Episode: 569
Title: HPR0569: Win7
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0569/hpr0569.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-07 23:17:20

---

!
Welcome to Attack the Public Radio, my name is Soak, okay, I'm going to do a quick episode
here. Basically a guy I used to work with gave me a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. He knows
someone who works Microsoft or something, got some discount or something, not quite
sure, but anyway, so it is a legitimate full copy of Windows Ultimate. Well the reason
I say Ultimate is because it's, I mean, it is ultimate, but it's important because
I thought for running something under VMware, it has to be the ultimate version, which is
normally about $700 or something stupid, but my understanding is it was actually only
two digits, not three for the price for the Microsoft guys, but no, no, that's kind of
an aside. So I did it in through a VMware session, took a bunch of pictures, I'm trying
to do a blog post on Soak.org about that with all the images. So this is going to be kind
of sucky because you're not going to get the images, but I'll try and explain what's
going on. And like I said, I'm going to do the blog post so you can see later on the
images. Also means I'll have to apologise for any clicky that you hear of my keyboard
as I, because I've got the pages in front of me as I go through. Anyway, so put the disk
in, you boot it up, you get a black screen, bar at the bottom, just, you know, text and
it says, Windows is loading files. Interesting thing is running a thousand twenty four by
seven sixty eight or something, and it's pretty wide. Well, actually, this image is a thousand
twenty four by seven hundred forty two pixels, but that's got a bit of a screen and doesn't
have the whole thing, but it's like ten twenty four by seven six eight. It's very big
for text, so there's doing something there. We then get a black screen that says, starting
Windows, corporate Microsoft Corporation, no date, they've dropped that recently, but you
know, fairly standard. Then, oddly enough, it drops down to eight hundred by six hundred.
And we get this sort of background fancy looking, Ubuntu S, actually, sort of thing, you know,
Ubuntu One, where they got lines, the background and sort of weird, wavy bits, and that's kind
of what looks like blue, not very exciting. Then get the install Windows window that comes
up, you get three questions, basically. Language to install, which is defaulted to English,
time and currency format, English, United States, and keyboard and input method, US. Now,
I'm fairly sure, depending on where you are, it does some figures out where you are based
on what was on the CDN, because it was bought in the US, it defaults to US, or something.
I'm fairly sure that if you bought the French version, it won't try and install it in English
for you. Now, what I'm going to do is confuse it entirely, possibly, by saying language
to install its English. Time and currency format, I want an English UK, because I'm still
completely confused by American day format, because it's obviously month day or not day
month year, and it just confuses the hell out of me. And whenever I, you know, went to
the bank recently to put a paycheck in, and the lady was like, oh, you have to fill
the format, and I'm like, wait, what's the date today? She's like, oh, it's the 17th.
Hang on, no, 17, no, eight, seven, wait. And you'd like to look at me and say, eight,
17. I was like, oh, yeah, that's right, isn't it? Eight, 17. I remember how to apologise
for saying, like, complete retard for not being able to figure out what the date is.
It just, it throws me entirely. It's just one of those weird things that I just, I can't
seem to get my brain around, and it's getting worse, because I've been here too long.
I now have to stop and think, and I kind of sometimes think in the US dates, sometimes
in the UK dates, confused me entirely, and yet I look completely idiotic when I try
and figure it out. But anyway, so we'll see how Windows actually handles this. It confuses
most operating systems, because I really can't imagine many people in the world, they'll
just, you know, this is where I am, this is what I want, currency format, everything here.
