Windows Vista Question

Lorns · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 14.22

With a bit of foresight i've just realised a potential problem i may have with my new super duper Vista laptop.
It came with no recovery discs for Acer or vista. My other laptop had an xp software disc and acer, recovery disc which came in handy when it went tits up. It is now sadly dead. How the hell am i gonna cope if this one goes tits up ( which it will, nothing is Lorna proof). I spose i'll have to buy it from pcworld or sumfing.

Sput · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 14.33

I know advent are very tight and include a program on the start menu that lets you burn a recovery cd/dvd (how you'd get around windows going balls-up I've no idea). There might also be an F-key to hit when you first turn it on that takes it to a recovery mode, with all the recovery files stored in a hidden part of your hard drive.

lukey · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 14.52

miss hellfire wrote:With a bit of foresight i've just realised a potential problem i may have with my new super duper Vista laptop.
It came with no recovery discs for Acer or vista. My other laptop had an xp software disc and acer, recovery disc which came in handy when it went tits up. It is now sadly dead. How the hell am i gonna cope if this one goes tits up ( which it will, nothing is Lorna proof). I spose i'll have to buy it from pcworld or sumfing.

I relatively recently got an Acer laptop (which I managed to pour wine all over a couple of weeks ago. Yay me) and it doesn't have a recovery CD/DVD but it does have a recovery partition. If it does go tits up, presumably one can boot into that partition to go through whatever recoveryness it does. Can't say for sure if yours is the same, but if it came without a disk that's the most plausible answer.

Gavin Scott · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 15.08

nodnirG kraM wrote:Just how much money are these companies saving by not providing backup discs?

Twelvty.

Pete · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 15.14

cdd wrote:Why does OGA irritate you - it only stops you from using templates (all crap) and getting updates (all unnecessary for anything other than an OS)...?

I might happen to want templates, and clipart, and updates to the spam filters and bug fixes. And I might actually quite like the smug little feeling you get from owning the thing properly.

Pete · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 15.15

is it even to save money? I was under the impression it was an ill thought out anti piracy thing.

Chris · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 15.41

Hymagumba wrote:
cdd wrote:Why does OGA irritate you - it only stops you from using templates (all crap) and getting updates (all unnecessary for anything other than an OS)...?
I might happen to want templates, and clipart, and updates to the spam filters and bug fixes. And I might actually quite like the smug little feeling you get from owning the thing properly.

Does anyone know if you can downgrade to the equivalent 2003 version if you purchase this from the ultimate steal? I'd love to own a legit copy of Office, but there's no way in hell that I'd ever want 2007 - I LOATHE to use it, since they've foisted Office for Teletubbies on all the desktops at university. Raises my blood pressure every time I use it.

Sput · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 16.14

Actually it's a damn good interface once you learn how to use it. Just because it's prettified doesn't make less useful.

cwathen · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 18.59

Actually it's a damn good interface once you learn how to use it. Just because it's prettified doesn't make less useful.

Putting the new file formats aside, what can you actually do with the new interface that you couldn't do with traditional the traditional Windows interface of toolbars and pull down menus (and for the ultimate geek, control key sequences)? I've admittedly never tried Office 2007, but it seems to me that they couldn't think of any more features to add, so they changed the interface as this release's killer feature to justify it's existence. But why should anyone spend time learning a new user interface just to do the same things they could do before with a UI that is more traditional?

And if I've got it all terribly wrong, what is so much better about this way of working, and what features has Office 2007 introduced that couldn't have been done within the framework of normal Windows design?

All of that said, having read that I can get a shrinkwrapped copy of Office Ultimate for only 40 squid, I couldn't resist and probably will take up the deal whilst I still have a .ac.uk email address so I can see what all the fuss is about. If I can't get on with it, I can always flog it on for more than I paid for it and continue with my trusty pirated copy of Office 2003 that's done me proud for the last 4 years.

With a bit of foresight i've just realised a potential problem i may have with my new super duper Vista laptop.
It came with no recovery discs for Acer or vista. My other laptop had an xp software disc and acer, recovery disc which came in handy when it went tits up. It is now sadly dead. How the hell am i gonna cope if this one goes tits up ( which it will, nothing is Lorna proof). I spose i'll have to buy it from pcworld or sumfing.

What used to be held on a recovery disk is now held on a 'recovery partition' - a hidden section of your hard disk that contains all the files necessary to factory restore your pootah. However, on every laptop I deal with at work, if you run the recovery program, there will be an option to burn off your own set of recovery disks.

As well as this being well worth doing in the event that your hard disk ever fails, it also means that should you ever run out of space, you'll be able to delete the recovery position and gain another couple of gigs to play with.

Stuart* · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 19.35

I use "Norton Ghost" which makes an image of your OS and program files. All my personal files are stored on a separate slave hard disk, so I just made an image of the other one containing XP, Office etc. It means that if anything goes drastically wrong I get everything back, including any default settings I had changed in Office, the broadband and printer settings.

Handy little program, and more secure than a recovery partition.

Sput · Wed 21 Nov, 2007 19.47

cwathen wrote:
Actually it's a damn good interface once you learn how to use it. Just because it's prettified doesn't make less useful.
Putting the new file formats aside, what can you actually do with the new interface that you couldn't do with traditional the traditional Windows interface of toolbars and pull down menus (and for the ultimate geek, control key sequences)? I've admittedly never tried Office 2007, but it seems to me that they couldn't think of any more features to add, so they changed the interface as this release's killer feature to justify it's existence. But why should anyone spend time learning a new user interface just to do the same things they could do before with a UI that is more traditional?

I've found it does make things faster, since it adapts to commonly-used features. I've lost count of the number of times I had to dig through menus repeatedly to get to what I wanted in pre-2007, so the fact it remembers often-used stuff is a godsend. I don't use many of the new features according to the list, but the equation editor is much, much better than it was.