Alternative to Vista?

white apples

I just got a new computer which judging by the specs should be a hell of a lot faster and smoother than my old laptop.

However, the new PC is running Vista wheras my laptop was XP. I find it really sluggish and slow and have had compatability issues trying to transfer music to my Creative Zen player also as apparently its not compatable with Vista.

I'm thinking about changing to Linux. I know enough about computers to get thorugh the ususal things but am not a computer whiz by any stretch.

Would I be going out of my depth to switch to Linux? Is it worth switching? Would I be better just to wait for Windows 7.

I just feel like I'm not getting value for the money I spent on the machine due to the crappy OS.

tman

There's no harm in installing something like Ubuntu and giving it a whirl... You can easily install it alongside windows, and if you install it from within windows, its a doddle to remove it if you don't like it...

I'd say wait for Windows 7 (its doubtful that you'll want to totally replace windows) but I doubt that would fix any compatibility issues for hardware that isn't already compatible with Vista.
Windows 7 isn't noticeably faster imo, and still has the same memory footprint of Vista... Maybe try out the release candidate of it and see if you like it before deciding to buy it

mukki

vista is not a crappy OS


when you install vista on a pc you have 36 processess running in the background (taskmanager bottom left corner)


when you buy a vista pc or laptop they usually have so much crap installed that you have well over 80 background processess

1) uninstall norton and mcafee and reboot
2) use autoruns (google it) to disable all non microsoft items
except
anything on drivers tab
dell quickset if installed
lexmark printing service if installed

3)run services.msc and disable...
server
computer browser
error reporting service
readyboost
security center
windows defender
superfetch (only if you have less then 1gb ram)

4) run msconfig and disable
all items on startup tab
on tools tab disable UAC
on tools tab lauch security center and set it not notify or display icon

5) run firewall.cpl and make sure the firewall is on
6) install an antivirus

optional
7)right click my computer
properties
advanced system settings
performance settings->settings button
click adjust for best performance
tick the last 3 and tick show thumbnails instead of icons

optional
8) right click desktop and hide desktop icons, right click on taskbar and add the desktop toolbar instead

optional
9) remove back ground wallpaper

10) on a laptop click on the battery icon (beside time) and make sure its set to performance on balanced, NOT the "power saver" setting as it tries to reduce precessor speed by 50%

Note: if you encounter any problems tap f8 while booting up launch startup repair and run system restore

(edit on request)

doing all of the above will make vista fly even with only 512mb ram.



but if you are still not happy buy more ram, its dirt cheap, and easy to change

Verres

A couple of points.

i) I always recommend that when someone buys an off-the-shelf PC, they format the HD and reinstall the OS minus all the bloatware that comes preinstalled. This way you get to pick and choose what's running on your PC

ii) You can get Windows 7 now from the Microsoft website for free (it's at Release Candidate stage, so it's very stable), I have a 32 bit version running on my Macbook (don't ask) and a 64-bit version running on my desktop behemoth. It's very usable and nice.

iii) You could always just format your disk and reinstall XP; XP is still a great OS.

iv) Ubuntu will drive you to drink. Unless you like writing your own drivers. This is not an exaggeration: http://xkcd.com/619/

BopNiblets

Definitely try Linux Mint before Ubuntu, same thing but Youtube, other videos and music will play out of the box.

*insert someone here saying "but all you need to do is sudo blah blah restricted extras"*

Yeah, you don't have to do it with Mint, skip it completely, great for a Linux noob!

