New Laptop - Software Issues

[101RRS]

My old Toshiba Win XP laptop is on its last legs so I have bought a new HP Pavillion DV6 which comes with Win 7 Home installed.


So the first issue is that I loved my old email system (Outlook Express) which served my needs perfectly. I can install Outlook on my new computer but it is too clunky for my liking - also I have a large number of emails saved under Outlook Express that I need access to so need an email system that is easy to use and can import and read my old emails.

Any suggestions.

Web Browser - on my old computer I had Firefox but due to issues with newer versions I had an earlier version - about a 3.55 version. It gave me spellcheck ability and would save passwords etc. I installed the latest 9.0 vers on the new computer but even though I had the relevant boxes ticked in tools it will not save passwords or spell check. eg I have to log onto AULRO even though the 'save password' box is ticked in firefox and the stay logged on box is ticked on AULRO. I uninstalled version 9.0 and put ver 3.5.5 on but still have the same issues even with all the boxes ticked.

Suggestions??

I would love to stay with Win XP as it has more functionality than Win 7 but I guess XP is now getting a bit long in the tooth.

Thanks

Garry

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Nice choice Garry,,
I think its reasonable to upgrade OS's every so often,, XP was released when?

I think the Mozilla software is pretty good,,
Though Mrs Pedro now swears by the Chrome browser.

Mozilla are pretty quick to fix things.

[101RRS]

Thanks Pedro.

Looks like I might have fixed the password issue - like most people I use Google as my search engine and I have found that I need to log in to google to get the password save function to work in Firefox - not sure why but it seems to have fixed it.

Now to why spelling is not working in firefox.

Cheers

Garry

[Naviguesser]

Thanks Pedro.

Looks like I might have fixed the password issue - like most people I use Google as my search engine and I have found that I need to log in to google to get the password save function to work in Firefox - not sure why but it seems to have fixed it.

Now to why spelling is not working in firefox.

Cheers

Garry

Updating from an older version of Firefox can mean the spelling plugin from the older version will not work. You may need to check for an update of the plugin. I got a new one for the current version.

[101RRS]

Ok thanks - how do you know you need plugins? When I ticked the spelling box in firefox it did not say it needed a plugin to work.

Cheers

Garry

[Ferret]

You can get an Australian English plugin from here

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/english-australian-dictionary/

Works well with the latest version of Mozilla SeaMonkey, Don't know about the latest version of Firefox.

[101RRS]

Looks like I might have fixed the password issue - like most people I use Google as my search engine and I have found that I need to log in to google to get the password save function to work in Firefox - not sure why but it seems to have fixed it.

Spoke too soon - passwords still not saving at all - Firefox as far as setup is concerned is crap - if you tick a box it should all happen, without further knowledge should not be required.

PS - I had delete history selected which it does but also deletes passwords - finally found the box that allows history to be deleted but leaves the passwords.

Now - where do I find where Bookmarks are stored for Firefox so I can copy them over to the new system?

Also - emails - is there a Win 7 email system that will enable me to read my old Outlook Express emails.

Garry

[Basil135]

Garry,

Try Opera browser for both emails and internet stuff.

It does everything you want to, is free, stable, and I have never had any drama's with it.

[Mick_Marsh]

At work we still use XP. It's almost as bullet proof as NT4.
Vista was not even considered.
They are trialling a few Windows 7 machines and there have been / are quite a few as yet unsolvable issues.
I recently upgraded a friends machine to Windows 7 (he wanted it against my advice). "XP was running too slow" he said. The computer is now running slower than it was with XP.
I was surprised to learn Windows no longer has Outlook Express (not packaged with Vista as well I'm told). It is a Microsoft marketing descision as they want people to use "The Cloud".
He ended up wanting to install Outlook (at $180) as that is what he used at work.
We also had to replace a number of hardware items as Windows 7 drivers are not available.
What do I use?
For my internet browsing computer I use Fedora. I am forever finding newer, simpler ways to do things I need to do. My Windows machines are now rarely used.
What do I recommend?
Apple computers with their o/s or Ubuntu.
A few work colleagues over the years have wanted to get old work laptops that were thrown out working. These laptops didn't come with an o/s. I'm surprised at how quickly these computer nongs picked up how to use this software. After a week they were setting up and using software I didn't know how to use.

[101RRS]

Garry,

Try Opera browser for both emails and internet stuff.

It does everything you want to, is free, stable, and I have never had any drama's with it.

