From the day it hit the shelves, Windows Vista has had a bad reputation, and for good reason. For the longest time, it didn’t work with a lot of hardware and software. I switched back to XP when some of my hardware wouldn’t work with Vista. Its release proved what consumers are willing to put up with in terms of software.

Microsoft tried to force people to upgrade their software and hardware to newer products if they wanted Vista to work well, and no one likes being forced to do anything.

One test, done by CNET.com last year, said “Vista, both with and without SP1, performed notably slower than XP with SP3 in the test, taking over 80 seconds to complete the test, compared to the beta SP3-enhanced XP’s 35 seconds.”

The test was run on a system with only 1GB of RAM. I use 4GB, and the speed is noticeable on everyday tasks.

Consumers rebelled, and it took nearly a year for Microsoft and manufacturers to get their act together. People didn’t want to wait, and no one could blame them, and all we could do was shake our heads in disbelief.

Most of us have been using Windows XP since it came out in 2001. We’re used to it, and we understand it. We don’t like change, or to be exact, we don’t like change that makes our lives more difficult.

One change in Vista that really irks people, and certainly irked me at first, is the User Account Control (UAC) prompts that pop up far too often. People are more annoyed then comforted by the security of UAC and the security of Vista in general.

The truth is, Microsoft built Vista with security in mind, not usability. This fact was made crystal clear to technology experts that Windows was created with big business in mind, and not the consumer.

People stuck with XP, since it was still widely available, and worked well. There was really no compelling reason to switch to Vista.

Since June of this year, Microsoft has stopped selling Windows XP, trying to force people to buy Windows Vista. Those who have purchased it discovered that manufacturers have caught up and are making products that now work well, for the most part.

That said, many problems have been reported all over the internet, and consumers have been convinced by word-of-mouth that Vista sucks, even though it has gotten better. Some have become so frustrated with it, they switched back to XP (I did for a year), or even to a “Mac”. Others seem to have very little trouble with Vista.

One good thing to come out of the Vista problems is that consumers have become more aware of their options, and have upped the market share of the Apple “Mac OS X” operating system, and although “Macs” are more expensive, they’re very easy to use.

So, hate it or love it, Windows Vista isn’t going anywhere, in fact, the next version of Windows will be based on it. Macs are here to stay as well. We are now more aware of our choices, which is a fantastic thing.
For more information, please visit http://thedigitaldistraction.com.

Originally posted 2008-10-09 17:18:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Trust your gut. If you get an email attachment or receive a file on your computer, or through email that looks suspicious or that you’re not expecting, don’t open it, no matter how tempting.

Keep Windows up-to-date. Every second Tuesday of the month, Microsoft releases patches and updates for Windows. You need to run Windows Update and install them as soon as possible to protect against internet threats.

Don’t visit websites that aren’t well-known or trusted. There are millions of websites that look perfectly legitimate, but contain code that takes advantage of exploits in Windows that may or may not be patched.

There are a lot of products that claim to protect your computer from the threats of the internet. The trouble is, there are a lot of options, and some products work much better then others.

Norton and McAfee are the most well known. The most notorious problem with both products is as much as they protect, they slow the system down, and impact performance.

Products like Norton SystemWorks try to be an all-in-one solution. The trouble is, since it’s trying to do too many things at once, it doesn’t do any one of them very well.

There are free choices that are very effective. Tens of millions use them because they cost nothing. Once people use a product, they’re more likely to pay for the paid versions down the road if they like it. AVG and BitDefender are some free choices that also have paid versions available.

The best security software on the market today is NOD32. It was designed to be highly effective while having a limited impact on system performance. and it’s easy to use. NOD32 isn’t free, $30 for the antivirus, and $60 for the Smart Security suite.

The other highly effective choice is Kaspersky. They also have a security suite that is highly regarded. While it does have a slightly larger system footprint in terms of performance then NOD32, it’s equally as effective. Kaspersky starts at $60.

Never run more then one anti-virus or firewall program on your computer. They don’t get along, and can sometimes detect each other as threats, and crash your computer.

You may have heard of “spyware”. As you surf the net, files are downloaded to your computer that monitor your computing habits and report them to a third party.

These days you don’t really need more then one anti-spyware program, in fact the one that comes with your security software is usually good enough.

Some spyware are almost as bad as a virus. They’re constantly communicating with the internet, and some contain scripts that change system settings. Ad-Aware was one of the first products to detect and eliminate such threats.

