Windows XP end of support
 

On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 02:22:55 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 10 Feb 2014 19:59:49 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



Who "codes" their own device drivers? The driver typically comes with
the device, is already installed in Windows or can be easily found
on-line. I've noticed that more often than not (especially on the Win7
machine) that when I hook up a new device ... like the flatbed scanner
... Windows automatically detects and loads the driver if it happens to
exist in the device ... or automatically finds the appropriate one (I
assume on the 'net) and installs it. I haven't used a CD supplied with
a device for a long time to load a driver. Plug and Play and it works.

Being a "hobbyist" I have a lot of experience with drivers, like
starting with a box of junk parts and trying to find the drivers to
get it going on DOS 6.3 or W/98.
Sometimes I am working backward from the numbers on the chips trying
to figure out if someone beside the maker of the board or card I have
wrote a driver for that chip set. I have had fairly good luck.

As long as it is XP, the drivers are easy to get.

One disturbing thing is those old "free" driver sites like driver
guide make you jump through hoops now and they usually try to get you
to download some spyware laden spam generator ... or worse.
I am getting to the point that I just don't use them and stick with
manufacturer sites, even if it is not the one that made the part I
have. Dell is a fairly good resource because they incorporated so many
different chip sets in their stuff but figuring out which product to
use can be tough if you don't actually have the Dell "magic code
number" in question. It can be quite the detective job sometimes and I
end up with a lot of the wrong drivers,.

A good trick is to image your drive at the first good boot before you
start loading strange drivers. Find the ones that work, then set the
wayback machine to when you did that boot so you don't have the
remnants of weird drivers out there.
I always build a good disk with all the drivers for every machine I
build, then copy it to the D: drive on that machine so next time, it
goes easy. I also started putting a listing of everything I know about
the drivers in the disk box (chip set etc) . I hate looking twice for
the same driver.

Maybe I've been lucky. I've not searched for a driver for at least ten years.

Windows XP end of support
 

On 2/11/14, 7:27 AM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article , says...


Ahh, but you see, Apple products come with first-rate customer care.
When I couldn't get my Canon camera to link up properly over WiFi with
my new iMac, no matter what I did, I called AppleCare and the case was
assigned to one of its contract developers, who made some suggestions
and when they didn't work, he escalated it to a workgroup, a member of
whom called me and emailed a utility to me that Apple has to download
and transmit certain files from my machine. It took two days for the
tech to get back to me with a file he emailed and I loaded. Solved the
problem.

But, of course, Windows XP is sooooo much mo'betta, and so is the highly
touted Microsoft support, so long as you want to deal with guys whose
first and second languages ain't English and whose ultimate answer
usually is, "Well, just reload windows."

Have a nice day.



Now, I know the great Windoze gurus here could have solved the problem
as easily as a roomful of monkeys sitting at typewriters could write
Joyce's Ulysses, right, because the gurus here are so up to date and
experienced in coding contemporary software that interfaces with Apple's
OS. Right?

Sounds like a real cluster**** - tech support emailing a "fix" for a
problem.
You're missing the point being made.
Most likely Canon provided Microsoft with drivers that work.
Those driver are included in Win 7.
Or the drivers that came with the camera work on Win 7.
XP is old. Hell, Win 7 is about 5 years old.
I don't know why it should take a phone tech and then a "workgroup"
to make your camera properly work with your iMac.
The more you talk about "Applecare," the less attractive Apple seems to
me. All I'm hearing is "Applecare." That's tech support.
Most people don't enjoy calling tech support, under any names.



Ahh, thank you for your snarky contribution to the wrecked.bloats body
of useful knowledge.

The "drivers" on my Mac worked properly but sporadically with the
camera. No other devices I connect with Wi Fi were having problems.
There are limited numbers of settings to try from this end. So, I called
Mac and they came up with a solution that worked.

Have a nice day.

--
Sarah Palin is watching the Sochi Olympic Games from the front porch of
her house.

Windows XP end of support
 

On 2/11/14, 7:50 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 02:22:55 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 10 Feb 2014 19:59:49 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



Who "codes" their own device drivers? The driver typically comes with
the device, is already installed in Windows or can be easily found
on-line. I've noticed that more often than not (especially on the Win7
machine) that when I hook up a new device ... like the flatbed scanner
... Windows automatically detects and loads the driver if it happens to
exist in the device ... or automatically finds the appropriate one (I
assume on the 'net) and installs it. I haven't used a CD supplied with
a device for a long time to load a driver. Plug and Play and it works.

Being a "hobbyist" I have a lot of experience with drivers, like
starting with a box of junk parts and trying to find the drivers to
get it going on DOS 6.3 or W/98.
Sometimes I am working backward from the numbers on the chips trying
to figure out if someone beside the maker of the board or card I have
wrote a driver for that chip set. I have had fairly good luck.

As long as it is XP, the drivers are easy to get.

