Windows Vista Discussion Thread

Absar · 20th October 2007, 18:36

I agree Vista requires a lot of patience to use with just 512 mb of RAM (504 mb usable).

Because I got my SONY VAIO 8 months back with 512 mb of ram with Windows Vista Home Basic. Within one month I was so unsatisfied with it, so I rolled back to Windows XP.

This went on until 2 months back, where I was feeling bored up with Windows XP and came back to Windows Vista Home Basic. Required a lot of patience again. Only bug I faced in Windows Vista is the Windows Live Messenger's problem that it crashes when opening activities or games (in my case, Photo Swap, I used it a lot in Windows XP).

Now, Last week I upgraded my RAM by 1 gb. Now it reads as 1,526 mb of RAM usable. This lead to a great improvement. I also upgraded my OS to Windows Vista Business and now I'm loving Windows Vista Business and its candies (Aero + Flip + Flip 3d + Glass effect)

Only issue I'm to resolve is that of Windows Live Messenger.

cya
A

funkydevil · 20th October 2007, 23:47

Hey guys, Have been using vista for 3 months now n have absolutly no probs even though im using it on a compaq nx6110 with minimum specification containing 512 ram. yes startup and shutdown is slow but there is an option of stopping programs which run at startup in order to speed things up a bit. I must say though that although im runnin at min specs. my pc is pretty fast. I cant play games n all but it does all the other functions pretty well n without any probs. As for the probs regarding hard disks it is always better to save all your data in 'D' drive rather than 'C' Drive as if even the smallest thing that goes wrong the first thing that is 'WIPED OUT' is your 'C' drive. Data is always retained in 'D' Drive no matter what :-)

Shan2nu · 21st October 2007, 11:23

Quote:

Because I got my SONY VAIO 8 months back with 512 mb of ram with Windows Vista Home Basic. Within one month I was so unsatisfied with it, so I rolled back to Windows XP.

I planned on doin this as well but i wasn't sure how it would affect the company warranty, since Sony doesn't offer XP on their laptops.

Shan2nu

Thad E Ginathom · 21st October 2007, 16:29

I've just become acquainted with vista, as I'm staying with a friend who has it on a new laptop.

It is a low budget machine, and it has been set up by a the young grand-children! So maybe it's not the best of tests, but...

I find it sluggish, and I find the changes in user interface just contrived to sel us yet another 'new' version of Windows. Some of this was true of XP too, but it has, at least, proved itself in my experience as fairly stable and reliable.

And hey, all the icons on the desktop blank out occasionally and redraw when it is 'thinking' about something --- just like the early versions of windows.

No. I don't like it. There is no way I will ever go for an upgrade, and I will avoid it if and when I ever buy a new machine (not that likely in the next year or two, so something else may be around by then...).

I dislike it to the extent that, next time, I'll go for Linux!

It's true I was never happy with XP either until I'd made it look as much as possible like W2K --- but I do not believe that there is anything in Vista that would make it worth my going through the learning and changing process.

I'm glad I've had the chance to experience somebody else's (rather like children!) as I might have bought an upgrade otherwise.

Vista: not for me thanks!

Absar · 21st October 2007, 17:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

I planned on doin this as well but i wasn't sure how it would affect the company warranty, since Sony doesn't offer XP on their laptops.

Shan2nu

Well once I went back to Windows XP, the warranty became void! But then I had recovery DVDs which I got with my Sony VAIO, so it was easy to recover it back to factory state.

But, finding the Windows XP drivers for the VAIO was a long task!

cya
A

Absar · 21st October 2007, 17:38

Power went off while editing the above post!

Well once I went back to Windows XP, the warranty became void! But then I had recovery DVDs which I got with my Sony VAIO, so it was easy to recover it back to factory state. So its come back under warranty!

But, finding the Windows XP drivers for the VAIO was a long task!

