I’m not really sure where I should begin.

But yes, this does underscore what’s wrong with Vista, the creeping featurism has gotten so bad that now an upgrade pack is nearly the size of an entire Linux CD, this is painful on dial up, I remember trying to pull in XP Service Pack 1 in on dial up, it wasn’t even half as big, but it still took an entire day to get (the sucker went to a CD before I even installed it).

But that wanting Windows Me part really horrified me.

He also wasn’t very clear what was causing the damaged files, if he’s sending PDF to people then surely Adobe has some kind of a support line?

But that line about not being properly decoded points to his email program, maybe he should try another email client.

Thunderbird?

Thanks Ryan.

Here’s The Link For The . DVD . from microsoft

https://om.one.microsoft.com/opa/Product.aspx?StoreID=57d2f336-6a91-4936-a0ac-bf64ae6547c9&LocaleCode=en-us

I’d have to lean towards Ryan’s comments on this one Ron, and also add a couple of my own: first of all, there’s a tremendous learning curve, going from Windows ME to Vista! LOL.
I would suspect that, even though Ed purchased a new pc, he probably installed some of his older software into the unit, and that may very well be leading to all sorts of problems. Can’t really comment on anything else, as things were presented in very general terms. I’d have to have specifics as to what he did in fact install for software, if any. Did he clean up the so-called crap-ware that came with his new pc? What steps did he take to protect his system, such as a good AV program, etc. etc. The list of questions goes on forever whenever an attempt is made to solve issues, some of which are rather vague.

Hi Don,
I am sure that this is part of the problem. Using old software is a Vista killer.

I’m am also sure his system came crapware laden. Don’t they all.

Heh Den,
I sent you an email. That link doesn’t work. At least not for me. It errors out.

Hello,

I think quite a few people who buy computers just expect them to work without having to learn how to operate one, just like an automobile. However, what they probably have forgotten was that in order to learn to drive, they had to take several months of intensive training which included a learner’s permit before passing the test and getting their driver’s license. At least, that is how it works where I live. Unfortunately, the media—and computer software, hardware and service providers—provide an unrealistic view what computers can and cannot do and how easy or difficult they are to use. Also, personal computers have evolved at a fantastic pace compared to automobiles and, as a result, the way in which the operating systems and software which run on top of it have evolved as well.

Going over reader Ed’s message, I am struck by the frustration he reports. A large amount of that seems to derive from the fact that the experience with his new computer running Microsoft Windows Vista is different than the experience he had with his previous computer that ran Windows Me.

I think that when many people are exposed to something different or unexpected, they feel anxiety and as a result lose their patience and eventually become upset. An example of this is Ed’s comment about Microsoft providing better help. One of the things I have found Windows Vista’s built-in diagnostics and troubleshooting tools is that they actually fix the problems they find, which has been a pleasant (bordering on surprising) experience for me.

In any case, if Ed bought a computer pre-installed with Microsoft Windows Vista (and it sounds like he did), then typically the first line of support would be the computer manufacturer, unless the computer shipped with a retail version of the operating system. That may be something he is not aware of, and come to think of it, the software industry has done a horrible job overall of educating consumers what OEM versus retail licenses mean in terms of product support and maintenance. In any case, Microsoft does provide a wide range of both free and paid support options, which Ed can read about on Microsoft’s web site at support.microsoft.com

In any case, that’s rather academic and does not do anything to solve Ed’s immediate issues. Unfortunately, the problems reported by Ed are going to be a little difficult to solve just based on the information available.

We know that Ed is having difficulty working with and sharing documents, but because there was no mention of what types of documents they were, or the names and versions of the applications which created them, it is difficult to provide any specific suggestions. I would suggest starting with the vendor of the applications Ed is using to view or create the documents, and make sure he has taken whatever steps they recommend to ensure compatible with Windows Vista (installing patches, changing settings in the program, adjusting the program’s properties via its shortcut link and so forth). Maybe that wlil be enought to allow him to open the project document.

As for Adobe Reader not being able to open documents, I would suggest downloading and installing the latest release, Version 9.0, which was released at the beginning of this month. If Adobe Reader is still unable to open PDF files, then I would wonder if the files were damaged in transit. Ed mentioned that he is on a slow dial-up connection, and it is possible this is affecting their transmission. Using a file archiving program such as PKZIP or WinZip to compress the files before transfer might help if this issue is related to the amount of data being sent over the connection. Another possibility is that the problem is entirely at the sender’s end, in which case there is going to be little Ed until the document sender fixes the problem.

As far as Ed’s friends not being able to read the documents he send them, it is difficult to answer without knowing the types of documents being created and the names and versions of the programs used to create them and view them. If Ed is using Microsoft Office 2007 and his friend’s have earlier versions of Microsoft Office, then they could visit the Microsoft Office web site at office.microsoft.com to download and install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack so they can view the documents created by Ed. Alternately, Ed could try saving documents in an older version of the file format before sending them, but older document file formats can be less secure and vulnerable to such threats at macro viruses.

