Vista problem
 

My dad just bought a Dell XPS 420 and I'm trying to get it all set up. However, when I turn it on, it reboots itself after about 20 seconds and takes me to a screen that says Windows failed to start. It also gives me two options: run system recovery or launch Windows normally.

I've tried both and neither does anything that fixes the problem. When I run the system recovery, the final result it gives as the error is "Failure while setup is in progress."

I've also tried the option to restore the system to the original factory settings, but that led nowhere (especially if it was faulty from the factory to begin with, then I'm running around in circles).

Anyone have any ideas what I can do? I'm thinking of installing a spare HDD I have and reinstalling Vista that way, but I want to exhaust every other option first.

Thanks :wave:

Have Dell fix it with their outstanding service!!!!


Seriously, if he just bought it call them up and get it exchanged.

Got the restore disk? Start it with that.
If worst comes to worst, use a 98 disk, run fdisk and remove all the partitions, then start from scratch.

I actually did that (run the setup.exe from command prompt, etc etc) and it works now. Thanks anyway :o

New problem, though, but not as harsh as before. Any idea on why installing the video card driver causes Vista to not load?

Icebox, there's nothing wrong with Vista. As long as your PC can run it.

VC, where are you installing the driver from? What kind of video.

:roll: Vista has not given me any problems

HD 2400 Pro

I'm trying to install it from both the driver CD that came with the computer and the downloaded package from the ATI support site.

Nah, I am pretty sure Vista is a piece of dog turd compared to XP. Everything about it is aggravating.

Well shit, looks like the professionals are in the house.

Yeah, you're a tech. That's cool and all but for the average user Vista is a piece of shit. I know my way around XP a lot better than the average person. I'm no expert, but if it fucks up I can at least fix it relatively easy by myself. I can also keep it from fucking up most of the time because it is easy to work with. And I'm sure Vista is easy to use for someone who works on computers for a living. But for me, even as a slightly above average user, Vista is the spawn of satan. If you can optimize it, great.. but in my luckily few experiences with it, it has absolutely pissed me off every time.

So because you have had no luck with it during your few times with it, it must be a piece of shit...:roll:



Please xplain that to me.

Xplain with a X :naughty:

lol, my grandma has a PC with vista on it and doesn't have any issues. She just knows her limits.
Either figure out how to use it properly, or don't fuck with it all, if you're in the middle ground, you're always gonna have problems, no matter what the OS or software.

The fact is, harden up and use it, cause XP won't be around forever.

Also, Vista is pretty much exactly the same as XP, it's just prettier, so really it's no more difficult to "work with" as you put it.

The only thing I find annoying with Vista right now is all the "security" measures it has.

Everytime I want to run a program, that damn popup comes up asking if I want to run it. YES, run the god damn program :mad:

Personally, I'd rather use something that's taken years to get semi-stable than use some new piece of shit that's going to force you to upgrade most of your software and need to go through hoops to install older software, if it works at all.

You can disable UAC from users pane under the control panel. Google it :)

fair enough, I like to run the latest version of software anyway.

You do know you can turn UAC off, right?


Control Panel> User Accounts & Safety> User Accounts> Turn UAC On or Off



I was annoyed at first, until it made me aware of a background spyware or something that was trying to install.

And neither will Vista. It is simply a filler for them to hold people over while they finish the next OS, which will likely be a very fine tuned and polished OS with many similarities to Vista under a new name. XP is still going to be the most common OS until that time comes. Might not be around forever, but it'll still be here for the next several years so I'll simply wait for the next version.

Windows 7 will be delayed, like most Microsoft OS's, so Running XP in 2010 will be good fun.

Oh boy.

You know the OS is in trouble when, instead of fixing the security problems that riddled previous versions, you simply put in a program to alert the user that everything they do might be a security risk.

Vista was pretty but has never been worth it. Should have been SP3.

Vista is different architecture, so will have different security problems than XP. They did it because usually the most unsecure part of a PC is the User :D

I've been using XP since 2002, shortly after it came out. Running it for another 2 or 3 years doesn't bother me at all.

Didn't you just say this though?

different architecture, pretty much the same GUI just prettier :y:

I've only just had a real first hand experience with Vista, i.e when I first posted this topic. I've had no time to dick around with Vista, so :o

:y:

BC is right. Vista works very well. I install it on every new PCs we receive at work and I haven't had a problem yet. Sure, if you have XP, I don't see a need to upgrade because it works pretty much in the same way. But if you like using the latest versions but you're simply afraid that it might be a new Windows ME, stop being scared. It's stable and it works.