Vista - is it worth it??

***Yeshi*** · 28-09-2007

Hello,

I moved over to vista on sunday last.

First impressions where quite good.

But ive already come to find things i cant get it to do..

Motherboard - Cant update the bios umm.. the flash utility that is used on xp doesnt work.. (Failed to load driver). Ok not a big problem because there is also an option to use Dos.. HA but this also doesnt work. (cant get into dos to execute the command.

Reasons for updating the bios is compatibility of the sata HDD the Maxtor 6L300S0 300gb Sata150 drive wont let the pc boot. there is a fix on the asrock website but imposible to load it.

Secondly - it seems no matter how much power your pc has, there is a lag. it seems to delay programs opening . especially if maximising a minmised window..

Im going to bump the memory from 1gb to 4gb Dual Core to see if this solves it.

for the bios im going to try this later on..

Windows Vista Bootable USB Key. You'll need a key with a minimum of 256MB to make this happen.

Download and install the Windows Automated Installation Kit.
If the key is not already formatted FAT32, then do so.
Copy everything in the "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\x86" directory (except for the "EFI" folder, ESPECIALLY if you only have a 256MB key) to the root of the key. This is IMPORTANT. "bootmgr" must be in the root, and "boot" muse be a 1st level folder.
Open an Administrative command prompt, navigate to the USB key, and run "bootsect /nt60 X:", where X is the letter of the USB key. This will initialize the Vista boot loader on the USB key.
Create a folder on the USB key for the 32-bit Windows-based flash utility, and copy all the BIOS files to it.
Make sure there is at least 64MB of free space left on the key. If there is not, redo steps 2-5 on a bigger key.
Reboot your computer to the BIOS settings menu and adjust the settings so you can boot to the USB key.
Reboot again, and select the USB key as your boot device.
After several minutes, you'll be presented with the Aurora background and a command prompt. Drive X is the WinPE environment. Your USB key will be the next in line after your hard drives and DVD, respectively. Navigate to the Windows flashing executable, and run it.

If you have a bigger key, you can add other utilities to it, as long as they are stand-alone apps. I'm still working on an easy tutorial for installing a full-fledged copy of Vista to a microdrive. More on that later.

**Analoguesat** · 28-09-2007

I have heard some very bad things about driver compatibility in Vista. Peripherals that work quite happily on XP just wont work in Vista.

Have you found anything similar yet Yeshi?

***JTA*** · 28-09-2007

got a new laptop 6 months ago, pre-installed with Vista (of course). All microsoft applications seemded to work quite happily, none of the other did. Firewall, virus scanner, video editing, dvd players, audio editing, even something simple as the ACDSEE picture viewer couldn't be installed !
There was also a problem with the (Vista) drivers of the sound card which generated errors while launching Vista, and the new Vista Mail refuses to connect itself to any hotmail account, seems to be an anti-spam countermeasure so you can say by-ebye to your hotmail account - no thanks !
Ans with about everything you did, warning messages were displayed that needed to be confirmed again and again. And I couldn't get Vista to talk with the other XP computers in my network. I found myself spending my time by trying to find solutions to problems I never asked for in the first place, so after a few days I started downloading XP drivers for all of my hardware and bye bye Vista !

**dig deep** · 28-09-2007

I think that we have only 1 choice here mates

Either Vista or Linux

I´m running Vista since 6 month back and I am getting used to it

Problem with driver is hard to cope with but all the security problems are easy to avoid, just turn it off

My Vista works fine with all my XP (3) and the dreambox so I think it´s OK. All NEW OS have some problems in the start. New drivers are coming every day so U just keep on looking.
ACDc is running OK after an upgrade

So, get used or get Linux

**Analoguesat** · 28-09-2007

Nah - I'll stick to XP until all the early adopters work the bugs out

***JTA*** · 28-09-2007

Yeah, I also got hold of some upgrades to make my software compatible with Vista, but for most of the "major" applications I used this also meant an upgrade to a newer version, which wasn't free. I wasn't willing to upgrade all of my applications so the decision to fall back to XP was quickly made.
Haven't regretted it one second since - all my software is working flawlessly again.

**rolfw** · 28-09-2007

I am more than happy with XP as my operating system and will not change until absolutely forced to.

I have a huge amount of applications installed which I know to be flakey with Vista and they all work near flawlessly on XP, why change?

***Yeshi*** · 28-09-2007

Umm.. all my programs i use work with vista.. i did however have a driver problem with the soundcard.. i just clicked update driver in system properties. it was taking ages to find the driver so i went away come back and the sound was working. it even installed the software which runs the soundcard which was a bonus.

The only problem i have is the above.. really winding me up.. i think tommoro im going to dual boot with xp update the bios and rid the xp partition..

***2cvbloke*** · 28-09-2007

To update your Asrock board's BIOS:

1. Download the Win98SE bootdisk image here_http://bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
2. Assuming you have it, copy the DOS Flash utility and BIOS Rom to the floppy drive.
3. Follow the instructions on how to flash the BIOS (usually just type flash.exe /? to get the wildcard info, flash being the Util. exe name)
4. Leave it to do it's job and wait until it says "Restart your computer"
5. Switch on and Pray....

**rolfw** · 29-09-2007

Originally Posted by Yeshi

Umm.. all my programs i use work with vista.. i did however have a driver problem with the soundcard.. i just clicked update driver in system properties. it was taking ages to find the driver so i went away come back and the sound was working. it even installed the software which runs the soundcard which was a bonus.

