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Flame on: Windows Vista

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Posts

  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Well guys, I caved in. I bought Ultimate 64 bit, installed it, and don't regret it much. It has a nice interface and it looks like it's more secure than XP.

    So right now I was wondering if you could give me the abridged tour, as far as cool features I could use, some downloads/updates I should consider, and most importantly what kind of security features I should allow (LiveSecure?).

    Professor Snugglesworth on
  • jonxpjonxp [E] PC Security Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Well guys, I caved in. I bought Ultimate 64 bit, installed it, and don't regret it much. It has a nice interface and it looks like it's more secure than XP.

    So right now I was wondering if you could give me the abridged tour, as far as cool features I could use, some downloads/updates I should consider, and most importantly what kind of security features I should allow (LiveSecure?).

    The biggest thing I recommend is using the search. It works decently, and is in places you don't expect. Especially on the Start menu and Control Panel.

    jonxp on
    Every time you write parallel fifths, Bach kills a kitten.
    3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
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  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I'm pretty impressed with Vista's version of IE. It comes very close to replicating Firefox.

    I still prefer Firefox though.

    Also, maybe you can help me find out what this HDMI port on my PC is for. I was told it would probably only work with Vista. Now that I have it, how can I get my Samsung TV to be recognized by HDMI (rather than DVI, which it's plugged in currently)?

    Professor Snugglesworth on
  • MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    jonxp wrote: »
    Well guys, I caved in. I bought Ultimate 64 bit, installed it, and don't regret it much. It has a nice interface and it looks like it's more secure than XP.

    So right now I was wondering if you could give me the abridged tour, as far as cool features I could use, some downloads/updates I should consider, and most importantly what kind of security features I should allow (LiveSecure?).

    The biggest thing I recommend is using the search. It works decently, and is in places you don't expect. Especially on the Start menu and Control Panel.

    Becoming accustomed to pressing a single button, then typing, to navigate most of your computer is more awesome than it sounds. Start + "int" is faster than clicking on a browser icon for me. Name important documents appropriately, and it's downright addictive.

    Morskittar on
    snm_sig.jpg
  • RohanRohan Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I still despise Vista, despite the fact that I'm going to be using it to run my new media pc. On some folders, View By > Type will work, on other folders, it won't even be present as an option. Take for example my movies folder - I have files of all different types in there, with films seperated by their own folders. In XP, I sort it by type, with folders first, then whatever for all the file formats. Vista will just about let me do this, but instead it sorts the folders by type as well, so instead of alphabetical folders, everything is jumbled around, and I can't just scroll down an alphabetical list to say, H, and watch Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I have to search for the bloody thing.

    Anyway, as I said, on some folders it'll let me sort by type, on others it's not even an option, despite my enabling the option in the folder's properties. And why should I have to enable it anyway? What a stupid decision on Microsoft's part! This small yet incredibly irritating issue is the biggest reason I'm still primarily using XP these days.

    Regarding Vista's MCE, which is the reason I'm using the OS for my media pc, why won't it let me choose what album to play by simply selecting a folder? No, it insists on using it's own stupid "let me connect to the 'net and try to find out information on all of them", inevitably it fails, and I'm left with a bunch of stupidly-organised, or not at all, albums, songs and whatever else. It's hopelessly disorganised, and I have so much music that I'm certainly not going to go through my entire collection in Media Player and select "Find information on this album". Most of the time it will only work for one song anyway, or it'll divide some songs into the same album, but list the album twice, so I may have eight songs in one album, and in another identically named album, I'll have four. Gragh! Ffs... now I have to use WinAmp or some other third-party program to play my music, and I wanted MCE to load immediately at start-up, but no...

    Also regarding MCE, why can't I add in some information about the films? I have so many films and clips on my hard drives that the rest of my family won't have a clue about what's what when they look through the list. I don't think it's asking too much to be able to just add a small caption with information about each file.

    Dreamscene keeps crashing. No Windows Update performed so far has provided any fix.

    Because Dreamscene keeps crashing, I try to update DirectX and the drivers for my video card as often as possible, but the nVidia drivers will only install so far before stalling. It doesn't crash, it merely stalls and never goes further than halfway across the bar.

