back popular demand ten vital vista beta tips

Being a newbie of admittedly severely limited mental capacity, but always wanting the latest things, I love any beta release of anything. Here are some tips that will help some people with their struggles to enjoy Vista Beta 2.
1. It is a Beta. If it worked perfectly, had all the drivers you need, and so on and so forth, it wouldn’t be a Beta. The whole purpose of a Beta is so that a group of people can TEST the software and find the problems. So when you find a problem, that’s the whole point!
2. Search the forum and the internet for an answer or at least an existing dialogue of your particular issue BEFORE posting a question. Andre and Zack are extremely busy, answering redundant, redundant questions and commenting on our inability to read. If they only have to deal with the same issue 300 times instead of 400 times, they will have more time to deal with your issue, the one that is more important than any other.
3. If your hardware, the “Unobtanium Does Everything” thing won’t work, that usually means that the Unobtanium Corporation hasn’t done their job to help you. First see item 2. Then go to Unobtanium’s support sites. Microsoft didn’t build the thing, and if they had the drivers, they would have included them in the Beta to start with. Either that, or Microsoft is out to get you, personally, and is doing this to you on purpose.
4. Will “Whizbang’s” software be compatible? Will it rain next Friday at 2:46pm? Who knows? Try it, and if it works, great, if it doesn’t, complain to Whizbang. I never expected my Atari 2600 to run Coleco games, after all…
5. For this Beta, Windows Vista, do yourself a favour and do a clean install. Empty partitions are great for this. Don’t have one? See item 2. Don’t know what a partition is? See item 2. Don’t know how to make a new partition? See item 2. Need software to make a partition? See item 2. Too inept or scared to try to make a new partition? Well, the world needs grocery baggers too, I suppose. You’ll be so much farther ahead without old drivers and .dll’s cluttering up the install you will make your goofy brother-in-law very jealous. The one with his dishwasher networked in to his toaster-oven with Wi-Fi.
6. Back-up everything. Twice. Then back that up. Then install. Don’t upgrade.
7. Don’t like Vista? “C:\ FORMAT”. It’s the only way. You did back up all you stuff, right?
8. Buy the DVD instead of downloading. It’s less than $20.00. You have enough in change between the couch and your car ashtray. First of all, you then have somebody to blame besides yourself if it doesn’t work. Second of all, there’s a rumour that it has “bloopers” at the end for your enjoyment.
9. Just a thought, but if you lack the technical expertise to burn an .iso to a DVD successfully, what makes you think you can load SATA drivers during a botched install from a floppy you don’t have? And now you’ve overwritten some of your existing operating system because you tried to upgrade instead of doing a clean install. You did back up all your stuff, right?
10. If you find a bug, meaning something that doesn’t work, see item 1. Then see item 2. Then report it to Microsoft. How? See item 2. Why? So that Microsoft can address the issue, and so that you feel empowered, instead of like a thirty-something social miss-fit who still lives with his mother.
Hope this helps!

Can I have permission to post this on another site? It is perfect-
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:

