Continuing the series with random observations as I finish the installation and configuration of Vista on my laptop, I love the way windows fade in and out. It’s very soothing and smooth. I can’t help but notice, however, that the window prompting you if you really want to perform an administrative function (since I’m an administrator) doesn’t fade in or out like that. All of a sudden, bam, your screen is grayed out and you’ve got a new popup window in your face. I know it’s supposed to get your attention, but it seems a tad too abrupt to go with the rest of the overall theme of Vista.
Joining my domain here at home was painless - just like joining the domain with an XP machine. Since I had no physical network connection during setup, I wasn’t prompted to join the domain immediately after setup like you would be on XP. I’m not sure if this functionality exists in Vista as well, but it’d have been really nice if I’d been able to connect to a wireless network and join a domain before logging in the for the first time. Since my wireless did actually work as soon as a logged in, I don’t see why that couldn’t be accomplished. I guess you also have to consider that most comapnies running a domain are going to have some type of rollout process that will have an automated script do all the leg work. Low priority, sure, but it’d be a nice addition if you ask me…
Did you actually find drivers for your Inspiron 9300 for Vista? I checked support.dell.com, and couldn’t find drivers for the motherboard, IDE system, mouse, or graphics card…
Stonesand: There were no drivers to find. Everything worked fine upon install except for the sound, which required a quick Windows update.
I installed Vista on my Inspiron 9300 and regret having done so. For starters, the scroll up/down function on my touchpad no longer works, and, neither does my DVD drive…meaning, it will not play movies. Additionally, the sound display no longer appears on screen whenever I raise or lower the volume via the button on the front of the laptop. Furthermore, Vista deleted every file on my hard drive. If anyone here has suggestions as to how I can fix these issues, I would be eternally grateful.
Javier - the same thing happened to me, except for the file deletion. I backed everything up first. :/
There simply are no drivers yet for the touchpad, or the on-screen indicators. I’ve been having trouble finding a movie player, too.
The scrolling and sound-level display are both really Dell issues in general, not specific to Vista. The scrolling is accomplished through the touchpad driver and the sound-level display through the QuickSet app. Check and see if Dell has released Vista-compatible versions of these. Like everything else, it most likely works out of the box with Windows, but likely not to its full potential. That’s why there are still manufacturer-provided drivers.
The DVD not working is probably the same type of issue. Have you installed any sort of DVD player app (like CyberLink, which comes with Dells IIRC)? The issue is likely that you just don’t have anything capable of decoding the DRM on the disc (which is why CyberLink gets installed).
As for the deleting of your files, that’s only because you told it to do so. That’s the whole “format” concept there, buddy… If you’d done a regular upgrade, it wouldn’t have touched your files.
Thank you Stonesand and Chris for your responses and advice. I will set out to find the appropriate drivers and movie player. Hopefully, if Dell has not released Vista-compatible versions, they plan on doing so soon. One thing I’d like to clarify is that I did perform a back up of all my data prior to the installation, and in that sense, my files are fine. What I was expressing disbelief about is that applications, primarily Microsoft apps like Office, would also be deleted. It seems incomprehensible that Microsoft would put out an operating system that fails to communicate with it’s own family of products. For example, why was it not possible to simply upgrade from my prior Windows operating system to Vista? Why the need for a complete overhaul? My iTunes library survived the installation and continues to play from the old files, why can’t Microsoft’s own products not function that way? Oh well…
Thanks again.
I found Windows Vista drivers for the Alps touchpad pointing device here:
http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/Others/Alps-Touchpad-Driver-703014.shtml
They work just fine on my Inspiron 9300, running Windows Vista. Yay!
Thanks Benjamin! My touchpad is back to normal!
Thanks indeed!
Have anyone of you experienced a strange sound from the computer in vista? because my 9300 has started to make a strange sound when the computer is idle in vista (its a low volume but kind of high note sound)? I have the ATi X300 graficcard. everything else works perfectly exept the things you say too. the only thing i miss is the volume HUD.
I was about to say I’d never noticed anything like that in Vista, but then I remembered that I actually turned my laptop off the other day because I kept hearing a squealing sound. Ordinarily my office is too loud to notice anything like that, but for some reason I was able to hear it clearly. I’ve since turned it back on and have failed to notice it again. Whether that actually means the noise is gone or whether I’ve just failed to notice it is anybody’s guess.
FWIW, I also noticed the same thing over in a variety of Linux distros. When I was researching that problem in *nix, it seemed to be related to the way the OS was scaling down the processor speed to save battery power - whenever it was scaled down to a certain point, you’d get the annoying squeal. Of course setting it so that it stayed at full power all the time means that you generate a lot of heat and the fans stay on, so it was really a lose-lose situation.
No idea why this would crop up in Vista and not in XP. I’ve also got my power settings set to stay at maximum performance, so any cpu scaling should be fairly minimal. Maybe that’s why I haven’t heard it…
If anyone figures out what’s going on, let us know! :)
Benjamin,
Thank you so much - that fixed my touchpad issue, too!!!
Lisa, Reno, Nevada
Thanks for the touch pad details it helped me out heaps.. Does anyone know who to get my outlook address/contacts into widnows mail in vista?
I have a Inspiron 9300, I have the same problems than you. I am still looking for QuicSet for Vista it is the software that can fix the sound and cd/dvd trouble, if someone knows anything about it please tell me… by the way my fan started to sound a lot, never it sounded as it is sounding now…. help me
Have any of you found drivers for the Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 video card that works under Vista? With the temporary driver from 17. january 2007, I cannot adjust the colors on the screen (WUXGA) to proof them before printing. That is a hassle, because I teach print and design, and like to know whats going on….