Developers, developers, developers, developers

[Buoysel]

Ah, the strange kinks Android has here and there. Last night, my Nexus 7 tablet was self-locking and self-unlocking itself, and that was the first time I had ever seen that happen. As always, a reboot fixed the problem.

My Nexus 7 (2012) will refuse to boot if the battery is low at all. Have to leave it plugged in for at least an hour before it will boot. Crazy thing still works, so why replace it.

 

[Tsutarja]

My Nexus 7 (2012) will refuse to boot if the battery is low at all. Have to leave it plugged in for at least an hour before it will boot. Crazy thing still works, so why replace it.

How long does it hold a charge for?

At least with Lollipop, my Nexus 7 (2013) is able to hold a charge at idle usage for at least three days before I need to plug it in.

 

[Buoysel]

How long does it hold a charge for?

At least with Lollipop, my Nexus 7 (2013) is able to hold a charge at idle usage for at least three days before I need to plug it in.

I don't know. I haven't measured how long it would last since I got it, when I used it for 8 hours straight.

 

[donavannj]

Somewhat related, I'm likely moving onto my employer's cell phone plan (provider is Verizon), and there were a few phones I was looking at: the Sony Xperia ZW3, the Samsung Galaxy S5, the HTC One M8, and the LG G3. Which of these is the best one in your opinion? Are there any others I should be considering?

I'm primarily interested in the Xperia at the moment, but that's mostly because it generally compares favorably to the others in terms of hardware, at least from Verizon's own comparison tool. Well, that and the fact that it can do remote-play for the PS4 natively (and that might mean it also does remote play for the PS3 natively).

Any suggestions? I've not been paying attention to flagship phones, and most of the people at my work that I set phones up for get iPhones, and through having to support them, I've really come to not like them.

 

[countryemo]

Somewhat related, I'm likely moving onto my employer's cell phone plan (provider is Verizon), and there were a few phones I was looking at: the Sony Xperia ZW3, the Samsung Galaxy S5, the HTC One M8, and the LG G3. Which of these is the best one in your opinion? Are there any others I should be considering?

I'm primarily interested in the Xperia at the moment, but that's mostly because it generally compares favorably to the others in terms of hardware, at least from Verizon's own comparison tool. Well, that and the fact that it can do remote-play for the PS4 natively (and that might mean it also does remote play for the PS3 natively).

Any suggestions? I've not been paying attention to flagship phones, and most of the people at my work that I set phones up for get iPhones, and through having to support them, I've really come to not like them.

You should also look into the Moto X 2014, or 2013 is Verizon still sells it, but Motorola dosen't, depending on size for you. But considering your choices, the 2014 falls in line. If I had to go for those 4.. I would probably do the M8 or G3. Sony's interface puts me off (shame), and I don't like Sammy, software, look, performance. The G3 has a bit too much screen for me, I would prefer if it was just 1080p, I find 2k/4k on a phone overkill. But if the GPU/Battery can handle it..

 

[Buoysel]

Somewhat related, I'm likely moving onto my employer's cell phone plan (provider is Verizon), and there were a few phones I was looking at: the Sony Xperia ZW3, the Samsung Galaxy S5, the HTC One M8, and the LG G3. Which of these is the best one in your opinion? Are there any others I should be considering?

I'm primarily interested in the Xperia at the moment, but that's mostly because it generally compares favorably to the others in terms of hardware, at least from Verizon's own comparison tool. Well, that and the fact that it can do remote-play for the PS4 natively (and that might mean it also does remote play for the PS3 natively).

Any suggestions? I've not been paying attention to flagship phones, and most of the people at my work that I set phones up for get iPhones, and through having to support them, I've really come to not like them.

I am really happy with my Note 3. It took some time getting used to the huge screen, and Samsung's Touch Wiz UI. But once you are used to them, they are quiet good. Samsung's phones are made of plastic, but they still feel like they are worth what you pay for them. I would personally take the S5.

EDIT:
PSA, if you are looking for an SSD. MicroCenter has the PNY Optima 240GB SSD on sale for $99. There is also a $20 Mail-in-rebate on the drive, meaning you can currently purchase a 240GB SSD for $79.

 

[Tsutarja]

I performed a backup of files on my desktop last night..I wonder if I should just reinstall Windows over my files right now or start from scratch and then import the backup.

One of my dislikes of reinstalling an operating system is having to reinstall all of the programs >:(

 

[Buoysel]

I performed a backup of files on my desktop last night..I wonder if I should just reinstall Windows over my files right now or start from scratch and then import the backup.