One disturbing thing is those old "free" driver sites like driver
guide make you jump through hoops now and they usually try to get you
to download some spyware laden spam generator ... or worse.
I am getting to the point that I just don't use them and stick with
manufacturer sites, even if it is not the one that made the part I
have. Dell is a fairly good resource because they incorporated so many
different chip sets in their stuff but figuring out which product to
use can be tough if you don't actually have the Dell "magic code
number" in question. It can be quite the detective job sometimes and I
end up with a lot of the wrong drivers,.

A good trick is to image your drive at the first good boot before you
start loading strange drivers. Find the ones that work, then set the
wayback machine to when you did that boot so you don't have the
remnants of weird drivers out there.
I always build a good disk with all the drivers for every machine I
build, then copy it to the D: drive on that machine so next time, it
goes easy. I also started putting a listing of everything I know about
the drivers in the disk box (chip set etc) . I hate looking twice for
the same driver.

Maybe I've been lucky. I've not searched for a driver for at least ten years.


Where would you look? Under the couch?

--
Sarah Palin is watching the Sochi Olympic Games from the front porch of
her house.

Windows XP end of support
 

On Tuesday, February 11, 2014 8:02:46 AM UTC-5, F.O.A.D. wrote:

The "drivers" on my Mac worked properly but sporadically with the
camera. No other devices I connect with Wi Fi were having problems.
There are limited numbers of settings to try from this end. So, I called
Mac and they came up with a solution that worked.

Might want to re-read that first sentence. The fact that it worked "sporadically" means, by definition, it did *not* work "properly". And the fact that Apple (not Canon) had to come up with a fix means it was buggy Apple software.


Have a nice day.

I will. :-)

Windows XP end of support
 

On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 08:04:58 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 2/11/14, 7:50 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 02:22:55 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 10 Feb 2014 19:59:49 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



Who "codes" their own device drivers? The driver typically comes with
the device, is already installed in Windows or can be easily found
on-line. I've noticed that more often than not (especially on the Win7
machine) that when I hook up a new device ... like the flatbed scanner
... Windows automatically detects and loads the driver if it happens to
exist in the device ... or automatically finds the appropriate one (I
assume on the 'net) and installs it. I haven't used a CD supplied with
a device for a long time to load a driver. Plug and Play and it works.

Being a "hobbyist" I have a lot of experience with drivers, like
starting with a box of junk parts and trying to find the drivers to
get it going on DOS 6.3 or W/98.
Sometimes I am working backward from the numbers on the chips trying
to figure out if someone beside the maker of the board or card I have
wrote a driver for that chip set. I have had fairly good luck.

As long as it is XP, the drivers are easy to get.

One disturbing thing is those old "free" driver sites like driver
guide make you jump through hoops now and they usually try to get you
to download some spyware laden spam generator ... or worse.
I am getting to the point that I just don't use them and stick with
manufacturer sites, even if it is not the one that made the part I
have. Dell is a fairly good resource because they incorporated so many
different chip sets in their stuff but figuring out which product to
use can be tough if you don't actually have the Dell "magic code
number" in question. It can be quite the detective job sometimes and I
end up with a lot of the wrong drivers,.

A good trick is to image your drive at the first good boot before you
start loading strange drivers. Find the ones that work, then set the
wayback machine to when you did that boot so you don't have the
remnants of weird drivers out there.
I always build a good disk with all the drivers for every machine I
build, then copy it to the D: drive on that machine so next time, it
goes easy. I also started putting a listing of everything I know about
the drivers in the disk box (chip set etc) . I hate looking twice for
the same driver.

Maybe I've been lucky. I've not searched for a driver for at least ten years.


Where would you look? Under the couch?

In the past at the manufacturer's web sites. Now - probably the same place, if Windows XP couldn't
find them.

Do you store software under your couch?

Windows XP end of support
 

On 2/11/14, 8:33 AM, wrote:
On Tuesday, February 11, 2014 8:02:46 AM UTC-5, F.O.A.D. wrote:

The "drivers" on my Mac worked properly but sporadically with the
camera. No other devices I connect with Wi Fi were having problems.
There are limited numbers of settings to try from this end. So, I called
Mac and they came up with a solution that worked.

Might want to re-read that first sentence. The fact that it worked "sporadically" means, by definition, it did *not* work "properly". And the fact that Apple (not Canon) had to come up with a fix means it was buggy Apple software.


Have a nice day.

I will. :-)



The reality is that I wasn't looking for "fault," I was looking for a
solution. I did call Canon first. Canon's suggested cure was to call my
ISP and "upgrade" to a fixed IP address at the cost of about $150 a
month additional, or so I was told.

I didn't accept that as an answer, as nothing else in my pile of
hardware that connected via WiFi was having problems connecting or
staying connected, so I called Apple.

Apple came up with the fix. In a couple of days. From techs who speak
Americanese and aren't in a cave somewhere in Pakistan.

--
Sarah Palin is watching the Sochi Olympic Games from the front porch of
her house.

Windows XP end of support
 

In article , says...


