Ancestry & Vista

[Lydia]

When I try to save a census page from Ancestry it only gives me the option to save in what appears to be a virtual file ??
I am then unable to move the page to the file where I want it to be.
Is there any other Vista and Ancestry user who can give me detailed instructions ?
I suspect it must be to do with security.
Lydia

[v.wells]

I'm an A user. Whenever I have saved census pages, it gets saved under my documents on your c drive. As I have created folders under my documents I just use the mouse and drag it to the folder I want it in. I don't have Vista. If I remember, once it's saved you dble click on it and it either opens as .jpeg file or adobe. I think you have to have the viewer installed as well. Hope that helps.

[bwarnerok]

yes Lydia, it's the blasted security in Vista and it was making me crazy as well.

You need to be running as the "administrator" in order to get rid of those "virtual file folders" and go back to saving where you want to save. You can just tell a program (as in IE) to run as administrator (right click on icon and choose properties, then the security tab and you will see where you can change it.

betsy

[MarkJ]

Not using Vista, but I would be wary of running IE as administrator for general purposes. If that is the only way to carry out this procedure, then I would change the settings, do whatever it is you need to do, then reset the security straight away. Running a browser - be it IE, Firefox or any other - as the administrator is a very risky thing to do on a day to day basis.
I am sure that you change the security as needed Betsy, but thought it worth pointing out to others who may not remember to reset the settings when they are done.

Mark

[Mike_E]

When I try to save a census page from Ancestry it only gives me the option to save in what appears to be a virtual file ??
I am then unable to move the page to the file where I want it to be.
Is there any other Vista and Ancestry user who can give me detailed instructions ?
I suspect it must be to do with security.
Lydia

Vista is a pile of dogs do-do |moon|, I've got 4 machines scattered around me, 2 Desktops running XP, and a Desktop and Laptop running Vista, and I've come close to launching the Vista PC & Laptop out of the window many times.
Damn Vista even complains when Sophos (anti-virus software) is doing it's updates or scans. Good luck with Vista, I for one will not be having Vista on the new PC I'm buying for home, I'll just re-use the XP I'm using now and MS can go take a running jump if they expect me to pay for it again.

The only good Vista I can think of right now was the "Vista Curry" you could get in the 70's/80's, might be still available now? Wouldn't eat it now though, I like a good Madras. Maybe MS should have called Vista "Vindaloo" cos it's a pain the the |moon|

Good Luck

[Colin Moretti]

You could try this, it works for me (except when it causes Explorer to stop working and close):

Open Windows Explorer and go to the highest level displayed - on my machine it's Desktop; the next level down is the user, I have levels below that that include:

AppData, Desktop, Documents, Download, Favorites, Links, etc, etc.Click on Desktop at this level (ie NOT the top level). I then see yet another lower level named Documents. If your system is set up like mine then you should find the images there and you should then be able to move them to the place you want them.
I hope that's how your system works.

I endorse all other comments earlier in this thread and would add some of my own except that they're not fit for public consumption. |computer|

Colin

[Lydia]

Many thanks to all those who answered my plea for help. I think the problem is sorted now.
Lydia

[Jan1954]

When I try to save a census page from Ancestry it only gives me the option to save in what appears to be a virtual file ??
I am then unable to move the page to the file where I want it to be.
Is there any other Vista and Ancestry user who can give me detailed instructions ?
I suspect it must be to do with security.
Lydia

Okay, I'm gradually getting to grips with Vista. When I want to save a page from Ancestry, I can as usual in the C drive as before.

What am I doing right??? :confused:

Jan
(aka technophobe of Hertfordshire)

[Peter_uk_can]

As I can't find anything that Vista can do that XP can't, I have consigned it to the garbage. I am not a luddite and actual have a lot of respect for what Microsoft has given the world. To me, Vista is like a 6 wheeled car.

[Ladkyis]

for people with no techie experience and limited computer experience Vista has all the whistles and bells that are apparently required to get onto the internet. If you have never used a computer and go straight into Vista it is great. If like me you have been using a computer since Clive Sinclair gave us the rubbery keyboard of the ZX then Vista is all froth and not much substance.

I hate programs that think they know what I want.

[bwarnerok]

easy to get on the internet???? goodness.. I have more trouble with vista than I've ever had. Something about it's networking security really fouls me up when I try to do wireless. It will work on the first one wireless that I set up (home) but i can't get it to work on any others. I keep hoping that some "patch" will come down and update vista and solve this irritating bit.

It's so odd... all of a sudden my browser will just cease to function, although my email still works... I turn to my other puters and they are still bumbling along (Mac running 9.2, Mac running 10.x, PC running XP).. so it's just THIS vista monster that is mucked.

and of course, the older we get (cough cough) the more "change" seems to bother us. XP was rather a mess until they got it up to Service pack 2.... at some point Vista will work out its kinks.. or else it will go the same way as Microsoft 2000!

