PC Vista question

[Chris J W]

Something to do with your PC if you've REALLY had enough ... http://www.computernightmare.com/cn/

[Ray]

So, are Acer really that bad?

 

A colleague of mine related some bad experiences that a friend of his had had with one. However, that didn't stop my daughter from buying one and, as far as I know, she's had no problems with it.

 

Mine doesn't seem too bad now so initial problems may have been purely software related.

 

Most annoying thing at present is the fact that there is absolutely no pre warning when the battery is about to run out. Your work is saved, but you have to wait for it to happen and then reboot the machine once you've put it back on charge. Daughter's machine makes some very loud noises when the batteries on the way down. As far as I know it is nothing to do with Windows or volume controls as other (expected) sounds are heard.

 

Their Help Desk isn't too bright either. They responded with some ideas when I explained the initial problem. However, they ignored me when I then replied and said that I couldn't do as they suggested because the laptop wouldn't let me.

[bottle]

Ray

 

This may not work on yours but if you have a icon in the task bar showing either a battery or 'mains' connection.

 

Right click (on icon)

 

Select: power options

 

Select: alarms

 

Select: alarm action

 

Choice of: text alarm (pop up) or/and sound.

 

Computer is HP running XP

[bag 'o' bones]

With no knowledge whatsoever, stick with XP the replacement for Vista is already on its way.

 

Yep agree with that.

 

I'm still using Xp as I bought my last P.C. just before the Vista release.

 

Some of friends have Vista and have to admit that Vista is not as good. Too many useless bells and whistles that clog up the machine.

 

I'm not an IT expert but i've heard that if you run Xp on a uber modern machine it should run a lot faster than if it were running the resource greedy vista.

 

Also a mate of mine who works in IT reckons the next version of Vista may well be the last before they get rid of disk released media completly and it becomes all online and hence probally pay as you go. that could be a vicious rumour however.

 

Personally I think Vista is just another stop gap O.S. similar to Windows Millenium edition which really was a sexed version of the O.S. before it.

 

Like I said before i'm not an expert and I dare say there are others on here who are far more informed than I.

[Ray]

Ray

 

This may not work on yours but if you have a icon in the task bar showing either a battery or 'mains' connection.

 

Right click (on icon)

 

Select: power options

 

Select: alarms

 

Select: alarm action

 

Choice of: text alarm (pop up) or/and sound.

 

Computer is HP running XP

 

Keith

 

I thought you'd cracked it! Alas, no. There's provision for turning the alarm on or off, mine is already turned on (and I haven't changed it either!).

 

Thanks for your help and suggestion.

 

Just spent 3 hours plus trying to install the iPAQ that I bought to replace the Palm that I thought didn't work under Vista. I can't get that to work either via usb, Bluetooth or WiFi. I've even removed virtually all the firewall settings but that hasn't made a difference.

 

And like Palm, you go to the HP website and all they do is refer you to Microsoft who give you help that doesn't reflect what you experience when you follow their suggestions.

 

The big question now is "Is it the laptop or Vista" and do I have to try yet another restore to see what happens?

[Yoda]

Just to let you all know that help is at hand with Windows 7 coming out soon. It will be the back end of 2009 if they (Microshaft) can get it working. Beta downloads are available.

 

As business has not taken up Vista in any amount and I don't blame them, I suspect that Microshafts business plan for OS's will be changed to develop rather than reinvent. They have not done the world a favour since Win.95 came out, just made staggering amounts of money.

[RLWP]

Just to let you all know that help is at hand with Windows 7 coming out soon. It will be the back end of 2009 if they (Microshaft) can get it working. Beta downloads are available.

 

As business has not taken up Vista in any amount and I don't blame them, I suspect that Microshafts business plan for OS's will be changed to develop rather than reinvent. They have not done the world a favour since Win.95 came out, just made staggering amounts of money.

 

I find this an interesting argument. Don't take on Vista because Windows 7 is coming soon and it will be lots better. On what evidence, either of timing or performance?

