If that's the case, maybe a technique I use on XP will help. However, I have never used Vista. Go to START > RUN. Under OPEN type in "msconfig" without the parentheses. This should bring up your System Configuration Utility. There should be a tab to the right that says STARTUP. Click on that and you can disable any programs from running in the background that will take up your memory. This helped speed up some of my slower computers. But then again, I'm not even sure Vista has that option.
Yes Vista has this option..and it's one click shorter than in XP..Rather than going to Start - Run just click the start menu and type in msconfig in where it says "Start Search"..and that's it. At first I didn't like Vista but I gotta say, after using it for a bit I like it..alot
Does that help speed things up on Vista like it does on XP? Also, how fast is your computer? I was thinking about getting the Wal-Mart special but I'm not sure if the computer will be fast enough to handle the Vista software.
No, not everyone has tried it yet. You have to own it and attempt to use it to get work done before you can really appreciate how exasperating it can be. While your suggestion is good for all versions of windows including Vista, It does not even put a dent in the major problems in Vista. I have been a PC tech for almost as long as PCs have been around. I have invested significant time in diagnosing the issues in Vista. Unfortunately, the primary offenders are core system files that intermittantly peg the CPU at 100% for anywhere from a few seconds to 20 minutes at a time. The offending files for most part are critical services that cannot be disabled without causing other issues. The security patches have exacerbated the problem. Some folks are attempting to live with the problems by doing a clean install and disabling automatic updates. This is probably fine as long as you never plug in to a network that has been exposed to the internet. I think maybe Vista 2.0 or 3.0 will probably be mature and stable enough to rely on for productivity. My guess is that MS will have start over from scratch which is a really tough business decision since they already have 5 years development to recover from this albatross. I would look for a totally diffferent name as there is already too much ill will associated with "Vista". Many will never try anything again if they even suspect one line line of code from Vista is in the next OS from MS. These comments are from a longtime ealy adopter and I still prefer MS products just not "Vista", even though I'm struggling to type this post on Vista.
weirdly enough, maybe because I am not into changing my whole OS, I have stuck with Vista for about 7 months now. I have nothing against it, and it doesn't die on me although the limitations are plenty. when I first started vista, I had a hard time. definitely very hard to keep up with it. then my best friend became the "search" feature, which is very useful as long as you know what is the name of the programme you are looking for. in comparsion, XP set a very hard standard for MS operating systems. it was basically very easy to switch from win 98/2000 to XP, but switching from XP to vista was like getting married and getting a divorce. my advice is, if you're happy with XP, I don't see the need to switch. good looks isn't everything. good functionality is more important.
after installation vista ultimate, i had read many tweaks and tricks @ tweakvista dot com , and i think am loving more vista then my ex xp pro.
Vista is a just a RAM hog. I have a Pentium D machine running Vista with 4GB of RAM, and it is extremely fast. For desktop chores, like using web browsers, photoshop, SecureCRT, etc.. it's very snappy and I'm pleased with it. Now, when it comes to gaming, Vista lacks bigtime. Perhaps it's my nVidia video drivers, but any time I'm using heavy OpenGL, I get a 'device driver stopped responding blah blah' error, and the game crashes. Yes, I have the most current drivers, and have even tried beta drivers with the same result. Yes, I have a kick ass BFGTech video card capable of heavy OpenGL. Not that I play many games, but I used to enjoy playing an occasional map of Quake4 on breaks.. until I switched to Vista. If Vista is running bad for you, and you know you have enough CPU and Disk I/O bandwidth, try more RAM. 1GB is not anywhere near enough. Minimum is 2GB. I disagree, that title goes to Mac OSX for a desktop O/S, and FreeBSD for a Server O/S. Vista is the best 'Microsoft' Desktop O/S, as long as you don't want to play games..
I play games just fine on Vista. In fact, I am a lot like you in the sense that I enjoy doing that on breaks from working on other projects. Not sure why you have that problem...because I play hardcore games without any hiccups.
OMG these threads are nearly as bad as the PR ones in the Google forum. Stop making them FFS. If you really want to voice your opinion continue a thread instead of making a new one please.
I love Vista as well ... even though it's now full of glitch after trying to install a registry cleaner that wasn't supported and messed everything up. The only other problem I've had with vista is that it wouldn't support my older USB key, or mp3 player ... I'm definitely going to upgrade to Ultimate soon
Is this an easy task? I'm waiting for my new "all singing all dancing state of the art" Dell to be delivered...I really wanted XP but there was no option for this. If it's an easy task I'll just install XP before I install my other stuff BUT....what problems may I face?
canasta, I'd wait and give Vista a try if I were you .... who knows, you may enjoy it Anyway, you know you'll just have to upgrade sometime in the future ...
Khaki, Vista offers a lot more features and customization options ... but they're all optional, and you really don't have to mess with them unless you want to.
I have used Vista and XP, but still prefer XP. Until a SP comes out I never trust an OS from Microsoft. Maybe SP1 for Vista due out soon will change my mind. I recently installed XP on a Dell Inspiron laptop that had Vista and I didn't have too many problems. Just make sure that you get the XP drivers fro your hardware from the Dell support site before installing XP. The disks that came from Dell with the computer weren't very useful in terms of finding the drivers.
I really don't hate Vista but I just feel more comfortable with XP... XP runs faster and I really don't need a change. After Vista SP1, I will definitely give it a try and who knows, maybe after that I never return back to XP...
I like vista, and I've been able to play most games on it without too many problems. Sure, some have problems, and you need to spend a while tweaking, but once you have things working they work very well. I guess it depends on what hardware you're running, and if you can be bothered to tweak to get things to work.