Tag: Dell

Goodbye Dell Dimension 8200

Post author By George
Post date August 25, 2012
No Comments on Goodbye Dell Dimension 8200

I would like to take a moment to say goodbye to my Dell Dimension 8200 system. 😦 I’ve slayed many monsters and demons on the Diablo series, and fragged many friends playing the Quake series, and destroying the the AI players in HOMM3 (plus actual work stuff).

When it’s time to decommission your home PC, think about the following:

Do you have a current backup?

Your first answer should be, “Let me double check.” There are a lot of options available such as; portable USB hard drive, DVD, CD, NAS, and cloud storage. I use a portable USB hard drive on my main computer, cloud storage to keep data synced between devices, and DVDs for long term storage.

Do you really need to recycle that PC?

Sometimes you can format the hard drive, reinstall the OS and start with a “factory build” image (make sure you have all your serial numbers and installation media or programs). You could also install Linux which requires far less system resources. My Dell 8200 ran Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and TurnKey Linux over the last few years.
Check with family and friends or nonprofits in your area. Some nonprofits will supply a tax receipt for your donation. Take the time during the hard drive wipe to double check the federal tax laws, and be honest when it comes to the value of your PC.

Wipe the hard drive!

Besides finding websites that will install malicious software to kill your PC, you can download free hard drive wipe programs, purchase wipe programs on-line or at a retail store, or use a bootable Linux OS from a USB or CD to wipe the drives. The wipe process will take hours to complete. My PC took 6 hours to complete.
Over the last 10+ years, many of the companies I worked for required the hard drive be physically destroyed in addition to wiping. Some might call this excessive, I call it standard procedure. You need to remember, that hard drive once stored every bit of information about you.
About a year ago I purchased a new paper shredder which can shred credit cards, CDs, and DVDs. I’ll go on record stating how much fun it is shredding DVDs.

Now that your ready, take the PC, glass tube monitor, and other accessories to the recycle event in your community. My community holds regular events for disposal of electronics, household hazardous waste, and other recycling programs.

Tags Dell, Home PC, Linux, Personal

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Getting an iMac

Apple iMac

Over the past year I’ve been thinking about getting a new PC for the family. The current Dell Dimension 8200 (almost 10 years old) was having a hard time running Windows XP and all the patches and security to keep it mostly virus and malware free. I installed Ubuntu 11.10 server on that Dell PC and turned it into a media server and backup storage device.

So what to get for the family? I could go with another Windows 7 PC and have the option to have more virus and malware installed every time the kids go to one of their kid friendly sites. My wife might need Windows 7 for remote access to work, plus it’s a familiar interface for everyone.

I could go with Linux OS such as Ubuntu 11.10, Linux Mint 12 (when it is available), or some other disto. But the problem with Linux for the family, a whole bunch of kid websites just don’t work with Linux. For example, Cartoon Network has some pretty cool games, but most of the games will not work in Linux. Those games require different engines such as Unity (not to be confused with Unity for Ubuntu). Also, many games that I like to play are not available in a Linux environment. I tried running Windows XP in a VM, but the performance is terrible and the games require high-end video cards which you never see in a VM.

My buddy at work suggested getting an iMac. The first thing that went in my mind, “How am I going to afford that?” Turns out the entry level iMac is within my budget. So I stopped at the local Apple Store and took a look. Usually I’m in there for a few minutes with the kids to kill time while my wife is shopping. Now I had time to shop. As usual I was assaulted but several employees right away. But I needed time to look over what they had and get some ideas before I would talk with someone.

Steve, the sales person, saw I was ready to have my questions answered. After a few minutes of talking about my concerns and what I wanted to accomplish, Steve unlocked the iMac and let me install some of the games from Cartoon Network. Out of all my years in IT, from selling to support, I’ve never heard someone say let’s unlock the computer and install the web apps you mentioned. So I played some of the Cartoon Network games. I was hooked. Just need to upgrade the memory from 4GB to 8GB. The Apple memory is expensive. Looks like I’ll be checking on-line for a better price.

Now, what am I going to do about some of the Windows only applications I need? I will keep my notebook PC as a dual boot between Windows 7 and Linux (not sure about keeping Ubuntu). Maybe I’ll install VMWare Fusion, VirtualBox, Parallels or Bootcamp for my Windows needs. I doubt I’ll ever break away completely from Windows. Too many applications I need for Windows for my job.

So this Christmas Santa will deliver a new computer for the family. It will meet the needs of my family, address my concerns, and also give me a little education in the Mac world.

Now, what book should I get…

Tags Dell, iMac, Linux Mint, Sager, Ubuntu, VirtualBox, VMware Player, Windows 7, Windows XP

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Deploying Ubuntu 11.04 onto a Friend’s PC

Post author By George
Post date May 15, 2011
1 Comment on Deploying Ubuntu 11.04 onto a Friend’s PC

Last week I received a Facebook message from a friend asking for PC assistance. Over the last 2 years, they have seen my PC running Ubuntu 10.x and heard me talk about how stable and secure my PC is. When Ken’s hard drive failed a short while ago, he ordered a new hard drive from Dell (it was cheaper through Dell than other retailers here) and installed Windows XP Home Edition. Unfortunately Ken was not able to install the drivers for his PC. Ken brought his PC over to my place, and we talked about Linux while I installed the missing drivers and SP3 for Windows XP.

