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Microsoft

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

By Mary Jo Foley January 25, 2007, 9:54 PM PST

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Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

Caveat, dual-booter!

Caveat, dual-booter!

Ask nine Windows experts for advice they’d give a user ready to make the jump to Windows Vista, and you get nine different pieces of advice. Here is a collection of Vista “gotchas” and tips from some of the most savvy Microsoft watchers out there.rnrn

ZDNet Blogger and Windows Book Author Ed Bott: If you decide to go the dual-boot route, realize that XP and Vista use different formats for System Restore checkpoints.rnrn

Credit: Ed Bott

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

Signed-driver error messages create confusion

Signed-driver error messages create confusion

.Net Developer and 64-bit Expert Ryan Hoffman: “Instead of simply stopping the user from installing the driver in the first place, Vista’s otherwise improved error messages and diagnostics fail to help the user.”

rnrnCredit: Ryan Hoffman

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

Backing up can be tricky

Backing up can be tricky

.Net Developer and Windows-Now Founder Robert McLaws: If you are an NTBackup user, you need to take care in how you do your Vista backups.

rnrnCredit: Robert McLaws

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

Vista Search interface is far from intuitive

Vista Search interface is far from intuitive

Tech Pundit Chris Pirillo: “The (Vista) search tool is a mess,” from a user-interface perspective.

rnrnCredit: Chris Pirillo

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

First things first: Run Upgrade Advisor

First things first: Run Upgrade Advisor

Houston Chronicle Tech Blogger Dwight Silverman: Don’t skip the important first step of running Microsoft’s Upgrade Advisor tool before moving your current system to Vista.

rnrnCredit: Dwight Silverman

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

Fix Hibernate after running disk cleanup

Fix Hibernate after running disk cleanup

MVP and Windows Book Author Steve Sinchak: Running disk cleanup can play havoc with your “Hibernate” settings in Vista.

rnrnCredit: Steve Sinchak

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

Go the dual-boot route to check for compatibility issues

Go the dual-boot route to check for compatibility issues

SuperSite for Windows Editor and Book Author Paul Thurrott: “Make sure everything will work (by setting up a) dual-boot between XP and Vista before committing your entire PC to the new OS.”

rnrnCredit: Paul Thurrott

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

Vista drains batteries like a madman

Vista drains batteries like a madman

MVP and Windows Book Author Sandro Villinger: If you’re running Vista on a laptop, beware of battery-life issues.

rnrnCredit: Sandro Villinger

Screen shots: Experts give Vista advice

Make sure you are running the very latest video drivers

Make sure you are running the very latest video drivers

MVP and CEO of Stardock Brad Wardell: Watch for updates from video-driver makers, who’ve been having trouble with Vista compatibility.

rnrnCredit: Brad Wardell

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By Mary Jo Foley
Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 30 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008). She
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