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The madness began as much insanity does, with a nominally simple idea: Upgrade a Windows XP system to Windows 8 and write about the experience. Then my mouth started moving, even before my imprudent brain realized what it was saying. “I have an old Pentium 4 system at home, complete with an AGP graphics card and 2GB of RAM. It’s running tons of software. Maybe we should install Windows 8 on that, and see if everything sticks together!”

In reality, performing a Windows 8 upgrade on an ancient Windows XP machine is not a good idea. But the exercise allowed me to explore the boundaries of what’s possible—and to learn some valuable lessons about the Windows 8 setup process along the way.

And now I can share what I’ve learned with you.

‘Old’ isn’t quite the word for a system like this

Okay, I know: It’s an ugly case. But I built this machine when I was younger and more prone to admire tacky garishness. The good news is that you can’t order one of these enclosures any longer. You can pay good money for custom case painting, but this kind of psychedelic silk-screening seems to be unavailable in 2012. That’s probably a good thing.

Regardless, what lives inside the case is more interesting. I built the system in 2004, not long after the Northwood variant of the Pentium 4 shipped. The components inside are more than just elderly–they’re positively geriatric by modern PC standards. To wit:

3.4GHz Pentium 4 CPU (socket 478!)

Abit IC7-G motherboard with Intel 875P chipset

Two 1GB DDR-400 DRAM modules (2GB total)

Radeon HD 9800XT AGP graphics card with 512MB frame buffer

320GB Western Digital hard drive (IDE)

Two 250GB Western Digital hard drives in RAID 1 mode

Sony DVD recorder (16X)

Two Asus 52X CD-ROM burners

520W Vantec power supply

Note that Abit is now out of business. Vantec still makes low-cost peripherals, but it is no longer in the power-supply business. As I’ll detail shortly, this system is a little problematic when it comes to Windows 8.

Abit IC7-G. Abit is no longer in business. The Radeon 9800XT once offered the acme of graphics performance.

Windows 8 setup: first run

In its original state, this P4-based system ran the 32-bit version of Windows XP–and the last time I used the PC was several years ago as a license server for 3ds Max 8. I uninstalled the license server and a few other applications, mainly to make the system small enough to back up to the secondary 250GB RAID array. Then I ran Windows 8 setup from a DVD.

I first tried 64-bit Windows 8, but was informed that only a clean, fresh install would be performed. So I resigned myself to installing 32-bit Windows 8. Even so, the Windows 8 setup retained none of my applications—only data files! Well, that was a rude awakening.

Windows 8 setup runs a compatibility checker the first time it’s activated. The only incompatibility I encountered was the RAID array. I sighed, rebooted the system into the Intel RAID BIOS and deleted the RAID array. Then I had to repartition and reformat the pair of 250GB drives, and then run another image backup.

Once that prep work was done, I fired up the Windows 8 setup in earnest. Everything progressed as it should, until the first reboot. What appeared on the screen was a 0x0000005 error, followed by “Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to restart.”

Of course, restarting did nothing but re-create the same error.

Diving into a Google search, I discovered that Windows 8 requires Data Execution Prevention (DEP), a feature of CPUs and motherboards that helps prevent malware or poorly designed applications from running program code out of parts of memory specifically allocated for data. The motherboard BIOS, in particular, must offer a DEP setting, which has to be enabled.

That’s when I knew I was doomed.

The Abit IC7-G is a motherboard built by a defunct company, and it was already running the last available BIOS update. I verified the lack of a DEP setting. So it seemed as though this little project had come to a premature end.

Pillage your parts bin in a pinch

Then I remembered the image backup. All was not lost.

I decided to try to replicate the system as closely as possible, but with enough hardware updates to enable Windows 8 to run. I rummaged through my pile of parts and uncovered an Asus P5B Deluxe motherboard and an Intel Pentium D 965.