    Recently, my copy of 32-bit Vista Ultimate has begun giving me the blue screen of death and then resetting at the most inconvenient of times... anything can set it off. You can imagine how happy I was when it did this last night when I'd been working for hours on a PSP file.

    Most games that haven't been installed through Vista refuse to run. I have loads of games from years back stored on my hard drive, that I still play to this day, and every successive install of XP Pro has let me play them. Even more modern games, such as Hitman - Blood Money for example, have the same result.

    Performance in most games that do run see a significant hit to their frame rate. Even WoW suffers from this, and my pc is no slouch (Core 2 Duo E6420 2.13GHz, 2GB 800, GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB). Oddly enough, and in contrast to everyone else who has run it, Crysis plays better on Vista than XP.

    The Start Bar is hopelessly clunky.

    Yes, I know I've disabled UAC. SHUT THE FUCK UP.

    I've been running Vista since June. It still, to this day, does extensive hard drive access even when I'm doing nothing on the desktop.

    This is the OS I'm going to have to, as a gamer, switch to in the next year :x

    Rohan on
    ...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.

    Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    To sort by type, click Type in the grey bar at the top. If it's not there then right-click on the grey bar and go to "More..." which will give you a list of things you can sort your files by.

    You've organized your music collection with folders instead of metadata, of course it looks like a mess in MCE. Most of these applications sort your music using metadata, it is the agreed-upon standard. Go get MusicBrainz Tagger, run it, it will update all your files with correct metadata.

    Same with videos, if you want to add some info to a video then click on it, and in the information bar at the bottom of the window you can add metadata.

    Dreamscene crashes? There's a pretty easy solution to that: get rid of Dreamscene. You don't need video wallpaper.

    If your machine BSOD's randomly then there's probably something wrong with your RAM or you have a bad driver installed. Also you should save often when you're using any computer to do work.

    You can't just transplant a game or application from one OS to another and expect it to work. If you're too lazy to reinstall that's your problem, not Vista's.

    What's bad about it accessing the hard drive when you're not using it? That's good -- it's caching things you use often into memory and indexing your files. When you do use it, programs will load faster and searches will complete more quickly because of this. Or would you rather your computer just sat there idle, using up electricity?

    Azio on
  • iTunesIsEviliTunesIsEvil Cornfield? Cornfield.Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Rohan wrote: »
    <condensed>Sorting by file type.</condensed>
    I've never, ever seen any version of Windows do this. Sorting by file type has always been supported in Windows.
    Rohan wrote: »
    Also regarding MCE, why can't I add in some information about the films? I have so many films and clips on my hard drives that the rest of my family won't have a clue about what's what when they look through the list. I don't think it's asking too much to be able to just add a small caption with information about each file.
    I can right-click any video file (.avi, .wmv, .mpg) on my machine, select properties and add metadata. Either you're "doing it wrong" or you've got one gimpy-ass copy of Vista.
    Rohan wrote: »
    Dreamscene keeps crashing. No Windows Update performed so far has provided any fix.

    Because Dreamscene keeps crashing, I try to update DirectX and the drivers for my video card as often as possible, but the nVidia drivers will only install so far before stalling. It doesn't crash, it merely stalls and never goes further than halfway across the bar.

    Recently, my copy of 32-bit Vista Ultimate has begun giving me the blue screen of death and then resetting at the most inconvenient of times... anything can set it off. You can imagine how happy I was when it did this last night when I'd been working for hours on a PSP file.
    That sounds a lot like hardware or driver issues. Which don't seem like Microsoft's problem.
    Rohan wrote: »
    The Start Bar is hopelessly clunky.
    Isn't that the same Start Menu that has been in Windows since ... forever? They added a search box to it and it's "clunky" all of the sudden?
    Rohan wrote: »
    Yes, I know I've disabled UAC. SHUT THE FUCK UP.
    I dunno how to read that. You were expecting us to tell you to turn UAC off, and you already have it as such so we should just stfu? Or you think we're going to tell you to turn it back on so we should stfu? Or you just want to bitch and whine and be angry at some software and we should just shut up and listen?
    Rohan wrote: »
    This is the OS I'm going to have to, as a gamer, switch to in the next year :x
    Good thing its a better OS than XP then. Now we just have to get these hardware manufacturers to supply some quality parts with quality drivers and we'll all be set.

    iTunesIsEvil on
  • MalkorMalkor Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    You have a lot more options in sorting your files now, tagging stuff is tons easier too because you can just click a file and do it at the bottom of a window.

