Basic Windows Vista Troubleshooting
Guide
Source:
5 Star Support
06.24.07
Troubleshooting a Vista computer system that is
having problems can be a difficult task due to
the endless software and hardware configuration
possibilities on a machine. However, I've put
together a basic guide for Vista users that may
lend a helping hand in finding out where the
trouble lies and how to fix it.
<>System Restore:
If you do not know where to start and you don't
have a clue as to why you're having trouble with
Vista, then I recommend using System Restore to
take your system files back to a time when you
were not having any trouble. To use System
Restore, follow the instructions below:
Go to Start>> All Programs>> Accessories>>
System Tools>> System Restore
Click Next
Select "Choose a different restore point"
Click Next
Select a date and time that you would like to
restore to.
Click Next to begin the process
In the confirmation prompt, select Yes.
Once system restore has completed the process,
your computer will restart.
<>Identify a Hardware Problem:
In this section I will show you how you can
identify a hardware problem. [More]
[Top]
Microsoft fixes Windows Mobile and
Vista synch problem
Source:
dabcc.com
6.13.07
Days of difficulty finally seem to be over for
users of Windows Mobile devices trying to synch
with PCs running Windows Vista. Microsoft has
launched Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 and
claims the newly released software supports
better file synching between Windows Mobile
devices and computers running Windows Vista.
The Mobile Device Center was intended to replace
ActiveSync, the software that let’s PC users
synch files such as calendar items and transfer
content like music between PCs and Windows
Mobile devices. However, users of the early
versions of Mobile Device Center have reported
that the software failed to synch files and that
they lost some of their recent updates.
[Top]
The Downsides of 64-bit Windows Vista
Driver and application support
Source:
dabcc.com
05.30.07
Microsoft delivers Windows Vista in both 32-bit
and 64-bit flavors. While a system configuration
with a x64 processor certainly recommends one of
the 64-bit editions of Windows Vista, these
versions of the operating system do come with
downsides that customers need to be aware of.
Being essentially identical to 32-bit Windows
Vista, the 64-bit editions will deliver support
for 32-bit applications without any problems.
This aspect is one of the pillars of the
transition to 64-bit. Users are encouraged to
adopt the next wave in computing technology
while still being able to enjoy the same
programs they used to on their 32-bit system.
However, 64-bit Vista does not offer support for
16-bit applications or components. Old solutions
designed for platforms that preceded 32-bit will
not function on x64 Vista.
[Top]
USB and wireless network display
technology for Windows Vista
Source:
rfdesign.com
05.23.07
DisplayLink Corp. has announced support for the
Windows Aero 3-D interface in Windows Vista for
its family of network display semiconductors,
making it one of the first companies to enable
USB 2.0 and WiMedia wireless display connections
for Windows Vista.
The company will demonstrated this technology at
WinHEC 2007 on DisplayLink-enabled products,
including USB displays, notebook docking
stations and display adapters from Samsung,
Toshiba, Kensington, IODATA and Sunix.
DisplayLink’s solution is built for
“plug-and-play” simplicity enabling notebook
docking stations and multimonitor computing for
all PC users. The technology enables the 3-D
capabilities of the Windows Aero interface on
multiple screens for an unparalleled user
experience on USB-connected displays. Up to six
displays can be added to a computer over a
single USB connector when using the Windows
Vista Basic color scheme interface.
[Top]
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Spotted,
But Will It Ship?
Source:
dabcc.com
05.22.07
The word is out, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is
out there and you might just see if before you
ever thought you would. The guys at GIZMODO.com
wrote an interesting article stating this and
more.
"That service pack we're all waiting for,
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), might soon
be shipping. Or not. In January, Microsoft said
the update, code-named "Fiji," would be shipping
in the second half of 2007, which is rapidly
approaching. Now some quick-witted photogs
snagged a snapshot of a machine running a build
of Vista SP1 at the Windows Hardware Engineering
Conference (WinHEC) in LA last week.
[Top]
The Windows XP Start Menu
Source:
ComputerBasicsandBeyond.com
05.21.07
When new Windows users fire up their computer
for the first time, the first thing that they
dive in to is the Start Menu. Right off the bat,
they are shown a variety of things that they can
do. A kind of window of opportunity.
In an effort to make the Start Menu
smart and user friendly, the folks over at
Microsoft set in place an area where the users
frequently used programs could reside. This area
incorporates 6 links (highlighted in blue to the
left). All of the programs in this area are
ranked according to how much you use them. They
actually are given "points". So, if you use a
program very frequently, more so than any other,
it will be placed at the top of the 6 allocated
programs. As you start to use this program less
and less it will start to fall off and be
over-taken by another that you use more.
