How do you restore an older version of the registry in XP?

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Bill in Co
writes:
Lostgallifreyan wrote:
[]
I always had some faith that someone would make a small WXP, just wasn't
going to be me. I think NUHI might have managed it, his is the one a
friend
told me about several times. Thing is, as I don't know WXP anything like
the way I know W98, how can I judge in any way I'd consider adequate?

I was wondering [i. e. have forgotten, if you've said] - do you actually
have (and use) XP at all?

It doesn't take too long to get to know it, once you use it (like so many
things).

Yes, my thought too.

Then you'd want to customize it, which I have done over a significant
period
of time. (For just one thing, XP defaults to that stupid start menu,
amongst other things, and that was the first thing to go, so it now looks
more like Win98!).

([Me too.] Ah, but LG would say that the code for doing the other one is
still there, just taking up space ...)

LOL!

However, you would have to give up some control and micromanagement over
the OS - it's just not as malleable as is Win9x. :-) That's the
price you
pay for (much) improved stability. (I haven't seen a blue screen or
lockup
in ages, unlike when I was messing around in Win9x).

Likewise - in fact I haven't seen one since I rolled back the video
driver. (Though Samsung update kept trying to tell me the upgrade to the
one that freezes was available. [Samsung upgrade itself seems to be
broken now - I get a message that it has crashed.])

I really do appreciate the improved stability and improved freedom from blue
screens and lockups when I mess around with it. (But that said, I still
appreciate the simplicity and efficiency of Win98SE (it's on my other
computer), and its DOS integration, although I'm not really using that all
that much anymore).

[]
I _am_ enjoying the conversation between you two; it's so nice to see an
intelligent conversation. (Even though the discussion of particular
audio and video packages goes outside my experience - though the raw
digital signal processing and electronics concepts just about don't, as
I used to work in those areas.)

Thanks for the kudos. We could have created a new thread for this
audio-video discussion, and maybe should have, but, que sera sera. Maybe
somebody can in the future.

Lostgallifreyan wrote:
"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in
:

In message , Bill in Co
writes:
Lostgallifreyan wrote:
[]
I always had some faith that someone would make a small WXP, just
wasn't going to be me. I think NUHI might have managed it, his is the
one a friend
told me about several times. Thing is, as I don't know WXP anything
like the
way I know W98, how can I judge in any way I'd consider adequate?

I was wondering [i. e. have forgotten, if you've said] - do you actually
have (and use) XP at all?


A bit... Main reason was to try, and also because a Layla 24/96 audio
interface can do 1Hz increments if it uses the WDM audio driver, which
only
works on an NT kernel OS. (I modified the device for DC coupling, between
that and an exact 18000, 30000, 50000, 60000 Hz sample rates, you can
closely
emulate laser show scanning standsrds much more cheaply than buying
dedicated
hardware). On W98 I was limited to the standard sample rates. This is ok
too,
but to understand some details of laser scan standards, WXP was helpful by
supporting that WDM driver. It also let me have a look at a few audio
tools
like the FM8 synthesiser, which I hadn;t tried. (I liked the older FM7 far
more though, so stayed with that).

I set WXP up to look and act as much like W98 as possible, using basic
controls it offers. I get by when using it, but it always feels like a
Fischer Price toy over-oiled with Kilopoise grease.


It doesn't take too long to get to know it, once you use it (like so
many things).

Yes, my thought too.


As with the slew rate thinger, simple problems are often deceptive, and
very
complex. It was easy for me to set up some basics, to begin to feel
comfortable, but with so many sysfiles and new 'services' I knew that if
W98
was tough to really hack into, WXP would be worse. Several basic things
that
annoyed me seemed beyond easy reach of change. Sluggish response of
Explorer
windows, that foul 'shutdown' dialog, etc..

Then you'd want to customize it, which I have done over a significant
period of time. (For just one thing, XP defaults to that stupid start
menu, amongst other things, and that was the first thing to go, so it
now looks more like Win98!).

([Me too.] Ah, but LG would say that the code for doing the other one is
still there, just taking up space ...)

I hadn't thought about that at the time, but it's interesting. W98 would
go
more like WXP with 'Active Desktop' which I hated, but I just chose not to
install it. Fixes a heap of trouble. WXP's installer didn't offer me a
reduced install set choice like that one.


However, you would have to give up some control and micromanagement
over the OS - it's just not as malleable as is Win9x. :-) That's the
price you pay for (much) improved stability. (I haven't seen a blue
screen or lockup in ages, unlike when I was messing around in Win9x).

Likewise - in fact I haven't seen one since I rolled back the video
driver. (Though Samsung update kept trying to tell me the upgrade to the
one that freezes was available. [Samsung upgrade itself seems to be
broken now - I get a message that it has crashed.])
[]
I _am_ enjoying the conversation between you two; it's so nice to see an
intelligent conversation. (Even though the discussion of particular
audio and video packages goes outside my experience - though the raw
digital signal processing and electronics concepts just about don't, as
I used to work in those areas.)


