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GWX – Get Windows 10

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gwxEarlier this week several Geek sites parroted an article at MYCE entitled Update for Windows 7 and 8.1 silently installs Windows 10 downloader (nice work there guys!). Although the article did not bash Microsoft, commenters around the web were pissed off. At first I thought these comments might be a little bit of anti-Microsoft hysterics. Still, it made be curious enough to research the issue. Now, I’ve changed my mind…
[Read more…] about GWX – Get Windows 10

Fun With Audio Players – 2015

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speaker“Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll.” Keith Richards

4 years ago I wrote a popular article called Fun With Audio Players. That version contained a variety of audio player programs. Since folks asked about my Winamp setup from here I thought I would re-do that article. This version only contains the 2 audio players I use for listening to music:
AIMP3
Winamp
[Read more…] about Fun With Audio Players – 2015

Looking For A Laptop

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thI’m looking to buy a laptop within the next 3 months (not in a hurry but before July 1).
I would appreciate any incite, recommendations, deal news etc. Give me a shout if you have any. Thanks!
Here are the specs I’m looking for:
Size = 15 inch max 13 inch min.
CPU = Intel i7 (4th or 5th gen.)
Memory = 8GB minimum, 16GB preferred (don’t mind upgrading myself)
Storage = SSD. I really prefer 2 drives. (don’t mind upgrading myself)
Graphics = Prefer Nvidia or AMD with min 2GB GDDR5.
Screen = 1920 x 1080 min. I do not care about touch and certainly won’t pay more for it.
Price = Best deal I can get but no more than $1,500.

FYI – I used to have this laptop and I really liked it.

Suggested so far (summarized):
– There are several Lenovo’s that fit your specs.
– Check Costco, great warranties.
– I own and recommend the Alienware 15.
– Not quite to your specs but the Dell XPS 13 is nice.
– “Eric we really need to get you into a Mac.”
my response: :rotfl:
– Asus ROG
– Dell Precision M4800 Mobile Workstation
– I don’t know if you are still looking around for a laptop but if you are check out this site: http://www.xoticpc.com/
My wife and I are avid pc gamers and I had purchased 2 laptops for us from this site. I found it to be really great because you can customize the type of laptop that you choose from them. I also found their customer service to be excellent.

The Hole

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thThis is my computer room and setup. It is known as “The Hole” to family and friends.
Long time readers will notice a dramatic shift in the way I’m setup. The entire reason for me building these high-powered I7 machines with ridiculous amounts of RAM was to stop the multi-booting and shift to Virtual Machines (VM). [Read more…] about The Hole

Thursday Random Stuff…

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superfishieGoogle Chrome Updated
Bugfix. “The stable channel has been updated to 40.0.2214.115 for Windows, Mac and Linux.”
Download or update from within the program.

Superfish! (No, it’s not a hipster band)
ARS Technica – Lenovo PCs ship with man-in-the-middle adware that breaks HTTPS connections
Follow-up: ARS Technica – Lenovo honestly thought you’d enjoy that Superfish HTTPS spyware
Crap like this is why I always do my own clean installs.
Lenovo Owners:
Step 1 – Check if you have it: https://filippo.io/Badfish/
Step 2 – Remove it: https://filippo.io/Badfish/removing.html

About That Samsung 850 Pro SSD Firmware Update
I mentioned a few days ago that there was a firmware update for the Samsung 850 Pro SSD.
The EXM02B6Q firmware is still not available via Samsung Magician. Now I know why. This firmware update is destructive. That means you’ll have to either re-install Windows or restore from a system image.
What I Did:
1 – Backed up my computer via Acronis TI.
(Never, ever update SSD firmware without a system image.)
2 – Downloaded and burned the ISO to CD.
3 – Boot from CD and flash firmware.
4 – Power OFF then power back on. Drive would not boot.
5 – Restore image I made earlier. Success!

1 run on the AS SSD Benchmark:
s850pro_EXM02B6Q_bench