[Top]
AOL Previews New Social Mail Gadget
for Windows Vista
Source:
WebWire.com
05.18.07
Dulles, VA .– AOL today launched a preview of
its Windows Vista-ready gadget created using
Microsoft Silverlight technology. The “AOL
Social Mail Gadget,” first introduced at MIX ‘07
and now available at http://dev.aol.com/mail,
offers users one-click access to email, the AIM
service, photos and video directly from the
Windows Vista desktop.
AOL Mail users with Windows Vista will be able
to download, use and customize the Gadget to
meet their personal preferences. Designed to
keep people in touch with their individual
A-List – the people they communicate with the
most and want to respond to as soon as possible
– the AOL Social Mail Gadget automatically scans
through a user’s inbox to identify the five
people they communicate with most frequently.
Users have the option of adding or removing
someone from the list or changing the list
during the day, and can email or instant message
anyone on the list with one click.
[Top]
Microsoft Asks for More Device
Drivers for Vista
Source:
PCMag.com
05.17.07
Microsoft issued a call to hardware
manufacturers to continue supplying device
drivers for its latest operating system Windows
Vista.
Assigned the job of talking about Vista a few
months after it shipped to customers, Mike Nash,
the corporate vice president of Windows Product
Management, instead tried to fill one of the
holes that the OS lacks: device drivers.
The other, when the company would release the
first Service Pack for Vista, wasn't addressed.
When a consumer installs any new operating
system, the software generally polls the
attached devices, and attempts to match them to
its list of drivers. For Windows 2000, only 350
devices were installed in the box; for Windows
XP, 10,000 drivers shipped with the operating
system. With Vista, 20,000 drivers came bundled
with the operating system. Windows Update, the
stopgap method if a driver isn't found, included
2,000 additional drivers at Windows XP's launch,
and 13,000 drivers at the launch of Vista, Nash
said.
[Top]
Is Windows Vista's Aero Interface a
Battery Hog?
Microsoft acknowledges that the new
operating
system's fancy graphics use more power.
Source:
PCWorld.com
05.16.07
Microsoft Corp. responded Monday to discussion
of Windows Vista's over-hearty battery appetite
by acknowledging that the new operating system's
fancy graphics use more power. But it downplayed
the impact of the UI's power needs.
Recent stories on Web news sites, in newspaper
technology columns and in popular blogs moved
Microsoft to react with a posting of its own.
Nick White, a program manager with the Vista
team and the usual author of the group's
official blog, owned up to Vista's power needs
with one breath, then dismissed it the next.
"The Aero theme drives the GPU [graphics
processing unit] harder and therefore uses more
power," said White. "But in the big picture,
it's really not that much more."
[Top]
Adobe To Release PostScript Driver
For Windows Vista -- Finally
Adobe has taken some heat from users for
what they claim
is its lukewarm support for Windows Vista.
Source:
InformationWeek.com
05.14.07
Adobe Systems on Monday said it plans to release
a Windows Vista-compatible driver for printers
that use its PostScript page description
language in July -- a full six months after
Microsoft's new operating system was released
for general sale.
PCs running Windows Vista can currently print
documents on PostScript-enabled printers using a
default driver that ships with Vista. But the
default driver isn't capable of enabling
advanced printing effects like transparencies
and gradients, Adobe said.
[Top]
SanDisk, Microsoft to develop advanced
memory cards
Source:
Vista.Blorge.com
05.13.07
SanDisk has joined forces with Microsoft to
deliver a next-generation software and hardware
platform, which will allow application programs
stored on USB flash drives and flash memory
cards to be easily accessed on Windows XP and
Windows Vista based computers.
SanDisk will develop the hardware for the new
platform, which will include “TrustedFlash”
technology, while Microsoft will develop the
software.
This move will expand or replace SanDisk’s
existing U3 Smart Technology, which allows users
to transfer personal Windows applications,
including Web browsers, e-mail programs,
multimedia apps and productivity tools onto
flash drives, without leaving behind information
on the computer they plugged the drive into.
[Top]
Perform a Clean Installation of
Windows Vista
Source:
5 Star
Support
<>Introduction:
05.12.07
Performing a Clean Installation of Windows Vista
is the preferred installation method. The
alternate method available is an "Upgrade"
installation. I do not recommend upgrading. Too
many things can go wrong with an upgrade and I
have seen this many many times with all Windows
operating systems. A Clean Installation gives
your system fresh file paths that usually
amounts to a much faster and reliable
installation. [More]
[Top]
NVIDIA GeForce 7200 GS: cheap Vista
graphics
Source:
Tech.co.uk
05.11.07
Fancy the full Aero Glass 3D experience in
Windows Vista without forking out for a high end
graphics card? Then Nvidia 's new budget video
board, the GeForce 7200 GS , could be for you.
