Quick [tech] Questions Thread

[Mandella]

I believe if you read the fine print, individually licensed copies of Windows are not transferable between computers. At least that was the case with previous versions. Not sure what the fuck is up with Windows 10.

I usually referred it it as an "upgrade," not a new computer. As in I  have just replaced the power supply, case, motherboard, hard drive, ram, cpu and optical drive. Other than that, it's the same computer...

[Mandella]

Does anyone have any (preferably free or cheap) networking software recommendations for home use?

I'm getting kinda tired of having to redo all my networking shares every dang major Windows update. Maybe the problem is I am stubbornly not using the Homegroup option, but just sharing specific folders between various machines. And pretty much every big update the network forgets itself.

And yes thanks but even though "Don't use Windows" is appreciated, but it's the devil I know.

[Trippy]

If you have a good Internet connection, use a cloud solution (Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, etc.)?

[SurfD]

I'm just curious about the people still buying a 360 or PS3.

Far as I know, a PS3 is still a pretty nice investment because it has software emulator support for like 98% of the PS1 library, so you are basically getting 2 consoles for the price of one.

[Tale]

I'm just curious about the people still buying a 360 or PS3.

Far as I know, a PS3 is still a pretty nice investment because it has software emulator support for like 98% of the PS1 library, so you are basically getting 2 consoles for the price of one.

Woo... 8 month answers. I wanna too.

I still have a PS3 because I spend all my time using a console-style gaming PC so I haven't upgraded to the current generation of actual consoles. I find the PS3 controls and apps very laggy compared with today's other devices, but it is still usable and playable. They have upgraded the PlayStation Store software to the point where it's supposed to be seamless with the PS4 version, but that just makes it very laggy. On the other hand, it's still a VERY worthy Blu-Ray player and I used it just the other night to watch one. It's hooked up to a new 4K OLED TV that has built-in Netflix and Amazon Prime, so I don't have much call for Blu-Rays, but the PS3 is faster than the actual Blu-Ray player attached to the TV in the other room.

[SurfD]

Hah, oops.  Just realized how old that post I replied to was.  That's what I get for just browsing back to the previous page while half asleep.

[Mandella]

If you have a good Internet connection, use a cloud solution (Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, etc.)?

Satellite, and capped. Cloud based is okay for small files, but multi gig video and stuff takes a lot of time and burns out my cap pretty fast.

It's actually not such a big deal to reset the shares every time I guess. Every third party solution I've looked into looked like it would take a similar level of fiddling with from time to time too -- so six of one, half dozen of the other...

[Trippy]

Get a NAS then?

[Yegolev]

What Trippy is trying to say is that you need to use anything other than shared folders on your Win workstation. Some dedicated "thing" that you aren't using for work/play. I'm probably going to finally buy a NAS soon, despite being all cloudy and shit.

[Mandella]

Weeellll, you see...

Right now I do have a Network Attached Storage "solution." It's an old Acer laptop with some external storage disks hooked up with USB cables.

It honestly works pretty well. I stream movies from it with no hitch using Kodi, and also use it as a central server for music and such. It's just that it uses whatever witchcraft Windows works by to transfer files from other devices on the local network, and sometimes it forgets where everything is and I have to reset shares.

Thus why I was asking if there was a better third party way to tie it all together. Or I could just keep taking the five minutes it takes every few months to tell it where all the transfer folders are on the other machines.

I appreciate the answers.

[Chimpy]

If you are wanting to map shared folders on Windows machines on a local network, you are always going to be using SMB even if you are running a NAS so if your non-server machines are losing their shared drive mappings on updates they are probably going to lose them on updates if you are using a NAS.

But using a laptop as a file server might actually be more of your problem than the windows part.

[Mandella]

But using a laptop as a file server might actually be more of your problem than the windows part.

True. The thing is it "just works." It responds to WOL, and I can remote into it to perform more general computing tasks such as file downloading, or making perfectly legal backup copies of DVDs, that sort of thing. It's a good way to keep from throwing away an old obsolete machine.

One of these days it'll die and I'll get a proper NAS -- or go completely nuts and try to repurpose one of these old Android 4.1 tablets I have laying around....

[Yegolev]

LOL ... ? 

[Chimpy]

But using a laptop as a file server might actually be more of your problem than the windows part.

True. The thing is it "just works."

If you are complaining about things being broken, then it isn't "just working" :p

[Mandella]

Ha ha. Some maintenance is always required -- especially if I'm the engineer.

So digging into the problem otherwise, I've found the issue. Microsoft has depreciated Homegroup and reworked how files are transferred. They really, really want you to use OneDrive even on a LAN.

Right. I don't think so. But you can still just share out files by individual user or Everyone, so that works, for now.