Its OK but that thing where it flips in and out of the home screen gives me motion sickness

Windows 7 seems better

Quote: Lazzard @ October 21 2013, 2:31 PM BST

For God's sake don't be tempted into getting Windows 8.
Bought my daughter a lap-top with this pre-loaded.
It is unworkable - it's driving her up the wall
(And me when trying to install some rather expensive animation software and a graphics tablet).

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Oh I have no intention of doing that!

Quote: Lee @ October 21 2013, 2:26 PM BST

I have a laptop that is currently running Windows 7, however it is a drag and frustrating to use. The laptop originally used Vista but that was lost during a hard drive swap a few years ago. I have just found out you can legally download a copy of Vista and input the product key.

My theory is that if I install Vista back onto this machine, it will once again run like clockwork (as far as Vista clockwork goes anyway)

Would I be right with this or not?

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Windows 7 is normally significantly faster and better than Vista. I suspect something else is slowing your Windows 7.

But yes if you have the correct product key you should be able to get a download or DVD of the correct edition of Vista and install it and then legitimise it with the product key.

It might be best to get the image from the makers of your computer, because product keys are sometimes jigged to work only with the OEM edition of Windows issued by the computer manufacturer.

Thanks Bill. The laptop is old and has only 1GB of Ram, it moves at a snails pace. But at the same time it's a sturdy laptop with a big screen, it would be a shame to just ditch it for a younger model.

If you just use it for emails & web browsing & occasional documents, load it up with Linux Mint 15, that really will fly on 1GB, better than Vista or Win 7 and free.

Does anyone know a programme that allows you to rip certain bits of audio from a DVD without having to rip the whole audio track?

Quote: Lee @ October 22 2013, 12:22 AM BST

Thanks Bill. The laptop is old and has only 1GB of Ram, it moves at a snails pace. But at the same time it's a sturdy laptop with a big screen, it would be a shame to just ditch it for a younger model.

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1 gig and big, how old is it?

Quote: Harridan @ October 22 2013, 11:46 AM BST

Does anyone know a programme that allows you to rip certain bits of audio from a DVD without having to rip the whole audio track?

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You could rip the whole disk then use Audacity to chop out the tracks that you don't want.

Also Audacity allows you to highlight a portion of audio and save that selection as a separate audio file.

Yeah, I thought I'd end up doing that, I was just hoping there was a programme that would save me the hassle!

Quote: sootyj @ October 22 2013, 11:49 AM BST

1 gig and big, how old is it?

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It's about 10 years old, maybe? But it's my Dad's and he hates the new thin screen ones. So he's persisting with this one as long as he can.

Yeah I suggested Linux to him bill but he needs Windows for some reason. Thanks though

Go try the CRUCIAL RAM scanner " target="_blank">http://www.crucial.com/uk/index.aspx?gclid=COrVyKnArboCFQrJtAod1AQA0A&cpe=pd_google_uk&ef_id=UfUgXwAAAXftgCz1:20131023174101

To see if it can take 2GB

RAM is not too expensive nowadays and if it will take it, that will be a major improvement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the problems with Microsoft systems is that they might well work nicely on 1GB ram when first issued, but the patches and service packs expand the OS so much that after a while the up-to-date version of Vista or Win 7 don't really work well on 1GB. So even if you go back to Vista, if you update that you may find yourself worse off.

I had to fix a friends WIN7 computer earlier this year which had slowed to a crawl, taking up to 5 minutes to process a simple Explorer click (such as open a folder), first I got rid of all surplus programs loaded at boot time, then removed all surplus temporary files, switched the Explorer mode to "most efficient" i.e. blocky windows, no transparency etc

That got it going, but it still wasn't good, but it was good enough to run the CRUCIAL SCANNER and buy 2GB of ram, which really did make it work well.

I had installed another 1GB borrowed from another laptop, wiped it and removed all the bloat and Windows effects. It runs okay but still nowhere near a comfortable level. I would stick Linux on but my Dad wants WindoWS though. Thanks bill.

Why would this only work with Windows 7

http://www.ebuyer.com/288343-toshiba-1tb-stor-e-basics-portale-drive-black-hdtb110ek3ba

Quote: Oldrocker @ 7th November 2013, 12:33 AM GMT

Why would this only work with Windows 7

http://www.ebuyer.com/288343-toshiba-1tb-stor-e-basics-portale-drive-black-hdtb110ek3ba

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I think it is because Windows XP does not have support for USB 3.0. But Windows 7 does

Durr. Having just read the full specification, you're right !