Vista and I are working very hard on our relationship

December 26, 2007 4:17 PM

On the sixth day of Vista, my laptop gave to me... (List of specific troubles within)

-The screen resolution automatically jumps down to something ridiculously small upon waking from sleep. This problem only appeared after its first wifi hotspot connection.

-Search finds hardly anything. Any information or tips that didn't make it into this thread appreciated.

-Vista does not agree with my decision to use iTunes instead of Windows Media Player. With individual songs it does, but with multiple files selected (I'm trying to let iTunes do its automatic folder structuring thing on my library), no way of playing them in anything else seems to exist.

-In trying to do something about the above I accidentally added every song in my library to the Quick Launch bar. I simply cannot do the 4-click removal process 1770+ times. Is there another way to correct my mistake?

posted by jinjo to Technology (11 answers total)

Last question: my understanding is that you can use Windows Explorer, or another file-management program, to navigate to the 'Quick Launch' folder (used to be somewhere along the lines of C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch, but they might've changed that w/Vista), then just delete the unwanted entries en masse.
posted by box at 4:36 PM on December 26, 2007

Best answer: You can even right-click on the quicklaunch bar and click 'open folder'. This applies to XP, so YMMV.
posted by alexei at 4:54 PM on December 26, 2007

Best answer: For the last one, you should be able to right click on the blank space on the quicklaunch bar (there should be about five pixels worth between the last icon on the right and the arrow/menu button that shows the rest of the icons) and select Open Folder, so you don't have to search around to find the right folder.
posted by anaelith at 4:54 PM on December 26, 2007

Which laptop (manufacturer/model)? It's possible the pre-installed utilities are conflicting with Vista's settings.

As for iTunes, try right-clicking the Taskbar, scroll up to Toolbars, then uncheck iTunes. It's a short-term workaround, but it'll clear space while keeping your sanity in check. In iTunes' preferences, you may have to adjust the default player settings for various formats in order to get WMP to behave.
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:59 PM on December 26, 2007

Re: Last question. Vista seems to put Quick Launch here:
C:\users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\
posted by exphysicist345 at 5:01 PM on December 26, 2007

Ok, this may be not-helpful or rather tangential - but i strongly STRONGLY recommend ditching vista on your laptop in favor of Microsoft's brand new OS - XP SP3. ; )

I don't know that it's great on our desktops either, but I do IT work all day and it is definitely way problematic on notebooks, for all kinds of reasons that seem to make no (apparent) sense, even if we turn off ALL the power management features.

Just my 2 cents.
posted by bitterkitten at 5:04 PM on December 26, 2007

I rolled back to XP on my laptop. It drove me crazy.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 5:24 PM on December 26, 2007

Response by poster: Smart Dalek et al: Unfortunately, it is Dell's XPS M1330.
posted by jinjo at 5:48 PM on December 26, 2007

Unfortunately, it is Dell's XPS M1330.

So? There's no reason you can't install Windows XP on the Dell XPS M1330. I just got through "downgrading" my SO's new laptop to XP, and ran across the same problem the Dell has: namely, the SATA drivers on the XP installation CD are out of date and don't support the AHCI interface. The solution is mind-numbingly simple:

1. Get a Windows install CD, copy its contents to a folder on your computer.
2. Download the latest AHCI drivers here.
3. Uncompress the EXE (yes, you can do it) with WinRAR or the archiver of your choosing. Put any file that starts with "IA*.*" into the /i386 directory of your windows install files.
4. Now, create your own Windows XP install CD using this boot image and these instructions.
5. Install as normal.

Your hard drive should now be recognized by the Windows XP install process. You'll still need to download the latest drivers specific to your system, but at least you won't be crippled with Vista.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:47 AM on December 27, 2007

Also, just wanted to clarify this step:

Put any file that starts with "IA*.*" into the /i386 directory of your windows install files.

...You will be asked if you want to overwrite the existing files. Click YES.

---

The reason this works so easily is because most OEM copies of the Windows XP SP2 install CD already come with a copy if Intel's Storage Drivers, you just need to update them with the latest and greatest for your particular system. If you had a really old copy of XP, you'd still be able to install it, but you'd have to edit a couple of files.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:50 AM on December 27, 2007

>-The screen resolution automatically jumps down to something ridiculously small upon
>waking from sleep. This problem only appeared after its first wifi hotspot connection.

I have not had that happen to me yet - same machine BTW, had it for about 2 weeks - but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Vista returning from "sleep/hibernation" tends to do strange things with Toshiba's - so...

However - the very first thing I do with any machine is wipe whatever crud the vendor has installed and rebuild it manually - yes - with Vista - heck, I will shortly be going 64-bit on the 1330.

Actually - "Civil_Disobedients" instructions for the drivers are dead-one, but here is a kicker - you will need to manually add them a "retail" Vista install with either a USB key or a CD/DVD as well - so it's not just XP that is difficult.

Either that - or turn of AHCI in the BIOS (ugh).

In addition to Civil's instructions, try nLite to create your bootable, slipstreamed image (for XP, 2003 - but not Vista yet)

(I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... I am not going to comment on XP rollbacks... )
posted by jkaczor at 11:48 AM on December 27, 2007