Kinetic^

mukki wrote: »

vista is not a crappy OS


when you install vista on a pc you have 36 processess running in the background (taskmanager bottom left corner)


when you buy a vista pc or laptop they usually have so much crap installed that you have well over 80 background processess

1) uninstall norton and mcafee and reboot
2) use autoruns (google it) to disable all non microsoft items
except
anything on drivers tab
dell quickset if installed
lexmark printing service if installed

3)run services.msc and disable...
server
computer browser
error reporting service
readyboost
security center
windows defender
superfetch (only if you have less then 1gb ram)

4) run msconfig and disable
all items on startup tab
on tools tab disable UAC
on tools tab lauch security center and set it not notify or display icon

5) run firewall.cpl and make sure the firewall is on
6) install an antivirus

optional
7)right click my computer
properties
advanced system settings
performance settings->settings button
click adjust for best performance
tick the last 3 and tick show thumbnails instead of icons

optional
8) right click desktop and hide desktop icons, right click on taskbar and add the desktop toolbar instead

optional
9) remove back ground wallpaper



doing all of the above will make vista fly even with only 512mb ram.



but if you are still not happy buy more ram, its dirt cheap, and easy to change

I think you just proved that Vista is a terrible OS. Your average person shouldn't have to do all that in order to operate their PC/Laptop.

Adyx

Kinetic^ wrote: »

I think you just proved that Vista is a terrible OS. Your average person shouldn't have to do all that in order to operate their PC/Laptop.

Whilst Vista is by no means great OS and you're right about all the hoop-jumping, a lot of the unnecessary services and start up programs are installed by third-partys especially Dell et al.

Also look at the efforts you have to go through to get most Linux distros working. I have never found a way to get my Belkin wireless adapter to work with Ubuntu and Xandros installed on my eeePC was bordering on ridiculousness for bugs.

Since the OP has compatibility problems with Vista, switching to Linux won't be much help. I'd say switch back to XP or wait for Windows 7.

Edit: I realise the problems with the wireless adapter were due to Belkin not providing Linux driversand not due to Ubuntu's developers.

mp22

it dosent do any harm to disable teredo tunneling pseudo-interface,(device manager-view-show hidden devices right click on teredo and disable

mehmeh12

What creative player are you using?

I have the creative vision M: 30Gb version which i found to be slow on xp...sometimes the device manger would't detect the drivers..even creative firmware update didn't work. Then i got a new laptop last year with vista and creative is working fine on this.

Overheal

Kinetic^ wrote: »

I think you just proved that Vista is a terrible OS. Your average person shouldn't have to do all that in order to operate their PC/Laptop.

those steps have nothing to do with vista, it has to do with the Laptop Vendors and the pile of shyte they embed into Vista's Installer. Its something theyve started doing a lot more of in the last few years. So not only do you have McAfee (gross) you get other ****, like "Solution Centres" And "Health Check" services that run in the background. Quite sickening. I take great pleasure in purging them.

Tea_Bag

XP FTW!

if you're comfortable with it, keep it. i do, and never, ever look back.

Overheal

Tea_Bag wrote: »

XP FTW!

if you're comfortable with it, keep it. i do, and never, ever look back.

You mean Forward.


:rolleyes:

ve

If you want to test Linux, just pop in an Ubuntu Live CD and play around with it to see how you find it before installing. Windows 7 is up for grabs right now, and I must admit as an advocate of Linux in general I actually quite like Windows 7. It doesn't by default boot any faster than Vista, but I find it much more stable and reliable. With Windows you have to sacrifice some performance for compatability and driver support, and with Linux you have reliability and performance, but if you're a casual computer user with little patience for problem solving, then you're probably better off staying with Windows for now.

Ubuntu IMO is the best thing that has happened Linux when it comes to making it accessible to more casual PC users. I recommend that everyone give the Live CDs a go, but please do not expect all your devices/components to work out ouf the box. It's not Linux's fault, and will be something that will be addressed as soon as we have more people using Linux.

Also if you don't want to worry about dual booting OS' and partitioning, etc, then have a look at Virtualization. VirtualBox is free.

Tea_Bag

Overheal wrote: »

You mean Forward.


:rolleyes:

thats not true!;) i have W7...

Adyx

mehmeh12 wrote: »

What creative player are you using?

I have the creative vision M: 30Gb version which i found to be slow on xp...sometimes the device manger would't detect the drivers..even creative firmware update didn't work. Then i got a new laptop last year with vista and creative is working fine on this.

Yep I have the Vision M 30GB too and it works fine with Vista. If only I could get the midi ports on the X-Fi breakout box to work as well.

