Trouble and Vista. According to a deluge of magazine articles, blogs and opinion pieces, the two go hand in hand. With the lambasting it’s been getting, you could be forgiven for thinking Vista’s as bad as that truly woeful operating system, Windows Me.
It isn’t.
Vista isn’t half bad. In fact, it’s more than three-quarters good, with touches of greatness.
So what’s with all the negative press?
A fair slice of it is the usual anti-Microsoft sniping. Some of it is a good angle for a story: “Vista stinks” makes much better copy than “Vista works”. Some of it is resistance to change – Vista is markedly different from its predecessors and it forces us to alter comfy, long-established computing habits. Some of it reflects the usual teething problems of any new version of Windows. Some of it is the result of self-inflicted woe. And some of it is deserved.
| geekgirl.tip: show the hidden stuff |
You’ve got to give Microsoft for
consistency: In Vista, it maintains the insanity of hiding file extensions,
supposedly to make the operating system easier to use. Really, this just
increases confusion and decreases control. Make Vista easier to use and to
troubleshoot by displaying those extensions. While you’re at it, unhide the
folders Microsoft keeps hidden from you, too:
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So if you’ve been fretting that life with Vista will be a giant step backwards, a path fraught with problems, relax. There’s a good chance your transition will be smooth, especially if you take a sensible, preventative approach in order to avoid problems before they occur.
Even so, be prepared to encounter at least a couple of gotchas before you get your system running sweetly.
How to make Vista behave badly
Most problems with upgrading to Vista are avoidable, but if you want a recipe to make life with Vista miserable, try any of these things:
- Install Vista without first running the Vista Upgrade Advisor.
- Install Vista after running the Vista Upgrade Advisor and then ignoring its advice.
- Install Vista on an underpowered computer with ancient peripherals.
- Do an upgrade install of Vista over your existing operating system instead of opting for a clean install. Or, go one better, and do an upgrade install of an existing operating system which isn’t running smoothly to start with.
Follow any of these courses and you’ll increase your chances of ending up in a Vista nightmare.
Start off on the right foot
On the other hand, if you want to get off to a good start with Vista, you have a couple of options:
- Buy a new machine with your chosen version of Vista pre-installed. This way, you should avoid component and peripheral conflicts, driver problems and underpowered hardware. It’s important that the computer comes with the version of Vista you want, because upgrading from one version of Vista to another is not always a straightforward process. I recommend you avoid machines with hardware labelled as “Vista capable” or with Vista Basic pre-installed, unless you simply can’t afford anything else. These under-powered configurations drastically limit your Vista experience and are not guaranteed to support more advanced versions of Vista should you wish to upgrade in the future. Instead, opt for a computer labelled “Vista Premium Ready” with Vista Business, Vista Premium or Vista Ultimate installed.
- Run the Vista Upgrade Advisor on your existing computer; remedy any problems it detects; then clean install Vista.
Whichever of these two methods you use, you should make sure your software is Vista compatible before abandoning your old operating system.
Microsoft maintains a list of compatible software. If any of your essential software isn’t on that list, visit the manufacturer’s site to see whether it’s compatible but simply hasn’t received a “Certified for Vista” or “Works with Vista” logo from Microsoft.
You will almost certainly have to upgrade your anti-virus, firewall and other security software to work with Vista. The same goes for other utilities that dig deeply into the operating system. Such software is closely wedded to specific features in an operating system, so your old versions are unlikely to make an elegant transition to Vista.
Avoid potential problems by using the Vista Upgrade Advisor. (Click the image to see a full-size screenshot.)
You may also need to scout around for updated drivers for your hardware – your video card, soundcard, printer, scanner and so on. Vista arrived on the scene with a huge array of drivers, so it’s likely most of your hardware will be recognised without a problem.
Unfortunately, a couple of companies have been particularly tardy with new drivers. For example, it took NVIDIA several months after Vista’s launch to get it’s act together and deliver a solid version of its Vista drivers. You may also find you’re out of luck when it comes to drivers for older peripherals. The Vista Upgrade Advisor should alert you to these problems. If it does, check with the manufacturer to see if you can get an updated driver.
