Windows Vista

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 13 Nov 2008 7:42 pm

They should have named it Fista!

Whats up with this POS O/S? 2 or 3 times a day it unhooks my keyboard and mouse, then I have to power off at the switch and reboot. Nothing but problems.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 13 Nov 2008 11:47 pm

Are you using a wireless keyboard and mouse? If so, change the batteries. Also, look for sources of interference in the same radio frequency band, like cell or home phones, microwave ovens, routers, etc.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 14 Nov 2008 3:13 am

Many of the "problems" with Vista, along with the percieved but not actual, are incompatible peripheral equipment or hardware device drivers.

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 14 Nov 2008 4:15 am

Guys,

Thanks for the input, I will look into some of the things you mentioned.

What I would really like though, is to remove this garbage and install XP. Vista is a joke!

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 14 Nov 2008 4:51 am

That is the exact same thing we heard from people when Windows XP came out and for the first couple of years with XP. Everyone wanted to go back to Win98SE.

Get used to Vista as the Vista replacement, "Windows 7" is nothing more than an "enhanced" Vista.

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 14 Nov 2008 9:41 am

Jack,

I have XP on my Desktop computer, never had problems with it all the years I've had it. XP is bullet proof in my opinion!

I bought this Acer laptop with Vista and it has been nothing but trouble from day one!

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 14 Nov 2008 11:50 am

Without knowing exactly what is happening you can't blame anything.

It could be the PC hardware, it could be inadequate memory, it could be the peripherals, it could be a bad driver, or it could be a Vista problem of not having initially installed correctly.

There are too many systems running Vista that are not having problems to blame ANY problem on "Vista".

I've seen the exact complaints you have with Vista by people with XP, so is ALL XP bad? obviously not.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 15 Nov 2008 12:46 pm

John;
What brand is your keyboard and your mouse? What type of connectors do they use? Did they ship with the computer? What brand is the computer?

Check your Device Manager to see if there is an exclamation mark listed under Keyboards or Mice.

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 18 Nov 2008 8:11 pm

John,

I'm now coming around to accepting Vista.

I fried my last PC (WINXP). So I had no choice. I had to buy another PC. The new ones only came with Vista; you could wrangle to get an XP, but - too much energy I didn't care to expend.

Jack is right (admitedly). Get used to it. Because sooner, rather than later, you're gonna have to make the switch.

That's why you make a certain amount of income a year, and Bill Gates makes three thousand times that much, or more.

If you don't know by now that the owning a PC and maintaining it is as expensive second only to owning & docking a yacht in Miami, then bale out.

Hey, I'm on your side - I still hate Vista - I can't put it all in words right now - but it's a quirky, wierd system, and still seems to run.

The main thing I don't like, is that you really don't have a wide range of color and visual changes like you did with XP (ie.)- the old look. I liked that. I know I think I can change to that within Vista - but I've already been round and round with Vista on so many other issues, that I'm just gonna let sleeping hogs lie.

Pat Carlson · Post by **Pat Carlson** » 19 Nov 2008 9:12 am

I am new to Vista and it seems to work quit well.

with some neat features XP did not have.

Sean Ray · Post by **Sean Ray** » 12 Dec 2008 8:11 am

Vista can be a bit annoying since some things have been moved and or renamed but for the most part it works fine provided you're not using it on old hardware.

The only thing in Vista that I personally can't tolerate is the very annoying UAC (User Account Control). This is the source of the dreaded "Are you sure you want to do what you just tried to do" warning messages. If you want to lose those then here's how you do it:

Open control panel and search for UAC, uncheck the box that says “Use user account control (UAC) to help protect your computer”, click ok and reboot. Next you’ll want to turn off the warning balloons that the last actions will create. Open security center, on the left side go to “Change the way security center alerts me”, choose “Don’t notify me and don’t display the icon (not recommended).

Vista isn't going away anytime soon so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 12 Dec 2008 9:07 am

If you do turn off UAC boxes and security alerts you must change your account type to either a Standard, or Limited User, for your computer's protection. You can still use the right click Run as Administrator command to elevate your privileges for many tasks, or log onto an Administrator level account, do stuff, then log off it.

