Windows Vista in October 2008
Mon 27 Oct 2008Filed Under: Computers, Windows Vista | Comments Off on Windows Vista in October 2008
My Vista experienced has – improved!
Yes after a year of living with a sluggish new PC the warranty has expired and I’m free to open the insides and do what I like. It actually expired a few months ago but I just didn’t have enough time to deal with it. So with a free day it was time to see what I could do about getting to to work faster!
After trying all the various software settings – so may I lost count it was clear that hardware changes was the only way to go. The diehard Window fans will say why not turn off the Aero interface – I say why bother with getting Vista then?
Opening the computer was easy and you only need to open one side. The internals are neatly arranged and tidy but a bit cramped. There where 4 memory slots but obscured by the hard drive frame. It has 2 unpaired 512MB memory cards hmmm on the cheap. Anyway I moved them to the most inaccessible slots and put in my single 2Gig memory card in the easy to reach one! It uses 4200PC spec memory BTW. Very cheap.
So put it all back and turned it one. Still takes a long time to boot up… log in and there you! Checked the specs and it says over 3000MB! Ran the performance progam and the windows index said that there was a change in hardware and I needed to re-run the Index. So I did and a few minutes later and the performance score accounding to windows was 4.7. Previous ly it was 4.5
So did I notice any improvement in real life? YES watching TV and surfing the internet, running iTunes and other programs work easily without the jerkiness experienced wihout the extra memory. Operations seemed to take a little less time to run.
So adding extra memory to the computer does make Vista run faster. It doesn’t become obviously fast but its the little things that appear to run without extra waiting time.
I say that 3Gigabytes of RAM in a PC is definitely required to run Windows Vista properly. Of course you’ll need a fast CPU harrd drive or main board too but that’s a given.
Windows Vista in August 2008
Mon 18 Aug 2008Filed Under: Computers, Windows Vista | Comments Off on Windows Vista in August 2008
My experience with Vista has not improved. Yes it has been stable – but slow and stable. The issues I have with it include:
– Every time there is an OS update or patch the media center reorganizes all my TV channels.
– The current version of Internet Explorer 7 is NOT a good experience. It still has a mind of its own.
– Internet Explorer 7 is not compatible with at least 2 major banks.
– To stop me complaining about it I’ve stopped using it.
– It is still very slow on a modern PC with a ton of memory and CPU power. Yet it does not do anything more than XP except a slightly prettier interface. More to the point it costs twice as much if not more.
– I’m using Mcafee Anti-virus suite now and by gosh it’s made the PC notably faster then when installed with Norton. When I say ‘faster’ it’s relative.
– It still isn’t compatible with all the software I’m using. However I guess it’s the fault of the software developer rather than MS.
On the bright side of things Windows File Explorer is still better than the Mac OSX Finder!
Windows Vista in June 2008
Wed 18 Jun 2008Filed Under: Computers, Windows Vista | Comments Off on Windows Vista in June 2008
Life with Vista has changed dramatically since my last post. You see after uninstalling Norton from my computer after their attempt to automatically ‘renew my subscription’ by default – the cheek of it – I looked for alternate virus software.
The new one is from McAfee called the Total Protection suit. This combination of programs claims to protect you from all nasties that hang around the internet. I bought the versions with multiple user licenses.
There aren’t too many really positive reviews about this piece of software so I wasn’t sure – but the fact that I do not take online reviews as truth – especially from print magazines these days I bought it anyway. Secretly their comments did effect me but I installed it anyway. I prefer user reviews these days.
So here’s my review of the Norton Total Protection Suite 2008.
First I turned of all networking and internet connections.
Uninstalled Norton with norton removal tool and checked to ensure everything was removed.
I then selected install the version from disc rather than downloading another over the internet.
Installing Mcafee software was simple and much quicker than the Norton.
You have to register for automatic virus and software updates.
Total proctection had many prompts about wanting you to send anonamyous virus info to them.
There are about 8 separate products you can install form the suite.
You must choose Mcafee Security Center – that’s the control panel for all the programs.
Apart from that I only chose Mcafee Anti-virus and the firewall.
Vista already various malware programs running so didn’t bother with the others.
I may install the others at a later date.
Connected the internet connection back on.
Once installed the program went about the process of registration – not intrusive just name and email address.
Then the program went about downloading the latest updates.
Everything went smoothly.
About 15 minutes later everything was updated.
I rebooted and cheers.
I was also impressed that the Vista and the computer appeared to worked faster than with Norton installed.
I’ll report next month on whether everything is still working.