3Questions about Windows Vista

I am planning on upgrading my computer to Windows Vista at the end of the
year, because some games I want to get work with DirectX10 and the fact that
it is the most recent version of Windows. There are, however, three questions
I have about it:

1. When you install Windows Vista, does it remove all of the XP updates that
were downloaded from Windows Update? Since Vista would have no use for these,
I'm assuming it might, but I'm not sure if it does (Lol, you know what they
say about why you shouldn't "assume")

2. Would you recommend I simply upgrade my system to Vista, or should I do a
clean install? I have DVD-R's to back up my music, videos, and such, but I am
concerned about losing the user names and passwords stored in my system (I
don't have all of them written down) Which leads me to question 3:

3. Is there a way in Windows XP to look at the user names and passwords
stored on the system? Not only do I have passwords saved in Firefox, there
are one or two games that, when I play them online, require these. Or, can I
copy and paste them and then look at them on word? (I don't think you can
with passwords, but I'm not sure.)

Any advice will be appreciated. Before I upgrade to Vista, I definitely plan
to get a new video card (eVGA 512MB 8600GTS) and 4GB of ram for my XPS 400
System, which should make Vista run smoothly.

Trainbuff;523751 Wrote:
> I am planning on upgrading my computer to Windows Vista at the end of
> the year, because some games I want to get work with DirectX10 and the
> fact that it is the most recent version of Windows. There are, however,
> three questions I have about it:

A little Chritmas present to yourself?

Trainbuff;523751 Wrote:
> 1. When you install Windows Vista, does it remove all of the XP updates
> that were downloaded from Windows Update? Since Vista would have no use
> for these, I'm assuming it might, but I'm not sure if it does (Lol, you
> know what they say about why you shouldn't "assume")

No, it won't. Windows XP and Windows Vista are like apples and lemons
(with XP being the lemon). The updates for XP are therefore not
compatible with Vista.

Trainbuff;523751 Wrote:
> 2. Would you recommend I simply upgrade my system to Vista, or should I
> do a clean install? I have DVD-R's to back up my music, videos, and
> such, but I am concerned about losing the user names and passwords
> stored in my system (I don't have all of them written down) Which leads
> me to question 3:

Most of the gripes your hear about Vista is because people used the
upgrade option to minimise the work involved in re-installing all their
software. For absolute peak performance, a clean install is a far better
solution, and causes far fewer problems.

But whichever route you choose, don't make the most common error that
far too many are making: Check your hardware and Software compatibility
before you commit to Vista. Microsofts "Windows Upgrade Advisor" is a
good place to start, but it doesn't hold a candle to old fashioned
research that you do yourself. The best place would be to check the
manufacturers websites manually, regardless of what the WUA says.

Trainbuff;523751 Wrote:
> 3. Is there a way in Windows XP to look at the user names and passwords
> stored on the system? Not only do I have passwords saved in Firefox,
> there are one or two games that, when I play them online, require these.
> Or, can I copy and paste them and then look at them on word? (I don't
> think you can with passwords, but I'm not sure.)

Firefox normally hides passwords behind it's master password, but there
is an option to view them. As for your online passwords, copying and
pasting *might* work, but I can't be sure of that.

That's why I don't like using "remember my password" features of any
program. It's makes the brain lazy and gives you a reason not to
remember them yourself. The best place to store your passwords is in
your head.

Trainbuff;523751 Wrote:
> Any advice will be appreciated. Before I upgrade to Vista, I definitely
> plan to get a new video card (eVGA 512MB 8600GTS) and 4GB of ram for my
> XPS 400 System, which should make Vista run smoothly.

What motherboard and cpu will you be using? ASUS and AMD have always
been a rock solid combination. What good is 4GB RAM and a killer
graphics card if you have a shitty motherboard and CPU?


--
dzomlija

____________________________________
Peter Alexander Dzomlija
Do you hear, huh? The Alpha and The Omega? Death and Rebirth? -And as
you die, so shall I be Reborn-...

- ASUS A8N32-SLI-Deluxe
- AMD Atlon 64 Dual-Core 4800+
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> That's why I don't like using "remember my password" features of any
> program. It's makes the brain lazy and gives you a reason not to
> remember them yourself. The best place to store your passwords is in
> your head.
dzomlija.spaces.live.com/)

Utter nonsense and impractical if you have any kind of cyberlife.

See: RoboForm...not only password management, but complex forms as well.

I believe it is the motherboard Dell manufactured for it. It hasn't given me
any problems, and it has all the slots I need (I'll simply remove the Nvidia
Geforce 6800 I'm using now and replace it with the 8600GTS). As for the CPU,
it's a Pentium D going at 2.80 Ghz. I ran Nzone's Vista Upgrade Advisor and
it said that it was fine to use with Vista. I may upgrade it later on to
either a Core 2 Duo going at 3 ghz, or maybe a quad core (probably quad core)
>
> What motherboard and cpu will you be using? ASUS and AMD have always
> been a rock solid combination. What good is 4GB RAM and a killer
> graphics card if you have a bad motherboard and CPU?
>
> dzomlija
>

Thanks for telling me about that Roboform; I downloaded it and its saved
many of my passwords. I do have one final question though: Do I need to buy
the full version of Windows Vista Home Premium? Or can I buy the upgrade
version? I'm thinking that I might do a clean install, so I want to make sure
I get the right one.
>
> Utter nonsense and impractical if you have any kind of cyberlife.
>
> See: RoboForm...not only password management, but complex forms as well.
>
>
>

Telstar;523857 Wrote:
> Utter nonsense and impractical if you have any kind of cyberlife.
>
> See: RoboForm...not only password management, but complex forms as
> well.

