My computer came with windows Vista Home premium. What a disappointment. Worst part is the mouse operation. It has this circle around the mouse pointer that shows up sometimes. Doesn't happen in all applications but often enough to be annoying. I've gtried everything: mouse drivers, monitor drivers, adapter drivers, different monitors, different adapters, different mouse. No change. Gateway's typical response is to do the nuclear restore disk, where everything has to be reloaded. I don't believe this is a solution. This seems to be related to the operating system and the internal hardware. Has anyone seen a similar problem and is their a solution? thanks... sfself

sfself wrote:

I haven't seen it, but my guess would be that it's caused by the driver for the graphics card. In general, most of the problems I've read about in these newsgroups are caused by drivers which are just not quite ready for prime time. These problems will certainly be fixed over the coming weeks/months.
What graphics chip does your machine have?

It came with the 82945G chip set, but I put a GeForce 7900GS adapter card in it and it does the same thing. sfself
"Don" wrote:

I would like to know if anyone can and will tell me the difference between Windows XP and Windows Vista?

I would like to know if anyone can and will tell me the difference between Windows XP and Windows Vista?

If you want Vista(any version) x86 or v64 let me know I can get it for you straight over the internet within a very short time. This is not a torrent or any other illegal download.
Its straight from Microsoft.
joel406

On Monday, I installed Windows Vista (Business) as a clean install. All was fine. Now that I've finished installing my software (Office 2007, Visual Studio 2005 - with the Vista service pack, SQL Server 2005 SP2, Symantec Antivirus 10.2 client) and had all the updates from Windows Update installed, all the menus that pop-out to the right of the start menu (Favorites, Recent Items, Administrative Tools, and the Shut Down/Restart, etc.. menu) don't work! They appear normally, but nothing is selected as I hover over items and if I click (either button) the menu just disappears. I have tried enabling single-clicking and double-clicking. I have tried switching to the 'Calssic Menu' (which works fine), but when I go back to the Vista menu, it's a no-go. Has anyone had/heard of something similar? Do you have a solution (other than re-installing everything again!).

"Vic"

You are misinformed.

Thanks for the input. I'm leaning that direction (Vista). I just don't want to have it run so slowly on this machine that it's frustrating or barely usable. On the other hand, XP Pro may run better and I can buy Home Server in a year or two.
By the way, Home Server per MS website is not just software. It's hardware, too, both integrated and not available until end 2007.
microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/buy.mspx
Appreciate the help.
"Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:

"Vic"

Bear in mind that the posts in this NG do not represent everyone who uses Vista. Most people who post have a problem or complaint. People who are eminently satisfied with Vista never bother to post here and say so. The same is true in Apple or Linux newsgroups - posters are having trouble, or are just malcontents.
For what its worth, I think Vista is fantastic. Don't be afraid to give it a try.

Blackdiamond90802 wrote:

Around $700 if you have a machine more than a year old, probably.
Vista needs fast hardware and lots of memory to be efficient, some other hardware you already have may not work and you would have to buy new.
This is not to put you off trying it but if your XP is working well and the machine is not pretty new then there will likely be additional cost for upgrades + new parts.
Vista is fun to play with but if that's your only machine think carefully. My suggestion if you can afford it is to consider purchasing a separate machine and retail copy of Vista so you don't lose anything in the transfer. You can get bare machines at places like geeks.com cheap, then if you don't like Vista you can keep XP but have a faster machine :)
Much depends on what you install it on, I have one 6 year old Asus that needed only a graphics card and processor (which I planned to replace anyway) and that works almost as well as the brand new ones.

Glad to hear SR worked.
You said "pre-loaded with a program". I take that to mean you have a hidden partition for restoring the computer and no media? If so, you should make/order the media. Most computers shipping without media have an option to create your own restore media. Others you need to order and pay around $20 for the media. Whichever is the option, you should since you will probably need the media at some point in time.
On possible reason is a catastrophic hard drive failure which takes the partition with it. If the computer is out of warranty, your cheap and easy fixes are nonexistent.
Sooner or later you will need the media.
Jupiter Jones [MVP] www3.telus.net/dandemar dts-l.org
"Andy"

Adam Albright wrote:

Just how fukkin jealous of SB are you? HE'S MUCH BIGGER, MUCH SMARTER AND MUCH WEALTHIER THAN YOU'LL EVER HOPE TO BE. Live with it you fukkin PUTZ! Frank

After installing PPStream my Windows Media player appears to have been disabled. When i click on the link nothing happens. During live streams online it also does not react. I have no problems with Winamp/DivX/itunes. Windows media center also works fine.
I have had this problem for several months and none of the updates to Vista have helped. Is there a way to 'reinstall' WMP. I have tried downloading WMP updates from microsoft but they say my version is upto date.

