Quick VISTA Question (Happy Turkey Day All)

[MomNEEDShelp]

I am scoping out a good deal for Black Friday on AMAZON.com ONLY (I have a 'store' credit there)


Last year, I purchased (and returned) a HP desktop with 1GB and Vista Home Premium installed. It crashed 3x every day and after days and long hours on the phone with New Delhi India for HP support, I was finally told that the desktop I purchased was crashing because VISTA can NOT run smooth with only 1GB RAM. (It would have been nice if they did not sell a PC that would not work without tweeking!) Anyway, it was returned!


This was about a year ago and I thought maybe VISTA bugs were fixed. The laptop I will most likely buy will have 1GB RAM (I can't afford a beefy laptop ) It MUST have Wi-Fi. (Probably an Acer Aspire 5315-2698 15.4-inch Laptop (Intel Celeron 560 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, Integrated Super-Multi Drive, Vista Premium ) (<---Any thoughts?)

Laptop will only be used for Email, Ebay and general Google searches. (No movies, music or games)


Anyway... My main question is CAN VISTA RUN PROPERLY WITH ONLY 1GB RAM INSTALLED?  Will I be ok with the Acer's specs?

[soybean]

If you shop around, I'd bet you can find a laptop/notebook this year with 2GB for the same price or less than what you paid last year for the HP.  Here's an Acer at Best Buy with 2GB of memory and it's sale priced now at $399.  Presumably, this is a temporary pricing so check for details on expiration of sale if you're interested in this one.  See Acer - Extensa Laptop with Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T3200

But, to answer your question, Windows Vista Home Premium can run reasonably well on 1GB.  I bought a notebook PC in July 2008 with 1GB and have gotten along fine with it.  And, it's a Compaq, which is now an HP product line.  I have Office 2007 installed on it.  I often have email, web browser, and one or more Office components (Word, Excel, etc.) open at the same time and it really works fine in that scenario.

I suspect you got poor advise from HP last year.  While my notebook was under warranty, I had a few phone contacts with their support and, at times, it was rather frustrating.  What they're not going to tell people who call for support is that the best thing you can do remove some of the proprietary software installed on the computer.  For example, HP will install a multitiude of HP software.  You're also likely to find Norton or McAfee Anti-virus software on them; both these products are resource hogs and degrade performance.  There are better options, including freeware, for anti-virus protection.

All the computers do this, i.e. install a lot of extra software that you probably don't need.  So, again, removing proprietary software that you really don't need is likely to improve your computer's performance.  Here's a good reference: http://adrynalyne.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!AB9DE24BE9AF1B9F!303.entry

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to you.

[MomNEEDShelp]

Wow, Soybean!  I did not know that....thank you. (Wondering if I delete some of that stuff on this desktop if it will work faster. Hmmmm? How would I know what to get rid of??) Again, I only do very minor & basic things my PC.


$399 is a great price and is about what I have to spend but I am figuring if I use the $120 I have at Amazon.com, I can get a $499 laptop for around $399 out of pocket.

[soybean]

There are several ways to identify extraneous proprietary software that you don't need and can remove. Look at the desktop for shortcut icons with label names that include the computer brand name. For example, I still have an icon on my notebook's desktop labeled "HP Total Care Advisor"; it's one thing I did not uninstall, but may still do at some point.  And, look for such items on the Programs menu.  Also, open Control Panel for Windows Vista and then open Programs and Features (replaced Add or Remove Programs in Windows XP) and look down the list for programs that can be removed; this panel is where you normally execute removal of a program.

Be sure to read the reference I posted in my previous reply.  It mentions a cleanup tool called PCDecrapifier.  I haven't actually used that, but I'm under the impression it's a good tool to use; the author of that blog is a moderator in a major computing forum and knows what he's talking about.  PCDecrapifier helps you identify these extraneous proprietary programs.  And, download and regularly use CCleaner, which is also mentioned in the referenced article; CCleaner is a good program to use for regular PC maintenance; it helps keep a computer running at it's best.

[MomNEEDShelp]

I dont have many icons but that is probably because I deleted them.  I am not saying the programs are deleted though.

I have XP and my ex-husband was the pro here. Since he has been gone, I am totally lost. I never put the things in here so I don't know what to remove. The names are sometimes weird (In add/delete programs) so I am scared to delete them.


Maybe I will try to google them. THANKS!!

[soybean]

Google is very good way to learn more about programs you see in your Add or Remove Programs list.   
If you see a particular program about which you're searched for info but are still unsure, post back or start a new topic if you're talking about your current Win XP computer.

[MomNEEDShelp]

I will post back here....but not today. I will give everyone a break. LOL!

Thanks sooooooooooo much!!


Dee

[patio]

Can you post a screenshot of your Programs list ? ?

[Broni]

Better yet....

Download HijackThis:
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/download
Click on Download HijackThis Installer
Post HijackTHis log.

We'll see all running stuff.

[truenorth]

MomNEEDSHelp,While Soybean has given excellent commentary to you re your proposed purchase and your previous experience with the O/S Vista. The prevailing opinion (which i have even seen stated by Microsoft) is that 2gb is the recommended RAM. Yes many computers were sold and are indeed used that only had the 1gb. Vista is a notoriously slow and a challenging O/S to use as i'm sure you have seen exemplified in the Apple/Microsoft T.V. adds. I would suggest that you ask the last poster to your post (Patio) if he has completed his evaluation of the Vista O/S and what would be his recommendation on it or perhaps the RAM concern or even if a new purchase is in the offing if perhaps a version of XP would be better. Goodluck,truenorth

[MomNEEDShelp]

My screen shot was too big.    When I made it smaller, it distorted.

How else can show a screen shot to you?

[Broni]

No need. Follow my reply #8

[MomNEEDShelp]

Do I run it or save it?

 

 
   

[Broni]

Open HJT....
Click on Scan button.
When scanning is done, Scan button changes to Save log button.
Click on it.
Save pop-up window will open.
Click Save button.
Save window will close.
Notepad will open.
Select all text, copy, and paste in your next reply.

[soybean]

MomNEEDSHelp,While Soybean has given excellent commentary to you re your proposed purchase and your previous experience with the O/S Vista. The prevailing opinion (which i have even seen stated by Microsoft) is that 2gb is the recommended RAM. Yes many computers were sold and are indeed used that only had the 1gb. Vista is a notoriously slow and a challenging O/S to use as i'm sure you have seen exemplified in the Apple/Microsoft T.V. adds. I would suggest that you ask the last poster to your post (Patio) if he has completed his evaluation of the Vista O/S and what would be his recommendation on it or perhaps the RAM concern or even if a new purchase is in the offing if perhaps a version of XP would be better. Goodluck,truenorth

truenorth, where is she going to find a new computer these days with Windows XP?  Vista is now on all new machines.  

I sense you're casting some doubt on my comments about running Vista with 1GB.  She said:

Laptop will only be used for Email, Ebay and general Google searches. (No movies, music or games)

Now, go back and read my first reply.  I was not trying to encourage her to buy a computer with 1GB, I was merely say it's feasible and works reasonably well, in light of her stated usage, and assuming she does some fine tuning by removing unneeded programs, etc.  That's based on actual experience; I don't need to see someone else's evaluation to confirm that.  But, I also mentioned that machines with 2GB are quite available now at the low end of the price spectrum.  For that reason, I'd rather see her buy one with 2GB.  

I will confess I do not have anti-virus running on my notebook, so that's a bit of an advantage in terms of performance.