Problems or frustrations with Windows Vista or Windows 7? Our Windows Vista troubleshooting pages will help solve those Vista/Windows 7 problems and reduce your stress

On this page, you'll find links to all our Windows Vista troubleshooting and Windows 7 troubleshooting tutorials. Don't forget that our general Windows troubleshooting tutorials also apply to Vista and Windows 7 users.

With Windows Vista, Microsoft made some fundamental changes to how things work behind the scenes in the operating system. One of the biggest changes (and the biggest shock to users) was their effort to fix the most common security problem in Windows XP, the over-reliance on administrator accounts. All users who are new to Vista or Windows 7 quickly notice the Windows User Account Control prompts that appear whenever new software is installed or settings are changed on the PC. Although these prompts can be annoying, they strengthen the security of the operating system against all kinds of common malware. If you want to learn more about User Account Control and the benefits it brings, check out our guide to User Account Controls in Vista or our guide to User Account Controls in Windows 7.

One of the downsides of these changes was that many older applications and games were no longer compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. If you have an old game that you are fond of, or an old business or productivity application that you simply must run, the first step is to try the compatibility options. The tutorial below will show you exactly how to do this.

If you have a multi-core CPU (e.g Intel Core Duo or AMD X2) then some older software (especially games) may run better if you set the processor affinity to one core only. The tutorial below shows you how to do this (this technique works on Windows XP and Windows 7 too).

If your program still won't run even after trying the steps mentioned above, you still have a few options. We discuss your options in our guide to Windows Vista compatibility. This article is also completely relevant to Windows 7 users:-

Also fundamentally different in the Windows Vista and Windows 7 internals is the networking and internet control software. Microsoft introduced several new components to Windows Vista networking with the intention of improving performance. However, these changes had a detrimental effect on network performance for some users.

If you cannot connect to the internet at all on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 machine, you may wish to try the network troubleshooter. You can also try a 'Winsock reset', which resets all of Windows core networking components. We show you how to perform both of these procedures in the tutorial below.

Using the Network troubleshooting wizard and performing a Winsock reset

If you are having problems with internet or network speed in Windows Vista or Windows 7, you may wish to run the Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool to check that your home networking equipment is up to spec.

There are also several networking settings you can tweak in Windows Vista and Windows 7, to find out about these options, see the tutorial below.

Microsoft also overhauled much of the multimedia software in Windows Vista and these changes persist in Windows 7 too. Unfortunately, due to pressure from content providers, Windows Vista contains several new digital rights management features. These features restrict the playback of protected content over non-protected media. For example, certain copy protected CD's will not play via a S/PDIF digital cable. We recommend if you purchase a CD like this that you return it to the store for a refund.

Gaming fans were also disappointed to find that surround sound was broken in many older games. This is because the Creative EAX sound system is no longer compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. To fix this problem, Creative produced a utility called "Alchemy". If you are using a Creative sound card, check if Alchemy is compatible with your hardware by visiting the official Alchemy webpage.

If you are having problems starting Windows Vista or Windows 7, then performing a startup repair may help, see the tutorial below:-

Exhausted all your options and want to reinstall your operating system? Read this article first before you consider reinstalling your computer!

Read the article above? These tutorials will walk you through the process or reinstalling Windows Vista or Windows 7:-

We'd like to hear if you have any feedback on our Vista/Windows 7 troubleshooting tutorials or any Windows Vista or Windows 7 specific problems we didn't cover here. Please use the comment link at the bottom of the page, or contact us.