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XPS 600 'Clean' Upgrade from 32-bit XP to 64-bit Vista Ultimate Success/Experience
Well guys, I haven’t fully completed my transition to Vista Ultimate but I have enough observations to send this out. As some of you will recall I spent 4 days of futility trying to upgrade my XPS 600 from 32-bit XP to 32-bit Vista before I abandoned that track and decided to do a full “clean” upgrade from 32-bit XP to 64-bit Vista. My trials and tribulations with the 32-bit Upgrade attempts are documented here:
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=vista&thread.id=6411&view=by_date_ascending&page=1
After 2 weeks, I still have some programs to finish re-installing. But, I’m about 80% done. Overall, I’m very impressed with 64-bit Vista Ultimate and have no reservations in recommending it. My observations and details of my experiences to date are set out below:
- OVERALL: MY INTEL EXTREME EDITION-BASED - XPS 600 IS BLAZING FAST AGAIN. I don’t know how much of this is Vista 64 and how much is the result of just a clean OS install. But I’m happy as a pig in doodoo. This is the best performing PC I’ve EVER used! When I click on any application, in almost every case it is open and completely functional in LESS than a second. With most applications, I click to start and it pops open instantly.
- PERFORMANCE RATINGS: After Upping My RAM to 4 Gigs (from the initial 2 Gigs when I installed), Overclocking my Intel Extreme Edition CPU (system is rated at 3.2 GHz – I overclock to 3.4 GHz) and adding back my second GeForce 6800 Card my system performance ratings (compared to immediately after my installation) are as follows (the maximum possible rating on each of these areas is 6):
o Processor: 5.1 (up from 5)
o Memory (RAM): 5.4 (up from 5.3) – I used Mixed 677 & 800 DIMMs so I get no benefit out of the 800s Gord recommended – but they are all working!
o Graphics: 5.9 – unchanged
o Gaming Graphics – 4.6 (down from 4.7 – but I also extended my desktop to 4 flat panel LCD monitors from the original 2)
o Primary Hard Disk – 5.9 – Unchanged – My 10,000 RPM RAID0 Western Digital Raptors kicks !
64 BIT UPGRADE:
o Vista Ultimate Upgrade is the ONLY upgrade edition of Vista that contains both the 32 and 64 bit disks in the package.
o Obviously, contrary to reports I read on the Internet, you CAN "upgrade' an XP 32-bit OS to Vista 64-bit, with the "upgrade" version of Vista Ultimate Edition by installing a "clean" copy of 64-bit Vista on a machine that was previously 32-bit XP. You don’t need the full, more expensive, version of Vista for this as I had been lead to believe.
o ALSO CONTRARY TO REPORTS, the clean upgrade did NOT require a formatted drive or wipe out any data on my C:\drive. EVERYTHING IS STILL THERE! Some XP directories are renamed.
o Unlike the “upgrade” option, all my programs have/had to be reinstalled, settings reset, network folder/device shares re-established, shortcuts returned, configuration files copied back, etc. etc. but there was not a wholesale reformat of my C:\ drive as I had expected. Had I known this, my preparation time for the “Clean” upgrade would have taken me a LOT less time.
o AS AS IT WAS, my 4 days of 32-bit Vista Upgrade frustration was worth it to get me to attempt a clean 64-bit install. My long-time goal was to run the 64-bit version of Windows. It has taken a LOT more work but, in the end, as long as I don’t run into some future compatibility issues, this has been well worth it.
o With the exception of the Webcam and AVG incompatibilities described below (and minor iTunes issues), I’ve had NO unresolvable software or hardware driver issues that many had suggested would/could be the case running the 64-bit version.
- FREE AVG NO WORKY in 64 BIT VISTA: While there is a free edition of AVG for Vista 32 bit, I discovered there is no free version for 64-bit Vista – ugh!
o FREE AVAST 64-bit: Because there was no free AVG anti-virus program, I installed the free AVAST 64-bit edition anti-virus program. It works great. You can get it here: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
o All that said, based upon how 64-bit Vista works, it is not vulnerable to viruses like 32-bit XP and Vista may be. I have considered going completely Virus Software free, but since Avast does not seem to be slowing down my system, I’ll keep it running. I turned off Avast’s real-time virus protection and limit it ONLY to checking all incoming e-mail and web downloads for viruses.
