Noobie Vista question

[kdogg363]

I'd like to try out Windows Vista but I'm not sure if I want to install it on my home system yet.

My boss gave me a couple of OEM copies from computer the company recently bought they are running Windows 2000 on.

I'm pretty sure the OEM should work on my PC as its one of those general OEM like you see at say Newegg.com

Anyway, I'd like to test this out first before I move over. I'd like to run it on m laptop but my laptop is aging.

Here is what I have:

Dell Latitude D400 with a 1.4ghz Intel Centrino Processor. The laptop had a Seagate 5400 RPM 160 GB PATA hard drive and 2 x 1GB (2GB total) ram.

Not sure how much video ram this unit has but I think its only 64megs.

How do you guys think this laptop would handle VISTA?

 

[jonmcc33]

I have a D400 with a 1.8GHz Pentium M and 1GB RAM (2x512). Vista ran like crap on it. Paled in comparison to how Windows XP runs on it.

 

[kdogg363]

Do you mind if I ask what ran like crap about it? What differences did you notice?

 

[jonmcc33]

Very slow to respond. Felt like everything was stuttering. The fact that the D400 runs on a 400MHz FSB and uses single channel DDR memory just kills performance. There is hardware that is "Vista Ready" and the D400 sure isn't a part of that group. I reformatted and put Windows XP Pro SP2 back on, runs without a hitch.

 

[lxskllr]

You're not doing yourself or Vista any favors by putting it on a underpowered system. That's just an exercise in frustration. If your main system is powerful enough, I'd recommend dual booting XP and Vista to try it out.

 

[loup garou]

I run Vista Business on an Inspiron 700m with 1.6GHz Pentium M & 1.25GB RAM. It runs fine, just as fast as XP in my experience. I use it all day, every day. Don't know what others were doing with similar machines to experience problems.

 

[corkyg]

My guess is that your Latitude may not accept Vista due to the limited video capability. Why not visit Microsoft's Vista site and download and run Vista Upgrade Advisor? It will save you a lot of frustration.

Vista

I have a 2005 HP Pavilion dv1000 with a 160 GB drive, 2 GB of RAM, and all the latest XP Pro updates. But, the wimpy Intel graphics chipset is not good enough for Vista. Advisor said no.

As long as your OEM Vista DVD is the same OEM as your machine (Dell) it could be worth a try. I would suggest a mule drive so you don't screw up what you have.

 

[nerp]

What Intel chipset? My 950 celeron M 440 flies with Vista and 2GB. If you have a 945/950 GMA, you're in luck because Aero runs fine. That's the cutoff point for intel chipsets, at least.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: corkyg
My guess is that your Latitude may not accept Vista due to the limited video capability. Why not visit Microsoft's Vista site and download and run Vista Upgrade Advisor? It will save you a lot of frustration.

Vista

I have a 2005 HP Pavilion dv1000 with a 160 GB drive, 2 GB of RAM, and all the latest XP Pro updates. But, the wimpy Intel graphics chipset is not good enough for Vista. Advisor said no.

As long as your OEM Vista DVD is the same OEM as your machine (Dell) it could be worth a try. I would suggest a mule drive so you don't screw up what you have.

d400 is 855gm chipset, I think that's the same as my 700m, it runs Vista fine, just won't get aero.

 

[bsobel]

My boss gave me a couple of OEM copies from computer the company recently bought they are running Windows 2000 on.

Those licenses are not transferable to your machine.

 

[kdogg363]

Yes they are. They are not married to any machines yet.

We didn't buy any computers with Vista pre-installed. These are not HP, Dell, Gateway, Acer etc. They are custom built. Copies of Vista were free so we took them.

Hell, the company who built the computers isn't even a normal OEM computer company. Just a company who builds computer on request. Want a server, they will order you the parts. Want a gaming system, yep, they can order you the parts for that too.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: kdogg363
Yes they are. They are not married to any machines yet.

We didn't buy any computers with Vista pre-installed. These are not HP, Dell, Gateway, Acer etc. They are custom built. Copies of Vista were free so we took them.

Hell, the company who built the computers isn't even a normal OEM computer company. Just a company who builds computer on request. Want a server, they will order you the parts. Want a gaming system, yep, they can order you the parts for that too.

They are tied to the hardware you bought them with.

