The Vista Operating System 101

INTRODUCTION:

I work for a Major computer manufacturer- who it is, is honestly unimportant. In my time working for this company I have come to one realization- all Vista systems have issues cross all borders of every brand available in the WORLD, Toshiba, Dell, HP, Acer. Yes, in the World.

Computer manufacturers have only one choice when it comes to a computers operating system in the PC world and that is whatever Microsoft is offering. Because face it people, just because your IPOD doesn't work doesn't make your PC junk- it is after all a PC world. In our offices, in our schools and in our libraries. PC computers shape our daily lives, and they won't be going away any time soon.

If you think transitioning to VISTA is bad, you might as well give up now, because I'll have to take classes to learn the systems of the future just like everyone else. It will happen, this is the law of evolution - 20 - 30 years ago hardly anyone owned a computer because they were not SIMPLE enough. If they were to make machines any simpler in the PC world, well ... 8 year old children do use them and quite proficiently I might add. Enter laugh here.

We are in a global economy as is the Personal Computer (PC), and the operating systems we have grown to hate or to love. One other thing is common, with any piece of machinery; factory, commuter, Airline, Home appliance, Car, Truck, Bicycle~ they are subject to breakdown or even failure if not properly maintained. Ignore your oil change on the Car and soon you'll be walking, and there will be no one to blame except yourself or your significant other that "forgot" to take it in for service, or didn't have time to do it themselves.

Now that's out of the way, the same applies to our Computers. All systems, brands and walks of the electro magnetic sort, that speak in series of 1's and 0's and symbols and paraphrases.

This means that you have to know and understand the machine to have the best results from the machine. We can not think to plant a tree in the ocean- it won't live, the salt water will poison it as it slowly dies.

We can't place a Volkswagen carburetor in a 57 Chevy, it won't run. The same goes for your Vista machine and any other machine in the world ... Add what does not belong and things stop working, you broke it.

Then you have to pay for someone to fix what has been broken, if we don't learn from these mistakes, our free hand me down 57 Chevy costs us tons in repair costs and time in service, and then we wonder ... why did I take that truck from my folks, it was going to save me money, but it has cost me a small fortune.

COMPARE AND UNDERSTAND:

I was running Windows 98 when Xp came out. My friends asked me, when are you getting XP?

I replied "When all the bugs have been worked out."

My Friends argued and hemmed and hawed. I'm the one that laughed my way to the bank. For one I didn't pay the large sum of money for Xp, because I waited. By the time I bought it, it was dirt cheap and all the errors and bugs in the program had been worked out already.

In that 4-6 year period, I continued to run Win98, my Friends constantly complaining and carrying on about their Operating system XP and how they were constantly unable to do the stuff I was doing without errors and things breaking- not able to run other programs.

Software companies released programs and most of the newer titles were for Win98 not for Xp, and I was playing games and using software they couldn't get on their "NEW" WinXP. This is where I laughed... They wanted to be on the edge of technology and think everything was pearls and oysters. Even test pilots crash a few planes before they get it right in the engineering department, this is evolutionary law attached to technology. Build it, test it, expose it and find errors, repair the errors, test it and find more errors. Fix it. Fix it. Fix it.

Eventually the prototype has had all the exposure a small crack team of scientists and engineers can submit it to, and they "Special Release" it to the WORLD. Where it is exposed to millions of users that do things to the product that even half a million engineers couldn't dream up.

Suddenly the machine that functioned perfectly in test is now breaking. This is because every possible exposure to the machine can not be possibly tested. We as a Global society are the ultimate testing ground of products that are thought to be perfect.

Example, build a rough and tough truck designed to carry tons of weight, winch itself out of the deepest hole and 4x4 its way across the softest sandy desert. We see the commercial, it has all a hard working, in the field construction worker could ask for out in the back 40 or in the city moving tools to the work site. One of us is going to break it and show even it has limits. A metal barring can be broken, a tank can be broken. Just hand it to someone with some spirit, some know how, and the drive to get something done. We will break it.

They fix it. They fix it. They improve it.

People with Win Vista:

"I want my XP back-"
"This machine is junk-"
"I hate Vista-"

10 years ago?
"I want my Win98 back-"
"This machine is junk-"
"I hate XP-"

If you own a machine running Win Vista, don't hate the machine. You are the ground breakers of a new era. I predict that in our age of technology, is going to be stunted by every ones combined hate and lack for understanding of what the Vista system really offers. In all honestly, I'd rather help someone with a Vista machine as it is 150% easier to find stuff that's missing or needing to be found than XP ever dreamed of being. It is more secure than Xp ever dreamed of...

