4/19/2009 - A strange experience with a new machine

My christmas present this year was a Gateway Quad-Core with 8 GB of memory.  It's generally rated as one of the fastest of the quad-core machines in the $1,200 or less price range.

Well, I was so busy after Christmas that I really didn't get a chance to seriously start using it until February.  My first step was to install Windows Server 2008 on top of the OS that came with the machine  (Vista Home Premium 64-bit).  I've done that with my last few machines (including a laptop), with no problems.

Well, all the good fortunate I'd had with new machines and Win 2008 came to a screeching halt - shortly afterwards, the Gateway desktop either would die with the blue screen of death, or would reboot itself in the middle of something.  Figuring it was just a botched install, I did the install again - same problem.

Well, I figured I'd just use Virtual Server on my desktop - but there was no way I was going to use Home Premium.  So I installed Vista Ultimate on the desktop....same problems after the install  (blue screen of death and constant re-boots).  And if you're wondering, I was also formatting the drive to completely start from scratch - but still kept running into the same problems.

At that point, I was really getting suspicious.  So I tried to install Vista Business, which is one level above Home Premium.  Same problems!   (If you're wondering why I dislike Home Premium so much - it comes down to one simple thing - it doesn't support Windows Authentication). 

So there I am - a new desktop (and I mean a SCREAMER of  desktop) that, sadly, did too much screaming with any O.S. other than Home Premium.

HMMMMM?????????  (Do we see a pattern emerging here, Scully?)

Well, after weeks of research, I came across two gentlemen who separately told me something about new Gateway desktops.  I do not know for a fact if this is true, so I'm only repeating what they told me:  Gateway supposedly burned the version of the operating system into the circuitry of the hard disk.  Now, I know as much about circuitry as I know about playing the violin  (ZERO!), so I didn't know if the guys were correct or not. 

But both told me to  go buy a new hard disk and use the new disk.  It was a small gamble, but I didn't have much choice.  Because of the length of time, I wasn't able to exchange the machine,  and so I bought a new 1 TB disk for about $109 and installed it. 

Well, that was almost 3 weeks ago, and I'm happy to report that my screamer of a machine is running perfectly.  Because I'd been reformatting the drive every time I installed a new O.S., it NEVER would have occured to me to go buy a completely different drive.  It's not like the drive that came with the machine was some bizarre brand name - it was a Western Digital - but it seems that putting in a new drive (in this case, a Seagate) took care of everything.  (I'm sure that had I bought a new WD drive, it would have worked as well).

So - all the luck I've had for the last few years, installing a Server-based OS without any issues, finally caught up to me.  But fortunately it had a happy ending - this new machine is FAST.  I've always owned good machines, but this Gateway is the best.    So I'm a happy boy now.  I've got SQL 2005, SQL 2008, MOSS 2007, and VS 2008 all running the way I want them.  Life is good.  :)

Now playing - Wes Montgomery, Smokin' at the Half Note  (of the best live guitarist performances of all time)

KG

Comments

[Mike C.]

Kevin, is it possible the hard drive was defective? I think that WD has a good drive fitness test available for download. The whole Gateway burning thing seems like a huge conspiracy theory to me. You rig sounds pretty sweet though.

[KG]

Hey, Mike...

While a defective drive would have led to the same solution (buying a new drive), there's one reason why I don't believe the drive was defective.

Everytime I installed the original operating system (Vista Home Premium), the machine worked fine. (Maybe I didn't mention that).

Yeah, the conclusion does sound like a conspiracy theory - but I've talked to two people who claim first-hand knowledge of this. Either way, the issue is solved. I LOVE this machine.

KG

[Mike C.]

That's good news. I'm glad it works for you. Do you find any issues with running Windows Server 2008? Do you use this machine strictly for business use or do you also use it for personal use?

[Kevin S. Goff]

Thanks, yeah, I've never been happier with a machine.

I have 3 computers - my new Gateway screamer that I use for work, a Gateway laptop that I use for work, and an HP desktop that I used to use for work (but now use for Napster, multimedia stuff, personal, stuff, etc.) I run Windows Server 2008 on all three....that's right, all three.

The main reason I only use Windows Server is because I do MOSS 2007 and PerformancePoint Server development and training, and both of those require a true server-based OS.

So long as the hardware vendor provides drivers (and so far, I haven't had any issue), I'm able to do everything I need. Win Server 2008 even allows you to get the same visual desktop appearance (Aero, etc.) that you have in Vista.

Now, the standard anti-virus programs won't work on Win Server 2008, but I use Trend Micro and it works fine.

So I'm a definite fan of Win Server 2008. (Win Server 2003 is nice as well).

KG