The Pentium D is built on an updated version of Intel’s Netburst architecture, the same architecture used to create the original Pentium 4. Unlike the P4, however, the Pentium D is a dual-core CPU—though it’s really two separate CPU cores combined in a single package. The Pentium D shipped in an LGA775 package, and these are still readily available.

The Asus motherboard is built on a P965 chipset. which is several generations newer than the 875P used in the Abit board. In practical terms, that meant the 320GB IDE boot drive used in my old P4 system wouldn’t work. The optical drives needed the lone IDE connector on the P5B.

The two Western Digital 250GB drives were SATA, however, so I swapped in a 320GB Seagate SATA drive. The Seagate drive is faster than the original, but I knew it wouldn’t have a major impact. In a similar vein, I used two 1GB DDR2 modules, since DDR1 wouldn’t work with the P5B. My final equipment change involved the graphics card: I replaced the AGP 9800XT with a Radeon HD 6450, a very low-end card that required no power connection.

After making all of these changes, I checked the system BIOS and, sure enough, DEP was now an option. So I turned it on. Then I recovered the original Windows XP partition. After a reboot, I updated the chipset drivers and then installed new graphics drivers.

At this point, Windows XP began generating memory errors. These weren’t due to a hardware incompatibility, but to a bug in which a Microsoft service would crash repeatedly. That told me that I was running Windows XP Service Pack 2, which had some problems when Data Execution Prevention was turned on.

It’s never simple, is it? I updated to XP Service Pack 3. The errors continued, but less frequently.

Windows 8 redux

Keeping my fingers crossed, I popped in the Windows 8 DVD and walked through the setup process. This time, it all went smoothly. The system rebooted a couple of times, and soon I was running a very hot, very noisy Windows 8 system. A quick run of the Windows Experience Index generated a whopping 4.4 score, with a processor score of 5.5. Modern CPUs tend to max out at around 7.0 to 7.8. Still, that 5.5 rating was better than I had expected.

I was actually pleased by my system’s Windows Experience score of 4.4.

Still, even discounting the GPU, the system seemed more responsive when running Windows 8. The 2GB of memory and the slow hard drives certainly made things drag, and the old CPU didn’t help, but the whole affair hung together much better than I thought it would.

Bottom line: not a great idea

Few Windows XP users are likely to make the jump to Windows 8 by upgrading an existing XP system. Still, I learned some things from this crazy little project:

An in-place upgrade of Windows 8 over Windows XP isn’t really an upgrade. It’s really a clean install that saves all of your user files, but kills your applications.

Despite blowing away your software, you can’t do an in-place upgrade with 64-bit Windows 8, even if the CPU is 64-bit capable.

For Windows 8 to work, the system must support data execution protection, and DEP must be enabled.

Windows 8 can actually run on 2GB of RAM!

In the end, it’s probably worth the effort to back up your data and perform a clean install of Windows 8 if you’re so inclined. If you’re running hardware that’s more current—perhaps a Core 2 Quad—Windows 8 is certainly a viable path. But if you’re running a 32-bit OS, I recommend backing up and installing a 64-bit OS instead. That way, you’ll be able to install more usable memory. And while Windows 8 may not be a big memory hog, modern applications often are.

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Should You Upgrade To Windows 8?

Over the past few months, we’ve covered a significant amount of tips and hints regarding Microsoft’s upcoming operating system, Windows 8. However, we’ve yet to mention any tips regarding whether or not we would recommend Windows 8 to our site visitors and subscribers.

Table of Contents

The fact is, many people will be updating their operating systems to Windows 8 later this month and many won’t. Windows 8 has been the primary focus of many tech blogs for the last few months, and many critics have dubbed Windows 8 as a flop; following Microsoft’s pattern of inconsistency, releasing a quality operating system, then a poor operating system:

Windows XP (considered to be a solid OS)

Windows Vista (considered to be a crappy OS)

Windows 7 (considered to be a solid OS)

Windows 8 (not even officially released yet, but is being considered to be a crappy OS)

With the tech critics and many others casting judgment on Windows 8’s new metro interface and other non-traditional features, many consumers may be a bit cautious about making the jump to Windows 8. However, I believe that the underlying factor of all of this criticism towards the new OS is simple… Windows 8 is different, so it comes off as an operating system that is complicated or difficult to understand. Additionally, using Windows 8 requires a slight learning curve and some change; most people do not like change and are creatures of habit.

