@Numetro -

It's such a relief that you're liking Windows 7. I'm glad you like it, and I'm sorry about all the crap you had to wade through to get to this point. If that was my Mom's computer, I'm sure it would be at the bottom of a lake by now I had a couple comments on your letter to MS.

FedEx - Yup, they are way better at shipping nationwide than the USPS, but the USPS has such a great infrastructure for local delivery... so to save money they just get it in the general area and let the USPS do the rest. Plus, it's nice to get important things in the safety of a mailbox and not just sitting on my doorstep...

No E-Mail/Acrobat - Unfortunately, this is one of the downfalls of Windows being associated with Microsoft. Everyone got so pissed that they packaged good programs with Windows and pushed out other programs, they brought lawsuits and now MS is so afraid of monopoly lawsuits that they can't even package these with the Operating System without everyone up in arms about Microsoft strong-arming out the competition. In Europe they have a "Browser ballot screen" that lets you choose a browser and doesn't have IE installed automatically because they freaked out about a monopoly. But no one bothers Mac OS with Safari. Anyways, I like Windows Live Mail, and FoxIt Reader is better than Adobe in my opinion. Adobe has some security issues, and is constantly nagging to be updated

Antivirus - I've heard good things about ESET. I'm against paying for antivirus software, so I use Microsoft Security Essentials. I know, I know, Microsoft. But it is an excellent piece of software and everyone on this forum seems to enjoy it. It's light on resources, works in the background, and never crashes.

Vista Problems - Unfortunately this is a bit of a gray area. Personally, I never had a problem with Vista. I thought it was pretty I think the problem here is manufacturers and 3rd party hardware. I installed my Vista clean and it ran great, but most purchased PCs come with loads of crap installed on them that causes all sorts of problems (trial software, blah blah blah). I think the manufacturer that made the drivers along with Dell are to fault for your PC's near-death experience. I love simplicity, and when it comes to Windows PCs, the more stuff you have on there, the greater chance you have of running into incompatibility or fighting between applications.

In all, I'm glad to hear the installation finally happened and that you seem to like Windows 7 so far. I think it's a great OS, and packaged with some of my fave software (Chrome, Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Photo Gallery, FoxIt PDF, Microsoft Security Essentials, CCleaner), it runs perfectly. If you need anymore help you know where to look

Hi all,

I'm not sure why this thread has the green check mark by it now... doesn't that mean "SOLVED"?

This issue was never "solved" in Vista... it has taken a clean install of W7 ULT to bring back my sound... so after 33 days of failed troubleshooting, waiting a week for the W7 disk to arrive, then having that installation disk fail 6 times and declared defective, it then installed on the 7th try a week after failure.

Now I'm in the 2nd day of setting up and troubleshooting any problems in W7... I think 41 days now and a full W7 OS later... saying this issue was solved is like saying GB Jr. is no longer a bad P.O.U.S.

Know wha I sayin?

numetro

sorry,and i don't mean anything but i really think you need to get your grandma an "applebook".....an i book g4 or anything like that sounds ideal,and it is now very cheap,just get a second hand notebook(since she only use her laptop only for emails & few music).........,save your time,your thoughts and your money(probably) .....

Hi bloodsuckingcomputer... great name for a PC user, by the way.

I noticed your replies on this thread and on the "Desktop Gadgets" thread with my posts and all the posting back and forth with UVIUS, aka UVULA.

A Mac of any sort would have been a good choice for my mom... she had a Dell tower from '99 that her brother gave her as a gift and she worked relatively well with if for years until 2007... she used to get the antiquated routine MS Windows '98 error messages like, "you have performed an illegal operation"... not sure if you go back far enough to remember those... but otherwise it worked well for her in the age of dial-up internet connections.

But some PC tech broke that tower while it was in the shop and she had to buy a Dell Inspiron 531 with Vista on it after she saw some deal for $350 advertised in a magazine... I begged her to let me buy her a Mac and set it up for her, but it was too late, the deed had been done.

After reading UVULA's and your last posts on the other thread, simplistic and retarded as they were, I decided to post a reply that would challenge reading skills for both of you... it is copied below... enjoy!

digi numetro

_____________________________________________________________________________

Hello Uvula and bloodsuckingcomputer,

Had you read my posted reply you would have seen that I found the simplest of simple fixes for the desktop gadgets problem... so either read the excerpt below, or scroll up to see the original full post... scrolling up is done by moving that tall bar on the far right side of your window, clicking and holding your mouse button down on that tall bar while making an upward movement on your mouse pad so you can then see what is above in your window.

"Do an "End Task" and "sidebar.exe" shows up in the "Processes" tab, not in the "Applications" tab... I did an end process on "sidebar.exe" and that allowed me to then open the Desktop Gadgets interface and replace my clock... in fact, just doing the End Task brought the clock back, and now it allows me to open the gadget panel at will."

I must say, it is amusing to read UVULA's posts... your writing style is that of an 11 year old who writes at a 3rd grade level who spends 18 hours a day text messaging... dude-man-boy-bro.

If there were a "Thanks for nothing" button to reply to you with, I would click it.