    Malkor on
    14271f3c-c765-4e74-92b1-49d7612675f2.jpg
  • RohanRohan Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Azio wrote: »
    To sort by type, click Type in the grey bar at the top. If it's not there then right-click on the grey bar and go to "More..." which will give you a list of things you can sort your files by.

    You've organized your music collection with folders instead of metadata, of course it looks like a mess in MCE, just like in any other modern audio player. They all go by metadata, that is the agreed-upon standard. Go get MusicBrainz Tagger, run it, it will update all your files with correct metadata.

    Same with videos, if you want to add some info to a video then go to its properties and go to Details, you can manually add metadata there.

    Dreamscene crashes? There's a pretty easy solution to that: get rid of Dreamscene. You don't need video wallpaper.

    If your machine BSOD's randomly then there's probably something wrong with your RAM or you have a bad driver installed. Also you should save often when you're using any computer to do work.

    You can't just transplant a game or application from one OS to another and expect it to work. If you're too lazy to reinstall that's your problem, not Vista's.

    What's bad about it accessing the hard drive when you're not using it? That's good -- it's caching things you use often into memory and indexing your files. When you do use it, programs will load faster and searches will complete more quickly because of this. Or would you rather your computer just sat there idle, using up electricity?

    For years while I've added to my music collection, I've used WinAmp or Media Player to open a folder and select all the files to play. I don't think it's too much to ask MCE to sort by folders.

    No, I can't.

    I've only been experimenting with Dreamscene myself, but I want to use it for my mother and sisters, who will want the thing to look as nice as possible (which is why I'm not using the Linux MCE).

    Why not? I did it with 95 to 98, 98 SE to XP... If I lose the discs over time or if they become too worn through use, I can't just buy all of them back, some of them haven't been released on budget, or have been released too long ago. It's not about my being lazy, it's more to do with the fact that I can't. And the games I want to work on Vista are Vista compatible, such as Hitman - Blood Money.

    I said "even when I'm doing nothing on the desktop", not "it only does this when I'm not doing anything." Everything I've read about Vista said that once you get it, it'll thrash the hard drive for a few weeks while it gets used to the file structure or whatever, but my copy has never stopped doing so. It only forcibly stops itself when I tell it to do something that really requires a lot of resources, like run Crysis.

    The RAM is perfect, or so say all the tests I ran on it. I never get any such problems in XP. As for drivers, they are all certified, and with the exception of the nVidia drivers, up to date. And I did save often, I was just doing some very delicate work on it for about ten minutes and when I finished that set, I was going to save, but no :/
    I've never, ever seen any version of Windows do this. Sorting by file type has always been supported in Windows.

    I'd never seen it either until I installed Vista. I don't know what's wrong with it, but sometimes I had to enable the option for it to work, and even then it doesn't work the way I want it to, the way XP does. In some folders, no matter what's inside them, the option simply isn't there. It's confusing alright.
    I can right-click any video file (.avi, .wmv, .mpg) on my machine, select properties and add metadata. Either you're "doing it wrong" or you've got one gimpy-ass copy of Vista.

    I can't, and I don't know why. I certainly don't think I'm "doing it wrong", so perhaps it is my copy of Vista, I don't know... it's an OEM version I bought back in June. Not an upgrade version, a full install. I don't know, it's odd alright.
    That sounds a lot like hardware or driver issues. Which don't seem like Microsoft's problem.

    I would think so too, but for the fact that when I run other OS' on the machine, they've all been rock solid. XP Home, XP Pro, Ubuntu, Kubuntu... they've all been perfect, with no issues at all. Only with Vista.
    Isn't that the same Start Menu that has been in Windows since ... forever? They added a search box to it and it's "clunky" all of the sudden?

