Un-official Unsolicited Vista and Windows 7 Advice Thread
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Registered Users Posts: 2,322 Major grins
I noticed the long-running very-helpful Mac Advice thread in this forum and thought perhaps a similar thread on Vista could be useful. Now I realize that M$ is "the evil one" around here and that the mantra is "get a mac," but still - some of us have yet to see the light and choose to remain on the dark side. :crazy I know.
I've also noticed that there is a lot of misinformation about Vista commonly stated on these and other forums and it can be helpful to ask Vista users those questions rather than OSX users.
For my part - I know a fair amount about Vista. I [edit:reconsidered in light of NDA] tested it for a while and I currently use it on 2 laptops and 3 desktops in very different environments with different requirements. In addition to my IT responsibilities in my workplace, I also run a small business that does IT consulting, etc. for other small businesses. I understand that different working environments have different needs and no OS (not Vista, not OSX, not XP) is the best for all people in all places at all times.
Still, there's a bunch I don't know about Vista, but I'm guessing that in a great place like dgrin there are a lot of closet Vista users who will have the answers to any questions posed by any of you.
So ask away! We're all here to help one another.
In that spirit I'll start off with a few (easy and widely-known) tips:
I've also noticed that there is a lot of misinformation about Vista commonly stated on these and other forums and it can be helpful to ask Vista users those questions rather than OSX users.
For my part - I know a fair amount about Vista. I [edit:reconsidered in light of NDA] tested it for a while and I currently use it on 2 laptops and 3 desktops in very different environments with different requirements. In addition to my IT responsibilities in my workplace, I also run a small business that does IT consulting, etc. for other small businesses. I understand that different working environments have different needs and no OS (not Vista, not OSX, not XP) is the best for all people in all places at all times.
Still, there's a bunch I don't know about Vista, but I'm guessing that in a great place like dgrin there are a lot of closet Vista users who will have the answers to any questions posed by any of you.
So ask away! We're all here to help one another.
In that spirit I'll start off with a few (easy and widely-known) tips:
- Use the "windows" key! Man is it helpful!
- Win+tab = 3D application switcher view
- Win+'e' = Opens windows explorer
- Win+'r' = Opens "run" command
- Win+'u" = Opens "Ease of Access Center" (Screen magnifier, text to speech, etc.)
- Win+'d' = minimize everything and show the desktop
- Win+'f' = opens "find"
- Win+'g' = Opens Windows Sidebar
- Win+'l' = Locks the system (thanks Rhuarc!)
- Win+'x' = Opens "Windows Mobility Center" (great for notebooks!)
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One key to avoiding computing misery and heartbreak can be summed up in three words: backup, backup, and backup. (For proof, see: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=73825)
There is one app out there that I think all Windows users should have installed, configured, and running daily: SyncBack. There is a 100% free version which I have installed on all my computers. With it you can set up automatic backups with all kinds of options (include and exclude sub-folders, file types, etc). You can backup to local drives or networked drives.
My backup routine looks like this:
Backup all image and document folders via syncback nightly at 2:00am to a network drive on my main computer (all 5 family computers back up to this drive).
Backup the "backup drive" to an external hard disk daily at 5:00am.
Backup the external drive to my hosted web space. Forget paying for special "online backup" sites - just get webspace. I pay $7/month for Bluehost web hosting. That gets me 300 GB worth of hosting space that I can access via HTTP or FTP. WHAT A DEAL!!!
This way I have 3 copies of my important stuff at my house (on three different hard drives), and one copy on Bluehost's servers. Total cost? About $250 up front for the huge hard drives (500GB SATA and 500GB USB External) and $7/month for Bluehost. Knowing my stuff is as safe as can be? Priceless.
Total brain damage? None. With SyncBack all the backups are done without any input from me.
And thanks for inserting some sanity in this ...
I have used both PCs and Macs for years and, quite frankly, have never really seen the big difference; especially in my world of video and TV production. So I've stayed on PCs since I never have been able to justify paying 3 - 4 times as much money to do the same job. But that's just me. Many like that cool apple logo.
