My Laptop with Vista SUCKS!!!!

[user 22118]

downloading Ubuntu 9.0.4 right now. The worst thing that happens is that my computer stops working. The best is that I am able to actually use it.

Honestly, I perform like one function with my computer right now and that is surf the web. Other than that, I don't use it for much. The cd burner doesn't even work, so I can't make a cd.

Will I be able to download itunes for my iphone?

 

[Mutilated1]

iPod and iPhone works with Ubuntu, but not iTunes - sorry

 

[mrkristofo]

Funny you should ask... :rockin:

In the Beginning was the Command Line
by Neal Stephenson

PC zip: http://www.cryptonomicon.com/command.zip

Mac stuffit: http://www.cryptonomicon.com/command.txt.sit

For the future, you don't need to do this stuffit business. Macs read zips just fine, and have, with native support, for years.

 

[carbon111]

For the future, you don't need to do this stuffit business. Macs read zips just fine, and have, with native support, for years.

Tell Neal that.
...I think he was just trying to be polite.

Regardless, ITBWTCL is a great read. After I read that, I went and checked out his other works, reading Cryptonomicon first. 0_o

Neal Stephenson is one of the best writers of our time IMHO.

 

[user 22118]

Do I need to take anything (like pictures and music) off my computer prior to installing Ubuntu? If not, how can I format my hardrive so that it has as much space as possible?

 

[phreephly]

My OS test bench is completely reconfigurable - I've tried it in many different hardware configurations. Regardless of hardware, Vista is an absolute pig.

In every case Vista has been much slower for most applications and benchmarks. A lot of it has to do with the way Vista handles mainboard and processor-level functions.

When MS first announced Vista, I was thrilled - it sounded like they were going to build a lean, efficient OS from scratch, abandoning a lot of the feature-creep and bloat of their earlier efforts. Sadly they delivered exactly the opposite - a massive resource hog that needs a very fast processor and a ton of ram just to run the OS.

I'd be overjoyed if they would come out with something lean so my computers' power goes to the apps, not the OS.

There's a reason I use a combination of Ubuntu and XP on all my personal boxen...and it's not "convenience". LOL!

I must just be really lucky, 'cause Vista has performed very well for me. I will only load on systems that can handle it, i.e. 1 GB RAM or better, discreet video GPU and video RAM and a core 2 or phenom processor. These specs are low end for a modern system.

On these systems Vista performs as well as XP. Add to that the group policy management, the better security and better video performance, and XP is just ancient.

PhreePhly

 

[phreephly]

I bought SWMBO a brand new Dell laptop last year. I was excited about the dual core processor and RAM. It has never run well. Vista makes it suck. I did install Linux Mint on another partition and it runs great, but SWMBO is crippled by Microsoft's empire and doesn't like Linux. I'm downloading Windows 7 right now as a result. If it works well, I'll pay for it next year.

When my wife's new Dell showed up (about 5 years ago with XP on it) it was, too, was dog slow. Dell installs too much crapware on their systems. If you want to clean that up, go to Welcome | The PC Decrapifier and download the software. It helps.

I just re-installed XP clean on her system and it ran very well.

PhreePhly

 

[phreephly]

downloading Ubuntu 9.0.4 right now. The worst thing that happens is that my computer stops working. The best is that I am able to actually use it.

Honestly, I perform like one function with my computer right now and that is surf the web. Other than that, I don't use it for much. The cd burner doesn't even work, so I can't make a cd.

Will I be able to download itunes for my iphone?

It really sounds like you have other issues, either hardware or way too little RAM. I would look at adding RAM. 2 GB RAM for laptops is currently around $35

PhreePhly

 

[carbon111]

I must just be really lucky, 'cause Vista has performed very well for me. I will only load on systems that can handle it, i.e. 1 GB RAM or better, discreet video GPU and video RAM and a core 2 or phenom processor. These specs are low end for a modern system.

On these systems Vista performs as well as XP. Add to that the group policy management, the better security and better video performance, and XP is just ancient.

PhreePhly

You are really lucky. Rock on, my brother! :rockin:

Both in benchmarks and real-world apps it was substantially slower. As I said, it mostly has to do with the way Vista handles mainboard and processor-level functions - everything has additional buffering and encryption/decryption.

The only way to speed it up is brute force - faster cpu, more ram, dual or quad pumping, etc...

