Problems with Vista (updated)

Bram Turismo

Bram Turismo

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bramturismo
So I got my computer, a Dell. The offer was amazing as it was a limited edition Inspiron, but it's called the Vostro. Processor is a AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-53 @ 1.70 Ghz, with 1024 mghz of RAM (or mb?). Anyway, I've got 512 Mb RAM in total on my screencard, 128 mb dedicated for games, 196 shared to get on with all the Vista extras crap and whatnot, and the remaining 300 and something to back anything up which is getting a hard time.

So far, I'm really enjoying it, it handles everything I've thrown at it without any problems; playing games while photoshop is running for example. Vista looks amazing as well, and it's drooling al over the laptop whenever I log on. The whole computer package costed 500 dollars, and considering the cheapest HP I could find was at least double the price to meet the same specs as my Dell, I've done a hell of deal here IMO...


But anyway, Vista does not come without a price though, when doing nothing at all, I've encountered problems which worry me and could harm my Dell:

-Sometimes, the screen just freezes and turns white, I have to shut it off manually.
-Sometimes, the computer will not shut off, even if Vista is saying so, I have to shut it off manually.
-And the other sometimes, the computer refuses to go in hybernate mode, I have to shut it off manually.


So what is wrong, is my Dell too fast? (Yeah rrrrright :rolleyes:) Should I change some options inside Vista? Or should I go back to XP to make my Dell even faster and wait for a decent Vista edition to be released?



Any suggestions greatly appreciated :cheers:


*EDIT*

I've looked over some downloads which fixes Vista's slow hibernate processes and those things, doy uo guys know of any of those are good?
 
I've been running Vista for months now and aside from some minor driver issues at the start it's been perfect. I run intense games on it, do Photoshop work, watch movies etc. no problems. I'd say the problem was with your laptop rather than the OS.

The white screen issue could be resolved by finding the latest drivers for you graphics card. While you're at it run Windows Update if you haven't already and get your laptop updated to the latest and greatest.

If you're not happy doing that/can't be bothered i'd just contact Dell and see what they can do for you. As you've only just got the laptop i'm sure they'll take it off your hands, check it over and fix whatever the issue is.
 
Well I've just installed a patch which should improve Vista's reliability. I highly doubt it's my Dell though, I've been reading throughout www.thevistaforums.com and even the latest 2.2 Ghz HP's get the freezing issue. Is there a difference between the Vista editions in terms of requirements? I might change to Basic if it would help any...
 
I'm using 64-bit Vista and aside from a few driver problems, it's been rock stable.
 
To run Vista well you need 2 gb of ram. Laptops may be different but I thought Vista needed at least 1 gb to run at all. I would run a "Is my computer ready to run Vista" check to see if you need more ram.
http://http://www.pcpitstop.com/vistaready/default.asp?AdID=256892
I see the minimum is 512 for Basic Vista. Quote from PC Pitstop "Your PC may slow to a grinding halt if it doesn't have at least 1GB of memory under Vista.
This may be your problem.
 
^ I seriously doubt having 1GB of ram will cause issues like this - definitely sounds driver/software related. I have used a PC with 1GB of RAM running Vista recently and it was perfectly fine, if somewhat slower than a 2GB Vista desktop I used a few months ago.

As long as you don't use so many applications at once, it'll be fine.
 
Bram Turismo
The whole computer package costed 500 dollars, and considering the cheapest HP I could find was at least double the price to meet the same specs as my Dell, I've done a hell of deal here IMO...
Click to expand...


Bram Turismo
-Sometimes, the screen just freezes and turns white, I have to shut it off manually.
-Sometimes, the computer will not shut off, even if Vista is saying so, I have to shut it off manually.
-And the other sometimes, the computer refuses to go in hybernate mode, I have to shut it off manually.
Click to expand...

Am I the only one actually making a connection here . . . . ?

To be honest, I have never seen a Dell I could live with. In desktops, the keyboard's too cheap-feeling, or the power supply is marginal. In laptops, the screen is too dim, or too slow. There's too much trial crap installed on them.

As for Vista, a gig of RAM should be OK for just running. It does better with 2. (Remember when people griped about how XP had to have 256 MB, and would do better with 512? Who the hell could put 512 megabytes of RAM in a PC???!!??!?) I don't know anything about your machine's video, but that's the source of 99.999999% of the problems you describe. Get the latest drivers for your video, even if it doesn't come from Dell.
 
Over at thevistaforums.com, other people have recommend me as well to get the latest driver, but the computer noob I am, I do not know where to get these.

Graphics: ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 :cheers:
 
Go to device manager (if Vista has such a thing), then double click (or right click -> properties) your graphics card (it'll be under display adaptors), then click the drivers tab and then hit update driver and it'll look for the latest one its self.

Device manager in XP is under Control panel, then System, then hardware, then device manager. Might be different for the new OS though.
 
The only annoyance that I have with Vista is that it won't shut-down on my laptop with the lid closed. If you click on shut-down, then close the lid, the system goes onto stand-by while shutting down. So you actually have to sit and wait for it to shut-down before closing it. I'm sure there is a setting I'm yet to find though to fix this.

On the subject of RAM, I'm running 1GB and it runs quite fine. The RAM meter reading about 40% with no programs running, but I'll probably upgrade to 2gb in the next few months anyway if I can find some cheap laptop RAM.
 
I have Vista Basic at home, running with 1Gb, and so far I haven't had any issues with the speed... I usually have about 3-5 programs open, including Photoshop, Word, Winamp and IE7.

The only issue I've had so far is the thumbnail thing called COM Surrogate, which crashes constantly, and the overall Mac feel... especially when it says some program crashed/stopped working, but doesn't give you a reason or solution for it.