Does it read Outlook Express emails and contacts etc. That is my main concern with an email system - I need to be able to have access to my old emails.

Windows Live Mail supposedly can import contacts and messages but it cannot find them on my old drive.

If I cannot get something to read the old emails I think I will wipe the harddrive of my new laptop and ghost the drive of my old laptop across - this will do away with Win 7 and make it run with XP and Outlook Express.

At this stage, if I owned Microsoft shares I would be sellimg them - why bring in a new OS and not make the old information available on the new system - oh my Canon scanner does not work with win 7 as there are no drivers available - I guess I throw that away.

I also need to import my old bookmarks but that doesn't seem to want to happen.

Garry

[Mick_Marsh]

If I cannot get something to read the old emails I think I will wipe the harddrive of my new laptop and ghost the drive of my old laptop across - this will do away with Win 7 and make it run with XP and Outlook Express.
If you have time, give it a go.
You may have other issues though.
I think XP won't boot because it will recognise it is on a different machine. I think it looks for the serial number of the processor.
There will also be issues in getting drivers for the new laptop's components for the old Windows.
One thing I didn't try doing was to load Outlook Express from the old discs onto the new Windows. I don't know if it can be done but it might be worth a try.

A while ago, when fixing my sisters machine, I replaced the motherboard. XP wouldn't boot and told me to ring a Microsoft number. I rang it and the Microsoft representative told me I was pirating their software. I gave her a serve and told her I've had enough with this virus prone Microsoft **** and I was going to wipe it and install Fedora.
She said she was going to give me another three activations.
I told her they were to give me as many activations as their software requests.
I've not had that problem with that computer since.

[DavidB]

Hi Garry,

Try this,

I changed to Windows 7 and find it great. Far better than the previous versions


Email

Locate the folder named Outlook Express. In Windows XP, this folder is located here by default: C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{your Windows user identity number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express.


Bookmarks(Favorites)

Favorites folder is basically hidden in Windows to avoid changes in it. In order to see this folder go to Windows Explorer - Tools - Folder Options - View tab. Select "Show hidden files and folders" checkbox. Now go to C:\Documents and Settings\UserName. You should find a folder named "Favorites". If you want to see this folder in the near future then right-click on it and select "unhide"

It's been some time since I used XP. You might not need to unhide the folder

Dave.

[incisor]

go and buy a decent email program you tight arse :p

TheBat (http://www.ritlabs.com/en/products/thebat/)

once you get used to it you will never use anything else

and it allows you to do backups and restore them at will

it will import outlook express email

[drifter]

How much memory do you have in the new laptop?

Your old XP machine will seem faster unless you have at least 4Gb RAM in the new one.

Your new laptop is a 64bit machine - I suspect your old peripherals were 32bit and there won't be any new drivers for the 64bit architecture.

I still run Firefox 3.6.25 here and, for the most part, it is pretty good. It keeps asking me to upgrade to Firefox 9 but some applications I use are not yet FF9 compliant so I won't be going there until I upgrade the apps.

I use Thunderbird as a mail client here. It works for me and is about as simple as the old Outlook Express.

I do have a fully licensed copy of Microshaft Office 2007 here but prefer to use Open Office - again because of the simplicity of the programs and their small impact on the CPU and RAM in my laptop.

Bring it over sometime and I'll take you through a few Windoze 7 tips and tricks.

[101RRS]

Hi all, managed to fix it all.

1. Outlook Express book does not seem to keep the address book in a .wab format in the Outlook express folder - dunno where the information is kept. The controlling exe files are there but not the wab files (even a search did not find them). However by hitting the export address book button brings the information together in a .wab file that can be stored on a desktop - if you have contacts open in Win Live Mail you can then import the .wab file.

2. Outlook Express has a maintenance section under tools that allows you to change the location of the email folders and as such displays where the emails are currently kept. The import messages section of Win Live Mail can then suck in the saved emails - though it does require a bit of sorting afterwards.

3. Similar for Bookmarks (these are not Favourites) in Firefox. The book marks do not exist in the same place at the same time though there are backups. Going into manage bookmarks there is a import and backup button - in there, there is a export HTML option - hitting that makes a HTML file of the bookmarks and stores it where you want. You then go to the same place on the new computer and import the HTML file - again some sorting is required.

Win Live Mail does not have the greatest screen presence and I may change to something else later (Dave - I am not too tight to buy something but I was asking questions as I do not know about such things but am much the wiser now).

Thanks for all the help the pointers gave me the leads to chase information to resolve these issues.

Cheers

Garry