 

Richard

[dor]

It will be the back end of 2009 if they (Microshaft) can get it working

 

Yes, but how much longer will it be until the SP1 version is released, after the paying customers have done the proper Beta testing?

[bag 'o' bones]

I brought this topic with a couple of informed friends the other evening seemed to be the general concensus that people who think that vista is good know absolutely nothing about computers..........oo' er

 

Having said that before anyone shoots my comments down in a flurry of keyboard strokes I don't know anything about computers either so I wouldn't know! LOL

[RLWP]

I brought this topic with a couple of informed friends the other evening seemed to be the general concensus that people who think that vista is good know absolutely nothing about computers..........oo' er

 

Having said that before anyone shoots my comments down in a flurry of keyboard strokes I don't know anything about computers either so I wouldn't know! LOL

 

I had better go into a new line of business then.

 

Richard

[Gibbo]

I had better go into a new line of business then.

 

Richard

 

Ditto.

 

I suspect the "experts" who made those statements spend their time playing games on PCs, surfing the internet and looking at porn and are therefore "computer wizzes".

 

Gibbo

[Guest]

Mickeysoft, or "Microshaft" as one poster amusingly referred to them, will be hoisted by their own pertard eventually. Their newly released software always cures ten current problems, and creates another thousand new ones. No other industry would be allowed to get away with the shabby treatment of customers, as displayed by this company. I have had most of their offerings over the years and find the current Viagra or whatever it is called no better than anything else they have palmed us off with.

[WJM]

Microsoft Windows is a triumph of business practice. It is a rubbish operating system and yet it sells incredibly well. Well done Microsoft Business Division, shame on you Microsoft Product Division. Now, can I let the whole world into the big filthy dirty secret that Microsoft do not want you to know;

 

THERE ARE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS OTHER THAN MICROSOFT WINDOWS OUT THERE. UNLESS YOU HAVE SOME VERY SPECIALIST REQUIREMENT THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED WINDOWS FOR. 90% OF COMPUTER USERS CAN USE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS PERFECTLY WELL. THE ALTERNATIVE OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE GENERALLY MUCH BETTER AND LESS PROBLEMATIC THAN WINDOWS.

[saltysplash]

Microsoft Windows is a triumph of business practice. It is a rubbish operating system and yet it sells incredibly well. Well done Microsoft Business Division, shame on you Microsoft Product Division. Now, can I let the whole world into the big filthy dirty secret that Microsoft do not want you to know;

 

THERE ARE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS OTHER THAN MICROSOFT WINDOWS OUT THERE. UNLESS YOU HAVE SOME VERY SPECIALIST REQUIREMENT THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED WINDOWS FOR. 90% OF COMPUTER USERS CAN USE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS PERFECTLY WELL. THE ALTERNATIVE OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE GENERALLY MUCH BETTER AND LESS PROBLEMATIC THAN WINDOWS.

 

 

Thats very easy to say if your computer literate.....i really struggle with basic tasks and am very happy with most of the windows task wizards......I used to watch my brother mod'ding programs on our sinclair 128k and had no idea what so ever what he was doing....he would rattle off this an that in what he described as machine code?????? WTF!!!!!

 

Im happy that i turn it on and it does what i need.....im not happy that when i buy it from Pissy world its out of date as soon as i get it home

[T.A]

Well I was hoping that an upgrade in ram memory would solve my Vista problem but the techie at "pissy world" told me memory was not the problem the best line of attack would be to wipe the computer and reinstat everything. Now this is getting a little bit complicated ARGH!!!

[alan_fincher]

ARE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS OTHER THAN MICROSOFT WINDOWS OUT THERE. UNLESS YOU HAVE SOME VERY SPECIALIST REQUIREMENT THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED WINDOWS FOR. 90% OF COMPUTER USERS CAN USE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS PERFECTLY WELL. THE ALTERNATIVE OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE GENERALLY MUCH BETTER AND LESS PROBLEMATIC THAN WINDOWS.

And in some cases totally free.

