Vista Beta 2 Goes Public Today

Well last night i decided to take the plunge and install a 64bit version of vista on my pc. I copied everything i wanted to keep onto my second HDD and then disconnected it just to be safe. My spec is>

3200 Winchester
1gb Crucial Balistix pc3200
36GB WD Raptor
Abit AV8 3rd Eye
Leadtek 6800GT 256mb
Soundblaster 7.1 Surround Card
(This gives a score of 3 within vista)

I downloaded the file using the windows download manager and burnt it to DVD using nero 7 - after a reboot the computer automatically booted form DVD. The install took a while because it copies all of the files and then decompreses them and then installs them. There is over 4gb of info on the DVD. The install screen are nice and modern and there are no jerkey scroll boxes due to lack of drivers like in winXp.

After the install the initial boot took an age and after around 10 - 15mins i was greeted with the fancy new desktop and sidebar. First thoughts were wow this looks amazing. The background images are truly superb on my 19ins tft.

Once in i went though the setting up of my pc like screen saver media player library etc etc and it all went without a hitch however the computer did hang when i tried to preview a screen save ctrl + alt + del soon sorted this.

All drivers installed a treat automatically during the main install the only thing it did not install was my sound card - however my driver disk just popped in and worked first time 7.1 surround in mins! I may try some graphics drivers from Nvidia soon?

The interface is very nice and the transparent windows do look superb but it is very VERY resourse intensive. My pc is very rarely at a full idle and it feels like there are loads of memory items running in the background. If you have a low spec pc i wouldnt try this as it will run like a dog.

I installed some programs - Firefox, Fireworks 8, Photoshop CS2, office 2007 and i had no problems at all. I had to right click on fireworks and select 'run in winxp sp2 compatability mode' but after that it worked great. As long as i can get Autocad and HL2 to work i will not be removing vista - its a nice clean change.

I only have two small problems so far.

1. Two of my program icons dont display correctly on my desktop (photoshop, fireworks 8)
2. My sound is a little jerky - maybe drivers? If i leave the pc alone its fine but if i mess around in word etc its jerky.

Any help on these issues?

All in all i think its good - and im going to try and leave it installed and use it on my primary pc!

AL
 
Since installing Vista it has worked perfectly, but I think I may have now come across an issue with it.

Yesterday I got a package from OcUK with a gig of RMA'd RAM I took back, so after opening the package I thought I'll add some more RAM to see if I can improve the performance slightly.

Now when installing the replacement RAM and loading up Vista the sound comes out really crakly/staticky, although in XP the sound works fine.
If take the RAM out however the sound is fine again in Vista.

Whether Vista doesn't like it when you add more hardware after installing it I don't know, but it also happened on some other RAM I have as well.

I might re-install tonight to see if I can fix the problem.
 
AWPC said:
Not possible with this modem & either Vista or XP x64 edition. Tried for ages and gave up in the end.
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managed to get Vista to see the modem, and according to all diagnostics on the modem it was working but couldn't get it to 'dial'. Anyone else tried?
 
zytok said:
managed to get Vista to see the modem, and according to all diagnostics on the modem it was working but couldn't get it to 'dial'. Anyone else tried?
Click to expand...

In XP, thats...
Windows claims there is no dial tone?
This happens with the modems that use Windows Dialup Networking (DUN), it's not referring to a normal phone dialtone when using ADSL, but rather the lack of ADSL signal. Check your ADSL modem, they generally have an ADSL or Link light which should indicate whether or not an ADSL signal is present.

Solutions:

If it's a wires-only install and the activation date hasn't passed yet, this is normal, once your ADSL light goes solid green the line should work.
If your activation date has passed and you still get this message, check your wiring and use of micro-filters (splitters). Try unplugging all telephones and running the modem from the master socket. Do remember that Sky and Sky+ boxes count as a telephone, since they have built in dial-up modems, and therefore must be filtered.
If the connection has been previously working, check everything is plugged in correctly and then contact your ISP.


Thinking...what drivers did you use cos you must have some with a phonebook.ini file else it doesn't know what VPI and VCI to use.
The diagnostics must show it like this.

