Question for microsoft USA employees/programmers ... anyone

[Guest]

How do I establish contact with an American Microsoft person ... rather than
the out-sourced folks overseas ... who don't relate to a perceived problem
with Vista ... and only want to 'sluff' the messager off?

I'll try to be specific due to the above possibly sounding like ranting.

I installed Vista Home Premium (upgrade) last week for the first time ...
and now totally regret my actions. Give me XP any day!! Prior to this
installation, XP had been working flawlessly for quite some time. I have
several utility programs installed to prevent/check-for/delete/monitor things
related to virus, malware, spybots, etc, etc..

So I installed Vista; and everything worked super for a couple of days,
while I checked out various things to get familiar with the program. I did
not change any internal settings ... just familiarization process.

Then I began to installed my personal programs; Word, Family Tree Maker, and
of course, my utility programs ... Avast Suite for viruses, Registry Booster
(Uniblue) for registry and hard drive cleaning/defrag/etc., HP 6210xi MFD
printer .. and others whose names can't recall at this moment ... but all
that are recognized.

During this time I had also surfed and had saved some web sites as shortcuts
that, later on, I deleted.

Then, after about 3 days of this, one nite I clicked on Recycle bin and
noticed the files there I had deleted. This clicked to me that I had not yet
Cleanup Disk and Defrag of hard disk. So, I clicked on Cleanup Disk for
first time.

When it got thru doing the search, I clicked all of the choices, as I always
have, and recall one being the Windows.Old folder ... which to me seemed to
be OK to delete due to my ... so far ... not having a problem with Vista.
Another one was something, as I recall, having to do with Error Reporting
Files ... also marked to be deleted.

BIG MISTAKE !! Or at least, 'maybe'; depending on what a programmer might
say. The hard drive sat there and twirled away for a good 10-15 minutes
before indicating completion, as evidenced by shutting down off of the
desktop. So I presumed everything was OK, and proceeded to my routine.

Well, nothing ... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING worked any longer. I could not surf, I
could not open Word, I could not do anything.

So I decided to 'reboot'....and then got the message indicating I needed to
do a Startup Repair process; which I did.

Over the ensuing days, I had to do this several times, always as a result of
my trying the Cleanup Disk process again. During this time, I had sent in an
inquiry ... see Microsoft Incident: SRX1047008036 for details ... and was
following the initial out-sourced person from India directions. After much
time, in response to her instructions, I provided a system file for her. She
subsequently came back, as evidenced by the details, and advised it was out
of her league and that a higher up tech would be in contact with me.

Well, that tech has now been in touch. Response, my words ... it's not our
(MSN's) problem, but is at your end ... and there is nothing we can do ...
except try to guide you thru a clean installation process ... which I am
still waiting on by the way.

In a nutshell, I am convinced that I have located a glitch in Vista, and am
willing to make my computer and its evidence files available for analysis.

But, the folks in India do not, IMO, grasp what has happened, and are only
wanting to sluff me off by sending a boiler plate message of ... "don't call
us .., we'll call you."... but not even willing to do that.

So, if there is a Microsoft programmer out there, sure would like to
continue to try to be a good samaritian. If not, then I'll reinstall XP and
let Microsoft find the problem on their own ... in the meantime, having
customers getting mad and frustrated by this 'glitch'.

Chuck Timmerman
Yerington, Nevada

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http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/co....public.windows.vista.performance_maintenance

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi

First, to clarify for you, this is a peer to peer group. Assistance here
comes from other users like yourself, not Microsoft Support Professionals.
Helpers could be from pretty anywhere planet-wide. No one here would have
any access to an open support case such as you listed.

Second, I would look to what software installed. Specifically, you mentioned
a registry tool. Rarely are these necessary, and often they do more damage
than good, and may very well be the source of your issues. If the system
worked fine initially, then you need to look at what programs you installed
afterwards for the causes.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Guest]

Thanks. So if I comprehend, I have no way to have a Microsoft programmer or
otherwise review the issue of an apparent glitch. Sounds appropriate for the
corporate atmosphere prevelant in the country these days. Guess I need to
change my inclination to assist when something pops up, and just let the
chips fall where they may.

More appropriately, I much regret trying Vista, due to all the problems that
I and others are having; and will revert back to XP ... a far better program
.... IMO.

I also recognize your other comment, regarding a possible conflict with the
programs I loaded. But before installing them, I went to the various sites
and made sure their programs were compliant with Vista. Those that were not,
I have not installed.

Right now I am in limbo for 24 hours pending the tech from India responding
to my approval of her assisting me in a clean installation using my upgrade
disk ... since the 'glitch' destroyed my ability to do anything short of
reinstalling XP and starting all over. Just want to complete that process
and, like the content of your last comment, not install anything at my end
.... and then do the Cleanup Disk process to see if the same 'glitch' surfaces.
Thanks again.
Chuck

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

A clean install of any OS is always the best way. By your own admission,
everything was ok with Vista until you started to add your own program
selection.