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: loup garou
I run Vista Business on an Inspiron 700m with 1.6GHz Pentium M & 1.25GB RAM. It runs fine, just as fast as XP in my experience. I use it all day, every day. Don't know what others were doing with similar machines to experience problems.

I never said it had problems. It was just noticeably slower than Windows XP Pro. All the RAM that Vista eats up didn't do so well on my D400 with 1GB RAM. Even on a desktop most say the "sweet spot" for performance is 2GB. Booting to the OS took ages, I don't even know how you'd think otherwise.

It's still crippled, especially with the 400MHz FSB. The Pentium M is comparable to a Pentium 4 Northwood in performance.

But Windows XP just screams along on my D400. I see no reason to torture the laptop with something like Vista.

Originally posted by: nerp
What Intel chipset? My 950 celeron M 440 flies with Vista and 2GB. If you have a 945/950 GMA, you're in luck because Aero runs fine. That's the cutoff point for intel chipsets, at least.

You're running on a faster FSB and dual channel DDR2. It's also a newer chipset.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: jonmcc33
Booting to the OS took ages, I don't even know how you'd think otherwise.

Can't remember the last time I watched this system boot...hmm, maybe back when I first installed Vista and all my software. As far as I can remember, it didn't seem to take very long.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: kdogg363
Yes they are. They are not married to any machines yet.

We didn't buy any computers with Vista pre-installed. These are not HP, Dell, Gateway, Acer etc. They are custom built. Copies of Vista were free so we took them.

Hell, the company who built the computers isn't even a normal OEM computer company. Just a company who builds computer on request. Want a server, they will order you the parts. Want a gaming system, yep, they can order you the parts for that too.

OEM version are non transferrable. They are bound to the hardware you purchased them with. If you have OEM copies sold without hardware then they were sold illegally.

 

[Seeruk]

They were sold with hardware, thus not illegal. If someone was to get really arsey they could insist that one item of that hardware on the order (e.g. a graphics card) was in your PC to be 100% legit.

I can buy a £5 network card and get the OEM version of Vista. Still works out cheaper.

Back to the original question.... 99% of users I have been in contact with who have complained about performance in Vista have either been running Aero on a terrible graphics card, or judging performance by the 1st hour or so after installation during which time REALLY REALLY HEAVY INDEXING is happening.

I run vista without aero on a 1.8ghz XP Athlon and 1gb of RAM very nicely.

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: loup garou

Originally posted by: jonmcc33
Booting to the OS took ages, I don't even know how you'd think otherwise.

Can't remember the last time I watched this system boot...hmm, maybe back when I first installed Vista and all my software. As far as I can remember, it didn't seem to take very long.

It does take a lot longer than Windows XP, about twice as long IIRC.

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: Smilin
OEM version are non transferrable. They are bound to the hardware you purchased them with. If you have OEM copies sold without hardware then they were sold illegally.

OEM versions are bound to the first hardware you install them on (ie motherboard). You can buy an OEM version of an OS off of NewEgg when you buy a 120mm fan of all things. So the OS is bound to that fan or something? You have to buy hardware when you buy OEM but the only thing it is bound to is the first computer it is installed on.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: jonmcc33

Originally posted by: loup garou

Originally posted by: jonmcc33
Booting to the OS took ages, I don't even know how you'd think otherwise.

Can't remember the last time I watched this system boot...hmm, maybe back when I first installed Vista and all my software. As far as I can remember, it didn't seem to take very long.

It does take a lot longer than Windows XP, about twice as long IIRC.

I think you missed my point...

 

[Rottie]

Originally posted by: Seeruk
They were sold with hardware, thus not illegal. If someone was to get really arsey they could insist that one item of that hardware on the order (e.g. a graphics card) was in your PC to be 100% legit.

I can buy a £5 network card and get the OEM version of Vista. Still works out cheaper.

Back to the original question.... 99% of users I have been in contact with who have complained about performance in Vista have either been running Aero on a terrible graphics card, or judging performance by the 1st hour or so after installation during which time REALLY REALLY HEAVY INDEXING is happening.

I run vista without aero on a 1.8ghz XP Athlon and 1gb of RAM very nicely.

Yea I wanted to buy Windows XP OEM the saleman picked nuts and bolts for 85 cent to go with XP OEM.