Sounds like a real cluster**** - tech support emailing a "fix" for a
problem.
You're missing the point being made.
Most likely Canon provided Microsoft with drivers that work.
Those driver are included in Win 7.
Or the drivers that came with the camera work on Win 7.
XP is old. Hell, Win 7 is about 5 years old.
I don't know why it should take a phone tech and then a "workgroup"
to make your camera properly work with your iMac.
The more you talk about "Applecare," the less attractive Apple seems to
me. All I'm hearing is "Applecare." That's tech support.
Most people don't enjoy calling tech support, under any names.



Ahh, thank you for your snarky contribution to the wrecked.bloats body
of useful knowledge.


Nothing "snarky" at all there.
Sorry you're having problems with your iMac.

Windows XP end of support
 

On 2/11/14, 9:01 AM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article , says...


Sounds like a real cluster**** - tech support emailing a "fix" for a
problem.
You're missing the point being made.
Most likely Canon provided Microsoft with drivers that work.
Those driver are included in Win 7.
Or the drivers that came with the camera work on Win 7.
XP is old. Hell, Win 7 is about 5 years old.
I don't know why it should take a phone tech and then a "workgroup"
to make your camera properly work with your iMac.
The more you talk about "Applecare," the less attractive Apple seems to
me. All I'm hearing is "Applecare." That's tech support.
Most people don't enjoy calling tech support, under any names.



Ahh, thank you for your snarky contribution to the wrecked.bloats body
of useful knowledge.


Nothing "snarky" at all there.
Sorry you're having problems with your iMac.



I'm not having problems. I had a minor, annoying glitch with a camera.
It's been resolved.

--
Sarah Palin is watching the Sochi Olympic Games from the front porch of
her house.

Windows XP end of support
 

In article , says...

On 2/11/14, 9:01 AM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article , says...


Sounds like a real cluster**** - tech support emailing a "fix" for a
problem.
You're missing the point being made.
Most likely Canon provided Microsoft with drivers that work.
Those driver are included in Win 7.
Or the drivers that came with the camera work on Win 7.
XP is old. Hell, Win 7 is about 5 years old.
I don't know why it should take a phone tech and then a "workgroup"
to make your camera properly work with your iMac.
The more you talk about "Applecare," the less attractive Apple seems to
me. All I'm hearing is "Applecare." That's tech support.
Most people don't enjoy calling tech support, under any names.



Ahh, thank you for your snarky contribution to the wrecked.bloats body
of useful knowledge.


Nothing "snarky" at all there.
Sorry you're having problems with your iMac.



I'm not having problems. I had a minor, annoying glitch with a camera.
It's been resolved.

Good. Happy to hear Applecare fixed your camera.

Windows XP end of support
 

On 2/11/2014 6:55 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 2/11/14, 4:11 AM, KC wrote:


Sigh. Yet more problems for Windozes users. Meanwhile, an Apple
software
developer called me this morning to let me know he'd be emailing me a
small test program which he thinks will take care of a minor glitch I
had with a bit of hardware. Oh, he was in North Carolina and spoke
"Americanese." And what did I pay for my copy of Apple Mavericks OS
that
I installed on my laptop? Why...nothing.

Thank you, Microsoft.


This get's funnier and funnier every time.. Now you have a personal tech
guy just to fix a "minor glitch" (aka, lobsta boat) on your "hardware"
(also lobsta boat)... I have been running my machine for years. Got a
video card changed a couple years back, still doing fine. Today I was at
a client running Paint shop Pro, Dreamweaver, Macromedia Flash Maker,
Any video converter, Firefox, Chrome, a text editor, and downloading
movies from the customer computer.... all at the same time while hooked
up to a verison wireless router and doing live edits to his website
adding video and photos... .. No crashes.. I just don't see what the big
deal is with you guys...



Ahh, but you see, Apple products come with first-rate customer care.
When I couldn't get my Canon camera to link up properly over WiFi with
my new iMac, no matter what I did, I called AppleCare and the case was
assigned to one of its contract developers, who made some suggestions
and when they didn't work, he escalated it to a workgroup, a member of
whom called me and emailed a utility to me that Apple has to download
and transmit certain files from my machine. It took two days for the
tech to get back to me with a file he emailed and I loaded. Solved the
problem.

But, of course, Windows XP is sooooo much mo'betta, and so is the highly
touted Microsoft support, so long as you want to deal with guys whose
first and second languages ain't English and whose ultimate answer
usually is, "Well, just reload windows."

Have a nice day.



Now, I know the great Windoze gurus here could have solved the problem
as easily as a roomful of monkeys sitting at typewriters could write
Joyce's Ulysses, right, because the gurus here are so up to date and
experienced in coding contemporary software that interfaces with Apple's
OS. Right?


The last time I tried coding software was in the late 1980s. Oh .. I
also html coded the original "boats of rec boats" website because
canned website building software was just starting to be developed.

Since then, I've had no reason or requirement (as a computer user) to
"code" anything. Any issues with using an external device with Windows
either works fine or has had minor configuration issues to resolve.
They don't require writing code or calling Microsoft for a custom
written software update.

Geeze. You're starting to make me concerned about my iMac. For the
price she paid, the damn thing should perform as advertised without
having to resort to calling Apple Care or installing custom software
patches.