I’ve already written about my Ubuntu install, although it’s a little outdated, so I figured I might as well discuss what is my *cringe* main OS. I’ve done a bunch of tweaks, found things here or there, and have actually ended up making Vista (somewhat) live-able. I have enough information that this will most likely end up being a #-part series.
As I said in my Ubuntu post, I purchased a Dell XPS M1710 with a Core 2 Duo T2700 2GHz, 2gigs of RAM and a 150gb 7200 RPM SATA harddrive. It ain’t nothin to sneeze at, but I was disappointed at it’s performance running Vista Business (well, more than I expected to be). And don’t bother asking me why I didn’t revert to XP, I’m just going to play the “early adopter” card there.
Today’s Focus: Turn EVERYTHING off
Ok, while I don’t necessarily mean everything, here’s a bunch of stuff to turn off. Here’s things, in order of importance (or so I think):
1. Windows Sidebar
An analog clock? Rotating pictures from My Photos? No thanks. When I’m trying to get s#!t done, I don’t need to see windows default pics scrolling by. I shut that bad boy off as soon as I first booted into the OS. This is done by right-clicking the icon in the tray, going to properties, and turning off “Start Sidebar when Windows Starts”. You just saved yourself approximately 25 to 30mbs of ram right there, about the amount it takes to run Outlook in your task tray.
2. Windows Search
I don’t know about you (yeah, you, I’m talking to you) but I’m a rather organized guy when it comes to my computer. I formatted and partitioned my drive when I took the machine out of the box. The C drive is installed programs only (except for the desktop folder, obviously) and the D drive is my storage. I know where things are and I never open search and just blankly search my entire system for something. When I got this beastly laptop, I noticed it would just sit there with the hard drive spinning and spinning, and thought “well, that ain’t right…” Turns out it was the Windows Search indexing my life for me. Well, we can’t have that, it’s actually turning out to make me less productive.
To turn off this hindrance, go to start > run and type “services.msc” (without the quotes) and hit enter. Scroll down to the bottom and you should see Windows Search. Right-click it and hit Properties. Change the Startup Type to Disabled and click OK.
3. Aero Glass
I like the new look of Vista. It’s not a bad thing, but the transparency is a resource whore for my tastes. Shut it off and see how much of a difference it really makes. But, like i said, I like the new window look and the explorer nav bar, and the Windows menu (more on these later), but you can also go retro to Windows Classic and save even more.
Right click on your desktop, go to Personalize. Click “Window Color and Appearance” (should be the first option in the list you see.
Stay tuned, kids, upcoming topics include User Access Control, shortcuts, helpful tools, registry cleaners.
JOY!
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The best advice i can give for companies is to stay as far away from Vista as possible
An upgrade to Vista is not an upgrade
Well, like I said above, I definitely agree with you, but I ordered Vista on this laptop and stuck it out. It’s really not that bad anymore. But keep reading, If you follow the recommendations I lay out over the next few days, it basically runs like XP with some graphical modifications.
I agree with the faithfull employee. An upgrade to Vista on a business laptop is not an upgrade. Try travelling with it. The wifi internet signal gives off all kind of secuity warnings when you try to hook up. A real increase in productivity if I cannot connect to wi fi at all. Hotel / motel wireless is inconsistent enougn and hard enough sometimes to connect to without adding stumbling blocks to the whole process.
Often the laptop can be wiped out. Buy an XP liscence. Install the drivers from the motherboard site. Either you or someone with the skills and willing to do the work can do it. Sometimes if the laptop is very new the wifi can present a problem though. A third party card can be used in the pcmcia slot at the worst.
Travel with a laptop and motel wi fi is essential to me as a business traveller. I do not need the aggrevation of Vista added to the mix.
Well, I’m a business owner, a web developer, and an all-around computer nerd. I like to try new things, and Vista hasn’t been as bad as the stories lead you to believe. BUT, the key thing, which is the next part of my fantastical multi-part vista adoption blog, is turning off User Access Control, doing away with all the Cancel/Allow crap.
You mentioned the Wireless security warnings. I actually do like it. I travel a lot with my Dell XPS, going from coffee shop, to client’s office, and back home. I enjoy the “public place, home, etc” security question because it allows me to easily switch between different firewall security options (turning on file sharing on more secure networks, and walling myself in at a local coffee shop with free wireless internet.)
The overall goal is, of course, to transition to my Ubuntu install however. I’m only in Vista because, while on a client site billing them hourly, i don’t want to have to figure out how to do something, and Windows is quite native to me as I’ve been at it since the very beginning.