Which system? Your opinion please (or, Floppy installs Vista Blog)

[Ian]

The new Junk Mail Filter is really quite good now - works a treat for me It wasn't this good until a few months ago, and correctly identifies 98% of my junk.

 

[muckshifter]

Vista constantly urges you to lock yourself to Microsoft so they can monitor you. This is spooky. You can choose not to but who knows what they're up to?

For all our readers, as well as Mr Floppy, here is one reason to 'opt-in' and get feedback from MS.


I'll cheat, see attachments ... but the joke is on nVidia.



As you can see, I had a graphics 'crash', I hasten to add that I did NOT get any BSOD, nor did the PC fall to bits, I merely got that first popup. It ain't the first time either. So I followed the link in the second box ... well, lets say I ain't too pleased with nVidia, it is their problem, not Vista, they supplied the drivers.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ok, today I went a little Stir Crazy, had to get out, just got back from the pub, didn't get much done really.

I seem to have the sound working ok, although the only way I could get it to work with bass first of all was select 7.1 speakers. Then when I just came home and booted I had to switch to 5.1 sound to get some bass

I'm also having problems with Networking. At different stages:

Vista has seen all three other computers on Network

Vista has seen all 3 other computers and my router

Vista only sees one other computer.

At the moment, two other computers switched on, Vista only seeing one, Vista not seeing Router.

Vista is user friendly is it?

I tell you what, if it wasn't for Ian posting this:

Stick with it Flops just for a couple of weeks, even if you really want to go back to XP! This is just the teething period.

I think I’d have junked it by now.

This is a struggle, I honestly found it easier to configure PC Linux OS – Truth.

I will stay with this thing but it’s making me feel uncomfortable and I sincerely don’t feel ‘cozy’ with it like I do with XP.

But – I will persevere for a while longers.

 

[psd99]

with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown!

 

[floppybootstomp]

with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown!

Uh, yes, of course.... And the Butterfly spread her wings and stopped the loom with a tilt of her psyche.

Of course.

Let's put it this way....

I am on a knife edge with this thing.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Have now installed Brother HL2030 Laser Printer, working ok but even unzipping the driver file was problematic compared to XP. Somewhere on my hard drive is an unzipped printer driver file, I not sure where, XP always unzipped to the same location.

I also have two instances of this Printer installed, it seems - wtf?

I wonder if, one day, I will ever be happy with Vista.

But, as I said, I will persevere. It sure taking me a helluva lot more time to get to know than XP ever did.

I'm wondering, is this Microsoft's secret plan? 'I know chaps, let's make it look as nerdy and appealing as Linux -if we make it really really hard to understand, all them Linux nuts will respect it'

Seems that way.

Ok, I am a little intoxicated atm, tis true to say, but so far it's 60% cheesed off, 40% pleased.

We shall see how things progress.

 

[Taffycat]

Doesn't your missing driver show up in the list of drivers which comes up after you type "Drivers" into the Start > Search box? I know you've probably tried that, but I just wondered...

 

[floppybootstomp]

Some progress - I now have the Network working ok, I'm seeing the router, the other three computers and it even shows Vista's Media Player as part of the Network

I've named my Network 'Cyrius'. The problem was that whilst the other three all had that name, this computer with Vista on it was named 'MSHOME' despite me naming it CYRIUS during setup, it seems to have renamed itself somewhere along the line.

So I managed to find out where to change the Network name, rebooted, and all is good.

All is still not good on the sound card front front though as to enable bass each time I boot I have to switch between 5.1 and 7.1 setting or vice versa. I'm really not sure what I'm going to do about that, I have a spare Audigy 2 card here but it may have the same problem and probably won't sound as good.

The 'X-Fi' Audio Extreme does sound very good, btw, so that's some consolation.

Also, if I change the 5.1/7.1 settings whilst Media Player is open, it stops working, I have to close it down and reopen it to enable it. It never done that in XP. I haven't installed Winamp yet, that has always been my default audio player.

Taffy: The missing driver is just an unzipped file (as far as I know) lurking somewhere on my hard drive, wherever Vista unzipped it to. My fault, really, I should have noted where it was going or changed it's destination when unzipping. I shall unzip another file and see where the default location is then hopefully I can find it and zap it.