So this is going to confuse it. So language, minstool, English, time and currency format,
English, Knight of Kingdom, keyboard or input method, US, because I have a United States
keyboard, it's a United States laptop. So we shall see how this goes. And for anyone
interested, there are most of the keys are the same. Generally, next to the bottom left
shift key, you'll have the backslash on UK keyboards, and the apostrophe quotes key next
to the enter. The quotes are actually on the number two shift two instead of being at
would be quotes, and it would be apostrophe at would be the UK keyboard. There's a few
other things that's dollar sign, but that's the sort of main two, and the enter key is
actually bigger to cover where the backslash would be. So there's a few weird things like
that, nothing major, just a couple of keys moved around. Anyway, so we hit next on this
screen, and then we get a page that just says install now, Windows 7 install now, and
there's sort of what you need to know before installing, repair your computer, and that's
it. That's three questions, and I'm quite amazed by this, because normally it'll ask you
27 questions, you'll go through your rebate four times, then it'll ask you 84 more questions,
and then it'll bug you about you need to register, you need to be really annoying. So I'm a
bunch of the Linux ones, pretty much every Linux ones I've played around with, ask you
a few questions at the beginning, continue, install, there you go, and you can walk away
at that point. You know, if you've got the camera in what it is, but that's the corporate
thing that basically you can get it unattended installs through Windows, I know there are
a few things like that, but if you just stick into this again, you know, Linux is way easier
to install, that's this way. So if this is the last question, it's going to ask me that's
quite impressive, three questions, and that's it. Anyway, I clicked on the what you want,
what to know before installing Windows, and it pops up what is basically notepad, but
you can't minimise or maximise it, you've got the X only, and it's this weird sort of
thin, tall window, so it's this horrible sort of thing on what you need to know, and it's
really weird, it's like, can they actually resize that properly? But anyway, that was
a kind of an odd thing. So when a setup is starting, then ask you another question. What
type of installation do you want, upgrade or custom advanced? I just hit upgrade. I'm
trying to do this like the standard user way, so I'm just standard upgrade, whatever.
I mean, there's nothing to, there's nothing there anyway, so we're not going to do anything
weird by installing over top, but so it causes an upgrade. It's kind of weird, it says
this, the option is top grade is only available when existing version of Windows is running,
which there isn't one, it's a completely blank VMware, but anyway, that's the one I clicked,
and it says where do you want to install it? Well, one disk, so I put it there. That's all
the information we need right now. You're a, you're a computable restart several times
during installation. We're going to keep track of this and see how many reviews it's going
to take, but anyway, copying Windows files 0% so far. Then I copied it and then it says
expanding Windows files, and this is what I get with copy the files, and then we expand
them. Why are we doing this? This is stupid. Why not copy them into memory, expand them,
and write the expanded files out? Because at the moment we're reading the file, writing
the file, reading the file, and writing the file. Why not read the file, expand the file,
write the file? It, it, it, it makes absolutely no sense. I, I can't think for reason why
you would actually want to do this. Um, actually, maybe, no, it, maybe if you want to check
the files are okay, but you could do like an MD5 hash and check the desk, but maybe, so
you copy all the files to make sure you've got all the files available before you can,
before you run it. But it just seems a really weird, still thought you could expand the
files out and say, hey, I'm having issues reading this file or something. It's very weird.
But so I know, expanding Windows files, uh, and then installing features and installing
updates. Then we get the first reboot. Woohoo! And it's a standard timer. I'm going to restart
in 20 seconds and make you wait for like, like, reason at all, but there's a restart now button.
Why? It's, it's seriously, why does it need to tell you I'm about to reboot? It's already
won't, and anyway, so. Fortunately though, as an extreme shot, if you actually look, I've got
Quiver open, and oh, look at this peg wall. Anyway, um, and Knet will kind of play in that
whilst it's rebooting in the corner. So at least I can do other stuff with the VM,
where, and I'm not sat looking at the screen. Another great thing about Linux, especially with
the live CDs, which is pretty much all the distributions. Um, you pop, you go off the live CD,
you install it, you can still screw around in, I'll see you whatever if you want.
Anyway, so, back to the 1024 by 708, or whichever, whatever resolution. I'm not quite sure,
that's about it. Again, the picture size is 752 by 742, but there's scroll bars a little bit
because of my screen size, so I think it's got to be 1024 by 768. And, uh, for, for the loading screen,
it actually looks pretty good. It's blacks, it's starting, windows, copyright again, and it's sort
of this more thing, windows logo, like it appears in. It actually looks pretty good.
