Microsoft Ends Original Vista Support

Microsoft on Tuesday officially ended support for the first version of its Windows Vista operating system.

At Cloud Connect 2011 in Silicon Valley, TechWeb's David Berlind gets a demonstration of CA's recently acquired 3Tera AppLogic graphical private cloud deployment tool.

Going forward, Vista users who are still running the so-called RTM (released-to-manufacturing) version of Vista must upgrade to a version that includes either Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 if they wish to continue receiving full support from Microsoft.

However, customers who don't upgrade will still receive limited help under a new Microsoft support policy.

"The revised policy allows Microsoft support professionals to make the best effort to provide limited break/fix troubleshooting to customers on unsupported service packs, even without custom support contracts, and help them migrate to a supported service pack," a Microsoft spokesman said, in an e-mail.

"Microsoft requires customers to transition to supported service packs to receive hotfixes, security updates, time zone updates, or access to sustained engineering," the spokesman added.

Windows Vista debuted in January of 2007, but the operating system was largely deemed a flop by industry watchers.

Consumers complained about its intrusive security measures, while businesses shunned it en masse due to concerns about horsepower and memory requirements, and compatibility problems with their existing applications.

Microsoft in October released Windows 7 with the hope of erasing memories of Vista.

Windows 7 carries a lighter footprint than Vista and ditches the obnoxious security alerts that interrupted users even when they were performing routine functions like moving a file from one folder to another.

Despite the release of Windows 7 and relatively favorable reviews, Windows XP remains Microsoft's most widely used operating system. XP, first released in 2001, holds 64% of the installed base for PC operating systems.

Vista holds 16%, while Windows 7 holds a 10% share that's steadily increasing, according to statistics from market watcher Net Applications.

Source:-http://bit.ly/iKqhSF

How to Disable Windows Defender for Microsoft Vista?

Windows Defender is a free Spyware/Malware active scanner Microsoft shipped with their latest client Operating System, Windows Vista (you can download here for XP). By default it’s enabled on Vista which is OK unless your using another product like Spybot (my fav). Recently in my forum, a user asked How To Disable Windows Defender so I figured it would make a good How-To write-up. Just follow the simple steps below.

Disable Windows Defender:

1. Double Click on the Windows Defender Icon in your Taskbar


1a. Another simple way to open Windows Defender is to: Click the Windows Start button and Type Defender in the Start Search Text box then Press the Enter key.

2. Click Tools then Click Options


3. Scroll to the bottom of the Options and uncheck the box Use Windows Defender. Click Save to exit and save changes


4. Click Close

Difference Between Windows 7 And Windows Vista

Prior to Microsoft releasing Windows 7 beta to the public, it had already found its ways to inundation sites. I later found out most of what was on the torrent sites where junk and not worth downloading. Microsoft later released the beta to the public on the 12th of January. To create suspense among the public, Microsoft said the download will only be available to the first 2.5 million people. The quest for the new operating system was so great that thousands if not millions flocked to Microsoft website for the download causing their servers to crush. I wasn't left out; I was there for the download too but couldn't get my hands on it.
I finally got hold of it two days later. Installation was unproblematic and I was not scared of losing data since I installed it on a virtual machine. According to Microsoft, the minimum system requirements were 1GHz processor, 1GB of memory and 16GB of hard drive space. I, however, installed it on 512MB and 8GB hard drive and it worked seamlessly. My first impressions were this is exactly Vista with another name. Microsoft did a good job in reconstructing the Windows vista kernel so it doesn't use as much resources as Vista.
Until the advent of Vista, there was no need for computers running with extravagant amounts of memory. Windows 7 runs pretty well on my 512MB of memory and all my previous drivers from Windows XP installed without a glitch. Microsoft's intention for Windows 7 is for it to be an incremental upgrade with the goal of being fully compatible with existing device drivers, applications, and hardware. Windows 7 is doing exactly that and even more. Even though, the interface looks like Vista, Windows 7 proves to be way better. With new cool features such as Device Stage and Home Group, Windows 7 is definitely the future.
Windows 7 is a Vista clone in exterior but not in performance. You may have read other reviews but don't end your experience there. Go ahead and download Windows 7 and try it out for yourself. Hope you will not be disappointed.

