Windows 7 Problems and Possible Solution(s)

I visited a Windows 7 forum and to my surprise, instead of features or some upgrades are posted, almost all of the posts are bugs and problems. Most of the problems encountered by the users of Windows 7 beta version are hardware related. I have compiled most of the problems in that forum and googled some solutions that are suggested in the internet. I have tried some of these solutions and yes, it works! Luckily, I have never encounterd some of these problems.


Slow Internet Connection - Some users are saying that before they installed Windows 7 in their system, the download rate is more or less 6o kbps. With Windows 7 running, the download rate never reaches 30 kbps, some are even saying that they only have 16 kbps or less.

Possible Solution: During installation of Windows 7 or any other operating system, some drivers are automatically detected and installed. These drivers are provided by Microsoft and some of these are generic drivers. The slow connection may be a cause of incorrect or incompatible driver for your ethernet or wireless device. Try to install the right driver for your network device by downloading it from the manufaturer's website.


No Icons in the Start Menu - Couple of people are saying that when the start menu is clicked, all the applications listed doesn't have an icon but still all the applications are working when opened.

Possible Solution: This is probably caused by upgrading Windows Vista to Windows 7. Try to do some fresh installation (formatting the hard disk or completely removing Vista) of Windows 7.


Audio Hardware not Working - Some users reported that Windows 7 has sound problems. Some system cannot utter (puffff, what's the right word) or produce any form of sound or if it does, it is in low or ugly quality.

Possible Solution: One sure reason why the system cannot produce sounds is becuase of its audio driver incompatibility or problem. Possibly, Windows 7 did not recognize your sound card or installed the incorrect driver. This can cause problems like low quality sound or even no audio even though a sound driver is installed. Try to view the device manager (see help how to view device manager) and look if the system installed the right sound driver for your sound card. If not, download the right driver from the manufaturer's website.


Intel Chipset has Low Graphics Quality - Few users that has intel chipset as their graphics controller are experincing video problem like windows aero is not enabled. Some are also saying that their screen resolution is only up to 640x480 (VGA).

Possible Solution: Like the audio problem, the video card driver is improperly installed or there is an incompatibility problem between the driver installed and the video card itself. Try to ask someone or open your CPU to see what model of video card you are using and then google it or visit the manufacturer's website to download the right driver.


NVIDIA or ATI Radeon Video Quality Issues - Windows 7 has wide variety of drivers packed but still some hardwares are not detected especially graphics card like NVIDIA or ATI. Problems include low resolution display and windows aero cannot be enabled.

Possible Solution: Even though the right driver is installed for your graphics card, some older versions of video cards cannot handle windows aero. Try to check from the manufacturer's website if your graphics card can handle this type of feature. If it can handle but still windows aero is not enabled, try to re-install the graphics driver or install the latest version (make sure it is a compatible one).


Note: For hardware incompatibilty problems, try to run windows update to get the latest driver for your system.