Microsoft has equipped its new OS with some tools to make problem-solving easier
Microsoft Windows Vista includes a comprehensive toolkit to fix a broken Windows installation: the Recovery Environment. To launch the Recovery Environment, boot your system from the Windows Vista DVD, select your language, time, currency, and keyboard settings, and in the next dialog box, select the Repair option.
The Recovery Environment includes five tools: Startup Repair automatically analyzes boot-level problems and performs the appropriate repairs. Because startup repairs may require multiple passes, you can run Startup Repair up to five times before it gives up. Run it, restart your system, and continue running it if the system won’t start. You can also run System Restore from the Recovery Environment, enabling you to undo a software or hardware installation that prevents your system from starting. Windows Complete PC Restore is a full-blown disaster-recovery solution for Vista Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise editions. It restores the backup images made using the backup software included with those versions of Vista. Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool tests all system memory, offering three test levels and many customization options to help you find memory (or CPU cache) problems. The Command Prompt, unlike the limited Windows XP Recovery Console, enables you to run any command-line program needed for system or data recovery, including Copy, Xcopy, and Robocopy (a supercharged file/folder copy program). The Command Prompt can also format CD and DVD media and can copy data to or from USB drives connected to the computer. To get help with the Command Prompt, enter Help at the Command Prompt to see a list of commands and add /? to any command you’d like to see specific help for.
When you have a hardware or software problem, Windows Vista captures information about the problem and uploads it to Microsoft for analysis. To view problems and solutions, open the Problem Reports and Solutions applet in the Control Panel. Use Problem Reports and Solutions to view a history of problems and their solutions, configure problem reporting, list current problems and upload them, and clear the solution and problem history. When you upload problems, you may be prompted to upload additional information to help find a solution. Go ahead and say “Yes.” You can review the details in case you’re feeling paranoid.
Get fast relief for system problems with Vista’s exclusive combination of ingredients: an improved version of Event Viewer and the brand-new Reliability and Performance Monitor, both of which are found in the Control Panel’s Administrative Tools. Event Viewer uses the newly redesigned Microsoft Management Console interface to display application, security, setup, system, and forwarded events. You can customize and filter event views to help you find problems quickly. The Reliability and Performance Monitor provides real-time tracking of CPU, disk drive, memory, and network performance, and its Reliability Monitor tracks application failures, hardware failures, Windows failures, and installation failures to generate a reliability index.
Comments are closed on this article
neverchex
February 10, 2008 at 1:53pm
I'm currently downgrading my wife's PC (Acer Aspire E380, 2GB RAM 300GB SATA Drive, AMD Athalon 64 X2 dual-core, nVidia nForce Chipset, Nvidia GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 video card) from Vista Home Premium down to XP Pro.
This was a "designed for Vista" system purchased direct from the manufacturer with Vista pre-installed.
Originally, it was slower than I'd expected, but I've seen the progressive slowdowns, system instability and general suckiness the others on this thread have observed.
It's now effectively unusable as a system. I dread the endless "a windows component has stopped working. Report this to Microsoft?" prompts.
I've been in IT for over a decade, so I'm not making noob mistakes. There's something SERIOUSLY wrong with Vista.
This system has no spyware, no virii, no power problems, no HDD problems on the box (checked for all of those), is running current chip set and video drivers from nVidia, and it's still god awful. Vista just stinks like week-old Limburger left in the August sun.
I've heard it said that "Vista is the Windows ME" of the current generation, and I believe it.
I'm going to downgrade this box to XP, and get my "new OS jones" by playing with Ubuntu and the MacOSx86 project instead.
Horrible, nasty, slow, buggy experience to date. I can't believe Microsoft charges the retail prices they do for Vista: at this point, I think I've lost several times the purchase price of Vista in lost productivity.
-neverchex
ernielm
May 15, 2007 at 12:38pm
Either I've bought and installed a defective installation disk for Windows Vista or Microsoft has issued an OS that is not ready for prime time. After doing a clean install on my PC I have had more freezes than a popcycle stand. Before I installed this OS on my machine I installed a copy of XP and ran The compatability program that Microsoft puts out. It informed me that My hardware will easily handle this OS. I then wiped the hard drive and did a clean install of Vista. I have had nothing but trouble ever since. As I said at the beginning I have had more than a lot of freezes running this OS. I had no trouble installing my peripherals as most manufacturers had a new set of drivers for this OS. Those that didn't there was a work around. This OS is capable of some beautiful programming but I cannot seem to run this OS anytime without at least one freez. tapping control-alt-delete has never done a thing to help. The only time that works is when there is nothing going wrong. I'm running an Intel D101Ggc Mobo with a 3Ghz P4, a Geforce 7300 GS PCIE graphics card w/256 mb ddr ram, and a 150GB Seagate sata hard drive. Can you give me any advise other than to go back to XP and forget it? After all I've been through I am pretty determined to make this thing work. Ernest Merritt
rockiesmith
July 30, 2007 at 5:07am
Dear Ernest,
I share your concerns about Vista. I am an MCT and an MCSE, etc., running Vista Premium on a top end laptop certified for Vista Premium with the OS factory installed by Sony. Two gigs of ram, fast processor, fast video board, etc. I am getting all sorts of performance events (warnings, critical warnings, and errors regarding operating system services failing to perform in a timely fashion with no resolution found by Microsoft. The machine is almost unusable. Numerous hangs, extremely slow, and the hard drive is being beaten to death with no applications (other than OS) running at all. Sometimes takes almost 15 minutes before that slows down. There is no spyware on the machine, there are no viruses, malware, etc. I have been an IT professional since before most of you were born and this is bad, really bad. At original boot, the very first time, the machine was OK, and got progressively worse and worse and worse and worse and, well you get the idea. I don't think you got a corrupt OS install. I think there are massive problems no one is interested in admitting. It is possible that different versions of Vista work better (I am running Vista Home Premium) but this one is BAD!!!
If anybody out there knows the magic words that will make this OS work, I would appreciate it. Don't bother with the obvious (i.e. Microsoft's suggestions and what's out there so far on the Internet). I'm not a beginner and have been through all of that over and over.
Thanks in advance for any enlightenment.
RS
Marcus_Soperus
July 13, 2007 at 11:32am
Dear Ernest,
If you're still having problems with your Vista install, try the following:
Update to the newest nVidia video driver: (ForceWare 158, 6-1-07), available from http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_158.24.html
Make sure you have enough system RAM (I recommend at least 1GB - 2GB is better).
Check your mobo BIOS version. The latest version is 0313 (9-15-2006). You can get all the tech info for the board including BIOS updates from http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/D101GGC/index.htm
You may also be experiencing issues that Windows Update does not provide solutions for. See http://www.maximumpc.com/article/hotfix_your_way_to_fiji_maybe for an easy way to see all MS KB and hotfixes for Windows Vista in one place.
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