One of the things about Ed’s new computer is that it did not have some patches or updates installed on it before it left the factory. Microsoft has provided several updates since Windows Vista was release to improve performance, reliability and compatibility, and once these are installed it is likely Ed will have a much better experience with his computer. IInstalling Service Pack 1 will definitely help in this regard. A list of applications which are known to have difficulty with it can be found in Microsoft Knowledgebase article 935796, Information about programs that are known to experience a loss of functionality when they run on a Windows Vista Service Pack 1-based computer, located at support.microsoft.com

Hopefully, Ed will be able to resolve the problems he is experiencing and get some enjoyment instead of frustration out of his new computer.

Hello Aryeh,
Thanks for your expert advice. I’m going to pass this on to Ed, as well as other suggestions. I am hoping to get more information and hopefully a solution.

Thank you, Ron

@Aryeh:

They don’t want you to know what OEM means, because it means Very Bad(Copyright 1985-2008 Microsoft, All Rights Reserved) thing.

First it means this:

Your computer maker probably got it for $50 on a bulk licensing scam, I say scam because to get the OEM version yourself on Newegg it’s $99 on up, and the full retail disc from Microsoft is up over $200 for any decent version ($279 for Ultimate?).

But why do they get that deal?

Because OEM means two things:

(1) You may NEVER “reactivate” (this is bogus) the copy of Vista you bought, assuming it’s OEM, Microsoft says that by paying double for it for retail you’re entitled to “recativate” (totally heinous) your copy on a new computer, years down the road.

In other terms, either way, they’ve essentially sold you two copies of Vista, they KNOW that if you were smart enough to know how to put your own PC together, that you probably don’t need any support from them, which leads me to….

(2) When you buy an OEM disc or an OEM copy, whoever originally installed it on said computer is tech support, *not* Microsoft, so if Gateway or Dell installed it, call them, if you installed it, then please consult yourself as far as how to fix it.

(But don’t talk to yourself, people might think you’re schizophrenic)

Note: Ron, any idea why all z’s are capitalized? it only happens on your page…….

Note: Ron, any idea why all z’s are capitalized? it only happens on your page…….

zebra, zipper, zany, zip, zulu, zebra,

Ron, I think I found a bug in Firefox, I’m not reporting it though because I compiled it myself, so everyone else is fine, I’ve got another copy building with GCC 4.3.1

That Episode of Family Guy:

We can rebuild him, better than he was before, stronger, faster….

What can ya do for $20?

*Flash to Peter chasing a purse snatcher with a garbage can for a leg and a rake for an arm*

Hi Ron; just curious if Ed has followed up with any addition comments/info as to his problem? There’s a wealth of knowledgeable folks within this blog that could probably get him up and running again. Yeah, it’s like pulling hair trying to figure out these problems, and even the best of us run into a dead end at times.

On a lighter note: saw an entry in Fred Langa’s blog, and (as of last week) he’s headed off to Hawaii to “burn up some of his frequent flyer miles”, so I guess he’s settled into a comfortable “rut” following his divorce! LOL

Hello Don,
Yes I got an email from Ed this morning. He confirmed that his system was in fact full of crapware that came with the system. He also was going to get a copy of SP1 via a friend who would download and burn it to disk.

Ed is also going to call a local guru, per my suggestion, and get his machine cleaned up and SP1 installed. I asked him to let me know how everything goes once his system gets fixed. Thanks for asking.

Great news about Fred. Hawaii is a beautiful spot to lick your wounds and get your mind healed from a divorce. I hope he enjoys the islands. We were there last October and had a blast. The Laua’s are great and so are the Mai-Tai’s!

Hi, Ron -
First, Ed needs to get at least a DSL connection. It’s not expensive these days, and it’s so much better than dial-up.

Second, he should contact support from his computer’s manufacturer. He may need to revert back to the factory settings for Vista. (Before updates corrupted it)

Third, he needs a better e-mail provider. Gmail works great for me.

I got my Vista machine in Aug ‘07. It worked great for the first hour, but then it installed some MS Updates. It continued to download updates, periodically. I had problems every day, but never the same thing. IE would freeze, or Windows Explorer would freeze, or I couldn’t access certain files, or programs wouldn’t load. Eventually, the mouse-pointer froze, and I couldn’t even log in. Dell had to revert my computer back to factory settings. I immediately disabled Windows Updating. I haven’t installed a single update from MS, and everything has worked great ever since then. I don’t know if I’ll ever trust MS Updates again.

I’m not sure, but that may be the solution for Ed’s situation, too. Good luck, Ed.

Michael

Hi Ron,
One problem is that when you send a file over the internet, it gets converted to a binary stream (or some sort of streaming data) and when you pull if off of your email server, it gets recoded to whatever file format is was in. I would bet that either you’re having problems with your connection with your email server, whoever that is, and that is what’s messing up your files in sending and receiving. I’d try taking the computer over to a friend’s house who has broadband and uploading and downloading files via email to see if that fixes the problem. I had a friend with a wireless network card who couldn’t open up most of the files he downloaded. WHen I plugged his computer into my connection, the files weren’t corrupted. He got a new wireless adapter and it fixed the problem.