-b-

[Scottie]

easy to get on the internet???? goodness.. I have more trouble with vista than I've ever had. -b-

Dear Bwarnerok,
I do not have trouble getting on but I do have the other symptoms! The one that particularly irritates me is how the window keeps minimizing when I am just trying to type something into the Freecens search page |banghead| This does not happen on the XP computer. I have found that uninstalling Norton and installing AVG instead has improved lots of things in Vista though and am determined to persevere. I believe there is a big service pack due early next year so that should help. It does have it's advantages too I must say and some of those are worth having. Have a Good New Year.

Regards,
Scottie

[bwarnerok]

Hi Scottie,
yes... I too removed norton and that seemed to help quite a bit. Speeded things up, etc. I use an anti-virus called NOD32 which I'm quite happy with.

I'm thinking they must be sneaking some fixes in here and there from MS because the freezes have become less and less common of late. Oh well.. I don't care if they admit they sold me a lemon.. just as long as they fix it.

:-)

Happy New Year to you as well.

Betsy

[Maeve]

Brilliant reply to this problem by Mike. A friend of mine and fellow Genealogist recently purchased a new computer running Vista. Cut a long story short, she could not use Ancestry to its full capabillity, needed new printer scanner etc and most of her existing softwear would not run. In the end she bought a copy of Windows XP, which worked out a lot cheaper than replacing her old equipment. I think Microsoft have dropped a clanger with this one. Maeve

[MarkJ]

Brilliant reply to this problem by Mike. A friend of mine and fellow Genealogist recently purchased a new computer running Vista. Cut a long story short, she could not use Ancestry to its full capabillity, needed new printer scanner etc and most of her existing softwear would not run. In the end she bought a copy of Windows XP, which worked out a lot cheaper than replacing her old equipment. I think Microsoft have dropped a clanger with this one. Maeve

But that is simply giving Microsoft more money to undo the issues they have created!
Vista is their new baby and it does seem to have some teething issues. However, we all seem to forget very quickly that this is a common problem with any new version Microsoft bring out. XP, when it first came out was dreadfully unreliable. I was unfortunate enough to buy a laptop which came with an early, pre service pack version of XP. As it came with the laptop, I decided to give it a go - but it crashed every single day, sometimes several times! Later versions with the service packs (particularly SP2) are much better - not perfect, but pretty reliable.
Remember ME? That was truly horrible! Windows 98? First editions dreadful, second edition much better....

Vista will improve once they start rolling out the service packs - Microsoft are fully aware of the fact that people are finding Vista to be buggy and full of incompatabilities and they will be working hard to "fix" these problems.

I had to buy a laptop for my daughter to use at Uni recently - and I spent quite a while locating one which came without Vista :) They do exist if you look around.

I could argue that everyone should move to Linux or Mac OSX, but, great though they are, they would have their own issues with some of the software people wish to use. Although there are probably ways around things not working on a Linux or Mac system, the workarounds can be fairly complex at times unless you are familiar with the system.
For general internet, email and writing stuff type uses, a Linux or Mac system works pretty much the same as a Windows one (with the added bonus of being unaffected by Windows viruses!), but many Windows only programs - games or photo editing stuff for example - will not run without extra effort and not always even then.

Mark (who runs Linux exclusively)

PS - both Linux and Mac OSX have had 3d desktops for a while (if you wish to use them) and they are much better than the Vista Aero one!

[Peter_uk_can]

I don't have any issue with Microsoft for developing their software, but when a new version, i.e Vista, prevents one from using perfectly good hardware and software, then I don't like it.

I have been writing letters, using spreadsheets and running databases with Microsft Office products since 1999, even with Vista, I still have to sit here, work out what I am doing and press the keys, just as I have always done.

I get in my car and drive it, I dont expect to have to assemble it in order to do so, neither do I expect to have to change it because someone invented some new tires that don't fit it.

When I press the letter "T" on the keyboard that is what I expect to get, I don't need to be asked 3 times if I am sure.

[MarkJ]

Vista is certainly different in many ways to earlier versions of Windows. My own experience of it is fairly limited - I have used a couple of the early test versions and used the release version a few times. I was not impressed myself, but I prefer functionality to eye candy anyway. Wasting resources such as CPU time and memory to have "cool" effects isn't my thing - I run all my machines for actual work, rather than looks. On the odd occasion I use XP, it is always set to the "classic" Windows 2000 appearence with the system tweaked to remove some of the extras which I don't use anyway.
Having to purchase a new, more powerful machine purely to run extra eye candy seems a bit daft to me. For those who have a spare machine, it is an interesting exercise to dig out an old copy of Windows 98 or 2000 and plonk that on the machine - it will fly along, even on relatively low spec kit. Imagine how it works on a "Vista compatible" machine!

Like you Peter, I have no issue with Microsoft software in the main - XP with the full service packs is actually quite a good system (although the WGA business is a bad move in my view). But they do seem to like to force their latest creation on people before it is really finished. They did the same with XP and are doing it with Vista. Eventually, most people will be using Vista - it comes on pretty much any new machine now and thus purchasers have little choice. By the time the next Windows version is released, most people will say how great Vista is and how the new version is awful...
But as it stands today, Vista has some seriously annoying issues which Microsoft will sort in time - but for now these issues are very frustrating for the users. All the "techie" users I know who have bought a new machine have very quickly installed XP instead of Vista - which is a good indication of how the computer community see the new system at the moment.

