Hi,
I've never been concerned with this possibility when upgrading to a new version of Windows until now.
I have a Dell XPS system which came preinstalled with XP MCE but also had a Vista Certified sticker on it. It was running this arguably fine but a few niggling issues such as regular guide problems, stand-by issues and other intermittent issues motivated me to search the web and it seemed by most reports, Vista would at least resolve the guide issue.
So, I installed vista ultimate. In a few months of running vista, (not an entirely stable period) the system froze while watching live TV and was non-responsilve to Ctrl-Alt-Del so I had to kill the power. From then, the system would power on, but never get to the point where you'd see the BIOS loading screen.
After much and varied attempts to work out what the problem was (much interraction with support) we reached the consensus that a hardware failure had occurred. In this time, there was the odd occaision where I could get the system to start and even boot to Windows but this was short lived - eventually, the system would not go any further than powering on.
Dell repaired the system under warranty replacing the motherboard, cpu, video card, memory, dvd drive and keyboard (the spacebar had always been dodgy). The technician ran out of time (beer-oclock on friday) but we thought it was back up so the laptop was given to me to take home and set up.
At this point, I was not even thinking Vista might be killing my hardware, so I decided to install Vista again. That night during the install the system failed again. Dell then took the system back to their depot and had a technician again repair and test it. I took delivery again and it seemed to be running ok - the Vista Certified Sticker was still there
so again I was tempted to trust that it was now ok and installed vista. After a few days, the system froze once more. At this point, I was clutching at straws. Supposedly, this was all new hardware again (at least I think dell once again replaced the hardware) so I was becoming serioiusly suspicious of Vista. Anyway, after leaving the system off, battery out for a few days, I found when I tried (last ditch effort) once more to get the system running, I found it started and this time decided to put XP MCE back on the system. To my surprise it installed and I once again configured it up and we were back in business... well for a few days anyway. The system once again froze. Had Vista damaged the system and it was just a matter of time before it failed (irrespective of O/S)?
Dell decided to replace the entire system. So, I'm basically back where I started...same niggling issues - every month the guide goes awol and the hardware doesn't always work nominally after resume among other odd things.
The replacment system does not have the "Vista Certified" sticker - instead it has "Designed for XP Media Centre". On the bright side, it is a more highly spec'd machine.
I've liaised with Dell over my desire to resolve these niggling issues and they have said that while they won't support vista related driver or software issues because it's not the o/s the system was shipped with (and fair enough), there is no chance of Vista damaging the hardware.
It took a long time to get here (and thanks to those that have persevered), but does anyone think it's possible that Vista "pushed" the original system harder than it was able to cope? I suppose I'm thinking that if Vista is more resoure hungry, then the system hardware has to work consistently harder to meet the demand the best it can. This means the system is going to generate more heat and demand more power. So, do I take the plunge?
). I quite like the TV Pack (although I am in the UK at the moment with some 30+ FTA channels).
