Vista: The Agony and the Irony

[howeird]

The straw that broke the XP's back was a "pure virtual function call" error which prevented me from using Roxio's VideoWave application, which is the only one on the market (that I know of) which can put a TiVo file onto a DVD (or make it into a true MPEG file). I figured Vista would not have this problem.

I figured wrong.

Something else I forgot is when AMD bought ATI and killed the All-In-Wonder card product, they decided not to write Vista capture drivers for it. Not a huge problem, Friday I'll be receiving the Vista-compatible TV Wonder card (it does HD too!) and a more Vista-friendly display adapter. I have an nVidia display card and AverMedia capture card which had been in the machine when it was on Vista the first time, but the AverMedia card gives a lousy image, and I'd rather not mix nVidia and ATI in the same box.

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One thing Vista does do better than XP is it puts the machine into sleep mode correctly. XP would keep waking up 10 seconds after it was put to sleep. It also did not turn off the fans. Last night I put it into sleep mode, the display, drives and fans turned off, and at 3 am (according to the system logs) it woke up as scheduled to do a virus scan and Microsoft Update. I'll have to figure out how to make it go back to sleep after those things are done.

Another thing it does right after returning from sleep mode: It turns the audio back on. XP didn't.

However, it still has trouble waking from Hibernate. XP would not power up the drives or the display, Vista just needs the reset button pushed.

I like the Vista gadgets, but not the intrusive sidebar. While it allows gadgets to disconnect from the sidebar, some of the gadgets bolt themselves to a fixed location on the display, and don't respond to the "move" command. Give Lunar Phases II an F for "plays well with others".

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In other news, last night I hauled out my stage makeup kit (a simple bright yellow plastic tackle box) and bagged 3/4 of the items in there which I will not be needing for the show. Lots of clown white, which I needed when my hair was courtesy of Just For Men or Nice 'n Easy. Several small bottles of spirit gum and a handful of latex fake wounds which they were used to affix. A bottle of scar liquid. I'm thinking maybe howbearca wouldn't mind The Governor having a nasty-looking scar. Hmmmmm. Maybe I'll put that back into my kit and try it tomorrow night.

Must wrap this up and go to weekly staff meeting. Lots of work to do today.

Comments

Scar

[(Anonymous)]

Loved the scar!!! Love to read what you write. I am so thankful that my triumphant return (NOT a comeback) to the musical stage is in this show with dedicated folk like yourself!

Walter of La Mancha