 

And in some cases you can get major application software. like office suites, completely free.

 

And you can upgrade all this for free, without needing to virtually buy it again.

 

Microsoft do have some pretty impressive marketing men, don't they?

[WJM]

"Thats very easy to say if your computer literate.....i really struggle with basic tasks"

 

You have fallen into the Microsoft Marketing trap, you and countless millions of others. You should try to avoid MS Windows. Windows is counter-intuitive and full of problems, for instance viruses and spyware. (Did you know that it is only MS Windows that suffers from Viruses? The other systems are immune). I run many types of OS: Unix, Solaris, Linux, as well as Windows and Windows Server and I have to say, the only OS I would recommend to a computer illiterate person who has basic computing needs is the version of Unix sold by Apple. It is both beautifully elegant and technically robust. Get a Mac. Failing that buy a commercially packaged version of Linux and enjoy hassle free computing.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"but the techie at "pissy world" told me memory was not the problem'

 

My personal experience of the people at PC World is that they are absolutely clueless. Try asking someone else.

Edited December 1, 2008 by WJM

[saltysplash]

My personal experience of the people at PC World is that they are absolutely clueless. Try asking someone else.

 

 

I was at pissy world this week buying a new laptop.......my request was..."I want a laptop purely for gaming and in particular this game" handed the chap my system requirements and he followed it with the usual sucking of breath normally reserved for builders and plumbers........Id already spotted the machine to meet my needs and he went off to consult the techies......came back stating...."it should be ok but might be a bit slow......thankfully id already been prepped by a computer wiz and the machine i bought is the 'Dogs'

 

 

You dont go to Pissy World for advice...you go there because they have a wide selection...but make sure you know what you need

[Chris J W]

"Thats very easy to say if your computer literate.....i really struggle with basic tasks"

 

You have fallen into the Microsoft Marketing trap, you and countless millions of others. You should try to avoid MS Windows. Windows is counter-intuitive and full of problems, for instance viruses and spyware. (Did you know that it is only MS Windows that suffers from Viruses? The other systems are immune). I run many types of OS: Unix, Solaris, Linux, as well as Windows and Windows Server and I have to say, the only OS I would recommend to a computer illiterate person who has basic computing needs is the version of Unix sold by Apple. It is both beautifully elegant and technically robust. Get a Mac. Failing that buy a commercially packaged version of Linux and enjoy hassle free computing.

.

 

Utter cock about the Virus issue. The reality is that it's just far less likely - at the moment. Just wait until the balance of sales shifts.

 

Mac - agreed about the solidity, but can be just as counter-intuitive as MS when it fees like it. (Finder - why offer a 'cut' option that's never enabled?) Equally as capable of having a program bomb out for no apparent reason, or having zero feedback from programs when it's not happy. (iTunes rarely tells you why it hasn't imported a file)

 

Linux - fine out of the box for basic stuff, but if you want to add more software you need to know which Distribution, what window manager, possibly the kernel level, and (more often than should be these days) need to know Unix. If the Linux community (who I do have a lot of respect for) would stop bickering about Gnome and KDE and start concentrating on making the 'basic user' experience far smoother (such as implementing a standard Apple-a-like method of package installation) then it'd be better for 'basic user' people. (Oh, and start thinking of sensible names for products. I can't respect The Gimp purely because of its name. Stupid, I know.). On the whole - great for embedded, little upgrade required, systems, but still not quite mature enough yet IMHO. Give it a few more years yet ...

 

But, still agree with your over-all sentiment - I'm far more likely to suggest people get a Mac these days than an MS powered machine ... but then people look at the cost, baulk, and go and get a MS PC anyway. Really, Apple need to let go of the noose they've made for themselves and start to licence out OS-X to other companies, such Dell for the 'low' end and Sony for the 'high' end. People will still Mac hardware as 'a statement' so I don't think that Apple would loose too much hardware revenue over-all. Realistically, it's probably the only serious way for the next few years that Apple could break the MS monopoly.

 

Edit to add - agree about PC World. Only go when you've done all your research and you know exactly what you are looking for.

