It's an nVidia chipset. The OS was pre-loaded as was all the crap. It did not come with an instal disk but I did burn a Install/Recovery disk. I expect it's the same thing eh? I've also kept the recovery partition on the hard drive for this too.
Unfortunately, the recovery disks are often images of the initial pre-install, so if you "recover" you just end up with the original pre-install and all of the crap along with it.
The embedded nVidias arent that bad a GPU, I think they are 8600 or 9600 class, so the Win 7 RC should run that just fine. How much RAM do you have?
I did strip out all the stuff I don't use and would never use (LightScribe, Money, etc....) and ran registry cleaner and a defragger. Startup programs are minimal. I don't even let Adobe load the quicklaunch. Running processes are questionable. I di search many of them only to find the y were system processes. I have yet to disbale any of them due to ignorance about what they are for.
I did manage to delete the startup registry entry for Windows Defender and that sucks! Because I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it back. I was viewing the startup entires and hit the wrong button ( I meant to disable not delete) and mindlessly confirmed my action. Never could find an "Undo" for that. :cross: I have added the launch icon shortcut to the startup section but it doesn't launch right and I still get the "...defender is turned off" warning everytime. I have tried to download Defender but it always tells me it's there and part of Windows. Well Duh! Yet, the recovery disc doesn;t show Defender as an application it'll re-install.
It sounds like you've done a pretty good job of removing crap. I'm not a fan of registry cleaners, but it looks like your still running. I read lower down that you are running Norton 360? If that is the case, I think it disables Defender, anyway. You can google "reinstall defender in Vista" and get some pretty good options. All of these require you to edit the registry, so you need to be careful.
I have seen step on doing a Vista upgrade install to attempt to fix the OS but haven't been ballsy enough to bite the bullet. The recovery utility warns that all programs will have to be reloaded. I don't have many programs to re-install but, Uggg. I do back up my files regularly but, haven't made backups of programs with there most recent updates. Most of the photo editing software I use doesn;t have auto updates and I have to DL and install teh available updates sequentially to get the features to jive with each other (friggin Canon software). But, I adore the software functionality. I does everything I need an nothing I don't need.
I have also stripped all add-ons to IE8 out with the exception of a Norton 360 toolbar that controls my password vault and checks for site safety/blocking.
I guess I am just going to have to bite down and try the Upgrade install to see if it will just repair Vista and leave everything else intact (that is the promise).
There are some applications showing in the Control Panel / Programs window that I don't know what they are but, they are associated with Vista (server?), IE8 (Silverlight), or Office 2007 so I let them be since I don;t know what I'd be killing. Everything else is stripped out.
The add/remove programs panel is probably the best way to remove software from your system. Silverlight is MS's answer to Adobe Flash. I'd keep it. Office 2007 probably came with your system, and includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint at a minimum. If you use these programs you don't want to remove Office. Did you get an Office install disk with the computer?
If you want to try the Windows 7 route, you can perform an upgrade from your current Vista. When you perform the upgrade install, the installation will go through your registry, maintain the settings it needs for programs and transfer those to the Win 7 install. I've tested the process on a few Vista machines and haven't lost anything. A couple of points, you must upgrade to a like bitness. That means if you are running Vista 32-bit (also called x86), then you need to upgrade top the Win 7 x86 version. If you are running 64-bit Vista (x64) you need to upgrade to Win 7 x64. You are most likely running Vista x86.
Also, I don't even have user accounts. Not even as a Guest. I know Vista doesn't recommend this but.....
Well, you have one account, the one you automatically log in to. It is setup default as part of the administrator group, but if you want to make system changes, you still get a UAC prompt. You are actually running it fine. Guest should be disabled. Ideally you shoul run as uer, and have a separate administrator account. The difference will be that whenever you get the UAC prompt, you will need to enter the administartor account password. The key is to be smart, and don't blindly click through the UAC prompts. Read what the prompt says.
PhreePhly