Okay, so I haven't worked on a PC in a really long time! However, my MacBook Pro is a just a little limiting seeing as how it only has a 120GB HD (actually only 111GB) and it stays pretty much full with apps, latest weddings (backed-up of course) and other stuff.

So I have had this windows PC sitting around with nothing on it that has a 250GB HDD (with space for another HD), Dual 2.66 C2D CPU and 4GB of RAM. I hate Vista...I remember it being so slow but for some reason, I just hooked it up and it is running as fast as my Mac did so I dunno.

Either way, gonna give this a try. I always made my external drives Fat32 so I can use them on either platform.

Anyway, nothing real useful or important just wanted to chat.

careful, trevor may belittle your decision

Haha yep, since I'm such an inconsiderate ass.

Anyway Mike, you may want to consider a hard drive upgrade from http://www.macsales.com

They have a KICKASS selection of 2.5" hard drives ranging from smaller capacities all the way up to 500gb (maybe more) that are usable in the Macbooks and Macbook Pros! They are EXTREMELY affordable (like more so than I would have imagined!) and fairly easy to install (I bet you can find videos on youtube on how to do it - also documentation is available on apple's support site!)

If you do a full backup of your hard drive using time machine (to an external drive or something) you can swap the drive out for a new one and then restore your system right back to it's previous state using the Time Machine utility. It works like a charm!

Let me know if you have any questions, I'll be happy to assist you.

Trevor, he has a MacBook Pro which isn't user-serviceable like the MacBook and will void his warranty if he pops it open. But any authorized Apple Service provider can upgrade it for him if he wanted. But it sounds like he's got it covered on internals.

I'm trying to figure out if I want to upgrade my internal drive or not. Crazy how easy to is to fill up 160 GB. I remember what a big deal it was to get a 100 MB external for my LC.

<----dating myself.

I really want a Mac Pro but for now, this will do the job. I just got home from a wedding and everything here seems to be working okay...only had to quit lightroom once due to non-responding application!!!! lol (BTW, never happened on my Mac's)

I will edit this one and if I am not all that happy with it, I will just have to make a decision on a new machine.

If he ever had a warranty problem he can pop the original drive back in and send it off to apple care. I've seen it happen with a number of macbook pros without it being an issue. Also, the hard drives aren't that hard to install, they're just a bit more involved obviously than the MacBook. Well worth the work though to throw a 500gb 7200RPM 16mb Cache drive in there!

Enjoy.

I just bought a 24 inch PC. Oh my....a PC! Haha! I was trying to figure out for over a year if I would switch to Mac.

Michelle, do you have Vista or XP?

This is my second computer with Vista. I've been on Vista for almost a year and like it. I think that a BIG part of many people hating Vista is because the same people would hate the MAC interface learning as well.

Yeah this machine is Vista...it looks cool but things lock up to quickly and shoot the CPU to 100%!!!!

Yeah, this stinks...this machine has locked up more times today than any of Mac's have in the past couple of years! I uninstalled lightroom and I am selling this crap to get a Mac desktop.

Mike, that's strange. Have you hit the task manager to see what's getting in the way? I have two machines running Vista (my faithful XP desktop overheated on me this spring processing a zillion pictures at once) and don't have any trouble. The new desktop rocks my world.

One thing I have had to do on every computer is run msconfig (or now Windows Defender) and turn off things that run on startup that don't need to. Some companies (Adobe, Apple for starters) think that their programs absolutely HAVE to run all the time and you get enough of those and they will bog things down.

I assume that when you installed LR, you put on the latest version of it.

I always have to add that I've never had a MAC, don't even want to consider the costs of a platform switch with all the specialty software I have, and have never had the issues that the Mac folks seem to think PC's have. I have 6 PC's currently. I have my second Vista machine, and both rock. My latest is a laptop by HP w/ a T8100 processor and 3G of RAM. This is that fastest machine I've ever had, faster than the Core 2 Duo desktop downstairs with the striped RAID, and runs LR and CS3 flawlessly. If your machine is locking up, I'm going out on a limb and say it's not a generic PC issue, but maybe a specific software, configuration, or even hardware issue, much like you have with your Macbook. Something simple most likely. I just hate to see someone say "I'm switching!" just possibly because of an underpowered or badly configured machine.

I am back on my Mac. The PC was showing something lke 60+ tasks running when nothing was open and per the CPU guage, I was at 50% in idle.

If someone can help, I would love to use this machine and save the $$.

Mike

Okay, I am back on my PC. I turned off Google Taskbar, Apple Quicktime and Apple iTunes on start-up.

However, I do have an additional question. Currently, the profile is set-up for my wife but it is under my account so everything goes under Lauren-PC as the user profile but I am logged in under Mike.

Any suggestions?

Mike

Okay to help you understand the issue above about the name thing. Whenever I go to Windows Explorer and I go to My Computer, Local Disk, then to Users, the only name is Lauren. I would like to change that to Mike, how do I do that?

Mike, you need to set up an account for yourself in control panel.
There's a "User Accounts" icon it should be using the simple interface, the second line is the option to create a new account. One other thing are you loogged in under her account or administrator?

Thats the weird thing...when I go User Accounts, there is only one and it is named Mike (Administrator).

So far, no issues since I hooked it all back up! I am pretty excited to see it working so well now.

Seems like her account was removed the folder is a non issue. what was the user name you logged in under?

Mike

is there a folder that says "Administrator" ?

No.

