Gnomie Alan writes:

Dear Chris,

I’ve seen your YouTube clips about Vista and wish to share my experiences with you. I recently purchased an Acer M1610-LB7Z Intel dual core base unit, which came with Windows Vista Home Edition. I am a qualified computer repair and service technician and was very surprised at how good the build and component quality was for the price paid. However Windows Vista has been a nightmare! The main issues I have personally encountered have mainly been with USB and core stability with many programs producing the “program did not respond” error message. The programs used were legitimate programs that are supposed to work with Vista. I will list some of the issues I’ve encountered:

1. USB 2 speeds exceptionally slow pre service pack 1 at only 135 KB/S with service pack 1 approx 3 MB/S
2. Every time I put in a USB memory stick, Vista always wants to “scan and fix” the drive. Yet upon scanning, there is nothing wrong with the memory stick. I’ve tried different memory sticks and still the same message appears.
3. BSOD appears now and then when I attach an external USB 2 drive. The error message clearly states USB problems.
4. Occasionally the hard drive really thrashes when idle.
5. UAC stops some programs from being installed! I turned off UAC and the exact same programs installed fine.
6. Sometimes right clicking on files to find the file properties seems to take ages.
7. Sometimes deleting items from the desktop takes ages and the file is often not removed from the desktop; I have to refresh the desktop to ‘remove’ the file. Sometimes the system is completely locked down when trying to delete a small file and a reboot is needed.
8. Unable to set Firefox as my default browser; Vista locks onto IE7 all the time.
9. I’ve encountered several Windows Explorer crashes when trying to do simple tasks such as moving files.
10. IE7 crashes a lot.
11. I had a Windows error message about Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0 “unexpectedly not working,” yet the Kaspersky product seemed to be working fine. This error message also happened with OpenOffice 2.40
12. The following programs have crashed with Vista (all are supposed to be Vista compatible): Nero 7, AOL instant messenger, Windows Live Messenger 8.5, Yahoo! Messenger, GIMP, Windows Defender, and Windows Media Player 11.

I installed all the security updates, but for some reason Vista Service Pack 1 was not offered via the Microsoft update service. I later installed it manually and some of the USB issues were fixed, but the transfer speeds are still much slower than XP. Pretty much all of the above still happens on Vista with or without Service Pack 1. What I did next was to install Windows XP Pro and absolutely not one of the issues above happened, thus its pretty clear to me that the computer hardware is fine. The problem clearly is with Vista, which I feel is a ‘broken’ operating system.

Vista includes an on-screen keyboard that is built-in with the operating system. You might find this feature handy if you have impairments or if your normal keyboard is under repair. You can easily access the on-screen keyboard by clicking Start, typing OSK, and pressing Enter. A nifty little keyboard will immediately appear on your screen.

You can access this more easily by creating a shortcut to the program on your desktop. Simply right click your desktop, point to New and select Shortcut. Type in osk and click Next. Click Finish.

The on-screen keyboard runs in three different modes: clicking mode, scanning mode, and hovering mode. In clicking mode you simply click the on-screen keys. In scanning mode, you use a hot key or a switch-input device to type highlighted characters. In hovering mode, you can simply use your mouse to point to a key which is then typed. You can change the mode by selecting the Settings tab, clicking Typing Mode and choosing the mode you want to use.

The clock in the Vista System Tray can be configured to display the time in different formats. Some individuals may prefer or may even be required to use military time. If so, switching the time format is very simple to do.

To switch to military time in Vista:

1. Open the Control Panel and open Regional and Language Options. You can also type intl.cpl in the Start Menu Search field.
2. From the Regional and Language Options window, click the Customize this format button.
3. Click the Time tab.
4. Use the drop down arrow to change the time format to :HH:mm:ss.
5. Click OK.

The Notification Area, located in the bottom corner of your desktop, displays several icons, some of which you may never use. You can clean up the Notification Area in Vista by removing such icons.

To remove an icon from the Notification Area in Vista:

1. Right click an empty area of the notification area and click Properties.
2. The dialog box that appears allows you to show or hide the system icons.
3. Click the Customize button to show or hide non-system icons.
4. Locate the program icon you want to remove from the notification area.
5. Use the drop down arrow beside the program and click Hide.
6. Click OK.

The icon for the particular program you selected in the above steps will no longer appear in the notification area.