The only problem i have is the above.. really winding me up.. i think tommoro im going to dual boot with xp update the bios and rid the xp partition..

You probably haven't got as many little programs installed as I have Yeshi, I have loads of different ones for my photography, audio manipulation files and other small programs for various other things.

When I upgraded from 98se to XP, there were obvious advantages in upgrading, but I have yet to hear of one single advantage of an upgrade to Vista and a lot of disadvantages, driver problems and the built in DRM being a couple of them.

***Yeshi*** · 29-09-2007

Originally Posted by 2cvbloke

To update your Asrock board's BIOS:

1. Download the Win98SE bootdisk image here_http://bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
2. Assuming you have it, copy the DOS Flash utility and BIOS Rom to the floppy drive.
3. Follow the instructions on how to flash the BIOS (usually just type flash.exe /? to get the wildcard info, flash being the Util. exe name)
4. Leave it to do it's job and wait until it says "Restart your computer"
5. Switch on and Pray....

cheers fella will give that a go

***2cvbloke*** · 29-09-2007

Originally Posted by Yeshi

cheers fella will give that a go

No probs, I do it pretty often myself on ASrock boards, so it's almost 2nd nature to me...

***Yeshi*** · 29-09-2007

lol just been sorting my backup hard drive out and look whats popping up on the favorites?

***2cvbloke*** · 29-09-2007

Pervert...

***Yeshi*** · 29-09-2007

im not on about that im on about rofls avatar shows up on my pc as an icon :|

**Analoguesat** · 29-09-2007

Thats beause the flying pigs are the favicon for hte site as well

***2cvbloke*** · 29-09-2007

Originally Posted by Yeshi

im not on about that im on about rofls avatar shows up on my pc as an icon :|

I know, I just noticed the Porn though....

**Analoguesat** · 30-09-2007

have to admit that was the first thing i noticed too, which says something important about us 2cv!

***Yeshi*** · 30-09-2007

Well i'm quite happy at the moment, last night i downloaded 10GB of video and music files.. Obvoisly i can because im on a 20MB connection. but the hole computer acted diferent which im totally happy about.

For some reason when i Downloaded/Uploaded on xp the computer would go on a go slow which would result in a reboot..

But on vista whilst downloading the computer was very much useable great.. this morning turned the monitor on.. and its still as fast as itwould be if it was just turned on

.

Another great thing this morning.. installed new graphics card yesterday and this morning auto driver update

**Salty25** · 30-09-2007

Originally Posted by Analoguesat

Nah - I'll stick to XP until all the early adopters work the bugs out

Me too, Vista has been released far too early, barely any of the computers on the market, let alone in our homes, can cope with it.

There seems very little point to me in jumping head first into the world of Vista when XP does the job quite well for the foreseeable future.

I'm not going to waste £700+ on something that half-works.

***2cvbloke*** · 30-09-2007

Originally Posted by Yeshi

For some reason when i Downloaded/Uploaded on xp the computer would go on a go slow which would result in a reboot..

Mine does that but only when it is transferring the downloaded file to one of my 4 partitions which I've selected...

***Yeshi*** · 30-09-2007

Originally Posted by Salty25

Vista has been released far too early, barely any of the computers on the market, let alone in our homes, can cope with it.

My computer copes with it. For some reason the general public think if they buy a computer from pcworld that the machines gonna last for years and years to come. even without updating the OS systems get slower. Due to updated drivers.. Processor intensive programs with more features etc..

The fact i updated wasnt because i wanted to join a clan it was because i accepted myself that the pc needed upgrading and thought well i already had vista i might aswell throw it on..

***2cvbloke*** · 30-09-2007

I'm not too keen on Vista at the moment as I recently had to install software onto it and it was a pain!!! basically, this is what it was like:

Are you sure you want to run this program?
Yes

This program wants to alter files, is this ok?
Yes!!!

This program has changed some important files, are you sure it's ok?
FFS YES!!!!

This program is trying to start, is it ok?
GRRR!!!! YES you POS operating system!!!!

This program is starting these processes, is it ok?
F*** this!!! you do it!!! (talking to someone else in the room)

So you can see, the security setup in Vista basically p155es people like me off because we know what we're doing and it appears that it does not...

***Yeshi*** · 30-09-2007

Originally Posted by 2cvbloke

I'm not too keen on Vista at the moment as I recently had to install software onto it and it was a pain!!! basically, this is what it was like:

Are you sure you want to run this program?
Yes

This program wants to alter files, is this ok?
Yes!!!

This program has changed some important files, are you sure it's ok?
FFS YES!!!!

This program is trying to start, is it ok?
GRRR!!!! YES you POS operating system!!!!

This program is starting these processes, is it ok?
F*** this!!! you do it!!! (talking to someone else in the room)

So you can see, the security setup in Vista basically p155es people like me off because we know what we're doing and it appears that it does not...

I agree with that comment but least i dont get this message everytime i turn my pc on

***2cvbloke*** · 30-09-2007

Originally Posted by Yeshi

I agree with that comment but least i dont get this message everytime i turn my pc on

Very true, I like the "SomeProgram has performed an illegal action and will be shut down" from 95/98 though, it scared the 5h1t out of a lot of (dim) people!!!

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Vista - is it worth it?? All of us accessing this forum are using a computer, if you've got a problem, have or need information, then post here.

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