Yes, I remember my inspiration to try computers, it was a retired
electronics
enginner enthusiastically messing with ISA cards and RS-232 on the kitchen
table, strictly observing the fact that at certain times of day, some
people
had other ideas about that table. He also introduced me to Mike
Oldfields's 'Tubular Bells', abd Carlos's 'Switched On Bach' LP's, and my
first audio oscillator, and first multimeter, which I built from his
design.

The connection between computers, electronics, and interest in audio
engineering, have a long and very close history. (I actually hated
computers
for a long time, they seemed to be scary, complex, unreliable, expensive,
but
someone managed to convince me eventually, and I never stopped since).

Bill got it exactly though, about the choice in newer OS's. Give up power
I
want to keep, or use W98. I've tried that choice a few times, and W98
always
wins.

Well, I used to feel that way, and *still do* - with respect to giving up
WinXP for anything newer! However, some flexibility isn't always a bad
thing. For example, I finally did give up using a Commodore VIC-20 and
Timex Sinclair, afterall. I'm sure you have, too. :-) (I will say
though that the built-in Commodore BASIC was pretty good - that, and the
HesMon assembly/machine language plug-in card made it a lot of fun to use)

Oh, and with the VIC-20, I finally bit the bullet one day and bought a
cassette backup drive to save the programs I entered (until that time, I
just left the VIC-20 permanently, so I wouldn't lose anything I coded).
(But the 22 columns across display on the attached TV screen was a bit
limiting, afterall. :-)

It can still amaze me, especially when people add 48 bit LBA support,
full USB, etc. In the past, computing power seemed to be extended to
people
in a very generous way, despite all that people have said of M$, including
that little abbreviation itself. We're currently headed for a worldwide
change, where licensing, DRM, and other moves towards placing control in
the
hands of anyone with the power to force it, is taking power away from end
users while promising things it likely can't deliver. The computing world
has
seen a huge change in its market, it's not about enginnering now, but
communications, and a 'service model' seems to drive the whole business.
People who remember how it was REALLY need to dig their heels in now.
These are not generous times, and if we let it, most if not all of the
power we
were given, will be taken away.

I think saying these are not generous times is the understatement of the
year. :-)
And I mean in terms of humanity, and what's really important in life.

In message ,
writes:
On Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:40:12 -0500, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:
[]
worse, but not really, there has been a magical decade or so where the
frantic IRQ struggles were largely over, before types of PCI and AGP started
proliferating like orphaned bunnies.

I loved that line (-:

I dont understand why things like mice, keyboards, and printers should
be plugged into USB. Ever try running dos on a pc with usb keyboard?
you cant....

For mice and keyboards, no, nor did I - especially since I never saw a
motherboard (not since DIN-size keyboard plugs, anyway) that didn't have
a keyboard and a mouse connector, which would otherwise be unused, while
(then) precious USB connectors were wasted (on something that didn't
need the speed). For printers, I think there is a case to be made -
there is often a lot of data when in high-resolution graphics mode, and
I _think_ USB can pass it faster than the parallel port, as well as the
cable being a lot more manageable - though again, for most people,
there'd be a connector not otherwise used. Yes, I know most modern
laptops, and I suppose some motherboards now, _don't_ have PS2 or
parallel ports, but I think that's after the effect.

I've not tried DOS with a USB keyboard. I have noticed a lot of BIOSes
do seem to have some setting called something like "legacy USB support";
I've never really looked into what that is all about, though. (I _think_
some modern ones - especially notebook/netbook ones - do have the
ability to work with a USB keyboard; they definitely do with a USB
drive, e. g. most if not all netbooks can boot from a USB CD drive.)

I'll stick with serial, parallel ports, and standard keyboard
connectors, and throw in a floppy drive too.

Again, there's still a connector (with associated electronics) on many
motherboards, so there seems little reason not to. If only for
archaeology!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

A language is a dialect that has an army and a navy. -Max Weinreich, linguist
and author (1894-1969)

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in
:

proliferating like orphaned bunnies.

I loved that line (-:


Don't make me regret it.

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in
:

I've not tried DOS with a USB keyboard. I have noticed a lot of BIOSes
do seem to have some setting called something like "legacy USB support";
I've never really looked into what that is all about, though.

