Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with vista

Can I use the B: drive on my PC?

penciltopper — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:32:41 -0800

Can I use B: as a drive letter, on a modern windows PC, without messing things up? Doing some reading, I have learned that there's no B: drive on most PCs because B: used to be the letter for the 2nd floppy disk; most don't have it anymore, so the B: has become archaic.

But I don't see any reason not to use a perfectly good letter.

Is there any reason that I can't assign an external drive to B: (for Backups, duh)?

Would it cause some kind of system irregularity?

How about a networked share? If I've networked all the computers in the house/office/domain, and can I map their backups to B: without causing any wonkiness?

Does this differ from XP to Vista?

B: might actually be special to the system in some way that would make it incompatible, and if so, Fine, I'll leave it alone.

But if it's not any different than F: or Q:, then I'd like to know I'm free to use it without any extra worries.

Remote desktop through LAN?

NekulturnY — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:53:55 -0800

(I know you're not my helpdesk, but...) I'm trying to get some kind of "remote desktop" going between my laptop and my desktop. So I have a laptop running XP SP 2 or something, and a desktop running Vista (home or premium, but not the really really expensive one that does everything you need). I want to use the laptop as a workstation, and the desktop as the server.

People tell me this is possible through something called 'Remote Desktop' in XP. Problem: there seems to be some incompatibility between XP and Vista.

Important: the connection HAS to be made using the LAN and not via Logmein or teamviewer via the internet, as I want to use it for playing games. Also, PCAnywhere is a bit expensive at nearly 300 $.

Keep your explanations really basic please, because I get confused easily. Thanks.

Critical: How to fix MBR on Ubuntu/Vista dual-boot laptop?

meta.mark — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:45:22 -0800

How to I re-install, configure, or set the MBR on my laptop? I have a Sony VAIO VGN N series laptop. I recently partitioned and installed Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) successfully. Previously I had a Ubuntu/Vista dual boot using the default Ubuntu GRUB that was automatically installed during the setup. But I used EasyBCD in Vista and accidentally uninstalled the Vista Bootloader MBR. Now when I start up my computer all I get is something like "NTLDR not found Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart." In other words I have neither the Ubuntu GRUB or Vista Bootloader MBR working. How do I fix this so I can go back to dual-booting both systems? Please help!

Is there a Vista equivalent for Office 2004 Mac's "Notebook Layout View"?

zooropa — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:45:38 -0800

A friend of mine is a schoolteacher with the Chicago Public Schools. On his Mac, he uses Office 2004. He was showing me a feature in the Office 2004 version of Word that I really like. It allows you to open up a document in something called "Notebook Layout View" (I think) that simulates a page of ruled notebook paper as if you were writing in a spiral notebook. It even allows you to format a title and heading and other features. Anyone know if there is a Vista equivalent for Office 2007? I tried looking through the templates (both what's included with 2007 and at Microsoft Online) and I can't seem to find anything similar. (and please, no flames or exhortations to "get a Mac!" I'm stuck with I have and there's no changing for the time being) Thanks!

How do I mount a FAT32 drive on Vista?

Plug Dub In — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:19:27 -0800

I've got about 200 GB of files on my old Mac that I need to put on my shiny new Vista-running laptop. I've got a 300 GB USB drive. This should be easy... I formatted the disk as FAT32 on my Mac and copied all the files over. I plug it into the PC, and I get nada. Research says Vista don't like FAT32 for big disks at all.

I know about convert x: /FS:NTFS (or whatever that command was) but the drive doesn't have a letter and I can't seem to give it one.

If I reformat the drive as NTFS, my Mac won't be able to read it, right? I'm not really comfortable with MacFUSE, and MacFusion (the GUI version) only comes with FTP and SSH support.

I've got Virtual PC running XP, and VirtualBox running Ubuntu. Will either of those help?

Installing Vista Securely

kidbritish — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:15:22 -0800

Those stories about Windows PCs getting infected within minutes of connecting to the internet... does that still apply in Vista SP1? Soon I'll be setting up a new PC put together from parts and doing a fresh install of Vista Ultimate with SP1 (retail). Should I do anything special to maximize security?