Even if a Vista driver is not available for one of your peripherals, you may be able to get it running with a generic driver. A search of some of the hardware support forums, like those on Tom's Hardware site, should help you uncover any workarounds available for your particular hardware.
Don’t forget Vista’s built-in help; it’s not bad at all. Click Start -> Help And Support.
That UAC thing
You’ve probably heard that Vista’s User Account Control warnings will drive you batty. If you’re an inveterate tinkerer, as I am, you’re certainly going to become familiar with UAC prompts. The more you mess with your system’s settings and the more you install new hardware and software, the more you’ll find UAC prompts appearing.
If you find yourself clicking Continue without even bothering to read the prompts - and if no-one else shares your computer - you might as well go ahead and disable UAC warnings. It’s not the safe thing to do, of course, but if you like to live dangerously and don’t want the operating system constantly in your face, here’s how you do it:
- Click Start and click your log-on account picture.
- Click Turn User Account Control On Or Off and respond to the UAC dialog.
- Remove the tick beside Use User Account Control To Help Protect Your Computer and click OK.
Given how easy it is to turn UAC off and how rarely you’ll encounter UAC prompts during everyday computing tasks, a safer alternative is to switch UAC off before you fiddle around with your system, then switch it back on afterwards.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the most significant hacking attacks demonstrated to date on Vista required that the user either switch UAC off or ignore a UAC prompt. In other words, it may be annoying, but UAC is there for a reason.
Use the tools
Vista comes with an assortment of troubleshooting wizards, diagnostic technologies and tools to help keep the system running well. The most fascinating of these technologies is Vista’s ability to heal itself.
Microsoft has been working on Windows “self-healing” since the late nineties. The first attempts were pretty clumsy – Clippy, the talking Microsoft Office paper-clip which offered to help out when it thought you were having problems, is the most infamous example.
In Vista, self-healing is far more subtle and far more effective. The operating system monitors itself and when it comes across a problem, such as a driver conflict, it checks to see whether a solution exists. If it does, it offers to fix it for you or, in some cases, just goes ahead and patches things up. I’ve seen Vista repair a couple of problems on brand new systems as well as fixing nasty glitches that plagued an old system for months.
If Vista can’t do the work for you, its fix-it tools may help you do your own troubleshooting. The first things to check out are the wizards. Vista comes with a swag of these step-by-step tools and they tend to be far more informative and helpful than those offered in previous versions of Windows.
To locate the wizards, click Start -> Help And Support -> Troubleshooting. There are wizards for network problems, Internet access, email, and hardware issues. Click the appropriate link and off you go.
Check that your router is up to scratch by running the Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool. You must use Internet Explorer to install it.
Advanced performance tools
If the troubleshooting wizards don’t help, try some of Vista’s other tools. Click Start and type performance in the Search box and you’ll see a couple of options listed: The Reliability And Performance Monitor and the Performance Information And Tools.
If you have a technical bent, the Reliability And Performance Monitor provides detailed information about your system’s well-being. The Reliability Monitor tracks software installations and uninstallations, as well as failures at the hardware, application and operating system level. It will help you identify programs or hardware which cause problems on your system. It provides a reliability index rating plus a graph highlighting your system’s reliability day by day. Problems are tagged with a red cross while other items worth noting are tagged with an information icon. Click a data point on the graph to get a summary of the day’s history, or use the sections beneath the graph to investigate particular types of issues. If you want to see a list of all problems, use the drop-down box in the top right to Select All.
The Performance Monitor includes a tool for monitoring resources at the process level; it’s a good way to spot a resource hog and it also lets you quickly shut down a process that’s running wild.
Vista’s Reliablity Monitor gives this system a clean bill of health.
Why the Experience Index matters
For the not-so-techie, Vista provides the Performance And Information Tools.
Vista awards your system a performance rating, known as the Windows Experience Index, based on its RAM speed, processor speed, hard drive performance, desktop graphics ability, and 3D/gaming graphics capabilities. The rating your PC receives reflects the lowest of its scores in these five areas, so if you have a fabulous graphics card coupled with a puny processor, your score will reflect the weakness of the processor and not the greatness of your graphics.
Use the Experience Index as a guide to your PC’s strengths and weaknesses.