Owning Vista is owning a piece of the FUTURE. As the XP users before you, that bravely went out and bought the system the first day, or week it was on the shelf. Several system updates later, Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Service Pack 2 (SP2) and you have a machine that runs as naturally as a mountain stream. And think repairs and fixes took forever to become available back then, it took 10 years to get SP2, Vista is barely a year old and SP1 came out a few short months ago... yeah geeks and nerds with in the companies behind the genius of the computer have gotten themselves much more efficient with sharing information and making fixes and updates readily available to the general public. Welcome to the future, it is now.

VISTA MACHINE HEALTH:

Got a Vista machine? Well guess what? It really is no more different than XP, other than the fact you have to live by a FEW more rules, and you get a whole lot more "BOOM" for your buck.

What not to do:

Rule number one, and I live by this on my XP machine as well. JUST SAY NO to ADD-ONS and browser search bars. In any machine it is like spy ware watching your every move and sending the data back to the owner of the Search Bar. See my article on this Here: Tool Bars of Death!

It slows your computer by, eating up system RAM, chewing up your PROCESSOR speeds, and Internet BANDWIDTH. Then to top it all off, once they gather all our DATA, the company that owns this SEARCH Bar on your Internet browser, cashes the information in for cold hard cash at your systems expense.

And just to add, if you have VISTA, most of these are in the wrong Code for your browser and cause you to loose Internet connection and get that pretty white screen that says, "This web page can not be displayed." Rule number ONE: JUST SAY NO TO ADD ONS.

Rule number two, INSTALL wisely. Very easy and those of us in the beginning release of XP remember this rule, think before you install. Before you install a program, check the net, Google is a great search tool, example:

GOOGLE SEARCH: Itunes errors in Vista Click Search.

Try it, you'll be amazed. Hmm. Apple Software doesn't like the PC? I can't believe it. Search that one some time and it will become apparent that people are addicted to IPOD, and Apple my very well be gaining a customer base do to their NON-WINDOWS software not running properly on the Vista machine. Some updates even ruin your Vista DVD and audio drivers.

Know what you install. Research errors reported by others. People love to share BAD news and rarely share GOOD news. If there's a problem, GOOGLE will have 10,000 hits on the topic. Don't install it.

Install one program every three days or so on the Vista machine. Then operate as normal, this way when something goes wrong. You can point your finger at one specific change on your machine- the last program you installed obviously is causing the problem. Go in and remove it from the "Programs and Features", which can be searched in the START SEARCH bar above the START button.

Rule number Three, which actually could be part of rule number two. Do not install anything that effects your HARDWARE that does not have the official "VISTA" label on it. Example, if the program runs with your DVD player, or Audio and Video, or any other Mechanical device on your machine, DO NOT INSTALL IT.

It WILL break your device software and it will stop working, another good example would be not to install a WinXP DVD software program because when the software gets installed, it is going to change your "VISTA" DVD software (or communication line) from your computer BRAIN to the DVD from a VISTA line into an XP line, and then when you go to use the DVD player, using any program on your machine, it WILL not detect your DVD drive... No disc in Drive errors, the list is endless.

Rule number four, ABSOLUTELY do not for any reason remove the ANTIVIRUS program from your computer without knowing exactly what you are doing. An ANTIVIRUS program is basically a CONTROLLED virus that HUNTS, eats, imprisons, and destroys viruses. It goes to all the hidden places viruses like to go and HUNTS them like a predator.

If you don't REMOVE your antivirus properly when you DECIDE to get a new model or brand, what then unfolds is nothing short of complete ANARCHY and CHAOS on your computer.

"An ANTIVIRUS unto itself is nothing more than a VIRUS~"

- SMP II

Even if it is an ANTIVIRUS made by the same company on the same machine. One detects the other as a VIRUS, they then try to remove one another and they can't as they have the same security rating. So instead they remove. delete and destroy the places and locations that they detect one another.

This can happen in a day, in a week in a year- but eventually it's going to happen. One day you won't be able to turn on your machine, as the war has removed your start up files, system files, Internet connection drivers (usually the first victim, as they detect one another getting an update, and to the other one it appears it is installing more infections straight from the Internet).
During this, you and your computer are a slave to the battle. Systems don't work, stuff doesn't function right. Windows freeze up, you get blue screens, the symptoms are as numbered as the hairs on Bob Marley's head, and as varied as the bugs in his beard.

Your computer during start up and the entire time your Windows is running is torn between the two (or more in some cases) programs, each telling the computer not to trust the other as it is a virus. Computer confused, you locked up between screens- Welcome to the war zone of the ANTIVIRUS CONFLICT, worse than any virus could dream of. Complete system genocide, as your machine slowly eats itself alive.