Edited December 1, 2008 by Chris J W

[Gibbo]

I've just completed the design of a triple processor (dual processor is just so last year ) system running linux in an embedded system. It's brilliant. But I'm an electronics engineer.

 

I wouldn't DREAM of inflicting Linux on anyone less than a computer programmer, or at least someone who is prepared to spend half his computer time pi**ing around writing scripts, finding obscure drivers, recompiling source code, rewriting parts of the kernel etc etc etc. Linux is just not up to the task of allowing a non computer nerd to use it............. yet.

 

Gibbo

[RLWP]

I wouldn't DREAM of inflicting Linux on anyone less than a computer programmer, or at least someone who is prepared to spend half his computer time pi**ing around writing scripts, finding obscure drivers, recompiling source code, rewriting parts of the kernel etc etc etc. Linux is just not up to the task of allowing a non computer nerd to use it............. yet.

 

Gibbo

 

And unfortunately the Linux communities are generally too self centred to be able to see this. I would dearly like to be offering our clients linux based pcs running Openoffice and mozilla, but there's no way I could support them.

 

Richard

 

Someone's going to say Ubuntu...

[bag 'o' bones]

I had better go into a new line of business then.

 

Richard

 

 

Ditto.

 

I suspect the "experts" who made those statements spend their time playing games on PCs, surfing the internet and looking at porn and are therefore "computer wizzes".

 

Gibbo

 

One of my friends works as an IT boffin, the other a robotics engineer, another mate of mine is a programmer working for Code Masters. Not that I particularly engage in such conversations though as I don't really know what there talking about half of the time to be perfectly honest! LOL

[WJM]

So refreshing to see a computer discussion that is not infested with mindless brain-dead Microsoft myopia.

 

In fairness to Linux, if you BUY an properly assembled commercial Linux package and just install that out of the box you will have a solid and easy OS. As for the virus issue, Unix permissions make it very difficult to get a virus to run. As an experiment, I once ran a totally unprotected, wide open Unix server on the internet for a year - no firewall, nothing, to test it's vulnerability - and nobody managed to hack it , in a year! I am now running Windows 2003 Server which is totally locked down and I am sweating!

 

And as for Apple - to suggest they license their OS to run on non-Apple hardware is totally missing the point. Apple computers are so stable because Apple build every part of the total product and so are uniquely in a position to make sure everything works properly out of the box. And the comment about pricing, Apple do not make totally trashy rock-bottom low-end computers but they do start their range around the £400 mark and when compared like-for-like are generally superior to other makes.

Edited December 1, 2008 by WJM

[Marc Harris]

THERE ARE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS OTHER THAN MICROSOFT WINDOWS OUT THERE. UNLESS YOU HAVE SOME VERY SPECIALIST REQUIREMENT THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED WINDOWS FOR. 90% OF COMPUTER USERS CAN USE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS PERFECTLY WELL. THE ALTERNATIVE OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE GENERALLY MUCH BETTER AND LESS PROBLEMATIC THAN WINDOWS.

 

 

So refreshing to see a computer discussion that is not infested with mindless brain-dead Microsoft myopia.

 

Though we are still getting the rabid-foaming-at-the-mouth-linux-fanboys

 

Seriously, Linux is very stable, mature, and getting easier to use. Would i install it on my mother-in-laws pc? Hell no!! There's no way i'm talking her through command line stuff, and you still have to use that in linux. It's just not for pc virgins yet.

[WJM]

"Seriously, Linux is very stable, mature, and getting easier to use. Would i install it on my mother-in-laws pc? Hell no!! There's no way i'm talking her through command line stuff, and you still have to use that in linux. It's just not for pc virgins yet"

 

 

I have Linux boxes running perfectly without any use of Command Line ever. I think you must be using free disks off magazine covers or downloaded installs. Go out and pay for a Linux install and you will never touch a command line. SUSE and Mandrake spring to mind. I have installed and set running both of these and the job was easier than with MS Windows.