Un-official Unsolicited Vista and Windows 7 Advice Thread

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  • wellmanwellman Registered Users Posts: 961 Major grins
    edited November 28, 2007
    Pupator wrote:
    Weird. I just tried the same thing and it worked fine for me. eek7.gif

    Have you tried disabling remote differential compression as explained in a previous thread?

    Yes, RDC is disabled.headscratch.gif
  • PupatorPupator Registered Users Posts: 2,322 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2007
    Another (great) application endorsement:

    There's nothing I love more than FOSS (free, open source software). It's rare that I'll pay for software and even more rare that I'll pay for software in the utility category. This tells you something about how good the product I'm about to recommend is, consider it's a $40 utility.

    UltraMon is absolutely essential if you use multiple monitors. It let's you have different taskbars on each, set different icons on each, control what programs open on which side, and much much more.

    I'm not affiliated with UltraMon in any way (I wish I was so I could lower the price!) but I highly recommend it. Go try the 30 day trial at least. I'll bet you get hooked!

    (Note that for Vista you need to download the current beta release and not the current "stable" version.)
  • Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2007
    Pupator wrote:
    I mentioned in a previous thread that my notebook (pretty new) wasn't running 32bit Vista as well as I'd hoped. While it runs 64bit really well, I can't use 64 bit because iTunes+iPhone is incompatible with it and my iPhone has all my work contacts and e-mail.

    A few weeks ago I called the HP store and told them I wasn't happy with my purchase because it was too slow, and while I knew I was about 20 days out of the return period, I was a good HP customer and would really appreciate them exchanging it for me. They said no but offered to send my "case" up to a supervisor and I'd be called within 48 hours.

    I never heard back and the Thanksgiving holidays came so I just figured I was stuck with the notebook. Then, the Friday after Thanksgiving I got an e-mail from an HP supervisor asking me to give her a call to discuss my "case."

    I explained it to her, she saw my purchase history (lots of HPs for home and the office) and immediately agreed to do the exchange for me. We went online and built a system with a much better processor, screen and everything else the same (except I had to get a slightly bigger screen). She's having it sent out to me and I don't have to send this one back until it arrives. All at 60+ days past the return period and without any cost to me. How awesome is that?? wings.gif
    Great! Now can you please ask them to stop making printers that suck? deal.gif I'll never, ever buy another HP product of any kind because of the terribleness of the last 2 printers I've gotten from them. The first one was a medium on their consumer level scale and this one is on the high end of their consumer level. Both suck the life right out of me. :splat
    Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

    http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2007
    Mike Lane wrote:
    Great! Now can you please ask them to stop making printers that suck? deal.gif I'll never, ever buy another HP product of any kind because of the terribleness of the last 2 printers I've gotten from them. The first one was a medium on their consumer level scale and this one is on the high end of their consumer level. Both suck the life right out of me. :splat
    It's such a shame that HP went south in regards to quality. They were the first company to install the print heads on the cartridge vs the printer itself. So when you swapped out the ink, you got a new print head as well!
    I'm on my 3rd HP printer and it will be my last as well.

    -Jon
  • HarlanBearHarlanBear Registered Users Posts: 290 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2007
    SloYerRoll wrote:
    It's such a shame that HP went south in regards to quality. They were the first company to install the print heads on the cartridge vs the printer itself. So when you swapped out the ink, you got a new print head as well!
    I'm on my 3rd HP printer and it will be my last as well.

    -Jon

    Interesting. I have a 5 year old HP deskjet printer I use pretty much only for your typical text printing - almost no photo printing at all. I just got a new HP computer with Vista and was worried about compatibility. HP said Vista already had the driver in it and it should be plug-and-play. And by Gawd it was. Never had any problems with it and not looking to replace it. Plus I walk the print cartridges two blocks to a Walgreen and have them refill it for about $10. Have done this the last three times I needed black and works like a charm.