If your system scores a 1, it means it’s capable of running Vista but almost certainly won’t handle the advanced Aero graphics and other cool features; if it scores 5.9 (the highest score possible at the time of Vista’s launch), you get to skite about it and play the very latest games.
The Experience Index is designed to accommodate hardware improvements, so we can expect to see computers with scores of 6.0 and above in the coming months. Microsoft estimates it will add an extra digit to the index every 12 to 18 months.
| geekgirl.tip: update the experience index |
Vista sometimes provides an incorrect
Experience Index. This usually happens when the Windows System Assessment
Tool is run before you install an updated driver. To update the index, run
the System Assessment Tool manually:
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The Experience Index is useful in several ways. First, it gives you a way of assessing a computer before you buy it. Simply check the system’s Experience Index and note each of the sub-scores.
If all you want to do is basic business computing – word processing, accounts, email and Web browsing – a computer which scores in the range 1.0 to 2.9 should suffice. If you want Aero graphics, the ability to run Media Center, and the ability to play advanced games, albeit with less-than-stellar performance, then buy a machine with a 3.0 to 3.9 index. This is the base level for a machine running Vista Premium. A PC with a 4.0 to 4.9 ranking will give you improved performance, while running Vista on a system ranked over 4.9 should satisfy even advanced gamers.
When you upgrade hardware or drivers, make sure you update your Experience Index.
Second, you can use the Experience Index to decide whether your existing system is capable of running a particular application. Many new programs, especially high-end games, come with a recommended Experience Index. You’ll also find a link in Performance And Information Tools labelled View Software For My Base Score Online. Click this to browse the Windows MarketPlace catalogue of software capable of running on your machine. Unfortunately the MarketPlace doesn’t provide a way to sort its listings so you can see the Experience Index requirements of each program, but anything that’s listed should run on your PC.
Performance And Information Tools also provides quick access to a number of system settings via its Tasks panel. You can use these settings to improve your system’s performance and reliability, either by ramping up advanced options or, if your system is sluggish, by dialling back some of the options that place a heavy load on your system.
Finally, check out the Learn How You Can Improve Your Computer’s Performance link. It opens a help box containing information and step-by-step help on system performance.
STEP-BY-STEP: Using the Event Viewer
The Vista Event Viewer provides information about a myriad of happenings on your computer. Particularly handy is its ability to help you diagnose notoriously pesky problems such as long boot times, slow system shutdown and slow resumes from Standby.
If you’ve been experiencing any of these symptoms, try this:
- Click the Start Orb, type event viewer in the search box and press Enter to open the Event Viewer.
- Double-click Applications And Services Log; then Microsoft; then Windows; then Diagnostics-Performance; then click Operational.
On the right, you’ll see a list of any performance issues, rated in ascending order of urgency as Info, Warning, Error or Critical.
Sort the event list by clicking any of the column headings. It’s particularly useful to sort it either by Level (severity) or by Task Category. For example, sorting by Task Category lets you track down all shutdown delays.
If you’re overwhelmed by the number of events listed, use the Filter Current Log option to whittle the list down:
- Click Filter Current Log.
- In the Filter Current Log dialog box select the severity level of the events you want to view; in the Event Sources box select Diagnostics-Performance; in the Task Category box select the type of task (these are mostly listed cryptically by error number, but the main items such as shutdown, resume, boot time, and standby are listed by name).
- Adjust any other options then click OK to review the revised list.
Double-click any of the listed events to see its details, provided in a relatively understandable style. You’ll see a descriptive error message such as “This service caused a delay in the system shutdown process.”
Take a look at the total time and the degradation time, listed in milliseconds (thousandths of a second). Degradation time is the time wasted; total time minus degradation time gives you how long the process should take to close down if working properly. A degradation time of 16000 milliseconds, for example, means your system had to hang around for 16 additional seconds waiting for a particular program to shutdown.
Problem programs are identified by their filename. That can often be cryptic. so if the filename is unfamiliar, click the Details tab and then click Friendly View. You’ll see additional information including, if you’re lucky, the Product Name and Company Name for the culprit program. If that information is not available, the Path name can be just as helpful as it’s likely to show the program or company name as part of the path.
