Ask Your Vista Questions Here.

i think they're talking about the transformation pack not the os, which i'm going to stay away from, for me not worth it anyway.

- damm typos -

 

don't touch the Vista OS. i've wiped better software off my shoes after workin' in the horse pasture.

 

I talked to some sales people at bestbuy, a friend of mine came with me he was looking for low cost low end computers, to my amazement they addmitted that people were having problems with the low ends cause they were'nt power or compatible enough with vista, but your still selling it I said, makes a lot of sense doesnt it.

I also talked with one of the geeks behind the counter explaining we want nothing to do with vista, yeah we hear that a lot here, how about if my friends buys a new xp box, unistalles vista and loads up xp, cant do it he said, him and his friends tried it on several models and it wont work, also the store isnt even allowed to sell new xp's in the box, I checked the whole store just to see for myself, there was none, UNBELIEABLE.

 

if you can't go XP, go linux. that's all the advice i have. ^.^

 

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE VISTA,
SEE WHAT YE ARE MISSING IN XP-POOP..

CLICK HERE
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jvdkuyp/flash/see.htm

 

My friend found a used dell with xp of course on craigslist, got it for $150, 3 years old, not bad and works great, linux would have been way out of his league anyway, he's more computer stupid than I am, it would've tore him a new butt hole.

 

Thats the whole thing i am getting at. There is nothing that is compatible with Vista at the moment that is not Microsoft programmed in the first place. Also the only program beside Microsoft programs that work on Vista is Nero Burning ROM so Far.

 

Hey I got a question. First of all, if I should just start a thread for this, let me know. Ok, so I'm graduating highschool next year and I'm going to get the laptop of my choice(PC or Mac). Now im accustomed to using PCs. I know my way around it and can recover from serious crashes, recover files, etc. Now if I were to go Mac, I would have to learn the whole new interface and such. People talk about Mac having the dualboot XP but I dont know if its as good as a PC running it natively(I doubt it). I obviously would like a PC but its like you cant even get a new PC without Vista! Microsoft flooded the market with the crappy OS and its all you can get except for that occasional Linux or such. Now heres my actual question: if I get a PC, will I be able to wipeout the drive and install XP? I mean, did Microsoft incorporate some crap that prevents you from putting XP on even after a full format? I would like to get a media center laptop and put media center XP on it but can I? Also, if anyone has any educated suggestions on which laptop I should get, please bring it. I would like some help deciding. Thanks.

 

buy a laptop with hardware specs you like, then use a bootdisc or the likes to do a low-level format and wipe out vista. finally, install xp from a disc and you're good.

 

I'm very familier with fresh installs as I reinstall my XP on my desktop every couple months or so. It just get full of crap and just needs a good wipe and install. So from your comment, I infer that vista is in no way in the bios or whatnot and its completely fine to do a full format to completely remove it? If so, I guess I'm probably gonna go PC. And thanks for the response.

 

weirdname, as I mentioned previously, what I found out, and this is not my own personel experiance only what I heard and I heard it from many people, that vista wont let you downgrade to xp, though I would'nt call it a downgrade I would call going from vista to xp an upgrade, I asked that same question from several geeks at bestbuy, and got the same answer from the computer people at circuit city, I also had a private comp. tech guy that came over the house the other day to replace my hardrive also tell me the same.

Are all people lying or don't know what they are talking about, I don't know, but I sure don't like the odds, I wanted to buy a new computer from circuitcity, and if the kid there was just after my money he would have never revealed the truth as he see's it, I have been asking everybody and either get I dont know or you just can't do it, seems like microsucks thru some kind of crap in vista, the same kind of crap that wont let you make a backup of your store bought music or movie no matter what kind of copy software you have.

It seems like the only alternative is buid your own, linux, get a refurbished, or used one. I'm looking at a used one myself now.

 

Erm, thats disturbing. Maybe Microsoft put something in that does something to the BIOS. If so, they are gonna get a class action lawsuit. Cause that means that Microsoft basically took over your computer without you knowing it. I'm not sure from what legal point they would come from but theres got to be something to get them on. Oy, just another reason to hate Microsoft *rolls eyes*, and yet we still use XP...

 

forgive me I forgot to add something else, I already heard from people that tried and found out it can't be done, what I would like to hear and not that it should be done, but from somebody that actually succefully did it themselves and not just hear say. And if they did what kind of problems did they run into if any and how they fixed them.

 

My young friend if you think you can make a succesfull complaint about microsuks than by all means, I now would rate them with insurance companies and lobyist's as the most powerfull people in the world, I don't think you could defeat people like that with lawsuits, the only thing that comes to mind if you know your history is a revolution.

 

Eh, you had to bring reality into it. Guess there wont be a class action lawsuit Anyways, those people you talked to, did they try a fresh install or one from the upgrade disk?

 

The one that impressed me most is a kid that works at my local bestbuy, and I'm not trying to plug bestbuy actually more than several times that place has left a bad taste in my mouth, but this one kid that works with thier geek squad I know him personally, I know he has built many computers for people and of course has repaired many with the job he has, he said he tried every trick he had including trying to get help with all the other people he works with and any new computer with vista on it was uncrackable, he personally tried it with a dell, hp, and gateway.

So now I know of people that physically tried, like I said before, I have heard from people say it can be done, but when I ask did you do it yourself I get the old no but I heard it can be. I want to talk to a person that actually did.

 

i'm sure i read in some thread of someone who bought a laptop, reformatted and installed xp successfully (when i find it i'll post the link), i guess we're gonna need volunteers to confirm (myth busters???) lol

Good day to all!!!

