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Best Pfsense hardware

Dave Farquhar Hardware, security March 13, 2017July 11, 2018Broadcom, intel, kingston, micron, pfsense, podcast

The best Pfsense hardware is rather subjective. I think the ideal Pfsense box should deliver solid performance while being affordable.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Commodore 64 vs Amiga

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing March 3, 2017September 6, 20181980s, 1990s, 6502, amiga, amiga os, atari, atari st, commodore, commodore 64, compaq, hp, intel, kmart, motorola, Packard Bell, Personal Computer, unix, XT

Looking at the Commodore 64 vs Amiga seems a little odd, at least to me. After all, the machines were never intended to be rivals. The Amiga was supposed to succeed the 64. Commodore bought Amiga because they couldn’t make a 64 successor on their own, so they intended for the Amiga to replace it. It didn’t fully succeed, and maybe that’s why the comparison is still interesting.

Looking back, the machines may seem similar today. But in 1985 they sure didn’t.

Dave Farquhar

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The HP Elitebook 8440p and Windows 10

Dave Farquhar Windows February 28, 2017February 5, 2022amd, BSOD, command prompt, dell, hp, intel, nvidia, vista, Windows 10, windows 7, Windows XP

I got an HP Elitebook 8440p because I wanted something a little newer and faster than my old Dell E1505. It was certainly newer and faster, but it had a problem. Every morning it greeted me with a BSOD. That E1505 was getting older and it had its own quirks, but I don’t remember it ever bluescreening on me. Here’s how I fixed the bluescreens I got with the HP Elitebook 8440p and Windows 10.

Not only did it bluescreen, but the behavior seemed pretty consistent. Two days in a row, I woke the laptop up from hibernation, and about nine minutes later, it bluescreened.

Dave Farquhar

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Lenovo Thinkcentre M58 upgrades

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 10, 2017June 5, 2018Broadcom, intel, Intel Core, lenovo, nvidia, Windows 10

I picked up an off-lease Lenovo Thinkcentre M58 over the weekend. Based on the date code on the hard drive, this one dates to 2010. It’s a serviceable machine. You have a few options when it comes to Lenovo Thinkcentre M58 upgrades. I wouldn’t necessarily use one as a basis for a $100 gaming PC but you can make a great general purpose home PC out of one.

Dave Farquhar

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Optimize Windows 10 for better performance

Dave Farquhar Windows February 8, 2017March 11, 20241990s, antivirus, ccleaner, chrome, defragmenter, Disk Cleanup, firefox, intel, micron, print spooler, ramdisk, receipt, Task Manager, unnecessary services, Windows 10, windows 7, windows 98, xbox

When I first installed it, I thought it was pretty pointless to try to optimize Windows 10. Of course, I installed it from scratch on a computer with an SSD and 16 gigs of RAM. Then I upgraded a couple of computers from Windows 7 to Windows 10, and I started to see why some people might not like Windows 10 all that much.

Upgraded systems almost always run slow, but I’d forgotten how much slower. And while you didn’t have to do much to Windows 7 to make it fast–that’s one reason people liked it–I find some Windows 10 optimization seems to be necessary. But don’t visit dodgy sites like downloadmoreram.com. Follow these tips for things that actually work.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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History of overclocking

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing January 11, 2017September 17, 20231980s, 1990s, 6502, amd, amiga, asus, Chuck Peddle, DIY, IBM, intel, motorola, overclocking, pentium ii

Overclocking didn’t start in the 90s, and it wasn’t limited to PCs either. Here’s a history of overclocking from a guy who did it some, and talked to guys who did it a lot in the 80s.

I don’t recommend overclocking, and today Microsoft can prove it’s a bad idea. But overclocking has a long and colorful history. It’s less common than it used to be, perhaps. But it’s not completely extinct.

Dave Farquhar

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The first Compaq computer

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 22, 2016April 23, 20231990s, commodore, compaq, IBM, intel, Personal Computer

The first Compaq computer was its eponymous Compaq Portable. It was a suitcase-sized clone of the original IBM Personal Computer, with an Intel 8088 CPU running at 4.77 MHz running Microsoft MS-DOS. It was hardly the first non-IBM computer to run MS-DOS, but it was the first legal IBM PC clone with a high degree of compatibility.

Compaq announced it in November 1982 and shipped the first unit in March 1983. It originally cost $2995 for a single-drive unit. A dual-drive unit, which was much more useful, cost $3,590.

Dave Farquhar

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Buying used computer parts

Dave Farquhar Hardware December 20, 2016July 14, 2017amd, asus, intel, micron, Western Digital

Someone asked me the other day about buying used computer parts. I recommend it actually, although I more frequently buy the whole computer. But you can save a lot of money and get higher quality by buying used computer parts.

Dave Farquhar

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Save money on a PCIe dual NIC

Dave Farquhar Hardware November 18, 2016July 5, 2018Broadcom, dell, hp, intel, PCI Express, pcie

I’ve written before how to get a standard PCI dual NIC for a low, low price–but what about a PCIe dual NIC? PCI Express needs love too, of course.

It turns out it’s not hard to find a good, cheap PCIe dual NIC either.

Dave Farquhar

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Did Microsoft steal DOS from CP/M?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 8, 2016February 21, 2022computer software, Digital Research, Gary Kildall, IBM, intel, Jerry Pournelle, podcast, SCO

Did Microsoft steal DOS from CP/M? There’s $100,000 in it for you if you can prove they did.

Digital forensics consultant Bob Zeidman still says no. I’ve written about him before. But the rumors persist, hence the reward. So how would one go about claiming it?

Start with what we know.

Dave Farquhar

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