Vista users encountering problems when they upgrade to Service Pack 1 can breathe easier: the company is giving away free support for those installing the service pack.
The transition to the service pack has not been problem-free for many users, some of whom have seen their computers fall into endless reboot cycles and struggled with broken applications after installing the upgrade.
Normally, only Windows Vista users who bought the retail product would be eligible for free support but, for SP1 installation, even users with an original-equipment-manufacturer copy of Vista on their computer can get Microsoft's help, according to the official Vista blog.
"We are offering free-of-charge support to anyone who is having issues installing Windows Vista SP1," Microsoft blogger Brandon Le Blanc said.
Unlimited installation and compatibility support is available at no charge until March 18, 2009, according to the Microsoft Service Pack 1 support site.
There are three options available under the free support plan for U.S. users: e-mail support, which will be answered within one business day; online chat, which has a current waiting time of around 40 minutes; and call, available only for users who have a software-assurance agreement, professional contract, TechNet subscription, or MSDN subscription, or for those who come under the Microsoft Partner Program.
Support will be handled on a case-by-case basis, a Microsoft spokesperson said, and the user will always be advised if costs are involved.
Whether enterprise customers will also receive support without cost will depend on their agreement, the spokesperson added.
and useless. I know that Australia is in a different time zone to North America but surely it's not 7 days behind. This information is useless since the expiry date is a week ago! LOL!
That needs a special support extension/inclusion for a Service Pack (i.e. patches). Its kind of sad really. XP was almost a renaissance for Microsoft: a fairly stable OS that seemed well accepted. Although every release has its problems, XP did much better than Vista has done so far.
MS should have really tried to continue improving XP than releasing such garbage. Hopefully, Singularity will turn out better and not be affected by the con-job Vista crew.
They had to do this same thing when XP SP1 came out, and AGAIN when SP2 came out. Leopard and Linux don't have these problems, because one has support for life (Leopard) and the other has absolutely NO support except for forums.
Secondly, XP did not do better than Vista. If anything, it is the other way around. People keep on moaning that "My old devices don't work on Vista! WAAAAAAAAH!" when that isn't Microsoft's fault, it is the fault of the person who made your device not putting out a new driver. They also keep moaning and whining about certain very old programs not working on Vista when Microsoft bluntly stated they wouldn't because they were badly written, real-mode programs and Vista didn't support Real-Mode access to the components of the computer anymore.
Vista is doing JUST fine. The only knock I personally have on it: it needs a minimum of 2GB of memory, in reality. Big deal. Most computers today are edging up towards 8GB of memory and 64-bit computing as the next standard, so it's not a big deal.
WARNING! Now that you've spent months getting Vista to run in some fashion, installing VISTA SP1 may (or will) cause many of your existing applications to fail or not operate properly. At Microsoft, we understand your pain (as we're experiencing it too) so we're offering free Technical Support to help reduce your days of frustration down to several hours on the phone with someone out of the country. We do this because we care and we don't want to be sued (again) for releasing software that is just not ready for prime time - even if it is months late. "Beta Late" than never!
P.S. Bill has stepped down as CEO, please forward all hate mail to Mr. Ballmer.
Every single application on my machine still runs after installing Windows Vista SP1. Not ONE stopped working afterwards, and wonder of wonders.... a few that DIDN'T work on Vista before now do work.
Next time, actually take the time to try Vista SP1 before posting on this subject, as I have. And yes, I am a 'Microsoft Fanboy'.... but I don't overlook their faux-pas anymore than any other companies, they just haven't really had any except for lacking driver support on Vista.
A working Windows XP proves itself a reliable companion. Although the interface is not as fancy by today's standard, the stablity has conviced me to wait. Why bother when Windows Vista still looked like a nightly build?
Have you even used Windows Vista? Windows Vista, for me, has been just as stable if not MORE stable than Windows XP. You really need to stop posting these absolute lies and fabrications, otherwise people will stop taking you seriously, as I have.
I did have to call MS about a strange problem oof the installation making a hidden file show up on the desktop. It didn't take long to fix. I think the problems are more about the installer than the OS!
