Well, I put all the parts together and have Vista running on the PC. There’s plenty of info about putting a PC together already on the net so I’m not going to get into the details. The case had plenty of room so getting the motherboard and drives in wasn’t a problem. The cover is held on by one thumbscrew but it fits securely and is easy to remove. The only hitch I had was the lack of an available SATA power connector for the DVD reader so I had [...] Read the rest »
Vista PC Build – Parts and Planning
We won’t talk about how long it’s been since I built a computer, but let’s just say that the ATX form factor probably wasn’t even a twinkle in some engineer’s eye at the time. I’ve been eager to get back into it and also get a relatively low cost Windows computer that I could tinker with. Another thing I remember from those old days is value is more important than rock-bottom cost, cheaply made parts extract payment way beyond their price. So here are my requirements for this computer: Quite [...] Read the rest »
Optimizing A Windows Vista Virtual Machine
The Team Fusion blog has an article about optimizing Vista on VMware Fusion 2. Since it’s from the VMware folks it’s titled as VMware specific, but it’s appropriate for any Vista virtual machine. Suggestions include: Disable System Restore Disable Screen Saver Optimize Power Management for Virtual Machine Disable Windows Sidebar Disable Remote Management Run Windows Disk Defragmentation Utilities OPTIONAL: Change to Classic UI Disabling system restore is something I hadn’t considered although I do severely limit the disk space it’s given. I like the option of bein able to roll [...] Read the rest »
For Me: Windows XP Out, Windows Vista In
Actually, it’s not as dramatic as the headline suggests. I’m still primarily a Mac user and my only Windows usage is in a virtual machine. I do very little in Windows (outside of my day job). There’s a couple Windows apps I like – AnyDVD and Windows Live Writer – and I also use it when I need IE. While I did install Vista on my iMac awhile back I never bothered to move over to Vista and actually start using it. This past weekend I fired up Vista, applied [...] Read the rest »
Windows Vista Home Premium
While Vista isn’t new on the Quest I did add a new flavor, Windows Vista Home Premium. At $100 less than Vista Ultimate it seems to be the version to get. There are only a things Ultimate provides over Home Premium including Windows Complete Backup & Restore, Windows Fax and Scan, and Bitlocker disk encryption. I don’t care about any of those but there is one thing that Windows Vista Home Premium won’t give me, and that’s Remote Access through Windows Home Server. I’m installing this in a virtual machine [...] Read the rest »
Windows Vista SP1 RTM
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been released to manufacturing. The roll-out to end-users will begin in mid-March although not everyone will see it then. Microsoft has identified some drivers that work fine in the gold release of Vista but do not work with SP1. So if Microsoft detects those drivers on your PC you won’t be offered the update automatically. Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows has a Windows Vista SP1 FAQ with more information. So, is the release of SP1 enough to improve Windows Vista’s reputation? Update: Paul Thurrott [...] Read the rest »
Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh
Microsoft released a “refresh” to the Windows Vista SP1 Release Candidate. I’ve been running the original release candidate in a VMware virtual machine on my MacBook. They released the update back on January 11th but I didn’t get around to starting the upgrade for another week. The update isn’t automatic, even with the original RC installed. The update was problem free, despite requiring several hours. The original release candidate had to be uninstalled prior to the upgrade. This was done by going through Control Panel in the Windows Update/View Installed [...] Read the rest »
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC 1 Installed on VMware Fusion
Against my better judgement I decided to installed Windows Vista SP1 RC1 on my VMware Fusion instance of Vista Ultimate. I say against my better judgement because I might have to uninstall before installing the final release as has been the case with earlier betas and release candidates from Microsoft. Also, according the Microsoft there are additional steps with the Release Candidate that won’t be in the final release so it will take longer. I decide to go with the getting the update through Windows Update. But before I do [...] Read the rest »
FAT32: Windows <-> OS X
My MacBook is setup to to dual-boot OS X and Windows Vista (using Apple’s Boot Camp), It can also run Vista under VMWare Fusion. I wanted to reformat my Maxtor OneTouch external drive so that I could use it for both OS’s on my MacBook. The Maxtor had been exclusively Mac therefore formatted with the Mac OS Extended file system. Format Recap Mac OS Extended: The format that’s “native” to OS X. Windows Vista cannot handle this format at all. FAT16: The original disk format. Windows and OS X can [...] Read the rest »
Windows Vista on Parallels
After my (eventually) successful Ubuntu install on Parallels I decided to try and continue my streak and install Vista. I had licenses for Ultimate and Business. Parallels doesn’t support the 3D Graphics needed for the Aero interface and Bitlocker disk encryption isn’t supported in a virtual environment so I won’t be able to see these features of Ultimate. But with Ultimate I’ll be able to see all the features available in the Home editions. Out of curiosity I went to Dell and found a machine that included Home Basic in [...] Read the rest »