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You may find that if you use autologon instead of having to enter your user name and password every time you boot your computer, the settings may have been reset to default. If so go to Start ...
In XP if there is only one user account on the computer Windows will not ask you to logon but occasionally XP gets itself reset and starts to ask you to logon. To reset Autologon you.........
Once all the computers in your network have been renamed, have a unique ID and the same workgroup name shut them all down including your router and any switches/hubs you may be using.
NB: It is possible to connect computers using other operating systems (Linux, Mac, Windows 9X/Me) to a network like this but the tweaks you have to do are beyond the scope of this article. You can fine help and information on my Network page at
You can download this blog as a PDF from here
Now taking the list you made of the programs you want on your computer that you made on Day 1, start to load your computer.
That's it, you now have a computer that is ready for use. I have no doubt that as time goes by we will become aware of bugs in this new version of Windows.
You can download this blog as a PDF here
I used the Partition Magic Rescue Disk Set as I wanted to make sure I was working with a clean HDD.
The next stage is to put the Windows DVD in the drive making sure you are using the right one as all the retail versions of Windows 7 come with both 32 and 64 bit versions. Restart the computer and if the BIOS are properly set you should see Windows files starting to load.
Now comes the setup for the install;
If the previous 7 steps have completed successfully you now have a brand new clean installation of Windows 7.
The next job must be to install an Antivirus program before you do anything else to your computer. Miss out this step at your peril, it takes only a very few minutes for an unprotected computer connected to the internet to be infected.
You can now begin to set your computer up for internet, email, add accounts for other users on family machines and generally get the computer ready to have the programs installed. You will find my guide for doing this at
I have got a new computer.You can download this blog as a PDF here
Right you are now ready to start the process of installing Windows 7. My copy of Windows 7 Professional has just arrived so I had better start doing what I have told you to do.
You can download this blog as a pdf here
I am still in hospital and I am writing this blog from my hospital bed on my laptop.
When the Drs suggested I came into hospital I was quietly pleased that someone was going to have a look at the unpleasant symptoms I get whenever I eat.
In short what happens after the first few mouthful is :-
In the past these symptoms have been described as Dumping Syndrome and various Doctors and Surgeons have told me they could do nothing about it. Three weeks ago I was referred to a Gastroenterologist at Jimmy’s here in Leeds. In the past most medics have pooh poohed my description of the symptoms I get when I eat so I thought it wouldn’t hurt anything to show them.
The appointment was a 9am so instead of having my breakfast at home I took it with me and ate it just before going in to see the Dr. She took one look at the state I was in and decided I needed to come into hospital for tests to try to work out what was going on.
I think I will draw a veil over the false starts and none availability of beds but eventually I found myself on the gastroenterology ward discussing what happens to me when I eat.
The first test I was given is called a Glucose challenge test which is the standard test for diagnosing diabetes. It involves fasting for 16hrs then drinking a sugary drink. To see what happens a blood sample is taken every 30 minutes for three hrs and your BP, pulse, rate and oxygen levels are also checked.
I didn’t react as they thought I would because I don’t react to sugar in any form other than to start passing sugar in my urine. However it did confirm I am diabetic (This has never been tested for before).
After a lot of head scratching and tooth sucking the Drs decided to devise a test to see what happens when I eat toast. The test has been dubbed the toast challenge test and involves another 16hr fast and then being given 3 slices of buttered toast and a cup of coffee. This time I did react, I was wet through with sweat (I needed to change my pyjamas), My BP went through the roof, my heart rate was just short of 200bpm and I felt really ill. The bloods they took during this test charted the rise in my blood sugar to 17.1 (normal is less than 7) and confirmed that I am a full diabetic but didn’t explain why I react the way I do when I eat.
When the results of the bloods came back from the lab they gave a picture of a rising blood sugar for the first 30 mins after eating and then over the next two hours a slow drop back towards normal. This is NOT dumping syndrome as what would have happened if it was is that my blood sugar should have gone up over a 2 hr period and then suddenly drop to 3 or less accompanied by tremors on the limbs.
As I have reacted to every meal I have been given in hospital so far the Medical team are very aware there is something wrong but are stumped to explain just what. The next step in the investigation is to repeat the toast challenge but this time to give me an injection of Octreotide during the test.
I am apprehensive about this test because looking this drug up on the internet, it is widely used to ease the symptoms of Dumping by increasing the output of insulin and other gastric enzymes. However as my symptoms are the opposite of those shown by classical dumping it isn’t clear what effect Octreotide will have on me. Oh well if anything goes wrong Jackie will be here with me to alert the staff and I couldn’t be in a better place.
Watch this space to see if the test showed up anything interesting.