- OLD LOGITECH WEBCAM NO WORKY: So far Logitech has NOT brought out Vista drivers for my 8 year old Quick Cam Pro. There are other Logitech Webcams that do have Vista drivers available. I purchased Microsoft’s LifeCam VX-3000 for $49.00 Cdn from Best Buy. It’s drivers work with both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista. It works better than my prior Logitech webcam, works flawlessly with MSN and Skype. I’m happy with it.
- ITUNES: There has been much press coverage on how iTunes does not work in Vista. I do not purchase music from the iTunes store so that is irrelevant to me. I have noticed that it is a bit flakey. iTunes is the ONLY program under Vista to crash on me. It has crashed 3 or 4 times over the last 2 weeks. But, I do leave it running 24/7. It still downloads my podcasts, syncs with my iPod, plays music etc. fine. So, ya, it crashes occasionally – much like any program crashed under Windows 95. But it otherwise works fine. When it crashes I simply start it up again. I assume that Apple will eventually bring out a more stable version but I can live with how it is working now until they do.
- NO OTHER 64-BIT VISTA INCOMPATIBILITIES – SO FAR: I’m now about 85% finished reinstalling all my software. All my hardware is completely up and running fine. Aside from iTunes, AVG and my Webcam, all my software and hardware is working under 64-bit Vista fine. Installing Office 2003, One Note, Skype, iTunes, Second Copy (my backup utility), Adobe Viewer, Macromedia Flash player, VLC and Firefox, for example, went without a hitch. I downloaded a Vista driver for my Samsung Laser printer and it works without a hitch under 64-bit Vista. I downloaded 64 bit drivers for my SoundBlaster card – works fine too. The “Compatibility” part of Paul Thurott’s Vista review gave me great comfort as he provided a long list of software that he tested and found worked just fine in 64-bit Vista. The only software he couldn’t get to work in Vista is software I don’t have or use. So far so good – knock on wood! See here for his 64-bit software compatibility article (scroll down a bit):
o http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_06.asp
- 4 GIGS OF RAM: Unlike 32-bit XP, Vista Ultimate 64-bit recognized and now fully uses the full 4 Gigs of RAM installed in my System – Whoohoo! I could never get XP to see more than 2 gigs on my Dell XPS 600 (this was a known XPS 600 issue).
- AERO: All I can say is, a 4 flat panel LCD system including two 24” wide LCD monitors is sweet with Aero.
- GADGET SIDEBAR: I really like that Gadget sidebar thingy with the clock, calendar, weather, random pictures, Cdn Currency tracker, Stock tracker, system performance monitors, date, calculator etc. I didn't think I would, but I do. I find the right side of my four screen system is the least used by me so it really makes good use of the space.
- APPLICATION INSTALLATION IMPROVEMENTS: Application installations seem MUCH faster. Vista no longer waits while the user is prompted to accept the license or set install options. The installations seems to keep going on in the background while the user is futzing with options. By the time you finally click Next to start the install, the installation is almost done. For the entire Office 2003 Suite, for instance, I seem to recall it taking about 5 minutes to install on XP. But in Vista the whole thing was installed within about 15 seconds after I clicked the final “Next” button during the installation wizard because it was installing in the background. In fact I was so surprised at the speed I thought it must have aborted the install. But no, I checked in All Programs and everything was there and operational – amazing!
- VISTA CODEC PAC: I found this terrific codec pak that had all the major codecs for use with WMP:
o http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/01/19/download-free-vista-codec-package-423/
o Download here: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/1159994557/1
o Note: The VCP_64bit.exe program needed to complete the install in Vista-64 can be found here:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=66826&st=0&p=460040&#entry460040
The link in the blog post above didn’t work.
o Note: You must turn off the Vista UAC to install it (as described in first link above). Also, when done, turning UAC back on is important as it is a critical part of Vista’s security regime.
- SPEAKING OF UAC: Many of the Vista beta critics were all over this. Microsoft has clearly toned the “nuisance” factor of UAC down from earlier beta versions. It doesn’t bother me in the least and, indeed, I quite like it. Every time I go to install an application or reconfigure a major component of Vista I am asked if this is what I intended. I WANT this!! This is how Virus programs will be stopped in their tracks in the future. Under normal day-to-day use, these questions will not keep popping up. So there is NO risk I’ll just blindly say yes. When I install something or reconfigure something I now EXPECT this warning/question. If one just POPS up out of the blue, I’ll know it’s a virus. I really like the idea.