STEP-BY-STEP: Avoiding networking pitfalls
On the whole, networking is much easier in Vista than in previous versions of Windows, but there are some sneaky stumbling blocks. Vista’s so-called Network And Sharing Center is a good place to keep track of your network settings, but it doesn’t centralise all of those settings, and that can be a real problem.
To open the Network And Sharing Center, click the Network icon in the notification area of the taskbar and then click Network And Sharing Center.
| geekgirl.tip: display xp computers on the network map |
| Vista’s handy network map uses a technology called Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) to ferret out the devices on your network. The network map readily identifies Vista computers, but if your XP computer fails to show up on the map, you may need to install the LLTD Responder. |
If you want to network your Vista computer with an XP machine on a home network, the first thing to remember is that the default workgroup name in each operating system is not the same: in XP, your workgroup’s default name is MSHOME; in Vista, the default is WORKGROUP. You must make sure all computers on your network share the same workgroup name, or they won’t be able to see one another.
There’s a trap lurking when you try to change the workgroup name in Vista. By clicking the Customize link in the Network Center you can change the network name and, once you’ve done that, that’s the name you’ll see displayed in the network map. But that network name is not the workgroup name. To change the workgroup, you’ll need to leave the Network Center behind and open the System applet in the Control Panel (press Winkey+Pause/Break, or click Start, right-click Computer and select Properties).
Click the Change Settings button in the System applet and acknowledge the UAC prompt to display the System Properties dialog. On the Computer Name tab, click the Change button and type the workgroup name in the Workgroup box. Click OK a couple of times and restart your computer.
Once you’ve set the workgroup name, you can adjust all the other network settings in the Network Center. Make sure you activate Network Discovery and File Sharing, at a minimum. You’ll also need to share at least one folder on each computer connected to the network before you can share files.
If your networked computers still fail to see one another, check your firewall settings. One way to diagnose whether the firewall is at fault is to temporarily disable it, and then try to access each computer. If, with the firewall disabled, you can get your network running, you’ll need to re-enable the firewall and set it to allow network connections.
If you still have problems with your network, try Vista’s Network Diagnostics: right-click the Network icon in the notification area and choose Diagnose And Repair from the pop-up menu. Vista will try to track down any problems; many of them it can fix automatically, for others, it will offer step-by-step help.
Solving specific problems
Vista’s self-healing techniques and diagnostic tools will help you fix many problems on your system. Regularly checking for updated drivers for your hardware and updated versions of your software will also help you stay out of trouble.
Sometimes, though, you’ll run into problems which require more specific solutions. Here’s a selection of some of the most widely reported Vista problems and ways to fix them.
| geekgirl.tip: new card, no aero |
| If you upgrade your graphics with an Aero-capable video card after installing Vista and find that Aero graphics are still not displayed, update your Experience Index. This will force Vista to notice your enhanced hardware. |
Disappearing RAW data
If you’re a digital photographer who works with photos in RAW format, you could be in for a rude shock. Sometimes, Vista deletes RAW data and that data becomes completely unrecoverable.
The reason this happens is that Vista takes a completely new approach to RAW data: instead of depending on RAW conversion utilities from camera manufacturers or third-party photography apps – an approach which led to inconsistency and compatibility issues under Windows XP – Vista uses pluggable codecs, much like those we’re accustomed to using with video and music applications. The advantage to this approach is that, via these codecs and a series of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), Vista lets third-party developers incorporate RAW handling into their own applications.
That’s fine, provided your system has the appropriate codec installed. Without the right codec, your RAW data is at risk.
To avoid this problem, open Photo Gallery and use its Check For Updates option to search for a codec designed by your camera manufacturer. Although these codecs weren’t available at the time Vista was launched, you can now get codecs for Canon, Olympus, Nikon, Sony and Pentax digital cameras. Note that there were problems with the original Nikon codec, but a newer version appears to work well.
Start Menu sluggishness
If your Start Menu takes a long time to open, try this:
- Right-click the Start Orb and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
- Click the Customize button.
- Scroll through the options list and remove the tick beside Highlight Newly Installed Programs, then click OK twice.
A quick setting change will speed up your Start Menu.
Adobe Reader won’t install
If you try to install Adobe Reader 8, you may get the erroneous message:
The Temp folder is on a drive that is full or is inaccessible. Free up space on the drive or verify that you have write permission on the Temp folder.