Do I need to take anything (like pictures and music) off my computer prior to installing Ubuntu? If not, how can I format my hardrive so that it has as much space as possible?

Ubuntu can coexist with windows but will run much better with a solo fresh install on an empty hard drive. Save all your pics, emails, address book and links/favorites to removable media and wipe the drive.

You can "test drive" Ubuntu by booting it from CD to see if you'll like it before doing anything drastic though...in this case it will run fairly slow but you can check it out.

 

[user 22118]

Honestly as long as it is upfront and user friendly, I can learn anything. How do I wipe my computer clean though? Is there a button that I push and it formats the hardrive?

 

[phreephly]

You are really lucky. Rock on, my brother! :rockin:

Both in benchmarks and real-world apps it was substantially slower. As I said, it mostly has to do with the way Vista handles mainboard and processor-level functions - everything has additional buffering and encryption/decryption.

The only way to speed it up is brute force - faster cpu, more ram, dual or quad pumping, etc...

What mainboard and processor level functions are you talking about? Vista kernel functions are not that different from XP's. Can you give me an example of what you're talking about?

PhreePhly

 

[carbon111]

Honestly as long as it is upfront and user friendly, I can learn anything. How do I wipe my computer clean though? Is there a button that I push and it formats the hardrive?

Try it first. Seriously.

If you want to wipe your drive, that's one of the things the installer can do but make certain everything you want to save is backed up! (picturess, emails, address book and links/favorites)

 

[pen25]

I am about to throw it away and get a mac. Any suggestions for either deleting everything and adding a new OS like linux. I have never used it so know nothing about it. Or should I just give up and go to a mac? What about a netbook with Windows XP (more reliable and better in all ways than Vista)

search hackintosh. what lappy do you have? and give it some time delete all the bloat they cram on the thing and you will be happy.

 

[pen25]

Most of the problems people experience with Vista are due to the hardware requirements for the OS. With Vista, you're looking at needing no less than 2 gigs of RAM for useful operation, more if you actually want to do something like edit videos and photos. It is totally true what people say about Vista, it does take at least 1 gig of RAM just to run the OS. I monitor my memory and CPU usage on a regular basis. On my laptop, 1/2 of the memory is used solely for Vista to run. In my opinion, that is way too much.

Other than the memory issues, I have not really run across many other problems with Vista. Yeah, their User Access Rights are a little funky and sometimes programs can't run with each other at the same time without running both as the administrator, but those types of issues are easily solved with a little bit of knowledge. In general, I would still pick XP over Vista any day just due to the memory usage alone.

untrue. i run vista fine on 1 gig of ram on my dell mini12. its not speedy but for what i do it doesnt need to be. id slap linux on it in a heart beat if it was native and didnt have to hack around to get it to work. but serious vista works fine.

 

[pen25]

I have had my computer since Vista came out and I bought my lower end laptop. The thing about it is that the laptop was put together before they realized that Vista would be such a hog and they didn't add enough memory. I am so fed up with it that I am looking into a netbook for my base internet usage and then a desktop for my heavy usage at home. Currently it takes ten minutes to start up my laptop!

you need to lighten the load on that lappy. how fast does it load in safe mode?

go to your start up folder and delete everything in the folder.
open the run and type msconfig and uncheck all the crap that loads itself automaticly and not needed. i will post a link to a site that will walk you through optimizing the thing and make it run allot better.

yes its a little more work then some other os's but vista works fine and no need to buy a new laptop unless you want a new laptop. and a netbook is fine for most things portable.

 

[pen25]

Try it first. Seriously.

If you want to wipe your drive, that's one of the things the installer can do but make certain everything you want to save is backed up! (picturess, emails, address book and links/favorites)

ok heres what i would suggest.

get a usb2 hard drive.

use the included software and make a backup image of your drive. and i mean complete drive including the recovery partion.

after you do this yuo will be able to install and if yuo dont like it you can revert back.

if you have a thumbdrive you can also use a sweet peice of software i found the other day that allows you to install the os onto the thumbdrive and it will act like a normal setup just like a livecd but better

UNetbootin - Homepage and Downloads
then download this
Index of /files/ubuntu/intrepid/iso-images

follow the directions and install the unetbootin and use the iso to put it onto the thumbdrive and make it bootable. then tel us what dell laptop you have and we can walk you through on making it bootable. usualy its on the inital splash screen and it will say f2 to boot to bios f12 to select boot device. hit f12 and then choose the flash drive. if its not there you need to make it a selectable device in the bios.

but by all means check this site out first TweakHound - Tweak & Optimize Windows Vista

 

[kappclark]

I am IT at a school in S VT .. 120 computers and maybe 11 servers.

