Upcoming new Computer....what should I look for?

[Jgdavis14]

My current computer is over 8 years old and on it's last legs.  Any tips on getting things running on  a new system?   It's been so long since I installed ISY I don't recall what I need to do.

Thanks. in advance.

[Teken]

My current computer is over 8 years old and on it's last legs.  Any tips on getting things running on  a new system?   It's been so long since I installed ISY I don't recall what I need to do.

Thanks. in advance.

 

You need only be using the latest Java application on the computer system. You need to ensure any firewall & anti-virus has been set to *White List* the Java application and the ISY Series Controller. If you access the ISY Series Controller remotely ensure the proper ports are forwarded. Ideally you should be using VPN portal service or a client / server application running on the remote terminal and the client.

 

If all of the above is too complicated using the UDI Portal / Mobilinc Connect is great alternative for remote access and control.

 

NOTE: To be clear you should down load the correct Admin Console for the firmware in use. Ideally you should be on 4.6.2 firmware as this is the last official release.

[G W]

My current computer is over 8 years old and on it's last legs. Any tips on getting things running on a new system? It's been so long since I installed ISY I don't recall what I need to do.

Thanks. in advance.

Get a good Dell or HP laptop. There will be a lot of sales comimg up soon.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[larryllix]

Get one that includes a Windows original disk. Not easy to find. Find a small computer shop / builder and talk with them.

 

I bought a Dell laptop years ago. Although the hardware was top notch is was locked down so it could only run Dell enabled versions of Windows and went obsolete. Installation of any further Windows versions crippled the unit with lack of driver support. Dell owns it and it sits idle, useless without the DVD drive  or proper video support.. I don't know if they still use this Nazi tactic and it's not likely to be disclosed until you purchase and it's too late. Gone to zero in my book.

[stusviews]

Over the years, all my Dell desktops and laptops have been upgraded to the latest operating system with no difficulties, even my Dell Precision 690 went from Windows XP through several upgrades all the way to Windows 10. I had the same pleasant experience with Dell Inspiron laptops. Albeit, I did need to upgrade some hardware either through the Dell website on, in some cases the manufacturer (e.g., video card, Ethernet card).

 

I'm currently running a Dell Optiplex 780, Dell Inspiron desktop, Dell XPS desktop and laptop, Dell Precision 690 and even a Dell Edge, all but the Optiplex running Windows 10. And no upgraded drivers were needed on any machine after installing Windows 10.

 

BTW, the Optiplex is running Window 7 due to software I won't give up

[MWareman]

Been running Dells for over 10 years. Never had a problem with getting drivers....

[larryllix]

This one is a Dell Inspiron. It came so full of garbage-ware (adware) that it had to be rebuilt after emoving it all, but Dell has a little surprise. They have to load in a partitioned system first and then Windows on top of it....sort of a bios for Windows or no drivers will access any of the hardware. I suspect this is a software BIOS instead of a hardware ROM.

 

Dell support had a go at it for many nights and shipping it back made no difference...they admitted they just couldn't fix it. Some support people constantly loaded in drivers that they thought would work and it just made things worse. The proper drivers were never available until years later. Finally got the wife a new Lenovo one, last year...DVD player never worked for music files after the mess. Now it may become a linux machine if I can ever figure out how to reinstall the secret partition.

[dbuss]

I've been using Lenovo "X" series laptops for 11 years. In that time period, I've had two. They've traveled 100's of thousands of miles and used heavily on a daily basis. Both have and continue to work flawlessly. I built my own desktop computer four years ago.

[paulbates]

My current computer is over 8 years old and on it's last legs.  Any tips on getting things running on  a new system?   It's been so long since I installed ISY I don't recall what I need to do.

Thanks. in advance.

 

To set up the ISY again on a new computer, you'll just need to install java and reinstall the admin console. Its a good opportunity to upgrade to the latest, and I'm assuming here that you run v4

• Install Java on your new computer
• Go to this link to find the latest ISY V4 admin console
  • Scroll down to instructions and read through them
  • Go to 4a and download the admin console
  • I keep the admin console on my desktop.. decide where you want and copy there, you'll need to click on it to run it each time
  • Run the admin console, it should find your ISY, login.. and you should be back to where you were
  • If the admin console doesn't run, its likely because new Antivirus programs take a dim view of Java. Post back if its an issue with which Antivirus you have. You can temporarily turn Antivirus packages off to test if that is the problem.
• ISY Firmware: From the admin console, click the help menu. If it tells you there is a more recent ISY firmware version, upgrade the ISY. Follow the directions above starting on 2. You'll want to download this one

   

• It won't hurt to start with the newest admin console and then upgrade firmware

Paul

[Jgdavis14]

TAHNKS All for the info.   Just what I needed!

