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).

Any printer made in the last five years or so has a USB port on it. And really, they are so cheap there is no reason not to just get a new one. Return that adapter and you can pick up a decent inkjet for about the same price.

About Norton: first, don't install it. It's the single biggest cause of problems ever on a PC. They should be sued out of existence. If you're determined, though, right-click the setup and choose "Run as Administrator". It will install without the errors. This is explained if you take the little tour when Vista starts the first time.

There is nothing wrong with Vista - you just have to have a printer that's designed for it!

Well, my laptop is one week old and though I do like Vista, it does have drawbacks. For instance it will not download an important [to me] programme
which I need.
My laptop came with Norton already installed and the first thing I did was to uninstall it. You would be better to download a reliable free anti virus programme such as AVG, Sharon.

Margaret

I will admit I'm very anti Vista. Sorry to all the folks that like I just don't, I'm just a stubborn JA.

You will have to upgrade to a new printer to make it work correctly IMHO (or that's the easiest way to do this) and some programs you might use won't work yet with Vista. You'd spend too much in options and headaches and such trying to make the old printer work and it probably won't work no matter what you do in my low tech knowledge base.

I also agree not to use Norton, it blocks and caused more problems then it was worth on XP even. I like another brand for my situation that has held up pretty good (trend micro). But there are others out there that are good too.

I posted a thread yesterday http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=670522 and there was a good link in there (posted by others) that can help you get it act a little less bloated. I never wanted Vista, I was forced to use it. But there are alot of good FT's out there with the knowledge and willingness to help.

Good Luck, I'm in the same boat as you are.

If you still can, take it back and get a laptop with XP on it and wait a year or two for a better version (more stable version) of Vista. I have heard so many sales people discourage people from getting Vista on their computers. I am a very anti Windows user but have to use them from time to time for work, thus I stick with XP since it is STABLE and everything works on it.

Not sure about a Vista for Dummies book (if it's not there, it probably will be soon) but one book I like is "Windows Vista Secrets" by Brian Livingston ^ My neighbor has a copy, and from what I've found from borrowing it, the book does a nice job of explaining lots of the workings of Vista without going into lots of technical type details (so if you're looking for things about the really inner working of Vista, I'd not recommend it for that).

I also second the recommendation of getting AVG for your anti-virus needs.

And as far as a printer goes, most companies have put out updates to older drivers allowing older printers and other devices, like video and display drivers, to work with Vista (Last month I got a new Dell desktop w/ Vista installed, and the 2 month old display driver installed was incompatible, so I had to download an updated version for that). I've got an early Canon Pixma printer (got it early 2006 - pre-Vista), that, after installing the older driver, and the update from Canon's website, the printer works just fine. It's possible that P/USB adapter may have an updated driver for its product.

Frank

Vista has been running on my machine for close to 2 months without a single reboot or crash, it's much much more stable than XP ever was.

We looked for laptops that had XP loaded, but Fry's Electronics, Circuit City, Best Buy, Staples & CostCo only had Vista machines available. And I only had 1 day w/ the FTer with me for input/advice and wanted to get it then so that he could help w/ install, etc, so went w/ the HP/Vista.

I'm a pretty basic user - word, excel, occasional powerpoint, email, and when I get a digital camera, pictures. So I don't think there's any major software issues I'll deal w/ in terms of not running certain programs.

I'm not married to Norton btw, just want to have anti-virus software, so if you're all recommending AVG that's fine with me.

I'm going to call ioGear & see if they have an updated driver for the adapter. If they do, will get that & use the adapter I bought yest. If not, then it's back to Fry's to look for an in-expensive 'Vista-compatible' printer. I don't want to get one that is really XP-compatible & requires some kind of download to make it Vista compatible.

I currently have a Sharp AL-1551 which is a combination copier/printer. It was pretty expensive when I bought it, but it's been a while now. In looking at Sharp's website, it says for this model 2000 was the last software supported.

I was hoping to avoid buying a new printer simply because 2 clients told me last Friday ("Black Friday") that they were going to project from retainer basis, so an instant loss of $26K of income from them & counting pennies short-term. Their development teams are behind schedule, so their products aren't shipping, income not coming in as needed & so they needed to make cut-backs - ie, me.

I don't hate Vista btw - don't enough to know one way or the other. I just want things to work. And of course going from Windows 98 to Vista is a BIG leap, especially for a non-techie.

I know they had a tour of Vista when you first start, but I think the FTer who was doing the install for me of Office, etc, deleted it & other stuff, so I didn't take the tour. I'd have to ask him; maybe it's still on there & I could take the tour. Otherwise, I might look for the Livingston book.

One last question - does anyone know if you can still get stand-alone AOL? I have it on my old computer & there are some things on it I use a lot. I don't need a lecture re: why I'm on AOL, please. I've been on it for 12 years & there are several hundred journalists, biz colleagues, friends & family who are just used to it/don't have to remember a different email like you get w/ cable companies. And again, my needs are pretty basic so it's worked for me. I know I can access AOL from the web as I do it all the time when traveling, but there are some items on the stand-alone version loaded on my old computer that I like. I did see a AOL icon on the laptop (along w/ eBay, MSN, etc) when we powered up, but the FTer deleted all of them. I can call AOL (and get India), but thought I'd ask the question here first figuring one of you would know.

BTW - I appreciate all of your input! Thank you. Cheers.

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).

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.

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.

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.

"tech guy," and "Fry's Electronics" is an oxymoron.

By getting one that actually works. Don't use Norton (or any Symantec product) and don't use the built-in Windows Defender.

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" .

