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Rebuilding … again! February 5, 2008

Posted by atharkhan in : CA Bar Prep, Personal, Tech , add a comment

I had forgotten that Outlook 2007 seems to run better on Vista than on Xp. So barely two days after the last build, I decided to wipe out the computer and build it again. Also, there were two strange leftover portions on the drive — one was 7MB and the other was 4GB. I tried Partition Magic to fix it but there was something wrong. Partition magic kept erroring out. Sure, I could leave the unused space as is but it kept bugging me. The last thing I want is to worry about whether a computer will boot into the Bar Exam Software. Might as well wipe things out and do it from scratch (again!).

Now, the system is nice and clean. No excessive software so it runs great — only 1% CPU usage when idle, quick to suspend/hibernate and very quick to boot up.

I will admit that its almost sad that this kind of stuff makes me happy.

Spring Cleaning for the Bar. February 2, 2008

Posted by atharkhan in : CA Bar Prep, Personal, Tech , 2comments

I know the bar is months away but I figured now was as good a time as any to reformat my computer. So out with Windows (Hasta La) Vista and back to Windows Xp SP2. The laptop seems to run a lot smoother and faster with Xp than it did on Vista but then again, I have a lot less software on here too.

No iTunes, no Dragon — Just the bare bones OS, and some basic essentials like Antivirus, Office, X1, FolderShare and Groove. Had to stick with Office 2007 because I have converted all my files to OneNote 2007 format. And, even though Outlook 2007 is painfully slower than Outlook 2003, I like the layout better.

Now, I just have to resist the urge to slap on every piece of software that is released between now and July. Maybe I should ghost it just in case… :-)

Should I get a new laptop for the bar? January 29, 2008

Posted by atharkhan in : CA Bar Prep, Personal, Tech , 1 comment so far

These days, a lot of my friends are asking me whether they should purchase a new laptop specifically to take the bar exam. I think that is a valid question — there are enough stress factors on this exam that worrying about one’s computer probably shouldn’t be one of them. And, given the average cost of a legal education, a new computer would add less than 1% to the total amount spent already. So, for most people, it would make sense to get one.

The next logical question is “what type of specs should this computer have?” In my opinion, the focus should be on comfort and reliability rather than the system’s performance. In other words, rather than getting the fastest CPU and highest amount of RAM and Disk Space, it would be more beneficial to focus on screen size and brightness, the size of the keyboard, heat dissipation (you don’t want the computer getting unbearably hot under the palm rests) and of course, battery life (many people have horror stories about the power going out during a bar exam). Now, if you don’t have any price constraints, then go ahead and buy a system that will give you all of the above.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this too. Have you purchased a new computer for the bar exam? What made you do it? How did it work out for you?

-Athar.