 

b4 ye buy that name brand laptop with vista i bet they do not offer the xp drivers like the CHIP SET,IDE driver,Network,video and sound drivers so that xp can be used on that laptop.

i would check the web site of said name brand laptop and see if they offer the xp-drivers.
i bet they don't.........

 

here's the thread (see last post)

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/477782

ireland, i know hp is not posting complete sets of drivers, i don't know of others, but if that's the case then, there's a conspiracy to screw consumers on behalf of you know who...

 

Quick Fixes for Five Nasty Vista Problems

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2104023,00.asp

Cool, it Works!
One of the most common gripes we've seen in message boards all around the Internet involve users not being able to install AMD's Cool & Quiet drivers on Windows Vista, and therefore not getting the power saving effect. AMD's driver Web pages only contain C&Q drivers for Windows XP.

C&Q has been around for a few generations of AMD processors and, provided the chip is installed on a compatible motherboard, it regulates the CPU's multiplier and voltage to go into low power states when the full processor power isn't needed. Since most motherboards contain intelligent circuitry for their CPU fans, the fan will usually slow down when the CPU isn't running hot enough to require full cooling force.

Why isn't there an easy-to-find Vista driver for C&Q features? Simple—it's built in! Windows Vista contains full support for C&Q from the onset, and it even gives you a bit of control over how it runs the CPU.

Go to Control Panel, click System, and click Power Options. Pick a plan, any plan, and click Change Plan Settings—for instance, beneath High Performance, click the blue text. The first page you see shows you how the computer will behave when plugged in and when on battery power; click Change Advanced Power Settings. A dialog box will appear.

Scroll down in the list box until you see Processor Power Management, and click the little + next to it. Now, you can set the minimum and maximum power states for the CPU while on battery, and while plugged in. You set a range, in percentage of the CPU's maximum power, for the processor to adhere to. For instance, in Power Saver mode you might set the minimums to 1 percent and max to 50 percent to save battery life; in High Performance mode you might force the CPU to run at 100 percent across the board for pure gaming muscle. The operating system will throttle the CPU as needed, staying between the power points you specify.—next: VPN DOA >

VPN DOA
If you're working as a telecommuter or from a remote location via a VPN, you should probably let your company's IT department decide whether or not you should upgrade to Windows Vista. It's likely a bad idea to do it yourself, especially on company equipment, without IT's blessing.

In any case, Windows Vista has a known problem with its VPN system that sometimes prevents users from connecting. After an upgrade, or even after a clean installation, you might set up the VPN exactly as you're supposed to, with all the correct information, and still not get through. It's not your fault.

You may have switched from a wired network to another wired or wireless connection before the VPN failure. If that's the case, Microsoft issued an update to solve the problem. You can get it through Windows Update as well as via that link.

Even if you didn't experience the VPN failure after switching network connections, try this update if you're having VPN problems.—next: Can't Read Reader >

Can't Read Reader
You can't consider a Windows operating system installation complete until you've got Adobe Reader on your system. So many assets on the Web come in Acrobat form, and unless you have the full program on your software shelf you need Reader to check them out.

If you're the kind of power-user who turns off User Account Control, or if you log on right into the default administrator account, you might notice that Adobe Reader 8 won't install after download—or after you discover it on some other media that included it. That's a known problem, and you're not alone.

You'll have to solve this problem through one of two ways. If you've turned off UAC, turn it back on. Go into Control Panel, click User Accounts, and click Turn User Account Control on or off. Restart the computer. Then, install Adobe Reader normally. When the installation is complete, you can turn UAC off again if you wish.

If, however, UAC is on and Reader still won't install, you'll need to run the installer in Windows XP compatibility mode. Navigate to the folder into which you saved the Reader installer. Right-click it. Click the Compatibility tab. Under Compatibility Mode, check Run This Program in Compatibility Mode and, below that, choose Windows XP from the list. Reader should install just fine after that.—next: Wire Won't Fire >

Wire Won't Fire
So, you installed Windows Vista, it worked, you were happy, and then one day you get a bizarre blue screen with an error message along the lines of DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE. The first thing you have to wonder is where those friendlier error messages went during the development.

Now, think back. You probably plugged in an IEEE 1392 (FireWire) device at some point, such as a digital video camera or an external hard drive. You left it turned on and allowed Windows Vista to go to sleep. When Vista woke up, it gave you that rude error message.

The problem lies in a driver called Sbp2Port.sys, which is a mass storage driver that has a problem with sleeping computers. You need an update for it, which you can find right here on Microsoft's server.

Download the update and when it's in place, your FireWire stuff should let Windows Vista sleep peacefully.—next: iFried >

iFried
When Apple released iTunes 7.1 to deal with a huge number of incompatibilities the music front-end had with Windows Vista, it introduced one new problem that has some iPod users surprised and dismayed.

Normally, when you go to remove your iPod, you click the little icon in the tray (a.k.a. the System Notification Area) that allows you to unplug a USB item safely. If you mouse over it, it's called Safely Remove Hardware. If you use that interface with Windows Vista and iTunes 7.1, the routine could corrupt the contents of your iPod's hard drive

The solution: don't use it. When you're done syncing up your iPod, just pull the cord gently from the USB port and be on your way. If you do corrupt your iPod, plug it back in, go to the iPod's summary panel in iTunes, and click Restore to fix it. Then, avoid "safely" removing it--just yank it out like a daredevil. Sometimes, it pays to live dangerously.