It's based on the same chip already seen in
NVIDIA's existing Geforce 7300 and 7500 video
chipsets. Crucially, the 7200 GS delivers full
hardware support for DirectX 9 and Shader Model
3. And that means you can enjoy all of Windows
Vista's showbiz moves including transparencies,
live previews and 3D window rendering.
[Top]
Vista E-Mail Client Replaced by Live
Hotmail
Source:
Redmondmag.com
05.09.07
Windows Vista's mail client is obsolete after
just a few months of life as a commercial
product.
In its announcement Monday of the launch of
Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft stated that in
the next few weeks it would be releasing a new
"e-mail client available via download that will
be a successor to Outlook Express and Windows
Mail on Windows Vista." Vista officially
launched last Jan. 30.
Live Hotmail, the successor to Hotmail, took two
years of work, and was rebuilt from the ground
up, according to Microsoft. More than 20 million
beta testers helped Microsoft craft it, and more
than a million pieces of feedback were taken,
according to a Windows Live blog.
[Top]
Update on Palm Desktop Vista
Compatibility
Source:
PalmInfocenter.com
05.08.07
The original article is a short release of
information regarding the known compatibility
issues with the Palm Desktop. Palm is working to
release a beta version of the HotSync Manager
software. To find out more information, click
the "Source" link above.
[Top]
The best laptops & desktops
How to buy a Windows Vista PC
Source:
ConsumerReports.org
05.07.07
If you’re buying a computer, it will most likely
come with Windows Vista, the latest version of
Microsoft’s operating system. To find out how
Vista compares with its predecessor, Windows XP,
we tested 17 laptops and desktops.
Overall, we found Vista an improvement over XP,
but it has a few rough edges. We liked its new
user interface and some of its new features but
found its performance about the same as XP’s,
for the most part. If you’re shopping for a new
computer, here’s what you need to know before
buying a Vista-based model.
(If you’re in the market for a new Mac, see
details on OS X Leopard, the new Apple operating
system that was scheduled for release this
spring.)
[Top]
Windows XP to Vista conversion guide
Source:
PC Authority
05.04.07
When it comes to upgrading your operating
system, many of us think we are better off with
the devil we know. A majority may stick with
Windows XP for the interim because we are used
to it. The truth is that Windows Vista has tons
of potential, and this only comes into focus
when you compare it directly to working with the
‘old faithful’, Windows XP. Let’s go through
some old and new settings, in Windows XP and
Windows Vista.
Death to the UAC!
One of Vista’s most annoying features is the
‘Big Brother’ approach taken by the User Account
Control (UAC) system. If you install software,
edit files, explore CDs or do anything that
might change your PC’s configuration, the UAC
steps in like the fun police, prompting you with
endless authorization menus. Fortunately, you
can turn the UAC off.
[Top]
Many
Windows VISTA Benefits Available For Free
Consumer Reports Lists Free Features
Source:
Channel3000
05.03.07
MADISON, Wis. -- Microsoft is promoting its new
operating system as a revolution for the PC, but
Windows VISTA doesn't have to be consumers' only
option. Consumer Reports experts said that there
are ways to get many VISTA features for free.
Upgrading to Windows VISTA can cost about
several hundred dollars. But experts said if
people know what to look for, they can get some
VISTA perks without dealing with the cost.
"You can actually pick up a lot of the VISTA
technologies and add them to your XP computer
for free," said Donna Tapellini, a computer
expert at Consumer Reports.
One example is VISTA's sidebar, where users can
put a clock, weather reports, stock quotes and
other handy information. One option is for users
to download a free program called Google
Desktop.
VISTA also promises better security with pop-up
blockers, a phishing filter and a Windows
defender to protect against Spyware. But experts
said people can simply go to Microsoft's Web
site and download Internet Explorer 7 for free,
which includes the same features.
[Top]
Vista's Compatibility Challenge
Adobe, IBM, and Symantec are among
the software vendors still struggling with the
complexities of making their apps work with
Microsoft's new operating system.
Source:
InformationWeek
04.30.07
When Steve Ballmer unveiled the consumer version
of Windows Vista in January, he boasted that the
highly touted operating system was compatible
out of the gate with hundreds of applications
from major independent software vendors. What
the Microsoft CEO didn't mention is that
products from Adobe Systems, IBM, Symantec, and
a number of other high-profile developers didn't
make the list of Vista-friendly applications
that Microsoft says are either fully certified
for Windows Vista or will at least run
relatively trouble-free on the new OS.
There's still a lot of certifying to do
Despite the omissions, Microsoft officials
maintain that the number of apps certified for
Vista is about what would be expected for a
product that has been on the market for nearly
three months.
"Our ecosystem includes hundreds of thousands of
applications," says Dave Wascha, Microsoft's
director of Windows client partner marketing.
"We're way ahead of where we were with Windows
XP at the same time."
[Top]
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