ReactOS 0.4.12 in Real Steel (how to)

[dizt3mp3r]

Superb and informative - this goes to show how much progress ReactOS is making.

[Kevin Castro]

You’re exactly right, dizt3mp3r. Twelve is a very different animal to Nine. With Firefox, I’m discovering which websites it does and doesn’t like. Ebay is too bloated, doesn’t cooperate, and takes about five minutes to close down. Google News (I’m a bit of a news junkie) seems to work okay even though most news websites have quite a bit of bloat. Word 2000 is fantastic.

I am still hoping that someone else here will replicate my build (it’s quite cheap) and work through the bugs and quirks faster than I can.

[dizt3mp3r]

I have a machine that I had dedicated to ReactOS but it has lain fallow for a year as I could not get it to work at all. It may be time to give it another go.

[Kevin Castro]

That sounds fantastic. I've got my fingers crossed for you! I'm posting this reply from KATRELL (my ReactOS PC).
I can't get ReactOS/Firefox 48 to make website shortcuts. So on KARETTA (one of my Win7 PCs), I used Firefox Quantum to create a desktop shortcut to "Off Topic". Then, via USB flash drive, I dropped that shortcut onto KATRELL's desktop. When I double-click on it, an error message pops up, to which I press "Esc", then Firefox 48 opens up and the forum slowly puts itself together on the screen. I need to tickle the scroll wheel a bit to the get whole list of threads to present themselves. Last night, I PayPal'd another donation to the effort.
I look forward to seeing your PC up and running!

[Kevin Castro]

I’ve been using the Samsung install to browse the web with Firefox 48. I tried Wine Internet Explorer but it is very slow to load pages. It performs its main job, which is to allow access to the Applications Manager. Firefox 48 will happily run Google Streetview, albeit slowly; it doesn’t do too badly with Google News; but stay away from Ebay. I was going to try shopping in Fishpond except I forgot. I discovered that when images go wonky, mousing over can sometimes straighten them up.

I somehow bricked the Intel install (can’t remember how) and I was keen to do an offline install and see how many of my dusty old programs I can bully into ReactOS 0.4.12. This time, I hooked up a Corsair Force LE200 120GB DRAMless SSD (two years ago, I bought two of these because the price was right).

From an old CD (which I’ve since lost) I had backed up Adobe 9. I installed the file “Reader 9.0/Setup Files/[alphabet soup]/ AcroRead.msi”.
Then, I installed Google SketchUp 7.
Then, I installed VLC 2.2.1 media player (obviously, there’s no audio).
Finally, I installed AnyRail5, a model railway designer.

As you can see, it scrambled the folder tree. But each folder still works fine.
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[Kevin Castro]

Adobe Reader 9 opens files quite fast and scrolls well.
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[Kevin Castro]

Obviously, I didn’t create this SketchUp drawing in ReactOS, but it opened, I could do simple changes (slowly), and the orbit had a slight delay.
It worked better unmaximized.
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[Kevin Castro]

This is AnyRail 5.18.1. I have a license for 5, which is the last version to support XP, Vista, and 7 (all three together). I also have a license for AnyRail 6, which the creator split into two versions (one for XP, one for beyond). I created this simple demonstration without having to activate the license.
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[Kevin Castro]

ReactOS kicks another GOAL!

Using Firefox (in KATRELL), I wanted to see if I could watch YouTubes (without audio). It turns out that so long as I leave it on the default view and select “360”, it plays not too badly. The resolutions offered went all the way up to 4k!

Next (still in KATRELL), I downloaded YTD Free (YouTube Downloader). ReactOS installed it without fuss. Next, I installed my offline VLC 2.2.1 setup from USB.

I started a YouTube playing at “360”, then I paused it. Then I opened YTD, dropped in the URL and selected the download to “720”. YTD saved the MP4 into “My Documents” by default, which was fortunate because all this mucking around had scrambled up the folder tree. This has happened to me before, but this time I actually lost a file that I hadn’t yet backed up (whoops).
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[Kevin Castro]

Unlike my Corsair install where MP4s have the VLC icon and clicking on them starts them playing; in this install (the original Samsung SSD) MP4s won’t play unless I first open VLC; then I have to open the file from within VLC.

ReactOS plays the downloaded YouTube (720) perfectly without any glitches. For some reason, I couldn’t move the 31MB file onto my flash drive. In fact, ReactOS wouldn’t even let me move it within the C-drive. So I outboarded the C-drive into KARETTA (Win7) and retrieved the downloaded MP4. When I play the file in KARETTA, the video has perfect crystal-clear audio.
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[Kevin Castro]

I’m digressing a bit here, but I have read many posts from people moaning about the Start Menu. Really?
If my opinion’s worth anything to the Team, I think the ReactOS Start Menu is a bit snazzier than the Windows Start Menu.
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[Kevin Castro]

It was time to take it back to basics; but first, I need to share a new quirk.

0.4.7. in the old ASUS mobo allowed me to plug anything at all into the USB. At one time, I had three 256MB HP flash drives, an 8GB Sandisk flash drive, my Pentax X-5 camera, and an outboard SSD on a USB sata tail all plugged in at the same time (plus a mouse, of course). Mind you, I couldn’t hot-unplug any of it!

0.4.12 in my new PC is not so agreeable. 8GB Sandisk Cruzer—no worries. 8GB Toshiba—no worries. The Pentax—no worries. My old 4GB Imation—ReactOS freezes, requiring a reboot. Those lovely old (still in new condition) HP quarter-giggers—freeze.

It’s all a learning experience and I’m sure everyone is happy with the steps forward concerning the overall USB experience.

Anyway, back to where I was going.

First, I reinstated the Intel 335 and installed ReactOS.
I created an new folder in C, “# Stuff General”; then I copied and pasted the ReactOS "Fonts” folder into “# Stuff General” (I forgot to do the Fonts thing on my previous Word 2000 install). Reboot.

Then, I installed Office 2000. Reboot.

Now, all the desktop and menu fonts were blurry. So I renamed the ReactOS "Fonts” folder, “Fonts1”. Then I copied the # Stuff General "Fonts” folder back into “ReactOS” and rebooted.

I opened Word, changed the page to metric, set the margins, and then created a fictional Résumé. ReactOS wouldn’t let me use Alt+numeral-pad to make special symbols so I just copied some over from a doc in my flash drive (I’m sure it’s quicker than scrolling through the Special Symbols menu).
I learned to never click on any of the three top-right buttons (minimize, unmax/max, exit). It locks things up for about fifteen seconds.

Next, I connected my old Brother HL-2140 laser printer and installed its driver off the original CD-ROM. That ended up being a bad thing to do—firstly, it wasn’t acknowledged, and secondly, the PC would no longer Shut Down. Meanwhile, Word was telling me to “Add” a printer. There doesn’t yet seem to be a way to do this (at least not with an offline PC).
(Yes, I know Hollyann made a spelling mistake).
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[Kevin Castro]

I unplugged the Intel 335 (experimenting) and reconnected the Samsung 850 EVO (websurfing).
Without an antivirus, I never login to my email in KATRELL. I got ClamWin to install (even though it has no real-time watch) and run, but it reported that it scanned no directories, no files, and found no viruses.

From left:
KATRELL tower and monitor (ReactOS, shopping for books in Fishpond), TV (watching a DVD),
two monitors for KARETTA (ebay/YouTube), KARETTA tower (Win7-64, AMD FX-6300 hex),
monitor for WALLABY (email, and streaming CNN and MSNBC),
WALLABY tower (XP SP3, replica of KATRELL plus Nvidia GT-610).
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