You and I communicated a while back on my concerns about Vista (or any 1.0 version of anything), and I recently went ahead and pulled the trigger on a new PC with Vista, mostly because my slow, 1GB Ram machine was driving me crazy and the pricing on the PCs were justifiable. Computer is an HP a6230n with an AMD Athlon 62 x2 5600+ processor, 3GB RAM and added another 160 GB HD to use as PSCS3 scratch disk, though it doesn't seem to need it with that much RAM. And other than a few hick-ups, I have to say I'm very happy with Vista so far, especially for a new OS. But it does have a few quirks as well:
1. My monitor profile, calibrated using Spyder 2 Express and set as default, does not always load up on first booting the computer. It will finally load if rebooted, but is inconsistent. I usually “close” the computer at night using Sleep mode, so this isn’t a big deal. But comes up when new programs are introduced and need to reboot.
2. In PSCS3, I sometimes lose the Brush boundaries and end up with a cross-hair only. This can even happen when using the Brush, but seems to happen sometimes when I switch tools and then come back to a Brush. Again, rebooting clears this up.
3. Not really a photo / imaging thing but ... I seem to be unable to get Norton to run a scan when the computer is in Sleep mode. I realize that the Task Scheduler has an area to tell it to wake up the computer to run this, but it hasn't worked and when I return to Task Scheduler, the check-box for waking up is no longer checked. Not the worse thing in the world, but would like to run this in the middle of the night when the computer is in Sleep mode.
But here’s the good news that has always kept me in PCs (for personal, anyway): I ran the Photoshop Benchmark Tests that are in Dgrin here, and my $650.00 PC has pretty much the same scores as the iMacs and Macbook Pros costing 3+ times as much. Of course, I don’t have iLife, I do spend $35.00 a year for Norton and no one likes the logo on my computer. But now I can afford that new Nikon D300 and twice as many pixels as my current D70.
Thanks for any input on the problems I mentioned.
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Glad to hear it's working out well for you!
I wish I had something to offer on your problems, but:
1) I don't calibrate my monitor,
2) I don't use PSCS3, but it sounds like something Adobe needs to fix more than MS.
3) DUMP NORTON!
My benchmark tests have always been impressive as well (on desktops, not notebooks because I buy ones with cheaper processors and graphics cards). My Intel computer screams and I'm loving it!
Re: iLife. I have iTunes (and I think it stinks, though it's much, much better than WMP!). Vista's photo management is good enough for me (not that I use it) when compared to iPhoto. Windows Movie Maker (Vista version, not XP version) is also fine for me. Garage band...well, there's just no PC comparison that I've ever found, but I can live without it.
You don't? You should (this is probably the only chance I'll have to advise you
You don't? You should (oops). This I will also report or check with Adobe.
This I will check out for sure. I've never had many problems with Norton, but, hey, $35 is $35. Thanks for the tip. Do you know if Avast will run okay coming out of sleep mode? Or is it a problem I'm having with the set-up?
Yea, we have iTunes as well, for my wife's iPod. Being in Northern California, it's the law - at least one iPod per household or they take away your Starbucks card.
Thanks again, and good to hear from you.
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I'm glad we have this thread here now...I just got a laptop with Vista. It's taken some getting used to, but I've liked it so far. Haven't found too many bug issues yet.
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Correct! Good find and I'll update the post!
Is it just my experience, or does iTunes run like complete junk on Vista? Scrolling through the library is a crawling, stuttery mess.
Other than that, I've been using Lightroom with no problems. Running LR on 1gb of ram is doable, but not painless. @gb is much, much better. Good thing that ram is nearly free these days.
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We've had no problems or issues with iTunes on the new Vista machine. Though we did download the newest version, which, for some reason, I was unable to do on the old XP machine. Upon download (Version 7?) it linked just fine to the music library I transferred from the XP machine and we had tunes. Sync with my wife's iPod was also fine. Do you have the latest version of iTunes?
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I agree completely about RAM. 2GB is the magic number for Vista. 1GB is okay for my media pc (because it doesn't do anything except stream media and small amounts of surfing), but 2GB makes Vista cook!
Gallery of mine...caution, it's under CONSTANT construction! | Photo Journal
In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose
The "default programs" box you're checking doesn't do what you think it does. It is not related to the programs that appear on the left side of your start menu (the most frequently used + pinned), it relates to the link it adds on the right side of the start menu called "default programs" where you set which extensions are opened by which programs.