Operating a Vista computer as an Administrator, without UAC or security alerts, is the same risk as doing so on a Windows 2000 or XP computer: PC Suicide. (IMHO)

Ken Mizell · Post by **Ken Mizell** » 22 Dec 2008 8:04 pm

It's time for me to upgrade my computer. I'm running a Pentium 4, 1500 Mhz computer with 640 MB of RAM. Everything I do is kind of pushing the envelope these days. I need to upgrade, and have been avoiding it because I was afraid of Windows Vista. I was considering having my current computer rebuilt with a new motherboad, new hard drive, loads of RAM, and a new power supply. I can get a nice new computer, loaded, for a bit more, but it will have Windows Vista.

Couple of questions:

1/ Will I be able to use the various programs that I have which have been running under Windows XP? I dread having to buy new programs, especially Photoshop Elements 5.0 (I think a Vista patch is available for that).

2/ Will the "Files and Settings Transfer Wizards" that's in Windows XP work with transferring stuff over to Windows Vista? It will be a real pain in the butt to have to re-enter all my e-mail addresses and so much more.

I have a 500 Gig backup drive, and can back up all sorts of stuff like photos, music files, favorites, etc. I guess over a weekend I could manage to get things up an running.

Thanks.

Ken

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 22 Dec 2008 8:42 pm

Ken Mizell wrote:It's time for me to upgrade my computer.
<snip>
I can get a nice new computer, loaded, for a bit more, but it will have Windows Vista.

Couple of questions:

1/ Will I be able to use the various programs that I have which have been running under Windows XP? I dread having to buy new programs, especially Photoshop Elements 5.0 (I think a Vista patch is available for that).

If your programs will not install properly in Vista, using straight forward installation, try installing them in XP Compatibility Mode. It is a right-click option in Vista. Using XP Compatibility Mode tricks the program into thinking it is being installed on an XP computer, where it can write files to psuedo folders and pseudo Registry branches, mimicing areas not allowed to be written to by Vista.

2/ Will the "Files and Settings Transfer Wizards" that's in Windows XP work with transferring stuff over to Windows Vista? It will be a real pain in the butt to have to re-enter all my e-mail addresses and so much more.

It's the other way around. You can use the new Windows Easy Transfer Wizard in Vista to copy files and settings from your XP computer to the Vista computer. If you want to do this over USB - you'll need to buy a special cable called an "Easy Transfer Cable."

You'll still need to reinstall your non-Microsoft applications in the new computer, to continue running them. Some of those programs may have come with licenses restricting them to the computer they were installed on when licensed. You may be able to get a new license from the owners of those programs by contacting them about moving the app from a decommissioned computer to a new one.

Other software companies may allow you to install again without jumping through hoops, if you save the license codes in text files, then copy/paste them during installation on the Vista computer.

One type of program you should not try to reinstall would be security programs not written specifically as Vista Certified. Vista has changed the way security works and you absolutely must use Certified For Vista programs to protect the computer. Most of the current top manufacturers have Vista Certified security suites, and stand-alone anti-virus or anti-spyware programs.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 22 Dec 2008 9:28 pm

Ken:

I have a snappy modern PC that originally had Windows XP on it. Around Thanksgiving, I took the plunge and installed Vista Home Premium. I didn't have to do it, but I figured it was about time to move on as Vista has been around about 2 years.

Only 1 of my purchased programs doesn't work as intended on Vista (Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.0 speech recognition). My antique Photoshop 4.0 from the late 1990s works fine on Vista.

Before I installed Vista, I downloaded new Vista-compatible versions of 4 or 5 "freeware" programs that I use a lot. In most cases, the XP version of these programs is also the Vista version, but there were a few that required a new download for Vista specifically.

My issue with Vista is Vista itself, not the programs I use daily. Most annoying is Vista's new Explorer to manage your files. The XP version was fine and much like earlier versions, but Microsoft insisted on revamping Vista's Explorer and I still don't get it and can't find a switch to make it look like Explorer in XP. You are just restricted to too small an area of the screen in which to view the directory trees and they have insisted on putting in a "links" section that is totally unnecessary and a waste of real estate.

I don't know about Photoshop Elements, but you should investigate the websites of each of your store-bought programs to determine if XP versions will work with Vista. You can easily download Vista versions of freeware and shareware.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 22 Dec 2008 9:59 pm

Mitch;
Have a look at this TechRepublic article about Transforming Windows Vista in VXP (Virtual XP). Maybe you'll find a useful tweak in the article.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 23 Dec 2008 12:21 am

Wiz:

Thanks for that link. I found a couple of useful tweaks in it.