Kinetic^

Adyx wrote: »

Whilst Vista is by no means great OS and you're right about all the hoop-jumping, a lot of the unnecessary services and start up programs are installed by third-partys especially Dell et al.

Also look at the efforts you have to go through to get most Linux distros working. I have never found a way to get my Belkin wireless adapter to work with Ubuntu and Xandros installed on my eeePC was bordering on ridiculousness for bugs.

Since the OP has compatibility problems with Vista, switching to Linux won't be much help. I'd say switch back to XP or wait for Windows 7.

Edit: I realise the problems with the wireless adapter were due to Belkin not providing Linux driversand not due to Ubuntu's developers.

I installed Crunchbang Lite (variant of ubuntu)on a 5/6 year old laptop the other day and everything worked straight away. Ubuntu is getting more and more newb friendly in terms of being able to install it and use straight away. The only thing I changed was the timeout on boot and your average use wouldn't even need that.

Windows 7 is nice and performs really well, will probably pick it up when it comes out. I have Vista Ultimate and while it does the job, W7/XP out perform it easily enough. I'm just glad I got a mate to get it for me when he worked in Microsoft for €30 rather then paying a good few hundred for it via retail.

mukki

Kinetic^ wrote: »

I think you just proved that Vista is a terrible OS. Your average person shouldn't have to do all that in order to operate their PC/Laptop.

steps 1 and 2 are to remove the manufacurers junk, should be done on xp too

step 3 plenty of services can be turned of on xp too

step 4 is vista only

step 5 and 6 needs to be done on xp too

step 7 8 and 9 speeds up xp too

An Fear Aniar

white apples wrote: »

Would I be going out of my depth to switch to Linux?

Not with Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

white apples wrote: »

Is it worth switching? Would I be better just to wait for Windows 7.

It doesn't have to be either/or, you could dual boot, use both.

white apples wrote: »

I just feel like I'm not getting value for the money I spent on the machine due to the crappy OS.

You're entitled to. I switched to Ubuntu because I found Vista unbearable.

The best way to test drive Linux is to run it from a USB. Install Unetbootin in Vista and use it to load Linux Mint onto a USB. Have fun!

sh1tin-a-brick

I'm gonna drive everyone mad and go through all this for myself!

I'm currently running Windows XP (so much better than Vista) on a 3 yr old laptop. To be honest Windows wrecks my head, so I'm thinking of switching to Linux.

I'm fairly handy with a computer but I'm still kinda afraid I'll hash everything up when I switch. My hard drive is only 80 gigs and my RAM is 1 gig so dual booting would be very slow. If I switch and something goes wrong with the installation will I easily be able to get back to XP?

I'm also looking for advice on which Linux to pick. I have no problem with downloading alternatives to windows programs (openoffice, Firefox etc) but I wouldn't be able to start creating or writing progams, patches/bugs or any of that craic. I know Ubuntu is popular, would it be easily opperated?

I forgot to say, are downloadable programs such as uTorrent supported by Linux? I have heard of a program called Wine that allows Windows programs to run on Linux, does this actually work? And if it does, would Windows games run on it?

Cheers!

Kinetic^

mukki wrote: »

steps 1 and 2 are to remove the manufacurers junk, should be done on xp too

step 3 plenty of services can be turned of on xp too

step 4 is vista only

step 5 and 6 needs to be done on xp too

step 7 8 and 9 speeds up xp too

Step 4 may be for vista only but you don't actually need to do the rest on XP as it would run fine on the same hardware compared to the way Vista would.

An Fear Aniar

sh1tin-a-brick wrote: »

I'm fairly handy with a computer but I'm still kinda afraid I'll hash everything up when I switch. My hard drive is only 80 gigs and my RAM is 1 gig so dual booting would be very slow. If I switch and something goes wrong with the installation will I easily be able to get back to XP?