    No, they didn't just add a search box and I suddenly think it's clunky. Did I say that? That's just my point, by the way. It's the same Start Menu that's been in Windows since "forever". Compare it to MacOS or say, Ubuntu, and it is needlessly large and complicated. Clunky.
    I dunno how to read that. You were expecting us to tell you to turn UAC off, and you already have it as such so we should just stfu? Or you think we're going to tell you to turn it back on so we should stfu? Or you just want to bitch and whine and be angry at some software and we should just shut up and listen?

    Yes, that's why I came here to post, to bitch and whine and be angry at Vista. What the fuck kind of response was that? No, you tit, I was talking about the notification that pops up when Vista starts that I've disabled UAC and would I like to enable it again? That would be okay, but no, every time I come out of a game it pops up again. To put it in simpler terms, I'd like to shut off the notification, but I can't. I tried editing the registry but to no avail.
    This is the OS I'm going to have to, as a gamer, switch to in the next year
    Good thing its a better OS than XP then. Now we just have to get these hardware manufacturers to supply some quality parts with quality drivers and we'll all be set.

    I certainly think it has the potential to be, but for now, as a gamer, XP is the only viable option. Maybe when SP1 has been out for a while, things will have stabilised some.

    Rohan on
    ...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.

    Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Rohan wrote: »
    Yes, that's why I came here to post, to bitch and whine and be angry at Vista. What the fuck kind of response was that? No, you tit, I was talking about the notification that pops up when Vista starts that I've disabled UAC and would I like to enable it again? That would be okay, but no, every time I come out of a game it pops up again. To put it in simpler terms, I'd like to shut off the notification, but I can't. I tried editing the registry but to no avail.
    Control Panel>Security>Security Center>Change the way Security Center alerts me>Don't notify me and don't display the icon

    By the way this is the same process in XP to get it to stop bitching about antivirus being turned off

    Azio on
  • RohanRohan Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Thanks Azio, I remember doing this before, so I don't know why I'd have to do it again... who knows.

    Rohan on
    ...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.

    Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
  • Monkey Ball WarriorMonkey Ball Warrior A collection of mediocre hats Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Thanks for that info on the security notifications. As it is I am going to keep the icon up so I can quickly check for updates.

    Also, I think everyone would have been happier if there was an XP style start menu, instead of choosing between Vista-style and Win98-Style.

    Example Why the hell is there a search field in the start menu? Why can't I turn it off?

    It's like they assume I'm too stupid to know where my files are, and this happens so often I need super-quick access to it.

    OSX did the same thing not too long ago, except they put it in every damn window

    WTF is wrong with these people?

    (I have indexing turned off to the extent that it is possible)

    Monkey Ball Warrior on
    "I resent the entire notion of a body as an ante and then raise you a generalized dissatisfaction with physicality itself" -- Tycho
  • victor_c26victor_c26 Chicago, ILRegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    It's actually a useful feature, at least for me. It's just a way for you to find a file or application quickly, not a replacement.

    It's especially useful when wanting to watch a Video podcast. Just hit the Window key and type "tek" (For Tekzilla) -> and click on the episode I want to watch.

    victor_c26 on
    It's been so long since I've posted here, I've removed my signature since most of what I had here were broken links. Shows over, you can carry on to the next post.
  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Did the search box kill your dog or something? Even if you don't use it, is its mere presence really that offensive? Keep in mind we are talking about a white box that occupies a mere 254x24 pixels on your screen.

    I think you're just on drugs and/or looking for reasons to hate vista. "RARR! How DARE they put a convenient search box in the start menu! I'm so smart I just drill down into program files whenever I need to run something! If this solution is good enough for me then it should be good enough for anyone!"

    You don't like search? Fine, don't use it. Don't like the start menu? Then litter your desktop and quicklaunch with shortcuts. The fact that you can have a dozen different ways to quickly access an item is an advantage Windows has over other environments.

    Azio on
  • Monkey Ball WarriorMonkey Ball Warrior A collection of mediocre hats Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Azio wrote: »
    Did the search box kill your dog or something? Even if you don't use it, is its mere presence really that offensive? Keep in mind we are talking about a white box that occupies a mere 254x24 pixels on your screen.