One of my dislikes of reinstalling an operating system is having to reinstall all of the programs >:(

Do you have a spare computer laying around that you don't use a lot, one with a decent amount of storage (meaning at least 100GB?) This can be an old Laptop or whatever. Set up a Deployment Server, This can be Windows Deployment Server or a Linux Alrtantive.

Set you your computer as you normally would, but don't put your personal files on it yet. Install all of your programs and all of the Windows Updates you want/need. Then capture your installation as an image, From this point on, if you ever need to reinstall windows, you basicly get to start from the point at which you created the image. I can explain more, and give some advice using WDS if you would like.

 

[Tsutarja]

Do you have a spare computer laying around that you don't use a lot, one with a decent amount of storage (meaning at least 100GB?) This can be an old Laptop or whatever. Set up a Deployment Server, This can be Windows Deployment Server or a Linux Alrtantive.

Set you your computer as you normally would, but don't put your personal files on it yet. Install all of your programs and all of the Windows Updates you want/need. Then capture your installation as an image, From this point on, if you ever need to reinstall windows, you basicly get to start from the point at which you created the image. I can explain more, and give some advice using WDS if you would like.

I do have a spare laptop that runs Windows 7 Home Premium, although the battery in it isn't the best. I could probably use that. It has at least 100GB of free space, and it's really a laptop I couldn't care less about on what's on it, to be honest.

How would I go abotu setting up a Windows Deployment Server?

 

[Buoysel]

I do have a spare laptop that runs Windows 7 Home Premium, although the battery in it isn't the best. I could probably use that. It has at least 100GB of free space, and it's really a laptop I couldn't care less about on what's on it, to be honest.

How would I go abotu setting up a Windows Deployment Server?

Do you have any Windows Server Keys? If not, then you are going to need to install Linux and install the Alternative I linked to in my previous post.

If you can, install Windows Server on the laptop, and install the Windows Deployment Service role, I would also install the DHCP role, but don't enable the DHCP service.

I am not familiar with the Linux Alternative, but it would give me something to do while I wait for 4pm to roll around so I can go home from work.

 

[Tsutarja]

Do you have any Windows Server Keys? If not, then you are going to need to install Linux and install the Alternative I linked to in my previous post.

If you can, install Windows Server on the laptop, and install the Windows Deployment Service role, I would also install the DHCP role, but don't enable the DHCP service.

I am not familiar with the Linux Alternative, but it would give me something to do while I wait for 4pm to roll around so I can go home from work.

I can easily obtain a Windows Server key, since I have DreamSpark access courtesy of my college. Which Server OS would you recommend, though?

I already have Server 2003 on one of my towers, but it doesn't even have 100GB free of hard drive space, and I already use it for other functions as well.

 

[Buoysel]

I can easily obtain a Windows Server key, since I have DreamSpark access courtesy of my college. Which Server OS would you recommend, though?

I already have Server 2003 on one of my towers, but it doesn't even have 100GB free of hard drive space, and I already use it for other functions as well.

Use whichever version you are most comfortable with. (Personally I'd go with 2012R2)

Is your 2k3 box a DHCP server?

Edit your DHCP server option 66. It's called the Boot Server Host Name. Add your new server host name there. (Make sure you are able to resolve the host name of the new machine, might have to add a DNS entry on your server if you are not in a domain.)

Once you have WDS installed, you need the Boot.wim file from the Windows Installation Media (DVD or ISO). This can be from Server ISO if you want, it honestly doesn't matter. What does matter is using the latest version of the Windows NT kernel PE environment. You can not deploy a Windows version with an older PE. For example, you can not deploy a 6.3 install from 6.2 WinPE, however, you can deploy a 6.2 install from 6.3 WinPE.

Open the WDS console, and import the Boot image by right clicking on the Boot Images folder on the left and select Add Boot Image. img

Once you have the boot image imported, on the right side, right click the boot image you imported and select create capture image. img

Once the two images have been configured in WDS, it's time to capture your image. Boot using PXE on the computer you are wanting to capture from, and select the Capture image from the list of available boot images.

Run though the wizard and you will have a captured image. Once the image is captured, you can either manually copy the image file to the WDS server, or select the option to automatically copy the image file to the server during the capture wizard.

Note, The capture wizard will only work if you have run Sysprep on the installation you want to copy. I would recommend running Sysprep in audit mode and deleting any user account you created during the initial install of Windows. Also install any programs and windows updates at this time. This will make it easier once you have deployed Windows to another machine.

