Vista Issues

Time to pick some geek brains.

I had a Toshiba M45-S269 laptop. 512 that I upgraded to 1068 with a 100 GB hd. Running XP home.

Best Buy sale had a new Toshiba model L305-S5931 3 g with a 250 GB hd for around $ 500 with a printer. Good deal so I bought it. Problem is that it is running Vista. I'm having problems with my current software not running on Vista. Namely QB and Adobe Acrobat Pro 8 and my auto body estimating program. I could upgrade both QB and Adobe but at a pretty good pricetag.

Would it be better (cheaper) to just change this new one over to XP. How difficult would it be???



Rick

I recently bought two Lenovo (IBM) T-61's with Vista Ultimate on them. Vista had alot of quirks, until I downloaded the latest updates for it. Its solid now. You do not necessarily have to get the latest and greatest versions of your Apps. Check to see if the old versions have any upgrades, to allow then to be compatable with Vista. All the Apps I have work fine with Vista.

Unless the upgrades to the problem software have an added benefit it's hard to justify the cost just so it will run on Vista.

You need an XP Pro CD & license key (from any machine) to do the upgrade. If you can find an XP Pro cd & Pro COA key from another IBM/Lenovo it should go in and not have any activation problems since the mfg string in the BIOS matches the key. If it fails the activation you just call the MS licensing mothership and tell them you're doing an "XP downgrade" and they will activate the install.

If you can't find an XP Pro CD search torrent sites for "XP 9N1" - it's a modifed XP install that has every version (Home,Pro,MC) in every licensing model (Retail, OEM, Corp). Just install the one that matches your key type and then change the key once it's up and running.

I've done this a few 100 times for clients, ask any questions you have.

The new laptop is Vista 64-bit OS. QuickBooks and Adobe programs where written for a 32-bit OS. Uninstall them then reinstall it and make sure they install in the right file. It should be
c:\Program Files (x84)\Adobe Pro 8
c:\Program Files (x84)\Quickbooks. This may fix it.

If you downgrade to xp, you will need xp drivers found here:
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais ... 29|PSLB8U#

Windows XP SP3 (service pack 3) install CD should have the mass storage controller drivers that are needed for the OS to recognize the SATA hard drive.

Will the older programs not install at all or does the installer ask if you want to proceed anyway?

I have XP programs on my Sony Laptop that run Vista, you can configure the .exe files of those programs to run in XP mode under Vista.

I also run Quick Books, the only difference was the file/folder structure between XP/Vista, I was able to run QB2004 on Vista after some tinkering. It's been a few years now and I have QB2007 but if you have more time than money you will find a way to make things work.

When I spoke with Toshiba this morning, I was told that all of the drivers are installed on this laptop for the XP operating system.

My issues deal with QB Pro 2006. It is installed on this Vista unit however I cannpot do any updating and I get the prompt at startup telling me that there was a newer version that created the data file. QB is working but I worry about not being able to update it unless I upgrade to 2007 or higher. From the QB website, 2006 is not supported on Vista.

I tried the reinstall of Acrobat last week but had the same result....the program will freeze and state that an error has occured and the program must shut down. I'll try it again.

Keep the suggestion flowing.



Rick

Vista 32 bit runs QB 2008 just fine.
Conflict between Acrobat and QB PDF well documented by QB.
If you have more time than cash do the downgrade to XP.
QB and Acrobat current versions should have no issues with 64 bit vista.
The old versions will balk due to 64 bit issues.
Most all the retail computers have 64 bit so memory can get past the 32 bit limit for bragging rights.

CapeCoaler wrote:Most all the retail computers have 64 bit so memory can get past the 32 bit limit for bragging rights.

TRUE! You can install more memory on a new PC, than the 32bit operating system can use. You would see 4+ GB in you bios, but Vista will only see 3GB. Unless you specifically order Vista x64, that is.