    I think you're just on drugs and/or looking for reasons to hate vista.

    I point you to the title of this thread. It's entire point and purpose is to hate on Vista. So...

    And, no, it's not a big deal, I'm not going to revert to XP because of it, but I would like to turn it off. It's wasted menu space that could be put to better use.

    I'm honestly reaching here, overall, except for the stability (and I have no way of know if it's my hardware or not), I actually like Vista. But it's not perfect.

    OSX isn't even perfect, so...

    Also, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by drilling into program files. If I want to run a program, chances are it's in the Quicklaunch, and if it's not there out front in the start menu, and if it's not there it's All Programs.

    I'm not going to start a program by searching for it. That's really silly.

    Monkey Ball Warrior on
    "I resent the entire notion of a body as an ante and then raise you a generalized dissatisfaction with physicality itself" -- Tycho
  • Blake TBlake T Do you have enemies then? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I kinda like the UAC, after the first week or so of it bugging you constantly because you keep changing everything around tp suit yourself it becomes fairly unobtrusive and is a simple security to have in place.

    Blake T on
  • VulpineVulpine Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    My experience with Vista is fairly straightforward: they've moved everything around.

    Everything.

    Until they stop equating "change it all" with progress, I don't think I'll be going back to Windows. I rely on being able to know where in the OS I'm trying to get to. Need to check all the network connections? Just open the folder in XP. In Vista, you have to type in the control panel applet's filename in the Run box. Not being able to do ipconfig /release without being a superuser really ticks me off, too.

    Vulpine on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Vulpine wrote: »
    Not being able to do ipconfig /release without being a superuser really ticks me off, too.
    I think if you make a shortcut to the command prompt and set it to Run As Admin this will work.

    Azio on
  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Are there certain file types Vista can't read? I'm trying to transfer all my junk from my old hard drive, but there are certain files where Vista bounces back to me and says it can't transfer (basically text type files as well as certain jpegs). Is there a workaround for this?

    Professor Snugglesworth on
  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Are there certain file types Vista can't read? I'm trying to transfer all my junk from my old hard drive, but there are certain files where Vista bounces back to me and says it can't transfer (basically text type files as well as certain jpegs). Is there a workaround for this?
    Hmm. That's weird. Whether it can "read" a certain file format shouldn't make a difference to just copying the file. Maybe there's something wrong with your hard drive, try scandisk and see what it finds.

    Azio on
  • victor_c26victor_c26 Chicago, ILRegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Azio wrote: »
    Did the search box kill your dog or something? Even if you don't use it, is its mere presence really that offensive? Keep in mind we are talking about a white box that occupies a mere 254x24 pixels on your screen.

    I think you're just on drugs and/or looking for reasons to hate vista.

    I point you to the title of this thread. It's entire point and purpose is to hate on Vista. So...

    And, no, it's not a big deal, I'm not going to revert to XP because of it, but I would like to turn it off. It's wasted menu space that could be put to better use.

    I'm honestly reaching here, overall, except for the stability (and I have no way of know if it's my hardware or not), I actually like Vista. But it's not perfect.

    OSX isn't even perfect, so...

    Also, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by drilling into program files. If I want to run a program, chances are it's in the Quicklaunch, and if it's not there out front in the start menu, and if it's not there it's All Programs.

    I'm not going to start a program by searching for it. That's really silly.

    If Vista isn't stable on your system, then yes, there's something going on with your hardware.

    It could be anything related to your hardware:

    1. Bad Ram, motherboard quirk, etc
    2. Incompatible drivers that don't play nice with Vista's new user/admin privilege model, etc
    3. Just plain badly written drivers.

    Vista has been rock solid on two systems I've built since January of 07. No BSoDs, no haults, no quirks, no slowdown.

    victor_c26 on
    It's been so long since I've posted here, I've removed my signature since most of what I had here were broken links. Shows over, you can carry on to the next post.
  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Also, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by drilling into program files. If I want to run a program, chances are it's in the Quicklaunch, and if it's not there out front in the start menu, and if it's not there it's All Programs.

