I've been having a problem with one of my computers that's running Vista. (I know, I know: why am I running Vista? Probably so I can go through this crap and understand what the fuss is about.)
Anyhow, a few months ago, Windows Update started having problems. It would automatically update, but I couldn't access the tool to change settings and if I also wanted to update other Microsoft products, I couldn't access the Microsoft Update site, nor install nor run Microsoft Update or even MS Office auto updates.
I discovered that this might not be an unusal problem - there was a link on the error page to get support from Microsoft. I clicked it.
Microsoft support people started a long, e-mail discussion of things to try. I've tried them all over the past many weeks. Install this, run that command line utility, download that other thing, do an upgrade installation (which failed because I'd installed SP1 and the Vista DVD was pre SP1; MS kindly sent new software media, but it too was pre-SP1 and also came on CD not DVD. Oh, and it didn't work).
Additional research on the Microsoft forums has shown that this problem is common enough to have several threads about it.
Everyone seems to go through the same steps. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I know that Microsoft is at a disadvantage over Apple in this - every PC has different hardware and software installed and not all of those products are made to the same high standards. And updating live software is always a challenge. Windows (and earlier MS OS) biggest advantage over Macintosh OSes is that it runs almost any Intel compatible hardware. It's biggest disadvantage is that it also may not run on almost any Intel compatible hardware.
The fruits of this conflicting agenda is the failure of Vista to gain market acceptance and the on-going concerns about next generation operating systems.
Sad.
Anyhow, a few months ago, Windows Update started having problems. It would automatically update, but I couldn't access the tool to change settings and if I also wanted to update other Microsoft products, I couldn't access the Microsoft Update site, nor install nor run Microsoft Update or even MS Office auto updates.
I discovered that this might not be an unusal problem - there was a link on the error page to get support from Microsoft. I clicked it.
Microsoft support people started a long, e-mail discussion of things to try. I've tried them all over the past many weeks. Install this, run that command line utility, download that other thing, do an upgrade installation (which failed because I'd installed SP1 and the Vista DVD was pre SP1; MS kindly sent new software media, but it too was pre-SP1 and also came on CD not DVD. Oh, and it didn't work).
Additional research on the Microsoft forums has shown that this problem is common enough to have several threads about it.
Everyone seems to go through the same steps. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I know that Microsoft is at a disadvantage over Apple in this - every PC has different hardware and software installed and not all of those products are made to the same high standards. And updating live software is always a challenge. Windows (and earlier MS OS) biggest advantage over Macintosh OSes is that it runs almost any Intel compatible hardware. It's biggest disadvantage is that it also may not run on almost any Intel compatible hardware.
The fruits of this conflicting agenda is the failure of Vista to gain market acceptance and the on-going concerns about next generation operating systems.
Sad.
No comments:
Post a Comment