[a] get a Mac
[b] don't touch Windows 8 with a barge pole
[c] Linux
[b] don't touch Windows 8 with a barge pole
[c] Linux
-
-
[d] Dell PC with Windows 7 professional - an excellent machine .Originally posted by DracoM View Post
I'm not sure a small business user can afford to mess around with Linux, but for home/ amateur use, it can't be equalled.Comment
-
Dell
Dell laptops often have a fault which means that if you connect them to a PA without an audio interface (using the onboard sound) you get epic hum and distortion....... I've had more hideous problems with Dell machines in institutions than any other manufacturer
Sadly Draco is rightComment
-
I did know that Windows XP wasn't going to be supported for much longer, but I tried to ignore that until something went wrong.
My Kaspersky antivirus is now refusing to update. Could that be the first sign that I'm going to have to do something.
What should I do?
It is clear to me from reading this thread that the more technically complex solutions are not open to me.
The PC is quite old (2003?) and would probably have to be replaced soon anyway.Comment
-
jean,
Firstly, as far as I can find out, Kaspersky has promised to continue supporting Windows XP for its current AV products AV and for two future generatrions. So you should be able to get Kaspersky AV updates for at least a further year. If your Kaspersky is refusing to update it might be a temporary glitch. Approximately 30% of all computers worldwide are still using Windows XP so it is unlikely that the antivirus software houses will immediately stop supporting it.
The problem with Microsoft no longer supporting XP (and Office 2003) is that it will no longer plug any vulnerabilities in the operating system (or in Office 2003) that come to light, so hackers will be able to use those vulnerabilities to do bad things to your computer. Rather more worrying is the possibility that hackers will examine the Microsoft updates for later versions of Windows and "reverse engineer" them and then develop attacks on Windows XP based on the vulnerabilities those updates reveal.
So, most definitely, the first and best option has to be to buy a new computer that runs Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. In any case, if your computer is 11 years old it is getting ever closer to the time when it will give up the ghost - so why not replace it before that happens?
Failing that there are a number of things one can do to mitigate the risks of continuing with Windows XP. All should be done as soon as possible.
- Create a "Limited" user account on your computer (with a different password to your normal "Administrator" account) and always log into that Limited account except when installing software, etc. This will greatly limit what any rogue software, etc can do on your computer. Do this NOW.
- Make sure that all the Microsoft XP (and Office 2003) updates are applied and make sure your antivirus software is always up to date.
- Do NOT use the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser - change to something like Mozilla Firefox. A vulnerability in Microsoft IE has already been reported and this will not be fixed for XP users. Change to Firefox, or similar, NOW.
- If you are using Outlook Express or Outlook 2003 for your e-mail - change to e-mail software that is is still supported on Windows XP (e.g. Mozilla Thunderbird).
- Disable or uninstall Java on your computer. Java is one of the most vulnerable pieces of software in general use.
- Ideally do the same for Flash, though this might be impractical as a lot of web content (including Radio Player) depends on it.
- Finally, make sure you have a backup of all your important data files - photos, documents, music, videos, etc, etc, etc.
- Of course, not connecting the computer to the internet at all would be the ideal solution!Last edited by johnb; 28-04-14, 14:25.Comment
-
Thank you for a most helpful reply.
The Kaspersky malfunction was a false alarm - I had to uninstall and reinstall it, which I've now done successfully.
I use Firefox not !E.
I get my personal email through AOL - I kept the old email address though I haven't had anything to do with AOL or paid them anything for years. Not sure if that's safe. I have a hotmail address for an organisation I'm secretary of - that seems to come through Outlook. How do I change it?
What is Java for, and what do I use instead if I disable it?
And having read this thread and heard stories elsewhere, I wouldn't want Windows 8, would I?
As you see, I am incredibly stupid.Comment
-
I've been trying out Ubuntu and, while it was possible to install Spotify, Ubuntu doesn't seem to support an up-to-date cloud-supporting version of iTunes. Nice not to have to worry about viruses!Originally posted by Oddball View PostComment
-
Of course I accept your views, I restrict myself to iPlayer for Web music. I'm not an expert on Linux, but one of its features is the huge amount of help available:Originally posted by Lento View Post
Tonight I'm struggling with installation of Linux O/S for Rapsberry Pi!Comment
-
Comment
-
Hi Pegleg - thanks for your interest.Originally posted by Pegleg View Post
Silly me - always bull at a gate - just made an expensive detour with card reader, new SD card, Win32 Disk Imager for NOOBS o/s.
