Just when I thought everything is fine, my laptop gave up on me. Halfway through updating the Windows Update, it hung and after that, every time I restart the laptop, it will hang after a few minutes.
With seemingly no other way to revive it, I decided to take this opportunity to do my long awaited upgrade to Windows Vista. I’ve got my upgrade copy of the Windows Vista from HP but it requires a clean install, i.e. all the programs will have to be re-install and data files will need to be backup. I setup my laptop to run in ‘Safe’ mode, this allow me to bypass the problems I had with my laptop and gives me a leeway to backup my data files. Using an external hard drive, I managed to backup my data files without any problem.
The installation started with the HP disc updating the system BIOS and than it is the Windows Vista installation disc taking over. I found out that even with fresh install, Windows Vista actually saves your entire hard drive into a directory call “Windows.old” and so you can actually still access your data files, though the applications are useless now. But make sure you still got enough room to install Windows Vista.
Took me an entire day to do the installation plus some of the applications. After the setup, I am quite happy with the new interface, but it sure took me some time to get use to it. The “My Documents” folder is no longer around, replacing it is actually a follow denoting your username. Under it, there will be the usual “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music” and “Videos” folders (notice they drop the word “My”), and also a “Downloads” folder. There is also a side panel that allows you to have widgets on your desktop. The default is the RSS, wallpaper, and analog clock widgets, or Gadgets, as Microsoft calls it. There is also this very cool ‘switch windows’ apps that is very nice.
Found out also that by now, many software vendors, including those open source and freeware vendors, have already updated their programs to be able to run on Windows Vista, so it is generally a pleasant experience. Some of the most important software are like Avast Home Edition (FREE) anti-virus software, which I absolutely loved since I started using it early last year and just can’t live without it now. GIMP, my favorite open source graphics editor, Inkscape, 7-zip, EditPad Lite and Filezilla ftp software. On software I found out that can’t work on Vista is PDFCreator, and I am now using the alternative call PrimoPDF. And of course not forgetting the very competent OpenOffice.org 2.2, which is my alternative office suite.
Well, I have also told you how you can get legal useful software that you absolutely can use without paying a dime. So get your hands on them and stop the pirates! Cheers!
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