Intermittent wireless connectivity problem with Vista

slipperynirvana — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:54:54 -0800

Wondering if anyone has ideas about an intermittent connectivity problem. I've searched around but haven't found anything that quite fits my issue. I have a Dell XPS Vista desktop. Most of the time, I get a perfectly fine connection, but maybe 15% of the time I can't connect. I'll still show a reasonable signal (though do to the location of the desktop, the signal isn't the best, ranging two to three bars according to Vista), but I'll get the error message 'Windows cannot connect for an unknown reason'.

Eventually I'll get connection again, but not, as far as I can tell, because of anything I've done. And it might be a few hours later. As you can imagine, frustrating!

Repairing the network connection doesn't help, nor does turning on and off the modem and router. I've updated all drivers for the wireless card.

I know this problem is specific to this computer, as I don't have the same issue with a macbook or an XP laptop in the same physical location.

Here are a few techspecs...
I have Comcast internet, a Netgear WG311T wireless adapter, and a Linksys WRT54GL wireless router. I also have a Logitech Bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard which I thought might be causing interference, but unplugging them didn't resolve the issue.

How to get Vista to remember offset of 2nd monitor?

Sneutrino — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:57:25 -0800

I use Vista with a 2nd monitor to extend the desktop. But, every time I disconnect and reconnect the 2nd monitor (which is at least once per day) Vista forgets the relative positional offsets and I have to reset them. (The offset setting makes it so the mouse cursor and windows move smoothly between the two monitors). Is there a program or way to get Vista to remember the offsets?

I must be the only person wanting to get rid of XP and use vista.

gergtreble — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:41:51 -0800

I started with XP. Installed vista. Then I could choose between XP and Vista. I'm not using XP any more. Can I just delete the XP partition? Picture the scene. I built a HTPC and put XP media center on it. I didn't like it. So I bought vista, and amazingly it works brilliantly! When I installed vista it placed me in a dual boot scenario. I'm not using XP any more and my vista partition is running out of space. So I want to get rid of the XP partition and then expand my vista partition into the free space.

If I delete the XP partition from within Vista will I bork the boot process?

What would be the best way to get rid of the XP partition and still have a working system?

Thanks in advance.

Vista Wifi Blues

hwestiii — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:07:39 -0800

Just bought the wife a new laptop loaded with Vista Home Premium, and despite being a smoking machine, we're experiencing all kinds of wifi problems. My wife and I purchased for her a new Dell Studio laptop loaded for a pretty good price at Best Buy a couple nights ago, and I've spent the last two days pretty much fruitlessly trying to get her connected to two different access points in the house, with little or no luck. The machine (as we discovered last night) is loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium, 64 bit version. The wireless card is a Dell 1397, which is a rebranded Broadcom card.

We have two wireless networks in the house, an old Netgear box broadcasting 802.11B, and a LinkSys WRT54G running Sveasoft Alchemy firmware and broadcasting 802.11G. The B network uses WEP security and MAC filtering. The G network uses WPA security and MAC filtering.

I get partial access on the B network. It connects, and gets an address but is abysmally slow, frequently stalling out on just about any page I attempt to load. Its more like a bad dial-up connection than wifi. None of the other machines in our house connected to this router through wifi have any similar problems.

On the G network I get nothing. In spite of entering the correct security password and having the MAC address registered in the filter table, Vista comes back with the cryptic error "wireless association failed due to an unknown reason". Again, I have several other machines, including two running Vista, in the house that get perfectly acceptable wifi connections from this box.

If, however, I just plug the machine into one of the ethernet ports on the G router, I get a full speed connection.

I am at a total loss. The Dell site shows nothing regarding this sort of problem. I was a little surprised to find out that the machine was running 64 bit Windows and have a suspicion that that might be part of the problem, but nothing conclusive.

Looking for possible solutions or other similar tales of woe with this machine and configuration.

Another Vista workaround, please. How to create PDFs.