Dual booting won't be slower, I think you're mixing it up with Virtualization (running one OS inside another). The handiest way to dual boot is to install Ubuntu via Wubi. You run the installer in Windows then when you reboot you will have a choice of booting into Windows or Linux. How much free space have you got? I think Wubi defaults to using about 17Gb or so.

To remove Linux you unistall Wubi from Windows just like any other Windows application.

However, I think to get the boot menu back to Windows only, you would need to do a fixmbr with a Windows CD.

The advantage of using Wubi is you won't be messing with partitions or anything like that.

.

mudokon

mukki wrote: »

2) use autoruns (google it) to disable all non microsoft items except
anything on drivers tab
dell quickset if installed
lexmark printing service if installed

any idea what tabs the 2 items listed above might be on?

Edit: just want to make sure, if it is listed as Microsoft as the publisher we should leave it set to autorun?

kierank01

white apples wrote: »

I'm thinking about changing to Linux. I know enough about computers to get thorugh the ususal things but am not a computer whiz by any stretch.

Would I be going out of my depth to switch to Linux? Is it worth switching? Would I be better just to wait for Windows 7.

I just feel like I'm not getting value for the money I spent on the machine due to the crappy OS.

If you do change to linux, make sure to check out kubuntu or the KDE version of mint. I tried the gnome interface, and hated it, but I love the KDE interface, but it is completely a matter of taste.

kierank01

sh1tin-a-brick wrote: »

I forgot to say, are downloadable programs such as uTorrent supported by Linux? I have heard of a program called Wine that allows Windows programs to run on Linux, does this actually work? And if it does, would Windows games run on it?

Cheers!

You can't get utorrent, but you can get azureus/vuze, or other apps like emule or mldonkey I haven't used either of these much so can't report on features or ease of use.

Capt'n Midnight

To speed up a new PC the first port of call is probably the decrapifier

worth checking that you have enough ram too , if you bought a low end machine


torrents on linux ?
ktorrent if you are using kde , otherwise there are loads of them , free and spyware free too


other options are virtual machines, one on the big annoyances of vista was that it was very slow at copying big files, but if you had XP running in a vm on the same machine the copying was much faster


if you have vista business you can use that license for XP, if you have home you can't

sh1tin-a-brick

An Fear Aniar wrote: »

Dual booting won't be slower, I think you're mixing it up with Virtualization (running one OS inside another). The handiest way to dual boot is to install Ubuntu via Wubi. You run the installer in Windows then when you reboot you will have a choice of booting into Windows or Linux. How much free space have you got? I think Wubi defaults to using about 17Gb or so.
.

I downloaded and installed Wubi, but it isn't working. It took a few hours to install and then it prompted me to reboot so I did. As it was starting up I had no new options so I rebooted for a second time. I tried pressing F12 for booting options but that didn't help!

I had problems with booting a few months ago where my computer was stuck in a 'boot loop' and I sent it to the manufacturer to be fixed. Could this be part of the problem?

Amalgam

Verres wrote: »

ii) You can get Windows 7 now from the Microsoft website for free (it's at Release Candidate stage, so it's very stable), I have a 32 bit version running on my Macbook (don't ask) and a 64-bit version running on my desktop behemoth. It's very usable and nice.

Verres, just to warn others, Microsoft have disabled .iso downloading from the Windows 7 site now.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/download.aspx

Need to register or find your product key? Start here

Sorry, the Windows 7 RC is no longer available for download. If you’ve got the download and need a product key, they’ll be available until October 21, 2009.

You'll note you also have a limited amount of time to get your serial.

Just a heads up.

Amalgam

Within reason, two or 3 of you, if you're stuck for a Windows RC DVD, ask me on thread and I'll shunt one out to you, by post.

rogue-entity

Just to add my two cents.

If you are a student, you can download Windows Server 2003 from DreamSpark legally for free. Before you ask why you might want that.. well.. Windows Server 2003 actually makes a fantastic desktop operating system as by default most of the services and junk that gets loaded with Windows XP are either not installed or disabled.
The result is a pretty lean operating system that's largely compatible with everything that is available for Windows XP.. any guides available for downgrading your Vista laptop to XP will apply to Server 2003 as well.

