Vista: umerous problems

"radioman" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hello,
> My son got me a new Acer notebook PC, model #ZR1 last week. It has the new
> Vista operating system equipted on it and it is giving me some
> troubles. They would seem to be minor to some, but after having XP ust the
> troublefree way I like it. they are a big deal to me. I've called Acer a
> couple times and each time they had had me restore the system to factory
> specs which just got me off the phone and no help at all.
>
> Specifically the 3 biggies are:
> 1. My polaroaid digital camera, w/ software installed will not fully open
> upto allow transfer of pictures to PC via USB. I sent E-mail to Polaroid
> in hopes there are a patch or fix for this problem. 3 days, no answer.
> Sending again after this.
>


This is a problem with Polaroid, not Vista. Your other problems seem
compatability related. Vista is not, by any means, 100% backward
compatibly.


> 2. When I download thumbnails from a site, they will not open any bigger
> on the notebook than the original thumbnails. NOTE: When done from same
> site on a PC with XP home, they will enlarge in about 97% of the cases.
>
> 3. Similar with screensavers. Most won't open up once downloaded.same
> circumstances as above. On #1, #2, the downloads were found through Google
> and the subject matter was my favorite actress, Alicia Silverstone.
>
> Now, Does anyone know anything about any similar problems or conflicts
> being reporter and / or any repairs for same.
>
> Please help. I am a candidate for a heart transplant and my notebook is my
> only companionship every day. When things go well, time flies by quickly.
> these problems make time drag on and on.
>
> Thank you to all for any ideas or suggestions.
>
> God Bless,
> Radioman (Ray Miller)

"radioman" <> wrote ...
> 1. My polaroaid digital camera, w/ software installed will not fully open
> upto allow transfer of pictures to PC via USB. I sent E-mail to Polaroid
> in hopes there are a patch or fix for this problem. 3 days, no answer.
> Sending again after this.

Hi Radio Man,

Have you seen this page at the Polaroid Support website?

Windows Vista - Polaroid Digital Camera Driver Software Needed?
http://polaroid.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...p?p_faqid=3839

Maybe it will help. It seems like the best bet is to forget using specific
camera drivers, and just treat the Polaroid camera as a USB mass-storage
device (If it's a PhotoMax model camera, this might not work).

> 2. When I download thumbnails from a site, they will not open any bigger
> on the notebook than the original thumbnails. NOTE: When done from same
> site on a PC with XP home, they will enlarge in about 97% of the cases.

Sorry, no idea. Are you downloading JPG files?

> 3. Similar with screensavers. Most won't open up once downloaded.same
> circumstances as above. On #1, #2, the downloads were found through Google
> and the subject matter was my favorite actress, Alicia Silverstone.

Alicia Silverstone is not Vista-compatible. In order to use an actress with
Windows Vista, you will need to upgrade to a Vista-compatible actress, such
as Hillary Duff.

But apart from that ... in general terms, Vista uses the same *.scr format
for screen savers as previous versions of Windows. They should still work
(in general terms).

Hope it helps a little bit,

--
Andrew McLaren
amclar (at) optusnet dot com dot au

Hello,
My son got me a new Acer notebook PC, model #ZR1 last week. It has the new
Vista operating system equipted on it and it is giving me some troubles.
They would seem to be minor to some, but after having XP ust the troublefree
way I like it. they are a big deal to me. I've called Acer a couple times
and each time they had had me restore the system to factory specs which just
got me off the phone and no help at all.

Specifically the 3 biggies are:
1. My polaroaid digital camera, w/ software installed will not fully open
upto allow transfer of pictures to PC via USB. I sent E-mail to Polaroid in
hopes there are a patch or fix for this problem. 3 days, no answer. Sending
again after this.

2. When I download thumbnails from a site, they will not open any bigger on
the notebook than the original thumbnails. NOTE: When done from same site on
a PC with XP home, they will enlarge in about 97% of the cases.

