On March 15th, I posted that I had installed and starting using Vista on my Dell OptiPlex GX620. After four months I want to give you an update on how it is going with Windows Vista.
First, I need to talk about and contrast Vista with Windows XP. Windows XP, for all its strengths still has some issues that can be annoying and even problematic.
As you may have seen in some of my tips here, XP has a hard time recognizing USB flash drives. This is a common problem that I encounter almost every day at work. Users are taking advantage of the convenience of USB flash drives but are frustrated when they use it on a computer that does not read the device.
Some simple tweaks or rebooting the computer will usually fix the issue and allow the USB device to be read. However, me and my fellow tech support technicians spend valuable time fixing an issue that should not be occurring.
This issue happens when a professor and guest speaker inserts their USB flash drive with their presentation into the computer in the lecture hall. Needless to say, they are not happy that they cannot get their presentation because our computers will not recognize their USB device.
The reason I chose to talk about the issue with the USB device is because during my four months of using Vista, I have not had one problem with any USB flash drive or external drive. I use four different USB flash drives and several USB external drives, and not once has any of these devices had issues in Windows Vista.
We are also testing Vista on a laptop and a tablet computer. Neither of these computers using Vista have any issues with USB flash drives either.
I look forward to our roll out of Vista for many reasons, but the main reason is that I hope that it will eliminate our “USB flash drive” issue.
Speaking of issues, as a tester, reviewer, and user of Vista, I often times have question about Vista. I use Windows Vista’s Help and Support website. They have e-mail, chat, and phone support available. But I usually use the knowledge base, TechNet, or MSDN. I am impressed with the support for Vista.
So far, I give Windows Vista an A for its compatibility with devices like USB drives and for its support. I will keep you posted as I continue to use and evaluate Vista.
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July 24th, 2008 at 8:37 am
I’ve had Vista on my home computer for about 4 months now. It’s a sharp looking OS, but I do have some issues with drivers for some of my hardware. I still haven’t found a good alternative for my web cam or scanner yet.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Hi Jim! I’m glad to have discovered your blog, thanks to the card you dropped :-). Now I know where I can come to in the EC community to find out about pc related matters.
I have been using Vista since I got my laptop late last year. To be honest, I really haven’t experienced any problems or ‘irritations’ with it, at least none that I can think of just now. If anything, I like it more than its predecessors. Perhaps I’m not technically savvy enough to notice
July 27th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I plan to buy dell 1525 very soon and am very afraid that switching to vista after using XP for soo many years might cause problems for me.
but what to do….you have to make the switch some day or the other..
MS help me
July 27th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
@BL
The Dell Inspiron 1525 is a capable laptop that can handle Vista without problems. However, I would get the Inspiron with the
Intel® Pentium® Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz/533Mhz FSB/1MB cache) processor or the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5750 (2.00GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache) processor with no less that 2GB of ram.
Vista is similar to XP as far as features and navigation. There are some differences, but I think you will like it.
pcguy
July 29th, 2008 at 5:18 am
Jim, I think that the USB identification is a common problem. At our office we had a large External Hard-Drive plugged into a Mac for a few months. The External Drive now has a good few GB of data on it. We are now trying to extract this data onto a new vista computer, but the drive just isn’t being recognised. Vista wants it to be ‘initialized’ which I think will wipe it?!
I think if flash drives are used solely on Vista machines, without being tainted with XP or a mac, they will work fine. I think it is the crossing between the platforms that can cause the issue.
August 4th, 2008 at 9:40 am
I just purchased a new Dell vostro 1310 with Vista…I was a bit apprehensive since my husband had bought his laptop just after the Vista came out and had to do some damage control.
But I like it, I like the look and the double-checking when opening files or websites isnt a big deal.
I havent noticed anything with using a flash drive or a external hard drive yet.