- CREATING SYSTEM RESTORE POINTS: The process for creating System Restore points is a bit of a pain compared to under XP. First, the app boots up MUCH slower than it did under XP (sometimes it took up to a minute to start). The method of initiaing setting up a system restore is different than under XP, though if you click on the System Restore application (which now only allows you to restore from a prior point) there is a link in that dialogue box to the new application that lets you set up a system restore point. And, because of UAC, there are a couple more checkboxes to say OK too. But, once I'm done all this initial driver and software installations and testing I won’t need to set up system restore points, so the hassle will fade.
- RELIABILITY AND PERFORMANCE MONITOR: You’ve got to check this one out! I love it. It’s a new tool that charts every system/program/hardware failure from day one. If anything happens you can look here to help resolve the problem. It tracks the performance of your system day by day and tells you what’s gone wrong and when. It’s terrific. I’ll be checking this regularly. This should be a terrific diagnostic tool to see a visual history of a the PC's performance over the prior days and weeks. See Thurrot’s comments on the reliability and performance monitor here:
o http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_05d.asp
- DISK DEFRAGMENTING (PROS AND CONS): The obvious positive change with the disk defragmenter is that it defragments your hard drive automatically now. It does this, by default, every two weeks, but you can change the default interval. What I don’t like is if you manually do a disk defragmentation it doesn’t show you the real-time interactive red/green/blue/white graph/chart it used to show indicating which segments need to be moved, which are being moved etc. giving you an idea of how much has been done and how much is left to do. If you manually run disk defragmentation it just starts, and there is NO visual indication of how much needs to be done, what has been done, how much time it will take to complete etc. It seems Microsoft doesn’t want to encourage manual defragmentation any more.
- GENERALLY WORKING WITH VISTA: There are many subtle differences and defaults that take time to get used to. For example, the All Programs window didn’t initially open up to the height of my screen. Instead it presented a little Window I have to scroll up and down in. This was frustrati8ng. I ultimately found a setting that changed this. I’ve pretty m much figured everything out. There is definitely a learning curve – but nothing to be concerned with.
- WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER / XBOX 360: I’m generally impressed with WMC and its integration with the Xbox 360 as a media extender so far. According to this Microsoft FAQ:
o http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/extender/mcefaq.mspx
I am supposed to be able to playback BOTH .wmv and .mpg files on my Xbox 360 that reside on my PC. While I can play back both .wmv and .mpg files within Windows Media Center on my PC, so far I can only play back .wmv files on my 360. Notably DivX .avi files are not supported. I do expect to figure out how to get .mpg files to play on my 360 at some point since Microsoft’s own specs say they are supported for playback on the 360 but so far - no success on that one. One thing at a time though. For now I can play back, fast forward, pause, rewind etc., .wmv files, really well. I’ve waited YEARS for something like this and I’m quite happy with the results. Given the .wmv/.mpg limitation, files need to be converted from other codecs to .wmv or .mpg format. But this is no problem, the free VLC program (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ ) automates this process so once I have a video in any format (including DivX) I can easily convert it to .wmv format for playback on my Xbox 360. Note, I use Wireless 802.11a. 802.11A or N is required for wireless distribution of HD content from a PC to the 360. This feature alone was worth the upgrade to Vista for me! Since I don’t have a TV tuner in my PC I wasn’t able to test any of WMC’s PVR functionality. But, without cablecard in Canada, it will be a very limited offering compared to what U.S. residents have access too – though it should record over the air HD broadcasts fine. My complete music and picture library on my PC is also available for playback through WMC on my 360. While nice, I don’t really care about this functionality that much. All I wanted to do was play back video content from my home network on the 360.
- VOLUME MIXER: I really like the volume mixer in Vista. In the past if I had music playing quietly, say, and an e-mail came in, or a Skype call came in, those sounds would BLAST out and scare the heck out of me. Now you can set volume settings for different applications. So I have turned down the volume for all these things that used to scare/annoy me while keeping the volume up for things like iTunes and Windows Media Player. It works really well.
- VISTA’S NEW BACKUP SYSTEM BITES: It’s 2007 and Microsoft’s built in backup system is STILL useless to me!!!! It seems the file-by-file backup system will ONLY backup files in my C:\User\ hierarchy. Yes, I guess many people will use these default data directories but I don’t. I store ALL my files in my C:\files hierarchy. I can’t see ANY way to get Vista’s backup system to backup just that directory hierarchy. So, I’ll continue to use the magnificent “Second Copy” program I purchased to do this a year ago. It works exactly how I want and, happily, still works perfectly under Vista.