Then it says, setup is updating registry settings. And I want to know what it's updating,
because I mean, we just created all the registry settings presumably, so why are we updating them
already? But anyway, then we get another screen that says, setup is starting services.
And again, just when you start Windows, services start. So why are we telling us? But all right.
Then we're back to the install windows. The same screen as before, it looks like, but it's actually
not, because it's, um, different size, back, it's still at 1024 by 768. Oh, back to the keyboard
there. Sorry if you heard that. Anyway, so that's kind of weird. But now we're completing the
installation. Yes. Setup will continue after restarting your compute. Why are we restarting
again? I mean, we literally just restarted. Now it's good restart again. But anyway, too.
So starting windows, setup is preparing your compute for first use. And it's got this kind of
silence sort of glowy thing at the bottom. Setup is checking video performance. That's going
to be funny, because it's going to go like, it's shit. Anyway, oh, it's back to 800 by 600 again
here. This kind of interesting, but there you go. Then we're still at 800 by 600 again, which is
like, well, we were just higher res, but we're into sort of Windows kind of again. And it's asking
me more questions. Use name and type computer name. And it's got this weird bar on the top right
that says US and a help button and a picture of a keyboard. It's interesting. Anyway, so use name
and compute. Now apparently wind blows and sucks is too long and you can't have brackets in it.
I was going to say wind blows, space, brackets and sucks, brackets. It's the whole
way into all of you. It both blows and sucks. But apparently it's too long. Now the cats are
attacking me. So apologies if you hear furry so. And it's an invalid character for brackets and
spaces and stuff. So I can't remember what I called it in the end now. Wind blows I think.
Next onto that one. And then once type password recommended, retype your password, type password
hint. Now password hint, I think it's the most stupid idea ever, because if you try and put
something in the, I mean, I've seen some people have a password hint of what the actual password is.
So anyway, so I put a password in like a character's long or something. It's a sort of fairly
non-not that skewer, but fairly quick to type password. Oh, and it's not password by the way.
Password hint, I put in as dumbass because if you've gotten your password, you're a dumbass.
Anyway, next, I guess this one. Out of interest, I clicked on the where it says keyboard in
US and click on it and it gives me the choice to change to a UK keyboard, which I don't want. Again,
it just confuses, I mean, everything seems to have this problem. It's like, well, you want a UK
keyboard because you had your, no, it's one of US keyboard, UK time and date. And the help, if you
interest, is a correction, whatever that does, help button and restore defaults, whatever those do.
Anyway, next screen, type your Windows product key, product to key, look similar to this,
product 2XXXXXXXXXXXXXWerler.
One big block and it says Daesh's will be added automatically, least that's nice. I
was fed up with the XPQ4 tab. 6pdQ, whatever.
Anyway, I am not going to register this. Again, like I said, a complete legitimate
version, I can, there's absolutely no issue with this, but I want to see how far I can get
allowed it. Because when I went into XP, if you remember when I was updating that, I got stuck.
I was updating updating updating and then it said you need to register. You can't register
unless you have this and it wouldn't take my key because it was, you know, because it was
for the compact laptop and not for the VM so it decided it was wrong or something.
Anyway, so we're going to skip through this and go next, help protect your computer and improve
Windows automatically. Do you want to use recommended settings? Do you want to install important
updates? Only ask me later. Again, updates of Windows. Again, I'm going to use recommended settings.
Next, review your time and date settings. Now this is completely wrong and it always is
something about virtual machine. I don't quite know how this works exactly and please
someone let me know. I have a feeling that basically what it does is the BIOS is always set to
universal time code or whatever UTC, GMT basically, Greenwich mean time and it remembers
how many hours ahead or behind you are. So when you come into a virtual machine it says this is
the BIOS time and then it turns around and it always says that it's 136 in the morning.
