PLEEEASE help I am sooooo stupid

[mouse]

Hi Everyone (& hiya Lynnrose)

Had a job to remember where to come since leaving msn.

Anyway I am really in the stuck. My original computer finally expired in a cloud of bluey smoke and nasty fumes a week or so ago, having kept it going as long as possible I decided to buy a new desktop.

I had what I thought was a version of XP pro which I had bought when I had my other computer the version was an early one up to 2002. Anyway I put it in as a clean OS install and everything went OK until I had to enter the key .. it seems I probably did NO buy it as a separate OS but it must have been a pre install and the disc must have been sent to me with the old computer.

After swearing somewhat (LOL) I went out and bought the Vista ultimate OS thinking that with the new puter might as well upgrade the whole if I had to.

Trouble is I cannot get what was installed from the XP Pro OS disc off and every time I switch on the blasted thing keeps trying to finish installing XPPro.

I have tried to change the boot sequence to DVD/CD drive and it gets to press any key to install from dvd/cd drive the light on the drive comes on but then goes off and the blasted XP pro tries to load again.

Please can anyone help me by explaining how I can get into the brain and kill off the going nowhere XP pro.

Thanks everyone

Love from the Mouse

[mikkh]

The only things I can think of are

a) You're trying to boot a DVD from a CD drive, which is unlikely on a new PC (but possible)

b) the optical drive (hopefully a DVD) is faulty

c) the Vista DVD is faulty or a bad pirate copy

Try it in someone elses PC if possible

[mouse]

Thanks for the reply Mikkh.
I had almost given up with the OS which had seemed to have taken over my new puter whatever I tried.

I looked for any articles on key codes and problems and came across a reply on a site where people ask questions, the reply gave the person who had made the question two sets of numbers to try, I thought I had nothing to lose so entered one set and HEY PRESTO the OS finally finished installing ))))

Now I would like to know how to uninstall properly and install Vista Ultimate since I bought the blasted thing LOLOL

My new computer does not have a floppy drive just a lightscribe DVD/RW/CD rom

I wish I was about 30 years younger and then maybe I would understand more about what makes computers tick, I suppose time to study and practise would help.

many thanks again

Mouse

I like this format in here, it is kind on they eyes

[jojo]

You could do that but suggest you will be disapointed.

Vista is a terrible OS.

I had it for a while and went out and bought a copy of XP.

Realise it may be a pain but I think you will be happier sticking with XP now that it's up and running.

[ken]

With Windows 7 so close to final release, you should have used XP to get a free BETA download and burnt it to disc. By the time the free trial is up, the final release should be out. One thing though, anyone with a computer capable of running 64 bit, install that version. On an Intel machine it works excellent. There is a bit of a driver problem on an AMD machine, but I have pretty well got that beat now. I have found the 32 bit version to be a bit unstable; I took it off my laptop, installed 64 bit and now it runs boofull.

I wouldn't pay tuppence for a copy of any version of Vista.

KC

[mikkh]

You can't uninstall an operating system, you either upgrade it, or put a fresh install of the new OS over the old one (by booting from it) You could also dual boot both, but that would mean partitioning the drive, which is a task that frightens most people for some reason.

You should be able to start the install from within XP, now you've got it installed though

Vista is OK btw, it's just different and does have several annoyances that can be switched off anyway.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but from a neutral standpoint (I use Linux a lot) I'd say that anyone who rubbishes Vista hasn't given it a proper go, and I'm surprised at your comments Ken. I just installed the Windows 7 beta myself, and yes it seems OK, but it also appears to be just a reworking of Vista, which is why I can't understand your negative views on it (Vista)

[ken]

When I fist saw W7 Mikk, my first thought was Its Vista all over again. It is very much like Vista in some ways, but the 64 bit version is much faster than Vista. I have got a very fast operating system in XP 64 bit, why would I want to give that up for an OS thats much slower. W7 isn't as fast as XP, but its no slouch either. Once they get the drivers sorted out, it could be as good. When I installed it on my Intel laptop, it found every driver except the card reader. It took 4 installs before I got it to work on this AMD machine. Its not 100% now, but I'm using it to write this. Its been a workup installing everything on this machine, having to use the compatibility wizard to install all the time. I have kept at it, to give it a fair crack. I gave up after about 7 weeks with Vista on my laptop, it was a complete waste of space. I have still got XP on both this and my laptop, but I have been using W7 most of the time. I put the 32 bit version on my laptop, first of all. It was totally unstable and would crash every time I tried to install anything. I put 64 bit on and it works lovely. I do try to give these systems a fair go and I don't just rubbish them for the sake of it. I have been playing with XP 64 bit, since it was BETA and there wasn't any proper drivers. I knew it was going to be a good system one day and up to now theres been nothing to touch it.