Disk Quotas were introduced in Windows 2000 and carried through to Vista. Disk Quotas lets administrators to limit how much disk space users’ can use on a volume that is formatted with NTFS. Disk Quota limits are based on file ownership. This means that if a User A creates a 300 Kb file, their disk use is increased by that amount. If User B takes ownership of that file, their disk usage is increased and User A’s disk usage is decreased.

You can enable this feature on an NTFS volume using the steps listed below:

1. Open My Computer.
2. Right click the volume you want to enable disk quotas and click Properties.
3. Click the Quota tab.
4. Click the Enable Quota Management option.
5. To limit the amount of disk space for new users click the Limit disk space to option.
6. Set the appropriate values for the Limit disk space to and the Set warning level to options.
7. Click OK.

If you want users to receive an “insufficient disk space” error when they exceed the disk space limit, then you also need to select the Deny Disk Space to Users Exceeding Quota Limit option.

Some people may want to increase the default font size in Vista, possibly to help overcome visual impairments. Vista makes it simple for users to increase the font size to suit their individual preferences and physical needs.

To increase the font size in Vista:

1. Right click a blank part of the desktop.
2. Click the Personalize option.
3. On the left hand menu, click the Adjust Font Size (DPI) option.
4. Select Larger Scale (120dpi).
5. Click OK.

Not everyone uses keyboard shortcuts. However, for those that do, you know how much faster it can be to maneuver your way around various Windows. Take for example, Windows Explorer. Knowing and using a few useful keyboard shortcuts for common tasks is faster than using a mouse.

Although the keyboard shortcuts may be difficult to remember at first, once you’ve used them a few times, you will see how much faster it is than a mouse. Until you get to that point, it is often helpful to write a few useful ones down and have them right next to your computer for reference.

Here are a few useful keyboard shortcuts available for Windows Explorer:

• Alt+Up - Go up a folder
• Alt+Right - Go forward
• Alt+Left- Go back
• Alt+Enter - Properties of the selected file
• F11 - Put explorer into Fullscreen mode

There is a quick and easy way to find a list of installed drivers in Vista. Instead of trying to do an exhaustive search and inventory on your computer, you can simply run the ‘driverquery’ command from the command prompt. The output lets you see all the drivers that are currently installed on the computer.

To run the command, open the Command Prompt and type ‘driverquery’. The output will present you with a list of installed drivers. There are also a number of parameters you can run with the command that includes:

• /FO - Specifies the type of output to display. Valid values to be passed with the switch are “Table,” “List,” and “CSV.”
• /V - Displays detailed information. Not valid for signed drivers.
• /SI - Provides information about signed drivers.
• /? - Displays Help information.

Gnomie Jerry Smith writes:

I upgraded to Windows Vista about eight months ago and have been somewhat pleased. I found that the overall UI has been changed very much — specifically the start bar. It took me a while to get used to, but the transition ran somewhat smoothly. Around Thanksgiving I found that the computer was starting to run slightly slower and decided to check out the RAM on my HP Pavilion a1250n and found that Vista Aero had taken away 300 MB of my RAM! I was more than slightly annoyed at this and found that the only way to fix the problem was to disable Aero (even though I didn’t want to because I thought it made the UI much nicer). So I decided to ask for another GB of RAM for Christmas and that did the trick. My computer has been running fine since the upgrade. Here my top five tips that I have for new Vista customers.

• Disable the sidebar. It’s nice if you want your computer to slow down so much that it takes forever to start up. I found that there was really no use for it and that it had really pointless gadgets. I mean… come on! A clock? There’s already one in the bottom left corner.

• Upgrade to at least 2 GB of RAM. If you can’t afford it or you don’t want to, then disable Aero and set the display theme to Vista Basic. It will speed up your computer so much.
• Customize the size of the desktop icon text. To do this, right click on the desktop and go to personalize. Click the adjust font size (DPI) at the left. Click custom and drag the ruler to change the size. This makes reading the icon text easier.
• Group the icons. This way you can put the most used icons in the middle of the screen or anywhere else you want them. I have my desktop organized into three sections. Two across the top and one down the right side. The first group is hard drive links, and my recycle bin, and anti-spyware/firewall. The second group is basically all my most used programs: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, yadda, yadda, yadda. My third group is links to file folders that contain documents. There is a link for My Documents, Pictures, and Music, and also my Web site, Projects, and School Work.
• Disable pointless start up programs. Do this by either going into the startup folder in the all programs folder or run “msconfig.” This opens the System Configuration Utility. Go to the startup tab and disable anything that isn’t absolutely necessary. Especially do this after installing HP software on your computer — it typically comes with a lot of bloatware.