Could it be that the computer was originally set up with Lauren as the only user, but the name on the account was changed to Mike? That would change everything except for the actual folder name on the hard drive (had to have my motherboard replaced and the computer came back clean but already set up and the main account was called Owner. I changed the name to robin because I didn't feel like setting up a new account and deleting the old one, but the folder name is still called Owner, even though everything else on the computer calls me robin.)

That is exactly what happened!

Mike, is there an "administrative tools" icon in control panel?

Sure is.

Sorry, was taking some pictures of the grandchildren. Double click on it, same with "computer management" in the left colum you should see "Local Users and Groups" listed expand and click on the "Users" folder and tell me what accounts are there.

Sorry don't see Local Users and Groups.

Try this link!

Sorry, I'm still using XP, but that link should do the trick.

Thank you! I am not too worried about it now though, I will get use to it.

I am planning on getting a new graphics card since mine is the 7900 GS. I am thinking about the nVidia 9600 GT 512MB card...any thoughts on it?

i wouldn't put too much stock into video cards, they don't improve photo editing performance.

that said, i havent really followed vid card specs in a while,nvidia might be a good bet, i know ati had a leg up for a while, but nvidia may be the best option for 3d cards nowadays

If this thread isn't a glowing review for Macs, I don't know what is.

Task manager, admin tools -> Services, user accounts...it's just a mess.

Anyway, do this at your own risk, but I always disable the Automatic Updates service. I find it eats up a ridiculous amount of memory.

You can do this by going to Control Panal -> Administrative Tools -> Services

Double click on Automatic Updates

Click Stop

In Startup Type, choose Disabled

If you see a svchost.exe process going crazy (cpu utilization and memory), its likely Auto Updates behaving badly, so turning it off should make that go away.

Again, doing this will turn off any windows updates, so do it at your own risk. I'm a big fan of keeping it off.

This might be the option I go with. I really want a desktop but just don't have the funds right now and I really want to use the MacBook Pro. I will definitely need help with the whole transfer thing.

Mike

Just let me know and I'll be happy to assist you.

As far as putting a larger hard drive in your macbook pro, it certainly is more involved than the macbooks, but still very doable. I'd actually suggest having someone do it if you don't want to open up your own laptop entirely. That being said, if you have the know-how and you're inclined to do it, there are plenty of great videos that show you exactly how to install a new HD in your macbook pro.

go here for a full step by step how to

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/

Also, don't know if they give this tip, but use an ice cube tray to keep all the screws that you need to remove and put somewhere.

Its easy.

Edit:
But be careful and go slow

Edit2:
If you don't have all the tools, they tell you exactly what you need, and you can even buy the tools you need from them. The prices are really cheap from them so its not a bad option. Don't use any screwdriver that you have sitting around. You'll likely over tighten or strip the screws with the wrong screwdriver.

excellent. i like the ice cube tray idea haha... never thought about that.

i may be doing this upgrade on my 15" MB PRO fairly soon... i figure I don't really need a new one since it runs fast enough, and I may just slap a 3 gig ($64.00) RAM kit in it to boot. I figured that plus the 500gb 7200rpm 16mb cache drive would cost me under 300 bucks.... well worth the upgrade.

I couldn't find a 500GB 72K drive...just a 320GB. I already have 4GB in my MacBook Pro.

Ah my bad, you're right... haha I guess I just keep wishing for a 500gb 72k.

You have a newer 15" mbpro (or it's a 17"? can't remember) mine is a 2.16ghz 15" that supports up to 3gb... has 2 in it right now and does just great. Good luck on the upgrade! Also, if you have any questions you can call macsales and they will be happy to assist you. Their guys do a great job.

Enjoy!

Yeah, my MacBook Pro is 15" and has the 2.2 processor in it.

You using lightroom 1.0? I've never had an issue with 1.4 or the 2.0 betas

And if you want help tuning your PC performance download hijackthis and "do a system scan and save a log file" then send me the log file.

Okay, I will send you that file later tonight. I am using 1.4 and 2.0. It does seem to be running fine now though. I turned off some stuff that started on start-up, I also turned of UAC.

Bryce, I got that file for you...whats your email?

Bryce, I just wanted to say, this system is blazing fast now with the small suggestions you made.

I am actually really liking using this computer.

just wait until the registry gets clogged and corrupt, then you get to do it all over again!

lol...always count on you Trevor!

It's not me, it's windows that you can count on to become corrupt and slow... it's only a matter of time, as i said, before you have to do it all over again.

Great to hear!!


Thankfully registry corruption has been super uncommon since the advent of XP and Vista, clogging however is still a bit popular. However, if you want a simple, free and solid way to keep your registry nice an lean there's the free CClearner tool. Those same wonderful folks offer Recuva, a free (and pretty darn good) file recovery utility.


Good to hear you're liking your PC Mike!!

Ok so I am back on my MBP. I liked the PC machine but I was too concerned because I got a virus notification on an email from OSP!!!! So instead of taking the chance on a Windows machine, I backed up everything on the Mac, and it cleared up enough space that I plenty of room to edit multiple weddings now.

I also hooked it up my 20" widescreen LCD (something I have been wanting to do) and to free up some ports, I bought an Apple Bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard!

Mike

Very nice. I'm so tempted to do the HD upgrade on my MBPRO due to the research I did after seeing this thread... it may be a while but it's quite enticing to say the least. I'm going to do an HD upgrade on my girlfriend's macbook within the next month or two... should be nice for her to go from 80gb to ~160-320gb!