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Vista to XP?

manimal

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,213
22
Blindly running into cactus
yes, i did a search and came up with this thread:

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188204&highlight=downgrade+vista&page=4

so my wife is SICK of vista on her laptop. super long startup times, some of my games won't load, too picky on the security thing (yes, i know i can change that)

so anyway, i have a copy of xp pro from work, are there any issues with doing a clean install? i don't understand the legal downgrade to xp from vista ultimate. it seems like it shouldn't matter if i have my own copy of xp to clean install with.

any thoughts or comments?
 
SK6

SK6

Turbo Monkey
Jul 10, 2001
7,586
0
Shut up and ride...
Clean format. STRONGLY recommended!!! Vista has SO many bugs it's scary.

I'm running VISTA 64 Bit Ultimate with a a Duel core Due, Centrino Duo, 2 gig ram 2.2, and my "beater" XP Centrino Pentium M 1.7 with 2 gig is SO much faster.
 
Dartman

Dartman

Old Bastard Mike
Feb 26, 2003
3,911
0
Richmond, VA
I recommend making an image of the disk first. I like Acronis.com TrueImage for that.

That way if it doesn't work out you can at least put it back the way it was.

You will probably get caught by Micro$oft licensing check when you put in SP2.
 
binary visions

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,162
1,261
NC
Just back up the important stuff, format, and reinstall. An image is the best way to ensure that if there's a fluke and everything goes belly-up, you can have a working PC back in the least amount of time, but the flip side is that a fresh XP install doesn't have much of a chance of any badness happening and you back up a lot of files you don't need with an image.

If it's a legit license, there will be no issues whatsoever. Just format and install.
 
manimal

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,213
22
Blindly running into cactus
i'm not sure how old the disk is, got it from work. it has the product key on it but i'm sure it's under the corporate license.

so how do i make a mirror copy of the HD? there isn't much stuff on her laptop yet, i doubt even 1Gb of personal files and only a few programs.
 
manimal

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,213
22
Blindly running into cactus
H8R said:
http://www.ubuntu.com/


It just works.


(sorry, had to)




Seriously, XP install after backup will be fine. You may want to slipstream it with SP2 to make your life easier. (if it's an older XP install disc)

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp
Click to expand...

ubuntu looks neat. is there a program that can convert the ubuntu word processing/spreadsheet files into something readable by MS programs? it looks very neat and tidy but i do so much stuff at work on MS i'd hate to have all of my files be unusable on the other unit.
 
binary visions

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,162
1,261
NC
manimal said:
ubuntu looks neat. is there a program that can convert the ubuntu word processing/spreadsheet files into something readable by MS programs? it looks very neat and tidy but i do so much stuff at work on MS i'd hate to have all of my files be unusable on the other unit.
Click to expand...
Open Office (which comes with Ubuntu) reads MS Office formats.
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
binary visions said:
Open Office (which comes with Ubuntu) reads MS Office formats.
Click to expand...
Yep. There are sometimes some weird formatting issues but for the most part it's seamless.

Most popular programs have a "counterpart" in Linux. Not a fullreplacement, but a compatible program.

OpenOffice - MS Office
GIMP - Photoshop
Inkscape - Illustrator


Etc.


Some programs in Linux are just better. I like the networking tools and the scanning software better than anything I've used in Windows.


Firefox is pretty much the same, as is Picasa and a few others.
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
manimal said:
but will MS read ubuntu formats?
Click to expand...
No, it doesn't need to. You can just save the Open Office files to MS Office format.


Edit: for other programs files can usually be saves to common types. GIMP for instance can open and edit .psd (Photoshop) files.

Also, most applications can print straight to .pdf.



Try as I might I haven't been able to come up with any deal breakers aside from one thing: ACCOUNTING. There is no Quickbooks equivalent in Linux. None.
 
manimal

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,213
22
Blindly running into cactus
man, this is sounding really interesting. i'm thinking of installing ubuntu on a separate partition and testing it out. what about games? will the newer pc games work on this platform?
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
manimal said:
man, this is sounding really interesting. i'm thinking of installing ubuntu on a separate partition and testing it out. what about games? will the newer pc games work on this platform?
Click to expand...
GAMES = NO FVCKING WAY.


Very few games have been ported over. basically, if you like Doom you're stoked.
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
SkaredShtles said:
I wonder if games work in a VMware guest environment... because he could run an XP guest on his Linux server using VMware. But I don't know if games work in that type of environment.
Click to expand...
Possible. And some work under Wine.

For the most part though, game programmers write code to bring an optimized Windows machine to it's knees. Trying to run that in a Linux box = headache.