KC

[jojo]

I won't argue with mikkh, especially since both he and Ken know considerably more than I do.

But XP does a good job. It's wrinkles seem to have been more or less ironed out so I personally, don't see any reason to switch to something else.

I hated Vista simply because I couldn't get it to do anything and so much software wouldn't run.

There are so many qwerks in Windows. I will never understand why I seem to have about 5 user accounts. But as I said. I'm use to XP. I'm sure you are as well.

Vista has so much that seems so pointless. I have a folder for my docs. I want a sub folder in there for letters. In Vista I seemed to have to eneter into full diplomatic negotiations each time.


I'm sure there are perfectly reasonable explainations.

[mikkh]

Windows 7 is surprisingly good (and stable) for a beta version.
I was about to curse it for not finding my sound card and graphics card, when it announced it had important updates to do

I thought ho, hum - get on with it then, but much to my surprise the updates included my missing drivers

Impressive, I thought, but lets see how you cope with my new printer when I switch it on

Not only did it cope, it found and installed the drivers in a few seconds - now that is impressive

[ken]

Most of my problems were with the Palit HD4870 Sonic Dual. Then after a couple of days Windows came through with some trial drivers and its more or less worked OK since. It did crash early on for no apparent reason. Thats the first time for a few days. I have just now changed it over to performance settings and moved the paging file to its own partition, will see how it goes now. I turned off the System Restore and got rid of all the hibernation files, as soon as I got an image of the OS. Its been working without all that crap for about a week. My Services still need to be trimmed down a bit. There are quite a few new Services, so I need to figure them out a bit. The address bar in MSN Premium browser doesn't work, but my mailbox works OK and I am navigating by links and favourites. IE8 is working fine, as is Firefox. Although there is still a problem with Flash and 64 bit, Flash seem to be better with W7 64 than with XP 64. I'm still using Office 2003 without any bother, although I had to use the compatibility wizard to install it. Thats about as far as I've got with it so far. I stuck my mobile network dongle into my laptop this morning and was online within a minute of it installing the drivers. It recognised it straight away. Microsoft have really made an effort this time in sorting driver out, although naturally they have concentrated on Intel and AMD are taking second place.

KC

[larrye]

Vista is not a "terrible OS". I'm don't know near as much as KC or Nike, or mikkh and I had absolutely no problem upgrading from XP to Vista Home Premium 32-bit and then to Vista Ultimate 32-bit and then again to Vista Home Premium 64-bit. Never had a problem with any software or hardware. I'm now testing Windows 7 64-bit and to me, it's very much more than just a rework of Vista. I feel that for those who are willing, they should try Vista and decide for themselves how good it is for them. What really gets me is the number of people who are testing the Beta of Windows 7 and complaining because they can't get it to look like Vista, the OS they've been complaining about. LOL Go figure.

[Roz]

Like Larry, I don't have a problem with Vista either. I have the 64bit version on my desktop, and the 32bit on my laptop. Admitedly I didn't particular choose it on either, it just happened that both my old machines went within months of each other, and neither were young enough for me to warrant spending money on. However, I have had the user account control in Vista turned off on both since the second day I used it, leaving that on would certainly have driven me insane. And I've had no problems with drivers, or software at all.

[ken]

Funnily enough I thought it looked just like Vista. Mine doesn't now, because it's on performance settings and not on pretty settings.

I don't think Vista had any driver trouble, but they were a long time developing it. With the quick development of W7 the Vista drivers that are supposed to work with it don't on AMD machines. Intel are alright. Its AMD who have been caught out not Microsoft. I would have been stuck if Windows hadn't supplied me with those ATI pre-release drivers. I couldn't get them from ATI or Palit website. Microsoft are cooperating with AMD to get things right, but I suppose its in their own interest to make sure this OS is a success. There are a few people who like Vista, but even Microsoft had to admit it was a disaster. If it hadn't been for the new hardware being so good, it wouldn't have got off the ground. The old generation of machines that were greyhounds with XP, couldn't even run Vista. I had an Athlon 64 3400+ that went like a rocket with XP 64 bit, with 3 gig RAM and Vista wouldn't install. Yet when I tested it with Microsoft, they said was plenty good enough. What fooled a lot people, they had never tried a multi-core computer with anything else. I think a lot of Vista users are going to be in for a shock, when they try W7 and see how much faster their machines run. I still have a lot of faults, but speed isn't one of them. As long as the driver problem is resolved, I cant see any reason that the final release cant happen by summer. After testing has finished, I doubt that I will bother paying for a license. I will carry on using XP 64, until W8 needs testing.

KC