The emoticons that you overuse are very '90s... but sorry, this is 2010.

"pleas wrote in short bro"... is a cryptic, yet stupid way of saying something that makes no sense... are you mentally challenged or just a recent emigrant to the U.S. who hasn't had time to get in to English 101.

I'm guessing your essay homework assignments in Mrs. Smith's 3rd grade homeroom class are very, very short.

As for your well thought out, brilliant statement, "heyyyyyyy i m a Boy mannnnnn "Dashing-Dynamic-Handsome-Dude-man"... I'm sure that many in the trans-gender community would agree.

As an avid Mac user and enthusiast at home and in the graphic arts and photo industry who has only been trying to fix the spiraling and mind numbing problems that developed on his mom's ailing Windows Vista monster for 46 days now, I've grown to love Macs and Apple's beautifully designed operating systems even more.

I now believe that Microsoft pays more for people to write their error messages than what they pay their software programmers. I've collected over a hundred error messages, failure panels and crash warning screenshots from Windows Vista and I've made a Microsoft "Error Message Collage" of them that I may put up on ebay... maybe you can make a bid on it... it makes Mac users just laugh at Microsoft.

After over 20 hours on the phone with various paid MS level 5 techs, 8 hours with "Alok" from India mounted to this desktop in "TeamViewer", and 30 or so hours on email with MS techs from around the world and as many hours on 4 different MS forums... then lucky enough to have one of the MS tech managers take pity on me and order me a copy of Windows 7 ULT, gratis, which then wouldn't install and gave "defective media installer" error messages 6 times during failed installation attempts, only to have it install correctly on the 7th try a week later while waiting an eternity for the 2nd "replacement disk" to arrive in the mail... let me say, you can take my Mac, when you pry it from my cold, dead hand.

Now I'm battling with various W7 quirks while calmly working on getting my mom's computer up to speed for her since she isn't an IT tech. Having no published instruction manuals provided from Microsoft for any of their software (accept on MintyWhite.com) which isn't even a Microsoft site, makes things yet even more difficult... yes I have grown a bit fond of battling with Microsoft software and I actually kind of like W7 now that it is installed... really.

At some point along this journey I had a moment of clarity and I realized, Microsoft users love repairing their computers and they relish being pseudo IT guys... while Mac users just like using their computers.


But Vista was problematic from the start... I remember hearing about so many problems with it when it was first released that PC manufacturers had to demand that Microsoft roll back to Windows XP, which was somewhat reliable, until Vista's terrible problems were addressed... I guess that's why MS had to put out huge 400 and some odd MB patches, SP1 and SP2, to try to fix Vista... that was like trying to patch the holes in the sides of WTC 1 and 2 on 911 before their collapse.

And I'm sure Mr. bloodsuckingcomputer (great name) was right when he wrote, "and for some unexplained reason, i don't know why does windows always behave strangely with you (perhaps it could feel that you are a mac fanboy and wanted you to be that way)"... another beautifully crafted semi-sentence from another troubled youth... yes, I'm sure this PC knows and understands that I'm a Mac user... sounds like he's been watching too many Saturday afternoon kids movies on on the Syfy channel.

Also, I'm sure you're right bloodsuckingcomputer, no one ever benefited by learning about the past or dreaming of the future... you are a simple minded dude-man-boy-bro.

Enjoy,

digi numetro

Does XxBizxX's screen name have anything to do with the fact that his screen picture makes him look like a young Larry Flynt?... has anyone else noticed this?

No offense XxBizxX... the younger Larry Flynt of of the '70's was a dashing young pornographer... it's a shame what has happened to him.

Just an observation,

numetro

To Mike and XxBizxX,

Thanks for your kind and intelligent replies.

It is good to know that there are guys out there like you who actually have something helpful and smart to contribute to what can be a field of bozos on some of these answer forums.

To put it simply, YOU ROCK!

Thanks,

digi numetro

and now its my name and my reading skills concerns you.
what are you?you have got better english than any of us and that is just only for the sake of we don't use it in our daily life,but look,you have no manners,go ask your grandma of how to behave to other who has been trying to help.
and also of how not to whine to much too others....

Hi again bloodsucker,

I wouldn't consider your replies as "answers" or "trying to help"... you are just a couple of wise guys with nothing better to do.

I have received answers from other people on this forum that were polite and helpful... just not from you.

Your overuse of the emoticons in your replies just emphasizes that you're a kid.

Actually, I've been able to finally fix my mom's computer with Windows 7 and it is doing okay with a few minor glitches. The interface is nice and very intuitive because it is more like a Mac now.

If you don't know the story of how Bill Gates originally stole the Macintosh operating system and the idea of a "graphic user interface" from Steve Jobs and Apple back in the early '80s, then look for a movie called "Silicon Valley Pirates"... it still may be out there in video stores, Netflix, or maybe even on Youtube somewhere.

Enjoy,

numetro

Insults will result in the same as the Gadget thread. Please keep it considerate and friendly.

I do agree however, XxBizxX has an uncanny resmblance to a young Flint....good spot