Have fun with you new OS. Explore, poke around, and have fun with it. If you really mess anything up just roll back the computer using System Restore. Have fun!

When you log off your computer, Windows will normally save all your settings. This includes your desktop configuration, icon placement, and so on. Most people find this useful so that they do not have to reconfigure the desktop each time they log on.

However, for security purposes, some users may not want settings to be saved when logging off. You can prevent changes from being saved using the steps outlined below.

1. Press the Windows + R keystroke to launch the Run command.
2. Type gpedit.msc and click OK.
3. Expand the following: User Configuration / Administrative Templates / Desktop.
4. In the details pane, double click Don’t save settings at exit.
5. Click Enabled.
6. Click OK.

Gnomie Stefano writes:

Hi, Chris! I saw your video where you reacted to Preston Gralla’s blog post, Five reasons Vista beats OS X, and decided I would share with my somewhat unusual point of view.

1. Windows made the GUI happen: Because Windows was the first GUI OS that would run on the widely spread IBM PC (the original one), a lot more people were running it. They didn’t want to buy new hardware and get the GUI experience. From the beginning on, masses were hooked on Windows.

2. Windows is just there: Windows has been pre-installed on computers for years now. If you were to go to a store a few years ago, chances are there aren’t any Macs around. People who get into computers are selecting their computers almost randomly, and PCs with Windows on them have a huge edge in the statistical equation. Windows is implemented well — on people’s computers, you like to say it’s not the feature, it’s the implementation. You see my point.
3. People don’t have experience with anything else: A lot of computer users come from a professional background, whether they’re secretaries or geologists, they will use computers at work. Chances are, most professions are not using Mac OS X. People just don’t know. If you think about it, a lot of people that deal with creativity in their job use Macs; a lot of people who work on enterprise scale server appliances use Linux at home because they have made the experience. The average user just does not get to use any other operating system.
4. Windows is free: And I don’t mean free of charge — it certainly isn’t. But the price of Windows is well hidden, be it in your Dell bill or in the time you would’ve saved, or in the fun that you haven’t had. Windows is free from all those boundaries people who experiment with the Mac or Linux run into. When I used Linux for the very first time, as Jono Bacon, Ubuntu community manager, said so well: when you installed Linux in the old days, you needed a soldering iron and a very steady hand. I’ve gone through this because I’m a hardcore geek. A normal computer user wouldn’t.
5. Microsoft means power, big time: Microsoft has the best sales people, the best lawyers, the most money, and the most tech-uneducated user base. If Linus Torvalds suddenly decided that the Linux kernel would from now on have a feature that controls the user experience in a way users wouldn’t want while providing a set of cool new features, people would rebel. They are tech-educated enough to know that they don’t have to put up with it. Of course Linus wouldn’t, but you get my point. Vista can come up with UAC and nobody complains. Vista can implement DRM deep in the guts of the operating system, and no one complains (maybe except for the EU, but that’s another story).

Vista clearly beats OS X and Linux by a long shot.

But beating someone doesn’t make you good.

I have to add that I’ve never used a Mac and I probably never will. I don’t like Apple locking the OS down, though I understand and appreciate why the company did it. Every time someone who’s not a geek asks me what kind of a computer they should buy, I recommend a Mac — I haven’t got any complaints yet. It’s not for me, but I’m glad it’s out there.

As for Vista: Just today someone told me about his problems with Vista. He’s running Blender and it keeps crashing, reporting a problem with his graphics drivers. I handed him a copy of Ubuntu. He’ll be fine with dual booting.

I hope you and the community enjoy this list; I had fun writing it!

A great way to save time when searching for information in Windows Vista is to save some of your searches. For example, if you are frequently searching for the same information, you can save the search and Windows Vista will keep it up-to-date for you.

To save a search in Windows Vista, click the Save Search button that appears along the top of the Search window. Simply type in a name for your search and click Save.

Any saved searches will appear in the Navigation Pane’s Search area. To open one of your saved searches, click the name of the saved search. The contents of the search will open like any other folder, with the search results displayed inside.

One of the advantages of using the Public folder is that it can simplify file sharing on your network. It eliminates the need for you to have to share individual folders. For example, if you have a folder called MyFolder on your computer that you want to share with users, all you have to do is copy or move it into the Public folder.

