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This is another plus for Vista! The snipping tool. It is located in the accessories folder, but it is easier just to type snip in the search box and it will display the tool for me to click on. There is a little window that opens to allow you to select a region of the screen also to set the tool options.
This image was grabbed with the tool, it works just like a snapshot! To the right is a shot of the tool when it opens. This is actual size at my screen resolution. By golly play with this thing it is fun.
I thought I would almost have a fit when somone on the forums made the statement that memory devices such as pen drives and SD ram were way to slow to be useful for performance add-ons! A simple brain check tells me that any device that has no moving parts is going to be faster than any hard drive! While it is true that the devices are not as fast as ram mounted on the processor buss, there is merit in their use anyhow. So get ready here comes some data to back up what I am saying.
Windows Readyboost relies on a program module called Windows SuperFetch and is available in the Vista versions Premium and and above. Sorry basic users.
Superfetch monitors which applications you use the most and preloads these into your system ram. Housekeeping programs get a low priority so that what you are working on comes first. Well that is the basic ground work.
Next, much to my delight, the program readyboost is smart. That is to say that it checks the device to make sure it meets the minumum needs of the program. Here are the requirements:
- 2.4MB/sec throughput for 4KB random reads
- 1.75MB/sec throughput for 512 KB random writes
- 235MB in size
Those are minimum spec’s, not all devices on the market will meet those spec’s so read the labels!
There is event a post mortem program if you care to see why your device does not work.
Eventvwr.msc:
Click the Applications And Services Logs –> Left side.
Click Microsoft, Windows, and ReadyBoost.
Select Operational.
The log entries in the center pane include performance test results for both successful and unsuccessful attempts.
Best of all this is perfect for those who are afraid to pop open their favorite box to install more ram.
Vista gets mean mouthed a lot so I’ll hit some high points about the good side.
• The drivers have come a long way! Lots of drivers now run in the User Space instead of the Kernel Space.
Translation: one messed up driver doesn’t hose your system, problems often recover without a reboot
• Performance! It appears Vista uses more resources
Translation: Unused Ram is undesirable, It does nothing for you and overworks the hard drive. Vista is smart enough to free up the ram if another app needs it.
• Open the Start menu and simply typing a few characters of what you’re looking for, then seeing the program and file list update in real time, is a very fast an easy way to get to that app, file, control panel, or utility you’re looking for. I use it a lot because with 2 Tera-bytes of online storage I don’t remember where 1/2 the stuff is!
• There are actually Sidebar applets worth having now.
• Individual volume controls for all applications can be very useful.
• Vista-only features like DirectX 10 are finally starting to become meaningful.
The truth is (as much as a person’s opinion can be “truth”), Vista “feels” as fast or faster than XP on any computer a year old or less, and even on some of the better machines that are older than that. And it’s got lots of nice features, if you can get yourself out of the “do everything exactly as in XP” mind-set long enough to try them.
Let’s not forget the below:
The Mojave Experiment
Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment marketing campaign.
The company took a whole mess of PC users who haven’t tried Vista yet, but hate it based on all the bad stuff they hear.
Then they showed these people what they said was the next version of Windows, named “Mojave.” Which everyone loved.
Then the Microsoft group told everyone—surprise!— Mojave is actually Windows Vista.
Sure, it’s just a goofy marketing trick and you could pull the Folgers Switch with a lot of things and get a similar reaction.
But I think there’s some truth to it.
Vista got a bad rap…..
A similar reaction happened when XP came out. I have adapted to every release of windows since the name of Microsoft existed. Some just won’t let the blanket go just like Linus (Peanuts comic).
Should I download Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Or Not?
im wondering should i download windows vista service pack 1 for my 1 year old acer aspire 5610z ? i have windows vista home premium and i saw it in the microsoft update and i dont know if i should im not sure because i dont want to have to reboot my laptop also i have grand theft auto san andreas for the PC and it dont work on the windows vista premium and i dont think that it would work on sp 1 for vista so im not sure should i download it or not??
I have an ACER aspire also and downloaded SP1 on download day and have no problems.