Mark

[v.wells]

I used Windows 95 for 10 yrs before I had to break down and get a new PC which came with WindowsXP, but I purchased it after the patches were already made. It has been a relatively easy transition most of the time, but I do miss the simplicity of 95. I will not be getting a Vista next time, but a Mac. I agree that some programs won't work on it but I think it is worth the trade off. I don't want to have to keep purchasing 'extras' for security and such.

[bwarnerok]

aren't we spoiled? Nothing technology wise has ever come out that didn't have it's issues of bugs. When I got my first Cable for TV.. it was out more than it was on. I've had macs and pcs since the first ones came out.. both have their issues and with time, both get straightened out and then something else pops up. It's just the way things are. I went 5 days in December with absolutely NO electricity due to an ice storm. I still had water but with no gas or electric in my house, it was COLD (it was below freezing outdoors). The first day was rough but as the days went by and I was heating water in my fireplace for eating and bathing, etc... I came to the realization that I could actually live without the electrical things and that running water and sewers, etc were perhaps MORE important in the long run. But you know when electricity first came out.. it was a bit of a debaucle. I remember not too many years ago when you avoided buying cars that had any computer chips in them because they went awry.

My theory on computers is if you have a problem, google it.. chances are you aren't the first person that has suffered through it and somebody already as figured out the way around it.

My only continuing problem with Vista is my inability to connect to ANY wireless network other than the one I have at home. Makes traveling a bit of a nightmare but with time, I'm sure this will iron out as well.

Betsy
(patiently awaiting service packs)

[Neil Wilson]

My only continuing problem with Vista is my inability to connect to ANY wireless network other than the one I have at home. Makes traveling a bit of a nightmare but with time, I'm sure this will iron out as well.

Betsy
(patiently awaiting service packs)Hi Betsy
Even with XP I have had problems connecting to wireless networks outside my home. I think half the problem is the location and the setup of the wireless connection to that location. The one I use mainly over here has a very good helpdesk and will call you back if you are on a mobile, but I seem to think you have to be on top of the transmitter and not as they say within 100 yards of it!

[MarkJ]

Ah - but perversely, if you sit literally under the transmitter mast, you get little if any signal!
All to do with the way the wireless is transmitted you know.... :D

Mark

[bwarnerok]

Hi Neil,
really? my old ibook airport card was really bad.. but my XP does well but I've got a Linxsys card in the slot and it works really well.

I cannot even figure out what this Vista issue is. I even went so far as to try renaming the router by hardwiring to it first, etc at my mother's house and changing the code key etc and it will just not accept it me as a wireless user. Baffling.

Next time I take it to mothers I'm going to attempt it from the adminstrator mode and taking off all firewalls as I'm certain it's some sort of vista "security" issue. I had to diddle around with permissions in order to get the Ancestry viewer/printer to work and perhaps it's the same illogical reason.

But mine will also just drop off = halfway... MSN or Yahoo messenger will still work.. and sometimes even my Windows mail will still work, but the browser will just go bottoms up. Logically it doesn't make sense. I can switch the wireless adaptor on and off and sometimes I can tease it into getting itself working again, but typically it takes a complete restart to get it to work. I also will run into problems at the National Archives site... once I've clicked on about a dozen records.. from then on they will not open in a new tab, window or anything. Only way is to shut down the browser and try try again. Does the same in IE or Firefox...

I am fine with distance on this one. I'm running a Linxsys router and typically I'm only about 10 feet away however I've hauled this laptop all over the house and even outside and onto my patio and 100 feet away with no problems. I can also get a good strong signal from the marina across the lake which is probably about 350-400 yards away.

I don't think it's the wireless adaptor but there is the chance it could be faulty. If this has a slot for cards like my other one, I'd just slip the Linxsys card in and troubleshoot it that way.. but erm... I can't seem to locate a slot on this fancy schmancy piece of junk. :-)

I also have a USB Zycel wireless adaptor that I use on the old ibook but it took me so long to figure out how to get that monster configured (as that mac is really persnickety) that I'm somewhat hesitant to muck that thing up in my experimentation.

-b-

[Neil Wilson]

Ah - but perversely, if you sit literally under the transmitter mast, you get little if any signal!
All to do with the way the wireless is transmitted you know.... :D

MarkHi Mark, I say on top of the transmitter not underneath it |jumphappy

[Neil Wilson]

Hi Betsy
Are you trying to log on to your own ISP or the transmitters? The next time you try, could you post a screen dump of the available network on the Wireless Network Connection screen so we can try to see where/what is wrong?

I writing the following so that other forum users can try to understand what I am on about and hopefully assist anyone else.

There are that many companies that offer hotspots (wireless transmitters for laptops), some which will accept different company's subscriptions. You just have to find the hotspot available by opening the Wireless Network Connection screen (single computer icon on the bottom of the screen near the clock), locate the company for which you have the subscription and login on to that before you can access the internet.