All I had to do was to plug in the SD card supplied with the kit in the card reader slot under the PCB - I hadn't noticed that until I accessed a youtube clip intended for 8 year olds!
Any way, to answer your question, I am installing the recommended Raspbian O/S (wheezy Debian?)Comment
-
I don't think it's too much of a detour. You can use your card reader with Win32 Disk Imager to make backups of your SD cards. Do you have any particular use for the RPi in mind?Comment
-
There are a millionand one applications for the Pi, but a long term project which has been continually shelved, is to build a software defined radio.
Ideas?Comment
-
This kind of thing?
Basic question are:
(1) How are you going to get sound out of your RPi? In-built analogue is very low-fi, HDMI is good but assumes you will hook up RPI to TV or receiver. Or will you use an external DAC via USB perhaps, or do you hope to make a direct phono connection to your hi-fi and so the RPi becomes a replacement for an FM tuner?
(2) How do you expect to control your device? Via touch screen, smartphone, tablet, or pc/laptop, or any combo of these?
(3) What, if any, software is available for this kind of application?
The examples in the web refs all use MPD - music player daemon. The quickest way to get this software running on a RPI is to use VOLUMIO http://volumio.org/ Otherwise you'd have to install and configure MPD yourself which can have several "gotchas" for those new to Linux.
The obvious alternative is a combination of "Logitech Media Server" and squeezelite, which will turn your RPi into a squeezebox device. The server part can run either on the RPi itself, or on another device on the network. I favour this software, as you will get easier access to a full range of Internet Radio stations. Radio station selection, and playback can be controlled via any of the devices I listed in (2) above. Andriod and/or Apple control apps exist for smartphones and tablets. There's the LMS interface which you can access in a web browser ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Squeeze_Center.jpg ) or an application called jivelite.
For example: http://www.instructables.com/id/Wall...-Raspberry-Pi/ & http://youtu.be/ew23-aYNbD0
Adding a touch screen to an RPI is expensive, but you could potentially us an Openpeak O2 Joggler as your touchscreen control device. They are circa ยฃ40-50 s/hand. But, of course, an O2 Joggler can be used to do the whole thing without a RPI.
It's possible to get jivelite to run on a PC or laptop and use this as your control interface. With the use of the FLIRC USB dongle you can get IR remote control. I recently setup an old laptop using a combination of LMS, squeezelite and jivelite to act as a Internet Radio and/or audio file player.
Last, but not least, several audio cards developed for the RPi have appeared in the last few months. Some require soldering a 8-pin header to the P5 connection on the RPi, but the "Wolfson Audio Card" uses a push pin fit. See this thread: http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread...son-Audio-Card
Here a combination of RPI, Wolfson Audio Card and SqueezePlug are used. SqueezePlug is a special audio orientated RPI Linux distro built on Raspbian.
Hopefully, this will give you some food for thought.Last edited by Pegleg; 29-04-14, 10:02.Comment
-
Thanks for all that info Pegleg.
Unfortunately and unintentionally I misled you. I am into amateur radio, so I am looking at a transmitter and/or receiver, on the amateur bands, HF and VHF. The radios on the market are very expensive, e.g. Flex Radio, but recently there has been interest in a DVBdongle, RTL2832U SDR
Comment
-
My turn for a detour. SDR - I should have read your post more closely. So it's radio, as in radio via a dingle dongle. This?
Interesting, have you seen this post?
And this sort of thing:
There's plenty of refs on the web, e.g:
and vids on youtube:
As always, the devil's in the detail as to how and what is possible. The second vid I listed has a few refs, including this one:
The software build doesn't look too involved (fingers crossed) The comments are worth reading as getting the right dongle and perhaps having to use a powered hub seem important.
P.S I came across this post which seems to have it all and is fairly recent:
Should be enough to get you started.Last edited by Pegleg; 29-04-14, 17:46.Comment
Comment