The most important thing it contained was a tweak that will defeat Vista Explorer's tendency to show an icon the nearly the size of a postage stamp whenever you are trying to drag files from one side of the explorer to another, as when moving a file. The huge icon covers up your destination folders, making it difficult to be sure you are dropping the file in the right location.

However, the most annoying feature still remains as shown below.

The above is a typical Vista Explorer screenshot. Note that there are 3 windows, rather than the standard 2. The upper left window, with the "favorite links" is completely useless for my purposes and apparently can't be eliminated. You can collapse the bottom left "folders" window, leaving only "favorite links" on the left. But when explorer is closed and then reopened, you are again shown 3 windows.

Does anyone know how to revert to the traditional 2 window view, with just left and right panes?

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 23 Dec 2008 1:13 am

Will this work?

Step1: Right Click anywhere on your Vista desktop. Select "Personalize" from the pop-up options.

Step2 Click on the "Windows Color and Appearance" link from the "Personalize" pop-up menu.

Step3: In the resulting pop-up window, select "Windows Standard" from the drop down options. **For even more retro look, select "Windows Classic".

Step4: Click Okay

Step5: Close the "Personalize" Pop-up window.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 23 Dec 2008 3:14 am

Andy:

On my system, that affects nothing other than colors and the look of the borders on windows. It has no effect at all on Windows Explorer. Does it have any effect on Explorer on your Vista system?

Bob Knight · Post by **Bob Knight** » 23 Dec 2008 4:36 am

John Drury wrote:Jack,

I bought this Acer laptop with Vista and it has been nothing but trouble from day one!

John,
There is definetly a key word in that sentence, and it's NOT Vista!

I've too, have been there.

Bob

Jeff Agnew · Post by **Jeff Agnew** » 23 Dec 2008 4:55 am

Mitch,

I would dump the Windows Explorer and use a third-party file management product instead of fighting the crappy built-in Vista version. There are several good ones available but xplorer2 is my favorite.

The lite version is free for non-commercial use. It can be configured in myriad ways but all offer a directory tree pane plus dual folder panes and tabbed browsing within each pane. The pro version is great but even the free one offers so many file management features you'll probably never use them all.

It takes some time to get your head around it because it's so configurable. But once you find a layout you like you will rarely need to change it. You can set the directory tree pane to be full height, just like the old WinXP version, or you can display a file preview window at the bottom (where the directory tree is now in Vista). I think that's what the screenshots on the xplorer2 site show, so don't be deceived -- you can set it up just like what you're used to.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 23 Dec 2008 6:10 am

I, or better my wife has an Acer laptop with Vista Home Premium. Works as advertised, no problems so far and it's just about a year old.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 23 Dec 2008 12:03 pm

Mitch asked about how one goes about removing unwanted links from the Explorer Favorite Links section. I searched and found one solution, as quoted below.

Managing your "Favorite Links" is extremely simple. Just open up your home directory by clicking on your icon on the start menu. You'll see the Links folder:

This folder contains all of the shortcuts to your favorite locations.

To remove an item from the list, you can either right-click the item and choose Remove Link, or just go to your Links folder and delete it from there.

More Vista tweaks can be found here.

Jon Moen · Post by **Jon Moen** » 23 Dec 2008 1:03 pm

You can do this to hide the favorites:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/90615 ... -hide.html

I don't have Vista, but dragging a window size has been part of Windows since the beginning I think.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 23 Dec 2008 2:51 pm

Wiz and Jon:

I had figured out how to remove individual links from "favorite links", but I wanted to delete or hide the entire "favorite links" section because I don't want 3 panes. Jon gets the cigar for showing me how to do that. It seems to stick when reopening Explorer and may be what I need.

Jeff:

I will definitely look into xplorer2 as a replacement for Windows Explorer.

Microsoft seems unable to get folder views to work right despite over 10 years of trying. I want "list" view with no thumbnails for ALL folders except the recycle bin. I want "details" view for the recycle bin, but can't get the setting to stick. May have to delete and rebuild the recycle bin, which I think eventually solved the problem in XP.

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