[Rainer511]

Is there any hope for Vista? Or is it just going to be another annoying operating system to avoid like Windows ME was?

I enjoy using Widnows-specific programs. I use iTunes which needs either windows or a mac. In general I'm just familiar with the Windows enviroment. I want to use Windows.

But currently on my laptop I cannot play any video file, run any type of CD/DVD burner, play videos on iTunes without it the audio horribly out of sync, or run pretty much any problem with a lot of random tweaking. I mean come on, the software that was preinstalled with the laptop stopped working after doing an update!

I've tried every fix I've come across online for the aforementioned problems and nothing has worked. The only one I haven't tried is running an XP emulator or virtual machine and then running those programs. If I wanted to run emulators to run my windows programs I'd be using linux.

So I've started using linux. I'd have switched entirely if it weren't for iTunes. I don't want to switch though. I've enjoyed linux so far-its highly customizable, more stable, and easier to update/install new programs than Vista-but honestly I think I'd still rather use Windows if it worked right.

I don't want to go out and buy a copy of Windows XP Pro SP2 for my laptop either.

So I guess my question is, "Is there any hope for Vista?"

Am I going to be able to boot up my Vista partition and do a system update a month from now, redownload and update my codecs and CD burning software, and then have everything working? Or will I still be fighting the machine to get it to work?

[Bob Cerelli]

How about starting with what hardware you have in the computer.

[Rainer511]

It's a Dell Inspiron 1501.
AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology MK-36 - 2 GHz
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
ATI RADEON® Xpress1150 256MB HyperMemory™ (Integrated)
60GB Hard Drive SAMSUNG HM060HI ATA Device
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Integrated Audio (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

[craigal]

The windows update may have installed a driver that was not compatible with your hardware, causing the problems that you are having.

If you have any recovery/install disks for your notebook you could reinstall Vista. After that when you run Windows update, do not install any drivers that are listed. You should probably only install drivers provided by DELL.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Craig

[[Anonymous]]

I've just taken a Screenshot for my School - All names will be left out - however , I'd just like to add this post to the Screenshot saying the following.

This is a Prime Example of How to be unhelpful.
With the attempt to be Helpful , it's an example of what has happened to tech support

Much Thanks

Yes there is a Dimm , Slim Hope for Vista

At least however you tried Craig , good on you

[jmwills]

In my humble opinion, Vista is not only viable but well worth the switch from XP. It is stable and secure. Does it require more from your hardware, sure it does.

I go back and forth on this, since I have else to do with my free time out here, and used Vista for the past two weeks and then went back to XP last night and found it rather boring. Get used to it, the only reason XP is being allowed to hang around is because US businesses are scrapped for cash to make major hardware purchases.

[Bob Cerelli]

Rainer511,

Since the computer was manufactured by Dell, it should have worked out of the box. Have you contacted Dell for why it didn't?

[unbidden]

It's a Dell Inspiron 1501.
AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology MK-36 - 2 GHz
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
ATI RADEON® Xpress1150 256MB HyperMemory™ (Integrated)
60GB Hard Drive SAMSUNG HM060HI ATA Device
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Integrated Audio (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

The ram could be a big part of the performance issue; 1 gig is a bit too small for Vista. If you are running Vista Aero, try using Classic and see how things run.

[Bob Cerelli]

To confirm, from the first post "But currently on my laptop I cannot play any video file, run any type of CD/DVD burner, play videos on iTunes without it the audio horribly out of sync" - it is way more the just performance issues. Key portions don't function at all. Is that correct?

[fairnooks]

I've seen and heard this before: Vista+1gig ram+integrated video+Turdion mobile=Perfect Disaster.

A friend has the same setup except a 1.6 core 2 duo and it can't keep up with anything but the simplest of video streams and other streaming/rendering tasks and the Core2duo is much better than the Turdion...

As Bob said you probably have other problems but even if corrected, its going to be a pretty limited system.