To do what you want, right click on each application in the start menu that you DON'T want to appear and then left click on "Remove from this list." Rinse and repeat for each item you don't want and soon that list will be populated by the items you do want.
Gallery of mine...caution, it's under CONSTANT construction! | Photo Journal
In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose
Try opening and closing your favorite programs 4-5 times each and see if you can bump them off the list.
What programs are we talking about anyway? Media Center, File and Settings Transfer, etc....?
Also, try (in the settings menu you were in before) changing the number of programs displayed to 0 or 1. Then reboot and change it back to 5-6 (or whatever).
Also, what happens if you set that number at 7-8 and then just "pin" your 7-8 favorite programs there. Do they go away too?
I got my new Dell with Vista home premium in march and have been pleased overall. As far as organizing photos,making slideshow DVD's Ilike it, I don't have photoshop but use Paint Shop Pro XI and works for my needs so far.
Thanks for the tips.:D
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
You're welcome. I'm a big PSP advocate as well. I've been using it since version 4 and am now on X2. (I was happy with XI, but with coupons was able to upgrade to X2 for $30, so I figured "Why not?," ya know?)
Don't forget to offer your Vista tips and tricks as well!
Typical Winders user, have to copy everything that Mac does
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Yep. Copy and improve!
Unfortunatly I don't have any tips or tricks because I'm a newbie.
I'm 50 yrs old and bought my first computer this year I pretty much had to because I replaced my 35mm camera with a DSLR last year.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
I run 3 monitors and sometimes it takes 5+ seconds to display the UAC prompt, during which my screens are totally black and the PC is unresponsive. There has to be a better way to handle that prompt than to take a screenshot to use as the background. It just gets too slow with lots of screen.
Not to mention that the UAC box pops up 2 or 3 times during an application install. I've already authenticated this. Bug off. Install and let me do something else.
I enjoyed using vista for a while...until I started doing work on it. Now its like using one of those 3rd world/no child left behind computers.
I can't wait till my Mac Pro gets here.
I agree! I've really enjoyed using it so far. I know it does take up more resources, but the way I see it if you have a computer that can process RAW photos at a decent clip it can probably run Vista ok! As far as teh whole Mac vs Windows thing goes, I tried out Mac, but I just couldn't get into it. It just seemed to spartan for my customizing madness! Not to mention the games. Yeah, gaming on Mac leaves a lot to be desired!
Great learning opportunity here. Some people are frustrated by the User Account Control prompts (Allow or Deny popup when you perform a function that requires administrator access.) If you are generally computer saavy you'll survive just fine without UAC. Make sure you realize, however, that once you've turned it off, Windows will no longer warn you when you are performing administrator activities (like installing or uninstalling programs). So make sure if you turn it off that you pay attention in making sure that nothing gets installed while you're surfing online that you aren't aware of!
To turn it off:
I hope we can keep the "Get a Mac" posts to a minimum at least in this thread. Andy and I were poking fun at one another, as indicated by the smilies.
Good advice. One good way to handle administrative privileges is to create a separate administrator user account. Many operating systems come pre-configured with an admin account, but I don't know whether Vista does. The admin account has all the confirmations turned off. You login as admin when you need to do configuration changes, but use a normal account the rest of the time. That will protect you from nasty stuff out on the Web as well as accidental damage that you can do after one too many glasses of Chardonnay. All professional computer systems are managed this way.
This is sort of what MS intended with the User Account Control. Instead of issuing a "sudo," you click a box. Switching accounts would be one option, but they figured (I assume) that it would be more annoying to do that than to click a box from time to time. So when you try to do something that requires administrator priviledges, a box pops up to tell you that they're required and to allow or deny the action. This is most noticable (the only time I've turned it off) when you're installing or uninstalling a long list of programs because it will come up twice for each install or uninstall (first to allow the execution of the installer/uninstaller; second to make sure you know what is being installed).
My smiley was there wrt my mac comment
It doesn't surprise me. Microsoft has never been known for elegant design. They aren't too bad at evolving things till they work, though, so maybe they'll get it to work smoothly eventually.
Except the outrageous pricing.
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