10 Things I Am Doing To Prepare For Vista
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Starting next week I will be using Vista full time once my new laptop arrives. I have made the decision to give Vista a 30 day trial period, and if I don’t like it, I’ll wipe the drive and install Windows XP Pro. But in the interim, I have been searching for some ways to improve how Vista performs so that I can give the operating system a fair evaluation. Here are some of the things I am addressing while waiting for my new laptop.
1. Memory. This is so obvious I am almost embarrassed to mention it. The laptop I purchased comes with 3G of RAM. Since I’ll be using 32 bit Vista this is the max I will need.
2. CPU. The system has a dual core which should be ample to run Vista and my applications.
3. OS Upgrade. I have a brand new copy of Vista Ultimate still in its sealed box. Once I make backups of the drivers and applications that come with the unit, I’ll be wiping the drive of Vista Home Premium and installing Vista Ultimate. This will allow me to downgrade [legally] to Windows XP Pro if I choose to do so.
4. Vista SP1. I have downloaded and copied to a CD the full version of Vista SP1 which will be installed prior to installing any additional software.
5. Driver updates. I have downloaded driver updates for the hardware that comes with the unit and burned them to CD as well.
6. Office 2003. I will still be using a copy of Microsoft Office 2003. I found several articles on the Internet which stated that SP1 should be installed prior to the install of Office 2003. Another article recommended installing Office 2003 and not opening any applications. It was recommended that Office 2003 SP3 should be installed prior to using the program with Vista.
7. I have made back up copies of all of my important documents, address books, .pst files for Office to be manually transferred over to the new system. These files have also been burnt to DVD as well. Though I have a Belkin transfer cable and software I could use, I prefer to do it the old fashion way. I have read to many stories in which Vista has messed up during the file transfer process.
8. I have a copy of Unblue’s SpeedUpMyPC 2009 that has been sent to me for testing with Vista.
9. I also have downloaded other programs that I will be using such as AVG 8, which I still trust.
10. Wait 30 days, decide what I am going to do, and do a follow up report on my experience.:-)
If you have any additional suggestions, please pass then on.
Comments welcome.
10 Comments
Matt
October 12th, 2008
at 12:01am
Hi Ron,
You mentioned (4) you’ve downloaded Vista SP1 and copied to a CD.. I’d suggest (if you can) you download a copy of Vista + SP1 integrated (available from Technet/MSDN etc.). You only need to install once then, and as SP1 is there from the start it will install “cleaner” than if you performed a normal install then SP1 upgrade.
Also for (7) - if you have any personal macros etc. don’t forget to backup Personal.xls. Normal.dot etc.
Good luck!
Matt.
Aryeh Goretsky
October 12th, 2008
at 2:16am
Hello,
It sounds like you have prepared quite well for the arrival of your new notebook computer.
Did you download the driver updates from the notebook manufacturer’s web site or from the web sites of the component creators? If the former, you may wish to visit the various web sites of the companies who create the chipset, sound card, wired and wireless network interfaces and so forth to download the latest drivers from them. They are often newer than those provided by the manufacturer or available from Microsoft’s Windows Update service. Usually, the only device drivers which need to be downloaded from the computer manufacturer’s web site are those for the video card, since they tend to be specific to the implementation of the video card inside the notebook.
If you use software such as a PDF viewer such as Adobe Reader or Sumatra Viewer or file archiving program such as PKZip or WinRar, you may wish to have them ready to install from a CD or USB flash drive.
You may also want to have some blank DVD±R discs to use to create the recovery media for the computer. That way if you want to put the original operating system back on it before you sell it, give it to someone, return it to the manufacturer, et cetera, you can do so.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Ron Schenone
October 12th, 2008
at 3:45am
Hello Matt,
Thanks for information. I’ll do that.
Hi Aryeh,
I got the newest drivers from the manufacturers web sites.
I have plenty of blank DVD’s handy.
I have also got the other software as you have suggestion also ready to go.
Thanks to you both for the assist. It is appreciated.
Ron
Arne Wiste
October 12th, 2008
at 11:56am
Don’t over think this Ron,Windows is still the best OS out there but you already know that or you would have gone over to the dark side. I have upgraded or clean installed all my computers(3) with all different versions of Vista and have had far fewer problems than with any previous Windows OSs. Leading me to believe it’s the best yet and I’ve had it since it came out. Your new laptop should have no trouble at all with Vista as my old Compaq runs handles it with no problems.
Good luck though I don’t think you’ll need it.
Arne
Ron Schenone
October 12th, 2008
at 1:21pm
Hi Arne,
I’m fairly optimistic I’ll be running Vista Ultimate just fine.
Thanks for dropping by and for the info.
El Pelon
October 13th, 2008
at 3:08am
I have upgraded or clean installed all my computers(3) with all different versions of Vista and have had far fewer problems than with any previous Windows OSs. Leading me to believe it’s the best yet and I’ve had it since it came out. Your new laptop should have no trouble at all with Vista as my old Compaq runs handles it with no problems. Good luck though I don’t think you’ll need it.
Is that guy for real?
rm -fr Windows
First Day With My New Laptop ~ The Blade by Ron Schenone, MVP
October 14th, 2008
at 3:17pm
[...] Here are a few things I did learn in the past 24 hours that I had stated in my previous article here about preparing for [...]
sandy
October 15th, 2008
at 2:42am
i was reading your article about the 3gb ram with a 32bit my laptop has a 4gb ram with a 64bit is that good or bad. I’m computer iliterate sorry.I bought it last month. its a toshiba 4gb ram and 400gb memory.
sandy
October 15th, 2008
at 2:44am
o yah another thing how do u back up your system into a blank dvd to have for back up sounds like a good idea.
Ron Schenone
October 15th, 2008
at 4:53am
Hi Sandy,
64 bit can use 4G of RAM which is memory. Your hard disk is 400G. :-} Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience with us.
Regards, Ron