my wife has recently bought a laptop with windows 8.she is struggling a bit and I'm no help as I have windows seven but all the apps and the like are alien to me.Anyway she turned it on today and the welcome screen came up but it won't go anywhere else.It just stays there with the circle thing going round and round but doesn't get any further.I think I need help badly
Although never of the above actually answer the question.
Tap the power button and it should shut down the laptop, then switch it on again and it should be OK
If that doesn't work (i.e. if tapping the power button just puts it to sleep) then hold the power button down for more than 5 seconds and it will turn off the laptop.
^^ Nothing wrong with Vista. I have turned the updates off and it is running ok.
We have 8 on the laptop and although it takes a bit to get used to, it is quite handy for many utility programs. You can download (free) a prog to install the familiar Start button and many other changes (reverts). If you have 8pro you can even get a free utility to revert it back to Windows 7 if you like.