A Bit Concerened About Upgrading To PSCS – Questions…

TH
Posted By
Tina_Hayes
Nov 20, 2003
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488
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12
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Closed
Okay, because I don’t have time to read all of these CS threads.

I always get my upgrades for Christmas, but I’m a bit concerned about this one.

1) I know I need to update my OS from Win 98SE to Win 2K…I can do that

2) I know I’d need to add one more stick of RAM to max out this machine at it’s 512 MB limit.

3) I’ve run all versions since 5.0 just fine on my crappy machine with a CyrixII processor, 366 MMX 320 MB RAM (4 MB of that to video memory, just fine…some things are slow, but I don’t work on huge files..just smaller ones for screen display.

4) I run ‘bare bones’ with only the neccessities running in the background, and I alwys ctrl-alt- delete to ‘end task’ for ‘footprint’ programs that keep running after I’ve closed an app. (Such as my printer..it leaves a bunch of s*** running)

I have concerns about three things:

1) The slowness issues I’ve read about here and on other Forumss from people who own machines far better than mine.

2) The issue about the ‘spyware’ in the thread below leads me to ask if CS is one of those programs that run such ‘footprint’ apps in the background while it runs. (I can’t afford the power that kind of thing sucks up. And if indeed it does run stuff in the background, could this not explian the slowness issue that so very many people are having?)

3) About activation – I always install upgrades into a new directory, and then I uninstall the previous version. So will this cause an issue?

4) If I get CS and then find I can’t run it, will I have a hard time with putting version 7 back onb my machine.

5) What if my hard drive dies, or I’m lucky enogh (riiiiiight…) to get a newer faster machine? Will I have problems activation if I’ve already activated on an old machine or the old hard drive?

I mean I want this upgrade, but it’s going to mean two software upgrades plus a stick of RAM…I don’t want to see money spent needlessly.

All of these upgrade issues I’m reading has me feeling quite aprehensive.
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L
LenHewitt
Nov 21, 2003
Tina,

1) The slowness issues <<

Probably safer to go for XP rather than Win2k – although I haven’t noticed any problems under Win2k here (other than Illustrator CS taking an age to ‘wake-up’ after being mininmized).

2) if CS is one of those programs that run such ‘footprint’ apps <<

The Adobe License Manager service will be running whenever Photoshop CS is started. It’s memory usage is only 1 Mb, and nothing to worry about.

3) About activation – I always install upgrades into a new directory, and
then I uninstall the previous version. So will this cause an issue?<<

No, that is eactly what you should do.

4) If I get CS and then find I can’t run it, will I have a hard time with
putting version 7 back onb my machine.<<

No, no problems at all.

5) What if my hard drive dies, or I….get a newer faster machine? Will I
have problems activation if I’ve already activated on an old machine or the old hard drive?<<

NO, not unless that happend with monotonous frequency <g>…and even then a ‘phone call would sort it out……
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Nov 21, 2003
It occurs to me that the activation issue is a two way street. How many new customer service people will Adobe need to bring on board to answer the voluminous calls resulting as more and more licenses are sold, assuming a high level of problems result from the activation issues?
RL
Robert_Levine
Nov 21, 2003
assuming a high level of problems result from the activation issues?

Quite the assumption. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that MOST people aren’t having any activation issues.

Bob
PH
Photo_Help
Nov 21, 2003
Tina,

I agree with len on XP, Windows XP is everything 2K is and more. If you don’t like the XP interface use classic style and you can’t tell the difference between it and 2K.

I’m sorry but there is no way I would invest any more money in a cyrix 366. All the effort for drivers, compatibility checks etc.

I don’t know all your system specs, but you could buy a low end Dell 2400 system for around $400. I would recommend spending a little more buying at least a 4600.

Dell 4600
Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.66GHz with 533MHz front side bus. XP Home
1GB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM
120 GB serial ATA 7200 RPM hard drive
48x CD recorder
Free upgrade to wireless keyboard and mouse
Free Shipping
Free Dell A920 All In One Printer

All for about $750

Subtract your upgrades and it only costs you $500-$600 more to have a new system. If you sell your old one then you might only have to spend $300 more than you would to upgrade an old worn out system. there is no reason you should be working on a computer that slow.

