WinXP Madness
Recently I had to reboot my laptop into Windows so that Vicky could use iTunes. After a few minutes, this little dialog popped up.
Some automatic updates had been downloaded once I'd logged in, and I now had to restart. The day before I had a similar dialog which had disabled the Restart Later but didn't have a countdown, so I moved the dialog to the side and carried on (luckily it wasn't system modal). However a five minute timer is just amazingly bad: did installing the security fix break the system so much that it has to be rebooted now, and applications will start to crash and die shortly?
NP: Maxinquaye, Tricky
Posted by James "Doc" Livingston at Tue Mar 21 10:26:09 2006:
I saw a similar one the other day.
The "Restart Later" button wasn't disabled, but it would re-appear (with the countdown) every two minutes until you did restart.
Posted by Anonymous Canuck at Tue Mar 21 10:31:39 2006:
The "Restart Later" button wasn't disabled, but it would re-appear (with the countdown) every two minutes until you did restart.
I once lost about half an hour's work because of that stupid thing. I now have XP set to download automatically but wait before installing the updates. It is a setting in the auto-updates dialog.
I like your human test, although it descriminates against the mathematically challenged. :-)
Posted by smc at Tue Mar 21 11:09:20 2006:
I like your human test, although it descriminates against the mathematically challenged. :-)
If such a dialog should reoccur try setting the system clock a year back befor the timer runs out. It definitely works if you kill some of the "required" processes in the task manager "accidentally". The dialog then goes something like "Will reboot in 365:00:01:20" or so. I do not know if it works in this case though, as I do not have access to any Windows XP machine :)
Posted by James at Tue Mar 21 11:11:15 2006:
"Restart Later" is only available if you're logged in as an administrator. When the feature was originally rolled out, it always forced a reboot. IIRC correctly, the reasoning was that windows 0day exploits are so common it's better to get the patch installed quicksmart even if it inconveniences the user in the short-term. The real solution to this problem should be obvious :P
Posted by Nikos Kouremenos at Tue Mar 21 13:11:50 2006:
Posted by fraggle at Tue Mar 21 13:16:32 2006:
Posted by Jess Sightler at Tue Mar 21 14:57:07 2006:
Indeed... the easiest solution is to set it to auto-download, but only install on request.
I did this after having a box randomly reboot in the middle of the night due to this foolishness.
Posted by Mind Booster Noori at Tue Mar 21 15:08:20 2006:
I did this after having a box randomly reboot in the middle of the night due to this foolishness.
The trick is to stop using iTunes and using gtkpod on Linux... (the only reason I know for one to use iTunes is having an iPod...)
Posted by Ross at Tue Mar 21 15:49:00 2006:
As I've said many times before, gtkpod is not an acceptable replacement for iTunes when using an iPod and iTMS for a normal person.
Hell, gtkpod isn't suitable for anyone. At least recommend something usable like Rhythmbox or Banshee.
Posted by elcerrajero at Tue Mar 21 18:42:14 2006:
Hell, gtkpod isn't suitable for anyone. At least recommend something usable like Rhythmbox or Banshee.
If you want to use iPod with Linux try amaroK (http://amarok.kde.org/).
It's a killer application, really.
On the other hand, what may I say about winblows that you don't know yet?
Posted by Anonymous at Tue Mar 21 19:45:31 2006:
It's a killer application, really.
On the other hand, what may I say about winblows that you don't know yet?
Is it that you need iTunes as 1) a music player/manager, 2) a means of getting songs on your iPod, or 3) a means of purchasing songs from the iTMS?
For (1), there are numerous options available; I personally use and recommend Quod Libet. In the past, I've used Rhythmbox and amaroK, and I find them quite usable as well.
For (2), several different music players now offer support for the iPod, and gnome-volume-manager allows you to just plug it in and have it automatically sync.
For (3), try SharpMusique; it allows you to purchase and download music directly from iTMS.
If there's some functionality I'm missing, please let me know. I just don't see what iTunes provides that these don't. That includes the UI; I have actually tried iTunes, and I don't believe it is any more usable than the best of the GNU/Linux music players.
Posted by Dan at Wed Mar 22 09:48:21 2006:
Posted by eT at Wed Mar 22 18:25:16 2006:
Posted by Baloo at Fri Mar 24 08:40:15 2006:
For (1), there are numerous options available; I personally use and recommend Quod Libet. In the past, I've used Rhythmbox and amaroK, and I find them quite usable as well.
For (2), several different music players now offer support for the iPod, and gnome-volume-manager allows you to just plug it in and have it automatically sync.
For (3), try SharpMusique; it allows you to purchase and download music directly from iTMS.
If there's some functionality I'm missing, please let me know. I just don't see what iTunes provides that these don't. That includes the UI; I have actually tried iTunes, and I don't believe it is any more usable than the best of the GNU/Linux music players.
Even better: Last year, when I was working for $REGISTRAR in their tech support department, I was on the phone paying $BIGBUCKS to British Telecom to talk to me on this side of the pond for help and, due to the timezone difference, at the early wee hours of the morning for him and normal business hours for us). And that godforsaken dialogue popped up. Needless to say that stupid fucking forced reboot cost me a customer...
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