You know, for the last three years I have trundled along with my old Dell desktop with Windows XP. My friends dogged me out because I was still using a desktop, but I really didn't care. It had all the programs I wanted, I knew where everything was, and I never had any real problems with installing new software or hardware. It was kinda like the old, worn out pair of sneakers in the closet. They look kinda shabby next to your friends cool Nikes, but they're so comfortable your just can't toss them away. I loved my Dell, and I loved XP. I remember when it first came out people were bitchin' about it, but I have been using Windows since the 3.1 days and XP was the best Windows OS I've ever used. I never had any problems with it, it almost never locked up, and in my experience it truly was plug and play. Well folks, a couple of weeks ago my Dell finally gave up the ghost. I took the troubleshooting as far as I could, but i came to a point where it was either the motherboard or the hard drive. The motherboard was too old to be replaced, and if I bought a new hard drive and that wasn't the problem then i couldn't return it. I finally came to the conslusion that I needed a new computer. I had my income tax return and thought that it was finally time to go to a laptop. I did a lot of research and was able to buy an affordable laptop with the specs I wanted. I got it home, fired it up, and everything seemed to be working just fine. But...then...after two days...I realized that I had unleashed SATAN himself on my little corner of PC Heaven, and I have been banging my head against anything I can find ever since. You see, Satan incarnate now lives in my home and he has taken a new name. That name is Windows Vista!!! Yes folks, Windows Vista has now become my private Hell, and I fear that there is no salvation. I had heard all the negative stuff about it, but I had heard negative comments about XP also. I loved XP, so I thought "Vista can't be that bad and besides, it's been around for a year or so and the bugs have been worked out by now". Well, I'm here to tell you, they haven't! In the two weeks I have tried to placate Satan, I have loaded a total of 7 programs. 5 have locked up at one time or another, all 7 had to be installed at least twice, and after two days I cannot get my printer installed. I actually had success installing the printer drivers the first day and the printer worked fine on it. Then Satan decided to play a trick on me. He somehow deleted the printer and now, even when the program says the drivers installed successfully, Satan has refused to recognize the printer and it doesn't even show up in the printer directory now. My e-mail program (Outlook) asks me for my password every time it tries to send and receive, even though I have the "remember password" box checked. Yahoo Messenger locks up whenever I start it, and stay that way until I reboot and start it again. Programs lock and unlock themselves randomly, and I have even had one program that will randomly start up out of nowhere and lock the whole system up. Yes folks, Vista truly is Satan incarnate!! Oh what I'd give to have XP on this laptop.
I have Vista at work so I knew how it was going to work when a bought a new desk top for home. I just went back to XP and am still using it here.... Made me happier
Can you not load an XP version on using a disc? I guess not, since you know a hell of a lot more about computers than I do - but sincerely, I thought you could remove one system and load another. . .no?
You could put Windows XP on the new laptop. The only thing with doing that is that you are going to have to search the internet for all the drivers (NIC, sound, video etc..). I have successfully installed XP on 3 laptops that had come with Vista. It was a pain to find some of the drivers but once found and installed system worked without flaw.
MJ, I know RomWorks personally, he'll hook you up! He does a really great job! He's worked on my computer before.
I downgraded to XP on an new HP tower. HP stated on their 'site that it did not support XP on the machine. Once I did that I was on my own finding any drivers that were not included with the service pack of XP that I loaded, or any updates and service packs from Microsoft. I had to get chipset drivers from the chipset manufacturer. Everything else worked fine.
If you change your OS to XP on that new laptop you VOID the warranty for both software and hardware support!!
I'd love to do it, but frankly I'm concerned about the after effects. From what I understand, Microsoft has convinced vendors to replace certain hardware items in the computer with those that operate on Vista only. This is why different drivers are needed and are almost impossible to find. I've researched this pretty thoroughly on the web, and everyone claims that it can be done with no problem. However, every person I know IRL who has tried this has either lost the functionality of the speakers, the thumb drive, or some other component. I'd love to go back to XP, but I wouldn't do it unless I had a 100% guarantee that it would function perfectly. Hey Dan, I read your post on this in the Hood. Is that with all manufacturers, or just Dell?
All Manufacturers. BUT!!!!! You can load XP on a dual boot. If you're not familiar with that, you will get a screen at boot that says "Load" Vista or XP? You can pick a default that will load every time. And if you walk away from the PC after you turn it on it loads the default after 20 seconds. Or you can choose which one and hit enter. This does not void the warranty. But, you cannot call Dell support for software support for the XP. Also, if you're loading XP and have driver problems your Vista is still there. Also, drivers for XP may be available on the Dell site for your laptop. They have to. They offered conversions to XP that people payed for. Now, if your model came with different hardware for the conversion you may have to search the web for a few of your hardware drivers. Go to www.support.dell.com and type in your serial number from the unit. (on the back) Then go to drivers and click on XP, if it shows up in the list of OS's. If you see drivers for the unit and your not sure what your hardware is, call ROMworks (Randy), he can run a software to name the hardware and load the OS for you.
I am truly hating vista. The biggest problem I am encountering is that when I send an attachment people can't open it or they say it's all jumbled looking. I never had that problem with XP. This is a major issue b/c I am sending out alot of resumes every day. Besides re installing XP (we might shortly) How else can I send an attachment that is readable?
Reading, or opening, attachments to emails are not a Vista problem. If your using Microsoft word, when you save the resume save it in an older version of word. If you use a newer version, and the person who opens it is using an older version, you have the problem you mentioned. It's best to ask them what version they are using. When you save the document click the down arrow next to "Save as type". Then select an older version of word. I use the "Word 97 -2003" choice. Now that document can be read in all versions from 97 to 2003.
When I send attachments created in Word or Publisher, if I'm not sure the recipient has the right program to open it, I convert the file to pdf format. http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp I think everybody has Adobe Acrobat Reader; if not, they can download it free.