    I'm not going to start a program by searching for it. That's really silly.
    You're silly.

    Azio on
  • Blake TBlake T Do you have enemies then? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Azio wrote: »
    Also, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by drilling into program files. If I want to run a program, chances are it's in the Quicklaunch, and if it's not there out front in the start menu, and if it's not there it's All Programs.

    I'm not going to start a program by searching for it. That's really silly.
    You're silly.

    Exactly, you aren't searching for the program (though it's a bloody useful feature when you can't remember where you left things). You are using an incredibly basic command prompt to start a program.

    If say you are typing a report up in word and needed to search something for a fact, you would press windows key, type INT (internet) and then type the search subject without ever taking your hand off the keyboard. This is faster than having to use your mouse at the same time.

    Blake T on
  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Azio wrote: »
    Are there certain file types Vista can't read? I'm trying to transfer all my junk from my old hard drive, but there are certain files where Vista bounces back to me and says it can't transfer (basically text type files as well as certain jpegs). Is there a workaround for this?
    Hmm. That's weird. Whether it can "read" a certain file format shouldn't make a difference to just copying the file. Maybe there's something wrong with your hard drive, try scandisk and see what it finds.

    Actually, now that I think about it, it might be because those files were compressed in XP.

    Which begs the question, how do you uncompress files?

    Professor Snugglesworth on
  • iTunesIsEviliTunesIsEvil Cornfield? Cornfield.Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Rohan wrote: »
    I dunno how to read that. You were expecting us to tell you to turn UAC off, and you already have it as such so we should just stfu? Or you think we're going to tell you to turn it back on so we should stfu? Or you just want to bitch and whine and be angry at some software and we should just shut up and listen?

    Yes, that's why I came here to post, to bitch and whine and be angry at Vista. What the fuck kind of response was that? No, you tit, I was talking about the notification that pops up when Vista starts that I've disabled UAC and would I like to enable it again? That would be okay, but no, every time I come out of a game it pops up again. To put it in simpler terms, I'd like to shut off the notification, but I can't. I tried editing the registry but to no avail.
    I apologize. That wasn't very clear to me that you were typing what a random bubble would say. See how I'd be lost there?

    Try going to the Security Center (somewhere in the Control Panel, or just use the Search), and click "Change the way Security Center alerts me." If you select the bottom option that nagging *should* go away.

    [edit] Beat'd on the Security Center advice. But seriously, unless I'm learning disabled, it was pretty fucking difficult to know you were talking about the security alerts.

    [edit II]
    Rohan wrote: »
    I've never, ever seen any version of Windows do this. Sorting by file type has always been supported in Windows.

    I'd never seen it either until I installed Vista. I don't know what's wrong with it, but sometimes I had to enable the option for it to work, and even then it doesn't work the way I want it to, the way XP does. In some folders, no matter what's inside them, the option simply isn't there. It's confusing alright.
    Vista is downright stupid about trying it's damnedest to make you view the contents of folders in the way that it sees fit. Even if you customize the columns to include Field A and exclude Field B ("Date Taken"? Come on Vista, a folder with 2 pictures in it and 9 .cs files does not my photography folder make), sometimes Vista will just put the view back the way it decides is best. It's infuriating. I did find some instructions here though that I now run each time I end up working on a new Vista install. Have you already tried customizing the columns, or will it not let you view the type even then? The only folder that I know of that will do that (because I just ran into it) was the "Computer" item in Explorer.

    iTunesIsEvil on
  • smallmouthsmallmouth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Azio wrote: »
    Did the search box kill your dog or something? Even if you don't use it, is its mere presence really that offensive? Keep in mind we are talking about a white box that occupies a mere 254x24 pixels on your screen.

    I think you're just on drugs and/or looking for reasons to hate vista.

    I point you to the title of this thread. It's entire point and purpose is to hate on Vista. So...

    And, no, it's not a big deal, I'm not going to revert to XP because of it, but I would like to turn it off. It's wasted menu space that could be put to better use.

