Vista is a nightmare

[Paul]

As an IT contractor for the last seven years I've had to keep up to date
with new operating systems as part of my CV, and the other day from the
Action Pack I installed Vista Business as an upgrade to XP Pro. It's a
nightmare. All I ever see is a small rotating wheel before anything happens
and any action whatever results in a delay far outweighing any delay seen
for the same action performed with XP Pro.

I have a 3Ghz P4 processor and 4Gb of RAM on an Intel m/board running VMWare
with NT4 / Win2k / XP Pro / Vista all running as vmdk's.

Of the four o/s's NT4 runs in a flash, Win2k is fine, XP Pro is slower as a
vmdk than base OS but Vista is a nightmare. I won't uninstall it because I
need knowledge of it for my CV but has anyone else suffered accordingly? On
what I previously considered to be a fast machine?

Before anyone asks I have carried out 9 of the 10 suggestions at
http://www.pctuneuptips.com/tips/vista_tweaks/?gclid=CP2NnfHVrowCFQ0fEAodVnSnIQ

As for option 5. Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of
Windows Ready Boost
why should I have to shell out another wad of cash to speed up a dog that
ought to be running properly in the first place with 4Gb to hand?

Microsoft I don't know what you think you've achieved with this release but
the Ubuntu / Solaris route is looking ever more attractive.

Paul

 

[Richard Urban]

You upgraded a virtual machine that was Windows XP to Vista? Is this
correct?

--


Regards,

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

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Paul]

You upgraded a virtual machine that was Windows XP to Vista? Is this
correct?

Yes, and your point is?

Paul

 

[Robert Moir]

Yes, and your point is?

Upgrades of Windows operating systems yield unpredictable results. I
wouldn't have expected to have to tell that to someone with 7 years
experience in the IT field to be honest. (See, we can do attitude too!).

 

[Paul]

Upgrades of Windows operating systems yield unpredictable results. I
wouldn't have expected to have to tell that to someone with 7 years
experience in the IT field to be honest. (See, we can do attitude too!).

The version of Vista included in the Action Pack relies on an existing O/S
being present before it will install. I tried Win2k but it didn't want to
know.

I take it from your reply that should I decide to go out and buy a fully
fledged version of Vista it will fly I won't be doing that. Vista is
useable on this machine but it is v e r y s l o w.

In the field BTW upgrades are not a feature of my work, I normally deal with
new installations from Ghost images, so the "unpredictable results" to which
you refer are not something I've come across.

Attitude? That's what newsgroups are for isn't it?

Paul

 

[Robert Moir]

The version of Vista included in the Action Pack relies on an existing O/S
being present before it will install. I tried Win2k but it didn't want to
know.

I take it from your reply that should I decide to go out and buy a fully
fledged version of Vista it will fly I won't be doing that.

I don't blame you. Vista sucks enough to pull a bowling ball through a very
small straw. I certainly wouldn't be using it if I had to actually purchase
it.

However, you _can_ do a clean install of Vista as a trial, without
specifying a product key, and then "upgrade" that to a properly licenced
version. A pain in the hoop, I'll be the first to admit, but it's perfectly
do-able. I don't have the URL with the exact howto to hand, but it isn't far
away if you google a bit.

 

[Paul]

I don't blame you. Vista sucks enough to pull a bowling ball through a very
small straw. I certainly wouldn't be using it if I had to actually purchase
it.

However, you _can_ do a clean install of Vista as a trial, without
specifying a product key, and then "upgrade" that to a properly licenced
version. A pain in the hoop, I'll be the first to admit, but it's perfectly
do-able. I don't have the URL with the exact howto to hand, but it isn't far
away if you google a bit.

Thank you.

I do remember noticing that I didn't "have" to enter the Product Key
initially and did try to continue on that basis. Can't remember what
happened after that, suspect I just went with the XP base install followed
by Vista.

Incidentally, it wasn't an upgrade over an old and clogged XP Pro
installation. It was a new minimal base XP install with Vista on top.

Paul

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Paul,

How much memory is allocated to the Vista VM? It'd need a minimum of a gig
for reasonable performance, and it'd have to stay in the forefront. My
experience with Vista in VM's is, let's say, less than satisfactory. You
might want to try installing it to a separate partition or additional drive
to get a reasonable assessment of performance. Keep in mind that an older OS
on the same hardware will run faster, Vista is really geared more towards
the most recent stuff as there is a lot of overhead.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

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

 

[Paul]

Hi Paul,

How much memory is allocated to the Vista VM? It'd need a minimum of a gig
for reasonable performance, and it'd have to stay in the forefront. My
experience with Vista in VM's is, let's say, less than satisfactory. You
might want to try installing it to a separate partition or additional
drive to get a reasonable assessment of performance. Keep in mind that an
older OS on the same hardware will run faster, Vista is really geared more
towards the most recent stuff as there is a lot of overhead.

Just checked the settings, it has 1024Mb allocated, I could of course
increase that to 2Gb without affecting the other two VMs I'm running.

The board is an Intel D875PBZ with all the mem slots having 1Gb each, and a
P4 3Ghz sadly only 512Mb cache, I'm thinking of going on eBay to get a 1Mb
or 2Mb version of the same chip.

It was a good board when I bought it two or three years ago.

I'm not that bothered, with 2k & XP running I just use those for email and
browsing, the Vista is just there for curiosity, yes it does look nice
Should have said that earlier.

Very curious to see what running Linux as a base with VMWare on top running
M$ O/S's is like, many people do that apparently and it works well.

