Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Windows 8 Release Preview - VMware Player 4 Installation

Here is a step by step picture tutorial on installing Windows 8 Release Preview on VMWare Player 4. Click on the images for a larger picture.

This is one of the easiest ways to test operating systems in general. I found that WMWare player works better than VirtualBox in some ways. 

Windows 8 requires the user to hover in the lower left corner of the screen to launch the start screen, and I find it easier doing that on VMWare player than on VirtualBox because of WMWare player handles mouse movement. 

Also, I encountered several problems with VirtualBox when resizing the VM window. Its just very clunky, and it freezes often. VMWare player on the other hand handles this a lot better. 





























Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Windows 8 Release Preview - Error code 0x80070570

When installing Windows 8 Release Preview using a VMWare Player 4, if this encountered:

Windows 8 Release Preview - Error code 0x80070570
The fix is fairly simple:
  • If the ISO is being used to to boot directly from the hard drive, change its location on the hard drive
Or
  • Mount the ISO into a virtual drive (I used Daemon tools), and that virtual drive as the boot drive for the VM. 
That should ideally take care of the problem. If it doesn't, leave a comment below.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Battlefield 3 - Unexpected Fun

I purchased Battlefield 3 back in November from Amazon. It was one of the few times I bought a game so close to the launch. I played the Alpha and I was very impressed with it. 

Having bought the game however, I encountered several problems with it. I am quite sure that the problems were at my end, because my friends were able to log in play just fine. For whatever reason, this was encountered way too often: 

Battlefield 3 error
Battlefield 3 - Something went wrong with the game error

I returned the game, and Amazon were kind enough to refund the entire money. 

For the Memorial Day, there was a sale going on EA, and my fiance suggested that we buy Battlefield 3 and play it together. I was skeptical about it, having purchased it before, but she said she was going to pay for it, and I was very comfortable with the arrangement. 

Well, what can I say? Since that day, I have clocked a total of 18 hours, and I ranked up 14 levels. It has been one hell of an experience. 

The game seemed vastly improved, and I did not encounter the long load times; I am sure this has more to do with my SSD than the game itself, but my fiance plays on a laptop, and on wireless, and she didn't have any problems either. 

Well, I am glad I gave Battlefield 3 another chance. It can be chaotic in the beginning, but once I got the hang of it, its truly awesome.

Here is the link to my profile to those we might be interested in seeing my stats:

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/user/PatchRowcester/

I am also considering buying the expansion.

I will make a blog about tips that might help novice players like myself based on my experience.

Here is a screenshot of me getting better of my fiance! We usually play together, but she ended up in the opposite team, and that gave me a chance to frag her. She wasn't very happy about it!

Patch wins!
The day my fiance got pwned in Battlefield 3 :) 
The point of this blog is, I truly recommend Battlefield 3 to anyone looking to play an amazing FPS online.

I had my problems with Battlelog, and found the idea of starting the game from within the browser a ridiculous idea, but it has grown on me a lot. I like the features it offers, and if it is given a chance, I am sure the merits are there to be seen.

I also have to say, so far, Origin has been very unobtrusive. I barely ever see it, its just in the background, and its not that memory intensive either, which is what I like from a client. It should be transparent, and so far that is how Origin has been.

So overall, its been a good experience, and I felt I needed to share this with my fellow PC Gamers.

Jumping off Damavand Peak is an thrilling experience!



In closing, here is a portrait wallpaper of Battlefield 3 that my fiance just made:

Battlefield 3 Back to Karkand - 1200x1920 Wallpaper
Battlefield 3 Back to Karkand - 1200x1920 Wallpaper