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Windows XP Availability

Amended 20 Oct 2009

For anyone wanting to obtain a legal copy of Win XP go to TI Computers, Shop 5, 10-12 Clarke Street Crows Nest NSW - phone 94375437 - http://www.ticomputers.com.au - and check for purchase options. XP won't be there forever so if you need a copy you will find the price very competitive.

WINDOWS XP HOME OEM SP3 $126 - WINDOWS XP PRO OEM SP3 $194.

OEM means original equipment manufacturer. You get the CD, no boxes or booklets hence the less expensive price compared to retail versions.

Windows 7

Amended 30 Oct 2009

Windows 7 is a significant improvement on Vista and even more so on XP. If it is being considered to change operating systems then the absolute first thing to do is download the Windows 7 Advisor, then install and run it. That will identify hardware and programmes that won't work with Windows 7. The report should assist in deciding on the most cost effective option - upgrade the hardware and/or programmes, or invest in a new system.

Caution should be used if it is planned to run the Windows 7 Advisor on a computer running XP and perhaps early Vista machines, perticularly if the graphics are being handled by mainboard chips. The Advisor may report all is OK but when the install routine for Windows 7 starts a problem with graphics can occur and vital things for continuing the install are missing.

It appears the install routing for Windows 7 has a problem with mainboard based graphics, i.e. built in chips. One possible way around that is to fit a grahics card running Nvidia or ATI chips.

At this point the next options will depend on whether the existing system will run Windows 7 and whether the operating system is Vista or XP.

VISTA

Assuming the existing system appears as if it will run Windows 7 (see above) then an upgrade version is one option. It should be remembered that installing Windows 7 over Vista will lead to inheriting any problems and junk baggage that exist. However the upgrade version offers the choice in the install routine of an in-place upgrade (installing over Vista), or a "custom" install (clean install alongside Vista. A custom install renames the Vista programme folder as Windows Old. Either way the user created data files, mail boxes and address book, Internet bookmarks or favourites should be backed up. Most of those may be lost depending on what install option is chosen.

If the upgrade option is chosen the Vista install DVD will be asked for as proof of upgrade pricing qualification. No genuine Vista install disc - not a so called "recovery disc" - then do not choose the upgrade option.

XP

See the caution in the second paragraph. Generally the same choices are there for XP users except.....there is no upgrade path. It is reported by the I.T. media that an upgrade version of Windows 7 can still be used but the only option is custom install as outlined in the Vista section above.

As a rule of thumb the hardware requirements for Windows 7 are less than those for Vista suggesting that an XP class machine will run Windows 7. Given that service packs 1, 2 & 3 for XP have been noted to impact on the performance of middle to low end computers, some thought may be given to that aspect. That simply means if a given computer is slow then switching to Windows 7 is not going to show an improvement. Somewhat different with Vista because Windows 7 is noticeably faster.

To further cloud the scene there is the choice between a retail copy and an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). An OEM copy differs only in that an expensive cardboard box and a next to useless booklet are not provided. An OEM copy can be had for around $138.

Assistance in this topic may be arranged by calling 48713950 (Victor) or 48839254 (Jim).

Windows 7/Vista & Roxio

Amended 06 Feb 2010

If you are running Windows 7 or Vista and Roxio Media Creator or Creator series from 7 through 10, a problem may be encountered with Label Creator and possibly other functions.

There appears to be a problem with Label Creator and the 'Aero Glass' feature in Windows 7 and Vista. Specifically Label Creator wont open in the same screen resolution, i.e. the native resolution of the monitor or that being used at the time. Instead a resolution of 1024x768 is insisted upon. The result of that is the Label Creator window is much too big and cannot be reduced to allow access to function buttons. This makes it unusable.

The workaround is to temporarily disable the 'Aero Glass' feature, also called 'Transparency'. In Windows 7 that can be done by right mouse clicking a clear area of the screen, then 'Personalize'. From the range of Themes click on Windows Basic. The 'Aero Glass' effects will be turned off and the colour scheme will be a little different. Follow those steps to return to whatever the previous theme was by choosing it in Themes.

In Windows Basic theme Label Creator opens in the monitors native resolution allowing normal function.

To do this in Vista is a somewhat similar operation. Sometimes turning off 'Transparency' by un-ticking the check box is sufficient.

Windows 7 and E-mail

Amended 22 Feb 2010

To get around the lack of an e-mail programme in Windows 7 there are two approaches, (a)download Windows Live Mail from Microsoft or install Thunderbird downloaded from www.mozilla.com

The Live Mail path is like any other web based mail in that your mail is held on a mail server and not on your computer. There are also limitations on the mail system's ability to handle embedded text and or objects originating from another programme.

Thunderbird looks and handles like an uprated Outlook Express. It sets itself up with the account and server settings during the install routine. A great feature is the ability to easily back up the mail boxes and the 'Profile' that contains the address book. Enabling that is an add on from

https://nic-nac-project.org/~kaosmos/mboximport-en.html

that adds a back up menu to Tools.

