I swear I will swing for Vista!

[Palfrem]

For the umpteenth time I have had to reload Vista
I have all my files backed up on a remote hard drive.

I can't get my PC to see the drive when it is going through the restore files routine.

It has already backed up to the drive since the re-install, but it just keeps saying the location is unavailable when i try to recall the back-ups.

any ideas (apart from get XP back)

many thanks

Mike

 

[grober]

Try this---- unplug your external drive- plug it into a different USB port then key START>MANAGE>DISC MANAGEMENT and look for the external drive. Make sure the partition in question is marked as active. There can also issues if your backup drive is formatted as FAT32 rather than NTFS or maybe security permissions for the drive in question?

 

[Palfrem]

Grober

thanks for that tip

It seems my remote is not formatted as NTFS so my PC won't restore.

Any ides why it didn't mention this when it made the backups?

next question, how do I get all the stuff back please?

many thanks for your help

Mike

 

[Palfrem]

There is a God!

Don't ask me why, but it has now started to restore....

It's another world isn't it!

Thanks

Mike

 

[grober]

You have obviously made the correct offerings to the Gods and they are now smiling again!

 

[oldcro]

Is this another example of operator Mal Function blaming Vista again?

 

[del320]

Going off on a slight tangent here... I have a Belkin 7 port USB hub which is recognised at boot-up (Vista) but is not recognised when the PC is restarted from "sleep mode".

It's not the end of the world - I just unplug the USB input then plug it back in - but it's annoying and I'm sure there must be a solution.

Another strange glitch is that on three apparently random boot-ups the monitor has opened showing a 1280 x 768 px display instead of the correct 1400 x 900 px. The strange thing is that when I go to control panel etc, the slider only goes up to 1280 x 768. My only solution has been to do a system restore and all is OK. I suppose I could have unplugged the monitor but that's an even bigger PITA.

Any ideas please?

 

[Deadhead]

At work I am responsible for 1600 PCs running Windows XP. We won't be going to Vista anytime soon.

At home we use Macs... they just work.

 

[andy_k]

At home we use Macs... they just work.

except when they don't when it's usually expensive or terminal

Or when half your software doesn't work because it's PC only

All we need now is the "Linux is great" brigade to complete the "no help" posts

Del320, check your drivers are Vista certified and make sure you installed them with all the anti viorus software etc switched off. Vista can be picky with drivers but we've found it a lot more stable than XP and that was pretty impressive

 

[whizzkid11]

At home we use Macs... they just work.

I hope you don't get used to it... you have been warned...

Any Vista users out there, please make sure you install Service Pack 1 - it really is a must for quick, stable computing.

SP1 is nearly as big as the OS itself in terms of size, and the fixes are numerous. One useful one is it allows you to install greater 4Gb RAM and uses it!

We run Vista at work, and it is the same as XP with a different costume.

Windows 7 is a different ball game - and right now the first beta is pretty unstable...

 

[Palfrem]

oldcro,


I don't think it was operator error, in between my first post and the successful restore Vista downloaded 51 updates, service Pack 1 and some more updates.

I assume they may have had something to do with it?

Cheers

Mike

 

[oldcro]

oldcro,


I don't think it was operator error, in between my first post and the successful restore Vista downloaded 51 updates, service Pack 1 and some more updates.

I assume they may have had something to do with it?

Cheers

Mike

OK fair enough, no errors on your part Palfrem, just a failure to keep Vista up to date. It is advisable to set the PC up to check for updates or check yourself at frequent intervals. I've used Vista from the start and the only problems have been through my own actions, not the systems.

 

[verytalldave]

At work I am responsible for 1600 PCs running Windows XP. We won't be going to Vista anytime soon.

At home we use Macs... they just work.

I asked our IT department at work whether we would be switching over from XP to Vista soon.
All they did was laugh at me. I took that as a no.

 

[Palfrem]

Not a failure to keep up to date. It was forever downloading updates.

Like I said it died on me. Kept failing to load something or other, then BSOD (sometimes) then CHKDSK and back to square 1. The only option after system restore, last known good setting, repair, pray, sacrifice a virgin, etc. was re-load Vista.

All my anti-virus is up to date, firewalls, etc.

This is a 9 month old well specced Dell PC, no choice but to get what you are given i.e. Vista

When it works it's fine, but it does have a habit of dying for no apparent reason.

Our IT at work also don't care for Vista either

Fingers crossed - let's see how long it goes.

Cheers all

Mike

 

[219]

any ideas (apart from get XP back)

Yes ,

get a Mac

 

[andy_k]

SP1 is nearly as big as the OS itself in terms of size, and the fixes are numerous. One useful one is it allows you to install greater 4Gb RAM and uses it!

not unless you are using Vista 64

 

[whizzkid11]

not unless you are using Vista 64

Which bit doesn't apply? I have a 64bit Vista running on a dual Intel Xeon with 8Gb RAM running fine.. on an HP XW8400 series workstation.

And have 32 Bit Vista on my HP 8510W laptop running with 4Gb - before SP 1 was applied i only saw and addressed 3Gb but once SP1 was applied it is showing and using all 4Gb.

 

[andy_k]

Which bit doesn't apply? I have a 64bit Vista running on a dual Intel Xeon with 8Gb RAM running fine.. on an HP XW8400 series workstation.

And have 32 Bit Vista on my HP 8510W laptop running with 4Gb - before SP 1 was applied i only saw and addressed 3Gb but once SP1 was applied it is showing and using all 4Gb.

32 bit vista can use a total of 4GB of RAM and that includes all your graphics memory, caches and other places computers love to hide bits of RAM

if you have a graphics card with 512mb of RAM and 4GB of physical RAM then any 32 bit operating system will only use up to 3.5 GB of that memory.

Anything above 3GB of physical RAM in a 32 bit system is really a waste

 

[The G.F.P]

vista is ****e

i use xp sp3 in windows classic mode so it looks like windows 98

i hate vista

i have ver low hope for 7 also

 

[timskemp]

And have 32 Bit Vista on my HP 8510W laptop running with 4Gb - before SP 1 was applied i only saw and addressed 3Gb but once SP1 was applied it is showing and using all 4Gb.

SP1 is showing 4Gb, but check task manager, that'll be 3Gb you'll be really addressing.