Windows Vista Horror Stories

Sorry - Triple post

Sorry - Triple post

Sorry - Triple post

Damn! Sorry!!! Triple post DX

Unless you are just curious and want to learn and play with the latest Windows OS, there is no compelling reason to install any version of Vista to replace XP.

Vista's hardware requirements are quite high, and compatibility with older hardware is only fair to poor. Vista always feels and runs slower than XP when running on the same system.

If you are purchasing a new PC which comes with Vista, then you are likely just fine, assuming the PC manufacturer has done their job of setting up the OS to run properly on their hardware.

Keep in mind that if your new PC comes with Vista basic, and there is nothing inherently wrong with Vista basic, it is probably because the video capabilities of the PC are not adequate to run Aero, and upgrading to a higher version of Vista is likely to have poor results.

For Vista to run properly, you really HAVE TO HAVE AT BARE MINIMUM 1 GIGABYTE OF RAM. 2 gigabytes are preferable, 4 gigabytes is ideal, and either would be the cheapest noticeable speed boost. A super fast CPU is not as important as you might think, as long as you have enough RAM. A 2 Ghz CPU with adequate RAM will seem responsive enough for most users with Vista.

If you just have to have the eye-candy of Aero, forget about anything with integrated graphics. You MUST have a newer, faster dedicated video card.

Once again, there is NO compelling reason to upgrade from XP to Vista, unless you are just curious to learn the latest and greatest (?).

Hope this helps anyone considering this upgrade (?).

Like so many before I must admit after tolerating that OS now for a year.. evena fter installing that long-awaited ServicePack 1 : this OS is defective by design and should be avoided at all means.

Of course it has some lovely features that , once you are used to, you would hate to miss.. Now here is how I managed that.

I have removed Vista from all of my and my best friends PCs and Laptops and reverted them all back to XPSP2, and updated them to the current Release Candidate of SP3.

( get it on Microsoft's Downloadcenter, the final one will come in March/April ) .

This makes the 100+ Updates for a XPSP2 System unnecessary, cause SP3 includes every single Hotfix that had been released over the years.


In terms of speed and stability XP beats Vista in every way.

Also, a lot of before "vista only" features are now available for XP - so you really don't miss anything in terms of "killer features":

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Here is a guide how to add Vista's Features to XP at no cost

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Microsoft themselve give away freely this here :

-Internet Explorer 7
-MEdia Player 11
-Windows Defender (flowers-seeker)


install Microsoft .net framework 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 ( all on the MS Downloadpage) one after the other, and you will have "unique features" added to XP like support for the following

- Windows Cardspace, a digital ID service
- WPF , Windows Presentation Foundation, Vista Apps on XP
- WCF , Windows Collaboration Foundation and
- Microsoft Peernet Support ( Vista's "Meeting" Tool )

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MORE :

Visit www.live.com and follow the link to "get live", select what you want and download the all-in-one installer for XP, and Microsoft will sponsor you these fine tools :

-Windows Family Safety ("Parental controls" in vista.. )

-Windows Photo Gallery ("iphoto" clone, upload to flickr..)

-Windows Mail (replaces Outlook Express, with Junkfilter)

-Windows Writer ( Blogging App, for your free "space" )

Did I mention that ..

XPSP3 ads Network Access Protection and ( once the SP3 is integrated into a XP CD ) adds Product-Key-Less Installation, the same way Vistas setup is like, so you can run Windows for 30 days in trial-mode, both a "Vista Only Feature" ?

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Want Vistas "unique" Adressbar in your Explorer ? :

Once you have net framework 2.0, I suggest you visit :

[link to qttabbar.wikidot.com]

and download the freeware QtAdressbar, install, right-click in your "My Computer"s toolbar and add the new toolbar and hide the default one .. what's it ?

The original Vista "breadcrumbs" navigation Toolbar.. looks and acts like in Vista - but hundred times faster.

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Vistas new Look'n'Feel, including sounds,wallpapers and cursor-sets on XP (if you like it) for free :

[link to www.softpedia.com]


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What about gadgets / Sidebar ? :

Google's Desktop search will add a sidebar plus gadgedts,
Opera 9 Webbrowser has built in support for gadgets,
Yahoo has a "widget engine" and so on..

The web is full of fine tools that will give you the kick in gadgets if you like those..
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Ok, fine,. now you have really everything major applications and featueres that are inside Vista, but what about Security ?

Vista uses "UAC" ( USer Account Control ), this simply works the way that every Vista user is in fact only a Limited-Rights -User, UAC dialog pops up all time you want to do something which requires Administrative rights, you "ok" it, then you have the token to do it.

For XP ( where every standard new user is Admin ) you do this : go to [link to winsudo.toadlife.net] and download the free application "WINSUDO", install it - it will add the "Sudo" service to XP.

Go to Control Panel, add a new USer-account for yourself, this time LIMITED User.Make sure this new user is a member of "sudoers" group ( this group was created by the app ) also make sure you have set a password, reboot and next time you log in as the limited user.
This now will be your everyday-account.

Each application or control-panel that is not launchable due to you being a limited user- well, right-click it and choose "sudo" - a command box will ask for your password and the application will work.

You will be on a very safe side if you manage your PC by acting this way, because kittens can't be installed this way, unless you tell it so by launching "sudo".. Plus you have the Windows Defender ( the very same as in Vista ) and hopefully a good anti-virus tool ( Avast Home or AVG )

( sidenote for geeks : this is not the same as "runas" in XP, cause sudo will keep the current users environment, unlike runas, where the Administrators context and environment is used so a different Folder,Desktop etc is used .. )
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Vistas Top-Edition "ultimate" comes with Bitlocker, a tool to encrypt the complete Hard-Drive, well even this you can have for free :

WWW.truecrypt.org - does exactly the same and is more flexible ( single folders or complete HD ) ;)

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The last one isn't free, but doesn't cost you as much as the cheapest Vista-License :

If you feel the need to have "Aero", transparency windows and such - stardock,inc has a fantastic product called "Window-Blinds 6" which supports the same techniques that is built-in in Vista.. you can skin your XP wit that tool to whatever you like, in this case a one-to-one exact optical copy of Vista ) www.stardock.com has more info.

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Excluded Window-Blinds you will have now for free :

a safe,fresh looking and absolutely modern,up-to date OS

- a cool photo editor that lets you sort and fix your photos,

- you will have a free homepage ( Windows Live Space ) where you can publish the pictures

- you have a Blogging Application to publish to the Space

- You will have a Parental control application that keeps track of your children'S internet behaviour

- You will be able to run Applications that are built on Vista-core technlogy like WCF and WPF.

But you have the most reliable, fast and belved OS ever created from Microsoft :

Windows XP.


So, let's get over that Vista-Nightmare

WTF are you spewing about? I have Ubuntu linux installed solo on my one year old HP laptop with no issues, and, NO WINDOWS!

to be exact :

for Aero to work you will need to have at least :

a DirectX 9 graphics with min. 128 MB Ram of these makers :

Intel GmA 950 or higher

Ati Radeon 9500 or higher

Nvidia Geforce 5200 or higher


If the graphic is built-in and shares Ram with the Computer, then count 1024 MB for the OS alone, so 1,5GB Ram

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WindowBlinds for XP ( with the same transparency ) will require only a DirectX 8 class Graphics, 32MB min.

that as an option for "old hardware" with Aero-like effects.

also Linux has with Compiz/XGL very nice and stunning effects that work also on older graphics cards like a charm.
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The demand for Vistas requirement is artificially set to the latest in Hardware, cause they have obviously made deals Micrososft and the Hardware Industry..

In the Vista Alpha and Beta Phase, the Aero worked even with DX7 cards .. just suddenly without a warning they switched to the point to require the ones named above..

and there is no "tweak" or registry setting to make it work with something older.

I dont wish to be on the bleeding edge of any new product, and vista is for all intents and purposes a new product.

Never used Vista. Gonna avoid it like the plague.

Somebody once said Vista was the longest suicide note
every written. I buy it.

XP works fine for me but when it's no longer supported
I'm going Mac or Linux.

Saying bye-bye to MS in advance. U fucked up.

I've been running Ubuntu for two years now . I've never even seen Vista and have no intention or need to .

To be fair though I do have an XP machine . I pull it out of the closet two or three times a year when I feel like playing some games .

The only people who are saying vista is any good are the cheap as fuck crack smokers microwhore employs. Or, NSA/echelon shillberries.

That dumb fuck that said about "poor and dated hardware" is an absolute penis wrangler. Check the machine minimum specs ya dumb fucking turd. Dell and others ship their low end budget PC's with this fucking abomination of OS installed. I've seen notebooks with 512MB of memory ship directly from fucking dell and those other whores with this thing installed. You're an idiot who's opinion is worth about as much as the turd I had this morning.

Vista content protection is a fucking hoot too!

This guy has a nice accurate synopsis here…
[link to www.cs.auckland.ac.nz]

but just grab a tiny portion of his rant...

"[...]Vista's content protection mechanism only allows protected content to be sent over interfaces that also have content-protection facilities built in. Currently the most common high-end audio output interface is S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format).

Most newer audio cards, for example, feature TOSlink digital optical output for high-quality sound reproduction, and even the latest crop of motherboards with integrated audio provide at least coax (and often optical) digital output. Since S/PDIF doesn't provide any content protection, Vista requires that it be disabled when playing protected content [Note E]. In other words if you've sunk a pile of money into a high-end audio setup fed from an S/PDIF digital output, you won't be able to use it with protected content. Instead of hearing premium high-definition audio, you get treated to premium high-definition silence.

Say you've just bought Pink Floyd's “The Dark Side of the Moon”, released as a Super Audio CD (SACD) in its 30th anniversary edition in 2003, and you want to play it under Vista (I'm just using SACD as a representative example of protected audio content because it's a well-known technology, in practice Sony has refused to license it for playback on PCs).

Since the S/PDIF link to your amplifier/speakers is regarded as insecure for playing the SA content, Vista would disable it, and you'd end up hearing a performance by Marcel Marceau instead of Pink Floyd.

Similarly, component (YPbPr) video will be disabled by Vista's content protection, so the same applies to a high-end video setup fed from component video. In fact even the most basic composite video out (a.k.a. “TV-out” on video cards) is disabled, at least by nVidia's drivers: [...]"

Im running Vista on a Sun workstation (amd64 kind, of course) and an HP laptop that shipped with it.

I don't know what all the fuss is, it installed in 30 minutes on the SUN, and I'm running ultimate as I need the SUA (Unix Subsystem) stuff, along with the hooks for Visual Studio.

I haven't looked back honestly.

The fact that I can map drives over Ipv6 is a *MASSIVE* win for me, no more stupid VPN crap.

And of course the virtual store stuff to stop the contamination of the program files & windows directory is just neat.

It's not that bad, but really you need new machines to run it, and I'd say something that SHIPS with it. The DIY machines really stink.

MAC

You just turn it on.....and it works.

Owning a Microsoft machine is like being inside The Matrix. You don't realize you're a slave until you're free.

Here's an instructional video about how to install Vista in 2 minutes:

[link to video.google.com]

Yeah...I dumped Vista for the last version of XP.
You lose files and shit with Vista.

I cannot get my computor to shut off. I hit shut off and when I turn the machine on, then it shuts off!

I hate that you do not have a choice when you buy a new computor. I have three computors, all on XP, and had to get a laptop and it has Vista already on it. So I have to pay to remove and install XP. I wish the consumers had a choice of the software. Mircorsoft is a monopoly....

Mircosoft also never helps you with porblesm. You must know the exact word to find help and then go through 20+ pages to find anything close to the answer and then ...it still is not the answer.

No I would NEVER choose Vista for software... I argues with me when I want to do any simple task. I should have the option for setting hwo it works and not back tracking and resetting their defaults... wherever the H they are!

Why do we accept lousy software from Bill Gates? Would anyone in their right mind let MS operate their car? Heck No! The car would stop every day in the middle of the free way. My computer locks up every day, MS is to invasive, to obsessed with tracking, thousands of hidden files, folders, and hundreds of ways to penetrate, poke, and update.

Its just a manner of time before it will be against the law to complain about MS. Where is the anti trust laws? Rebel against Bill Gates! Stand up to software tyranny! Demand reparations from MS and their oppression for crappy products.

VISTA Service Pack 1 Horror story

I have a new machine running VISTA Business. Service pack one has made the buggy piece o' crap OS even worse for me. When I turn on my printer, the PC reboots. On reboot VISTA always re-installs all mobo drivers. At least once a day I get an error message that I need to reinstall Direct-X 9 or update my video drivers. And yes they are up to date.

I am about to switch back to XP. My next PC will be a Mac.

DON'T DO IT MAN IT ISN"T WORTH IT!

Besides they are phasing out XP. They aren't even selling it anymore! Its better you just learn to adapt. MAC IS NOT THE ANSWER!

VISTA SUCKS

After XP, I was tricked into a vista, piece of shit!

after converting files and nothing worked I got a MAC.

definitely worth the $

Windows 2000 pro corperate is the best because of stability. I use Windows XP. not inclined yet, lazy to install 2000 thus far but i'm fine since XP has been staying in line.

If you are software and program inclined, get Ubuntu(latest Linux). You can download it for free. I tried it but i am not so easily able to switch from windows to something original though it would be nice if someone could help me with it.

There is NO Problem with Vista on NEW Computers as they are build to the required specs.

Vista is NOT A good OS for installing on an old box you are trying to Bump up, In truth it is a Wast of money in this case.

If you purchased a system in the past 2 years odds are it will run Vista.

As for myself I purchased a Dell XPS M2010 in Nov. 06 that came with XP MCE05 and a Vista upgrade.

It RUNS Vista Ultamate Just FINE.

2.33Mhz 4Gb RAM 2 200GB HD Multi Boot.


James.

Wanted to say there is a Free version of Sun Solaris for those whom like Unix/Linux.


James.

I must be one of the select few that have had absolutely no problems with Vista.

i have windows vista and it tends to stall and take longer to do anything.also i can not use the computer to send e mail like you would if you clicked on the contact option at this site. if i try to download to install a flash player so i can watch videos on firefox it fails every time.i never had a problem with xp

Agreed.

I built a new system recently for my step kid with Vista and the only problem I am having is with a free utility program that came with the video card that isn't Vista compatable, unfortunatly neither is its unistall program. I guess I'll have to manually delete it.

All my older machines are still running XP. I'm not going to risk a Vista install on those machines... even tho I desperately need to upgrade from the hacked version of XP corporate I am running and if I screw up I can't reinstall since I need to pass windows verification for to get all the services packs again.

You just don't know what your doing.

Benn using Vistax64 since it was released.

We're removing it from our office because it's not working with other necessary software. Maybe we'll just sit this one out.

Huh? Vista didn`t work and you buy mac?
Who says that if it`s not Vista, it should be nnt any windows? Very strange logic.

I think 2003 is better, but both are good enough.
And 2008 is almost like Vista, but is better than vista as well, so if someone hates Vista, but want something new, could use 2008 when there is a good crack released for it (At this time there isn`t).