After the upgrade of RAM and Vista Business also, warranty remains intact.

cya
A

Shan2nu · 21st October 2007, 19:21

Quote:

After the upgrade of RAM and Vista Business also, warranty remains intact.

Speed is not a prob for me as the LT came with 2GB ram. It's Vist's incapability of accepting some older softwares is whats killing me.

I can't play ".flv" files on VLC player, i can't install Photoshop 7, we had to sack our old DSL modem and go in for a new one just bcos Vista had issues loading it.

Unless Microsoft offers some sort of upgrade that can make Vista as compatible as XP, im sticking with the older version.

Shan2nu

thefreak · 22nd October 2007, 12:58

@Shan2nu

Uh oh! Is it because VLC etc cannot be installed on Vista?? Are versions that are Vista enabled not yet available?

speed_devil · 22nd October 2007, 20:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

I can't play ".flv" files on VLC player Shan2nu

I installed klcodec pack and now i play all formats including flv on windows media player11.

Shan2nu · 22nd October 2007, 21:15

Quote:

I installed klcodec pack and now i play all formats including flv on windows media player11.

Ok, downloading it now.

Shan2nu

funkydevil · 23rd October 2007, 15:01

hey shan2nu, i play .flv files in vlc player in vista on my pc, have you tried installin the new version of vlc??

Shan2nu · 23rd October 2007, 15:26

Quote:

hey shan2nu, i play .flv files in vlc player in vista on my pc, have you tried installin the new version of vlc??

Downloaded the codec pack. Flv files work on WMP now.

Shan2nu

Thad E Ginathom · 23rd October 2007, 20:51

Windows 98 SP2 saw a reduction in the number of daily crashes.

Windows 2000 introduced a decent TCP/IP module which improved networking and made crashes comparatively rare: a huge improvement in the awful history of MS products.

Win XP brought some largely unwanted changes to the interface, but introduced actual stability (after how many years, Microsoft? And how many upgrades did we have to buy to get there?).

Is there anything good about Vista? I'm prepared to listen if there is...

Akshay1234 · 24th October 2007, 08:58

thad - im not trying to make you like vista or anything but i suggest you try it on a computer with good specs. you had said your trial was on a low budget machine. i think that machine would have had home basic. i suggest you try home premium on a machine with a good graphics card and a good amount of ram.

vista has hung on me once since early march when i got it. also all my hardware and software from xp were compatble with it. it also automatically found all my hardware drivers.

diabloo · 24th October 2007, 09:09

Hey buddy, I was happy with XP and the graphics was good. Now I upgraded to Vista and it tells me I score a pathetic 1.0 off 5.0

. Could you post your Windows Experience Index base score?

Quote:

Originally Posted by akshay1234

thad - im not trying to make you like vista or anything but i suggest you try it on a computer with good specs. you had said your trial was on a low budget machine. i think that machine would have had home basic. i suggest you try home premium on a machine with a good graphics card and a good amount of ram.

vista has hung on me once since early march when i got it. also all my hardware and software from xp were compatble with it. it also automatically found all my hardware drivers.

20th October 2007, 18:36	#76
Absar BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Madras Posts: 560 Thanked: 10 Times View My Garage	I agree Vista requires a lot of patience to use with just 512 mb of RAM (504 mb usable). Because I got my SONY VAIO 8 months back with 512 mb of ram with Windows Vista Home Basic. Within one month I was so unsatisfied with it, so I rolled back to Windows XP. This went on until 2 months back, where I was feeling bored up with Windows XP and came back to Windows Vista Home Basic. Required a lot of patience again. Only bug I faced in Windows Vista is the Windows Live Messenger's problem that it crashes when opening activities or games (in my case, Photo Swap, I used it a lot in Windows XP). Now, Last week I upgraded my RAM by 1 gb. Now it reads as 1,526 mb of RAM usable. This lead to a great improvement. I also upgraded my OS to Windows Vista Business and now I'm loving Windows Vista Business and its candies (Aero + Flip + Flip 3d + Glass effect) Only issue I'm to resolve is that of Windows Live Messenger. cya A
	() Thanks

