Troubleshooting Vista Problems

Drivers

One problem that plagued a lot of users for quite awhile after Vista's launch was a massive driver incompatibility issue. Many companies didn't have drivers that could run on Vista for their software and hardware, which rendered a lot of these devices crippled or completely unusable. In the time since the Vista release, the problem has become much less prominent. But it's still important immediately after installing the operating system to get on the Internet and search for updated drivers as fast as possible.

Non-functioning Applications

Another problem that followed Vista for awhile was an issue involving many applications (including Apple's popular iTunes) not functioning on the operating system. Drastic new changes to the way user accounts worked (and Vista in general) made many applications that were written for Windows XP cease to function. Developers and Microsoft fixed the problems by releasing updates for the programs in question as well as Vista, so by simply keeping your system as up-to-date as possible using Windows Update, you shouldn't have any of these problems.

System Resources

One problem that has plagued users is Windows Vista's increased system resource requirements. It's recommended that you have at least an 800Mhz processor and 512MB or RAM before installing Vista, but in reality for Vista to run smoothly you need at least a GB of each. In addition, certain features will require at least a 2Ghz processor and 2GB of RAM, which is standard for new computers. However, anything that had been out before the release of Vista will have a hard time running. This problem has two solutions: Either spend the money to upgrade your computer, which can be costly, or downgrade back to Windows XP and wait for Vista until you buy your next PC.