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General discussion

Does Vista have any SERIOUS problems?

Jan 31, 2007 1:37AM PST

does vista have any big problems, like crashes in widely used programs or anything like that? I am thinking about getting it installed when buying a comp. Everyone that says dont do it doesnt really have a good excuse. Just that it runs the same or a little slower then xp, and that some of the features they dont like. And problems with the actual install or grievances with the upgrades.

I am talking about the OS itself, when it is up and running fine. What problems are people having, are there alot of crashes or sound issues anything like that? I just havent found many actually big problems in my research of this product. Just grievances and people with past experiences with old windows OS's. Neither of which matter to me.
thanks guys

Discussion is locked

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Vista
Feb 9, 2007 5:36AM PST

It is a good idea you get Vista on a NEW computer. All of your drivers will be compatible. Now some of your old software may not install correctly. There are work arounds to install them as an ADMINISTRATOR under the XP version. Otherwise you may just also want to upgrade your software.

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Vista User
Feb 16, 2007 9:13AM PST

I have been running Vista for 17 days now, so I have a little experience. I did not upgrade and would not recommend anyone do so. If you have XP, and your computer is running fine, then stick with XP. I have had only one serious problem with Vista. Microsoft Picture It Pro 7.0 will not function properly in Vista. You would think Microsoft would have tanken care of that. Anyone have a solution please post it here. Everything that was in XP is in Vista and more. Run is there if you look for it. It can be installed on the start menu. You can turn off the constant confirmation pop-ups from User Account Control. But do so at your own risk. I find the confirmation pop-ups to not be a nuisnace. I did not give Vista a password, so all I do is click Allow. No password required. This is no big deal, and could keep you from making a mistake. You can make Control Panel look like Windows 98. You can search for almost anything of Vista and find it with ease. Search, is the biggest plus in Vista. It works! Help & Support is superior to XP in almost every way. Defrag is automatic in Vista. Disk Cleanup is the same as XP. Are things different in Vista? Of course they are. After 17 days, I am getting familiar with where things are and it is becoming second nature. In a few more weeks, it will seem natural. Don't like change then don't get Vista. Is Vista worth paying for an Upgrade. IMO, the answer is NO. Is it better than XP? IMO, the answer is, yes.

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Opinion
Feb 16, 2007 4:36PM PST

I like it better than Windows M. But it is a bit of a hassel at first. You might have to hack some of your own programs to get them to function properly but once you get them all back it runs pretty nice. But it's not anything special, it looks nice and has bit better networking and the bilt in server in the Ultimate edition is kind of nice but so far I still feel stupid for spending 200 bucks on it.

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question for dieselguy07
Feb 17, 2007 3:38AM PST

Are you the same dieselguy07 from Arizona? From some of your answers, I think I know you.

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My Opinions
Feb 18, 2007 7:35PM PST

Hello,

If you are reasonably experienced and knowledgeable about computers, Vista will be a nice upgrade. Especially if you have a nice, new computer, it will definitely be worthwhile.

However, as with any new OS, if you are not in to tweaking your system and playing with many settings, do not upgrade yet. In order to have features to work the way they did in XP, you may need to browse through lots of options and fiddle around. I have had several problems with finding some of my old ways (like getting all folders to default to "List" view), but after searching and tweaking I am pleasantly impressed and pleased with Vista.

You do need to realize that MS has re-done a lot of the privileges and Windows services, and so there may be software compatibilities. I would suggest searching the Net for your hardware/software that you would like to use and see if it is compatibile before you purchase a new PC.

As for my own personal experience: all of the programs that I use work with Vista. However, most of my programs are the newest versions and so I cannot say the same will happen for you. The biggest problem that I have with Vista is that my Windows Mobile 5.0 device does not always work/sync properly, and has become a hassle even though I think I have figured it out.

As for other posts: if you do not like UAC (the pop-up dialog boxes), you always have the option of turning it off. I do a lot of tweaking and installing on my computer, and I consider myself to be an advanced Windows user, but I have not really had any problems with UAC yet. I even found one time where something tried to install which I did not want to install Grin

Also, I was very quick to install XP when it first came out, and I had a lot of compatibility problems with that as well. With every new OS comes these problems, so expect it!


