Windows XP -vs Vista and other questions...

[LateArrivalforLSU]

I recently purchased a laptop and it came with Windows Vista Home Premium. I keep hearing terrible things about Vista. I have a full install disk of Windows XP, but wondered if I could legally install it on two different computers?

Also, will I run into any conflicts/problems with the current hardware that I have on my computer if I do so?

 

[DmanWho]

I also recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium...
Coming from experience with XP, Vista OS has given me less problems. I got the laptop the first week of Oct., and it hasn't crashed yet!

I even got Dreamscene to work.

 

[LateArrivalforLSU]

I'm really on a wait and see basis to tell you the truth. The first thing I did is removed a lot of the unwanted programs and removed some of the startup items in my system tray in order to keep the speed up.

I have had no problems so far, but I will see how it works out over time.

 

[DmanWho]

Tweaking it is absolutely necessary, especially for startup, but had to do the same in XP. I like to turn off any Windows automatic updating, disable Windows firewall - if using another, disabling remote access, make some changes in Local folder, User Acct. control to Off if applicable, etc...

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

but wondered if I could legally install it on two different computers?

In a word, No.

 

[DmanWho]

My XP computer was a emachine, DeathStar HD, and came bundled with Mcafee, which led to an almost immediate crash. I reinstalled, and deleted Mcafee before it could run. The new laptop (Gateway) also came with Mcafee

but instead of going with my emotions and freaking out, I let it run... No problems yet.

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

You can install XP, however you may have several hardware components that will not function due to unavailable drivers.

FIRST! Create the Recovery Disc, using the supplied software which should be accessible under the Start menu.
As this will be one of the only means of reloading Vista if XP does not contain proper drivers for many hardware components that won't be recognized.

Vista is a great OS, it was just rushed out onto the market with limited testing. Enough updates have taken place to fix several main issues, and SP1 will fix most of the rest.

 

[LateArrivalforLSU]

I've been researching some of the security "features" on Vista and have turned most of the [censored] off. I've also taken the godforsaken McAfee program off the laptop and installed Avira AntiVir in place.

My startup programs are also down to just the essentials. I must say that so far I have no complaints and this thing runs really great.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: Arkapigdiesel
I recently purchased a laptop and it came with Windows Vista Home Premium. I keep hearing terrible things about Vista. I have a full install disk of Windows XP, but wondered if I could legally install it on two different computers?

Also, will I run into any conflicts/problems with the current hardware that I have on my computer if I do so?


I have found Vista to be way better than XP. Yes it is even more of resource hog than XP, but if you have reasonable resources (cheap), Vista is the ticket. It is very customizable, I can put all kinds of items in the side bar (even TV, watching Bloomberg TV Asia watch right now!), calculator, calendar, etc. The OS has never locked up, crashed or otherwise done anything unpredictable. I guess it has a few bugs, but I haven't seen them yet, either.

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

One thing I like about Vista is that it is very efficient at running multiple programs at once. Even if you're making the system bogg down, it will open Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, etc. very quickly.

The only blue screens I have had is when I attached a customer's malfunctioning hard drive to my computer via a USB enclosure, and when one of my 1 gig RAM sticks went out (but it was replaced under a lifetime warranty and now I have 2 gigs of RAM again). Wow there was a huge different in performance between 1.5 and 2 gigs.

So based on that, keep Vista, but upgrade your RAM to at least 2 gigs. RAM has become much cheaper than the previous types.