- VOICE RECOGNITION: I haven‘t tested this yet – way too much to do reinstalling everything, but along with MCE/Xbox 360 integration, Voice Recognition and system control by voice is another key reason I wanted Vista. I can't attest to it but I have read several reviews saying Voice Recognition in Vista is finally ready for prime-time. I hope so.
- OVERALL: I’m loving Vista 64-bit. The performance improvements have been dramatic. Lots more to explore but I’m definitely giving it 2 thumbs up so far.
...Dale
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=vista&thread.id=6411&view=by_date_ascending&page=1
After 2 weeks, I still have some programs to finish re-installing. But, I’m about 80% done. Overall, I’m very impressed with 64-bit Vista Ultimate and have no reservations in recommending it. My observations and details of my experiences to date are set out below:
- OVERALL: MY INTEL EXTREME EDITION-BASED - XPS 600 IS BLAZING FAST AGAIN. I don’t know how much of this is Vista 64 and how much is the result of just a clean OS install. But I’m happy as a pig in doodoo. This is the best performing PC I’ve EVER used! When I click on any application, in almost every case it is open and completely functional in LESS than a second. With most applications, I click to start and it pops open instantly.
- PERFORMANCE RATINGS: After Upping My RAM to 4 Gigs (from the initial 2 Gigs when I installed), Overclocking my Intel Extreme Edition CPU (system is rated at 3.2 GHz – I overclock to 3.4 GHz) and adding back my second GeForce 6800 Card my system performance ratings (compared to immediately after my installation) are as follows (the maximum possible rating on each of these areas is 6):
o Processor: 5.1 (up from 5)
o Memory (RAM): 5.4 (up from 5.3) – I used Mixed 677 & 800 DIMMs so I get no benefit out of the 800s Gord recommended – but they are all working!
o Graphics: 5.9 – unchanged
o Gaming Graphics – 4.6 (down from 4.7 – but I also extended my desktop to 4 flat panel LCD monitors from the original 2)
o Primary Hard Disk – 5.9 – Unchanged – My 10,000 RPM RAID0 Western Digital Raptors kicks !
64 BIT UPGRADE:
o Vista Ultimate Upgrade is the ONLY upgrade edition of Vista that contains both the 32 and 64 bit disks in the package.
o Obviously, contrary to reports I read on the Internet, you CAN "upgrade' an XP 32-bit OS to Vista 64-bit, with the "upgrade" version of Vista Ultimate Edition by installing a "clean" copy of 64-bit Vista on a machine that was previously 32-bit XP. You don’t need the full, more expensive, version of Vista for this as I had been lead to believe.
o ALSO CONTRARY TO REPORTS, the clean upgrade did NOT require a formatted drive or wipe out any data on my C:\drive. EVERYTHING IS STILL THERE! Some XP directories are renamed.
o Unlike the “upgrade” option, all my programs have/had to be reinstalled, settings reset, network folder/device shares re-established, shortcuts returned, configuration files copied back, etc. etc. but there was not a wholesale reformat of my C:\ drive as I had expected. Had I known this, my preparation time for the “Clean” upgrade would have taken me a LOT less time.
o AS AS IT WAS, my 4 days of 32-bit Vista Upgrade frustration was worth it to get me to attempt a clean 64-bit install. My long-time goal was to run the 64-bit version of Windows. It has taken a LOT more work but, in the end, as long as I don’t run into some future compatibility issues, this has been well worth it.
o With the exception of the Webcam and AVG incompatibilities described below (and minor iTunes issues), I’ve had NO unresolvable software or hardware driver issues that many had suggested would/could be the case running the 64-bit version.
- FREE AVG NO WORKY in 64 BIT VISTA: While there is a free edition of AVG for Vista 32 bit, I discovered there is no free version for 64-bit Vista – ugh!
o FREE AVAST 64-bit: Because there was no free AVG anti-virus program, I installed the free AVAST 64-bit edition anti-virus program. It works great. You can get it here: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
o All that said, based upon how 64-bit Vista works, it is not vulnerable to viruses like 32-bit XP and Vista may be. I have considered going completely Virus Software free, but since Avast does not seem to be slowing down my system, I’ll keep it running. I turned off Avast’s real-time virus protection and limit it ONLY to checking all incoming e-mail and web downloads for viruses.
- OLD LOGITECH WEBCAM NO WORKY: So far Logitech has NOT brought out Vista drivers for my 8 year old Quick Cam Pro. There are other Logitech Webcams that do have Vista drivers available. I purchased Microsoft’s LifeCam VX-3000 for $49.00 Cdn from Best Buy. It’s drivers work with both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista. It works better than my prior Logitech webcam, works flawlessly with MSN and Skype. I’m happy with it.
- ITUNES: There has been much press coverage on how iTunes does not work in Vista. I do not purchase music from the iTunes store so that is irrelevant to me. I have noticed that it is a bit flakey. iTunes is the ONLY program under Vista to crash on me. It has crashed 3 or 4 times over the last 2 weeks. But, I do leave it running 24/7. It still downloads my podcasts, syncs with my iPod, plays music etc. fine. So, ya, it crashes occasionally – much like any program crashed under Windows 95. But it otherwise works fine. When it crashes I simply start it up again. I assume that Apple will eventually bring out a more stable version but I can live with how it is working now until they do.
- NO OTHER 64-BIT VISTA INCOMPATIBILITIES – SO FAR: I’m now about 85% finished reinstalling all my software. All my hardware is completely up and running fine. Aside from iTunes, AVG and my Webcam, all my software and hardware is working under 64-bit Vista fine. Installing Office 2003, One Note, Skype, iTunes, Second Copy (my backup utility), Adobe Viewer, Macromedia Flash player, VLC and Firefox, for example, went without a hitch. I downloaded a Vista driver for my Samsung Laser printer and it works without a hitch under 64-bit Vista. I downloaded 64 bit drivers for my SoundBlaster card – works fine too. The “Compatibility” part of Paul Thurott’s Vista review gave me great comfort as he provided a long list of software that he tested and found worked just fine in 64-bit Vista. The only software he couldn’t get to work in Vista is software I don’t have or use. So far so good – knock on wood! See here for his 64-bit software compatibility article (scroll down a bit):
o http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_06.asp
- 4 GIGS OF RAM: Unlike 32-bit XP, Vista Ultimate 64-bit recognized and now fully uses the full 4 Gigs of RAM installed in my System – Whoohoo! I could never get XP to see more than 2 gigs on my Dell XPS 600 (this was a known XPS 600 issue).
- AERO: All I can say is, a 4 flat panel LCD system including two 24” wide LCD monitors is sweet with Aero.
- GADGET SIDEBAR: I really like that Gadget sidebar thingy with the clock, calendar, weather, random pictures, Cdn Currency tracker, Stock tracker, system performance monitors, date, calculator etc. I didn't think I would, but I do. I find the right side of my four screen system is the least used by me so it really makes good use of the space.
- APPLICATION INSTALLATION IMPROVEMENTS: Application installations seem MUCH faster. Vista no longer waits while the user is prompted to accept the license or set install options. The installations seems to keep going on in the background while the user is futzing with options. By the time you finally click Next to start the install, the installation is almost done. For the entire Office 2003 Suite, for instance, I seem to recall it taking about 5 minutes to install on XP. But in Vista the whole thing was installed within about 15 seconds after I clicked the final “Next” button during the installation wizard because it was installing in the background. In fact I was so surprised at the speed I thought it must have aborted the install. But no, I checked in All Programs and everything was there and operational – amazing!
- VISTA CODEC PAC: I found this terrific codec pak that had all the major codecs for use with WMP:
o http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/01/19/download-free-vista-codec-package-423/
o Download here: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/1159994557/1
o Note: The VCP_64bit.exe program needed to complete the install in Vista-64 can be found here:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=66826&st=0&p=460040&#entry460040
The link in the blog post above didn’t work.
o Note: You must turn off the Vista UAC to install it (as described in first link above). Also, when done, turning UAC back on is important as it is a critical part of Vista’s security regime.
- SPEAKING OF UAC: Many of the Vista beta critics were all over this. Microsoft has clearly toned the “nuisance” factor of UAC down from earlier beta versions. It doesn’t bother me in the least and, indeed, I quite like it. Every time I go to install an application or reconfigure a major component of Vista I am asked if this is what I intended. I WANT this!! This is how Virus programs will be stopped in their tracks in the future. Under normal day-to-day use, these questions will not keep popping up. So there is NO risk I’ll just blindly say yes. When I install something or reconfigure something I now EXPECT this warning/question. If one just POPS up out of the blue, I’ll know it’s a virus. I really like the idea.