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]

That's been my experience as well. It took a while to work out some of the install kinds for older software and hardware, but now it ticks like a clock, has been completely reliable and is lightning fast.

Have you checked out the speech recognition module? I just discovered last night and it blew me away -- it's literally possible to dictate to the computer in Word and it's amazingly accurate. My wife thought it was a trick.

no judgements. you should be able to download a Vista ready version of AOL here.

Thanks everyone for the help. I've now downloaded V9 of AOL, which of course since I was on V7 isn't the same, but at least it's something I'm somewhat familiar w/ & will eventually be able to figure out the new features. Strangely enough, in the favorites section it didn't have the current favorites but favorites from 4 years ago. Tres strange.

I went to the Grisoft site to download the AVG software. It's $38.95 for a 2-year subscription for AVG Professional & $69.95 for AVG Internet Security. Given it's just me (ie, 1 computer) & I'll be on FIOS next week if all goes well ('borrowing' the neighbor's wifi signal this week), which one do I need? Also, AVG has anti-spyware software available as well. Any thoughts on that? Up to now I was using ad-aware I think.

The adapter company tech lady told me that the p/usb adapter was plug-n-play & should work w/ Vista, and I said obviously it doesn't or I wouldn't be calling. She kept putting me on hold to talk to someone else, and I asked the someone else to call me. No call back yet, which doesn't surprise me, but they gave me a case # if I call again. Vista recognizes the printer, but on the software install says it didn't go through. When I click on the details it says Sharp printer & user canceled, but I didn't cancel anything. Just clicked on install driver.

As long as I'm asking for your help, when I get FIOS next week & wifi capabilities throughout my apartment, do I need to buy something to 'lock down' the signal - ie, prevent others from borrowing it? I know - mean given I'm using someone's in the neighborhood this week, but still.

Geesh - even Word looks different. Don't know if that's due to Vista or time marching on. Probably I should upgrade my laptop/software/hardware a lot more than every gazillion years.

Timing is everything - and mine per the norm is bad. I'm at the midst of busy time for trade show (if anyone's going to be at NAB in Vegas next month let me know), so trying to sort out new software & hardware now - yikes. Oh well, after the learning curve it will be cool.

Of course this being FT, perhaps I should hold a "Come Show Sharon How to Use Her Computer Do" at my place at the beach. Booze & food provided

Cheers.

Hang on a second -- is the problem that the adapter isn't recognized or that there is no driver for your printer? I have a USB to parallel port adapter that I'm using right now with Vista and it works fine. You might want to try a different adapter. Alternatively, get a network printer server (small box, inexpensive, that plugs into the printer and lets you address the printer as a network device). Then, just use Add a Printer to set up the new printer, DON'T select network printer, use "Local Printer", add a TC/IP port and select that as the port for the printer, and everything will install fine. As an added bonus, you'll be able to access that printer from any other computer on your network.

I have no idea how to do any of what you posted above, but the FTer who's visiting on the 24th will & until then I can use the old laptop for printing if I need to. Most of my files are on that one anyway.

I had the computer off, plugged in the P/USB adapter to both the laptop & the printer. When I power up the laptop it tells me Sharp 1000 series printer & the software driver needs to installed. That implies to me that it's recognized the adapter. When I click on install the software driver, a few seconds later it tells me that the software install didn't go through. When I click on details, it says Sharp printer & user cancelled. Of course I didn't cancel anything.

In looking at the documentation that came w/ the adapter, it has instructions for Windows 98SE/ME & 2000/XP. Documentation was printed in '04.

Also, you mentioned that the AVG software is free, but I found 2 paid versions (as mentioned in my post above yours). Was I not looking in the right place? The cost isn't much so I don't mind paying, but don't know which version to go w/.

Cheers.

Edited to add: I tried the adapter again & this time the laptop asked me to insert the CD & then told me install failed & to check w/ the manufacturer - I don't know if that means Sharp printer/copier or ioGear?

Also, another FTer emailed me the link to the free anti-virus software, so I'm going to download that next.

Okay, the easy stuff first.

You can get AVG free here:

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

Just click on Download Free Version.

As for your printer problem.

1. Open Device Manager and make sure that the USB to Parallel adapter installed correctly. I'd recommend installing it without the printer plugged in. You should see it listed under either USB (it will identify it as some kind of adapter) or Ports (it will show up as an additional LPT port). If it installed correctly, then . . .

2. Assuming the adapter is fine, you need to try the latest driver for your printer. I couldn't find a Sharp 1000, but I did find an AL-1000. Assuming that's what you have, you can find an XP driver here:

http://members.driverguide.com/drive...driverid=55708

You can also try the sharpusa.com website. I didn't have time to search it for your driver. Download the driver, if it's zipped, unzip it to a folder somewhere. If there's a file called "setup.exe" or "install.exe" in the unzipped folder, right click on it and select properties. Under the Compatibility tab, select "Run in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode," and "Run as administrator." Run the program. Vista UAC will ask you to confirm you want to run it. Select Yes. Let the setup program do its thing.

Plug in the printer and let Vista detect it. If the setup program ran successfully, the printer will install. If there was no setup program, or it didn't run successfully, you'll have to try to install manually. When the "Install new Hardware" window comes up, don't click on "Install driver automatically." I forgot the language for the manual option, but it's the one at the bottom of the window. It will give you an option to tell it where to find the drivers. Browse to the folder you unzipped that has the drivers in it. Look for a folder that says XP or something similar. Hopefully, Vista will accept the driver that's in there.

If it doesn't, there's not a lot you can do, other than run a copy of XP in Virtual PC and use it from there as I described.