I left things kind of vague as half the fun of doing IT things is figuring it out as you go along, but if you get stuck or have questions, I will happily answer them. I can create a step by step guide with screenshots if you need them.

 

[donavannj]

WDS is a colossal pain to work with, IMO. But we rarely have to set up system images, so we rarely use it (and, even then only the client-side components of it like Sysprep - we use True Image to make our actual system images).

You should also look into the Moto X 2014, or 2013 is Verizon still sells it, but Motorola dosen't, depending on size for you. But considering your choices, the 2014 falls in line. If I had to go for those 4.. I would probably do the M8 or G3. Sony's interface puts me off (shame), and I don't like Sammy, software, look, performance. The G3 has a bit too much screen for me, I would prefer if it was just 1080p, I find 2k/4k on a phone overkill. But if the GPU/Battery can handle it..

Not been able to find the Xperia or a Moto X anywhere in stores as a demo. Is the Sony interface really that bad?

I was able to see a G3 and the screen was amazingly clear, but I still have some reservations about the hardware.

I am really happy with my Note 3. It took some time getting used to the huge screen, and Samsung's Touch Wiz UI. But once you are used to them, they are quiet good. Samsung's phones are made of plastic, but they still feel like they are worth what you pay for them. I would personally take the S5.

EDIT:
PSA, if you are looking for an SSD. MicroCenter has the PNY Optima 240GB SSD on sale for $99. There is also a $20 Mail-in-rebate on the drive, meaning you can currently purchase a 240GB SSD for $79.

My issue with the huge screen would probably be the fact that it'd be difficult to keep the phone in my pocket. And I've not liked the Samsung UI very much while using the S3 my dad used to have and the S5 my mom currently has.

 

[Buoysel]

WDS is a colossal pain to work with, IMO. But we rarely have to set up system images, so we rarely use it (and, even then only the client-side components of it like Sysprep - we use True Image to make our actual system images).

The only problem I've run into is that you can't sysprep a machine more than once, so I have a VM with several checkpoints in the Sysprep steps so that I can edit my images a later time.

My issue with the huge screen would probably be the fact that it'd be difficult to keep the phone in my pocket. And I've not liked the Samsung UI very much while using the S3 my dad used to have and the S5 my mom currently has.

I didn't like Touch Wiz at first either. I got used it. Not a huge fan of it, but it's bearable now.

 

[countryemo]

Not been able to find the Xperia or a Moto X anywhere in stores as a demo. Is the Sony interface really that bad?

I was able to see a G3 and the screen was amazingly clear, but I still have some reservations about the hardware.

Sony Experia isn't very big on the U.S, hardly release and advertise here. I haven't really used one, but something about the icons and some of the ui sets me off, some people think its great though. Like touchwiz, some hate it, some like it.

Have you tried a Verizon or AT&T store (More like the main ones, not the corner ones)? Probably won't find one in a store like Best Buy or Target, maybe a Moto G though, lol.

 

[Legendary Silke]

Whatever you do, just don't get a phone from a brand you do not recognize, or something with buttons on the back. :3

 

[Tsutarja]

It is official: I declare the Chromecast awesome.

 

[donavannj]

Sony Experia isn't very big on the U.S, hardly release and advertise here. I haven't really used one, but something about the icons and some of the ui sets me off, some people think its great though. Like touchwiz, some hate it, some like it.

Have you tried a Verizon or AT&T store (More like the main ones, not the corner ones)? Probably won't find one in a store like Best Buy or Target, maybe a Moto G though, lol.

I've only been checking Verizon stores. Not the big.box retailers.

Whatever you do, just don't get a phone from a brand you do not recognize, or something with buttons on the back. :3

What have you got against the LG G3?

 

[Starry Windy]

Whatever you do, just don't get a phone from a brand you do not recognize, or something with buttons on the back. :3

Really? I have no idea that there are phones with the buttons in the back. That's something I don't see every day. And well, usually I just buy the brand of the phone that is widely recognized everywhere in the world just in case, except on one occasion, when my mom decided to give me a phone with analog TV tuner inside, because it was booming in my country back then.

 

[Pendraflare]

I think the first phone brand that I had was a Motorola flip phone, but now that we have the iPhone we stick with that. Everyone in my family has iPhones now, we've been with AT&T for a while and have had good service from them. Although my iPhone has been wonky as of recent and needs a backup, but that requires me to dump some things off of it.