I don't know what that is specifically, either. I re-found the DOS USB
thinger. Online, there are (at least) two, one is DOSUSB, the other is DOS-
USB. First is paid-for, though there may be older ones around from when a
personal use license was free. The second is a Japanese driver called Mottu
Hairu (usually mis-spelled Motto). I once found some other file to replace
one of its files to better effect. This got me DOS USB storage access
reliably, but keyboards and mice likely need some other file(s) added to the
two or three already needed. There may be some systems like early Bart PE
disks that have solved a way to do NTFS write, long filenames, and USB, all
safely co-operating in DOS (I've never tried all three at once). It may still
be an under-explored method though, because most of those disks now aim to
make a minimal Windows boot.

"Bill in Co" wrote in
m:

Well, I used to feel that way, and *still do* - with respect to giving up
WinXP for anything newer! However, some flexibility isn't always a bad
thing. For example, I finally did give up using a Commodore VIC-20 and
Timex Sinclair, afterall. I'm sure you have, too. :-) (I will say
though that the built-in Commodore BASIC was pretty good - that, and the
HesMon assembly/machine language plug-in card made it a lot of fun to use)


Couldn't afford those at the time, but I did eventually get a ZX Spectrum
from a Scottish guy last seen apparently baying at the moon at Stonhenge
festival in 1980-something, like Lost Johnny in the Hawkwind/Motorhead song.
it wasn't till I started writing words of my own that I seriously got into
computers, bar the exploration of the Spectrum's Basic.

I think that even though there's a big chance of a computer being unable to
run new and specific tasks for any number of reasons, there's a sort of 'bell
curve' of best usability for certain hardware and programs, and if I use a
lot that does fit with the peak of that curve, or is biased to the later
development side of it, then no other system can beat that. So in practise,
the cost and effort I put into a later machine, must be sort of proportional
to the strength and peak of its own bell curve, as seen from my own
perspective. I used to think that this meant roughly ten years might pass
before I'd do it, but a dislike of WXP, followed by major public contentions
over the (de)merits of Vista, put me off to the point where I realised that
my best shot was to dig in for the long haul, and really get into W98 (hence
the X98 project), and to spend my money on older high-end hardware instead of
newer modest hardware. Given that the general specs of 32 bit systems are
excellent, I imagine I could stay here for the rest of my life without
feeling the lack too much. I'll always keep an eye on new stuff too though,
but I suspect that apart from some small pocket machine that actually works
for me (and combines bright visibility and long battery life in ways not
possible even with li-ion cells), there may not be much to tempt me.

I tend to take the long view. I'm waiting now to see where memristors and
quantum machines will go.

On Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:42:04 -0600, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:

wrote in :

I looked at the site. Knew I cant download it on dialup, but there are
other ways. I clicked on DOWNLOAD, nothing happens. Then again, I
dont have a clue how to use a torrent. There must be some trick to
it.


It's a royal pain in the arse. There's a tool called Net Transport that cn
do it, and several dedicated BitTorrent clients. They all depend on users
freely sharing data though, and some expect you to pretty much match upload
bandwidth to your download demands, or they won't give you decent service. So
unless you're willing to fill your internet capacity (preferably on a very
fast line), you may be **** out of luck unless you're after somethign that is
very common, 'seeded' by lots of people. Otherwise you might end up
inadvertently sharing files you don't want to have servicing tens of other
people cramkming your internet line almost to levels an ISP would consider as
a DDoS attack. All the while, you might never get what you want.

I learned that if I couldn't find a thing other than as a Torrent, I'd ask a
friend who did Torrents habitually. If people are ok with Terrents in
general, they don't usually mind this, it helps them GET something in a world
where their mahines often feel like someone else's motorway.

The whole torrent thing sounds like a big pain in the ass to me.....
Also seems like the most dangerous place online as far as malware.

I'd rather just pay for the damn cd, but I guess thats not an option
in this case. Why cant they just make it available as a standard
download? Is there some reason such as storage space on their ISP,
bandwidth, or what?????

Guess I dont see the point to it. Sure, if we were talking pirated
stuff, I guess that's where all that stuff comes from these days (it
used to be FTP), but in this case, they are advertising this thing on
their website, yet not making it available as a common download.

Yea, from what was discussed on here, it contains some old commercial
software, so why not just remove that part. All I really want are the
drivers and addons for 98 anyhow. That would also reduce the size to
a more reasonable level. Even on a WIFI connection, 700 megs will
take well over an hour or as much as 3 hours. I have DL 200 megs and
that took a half hour on one of the faster WIFI places I have found.

On Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:36:01 -0600, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:

wrote in :

On Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:40:12 -0500, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:

I think the final limiting condition on important parallel buss hardware
will be the slots they plug into, which is clearly not a software
problem. As the slot type count is growing faster, people will likely
soon have better cause to moan about the hardware, than the software,
and start looking enviously at those who kept older high-end hardware,
because it didn't have that kind of incompatibility to worry about. They
could argue that older is worse, but not really, there has been a
magical decade or so where the frantic IRQ struggles were largely over,
before types of PCI and AGP started proliferating like orphaned bunnies.