If you don't have an association for a particular file you likely do not have what you need to open the file. You either need the same program on your computer, used to create the file, or you need an alternative that can handle that particular file association. Just associating any program with a file is not going to do you any good at all.
So, maybe if you told us the file extension we could assist you in locating the program you need to open the file.

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)

"Alex"

The Vista Sound Recorder is a downgrade from the XP one. You can only record sound, cant edit .wav files. You can't take parts of the sound file out or speed up or slow down the audio. It only records.
WHERE HAS THE .WAV EDITOR FEATURE GONE IN VISTA?

MICHAEL wrote:

<WTH, you're no better than the rest and you're making comments? You need to go lay your sorry behind down somewhere wannabe preacher.>

thank you now it works thanks a lot.
"Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:

I dont give out Product keys. Those need to be legaly purchsed. But if you bought a Laptop or desktop that came with Vista and a key, but no disk. This could help you.
Send me your email address to pd1447 hotmail.com. I'll send you instructions only.
joel406

joel is that your real e-mail address? just curious because i sent you something
Licensed Boating Capt. Jonathan Perreault AllAboutGames.BraveHost.com - note: click continue, when it ask about security certificate -
Best Comments From Users: Vista is satan's way to bring hell to earth. -Me
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. -Web
No Matter The Problem Even With Linux, It's Microsoft's And Windows's Faults -Everyone "joel406"

Just to clarify, when you say ...
-.... you should never let a registry cleaner delete anything unless you know exactly what it does and why it is not needed. Do not rely on the registry cleaner for that information.-
.... that is not the case here. I did not, as posted, let Uniblue do anything to my system; except for the installation of course. The 'delete' option was available for folders/files that Vista reflected ... within Vista's 'Disk Cleanup' utility.
And yes, I've sent in a query regarding the issue to them using their 'Contact Us' link. But, being a non-USA firm, presume it will take a day or so. In the meantime, rest assurred I've uninstalled it; via Restore process to prior (clean) status.
doon doon's Profile: forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=33251 View this thread: forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=835915
forums.techarena.in

MICHAEL wrote:

Clarify "Topic"
In an effort to bring some technical detail to the thread I executed a "Topical" kind of command, but all I got was...
charlie Hubble:~$ ping alias ping: unknown host alias charlie Hubble:~$
So for all the discussion here apparently poor old Alias still remains unknown...
Methinks there is a conspiracy at work here...

So it is essentially the media without a key. In other words, a coaster. If so, exactly what kind since different types may not be compatible with different types of keys?
What is "code". Is that what Microsoft calls a Product Key?
Everyone that has the key should have the media or equivalent.
Exactly what are you giving away and what is the source?
Jupiter Jones [MVP] www3.telus.net/dandemar dts-l.org
"joel406"

Titus Pullo wrote:

The only problem with that advice is that "If" we are talking about the OP's only machine and the OP has no copy of XP to fall back on he/she is in trouble, and we do know that people take this decision too lightly. I suggest we all remember when advising either way, else we end up with "Ubuntu wiped my hard drive" all over again :)

Contact the laptop manufacturer for support. Your problems go beyond Windows Vista and may be a bad install or hardware related.
"I would rather roll back to windows XP" Not an option since Windows Vista is preinstalled. Since it is not an option, "wacky permissions" has nothing to do with it.
If the computer is new, you can return it for a refund and purchase a laptop with Windows XP if that is what you want. Toshiba, Dell and probably other major OEMs continue to sell computers with Windows XP.
Jupiter Jones [MVP] www3.telus.net/dandemar dts-l.org
"frustrated vista user" <frustrated vista user discussions.microsoft.com>

Joseph,
I have the text file with the information you requested but am not clear on how to attach and get it to you through the IE Community Discussion Group. An email to 'joscon online.microsoft.com' with it as an attachment was returned as undeliverable. Please advise.
There are many entries from ", Error" to the end of the CBS.log file. It's 779KB of text. This part of the log resulted from an attempted install done today of the two problem KBs. Once again Windows stated that both had installed successfully but on restarting, the history indicated both had failed. Initially, at that point, Windows indicated that there were no available updates. A minute later the two updates reappeared as available in Windows update.
The CBS.log appears to be documenting the activity taking place during the lengthy period that "Configuring Updates" is displayed. Wiseoopik - Ottawa, Canada
""Joseph Conway [MSFT]"" wrote:

I was considering buying a new compaq laptop but before I did I went to a rent 2 own place to check one out with the new O.S. Vista. I rented it for one week and right off the bat I thought for a brand new computer with more than enough ram and more than enough on the hard drive was running slow, slower than my desktop pc with XP and a couple years older. I asked the dealer about this and after calling someone in their service dept. I was told that it is because Vista is larger than any other O.S. before and there was nothing to do about it and microsoft actually confirmed this before Vista even came out. Is this place blowing smoke up my arse which I believe they are or what. The laptop I checked out was brand new out of the box. I was the first user on it so what say you??

