It is very unlikely that you have a registry that needs cleaning up. Cleaning up registries is not a normal thing to do. Even if there are 600 entries to remove, that would be out of a total of many thousands if not tens of thousands and so your system would be unlikely to run any faster.

The best way to get your system to run faster is to check that you have sufficient main memory and then look at all your installed software, particularly running software in the sidebar/system tray, and remove any that is not absolutely necessary. Dare I say it remove a few cleanup programs? :-)

Cheers Kayak,

I do have 4 items on the side bar, and you are the second poster to mention this could be a problem so will remove them to see if it helps.

Kayak, Optimist, Alan,

Side bar now gone and Regsofts used, definite increase in speed of laptop.

Kayak,

As said I'm technophobic so I could not see how switching my kettle off would help as it's in the kitchen 2 rooms away from my laptop. But that's what I tried first. Did not appear to make any difference, but thanks anyway.

Once again much obliged to all.

:-)

Can anyone explain why anyone would use Vista instead of XP SP2 ?

Brianboru,
because you bought a PC with it installed ?
because you have a company PC and they use Vista
becaue you like operating systems

other than that .....

I dont have it on any of my own PCs....

Could anyone explain why anyone would use XP or Vista rather than Windows 2000? :-)

Stable, nearly identical and compatible to XP apart from visually, no copy protection...

K, and bloody expensive if you have to buy it ;-) well the ultimate version is ....

Brianboru

I use Win 2K, XP and Vista

Although W2K is extremly stable, it no longer runs the latest programs not even IE7 or Office 2007.

XP is almost as stable but will run most modern programs.

Vista has many bells and whistles plus some things are easier and most editions include Media Centre if you want that. Future software will take advantage of some of it's more obscure features.

The most important thing IMO is that the better versions have the bitlocker system that enables the entire hard disk to be encrypted (this should be compulsory for goverment laptops). It also has many features that help IT admins in larger companies.

S

Buy the OEM version which can be found at a reasonable price - you can't switch it to another machine though :(

O, I know but you only get either a 32 or 64 bit version not both and it still costs over 100.

And I am now moving away from using a single OS and trying to use portable apps, I use a iMac as my main home machine and I also have a couple of Intel PC running Ubuntu Linux, I keep my 2 year old Tosh laptop with XP for anything where I have to use MS.

I do use Vista on my work PC and its fine.

Has Microsoft Disavowed Vista?
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
2008-01-28


It seems that Microsoft is already giving up on Vista and is setting up business users to switch from XP to Windows 7.

Technically, Vista is pure misery. It eats system resources like an elephant does peanuts, Windows applications break and its so-called improved security is a joke. I know it. You know it. Even Microsoft's most devoted yes-men know it--although they won't admit it--and perhaps Microsoft knows it as well.

What else can explain why Microsoft is now leaking news about Windows 7, the next version of Windows? Oh, officially Vista SP 1 is still the big upcoming news, although I think most businesses are actually more interested in XP SP 3. The simple truth is that no matter how Microsoft and its partners like CDW spin it, Vista is not being picked up by corporate users. Even Bill Gates' vaunted 100 million Vista users number should be taken with a largevery largegrain of salt.

Most of the information is dripping out of the blog, Shipping Seven. But, it's more than just Shipping Seven, which may, or may not, be real. Microsoft is hard at work, harder than one would expect, with Vista just over a year old, in getting its next desktop operating system ready for action.

As Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry recently told eWEEK's Peter Galli, "I don't think Vista is as bad as Microsoft has convinced people it is." What should Microsoft do then? Cherry recommended that Microsoft "discuss the next version of the operating system, currently referred to as Windows 7, and what it will do."

Could Vista have missed its shot? Yes, yes, I know, how can I say this when there are tens of millions of copies of it out there? Easily. It's one thing to drop copies of Vista Home Basic and Premium on Best Buy customers who don't know any better. It's another thing entirely to get CIOs and IT managers to spendor should I say waste?billions on Vista.

For now, whether Microsoft likes it or not, XP, and not Vista, is the Windows those businesses will continue to use. And the companies that want to move on to a truly better operating system? They'll be moving to Linux or Mac OS.


eWeek Article

Seymour - post 6510
A bit belated - been on holiday but as I can't see a response - the answer I think is yes. On the web forwaring option of each domain name just enter the same link to the server holding your home page.

duplicate deleted

Thanks guys - I'll keep on taking Vista off any notebooks I have to buy and continue replacing it with XP2.

and an interesting tip from the above mentioned shipping seven:

Recreate your profile instead of reinstalling Windows
On your home machine (not a domain-joined machine):
If your Windows installation is in a terrible state (too many application installs and uninstalls, weird application crashes at weird times, file associations that don't work anymore, etc):

Instead of wiping and re-installing Windows**:
Back up all your files
Log on as a different user on the machine
Delete the user profile of your user (in Computer Properties, Advanced Settings)
Log on as your old user account
All your files will be gone (you did back them up, didn't you?) but you will have a clean registry, and as far as all applications are concerned, you are a new user.
Restore your files

The Windows registry consists (simplifying here) of two parts: HKLM (machine settings) and HKCU (your user settings)
When Windows gets into a weird state, you can mostly fix all the issues by deleting HKCU (by deleting the user profile), instead of reformatting the disk (which, obviously, gets rid of HKLM and HKCU)

You lose some settings in some apps (because you start off with a fresh HKCU) but you were going to reformat and reinstall anyway. And you don't need to reinstall all your drivers. Again.

Kernow, thanks. Took the chance and bought another domain anyway and it works. Only problem is that the real domain name www.seymourclearlyopticians.com doesn't appear on the tab, I get www.ourotheropticians.webeden.co.uk showing, but when I look for www.ourotheropticians.com that shows correctly on the tab. Only a minor point but it would be nice to have it right.

brianboru et al:

I should have included the link to the Shipping Seven Blog.

It's an interesting Microsoft insider's view of things, well written, informed and informative.

SC, if it helps, I can access www.specsavers.co.uk without any problems.

:-)

Grrrrr :-)