Hope that helps.

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oops..
Feb 18, 2007 7:36PM PST

Bah, I meant "soft INcompatibilities", my bad.

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emachine T5082 and vista
Feb 21, 2007 11:20AM PST

I am having serious problems.
Bough this new 1/31/07.
Brand new machine, all pre-installed software.
Vista freezes ALL the time, networking LAN problems, dial up problems.
emachine support said to remove Mcafee because it is not compatible with vista. Took three re-boots to remove it.
Still having problems, re-installed from the recover portion of the drive, Microsoft mail doesn't connect to ISP mail service in auto.
ATI software errors pop up once an hour.
.
Cannot tell yet if the machine or the software is broken.
If I was a not a masochist, I'd have taken the POS back to the store.

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Vista non-compatible software
Feb 26, 2007 6:20AM PST

In case you missed it Information Week disclosed taht Microsoft Vista is not compatible with softw are from a few manufactures including IBM, Adobe and Apple. thsi is in addition to McAfee and most other virus software. Seems Microsoft only wants their versions of software on the machine.

I purchased a brand new eMachines with Vista for my dad and two weeks into a frozen machine, a Gateway tech finally admitted that most of the pre-installed software from is not compatible and this includes AT&T DSL service standard installation.

Microsoft's new solution is Vista certified licensing which is now appearing on monitors, mice, keyboards, printers...., etc. If they can not make money by selling the software to the masses then they'll make it on licensing of compatible equipment and software.

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emachine T5082 and Vista
Mar 2, 2007 1:26AM PST

The incompatibility of Vista with the otehr preloaded software is causing the freezing. After discussions with a Gateway tech, they admitted that Vista was loaded onto existing hardware builds that included multiple software partners whose software is not compatible with Vista. This includes McAfee, Adobe and as announced early this week I-tunes and most IBM software.

Gateway tech talked us through a complete strip of all preloaded software and virus protection in order to get the machine operational.

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RE: Emachine T5082 and Vista
Mar 2, 2007 7:13PM PST

Simply put, the serious problems began with your choice to buy an EMachine. Users who seek to save money by purchasing bargain basement systems preloaded with trial and proprietary versions of crap they will most likely never use (at least before the expiry date on a lot of the programs) get what they pay for both by quality standards and by the headaches that unavoidably come with them.

Best bet: if you can return the whole shot, do so. Look at building a system to your own specifications. Unless you can afford to build somewhat high-end you aren't going to get the full benefits of what Vista offers. If it's a matter of financial limitations, build a bit lower and roll back to XP. If you can afford something with Vista's specifications, do so, get a *full* version of Vista separately (not this OEM picked-to-death preinstall crap that Emachine preloaded for you), load it and go searching for the vendor's drivers for any hardware you are experiencing issues with. If you build component-by-component, each piece of relevant hardware will come with it's own driver install disc.

Vista doesn't have problems. People are still too naive to realize that their year-old copy of whatever program, or driver for a piece of hardware that worked with XP 18 months ago isn't going to transition over as smoothly as it did during an upgrade they may have done from XP Home to Pro, or what have you. It takes patience and some knowledge about compatibility. Most likely, Emachine, wanting to be "cutting edge", loaded its version of Vista, then a bunch of outdated drivers for the hardware components, boxed it all up and sold it to you. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way, and the errors and issues you are seeing are the result of that.

H41N

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Hardware is not the issue
Mar 2, 2007 10:37PM PST

The attack on eMachines is unwarranted, especially considering that Dell has announced that a number of their hardware configurations are not available with Vista...why....incompatibility with software licenses they have contractual obligations to place on hardware.

How could any responsible software developer in today's on-demand society decide that Adobe PDF formats are not acceptable or not desired by Vista users. If Microsoft wants to create a new document format, build a better mouse trap, don't block the category leader.

Vista will adjust (service packs) over time as sales continue to lag behind projections and additional pressure is put on Office by Novell and other Open Source projects for the majority of business users.

The release of Vista at this time was an irresponsible business decision based upon need for press related to Microsoft who continues to lose share of the browser market to Firefox and corporate resistance upgrading hardware to be able to run Vista.