[Msradell]

As far as the computer itself goes, you obviously know better than anybody else how powerful you need for a processor, how much memory etc. I will however tell you that you definitely need to have a SSD in the new computer, either as the only hard drive or to hold the operating system and have a conventional HD for data storage. That decision depend on how much hard drive space you really need and how deep your pockets are.

[apostolakisl]

As mentioned.

 

1) Install Java on your computer by just going to Java.com and follow the directions.

 

2) Go to http://your.isy.ip.address/admin.jnlp substituting the ISY's IP address on your LAN in place of "your.isy.ip.address"  (ie 192.168.1.x)  This assumes your ISY has been set to a static IP address and you know what it is.  If not, you could open your router's "attached devices" page and find it in the list.  At this point, if you are not running firmware 4.6.2, you should update to it.

 

3) Alternate to 2.  Go to http://isy.universal-devices.com/994i/4.6.2/admin.jnlp  This will download the user interface for 4.6.2 which is the latest official release.  If you are not running, you can still download this one and the ISY finder will then find your ISY.  After you open the ISY, click "help"/"about" to see what firmware you are actually running.  Then you need to clear your current user interface and replace "4.6.2" with whatever you actually are running.  To clear the current one, you need to open control panel (on win 10 just type in "control panel" in the search box at the bottom left and hit enter).  After control panel opens, click "programs" then click "java".  Under the "general" tab click "settings" box, then in the settings window click "delete" box.  OK, now go back to http://isy.universal-devices.com/994i/4.6.2/admin.jnlp but replace 4.6.2 with whatever you have.  After that, go ahead and update your firmware to 4.6.2 and go through the same java process to delete whatever user interface you used to have.  Now download 4.6.2 user interface again and keep it until the next firmware update.

[apostolakisl]

Speaking of Dell computers.  I only have one.  It is a 19 year old laptop that is still running windows xp and works fine.  Except for the hunk of plastic that fell off of it.  Needless to say, I'm not doing anything with it on the interent since it's security is way out of date.

[stusviews]

I updated my only Dell Inspiron Windows XP laptop to Windows 8.1 and then to Windows 10 (when the upgrade was free). OTOH, Avast, which I use confidently on all my computers is not only still available for Windows XP, it's also free. I love free

[apostolakisl]

I updated my only Dell Inspiron Windows XP laptop to Windows 8.1 and then to Windows 10 (when the upgrade was free). OTOH, Avast, which I use confidently on all my computers is not only still available for Windows XP, it's also free. I love free

I can't update mine any higher than its current OS because of insufficienty hardware.  And you know what, I am thinking now it isn't even running xp, I think it is actually 2000.  I also have 3 HP laptops that are also more than 15 years old.  Those are running windows 10 just great except for the video driver is a bit flaky and needs to be reset after waking from sleep or the brightness is stuck in dim mode.  I wrote a litle script so I can just hit one key and it fixes itself.  Needless tos say, none have batteries that work for crap.  One of those computers I gave to my 4 year old son.  He loves it.

[larryllix]

I can't update mine any higher than its current OS because of insufficienty hardware.  And you know what, I am thinking now it isn't even running xp, I think it is actually 2000.  I also have 3 HP laptops that are also more than 15 years old.  Those are running windows 10 just great except for the video driver is a bit flaky and needs to be reset after waking from sleep or the brightness is stuck in dim mode.  I wrote a litle script so I can just hit one key and it fixes itself.  Needless tos say, none have batteries that work for crap.  One of those computers I gave to my 4 year old son.  He loves it.

My Dell Inspiron runs XP and cannot be upgraded to Win 7 as it goes through the installation song and dance and after a few hours posts on screen that MS products are not permitted on the laptop. Only Dell versions may be installed.

 

This is why I won't touch a Dell computer again. Even Dell couldn't support their own  installed (at order time) hardware until the laptop was over three-four  years old. The drivers support  attempted to use made a mess of it, and some features never worked from the first of many support attempts (including shipping back and forth) .

The multimedia features (some DVD files worked but not Red-Book sound and a few others)  never recovered so it has only ever been used for office type and browser applications.

[G W]

Be sure there is a keyboard and monitor. (grin)

 

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

[stusviews]

I don't get it. All windows OS's are MS products. I Never had any difficulty upgrading a Dell computer, although I wasn't able to upgrade hardware from the Dell site as it only supported the OS the computer came with. No problem, though. Nearly all hardware upgrades were available from the original manufacturer.

[apostolakisl]

My old Inspiron 8100 is running Win 2000.  I tried many moons ago to update to xp and it said I had insufficient resources of one sort or another (I think it was memory and the unit is maxed out).  Nothing about a Dell license issue was mentioned.

 

Anyway, it works great as is doing what it needs to do.

[Teken]

My old Inspiron 8100 is running Win 2000.  I tried many moons ago to update to xp and it said I had insufficient resources of one sort or another (I think it was memory and the unit is maxed out).  Nothing about a Dell license issue was mentioned.

