New MBP - some issues

Hey guys,

So I just got my brand new MBP today (yay!), unfortunately, I've had some issues. Maybe you guys could help me out with them:

First, the internet is crawling. Especially in Windows (I installed XP). This could be due to my college's network, but it's been fast previous years (I just got here today), and I don't know why it would be different now.

Speaking of Windows when I tried to validate my copy, it said I was out of licenses. Do you guys think I should buy another license #, or upgrade to Vista? And can I do that upgrade without having validated my XP copy due to already using all of the licenses? I do have a valid key though.

Thanks in advance - I may have more issues soon, heh.

EDIT: Yup, just thought of another - I use an MX 610 Logitech mouse. I got the Logitech Control Center utility to customize it, but it won't recognize the mouse. Any ideas? I heard that rolling back to an old version (I have 2.2.2) might help, but I can't figure out how to uninstall the current version (it's not in the Applications folder...)

Also, I have Camino, Firefox and Safari currently. Whenever I try to watch a movie online, Camino won't show it, Firefox will crash and Safari does alright but stutters a bit. I have the Flip4Mac WMV utility already - is there something else I need to get Camino or Firefox to play these videos (I guess .avi or .wmv) correctly?

 

Take it to another network to see if it crawls.

If you have a valid copy of Windows, call Microsoft. There's no reason to buy another copy. I personally have found Vista to be slower than XP though it does look better.

 

Thanks for the tips Zaz - does it matter that this Windows disc was for my year-old HP? If not I'll give them a call (that seems so weird, calling Microsoft...akin to, say, writing a letter by hand...) and see what they say.

 

Ah, seems you windows was a OEM version which came along with your HP. You cant use it with your new computer, all OEM versions are to be used only with the computer they came with.
So, either you buy a new copy of XP or new copy of Vista, even upgrade version of Vista wont be legit as you dont legally own a copy of XP for your MBP.

 

i disagree. i think you are allowed to use the oem copy of xp to use the vista upgrade edition.

i also think if you call microsoft they will set you up and you can use your oem license on any computer you want.

uninstall the logitech software and customize your mouse through the system settings.
so either should be fine.

what kind of movies are these? or what kind of movies are we talking? youtube-ish quality? hd movies? if its hd content at 720p or something in wmv form, you might just have a problem.

 

Thanks for the replies so far guys:

-The movies are just .wmv movies on the web. Camino and Firefox will freeze when I try to load it (the whole system freezes up), while Safari will play it pretty well though with some glitches in the play bar.

-My Windows disc does say "OEM," so I guess I'll give Microsoft a call and plead.

-I'd like to uninstall Logitech CC - but I'm not quite sure how to do that, as it isn't listed in the Applications folder. Where do I go to find the files I need to delete? Also, the reason I got it was to customize the back/forward buttons on my mouse. Can I do that in the standard System Preferences? I didn't see an option for that.

 

The OEM license terms very clearly say that it is ONLY for the first computer it was installed on. So i dont think that you can argue that you can use the same license on the second computer you bought. And as your XP license is not valid for the second machine, you cant use the Vista Upgrade version to legally install Vista on your second computer, though in practise you can do it. This is the primary difference between a OEM version of Windows and Retail version, other being source of support.

Still you can call up Microsoft support and try your luck

edit : masterchef, i agree with you on the point that you can use Vista upgrade edition to upgrade the OEM version of XP. But the point is that the OEM version should be valid on the computer being upgraded, which in this case will not be.

 

If I were to get Vista, should i get the 64-bit version? Never really figured out what those were about...I thought with the Core 2 Duo architecture, my processor is 64-bit, but then I hear that nothing utilizes this advantage yet (or something to that extent...)

Thanks again for all your help with these issues guys.

 

Personally I still don't see enough to switch to 64-bit OS yet...I'd get 64-bit in the next version of Windows (OS X Leopard will be 64-bit) but for now I don't see enough use in 64-bit.

 

Thanks guys - I'll go ahead and order Vista I guess - Home Premium or whatever seems to be what I need. I guess I'll just get the 32 bit version if there's no real reason to get the 64.

Any hints as to how to get Logitech off of my computer and get my mouse buttons customized so I can use the side buttons for forward and back?

 

There is another thread on this forum that discusses some things you can do to get Vista 64 running on the MBP... it gets most of the hardware going...

Here's the link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=149395

 

Thanks! Maybe I'll pick up x64 then. Does it really make things better, or is it just future-proofing myself a bit?

 

I'm thinking that the full editions of Vista come with both a 32-bit disc and a 64-bit disc... I'm not sure if the home premium or basic edition have both in them. I do know that the full edition of ultimate has both discs though.

 

Ohhh interesting...maybe I'll see about getting a more expensive edition then. Thanks!

 

Called Microsoft, and through the phone registration I got my copy validated. Yay! Thanks for all your help guys.

Still can't get my mouse to work really though...I can't find a way to map the button in the standard Preferences panel.

 

Sorry to keep asking question - but I set my Flip4Mac WMV settings to open .wmv files in Quicktime, and that lets the videos I was having problems with before play just fine. Could there be some setting that will let the movies play fine in the browser? I have the latest version.