I hate financing purchases but if you had to do it that way it is only about $25 per month. People pay that much more over dial-up each month for high speed internet, why not pay that much more a month to have a high speed computer.
RH
r_harvey
Nov 21, 2003
People who don’t trust other people, cannot be trusted. It would be foolhardy to assume that a software company that doesn’t trust anyone else, would itself be trustworthy.
RL
Robert_Levine
Nov 21, 2003
You just made quite a case. If what you say is true then the opposite must also hold true. Since you don’t trust them, you must not be trustworthy. Quite the catch-22.

Bob
RH
r_harvey
Nov 21, 2003
Since you don’t trust them, you must not be trustworthy.

See my previous post. It is not recursive.
P
pope
Nov 21, 2003
r_harvey

"People who don’t trust other people, cannot be trusted."

I didn’t know that.
RH
r_harvey
Nov 21, 2003
I didn’t know that.

Welcome.
NS
NO.SPAM.gyrgrlsTHIS.MAILBOX.IS.CLOSED
Nov 24, 2003
On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 10:34:34 -0800, wrote:

I agree with len on XP, Windows XP is everything 2K is and more.

IMIO (In My Inflated Opinion), XP is crap.

Yes, it has more.

More levels of menus to navigate through, to change basic preferences, such as desktop colors, themes, etc, on a per-user basis.

More steps involved in teh setting up of user levels, such as "power user" or "backup operator", etc. — Win2k had it right out front in teh control panel under "users and passwords" — not so with XP — you have to navigate through a convoluted system of menus.

…. more than I care to list …

Oh, yeah: plus: ACTIVATION! 🙂

IMHO, Win2k is still the better system (and less blaoted).

—
-john

~~~~~~~~
Maybe I should ask Radio Shack. They claim they’ve got answers; but frankly, if Radio Shack were our provider, we’d _really_ be in trouble now, wouldn’t we?
~~~~~~~~
NS
NO.SPAM.gyrgrlsTHIS.MAILBOX.IS.CLOSED
Nov 24, 2003
On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 10:34:34 -0800, wrote:

Dell 4600
Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.66GHz with 533MHz front side bus. XP Home
1GB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM
120 GB serial ATA 7200 RPM hard drive
48x CD recorder
Free upgrade to wireless keyboard and mouse
Free Shipping
Free Dell A920 All In One Printer

All for about $750

Or, buy a mainboard and CPU of your choice, a nice ATX tower case, whatever else you need for the rest of the system, for a little less (a lot less if you are decommissioning your old machine and swapping parts), and have the 12-year-old geek down the street put it together for you for a few bucks. 🙂

One thing to watch out for with pre-fab computers:
(well, two things)

a) They are often more or less proprietary in design, making upgrades difficult or impossible

b) Expandability may be severely limited (how many open drive bays, pci slots, etc are available)

You are usually better off starting with a high end, bare bones system, and building from the ground up. That way, you can use some of your old hardware, until you can afford to upgrade that a little later, piece by piece. I know. I am on that kind of a budget, myself. Still, I see no cheap Dell in my future. 🙂
—
-john

~~~~~~~~
Maybe I should ask Radio Shack. They claim they’ve got answers; but frankly, if Radio Shack were our provider, we’d _really_ be in trouble now, wouldn’t we?
~~~~~~~~
NS
NO.SPAM.gyrgrlsTHIS.MAILBOX.IS.CLOSED
Nov 24, 2003
On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 10:46:44 -0800,
wrote:

You just made quite a case. If what you say is true then the opposite must also hold true. Since you don’t trust them, you must not be trustworthy. Quite the catch-22.

Bob

Good catch. 🙂

—
-john

~~~~~~~~
Maybe I should ask Radio Shack. They claim they’ve got answers; but frankly, if Radio Shack were our provider, we’d _really_ be in trouble now, wouldn’t we?
~~~~~~~~

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