Windows 8.1 Updates

espresso

50Twuncle wrote: »

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY RAM
I have just done a system refresh and my laptop is now as good as new !!
That's without touching my RAM !!

The comment was wasted on you! You obviously never had a ZX80 etc. years ago.

50Twuncle

espresso wrote: »

The comment was wasted on you! You obviously never had a ZX80 etc. years ago.

Sorry - no - I had a BBC B and a Commodore 64 !!
The commodore still ran a database at my place of work until 2000 !!
I think that the BBC was over engineered and too expensive for what it was - a BBC monitor cost £250 alone !!

kwikbreaks

There are probably posters here who weren't born when my advice would have made sense

Not sure that 50twuncle is one though...

The RAM pack was top-heavy and was supported only by the edge connector. It had a habit of falling out of its socket at crucial points and crashing the ZX81, losing anything that the user had typed in. Users turned to using sticky lumps of chewing gum, double-sided tape or Blu-Tack to cure what became known as the "RAM pack wobble" problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX81

prowla

50Twuncle wrote: »

This morning - I switched my Win 8.1 laptop on and was told that I needed 761 Mb updates..

I remember when a complete operating system (DOS) came on 3 floppy disks (total 4.5Mb)

Even Windows 3.1 fitted on 6 disks and Win NT 3.1 fitted on 22) !

It comes to something when updates are so huge

I reckon that it is a conspiracy between MS and Hard Disk manufacturers to sell larger and larger disks ...

Well, given that Windows 8 looks like a Windows 3 desktop with DOS apps on a separate screen (which they laughingly call "Modern"!), you do have to wonder what all the extra space is being used for.

John259 wrote: »

Agreed. But now Windows and Microsoft are fast fading into the past, hastened by the Windows 8 disaster.

We can but hope...

penrhyn

If you can find it, I'd recommend the TV Play Micro men, about Clive Sinclair, and his rival at Acorn.

GunJack

Ahhh...fond memories of the, wait for it..... 16k RAM pack being more than wobbly on my ZX81, thought I was the dog's danglies with that monster on there

Gloomendoom

50Twuncle wrote: »

I think that the BBC was over engineered and too expensive for what it was - a BBC monitor cost £250 alone !!

I think the reason for that was because it was designed to be used in schools.

JJ_Egan

I have always found large updates are best downloaded and installed in smaller batches rather than one lump .

50Twuncle

GunJack wrote: »

Ahhh...fond memories of the, wait for it..... 16k RAM pack being more than wobbly on my ZX81, thought I was the dog's danglies with that monster on there

My first experience of computing was a ZX80 with a huge 1kb RAM !!
You had the MASSIVE expansion pack on your ZX81 !!
I remember backing up data to Cassette - then checking that it had all been saved (more often than not - it hadn't)
I was so impressed with the 38kb (available) RAM on my 64 - and the instant-ish transfer of data from the plug in cartridges and the speed of the 1Mhz processor !!
I think that the C64 was far ahead of the BBC - You could plug it in to your TV (built in RF Modulator) and it had SOUND and 256 Colours - I took mine to the tip in 2002 !!

penrhyn

The great thing about the Commodore PET machines was the built in HPIB interface, which made them ideal as low cost instrument controllers.