Why Switch to Windows Vista

In addition to hype there are some solid reasons to upgrade and or switch over to Windows Vista. I can recount only some of them. Start from the appearance. Windows Vista help looks different; window, desktop, start button, start menu, taskbar, everything has a new look. Window in Windows Vista looks somewhat similar to that of in Mac OSX. Minimize, maximize and the close buttons seem new. The windows can be made to appear in lucent ,if the new Aero is applied. The start button has been modified to give a new look and the word "start" is gone. Instead new Windows vista logo appears in start button. Start menu and wallpapers are also new. The desktop contains a side bar, which shows a clock, and some of the widgets.
Windows Vista provides high level of security measures. Windows Vista that comes with Internet Explorer which provides a higher degree of security to the system, as well as, the operating system environment. It includes phasing filter to provide higher security while surfing the net. Protection against spamming is also provided. The other security measures include tools such as Windows defender, advanced firewall, Encryption/Decryption of data, support partitions, auto backup. The Windows Defender is a program which blocks suspicious programs which tries to do some illegal activity in the computer system. Also users can control kids by using parental controls in Windows Vista. Parents can now deny access to certain programs especially, the games. At the same time the Windows Media Player 11 enhances video, audio quality when playing sound, music, videos.
One of my favorite thing in Windows Vista is search results. Users can have a new and improved search experience in Vista; they can manage images more efficiently with inbuilt Photo Gallery and a lot more.