Before you can share any folders and files on your PC running Vista, you must enable File and Printer Sharing. To enable it:

1. Open the Network and Sharing Center.
2. Under the Sharing and Discovery section, click the down arrow beside File Sharing.
3. Select the option labeled Turn on file sharing.
4. Click Apply.

Once File and Printer Sharing is enabled, you also need to enabled Public Folder Sharing. To enable it:

1. Open the Network and Sharing Center.
2. Under the Sharing and Discovery section, click the down arrow beside Public folder sharing.
3. Select one of the following options:
   • Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open files.
   • Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open, change and create files.
4. Click Apply.

Once Public Folder Sharing in enabled, the contents of the public folder are shared with users on your network.

Vista SP1 is available (details in the document available at this link and Ed Bott did a great what-to-expect write-up and FAQ), so it’s time to head on over to Windows Update (it’s in your start menu) and grab it. Assuming it shows up in the available updates list, of course. Apparently there are certain drivers and configurations which, if present on your system, will prevent the service pack from being offered. A Microsoft Knowledge Base article — KB948343 — details the possible causes and solutions.

I upgraded on my 64-bit Vista Ultimate machine a little less than a month ago and have been happy with the performance improvements. If nothing else, just the speed of file copies over the network made it completely worthwhile. Add in other improvements and fixes and it’s an important one in my book.

Gnomie Jebus (pronounced “hay”-”bus”) writes:

Mr. Pirillo,

I’m a long-time watcher, recent-chat-joiner and first-time writer. I’ve noticed that one topic that comes up regularly is Windows Vista, to which many chatters respond to “upgrade to XP.”

However, no matter how strong you think you’ve built your argument against the winds of change, your shelter of stubbornness is bound to collapse eventually. I remember when XP came out, and people criticized it for being too user friendly, a lot like when DOS was around and geeks criticized it for not being (for lack of a better term) technical enough.

I wish not to criticize Vista or praise it, but merely provide this Top five list to help improve your future eXPerience.

5. Update!

For the love of Cthulhu don’t forget to update. Service Pack 3 is almost out and after that Windows XP will be on extended support, so you will still need to check regularly for hotfixes. A good idea might be to back up your data and completely wipe your hard disk and reinstall XP, then install all the service packs and updates at once.

4. Keep your box free of dust.

A clean computer is a happy computer. Make sure your system has proper ventilation and a good air flow. Check it ever two or three months and vacuum the dust (after taking the proper safety precautions of course) out of the surrounding area (floor, fan grates, the jumble of cables, etc…). Invest your hard earned cash in canned air and clean out your computer. Or, if you’ve never even opened up your tower, buy an air compressor. (I’m serious, I once bought a used Alienware off eBay and I had to use an air compressor to get all the dust out of it, it works fine now though).

3. Use alternative programs.

I don’t want to start a browser war, but it would be a good idea to switch to a lighter browser, such as Firefox or K-Meleon. In the future, there will no doubtedly be an IE 8 and an IE 9, which Microsoft will ask you to upgrade. Undoubtedly the new browsers will be more rich in features and will require more resources to run. I have no doubts that Firefox and Opera will follow this path as well, to what extent however I cannot predict (read: I don’t want to start a browser war). Also, with less popular browsers there is a smaller chance that you will get a virus or spyware than with the more popular ones.

Much like Internet Explorer, there will be updates to Windows Media Player, iTunes, QuickTime, and Real. These will run slower on your old system. If you use “QuickTime Alternative” and “Real Alternative,” you get the same functionality at a faster speed. Also, try some lightweight media players such as VLC, which plays just about every media format imaginable.

Instead of using the latest AIM client, try Miranda-IM or Trillian, free programs that both make use of all the popular IM protocals out there and organize your contacts under a single program.

2. Defrag and Chkdsk

Run these system checkups every once in a while (every five or six months is what I do) in order to keep your hard drive content neat, tidy, and uncluttered. Another helpful program is CCleaner, which erases your Internet cache, cookies, and all sorts of useless hidden files and folders that are just taking up space on your hard drive.

1. Remember that you are using an out-of-date OS!

I can’t count how many times I’ve had people complain to me about how “terrible” Microsoft Windows is and how they get the Blue Screen of Death every 10 minutes. Whenever I ask what version they are running you would not be surprised how many times I find out they’re running ME or 98se. You chose not to upgrade, so be prepared for the consequences.

