Mission accomplished: successful setup of Windows Vista  

Those of you who have followed our adventures with Rover know that the computer with the canine name is the first test unit we built to run the new operating system from Microsoft, Windows Vista. Still ticking away like a clock, Rover has been a resounding success.

This time it was for real. The staff and management of the world-renowned Granese Institute of Technology had been called upon to build a Vista machine to be used every day by a real person doing real work. This assignment brought with it considerable responsibility.

With Rover, a crash simply meant restarting the computer and returning to the point of the problem. In real-time use, crashes are far more debilitating and can result in lost work and irate users. While Rover had shown no inclination toward unstable behavior, we wanted to be sure to duplicate that reliability in the unit that was headed out into the field.

We took every step like it was our first in the early going, doing things by the book and making notes along the way. We chose only components with a good reputation produced by companies we had worked with for years. We even went so far as to contact the technical support department of the company supplying the parts to ask if they had had any problems with their new Vista installations.

As things turned out, we were a good bit farther along in familiarity than they were. That left us on our own with only the resources provided by Microsoft to help us in a jam. As we began the procedure, I started keeping notes to help me share this experience with you in detail. Here’s how it went.

Get the right stuff

We ordered a computer that exceeded the recommended system requirements for Windows Vista by a wide margin. We started with an Intel motherboard featuring the 965 Chipset and mounted a Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz CPU. To that we added two 512MB sticks of RAM and a pair of Western Digital 320GB hard disks.

In order to fully appreciate the new Aero display, we disabled the onboard video and installed an nVidia GeForce display adapter with 256 MB of video RAM in the PCI Express slot and bolted it all into a stylishly retro putty-colored case at the user’s request. Naturally, we installed a floppy disk drive as well as the latest DVD burner. The end result was a deceptively plain-looking system that was really, really fast.

Firing things up for the first time, we booted from the Windows Vista disk and simply followed the onscreen prompts to configure our installation. It could not have been easier. We didn’t even have the tiniest of problems, and in just over an hour, Windows Vista was installed and ready to set up on our user’s new unit.

Taking things from the top and consulting a couple of resources on the World Wide Web, we set about configuring the new operating system to look as much like our user’s old computer as possible. This meant choosing the Windows Classic theme, which presents the relaxing blue desktop, grey taskbar and standard complement of icons.

Quick, easy updating

Once we had the desktop looking right, we set out to update the system. Toward the end, connecting a new Windows XP computer to the Windows Update page could take an afternoon of work. Our last new XP unit had required 73 updates to be downloaded and installed on the first try, along with three subsequent sessions and restarts. It literally took hours.

Vista was significantly more compliant. We hit the update page, downloaded the eight updates that were waiting for us in mere minutes, and hit the restart. Amazingly, when the computer restarted, Internet Explorer reopened and brought us back to the page we were previously using. That’s a pleasant feature.

With all of Microsoft’s updates in place, we started to install other software. We decided in advance to get new versions of whatever we could to keep conflict to a minimum. That sent us to the www.java.com for the latest version of the Java runtime edition. After that we picked up a few other favorite freebies and installed them, too.

With all this Internet usage, we knew that some sort of Internet security program was necessary. For that, we normally choose Norton Internet Security, even though our ISP provides another package at no charge. Our user agreed with us, and sent along the recently purchased package of the 2007 version that had been installed on his XP computer.

We soon realized that this version was wholly incompatible with Windows Vista and headed to the Symantec website looking for a solution. Seconds later we were downloading a new version of Norton Internet Security that worked perfectly with Windows Vista and allowed us to use his existing registration to recapture the remainder of his year’s update subscription. Symantec did a nice job getting ready for Windows Vista.

I was wondering when we would hit a snag, and I thought sure that the next step would lead to our first stumble. The user had provided us with a copy of Microsoft Office 97 and asked that we install it. We checked with Microsoft and found that no compatibility information was available on this 10-year-old productivity suite.

Figuring that we could always uninstall it and send the client to a nearby office superstore for a new version, we popped in the disk. Minutes later, Office 97 was working perfectly. We configured it for use by removing that silly taskbar and eliminating the annoying Find Fast feature and moved onto the next step.

Here, at long last, was where we found our first incompatibility issue. The user was an avid reader of Usenet newsgroups and had asked us to install his copy of Agent 2.0, a popular newsreader. The installation was a total disaster. Happy to have gotten it removed, we went to the program’s website and checked things out. Sure enough, there was a Vista compliant version available. The user acquired this updated software, but we still have not managed to get this one working properly. The search for a replacement program is currently under way.

Coordinating the hardware

We had a couple of hardware issues to contend with as well. For one, the client’s favored keyboard and mouse combination, the Microsoft Intelligent Desktop, didn’t seem to like Windows Vista very much. We downloaded the latest drivers and wound up with a working keyboard and mouse that did not allow us to use some of the hotkey functions. Happy to be able to continue to use existing equipment, the user accepted the compromise.

We had a little greater problem with the KVM switch. Deciding to keep his old installation for a while, the user went to the store and came back with a switch that lets two computers share the same keyboard, video and mouse, or KVM. This model used the computers’ PS2 ports. It did not work at all.

A return trip to the store yielded a USB version of the switch. Removing the green adapter from the system’s wireless receiver, we discovered that everything worked as written. The user could easily flick back and forth between computers to check old files.

Our final task was to import his Outlook Express e-mail files, an incredibly large collection of mailboxes and messages dating back years, into the new Windows Mail utility. Just to be safe we consulted a few websites to check things out, found a procedure that looked efficient, and made the transfer with ease.

In toto, less than a day was expended, start to finish. The user was happy with his blazing-fast new computer and thrilled to be the first kid on his block to have the revolutionary new energy-saving operating system from Microsoft. He figured, correctly, that Windows Vista is here to stay, and wanted to get a jump on his competition. As we walked past the water cooler and back to the world-renowned Granese Institute of Technology, it seemed he had had the right idea.

I tried to keep this account as generic as possible so that users thinking about moving up to any version of Windows Vista can find value here. My experience so far is almost completely positive, and I think that many contemporary users will benefit from making the change. If you agree, tell me all about your Windows Vista experience by e-mailing granese@juno.com.