Windows 7's first 100 days: So how were yours?

[Night Hawk]

You may want to review the guide on improving performance in 7, http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11728-speed-up-performance-windows-7-a.html?filter[2]=Performance Maintenance, as well as looking over the volume of free programs for 7. http://www.sevenforums.com/software/92-free-great-programs-windows-7-a.html

 

[Archangel83]

Love Win 7! Was unstable for awhile until I updated bios and put in the appropriate overclock settings works great now.

 

[Night Hawk]

7 has been great all along since the beta builds once I was able to get at least the Vista updates for things like chipset and tuner card. It's been a success story right from the start here.

I wish the same could be said for their new Live Hotmail however! Out of nowhere I can no longer get into the inbox online but can import and send mail through the Outlook in MS Office 2010 beta there.

 

[Wordsworth]

I've had 7 about two weeks now on a new build. Some hiccups like Media Player not playing either MP3s or DVDs; all together though I like the new look and feel having come from XP Home, and the new features and the greater capabilities of Ultimate.

 

[severedsolo]

love it, love it, love it, i cant say i can really justify the extra i shelled out for Ultimate... but its a massive improvement on Vista

 

[Night Hawk]

Vista's draw there was mainly the new styling at the time and improvements in security and stability over XP. But MS had to make a large turnaround in order to see 7 far more responsive as well as lighter on it's feet.

Having run both betas then the RCs the extra for the Ultimate edition wasn't too hard a decision to make there!

Presently I'll spend a day on the 64bit retail then over to the 32bit and the day after that the one 64bit RC install still on one drive. With the previous version's RC1 that only lasted a month here where I ended up waiting for the retail release. Big differences seen with 7 right from the start!

 

[BPilgram]

I have had a compatibility problem between HP printer drivers and Windows 7.

I have a new HP G60-530US laptop with Windows 7 installed (less than 2 months old). It is connected to an HP 7410 All-in-One Printer and a Brother laser printer.

Three times now, the HP 7410 printer has mysteriously disappeared from the installed printers. The Brother printer does not disappear.

To re-install the HP 7410 printer requires disabling the AVS using the Services utility (not just shutting down the AVS (Panda)).

The printer driver works for a week or so, and then must be re-installed.

HP is clueless about the cause or cure for this.

The laptop people referred me to the printer support people and the printer support people referred me to the laptop support people. The last tech support guy suggested that I restore the system on the theory that if the problem persisted it would be a hardware problem and not a software problem. He seemed to miss the fact that the disappearing printer driver software only occured with HP printers.

HP technical support was worthless.

Does anyone have any suggestions to fix this?

Some internet forums suggest that this occurs when HP machines are connected to different networks. I noticed my problem occur after I took the laptop on a business trip and connected to a different wireless network.

In my experience, HP All-in-One printer software (e.g. the "Solution Center") is buggy and a resource hog, so I suspect that HP has not debugged their software to work with Windows 7.

 

[tw33k]

Been running 7 since May and NEVER had a problem

 

[donzo44]

Laptop came with Vista Home Premium which ran superbly also but Windows 7 is THE BEST so far. I DID get my first BSOD yesterday after almost 6 months - probably self inflicted.
SUPERB forums.

 

[Wryter]

Good - except for OpenOffice and Quicken screen softnes

I have two rather major problems with the new Win7 64 bit on a new Asus K60 computer. The fonts in both OpenOffice Writer and Quicken 2010 are a bit out of focus. Gives me headaches. Quicken has no solution, and OpenOffice has it under consideration - but meanwhile I'm stuck when trying to produce documents or to use my checking/savings registers in Quicken.
Oh, I've done all the requisite tweaks, but nothing works. I'm running a Pentium dual-core machine with 4 gb ram and screen resolution of 1366 x 768 - and ALL other fonts/screens are in focus, including this one.
I hope somebody - maybe Microsoft? - can help me on this!

 

[go0gle]

Love it! The more I use it the more I think that Vista was used as beta testing for W7. Only MS can afford such a mess

Mine has been very stable.

 

[RustyFalcon]

Have you tried running the ClearType tuner application ?

"ClearType delivers improved font display quality over traditional forms of font smoothing or anti-aliasing. ClearType improves readability on color LCD displays with a digital interface, such as those in laptops and high-quality flat panel displays. Readability on CRT screens can also be somewhat improved."

In XP you had to download it separately, but it's included with Windows 7. I've used it for years on all computers that have non-tube displays such as laptops and flat-screen monitors.

To turn it on in Windows 7:
- Open the Orb menu
- In the "Search programs and files" box, type "cttune"
- The search menu will appear with 'cttune.exe' in the Programs list
- Select and run 'cttune.exe'
- Ensure the "Turn on ClearType" checkbox is checked, press Next
- Info about your monitor and the windows resolution is presented, press Next
- The next 4 pages of information are where you select which text sample looks best to you, make your selections on each page and press Next each time
- When you see the 'You have finished tuning your monitor' page you are done, press Finish to complete.

Might be worth trying to see if you can't overall tune your font presentation.

I have two rather major problems with the new Win7 64 bit on a new Asus K60 computer. The fonts in both OpenOffice Writer and Quicken 2010 are a bit out of focus. Gives me headaches. Quicken has no solution, and OpenOffice has it under consideration - but meanwhile I'm stuck when trying to produce documents or to use my checking/savings registers in Quicken.
Oh, I've done all the requisite tweaks, but nothing works. I'm running a Pentium dual-core machine with 4 gb ram and screen resolution of 1366 x 768 - and ALL other fonts/screens are in focus, including this one.
I hope somebody - maybe Microsoft? - can help me on this!

