Windows installation help...

[followthereaper]

Being the dumbass that I am, I installed Vista Premium on my old computer. I of course didn't remember that the hardware was shitty, so it installed and looked and worked like shit. So I tried reinstalling XP and always get a bunch of errors, but I finally got it to install. However, the disc is fucked up and it installed without a bunch of needed files, so now I can't run either versions. I've tried installing Vista Basic, but the computer keeps saying only 256MB of RAM is available even though I have 512MB. Any suggestions? Right now, I'm guessing all I can do is find another copy of XP.

[OnlineStageGear]

I would get another copy of XP. Vista is not going to happy on that PC with 512 ram. Unless you stripped down Vista, it will eat up that memory before it even gets to the desktop. Plus being that it is old it won't have a very fast processor and that will bog Vista down as well.

Matt

[followthereaper]

Yeah, it seems like I'll end up doing that. Vista sucks IMO and I'm sure lots of people would agree.

[rjohnstone]

Vista is great... if you have current hardware.
Been running Ultimate since day one. No complaints at all.
Vista Home Premium is pretty nice too... I have that on my other PC.
Again... no issues at all.
Just make sure you have an ATI card... nVidia dropped the ball and still hasn't released proper Vista drivers.

I'm running Vista Enterprise at work and again, no issues there either.


Vista Basic BLOWS... everyone will agree with you on that.

[toejam]

Don't you have to change the BIOS to switch from XP to Vista?

[rjohnstone]

Nope. No BIOS change needed.

Sounds like your PC is having major hardware failures.
Memory, hard drive, hell the motherboard could be toast.

[toejam]

What about going from Vista to XP? A friend of mine wants a new computer, but she can't find anything with XP any more. She doesn't want Vista, and someone she talked to at Compaq's customer service said she couldn't just go out and buy a computer with Vista and dump XP in it because it just wouldn't work, something to do with the BIOS.

[JetFixxxer]

Reformat the drive then start over.

[followthereaper]

Reformat the drive then start over.

I've tried that and it keeps saying stuff about missing files and won't complete. I think it's the XP disc because there's a couple of scratches.

[JetFixxxer]

I've tried that and it keeps saying stuff about missing files and won't complete. I think it's the XP disc because there's a couple of scratches.

I'm assuming that you cleaned the disc. Also if you have a legit cdkey get another copy of XP from a friend.

[Shawn Lutz]

I have Vista on a couple laptops for the kids at home and it works fine.

I htough about upgrading to Vista but decided against that until they get to sp 2 Maybe by that time I'll replace the machine

[DrDoug]

I do IT work, and you could not pay me to run Vista. If you know how the old pinball machines could be bumped until they 'tilted', this feature was added to the digital media systems for copy protection and it is causing people grief to no end. That and the security flat out sucks. I will work on Vista systems, but you could not pay me to run it on any of my systems.

I have legal XP Pro CD's for all of my systems just to be safe, but I use the Corporate Edition of XP Pro instead (Build 2600). Seems that someone released what was called the 'Blue List Key Generator' for the CE version and it was so effective at generating unique keys that Microsoft has chased down everyone who was posting it and now it is practically non-existent on the net. Somehow I ended up with a copy of it...

I use the CE version as there is no requirement for activation, and I can change hardware without having to re-authenticate the damn thing again. I upgrade my hardware on the seven systems on my home network regularly, and this rids me of one big headache.

If your cd is scratched, you could try copying the files from it to another system, slipstream SP2 onto the package (if it is not already), locate the boot files for the XP cd on the net and then burn yourself a new cd. If the files do not copy off the disc, you know that the cd is screwed and you need a new one.

As they say, if it ain't broke then don't fix it. Screw Vista.

[rjohnstone]

How old are you DrDoug?
Define your "IT work".

As for your use of a Corporate key for your systems at home, that is a violation of the license agreement the company you worked for signed with M$. Unless of course those systems are used for "company" business and not personal use. M$ does audit those from time to time ya know.
And yes... even the corporate key activated systems "phone home" every time you install and update.

Watch what happens when your corp key gets black listed.

Vista security issues??? It's better than XP's security by a long shot.
Play with Vista Enterprise when you get a chance. Rock solid.

The DRM component sucks, but I've yet to have ANY issues with it.
All my music is legal.
You can blame RIAA and MPAA for the DRM shit.
M$ put it in the to prevent getting dragged into court... again.

[JetFixxxer]

I run Vista here and at work. The DRM issue is a pain in the ass sometimes. I tried to play some of my ripped songs.. and Windows wouldn't play them even though I ripped them from cd's about 2 years ago. The other issues with Vista I have is the "ease" of use sometimes is a pain in the ass. I go looking for something and it's a bitch to find it.

[rjohnstone]

I hear ya... after 5 + years of XP, Vista does take some getting used to.
Took me about a month to get fully comfortable with it.