    I'm honestly reaching here, overall, except for the stability (and I have no way of know if it's my hardware or not), I actually like Vista. But it's not perfect.

    OSX isn't even perfect, so...

    Also, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by drilling into program files. If I want to run a program, chances are it's in the Quicklaunch, and if it's not there out front in the start menu, and if it's not there it's All Programs.

    I'm not going to start a program by searching for it. That's really silly.

    Heh, are you serious? Have you tried using the search function at all? Like someone else said, it functions as a command line. It really is much faster than using menus and folder hierarchy and mouse navigation. I can't even remember where half my files are because I just don't have to anymore.

    smallmouth on
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  • Blake TBlake T Do you have enemies then? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Really the title of the thread needs to be changed, this is just more of the Vista thread.

    Saying this, is there a quick launch comand for shutdown? (Obviously typing in shutdown does not works and neither does hitting U, then U again).

    Or could I make one?

    Blake T on
  • smallmouthsmallmouth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Blaket wrote: »
    Really the title of the thread needs to be changed, this is just more of the Vista thread.

    Saying this, is there a quick launch comand for shutdown? (Obviously typing in shutdown does not works and neither does hitting U, then U again).

    Or could I make one?

    There's probably an easier way, but I use Windows key > left arrow > right arrow > U. It's convoluted, but I can do it faster than navigating with a mouse.

    smallmouth on
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  • stigweardstigweard Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    shutdown /s /t 0 should work, but likely only if uac is off.

    stigweard on
  • Monkey Ball WarriorMonkey Ball Warrior A collection of mediocre hats Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited January 2008
    smallmouth wrote: »
    Azio wrote: »
    Did the search box kill your dog or something? Even if you don't use it, is its mere presence really that offensive? Keep in mind we are talking about a white box that occupies a mere 254x24 pixels on your screen.

    I think you're just on drugs and/or looking for reasons to hate vista.

    I point you to the title of this thread. It's entire point and purpose is to hate on Vista. So...

    And, no, it's not a big deal, I'm not going to revert to XP because of it, but I would like to turn it off. It's wasted menu space that could be put to better use.

    I'm honestly reaching here, overall, except for the stability (and I have no way of know if it's my hardware or not), I actually like Vista. But it's not perfect.

    OSX isn't even perfect, so...

    Also, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by drilling into program files. If I want to run a program, chances are it's in the Quicklaunch, and if it's not there out front in the start menu, and if it's not there it's All Programs.

    I'm not going to start a program by searching for it. That's really silly.

    Heh, are you serious? Have you tried using the search function at all? Like someone else said, it functions as a command line. It really is much faster than using menus and folder hierarchy and mouse navigation. I can't even remember where half my files are because I just don't have to anymore.

    The whole point of a gui is that I never have to use the keyboard to do basic tasks. And there are people who are more keyboard-centric than I am, I know, but most of them use Linux anyway. For me, if I have to use the keyboard, they're doing it wrong. (with the obvious exception of IM and web and stuff like that). AND if I do want to search for something there is a button on the right above "Computer" and will open a nice big window to do it in. Though, like I said, I use an OS's search function maybe twice a year.

    Anyway, the "Windows Search" service is (other than UAC) the primary cause of most of my complaints (opening zip files in the background, thrashing the hard drive all night, etc) so disabling it made vista a ton better. I highly recommend it.

    In Administrative Tools->Services, it's near the bottom ("Windows Search"). Right click it and stop it, then set it to Disabled in the properties. Of course if you actually use the search it will take as long as it did in XP (or longer if you kept indexing turned on in XP for some reason).

    Monkey Ball Warrior on
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  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    For some reason I can't get Ad Aware to finish its scanning of my hard drives. It gets halfway done while it's "scanning the registry", but then it just sits there without progressing any further. Does Ad Aware have any problems with Vista? I've tried redownloading it several times, but it stops at the same place.

    I know the simple answer is "use another spyware program", but I've used Ad Aware for years and don't feel very safe without it.

    Professor Snugglesworth on
  • ZoolanderZoolander Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Anyway, the "Windows Search" service is (other than UAC) the primary cause of most of my complaints (opening zip files in the background, thrashing the hard drive all night, etc) so disabling it made vista a ton better. I highly recommend it.

    That would be a terrible move

    Zoolander on
  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    The whole point of a gui is that I never have to use the keyboard to do basic tasks.
    Totally wrong.
    And there are people who are more keyboard-centric than I am, I know, but most of them use Linux anyway. For me, if I have to use the keyboard, they're doing it wrong. (with the obvious exception of IM and web and stuff like that).
    Most, if not all power users (on ANY operating system) use keyboard shortcuts and launchers because in most cases using the keyboard to do things is faster than pointing and clicking. I can access any program or file by pressing the Windows key, typing in a few letters, and hitting Enter. That is way better than having to remember where it is, then drilling down through some arcane folder hierarchy to find it. Just because you don't understand the value of keyboard shortcuts doesn't mean search isn't an endlessly valuable feature for those of us who aren't delusional.

    Seriously, go ahead and ask anyone else on this forum. Even ask those cranky shits in the Mac thread. They'll all tell you that you're fucking bonkers.

    Azio on
  • FaceballMcDougalFaceballMcDougal Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    I'm not understanding what it is that takes a ton of keystrokes to do now. The "all programs" menu is still there it just looks different in that it doesn't obscure the rest of the screen.

    FaceballMcDougal on
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  • wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Blaket wrote: »
    Really the title of the thread needs to be changed, this is just more of the Vista thread.

    Saying this, is there a quick launch comand for shutdown? (Obviously typing in shutdown does not works and neither does hitting U, then U again).

    Or could I make one?

    you can turn the useless sleep button to actually shut down the computer by following this guide

    wunderbar on
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  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Okay, so the three things I'm trying to figure out with Vista (that have yet to be answered).

    1. Why Ad Aware keeps stalling while checking my registry, and not advancing any further.

    2. How to use "Start + "int" to search around my PC.

    3. How to decompress files (assuming that's the problem) from an old hard drive before moving them to my Vista one. Otherwise, why else would it not be able to copy certain movies or pics.

    4. Using Windows Defender to control which programs open up during startup (especially handy for programs that don't have that option anywhere in their settings).

    Professor Snugglesworth on
  • jonxpjonxp [E] PC Security Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    For #2, pressing the windows key brings up the new start menu that has, by default, the focus on the search box.

    If you start typing, the search results will automatically start showing up. The programs matching the search will be first, and then documents. So if you type "int" you'll could get a list with "Internet Explorer", "Interest Rate Calculator", "Portable Internet Meme Generator", and "Hot Internet Chick Nude.jpg"

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  • smallmouthsmallmouth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Okay, so the three things I'm trying to figure out with Vista (that have yet to be answered).

    1. Why Ad Aware keeps stalling while checking my registry, and not advancing any further.

    2. How to use "Start + "int" to search around my PC.

    3. How to decompress files (assuming that's the problem) from an old hard drive before moving them to my Vista one. Otherwise, why else would it not be able to copy certain movies or pics.

    4. Using Windows Defender to control which programs open up during startup (especially handy for programs that don't have that option anywhere in their settings).

    2. To search for files on your PC, just hit the Windows key and start typing the file/app name.

    4. To use Windows Defender to control program start up: Tools > Software Explorer. From there click start up programs for all users (this will trigger UAC if you have it enabled). You can then enable or disable them from there.

    smallmouth on
    PSN: smh17; Wii code: 0022 6537 1791 3136, Zune: smh17
  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    Oh, so the windows key is the icon on the bottom left that's basically the start menu from XP.

    Yeah, I've already started using that, it's pretty cool and quick. But someone mentioned being able to do hotkeys for things like shutting off the PC. Is this search related to that feature?

    Still wish I knew why Ad Aware keeps stalling. Windows Defender seems pretty cool, and it continues to remind me that things are "ok", but I have more trust in Ad Aware.

    Professor Snugglesworth on
  • FaceballMcDougalFaceballMcDougal Registered User regular
    edited January 2008
    right click and 'run as administrator' for Ad Aware

    but there's really no reason you should trust it more than Windows Defender but people will do what they do

    FaceballMcDougal on
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