Customer Reviews

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate UPGRADE DVD (OLD VERSION)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

I've normally always liked Microsoft OS's. But that all changed with Vista. A little personal background: I'm an electrical engineer, did computer technical support prior to that, run a home network and build my own systems. In other words, I'm technically very astute. I have a gaming system with 2GB ram, SATA hard drives, PCI express (SLI) video card. My system more than passes the Vista compatibility test (other than removing McAfee). So I decide to order Vista. After receiving my copy, I proceed with the installation. Vista performs another compatibility test during installation and comes up with an error that the install can't proceed because the SATA/Raid host controllers are incompatible. I did everything I could think of, including contacting MS technical support (useless!). Keep in mind I've done the upgrade option given by the Vista CD and not the clean install (which wipes the system). I also have 2 backups of everything; one on a different internal drive and one on an external USB drive. I decide WTF and spring for a new motherboard with current drivers. I get XP running with my new board and all and then try the upgrade again and receive the same exact fracking error! I call support again and they say I have to choose the clean install option, which I didn't want to do because I don't want to reinstall all the software (including special engineering and math programs). Thanks for skewering me MS.

Since I have to flat line the system I decide to install a stripped Raid configuration with 2 Seagate drives. I still have the IDE drive in the system with my backups. The drive configuration is finished so I insert my Vista upgrade CD and try to begin installing (I figured it would work like XP before; since this is an upgrade CD it would ask me to insert my previous full version CD into the drive). I get the message that this copy of Vista can only be installed from within a running version of XP. So now I have to reinstall XP first (since installing the raid wiped the previous install of XP). I whip out my old 1.44 floppy and the disk for installing the sata/raid drivers for the new motherboard (this is required for installing XP on a clean system as it doesn't come with those drivers). I finally get to the point of selecting the drive to install XP on. It lists my IDE backup drive and my stripped 800GB raid drive. I create a partition of the full space on the raid. Now I carefully and methodically select the 800GB drive as the install drive and press enter to install. Next is a screen informing me the 800GB drive needs to first be formatted and I press whatever key it was to proceed. HORROR of HORRORS! The next screen informs me the XP install is formatting my backup IDE drive (the one with all my file backups). There isn't an option to cancel and even then knowing I'm too late, I shut the system down and physically disconnect the backup drive (which in retrospect I should have done anyway). I've just been skewered by MS again! But all is okay, I stopped the format and can probably recover the data with some special recovery software and I have my USB external backup drive. Finally after much struggling, shedding of blood and a multitude of expletive outbursts that would make a sailor blush, Vista is installed on my system. I plug in my external USB backup drive and go to My Computer, but no drive is listed. I check device manage and Computer Management and the drive is listed but I can't access it. I unplug the USB drive and plug it into my XP laptop and the drive and data are fine. I plug and drive back into Vista and nothing! I call MS support again. After some fooling around and telling the tech that all my Backup data is on this drive he informs me I just need to assign the drive a drive letter in computer management. I'm leery, but he's consulted with others and is certain this is the way to proceed. So okay I do it and low and behold the drive is now list in my computer. I click on it and get the message that the drive must be formatted. FRACK! Now I don't know if you were keeping count, but that is now 2 separate copies of external backups that have fallen victim of the Vista upgrade. How many of you out there have 2 separate Backups?! Not many I'm sure. After 2 hours I get off the phone and still can't access the drive in Vista or XP now. Resignedly I begin the search for data extraction and recovery software, which I find and buy. The software installs and runs fine on Vista, but when it extracts the data from the initial internal backup drive all the files are of zero bytes. Okay, not good! I remove the drive and put it into another computer with XP and install the software on that system. The software again runs fine and successfully recovers all my data. Woot! Saved! After a week and a half of fiddling with Vista, installing software and drivers, only the typical software (office, IE, media player and a few others) work on the system but there are many instabilities. None of my engineering software works, there are network access issues and a plethora of other issues. The most important thing is that I do not trust Vista with my data. Today (2007/02/10) as I write this, I have formatted my system and am happily reinstalling XP.

With all that said, the moral is DO NOT UPGRADE TO VISTA on a working XP system, especially if you have any non-standard software (engineering, databases, etc). If you are brave (or foolish enough to do so), be sure to backup all your data on multiple drives and disconnect them from the system while you do the upgrade. If you are lucky, one of the copies may survive the journey you've embarked upon.

