XP/Vista Questions/Advice

[poppe]

Hello,

I just installed bootcamp with a copy of windows I thought was legal and everything. However I have come to find its not. And I don't have the activation key.

My questions are these:

Can I go buy XP OEM and install it on the XP Partion after I delete this XP partion?

Would it be better to do Vista? I ask this because this will probably be the only OS I will buy for a long time.

Does any one have steps to deleting the partion I already have on XP. I think I have a virus. Or is there any good free virus scanners out there?

Thanks let me know what you think

 

[balamw]

Just use Boot Camp Assistant to remove the bad XP partition and restore to a single OS X partition.

As for Vista, you might as well wait. Which edition of XP (or Vista) are you considering. Retail release is only a month away, and with a retail edition you will probably get "downgrade rights" which would allow you to use the Vista license, but still run XP legally.

EDIT: It appears that only Vista Business and Vista Ultimate will have downgrade and virtualization rights.

B

 

[poppe]

Just use Boot Camp Assistant to remove the bad XP partition and restore to a single OS X partition.

As for Vista, you might as well wait. Which edition of XP (or Vista) are you considering. Retail release is only a month away, and with a retail edition you will probably get "downgrade rights" which would allow you to use the Vista license, but still run XP legally.

EDIT: It appears that only Vista Business and Vista Ultimate will have downgrade and virtualization rights.

B

I'm not to clear on all the vista's. I guess I was just gonna try for a middle ground one. One with a lot of the features but not costing billions of dollars. I'm not a hard core user by any means so I don't need any of the hard core user stuff, but it'd still be nice to have most of the good stuff.

I just planned on getting the basic XP home OEM edition if I could still install it. Other wise I'd just try to find what ever is cheapest. Or maybe a used copy somewhere. I don't think I need pro. But i'm not sure on the big difference.

Thanks for the help.

Only reason I am using XP/Vista is to play games. Nothing else. OS X does the rest.

 

[pianoman]

i suggest waiting for Vista. it's supposed to be more secure than XP and you might as well start fresh, even if it will end up costing more. no sense investing in yesterday's technology, even if tomorrow's isn't available for another month.

 

[Nermal]

A local PC magazine did some testing with Vista and found that most DirectX games ran about 30% slower than under XP, and that OpenGL games didn't appear to be accelerated at all! Until everything gets updated for Vista, you're probably better off sticking with XP for games.

 

[pianoman]

if Nermal's report is correct, then i'd stick with XP if you're only playing games. everything won't be fully compatible/reliable with Vista for a couple years, anyway.

 

[poppe]

i suggest waiting for Vista. it's supposed to be more secure than XP and you might as well start fresh, even if it will end up costing more. no sense investing in yesterday's technology, even if tomorrow's isn't available for another month.

That is what I was thinking... I just don't want to be regretting it, for some reason... I truly kinda like the way Vista looks. It's no OS X, but going back to XP, now that i've used OS X for a good month, always seems like going back to wel... I dont have a good metaphor but there is nothing appealing about XP or nice about XP except i'm comfortable with it...

 

[pianoman]

interesting point about going backwards and that really goes along well with my philosophy to avoid investing in yesterday's technology BUT there are exceptions.

as you see in my previous post (and with help from Nermal), i recognize that many programs are not designed for Vista so they'll likely be slower or they'll perform less reliably.

for games, especially if you already have the XP version ("compatible with WinXP" or similar), sticking with XP is a good move right now.

 

[Nermal]

OK, I found the actual quote, it's not as bad as I thought it was:

Gaming-wise, DirectX games seem to run fine now on Vista. Just a little slower though, 10-15% if my testing is anything to go by. This is probably due to graphics drivers not being up to snuff. However, OpenGL doesn't appear to be hardware accelerated at all.

 

[poppe]

OK, I found the actual quote, it's not as bad as I thought it was:

Oh crazy. Well then... hmm that is the dilema. So XP sounds to be a winner in this round.

What is openGL exactly? I thought that was an OS X thing

 

[Nermal]

What is openGL exactly? I thought that was an OS X thing

OpenGL is the standard way of "doing" 3D. Microsoft, of course, love to be different and have created Direct3D, which does a similar sort of thing. Most major OSes, Windows and Mac OS included, support OpenGL.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Do you want a Windows Virus scanner or a Mac OS X Virus Scanner? Or do you want one that will scan both Windows and Mac OS?
The last one does not exist to my knowledge.

For Windows I suggest Avast! - its fast, free, and awesome!
For Mac OS X I suggest ClamXav - its free!
For both, don't think there's one that works on one and scans the other.

OpenGL - there are actually a few games on Windows that is programmed with OpenGL. Doom 3 on Mac was programmed with OpenGL and SDL. Unreal Tournament for Windows you had a choice of DirectX or OpenGL. OpenGL has been out for a long time and is used by Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, etc. etc. etc. OpenGL is awesome, google around and look at some apps made with OpenGL.

 

[poppe]

Do you want a Windows Virus scanner or a Mac OS X Virus Scanner? Or do you want one that will scan both Windows and Mac OS?
The last one does not exist to my knowledge.

For Windows I suggest Avast! - its fast, free, and awesome!
For Mac OS X I suggest ClamXav - its free!
For both, don't think there's one that works on one and scans the other.

OpenGL - there are actually a few games on Windows that is programmed with OpenGL. Doom 3 on Mac was programmed with OpenGL and SDL. Unreal Tournament for Windows you had a choice of DirectX or OpenGL. OpenGL has been out for a long time and is used by Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, etc. etc. etc. OpenGL is awesome, google around and look at some apps made with OpenGL.

Oh wow awesome!

I wanted a Virus Scanner for windows. Never heard of it but i'm downloading it in one second. Does this also kill the virus or do I need another software?

Thanks everyone for all the help!! I still not sure what i'll do... Because if Vista will have an update to fix the slow game play I could live with it being slow... but then again...

 

[slooksterPSV]

Oh wow awesome!

I wanted a Virus Scanner for windows. Never heard of it but i'm downloading it in one second. Does this also kill the virus or do I need another software?

Thanks everyone for all the help!! I still not sure what i'll do... Because if Vista will have an update to fix the slow game play I could live with it being slow... but then again...

It removes the virus - also the nice thing about Avast! is it updates like everyday with new virus definitions, and it removes spyware too.

Also to remove spyware get Spybot S&D. To remove Adware get Ad-Aware by lavasoft

 

[poppe]

It removes the virus - also the nice thing about Avast! is it updates like everyday with new virus definitions, and it removes spyware too.

Also to remove spyware get Spybot S&D. To remove Adware get Ad-Aware by lavasoft

Man. Perfect! Thank you!!

 

[slooksterPSV]

Man. Perfect! Thank you!!

Anytime, I've had my fair share of work on PC with Viruses, Spyware, Fragmentation, Disk errors, troubleshooting, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. (emphasis on the etc.) etc.

So if you need anything don't hesitate to ask