Install Windows Faster with Autostreamer
So my brother managed to let his computer catch a virus. At my house we have two Macs running Leopard, one Ubuntu Linux computer (MythTV), and one older Windows XP computer. Well the virus protection (Avast!) expired and my brother did not let me know so that I could get a free renewal. So he got a major infection. Picture about 75 open pop up windows and growing.
So now I am faced with reinstalling Windows XP. Yes, maybe I could clean up the infection, but I never trust a computer with passwords or any information once it is compromised. After a virus there is no telling who could be getting your info.
Surely there has to be an easier way than installing Windows XP, downloading the latest service pack, and then waiting for it to install. Especially since I have to reinstall windows for friends or others at least twice a month. Enter AutoStreamer.
Autostreamer will take your Windows XP install CD and a downloaded copy of the latest service pack and combine them into one install CD. Now the updates will be applied on installation saving you time and the possibility of an update ruining your system.
You will need:
- Your original Windows Install CD
- A downloaded copy of the standalone “Network Install Package” of the Service Pack. As of this writing the latest was SP3 (~316MB)
- AutoStreamer
- Blank CD to burn the disk image back to
The instructions are pretty straightforward. Insert the Windows CD, run Autostreamer, and point AutoStreamer to the downloaded Service pack file. In will then combine the two and output a disk image. That image may then be burned to a CD to install on a computer.
You may be thinking this sure takes some time. Yeah it might take an hour now. But if you do frequent reinstalls this will save you a lot of time in the long run.
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Ubuntu: The other, other OS
Last week I got a panicked call from one of my friends. Windows had refused to boot (Now I believe it was a virus that corrupted some .exe files) and she was faced with the possibility of losing all her work and pictures. I walked her though the Windows repair console and some other tricks but to no avail.
I then proposed something: I asked her if she would like to boot up a Ubuntu live cd and try to use linux to recover her files. I walked her through downloading the CD burning the ISO to disk and booting from CD (hold F12 or set in BIOS).
Then I accidentally left my phone in my car and she was on her own with this strange operating system she had never used before. Did she wait for me to call back? No, she fired up Ubuntu to get to her files.
When I got back to her, she was surfing the internet (wireless worked out of the box), had found her files on the windows partition (it auto-mounted even though it was NTFS), and was messing around in OpenOffice. The next question shocked me. She asked “Couldn’t I just install this permanently? I like it, it looks Apple-y.”
Surprised, I told her that with the click on an icon she could install it instead of Windows. We plugged in her iPod and used it an an external drive to backup her data. After that she installed Ubuntu on her own. She had some problems with the installer creating the partitions, but deleted the Windows partitions before running the installer and it worked fine.
And that is the story of how someone, having never seen or used a linux OS, came to use Ubuntu as her primary OS.