20th October 2007, 23:47	#77
funkydevil BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Dubai, UAE Posts: 362 Thanked: 102 Times	Hey guys, Have been using vista for 3 months now n have absolutly no probs even though im using it on a compaq nx6110 with minimum specification containing 512 ram. yes startup and shutdown is slow but there is an option of stopping programs which run at startup in order to speed things up a bit. I must say though that although im runnin at min specs. my pc is pretty fast. I cant play games n all but it does all the other functions pretty well n without any probs. As for the probs regarding hard disks it is always better to save all your data in 'D' drive rather than 'C' Drive as if even the smallest thing that goes wrong the first thing that is 'WIPED OUT' is your 'C' drive. Data is always retained in 'D' Drive no matter what :-)
	() Thanks

21st October 2007, 16:29	#79
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 11,004 Thanked: 26,437 Times	I've just become acquainted with vista, as I'm staying with a friend who has it on a new laptop. It is a low budget machine, and it has been set up by a the young grand-children! So maybe it's not the best of tests, but... I find it sluggish, and I find the changes in user interface just contrived to sel us yet another 'new' version of Windows. Some of this was true of XP too, but it has, at least, proved itself in my experience as fairly stable and reliable. And hey, all the icons on the desktop blank out occasionally and redraw when it is 'thinking' about something --- just like the early versions of windows. No. I don't like it. There is no way I will ever go for an upgrade, and I will avoid it if and when I ever buy a new machine (not that likely in the next year or two, so something else may be around by then...). I dislike it to the extent that, next time, I'll go for Linux! It's true I was never happy with XP either until I'd made it look as much as possible like W2K --- but I do not believe that there is anything in Vista that would make it worth my going through the learning and changing process. I'm glad I've had the chance to experience somebody else's (rather like children!) as I might have bought an upgrade otherwise. Vista: not for me thanks!
	() Thanks

21st October 2007, 17:38	#81
Absar BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Madras Posts: 560 Thanked: 10 Times View My Garage	Power went off while editing the above post! Well once I went back to Windows XP, the warranty became void! But then I had recovery DVDs which I got with my Sony VAIO, so it was easy to recover it back to factory state. So its come back under warranty! But, finding the Windows XP drivers for the VAIO was a long task! After the upgrade of RAM and Vista Business also, warranty remains intact. cya A
	() Thanks

22nd October 2007, 12:58	#83
thefreak BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 362 Thanked: 7 Times	@Shan2nu Uh oh! Is it because VLC etc cannot be installed on Vista?? Are versions that are Vista enabled not yet available?
	() Thanks

23rd October 2007, 15:01	#86
funkydevil BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Dubai, UAE Posts: 362 Thanked: 102 Times	hey shan2nu, i play .flv files in vlc player in vista on my pc, have you tried installin the new version of vlc??
	() Thanks

23rd October 2007, 20:51	#88
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 11,004 Thanked: 26,437 Times	Windows 98 SP2 saw a reduction in the number of daily crashes. Windows 2000 introduced a decent TCP/IP module which improved networking and made crashes comparatively rare: a huge improvement in the awful history of MS products. Win XP brought some largely unwanted changes to the interface, but introduced actual stability (after how many years, Microsoft? And how many upgrades did we have to buy to get there?). Is there anything good about Vista? I'm prepared to listen if there is...
	() Thanks

24th October 2007, 08:58	#89
Akshay1234 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 10,265 Thanked: 12,317 Times	thad - im not trying to make you like vista or anything but i suggest you try it on a computer with good specs. you had said your trial was on a low budget machine. i think that machine would have had home basic. i suggest you try home premium on a machine with a good graphics card and a good amount of ram. vista has hung on me once since early march when i got it. also all my hardware and software from xp were compatble with it. it also automatically found all my hardware drivers.
	() Thanks