I recently installed windows vista ultimate SP1 on my new computer, after I installed and connected to the internet, I noticed that Windows update started installing a bunch of other updates, when I say a bunch I mean a bunch, because it looked like it was over 1GB of data and when I checked my hard drive to see how much additional space was taken I discovered that indeed it was over a gig of space.
It’s not that I have a problem with this additional space being taken up, because I have a 750GB hard drive (lucky me), however, I was wondering if there was a way for me to save these updates, I mean save them to disc , i.e. DVD or CD?
Thanks I’ll wait for an answer,
Barb
Hello Barb!
I can understand why you would want to save your updates, even for those on a highspeed line it can be frustrating when you’re updating more than one system, especially if the other computers don’t share the highspeed connection.
First ) you might want to check out Windows Update Catalog for more information on how to download updates and drivers from the Widows Update Catalog.
Second ) here we will provide a step-by-step guide for how to use Windows Update.
Now select the display the link to Windows Update Catalog located under the “See Also” check box.
Next click “Save” to save your settings.
Now a Windows Update Catalog link will appear under “See Also”, click the link.
Next click Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Now select your specific product and then click “Search”.
Next click the “Critical Updates and Service Packs” link.
Now locate the patch you need and then click “Add”.
Finally select “Go to download basket”, now in the Type or Browse to the download location of your choice box you will need to select the path to which you desire the patch to be saved to, you may want to save this to somewhere you can easily access it, perhaps the desktop or an easily locatable folder.
After the updates have downloaded you can burn them using your favorite DVD/CD burning software so you can have them for another computer that might not have access to a highspeed connection.
We must admit that it’s pretty obvious for all to see that developers have been excruciatingly slow to the table in writing programs for Windows Vista, which seems odd to us. With over 140 million copies sold thus far it would appear that the market is there but lack of interest by developers themselves may be hurting the marketplace. It doesn’t help that Vista’s difficulties have been more than well publicized over the past year plus but it’s upside is at least just as strong.
A recent Computerworld.com survey shows that a mere 8% of devalopers (from 380) are currently writing apps for Vista, while a whopping 49% are still writing for XP, interestingly though is that still another 9% (more than for Vista) are writing Linux applications.
This could be changing however, as this same survey discovered that about 29% suggest they will still be developing for XP next year, while 24% or triple this years total will be writing Vista applications in 2009.
Recently we were asked if Vista would work with Norton anti virus or Windows One Care. Here’s the question from Laura:
Hello guys! I just bought a new computer (I had my old one for almost a decade) and it ran just fine. Anyway, I have a subscription for WOC for another year and a half, and I like it more than most other AV softwares. My new computer is preloaded with something called Norton 360 but Ive never used this before and to be honest I don’t know if I even want to.
So my question is, will Windows Once Care still work on my new PC? Even though I will be switching from XP to Vista on the new one?
Hello Laura!
The simple answer is YES! Of course Windows One Care will work well with your new Vista operating system but I must say that I am a fan of the new Norton 360 (despite a few quirks with it), and since it’s pre-installed on your system already you may not need to switch to WOC.
I can understand if you’re more familiar Once Care and that might be one reason to switch but if you dont want to go through the hassle of removing Norton and installing WOC, I can assure 360 is quite capable as a solid Vista anti virus.
According to Paul Thurrott’s Windows SuperSite, Dellintends to ship XP Pro preloaded on their machines at least until 2012. This comes via an unconfirmed source through an email tip to the editor.
Recently I have been receiving a lot of emails regarding Windows XP end of life. Please be aware that Dell will continue to offer XP Pro preloaded through 2012. We will ship XP Professional on Dell Optiplex, Latitude and Precision machines with a free upgrade path to Windows Vista.
If Dell plans on including XP Pro up until this date, we expect Microsoft to continue to offer support for the product for some time to come.
James writes: I have Vista on my computer and some of my older XP programs won’t even install on Vista, my question is, I heard XP can be run on Vista, so can I have both OSes? Can I like click to run XP and then click back to run Vista?
I’m sorry for not knowing too much about this kind of stuff but it would be helpful if you can teach me anything. I am completely lost as to how to get my older programs to work on Windows Vista.
