Topic: Windows Vista

[Carol]

I am on to moan so just ignore me.  I have a new laptop with off course Windows Vista on it.  and from Day 1 I hate hate the new puter.   I think its a touch pad problem mind you.   When I want to leave  i.e.  this page and put my arrow over the red X  it takes at least 3 gos  to leave.  When I move my arrow pointer to go up or down a page the whole page I am looking at zooms in, zooms out.  We have tried to alter the speed of the touch pad/mouse.  It don't work.  I was wondering if this is a software problem.  Anyone else got a new puter with Vista?   Oh. and the latest fault is  I used to be able to print anything I want onto OHs printer.  It has stopped working.  He has tried releasing the Firewall to see if its that but why oh why is there no end of probs.   I need to print out Posters and now I have to send the Poster through to OH as an e mail attachment to get the work done.   OK Moan over.....

[oggiesnr]

Starting point is have youenough RAM to run VISTA?  A lot of laptops are bing sold with insufficient RAM for the purpose,  therefore check the spec.  As far as the printer is concerned it could be a driver problem, go online and download the latest drivers for the printer.  Talking of downloads, have you downloaded all the patches for VISTA, if not do so.

All the best

Steve

[Larkshall]

You could of course, get him to set up a network and pass the poster file over a network cable (or wireless), which is faster than emailing it.

[Larkshall]

but why oh why is there no end of probs.

I've seen so many people having problems with Vista that I decided that if i had to learn a new operating system I might as well migrate to Linux (Ubuntu v7.04). It wasn't as difficult as I thought. It's nice not to have those silly Windows error reports coming up.

Mark Shuttleworth (a South African millionaire) founded the Ubuntu Foundation with very large donation to support Ubuntu and make it free to the user. I can recommend the book "Unbuntu for Non Geeks" (Amazon £15.83). It includes a CD with Ubuntu v7.04 on it. You can install it on as many machines as you wish and even copy it to give to your friends.

[woppa30]

As a computer geek with several versions of linux on different machines its pleasing to see someone who doesn't mind leaning a new operating system :-)
Good luck. When it gets tricky remember that there is lots of free, freidnly help out there and your computer is a lot safer on the net than any windows machine.

[Hot_Potato]

Reading this topic has put me in a total panic! (not unsual when it comes to anything to do with the computer)...........I've had my laptop almost 7 years and have enjoyed using it for pleasure (except the times when it's nearly driven me nuts when things have gone wrong, hair tearingly wrong and wanting to 'throw it out the window' wrong!)

Have been toying with the idea of getting myself a new one (but have been worried about the Vista programme which I know will be on it and have heard that so many have problems with it)....I honestly know next to nothing about computers (but am a touch typist and enjoy using the keyboard in spite of 17 of the letters having disappeared/worn away) and always have to get help in sorting out even simple problems.

In my naivity, I just thought that buying a new one & starting from scratch again, would be the easiest way to resolve some 'ongoing and persistent' problems I have with this present one (even the 'so called experts' haven't solved things for me) but most of all, give me memory (which does in fact, cause some of my problems)

After reading these messages, am now more confused than ever, I honestly don't know where to start - believe I'd need to get a 'memory stick' or something like that to transfer everything over (but all the problems would then come over to the new one with it, surely??)...that's not what I want....want everything to be pristine new and perfect :-[

I keep getting the feeling that maybe, I shouldn't really be using one but couldn't bear not to have the wonderful contact I have daily with many 'friends' I've made (& some, even met) since joining one or two groups (including this one) and being able to 'search and learn' about so many things, it's just wonderful.

Oh ???   whatever should I do?

[kt.]

We bought a new laptop 3 months ago with Windows Vista. Yes we had heard about some problems, but as XP etc is no longer on new PCs we opted for vista.

It has been fine for our requirements. OH is always doing Book Keeping  on it, works well with SAGE, no internet problems and we have installed MS Office 2007. A few teething problems but that was just getting to know the new system. All work fine with no problems on anything we have used so far.

[Lesley Jay]

The laptop that I bought last year has Windows XP on it. After 6 months the fan broke so it was sent away to be repaired and I bought a new laptop. My new laptop has Windows Vista on it and I have had dreadful internet connection problems which I blamed on my server.

Now the display on the 'new' laptop has broke and that is being repaired so I got my Windows XP laptop out of the box to use that and there has been no connection problems at all.

So were my connection problems caused by Vista?

[timiano]

So were my connection problems caused by Vista?

Quite likely a misconfiguration 'in' Vista, or hardware setting.

All work fine with no problems on anything we have used so far.

Is usually the case.

Oh ???   whatever should I do?

Get a new laptop with Vista on. There'll be a learning curve at first, but it is not all that steep. It 'is' the most secure version of Windows, and has numerous built in things to stop nasties getting on, getting in, and taking over your computer. More often than not, problems are hardware related, but it's all too easy to blame Vista. No, it's not perfect, then no operation system is.

I need to print out Posters and now I have to send the Poster through to OH as an e mail attachment to get the work done.