 

[Budson54]

Stockholm Syndrome

I suffered through 3 years of Vista. Awful performance, nothing worked right, and constant crashes. Each update and service pack gave me the hope that this was it.. it was finally going to work right.

Well, it never did and I swore I would never buy a MS product again. Vista was the worst operating system I have ever experienced and I have been a user since Windows first came out.

Then came news of Windows 7 and that it would right all the wrongs. I deliberately avoided the beta versions since nothing MS did up to that point gave me any reason to hope.

Well, I bought the released version of Windows 7 with expectations of continued disappointment. I religliously backed up my computer and dove head in attempting an UPGRADE instead of a clean install.

Well, as all of you know, Windows 7 is awesome. It works. I will repeat that, it works. A significant claim for a MS production from my experience. Not only does it work but it is very responsive and the new interface experience is what I was led to believe Vista was going to be.

So, as in typical Stockholm Syndrome... I am in love with and follow dutifully those who have enslaved and mistreated me for so long.

 

[bigmck]

Win 7 is just great. Like everyone has said, "It works" and that is all we care about. All the gadgets it has is just icing on the cake. == Let me ask a question. I installed Win 95 and upgraded to Win 98. I got a new computer for XP so there was no upgrade there. I clean installed Win 7 from XP and it left me a Windows.Old file. Since I have only upgraded one other OS, was Win 7 the first one to use the Windows.Old? I thought that was a very good idea.

 

[Wryter]

RustyFalcon, et al

Yes, Sir - I have tuned and re-tuned the ClearType software, and have changed fonts, etc. etc. Nothing helps very much.

On my computer - running Win7 64-bit - both OpenOffice Writer and Quicken have "soft" screens. Everything - menus, whatever I type, etc. is just a bit "fuzzy." My screen resolution on a 16-inch screen is 1366 x 768, and there are no yellow "!" marks in Device Manager.

However, Firefox, Thunderbird and all my icons, etc. are in sharp focus. Go figger.

I'd like to hear from somebody who runs Win7 64 bit AND has both Quicken 2010 and OpenOffice on their machines. Anybody out there? Please let me know if you have the dreaded "soft screen" issue!

 

[ForTehEpicWolf]

Windows 7 is everything we expected of vista, and more.
I haven't found one thing to complain about, its very clean, neat and polished. The "Super Bar" doubles as a dock which is fantastic, and because of it, aero snap, and aero shake, there is no clutter.

 

[Frostmourne]

Yes, Sir - I have tuned and re-tuned the ClearType software, and have changed fonts, etc. etc. Nothing helps very much.

On my computer - running Win7 64-bit - both OpenOffice Writer and Quicken have "soft" screens. Everything - menus, whatever I type, etc. is just a bit "fuzzy." My screen resolution on a 16-inch screen is 1366 x 768, and there are no yellow "!" marks in Device Manager.

However, Firefox, Thunderbird and all my icons, etc. are in sharp focus. Go figger.

I'd like to hear from somebody who runs Win7 64 bit AND has both Quicken 2010 and OpenOffice on their machines. Anybody out there? Please let me know if you have the dreaded "soft screen" issue!

Change the resolution to 1360x768. The 1366 can cause problems.

 

[Wryter]

Frostmourne, et al - resolution changed

Sir - thanks for the suggestion. I did change it, and will now see if it makes an appreciable difference. ANY thing I can do to get some semblance of FOCUS on my OpenOffice and Quicken screens! Arrrrggggghhhhhhh!
I appreciate your answer - and look forward to more help on the Forum.
REspectfully, LR

 

[Night Hawk]

I suffered through 3 years of Vista. Awful performance, nothing worked right, and constant crashes. Each update and service pack gave me the hope that this was it.. it was finally going to work right.

Well, it never did and I swore I would never buy a MS product again. Vista was the worst operating system I have ever experienced and I have been a user since Windows first came out.

Then came news of Windows 7 and that it would right all the wrongs. I deliberately avoided the beta versions since nothing MS did up to that point gave me any reason to hope.

Well, I bought the released version of Windows 7 with expectations of continued disappointment. I religliously backed up my computer and dove head in attempting an UPGRADE instead of a clean install.

Well, as all of you know, Windows 7 is awesome. It works. I will repeat that, it works. A significant claim for a MS production from my experience. Not only does it work but it is very responsive and the new interface experience is what I was led to believe Vista was going to be.

So, as in typical Stockholm Syndrome... I am in love with and follow dutifully those who have enslaved and mistreated me for so long.

Welcome to the Se7en Forums! Budson54

Sorry to hear you had problems with Vista when I saw the exact opposite from XP with that being a more stable and secure version with fewer bugs! It took SP3 to finally see some 1,000 plus fixes for the old now quite outdated version there.

Win 7 is just great. Like everyone has said, "It works" and that is all we care about. All the gadgets it has is just icing on the cake. == Let me ask a question. I installed Win 95 and upgraded to Win 98. I got a new computer for XP so there was no upgrade there. I clean installed Win 7 from XP and it left me a Windows.Old file. Since I have only upgraded one other OS, was Win 7 the first one to use the Windows.Old? I thought that was a very good idea.

7 wasn't the first to see the Windows.old folder. That was started with Vista as a new approach then seen with XP where you simply saw the press L to "Delete" option during a full install.

The Windows.old serves to preserve files and other things long enough to back them up from a previous version's installation. Once all sub folders are emptied and deleted you can simply rename it to Windows.personal to use as new backup folder.

 

[Edster]

Pretty good I think. Great boot up speeds, faster gaming performance and better battery life. The only problem for me is the customisation aspects. For example, in Windows XP there are loads of third party themes. Time will tell I suppose!