so for being a student you can get windows server 2008. which for those who know, is the same kernel as Vista SP1. free vista? it takes a little work.
like i said you can now get Windows Server 2008 Standard free from Microsoft through their dreamspark program. from what i understand this is a fairly recent addition to the lineup of software thats available for download. so i figured what the hell. one little snag though, they only offer the 32-bit version. well i have 4 gigs and would clearly rather have the 64-bit. i did a little digging and people speculated that if 2008's activation was similar to vista, then i could download the free trial of 64-bit and just use my 32-bit key. but no one knew for sure, i could find anyone who actually did it. so i tried, and it worked but i had to add the key AFTER installation, not during.
so it installs fine, and loads up, but it looks like windows 2000, very boring. i figured id make it more like vista, so i did more digging and found a site that outlined all the steps to transform it into a workstation. everything went smoothly, and i got everything up and running in a few hours.
the next hurdle was Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. i got this free from work because i work at Geek Squad. apparently BB is having some partnership with Kaspersky and Trend Micro to offer exclusive software with 3yr licenses. but when trying to install it, it kept telling me that the OS wasnt supported. being that this is pretty much the same as vista, and that vista IS supported, i figured there shouldnt be any reason it shouldnt install, other than there OS checks in the installer. so i went back to google to see if there was any was around it. sure enough i found a way. i had to extract the .msi file from the installer, and edit out any lines of code that checked the OS. i did that with a program called orca. saved the new installer, then ran it. and bam, installed without a hitch.
free stuff makes me happy. only thing that im working on now is finding the .exe files for my games. like ive installed crysis warhead, and it can run without the CD in the drive, but when i installed it, i did not get any shortcut to it, and serching for it doesnt find anything. apparently with vista it will put it in the games section, but with standard there is no games section. so the only way i can play is to put the disc in.
heres some pics:
desktop
info windows incorrectly reports CPU freq.
kasperky successfully installed
like i said you can now get Windows Server 2008 Standard free from Microsoft through their dreamspark program. from what i understand this is a fairly recent addition to the lineup of software thats available for download. so i figured what the hell. one little snag though, they only offer the 32-bit version. well i have 4 gigs and would clearly rather have the 64-bit. i did a little digging and people speculated that if 2008's activation was similar to vista, then i could download the free trial of 64-bit and just use my 32-bit key. but no one knew for sure, i could find anyone who actually did it. so i tried, and it worked but i had to add the key AFTER installation, not during.
so it installs fine, and loads up, but it looks like windows 2000, very boring. i figured id make it more like vista, so i did more digging and found a site that outlined all the steps to transform it into a workstation. everything went smoothly, and i got everything up and running in a few hours.
the next hurdle was Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. i got this free from work because i work at Geek Squad. apparently BB is having some partnership with Kaspersky and Trend Micro to offer exclusive software with 3yr licenses. but when trying to install it, it kept telling me that the OS wasnt supported. being that this is pretty much the same as vista, and that vista IS supported, i figured there shouldnt be any reason it shouldnt install, other than there OS checks in the installer. so i went back to google to see if there was any was around it. sure enough i found a way. i had to extract the .msi file from the installer, and edit out any lines of code that checked the OS. i did that with a program called orca. saved the new installer, then ran it. and bam, installed without a hitch.
free stuff makes me happy. only thing that im working on now is finding the .exe files for my games. like ive installed crysis warhead, and it can run without the CD in the drive, but when i installed it, i did not get any shortcut to it, and serching for it doesnt find anything. apparently with vista it will put it in the games section, but with standard there is no games section. so the only way i can play is to put the disc in.
heres some pics:
desktop
info windows incorrectly reports CPU freq.
kasperky successfully installed