|
6 TIPS Before You Try Microsoft Windows Vista |
|
|
|
Wednesday, 25 April 2007 |
A short quick guide to give you a heads up before you take the leap and install Microsoft Windows Vista...
1. MAKE A PROGRAMS CHECKLIST - Go through your programs list in Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. Uninstall all the ones you don't need and make a checklist of the ones you do. Go down the checklist and make sure you find the CD's, install files, or downlinks to re-install those programs.
2. CHECK SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY - Check to make sure all your most important productivity software and special multimedia programs are compatible with Windows Vista. If you play games, make sure the game will work on Microsoft Windows Vista or that there is a patch out for it.
3. CHECK HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY - Like many others, I've discovered that a huge number of computer input devices, peripherals, and hardware do not work with Microsoft Windows Vista. Even stuff that was supposedly compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista was not 100% compatible or did not work completely or did not work at all if another conflicting program was installed. Long story short, make sure it works with Microsoft Windows Vista. Even simple things like wireless mice and keyboards lose functionality on Microsoft Windows Vista if you're unlucky. Printers are commonly known to lose functionality on Microsoft Windows Vista or all-in-one printers will lose their scanning capability on Microsoft Windows Vista.
4. COMMON BACKUP ITEMS - Don't forget to backup your stuff. Common places to find your stuff are the Desktop, My Documents, Shared Documents, Root C drive for applications that install there, your Outlook.pst file inside your Documents and Settings folder along with your Internet Explorer Favorites or Firefox Bookmarks. If you use Quicken or Quickbooks you will have to go to C:\Program Files and then find the data files inside the Quicken and Intuit folders. Try to think of other locations before you simply wipe your system clean.
5. UPGRADE YOUR MEMORY - Most people are only held back from Microsoft Windows Vista because their computer has too little ram. Microsoft Windows Vista is best run on a system with a minimum of 1gb of ram, make sure you have at least that much before you try Microsoft Windows Vista or else you'll be disappointed.
6. MAKE AN IMAGE BACKUP - You can clone an image of your existing hard drive with the Microsoft Windows XP partition on it using simple image cloning backup programs like Acronis True Image Backup software. You can buy it on ebay for cheap and make a quick image of your hard drive. That way, if anything goes wrong or you want to switch back...you can easily get back everything without having to re-install all your software.
So there you have it. A short 6-step guide to make life easier when trying Microsoft Windows Vista. Goodluck!
 |