With that noted, the best way to tell whether or not Windows 8 is an operating system that you will like is to simply download the Release Preview, so that you can try out the next gen OS for yourself. Still not sure whether or not to make the jump to Windows 8? Here are some tips that may be of help.

Actually, Windows 8 has a start screen… Dubbed the Metro Interface, which is tablet friendly. Windows 8’s new Start Menu is the single most controversial (hated and loved) feature of the new operating system. Many criticize the new metro interface as being too tablet optimized for use on a PC computer, but I don’t find it quite as hideous as many critics make it out to be. It’s different, and it does take some getting used to, but after you use it for a month or so, you may come to like the Windows 8 Metro feature.

Because the Windows 8 Metro UI replaces the traditional Start Menu, you will find yourself utilizing Windows Explorer a lot more, to navigate to file directories and other PC paths. This is not a new feature that wasn’t around in Windows 7, but I for one, never used Windows Explorer in Windows 7, because the Start Menu was there and I simply preferred that. In Windows 8, you will definitely use Windows Explorer.

So, the Start Menu is gone and you now navigate to paths and directories in Windows using Windows Explorer. To launch apps and programs, you use the Metro UI. However, if you simply can’t use Windows without a Start Menu, you can add it back! The following add-ons can add the traditional Start Menu to Windows 8:

So, if you can add the traditional Start Menu to Windows 8… maybe the switch wouldn’t be too bad… considering Windows 8 has some other new features that you might like, which we will get to later!

Windows 8 being great for tablets, but not for enterprise or productivity…

When I initially started using Windows 8 and was just getting accustomed to the new operating system, I would have agreed with that statement. Without the traditional Start Menu, the home screen can be quite distracting. In tablet environments the Metro interface is sweet, but in an enterprise or productivity environment, one could care less about the visual appeal of the Metro UI… the traditional Start Menu is more productive, as it can be used to access apps, folders, files, and basically any path in Windows.

However, once learned and adapted to, 8’s Metro UI can actually be quite snappy. You just have to get accustomed to it. Need to launch an app quickly from the desktop, but don’t want to have to launch the Start Screen to get to the app? Simply attach it to the desktop’s taskbar.

Windows 8’s Metro UI could also be very beneficial in enterprise environments, but for that, program and app developers will need to get busy updating their apps to be Windows 8 friendly, incorporating live tile support, full screen app support, etc…

Here’s an example: If you were considering using Windows 8 in a IT business model or enterprise environment with updated and current apps, it may go something like this:

Of course, you would need to have all of your company’s apps updated to Metro UI compatibility. If the above screenshot included live tiles with status updates, it could be very beneficial in a IT business’s enterprise environment, even more so than the standard Windows 7 desktop.

Control panel interfaces tend to do great in enterprise as is, so with all of your company’s apps updated to Windows 8 compatibility, you could utilize the Metro UI as a main control panel, easily customizable to be specific for each department of your business.

Windows 8 for Consumers

While enterprise use is directed towards productivity, consumer use is more for fun and simplicity. Windows 8 does a great job of that as is, if you can get accustomed to the metro interface. Full screen apps in Windows 8 are cool, and the new apps in the Microsoft Windows 8 store, along with more Xbox compatibility, makes for a more fun PC consumer experience!

Should You update to Windows 8

As mentioned, the best way to go about Windows 8 updating is to try the free Release Preview first, then decide. However, I would recommend that you don’t use the new OS for a few days and then disregard it as being too different. Use Windows 8 for a month or so, then try out Windows 7. Which one do you prefer at that point? Remember, Windows 8 is only priced at $40.00 USD for an upgrade.