Anyway, Solitaire and Tetris work great. :D


More info:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Games
 
Red Rabbit

Red Rabbit

Picky Pooper
Jan 27, 2007
2,715
0
Colorado
Sooo, my workplace is planning on changing over their XP to Vista, Again.

Thank god they will not be touching my PC.

My baby is all mine.

However, this is pissing me off. It didn't work the first time, why do they want to try it again.

The IT guy is flipping a bitch.

Last time we did this we lost a ton of functionality for a bout a week, until the partners got pissed and demanded that xp was installed again.

So My question to BV and the other Guru's is this.

Has Microsoft made any changes to Vista? Have you seen it work in a large office setting?

Can I expect a giant cluster fvck again?
 
binary visions

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,162
1,261
NC
Your office is stupid.

Not because they're changing to Vista, but because they clearly aren't doing a proper trial of it if they're losing a ton of functionality.

There have been bugfixes here and there, and service pack one was just released as a Release Candidate (read: beta). SP1 may resolve a lot of issues but it's not final and I can't possibly imagine what would possess an office who has had a failed implementation to switch again before SP1 is finalized.

They just need to do a good trial. Install it on a computer, install all the necessary programs that people use on a daily basis, and test it out.
 
SK6

SK6

Turbo Monkey
Jul 10, 2001
7,586
0
Shut up and ride...
FYI

13 December 2007
Users made to jump through hoops for Vista SP1

By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld US

Microsoft has released the preview of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) to the general public. However, the company has not made it easy for users, requiring them to go through an elaborate process involving multiple reboots before they can download it.

Advertisement

The long-awaited Vista SP1 Release Candidate (RC), where any user running a valid copy of Vista can grab it, said the company. Microsoft first seeded preliminary copies of the service pack to thousands of by-invitation-only testers in September.

"Today we made the SP1 RC available to the public on Microsoft's Download Center," a company spokeswoman said. "Because Windows Vista SP1 will be available to hundreds of millions of customers, we want to make sure we get a breadth and depth of customer feedback. By increasing the test base of SP1, this helps customers ensure [there] will be a thoroughly tested product at RTM [release to manufacturing]."

To get the release candidate, however, users must jump through the hoops detailed in a document posted to Microsoft's support website. "Systems running on Windows Vista RTM require as many as three updates before SP1 can be installed," the document warns. "Windows Update will detect your system configuration and offer the prerequisite packages that are applicable to your system."

Before doing that, however, a script must be downloaded and run. The script sets a registry key required for Windows Update to sniff out the system as eligible for a SP1 RC update. After that, two additional updates are necessary - each followed by a reboot of the operating system - before Microsoft's servers confirm that the machine is suitable for SP1. Only then do they offer the download.

According to Microsoft, when Vista SP1 is offered to users normally through Windows Update, the prerequisite steps will have already taken place automatically over several nights. Microsoft has not set a definitive release date for SP1, other than to promise that it will launch sometime in the first three months of 2008.

The SP1 release candidate will have to be uninstalled before applying the final code in 2008, Microsoft warned as it also issued an odd caution on the subject. "After you uninstall Service Pack for Windows (KB936330), we recommend that you wait at least one hour before you try to install the final release of Windows Vista SP1," another support document read.

The company also noted that SP1 RC will expire at the end of June 2008.

To begin the process of updating a Vista-powered PC to SP1 RC, users should follow these instructions.

Not everything planned for the final version of SP1 has made it into the release candidate, however. Major changes to Vista's anti-piracy scheme outlined only last week are not included, for example.
 
binary visions

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,162
1,261
NC
SK6, it's a release candidate. It's a beta. Yes, I know, let's all hate Vista because Microsoft is being careful about installation of their beta service pack :rolleyes:

I know you have this issue with Vista because Intel released some ****ty video drivers or whatever, but so far I've done 10 or so Vista installations and the biggest problem I've had was a bug with an old version of AIM, and the fact that my USB drive's U3 software wouldn't work. Newer versions of the U3 software all work, and the newer versions of AIM work. So...

The same thing happened when XP came out. It's cool and hip to hate the OS, even though a majority of it is baseless whining. Put in a new feature, everyone cries that it was copied. Leave out a feature and everyone cries that a competing OS has it. Give it lots of visual zing and everyone cries that the system requirements go up. Leave it out and everyone calls it ugly. Give it some built in applications and people call it bloated. Leave them out and people call it stripped. Microsoft released a public beta and two public release candidates, not to mention software developers could get their hands on any number of prior versions, and yet when it comes out and there are software incompatibilities, well, let's all hate Microsoft for it and not the lazy companies like Apple that decided to not check for compatibility with the largest OS release in several years.