3. Similar with screensavers. Most won't open up once downloaded.same
circumstances as above. On #1, #2, the downloads were found through Google
and the subject matter was my favorite actress, Alicia Silverstone.

Now, Does anyone know anything about any similar problems or conflicts being
reporter and / or any repairs for same.

Please help. I am a candidate for a heart transplant and my notebook is my
only companionship every day. When things go well, time flies by quickly.
these problems make time drag on and on.

Thank you to all for any ideas or suggestions.

God Bless,
Radioman (Ray Miller)

INLINE:


"radioman" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hello,
> My son got me a new Acer notebook PC, model #ZR1 last week. It has the new
> Vista operating system equipted on it and it is giving me some
> troubles. They would seem to be minor to some, but after having XP ust the
> troublefree way I like it. they are a big deal to me. I've called Acer a
> couple times and each time they had had me restore the system to factory
> specs which just got me off the phone and no help at all.
>
> Specifically the 3 biggies are:
> 1. My polaroaid digital camera, w/ software installed will not fully open
> upto allow transfer of pictures to PC via USB. I sent E-mail to Polaroid
> in hopes there are a patch or fix for this problem. 3 days, no answer.
> Sending again after this.


I'm not qute sure what you mean by 'fully open up'. When you plug the camera
in, Vista should recognize it. Now you could use the Polaroid software to do
the transfers, but Vista has software built-in that can do transfers from
cameras. Autoplay in the Control Panel:

Start > Control Panel > Classic view > Autoplay > Pictures > set to "Ask me
everytime" or even "Import using Windows" > click Save

(Also: While you are configuring Autoplay make sure that the "Use Autoplay
for all media and devices" checkbox is checked. As well, you can also
configure Autoplay to your liking for the other items while you are there.)

What happens is that when you plug your camera in, Vista's own transfer
wizard runs and you can do the transfer with that, instead of the Polaroid
software.


> 2. When I download thumbnails from a site, they will not open any bigger
> on the notebook than the original thumbnails. NOTE: When done from same
> site on a PC with XP home, they will enlarge in about 97% of the cases.


Probably because you are downloading the thumbnails and not the full
picture. When visiting the website, right-click on the thumbnail and be sure
to select the target and not the thumbnail. If you are downloading the full
picture, it may be blocked for some reason. I discuss unblocking next in my
reply about screensavers just below.


> 3. Similar with screensavers. Most won't open up once downloaded.same
> circumstances as above. On #1, #2, the downloads were found through Google
> and the subject matter was my favorite actress, Alicia Silverstone.


Now these are most likely blocked by Vista. That is, you download them but
they will not run because Vista marks such as a thing as blocked. To run
them, you must right-click on a downloaded screensaver, select Properties
and then un-block it. HOWEVER - I agree with the Vista programmers. Many of
these so-called screensavers carry a payload of malware (spyware, virus,
trojan) and shouldn't be run. That is why Vista is set to block them in the
first place. Unlike pictures, screensavers are executables - programs - that
could be doing anything. Your call, of course, you could unblock them and
run them .. but unless the company distributing them is extremely reputable
e.g. Microsoft or IBM, I wouldn't run them. Most of the companies
distributing them online are not .. not matter how pretty their websites.
They are about the most common way to spread malware. If you want the fish
and aquarium, there's a package available at the big box and office supply
stores called "Marine Aquarium" by Encore. As far as I know it is OK.


> Now, Does anyone know anything about any similar problems or conflicts
> being reporter and / or any repairs for same.
>
> Please help. I am a candidate for a heart transplant and my notebook is my
> only companionship every day. When things go well, time flies by quickly.
> these problems make time drag on and on.


Well, I hope you get better. I'm not all tender hearted so it's water off a
ducks back with me .. but that said, I hope my suggestions helped you.


> Thank you to all for any ideas or suggestions.
>
> God Bless,
> Radioman (Ray Miller)

And God Bless you, Radioman.

Saucy