I believe that Microsoft has been bold in creating an OS like Windows 8. They have decided to make a major move and to do something different with this OS. I will be updating all of my PCs to Windows 8 because I like the new improvements that Windows 8 offers throughout, such as the new Windows Explorer Ribbon and the speed of the OS.

Even if you can’t stand the new Metro Interface, you can simply disable it using some online tutorials or regain the traditional Start Menu. From there, you can utilize the other updates to Windows that you may like, such as the new Windows Explorer, instant-boot and other technologies, while not being bothered by the Metro UI.

Audi Borrows An Old Tesla Perk For The 2023 E

Audi borrows an old Tesla perk for the 2023 e-tron GT EV

Audi is leaving nothing to chance when it comes to the 2023 e-tron GT and potential luxury car buyers being scared off by EV charging, inking a new agreement for free public top-ups. The agreement will see all 2023 Audi e-tron GT buyers get three years of complimentary DC fast charging at Electrify America stations across the US.

There are currently more than 600 public charging stations in that network, and the e-tron GT will be able to tap speeds of up to 270 kW. That’s the equivalent of taking the sports EV from 5-percent to 80-percent in around 22 minutes, or approximately 180 miles of range.

By the end of the year, meanwhile, Electrify America says it expects to have around 800 locations in operation in the US. In total, there’ll be around 3,500 chargers on offer.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Audi lean on Electrify America with its EV launches in the US. While the automaker doesn’t have an official charging network of its own – unlike Tesla’s Supercharger infrastructure – it’s been bundling some degree of free charging with earlier electric cars. The 2023 e-tron Sportback, for example, came with 1,000 kWh of Electrify America charging, which could be used over the first four years of ownership.

This 2023 e-tron GT deal, though, is potentially far more generous. Indeed it feels like a nod back to the early days of Tesla, when the Model S and then the Model X after it were offered with free, unlimited Supercharging so as to help remove some of the lingering apprehension about whether electrification was actually practical. Tesla later dialed back the deal as its cars grew more popular, and now all new buyers have to pay to use Superchargers.

Audi’s challenge is arguably a little different at the moment. The automaker certainly has an established brand, but its EVs lack the range promises that the latest Model S can deliver. The e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT, for example, are expected to be rated at 238 miles and 232 miles, respectively, on the EPA’s cycle. Final figures will be confirmed closer to launch, but that’s considerably behind the EPA estimated 405 miles that Tesla says its Model S Long Range can offer.

Announced earlier this year, the 2023 e-tron GT and 2023 RS e-tron GT are some of Audi’s most striking electric models to-date. The former is expected to have 469 horsepower in normal operation, or 522 hp in a 2.5 second boost mode, along with 464 lb-ft of torque (or 472 lb-ft in boost mode). It’ll do 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds, Audi says.

As for the RS e-tron GT, that’ll nudge the power figures up to 637 hp and 612 lb-ft in boost mode. 0-60 mph is trimmed, then, to 3.1 seconds: a little faster, indeed, than an Audi R8 V10, the automaker points out. Sales of the two cars will kick off this summer.

How To Fix Windows Stuck On System Restore

System Restore is a Windows utility to restore your settings and system files. Most users use it to troubleshoot system issues and create registry backups. So, as long as you have appropriate restore points, you can install third-party apps or make other changes to your system free of worry.

If System Restore is not progressing even after four hours, the process is likely stuck. It usually happens on initialization or while restoring registries.

Fortunately, you can often fix this issue with startup repair or running System Restore on safe mode.

Here are the reasons for System Restore getting stuck on your PC:

Temporary issues with your disk.

Bad disk sectors.

Corrupt boot and system files.

Conflicts with your services or software.

Problematic restore point.

If your PC is stuck on System Restore for a prolonged period, the first thing you should do is refresh the process. A refresh fixes the minor issues with the process and you can do so by power cycling your PC.