Note the VPI 0 VCI 38.
 
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tried two sets of drivers from www.speedtouch.co.uk They both appear to install the modem but one version does most of the stuff automatically, the other asks you to enter all the PPPoA vcMUx stuff which I entered from the working settings on my XP installation. Both sets of drivers appear to complete and the both green lights show up on the modem. When I try to connect, the diagnostics log shows all ok until it tries to verify username and password which it tries to do about 10 times before saying that the remote computer did not respond. I have tried going through the internet setup wizard as well but that seems to launch an old fashioned style dialler that tries to dial 0 and that's about it. It's nothing to do with activation or anything as everything has been working fine in XP for months and worked again last night after switching to my HDD with XP on it.
Haven't tried the 64 bit drivers yet off the website, anyone had any joy with those? Just really frustrating that it's the only thing I can't get working yet it seems like it's something silly that's wrong.
 
Beansprout said:
For those having trouble downloading from MS...

Code: 
Length: 3,355,598,848 (3.1G) [application/octet-stream]

10% [=====>                                                         ] 344,399,295  780.96K/s  ETA 1:03:51
Fear not....mirror coming soon....bye bye to my server I guess. We'll see :)

Edit: Whoo, one server managed to get the 64-bit file. They're all run by Akamai and its dynamic DNS system, so it looks like the downloads are partially corrupt (maybe deliberately due to heavy, heavy traffic) on some of their servers.
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ocuk has used 90gig from my ftp, just for vista. :D

just for bragging rights i was dowloading a 5mb ;) took longer to copy it to the second partition than it did to download.
 
right heres my problem got vista 32bit all setup and working lovely but thee problem is i have a geforce 6800gt galaxy glacier (agp) card installed nvidia drivers went to play css and battlefield 2 but holy crap how much cant play any games due to shearing could only play guild wars in windowed mode ran smoth then but as soon as i go full screen it all goes haywire any 1 have any ideas
 
stuartbat said:
right heres my problem got vista 32bit all setup and working lovely but thee problem is i have a geforce 6800gt galaxy glacier (agp) card installed nvidia drivers went to play css and battlefield 2 but holy crap how much cant play any games due to shearing could only play guild wars in windowed mode ran smoth then but as soon as i go full screen it all goes haywire any 1 have any ideas
Click to expand...
Holy long sentence! Took a bit of deciphering, that one. :p

It's a Beta OS, and nVidia's Beta Drivers aren't exactly top drawer either. There's almost certainly nothing you can do about it.
 
zytok said:
tried two sets of drivers from www.speedtouch.co.uk They both appear to install the modem but one version does most of the stuff automatically, the other asks you to enter all the PPPoA vcMUx stuff which I entered from the working settings on my XP installation. Both sets of drivers appear to complete and the both green lights show up on the modem. When I try to connect, the diagnostics log shows all ok until it tries to verify username and password which it tries to do about 10 times before saying that the remote computer did not respond. I have tried going through the internet setup wizard as well but that seems to launch an old fashioned style dialler that tries to dial 0 and that's about it. It's nothing to do with activation or anything as everything has been working fine in XP for months and worked again last night after switching to my HDD with XP on it.
Haven't tried the 64 bit drivers yet off the website, anyone had any joy with those? Just really frustrating that it's the only thing I can't get working yet it seems like it's something silly that's wrong.
Click to expand...
have managed to scrounge a Cisco 837 ADSL Modem/router from work so imagine that will work better overall as well as not causing driver issues.
 
For those of you with dual boot (or more if you sampled the 64 bit version) there is a tool called VistaBootPRO that allows you to change the boot order if you don't want to mess with the command based bcdedit.exe.
 
split said:
For those of you with dual boot (or more if you sampled the 64 bit version) there is a tool called VistaBootPRO that allows you to change the boot order if you don't want to mess with the command based bcdedit.exe.
Click to expand...
So does the Startup & Recovery Control panel in Vista :confused:
 
How do I get a serial number, I have downloaded the 64bit version to have a play with but it is asking me for a number?
 
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