When isa Vista Vista?

[Paul H]

We have 4 family laptops with Vista - 3 with home premium. All are current
with updates. My wife's is the best, even though her laptop is a cheap
($289) Acer Celeron. It does cool transitions with the screen saver slide
show. The others are the more traditional - simple transitions - sometimes
annoying monochrome - sometimes expanding the pictures so the edges are
cropped.

How do I get the good features on all my laptops?

Also, they do not all have the same selection of Gadgets available for the
side-bar.

Is it normal for every Vista laptop to be a little different?

TIA, Paul

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Go into the settings of the photo screensaver, change it from classic to
random.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

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

 

[RalfG]

OEM manufacturers can add whatever software extras they want to their
computers so in that sense yes, every Vista laptop or desktop can be a
little different. One brand/model may include different or extra gadgets,
another may include non-standard screensavers, wallpapers, games or even
custom themes. The (pre-Vista) HP computers I've bought typically included
select parts of the MS "Plus!" software package that would otherwise be a
separate purchase item. Those included screensavers, themes, games, backup
software and other extras not included with the basic OS. Those extras were
preinstalled and there is no installation program provided for them.

 

[Paul H]

Thanks Ralf,
The routines that control things like screen savers exist somewhere. I
should be able to locate the one I like, on my wife's Acer laptop, and
install it on my Compaq laptop. Both are new within the last 3 months or
so, and came with Vista Home Premium installed. I wonder how I can find
that location, probably in the Windows folder somewhere. TIA, Paul

OEM manufacturers can add whatever software extras they want to their
computers so in that sense yes, every Vista laptop or desktop can be a
little different. One brand/model may include different or extra gadgets,
another may include non-standard screensavers, wallpapers, games or even
custom themes. The (pre-Vista) HP computers I've bought typically included
select parts of the MS "Plus!" software package that would otherwise be a
separate purchase item. Those included screensavers, themes, games, backup
software and other extras not included with the basic OS. Those extras were
preinstalled and there is no installation program provided for them.

 

[RalfG]

That's not often the case with OEM computers. The screensaver files and
associated settings (.ini, registry or whatever) would all be preconfigured
within the Recovery software and not accessible individually. Some simple
screensavers can run directly from a self contained .SCR file (you can
search and copy those) but others are more complex and require support files
and an installer to correctly set it all up.