1:1 problem resolution is available for Thunderbird. Four hour workshops are run and it depends on demand - call Jim on 48839254.

How Much RAM?

Amended 22 Feb 2010

Some vendors are noted for supplying computers with insufficient random access memory (RAM). If the hard drive activity light on the front panel constantly or often springs to life while carrying out a task together with a noticeable slow down in performance then it is a sure sign of not enough RAM. As a guide - Windows XP requires a minimum of 512Mb. Thats just to run the operating system. 1 Gb is the optimum just for the operating system. Once other programmes are opened then the RAM requirement goes up. Generally XP is happy running 2 Gb.

Windows 7 is generally OK with the above number for XP however an increase may be beneficial if the computer is used for video editing or photo enhancing. New computers typically come with 4 Gb however not all of that is available since some will be assigned to system.

With the gradual shift to 64 bit operating systems that can address considerably more RAM then 8Gb and more will become normal.

USB Flash Drives

Amended 20 Oct 2009

Scandisk USB flash drives come with utility programmes installed in a partition not accessible for removing them with Windows Explorer or My Computer. If you use these then fine - leave them be. If not you can claim back some space by downloading and running a removal utility from http://www.sandisk.com/Retail/Default.aspx?CatID=1415

The drive will need to be formatted again. To do that right mouse click on the drive from My Computer and choose "Format". If the drive is to be used on a Win 98 machine choose FAT32 format from the menu. If it is a Win 2000 or Vista machine choose NTFS. The end space result will be the same, or close to it on a very large capacity drive.

It is not known at the time of writing if the utility works on other brand flash drives.

Windows XP SP3

Amended 30 Jan 2009

If Windows Update is set to "automatic" then service pack 3 won't happen behind the scenes like other updates. The system notifies with a yellow shield in the notification area of the Task Bar. A left mouse click on the shield brings up the next step and just follow the prompts. If you decline this update you could find that updates, including security and priority, are not made available until SP3 is downloaded and successfully installed.

If you have Windows Update set to "notify but don't download or install" then the above paragraph is applicable.

Be aware that SP3 breaks some computers, notably HP's fitted with AMD processors. The reason is manufactures using an operating system "image" intended for Intel processor machines on AMD fitted machines.

SP3 is also known to dramatically slow down computers intended for "office" work and other "low end specified" models.

For tech advise on this call Jim on 4883 9254.

Word 2007 Slow To Start

Amended 20 Oct 2009

Having installed Office 2007 and you experience Word or the other applications are pathetically slow to start, it may be because Office is lacking current updates and service packs. With Windows Update set to automatic, or to just notify the availability of updates, the updates will happen either behind the scene or you should follow the prompts to update Office. UPDATING IS known to correct the slow start problem.

If that does not work then it may be due to the presence of an add in intended to convert a document to PDF format.

If you can do without this converter then open Word, then click the Office Button at the top left. In the menu click Add Ins. Look at the bottom of the window for the Manage menu line showing Comm Ad-ins. If it is not visible then click on the inverted arrow to the right of the line and then click Comm Add-ins. Next click on the Go button. In the next window look for an entry referring to PDF and remove the tick from the check box. Click OK, shut the computer down and restart it then start Word. If it does not open within a few seconds the repeat the above but this time make sure the entry referring to PDF is highlighted then click the Remove button. Shut down the computer and check again - all should be as it should.

Three choices should you need to convert Word documents to PDF format. Keep the PDF converter in Word and live with the slow start up, download and install Open Office in which Writer has a PDF converter, or look for a third party PDF writer.

There is another possible cause when there are two or more versions of MS Office installed (see further below for the Registry hack).

Another known cause is Word looks for a printer when it is started. If the printer is not switched on then Word cannot find it and takes forever to come to that conclusion. Try switching on the printer before booting the computer

Further - go into Control Panel > Printers and delete any printer icons other than for the specific printer installed. The Fax icon can be left alone.

If none of the above resolve the problem the next thing to try is a Registry hack. If unsure get someone who knows about Registry editing. Always make a backup of the Registry first. Do this at your own risk.

First make sure the correct version of Word opens a .doc file or .docx as applicable to Word versions prior to 2007 and Word 2007 respectively, by locating a file via Windows Explorer and double clicking it.

Next run the Registry Editor.

Then:

(a) Navigate down to HKEY_CURRENT USER to \Software\Microsoft\Office

(b) For Word 2007 (v12.0) continue to navigate through \12\Word\Options

(c) Once there click on the 'Options' branch in the left pane and create a new 'DWORD' and name it NoReREG. Next set the value to 1.

Do the same for other Word versions - they can be identified as Word 2003 (v11.0), Word 2002 (v10.0) and Word 2000 (v9.0).

Doing this disables the Windows installer from switching around between versions and changing settings to match the Word version being started.