Vista - General Vista Questions

I'm supposed to be getting a beta version of Vista this week but have some
concrens.

Has anyone had trouble with their printer running on Vista using the
existing drivers?

Has anyone been able to get iTunes to work on Vista?

My computer didn't come with XP disc's, I have reformated once before using
one of the "F" keys during start up. If I install Vista and I want to go
back to XP will I still be able to since I don't have the XP disc?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Scott H wrote:
>> I'm supposed to be getting a beta version of Vista this week but
>> have some concrens.
>>
>> Has anyone had trouble with their printer running on Vista using the
>> existing drivers?
>>
>> Has anyone been able to get iTunes to work on Vista?
>>
>> My computer didn't come with XP disc's, I have reformated once
>> before using one of the "F" keys during start up. If I install
>> Vista and I want to go back to XP will I still be able to since I
>> don't have the XP disc?
>>
>> Thanks for any help you can provide.

No XP discs? Take Colin's advice.

You can't install these betas unless you are willing to loose all data on
the drive including your Windows XP installation and any "recovery
partitions". If you do not have the XP CDs you will be in a bit of a pickle
and will have to obtain a copy.

In other words .. with Vista beta, there's no "un-do" and you have to be
ready to loose all - I mean all - data on the computer.

Well,
you can but with precaution.
1. Save whatever files you need to save to some media.
2. Get a boot manager - BootItNG, for ex., and save a copy of your present
boot sequence (you need a floppy drive). You can skip this step if you can
use Recovery Console from an XP (Pro only?) CD - no need for serial#, I
guess, since you don't install, just fix boot for XP image installed from
step 3. You can use other means as well - BartPE Boot Disk, Knoppix etc.
3. Get an imaging program - Acronis TI, for ex. Make a boot disk within
Acronis, save an image of your present installation - you can compress, span
it on more DVD's.
4. If the above are too time consuming, install an aditional hard-drive - or
just replace the existent HDD with another one and install on it - cheap,
fast, safe, useful. You might need a few Windows files on it for Vista to
load... copy&paste (or transfer) from the orignal HDD on the new one.
Michael

"Scott H" <Scott H@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
newsFE963EB-46BB-4800-AC6F-FFAA1B0B2654@microsoft.com...
> I'm supposed to be getting a beta version of Vista this week but have some
> concrens.
>
> Has anyone had trouble with their printer running on Vista using the
> existing drivers?
>
> Has anyone been able to get iTunes to work on Vista?
>
> My computer didn't come with XP disc's, I have reformated once before
> using
> one of the "F" keys during start up. If I install Vista and I want to go
> back to XP will I still be able to since I don't have the XP disc?
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide.
>
>

He can also use the Windows Easy Transfer wizard from the Vista splash
screen to get files and settings.

"Michael" <afn18721@afn.org> wrote in message
news:%23PbI1THqGHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Well,
> you can but with precaution.
> 1. Save whatever files you need to save to some media.
> 2. Get a boot manager - BootItNG, for ex., and save a copy of your present
> boot sequence (you need a floppy drive). You can skip this step if you can
> use Recovery Console from an XP (Pro only?) CD - no need for serial#, I
> guess, since you don't install, just fix boot for XP image installed from
> step 3. You can use other means as well - BartPE Boot Disk, Knoppix etc.
> 3. Get an imaging program - Acronis TI, for ex. Make a boot disk within
> Acronis, save an image of your present installation - you can compress,
> span it on more DVD's.
> 4. If the above are too time consuming, install an aditional hard-drive -
> or just replace the existent HDD with another one and install on it -
> cheap, fast, safe, useful. You might need a few Windows files on it for
> Vista to load... copy&paste (or transfer) from the orignal HDD on the new
> one.
> Michael
>
> "Scott H" <Scott H@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> newsFE963EB-46BB-4800-AC6F-FFAA1B0B2654@microsoft.com...
>> I'm supposed to be getting a beta version of Vista this week but have
>> some
>> concrens.
>>
>> Has anyone had trouble with their printer running on Vista using the
>> existing drivers?
>>
>> Has anyone been able to get iTunes to work on Vista?
>>
>> My computer didn't come with XP disc's, I have reformated once before
>> using
>> one of the "F" keys during start up. If I install Vista and I want to go
>> back to XP will I still be able to since I don't have the XP disc?
>>
>> Thanks for any help you can provide.
>>
>>
>
>

Some of those systems that do not "come with XP discs" have a built in
function to create a Recovery set of CDs.
These can be used to rebuild the OS from 'scratch' if a h/d fails.
If the function no longer exists you can purchase these disks from the
manufacturer (eg HP) for a nominal fee.

Not if Vista overwrites the boot sector as it has been doing on many
machines. The function key used during start to begin the recovery is
disabled in such cases and the user has to get a fix for it from the
manufacturer.

"Intel Inside" <REMOVETHISBIT@com> wrote in message
news:ueh%23AZKqGHA.4932@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Some of those systems that do not "come with XP discs" have a built in
> function to create a Recovery set of CDs.
> These can be used to rebuild the OS from 'scratch' if a h/d fails.
> If the function no longer exists you can purchase these disks from the
> manufacturer (eg HP) for a nominal fee.
>
>

Hi Scott...I can answer one of your questions for you for sure......once
Vista is installed...there WILL BE NO GOING BACK!!!...believe me..i've
tried...but thru perseverence,I got all the Vista bugs out...and it is
running good!!There will be future bug issues I'm sure...but that is what
beta testing ia all about!!!One of your questions requarding your
printer...you can check your printers web site..to see if there are any Vista
drivers created yet...good luck!!...
--
The Weatherman...


"Scott H" wrote:

> I'm supposed to be getting a beta version of Vista this week but have some
> concrens.
>
> Has anyone had trouble with their printer running on Vista using the
> existing drivers?
>
> Has anyone been able to get iTunes to work on Vista?
>
> My computer didn't come with XP disc's, I have reformated once before using
> one of the "F" keys during start up. If I install Vista and I want to go
> back to XP will I still be able to since I don't have the XP disc?
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide.
>
>