Digtial Detritus

It's clean-up/clean-out time around the Frugal Propellerhead household. One of the downsides of upgrading is that one is often left with misc. devices that don't work anymore....especially if your upgrading takes the form of the rare, but necessary operating system changes.

I guess I'm about waist-deep in a change-over to Windows 7. I dipped a toe in when I picked up the T43p a few months back and it had W7 loaded. So I left it the way it was to see if I'd like it and I definitely did; enough so that it planted a seed that has been growing in my little brain. Windows XPP has been a good friend, it's was a nice upgrade to Windows 2000, but worlds ahead of 98 or ME! But eight years down the road, it's time to say goodbye.

So, when I was looking at the X300s a few weeks ago, I also kept an eye on whether the machine had W7 loaded and the one I was able to snag had W7 Professional 64-Bit on it, along with 4Gb of RAM. However, along with the benefits of a 64-Bit operating system, there are some losses along the way. Some devices simply don't have the necessary drivers and probably never will. The main one so far has been the trusty little Canon LIDE 30, USB powered flatbed scanner. I don't use it much, but it's done a good job when nothing else would've even been along for the ride! At some point, I'll probably end up picking up one of the current versions such as the LIDE 100 as a replacement. Sometimes, there's just NO substitute for a flatbed scanner.

I have had a few surprises though. Amazingly, the converted from Thai, UltraNav compact keyboard I picked up works through a generic PS2 KB/Mouse to USB adapter! And shockingly, I found a Targus USB "Port Replicator" that had sat in the a box in the garage for 12 years took the drivers off of the Targus site and ran with it. This no small thing since the X300 only has the 3 USB and the one ethernet port. So this little small remote-sized device gives me an extra USB port, but PS2 KB/Mouse as well as parallel and serial(!) ports. Now if I can only get the software to recognize the GlobalSat BT-308, Bluetooth GPS receiver, I'd be golden!

For now, back to trying to get rid of stuff I don't/can't use any more.....