Whether you are initiating the System Restore from Advanced Startup or inside your account, you need to force shutdown your PC to get out of the System Restore.

Then, power cycle your PC using the steps below:

Disconnect your power cord, laptop battery, and all peripherals.

Press and hold the power button for 20 seconds to drain any capacitor charge.

Reconnect the power cord, laptop battery any essential peripherals (like keyboard or mouse, not others).

Then, power up your PC and try performing System Restore again. If it gets stuck again, apply the possible solutions we have provided below:

It is also possible that the restore point you are using to revert your system has become corrupt. In this case, you need to try another restore point if it’s available.

To do so, after starting the System Restore utility,

It is also possible that the disk sector where the System Restore is mapping your snapshot image has gone bad. You can run the Check Disk utility to account for this scenario. It’s better to run this tool from the Advanced Startup options.

You can access the Advanced Startup or Windows Recovery Environment in many ways, such as:

Then, to run Check Disk,

The corruption of your system files is another possible reason for the issue. The System Restore executable file rstrui.exe itself is a system file in the %WinDir%System32 directory. It also depends on other protected files. To scan and repair corrupt system files, you can run the System File Checker (SFC) and Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM). Here are the commands you can run on Command Prompt to use these tools:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth chúng tôi /LimitAccess (Replace E: with your Recovery drive. The source file may also be chúng tôi instead of install.wim)

SFC /ScanNow

If you want to know more about these diagnostic tools or encounter some issues, you can check out our article on How to Repair Corrupted Windows Files.

If you are running System Restore from inside your account, it is possible for the process to get stuck due to interference from incompatible software or services.

If System Restore continues getting stuck, you need to run the process from Advanced Startup to avoid any conflicts. You can also use this method if you can’t log in to your account after a hard reboot.

Then, try restoring your system directly from the Advanced options. To do so,

Executing this method with the Windows Recovery or Installation Drive gives the highest success rate. Since you want to restore your system, your system or boot files likely have some issues. So, using a Recovery Drive, with its own boot and system files, is the more effective solution.

You can also try running this process in safe mode. Here’s how you can do so:

If the Advanced Startup System Restore gets stuck on initialization, it indicates errors on your boot manager. You need to run Startup Repair to resolve this issue. Here’s how you can do so:

If Startup Repair doesn’t resolve the issue, you can rebuild your BCD and rerun Startup Repair.

If the previous solutions were ineffective, your last resort is to reset or reinstall Windows. First, try resetting your PC while keeping your files. Follow the steps below for this purpose:

If resetting doesn’t resolve the issue, make a clean reinstall of Windows using an installation media.

It usually takes about 30-45 minutes to complete a system restore. And it can take up to 1.5-2 hours if your PC is running slow.

However, the process can also temporarily get stuck if there are any issues with your disk. To be safe, we recommend waiting up to 4 hours before trying to troubleshoot this issue.

System Restore reverts your PC to the state of the restore point. To do so, it rolls back any changes you have made and deletes all recently installed apps and drivers. All your personal files except the user application settings remain untouched.

You can also check for affected apps on the System Restore GUI before finalizing the process.

Huawei Nova 11I With An Attractive System To Launch Outside China

Ever since the launch of the first HarmonyOS mobile phone, this system has hardly crossed the shores of China. While many Huawei fans are waiting for the arrival of this system outside China, the company seem to be slow. However, there is a glimpse of hope that the HarmonyOS system will leave China. After the official launch of the Huawei nova 11 series, the company quietly launched the Huawei nova 11i in South Africa. With regard to the specs of this device, there are not too many surprises.

According to official reports, the Huawei nova 11i comes with a 6.8-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 2388 x 1080 pixels. This device also supports a 90Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, this device has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The mobile phone also supports SD card expansion for more storage space. To keep its lights on, this device has a huge 5000 mAh battery that supports 40W fast charging. In the camera department, this device comes with a 16MP selfie shooter. On the rear, it has a 48MP main camera as well as a 2MP depth-of-field lens.