I had my work computer (Dell Latitude E6400) which runs Linux Mint 10 at home. The Dell PC and my Sager PC were booted and I gave a demonstration of each OS. After about 30 minutes, Ken wanted to run Linux Mint 10 on his Dell Inspiron1525. So I used my Linux Mint 10 USB stick to verify this PC would run Linux without problems for Ken. Everything worked except for the Dell wireless NIC. Linux Mint 10 was unable to detect the card, and since I was running out of time and didn’t want to configure it manually, I shutdown the PC and booted from my newly made Ubuntu 11.04 x32 and x64 ISO USB stick.

Ken’s PC is several years old so I tried the 32-bit version. For once I was pleasantly surprise with Ubuntu 11.04. Unity worked, and it wanted to install the proprietary drivers for the Dell wireless NIC. So I started the installation as a dual boot system and went back to some house work. I installed all third party codecs and drivers from the initial installation screen.

Afterwards I gave Ken a quick tutorial on how to use Ubuntu 11.04. Although I am not a big fan of the Unity interface, I think this might be a great introduction to new Linux users.

So far I’ve nothing but happiness from Ken about Ubuntu 11.04. He is using Facebook and has access to his e-mail. I wish I could have installed a client that would allow Ken to use his iPod Touch to connect to his iTunes store. If anyone knows of an application that will give Ken this ability in Ubuntu without using Wine, I would like to try it out.

Tags Dell, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, VirtualBox, Windows XP

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Ubuntu 10.10 on Work Notebook

Post author By George
Post date February 13, 2011
No Comments on Ubuntu 10.10 on Work Notebook

Last year when a new IT Service company took over the contract from another IT Service company I was working for, they issued a new Dell Latitude E6400 notebook to each of us. This PC is not the beefiest notebook from Dell, but this is not a review of the PC. The notebook specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
2GB RAM (upgraded to 4GB by employer)
Intel Video
CDR / DVD ROM
14″ Screen
SD Card Reader
Intel network

The PC came with Windows 7 x32, Symantec EndPoint 11, MS Office 2007, and a few other applications. Being a good IT technician, I used Symantec Ghost to create a backup image the day it was delivered. At first I left the PC as is and installed a bunch of software to support the client. After a year of hard use, computer was having problems booting or just being stable. In no way is this a bash of Windows 7. I like Windows 7 but the system needed a rebuild and it was time to try something that’s been on my mind.

After sending an e-mail to my manager asking for access to the ftp server to download MS Office 2007 and Symantec EndPoint 11, I wiped out the HDD and installed Ubuntu 10.10 x64. With a 64 bit OS, I can use the full 4GB of RAM. Just like before, installation took about 20 minutes, and everything worked without having to install additional drivers. Since the client I’m working for has started to roll out Windows 7 x64, I wanted the same for my VM. Running Windows 7 x32 would be all that I need for the VM, but as I found out over the last 5 months, some applications that work in the 32bit environment will not work in a 64bit environment. Sometimes you need the native 64bit software to install or work correctly.

So I chose VMware Player to run Windows 7 x64. The VM is configured for 2.5 GB of RAM, 2 processors, with the NIC configured at bridged for DNS registration. After activating Windows 7 x64, the system was ready for MS Office 2007 and Symantec EndPoint 11. While waiting for may manager, I installed Banshee, Filezilla, Terminal Server Client, Google Chrome, Adobe Air, Tweetdeck, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Gimp, Skype, VLC, Ubuntu Tweak, Shutter, modified my Pictures Screensaver, plus a bunch of minor configurations I use for Ubuntu. After several days of using Outlook Web Access (OWA), I finally received my email with the server information and software keys.

So now I am supporting my client with Ubuntu 10.10 x64 at work. I can honestly say Ubuntu is ready for the IT professional in a real world environment. I have three different Microsoft Windows vms for supporting two non-trusting domains, covering x32 and x64 operating systems. Due to the limited resources on my notebook, I can only run one VM at a time, but that’s OK. There is a second Linux computer constantly running a Windows XP x32 OS which I use to manage one of the domains.

The nice thing about my setup is the dual monitors. The default screen is the notebook display, the second screen I use for my VMs or if I need to focus on a particular task. I usually run Banshee and Empathy IM on the small LCD, Tweetdeck minimized, and Google Chrome for all my personal stuff. Terminal Server Client is used to connect to the three Windows 2003 or 2008 severs I support orto VNC into a Windows XP workstation. Plus the other techs at work were impressed with what I accomplished.

So give Ubuntu or any Linux distro a shot at work for a month. If you plan it a little, you can have your system running Linux with a VM or two to meet your clients needs.

Tags Dell, Geek Stuff, Google Chrome, Linux, Skype, Ubuntu, Virtual Machine, VMware Player, Windows 7, Windows XP