How is having software remember your passwords and forms for you any
better than remembering them yourself? Password Management software can
be broken into with malware, and there is no encryption in the world
that cannot be broken into, so even their own protection systems are not
as goods as your own brain. If your password is in your head, how is
anyone going to get it unless you tell them?

So please explain to me how you believe this to be nonsense?


--
dzomlija

____________________________________
Peter Alexander Dzomlija
Do you hear, huh? The Alpha and The Omega? Death and Rebirth? -And as
you die, so shall I be Reborn-...

- ASUS A8N32-SLI-Deluxe
- AMD Atlon 64 Dual-Core 4800+
- 4GB DDR400
- ASUS nVidia 6600
- Thermaltake Tai-Chi Watercooled Chassis
- 1207GB Total Formatted Storage
- Vista Ultimate x64
- CodeGear Delphi 2007'http://dzomlija.spaces.live.com/' (http://dzomlija.spaces.live.com/)

You can do a clean upgrade install and preserve your settings, applications,
etc.. See details in this tutorial.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/68...l-upgrade.html

"Trainbuff" wrote:

> I believe it is the motherboard Dell manufactured for it. It hasn't given me
> any problems, and it has all the slots I need (I'll simply remove the Nvidia
> Geforce 6800 I'm using now and replace it with the 8600GTS). As for the CPU,
> it's a Pentium D going at 2.80 Ghz. I ran Nzone's Vista Upgrade Advisor and
> it said that it was fine to use with Vista. I may upgrade it later on to
> either a Core 2 Duo going at 3 ghz, or maybe a quad core (probably quad core)
> >
> > What motherboard and cpu will you be using? ASUS and AMD have always
> > been a rock solid combination. What good is 4GB RAM and a killer
> > graphics card if you have a bad motherboard and CPU?
> >
> > dzomlija
> >
>

dzomlija wrote:
> Telstar;523857 Wrote:
>> Utter nonsense and impractical if you have any kind of cyberlife.
>>
>> See: RoboForm...not only password management, but complex forms as
>> well.
>
> How is having software remember your passwords and forms for you any
> better than remembering them yourself? Password Management software
> can be broken into with malware, and there is no encryption in the
> world that cannot be broken into, so even their own protection
> systems are not as goods as your own brain. If your password is in
> your head, how is anyone going to get it unless you tell them?
>
> So please explain to me how you believe this to be nonsense?

There are encryption techniques that would take the NSA computers a very
long time to solve and if NSA's decryption algorithms were running on your
****ant computer, you would surely notice it. Further, encrypted passwords
can be solved, usually, only by brute-force techniques because of their
small size.

How can someone get your password(s) from you? Ask Kahlil Shaik Mohammed,
or, as he is now known, "Eight-toe Mohammed."

On Sun, 25 Nov 2007 00:50:14 -0600, dzomlija
<> wrote:


>>
>> See: RoboForm...not only password management, but complex forms as
>> well.
>
>How is having software remember your passwords and forms for you any
>better than remembering them yourself? Password Management software can
>be broken into with malware, and there is no encryption in the world
>that cannot be broken into, so even their own protection systems are not
>as goods as your own brain. If your password is in your head, how is
>anyone going to get it unless you tell them?
>
>So please explain to me how you believe this to be nonsense?

I, and no doubt the O.P. go to dozens of sites. You want to use a
different password for each (if you've got a lick of sense), and it is
impossible to remember them all. Hence, Roboform.

I submit that breaking the file encryption is far less likely then
someone guessing a password reused over and over.

Paul Knudsen;525090 Wrote:
> I, and no doubt the O.P. go to dozens of sites. You want to use a
> different password for each (if you've got a lick of sense), and it is
> impossible to remember them all. Hence, Roboform.

Each unto his own. Look, I'm not dissing Roboform or any similar
utilities. I'm just saying utilities that store passwords does nothing
but add an additional weakspot that the user needs to be concerned over.
I'm highly paranoid as far as security is concerned, because my computer
contains not only my own information, but that of my customers also.

A utility that stores passwords is like locking your door, but keeping
the key under the mat on the threshold. Pretty much pointless.

Paul Knudsen;525090 Wrote:
> I submit that breaking the file encryption is far less likely then
> someone guessing a password reused over and over.

I don't reuse passwords, but maybe that's my luck. I may at times have
the memory of a swiss cheese, but I've sort off trained myself to be
able to remember just about any password. In my line of work, that is
necessary for when a PBCAK client forgets his/her login or some other
such nonsense.

But as for me, I use a different password for just about every site I
visit that requires authentication (and there are plenty). The longest
of which is 36 characters!


--
dzomlija

____________________________________
Peter Alexander Dzomlija
Do you hear, huh? The Alpha and The Omega? Death and Rebirth? -And as
you die, so shall I be Reborn-...

- ASUS A8N32-SLI-Deluxe
- AMD Atlon 64 Dual-Core 4800+
- 4GB DDR400
- ASUS nVidia 6600
- Thermaltake Tai-Chi Watercooled Chassis
- 1207GB Total Formatted Storage
- Vista Ultimate x64
- CodeGear Delphi 2007'http://dzomlija.spaces.live.com/' (http://dzomlija.spaces.live.com/)