Being a newbie of admittedly severely limited mental capacity, but always wanting the latest things, I love any beta release of anything. Here are some tips that will help some people with their struggles to enjoy Vista Beta 2.
1. It is a Beta. If it worked perfectly, had all the drivers you need, and so on and so forth, it wouldn’t be a Beta. The whole purpose of a Beta is so that a group of people can TEST the software and find the problems. So when you find a problem, that’s the whole point!
2. Search the forum and the internet for an answer or at least an existing dialogue of your particular issue BEFORE posting a question. Andre and Zack are extremely busy, answering redundant, redundant questions and commenting on our inability to read. If they only have to deal with the same issue 300 times instead of 400 times, they will have more time to deal with your issue, the one that is more important than any other.
3. If your hardware, the “Unobtanium Does Everything” thing won’t work, that usually means that the Unobtanium Corporation hasn’t done their job to help you. First see item 2. Then go to Unobtanium’s support sites. Microsoft didn’t build the thing, and if they had the drivers, they would have included them in the Beta to start with. Either that, or Microsoft is out to get you, personally, and is doing this to you on purpose.
4. Will “Whizbang’s” software be compatible? Will it rain next Friday at 2:46pm? Who knows? Try it, and if it works, great, if it doesn’t, complain to Whizbang. I never expected my Atari 2600 to run Coleco games, after all…
5. For this Beta, Windows Vista, do yourself a favour and do a clean install. Empty partitions are great for this. Don’t have one? See item 2. Don’t know what a partition is? See item 2. Don’t know how to make a new partition? See item 2. Need software to make a partition? See item 2. Too inept or scared to try to make a new partition? Well, the world needs grocery baggers too, I suppose. You’ll be so much farther ahead without old drivers and .dll’s cluttering up the install you will make your goofy brother-in-law very jealous. The one with his dishwasher networked in to his toaster-oven with Wi-Fi.
6. Back-up everything. Twice. Then back that up. Then install. Don’t upgrade.
7. Don’t like Vista? “C:\ FORMAT”. It’s the only way. You did back up all you stuff, right?
8. Buy the DVD instead of downloading. It’s less than $20.00. You have enough in change between the couch and your car ashtray. First of all, you then have somebody to blame besides yourself if it doesn’t work. Second of all, there’s a rumour that it has “bloopers” at the end for your enjoyment.
9. Just a thought, but if you lack the technical expertise to burn an .iso to a DVD successfully, what makes you think you can load SATA drivers during a botched install from a floppy you don’t have? And now you’ve overwritten some of your existing operating system because you tried to upgrade instead of doing a clean install. You did back up all your stuff, right?
10. If you find a bug, meaning something that doesn’t work, see item 1. Then see item 2. Then report it to Microsoft. How? See item 2. Why? So that Microsoft can address the issue, and so that you feel empowered, instead of like a thirty-something social miss-fit who still lives with his mother.
Hope this helps!

"daddy3" wrote:

Can I have permission to post this on another site? It is perfect-

Absolutely.

Great tips!
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote in message

Being a newbie of admittedly severely limited mental capacity, but always wanting the latest things, I love any beta release of anything. Here are some tips that will help some people with their struggles to enjoy Vista Beta 2.
1. It is a Beta. If it worked perfectly, had all the drivers you need, and so on and so forth, it wouldn't be a Beta. The whole purpose of a Beta is so that a group of people can TEST the software and find the problems. So when you find a problem, that's the whole point!
2. Search the forum and the internet for an answer or at least an existing dialogue of your particular issue BEFORE posting a question. Andre and Zack are extremely busy, answering redundant, redundant questions and commenting on our inability to read. If they only have to deal with the same issue 300 times instead of 400 times, they will have more time to deal with your issue, the one that is more important than any other.
3. If your hardware, the "Unobtanium Does Everything" thing won't work, that usually means that the Unobtanium Corporation hasn't done their job to help you. First see item 2. Then go to Unobtanium's support sites. Microsoft didn't build the thing, and if they had the drivers, they would have included them in the Beta to start with. Either that, or Microsoft is out to get you, personally, and is doing this to you on purpose.
4. Will "Whizbang's" software be compatible? Will it rain next Friday at 2:46pm? Who knows? Try it, and if it works, great, if it doesn't, complain to Whizbang. I never expected my Atari 2600 to run Coleco games, after all.
5. For this Beta, Windows Vista, do yourself a favour and do a clean install. Empty partitions are great for this. Don't have one? See item 2. Don't know what a partition is? See item 2. Don't know how to make a new partition? See item 2. Need software to make a partition? See item 2. Too inept or scared to try to make a new partition? Well, the world needs grocery baggers too, I suppose. You'll be so much farther ahead without old drivers and .dll's cluttering up the install you will make your goofy brother-in-law very jealous. The one with his dishwasher networked in to his toaster-oven with Wi-Fi.
6. Back-up everything. Twice. Then back that up. Then install. Don't upgrade.
7. Don't like Vista? "C:\ FORMAT". It's the only way. You did back up all you stuff, right?
8. Buy the DVD instead of downloading. It's less than $20.00. You have enough in change between the couch and your car ashtray. First of all, you then have somebody to blame besides yourself if it doesn't work. Second of all, there's a rumour that it has "bloopers" at the end for your enjoyment.
9. Just a thought, but if you lack the technical expertise to burn an .iso to a DVD successfully, what makes you think you can load SATA drivers during a botched install from a floppy you don't have? And now you've overwritten some of your existing operating system because you tried to upgrade instead of doing a clean install. You did back up all your stuff, right?
10. If you find a bug, meaning something that doesn't work, see item 1. Then see item 2. Then report it to Microsoft. How? See item 2. Why? So that Microsoft can address the issue, and so that you feel empowered, instead of like a thirty-something social miss-fit who still lives with his mother.
Hope this helps!