Recently I decided to upgrade my Windows XP Pro system (a Dell XPS 410, purchased last October) to Windows Vista; I had been holding off for awhile, but was curious to get going with tne new O/S. The reason I chose the "Ultimate" version was so that I could do the "in place" uprgade, which means that you can install Vista over your current O/S and programs; most verstions of Vista, including the "upgrade" packages, by default do a "clean" installation, which means it will delete your current O/S, all your data, and install a fresh copy of Windows.

Well, I found out, that I should have done what I wanted to avoid, and taken the time to do the "clean" install, and reinstall my programs. This is why almost everyone will have problems with some of their programs after the upgrade: Vista moves various system and data files from your \DOUCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\USER folders, including, your \My Documents and all sub folders, \Local Settings, which contain your \Application Data and \Temp folders, and many others. Thus when you restart after the upgrade, if the program you have installed had files there, and the Vista Setup script didn't know to move them to your new storage locations which is \USERS\USERNAME\DOCUMENTS or \USERS\USERNAME\APPDATA, that/those program(s) will have problems finding their files and settings (including older versions of Microsoft Outlook not being able to find its .pst files, LOL). This aggravated me because it took HOURS to figure out; Microsoft should provide printed doucmentation something to the effect of "To Advanced Users-the Vista In Place upgrade will move these files," etc and how to deal with it. This would save a HUGE amount of time. Less advanced users probably simply assume their system is broken and roll back the upgrade.

Once the O/S is installed and troubleshooting is done, I think it's excellent. After about 15 years, it's actually more document centric than program centric, e.g. instead of "run" on the start menu, you have "search;" you start typing in a text box and the start menu shows you everything-files, documents, web pages, emails, whatever that have a matching text string. So for example instead of launching Word, then looking for and opening the novel im working on called "Silver Lining," i type "Sil" into the "search" box, pick the "Silver Lining.doc" entry, and Word launches and loads my document. Finally more like the Mac than previous Windows, which were really basically DOS with a graphic shell pasted on. (Yes I know you could already launch programs with documents, but this is more elegant, you'll see what I mean after you've got to do it a few times).

I'm quite satisfied with Vista; in fact with my late model hardware it's like having a new computer again. But, my advice to most people is, if your computer is more than about a year old, wait for a new machine. If you are upgrading a recent machine that has the hardware needed, back up all your personal data, and do the clean install. Changing operating systems is not for beginners; if you have any doubts, it's best to pass.

It's not because it's so slow that I hate it, it's because Microsoft has decided that I'm too stupid to know what I'm doing so they've decided to protect me from myself and won't allow me to even look at what's on my hard drive. Every mouse click now takes 3 or 4 clicks for the same thing. It's so confusing to look at my documents folders, I can't figure out what is where. I can't view web pages on my own site because they aren't in the security frame of safe. All my USB WiFi devices don't work on Vista and the only ones available are extremely expensive. My cousin bought a Vista installed laptop and with customer support couldn't get it connected to his WiFi router at home because of security issues, so he took it back and got one that has XP Media Center on it for less. I was given a full, licensed copy of Vista Ultimate and I will not install it on any of my computers. If MS stops supporting XP and I have only Vista available in a PC, I'll buy an Apple.

I've been using Windows Vista Ultimate for several months now, and I must say that I am extremely disappointed. I'm normally a big early adopter of technology, but Vista is just not ready for primetime, folks. Yes, it's basically Windows XP warmed over with a somewhat prettier interface (that is a me-too rip off of the Mac OS).

Beyond that, though, it actually has several bugs that make one wonder how this thing was ever shipped as production ready. Some of the bugs that I have noticed so far (and confirmed to be problems others are having):

* After going to sleep and waking up again, my computer loses its Internet connection (both wired and wireless). I have to manually run an "ipconfig /renew" command or otherwise refresh the adapters to be up again.

* Basic file copy and deletion operations take forever as the fancy, new file operation dialog says it's "calculating." This is almost unforgivable for an operating system to flub up such basic tasks.

* Vista haphazardly classifies certain folders as various multimedia views (pictures, music, etc.)--even when they are just regular files. Gee, I always wanted to know what the "album" and "rating" of a DLL or EXE file is. Despite attempts to correct the situation, Vista eventually loses the settings and reverts back to its signature craziness.

* The new security pop ups (UAC) often come up more than once for the same basic task, even something as simple as renaming a file. They are totally intrusive.

* Interface elements, such as networking, that were simple in Windows XP have been obfuscated with dumbed down and nonsensical interfaces that make it difficult to accomplish certain tasks.

* After installing and running many programs, I have received a dialog of Vista asking me if things "ran properly." As if I knew. I think things ran properly, but the fact that the dialog box comes up makes me question it. So which is it?