Gnomie Elayne D. Cipolla writes:

Hello Chris, Just finished watching the video on Vista and MS’s “tell it to the hand” attitude toward its bread and butter… the consumer. Having just purchased a Toshiba Satellite laptop at the beginning of February and didn’t hear about the nightmare that is Vista until after I purchased this machine, I started having troubles from the get-go… one day, two weeks after purchase, the machine refused to boot. Tried using the recovery disk that came with it and it worked fine for two more weeks, then the same nonsense started happening all over again. I bit the bullet and took the laptop to the local Toshiba authorized repair facility and it found it had bad sectors on the hard drive. Because the machine was still under warranty, the repairs won’t cost me anything. However, I will find out how well the Vista OS works once I pick up the laptop later today. I inquired about having XP2 installed in place of Vista and was told that the laptop would not accommodate XP in any way, shape, or form whatsoever. The machine was “made” to run Vista and Vista it will be.

So much for my story. To answer your question as to what MS needs to do to improve itself… that’s relatively easy. Test, test, and test again… with average folks and not just tech types. And as you said, listen to the people who use it. Just because someone doesn’t have a line of letters and degrees after their name doesn’t mean they don’t know what they’re talking about. MS is in a competitive field and wants to remain on the top, but if it only keeps its eyes on the bottom line… well, it’ll be on the bottom looking up before long. Change for change’s sake is not progress. My dad used to tell me, “When Detroit comes out with a new model, don’t buy it the first year. Wait a year and let them get all the bugs out of it. Every new model has problems even the most diligent engineers can’t foresee.” I think MS needs to see that the consumer has the opportunity to purchase a computer with the option of using the proven, older OS or the new one and stress to the OEM that it’s important that the hardware be made to accommodate both versions in case the consumer wishes to go back to the tried and true. XP had a boatload of problems when it first came out and look how long it took before Microsoft finally got it working right. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there should be some kind of major overlap when a new OS comes out. Something that even a non-techie or non-geek can install, complete with drivers. (”so simple, a caveman can do it!”)

I can remember the first thing that was told to me by my professor in my Web site design/development class. It was the first rule of computers for him: “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” Always keep in mind that not everyone is computer savvy and make the design simple enough so that a first-time user won’t feel overwhelmed, but a tech-savvy person won’t be insulted. It’s a lot like writing… always take into consideration who your audience is.

Thanks again for all the good work and information you’ve been providing over the years. It’s been a real help.

As with most components in Vista, the Recycle Bin can be customized to suit your personal needs. For example, you can increase the size of the Recycle Bin if you frequently delete files and recover files.

Another way that you can customize the Recycle Bin is by turning off the confirmation dialog box. Each time you delete an item, Vista will prompt you to confirm your actions. If you do not want to receive the confirmation, you can turn this feature off.
You can change the settings of the Recycle Bin to suit the way you work.

To turn off the confirmation dialog box when deleting items:

1. Right click the Recycle Bin and click Properties.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Clear the Display delete confirmation dialog option.
4. Click OK.

When you first install Vista, all other icons, such as My Computer and Internet Explorer, are hidden. However, the one icon that always appears on the Windows desktop is the Recycle Bin. If you prefer not to have the Recycle Bin on your desktop, you can easily hide it using the steps listed below.

To hide the Recycle Bin in Vista:

1. Click the Start button and click the Control Panel.
2. Click Appearance and Personalization.
3. Click Personalization.
4. In the left pane, click Change desktop icons.
5. Deselect the Recycle Bin check box.
6. Click OK.

If you decide to unhide the Recycle Bin, simply complete the steps described above to add the icon back to the desktop.

Most people who use Windows have likely experienced an unresponsive program. When a program becomes unresponsive, you can wait while Windows attempts to identify and correct the problem.

Alternatively, you can use Windows Task Manager to manually end the program. The downside of ending a program this way is that your unsaved changes will be lost — for example, any unsaved changes in a Word document would be lost.

To end an unresponsive program using Task Manager:

1. Right click the Taskbar and click Task Manager.
2. Click the Applications tab.
3. Select the program that is not responding and click End Task.

Windows Mail is the default e-mail program used by Vista and other programs. If you use a different e-mail client, such as Microsoft Outlook, you can configure a different e-mail program as the default.

To change the default e-mail program in Vista:

1. Click Start, Default Programs, and click Set program access and computer defaults.
2. Type in your administrator password if prompted.
3. Click Custom under Choose a configuration.
4. Under Choose a default e-mail program, select the program you want to set as the default.
5. Click OK.