Windows Vista Boot Process Overview

The Microsoft Windows Vista" boot process differs from Windows® XP in the way the operating system is located and initialized. Start-up begins with the BIOS loading the Master Boot Record (MBR) on the bootable disk. The MBR in turn loads the Partition Boot Record (PBR) on the active partition. So far, Windows Vista remains relatively unchanged.
Windows Vista help is different from XP starting by the fact the PBR code written by Windows Vista no longer looks for Ntldr. The new boot loader in Windows Vista is Bootmgr. This component loads the Boot Configuration Database (BCD), which in turn loads an OS loader boot application (Winload.exe, in the case of Windows Vista). Finally, the OS loader application is responsible for initializing the kernel. This process is illustrated below.
You can think of this change in two elements:
1. The two key actions performed by Ntldr in previous Windows versions have been divided between two components:
2. Bootmgr reads the boot configuration, including device and path locations.
WindowsSystem32Winload.exe initializes the kernel.
The boot configuration stored by Boot.ini in previous Windows versions is now stored in an extensible database, BootBCD, the Boot Configuration Database (BCD).
These changes are significant because of the impact they have:
The boot process can be extended to support other applications, such as other operating systems or other versions of the OS.
Only nonversion-specific components are stored in the root of the active partition. This means that theoretically Windows Vista could be installed on a machine running some future Windows version with the same boot structure, and it would not break the boot process for that future version. With legacy Windows, installing an older Windows version last causes the newer version to fail on start-up. This is due to version-specific code improvements in Ntldr.
Tool-oriented boot entries can be supported to offer maintenance options on boot when a previous start-up failed. In the past, Windows supported an menu provided by a target operating system. This new structure can make tools available earlier during the boot process, meaning that they are available even if all OS-specific boot entries are damaged. The Windows Memory Diagnostic tool is provided in the boot menu in this way.
BCD Store
The Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store contains boot configuration parameters and controls how the operating system is started in Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. These parameters were previously in the Boot.ini file in BIOS-based operating systems or in the nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) entries in Extensible Firmware Interface-based operating systems. You can use the Bcdedit.exe command line tool to affect the Windows code which runs in the pre-operating system environment by adding, deleting, editing, and appending entries in the BCD store. Bcdedit.exe is located in the WindowsSystem32 directory of the Windows Vista partition.
The BCD is a database used by Bootmgr. It contains the functions of Boot.ini and is located in the {ActivePartition}boot folder
Bcdedit.exe
You can use Bcdedit.exe to modify the Windows code which runs in the pre-operating system environment by adding, deleting, editing, and appending entries in the BCD store. Bcdedit.exe is located in the WindowsSystem32 directory of the Windows Vista partition.
Boot.ini Compared to BCD
BCD eliminates the need for Boot.ini in Windows Vista, although Boot.ini is still present on dual-boot systems for backwards compatibility. Because the BCD boots to the boot environment first instead of Ntldr, the location of Ntldr is not verified unless a legacy operating system is chosen.
Configuration Tools
The BCD store can be modified or repaired using several tools:
System Properties in Control Panel
SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe
Msconfig
Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) Startup Repair
Bcdedit.exe
Bootrec.exe
Most of these tools enable you to perform simple tasks, such as setting a boot menu timeout, setting a default operating system, or configuring boot options such as /SOS and /SAFEBOOT. Others are repair-oriented tools; Startup Repair and Bootrec.exe, in particular, provide automated mechanisms for fixing problems in the BCD.
Bcdedit.exe is the main tool for detailed BCD store modifications. You can use Bcdedit to change Bootmgr options; add boot, delete, and edit boot entries; import and export the BCD store; and create a new store if it becomes significantly damaged. Bcdedit.exe is located in the WindowsSystem32 directory of the Windows Vista partition and is also available in WinRE.
BCD Store Location
The BCD store is a registry hive, stored as BootBCD on the active partition. This hive is loaded but hidden from view in Regedit.exe within Windows Vista. The store is loaded to the following registry location: HKLMBCD00000000.
You can also view the store manually in WinRE by loading the hive from the Boot folder. To obtain a copy of the hive on a running system, use the Bcdedit /export filename command to export a hive file for offline examination. This command exports the BCD store to a file called filename in the current directory.
Related Components
Msconfig
Msconfig is the preferred PSS UI tool for managing boot settings. The tool supports BCD and allows the user to enumerate all BCD objects in the system store. It allows certain elements to be altered for each OS object, including debug settings, safe mode settings, and other popular PSS options. It cannot be used with the WinRE console; Bcdedit needs to be used in these cases.
Bcdedit.exe
Bcdedit.exe is a command line tool that can be used to manage BCD settings. In summary, Bcdedit.exe is a replacement for Bootcfg.exe. However, it is enhanced for better scripting and to expose some of the more powerful features of BCD that bootcfg.exe did not expose for manipulating Boot.ini. Bcdedit.exe is designed to work on previous operating systems and in recovery environments.

How to Dual Boot Windows Vista and XP on Your Computer

Step 1: Understand What You're Doing
Dual booting is a nice idea - however, you do need to understand what you're doing. Meddling around with drive partitions and boot sectors might cause you to lose data. So one thing that I'd advise you to do is to do more research into your dual booting needs first - do you really need to dual boot? Think about that before embarking on this little dual booting adventure.
Step 2: Data Backup
The first thing you must do - the FIRST thing - is to back up all your critical documents and files. Also, make sure you back up and try to restore those documents back. I've seen many folks who use an imaging program (e.g. Acronis TrueImage) and successfully back up their documents. However, when their system crashes and they try to restore the files - it doesn't work. So always, always make sure you back up and try restoring the documents before proceeding to the next steps. Another option for back up is to get an external hard disk - this is a simpler solution. If you get a big external hard disk, you can copy all your documents over and they will be quite safe.
Step 3: Download GParted
What do you do next? Well, you download this neat program called GParted. What GParted does is that it shrinks the Windows XP partition. Once it is shrunk, you can burn the Windows XP partition into a DVD. You can then leave room for Vista (at least 10 GB worth of space).
Step 4: Install Vista and run EasyBCD
Once you've used GParted and shrunk the Windows XP partition, you should install Windows Vista to get Windows vista help. Once installed, you should download a software called EasyBCD. This program allows you to change boot up name of the different partitions to your liking.
Step 5: Try it out
The last step here is to try out the dual boot configuration. When the machine boots up, you should be able to choose either Windows Vista or XP as your installation choices. Make sure that you can boot into both operating systems and they work normally.
Conclusion
In summary, you can see that there is an advantage to dual booting. It is not that hard a process, but you do need to know what you're doing before you try it out. So until next time, happy dual booting and good luck!