Another alternative is to nLite a copy of Windows XP to remove all the unnecessary stuff that gets included with it, slimming down your installation so it takes up less space.

mukki

mudokon wrote: »

any idea what tabs the 2 items listed above might be on?

Edit: just want to make sure, if it is listed as Microsoft as the publisher we should leave it set to autorun?

in autoruns their is an option to hide all microsoft files, make sure to tick that before you start (options...... tick hide microsoft and windows entries)


the dell quickset application is on the logon tab (its only on some dell computers)

the lexmark service is in the services tad, and lexmark make the print spooler delendant on it, so if you untick lexmark service, you can't print to any printer...hence never buy a lexmark printer

milltown

Amalgam wrote: »

Within reason, two or 3 of you, if you're stuck for a Windows RC DVD, ask me on thread and I'll shunt one out to you, by post.

I'd appreciate a Win 7 DVD mate. My new laptop came with a free 7 upgrade but it has to be shipped to a US address. Will buy 7 when it's out but for now I really need Vista off my laptop!

Will PM address details.

Ardent

I bought an Insprion Studio 1737 the other day. The first thing I did (after screen-grabbing the hardware profile in Vista) was format the HDD and install XP. Was a major pain in the ass finding all the XP drivers but totally worth it in the end - the laptop absolutely flies!

OP: you're right - Vista is a big pile of sh*te. I tried it for a couple of months when it came out but it drove me around the bend. The final straw was how unforgiveably slow the file copy process was compared to XP. I don't know if they've fixed this since but I'm not inclined to find out.

mehmeh12

Ardent wrote: »

I bought an Insprion Studio 1737 the other day. The first thing I did (after screen-grabbing the hardware profile in Vista) was format the HDD and install XP. Was a major pain in the ass finding all the XP drivers but totally worth it in the end - the laptop absolutely flies!

OP: you're right - Vista is a big pile of sh*te. I tried it for a couple of months when it came out but it drove me around the bend. The final straw was how unforgiveably slow the file copy process was compared to XP. I don't know if they've fixed this since but I'm not inclined to find out.

But windows xp is two generations behind windows seven-why are you not using windows seven?

Ardent

mehmeh12 wrote: »

But windows xp is two generations behind windows seven-why are you not using windows seven?

Because it works and runs the software I want to run beautifully.

mehmeh12

Ardent wrote: »

Because it works and runs the software I want to run beautifully.

im on vista on the moment :mad: should i get a downgrade to xp or a upgrade to windows 7?

Ardent

mehmeh12 wrote: »

im on vista on the moment :mad: should i get a downgrade to xp or a upgrade to windows 7?

Whatever works for you mate!

tman

mehmeh12 wrote: »

im on vista on the moment :mad: should i get a downgrade to xp or a upgrade to windows 7?

Would help if you told us why you wanted to move away from Vista... Have you actually used it and found fault with it?

Or are you just angry because you're using Vista and everybody says its poo, while Windows 7 is what all the cool kids are using

cable842

vista is awful. linux is great.

I have had it up to hear with windows.

using linux Xbuntu the last 3 weeks great system it is. not sure is Linux Mint better then it.

but Linux mint is gettin a lot of good feedback.

but no problems using xbuntu at all. plugged in the 02 broadband and you know what it started working right away with one click of a button.

lucernarian

There's some pretty fanboyish statements going on about Vista, as well as for everything but Vista. Neither side is lacking bias.

But surely people are entitled to be disgusted with Windows Vista, if there are aspects of it that are less effective than how XP operated? People point out the problems XP had when it started also earned it criticism. But those problems were involving driver support issues, security and the sometimes tacky look of the interface. Apart from the latter, those other issues were predominantly tidied up with patches etc.

The problems I hear with Vista are more fundamental. "Annoying" is the first word I hear. The interface and how programs work in Vista is what seems to piss people off the most. Yes, the slow copying thing was also terrible, and was by and large cured by SP1, but no service pack is going to change how the GUI itself looks and is laid out?

