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I've finally setup my own virtual PC lab in VirtualBox. I'm using 2008 R2 to create an Active Directory, have a WinXP client, and pipe them both through pfSense. It only took 2 days to install and update 2008 R2 with most of the second day spent fiddling with VirtualBox's quirks when trying to get the XP client working from an existing vdi.

Things that went wrong:

• Didn't use a 2008R2 SP1 install cd/slipstream with SP1/Use 2012's eval
• Skipped installing the DNS role because the router will take care of it (wrong)
• Moved XP vdi into a virtualmachine folder before VirtualBox created the machine, thus resulting in it saying the machine already existed when it didn't (no configuration files whatsoever).
• Renamed the XP vdi after selecting it, but before creating the machine, resulting in VirtualBox opening 4-5 "Select disk image" dialogs with all of them non-responsive. Had to force quit it and rename the machine's folder half a dozen times.
• Set secondary DNS server on client and server. Forwarders were already setup on the server, so all I had to do was point the client's DNS settings to the server and the server's DNS settings to loopback with desired DNS servers (Google, OpenDNS, pfSense, my router) set as Forwarders in the DNS role.
• Still having problems resolving. I have to ping or attempt to connect to sites twice before they'll work.
• Having the wrong DNS settings on the client will result in it hanging at Retrieving/Applying personal settings. The machine will respond, but since it isn't logged in yet, you can't do much anything.

But, I now have a working domain that I can finally install Outlook and Exchange on. I could install Outlook before, but the interview is probably going to contain how to set it up and I'm not going to fork over my login credentials to a trial email client whose downloading process is needlessly long and, well, read my previous post.
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I woke my desktop from sleep half an hour ago and the following occurred:

• Firefox was frozen, but not "not responding" or whiting out
• I could not open new explorer windows.
• Then I saw the network connection icon was displaying a yellow exclamation sign
• Unplugging the Ethernet cable didn't change the icon to a red x.
• I could move between and interact with windows, but not navigate into or out of currently open folders
• Start Menu would open and highlight what the mouse hovered over
• TaskManager opened as a blank window with menu items, but could not be closed or moved
• I could open run dialogs, but shutdown -r -t 0 didn't even execute.

So, I hit the reset button and watched as it "resumed windows". It's done this before. It's like it does not completely load from hybrid sleep and enters the above quasi-functional state. This hasn't happened for a long time and I'm starting to think it isn't a coincidence it stopped when I moved the page file onto my other drives and only started again when I put a small page file back onto my OS drive.

*As for why I put one back. It turns out using one drive for documents, music, page files, AND Photoshop Temp files and using them all at once is a really bad idea, especially on a 5400 rpm drive. It's like Windows refused to acknowledge I had a second page file on a faster drive and my machine would occasionally lock up while the slower harddrive made heavy access sounds..*

Once I got to the login screen, it said I was still logged in, so, as previous experience dictated, I waited for all the harddrive grinding to stop before logging in. Once I tried, the screen went black before I could click my name, my monitor lost signal, then the bios showed up. A complete restart. Again.

Apparently, all the commands I issued before pressing the reset button were still queued up when it restored from the hibernation file...which doesn't make sense to me.

Fresh Windows install

I decided to put Windows 7 on my laptop. I had an RTM key and iso left, so I thought I'd just install SP1 afterwards. The OS installation completed without a hiccup, installed Steam and Guild Wars 2, got the mess of updates prior to SP1 and did a quick test to see how well Guild Wars 2 would run (it ran alright on low/med). Curiosity satisfied, I installed Service Pack 1 and things went downhill.

After SP1 installed, Guild Wars 2 and every game I installed on the machine instantly crashed with either StackHash, d3d9.dll, or nvd3dum.dll (something like that) as the culprit. The first seemed to have to do with DEP, but everytime I selected a program to exclude I got a "You can't do that" message. The second led me to running Microsoft's DirectX web installer, no dice. The third resulted in trying 2 legacy video drivers, still crashed. I managed to get the Guild Wars 2 launcher running after deleting it's .dat file, but I reloaded a fully downloaded copy and that broke it all over again.

I poked around a bit and found that installing Service Pack 1 can cause this and that there was a hotfix for it. A couple links later, I found the hotfix only to be hit with a "You need to validate" message. Fine. No problem. I'm running legitimate copies of Windows 7, so this should only take a second. Uh...no.

Because I was using Firefox, Microsoft's site started a download for the Genuine Advantage Validation tool. Quick download, but upon executing it, it said it was no longer supported and I should check my system clock. After confirming my clock time across multiple devices, I decided to give Internet Explorer 64bit a run. This resulted in an ActiveX popup to install the validation tool that, after allowing the download, failed to download without any error messages. It just didn't work. Fine. IE 32bit then. That worked, but the website said I already had the update installed.

This left me with a couple options: Use a Windows SP1 disk and reformat or continue fiddling. I went with the former. So, now I've formatted the partition and fully updated the new installation. I've spammed restore points and I am now getting ready to install a game on it. Here goes nothing.

I don't want to want to upgrade.

   My PC has been showing its age lately. Things are slowing down, games aren't running as smoothly, my components suck up power, and I want my compiles done faster. It has come to the point where defragging and deleting temp files isn't helping.

   Now, I'm still on my first install of Windows 7 from 2009 (provided you ignore the beta) which is pretty impressive. Back on XP, I was reformatting every couple years. That said, if I reinstalled 7, I'd probably see everything speed up again. I've had the Windows 8 Developer Preview and, now, the Consumer Preview dual booted via a virtual disk and on my primary drive (a 500GB Maxtor from around 2006) and both were really quick. Then again, they weren't bogged down by all the programs I have and the dozens of remnants from incomplete uninstalls.

   I'm having that problem of "But I have everything setup the way I want it" coupled with "It was a chore to even get this thing installed ONCE!"

My Specs:
Operating System
            MS Windows 7 64-bit SP1
        CPU
            AMD Phenom II X4 920
        RAM
            8.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 401MHz (5-5-5-12)
        Motherboard
            Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA78GM-US2H
        Graphics
            ViewSonic VX2235wm (1680x1050@59Hz)
            512MB GeForce 9800 GT Eco-Intelligence (BFG Tech)
        Hard Drives
            488GB FUJITSU MAXTOR ATA Device (SATA)
            977GB Western Digital Caviar Green ATA Device (SATA)
        Optical Drives
            HP DVD Writer 1170d ATA Device
        Audio
            Realtek High Definition Audio
       PSU
            Antec Basiq 500w

As you can see, it is a modest PC I've been building up over the years. I started with a Emachines C2684 and gradually replaced parts along the way. The only remaining original part is my keyboard which, thanks to prolonged exposure to the original plastic covering, still has nearly all key labels completely intact.

   All I really want to do is upgrade my processor. However, I've been using AMD since my Emachine and want to give Intel a shot. So, I've had my eye on the 2500k; not so much for the overclocking, but the upgraded integrated graphics (in case my gpu dies on me). However, that means I'd have to upgrade my RAM and Motherboard for obvious reasons.

   I could stick with AMD and grab one of the Thuban hexacores or Zosma quads, but that only postpones a complete rebuild for perhaps a year. In the long run, I want an upgrade that'll hold its own for as long as what I have now and I'm not liking what I see with Bulldozer. Suffice it to say, I've reached the end of my upgrade path and have to branch into something new.

   My graphics card was a RMA from when my 8800gt died and produced artifacts at the desktop. It was just as powerful as my 8800gt and did not need external power, win-win. So far, it is keeping up with the times as I don't max out every single game. My most intensive game would probably be Skyrim and before that was Dragon Age 2. In both, I occasionally get 60fps (Vsync), but I mostly get 40 dropping to 14-15 in busy scenes (by busy, I mean the screen might as well turn white from all the particle effects going off).

   I've been looking at the GTX 560 TI because it is priced at what my 8800gt was and that lasted me quite a while. But getting it would require upgrading my PSU and if I did that, I'd want something at least 80+ Bronze. I'm quite happy with my monitor and probably won't go any higher than my current resolution for the foreseeable future.

   Now, the RAM. I've never actually used all of it at once. Lately, I've been more ambitious and have pushed 6GB by having 3ds Max, Hammer, Portal 2, a Linux VM, FireFox w/ 30 tabs, and a media player running at once, not including the system tray applications (AV/Firewall, Afterburner, Steam, etc). So, if I ever wanted to build a new machine, I'd have to have at least 6GB which, given how I'm looking at Dual-Channel CPUs and RAM in powers of 2, I might as well get 8GB.

   My harddrives are alright; I wouldn't mind keeping them. Sure, my 6+ year old Maxtor could probably be replaced, but it's working fine for me. All the junk I've accumulated over the years is the issue. My primary drive is just applications and OS, so it's at less than 50% capacity even with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview installed.On the other hand, my secondary drive is at nearly 80% capacity because of all the software install files, several VMs, games, and other files I keep around. It doesn't help that game saves go up to the hundreds of megabytes with Fallout 3 and New Vegas topping 1GB before I zipped them down (Skyrim is threatening the same, but I've been more vigilant after experiencing slowdowns when I have more than 8 saves).

   So, that's where I'm at. Reformatting is my best option right now because, well, I can't afford to upgrade anything. I'm still quite happy that what I have continues to hold its own but there's that little voice going "it's time to upgrade". I keep telling it to wait until Ivy Bridge and Kepler come out to either a) be a better value than what we have now or b) drive prices of current gen parts down. I need to be careful of falling into an infinite "I'll wait" loop.