Getting the Most from vista..the donts
Getting the most out of vista
In the Spirit of sharing I have listed some of the most fascinating programs and applications that you can run on vista, to improve your vista Experience, and also share some programs that can make your vista experience a living hell. So which one should I start with..hmmmm..Ok I think I start with the bad program
Programs to avoid on vista: Sometimes we easily forget that vista is a brand new operating system and not and upgrade to window XP, even though it is compatible with most of the applications that run on it previous predecessor .The fact still remain that because of the new improvement in security and visual effect on vista has made some traditional xp programs to fail and crash in their new vista environments.(while others have fitted in quite well indeed).Things like limited administrative privileges available to some programs, User Account Control, Aero Glass effect..Are some of the new innovations which these programs either are incompatible with or fail to take advantage of..These incompatibilities can give you so many headaches that it’s just better to avoid these programs all together. Or wait for their upgraded versions that have been developed to address these issues. Below are some of the programs that based on my experience with them should be avoided.
*Some of these applications have new upgrades that have addressed their vista issues.
1-Nod32 Back in the days when I was still rocking XP there are some applications that I just couldn’t do without due to their vital importance to my everyday computer experience. There were just either so cool, or bear some much importance in term of utility that my windows Experience would have been incomplete without then. Number one on the list of these programs is Nod23.Talk about an antivirus that saved my system from the dreaded Brontok worm and some other notorious worms and Trojan that make your PC experience a living Hell. Nod was just so good that some people are still thanking me today for recommending it to them. Unfortunately something that made my life so much easy on XP did the exact opposite on vista. To start with the version 2.1.0 that I used with my Xp did not install on vista so I did some googling and found out that a new version 2.7 was “compatible”.i downloaded, installed it, and expected to live happily ever after..
Issues: But that was not to be. On its primary functions on protection it did a wonderful job like it as always done. But anytime I try to connect my PC via wlan, I get these some error message and before you know it windows explorer as crashed. Vista problem and solution center then would inform me that the problem was caused by Nod32. Very attempt to try tweak the beloved antivirus to get it accustomed to my new OS (i.e. running it in compatibility mode xp and as an administrator) failed.
Solution In the end I had to remove Nod and replace it with Kaspersky internet security version 6.0.2.621 which have so far done a better job both in security and stability of my system.
*Remember to update your software anytime a new release is available. Check regularly the manufacturer’s site if you’re having problems with Windows Vista, because a new and Vista optimized release might be available
1-Nero 7 Nero is a very cool utility tool for burning videos, audio, and other files into DVDs or CDs .it’s a very cool program and comes very needed in vista since Burning of file to CD/DVD in vista can be a trying experience that I won’t advice anybody to try out without a good 3rd party application.
Issues The first issue the previous Nero 7.5.5.6 and lower versions won’t even install, but would crash your installers in a vain attempt at “helping you to upgrade your version of Direct x which is 10 on vista to 9” so I got the higher version which is Version 7.8.00 this version installed quite easily. but I was cut short when I started experiencing COM SURROGATE ERROR every time I opened a folder containing .AVI or DIVX files. The culprit … Nero .the problem was Nero was not just an application for burning files.it could also be used to play a number of video and audio files and comes with it own player called Nero Show time which would install some of its codec on your vista PC. These codec are incompatible with vista and would trigger the COM SURROGATE error which can make Windows Media player and Windows explorer to be very unstable.
Solution The solution would be downloading the latest Nero time which In my case was version 7.9.6.0 is the latest version as at Blog time. The New version even comes with a very cool Sidebar which can be configured to be a one touch button for all your Nero burning and CD burning process. Alternatively you could also download a program called Nero lite. It is a watered down version of Nero which is made up of just the core application of Nero and leaves out the blot. The program like its name suggest is just for burning files and does not include some of the extra s that comes with a traditional Nero application. *Remember to update your software anytime a new release is available. Check regularly the manufacturer’s site if you’re having problems with Windows Vista, because a new and Vista optimized release might be available.
Divx One of the disappointing features of vista is the inability of vista Media Players ( i.e. Media Center & Media Player) to natively player .VOB files for those who don’t know -.VOB is a videos file that is the root of all DVD videos. If you are like me and prefer to first rip your DVD into your Computer before playing them .then you would have a problem using vista this is because for reason- that smells anti piracy measures-decided to disable the ability of Media Center and Widows Media to play VOB files something that was possible with XP. One way I choose to get round the problem was to Install Divx player which among other things would allow you to also play Avi and Divx files.
Issues Divx also causes Com surrogate error. But for me the worst part of using Divx is if you decide to uninstall it from your system it would for some reason I fail to understand take your DVD driver with it. After uninstalling Divx from my Vista machine I discovered that when I go to my computer I don’t see the CD Rom drive anymore. The same thing happened to my friend’s system that uninstalled it on his vista ultimate. In the end I had to reinstall vista since system restore did not solve my problem.
Solutions some have said that installing the latest Divx would solve the Com surrogate error and hence remove the need to uninstall Divx from your system. I preferred to stay clear of Divx altogether. Since most of my codec problems have been solved by Nero.
Google Desktop A very cool software that very body should have its actually comes in a bundle that includes a sidebar with detachable gadgets, a search bar, the primary function of Google desktop is to index all the files on your system for easy search-and my God does it do that well in fact it’s too good at the job-you would not have expected less from a program with Google attached to its name.
Issue : The issue that Google desktop has with vista is a minor one but one that could give you headache if not well managed. The problem is that if you leave Google desktop has one of your startup programs it would sometimes cause windows to disable its own sidebar even if you are not running Google’s sidebar.
Solution: So if you love your vista sidebar then the solution would be to remove Google desktop from your startup menu. It would naturally give you this option whenever you exit the program.
In general i can not give you a list of all the programs that will not work with vista-i intentionally left out those programs that wont even install in the first place since the fact that they didn’t install should means no harm done-.the secret to getting the most from vista is always checking for the latest version of any applications that you have on your system to so that whenever a new version for vista is out you will always be on the know.you an start by checking with the developers site.
Application compatibility Troubleshoot
Application compatibility Troubleshoot
Every windows operating system has the ability to use a program designed specifically for its predecessors. This can be done if the program is set in the compatibility mode.vista is no different and in other to ensure that a program designed for a previous os works well on vista. Here are some tweaks that can make this possible.
1-Right clicks on the program’s .exe file before installation and select properties.
Then select the compatibility tab,check the run this “program in compatibility mode for Windows XP” or any other Window version that the program runs well on.the essence of this is that vista would then simulate the OS environment of that particular version of windows hence deceiving the application into thinking that it is actually running on that OS.
Also check “Run as administrator” this would allow vista to elevate the security privilege of the program.
Although the above tweak does not work every time. But you can surely use it to help make an application that worked very well on older windows run smoothly on vista.
Also remember not to always use all your tool bars options some tool bars like itunes and Google desktop and Microsoft Encarta are known to disable the transparency of your task bar.although Windows Media player is safe.
* It would be impossible to list all the programs that are incompatible with vista however the surest way to avoid compatibility issues on vista is to ensure that you always get the latest updates from the developer of the program you intend on using.And ensure to check google for any compatibilty issue an intending program might have with vista and how it can be corrected