Kevin S. Goff: Life in Detail w/Microsoft Database Tools

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

1/20/2008 – MVP Again!

Hi, folks – great news for me on the first of the year, I received the .NET MVP award again for C#.

Thanks to all those who have helped me along the way, as well as the people who run the .NET/SQL events where I've spoken!

1/9/07: A new year, MVP again...

Happy New Year to everyone...

2007 started well, I received my 2007 MVP for C# on Jan 1.   I guess I can say it's a three-peat.  Thanks to those who have helped me along the way...

I've been a busy boy as far as writing goes.  I  submitted a large article for the upcoming CodeFocus on moving from VFP to .NET.  Then I wrote my regular CoDe article for the next issue - article focuses on building web pages using ASP.NET 2.0, C#, and T-SQL 2005.  There's some coverage of Generics as well.

Frequently, after I submit an article, I always lament the things I wanted to cover but couldn't fit in....but I didn't feel that way on this latest one.  Not sure if I just got lucky, but I'm really happy about this latest one.  I'm evolving toward a model for every issue - presenting some real-life situation, and demonstrating the use of one more more technologies to build it.  It's very difficult for me to write an article just on one item, so I'll continue to focus on pieces that use multiple tools to put something together. 

I don't make specific New Years Resolutions, just general goals - to cover WCF and LINQ, continue pushing Generics and T-SQL, and maybe, just maybe, a 2nd book???  We'll see.  I turn 42 in a few weeks.  I'm a helluva lot more mellow than I was a few years ago, so I have to learn to channel energies differently.  [ok, i'm breaking my rule of not turning a blog into true confessions]

I'm going to travel a little less this year - just the MVP Summit, DevTeach, and the local CodeCamps.  Of course, that'll be challenged the first time the Atlantic bad-boys [you know who you are, haha] want to do a road-trip up to Boston.

Now listening to...John Coltrane's Blue Train. 

Peace out...KG

Hello, blog-world

Howdy, all...

KG's first blog entry.  I've had this on my 'to-do' list for weeks.  For now, I'm going with a starter service - will probably look at something bigger when I get some time.

Mainly I'll talk about software and .NET, sports, music, entertainment, my best buds, Monty Python trivia, etc.      

Just got back from a week-long client trip, so I'm pleasantly drained.  I consider myself fortunate, I have good clients.

Spent a combined nine hours in the Allentown and Detroit airports last Sunday, due to a series of mechanical problems.   I may have set the world's record for eating airport pizza in one day.

I've been to 2 MSDN CodeCamp events (www.msdncodecamp.com) in the last 2 months.  Went to the CC in Boston, got to meet Rod Paddock and even buy him a steak.  Great guy, excellent speaker.  Then went to Philly CC  (www.phillydotnet.org/codecamp) and gave two presentations, one on distributed database apps, and one on using Crystal with SQL Server and .NET. 

Also met Miguel Castro, and sat in on his WebControls session.  He's a one-man dynamo.  If you haven't met Miguel - he is a BLAST.  Miguel's blog is www.geekswithblogs.com/mcastro.

CodeCamps are fun.  A lot of good ideas and a lot of positive energy - I heard a rumor about a CC in Harrisburg later this year.  I'm originally from Central PA, so I'll try to get into that one.  I hope CC continues to grow.

In the words of Tori Amos, "Pretty Good Year".   I received my Microsoft MVP for .NET/C# in early January, have had 3 articles published, plenty of full-time contract work, and got a new BOSE CD system for Christmas.  ;)   

If you're a music fan and don't yet own a BOSE - they're awesome.  The minute I opened it up, I popped in a Miles Davis CD.  "Birth of the Cool" never sounded so cool...

Of course, you have to take the good with the bad - had some health issues earlier this year.  Birthday #40 was a rough one.  But fortunately things are getting back to normal.

I owe a great deal to many people who have helped me professionally and personally: people like Rod and JVP, on-line community leaders like Bonnie Berent and Cathi Gero, and my first boss (Mike Antonovich, all the way back in 1988..."Michael, you can do that in Lotus 1-2-3???").

Peace out...KG