I haven't seen any 'hidden files' appearing on my computer... except when I have "Do not show hidden and system files" unchecked in the Windows Explorer options menu.
I did have a problem where in one folder, it was showing hidden and system files when it shouldn't have, but it was an easy fix with a CCleaner registry scan.
Vista SP1 installed fine on all 3 of my machines and it has helped make them all faster. Even my new laptop which developed a glitch, on startup it would freeze temporarily, after installing one of the mandatory pre-SP1 updates started booting up just fine after installing SP1. It's faster than ever now.
Can You Please Tell Us How (Since All Windows Vista Owners Have The Same Problem) To Edit The Registry In Windows Vista So We Can Enable Input Monitor So Our USB Microphones Will Play Over Our Speakers. I Am Using Realtek Sound Hardware And Using Windows Vista Home Premium On A HP Pavilion Home Premium Computer. My Microphone I'm Using Is A Samson C01U Microphone. However No USB Microphone Works With Vista Yet They All Work In XP Windows Version. So Please Don?t Tell Me It's The Microphones!
cb1218014@rcn.com Thanks, Billy!
The two telecom carriers will carry a next-generation iPad running on the fast, next-generation wireless technology, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.
Google creates an animated doodle that features a boy, a girl, Google's search engine, and a jump rope. But might there be darker, more analytical, more troubling interpretations to this tale?
The Silicon Valley online payments startup grew by 1,000 percent last year and is hopeful it can repeat that level of growth this year. To do that, it's had to move away from its early friends-and-family roots and embrace small businesses.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
North America but surely it's not 7 days behind. This information is
useless since the expiry date is a week ago!
LOL!
My bad!
MS should have really tried to continue improving XP than releasing such garbage. Hopefully, Singularity will turn out better and not be affected by the con-job Vista crew.
Leopard and Linux don't have these problems, because one has support for life (Leopard) and the other has absolutely NO support except for forums.
Secondly, XP did not do better than Vista. If anything, it is the other way around. People keep on moaning that "My old devices don't work on Vista! WAAAAAAAAH!" when that isn't Microsoft's fault, it is the fault of the person who made your device not putting out a new driver.
They also keep moaning and whining about certain very old programs not working on Vista when Microsoft bluntly stated they wouldn't because they were badly written, real-mode programs and Vista didn't support Real-Mode access to the components of the computer anymore.
Vista is doing JUST fine. The only knock I personally have on it: it needs a minimum of 2GB of memory, in reality.
Big deal. Most computers today are edging up towards 8GB of memory and 64-bit computing as the next standard, so it's not a big deal.
That's simply ridiculous. Perhaps by Feb 2009, my BIOS will have Windows Live built in. ~sarcasm~
some fashion, installing VISTA SP1 may (or will) cause many of
your existing applications to fail or not operate properly. At
Microsoft, we understand your pain (as we're experiencing it
too) so we're offering free Technical Support to help reduce your
days of frustration down to several hours on the phone with
someone out of the country. We do this because we care and we
don't want to be sued (again) for releasing software that is just
not ready for prime time - even if it is months late. "Beta Late"
than never!
P.S. Bill has stepped down as CEO, please forward all hate mail to
Mr. Ballmer.
Next time, actually take the time to try Vista SP1 before posting on this subject, as I have.
And yes, I am a 'Microsoft Fanboy'.... but I don't overlook their faux-pas anymore than any other companies, they just haven't really had any except for lacking driver support on Vista.
You really need to stop posting these absolute lies and fabrications, otherwise people will stop taking you seriously, as I have.
I did have a problem where in one folder, it was showing hidden and system files when it shouldn't have, but it was an easy fix with a CCleaner registry scan.
Click:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vistahealthplan.com/" target="_newWindow">http://www.vistahealthplan.com/</a>
Thank you for this opportunity to TALK BACK.
TTFN
From WW2 and our British allies - TA TA FOR NOW.
cb1218014@rcn.com Thanks, Billy!