OUTSTANDING !!!
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote in message

Being a newbie of admittedly severely limited mental capacity, but always wanting the latest things, I love any beta release of anything. Here are some tips that will help some people with their struggles to enjoy Vista Beta 2.
1. It is a Beta. If it worked perfectly, had all the drivers you need, and so on and so forth, it wouldn't be a Beta. The whole purpose of a Beta is so that a group of people can TEST the software and find the problems. So when you find a problem, that's the whole point!
2. Search the forum and the internet for an answer or at least an existing dialogue of your particular issue BEFORE posting a question. Andre and Zack are extremely busy, answering redundant, redundant questions and commenting on our inability to read. If they only have to deal with the same issue 300 times instead of 400 times, they will have more time to deal with your issue, the one that is more important than any other.
3. If your hardware, the "Unobtanium Does Everything" thing won't work, that usually means that the Unobtanium Corporation hasn't done their job to help you. First see item 2. Then go to Unobtanium's support sites. Microsoft didn't build the thing, and if they had the drivers, they would have included them in the Beta to start with. Either that, or Microsoft is out to get you, personally, and is doing this to you on purpose.
4. Will "Whizbang's" software be compatible? Will it rain next Friday at 2:46pm? Who knows? Try it, and if it works, great, if it doesn't, complain to Whizbang. I never expected my Atari 2600 to run Coleco games, after all.
5. For this Beta, Windows Vista, do yourself a favour and do a clean install. Empty partitions are great for this. Don't have one? See item 2. Don't know what a partition is? See item 2. Don't know how to make a new partition? See item 2. Need software to make a partition? See item 2. Too inept or scared to try to make a new partition? Well, the world needs grocery baggers too, I suppose. You'll be so much farther ahead without old drivers and .dll's cluttering up the install you will make your goofy brother-in-law very jealous. The one with his dishwasher networked in to his toaster-oven with Wi-Fi.
6. Back-up everything. Twice. Then back that up. Then install. Don't upgrade.
7. Don't like Vista? "C:\ FORMAT". It's the only way. You did back up all you stuff, right?
8. Buy the DVD instead of downloading. It's less than $20.00. You have enough in change between the couch and your car ashtray. First of all, you then have somebody to blame besides yourself if it doesn't work. Second of all, there's a rumour that it has "bloopers" at the end for your enjoyment.
9. Just a thought, but if you lack the technical expertise to burn an .iso to a DVD successfully, what makes you think you can load SATA drivers during a botched install from a floppy you don't have? And now you've overwritten some of your existing operating system because you tried to upgrade instead of doing a clean install. You did back up all your stuff, right?
10. If you find a bug, meaning something that doesn't work, see item 1. Then see item 2. Then report it to Microsoft. How? See item 2. Why? So that Microsoft can address the issue, and so that you feel empowered, instead of like a thirty-something social miss-fit who still lives with his mother.
Hope this helps!

Always enjoyable. I forgot about the ol search option, doh. -- system: AMD 64 3000, MSI k8t Neo,1.5 gig RAM, WD Raptor SATA 74G HD, eVGA 6800 GT, SB live value, Vista beta 2 64 bit/XP Pro 64 bit... Thanks, BJBB

"RR2" wrote:

OUTSTANDING !!!
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote in message Being a newbie of admittedly severely limited mental capacity, but always wanting the latest things, I love any beta release of anything. Here are some tips that will help some people with their struggles to enjoy Vista Beta 2.
1. It is a Beta. If it worked perfectly, had all the drivers you need, and so on and so forth, it wouldn't be a Beta. The whole purpose of a Beta is so that a group of people can TEST the software and find the problems. So when you find a problem, that's the whole point!
2. Search the forum and the internet for an answer or at least an existing dialogue of your particular issue BEFORE posting a question. Andre and Zack are extremely busy, answering redundant, redundant questions and commenting on our inability to read. If they only have to deal with the same issue 300 times instead of 400 times, they will have more time to deal with your issue, the one that is more important than any other.
3. If your hardware, the "Unobtanium Does Everything" thing won't work, that usually means that the Unobtanium Corporation hasn't done their job to help you. First see item 2. Then go to Unobtanium's support sites. Microsoft didn't build the thing, and if they had the drivers, they would have included them in the Beta to start with. Either that, or Microsoft is out to get you, personally, and is doing this to you on purpose.
4. Will "Whizbang's" software be compatible? Will it rain next Friday at 2:46pm? Who knows? Try it, and if it works, great, if it doesn't, complain to Whizbang. I never expected my Atari 2600 to run Coleco games, after all.
5. For this Beta, Windows Vista, do yourself a favour and do a clean install. Empty partitions are great for this. Don't have one? See item 2. Don't know what a partition is? See item 2. Don't know how to make a new partition? See item 2. Need software to make a partition? See item 2. Too inept or scared to try to make a new partition? Well, the world needs grocery baggers too, I suppose. You'll be so much farther ahead without old drivers and .dll's cluttering up the install you will make your goofy brother-in-law very jealous. The one with his dishwasher networked in to his toaster-oven with Wi-Fi.
6. Back-up everything. Twice. Then back that up. Then install. Don't upgrade.
7. Don't like Vista? "C:\ FORMAT". It's the only way. You did back up all you stuff, right?
8. Buy the DVD instead of downloading. It's less than $20.00. You have enough in change between the couch and your car ashtray. First of all, you then have somebody to blame besides yourself if it doesn't work. Second of all, there's a rumour that it has "bloopers" at the end for your enjoyment.
9. Just a thought, but if you lack the technical expertise to burn an .iso to a DVD successfully, what makes you think you can load SATA drivers during a botched install from a floppy you don't have? And now you've overwritten some of your existing operating system because you tried to upgrade instead of doing a clean install. You did back up all your stuff, right?
10. If you find a bug, meaning something that doesn't work, see item 1. Then see item 2. Then report it to Microsoft. How? See item 2. Why? So that Microsoft can address the issue, and so that you feel empowered, instead of like a thirty-something social miss-fit who still lives with his mother.
Hope this helps!

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 17:51:02 -0700, Mark D. VandenBerg wrote:

Being a newbie of admittedly severely limited mental capacity, but always wanting the latest things, I love any beta release of anything. Here are some tips that will help some people with their struggles to enjoy Vista Beta 2.
1. It is a Beta. If it worked perfectly, had all the drivers you need, and so on and so forth, it wouldn�t be a Beta. The whole purpose of a Beta is so that a group of people can TEST the software and find the problems. So when you find a problem, that�s the whole point!
2. Search the forum and the internet for an answer or at least an existing dialogue of your particular issue BEFORE posting a question. Andre and Zack are extremely busy, answering redundant, redundant questions and commenting on our inability to read. If they only have to deal with the same issue 300 times instead of 400 times, they will have more time to deal with your issue, the one that is more important than any other.

After reading one idiotic posting after another, I am surprised that ANYONE who knows anything is going to want to read another one, much less respond helpfully to one.

3. If your hardware, the �Unobtanium Does Everything� thing won�t work, that usually

I take offense to the word "usually", and would prefer that you had used the word "always" instead, since Microsoft just doesn't write drivers at all (even, apparently, for their own hardware).

means that the Unobtanium Corporation hasn�t done their job to help you. First see item 2. Then go to Unobtanium�s support sites. Microsoft didn�t build the thing, and if they had the drivers, they would have included them in the Beta to start with.

Since Microsoft is NOT In the business of writing hardware drivers, they will NEVER be included in the basic install of Vista UNLESS the manufacturer has worked with Microsoft to release a driver for their product. While many manufacturers do work with Microsoft, many do not, and you will have to get the drivers for their products from them. Many manufacturers wait till the final RTM of an OS before starting work on a compatible driver.
If the manufacturer of your device fails to provide a compatible driver, it will NEVER WORK in Vista, no matter HOW HARD YOU TRY. So, stop trying, and buy a device for which the provided driver DOES work in Vista.
Let's face it, if the manufacturer won't support its own products, no one else is going to, either.

Either that, or Microsoft is out to get you, personally, and is doing this to you on purpose.

Right, right... Now, tell me about the giant rabbit named Harvey you talk with every day.
Microsoft wants to SELL product, not let it sit on the shelf with no users.
Contrary to what many of us believe, Microsoft does NOT have a planning group somewhere on its campus in Redmond thinking up ways to make sure your pet device won't work with its latest OS offeriing.