FlyByDay — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:32:24 -0800

How can I view AND create PDFs without Acrobat? Acrobat Pro does not play with (delightfully useless piece of junk) Vista, and last week Vista corrupted on my 1-year old computer and had to be reinstalled. I had a version of Acrobat Pro on the computer before, but my computer guy told me in no uncertain terms not to reinstall it. So what other options are there for viewing AND CREATING PDFs sans Acrobat? I need to create PDFs on a near-daily basis.

I searched the archives here but did not find an answer. I know there's got to be one out there, though.

Thanks!

How to get Mac and Vista to share the same wireless internet access.

herc — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:32:11 -0800

Why would my Vista-running laptop suddenly refuse to share Internet access with my Mac OS X 5.4? (more inside) Apologies if a similar question has been asked here; I searched the topic and didn't find an answer on-point (or, perhaps more likely, didn't understand what I read and missed the solution.)

Long-time Mac user, new to Windows. And fairly ignorant in the ways of wireless internet. Anyway, moved into our new home and for the past two weeks, I accessed the Internet wirelessly using the modem Comcast provided when setting up our service. Both the iMac (running OS X 5.4) and the Dell laptop (Windows Vista) were able to access the wireless internet with no problem. We've done nothing to either machine (that we are aware of), but as of yesterday, the web browsers we run on the Vista platform--Firefox, IE-- won't connect to the internet. Further, the iTunes running on the Dell will no longer connect with the iTunes on my Mac (which it had been doing for the past two weeks); the icon for the shared music will appear on the iTunes-on-Vista, but when we click on it, it just hangs.

What makes this puzzling to us is that the laptop running Vista remains connected to our wireless internet signal -- full bars, excellent signal strength. We've run the internal diagnostic software built into Vista, and it says that everything is operating fine -- this despite the fact that we can't actually use the internet on the laptop because while the computer says it is connected to the Internet, not of the applications act as if the computer is.

Everything works fine on the Mac; no interruption of Internet access on the Apple. And being a long-time Apple user, I'm not sure where to begin troubling-shooting the Dell laptop. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sharing Windows computers on a home network

lunchbox — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:54:59 -0800

What's the best way for two people to collaborate on their Windows computers that are on the same home network? My parents work together at home. One has a Vista computer and the other has XP, both with Office Ultimate 2007. Their work is tightly integrated, and they have no information that needs to be kept separate. Ideally, it would be great if both computers shared all documents, including OneNote notebooks, and "My Documents" (XP) or "Documents" (Vista) folder. In other words, the more unified and in sync the two computers are, the better.

What is the simplest way to achieve this unison? I am thinking of just putting "Documents" from the Vista computer on a network share so that it becomes the de facto "My Documents" for the XP computer. But I am concerned that this will not be a seamless experience for the person on the XP computer. Also, since OneNote will always be open on both computers, there might be some file locking issues. It would be great if these OneNote notebooks could be shared so that they could be open on both computers at the same time.

I have access to SharePoint, Groove, and several other groupware applications. What's the simplest and best solution to unify these two computers?

Downgrading multiple Vista machines with one XP Professional license

danwalker — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:12:53 -0800

Can I "downgrade" multiple computers with Vista pre-installed using only one license of XP Professional? I need to purchase several computers, and it's getting more difficult where I am to find suitable hardware that comes with the Windows XP Pro downgrade pre-configured.

It's my understanding that, if Vista Business or Ultimate is pre-configured, I can "downgrade" to XP Professional if I have a copy of XP Pro (and am comfortable doing the downgrade myself, which I am). What I'm wondering is whether I need to own multiple licences of both Vista and XP, or if only one copy of XP is OK.

One would hope that one wouldn't need to purchase Vista AND XP for each machine, but I know this is not an area where reason rules. There's lots of reference online to doing the downgrade, but I'm having trouble finding specific mention of downgrading multiple machines with only one XP Pro license.

Your thoughts?

vista compatible podcatcher

Terminal Verbosity — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:39:23 -0800

Please tell me of a vista-compatible podcatcher. Vista blows. Nothing new, I know. But I am currently podcast free at the moment because I can't get Juice, Ziepod, jpodder, nimiq or the thousand other podcatchers I've tried. I've seen the workarounds mentioned online for Juice, but they don't work for me. Are there any out there?