    But their tech service is nothing to brag about, in my experience.
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2007
    Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate
    *see disclaimer at bottom

    Please do this research yourself so you can feel 100% comfortable with this.
    Microsoft has (for many reasons) has endorsed a marketing campaign called the ultimate steal to promote Office Ultimate 2007. This program is only valid for enrolled students that have a valid student email address (ending in .edu) and a .5 credit load. *You don't have to have a student email, but you do have to prove enrollment. Having a student email only helps keep the entire process automated.

    Here is a link to the web page offering the promotion.

    Here is a link to the Microsoft.com KB validating the legitimacy of this offer.

    You can also download a trial version of this program here. (this trial is not part of this program. This is just so you can try it out before you purchase it) *this is also for MSO professional. The deal I'm talking about is for Ultimate (the whole shebang)

    Please make sure you read the terms. There is no bait and switch, but MS will most likely validate your enrollment and you will be liable for the full price if you can't prove eligibility.

    If you have any questions regarding the terms. Feel free to ask me. I have spent ALLOT of time making sure this was legitimate.

    -Jon
    *this is only intended to share this deal. No intentions to cause any problems in this forum.
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2007
    HarlanBear wrote:
    Interesting. I have a 5 year old HP deskjet printer I use pretty much only for your typical text printing - almost no photo printing at all. I just got a new HP computer with Vista and was worried about compatibility. HP said Vista already had the driver in it and it should be plug-and-play. And by Gawd it was. Never had any problems with it and not looking to replace it. Plus I walk the print cartridges two blocks to a Walgreen and have them refill it for about $10. Have done this the last three times I needed black and works like a charm.

    But their tech service is nothing to brag about, in my experience.
    I'm not talking about the driver support. I'm talking about the sub standard components and overall cheap feel of their products.

    BTW:Their tech support really does bite.
  • HarlanBearHarlanBear Registered Users Posts: 290 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2007
    SloYerRoll wrote:
    I'm not talking about the driver support. I'm talking about the sub standard components and overall cheap feel of their products.

    BTW:Their tech support really does bite.

    I'm not talking about "driver support" either. New computer works great, old computer worked great (I just out grew it after 5 years), previous laptop worked great, current printer works great and has for 5 years. Not sure what components your talking about but; had both Intel and AMD procssors, CD/DVD burners work like a charm (new computer has LightScribe, which is very cool), never had a failed disk or disk problems, connections all work as advertised, GeForce video card works right, no loose connections or flopping doors. Guess my experience is just different from yours.

    As for tech and customer service is concerned, I've had experince, work and home (I'm in TV production, so you can imagine), with many tech companies and all of them are somewhat sub-par since things moved offshore, in my experience.

    YMMV
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 6, 2007
    HarlanBear wrote:
    I'm not talking about "driver support" either
    Ahh I see where we aren't on the same page. I was posting in regards to Mike Lane's comment about printers.
    I don't have any experience w/ the desktops.

    Just a mix up in posts.

    Cheers,
    -Jon
  • PupatorPupator Registered Users Posts: 2,322 Major grins
    edited December 6, 2007
    I switched from HP to Canon printers long ago and haven't looked back. In addition to the higher quality printer (IMO), the individual ink tanks have probably saved me some $ along the way.
  • HarlanBearHarlanBear Registered Users Posts: 290 Major grins
    edited December 6, 2007
    SloYerRoll wrote:
    Ahh I see where we aren't on the same page. I was posting in regards to Mike Lane's comment about printers.
    I don't have any experience w/ the desktops.

    Just a mix up in posts.

    Cheers,
    -Jon

    Oh. Never mind. :D

    As far as printers go, like I said, I only have an HP for simple document printing. I don't see photo printing as their area. Canons and Epsons seem to have the better products for that kind of work. But since I really only do fine art printing and that on a limited basis at this time, it's hard to justify buying a good photo printer. Working like heck to try and justify buying a Nikon D300. But that is for another forum.
  • Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
    edited December 7, 2007
    HarlanBear wrote:
    Oh. Never mind. :D

    As far as printers go, like I said, I only have an HP for simple document printing. I don't see photo printing as their area. Canons and Epsons seem to have the better products for that kind of work. But since I really only do fine art printing and that on a limited basis at this time, it's hard to justify buying a good photo printer. Working like heck to try and justify buying a Nikon D300. But that is for another forum.
    Oh if I could just get it to work well even for simple document printing. Every print job is a hassle. I can ultimately get it to work but not without checking the print cartridges most times, I have to occasionally reboot the printer, Vista made it so the thing won't ever print double sided any more, there are 2 trays and I can't for the life of me figure out why when it only pulls from one and then tells you that you're out of paper when there is tons in the other tray (and yes all the options I can find that should affect that are set properly), etc. The thing is just a nightmare for any kind of printing.

