How-To Geek

Hi all – I hope you will have patience with this non-computer geek – lol.

I installed Win 7 on my Dell XPS 630i about ten days ago and since then have regretted ever even considering moving from my hated Vista to 7. I have encountered numerous issues that remain unresolved. First: display – really poor. No matter what settings I use, resolution, font size, etc. the display is really off. Instead of using the full screen the display occupies only the middle and either side and top and bottom contain large black lines. I have done everything I know how: adjusted resolution from very high to very low; adjusted font size from tiny to extra-large and reloaded drivers directly from Nvidia’s website. Nothing has worked. Online the display is particularly awful and almost impossible to read unless I move my eyes into the screen.

1. Second issue: I can no longer click on links in e-mails or online. Each time I receive this error message: This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

2. When attempting to upload or download images from my own website [I’m a photographer and post images for clients online] I receive an error message stating the system admin has prohibited that action

3. When attempting to conduct any action that has not previously been used I am prompted numerous times to get system admin permission before proceeding. This happens when attempting to move a file from one location to another; when attempting to delete a file; when attempting to access or change settings under the control panel and whenever I try to change formatting in any application

4. The system hangs and/or freezes frequently and must be manually rebooted

I am the sole user of this system. I am signed in as the system administrator. There are no other user accounts.

I spent approximately 90 minutes with a Microsoft technician last Friday. He had me reload the Nvidia drivers from the website. This did not resolve the display issue. He then took remote control over the system in an attempt to diagnose and repair both the display issue and the other issues. He was unable to do either.
I am really at my wit’s end on this stuff! I’ve been wasting a huge amount of time just trying to get my system to run with this new OS. As bad as Vista might have been, at least I did not spend most of my day trying to get it to work properly! I am tempted to just go back to Vista but am not sure of how. If someone – anyone – can offer me some help, I’d be greatly appreciative. I have no idea what to do now and apparently neither did the tech with whom I tried to work.

System Specs:
Dell XPS 630i
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 3.2GHz
4 GB RAM
2-500GB HD

welcome window 7 user? One thing I noticed is you might need to take ownership of your computer / files/ folders. Click here for one fix. there are some other ways but this will get you started. Waiting for your response to GKI610's questions before making any suggestions on reverting back to Vista. Really you don't want that. Win7 has some quirks but is a giant leap forward from vista.

g-x

I didn't know you could upgrade from Vista 32 bit to 7 64 bit. Is the video problem present now, after downloading the Nvidia drivers?

@GKI610 it requires a complete clean install. Win7 upgrade comes with both 32 & 64 bit versions.

When I did a clean install of Win 7, both bit versions, updates went out & got a very current driver for my Nvidia 8800GT video card. The one on Nvidia's website is also newer, & good for prime time, IMHO. Which card do you have? Is it an ATI?

Mickeyblue - yes I did get the latest Nvidia driver from their website and yes, it was for the 64-bit version of Win 7.

As of tonight I have a brand new wrinkle in the mix: I cannot get Photoshop CS4 to launch. I keep getting an error message saying the same thing all these messages say: the system admin has limited access to this application - check with my system admin. This is pretty major since my work relies on CS4. I can do some editing with my laptop, but it's a major pain. I'm wondering if starting over from scratch would be of any use? I could simply reinstall 7 from the bootable CD and reload all aps and drivers again - would this make any difference?

Thanks folks!

I would agree with Mickeyblue something went wrong withthe install .Redo it as he said.
I have done 17 windows 7 installs for myself and family and friends and have not had your problem.

as far as i know you cant upgrade from 32-bit vista to 64-bit win7, a clean install is the best option.
the problems are occurring because the upgrade path was chosen, obviously the option is there and windows tried it, but its not the recommended route going from 32-bit to 64-bit.

I purchased a new Toshiba laptop with windows 7 and Nvidia graphics card preinstalled. I had major problems from the start and after a week of to and fro from place of purchase swapped to ATI Radeon graphics card and everything was sweet. Nvidia, Win 7 compatability issue?

@stockie62, you might want to post your question in a new topic.