It's always, it always ends up defaulting to GMT it seems and I have had some weird things where
it realizes that it's eight hours behind and then takes like another eight hours off what the windows
so what the VM thinks the time is which is already eight hours behind. I had it knocked 16 hours
off so I always have weird problems at times so. Devon and UTC London again would that change if it
was I don't know but I said use London time date so maybe that's where it gets from. I don't know
the somewhere it's stuff going on and it thinks it's 136 in the morning as opposed to eight hours
previously whatever that was four o'clock in the afternoon when I was installing this. So
going so that you get this big long list so you have to go right scroll up UTC minus 1 minus 2
minus 3 minus 3 minus 3 minus 3 minus 3 minus 3 it's like wow seriously you've got mid-Atlantic
Montevideo, Greenland, Cayenne, Buenos Aires, Brazillia, Newfoundland and you're a scroll up
anyway minus a specific time you're S and Canada, Reno 10, Pacific time PST so there you go.
Can't type PST and I have to have this big scroll list horrible but anyway I do actually like the
way Ubuntu does it and just like show on the map where you are. Anyway select your computer's
current location three choices home work or public networks, home network if all the computers on
this network are out at your home and you recognise them this is a trusted home network. Don't
choose this for public place no shit show but anyway number two work network if all the
computer's on this network are at your work place and you recognise them it's a trusted network
so why is this different from the other trusted network I don't know but anyway I'm probably
network which is no trust so I think it's to do with file sharing but I'm picking home network
here and it says connect into a network and applying settings then we get a general screen
Windows is finalising your settings welcome preparing your desktop oh I think we had another reboot
there can't remember now I'm recording this a few days after I did it because I was trying to
do a blog post but important were these images was taking a while I think there was another reboot
there anyway so we're now praying praying your desktop blog here and setting up personalized
access for Windows desktop update and then we're in and we've got I don't know I hate the
screened up screen background is horrible anyway so we're into Windows itself I under by six
around the font but that's yeah not a big deal and I've got a few screenshots of how you
shut down you to the start button which so there's no start button it's the Windows logo now
and then the text says it starts shut down and there's a little arrow to the right which
you click on then you've got switch user log off lock restart sleep near the menus changed it's
if you've ever used like header you for you know you click and the same bit just replaces with
that's what it looks like now basically literally go look at it the screenshots it shows you
um anyway I actually logged out and went to the screen so we go look at the login screen all
very exciting a picture of it some flower wow and again it's asking UK or US keyboard
annoying but anyway so then login um again my fault for doing that I wanted to screenshot of
the the front page uh and want to install the guest additions so we have an auto player I've
got a screenshot of the auto play here and uh then we get the user access uh so user account
control so do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer yeah yeah
whatever just do it would you like to install this device software blah blah blah now
of this point I've got a bunch of errors because I was trying to put the 3d stuff in the beta so
got some interesting errors they ignore that it of course wants me to reboot um
whilst I was playing out I decided to run minesweeper just because it's mine soup is kind of funny
and it told me that this the game is running in software rendering mode harder accelerations
either disabled or not supported by your video card driver which could slow game performance
like wow it's got I don't know why but minesweeper now needs 3d acceleration and hardware acceleration
turned on the stuff there you go um I was playing around with explorer changed a bit
meh not too keen of it if I'm on a Windows system I use QDIR it's a little programs and uh
go to zoke slash zoke.org slash tips uh no wait zoke.org slash tips slash utils I think it is
utilities list there's a link to it there if you're that interested uh it's a four-pained thing
it's really quite cool um anyways we've got this and first thing I was like we've got to tell it
so I can see all the files I don't want to have them hidden and I couldn't figure out how to do it
and I finally did um you got to organize for some reason and then there's folder and search options
there and then you've got the show all folders uh show hidden files folders and drives and all
this stuff and it says are you sure and then the desktop.info appears on your desktop twice
so I've got a screenshot of that go figure anyway so then we went into internet explorer 8
uh your current default search and provide it as Bing right let's change it to Google
what the hell some guys want to do donuts outside
no idea if you can hear that he's revving his engine and there was like uh 20 seconds of