 

Anyway, it works great as is doing what it needs to do.

 

I believe its safe to assume if a new hard drive was installed into Larry's PC it would take on what ever OS he likes. This assumes the hardware supports that version of Windows Operating System. Almost all of the latest computers come with a OEM partition in part to allow a person to restore back to a default state. Many did this to avoid giving a person the Windows disk because they are just cheap.

 

The problem with going this route is you simply only have two recourse's which is to use their half baked image back up to make a OEM copy of said OS. Or to use a 3rd party imaging software which again provides you with the exact same thing. Some Dell & HP computers mark that partition as write only via firmware so thus you may not be able to delete / modify it.

 

This is why replacing the entire drive is the only recourse at times . . .

 

Keeping in mind this has nothing to do with or address's Intel's DRM and if used you might as well throw that thing in the garbage can. The darkest day in the computer industry was when so called BIOS firmware became a full fledged anti virus, DRM, call home, blah blah platform. 

[apostolakisl]

The various big manufacturers make special deals with MS and get slightly custom versions.  These versions carry a different license and it is just the deal between MS and the computer manufacturer as to what upgrades are allowed.

 

Of course if you start with a whole new copy of the OS that has nothing to do with Dell/HP/whoever then this no longer applies.  But, to do that you need to pay for that copy of the OS.  

[Teken]

The various big manufacturers make special deals with MS and get slightly custom versions.  These versions carry a different license and it is just the deal between MS and the computer manufacturer as to what upgrades are allowed.

 

Of course if you start with a whole new copy of the OS that has nothing to do with Dell/HP/whoever then this no longer applies.  But, to do that you need to pay for that copy of the OS.  

 

Oh for sure and sometimes the consumer won't even know that specific computer is crippled. I would say almost 8~9 years ago I picked up a very nice *Netbook* (Yes that was thing back in the day). I've never actually bought a computer with a operating system before so this was quite the novelty for me!

 

LOL . . .

 

Anyways, one of the first things I did was try to change the background to the wall paper. I go to a folder of high resolution images that I use for nice back grounds. Wouldn't you know it there was no way to change the freaking back ground!! That was a real WTF moment for me keeping in mind I have never used any OEM operating system. We always load in our own corporate license of Enterprise, Corporate, Ultimate etc.

 

This bloody thing had this half aszzed version called Windows Home Limited?!?!?

 

I knew of the Home and School editions because we loaded them for Universities and other clients. But I had never heard of *Home Limited* Of all the things you could chinch out on and lock the user from doing they decide to lock out the ability to change the freaking back ground wall paper!?!? 

[stusviews]

All OS's have minimum requirements. If your computer doesn't meet that minimum, then the OS won't install (or won't fully function). It doesn't matter which brand computer it is, even if it's home-built.

[larryllix]

Oh for sure and sometimes the consumer won't even know that specific computer is crippled. I would say almost 8~9 years ago I picked up a very nice *Netbook* (Yes that was thing back in the day). I've never actually bought a computer with a operating system before so this was quite the novelty for me!

 

LOL . . .

 

Anyways, one of the first things I did was try to change the background to the wall paper. I go to a folder of high resolution images that I use for nice back grounds. Wouldn't you know it there was no way to change the freaking back ground!! That was a real WTF moment for me keeping in mind I have never used any OEM operating system. We always load out own corporate license of Enterprise, Corporate, Ultimate etc.

 

This bloody thing had this half aszzed version called Windows Home Limited?!?!?

 

I new of the Home and School editions because we loaded them for Universities and other clients. But I had never heard of *Home Limited* Of all the things you could chinch out on and lock the user from doing they decide to lock you the ability to change the freaking back ground wall paper!?!? 

Windows Starter.

 

MS refused to support a Netbook with more than 1GB of RAM and Windows Starter ensured that. I am typing on one with 2GB, the maximum RAM the socket will allow, using a hacked upgrade to Win 7 Pro.

 

In regards to The Dell Inspiron junk, the Windows 7 disk would completely install and just as the final Windows boot happened, I would see the desktop for a split flash and then an interception program would launch and stop it from running with an announcement that Windows 7 could not be installed. Only Dell certified OSes could be used, or something to that effect. It wasn't that Windows 7 wasn't compatible or capable. It was that the Dell bios had checks to ensure you can only install Dell approved/paid products on it. That doesn't sit well with me and I wouldn't have bought it and paid for the full install disk set, if I had been aware of the dictator lock feature. I don't usually buy preassembled machines either, but this was a laptop and Dell had a good name back then.

 

My next attempt may be to install linux on it. Failing that it may become garbage. The replace the HDD idea may be a good one, but not sure it would be worth it with a dual core 2.2GHz CPU and IIRC the vios is onthe drive. There would be no bios to even load the OS in.

[nwchicago]

For some reason I have never cared for Dell products - I must have been traumatized by a technical support experience long ago.

 

 

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