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“How can I find out if my PC is compatible with Windows Vista?”

The New York TimesTechnology section has an article online today “On the Horizon: A Vista Upgrade.” In it, the author provides some answers to the question: How can I find out if my current computer hardware (including my scanner and printer) will be compatible with the coming Windows Vista system? Will this be as simple as merely downloading new drivers?


From the article…



“If you are holding off on any hardware purchases until after your Vista upgrade, Microsoft recently announced that about 250 hardware and software products for sale this holiday season will be labeled “Works with Windows Vista” or “Certified for Windows Vista.” Products with the “Works” label will work fine with Vista, but “certified” products (including some graphics cards), will be able to take better advantage of certain Vista features.


If you are planning on installing Windows Vista on your current computer, you can check to see if your hardware can handle Vista’s system requirements at www.windowsvista.com/getready.”  


Many PC OEMs (like Dell, HP, IBM, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony…), third party manufacturers and software makers are beginning to list the products that are compatible with Windows Vista. To check your current PC, you can evaluate your current PC with the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.

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Dr. Who & Exchange: CDO fix for time adjustment

Apparently Dr. Who isn’t the only one capable of controlling time.


As noted in support article 910268 this week, there’s a code defect when you use “Collaborative Data Objects (CDO) to create meetings programmatically in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003: meetings are unexpectedly moved one hour ahead in the last week of October with Microsoft Exchange Server. CDO causes the daylight saving time adjustment to happen at the wrong time. This impacts Outlook, which as The Register in the UK reports “will turn the clocks back a week early, plunging Britain’s Blackberry-weilding suits into a thundering whirlpool of temporal bedlam.” 


For more on the hotfix, here’s a link to the KB article.


Come to think of it, a TARDIS has been reported outside Dave Thompson’s office on occassion.

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FYI: Windows XP SP1 support ends on October 10, 2006

This from the Microsoft support pages on Windows XP SP1 support ending.

 

If you haven’t updated your system to Windows XP SP2, it’s a must have.

 

See these Top 10 reasons to upgrade to Windows XP SP2.


Final customer notifications about the end of Windows XP SP1 and SP1a support

Support for Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Service Pack 1a (SP1a) ends on October 10, 2006. Microsoft will end support on this date. This also includes security updates for these service packs. Microsoft is providing final notifications to customers regarding the end of support for these products.


Microsoft is ending support for these products as part of the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Service Pack support policy. We recommend that customers who are still running Windows XP SP1 or SP1a upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2 as soon as possible.


To determine whether you are running Windows XP SP1, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. If “Service Pack 1” appears under System, you are running Windows XP SP1. We do not recommend that you install SP1a if you are already running SP1. We recommend that you install Windows XP SP2 if you are running Windows XP SP1 or SP1a.


Key dates:



  • Windows XP SP2 was released on September 17, 2004. According to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Service Pack policy, Microsoft provided 24 months of support for Windows XP SP1 following the Windows XP SP2 release.
  • The original support end date for Windows XP SP1 was September 17, 2006.
  • In January 2006, Microsoft announced an adjustment to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle expiration dates, moving the end of support date for Windows XP SP1 to October 10, 2006. Details about this announcement can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifean17/.

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LifeCam support and online KB articles


I received a notice that the LifeCam VX-3000 should arrive today. I ordered the VX-3000 as I don’t think that I need the 5MP camera feature, but I may find that I’m wrong.

 

I have heard a couple of people running into configuration problems related to AV and firewalls. Be sure that you visit the troubleshooting page for the LifeCams, and if you’re having trouble, take a look at your firewall settings as outlined in this KB article.

 

If one of these KBs don’t address the problem, please visit the Online Support Page to start an email support incident or call (866) 833-7088; in the States we offer 90 days unlimited support, included at no charge. (Visit the page for contact numbers in regions outside the US.)

 


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THG on Tech Support: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

From Mobilityguru on Tom’s HW Guide, an interesting collection of Customer Tech Support Stories (Part one).



“An overwhelming number of you responded to Barry Gerber’s request for tech-support stories. In the first part of what will likely be a long-lived series, we share your horror stories. Read on.“


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