Ok, everyone knows I'm not a techie. My old (and I mean really old W98 laptop) is dying/held together w/ tape. Yes, I would have preferred to get a new laptop w/ XP, but wasn't in the cards until recently.

So the other day I got a new HP laptop - w/ Vista (right now my nickname for Vista is Satan's Spawn!). Like the laptop; not happy about the problems.

Lucky for me a tech-savvy FTer was in town so went w/ me to all the stores before getting the HP - and loads Office etc on it. So - other than not really having a handle on Vista at all, all should be smooth right?

Not so fast Kimosabie (well, whatever that Western name was)...

First, my copier/printer has a parallel port & of course the laptop has lots of USBs. Well, that's not a biggie. Get a P/USB adapter. But alas, the adapter's software only goes up to XP, so while Vista knows the type & model of c/p I have, says the software driver install didn't go through. So - can't use my current printer on the new laptop. I can on the old, & for the short-term am going to use them both, as most of my files are on the old but it's on dial-up, and use the new one for i-net which I'm borrowing my neighbor's wifi signal. Have FIOS tv/i-net ordered; install next week.

So - does anyone have any ideas or do I have to buy a new printer - and read the 'fine print' to make sure the d*mn thing is actually Vista compatible?

And - ok, even a bigger issue - well, an issue anyway - is can't get Norton to work w/ the new laptop. Buy Norton & go online to install the Vista upgrade - no such luck. First get download or file corrupted messages & then 'cannot write to disk'. The FTer spent almost 3 hours on it and got butkus. Nada, zip.

So I take it back & mention it to the tech guy at Fry's Electronics. He says go to Symnatec & just download the overall Norton there, should work. So I do as it says XP/Vista, pay for it + back-up disk, try to download & get 'cannot write to disk'. Grrr. Try again. Nada. So I go through the refund part, but they're only refunding me the download part, not the back-up disk, so have to try & figure out how to get that refunded. But - minor $$ aside, how the heck do I get the anti-virus software to work?

What other issues re: Vista do I need to know about & is there an easy solution? Is there a "Vista For Dummies" book out yet? Please don't make fun of me; I'm not as tech savvy as you all. I just need some help in figuring out basic stuff. Never thought I'd say this, but I miss owner's manuals.

Cheers.

PS - I know it's old hat to you all, but I'm pretty excited about having a nice new laptop (if you hate HP, please don't burst my bubble). Much nicer than my current one which was a Dell, and which I found out after I bought it that Dell had nicknamed it the 'black brick' (cuz it weighed a ton).