- CREATING SYSTEM RESTORE POINTS: The process for creating System Restore points is a bit of a pain compared to under XP. First, the app boots up MUCH slower than it did under XP (sometimes it took up to a minute to start). The method of initiaing setting up a system restore is different than under XP, though if you click on the System Restore application (which now only allows you to restore from a prior point) there is a link in that dialogue box to the new application that lets you set up a system restore point. And, because of UAC, there are a couple more checkboxes to say OK too. But, once I'm done all this initial driver and software installations and testing I won’t need to set up system restore points, so the hassle will fade.
- RELIABILITY AND PERFORMANCE MONITOR: You’ve got to check this one out! I love it. It’s a new tool that charts every system/program/hardware failure from day one. If anything happens you can look here to help resolve the problem. It tracks the performance of your system day by day and tells you what’s gone wrong and when. It’s terrific. I’ll be checking this regularly. This should be a terrific diagnostic tool to see a visual history of a the PC's performance over the prior days and weeks. See Thurrot’s comments on the reliability and performance monitor here:
o http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_05d.asp
- DISK DEFRAGMENTING (PROS AND CONS): The obvious positive change with the disk defragmenter is that it defragments your hard drive automatically now. It does this, by default, every two weeks, but you can change the default interval. What I don’t like is if you manually do a disk defragmentation it doesn’t show you the real-time interactive red/green/blue/white graph/chart it used to show indicating which segments need to be moved, which are being moved etc. giving you an idea of how much has been done and how much is left to do. If you manually run disk defragmentation it just starts, and there is NO visual indication of how much needs to be done, what has been done, how much time it will take to complete etc. It seems Microsoft doesn’t want to encourage manual defragmentation any more.
- GENERALLY WORKING WITH VISTA: There are many subtle differences and defaults that take time to get used to. For example, the All Programs window didn’t initially open up to the height of my screen. Instead it presented a little Window I have to scroll up and down in. This was frustrati8ng. I ultimately found a setting that changed this. I’ve pretty m much figured everything out. There is definitely a learning curve – but nothing to be concerned with.
- WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER / XBOX 360: I’m generally impressed with WMC and its integration with the Xbox 360 as a media extender so far. According to this Microsoft FAQ:
o http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/extender/mcefaq.mspx
I am supposed to be able to playback BOTH .wmv and .mpg files on my Xbox 360 that reside on my PC. While I can play back both .wmv and .mpg files within Windows Media Center on my PC, so far I can only play back .wmv files on my 360. Notably DivX .avi files are not supported. I do expect to figure out how to get .mpg files to play on my 360 at some point since Microsoft’s own specs say they are supported for playback on the 360 but so far - no success on that one. One thing at a time though. For now I can play back, fast forward, pause, rewind etc., .wmv files, really well. I’ve waited YEARS for something like this and I’m quite happy with the results. Given the .wmv/.mpg limitation, files need to be converted from other codecs to .wmv or .mpg format. But this is no problem, the free VLC program (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ ) automates this process so once I have a video in any format (including DivX) I can easily convert it to .wmv format for playback on my Xbox 360. Note, I use Wireless 802.11a. 802.11A or N is required for wireless distribution of HD content from a PC to the 360. This feature alone was worth the upgrade to Vista for me! Since I don’t have a TV tuner in my PC I wasn’t able to test any of WMC’s PVR functionality. But, without cablecard in Canada, it will be a very limited offering compared to what U.S. residents have access too – though it should record over the air HD broadcasts fine. My complete music and picture library on my PC is also available for playback through WMC on my 360. While nice, I don’t really care about this functionality that much. All I wanted to do was play back video content from my home network on the 360.
- VOLUME MIXER: I really like the volume mixer in Vista. In the past if I had music playing quietly, say, and an e-mail came in, or a Skype call came in, those sounds would BLAST out and scare the heck out of me. Now you can set volume settings for different applications. So I have turned down the volume for all these things that used to scare/annoy me while keeping the volume up for things like iTunes and Windows Media Player. It works really well.