In the 'Network and Sharing Center' have a look to see if 'Network Discovery' is turned on. If it is, click 'View Computers and Devices' under 'Tasks' on the left. It should find OH's computer, and have folder called printers. Also, it is quite likely to be your network location setting. Under the connection in 'Network and Sharing Center', is will say if the connection is 'private' or 'public'. If set to public, then network discovery is limited. To change to 'private', click 'customize', and select 'Pulic' in the next window and OK it. The little shield by the location type means that the action requires administrative interaction, so you'll probably have to reconfirm the action due to a feature call 'User Account Control'. You should be good to go then.

If nothing has changed OH's side (ie it is still shared the same), then you should be able to add it as a printer, and print. If you don't see OH's computer, it means it is having trouble discovering it, which is likely a misconfiguration of the network settings.

To check the network configuration settings, in the 'Network and Sharing Center' under your network connection in the main window, there should be a link to 'View Status', click on that. Then, click on the button 'Details...'. You will see a property called 'IPv4 IP Address', make a note of it, as well as the one below 'IPv4 Subnet Mask'. Go to OH's machine, go to 'Start > Control Panel > Network Connections'. Right click and select 'Status' on the network connection. Click on the 'Support' tab at the top of the new window. Make a note of 'IP Address' and 'Subnet Mask'.

Essentially, the IP addresses that you have noted should be similar. Common addresses are 10.0.1.x or 192.168.1.x. Basically, the first 3 numbers should match up. Also, the mask should be the same, usually 255.255.255.0.

[Lesley Jay]

So were my connection problems caused by Vista?

Quite likely a misconfiguration 'in' Vista, or hardware setting.

So when I get my laptop back is there anything I can do about it?

[timiano]

So when I get my laptop back is there anything I can do about it?

Run Windows Update for a start. Have a look on your manufactures website for updates too, for hardware etc.

Are you running wireless? Or, is it fixed connection?

[Lesley Jay]

It's a wireless connection so I have been blaming a combination of wi-fi and server. It was strange because some days the only way the laptop would connect was if I went online with the desk top PC at the same time.

All the Windows updates are up to date and so are the manufacturers. I make sure I don't miss any although I will run a check when the laptop comes back incase I've missed any while it has been away.

I wonder if I should buy a new wi-fi modem?

[timiano]

One thing I'd make sure that is checked is that 'Connect automatically when this network is in range is selected' also. It can be found in 'Network and Sharing Center', click 'Connect to Network' in 'tasks' on the left, right click your connection and choose properties, and finally select the 'connection' tab. Tick box should be there to make sure it automatically connects when it drops a connection.

[Carol]

Thanks for your advice everyone.  Timiano,  OH has just read your post and looked again at the settings.  Without having to change anything the printer started working.  Verrryr strange.   
Hot Potato.   I am not really blaming Windows Vista,  I think I am just moaning about my computer.  I am getting on OK with Windows Mail and the internet connection is OK.  Its just the increasing/decreasing page which must be the Touch Pad.  I did have problems with My Pictures but again OH tweeked something and now have it working.  I received pics on disc yesterday and my puter wouldnt allow me to look at them.  Again, OH spent several minutes doing someat and eventually they turned up on ZoomBrowser.  Its just all them little things that frustrate you.  I don't know what I would do if my OH wasnt puter literate.  Although I have a good idea......... it would end up at the other end of the garden. 

[Lesley Jay]

Timiano, thanks for all your help and advice. I will check the connection setting as soon as I get my laptop back.

Carol I am sorry for hi-jacking your thread!!

[ipt8]

May I suggest one option if you want a new computer is to find a friendly small computer shop who will talk to you. If they are prepared to talk and listen you are half way there.
You may at the moment still be able to buy a computer with the XP operating system and a good shop should be able to do this for you. Ask the shop for help transfering files or whatever.
Also ask them to show you how to back up your files and the best way to do it nowadays. It may cost a little more, and a good shop may take a little finding, but have you seen the queues at PC World with people returning things and asking for help.
I am a firm believer in asking for what you want, and you can always ask elsewhere if the first shop cannot help.

[Larkshall]

I recently purchased an Acer Aspire 5101 laptop from PC World (refurbished), AMD Turion 64 at 2Ghz, 1GB DDR2 memory, 80 GB HDD, with Windows XP for £349.99.

[jmassane]

I too would recommend ubuntu, very easy to use, it costs nothing, and will free you from virus and spyware troubles (it doesn't have any).

You can download it here:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

[Barnowl]

If you buy corporately from Dell you can still specify XP, but they don't seem to offer the same option for home computers  ???

[glow777]

Its just the increasing/decreasing page which must be the Touch Pad. 

I would check out the software for the manufacturer of the laptop. I administer about 12 vista laptops from different manufacturers and only two have this "feature" - I believe this is something added by the hardware provider not vista. Not all problems are microsofts. Have a look in Add/remove programs and features or whatever its called now and see if there are any extra programs such as Glidepoint (a truly awfull piece of software that does what you are experiencing) or XXX touchpad drivers.

Out of interest what make/model is the laptop