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Quality
Mar 5, 2007 2:21PM PST

It's far from unwarranted. Sadly, when novice users choose bargain over quality and rely on bargain basement companies such as eMachine, Dell and HP to bundle low end hardware and expect it to run the newest OS for them and furthermore run it *well*, they get what they pay for. The `contractual obligation' portion says it all: the preloaded bundle of no-better-than-shareware crap that these companies clog up the OS with is their first concern, the customer their second. They can all afford to sell a pc, lcd monitor & printer bundle for $500 including tax because of the huge profit they make loading crippled OEM versions of normal decent applications onto their systems.

I have worked for both Dell *and* Hewlett-Packard. Every Thanksgiving, like clockwork, HP rolled out a bundle through Wal-Mart that support techs came to dread as the date approached. The 2 weeks following Thanksgiving rivalled only after-Christmas week for call volume due to their latest bundle failing at every possible turn. Dell not so much, but HP takes a version of Windows, picks it apart and preloads it onto systems comprised of substandard hardware. The combination of the two simply does not work. You can open up an HP Pavilion and literally see the solder points on the motherboard where components were removed in an effort to make the system "affordable". PC manufacturers point their focus on affordability; unfortunately in this case the OS manufacturer does not. This clash always has and always will result in bad news for the consumer.

Here on the other hand *is* an unwarranted and unsubstantiated claim: Vista works fine with Adobe. I am running Vista and Adobe side-by-side for weeks with nary a problem. Why? Maybe because it's a full-blown version of both the OS (Ultimate) and the application (Acrobat Pro Cool instead of a dissected OS and trial version of the software. If you expect results you first have to compromise the almighty dollar on occasion and ensure that hardware, OS and application quality aren't all chosen from the bottom rung of the ladder. It boils down to what's more important. Bottom line: don't talk to me about problems when the first sentence describing your issue contains the word Dell, HP or eMachine.

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Vista is like Firestone Tires
Mar 6, 2007 9:10PM PST

All cars come with tires and all computers come with operating systems. I agree with your statement regarding the quality of the hardware in the same manner as the difference between a Yugo and a BMW.

Consumers will purchase what they can afford and the responsibility of the tire maker is pretty basic round and hold air for the intended warranty period.

Microsoft went to great lengths to create multiple versions of Vista for the various levels of users, implying that they were accommodating the high end user and the casual consumer with this wonderful new release. The majority of the issues on this forum are related to the manufacturer installed (contractual) deployments.

Much like Firestone has a contractual responsibility to supply tires at various sizes and grades to auto manufacturers, Microsoft has the same responsibility in its contractual agreements with hardware sellers. The tires still need to be round. Vista appears to be a square peg in consumer oriented applications, a market Microsoft currently dominates. Losing share of market with consumers will prove costly to the corporation, particularly in light of the business and government communities playing wait and see with Vista.

Yesterday Dell publicly announced it is considering Linux and OpenOffice as potential product offerings. Perhaps this is where the casual consumer needs to enter the computer market.

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h41n do yo work for microsoft
Apr 10, 2007 9:33AM PDT

I bought a dell xps system 2 gigs of ram, core duo 2 processor, 10,000 rpm hard drive. Man this computer rocks. Except for one small problem. It has windows vista business. every single piece of software of driver I have installed on it with the exception of MS office 2003 has had issues.
Many of the issues came form some sort of raid issue. I only have one hard drive. (no raid) but many vista machines are configured in the bios for automatic raid. To put it simple. My computer would freeze regularly for 20-30seconds until I turned of the raid and reloaded windows vista. This problem is so widespread that no one will take blame. or even cares to fix the problem. When I called dell they said it was my fault. Well after hours (10-20hrs) I was able to fix the problem. but only to find many more.
I just paid $7,000 for a piece of software for our 4 person office and was told by the developer today (by the way a driver is not working) that the driver in their software is a 3rd party application and should just take it in the rear until they feel like updating it.

bottom line is Vista has a lot of issues. 100's of millions of people use microsoft xp. Microsoft should have built an operating system to support the current drivers. I still to understand why microsoft changed the folder "documents and settings" to "users" but to piss everyone off. I read somewhere that it was for security reasons. Wow a one day fix. I think hackers are smarter than that.

