Comments

# http:// said on April 22, 2007 02:42 PM:

Timing is everything.  The how to geek had this about copying files in Vista today.

feeds.feedburner.com/.../110983286

# Karthik said on April 22, 2007 04:13 PM:

Sam did you try Vista x64 or x32?  I anticipated multiple problems with x64 so I avoided it and stuck with 32 bit even though I believe both drivers are available for my core2-duo enabled Asus G1 laptop.  So far the experience has been good despite some hiccups with the wireless network drivers on battery.

# Brad Wilson said on April 22, 2007 04:22 PM:

Remember when you were here a few months ago, and we were having coffee, and you told me I was a jackass because I was having tons of problems with Vista, because it was a perfect experience for you?

Welcome to the jackass club, my friend. :)

# Colin Bowern said on April 22, 2007 04:42 PM:

A few things I would recommend looking into:

Burning DVDs - www.imgburn.com

File copy hotfix - support.microsoft.com/kb/931770

If you are running Outlook 2007 you will want the performance hotfix - support.microsoft.com/kb/933493

As for NVIDIA, I would exchange it if you can at this point.  They have really dropped the ball when it comes to supporting their mobile products. They can't be bothered to release a unified driver like ATI does that includes mobile devices.  At best you can hack it using the INFs provided by the kind folks at www.laptopvideo2go.com.  I have a thread going on their forum but no one from NVIDIA has cared to weigh in with some insight from their end - forums.nvidia.com/index.php

# Mike Sax said on April 22, 2007 04:59 PM:

Hi Sam, try this: goto www.ubuntu.com and download the latest ISO image, burn a CD. Then, insert it in your AlienWare system and reboot, booting from the CD.  You can run Ubuntu from the CD without installing anything. No installation necessary.

It's not as fast as running it from a hard drive, but it feels much more snappy than Vista. Be sure to go to System > Preferences > Desktop Effects to turn them on and move around some windows. I'm considering making it my main OS and run XP in VMware.

# Sam Gentile said on April 22, 2007 05:20 PM:

Brad, Touche my friend-)

Colin and others, thanks for the suggestions.

# Sam Gentile said on April 22, 2007 06:46 PM:

Colin,

That file copying patch indeed looks like the ticket. So now, I am going to have to sit on the phone with some clueless guy from India asking if my computer is plugged in for hours in order to get it? Why don't they make these fizes available?

# mcgurk said on April 22, 2007 07:50 PM:

Put Vista Business on my Dell XPS 1210 about a month ago.  Been smooth sailing.  Did turn off the file copy difference thingy that causes network copies to drag.  Even though I use my laptop as bandwidth to carry stuff between my home PC and my work PC, I never noticed network copies being all that slow (802.11g, so I could easily miss stuff that gigabit people would notice).  

I was afraid of driver problems but haven't experienced any at all.  Alienware is notorious for being picky, pain-in-the-ass machines, tho.  Maybe you should have built your own system from scratch...

# http:// said on April 22, 2007 08:44 PM:

Been using Vista since launch for my media center PC.  It has been running very good on my 5 year old shuttle box.  No problems capturing 2 NTSC and 1 HD signal simultaneously.  

DVD burning worked out of the box.

Lage File transfers (20+ GB)  to neighboring computer work fine.

My biggest pet peeve right now is that FolderSize does not work because dropped support for IColumnProvider (Property System used instead)

I still use XP as my primary multipurpose box.  There really isn't any vista specific software that is compelling yet.

# http:// said on April 22, 2007 09:18 PM:

Hugh, Sam if I recall correctly you were bitching about Mac OS X some months ago and were trying to persuade to Ayende that "you see Vista is the killer app". I guess it is not ... :) at least not yet.

# Sam Gentile said on April 22, 2007 09:40 PM:

Whatever Peter. I guess anything is called "bitching" now. You can't write about anything negative, just fanboy stuff....