Thanks, J
No problem James, we are glad to help. As far as I can see you really have a couple options here 1) you can Dual Boot, you would have to select which OS you want to use when you boot up your computer. There is a wonderful step-by-step guide for doing this over at apcmag.com. Here’s a snippet:
We’re going to use the DISKPART on the Vista DVD to shrink the Vista partition on the hard disk and create enough space for an installation of Vista. We’ll then install XP, repair the Vista bootloader which will be overwritten during the XP installation, and then use the EasyBCD utility to configure Vista’s bootloader to boot the XP partition.
2) You can setup your PC to run as a Virtual PC, you can read more about this from Microsoft here or go directly to their download site here.
We hope this answers your question James and please don’t be afraid to ask any questions of us in the future. We have just gotten started and would like to be a favorite amongst those in need of help.
There simply is no such thing as a dumb question as long as someone has the courage to ask it!
Here’s a very useful Helpful Hints guides from Microsoft. It’s for Windows Vista Ultimate and covers the following topics:
1 Getting Started…
Starting your computer
Using your keyboard and mouse
Launching programs
Opening, saving, and closing documents
Getting help
2 More Productive…
Keeping on task
Finding what you need
Sending and receiving faxes
Connecting to your network
Optimizing your performance
3 More Protection…
Protecting your computer
Online protection
4 More Connected…
Communicating with e-mail
Organizing contacts
Accessing the Internet
Enhancing mobility
5 More Fun…
Playing games
Enjoy your entertainment library
Managing pictures
Publish movies
[More after the jump]
Among other things , it can help novices to set up an appointment using Windows Calendar with insightful tips and illustrations. It works quite nicely even for advanced users as a quick reference guide. At 17 pages long and just over 8MB in size, this is not too bulky or cumbersome for even portable devices for those looking to brush up on their Windows Ultimate basics.
More advanced users will probably only benefit from this as a reference guide but for anyone looking to become more apt within the Ultimate environment this might be a must have. You can download it here.
Here’s an easy “how to guide” for creating a Vista SP1 recovery disc. As we all probably know Vista, and for that matter all Windows OSes allow us to make recovery discs. These are not to be confused with system restore discs which allow users to fall-back to the stage that they purchased their computer at, otherwise known as a factory-state.
These are more like repair discs which allow the user to save valuable data and move files between multiple drives, such as, CD, DVD or USB drives. Of course this was also possible in XP but a little more time consuming. Here it will only take a couple clicks. [more after the jump]
Simply go to “START”, then ‘All Programs, Maintenance, Create Recovery Disc”.
Now all you need is a blank CD or DVD and your Windows Vista installation disc and you’re all set. When you boot your CD it will look like a fresh install but it’s not, you will need to click the “Repair your computer” tab to select the partition would like to repair. After this you will be prompted with three options, startup repair, system restore and command prompt. You can even use a USB drive to copy files to, if you so choose.
This guy is another who thinks he’s found the fastest and easiest way to install Windows Vista. [More after the jump]
I love this line.
I think I’m going to try to load this into another machine that I think will be a little more compatible than my computer.
What’s even funnier is that he actually appears (to us anyway) that he’s really destroying an installation disc. I think he might want to do a little more research next time before making such a hasty decision. What do you think?
We all know about Microsoft’s service packs, and, there’s simply no doubt they they continue to be a necessity. Vista is no different!
On March 18th of this year those boys from Redmond released the much anticipated SP1. This release is vital for those who have experience \d compatibility issues, because it will likely address many if not the vast majority of these issues. Subscriber can download the it here
Non-subscribers can use the Windows Update or their Standalone options for x64 and X86.
This isn’t actually a hack in the sense most people might think of, because this has absolutely nothing to do with the working of the software itself. But, rather the purchase of it. Our friends over at computerworld.com posted an article on how it would appear as though Microsoft has purposely allowed for a loophole in the way people use their upgrade software for Windows Vista with SP1.
This loophole allows people to purchase Vista with SP1 and install it on their computer without the “supposed” need to have a valid license for either Windows 2000, Windows XP or even Windows Vista itself. This workaround is not new, it was also a loophole in the upgrade for the initial release of Vista.
Last year Microsoft suggested this violated the terms of its license agreement, however, they have yet to act in any manor to stop this from occurring, thus suggesting to many that this is an intentional loophole (making it virtually guilt free in my opinion).
Currently Amazon is offering Vista Home Premium SP1for just $89.99 compared to 204.99 for the full version.
Image by Lee Bennett via Flickr
