Vista and Me -- The Musical

OK, maybe not the musical.

I came home today, after the requisite 25 hours and low and behold I had
a nice 3TB Raid 5 array.

One problem.

The MBR only supports a max of a 2TB disk.

OK, off to Google.

Ah, I need to define it as a GPT disk. The limitation is off the
charts, so it would work perfectly.

If only I wasn't running XP Pro.

Seems that the GPT isn't supported in 32-bit Windows. I don't own
64-bit Windows or Server 2003.

Back to Google.

Light bulb!

Vista, all versions, support GPT disks.

Out comes the Vista Business upgrade DVD.

After a relatively short upgrade (to a new partition, of course), I go
into disk manager and it tells me I have a new disk. Asks me if I want
MBR or GPT. I choose GPT, go through the steps and...

Voila (or is it Viola -- one's a string instrument, the other is a silly
French word).

I now have drive L. 3TB (2.72Tb in Vista speak).

Way cool. Not thrilled to make this a Vista machine, but since all it
does is serve video, it will be OK.

Tom

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
news:E43F5FA566E64B50B2EDDBD10E962367@M2010...
OK, maybe not the musical.

I came home today, after the requisite 25 hours and low and behold I had
a nice 3TB Raid 5 array.

One problem.

The MBR only supports a max of a 2TB disk.

OK, off to Google.

Ah, I need to define it as a GPT disk. The limitation is off the
charts, so it would work perfectly.

If only I wasn't running XP Pro.

Seems that the GPT isn't supported in 32-bit Windows. I don't own
64-bit Windows or Server 2003.

Back to Google.

Light bulb!

Vista, all versions, support GPT disks.

Out comes the Vista Business upgrade DVD.

After a relatively short upgrade (to a new partition, of course), I go
into disk manager and it tells me I have a new disk. Asks me if I want
MBR or GPT. I choose GPT, go through the steps and...

Voila (or is it Viola -- one's a string instrument, the other is a silly
French word).

I now have drive L. 3TB (2.72Tb in Vista speak).

Way cool. Not thrilled to make this a Vista machine, but since all it
does is serve video, it will be OK.

Tom


That's a helpful fix and relief - I'm sure - after 25 hours.

Helpful to know. Glad you posted the problem and the fix.

We'll all be using Vista soon enough anyway....(and more slowly many of us
using storage in the terrabytes......)

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:32:41 -0500, "S.Lewis"
wrote:


"Tom Scales" wrote in message
news:E43F5FA566E64B50B2EDDBD10E962367@M2010...
OK, maybe not the musical.

I came home today, after the requisite 25 hours and low and behold I had
a nice 3TB Raid 5 array.

One problem.

The MBR only supports a max of a 2TB disk.

OK, off to Google.

Ah, I need to define it as a GPT disk. The limitation is off the
charts, so it would work perfectly.

If only I wasn't running XP Pro.

Seems that the GPT isn't supported in 32-bit Windows. I don't own
64-bit Windows or Server 2003.

Back to Google.

Light bulb!

Vista, all versions, support GPT disks.

Out comes the Vista Business upgrade DVD.

After a relatively short upgrade (to a new partition, of course), I go
into disk manager and it tells me I have a new disk. Asks me if I want
MBR or GPT. I choose GPT, go through the steps and...

Voila (or is it Viola -- one's a string instrument, the other is a silly
French word).

I now have drive L. 3TB (2.72Tb in Vista speak).

Way cool. Not thrilled to make this a Vista machine, but since all it
does is serve video, it will be OK.

Tom


That's a helpful fix and relief - I'm sure - after 25 hours.

Helpful to know. Glad you posted the problem and the fix.

We'll all be using Vista soon enough anyway....(and more slowly many of us
using storage in the terrabytes......)




Good point Stew. Tom is a great help in this regard. Some of us
realize this, some don't but will later g !!

Right click on the start menu and select the "classic" mode.

You will like it a LOT better. I promise.

[There are some other settings that make Vista more user friendly, but I
don't remember where they are located.]


Tom Scales wrote:
OK, maybe not the musical.

I came home today, after the requisite 25 hours and low and behold I had
a nice 3TB Raid 5 array.

One problem.

The MBR only supports a max of a 2TB disk.

OK, off to Google.

Ah, I need to define it as a GPT disk. The limitation is off the
charts, so it would work perfectly.

If only I wasn't running XP Pro.

Seems that the GPT isn't supported in 32-bit Windows. I don't own
64-bit Windows or Server 2003.

Back to Google.

Light bulb!

Vista, all versions, support GPT disks.

Out comes the Vista Business upgrade DVD.

After a relatively short upgrade (to a new partition, of course), I go
into disk manager and it tells me I have a new disk. Asks me if I want
MBR or GPT. I choose GPT, go through the steps and...

Voila (or is it Viola -- one's a string instrument, the other is a silly
French word).

I now have drive L. 3TB (2.72Tb in Vista speak).

Way cool. Not thrilled to make this a Vista machine, but since all it
does is serve video, it will be OK.

Tom

The UI is fine. Nothing special. I don't even need all my fingers to
count how many times I've used the 'cool' rotating Windows
(Windows+Tab). Doesn't do anything for me.

I'm using Vista on that server and on my primary machine (M2010) now. I
still have these weird lags where the keyboard can't keep up but I am
starting to suspect Office 2007. It's not very impressive either.