* File lists in folders now re-sort on the fly. Rename a file, and it will disappear right afterward if the file list is large enough.

And the list goes on and on. With the development time that went into this product, I'm quite disappointed. At this point, I sort of wish I switched to the Mac OS instead of buying a new laptop with Vista on it. If you get Vista, wait until the first service pack comes out.

I recently upgraded from Windows XP Pro to Vista Ultimate 64 bit. Personally, I am really happy with Vista now that I have it running. The upgrade process was less than ideal, but it's not that complex. I'm running it on an AMD X2 4800+, 2GB ram, and an EVGA 8800 GTS video card. In other words, I have a pretty high end system that can properly handle Vista. Some impressions:

1. The upgrade process was long and there are some issues to aware of. First, if you are upgrading from a 32 to a 64 bit system, you will have no choice but to do a CLEAN INSTALL. This issue is not made at all clear on the packaging or the documentation. Be prepared to backup all your files and probably reinstall your software. I did not find the windows "easy transfer" utility particularly useful.

2. I found that all of my programs worked fine after the install, but I did have some driver issues. I'm finding that good Vista 64 bit drivers are not always readily available. For example, Creative still does not have anything but a beta 64 bit driver available for the Soundblaster X-Fi xTreme music sound card. I have also encountered some minor driver issues with my ASUS A8N SLI Delux motherboard.

3. The 64 bit edition of Internet Explorer 7 needs a lot of work. I've gone back to using Firefox, since java and flash just do not want to work at all in IE7 64 bit.

4. DO NOT buy Windows Live Onecare if you plan to run Vista 64 bit edtion. It will NOT work, even though the box suggests it is the "ultimate companion" for Vista. Norton 2007 works just fine, as does a free program called Avast.

5. Vista is a resource pig. I would not recommend upgrading to Vista unless you have 2GB RAM, a dual core processor, and a higher end video card that can run DirectX 10.

The upgrade process took about 5 hours, including downloading various drivers and tinkering with the system. Despite the challenges, I really do like Vista as an OS. It has been very stable for me so far, and I've experienced a noticeable performance boost with 64 bit. I love the Aero desktop, and just generally find Vista to be more user friendly and interesting than XP. The major negatives for me have nothing to do with Vista itself, but the lack of support for 64 bit in general (from Microsoft and third parties).

Bottom line: Do not upgrade to Vista 64 bit unless you are confident in your computer knowledge. I cannot comment on the 32 bit version, but I suspect the upgrade process is much easier. Also keep in mind, that Home Premium does NOT contain the 64 bit version. For me, Vista 64 indeed has been an upgrade, though that will not be the case for everyone.

In short: too expensive, all eye-candy, no driver support from third parties, and the licensing model makes a re-install impossible without a telephone call to Microsoft to verify that you are not stealing their software!

I upgraded my Dell desktop system from XP media center to Vista Ultimate to "fix" several problems I was having with XP. I found this to be a bad decision. I first installed the 64 bit version of Vista, but found that there are virtually zero third party companies that support 64bit Vista! No drivers, no working printers, USB devices, No internet security suites, etc! I then decided to upgrade to a larger hard drive. The Maxtor utility transfer utility did not work with Vista at all! It totally produced an unbootable system that the install CD could not fix. I then re-installed the 32 bit version of Vista Ultimate included in my upgrade box using the same license key. The on-line activation said that I already had this key in use and the only choices were 1) buy a new copy, 2) type in a different license key, 3) use the telephone to call Microsoft. I called Microsoft and found that their automated assistant could not help and was transferred to a person with a semi-strong accent who asked if this was the first installation and then asked if I was using it on the same machine (yes, it's the same machine). He then read a very long activation key to me that I had to type in. I find this totally unacceptable.

the 32 bit version has better third party support, but it's not great yet. I'm using a lot of beta drivers that I had to search hard to find. The changes in the OS are mostly eye-candy from the end-user's perspective. I find the new licensing model and policies assume you are guilty first, and then makes you prove it. In doing so, Microsoft is burdening the bulk of their honest customers with a lot of effort to just make their software activate. Jack-booted policies like this will result in me buying from Apple next time. At least Apple treats me like the honest customer that I am!

VISTA is appropriated named. VISTA defines something great to look at. If all you did was look at Microsoft Vista it would be the perfect operating system indeed. Unfortunately Vista is a computer operating system that was designed to be used and there is the problem. Vista is so secure and so over burdened with layers upon burdensome processor power robbing layer of sheer garbage it is rendered totally completely and utterly useless.