E.g. I shouldn't have a crapload of extra windows apps in the start menu or in the Control Panel, when they are scattered everywhere or else are covered up in an obscure place. Like I have to do lots of looking around to change different aspects of the desktop when in XP, a right click and selecting display properties would open the one stop shop for it.

Also, I should not have to be given a tour of some random networking centre and then a lot of checks and options to get to the point where I can see what my IP address is! The same applies for device manager.

And even now I can't immediately remember how to force Vista to do an old fashioned search for a file. It CRAVES the use of indexing, even if indexing is not going to be suitable for every consumer or occasion. It would have been so easy to provide a "do not use the index" option clearly visible. Instead of burying its equivalent in Advanced search options, which is itself (IMO) very hard to find.

kierank01

cable842 wrote: »

vista is awful. linux is great.

plugged in the 02 broadband and you know what it started working right away with one click of a button.

I was not able to get the compass 888 working in Archlinux when I got it on the loan offer

Which 3g dongle do you have, and what module is being used?

The output of lsusb, and lsmod will do just fine, thanks

cable842

To all the use windows.

Downloaded Linux Mint. wow its incredible. Just Installed it. I formated my hard drive installed Linux Mint.

Whats Shocking it this is free and people dont know it. Ive never used a system like it wow runs like a dream runs fast has 3d Effects fully multi media everything all on the one disc.

People download its wow its a amazing.

Ive been using windows for 10 years and I dont know what Ive been doin looking back now I'd say what have I been doin I should have been using linux all along.

Linux Mint is so so so Good.

Use Linux Mint

Big Lar

mukki wrote: »

vista is not a crappy OS

Agreed,

Vista got a bad name when it came out first, It is a bit power hungry and a lot of manufacturers did not include enough ram to support it.

I have Win 7 RC installed on another drive here and to be honest I can not see much of a difference between that and vista.

You can indeed go with Linux if you so wish (Linux Mint is the more user friendly version that I have found), Just be warned - If you do a lot of office work open office and MS off are not very compatible, Even thou you can open any office file with open office you may loose a lot of formatting.

Linux ain't much good for gaming also.

Do like Mukki says uninstall the spam-ware and give it a whirl.

cable842

whats compass 88 ?

kierank01 wrote: »

I was not able to get the compass 888 working in Archlinux when I got it on the loan offer

Which 3g dongle do you have, and what module is being used?

The output of lsusb, and lsmod will do just fine, thanks

Big Lar

cable842 wrote: »

To all the use windows.

Downloaded Linux Mint. wow its incredible. Just Installed it. I formated my hard drive installed Linux Mint.

Whats Shocking it this is free and people dont know it. Ive never used a system like it wow runs like a dream runs fast has 3d Effects fully multi media everything all on the one disc.

People download its wow its a amazing.

Ive been using windows for 10 years and I dont know what Ive been doin looking back now I'd say what have I been doin I should have been using linux all along.

Linux Mint is so so so Good.

Use Linux Mint

And in fairness, there is a lot of software out there for linux and its free also.

cable842

true there is a lot of free software out there.

but people dont know about linux. it would make there lives easier.

true gaming wise nothing works with it.

Big Lar wrote: »

And in fairness, there is a lot of software out there for linux and its free also.

francosp

Solaris 10 is the way to go...

:-0

Big Lar

cable842 wrote: »

true there is a lot of free software out there.

but people dont know about linux. it would make there lives easier.

If only more people would follow Stephen Fry

kierank01

cable842 wrote: »

whats compass 88 ?

its the model name of the black usb 3g dongle from o2: here

cable842

steven fry rocks. more people should use linux its amazin

mukki

i have always found youtube to be very jerky on any brand of linux, and on a good few different computers

BopNiblets

mukki wrote: »

i have always found youtube to be very jerky on any brand of linux, and on a good few different computers

Try this Firefox setting:
Open new tab, type in about:config in the address bar, press enter
Copy browser.sessionstore.interval and put it in the search box, double click the setting and change the number to 120000 (2 mins) or something.