Now, to the software end that we must have been waiting for, the Huawei nova 11i runs on the EMUI 13 system. However, Huawei claims that the EMUI system is now based on HarmonyOS. This system comes with Harmony features including sliding gestures, large folders, widget stacking, hyperterminal, hyperstorage, cross – screen sharing, etc.

Huawei nova 11i full details

In terms of the price, the Huawei nova 11i has two colour options. These options include sky black and mint green. The price of nova 11i is $320.

Huawei nova 11i design Gizchina News of the week

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One of the most impressive features of the Huawei nova 11i is its 5000 mAh large battery. This battery provides users with long-lasting battery life, making it perfect for those who are always on the go. The phone also supports 10V/4A super-fast charging, which means that users can quickly charge their phone and get back to using it in no time. The HUAWEI SuperCharge cable and charger are required for this feature, but they are included in the package.

Huawei SuperCharge Cable

The phone supports 10V/4A super-fast charging and is compatible with 10V/2.25A or 9V/2A and 5V/2A. The HUAWEI SuperCharge cable and charger are required for this feature. Also, the phone comes with a single SIM model: MAO-LX9 (Single SIM model) and supports 4G LTE FDD: Bands B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B13/B20/B28/B66/B264G LTE TDD: Bands B38/B40/B41. This means that users can enjoy fast and reliable internet connectivity, no matter where they are. The phone also supports various audio and video formats, including mp3, *.mid, *.amr, *.awb, *.3gp, *.mp4, *.m4a, *.aac, *.wav, *.ogg, *.flac, and *.mkv. This makes it easy for users to enjoy their favorite music and videos on the go.

The package includes a Phone (Built-in battery) × 1, Charger × 1, USB Type-C Cable × 1, Flexible Clear Case × 1, and Quick Start Guide × 1.

Final Words

The Huawei nova 11i is an impressive smartphone that is designed to impress. Its 6.8-inch HUAWEI FullView Display, 128 GB storage, and 48 MP high-resolution camera make it perfect for those who love to stream videos, take photos, and play games. The phone’s 5000 mAh large battery provides users with long-lasting battery life, and its 10V/4A super-fast charging feature ensures that users can quickly charge their phone and get back to using it in no time.

The phone’s single SIM model and support for various audio and video formats make it perfect for those who are always on the go and need reliable internet connectivity and entertainment options. Overall, the Huawei nova 11i is a great choice for anyone who is looking for a high-quality smartphone that is packed with features.

As for the system, it is good to see that Huawei is now coming out of its shell. It is trying to slowly bring the Harmony system to the global market. However, the company is very careful and it is doing the rollout very quietly. Obviously, it is testing the system with the quiet South African mobile phone market. Huawei’s target will be quite simple, just to see how the market will react to the new operating system. Users will have to cope with being without the Google Play Store as well as with very limited apps. They may not be able to install many popular apps and games on this mobile phone.

Increase Your Supply Chain Productivity Through An Erp System

Maintaining a highly efficient and effective supply chain is the backbone of any successful organization and ensuring your distribution chain is well-managed and cost-effective is of crucial significance.

Surprisingly, however, many companies are not operating the series as easily as they can. If it comes to your logistical operations, you have to be considering several important things.

Total data visibility throughout your company?

Teams which could communicate readily?

Teams which may make informed decisions individually?

A system where issues are solved and caught quickly?

When the response to any one of these questions is ‘yes’, you might not be getting the best use from your own tools. Coordination and monitoring data between different sections and partners within the supply chain could be stressful. This, together with the fact that 60 per cent of internet consumers between 18-34 anticipate same-day shipping, means the pressure is increasing for companies today. In 2023, 81 per cent of companies were in the process of implementing an ERP or had already finished an implementation.

An ERP system basically streamlines management, consolidating all data and business processes from throughout the distribution chain, which includes a highly positive effect on productivity.