Vista will take the fastest XP computer and turn it into a slow worthless pile of trash. Vista is so slow it takes me back to the days when I used to walk away from my IBM AT computer get a cup of coffee and walk around the building. What makes Vista worse still is Microsoft Office 2007 the absolute pits in word processing. Add Office 2007 to Vista and you won't be productive at all but dang won't it look pretty. If you just want to watch your computer make pretty colors and areo-glass catch yourself some goofs watch Vista. When you want to work and be productive turn on your XP computer. Windows 2000 and XP work hard while Vista Hardly Works at all. Vista is garbage don't buy this dreck!

Everything you try to do on Vista is not allowed. Almost every peice of equipment you run on Vista needs to be updated to so called Vista friendly versions. The messed up Windows explorer to the point to where it is beyond useless. The problem with Vista is that Microsoft had taken all the wizards and helpful features far as they could in XP. In Vista they had to try to top a operating system that pretty much did what you asked of it with little fuss. In Vista the software code writers were just changing things because they could. Vista makes nothing better or easier. In fact Vista is built in a manner that almost seems to go out of its way to make even the most simple compater related tasks unpleasant needlessly long boring and tedious.

In a word TEDIOUS IS THE BEST SINGLE WORD TO DESCRIBE MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA. VISTA HAS SUCCEEDED IN BRINGING THE ENTIRE COMPUTER EXPERIENCE IS PAINFULLY NEW LEVEL OF THE PURELY TEDIOUS THAT HAS NOT BEEN DREAMT OF BEFORE! I just wish I could give Vista no stars or more honestly a negative star rating. I won't be buying Vista for my current systems and even when I get a new computer I will not be using Vista is it comes pre installed. I have my own old trusty XP disks and I will reinstalled XP the last useful usable operating system Microsoft made.

XP is the goofy kiddie skool like interface is ugliest operating system Microsoft ever made but while it was an ugly duckling it did work pretty well. Vista is by far the prettiest operating system Microsoft has ever made but it is pretty and dumb. Vista is over burdened with programmatic junk has a way to high opinion of itself. Vista is so much more secure because all the dumb security features make the operating system unusable. Any computer you make unusable is the most secure because you can't do any productive work on it. Vista makes your computer experience endlessly tedious and makes your computer system a must see door stop. The philosophy of Vista seems to be that a good computer should be seen but never productively used. Vista is a great system for that well monied executive that wants to look busy while doing nothing productive.

I have thought well of every operating system since DOS 3.1. This is without a doubt the worst system I have ever seen. Not only is it NOT graphicaly intuitive, it is incompatible with most all of my 32 bit software. Trying to use Quicken will crash the computer. It is going to cost a bundle to upgrade all of a person's softwarein order to use Vista. The only thing you will get out of running Vista is a lot of headaches.

Well... you need a serious computer, 1GB ram doesn't cut it. Like the Aero interface, hate user account control. Still has driver issues but on my laptop its faster than windows XP. I like media center and the new windows update. So, get 2gb of ram and a athlon X2 or a core duo and ultimate will be for you

I bought a brand new laptop with XP Pro on it. It had an AMD 64 X2 (dual core), 2 gigs a memory, a 120 GB harddrive and an ATI video card. I formatted the drive and did a fresh install of Vista. The laptop took over 5 minutes just to start up (versus under 2 for the XP Pro), and everything I did was s-l-o-w. MSWord was so slow I would type faster than it could put it on the screen, and I only type at 40-some words a minute on a good day, with lots of coffee, and the wind at my back. Opening Photoshop CS3... forget it: it crawled its way through every painful little thing I would ask it to do. Photoshop was constantly asking for more system memory. Opened Dreamweaver and PS together... no can do for I get the 'not enough memory' error. I tweaked the Photoshop memory allocation according to blogs and forums, but nothing worked.

So, I re-formatted the drive and installed XP Pro (no change in factory hardware or settings.) In XP, Office ran fine and so did Adobe's CS3. In fact, I could finally open more than three programs, something I could not do while Vista was running. Truth be told, when running XP I can have (and often do have) Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Firefox (with numerous tabs), and an FTP program open all at the same time, each tasked with open files and the standard 20-step undo selections.

I ran a little memory gauge with both programs (XP and Vista) and saw that Vista was using 1.1 GB of my 2 GB of memory just sitting idle! What for?! My XP Pro, without any tweaks, uses less than 500MB (.5 GB).

Vista just left a bad taste in my mouth and will remain on the shelf until I can no longer get support for XP. Then it is on to Linux/Mac.