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default to list view
Feb 26, 2007 5:42AM PST

hi was very interested in your reply when you mentioned you can get the folders to default to list view just how did you manage that as i would be very interested to know if it not to teckey

cheers

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List View
Mar 1, 2007 11:14PM PST

Hi,

Sorry about the late reply. In order to default to list view, there are a few steps (more complicated than XP, annoying I know):

1. Go to Folder Options (Organize --> Folder and Search Options) and make sure that "Remember each folder's view settings" is CHECKED. Apply the settings.

2. Right click on the folders where you want the list view to be defaulted (this is stupid, I know; luckily, I only have two main folders, so I only had to do this twice). Right click --> properties --> customize tab --> "Use this folder type as a template" should be set to "All items" and "Also apply this template to all subfolders" should be CHECKED.

3. Go to the folder, go Views --> List.

4. Go back to the Folder options and go View --> Apply to all folders.


Hopefully that works. Why did they have to change this from XP?!?! Grr.

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Wake UP...Vista has got a major problem
Feb 22, 2007 12:32PM PST

Contained in the windows Vista operating system is a program called Winload.exe ...this is what is known as a key logger program. It can be used by hackers to log all your keystrokes including passwords and financial information. If you invest in this operating system you will be sorry later....check it out with a reliable spyware search engine for yourself. They (Microsoft) refuse to remove the Winload.exe file ..their excuse is that it is used for the built in parental control features of Vista. Poor excuse if you ask me. Hackers are going to have a field day...beware...! You won't hear this on your national news network...

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Wake UP...Vista has got a major problem
Feb 22, 2007 7:49PM PST

winload.exe is the operating system boot loader. It is invoked by the Windows Boot Manager in order to load the operating system kernel (ntoskrnl.exe) and (boot-class) device drivers,and is in that respect functionally equivalent to (the operating system loader functionality of) NTLDR in prior versions of Windows NT.

winload.exe is also the name of a spyware program, PC Tattletale. This program has nothing to do with the Windows Vista startup process.

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reply to the reply
Feb 25, 2007 1:22PM PST

That's fine...i knew someone would stand up for Microsoft ...

When it comes to me there is NO place on any computer that i own for a keylogger program (aka: Winload.exe) no matter what it's function appears to be.......i hope you don't lose all your personal information to a hacker....good luck with your Vista....i took mine back and got a refund (which was a miracle in itself to get a refund on software) and then i had the Geek squad at Best Buy format my hard drive to get rid of it forever.

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orly?
Mar 4, 2007 3:45AM PST

So you claim to be the know all as far as keyloggers go, rather than microsoft's own processes running, but you had the geek squad format your hard drive.

The Irony.

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RE: reply to the reply
Mar 5, 2007 3:25PM PST

>That's fine...i knew someone would stand up for Microsoft ...

When it comes to me there is NO place on any computer that i own for a keylogger program (aka: Winload.exe) no matter what it's function appears to be.......i hope you don't lose all your personal information to a hacker....good luck with your Vista....i took mine back and got a refund (which was a miracle in itself to get a refund on software) and then i had the Geek squad at Best Buy format my hard drive to get rid of it forever.

Did you not listen to a word that was said in the reply? It's part of the boot process/startup. It shares a name with another .exe file that a tracking program uses. It is *not* a keylogger.

I sincerely doubt a second go at trying to get you to comprehend this will do any good. Pardon me if I don't take as gospel the word of someone who needs to pay money to have someone *else* run one of the most basic and simplistic procedures dating back to the DOS days - yes, I'm referring to format - on his own system.

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HP Scanner
Feb 22, 2007 7:04PM PST

I have a HP scanner 3570c. I was advised by HP that they do not yet have a driver for Vista and it could be late Feb or March before they do.

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HP scanner
Feb 23, 2007 12:42AM PST
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does vista have problems?
Feb 23, 2007 7:10PM PST

I bought a new vista loaded pc last week, and so far the only problem I have had is learning where everything is. Some of the programs have diffrent names and the control pannel will really throw you off at first. If you can find some archived forums when windows xp came out im sure you would read about how awfull it was and how everyone should stick with windows 98. Notice how I skiped right over windows mellineum ugh what a nightmare.