    It's the HP Officejet 7410 all-in-one if anyone cares.
    Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

    http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
  • ChrisJChrisJ Registered Users Posts: 2,164 Major grins
    edited December 7, 2007
    Mike Lane wrote:
    It's the HP Officejet 7410 all-in-one if anyone cares.

    We have a 7410 at work, but I bought it more for the copying/faxing/scanning ability than its printing. I guess I'm glad of that! For the most part, it's been fairly reliable. The annoying "But" is that the automatic paper feeder doesn't work well at all.

    I've never had any cartridge issues, and am still staying far away from Vista!
    Chris
  • HarlanBearHarlanBear Registered Users Posts: 290 Major grins
    edited December 7, 2007
    Mike Lane wrote:
    Oh if I could just get it to work well even for simple document printing. Every print job is a hassle. I can ultimately get it to work but not without checking the print cartridges most times, I have to occasionally reboot the printer, Vista made it so the thing won't ever print double sided any more, there are 2 trays and I can't for the life of me figure out why when it only pulls from one and then tells you that you're out of paper when there is tons in the other tray (and yes all the options I can find that should affect that are set properly), etc. The thing is just a nightmare for any kind of printing.

    It's the HP Officejet 7410 all-in-one if anyone cares.

    Mike - these may be silly questions, but have you checked for updates? Drivers? And what OS are you using? If it's Vista, my understanding was that you may have to download an update for the printer. I didn't have to do this for my old 5550 laserjet and don't know the 7410, but worth a try.
  • Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
    edited December 7, 2007
    HarlanBear wrote:
    Mike - these may be silly questions, but have you checked for updates? Drivers? And what OS are you using? If it's Vista, my understanding was that you may have to download an update for the printer. I didn't have to do this for my old 5550 laserjet and don't know the 7410, but worth a try.
    Yeah, sadly I've done everything I can think of doing. I've gone to all the HP pages I can find and updated drivers and done their Vista updates without much luck. Frankly, even if it were working after all that, I'd be a little frustrated that I had to go to all those lengths in the first place. But it isn't working right, so I'm really frustrated. And my money is walking next time.

    Fool me twice.
    Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

    http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 12, 2007
    Switching over to 64bit
    When I was visiting friends and family up in Seattle, I had a chance to run to the Microsoft store w/ a friend. WOW! it is amazing how cheap that stuff is at the source! I'd lived in Seattle for a few years but never made it into that store.

    So my questions are this.

    I have multiple internal drives on my machine. Do I need to worry about data being wiped off the 'extra' drives? I know I need to run a data b/u just so it will be easier to get up and running.

    Are there any major benefits to x64 vs. x86?

    Come to think of it. Why in the world would they name 32bit x86 and 64bit x64?

    Cheers,
    -Jon
  • PupatorPupator Registered Users Posts: 2,322 Major grins
    edited December 12, 2007
    SloYerRoll wrote:
    So my questions are this.

    I have multiple internal drives on my machine. Do I need to worry about data being wiped off the 'extra' drives? I know I need to run a data b/u just so it will be easier to get up and running.

    Are there any major benefits to x64 vs. x86?

    Come to think of it. Why in the world would they name 32bit x86 and 64bit x64?

    Cheers,
    -Jon

    x86 processors are tied back to Intels 8086 CPU and they have binary compatability with the (32bit) instruction set from the original (16 bit) processor. Clear as mud?

    No, no need to worry about the installation of Vista overwriting your other drives - so long as you select the correct drive in the installation process. Of course, to be safe, you could always do as I do and just disconnect the power from those extra drives before the install.