I dont understand why things like mice, keyboards, and printers should
be plugged into USB. Ever try running dos on a pc with usb keyboard?
you cant....

I'll stick with serial, parallel ports, and standard keyboard
connectors, and throw in a floppy drive too.



Same here, though with my W98 project I'll have to at least try a USB
keyboard on it to to see if it works, and if it does (I want it to because
other people might also want that), I might look into DOS USB support. It
might exist...

Serial ports are indispensible though. I think anyone who doesn't has bought
into the steady undermining of users' power I mentioned in the big thread
just now. Industry still makes serial ports. I mean, REALLY cutting edge
stuff like the Tristar MPPT controllers for small off-grid solar power, etc.
The 60A version has ethernet and it's own web server (and no doubt it's own
DEVOTED online following. .. but they both have serial in proper RS-232
standard. Commercial users are expected to give up good solid standards, it
seems, but industry refuses, rightly, to do so. So we'll still get it if we
want, it might get more rare and expensive, is all.

I changed the subject line, the other thread is getting long and going
way off the topic.

Anyhow, I'm curious. Do the latest computers even have
Serial/parallel ports and regular keyboard/mouse connectors?
My newest computer is from the mid 2000s and still has all of this
except the laptop dont have a floppy drive. I dont think any newer
computers have floppy drives anymore. Adding a floppy drive on a
desktop pc is not all that hard, "If they have the connectors" Or did
they remove those connectors too?

It seems like they are just phasing out everything from the past, and
forcing everyone to buy the newest computers, which also means that
the are cramming their Vista and Win7 up our butts too.

It's not just the money to buy the new stuff, it's also all the waste
being created, and on top of that, I JUST DONT WANT VISTA OR WIN7.
Hell, as I said before, XP is far too bloated for my tastes. I know
it gets worse. I played with vista, an hated it. I have not had much
opportunity with win7. Either way, I want no part of the newer OSs.

So far I'm still doing ok with Win98, and Win2000 is ok too. I could
force myself to using XP as long as I also had a computer for my older
apps and my dos stuff, but I dont ever see going beyond XP, or for
that matter, even using XP as my primary OS. (and I have it set for
the classic feel).

I'm wondering if this is why more people are buying Macintosh
computers these days. It seems that is the only other option. But I
dont like the idea of having to relearn computers at my age. I got a
computer to use it, not to constatntly relearn to use it and upgrade
it. I'm using an 11 year old system right now. It works fine, it's
just these greedy assholes who insist I need something new. AND FOR
WHAT ADVANTAGE? I can do anything a newer computer can do on Win2000.
Win98 too, except for the USB limitations (yea, I know about that NUSB
thing). Therefore, it's not my computer or my choice of OS that is at
fault, it's those who sell this newer stuff along with MS who are
screwing us over.

I'll say this, if this was only a stand-alone computer, I could use it
for another 20 years or more. (given some hardware replacements if
something fails, and theres plenty of old hardware available). But
they are making it harder and harder to go on the web with the older
systems. Once again, FOR WHAT ADVANTAGE? Sites that are based on
Adobe Flash suck anyhow. All these newer websites do is add useless
garbage, and more ways to bomb us with advertising and get access into
our data. I personally blame the internet for much of this, or those
who write these websites. But I do think MS has a big part in it too.

It's a goddamn monopoly with MS, and that's the biggest problem of
all. Its just too bad there are no real alternatives. Linux is not
the answer, thats for sure, and it ends there......

Maybe in a few years we will all just stop using computers and find a
new hobby? I'm starting to see that day coming. Of course now we all
got these cellphones that can go online. That's great for people with
perfect vision who can actually SEE those tiny screens, not to mention
the cost of the monthly service to have one of those phones.

I always get a laugh of people who stick their phone in my face and
say "hey, look at our new baby". What I see is a blob of color
surrounded by a lighter background or something like that..... My
Tracfone (only for emergencies), is just a phone. I have to use
reading glasses to see the phone numbers. How in the hell should I
read an entire website on there? No wonder these young kids are all
suffering from PTSD or whatever mental illnesses they have. I'd go out
of my mind trying to read a webpage on that tiny screen...

wrote in :

I'd rather just pay for the damn cd, but I guess thats not an option
in this case. Why cant they just make it available as a standard
download? Is there some reason such as storage space on their ISP,
bandwidth, or what?????

Guess I dont see the point to it. Sure, if we were talking pirated
stuff, I guess that's where all that stuff comes from these days (it
used to be FTP), but in this case, they are advertising this thing on
their website, yet not making it available as a common download.


It may be that so many binary files are contentious if distributed, that they
don't risk doing it. 700 MB is huge, it's obviusly not a reduced form of W98,
given hos small the original install set was. (About 125 MB if you exclude
the IE browser CAB files.)