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12/06/2007: "~ Vista Tweaking ~"
Vista is quite acceptable (nice even) if you have a machine made for it and perform some initial tweaking. You can "untweak" these items later if you decide you just must have them. Click on the more button, and read carefully....
First the discourse, then the helpful hints:
Vista is beautiful. It practically approaches the aesthetics of Mac OSX, but then Mac came out with Leopard and outdid the M$ guys again!
Vista is more intuitive than XP. Although I tend to look first where XP hid options, when I don't find them there, I look where I would have put them if I wrote the OS, and most often, there they are.
Vista has lots of wonderful options. Unfortunately, when you get a new PC most of them are turned on, as well as the proprietary and advertising junk the OEM puts on it. This can make the machine run rather slow. In fact, a brand new machine I checked out had two gig of RAM, with less than a gig free on startup. That just isn't right.
So! I say this: If you want to use Vista successfully, be sure to have 2 gig RAM installed. Else disappointment is sure to follow.
I also say this: A clean install of Vista will do more for a machine than an upgrade, particularly for the technically-uninclined. Upgrading XP to Vista requires reinstalling drivers for the hardware and reinstalling much of the software and/or downloading patches to apply for compatibility. Gateway was very courteous and provided their customers with Driver/Application upgrades, but even their upgrade process is a bit much for a novice, or not-so-novice. So, I repeat: Clean install of Vista or buy a machine with it already on it.
Some problems have been addressed with service pack 1, so make sure that first thing you do is download all the M$ updates. Be careful of M$ drivers, though, as often the hardware company has better drivers and M$ just didn't do the best job with compatibility issues.
Some hardware (printers, scanners, etc) either are not yet compatible or will never be. Some networking issues remain, as probably anticipated, in mixing Vista with XP, or win2K. Shared printers is a particular concern, but a print-server takes care of that problem in most instances.
NEVERTHELESS: If you want to go forward instead of falling behind, you really MUST get a Vista machine and take care of the annoyances, learn the differences, be prepared for what is to come instead of being tied to old software and hardware.
Or get a Mac. ;-)
Okay, here's the stuff:
I. Unless you are brand new and want to say "no" to everything that can enhance your computer experience until you learn the computer, OR if you are an extremely paranoid geek, OR if you use P2P programs and are totally open to hackers, TURN OFF UAC. If you don't know what UAC (User Account Control) is, you will find out when you attempt to turn it off!A. select :start :control panel :system and maintenance :administrative tools :system configuration
(at this point if UAC is on, it will pop up and ask you if you want to continue this action, so you click continue because of course you do)
B. select :disable UAC :Launch
C. Press OK, then reboot
II. Turn off System Restore. If you need to use it, it's usually too late anyway--unless you are a geek and know what you are playing with. This action is a bit different in Vista:A. select :start :control panel :system and maintenance :Backup and Restore Center :Create a restore point or change settings :System Protection
B. Uncheck your hard drives listed under "Automatic restore points"
C. select :Turn System Restore Off Press OK
III. For years we have been turning off Indexing:A. select :start :control panel :system and maintenance :Indexing Options :Modify :Show all locations
B. In Summary of selected locations, uncheck Users directory; uncheck Start Menu directory; Press OK
IV. Turn off Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop unless you really know what these are and know you will be using them. (You can always turn them back on later if you need them. Also note that Remote Desktop isn't an option if you have Vista Home or Vista Home Premium)A. select :start :control panel :system and maintenance :system :Remote settings
B. UNCHECK "Allow remote assistance connections to this computer, CHECK Don't allow connections to this computer Press OK
V. Windows Sidebar -- Save this for later, although if you have the 2 gig of RAM, you may enjoy some of the gadgets.A. To keep sidebar from starting up every time you log in, right click in an empty area of the sidebar :properties and uncheck :start sidebar when Windows Starts Press OK
B. To turn off temporarily, rightclick and :exit
NOW!!!!! View the Welcome to Vista. It will take a while, but you need to learn what you can do and how to do it. Themes work differently, gadgets and sidebar are new, and depending on which version of Vista you have and your computer's capabilities, there are seemingly endless adventures ahead!
