Kirb’s Musings

Kirby Witmer’s ponderings, ruminations, and meditations of… anything.

Microsoft today released to a select few users a SP1 Beta for Windows Vista.

Some improvements include:

• Removed some of the delay in logging in to your computer, especially domain-joined computers.
• Overall responsiveness is a lot better. i.e. copying files, resuming from hibernation or sleep mode, etc.
• A lot more improvements listed here.

All of my desktop computers have been running Windows Vista for some time. In the beginning it was a real trial, because a lot of programs and drivers didn’t work well at all. Quickbooks and Adobe Reader to name two. I must say however, that in the months since Vista has been released, HUGE improvements have been made in program and driver compatiblity. And alot of these improvements have been pushed out via Windows Update. I’m looking forward to Service Pack 1 though, especially if it fixes that annoying “slow copying of files” bug.

 A really good version of Windows has just been released.

I am working on this Vista Business loaded Toshiba Laptop that has a problem backing up to a DVD. It would always fail and give an error, “The Parameter is incorrect.” ( 0×80070057 ). I couldn’t find to much help online, however I did find this potential resolution.  So far it seems to have fixed the problem.

This error is caused by a bug in File Backup where if you don’t back up at least one file during the full backup, every backup after that fails. The workaround is to go through the Backup wizard again and choose a new full file backup at the very end.

I wasted all kinds of time the other evening trying to figure out how to get my mouse to work again. All I did was unplug it, and replug it, and it wouldn’t work for nothing. Windows Vista would try to install the device driver, but it would keep coming up with the same error.

Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it.
USB Browser Mouse
An error occurred during the installation of the device.
The driver installation file for this device is missing a necessary entry.
This may be because the INF was written for Windows 95 or later. Contact your
hardware vendor. If you know the manufacturer of your device, you can visit its website and
check the support section for driver software.

It was driving me almost crazy, until I discovered this quick fix posted by justsomeguy1.

1. Review your Windows Update History, and find the entry that says “CHIC - Other Hardware - USB Browser Mouse” and make a note of the installation date.
2. Browser to the C:\Windows\Inf folder and find the two INF files that were installed on the same date.
3. Delete both of those files.
4. Go to Device Manager and do a driver update on the unknown device that appears.
5. Breath a huge sigh of relief, and then go do something else… like… wait in line for the iPhone.

Hmm.. Apple’s announcement to release the Safari browser for Windows wasn’t exactly what a lot of some people were hoping expecting to hear, and given the number of complaints and problems with installing and running Safari on Windows, I think I’ll stick with IE 7 and Firefox.

Microsoft Surface makes me say WOW!! 

Slashdot is reporting that a Symantec Study has confirmed what we already knew, Microsoft’s Operating Systems are more secure than Mac OS X and Red Hat. “The report found that Microsoft Windows had the fewest number of patches and the shortest average patch development time of the five operating systems it monitored in the last six months of 2006.”

This is interesting. I was going through a Virtual Lab session on Offline Servicing of Windows Images using ImageX when I noticed a prompt to check for solutions to some problems that had occured. So I clicked the prompt and it promptly showed me a the following screens.

Microsoft has quietly released a package of updates that addresses some common application compatibility issues in Windows Vista. Quite a few common programs appear on the list such as Google Desktop, Microsoft Money, Adobe Creative Suite, Trend Micro Internet Security and many others. I would highly recommend installing this update.

I’ve always been partial to Western Digital hard drives, and this article from Boot Daily I just found seems to agree.

High-performance hard drives from Western Digital Corp. earned the highest score possible when tested with the Windows Experience Index utility, a new feature in Windows Vista, WD announced today.  The results indicate that the new Windows Vista operating system will run optimally when installed on WD Caviar SE16 500 GB and WD Raptor 150 GB SATA hard drives.  The Windows Experience Index measures performance capabilities of PCs and their components and calculates a score telling users how well the operating system will run using those components.  WD also announced that all of WD’s latest-generation hard drives now are certified to run Windows Vista.
The WD Raptor 150 GB hard drive, the world’s only 10,000 RPM SATA drive, and the newest-generation WD Caviar SE16 500 GB SATA hard drive each received a perfect score — a 5.9 — on a scale of between 1 and 5.9.  Other WD Caviar drives also scored in the highest performance level.  Computer systems receiving a 5.0 score or higher are defined by Microsoft as the highest performers and supporting high-end, graphics-intensive experiences such as multiplayer and 3D gaming and recording and playback of HDTV content.  WD tested the drives in its performance lab in Lake Forest, Calif.

I keep “drooling” over WD’s 10,000 RPM drives, but I guess I’ll have to wait to see how much my tax refund check is.