- VISTA’S NEW BACKUP SYSTEM BITES: It’s 2007 and Microsoft’s built in backup system is STILL useless to me!!!! It seems the file-by-file backup system will ONLY backup files in my C:\User\ hierarchy. Yes, I guess many people will use these default data directories but I don’t. I store ALL my files in my C:\files hierarchy. I can’t see ANY way to get Vista’s backup system to backup just that directory hierarchy. So, I’ll continue to use the magnificent “Second Copy” program I purchased to do this a year ago. It works exactly how I want and, happily, still works perfectly under Vista.
- VOICE RECOGNITION: I haven‘t tested this yet – way too much to do reinstalling everything, but along with MCE/Xbox 360 integration, Voice Recognition and system control by voice is another key reason I wanted Vista. I can't attest to it but I have read several reviews saying Voice Recognition in Vista is finally ready for prime-time. I hope so.
- OVERALL: I’m loving Vista 64-bit. The performance improvements have been dramatic. Lots more to explore but I’m definitely giving it 2 thumbs up so far.
...Dale
andersok29
2 Posts
0
March 18th, 2007 01:00
Dajad
25 Posts
0
March 18th, 2007 02:00
============
... from the manufactures of hour hardware/software etc. to see if all the critical devices/software you have on your system are supported in 64-bit Vista. It's a bit of a homework project.
Dajad
25 Posts
0
March 18th, 2007 02:00
Whether all your devices and software will work is another story. You'll have to check the Dell driver downloads pages and the Vista Upgrade Adviser, the support pages ...
...Dale
Message Edited by Dajad on 03-17-2007 10:17 PM
jbflowers
1 Message
0
June 15th, 2007 12:00
Dajad
25 Posts
0
June 15th, 2007 15:00
- Your problem is specific to the digital camera software you are trying to install. I doubt it's Vista specific.
- My advice. Simply create a restore point BEFORE installing the software and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, restore to the restore point.
TO UPDATE OTHERS:
Re-reading my original post was a trip down memory lane. My world of Vista is not as smooth 5 months later as it was.
ITUNES: It took many Vista and iTunes updates to resolve most of the iTunes issues. I say MOST because even today iTunes causes problems. I need to run Windows Media Player BEFORE I start itunes now. If I don't WMP won't start up to play any WMP content UNLESS I reboot. But, if WMP is running WHEN iTunes starts, then this isn't a problem. That said, iTunes still crashes regularly.
FIREFOX: In Vista 64 Firefox crashes every three or four days.
SUPERFETCH: SuperFetch (the part of Vista that loads the programs you use most frequently into RAM) keeps crashing. It doesn't pull down my system. It just crashes, suggests I look online for a solution and I never find one.
OVERALL STABILITY: All in, Vista 64 is LESS stable and things crash more frequently now than when I was running XP. Nothing really critical though. Just programs crashing almost every day.
AUTOMATIC UPDATES: I had, until last week, set Vista to automatically update itself. What I didn't realize until just a few days ago is that when it does, it will reboot my system, without me asking, when it does the update process. Until recently, I had thought Vista was just crashing. Turns out Vista was rebooting itself. Since I leave my system on 24/7 (well I do hybernate it at night) it is scary to hear the system restart itself. It takes down whatever programs are running when it does and if you have unsaved data - poof its gone. I had expected the automatic updates to download the updates but ONLY install them on the next reboot. That is NOT how it works. So, I just recently changed the settings so it only downloads and then asks me if I want to install them. A bit of a pain, but much better than vista pulling down my system without me agreeing.
APPLICATION INCOMPATIBILITIES: I'm a TiVo user. I want to stream media to my TiVo S2. Unfortunately TiVo's Desktop software does not work with Vista (though some have found kludges/work arounds to get it to work in their specific setups - none with Vista 64 that I know of). None of the competing TiVo-specific software is designed to work in Vista either - yet. So I'm waiting for that.
SECOND COPY: I use the program Second Copy as my primary backup utility. It does not work properly under Vista. I have figured out workarounds to MANUALLY get the backups started and running but the whole point of the tool is for backups to be regular and automatic. There is a beta version of the software available for Vista that I haven't tried yet. It is on my To Do list.
DO I REGRET THE UPGRADE: No, not really. I'm a bit peaved at the less-than stellar stability I've experienced so far. But, I do like the many features I mentioned above and I can still get everything I really need to work, to work. I chose to be on the bleeding edge and I'm bleeding! I do expect things to get better over time. Some of the earlier problems I had were fixed with Vista updates. No doubt things will continue to get better over time.
...Dale