    Whether or not there's real value in x64 just depends on your circumstances. Drivers can be harder to find for some devices (I found them for everything of mine except my iPhone and my document scanner. On an Intel processor, I haven't noticed much difference in performance between x64 and x86. On the laptop I had with the AMD processor the difference was huge.

    x86 OSs can recognize about 3.5 GB of RAM, x64 breaks that barrier.

    Some software is not compatible (or not fully compatible at least) with x64. iTunes, for example, is not fully compatible. Programs that work their way into the shell (for right click options, such as gVim or 7Zip) can also have trouble.

    For now, I'd stick with x86; though I have a x64 version running on one of my (5) machines and it's doing just fine. [edit] Not wanting to overlook the obvious - you do have a 64bit processor, right?
  • RhuarcRhuarc Registered Users Posts: 1,464 Major grins
    edited December 12, 2007
    SloYerRoll wrote:
    When I was visiting friends and family up in Seattle, I had a chance to run to the Microsoft store w/ a friend. WOW! it is amazing how cheap that stuff is at the source! I'd lived in Seattle for a few years but never made it into that store.

    So my questions are this.

    I have multiple internal drives on my machine. Do I need to worry about data being wiped off the 'extra' drives? I know I need to run a data b/u just so it will be easier to get up and running.

    Are there any major benefits to x64 vs. x86?

    Come to think of it. Why in the world would they name 32bit x86 and 64bit x64?

    Cheers,
    -Jon

    My only guess would be because the 32-bit processors are based on the x86 architecture, while the 64-bit are different enough that they can't be called x86? So instead of coming up with something new they just called it x64?

    I don't know though ne_nau.gif

    One question, how many people run with x64, and what benefits does it give you?
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 12, 2007
    Pupator wrote:
    you do have a 64bit processor, right?
    uhhhhheadscratch.gif YUPmwink.gif

    Thanks guys. Sounds like I'll just let the 64bit version grace my software case till a later date. Everything works flawlessly so far (knock on wood) w/ Vista 32bit and my machine. While I'd like to utilize the extra RAM I have. The 3.581GB I'm utilizing now is more than adequate. My video card begs for more work and even when I have multiple 50MB+ files open in PS. I'm only running around 75-80% RAM capacity.

    At least I know my machine is fully scalable for later upgrades.

    Cheers,
    -Jon
  • PupatorPupator Registered Users Posts: 2,322 Major grins
    edited December 12, 2007
    SloYerRoll wrote:
    At least I know my machine is fully scalable for later upgrades.

    Cheers,
    -Jon


    Indeed. I think that a year from now, when the 64 bit software really takes off and the drivers are abundant, you'll really be in good shape.
  • HarlanBearHarlanBear Registered Users Posts: 290 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    Okay, now I'm starting to feel it was a mistake to get a machine with Vista. I wanted a faster, bigger computer and was concerned about Vista, and all was well for a few weeks. But now I'm learning why I was concerned. This is on an HP 6230 machine, which I like as far as spped, etc. goes. Here's my problems and I hope someone here can help:

    1. Still have this problem from an earlier post here:
    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, and it used to com out of that fine. Except in the last few days it is reverting even after coming out of sleep mode. Very big pain, since I'm starting to have to recalibrate every time I want to work on the computer. I've talked to HP (no help) and Microsoft (who wanted to charge me $59 for the service support with no assurances they could help). I can't believe this is not a simple fix. I saw where Greg Wellman talks about going to Profile Chooser, but nnot sure what that is and where.

    2. I removed Sidebar from my desktop, but now when the computer comes out of Sleep mode and the monitor profile changes, as noted above, the sidebar comes back. It's empty, but still an annoyance.

    I'm getting to where I may want to just go back to XP, where I had no problems, but that seems like it might be a problem as well.

