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Windows 7 Debugged

Windows 7 is a major leap forward, but it's by no means perfect. I mentioned recently how my Windows 7 Latitude D520 hangs when it goes to sleep, leaving me to sort through recovered documents. (Why is it that when I auto-save every five minutes, the recovered document is often a shell of its former self?)

Others experience Windows 7 bombing out in various ways, prompting Microsoft to release a series of patches for various system hangs. Unfortunately, none of these patches address my specific problem. Of course I could just shut down my laptop at night, but that actually involves me pushing a few buttons.

One kernel security patch aimed at nearly all versions of Windows may have actually made Windows XP, in particular, more brittle. Installing the MS10-015 fix is giving some XP users the dreaded but cool-ly named "blue screen of death." Fortunately, it won't make my Windows 7 any worse (and trust me, it ain't that bad). Apparently, there's a rootkit that attacks the patch itself and causes these freezes. For now, the patch has been recalled until the problem is solved.

My favorite computer, the Amiga, crashed more than the last five laps at Daytona, but made you feel better with the friendly glowing orange Guru Meditation error. Which of your computers crashed the most or the least? What's the most important item ever eaten by a crashed or dead computer? Sob stories welcome at [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on February 19, 2010


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