The service pack will hopefully help mature it a little bit and fix some of the bugs that are inevitable in any new OS release. That'll be a good thing :thumb:. In the meantime, whining that it takes three reboots to install a beta of a service pack is pretty ridiculous, and it must be a slow news week if that's what they're writing articles on. Three reboots? Really? That's the big problem?
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
binary visions said:
SK6, it's a release candidate. It's a beta. Yes, I know, let's all hate Vista because Microsoft is being careful about installation of their beta service pack :rolleyes:

I know you have this issue with Vista because Intel released some ****ty video drivers or whatever, but so far I've done 10 or so Vista installations and the biggest problem I've had was a bug with an old version of AIM, and the fact that my USB drive's U3 software wouldn't work. Newer versions of the U3 software all work, and the newer versions of AIM work. So...

The same thing happened when XP came out. It's cool and hip to hate the OS, even though a majority of it is baseless whining. Put in a new feature, everyone cries that it was copied. Leave out a feature and everyone cries that a competing OS has it. Give it lots of visual zing and everyone cries that the system requirements go up. Leave it out and everyone calls it ugly. Give it some built in applications and people call it bloated. Leave them out and people call it stripped. Microsoft released a public beta and two public release candidates, not to mention software developers could get their hands on any number of prior versions, and yet when it comes out and there are software incompatibilities, well, let's all hate Microsoft for it and not the lazy companies like Apple that decided to not check for compatibility with the largest OS release in several years.

The service pack will hopefully help mature it a little bit and fix some of the bugs that are inevitable in any new OS release. That'll be a good thing :thumb:. In the meantime, whining that it takes three reboots to install a beta of a service pack is pretty ridiculous, and it must be a slow news week if that's what they're writing articles on. Three reboots? Really? That's the big problem?
Click to expand...
Dude, all your points are valid but it IS a huge system hog.

We talked to a networking company yesterday about instlling a new server here (finaly) and he said they'd only install Vista on desktops under extreme duress. I think he said "at gunpoint".


I might use it at home for futzing around but I'd wait another year before installing it on a business machine. (if I were to ever install it at all)
 
binary visions

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,162
1,261
NC
H8R said:
Dude, all your points are valid but it IS a huge system hog.
Click to expand...
By "system hog" do you mean it shouldn't run great on a 1.8ghz AMD64 w/ 1gb of RAM?

Because it does.

Certainly, system requirements went up, and like most new OS releases, you shouldn't install it on legacy systems.

I'd wait another year before installing it on a business machine.
Click to expand...
I don't think any business should be installing a new OS in the first year of release except for specific machines to run specific applications.
 
SK6

SK6

Turbo Monkey
Jul 10, 2001
7,586
0
Shut up and ride...
I know what your saying.....however, switching to Vista 64 bit solved my video card issues.... :thumb:

However, the resources this thing takes is frikken scary! :eek: It would be nice if there were more 64 bit apps...
 
syadasti

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
sirknight6 said:
However, the resources this thing takes is frikken scary! :eek: It would be nice if there were more 64 bit apps...
Click to expand...
Most home/office end-users don't need and will see little advantage with a 64-bit OS or applications to check email, WWW, view photos, work on MS office etc...

Besides that even for geeks like H8R, performance difference between 32 and 64 bit OS isn't that great yet:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=616&num=1

Its just not mature enough and its a big change. Need time for good drivers and software to develop for mainstream.

Real professionals with the need have had expensive 64-bit computing since the 90s with stuff from Dec Alpha/Sun/SGI/etc running various versions of UNIX - they didn't deal with toys like PCs or Macs until more recently when PC/Macs got more competitive.
 
SK6

SK6

Turbo Monkey
Jul 10, 2001
7,586
0
Shut up and ride...
Well, I use the "Beater" for my everyday stuff, I like the responsiveness of the 64 bit Vista Ultimate.

It runs the 32 bit stuff just a scoshe quicker, but in some instances, un-noticeable. In general, I like the way Vista handles memory, however the entire OS is still very cumbersome insofar as how many processes it uses. I do not use any of the Aero stuf, and in fact, use the Win classic theme. That decision, as most in here know is a video card issue for me anyway.

So, a great question to bounce off of everyone is, should I go ahead and do the SP1 RC update?
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
sirknight6 said:
So, a great question to bounce off of everyone is, should I go ahead and do the SP1 RC update?
Click to expand...
If by "SP1 RC update" you mean "Ubuntu", then yes.


:D



someone is going to flame me for this sooner or later
 
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