I'll be installing more stuff today. I guess the only real problem is the sound card. I can either put up with the inconvemience of changing settings each time I boot (which I won't) or consider alternatives.

The alternatives would seem to be:

New Loudspeaker system (maybe).

Keep existing speakers and:

1) Try Audigy 2 Sound Card
2) Try Motherboard onboard sound.
3) Purchase a non Creative Card

New speakers and new card are obviously a gamble.

I can use the 'X-Fi' Audio Extreme card in my media machine (assuming it will fit as it's a desktop case) so at least there won't be a loss there.

Ok private, carry on

 

[Abarbarian]

Uh, yes, of course.... And the Butterfly spread her wings and stopped the loom with a tilt of her psyche.

Of course.

Let's put it this way....

I am on a knife edge with this thing.

psd99 forgot to mention the "lots of hard work" with that mulberry leaf .

I use WinRar and it has a neat facility you can include in the right click drop down menue "extract here" which I find very useful when un-zipping . Don't know if WinZip has the same function but its worth a look .

 

[muckshifter]

Strange people ... Mr Stomp admitted he was a little worse for ware, and neglected number one rule ... don't drink & drive.

Vista can "extract" any .ZIP file, you just need to "look/note" at where the default location is.

It is a simple right-click in Vista ...

 

[murdoch]

Ok, I am a little intoxicated atm

I do my best work in front of a computer whilst having a few beers.
I think it make's the brain cells work harder.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Vista can "extract" any .ZIP file, you just need to "look/note" at where the default location is.

It is a simple right-click in Vista ...

Don't you roll your eyes at me matey

I know dat, honest I do....

I just messed up is all cos when I unzipped in XP a folder was created in the same location as the zip file in question with all the contents of the zip file inside it. Not so with Vista, seems we be back to the days of Win 98.

I did find the bugger it was under my user name in Application Data/Temp. Other files I've unzipped since, I paused and selected a location. Progress?

Ok, talking of progress, this is what I've done/installed so far:

Logitech G7 Mouse software
Logitech G15 Keyboard Software
Logitech Cordless Gamepad Software (which also handles my Logitech Joystick )
Epson Perfection 4490 Photo Scanner software and drivers - working fine, independently and in Photoshop 7
Antvir, updated
Foxit PDF Reader
Winamp

I have an HP Photosmart 7960 inkjet printer on another computer in the Network, it was located but wouldn't load. I loaded the Vista drivers for it to this computer and it's now working ok, although it's a bit slower to connect/load print jobs than previously with XP/XP.

HP aren't supplying any software for this printer within Vista, just drivers. Which may actually be an advantage

I've just done a little work with MS Publisher 2003 and I swear the graphics are sharper and crisper.

And that's it so far, only real problem is the Soundcard issue, although I've been playing music for a few hours on it, it sounds good. It's just I have to mess about when I reboot.

And onwards we go.....

 

[psd99]

I am on a knife edge with this thing.

someone once told me that computers were a matter of life and death. I assured him that it's much more serious than that!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Installed Cyberlink Power DVD 6 and although it worked I was informed it had compatibility problems.

I found a patch that was supposed to address the problem at Cyberlink's site and d/l it.

When I went to install it I was told I needed to enter serial number of the software for the patch to install. I had already entered the serial number so I decided to uninstall it.

It would not uninstall, I got a message saying the uninstall tool only worked with previous versions of Windows. So I deleted all short cuts and attempted to uninstall the Cyberlink folder from Program Files but two files wouldn't budge.

I gave those 2 files .old extensions, rebooted and managed to completely delete the folder.

I then removed the registry entries for Power DVD/Cyberlink.

Damn, I liked that program. Looks like I got to use Windows Media Player or Media Centre then, cos video looks a bit crap in Winamp. I will look for a freebie video player. I know Nero has one, but I don't have my Nero 8 disk yet, should arrive tomorrow.

I have set up my 4 e-mail accounts in Windows Mail and frankly I much prefer Outlook so I'm going to set up my accounts in Outlook as well and use that. Windows Mail is basically Outlook Express revamped, innit? And what is Windows Mail Live I wonder?

What a jolly thrilling experience this is turning out to be

 

[muckshifter]

sorry, not laughing at you personally ...