Paul

 

[Robert Moir]

Very curious to see what running Linux as a base with VMWare on top
running M$ O/S's is like, many people do that apparently and it works
well.

If you use Virtual Machines enough that a "Virtual Machine Server" of some
kind on your LAN makes sense then this would probably be the ideal
configuration for it. None of the virtual products offer perfect support for
all the various odd kinds of devices that might get plugged into a desktop
machine so you might want to keep that in mind if you're considering doing
that to your main PC.

 

[mikeyhsd]

are you running the vmware version that is vista compatible.



(e-mail address removed)



As an IT contractor for the last seven years I've had to keep up to date
with new operating systems as part of my CV, and the other day from the
Action Pack I installed Vista Business as an upgrade to XP Pro. It's a
nightmare. All I ever see is a small rotating wheel before anything happens
and any action whatever results in a delay far outweighing any delay seen
for the same action performed with XP Pro.

I have a 3Ghz P4 processor and 4Gb of RAM on an Intel m/board running VMWare
with NT4 / Win2k / XP Pro / Vista all running as vmdk's.

Of the four o/s's NT4 runs in a flash, Win2k is fine, XP Pro is slower as a
vmdk than base OS but Vista is a nightmare. I won't uninstall it because I
need knowledge of it for my CV but has anyone else suffered accordingly? On
what I previously considered to be a fast machine?

Before anyone asks I have carried out 9 of the 10 suggestions at
http://www.pctuneuptips.com/tips/vista_tweaks/?gclid=CP2NnfHVrowCFQ0fEAodVnSnIQ

As for option 5. Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of
Windows Ready Boost
why should I have to shell out another wad of cash to speed up a dog that
ought to be running properly in the first place with 4Gb to hand?

Microsoft I don't know what you think you've achieved with this release but
the Ubuntu / Solaris route is looking ever more attractive.

Paul

 

[Kerry Brown]

As an IT contractor for the last seven years I've had to keep up to date
with new operating systems as part of my CV, and the other day from the
Action Pack I installed Vista Business as an upgrade to XP Pro. It's a
nightmare. All I ever see is a small rotating wheel before anything
happens and any action whatever results in a delay far outweighing any
delay seen for the same action performed with XP Pro.

I have a 3Ghz P4 processor and 4Gb of RAM on an Intel m/board running
VMWare with NT4 / Win2k / XP Pro / Vista all running as vmdk's.

Of the four o/s's NT4 runs in a flash, Win2k is fine, XP Pro is slower as
a vmdk than base OS but Vista is a nightmare. I won't uninstall it
because I need knowledge of it for my CV but has anyone else suffered
accordingly? On what I previously considered to be a fast machine?

Before anyone asks I have carried out 9 of the 10 suggestions at
http://www.pctuneuptips.com/tips/vista_tweaks/?gclid=CP2NnfHVrowCFQ0fEAodVnSnIQ

As for option 5. Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of
Windows Ready Boost
why should I have to shell out another wad of cash to speed up a dog that
ought to be running properly in the first place with 4Gb to hand?

Microsoft I don't know what you think you've achieved with this release
but the Ubuntu / Solaris route is looking ever more attractive.

Paul

You will not get a good experience with Vista in a vm. For the best speed
you need a Aero capable video card even if you have Glass turned off. This
isn't possible in a vm. That CPU is also a bit slow for running virtual
machines. Your post also shows a misunderstanding of virtual machines unless
you have allocated 4 GB to the vm. I also tried testing Vista in various
virtual environments. It is slow but usable for testing purposes. If you
want to get a real feel for the OS you need to install it outside of a
virtual environment.

 

[Richard Urban]

Why would you not just create a new virtual machine for Vista. You certainly
took the hard path which is prone to potential problems. And, you have
problems.

--


Regards,

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

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Paul]

Why would you not just create a new virtual machine for Vista. You
certainly took the hard path which is prone to potential problems. And,
you have problems.

1) Because the CD I have for Vista is an upgrade CD from the Action Pack.

2) I've solved the problems I had by upping the memory allocation from 1Gb
to 2Gb for the virtual machine.

Paul

 

[Paul]

are you running the vmware version that is vista compatible.



(e-mail address removed)

Just bought 6.0 the other day so I'd say yes.



It's just got a lot better having turned stuff off in Vista and increased the mem. allocation.



Paul

 

[Paul]

You will not get a good experience with Vista in a vm. For the best speed
you need a Aero capable video card even if you have Glass turned off. This
isn't possible in a vm. That CPU is also a bit slow for running virtual
machines. Your post also shows a misunderstanding of virtual machines
unless you have allocated 4 GB to the vm. I also tried testing Vista in
various virtual environments. It is slow but usable for testing purposes.
If you want to get a real feel for the OS you need to install it outside
of a virtual environment.

Thanks for your comments. I have got a useable machine by turning off all
the "Features" and using 2Gb of RAM. Since I don't intend loading many apps
apart from Office 2007 then I won't be loading the machine so I expect it
will suffice for learning my way around Vista which is all I need it for.
Bit of a shock first off though to find that wheel forever spinning with no
end in sight. It has improved beyond measure since doing the above.

Paul

 

[Guest]

Paul, I don't know enough about vm's, virtual environments and all that other
computer talk, I do know that I purchased a brand new laptop with Vista and
it has many faults that one would not expect in a new computer. I have done
all the things suggested to take care of my problems, so far none have
worked. If the only problems I had were the wheel forever spinning and slow
processing, I would content, but a bit happier to at least be able to use my
own software.

Margaretlee