Im sure this gets asked a bazillion times but i have an hp dv4170us

pentium m 1.73 ghz
1 gb ram
100 gb hd
intel 915gm/gms, 910gml express graphics integrated

if i reformat and install vista, which vista would i want to use and would it run slow?

please dont say use the vista tool from microsoft, b/c it doenst work for me

im just wondering if it will be slow, i can use windowsblinds for visual style too

I'd add another 1GB of DDR 2 2GB is the Sweet Spot for running Vista Areo (That's any Vista Version above Home Basic)

Also of note, you GPU is marginal for Vista. you may or may not have problems doing things like gaming or with Windows Aero. doubt it but you may. just something to think about. make sure you have the latest and greatest drivers for your graphics card somewhere so when you install vista you can update the GPU drivers to kind of offset it a little bit.

ev

I don't have much of an opinion on vista (haven't really used it much), but if you don't play games then you may want to check out linux, ubuntu specifically. The upgrade is free, you get just as impressive desktop effects with much older hardware and the customization ability is endless.

From what I've seen, Vista seems very restrictive in the guise of security. Things like constant nags screens and tons of background services to protect the system from vulnerabilities peeves me. To each his own.

I would agree. Linux may be a better solution for you in this case. and you can add a lot of the fancy glassy features similar to Vista's aero, and Linux is a very secure OS, for what i hear as well. it does have the drawback that there is a lot less support for it than its comparable Windows counterparts though so drivers and compatibility may cause you headaches. still, i think it definitely may be worth trying out and playing with.

Heck, dual boot the machine and see if you like it.

ev

Another nod for Linux