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General discussion

Questions about first boot up with new Vista based machine

Feb 15, 2007 5:22AM PST

A friend has bought a new Gateway desktop bundle deal at Office Depot and wants me to help him get it set up.

- Hardware wise it is the newest stuff, and has 1 GB of RAM memory.

- The unit is loaded with Vista Home Premium

- His internet access until Saturday will be dial up. After Saturday he will be on Comcast broadband, but I've got to work Saturday so tonight (Thursday, 2/15) and tomorrow morning are my only times to help.

I've done my own hardware installs, firmware upgrades, networking, and other such stuff for years, and feel pretty comfortable fiddling with most desktops I sit down at. But Vista is the brand new, buggiest stuff on the market.

So what insights can any of you offer about the first boot up, and getting the thing set up and running for him?

Thanks in advance,
Rick

Discussion is locked

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Drivers
Feb 15, 2007 6:27AM PST

Not all manufacturers have updated their drivers to work with Vista. Example, my Hp scanner 3570c, Mighty Fax and others

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Check
Feb 15, 2007 9:11AM PST
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Update on the install progress
Feb 15, 2007 11:50AM PST

Well, so far so good. The CPU came with Vista Home Premium already installed, so I didn't think I needed to go to the upgrade link and evaluate the hardware.

The setup was pretty much routine, and the only glitch was having to update the printer driver.

He had bought an HP C5180 as part of the deal, and it came with an instruction sheet for downloading a Vista update driver off of the HP support site.

So I ran back to my house, downloaded the driver onto a flash drive, and went back and finished the install.

The computer ran all evening with no stalls or other issues, and his kid was typing a paper in Works when I left a while ago. So unless he starts having other issues soon, I'll call this one a keeper.

Thanks for the several suggestions. I'm learning Vista on the fly like everyone else...