wheel spin and squealing anyway dumbass downstairs with the Mustang most likely but anyway
moving on swiftly internet explorer 8 welcome to internet explorer 8 blah blah oh this is the
weird thing you say um your current default search provider is Bing you can keep that or show me a
page after setup to use more search provider so you're like okay yet I want that one do you want
update do updates no and then it goes welcome to internet explorer 8 and it's like well where
with that page you can't if you close that page you then have another page open it's a different
tab that says add search providers anyway so tools windows up wait that's not there they've moved
windows update actually I think this might be just an i8 thing but you can't do tools windows
update anymore it's safety windows update so I went there and it says uh updates are not being
installed automatically and blah blah blah and the other so we're let's do updates see how far
we get what we have to do I have 41 important updates 76.7 meg so whilst that's the stalling
I fiddle around and got rid of this stupid little bar in the corner and for the accessibility bar
or whatever and say look I'm not going to use a UK keyboard just like get rid of damn thing
which got rid of that bar then the updates were finished and you get a box in the bottom right
that says restart your computer to install to finish installing important updates windows can't
update important files and services whilst the system is using them well Linux can but anyway
make sure to save files before restarting and then your choices are restart now or post
phone and you can post when it for 10 minutes one hour or four hours that is it which I hate because
we've all done this that it does some installs and you come back the next day whatever your machines
we started anyway so I said let's do it now let's restart now and it says well I can't because
I need to close windows update windows update was the one that was telling me it needed to reboot
but apparently it's stopping it from rebooting but so that was quite impressive
then we get the config on windows update standard screen then they've got this little
thing about sort of you know how can I help this machine and what does it do
how can I improve it this you know your screen resolution is a bit low you're not running antivirus
this sort of thing so I tried it and then it was complaining I wasn't running antivirus
something in check your ab windows defender which was telling me services starting a problem
calls this program to service to stop click the start now button which wasn't actually there but
anyway and that was about it that was that was basically all the the updates it really wanted
so I've got it running in seamless mode and I've got a nice little screenshot with my
the Ubuntu bar on the top I got rid of the bottom of Ubuntu bar I just throw it onto one
I like my screen real estate and the bar at the bottom
and at this stage it's taken 5.1 gig of the 20 gig I allowed it for hard drive I said dynamically
expand I believe it does it accurately so it doesn't actually give any more than it needs to
but it says there's 5.1 gigs taken so far and all I did was install windows
now I mean Ubuntu yeah it comes into like three gigs or something nowadays but you get open
office you get all the extra stuff involved this is just windows just the operating system
when it's almost twice the size as a full install of Ubuntu with all the other stuff so go figure
the other weird thing I probably had I couldn't am mount the the drive with the
um whatever it's called the
no complete memory bank it's gone the the one that allows you to not have to click in to focus
on the VMware the guest additions that's it I don't know whether this is the Windows problem
or VMware I'll put it down same VMware because I mean I'm trying to be yeah I'm not a Windows guy
but my entire career has basically been on Windows machines so I don't want to use it but
I would have had an entirely different career without Windows so you know at least accept
and acknowledge it exists so we're having this weird thing and it wouldn't um
amount and see now I'm gonna say it was VMware getting confused somewhere but
um so it kind of complained and would you like to force a mountain it still didn't work
but that was it basically I mean that was it was
reasonably painless I mean
gone through five reboots I think and the one of which was for guest additions
um
took a lot less updating than I expected I expected to do about five reboots just for updates
so they are definitely improving yeah Windows seven is the best version of Windows
it's still Windows it sucks you know but it is improving a lot
anyway so that's about it um so I'm gonna do a blog post at some point when I've got
80 pictures or something to put up so I'm trying to put them up make sure they're all in the right
order and and everything so that might take a little while but uh
I'm talking about that's about it thank you for listening if you want to give me any feedback
you can go to zoke.org that's x-ray oscar kilo echo dot oscar Romeo golf you can send me feedback
through there or you can email me at zoke.org at gmail.com that's x-ray oscar kilo echo
Sierra oscar Romeo uniform at gmail dot com thank you for listening to hacker public radio
hpr sponsored by caro.net so head on over to c-a-r-o dot n-c for all of us