In the USA, it is thought BIGGER means better, MORE means RICH. With ANTIVIRUS software, one is more than enough, anything more than one is TOO many. And to remove the one you have without the skills to remove it properly is opening Pandora's box in the center of your planned computer time. Pulling out of this mess can be done, but plan to donate some time, effort and a whole lot of learning as you go. You won't want to be the victim of this again ...

What you SHOULD do:

Be informed before you install something~

Run your manufacturers updates~

Keep your warranty alive with the MANUFACTURER if you plan on keeping your computer awhile, they offer 150% despite what showroom salesman preach~

Run your WINDOWS updates~

If your walking away from your LAPTOP or NOTEBOOK computer for more than an hour SHUT it OFF. A desktop can handle being on all the time a portable can not. Hibernate and Sleep modes for long periods of time can cause your machine to not want to wake up~

If you remove software from your computer, know that it is not needed for the computers hardware to run, many machines now have some of the DVD software and WEB CAM drivers that run its machinery EMBEDDED in other software, whether you think your using it or not.

Avoid Operating System Upgrades and downgrades. The machine was built for XP or Vista, keep it that way. If you want one or the other, get a machine built for that system. Change your system and stuff will stop working, unless your a programing A+ Guru.

If you travel a lot with your portable machine, get Accidental Damage Protection, replacing something broken on your machine from an accident can be as expensive as buying a whole new computer. Check the website of your machines maker, information is readily available.

Not familiar with the computer? Check out the YMCA and the YWCA, local career centers and other public areas including the library for instruction courses and introductions to computers. This in itself can help you be more comfortable with your machine and make you more aware of whats out there, how to find it, or even to avoid it down the road. And can save you a ton of money in the long run for repairs and guidance from outside paid sources.

Don't just trust that anyone knows what they are doing. I come across this a lot. People explain my brother or my sister did this, or a Tech at work did that~ The first advice you should get is from the machines manufacturer, not from someone who's "In Training" or handles issues occasionally. Tech support generally have seen and heard of it all to date, and if not their buddy next to them have, all they do all day is fix errors and report breaks and fixes. They handle more problem issues in a one hour period than a Home Grown Tech Store on the street corner handles all week, this includes RETAILER techs, relatives, and School and University Technicians. The knowledgeable ones are there but the odds are higher they are bluffing their way through the Fix, or pass the buck toward the manufacturer anyways, might as well go to the source before using alternatives.

Optimize your system and speeds through proper methods and not through limiting or unnaturally stopping processes in the computers internal "Start up" or other engines. A program should either be removed using a removal program from the parent website or through the program removal feature. Advice to remove all programs or limit program controls in the MSCONFIG tools is not good advice, a lot of programs are shortcuts from the computer to your Hardware and when you limit them in startup, yeah less stuff loads but other things stop working or start to act funny when you attempt to use it.

When installing a program look carefully for them offering SEARCH BARS and START this at START UP. Just say no to these, imagine instead that they are offering you the plaque. The more programs you have in start up, the slower your machine loads and operates. These programs then run in the background eating your system resources whether you use them or not.

I talked to one lady her machine wouldn't turn on at all, went into safe mode and it started fine, I looked down at her start up programs and there were over 40. These all load before windows can even start, her "Programs" had eaten up all the system memory on the programs and didn't have any left to start windows, this was the reason it wouldn't load. When you start in safe mode, the only thing that loads at all IS windows, which is why we could see the problem.

Well this is my start... welcome to the FUTURE, and welcome to VISTA.

VISTA FUN:

One cool thing is the 3D screen flip, open a few different windows and then hit ALT+TAB and flip in this wacky mode between your windows, stop to land on the one in the foreground.

Use the START SEARCH above the circular START button and type in whatever you want. It will appear in the list right above on the left without hitting enter. The complexity of search and pick is over with this new tool.

In the START SEARCH type in the word "HELP", and you'll find the HELP tools. It can teach you all you want to know about your systems features and abilities.

The Gadgets or Widgets tool bar to the right has tons of things you can add, calenders, picture viewers, games, stock quotes and news flashes!

This is just the TIP of the new frontier Ice burg! Did you know that your VISTA machine is near intelligent? It monitors itself for updates and even looks out for errors in its system? It also has its very own user account, just like you do when you log into your USER name. It uses this and several other tools to monitor the health of your machine whenever its on...

Only one step from the machine that you wake up to in the morning that GREETS you with the latest STOCK quote or even dictates your latest EMAILS. Not far away...