New laptops with Vista

[Rocky]

Rocky:

if you're interested in trying linux i'll have and extra copy of the CD's i used to do my installs with me. save you downloading and burning them.

it's really worth the effort; your laptop will be many times faster on the internet (and for other uses too). you'll be amazed! (although you will have to use firefox :cheeky:...but you'll like it, i promise)

it's probably less of an initial learning curve that converting to vista is :surprisedaranoid::cheeky:

If I can ever wrestle it away from my girlfriend, I might just do that.
Thanks.

And for you Vista folks, I haven't forgotten about you.
We'll be going back and using that Windows cleaner, to attack the start up programs.
That'll be the least step that will make a marked difference.
After that, maybe polish up a thing or two, but your puter will be pretty much as fast as it can be, with that OS.
Have to have a siesta now, so.... Later....

 

[Squat]

For those of you who want a "quick & easy" Linux desktop (or laptop), here's another distro to consider: PCLinuxOS, find it here : PCLinuxOS

A "help guide" : The Perfect Desktop - PCLinuxOS 2007 | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

Enabling Beryl On A PCLinuxOS 2007 Desktop | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

And also a link to one of the most famous Linux website around : DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

 

[Squat]

For those lazy users who want an Ubuntu PC without the need of any config... Here's Linux Mint, find it here : Linux Mint: Linux for the Desktop

Everything works pretty much out of the box... Much easier to set up than any Windows...

 

[Squat]

Now, since most of us are living in DR, we might know some folks who are stuck with an older PC, something that still runs Windows 98/ME/2000...

Here are 2 Linux distros designed to run fast on old hardware. Both are live-cd's, meaning that you don't need to install anything, just boot your PC from any of those 2 CD's:

-Puppy Linux, find it here: Puppy Linux

-Damn Small Linux, find it here: DSL information

It is always nice to have those 2 in your cd collection...

 

[apostropheman]

lust for a lark i did a new install of vista and am following Rocky's instructions....and am very pleased with the results.

thanks.

 

[Rocky]

lust for a lark i did a new install of vista and am following Rocky's instructions....and am very pleased with the results.

thanks.

Glad to hear that.
I'm hoping to use the link to this thread in future, for any and all who are having problems or are displeased with Vista.
A lot of folks come here with laptops, and virtually all of them are using Vista, so there will be more and more people seeking out good solutions.

 

[Rocky]

Start up.

This next portion, would be the last of the ultra important jobs to be done to your puter, for getting the best possible performance from it.
Most people are familiar with "msconfig", which would allow them to stop unwanted programs from starting in the boot up phase, but it's difficult to use, as it does not name programs by their common names, so it makes it difficult to identify which you want and which you want to stop.
As well, it's part of the actual Windows program, so one could make some serious mistakes in there.

The solution is in the very Windows Care program that we used before.

Now it's time to open it up again, and check the box next to "startup manage", and uncheck all the others, then click on "scan".

After the scan, click on "show details".

The subsequent window that opens will show all the programs that start at boot up.
Your list could be a lot longer than mine, but no worries.

The secret here is to know which ones to stop, and which ones you would like to keep.
Once you have unchecked the ones you don't want starting up, click "apply", then "ok", the hit repair.

Which ones to choose.
You need to keep your anti virus program, anything associated with your wifi, and any program that you deem essential for you.
In my case shown above, I keep the AVG anti virus program, the D-Link wifi program and the audio deck, which is an after market audio program that I use.
Most laptops have a program with the manufacturer's name, for battery control and that should be kept too.
If anything worries you about removing, just keep it for now and research it later.

Items to uncheck.
All toolbars
Updaters
Unnecessary programs such as Adobe, Windows Media Player, Quick Time, Real Player, TKBell exe, Microsoft Word, anything with Google or Yahoo.
These may be programs you like to use, but there is no need to have them all come on in the boot up stage.

If you want to use "Word:, you need only click on it to use it.
The same goes for any other program mentioned above.
Stopping them from starting up does not prevent you from using them, but it does take an enormous load off your puter, by not having them all running at the same time.

Finally...
For those who are uncomfortable with this operation, please take a screen shot (contact me if you do not know how to do this) of the window with all the start up programs, as in the 3rd photo above.
Send the screenshot to me, and I will make suggestions of which ones you might want to keep and which to remove.

 

[Rocky]

The results.

There are a few more programs, yet to be installed, to maximize your protection, such as Spybot, Spyware Blaster and Ad Aware, but we will get to that later.

Let's deal with the results of what has been done so far.
If your puter is not blistering fast by now, it would be time to find out why.
Let's check how full your hard drive is.

Open "my computer" and right click on the hard drive (usually named "C"), then hit "properties".

If the used space is greater than the free space, you have a problem, as hard drives start to slow down radically after 50% of the their capacity is used.
There would be 2 possible solutions.
1) Get rid of any junk, such as programs you don't use.
2) Or get an after market outboard USB hard drive, to transfer documents, photos, video clips and audio tunes that you do not use on a regular basis, then once copied to the outboard hard drive, delete them from your main hard drive, and clean up. (Windows cleaner, and defrag).




HARD DRIVE SPEED.
Other things to research are your hard drive speed, ram and your processor.
The hard drive model number is available by going to "My Computer". and right clicking on your main hard drive, then clicking on "Hardware".

The model number will appear.
If you copy this into a Google search, along with the word "speed" or "RPM". the results will show you whether it's a 7,200 RPM, or a 5,400 RPM, or worse yet, a 4,200 RPM.
If it is not a 7,200 or more, your puter will never be fast, short of buying and installing a new faster hard drive.




RAM
To find out how much ram you have, go to start, programs, accessories, system tools, system information.

On this page, you will see both the ram and the processor data.
In older puters with XP, 500 plus MB of ram is acceptable, and more is better.
In newer puters, specially with Vista, 1 gig of ram would be acceptable, and 2 gig would be great.
If you feel that you lack ram, then you would have to purchase and install more.
Any questions about doing so, you can contact me for more info.




Processor.
You could also Google the processor model and see if you can find any reviews about it, but it's a giant confusing world out there, when it comes to establishing just how good or bad a certain processor might be.
Changing a processor is a pretty major deal, and it would be quite costly.
The bottom line is that you have to live with what you have.

 

[dreamsource]

Thanks, Rocky!

Just getting a VISTA-equipped laptop up and running and am finding your insights into the translations from older OS really useful. On a side note it was a pleasure to visit Rocky's last week with the crew from Las Canas- it was a great night out and a wonderful meal. Hope to visit again soon!

 

[Rocky]

Just getting a VISTA-equipped laptop up and running and am finding your insights into the translations from older OS really useful. On a side note it was a pleasure to visit Rocky's last week with the crew from Las Canas- it was a great night out and a wonderful meal. Hope to visit again soon!

I can't tell you how glad I am to get some feedback.
There's always the danger that I would be talking to myself, with nobody listening. :ermm:

I'd like to apologize for not being very sociable that night, as we were dealing with Marie's house that had just burned down.

 

[holacanada]

The better laptop...

... ta ta tatam : MacBook Pro (last generation - june 07).
You can pass from Tiger OSX to Windows to Linux environment by a SIMPLE CLICK.

Intel Core Duo inside !!!

A little heavy but sooooooooooo GREAT!

Holacanada from Quebec city

 

[Squat]

I can't tell you how glad I am to get some feedback.
There's always the danger that I would be talking to myself, with nobody listening. :ermm:

Don't worry, Marco, I am reading each post...

 

[A.Hidalgo]

Vista is so bad that it hurts !

I would recommend any of you to switch to Linux.

Inform yourself here :

get GNU/Linux!

Linux - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu

My advice is to start right now... Don't waste your time anymore with an insecure system, don't upgrade your hardware, don't use a system that requires a huge amount of memory/cpu...

Instead of "re-learning" how to use a PC with Vista, just "re-learn" to use a PC with Linux !

Microsoft and the laptop vendors will try to push Vista down your throat whether you like it or not, but you have the power to metamorphose a slow Vista PC into a super-fast Linux PC... Just do a bit of homework, start to read the link I provided up there...

It's been years than I am on Linux, and I am really satisfied !

Dude you sold me on this, I am seriously looking into Linux and in the next few days I will be downloading it. Thanks

 

[Guatiao]

Squat,

I got a question. I'm a linux "newbie", and although I use it more and more nowadays; I do find one thing difficult. How the hell to install programs that do not come with installers? How to compile open source files? Can you do a step by step or recommend a website?

An example would be songbirdnest.com music player. It's the best open source player (and beats itunes player) in my opinion, and one of the main reasons why I listen to my MP3s on windows. It can run on multiple OSes (Mac, Windows, Linux), but I can't install it on linux.

Peace,
Guatiao

 

[DunHill]

If i read this i am (again) oh-so happy that i don't need windos on a daily base.

When you really need it for a special situation, a virtual machine does miracles, with XP-UE a nice and clean version with most of the crapware removed.

VmWare - Parallel - VPC - etc will do the job

A.

The last time microsoft "invented" something new was in the 80ths:
"how to get more money from you with less costs" and ignore the rest.
and they did a good job with that ..
*some goverments, after a 1-on-1 with BG do the s(h)ame *

 

[DunHill]

Squat,

I got a question. I'm a linux "newbie", and although I use it more and more nowadays; I do find one thing difficult. How the hell to install .....

A) LinuxForDummies - Linux Made Easy! - Index

B) Linux
Please note that Linux distributors may provide packages for your distribution which have different requirements.

* Linux kernel - 2.2.14 or later with the following libraries or packages:
o glibc 2.3.2 or later
o XFree86-3.3.6 or later
o gtk+2.0 or later
o fontconfig (also known as xft)
o libstdc++6
* Songbird has been tested on Fedora Core 5 and Ubuntu Dapper 6.06.

Minimum Hardware:

* 233 MHz Intel Pentium II or AMD K6-III+ CPU (Recommended: 500 MHz or greater)
* At least 64 MB of physical RAM (Recommended: 128 MB or greater)
* At least 52 MB of available space on your hard drive
* 16 bit sound card (Recommended: 32 bit sound card)
* Speakers or headphones

note:
and there you are with your triplecore quadruple powered intel with 1meg cache and 2 gig of memory just to start the latest windows version

 

[Squat]

How the hell to install programs that do not come with installers? How to compile open source files? Can you do a step by step or recommend a website?

Don't compile anything, there's no need for that... You shall use your package manager, as it usually comes with about 20000 packages available. If you are using Ubuntu (or Debian, or Mepis...), that is Synaptic. Read some info here : Ubuntu Starter Guide - Chapter 2. Installing Applications

An example would be songbirdnest.com music player. It's the best open source player (and beats itunes player) in my opinion, and one of the main reasons why I listen to my MP3s on windows. It can run on multiple OSes (Mac, Windows, Linux), but I can't install it on linux.

I suggest you give a try to Amarok. This might be the equivalent to what you are looking for. Read some info about it here : Amarok | - Rediscover your music
If you are using Ubuntu, just open Synaptic, search for Amarok and install it...

 

[dreamsource]

No apology needed!

I can't tell you how glad I am to get some feedback.
There's always the danger that I would be talking to myself, with nobody listening. :ermm:

I'd like to apologize for not being very sociable that night, as we were dealing with Marie's house that had just burned down.

We heard later the next day about Maria's situation and understood at that point why you seemed distracted. Really appreciate your desire to help her get things back on the right track. our group tried to pitch in a bit. When next we are in town (January) we will look forward to meeting you!

 

[Rocky]

We heard later the next day about Maria's situation and understood at that point why you seemed distracted. Really appreciate your desire to help her get things back on the right track. our group tried to pitch in a bit. When next we are in town (January) we will look forward to meeting you!

Maria was thrilled by the financial help, as well as all the household items.
She sends her thanks.

 

[Rocky]

Back to our topic here.
If anyone is having any trouble with what we are posting here, please let us know, so that we can elaborate.