Repair Windows Vista

Now that just about everybody knows how to use the XP Recovery Console Microsoft's newest operating system does not contain one. Not to be bothered we have a detailed article that will walk you through how to use these great new features in Vista.
The reason of this article is to teach you how to make vista repairs if you are having startup issues or you can't seem to use the vista system restore option. There are two ways to use these options and they depend on if you have a Microsoft Windows Vista install disk or if Vista was pre-installed on your OS you will have a ghost image on your hard drive.
If you have the windows vista repair disk: (This should be your backup copy of Vista if you made one)
PLEASE NOTE: This Vista install CD can be run from within Vista. Just insert the CD once Vista has loaded up and go to install, go > Install Now > Upgrade.
1. Boot up with the Vista install disc
2. You should see a screen that says "Windows is loading files"
3. After a few minutes you will get a language option. Select your language and hit next.
4. On the install screen select "Repair Windows Vista computer"
5. Windows will find your copy of Vista on the machine
6. Select your copy of Vista and click next
7. You will now see the following options.
* Startup repair - This automatically fixes problems that are preventing Windows from starting

* System Restore - This will Restore Windows to an earlier point in time

* Windows Complete PC Restore - This will completely restore your entire PC - programs, system settings and files - from a back up that you have previously created (Available in Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions only)

* Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool - This checks your computer's memory hardware for errors

* Command Prompt
8. Assuming you are using this option because you were unable to boot to Windows Vista select the system Restore option and then select the date you would like to go back to. If your OS is fine you can always use the startup repair option.
Pre-Installed and OEM versions: (please check with your manufacturer fist. They may have replaced these tools with their own.

1. Turn your computer on and start pressing the F8 key. If you see the Windows Vista Logo you have gone too far and need to reboot and try again

2. You will get an advanced options screen. Select the "Repair your computer option" and hit enter.

3. Select your language and hit next.

4. Enter your user name and password and then next.

5. The recovery options should now appear.

6. In most cases just using the system restore to set your computer back will solve your issue. If this is not the case try the Startup repair option.

Windows Vista, Improved Features

Microsoft Corporation has tried to put "active" items on the Windows computer for nearly a decade. Finally, with Vista's Sidebar success seems within grasp. Stability problems that dogged previous versions aren't as readily apparent - which is to say, Sidebar doesn't crash nearly as often as, say, Active Desktop in Windows XP - and the items it offers actually help.

The items in the Sidebar, termed Gadgets, can interact with you, with Microsoft operating system, with files and folders, with your network, and with other Gadgets. Windows Vista comes with a handful of moderately interesting Gadgets .

Many other features - Put Microsoft Windows Vista head and shoulders above XP. The standout features include the following:

• Improved backup (although no backup exists in the Home Basic Edition).
• Photo management (via Photo Gallery, not in Home Basic).
• Second monitor support
• Easy wireless networking.
• Vista also helps you burn DVDs, but watch out for the digital rights

Windows Vista provides several accessories for Tablet PCs, including Input Panel, Snipping Tool, Sticky Notes, and Windows Journal. All of these accessories use Tablet PC pens, which improve accessibility by making it easier to work with computers. Additionally, people who might not be able to use a computer keyboard and mouse might be able to use a Tablet PC pen as an alternative input device.

Windows Vista includes many other features that improve accessibility, including the Filter Keys, Sticky Keys, and High Contrast functions and the Narrator, Magnifier, and On-Screen Keyboard utilities. In Microsoft Windows Vista, these features have all been enhanced, and most have completely redesigned interfaces. Windows Vista also includes speech recognition software. Using speech recognition, you can dictate documents and e-mail messages, and you can use your voice to control programs and browse the Web.