# Sam Gentile said on April 22, 2007 09:43 PM:

Fred,

I did everything in that blog post a week ago as I noted in my post. It does not solve my problems

# http:// said on April 23, 2007 04:20 AM:

I guess my jackass club card must be pending somewhere because I got a custom made desktop and a Dell laptop, both running vista and cruising. When my card arrives I'll let you guys know :)

# Sam Gentile said on April 23, 2007 11:41 AM:

It is indeed weird how I can go from Fanboy to Jackass Club-) I guess it highly depends on the hardware but the file copying issue seems to be pretty universal. In the end, it's all just an OS and we can just be happy being Jackasses-)

# Joe Audette said on April 23, 2007 11:52 AM:

I must also be <a href="www.joeaudette.com/BlogView.aspx the club</a>. Initially I liked Vista and was happy to have a change after many years with XP. I've been very close to re-paving and going back to XP because Vista is a productivity killer for me. Some of the worst problems on my machine had to do with flaky display and seemed to resolve themselves somewhat but I'm afraid to change my screen resolution lest they come back.

And I'm experiencing the same things you report, takes forever to copy files even locally, takes forever to delete files, etc. These are basic things that should be perfected and smooth by now.  I am cursing my computer much more frequently with Vista.

# http:// said on April 23, 2007 04:27 PM:

We must be living parallel lives... for very similar reasons, lack of SLI support, no drivers inside for my m-audio devices, games crashing, and oh yeah that development stuff I do on the side, just finished a fresh install of XP on my new box. Boots up in about 15 seconds too. Buy WindowBlinds to fool yourself and then burn DVD's to your hearts content.

# http:// said on April 23, 2007 05:08 PM:

I've had no problems burning DVDs on Vista.  Built-in, Roxio, Nero, and Alcohol 120% all worked just fine (newest versions of course).  Orcas worked after several patches and updates.  My biggest complaint is the file transfers.  My computer spent about 12 minutes moving an 8.5 MB file from one hard drive to another.  I'm suspecting this might be a driver issues as my mobo (ASUS) didn't have Vista drivers.  Sam, you make me sad ... my desktop has the same specs on the window rating.  Maybe it's time for an upgrade.

# mcgurk said on April 23, 2007 05:51 PM:

Real weird.  If you're having problems with video rez, its no doubt due to your video manufacturer or card drivers.  Part of why I wanted to move to Vista was accelerated UI.  If your machine can't handle that, then you probably should think about XP or upgrade.  At least turn off the UI bells and whistles and see what that gets you.

I use my Vista laptop to transport music and ISOs from home to work.  Just recently I copied about 4 gigs over wireless from my laptop to XP desktop.  It went just as fast as XP used to copy it.  I did turn off the file copy difference calculation, tho.

# http:// said on April 23, 2007 06:03 PM:

It's not just your alienware system. I have a custom built machine that worked perfectly on XP.

On vista I have the same problems. Takes forever to copy files from one driver to another. Can't burn DVDs with built in Vista software and nero does not work either.

I'm considering switching back to XP now.

# Serge said on December 12, 2007 04:05 PM:

Vista. Do any of the shipped software apps actually work? I saw Windows DVD maker...cool! Loaded up a couple of MPV files, clicked next, selected my menu...then the good 'ole Windows > has stopped working" Windows Movie maker. Cool, let's try that! Using the same files as above. I import the files into a new project, attempt to drag one of the movies into the timeline...and then, you guessed it, the good 'ole Windows > has stopped working" Open up 2-3 Windows explorer windows and copy any large file back and forth..., attempt to double click anywhere in either windows while it says (Not Respon ding" and the good 'ole Windows > has stopped working" What works?

# Sam Gentile said on December 12, 2007 05:18 PM:

Everything. I have been using Vista as my main development and work OS every day for 4 months. Everything works and I hit it hard : BizTalk Server, SQL Server, 3 versions of VS, dozens of dev apps, Office, etc and it all works perfectly. Just need the right laptop.

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