Things To Do Before Running Vista

[Zefram]

Since Vista was released, i'd see a lot of people rushing over to buy Vista, only to be greeted with device and program incompatibility with Vista. :p

Thus, before buying Vista you should download Vista Upgrade Advisor (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx).
Install the program, and execute it. It will scan your computer for all the devices and program, and compare it with Microsoft Vista compatibility list.

A Lil' bit of visual:
The welcome screen........ a kid going to the unknown desert :p
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/1921/capture2ht8.jpg

System Scan and quick list of Vista Editions and functions
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1182/capture3ma5.jpg


The advisor recommend Vista Business Edition for my PC.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2749/capture4ub0.jpg


On the devices' tab it showed that my LAN & Audigy 2zs aint compatible with Vista....... go figure :p
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/5513/capture5vj4.jpg

On the program list it showed that Adobe Photoshop Element 4.0 aint compabitle with Vista. Bummer!
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/883/capture6zr4.jpg

Thus, before you go out and buy Vista make sure your devices and program are supported - that should reduce headache and whines ;)

P/S : As usual, it scaned for WHQL drivers, althrough some of the devices have beta drivers the upgrade advisor dont list it as compatible........ since beta drivers normally have problem and normal user wont be bothered with them ;)

[PimpMySystem]

OMG in the second picture there were only 3 things that are usefull and those are the 3 last !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO WAY im going to pay so much for the VISTA if it offers so little !!!

[Zefram]

OMG in the second picture there were only 3 things that are usefull and those are the 3 last !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO WAY im going to pay so much for the VISTA if it offers so little !!!

Hey, no pain, no gain ;)

Which is why they came out with different version. If you have money to burn get the ultimate, else the business edition will do (since it have aero)

[stlouis1]

thats awesome zef....you have no idea how many calls we get here at vista support from ppl who bought the upgrade, installed the upgrade, and made a paperweight because they did not remove incompatible programs, such as antivirus software....

all because they did not run the upgrade advisor, and follow the recommended steps for a successful upgrade

"upgrading" to vista will NOT, fix the problems you had with your XP installation. also....none of us here will recommend buying the upgrade, or even doing upgrade installations. not because we dont want you to save money. but because, anyone who's had experience with upgrades before, know they can be problematic, if you have the slightest problem with your old windows installtion, that problem will likely get worse. and upgrade install can no longer be uninstalled

ALWAYS, backup before installing. just in case. sure the clean install, if you dont format the drive, will move the old data to windows.old, and allow you to boot into the old OS, but there is potential that some things may not be move, data loss is possible.

anyone who knows will recommend buying the full package. the easy transfer wizard will let you export you're personal files and backround for them to be reimported. and in the event that you need to reinstall, you dont have to reinstall 2 OS'

[cracklingice]

Yeah, best thing to do if upgrade version is the only option is to upgrade a fresh install IMO.

[Zefram]

Yeah, best thing to do if upgrade version is the only option is to upgrade a fresh install IMO.

Nah, there's workaround for that,
With a support note quietly posted to its Web site, Microsoft confirmed what enthusiasts have long feared: Users who purchase Upgrade versions of Windows Vista will not be able to perform clean installs of the operating system. Instead, they will need to first install their previous OS and then upgrade in-place to Vista.

"This problem occurs because Windows Vista [Setup] does not check upgrade compliance," a support note on Microsoft's Web site reads. "Therefore, you cannot use an upgrade key to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista."

While this is sure to infuriate some users--and certainly, it contradicts information Microsoft provided me with last year--the reality is that upgrade installs of Windows Vista essentially wipe out the OS and perform an install that is very much like a clean install. The real problem here, therefore, will be the length of time it takes to install Vista using the Upgrade media: Though Vista often installs in about 30 minutes, previous versions often take twice as long.

UPDATE: I haven't tested this yet, as I don't have Vista Upgrade media to test, but I'm told that Microsoft's internal documentation does explain how to clean install Vista using an Upgrade version. It appears to be more of a workaround than a true clean install, however. Here's what it says.

1. Boot with the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD.

2. Click "Install Now."

3. Do not enter a Product Key When prompted.

4. When prompted, select the Vista product edition that you do have.

6. Install Vista normally.

7. Once the install is complete, restart the DVD-based Setup from within Windows Vista. Perform an in-place upgrade.

8. Enter your Product Key when prompted.

Vista Upgrade-Clean Install Workaround (http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/95011/95011.html)

[stlouis1]

^ thats what we do here when upgrades fail....we do a clean install of vista, and upgrade it to itself, and they can pull they're files from the windows.old folder

[stlouis1]

here zef, here's some steps to add to your first post so they dont get missed

after running the upgrade advisor. remove all the incompatible programs of course as you would have to

Potentially incompatible programs
you may not be forced to remove them, but for the programs listed that may or not work, check for newer versions of them on the developpers website, if a newer version exists, remove the old version, and install the new one only after the upgrade

Cleanup your system
if you have adaware (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10639408.html?tag=pop.software) or any other good antispyware tools installed, run a full scan in safe mode, and be sure its up to date. run a full antivirus scan as well, be sure that's up to date as well. if you dont have run, you can run housecall (http://housecall.trendmicro.com). or wait, since i work for microsoft, might i suggest using the OneCare (http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm) trial? and then use the OneCare Removal Tool (http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/c/b/4cb845e7-1076-437b-852a-7842a8ab13c8/O) to clean it off before the upgrade. and If you need to, run the smitrem (http://www.tinyurl.com/95tzv) or smitfraud (http://www.tinyurl.com/me993) fixes

if you have windows defender, run it in safemode as well. you can run it through the command prompt if you like by going to start -> run and typing c:\program files\windows defender\mpcmdrun.exe -scan 2

Antivirus and Active Antispyware software
if you have ANY, antivirus software, uninstall it before upgrading. here's links for removal tools for both mcafee (http://www.myfixes.com/articles/mcrem) and norton (http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039). you can install AVG or avast after the upgrade, they are the only two i know of so far that are FULLY compatible with vista. Dell and other OEM's have been tweeking mcafee and norton so far to make them appear to work

once you're antivirus is gone, if you have windows defender installed on XP, remove it, vista has it built in now....upgrading over top of it, causes problems. if you have other active antispyware, like spysweeper, remove those too. you dont need to reinstall any of these later on after the upgrade

CD writing software
uninstall/remove it to prior to running the upgrade. once the software is uninstalled, run the guided help tool to repair the CD-ROM filters on microsofts KB314060 article (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/en-us), you may not have a program now, but you can potentially after the upgrade, this will save you going through the registry (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929461/en-us) later on in vista. Roxio also has a removal tool for their software to remove sonic/roxio bundles (http://tools.roxio.com/support/tools/roxizap.exe), there may be one for nero (http://www.nero.com/nero6/eng/Clean_Tools.html) too

Mouse/keyboard
alot of us have multimedia keyboards that have software, and mice too. if you have any logitech or microsoft intellipoint (to name two examples) software installed, remove them, vista has alot of that stuff built in now, and those will not be compatible. if you must have them, you can install the latest vista compatible versions after the upgrade

Web tools, browsers, addins, etc
things like Java, flash plugins, etc, can be uninstalled, and reinstalled, after the upgrade, newer versions are always available. if you have toolbars, AOL, yahoo, google, websearch, etc, remove them, they can cause you headaches after the upgrade with explorer if they are not vista compatible versions. iexplore and explorer are more integrated then ever in vista, what causes problems with ie, will cause problems with vista, so remove them, you can get newer versions later

if you have IE7, thats even better, once you're done uninstalling those. go to your internet options, click on the advanced tab, and do you see the button near the bottom that says "Reset..." click it, and wait for it to complete.

BIOS
plain and simple, make sure its up to date. some manufacturers have issues here, toshiba for one, not all of them have resolved these. make sure you're BIOS will be supported by Vista

RAID's
if you have a RAID, make sure you can find a vista driver for the controller, although this may not be necessary as vista supports alot of RAID controllers as it is. to find out if you're controller is supported, the HCL (http://whql.microsoft.com/HCL) as a good place to start

Finally
this is inspired by another dumb one i've seen people do.....dont upgrade to vista if you have a vista transition pack installed on windows XP....remove the transition pack prior to upgrading, or it will mess up the sidebar and you'll get several, and i mean several startup errors

and dont buy a home basic/premium upgrade box if you have XP pro. and dont buy a home basic upgrade if you have media center, FFS, this is why i get calls from ppl who cant activate because they bought the wrong upgrade version, it forced them to run a clean install, and now, they cant activate, and they wonder, where are my documents?

now you're as ready as it gets for an upgrade. so if you're religious, this might be time to pray. cross you're fingers, if you have a sacrificial chicken that even better. if you practice voodoo get your bill gates doll and pins ready, whatever works for you

and now after all this work. dont you wish you had just paid the extra 50-100$ and got the full retail vista box, instead of the upgrade? honestly, don't you. you dont have to tell me i told you so, but im telling you now. and again, upgrading to vista, will not fix the problems you have with XP. if you're upgrading, fix XP, then upgrade to vista. the above list of things to do are just some examples

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edit// oh an zef, in reference to your adobe elements 4.0 issue, you might have a look at KB929427 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929427/en-us).

speaking of which, i believe can cause when being installed on an upgrade installation. i had a call yesterday, that upgraded fine, but after windows updates ran, the system would no longer startup. the cust had printed off the list of potentially incompatible programs luckily. so after we rolled back the updates from WinRE, the system started up fine so that we could remove those programs on the list. once removed, we ran the windows updates again, and the system started fine that time. some of those application installed drivers in XP, and im not sure, but i believe that vista may have retained some, and when that patch was applied, it blocked itself from starting up. i could be wrong, but those steps resolved the issue

also had another issue where i had to roll back that update in order to succesfully uninstall an old version of Sonic DLA

this is another important thing to be aware of

[Zefram]

edit// oh an zef, in reference to your adobe elements 4.0 issue, you might have a look at KB929427 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929427/en-us).


Nice find there!

Anyway it still aint viable to upgrade to Vista if you rely heavily on any of the mentioned program..........

Plus, its funny how microsoft own game have problem running on vista, this includes
• Age of Empires III
• Age of Empires III : The WarChiefs Expansion Pack
• Zoo Tycoon 2
• Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure Expansion Pack
• Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species Expansion Pack
• Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania Expansion Pack
• Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection Expansion Pack
• Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
• Fable: The Lost Chapters
• Dungeon Siege II
• Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna

[Philaroni]

Hey, no pain, no gain ;)

Which is why they came out with different version. If you have money to burn get the ultimate, else the business edition will do (since it have aero)


"different version" Hell why is there not like a gamer one that is make to use low ram and run games better and stuf that is what i want to get XD.

[stlouis1]

a gamer version wouldnt have any of the multimedia functionality or aero, and everyone wants aero. you have no idea how many ppl buy video cards so they can use aero to check their email

and zef, im microsoft, i know everything now ;), if you have any questions, feel free to PM me