-----Original Message-----
From: Barry Watzman ]
Posted At: Monday, July 23, 2007 4:25 PM
Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Conversation: Vista and Me -- The Musical
Subject: Vista and Me -- The Musical

Right click on the start menu and select the "classic" mode.

You will like it a LOT better. I promise.

[There are some other settings that make Vista more user friendly, but
I
don't remember where they are located.]


Tom Scales wrote:
OK, maybe not the musical.

I came home today, after the requisite 25 hours and low and behold I
had
a nice 3TB Raid 5 array.

One problem.

The MBR only supports a max of a 2TB disk.

OK, off to Google.

Ah, I need to define it as a GPT disk. The limitation is off the
charts, so it would work perfectly.

If only I wasn't running XP Pro.

Seems that the GPT isn't supported in 32-bit Windows. I don't own
64-bit Windows or Server 2003.

Back to Google.

Light bulb!

Vista, all versions, support GPT disks.

Out comes the Vista Business upgrade DVD.

After a relatively short upgrade (to a new partition, of course), I
go
into disk manager and it tells me I have a new disk. Asks me if I
want
MBR or GPT. I choose GPT, go through the steps and...

Voila (or is it Viola -- one's a string instrument, the other is a
silly
French word).

I now have drive L. 3TB (2.72Tb in Vista speak).

Way cool. Not thrilled to make this a Vista machine, but since all
it
does is serve video, it will be OK.

Tom

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:11:13 -0400, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

The UI is fine. Nothing special. I don't even need all my fingers to
count how many times I've used the 'cool' rotating Windows
(Windows+Tab). Doesn't do anything for me.

I'm using Vista on that server and on my primary machine (M2010) now. I
still have these weird lags where the keyboard can't keep up but I am
starting to suspect Office 2007. It's not very impressive either.

Just a FYI -- as you know, I have Vista. I also use Office 2007, and
don't experience any keyboard lags. For what it's worth.

It ONLY happens in Outlook. My hard drive is always going and I can't
figure out why. I think I've turned off indexing, but literally the
light is always on.

-----Original Message-----
From: Journey ]
Posted At: Monday, July 23, 2007 8:19 PM
Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Conversation: Vista and Me -- The Musical
Subject: Vista and Me -- The Musical

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:11:13 -0400, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

The UI is fine. Nothing special. I don't even need all my fingers
to
count how many times I've used the 'cool' rotating Windows
(Windows+Tab). Doesn't do anything for me.

I'm using Vista on that server and on my primary machine (M2010) now.
I
still have these weird lags where the keyboard can't keep up but I am
starting to suspect Office 2007. It's not very impressive either.

Just a FYI -- as you know, I have Vista. I also use Office 2007, and
don't experience any keyboard lags. For what it's worth.

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:35:52 -0400, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

It ONLY happens in Outlook. My hard drive is always going and I can't
figure out why. I think I've turned off indexing, but literally the
light is always on.

I was having performance problems in Outlook mail, so that fits with
my experience.

I sometimes use Outlook Calendar, Tasks, etc. with my Palm device, and
don't experience any problems in those.

I decided to use Vista's Windows Mail instead of Outlook's. The only
thing I don't like about Windows Mail compared Outlook's is that I
can't play different sounds for different kinds of incoming mail.

I use rules extensively and finally they are equally powerful in both
Windows Mail and Outlook.

There are some indexing options in the advanced power settings. You
may want to look at those. I turn off indexing through the drive
properties and through the advanced power settings.

In the Power profile (from control panel) there is a link that reads
"Change advanced power settings". Select the profile first and the
link appears on the next window.

After you click it you get a whole bunch of options. I go down to the
Search and Indexing option and choose Power Saver for both the Battery
and Plugged in options. This may not do anything, and it may be
redundant but it's an extra thing that might help.

Also, in Outlook itself I think there is a way to change indexing
options... let me check... if you go into Tools | Preferences, there
is a Search section with search options that can be deselected.

_And_ there is one other place, very well hidden, in Outlook that I
will follow up on if I can find it. There is an annoying search line
taking up space on most of the Outlook screens, and there is a way to
turn that off (and possibly any underlying functionality that may be
causing performance problems).

Vista is very fast, but I have taken a lot of time to turn off the
things that hurt performance. I think Vista would be considered
faster than XP, and MS probably obtained that goal, but they can't
advertise that they met that goal because if all the extra
performance-eating features are turned on it's slower.

(and I have not noticed any improvement with Ready Boost -- it might
be a placebo :-)

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:27:07 -0500, Journey wrote:

There is an annoying search line
taking up space on most of the Outlook screens, and there is a way to
turn that off (and possibly any underlying functionality that may be
causing performance problems).

Found a MS article on how to disable the Instant Search feature (and
the screen space it takes up) in Outlook 2007.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ou...5851033.aspx#7

There are SO MANY places where search options are, I find it
impossible to know how to turn them all off to maximize system
performance.

Search is touted as such a great feature of Vista but the old way of
doing search worked just fine for me because I know where most of my
files are.

I also don't care for my computer to be active all the time, accessing
disk, to build up indexes that I will most likely never use.

We'll all be using Vista soon enough anyway....(and more slowly many of us
using storage in the terrabytes......)


Sorry but pretty much nothing I have seems to work with Vista, anything that
does work is buggy as hell.