I'm laughing so hard, I have tears rolling down me cheeks.

Floppy, stop thinking XP and what was needed to make things work ... all you had to do was, pop a DVD in the drive.

I'll be honest though, one 'feeling' I had about Vista was, can I watch DVDs without jumping through a load of hoops ... the answer was easier than I thought.

I haven't found one DVD I couldn't watch ... and I'm slowly going through a fine collection of several hundred, courtesy of my niece.

Give Windows Live Mail a try ... not sayin it'll replace Outlook, I know Outlookers are like Mac Fanboys.


I'm loving this "Blog" keep at it ... we'll make it a sticky.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Latest shenanigans:

I don't need another video player, I watched parts of a couple of films in Windows Media Centre and I really like it. I swear the graphics are better as well. And also has auto-bookmark, which I like.

Whilst movies may be good in Media Centre, I wasn't too impressed with the way it imported audio. It didn't import everything from the folder I specified and sometimes it only imported one or two tracks into seperate categories but still gave them the apropiate album cover

I like Winamp, so I'll use Winamp for audio and Media Centre for films. And I think I'll try and remove the links to audio folders within MC. I'm wondering, does that MS remote control work with the Vista version of Media Centre?

The sound problem where I have no bass on music files. I've found that by just going into the Creative console and switching from 5.1 to 7.1 and then back again remedies the problem. I wonder whether it's worth e-mailing Creative in the hope they may be able to issue a patch to deal with the problem?

Whenever I play a game or watch a movie the problem isn't there. I can play a game or watch a movie straight from boot and I'll have the full range of sound.

I will say this though, It is definitely sounding better now, MC utilises the full 5.1 surround sound whereas Cyberlink's Power Video did not (I only had the OEM version of PDVD). Games sound better too.

And onto Games.

I've installed Crysis; MS Flight Simulator X; The Orange Box (Half Life 2 bundle) and Call Of Duty 4.

Flight Simulator X looking good, Joystick working fine.

Crysis. Initially I couldn't get the mouse cursor to work properly in the menu. When I applied the 1.1 patch, all was good. So it's likely that if you want to run Crysis in Vista you'll have to apply the 142Mb patch. I then created a profile in the same name I used before and imported my saved games to my Save Game folder. And they're all there, working ok

During the installation of Crysis, btw, Gamespy Comrade managed to sneak past me and install itself This kept popping up as a window on boot so I uninstalled it from the Programs menu. To uninstall it actually took three attempts, stubborn lil bugger didn't want to go.

The majority of saved game folders are now in 'Documents' (formerly 'My Documents') which may be a better idea or not, I'm not sure yet. Also, most games start links now default to a folder on the start menu named 'Games' so Crysis is sitting alongside Mahjong and Solitaire.

Vista gives each game a rating for how difficult it is for your computer to run it and then compares that to the rating it has given your computer. For instance, my computer (see my signature below) is rated 5.3 and both Crysis and Flight Simulator X are rated 5.0.

Call Of Duty Four. Single and Multi Player both working fine. But my profile doesn't work in the new installation. I imported my profile to the folder in 'Documents' but my single player saved games aren't there and my multiplayer profile has gone. Which is a bit annoying cos I was up to 2nd Lieutenant or thereabouts, so I've lost all my perks.

The same saved profile worked fine on an installation of CoD4 on my AMD machine which is using Win XP. So I'm a bit baffled with that one atm.

And Half Life 2 Episode Two works fine and looks good

HL2 E2 is only using DX9 btw, there is no option to switch to DX10 so I suppose the game doesn't support DX10.

I haven't checked which DX version the other games are supporting yet, I'll have to try and find out.

And that, so far, is it.

 

[floppybootstomp]

And...

Definitely have a problem with Crysis, the game.

If I play it once and exit, next time I start the game, I have the problem with the cursor browsing the game's menu. Basically, the cursor is offset to the menu buttons making some parts of the menu inaccessible. But, a reboot puts all to rights - for just one instance of playing the game.

I am sincerely cheesed off about this, hopefully Crytek will bring out another patch addressing the problem or maybe some new drivers from Nvidia will help.