* Adam The-Fruit-Loop Albright:

......... and the thread just grows and grows and grows.
Next.
-Michael

"irobot1959"

Does the laptop fall into the specifications of these Vista ready laptops? You'll notice Duo Core, speed and memory.
<tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?page=2&Nav=%7Cc:2480%7C&Sort=0&Recs=10>
My HP dv9000 laptop has got it all, and I have no problems running Vista, I have a whole host of background processes running too, and they and the O/S run lickity split on the speed. I was at my sister's house earlier today to use her printer with her desktop running XP Home. I was rolling on the floor hollering how slow things were compared to my laptop running Vista. :) The desktop computer was a few years old, and I did take that into consideration.

Charlie Tame wrote:

<Tea Cup, you have no game. You should stick to what you know, which is nothing. You're not even a wannabe Database man either - you unknowing how to write a program Englishman. You should turn in your computers, leave the US immediately and crawl back England on your hands and knees. Do you hear me English Muffin. <g>>

I have found each new version of Windows and Mac OS to be faster than the prior. Every time a new OS is released, airheads start running their mouths. I always install OSes from scratch and have never had problems with Wintel(DOS, 3.x to Vista) or Mac (OS 7 to Tiger). Even with pre-installed PCs for corporate clients, I have little to no problems FOR YEARS!
Even on a Pentium 4 with 256MB of RAM, I didn't have a single problem with multiboot 2000, XP Home and Professional. People load garbage on their computers, then spread myths about the underlying OS. As the saying goes, "A bad workman blames his tools."
Vista is superior to prior Windows releases. Period. Those with negative experiences should examine their hardware resources and software installations. Most applications supposed to "make the computer better" do just the opposite - bog it down with useless processes!


"irobot1959" wrote:

The problem is not with the shortcut link. I do not believe that the file association is the problem either because even when i click directly on the wmplayer.exe for MWP it just does not respond at all. I have since uninstalled PPStream with no luck. The hole program is like ghost. The file wmpconfig also just does not respond.
It has been several months since the problem started and so reverting is out of the option. Is there a way to uninstall WMP or Re-install it?
"Alasdair" wrote:

And this is a critical problem at this moment, as it can have a huge effect on my buisness >.< Where can i go to have my solution looked through by a vista guru?

joel406 wrote:

I would completely agree that the failure to provide at least some tangible restore media is irresponsible, in fact if they charge you for an operating system then they are actually failing to supply it, since what is on the machine is volatile. There is not way to write protect a hard drive as you could with a floppy and which naturally happens with CD or DVD.
You don't need to "Inflame" some people here, they inflame themselves, so much so that certain people should by law be compelled to wear a HazMat label.
Yes you are quite correct, many new installs will get accidentally corrupted in the first few weeks, and that should be "Fault Tolerance" taken for granted by the suppliers.

I have been told that Microsoft Office 2003 will run well on Vista , can anyone help with this
JennyS

Charlie Tame wrote:

<Really, I never called you worthless. You are stupid yes, but you're not worthless. You're always good for a good laugh Dean, as you try mind you try. You try to play the straight man.>
<Now, I don't want you crying on me now about me thinking that you worthless. That's in your own mind. It must have been planted there at birth. Did your daddy call you worthless as you grew-up? Your family is the only ones that can call you worthless. WTH, if anyone knows your worth, it's them. I want to make it clear. You are not worthless you are stupid. A stupid one can be spotted and you are that stupid. <g>>

Ah, thanks for the extra info but unfortunately I don't have a good answer. I wonder if there's some way the software could have disabled loading for WMP or whether there's some part of it that hasn't actually uninstalled. If it is one of these things that loads a "Service" or some kind of "Background" downloader is is possible you may have to reinstall it, find the option "Start when Windows Starts" or whatever and turn that off, then reboot so it's not running and then uninstall the program again. I know that is the case with some versions of some software but on the other hand I could be entirely wrong :)
Otherwise it does look as if you'll have to reinstall or somehow repair WMP and I am not sure that can be done.
Alasdair wrote: