Originally Posted by
SkiAdcock
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.
Well, I am kind of a techie, but I also wanted a laptop with XP. Wasn't in the cards for me, either -- my Vaio came with Vista Business (only).
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.
Hmmm. Well, there a couple of things you can do. Try a driver for a later model of the copier/printer from the same manufacturer. Frequently, they speak the same language (though Vista is particularly finnicky about checking product IDs and may not allow you to load it). You may, however, simply be out of luck. I've got a similar situation with a venerable HP scanner that I like a lot, worked fine under XP, but won't under Vista.
There is a somewhat awkward solution, but it might work. Microsoft has released Virtual PC 2007 as a free download. Virtual PC 2007 lets you run older operating system inside a window on your PC -- It's like having two computers running at the same time. You can set up XP Pro (or Win98 or, really, anything) inside a Virtual PC 2007 window and run anything in it that is compatible with XP. Probably, your old printer driver would run just fine. The only catch is that you have to have a license for the XP that you install inside of Virtual PC 2007 -- during the install process it will attempt to validate itself, just as when you do a regular install. As long as you have your original installation disks, it won't be a problem. Install the OS, set up the programs that you need (you'll have to install them, too), install the printer driver, set up a shared disk (done within Virtual PC 2007) and then just save documents to the shared disk, open Virtual PC, open the document there and print away.
As I said, awkward, but it will work.
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?
For what it's worth, the fault lies with the printer manufacturer, not with Microsoft. The manufacturer should have released updated drivers but many do not for older models.
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.
Do not use Norton. I'll say it again because it's so important: DO NOT USE NORTON. It is garbage and doesn't play well with Vista (or XP for that matter). If you need anti-virus, get Grisoft AVG, which is free, fully Vista compatible and works great (it even does daily updates to stay on top of the latest virus threats). For anti-adware, I'd suggest Webroot SpySweeper, which is very effective and inexpensive.
Vista comes with the awful Vista Defender. You'll want to disable it completely, as it is crude compared to something AVG and SpySweeper.
So I take it back & mention it to the tech guy at Fry's Electronics.
"tech guy," and "Fry's Electronics" is an oxymoron.
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?
By getting one that actually works. Don't use Norton (or any Symantec product) and don't use the built-in Windows Defender.
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.
I'm very happy with Vista and find I prefer it to XP Pro. However, I'm pretty good with computers and, even for me, it was a bit of an uphill struggle to get everything running properly (which it now is). I've been saying for some time that I can't imagine how someone who is not particularly familiar with computers would cope with Vista. Evidently the answer is, "not well"
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There's not much you can do about old hardware without drivers. Getting rid of Defender and Norton will go along way towards making your new computer stable and fun to use.
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).[/QUOTE]