VISTA. IT SUCKS.

[trespasserswill]

When it is good, it is very, very good fine to use, but when it is bad it is GODAWFUL CRAP.

Over the past few weeks, my laptop started hanging every so often; it would just freeze and I couldn't even shut it down properly. This morning, it hit the point where it won't even boot. Not even in safe mode. I'm going to have to wrassle with the Vista disk and try and see if I can restore it, but I have a sinking feeling that this is headed straight toward "complete reinstall."

Again.

I haven't even owned the computer for a year.

At this point, I may switch over to Ubuntu. The only problem is that I need to use Word 2007 with specific macros, and I can't use those macros in Ubuntu.

ARGH ARGH ARGH.

I can't go on like this. I wonder if I can get the old laptop up and humming... it was slow, slow like molasses in the Antarctic, slow like a snail, but it at least ran.

Fortunately, we have a desktop I can use... but I can't haul it to Martha's Vineyard, now, can I?

Comments

[corrinalaw.livejournal.com]

Just throwing this out in case you haven't tried it. I was having the same problems with Vista and started using Ccleaner on a regular basis and it really, really works.

It's free, too. It basically clears out all the hidden cache stuff that's bogging down the system.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

I'm going to look into that. I thought maybe it was something that I had installed that touched it off, but the only thing I could pinpoint was that it started failing when I was listening to the BBC Audio player. And it can't be the BBC's fault!

[corrinalaw.livejournal.com]

Let me know how it works for you.

http://www.ccleaner.com/

I've found it really clears the stuff out of the cache that's gumming up my system. Watch when you clear stuff out--automatic password entry gets wiped out, so be sure you know them.

[sanachan1.livejournal.com]

Putting Vista on my laptop was one of the biggest mistakes I've made in my computing career. I finally got completely fed up and put XP back on. Even my husband, who has been a Vista apologist had to admit it made my laptop act like it needed a serious dose of anti psychotics. And he's about ready to oust Vista from his own PC where it's been for over a year. Hopefully Windows 7 will suck far, far less.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

I hope so, too. Because I'm switching as soon as I can!

[corrinalaw.livejournal.com]

There is a way to get your computer to run Linux and transfer over your files at the same time. My youngest son did it, though he screwed up and deleted the files he wanted to save. But he's running Linux and Ubantu now. (He's ten. He's smarter than I about these things.)

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

You knew I had to say this, but: Mac and Bootcamp?

[tinne.livejournal.com]

**SHHH!*** She'll hear you! I'm sitting on my hands here, trying not to say, "mmmmmmaaaaaaacccc". Hers is an orthodox Windows & Linux household.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

It would be an orthodox Linux household if it weren't for client requirements!

[moorewr.livejournal.com]

"...an orthodox Windows & Linux household." Is there such a thing?

I just can't handle the clunky Aqua interface. It takes work to make Vista look graceful and logical, but OSX and the various Linux GUIs pull it off. It's only familiarity that hides how bad Aqua is from mac users.

Also, I can say from long experience that bootcamp and fusion/parallels solve no problems and create many new ones.

[(Anonymous)]

We were a straight Windows household, till Maud replaced her old laptop with a MacBook a few years ago. I was unmoved. But needing to get a laptop in a hurry, and not having found any Windows models I liked, I bought a MacBook Pro this summer.

I still use the WinXP desktop as my main machine, but I gotta say, nobody else's laptops are in the same class as the new unibody aluminum MBPs. The aluminum case is durable, and much more pleasant to the touch than any plastic case. Everything about the fit and finish is superior to any other laptop I've used.

And while the Mac GUI was never intuitive for me, I've gotten a lot more comfortable with it. I'm a keyboard shortcuts guy, and OS X now has plenty of them -- as well as a set of cool multitouch trackpad gestures (swipe up/down with 2 fingers to scroll, swiped down with 3 fingers to view a panorama of all open windows, etc.).

Speaking of the trackpad -- best-ever substitute for a mouse. There are no separate buttons: you click the pad itself, so you don't have to move back and forth between button and pad.

I do have some Windows-only apps that are a must for me. I installed VMware Fusion, plus a copy of Win2k which I had sitting around, and my apps run without a hitch. With VMware Fusion, unlike Bootcamp, you can switch back and forth instantly between Win and Mac apps without rebooting.

WMware's website has an extensive list of apps that are supported. Even if yours isn't on the list, it may well still run; you can download the free trial to test it out.

I hate to sound like a Mac cultist -- those people (and much about Apple and their benevolent despotism) still annoy the hell out of me. Don't get me started about the proprietary video-out port, and the $30 adapter I had to buy from Apple.

But I consider the MBP to have been a very worthwhile purchase. Apple's reputation as the BMW of the computer world is not just about high-class marketing -- they really do make some very well-engineered products.

--Max

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

Not an option, I'm afraid.

(Also, having used PCs all my computing life, I find Macs incredibly nonintuitive. I stumble around blind every time I try to use one.)

And I have to say, I never had any problems with XP, but Vista's a bitch.

[tinne.livejournal.com]

Would reinstalling XP be an option? I mean, I'm sure you guys have thought of that but since you might have to reinstall from scratch anyway... It's painful to go through, but having that extra measure of confidence in your laptop for the VP trip might be worth it.

We might have to have a Plan B, "Code: Clam Chowder Operation Laptop Airlift" otherwise.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'll be carrying on with my strict schedule of backups and will probably pack a copy of all the reinstall disks as well. Though apparently a laptop isn't actually required. (WOT?)

[moorewr.livejournal.com]

XP is an option, yes.

I'm determined to source this problem.. this isn't given behavior with Vista, so why does it happen to that laptop repeatedly? HW? SW?

[h-postmortemus.livejournal.com]

I suspect hardware, dude... Jenn's had a Dell Vostro for nearly two years with Vista now and never had problems that extreme...