While some utilities install onto Vista and appear to run ok, that is not to
say that they are not harmful. Registry utilities can be among the worst.

Disk Cleanup gives you a choice of what to leave and what to dump, BUT if
you check items that are not by default checked, ensure that you know what
the consequences might be.

Recycle bin is not a bottomless pit. If you attempt to delete more than RB
can hold, you will get a warning that the files will be permanently deleted
with the option of OK or Cancel. Until files are removed from RB, no space
will be freed up.

Disk Defragmenter does NOT remove files. It just re-organizes them on the
disk, consolidating free space into more usable parts.

While Vista does have issues, many problems are created by the person in the
chair. It has always been this way. Vista works well for many people despite
the whining of some in these newsgroups, but it does not work for everybody.
A quick look in XP newsgroups or Linux and MacOS forums will show that they
do not always work for everybody either.

For info on performing a clean install of Vista, go to..

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918884

 

[Guest]

Yes Mike, I agree and recognize that fully. That's why I am interested in
now getting a clean install so that I can continue my testing to see which
utility 'may' be the cause. I am still inclined to think it may be VIsta.

Unfortunately, I am dead in the water until the tech from overseas gets back
to me with her offer to guide me thru the process since my upgrade dvd does
not reflect that capability to me when I insert it; only a repair process.
If she does not get back soon, will just go ahead and reinstall XP, with
reformat of course, and begin anew from square one.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Apparently, there are ways to use an upgrade disc to clean install. I have
never tried the method, and do not know if the loophole has been blocked,
but if you do a search in Google 'clean install Vista, you may well find
info useful to your cause..

 

[Phil]

How do I establish contact with an American Microsoft person ... rather than
the out-sourced folks overseas ... who don't relate to a perceived problem
with Vista ... and only want to 'sluff' the messager off?

I'll try to be specific due to the above possibly sounding like ranting.

I installed Vista Home Premium (upgrade) last week for the first time ...
and now totally regret my actions. Give me XP any day!! Prior to this
installation, XP had been working flawlessly for quite some time. I have
several utility programs installed to prevent/check-for/delete/monitor things
related to virus, malware, spybots, etc, etc..

So I installed Vista; and everything worked super for a couple of days,
while I checked out various things to get familiar with the program. I did
not change any internal settings ... just familiarization process.

Then I began to installed my personal programs; Word, Family Tree Maker, and
of course, my utility programs ... Avast Suite for viruses, Registry Booster
(Uniblue) for registry and hard drive cleaning/defrag/etc., HP 6210xi MFD
printer .. and others whose names can't recall at this moment ... but all
that are recognized.

During this time I had also surfed and had saved some web sites as shortcuts
that, later on, I deleted.

Then, after about 3 days of this, one nite I clicked on Recycle bin and
noticed the files there I had deleted. This clicked to me that I had not yet
Cleanup Disk and Defrag of hard disk. So, I clicked on Cleanup Disk for
first time.

When it got thru doing the search, I clicked all of the choices, as I always
have, and recall one being the Windows.Old folder ... which to me seemed to
be OK to delete due to my ... so far ... not having a problem with Vista.
Another one was something, as I recall, having to do with Error Reporting
Files ... also marked to be deleted.

BIG MISTAKE !! Or at least, 'maybe'; depending on what a programmer might
say. The hard drive sat there and twirled away for a good 10-15 minutes
before indicating completion, as evidenced by shutting down off of the
desktop. So I presumed everything was OK, and proceeded to my routine.

Well, nothing ... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING worked any longer. I could not surf, I
could not open Word, I could not do anything.

So I decided to 'reboot'....and then got the message indicating I needed to
do a Startup Repair process; which I did.

Over the ensuing days, I had to do this several times, always as a result of
my trying the Cleanup Disk process again. During this time, I had sent in an
inquiry ... see Microsoft Incident: SRX1047008036 for details ... and was
following the initial out-sourced person from India directions. After much
time, in response to her instructions, I provided a system file for her. She
subsequently came back, as evidenced by the details, and advised it was out
of her league and that a higher up tech would be in contact with me.

Well, that tech has now been in touch. Response, my words ... it's not our
(MSN's) problem, but is at your end ... and there is nothing we can do ...
except try to guide you thru a clean installation process ... which I am
still waiting on by the way.

In a nutshell, I am convinced that I have located a glitch in Vista, and am
willing to make my computer and its evidence files available for analysis.

But, the folks in India do not, IMO, grasp what has happened, and are only
wanting to sluff me off by sending a boiler plate message of ... "don't call
us .., we'll call you."... but not even willing to do that.

So, if there is a Microsoft programmer out there, sure would like to
continue to try to be a good samaritian. If not, then I'll reinstall XP and
let Microsoft find the problem on their own ... in the meantime, having
customers getting mad and frustrated by this 'glitch'.

Chuck Timmerman
Yerington, Nevada

Just a suggestion if you have not tired it or anyone else has
suggested

Windows has a very useful tool called Windows restore
Try restoring system to the date when it all worked okay, may save a
clean install


PM