Cloning Vista SP1 OEM? Questions inside...

colecovizion — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:02:24 -0800

Cloning Vista SP1 OEM? Questions inside... I just bought a bunch (30) of computers from Dell. They all came with OEM licenses of Vista/Office 2007/Acrobat 8.1. Everything is activated. As you can imagine, I have quite a CD collection now!

I would like to make a single bootable, pre-configured image (on a USB drive or DVDR) that I can use on these computers just in case I have to reformat them. My ideal configuration would have Vista SP1, Office 2007, and Acrobat 8.1 already installed on the image with any specific configurations and updates. Is this legally possible (the fine print has always confused me)?

If so, my follow-up questions:

1. What software would you recommend to make the image? I'm leaning towards vLite + Acronis TrueImage Home.
2. Between the 30 computers, there are 3 different hardware sets. Would it be best to make an image for each hardware config?
3. How would you go about making such an image so that there aren't any activation issues? I'm perusing this thead for any potential "gotchas." I'm assuming that I would make an image that isn't activated or has any serial numbers in place. The Vista key appears to be modified with ease (Control Panel/System), but maybe there are some repercussions I don't know about. I think I can install Office 2007 and Acrobat 8.1 without entering serials.
4. DVDR or USB? I'm assuming DVDR is faster.

Some notes:

1. I don't need any fancy network deployment software. I would only be doing this when needed
2. I don't need to automate anything unique to the machine such as serial numbers/computer names/passwords. Just eliminating the installation time is good enough for me.

Thanks for any assistance!

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators?

Mokusatsu — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:37:56 -0800

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators? 64 bit versions of Windows require 64 bit drivers for printers, scanners and other devices. Many people upgrading to a 64 bit computer have had to retire perfectly good hardware simply because of lack of 64 bit drivers.

One way around this is to set up a 32 bit guest OS in a virtual machine and then run your devices from the guest OS, i.e. you can install your printer on a VMWare (or other type) virtual machine with XP or Vista 32 bit (or perhaps a Linux distro) and transfer your files to the guest OS when you want to print them.

Clearly the virtual machine is able to pass on commands to the device either via the host OS, or bypassing it altogether. This seems to me to be a proof of concept for a universal driver translator.

My question is, would a 64 bit emulator program doing essentially the same job as the 32 bit virtual machine be possible? Basically it would be a virtual machine with a stripped down OS that does nothing more than run 32 bit drivers on a 64 bit host.

If it is possible, how come such a program hasn't been written yet?

I'd willingly pay $100 for such software instead of updating my hardware, because running a full blown 32 bit guest OS purely to scan or print things is a bit of a hassle. I'm sure thousands of people would, and the existence of such software would remove one of the major objections people have to getting a 64 bit OS.

Smartphone for Vista 64?

Shoggoth — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:14:38 -0800

I am jonesin' for a smartphone. The catch: Which ones will work with 64-bit Vista? I have a couple of parameters: It has to be a Sprint phone and I'd like a QWERTY keyboard. Cheaper is, of course, better. I've spent hours now looking at Web sites and forums for enlightenment, but it seems that for every person saying a phone works with Vista 64, somebody else is incredibly frustrated. The phone manufacturers themselves are remarkably vague. I even talked to a Sprint agent who had to ask a supervisor what worked (Blackberry and HTC), but I need reassurance. Do any of you have Sprint smartphones that work with Vista 64-bit? If so, which ones?

eeepc as a vista remote control?

meowN — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:27:24 -0800

Trying to control the screen of my windows vista desktop from my linux laptop. details inside. So what I'm looking for is a live desktop remote control (over a LAN) for my desktop running Vista Ultimate x64 from my Eee pc running Ubuntu 8.04.

My ultimate goal would be to have my PC's screen mirrored on my laptop, so, for example; I could switch between different video files or control dvd functions across my room from the couch. I remember being able to do this years ago when both my systems were linux and I could just use the terminal to ssh in my desktop, but I'm really unsure about the inner workings of vista.

I've seen my friend do this on his nintendo DS with the R4 chip, but I tried googling and don't even know where to begin looking for this solution.

Thanks in advance if you can guide me in the right direction.

Help me restore hope AND Documents.

TuxHeDoh — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:26:23 -0800

My parents computer crashed. I never determined the cause. It had XP on it. They've since bought a laptop, and want to recover documents from their desktop. They bought a hd enclosure. I connected the hd, and it's recognized, but it seems that the profiles must've been encrypted. I know that it's almost impossible to break the encryption, but want to be helpful, any suggestions? I have attempted to boot to USB, with the Desktops HD connected via USB, and I can get to the safe mode screen and such, but get a blue screen no matter what option I choose. Could I boot from a XP repair disc and then point it at a windows on the USB HD, and login with an account to export the encryption certificate? Any other ideas?

How can I clean my computer when it won't let me?

bjork24 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:56:11 -0800

I need to swab my old laptop as completely as possible before I sell it... the only problem is, I don't have a restore or new operating system disc. Please help! I'm wanting to sell my year-old HP DV1000 laptop, but HP did not include a restore or original Vista reinstall disc with the computer. Instead, they suggested I create and save a restore point on my laptop, which, of course, I chose not to do. Now I need to sell the laptop, but I want it as close to a clean slate as I can get it. I've uninstalled every program, deleted all personal files, cleaned out all caches and temporary file folders, but I still feel uneasy. I've also tried to create a restore point, but it's now saying that would require more space than is on my hard drive (wtf?!).

Does anyone have suggestions on how I can wipe my uncooperative laptop as clean as possible without having to shell out money for a new OS install disc? Thanks!

PS - It's running Vista Home.

Windows Taskbar: Multiple row management madness!

colecovizion — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:20:46 -0800

Windows Taskbar: Multiple row management madness! I've gotten this to work once, but never again (on XP) and it is driving me mad!

Here is the layout I want on my double-row taskbar.

Quickview______________|______Tasks_____|System tray
My computer | net folder_|______Tasks_____|System tray

As you can see, I want to put one toolbar over another while maintaining the double rows of tasks. I'm on Vista now, but it is acting similar enough to XP that I think it would be the same method. From what I remember, I had to actually expand the taskbar to 3 rows and then size it down to 2 rows to make this work.

Any guidance would cure my insanity! A video would even better!

XP and Vista laptops won't access net at same time :/

debu — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:54:43 -0800

I'm setting up a wireless network in my house and am having a problem getting my XP laptop and my roommates Vista laptop on at the same time. I can get one or the other accessing the internet (when right clicking on network and repairing). I'm assuming this is an IP conflict since when I get her Vista laptop accessing the net, a yellow triangle with an exclamtion mark pops up in my task bar and then my laptop won't access the net. My guess is I have to set up a static IP for both?

Is an Apple keyboard on a PC supposed to be glitchy?

qvtqht — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:53:45 -0800

I have strange issues with my keyboard and mouse in Picasa: shortcuts with modifier keys don't work. Other keyboard and mouse glitches also occur in other applications. Windows Vista; Apple aluminum keyboard; Microsoft Habu mouse. Most of the time, the shortcuts with modifier keys, like Ctrl+A, don't work in Picasa. Also, selecting multiple photos with Shift+click doesn't work either. They work occasionally, but not usually. Things like the spacebar for starring a photo and the arrow keys for navigating still work.

Another glitch, which may be unrelated to the first, is that the tools do not seem to work most of the time in Photoshop. Regardless of which tool I select, clicking on the image doesn't do anything. In Photoshop, shortcuts with modifier keys work fine.

- Vista Home Premium SP1 on your average crappy HP desktop/tower
- Apple aluminum keyboard (I suspect this is the main problem here)
- Microsoft/Razer Habu mouse
- Picasa 2.7
- Photoshop CS3

2 power sources?

scottymac — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:40:06 -0800

I just got a new computer, and the speaker cord has me curious. It looks like any other I've ever had, but there is a USB connector split off from the regular jack right at the end. Do I choose one or the other, or do I plug them both in? In either event, I have no audio at present. Mahalo in advance.