I am confused as to why some games go into the games folder/menu yet others don't

I have now installed:

Call Of Juarez
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Need For Speed Underground 2
Roller Tycoon Coaster 3/Soaked/Wild
Oblivion: Elder Scrolls 4

All of which are working perfectly and looking good. All saved games for Oblivion and RCT3 installed ok as well.

I've searched around and there aren't actually that many games about that make use of DX10.

The only games I have that use DX10 are Crysis; Call Of Juarez and Bioshock.

Call of Juarez, European Edition, needs to be first patched to V1.1.0.0. then patched to V1.1.1.0 for DX10 to work. The DX10 patch, V1.1.1.0., is around 940Mb (a huge download) and basically rewrites the whole game to DX10.

But, oh my goodness - it looks gorgeous It's not a bad game either, one of the few Western PC Games about and last I looked only a fiver online from HMV. It also has a DX10 benchmark program in the menu after both patches are installed, my average fps was 41, not sure if that's good or bad.

Cysis. I'm not sure if it's using DX10 or not, there's no way that I can find out as far as I know. It does look just the same as it used to though, not too impressed if this is meant to be DX10. I'll have to have a search about for this.

And as for Bioshock, haven't installed it yet. I wasn't going to install it as I've finished the game but I am curious to see what it looks like with DX10 enabled. It looked really good under XP and DX9 so it could be interesting.

As for my impressions on Vista as a whole. I'm getting to like it, I really am. My biggest fear, that it would run as slow as molasses down a slope on a winter's morning, has proved to be unfounded. On my system (see sig) it runs at the same speed as XP Pro.

There are lots of little things I'm discovering that I really like, like being able to access a menu where you can select default programs to open different applications and settings. That is something I'd always wanted to see and there it is.

Lots of little things go unheralded, actually, I guess Microsoft don't choose to make a big promotional issue of what they consider small things. But it's those small things that cheer me.

On the other hand, I am still paranoid MS are permanently snooping and I am really getting fed up with their nanny-like mentality. Whatever it is you have to do to disable these dozens of irritating popups, I may very likely do.

There is an overwhelming sense of having one's choice taken away a little and also of not knowing exactly what's going on. The updates don't actually tell you what they do, they just download and install. Bad.

Getting back to the Zip file issue I was moaning about earlier, Zip files now seem to be behaving in a normal manner, I get a prompt and a choice where to unzip the contents to. Maybe that earlier Zip file was a different type of file, a RAR file or something.

Summing up so far: I like it. It looks gorgeous and the sound and graphics are superb. It's quick, well laid out and works well. Obviously I'm still having probs finding my way about and I do have problems. To be honest, I expected problems, This machine is primarily for gaming and it's games that always throw up the most problems.

Biggest bugbears so far:

Crysis menu fault, reboot required each time I want to play.

Sound card problem, where on each reboot I have to switch between 5.1 and 7.1 and back again to enable bass.

I lost my profile in Call Of Duty 4. I think this is because Win XP & Win Vista load the profile to different locations and the saved XP Profile just doesn't work in Vista. A shame

Some apps don't work, but I expected that.

Oh, and a PS: Toca Race Driver 3 doesn't work in Vista. I know this cos I Googled

Still waiting for my OEM Nero 8 to show up, still have to install IrfanView and some other stuff, but so far, all things considered, it hasn't been as bad as I feared it would be. Although that is not to deny there are problems, albeit minor ones.

 

[Ian]

For the "games" folder, only the newer games appear in that list - as they have to realise Vista has this feature, along with the minimum requirement stars.

I'm not sure why you are having the Crysis problem though, as I bought it last week and it runs a treat - both with and without the patch. Is there anything on the Crysis forums about it?

In a couple of weeks time you'll get used to (and even like!) Vista I'm really enjoying reading how you are finding Vista

 

[floppybootstomp]

I'm really enjoying reading how you are finding Vista

Goody good

This is the real thing, I think, absolutely no bias, I just be telling it how it is.

If there was any bias, actually, it would be against Microsoft but I have to bury my bias and be objective.

 

[crazylegs]

Really enjoying reading this thread aswell..some funny bits in here and sometimes can't stop meself from having a little titter over some of your Vista misfortunes...(Sorry Flopp's) keep on it though It sounds like your gonna crack it soon..