista sucks. It sucked when it was released. I say it "sucked" because it took so much work to get it to stop raping your resources it was crazy. You should try the Windows 7 RC to see the differences before you spend $2,000 on a laptop.

The XBox thing though, I agree with. I have fixed more than my fair share of family RROD boxes. Never been a fan, I'm a PS fan at heart. GL there.

[ThomGascoigne]

It looks to me like he has let people express their opinion about Microsoft. This thread is still going and the original post is still intact. I fail to see your point here.

He deleted my post like he has done a few times now. It's abuse of mod power.

[dannygt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNnX6XRQBec&feature=related

[pwm2]

BAD IDEA!

Depending on what version of Windows you have, deleting the IDE controller and then just rebooting could mean you won't be able to boot up period.

You can easily change DMA modes in the devices properties if you're concerned about this - though I've never heard of it happening.
Not so bad idea as you think as long as the affected IDE channel isn't the boot disk - but the boot HDD can't suffer from this problem from just inserting optical disks with read errors. When the boot HDD doesn't support DMA, then it's time to quickly consider replacement of cable and/or IDE controller and/or HDD.

When DMA is working, you will be able to open properties and switch between different modes. But at least for Win2k/XP, when Windows activates the DMA lockout function, this selection methid gets blocked, so you just can not (!) change any DMA modes in the devices properties. It is my belief that Vista doesn't disable the DMA selection, but previous versions most definitely do.

Read the link in my other post for more information, and actual step-by-step instructions for different Windows versions. It was a bit unlucky that the original link was removed.

I have had to fix this problem on several machines.

A lot of people have had this problem but assumed it to be a hardware problem. After replacing their CD/DVD unit, the computer has started to work again since Windows has detected a new hardware device. People have then made the incorrect assumption that the older unit was broken and that they did the correct thing by replacing it.

I do not think this problem is affecting all optical devices - it may be affected by manufacturer or firmware. But the issue is that read errors on an optical disk can be incorrectly considered a DMA timeout (as in information broken because of bad signals) while in reality the IDE controller will not receive any more information because the drive is unable to pick up the next block of data from the disk.

http://dvdxcopy.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/520767
http://club.myce.com/f61/troubleshooting-enabling-checking-dma-windows-vista-xp-2000-me-9x-101616/
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/696702-force-enable-dma.html

[In2Photos]

He deleted my post like he has done a few times now. It's abuse of mod power.
Or perhaps there is a trend in your posting that is not tolerated here. POTN has a strong belief (based on LOTS of evidence) that MAC vs PC threads turn into flame wars. Those flame wars often lead to good people getting banned. Therefore it is our policy to try to eliminate this from happening.

[ThomGascoigne]

Could have just said that the first time and I wouldn't feel like I'm being censored by an over zealous mod. Also I've seen no mention of this in the rules, wouldn't hurt to put that kind of thing in there unless I missed it.

Cheers

[pwm2]

It looks to me like he has let people express their opinion about Microsoft. This thread is still going and the original post is still intact. I fail to see your point here.
The point could possibly be that a post with a link describing a Windows auto-reconfiguration problem that results in these exact symptoms, and the required steps to correct them, was removed. Hopefully by accident.

It is, after all, trivial to check if the CD/DVD/BD burner is still using DMA or not. And if DMA has been deactivated, it is expected behaviour to get greatly increased burn times.

So the OP may have faulty hardware. But just as well may have suffered from automatic DMA deactivation in Windows.

[In2Photos]

Well I didn't know that and I don't respond well to rudeness. It looked to me like he didn't like my opinion about the subject so he deleted my posts. I didn't read anywhere in the rules that you can't discuss mac vs pc
Discussion of Mac vs PC is fine, there are some good threads here with that as the topic. But not all posts/threads trend that way. This one was heading in the wrong direction and needed to be redirected.

If, at any time, you feel like a post of yours has been wrongly deleted it is best to PM a Moderator to ask for clarification rather than to air your disdain for all to see.

[ThomGascoigne]

Fair enough. I have tried PM mod before and the response was rude. So thanks for your clarification

[basroil]

Not so bad idea as you think as long as the affected IDE channel isn't the boot disk - but the boot HDD can't suffer from this problem from just inserting optical disks with read errors. When the boot HDD doesn't support DMA, then it's time to quickly consider replacement of cable and/or IDE controller and/or HDD.

When DMA is working, you will be able to open properties and switch between different modes. But at least for Win2k/XP, when Windows activates the DMA lockout function, this selection methid gets blocked, so you just can not (!) change any DMA modes in the devices properties. It is my belief that Vista doesn't disable the DMA selection, but previous versions most definitely do.

Read the link in my other post for more information, and actual step-by-step instructions for different Windows versions. It was a bit unlucky that the original link was removed.

I have had to fix this problem on several machines.

A lot of people have had this problem but assumed it to be a hardware problem. After replacing their CD/DVD unit, the computer has started to work again since Windows has detected a new hardware device. People have then made the incorrect assumption that the older unit was broken and that they did the correct thing by replacing it.

I do not think this problem is affecting all optical devices - it may be affected by manufacturer or firmware. But the issue is that read errors on an optical disk can be incorrectly considered a DMA timeout (as in information broken because of bad signals) while in reality the IDE controller will not receive any more information because the drive is unable to pick up the next block of data from the disk.

http://dvdxcopy.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/520767
http://club.myce.com/f61/troubleshooting-enabling-checking-dma-windows-vista-xp-2000-me-9x-101616/
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/696702-force-enable-dma.html

OP said the laptop in question is 6mo old, so likely the system's running a sata connection rather than IDE (which survived well past it's time in laptops, i know). And most laptop hdds are now running AHCI (since vista and windows 7 support it on install), so deleting the IDE controller may end up not doing anything, or might just delete the burner and not cause any issues with the primary drive at all.

Now all we have to do is wait for OP to try fixing his laptop.