In the pre-Vista days it would at least give you an error code, which you could then Google and find a solution.
 
Casio
The only annoyance that I have with Vista is that it won't shut-down on my laptop with the lid closed. If you click on shut-down, then close the lid, the system goes onto stand-by while shutting down. So you actually have to sit and wait for it to shut-down before closing it. I'm sure there is a setting I'm yet to find though to fix this.

On the subject of RAM, I'm running 1GB and it runs quite fine. The RAM meter reading about 40% with no programs running, but I'll probably upgrade to 2gb in the next few months anyway if I can find some cheap laptop RAM.
Click to expand...

That's not a Vista thing, XP will do it, too. You have to set "when I close the lid of my portable computer" to "do nothing" on the advanced tab in power management.
 
Wouldn't that keep the pc on high temps? I assume it'll just shut off the screen to not consume a lot of power, while still be able to open and continue straight away, am I right?

Thing is, in school, you never know who opens up your laptop when you're not there for a second :scared:


Thanks for all the help so far guys :cheers:


*UPDATE*

Whilst looking for a new driver, ati only showed drivers for the 1050 and 1350 series, that's the closest it comes for my 1150 series, any suggestions?


*EDIT* Found it, thanks for the link Road Dogg :cheers:
 
Bram Turismo
Thing is, in school, you never know who opens up your laptop when you're not there for a second :scared:
Click to expand...

If you want to secure your laptop while you're in another room, password protect your user account (if you haven't already done so) then go to log off and then switch user. You'll need another account on your laptop, though (just make a password protected dud one and you'll be fine). That way, you don't actually log off, but you prevent users from accessing your files. When you log on again, everything will be exactly where it was. Despite the name, all it should do is take you to the logon screen (therefore stopping anyone without a password from doing anything). Like I said, you need to have more than one user account, otherwise it just gives you the choice to log off (which you don't want to do). When you come back from the other room, your files remain untouched.
 
Jondot
If you want to secure your laptop while you're in another room, password protect your user account ...
Click to expand...

Or just CTRL + ALT + DEL and "Lock this computer". Does the same thing as what you've described but you don't need another account.

Would be interested to hear if updating the drivers fixed that screen problem. Certainly not something i've heard of very often.
 
donbenni
Or just CTRL + ALT + DEL and "Lock this computer". Does the same thing as what you've described but you don't need another account.

Would be interested to hear if updating the drivers fixed that screen problem. Certainly not something i've heard of very often.
Click to expand...

win_l.jpg


That also works too, less work....and faster

Still wondering about the drivers myself...
 
Casio
The only annoyance that I have with Vista is that it won't shut-down on my laptop with the lid closed. If you click on shut-down, then close the lid, the system goes onto stand-by while shutting down. So you actually have to sit and wait for it to shut-down before closing it. I'm sure there is a setting I'm yet to find though to fix this.

On the subject of RAM, I'm running 1GB and it runs quite fine. The RAM meter reading about 40% with no programs running, but I'll probably upgrade to 2gb in the next few months anyway if I can find some cheap laptop RAM.
Click to expand...

My Inspiron does the same thing with XP, so its probably a hardware cause.
 
And with what opendriver suggested, you do not need two accounts. jondot, your login screen was disabled by some default I presume, and thus was re enabled when multiple accounts were setup again.
 
donbenni
Or just CTRL + ALT + DEL and "Lock this computer". Does the same thing as what you've described but you don't need another account.

Would be interested to hear if updating the drivers fixed that screen problem. Certainly not something i've heard of very often.
Click to expand...

opendriver19a
*snip*

That also works too, less work....and faster

Still wondering about the drivers myself...
Click to expand...

Wow, I probably should have known that... Oh well, won't need to for much longer :D
 
donbenni
Or just CTRL + ALT + DEL and "Lock this computer". Does the same thing as what you've described but you don't need another account.

Would be interested to hear if updating the drivers fixed that screen problem. Certainly not something i've heard of very often.
Click to expand...


Well, I haven't encountered any problem so far, let's hope I can keep it tht way 👍
 
*UPDATE*


Problems with the pc not shutting of or freezing during going into hibernation are fixed, they normally appear everyday but since yesterday, nothing 👍

The bad news is that my screen still freezes randomly, but instead of going white, it goes black :indiff:
 
I would advise you to do one thing, and I think it is the best thing to do.

Since you bought that dell in less than a month (and I hope you have the receipt), go to the store were you bought it, and expose your problem.
 
LdS
I would advise you to do one thing, and I think it is the best thing to do.

Since you bought that dell in less than a month (and I hope you have the receipt), go to the store were you bought it, and expose your problem.
Click to expand...

Yes.

Saying something like "Im a student and I need this laptop to be fixed now, or sometime within the week" they might give you the same model laptop, minus the HDD. Just take yours out and put it in the new one.

I did this when my dell 5160 motherboard went bad, so just complain a lot till you get what you want. I know it sounds a bit juvenile, but that seemed to work for me till I got a new latop (It is an HP, NOT a dell. I will never own a dell laptop ever again)
 
If they say we can't do that, just ask for the manager. If he doesn't, say you are going to return the merchandise and then talk with the manager's boss. People get nervous when you keep going over their heads.

Works wonders some times.
 
I can't help but agree what other people have said in here, mainly woofshee. Buying the cheapest new laptop you could find you probably bought yourself into getting problems. I've never had good experience with Dells either, and they were 4x the price.

I still would suggest, like people have suggested above, to try and receive a replacement to see if it's any better, but in all honesty, there are some better laptops out there (if a little more expensive) that would be better worth you while. Ie, Im not sure if it's in your country, but my cousin just bought this a month ago and she hasn't had any issues with it.

But, it's up to you in the end of the day. It just sounds rather *typical* of a Dell.
 

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