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Problems with Vista
Mar 3, 2007 11:52PM PST

I've been using Vista with my new computer for a month now and I have mixed reviews, mostly negative. To begin with, half of the applications I'm downloading and installing either doesn't work or Vista simply blocks the installations. Included are well-known programs such as Itunes, Audible, and Palm desktop. Yes, I am in "Administrator" mode during these installations. I've even tried XP compatibility mode and still no luck. I think Vista's protection features are over-the-top. It seems they are trying to make it an idiot-proof OS. There are other issues, too. For example, I tried to install "Star Wars Empire at War" yesterday and it said I need to install the latest version of DirectX to continue, version 9c in this example. The problem is, Vista has DirectX 10 installed so the game should have worked with no problems. I will continue to use Vista because I have no choice but I'm considering installing XP in a dual boot system.

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I feel your pain... :(
Mar 4, 2007 2:49AM PST

Am experiencing much the same as you... little flaky things continue to happen almost daily. Nice software is a way but annoying and not very user friendly.

Dual boot with XP seem like a logical thing to do.

Glenn

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No problems with iTunes
Mar 4, 2007 3:39AM PST

I downloaded iTunes without any problems. What computer do you have?

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Re: installing XP in a dual boot system
Mar 4, 2007 11:25PM PST
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I AM A CURRENT USER OF VISTA
Mar 4, 2007 8:44AM PST

hERE IS WHAT I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT VISTA. I BOUGHT IT THE FIRST WEEK IT WAS RELEASED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. I INSTALLED IT THE DAY I RECEIVED IT. IT WORKS GREAT NO SOUND ISSUES NO CRASHES. I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF ISSUES WITH MEDIA CENTER, THE DVD STARTS OVER FROM THE BEGINNING SOMETIMES. THAT I THINK IS A MINOR ISSUE. I HAVE NOT HAD ANY SERIOUS ISSUES WITH IT, EXCEPT DO NOT UPGRADE FROM XP INSTALL A FRESH COPY BECAUSE IT DOES NOT WORK. I DID AN UPGRADE ON MY WIFE'S COMPUTER AND SOME OF HER SOFTWARE WAS NOT WORKING AND YAHOO INSTANT MESSENGER WAS NOT WORKING EITHER.

THE BIGGEST ISSUES I SEE WITH VISTA IS MAKE SURE YOUR PRINTER MANUFACTURER HAS A DRIVER AVAILABLE FOR VISTA BEFORE YOU GET VISTA. I HAD TO WAIT ALMOST A MONTH FOR A DRIVER UPDATE FROM EPSON FOR MY PRINTER. I STILL DO NOT HAVE AND UPGRADED DRIVER FOR MY LEXMARK PRINTER. SO CHECK IT OUT FIRST.

ALSO IF YOU HAVE A TV TUNER MADE BY ATI IT WILL NOT WORK WITH VISTA. JUST THE TUNER THE VIDEO CARD WORKS FINE.

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Does Vista have anything that works
Sep 15, 2007 4:33PM PDT

I bought a Gateway MT3705 that comes with Vista installed. My son told me that the 1 gig of memory won't run Vista and the boy was right. It blocks up on me 5 times a day and I am not even using it as my main computer. Straight out of the store it had trouble installing MSN Messenger, iTunes, and a bunch of other programs. It took 2 hours for it to install MS Office XP. I decided to just be patient and wait to see if it could do it in the end. I have to wait up to 30 seconds for the reply window to open in Windows Mail before I can reply to a letter. It just stops over and over again. THIS OS IS SICK!!!

I sit around and wait for it. You start to hate the little blue circle that tells you you are waiting.

The bummer is that this Gateway is made in such a way that you can't go back to XP. They don't have video and audio drivers that work with XP so you are condemned. The Gateway looks nice and has a great feel. You get to feel it a lot because you just have to sit and wait for the thing.

This is really bad! Stay with XP or go Mac!!! I wish I was computer savvy enough to go with Linux. Bill Gates has gone to far this time. I will be going with Mac for my next computer.