In most cases, there’s plenty of space available on the drive and the real problem is that you’ve turned User Account Control off. Adobe Reader will not install unless you have UAC switched on. To do that:
- Click Start and click your log-on account picture.
- Click Turn User Account Control On Or Off.
- Tick Use User Account Control To Help Protect Your Computer and click OK.
- Reboot and install Adobe Reader.
Alternatively, you can install Adobe Reader using XP Compatibility Mode. This is a handy trick to know, because it can help you with other programs that have installation problems:
- Locate the Adobe Reader installation file you downloaded from the Web, right-click it and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
- Click the Compatibility tab.
- In the Compatibility Mode section, tick Run This Program In Compatibility Mode For: and select Windows XP (Service Pack 2) from the drop-down list.
- Click Apply and then OK.
- Double-click the Adobe Reader installation file.
Use XP Compatibility Mode to install recalcitrant programs.
A missing Recycle Bin
Vista makes it absurdly easy to toss out the garbage bin with the garbage. Just click the Recycle Bin and hit the Delete key and it’s gone, without a peep of warning. Luckily, it’s almost as easy to get it back, complete with its contents:
- Right-click the desktop and select Personalize from the pop-up menu.
- In the Tasks list on the left, click Change Desktop Icons.
- Tick the Recycle Bin and click OK.
Here’s a way to help avoid deleting the Recycle Bin in the first place: Position it away from all other icons on your desktop. This simple step not only prevents you from accidentally deleting the Recycle Bin when you delete neighbouring desktop items, it also makes it easier to drag-and-drop items into the Recycle Bin in the first place. To do this, you’ll need to make sure Auto Arrange is switched off, or the Recycle Bin will snap back into place when you attempt to move it:
- Right-click the desktop and click View.
- If there’s a tick beside Auto Arrange, click Auto Arrange to remove the tick.
Inaccessible files
Vista is picky about who can open documents. If an ‘access denied’ message appears when you try to open a file or folder, you should first check to see whether you have permission to do so. You may not have permission if someone else created the file or if you created the file using a different user account.
To check a file’s permissions:
- Right-click the file (or folder) and click Properties in the pop-up menu.
- Click the Security tab.
- In the Group Or User Names box, click your name. Your permissions will be displayed below.
There are five main types of permission you can have to any file or folder:
- Read permission lets you see the contents of a folder and open files, for viewing only, within the folder.
- Read and execute provides Read permissions plus the ability to run programs within a folder.
- Write permission lets you create new files and folders and modify existing files and folders.
- Modify permission lets you change existing files and folders but does not let you create new ones.
- Full Control lets you read, write, create, delete and modify files and also lets you run programs in a folder.
To change the permissions on a file you must be the owner of that file or the owner must have given you permission to make such changes.
To make the changes:
- Right-click the file or folder and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
- On the Security tab click Edit.
- To change permissions for an existing user or group, click the name in the list, tick the appropriate permissions below and click OK.
- To give an unlisted user permissions, click Add, provide a name for the user, click OK, tick the appropriate permissions and click OK once more.
Note that instead of adjusting permissions, a simple way to share a file with everyone on your system is to copy or move the file to the Public folder. To view the Public folder, click Start -> Documents and click the Public link under Favorites.
If you appear to have the appropriate permissions to access a file and yet you’re still denied access, it’s possible the file is encrypted. To check whether this is so:
- Right-click the file or folder and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
- On the General tab click Advanced.
If the Encrypt Contents To Secure Data option is ticked, the file is encrypted. You will need to obtain or import the certificate used to encrypt the file to gain access.
Where are my files?
Vista doesn’t use the same folder structure as Windows XP. If you’ve lost a document, make sure you’re looking for it in the right place.
| windows xp | vista |
| \Documents and Settings | \Users |
| \Documents and Settings\username\Desktop | \Users\username\Desktop |
| \Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings | \Users\username\AppData\Local |
| \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents | \Users\username\Documents |
| \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Pictures | \Users\username\Pictures |
| \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music | \Users\username\Music |
(Note: Replace username with your Windows log-on name.)
© 2007 Rose Vines
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