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Vista - A
Cautionary Tale
As can be expected, at some stage I was going to have to upgrade to Vista.
The reasons for this are many but the main one was that I started to get a
number of calls from customers with Vista requiring help, and I could not
rely on having a system on hand and available to use while talking them
through a solution to their problem.
Before I did the deed (or more correctly attempted the
deed) I ran the Vista upgrade advisor and as expected found a number of
issues with software and printers but none with system hardware at all. For
the technically interested the system comprised of the following:
| |
Motherboard |
DFI KT400 |
| |
Processor |
AMD K7 3200 |
| |
Ram |
2 Gigs DDR400 |
| |
Video |
ATI 9600PRO - 8x AGP 256
meg |
| |
Sound |
C-Media PCI 5.1
|
| |
Primary SATA HDD |
250 Gig Western Digital
(boot drive) |
| |
Secondary SATA HDD |
80 Gig Seagate Barracuda |
| |
Primary IDE HDD |
160 Gig Western Digital |
| |
CD and DVD Drives |
ASUS DVD Ram, Imation DL
DVD and No name CDRW |
When the big day arrived I ran
the Upgrade Advisor again and uninstalled all the software that Vista had a
problem with and a few others that should have been OK but I was nervous
about. Copied all my "must not lose" data to the 160 gig IDE Drive. Better
to be safe than sorry. Inserted the Vista Business Upgrade DVD in the Newest
Drive (the ASUS) and with absolute confidence in the outcome clicked the
Install Button. Said yes to downloading updates before the install which
very quickly failed because the Microsoft Server was unreachable, this was
strange because the Lan switch and DSL Router both had flashing lights
indicating traffic but never mind will do it later. Entered the licence key
and left the tick in register immediately, clicked Next and nothing
happened. Waited 5 mins and - nothing happened. Bugger.
Restarted the system and XP Pro was fine, no harm
no foul. Searched the Internet on the problem and found that I was not
alone, looked as if it was a fairly common issue. Most cures offered sounded
a bit shaky but the one that I went with was from Microsoft support that
involved a clean install using the Upgrade DVD. Seemed a bit like hitting a
tack with a sledge hammer but seemed to have the best and cleanest chance of
success. Confidence
level was down a bit by now so I moved all my data from the 80 gig SATA
drive shut down and swapped the cables to make the Seagate the Boot drive
(this meant that XP was retained and I could go back to it by swapping the
cables). Booted on the DVD and following the instructions went for it.
No problems at al with the clean install and also
with the subsequent upgrade, My only variation to the instructions was to
remove the tick from the immediate registration box at the start (remember -
confidence level had already taken a hit).
When complete the system was fine, no device
errors, no errors of any kind. Was impressed but a little confused when I
noticed the "Windows is activated" note under System in the control panel
but what the hell it worked, no problems - I will keep it.
Downloaded all available Windows updates,
reinstalled all my must have software and put all my data back where I could
find it. Had not intended to retain the Seagate as the boot drive but never
mind its fine. Time for a game of Free Cell.
Opps - Error message "Unable to create DirectX
Layer". WTF does than Mean? Quick check with DirectX Diag confirmed my fears
- Both Direct Draw and AGP acceleration "Not Available", the ATI 9600 Video
card was not DirectX 10 capable. Internet search and found thousands, most
seemed to involve ATI cards and no solutions.
Never mind had an older 128 meg Nvidia GeForce 5200
I used to use and was keeping as a spare - will try that. Shut down, turned
Off and swapped the cards. Restarted and It all worked. No problems. Could
play Free cell again. All was right with my world.
Later on when having a cruise I noticed that
Windows was not activated. I was aware that the activation was sensitive but
this is silly - swap out a video Card that was not working with one that
was, and I had to reactivate windows within 3 days? Clicked the online
activation and received a message that this copy of windows was in use. I
knew this because I was using it. Clicked the Phone option and did that
instead. Got the same warning after entering all those numbers, and was
asked I would like to talk to an operator. Damn right I would, at this point
Windows had been running for less than 12 hours and It was mine, I had paid
for it and I was going to use it. Had I nice chat with a man somewhere in
the world and got the distinct impression that he thought I had stolen the
DVD and was busy installing it on as many systems as I could find.
Phone activation of Windows is
just about the only place where a caller is made to feel guilty of grand
theft just to use a product that they have paid for. Damn it, its not my
fault that the Vista upgrade adviser said that My ATI Video card was fine
when it obviously was not. Another issue is, remember when I removed the
tick from the Immediate activation when starting the install. If this had
not been ignored by the code I could have fixed all the issues and been
happy with the system before completing activation.
Still, other than a few Blue screen errors, I am
happy with Vista. I just hope that the cure for the blue screen errors does
not involve changing any hardware. I need a bit of time before going to
battle with phone activation again.
But at some stage I will have
no choice as the Video card swap to an older less capable one is only
temporary - I need a rum or two. |
