Consider the following scenario. You are running Windows Vista on a portable computer. You connect an external display to the computer, and then you configure the desktop area to extend across both displays. This configuration is known as “Extended desktop” mode. You turn off the computer, and then you start the computer while the lid is closed. Or, you start the computer, and then you quickly close the lid.

When you log on in this scenario, the resolution of the external display may unexpectedly change. The external display may not use the same resolution as was previously used.

• Windows Vista?s Gamma Table Bug
  If you do any color-management/profiling, then this is a bug you need to know more about, and a temporary solution to get you working properly.
  (tags: Color Gamma )
• Sting! The biggest software counterfeiting bust in history
  More than 1000 customers in 12 different countries that purchased counterfeit copies of Vista were informed via WGA.
  (tags: WGA Counterfeit )

Keep reading →

If you’re running Vista on a laptop, you may want to check out this utility! Keep reading →

Power management may not work correctly on a Windows Vista-based portable computer that has a Windows SideShow-compatible USB device attached. Because of this problem, the CPU may not correctly enter a reduced power-consumption state. In a reduced power-consumption state, the processor is supposed to conserve battery power. The processor does this by using reduced voltage or reduced frequency states. When this problem occurs, the battery may drain more quickly than you expect.

Consider the following scenario:

• On a Windows Vista-based portable computer, you run Windows Media Center in full-screen mode.
• The portable computer has a wide screen, and the screen resolution has been configured for wide-screen resolution. For example, the screen resolution is set to 1280 by 800 pixels.
• You connect the portable computer to an external monitor by using an S-Video connection.
• You try to switch the screen to the external monitor by using the function key on the portable computer.

Note: The particular function key to switch the screen between monitors varies, depending on the computer manufacturer.
In this scenario, you may notice that the screen has been successfully switched to the external monitor. However, the screen is black, or it appears to be otherwise broken.

On a portable computer that is running Windows Vista, the Windows Mobility Center item does not appear in Control Panel as expected.

When you connect a portable Windows Vista-based computer to a docking station, you may receive a Stop error message that resembles the following:

*** STOP: 0×000000fe (0×00000006, parameter2, 0×48676643, 0×00000000)
BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER

This problem occurs if at least one of the following conditions is true:

• The computer uses a built-in charge-coupled device (CCD) or a built-in card-reader.
• A digital camera is connected to the computer through a universal serial bus (USB) cable.

An article was added to Microsoft’s Knowledge Base yesterday that I found rather curious. Titled Some Toshiba portable computers cannot be upgraded to Windows Vista, it says “These portable computers were originally manufactured and designed to support only Microsoft Windows XP”. The article then goes on to list the specific models: Keep reading →

Consider the following scenario. You attach an external monitor to a Windows Vista-based portable computer. The lid of the computer is open. You play a DVD in Microsoft Windows Media Player 11. You close the lid of the computer while the DVD is playing. In this scenario, you receive an error message that resembles the following:

Windows Media Player cannot play this DVD because there is a problem with digital copyright protection between your DVD drive, decoder and video card. Try installing an updated driver for your video card.

I use these heavily, it makes it easy to move your apps around when often reinstalling your OS and moving from machine to machine. Keep reading →