Quirks and Tips For Upgrading To Vista

jcatcw writes "Computerworld's Scot Finnie has some advice for those considering an upgrade to Vista. He praises the work Microsoft has done on the installation program, but thinks it still presents problems for those who wish to upgrade. He recommends the free Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser. Then, be sure to pick the best edition for your use." From the article: "Don't bother wiping your hard disk. Just run the in-place upgrade from your previous installation. You'll be given the option to perform either an Upgrade or Custom (advanced) installation. Opt for the Custom install to clean-install Vista, and Windows Vista Setup does something smart: It creates a folder called Windows.old in your root directory that contains your old Documents and Settings, Program Files and Windows folders. (Note that on my test machine, this added step used an additional 7GB of disk storage.)"

Why install Vista?

[Anonymous Coward]

why would anyone disable a perfectly good computer?

Upgrade advisor

[mastershake_phd]

The upgrade adviser requires .NET to download both .NET and the upgrade adviser is about 28 MB. Twice the size of a Windows 3.1 install just to scan your hardware and tell you if its up to spec.

Excuse me

[agent dero]

I think one of those infamous /. editors messed up the title again ...

Oh wait, are we still calling Vista an upgr...OOOHH PRETTAY.

my EUR 0.02:

[nietsch]

download.ubuntu.org
Maybe you could get some spare change for that piece of paper with a holy number on it if you sell it on ebay.

In one word

[Anonymous Coward]

Advice for those considering upgrading to Vista: DON'T!

You'll get it soon enough with a new machine. Why put yourself through hell now?

Re:Excuse me

[TheMeuge]

Don't bother wiping your hard disk.

You'll have to do it a few days after installing Vista anyway.

Quick Tip: Wait?

[digitaldc]

Some Vista Vs. XP info:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/29/xp-vs-vista /page11.html#conclusion_ko_for_windows_vista [tomshardware.com]

"Overall, applications performed as expected, or executed slightly slower than under Windows XP."

abridged version

[nuzak]

"Don't bother

Works for me

I recommend...

[Steve--Balllmer]

buying the most expensive, costliest version there is. In fact, buy 2 or 3. Vista is just that good. Regards, Steve Bal... uh I mean, Eve Kalmer (damn... forgot to log in as AC.)

Quick!

[jeevesbond]

Tag this 'slownewsday'

What is this pro-Microsoft peice doing on Slashdot?! There's nothing slamming Vista, nothing on DRM, there isn't even a flying chair or mention of upgrading to Ubuntu instead. I'm disgusted!

From the artice:

I tested Microsoft's way of handling that exact situation, and it works fine.

What?! 'Works fine', isn't this sort of language explicitly disallowed by the Slashdot terms of service? I also did a search of the article and there's not a single instance of the string: 'Linux'.

Downgrade Advisor

[Anonymous Coward]

I need a downgrade advisor. Like most of America, I do not need 80% of the functionality of Vista, but I do need its enhanced reliability.

How can I uninstall 80% of Vista after I have installed it on my 128-megabyte Pentium-II system?

I am 63 years young, and I use my computer only for e-mail and Yahoo! chat.

Re:In one word

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll switch to Vista the instant that XP can't run something that I need to use.

Translation: "I'm eagerly awaiting those revolutionary DirectX 10 games."

Oxymoron Alert!

[mrbluze]

Windows Vista Setup does something smart

Re:Downgrade Advisor

[Anonymous Coward]

You must be Korean.

Re:Downgrade Advisor

[seaturnip]

You use the Reliability Monitor Monitor, of course.

Re:My Xperience

[GISGEOLOGYGEEK]

That's hilarious. Troll much? what a crock o shit.

I had troubles installing vista (i posted above if you care) I know it can be a hastle, but you are so full of shit. ... I had absolutely no problem getting my dual monitors to work.

If the UAC system annoys you too much, especially when you've got lots of setup to do ... then TURN IT OFF! ... and turn it back on later when you're just running programs. It's no big deal. You know damn well that the accept / deny's don't happen nearly as often as in the misleading mac commercials.

With Vista, My download speeds are close to theoretical maximum for my connection. I'm getting 1000 to 1100 KB/s out of a possible 1200 KB/s on Shaw Extreme (Vancouver Canada). On the same hardware and connection with Windows XP I never saw over 300 KB/s. I have no clue why.

You're really just a troll aren't you? there's no way you could get XP upto SP2 with all patches in 20 minutes. I dont care what your download speed is ... You'd spend longer than that just on reboots.

So either you're a damn bullshitting troll ... or you really got sucked in to all the anti-vista crap and gave up on the first sign of having to think.

Way to go!

Re:Downgrade Advisor

[gfreeman]

And how do you ...

Oh, never mind.