4. Will �Whizbang�s� software be compatible? Will it rain next Friday at 2:46pm? Who knows? Try it, and if it works, great, if it doesn�t, complain to Whizbang. I never expected my Atari 2600 to run Coleco games, after all�

I certainly expect my Intel iMac to run Windows games. Don't know about your Systemax.

5. For this Beta, Windows Vista, do yourself a favour and do a clean install. Empty partitions are great for this. Don�t have one? See item 2. Don�t know what a partition is? See item 2. Don�t know how to make a new partition? See item 2.

Personally, if you don't know how to make a partition in Windows (or for that matter, even what a partition is), I advise you NOT to attempt to install Vista Beta 2.
By the way, if your Internet connection is only a dialup, I also advise you to lay aside any hopes of running Vista or any modern OS for that matter. I'm sure a few HAVE succeeded in downloading Vista over their dinky-assed dialups, but I certianly would never try it myself. It would be an exercise in frustration.

Need software to make a partition? See item 2. Too inept or scared to try to make a new partition? Well, the world needs grocery baggers too, I suppose. You�ll be so much farther ahead without old drivers and .dll�s cluttering up the install you will make your goofy brother-in-law very jealous. The one with his dishwasher networked in to his toaster-oven with Wi-Fi.

Don't forget the clock on the wall networked in with the dishwasher and toaster oven. You have just not lived until you can change the time on your Wall-Clock from your desktop keyboard.

6. Back-up everything. Twice. Then back that up. Then install. Don�t upgrade.

Agreed. The only time I've EVER "Upgraded" a Windows product was when I purchase the original "Step-up" edition of ME for $49.95 rather than the $129 that Microsoft wanted for the Retail product. And then I found out that I didn't need to do the "Upgrade" in the first place. Just install it clean. Sometimes, Microsoft can be very helpful.

7. Don�t like Vista? �C:\ FORMAT�. It�s the only way. You did back up all you stuff, right?

Why use the old "format" program? Why not just do the formatting from within the XP installer? It will be much simpler. Anyway, the old format program can't create partitions. To do that you would need "fdisk" instead.
I have NEVER been able to understand those who use DOS to prepare their XP partition, then complain because they don't know how to use the "convert" program to convert their partitions to NTFS. And why convert a partition in the first place? Isn't it better to just format the partition as NTFS in the first place? Why take a chance for data corruption by adding an extra step using "convert?

8. Buy the DVD instead of downloading. It�s less than $20.00. You have enough in change between the couch and your car ashtray. First of all, you then have somebody to blame besides yourself if it doesn�t work. Second of all, there�s a rumour that it has �bloopers� at the end for your enjoyment.

Bloopers? Does that mean that the installer is munged up more than it already is?

9. Just a thought, but if you lack the technical expertise to burn an .iso to a DVD successfully, what makes you think you can load SATA drivers during a botched install from a floppy you don�t have? And now you�ve overwritten some of your existing operating system because you tried to upgrade instead of doing a clean install. You did back up all your stuff, right?

If you lack this technical knowledge, why are you wanting to put another OS on your computer anyway?

10. If you find a bug, meaning something that doesn�t work, see item 1.

Some of these "somethings which won't work" are not bugs, but unfinished code. Complaining about it is your right, as an American Citizen, but why not just wait till the RTM is out. Then you will have plenty of real bugs to complain about.

Then see item 2. Then report it to Microsoft. How? See item 2. Why? So that Microsoft can address the issue,

My luck is so bad that Microsoft never seems to "address the issue" until Service Pack 137, so I have pretty much stopped "reporting it to Microsoft" altogether. Are you listening, Microsoft?

and so that you feel empowered, instead of like a thirty-something social miss-fit who still lives with his mother.

Hey! That hurt! I am (or used to be) a "thirty-something social misfit who lived with his mother" up until I was at least 17. Now I'm a "sixty-something social misfit who lives with his brother".
By the way, I felt "disempowered" the minute my 5 hour download of Vista failed to install because it was a bad download caused by the damn server stopping several times during the download.
I'm sure many others are feeling "disempowered" because their "official" Microsoft-issued CD keys are failing to authenicate.

Hope this helps!

Hope this helps, too.
==
Donald L McDaniel Please reply to the original thread and newsgroup. =====================================================