Modern anti-virus solutions now monitor and eliminate spyware and viruses, replacing the need for a separate solution. The most effective standalone product is Spyware Terminator, which is free.

Pay attention when the computer prompts you to accept or deny a program from doing something. If your security software isn’t sure, it will ask you, and if you ok something you shouldn’t, you might as well not be secured at all.

Originally posted 2008-10-31 04:16:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

My landlord came to me with his wife’s laptop, which is running Windows Vista. She bought it a few months ago and was just getting around to really using it. Trouble is, she forgot what her password was, and was unable to access her Windows profile, and her data.

I remember attempting to reset or remove the Windows password in 2000 and XP, but didn’t succeed and ended up having to format and reinstall Windows just so I could use it again. I did not want to put my landlord through that.

After two hours worth of research, I ran into a few paid-for (shareware) programs, a couple of which were command-line based (DOS). They didn’t work, at least not for me. Windows still asked for a password. Two of them were GUI, so they just have a few checkboxes, and click ‘next’ a few times, then reboot.

The program I found to work, and easily reset the Windows password. It’s called PC Login Now. It’s open-source, so it’s free.

You simply download the ISO file, and use a program such as CD Burner XP Pro to burn the file contained in the ISO to a CD or DVD and it’s bootable, and is able to reset and remove the passwords of Windows accounts.

It’s a tool that’s a must in my computer repair arsenal, and I suggest any computer user do the same.

Originally posted 2009-07-07 00:34:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Many people are wondering if they should go and buy Windows Vista or wait for Windows 7 to come out. The answer is yes to both questions, if you can afford it, if not, the consensus seems to be to wait for Windows 7.

According to the Microsoft website, Vista will completely lose support in 2012, XP as of April 14, 2009, though commercial and developer support continues until 2014. It’s not recommended to wait that long, since that will make it over a decade old.

“The just-released Beta 1 version of Windows 7 is a solid, fast-performing, stable operating system that appears to be just about fully baked and ready for prime time,” says ComputerWorld.com

As for Windows 7 performance, testers have been playing with early test releases, and report that “[the rumours that] Windows 7 is simply faster than Vista appear to be true,” says CNET News.com. “Windows 7 had no problem simultaneously installing and launching applications, downloading files, browsing the Web, and carrying out other tasks.”

A ZDNet blog post comparing Windows 7, Vista, and XP shows “7” winning nearly every test thrown at it.

As for Vista’s biggest annoyance, User Account Control, in Windows 7, it has been “pared right back on its default setting, and we encountered it only a couple of times throughout a whole morning of installing applications.” Though users can change it to be more Vista-like.

News.com also expresses relief in Windows 7, saying “[It] signals that Microsoft has spent a lot of effort with Windows 7 on delivering a solid operating system that won’t “wow” anyone but will satisfy them on a much deeper level. In other words, just what the doctor–and the customers–ordered.”

“The reality is that it (Vista) is a mature product right now,” she said. “The issues are solved.” That’s easier said than believed, even though it’s largely true,” said Stella Chernyak, a director in Microsoft’s Windows Client product group, in an interview with InformationWeek.com

Chernyak said Microsoft expects a much easier transition [than with Windows Vista]. Companies (and consumers) have done the grunt work of upgrading to Windows Vista, and won’t have to repeat the process with Windows 7.

Though Information Week is quick to point out that “with two such upgrades looming, Vista and Windows 7, people may look for ways to only upgrade once.”

There are a few new features in Windows 7, including “Jumplists”, in which you can many open windows display as a stacked list when your computer mouse hovers over the program icon on the Taskbar. Mac OS X users are already familiar with something similar in the “dock”.

According to ComputerWorld.com, a huge plus is that “Microsoft set out to make sure that Windows 7 wouldn’t have the same issues with hardware compatibility that Windows Vista had, and the company said that all hardware that works with Windows Vista should also work with Windows 7. It appears that even in this beta version, that goal has been met.”

Another really impressive fact is that the installation process for Windows 7 “generally installs in 20 minutes or less,” according to Winsupersite.com

The biggest difference between Windows 7 and previous versions is that Windows 7 will be “modular”, according to some reputable technology blogs. This means that Microsoft will sell certain features and add-ons post-launch, or on a subscription basis, which is great news for consumers, who end up paying for everything in Windows, and only using some of it.

Originally posted 2009-01-17 20:43:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter