G4IDE's PC Page

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In case you found this page with a search engine, and you're looking for UI-View or WinPack, you can find UI-View HERE, and you can find WinPack HERE

Why Did I Create This Page?

  1. This page is dedicated to the people who send me emails along the lines of "Did you know that UI-View (or WinPack) doesn't work with Win(some version or other)! When are you going to fix it!" Hopefully, after reading this, they will realise why I tell them that they've got it wrong.
  2. I am often asked, by users of UI-View and WinPack, what type of PC I use, what version of Windows I use, and what I would recommend them to use. The following gives some of the answers.

The PC Hardware I Use

For many years I have built my own PCs. At first I did it just for fun, now I also do it so I know that all the components are of good quality, and easily replaceable in the event of failure.

The system I currently use for software development comprises (just mentioning the relevant bits) -

  • MSI K7T Turbo2 motherboard with an Athlon XP 1700+ processor and 512MB RAM.
  • WinXP Pro, which I am careful to keep updated.
  • A 40GB IBM Deskstar 60GXP drive.
  • Dual monitors - An ATI Rage 128 AGP video card with an Iiyama Pro 410 17 inch monitor, and a GeForce MX200 PCI video card with a Samsung 151s LCD monitor.
  • A Plextor CD writer.
  • A Microsoft USB Intellimouse Optical Wheel Mouse.
  • Two hardware COM ports, a Belcom USB COM port, and a 'soft' COM port bridge.

The PC systems I have available for testing include -

  • A 1GHz Duron, with 512MB of RAM and Win98SE. I regard this as a reasonable "cheap and cheerful" system. It runs AGWPE, UI-View32 (connected to the internet), and WinPack 24/7. It also runs a web server, an FTP server and provides the ADSL internet connection for the rest of my network.
  • A K6-2/450, with 320MB of RAM, that can be booted into Win98SE, Win2000 or WinXP. I now regard this as a slightly outdated, medium speed system.
  • A good old 486DX2/66 with 16MB of RAM, that can be booted into Windows for Workgroups 3.11, or Win95 OSR2. I regard this as a minimal, very slow system, but you can't beat it for reliability! I bought it in 1994, and it has run 24/7 since then. Total parts replaced - one PSU, and I have upgraded the hard drive a couple of times.
  • A P120 with 48MB of RAM, that can easily be booted with a completely clean installation of either Win95 or Win98SE.
  • A PIII/800 notebook with 256MB of RAM and WinXP. It can also be booted into WinME. (Aarrgghh!!)

This is the important bit - The above hardware allows me to test every version of WinPack, UI-View and UI-View32 on many different versions of Windows before I release it. I never release a program until I am confident that it will run without problems on all relevant versions of Windows. WinPack and UI-View(16) are tested on Win31, Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2000 and WinXP. UI-View32 is tested on Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2000 and WinXP.

The moral of the story - There are a million ways the average user can mess up a Windows system, and there seem to be 10 million ways a radio ham can do it! If WinPack or UI-View won't work on a particular Windows system, then the problem is almost certainly in that system, not in the program.

What Do I Recommend?

As regards hardware, I would recommend just about everything I have listed above for my development system. Some specific comments -

  • The IBM Deskstar 60GXP is not particularly fast, but I've bought several of them, and never had a problem. (On the other hand, the Deskstar 75GXP has a very bad reputation for reliability.)
  • I have some reservations about recommending the Iiyama monitor - The performance was fantastic until it failed after two years - no problem, it had a three year warranty - but I then had problems with Iiyama UK in getting a refurbished replacement that I thought gave an acceptable performance. However, I've heard similar comments about other makes of monitor.
  • The Intellimouse is very nice to use, but they do have a reputation for giving problems on some systems, and I've had a few problems with mine.
  • I must give a special mention to the Plextor CD Writer - it is one of the best pieces of hardware I have ever bought. I now don't bother with a separate CD ROM drive, I just use the Plextor. Never buy a cheap CD writer, when you can get a Plextor for just a few extra pounds/dollars!

As regards what version of Windows to use, I would now say WinXP if all your hardware is new enough for you not to have driver problems, and you have a fast processor and lots of memory. Otherwise Win98SE.

  • I have found WinXP to be the most stable version of Windows I have ever used. In several months of use for software development with my Athlon XP 1700+ system, I have never crashed it. But it does not run so well on the K6-2/450.
  • For some aspects of ham radio use, Win98SE is better than WinXP, because some "clever" hardware drivers, e.g. the Baycom driver for AGWPE, are not available for WinXP (or for Win2k and WinNT). If you upgrade to WinXP, but then can't run some of your favourite ham radio software, you have actually downgraded!
  • WinME has no advantages at all over Win98SE. It is the most unstable version of Windows I have ever used. The only reason I can think of for using it is if it's preinstalled on a PC, and you can't be bothered to remove it!
  • Win95 OSR2 is excellent for slower hardware, but it doesn't properly support USB, even if you install the USB "update".

Keeping It Up!

When running ham radio programs, particularly mailboxes or APRS systems, it is common practice to leave PCs running 24/7. Here are some tips for keeping Windows going for long periods between reboots -

  • Do not use WinMe!
  • Use reputable hardware, and make sure the correct drivers are loaded.
  • Use the best PSU you can afford, particularly if you use an AMD processor.
  • Use the best CPU cooler you can afford, particularly if you use an AMD processor.
  • When installing Windows, never update a previous version. A complete reinstall can seem time consuming, but it will almost certainly be more reliable.
  • Make the effort to regularly check the Windows update site, and install any critical updates for your version of Windows. Also, regularly check for driver updates.
  • Do not overclock! It might appear to work, but it is the best way of ensuring that a system will eventually crash for no apparent reason. (Been there, done that, got the T-shirt... Thought I was being clever...)
  • Be careful what you install! In particular, be careful about installing programs that copy files into WINDOWS\SYSTEM or WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 without any version checking. Messing up your Windows system files is easy, sorting out the mess is much harder.

Mail to G4IDE - roger@peaksys.co.uk

This page was last updated Monday, 30-Dec-2002 04:39:24 MST