    HELP:help
  • wellmanwellman Registered Users Posts: 961 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    HarlanBear wrote:
    Okay, now I'm starting to feel it was a mistake to get a machine with Vista. I wanted a faster, bigger computer and was concerned about Vista, and all was well for a few weeks. But now I'm learning why I was concerned. This is on an HP 6230 machine, which I like as far as spped, etc. goes. Here's my problems and I hope someone here can help:

    1. Still have this problem from an earlier post here:
    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, and it used to com out of that fine. Except in the last few days it is reverting even after coming out of sleep mode. Very big pain, since I'm starting to have to recalibrate every time I want to work on the computer. I've talked to HP (no help) and Microsoft (who wanted to charge me $59 for the service support with no assurances they could help). I can't believe this is not a simple fix. I saw where Greg Wellman talks about going to Profile Chooser, but nnot sure what that is and where.

    2. I removed Sidebar from my desktop, but now when the computer comes out of Sleep mode and the monitor profile changes, as noted above, the sidebar comes back. It's empty, but still an annoyance.

    I'm getting to where I may want to just go back to XP, where I had no problems, but that seems like it might be a problem as well.

    HELP:help

    My Vista experience (as compared to XP) has been pretty disappointing as well. I've scoured the internets looking for a fix to the re-profiling issue, but haven't found anything.

    To re-run Profile Chooser, look in your Start Menu under Datavision or Colorvision or whatever brand the Spyder line was called when you purchased it. I copied that shortcut to my desktop, and I just run it every time I come out of sleep or locked mode.

    Hope this helps.
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,893 moderator
    edited December 14, 2007
    HarlanBear wrote:
    I saw where Greg Wellman talks about going to Profile Chooser, but nnot sure what that is and where.
    :help

    Hey Mick,

    In XP, Control Panel->Display->Settings->Advanced->Color Management gives you a list of profiles and lets you choose the default. Don't know whether this is the same in Vista. FWIW.

    Cheers,
  • wellmanwellman Registered Users Posts: 961 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    rsinmadrid wrote:
    Hey Mick,

    In XP, Control Panel->Display->Settings->Advanced->Color Management gives you a list of profiles and lets you choose the default. Don't know whether this is the same in Vista. FWIW.

    Cheers,

    I believe he's referring to the Profile Chooser app installed as part of the Spyder software. On a good (read XP) machine, this gets run on startup to apply the monitor calibration profile. With Vista, you end up having to run it every time the machine goes to sleep or is locked.
    -Greg
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    This is not intended as a gloat.

    I'm sure happy I'm one of the ppl that aren't having any issues w/ Vista. Sounds like there are more issues than not. If I were having issues like this. I'd switch back to XP. There are plenty of resources that give XP an Aero look if that's what your after. There are some great security features on Vista that make sure your data stays safe. Even if your machine or HD is stolen.. That's one of the big selling points for me.
  • PupatorPupator Registered Users Posts: 2,322 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    Vista forgets profiles when woken up from sleep. It's a known bug and is addressed in a series of patches that (at least at this point) will be included in SP1. It's frustrating, yes, but if you make a shortcut as Wellman suggests it's just an annoyance, nothing to be too distressed over.

    If you're never going to use the sidebar, just remove it from ever starting up (as opposed to always sleeping in the tray). That should fix it.
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,893 moderator
    edited December 14, 2007
    Pupator wrote:
    Vista forgets profiles when woken up from sleep.

    But when it forgets, what does it default to?
  • HarlanBearHarlanBear Registered Users Posts: 290 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    wellman wrote:
    To re-run Profile Chooser, look in your Start Menu under Datavision or Colorvision or whatever brand the Spyder line was called when you purchased it. I copied that shortcut to my desktop, and I just run it every time I come out of sleep or locked mode.

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks Greg.
    I'm not at the home computer at the moment, so will have to look-see when I get home, but I'm looking in ColorVision for a file / exe called "Profile Chooser" is that right? I have the Spyder start-up as a shortcut on the desktop, but that is for the whole callibration system. This Profile Chooser will simply run the load up command again? Like when you boot up the computer? If so, seems like a reasonable work-around.
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    Pupator wrote:
    Vista forgets profiles when woken up from sleep.
    I've seen sleep issues all ove rthe place on Vista, from this to resetting wireless IP configs. I bet SP1 is gonna chocked full of sleep fix issues.

    BTW Pupator, you got all those images, right?
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2007
    Speaking of SP1.
    Any press releases as to when SP1 is scheduled to release?
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