All XP Pro and Server 2003

Vista is not allowed . I am the 1 guy in charge of all machines, so I need everything to WORK ! Win 7 is appealing bec it is said it requires a much smaller footprint in terms of mem etc. I can't imagine trying to run vista on a celeron w/512 MB ..

My laptop came w/Vista home premium...I am tolerating it, but no plms (4 GB ram helps)

 

[danorocks17]

i using an Asus eepc netbook right now with xp. we got this a couple of months ago and love it. but i would recommend that you have a decent desktop if you are going to get a netbook. I haven't had any issues with it so far

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I'm actually pretty impressed with Windows 7 RC. I just got it up and running on the aforementioned disappointing laptop, and it's lightning fast. SWMBO's computer is finally running like I expected.

 

[phreephly]

I'm actually pretty impressed with Windows 7 RC. I just got it up and running on the aforementioned disappointing laptop, and it's lightning fast. SWMBO's computer is finally running like I expected.

Did you install Vista on it, or did it come pre-loaded with all the other crapware? I believe one of the biggest problems with Vista was OEMs screwing with the installs. My son got a a new laptop or Christmas, a Dell Studio 15, which came pre-loaded with Vista. It's a 2.4 GHz Core2 with 4 GB RAM. No reason to be slow, but boot-up would take almost 3 minutes. I blew everything off and did a clean install and it was much better.

I also think this is why Win 7 is looking so good to people. They are basically doing a clean install with no crapware.

PhreePhly

 

[Yuri_Rage]

It was preloaded, and I realize the downfalls there. Unfortunately, I only had "recovery" disks, so a fresh/clean Vista install was not an option. However...having used Vista on multiple machines and in several professional and home settings, Windows 7 really is a big improvement.

FYI, I'd much rather be running any Linux distro, but SWMBO insists upon familiarity even after trying a few window managers and flavors of Linux.

 

[masonsjax]

I have been an exclusive Linux user for about 14 years now. I don't miss the blue screens, pathetic performance, or mandatory reboots in the least. The learning curve is still a bit much for most casual computer users, so for those, I highly recommend a Mac. If you're not afraid of the command line, or facing some in depth configuration now and then, I highly recommend giving Linux a chance. Windows should be a last resort in all cases.

 

[pen25]

so matt what did you decide to do?

 

[user 22118]

I downloaded Ubuntu and am going to test it out today. I will load it onto a seperate drive that I have (is it that easy?) and see how it runs, albeit slowly. Then I will almost positively wipe my harddrive (how do I do this still) and start over. As much as I want to continue with a familiar OS, I don't see a light any time soon with Windows. If I had the money to blow, I honestly would get a mac. Money doesn't grow on trees, so...

 

[carbon111]

Once you've burned the CD you can boot to that to try out Ubuntu. When you decide to install, the installer can perform a wipe.

Remember to back-up everything you want to save first!

 

[user 22118]

I just realized that I didn't burn the cd correctly, so I am trying to download it again. Only another two hours of my life. Thankfully I have the TV on and can just avoid it. If it doesn't work this time, I will try to download it tomorow at work. I am still annoyed by my Computer, so it's a good thing that I am not throwing it.

 

[carbon111]

No sweat, take your time.

How's your IPA coming?

 

[user 22118]

IPA is coming right along, will be ready in two to three weeks. Brewing went well, though I got interrupted right at the end of chilling and transfer into the fermenter. Still came out alright so I am not too worried.

 

[user 22118]

So I just figured out how to boot from the CD and it seems to me that it would be a much better system. There are like 20 things preloaded and I can erase them from the get go. Next is that I don't know if my wifi will work from it and if that is true, then I am going to be in a world of hurt (laptop). Is there a program that I can download to make it work, or will it work, just not from the cd boot?

Again, I am only using this for the internet and a couple of random things, so I don't need a miracle and it already booted faster than Vista (even from the CD). I know that memory is cheap, but so am I and if I can make the wifi work, I can get by in life just fine.

 

[carbon111]

The WIFI should work. Use the same configuration you use in Windows (same WEP, channel, etc...) and test it out when booting from the CD.

Worst case scenario is you might need a driver - hopefully not though.