alexpgp: (Default)
alexpgp ([personal profile] alexpgp) wrote2001-10-27 08:10 pm

Hard disk adventures...

The solution to a number of issues at the shop - at least as far as software is concerned - came to me in a flash of blinding light. If I could replace the ailing Windows 95 installation on my Pentium-II machine with Linux running Win4Lin, then I could retain the functionality of Windows (let's face it, I need Excel) and gain the functionality of Linux at the store, where space (and computing power) is at a premium.

I started by installing Mandrake 8.0, but unfortunately, the Win4Lin disk I have doesn't support that kernel, so I installed RedHat 7.1 instead, then the Win4Lin product, followed by Windows 95 with USB support.

So far, so good. I now need to find my Office 97 CD and complete the installation process. Thus far, the only fly in the ointment is the fact that the Windows screen inside of KDE doesn't understand - or won't - any modification made to the screen resolution. (It comes up as 800 x 600 if memory serves, no matter what I change it to.)

This was done in the course of a moderately busy Saturday. Drew came by with the mail at the appropriate time and again after the end of the day to help clean the place. We've put in place a policy to do a postal audit (compare what we have with what we're supposed to have) on a weekly basis. There is no way I want to repeat the unpleasantness of the past year.

Some place across Highway 160 caught fire earlier today. Passersby told of gouts of black smoke and loud noises from the area of the fire. Upon returning home, the site of the fire was easily visible, as was the chopper dropping water onto the hotspots. Things seem to have settled down, for now.

More eBay stuff closed without my knowing about it, but all three auction items have been addressed in short order. My correspondence games are proceeding normally.

I am well and truly tired. Time to go hit the sack early, methinks.

Cheers...

Win4Lin

[identity profile] tamaraland.livejournal.com 2001-10-28 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
How do you like Win4Lin??? I'm dying to get Lotus QuickPlace running on a Linux server, and lacking a Linux version, that may be my best bet.

Re: Win4Lin

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2001-10-28 08:33 am (UTC)(link)
So far, Win4Lin is everything it's cracked up to be, although I really haven't gone out of my way to punish it to find its limites. As I've noted, I just need it to run MS Excel (plus one other home-rolled data-entry app), and if it does that, it shall have been worth the price of admission. After that, the ability to use the box as a server for, e.g., MySQL will be gravy.

BTW, I'd played a bit with products that attempt to go the other way (i.e., let you run Linux under Windows), but the problem there - aside from performance issues - is that you really don't get a Linux foundation.

Now, if I could figure out how to have Windows come up as something less than full screen...
Cheers...