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06-26-2006, 11:46 PM
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#1 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Want to try Vista Beta...Here is some info and tips...
Welcome to Vista...
For those of you curious to what Vista brings I'll try to fill you in a bit. I have been playing with it for about 3 weeks now. First off, I will list the two computers I have installed vista on. 1st rig...Abit AV8 / A64-3000-venice-939 / 2x512 PDP-xblk / 80gb-ata-100hd / 16x's dvd-writer / fx5700ultra 2nd rig..Biostar M7VITpro / 2400-Athlon-xp / 768mb ram / 40gb-ata-100 / 8x's dvd-writer/ geforce2-mx-400 Now for starters, when I got my copy I downloaded it straight from MS. This took me about 4 hours with a 3.0mb DSL connection but, I downloaded the 32bit and 64bit at the same time. You can also order the beta 2 copy from MS for about $10.00 or wait for RC-1. On each copy of Vista (test versions) you are allowed to install in on 10 pc's with the product key they give you and, activation is good until June, 2007 with all test copies. Now, this download requires the use of a dvd-writer to burn the ISO to. The versions come as a 4.01gb (64bit) and 3.12gb (32bit) download size. This was very easy to do, I downloaded the versions and when done I burn the ISO with Nero-Express. This will create a bootable copy on its own with no further work involved. Before you load Vista, Make sure you memtest your rig at stock setting and load it from stock settings. Vista seems to be very picky about ram timmings at the moment. Also as with any new OS, If you're into overclocking you may have to back it down to remain stable. I have seen many who can run 300fsb and others who couldnt get close. On my personal experience... I just built the AV8 and it memtested fine at 220x9 but, would not load or would not boot once loaded at theat speed even with more voltage all around... I can boot at 210x9 easily Lets load Vista...I booted from the dvd and was greeted by an options screen with a list of options to load Vista...I chose the fresh install option...(the upgrade option is disabled by default in beta-2). After selecting the option the pc loaded files to ram then restarted. Once restarted windows loaded and began copying files. This didnt take much time at all and then proceeded to extract the files and then installed them..All in all it took one hour to full install Vista. Once installed I was prompted to put in the product key and then a prompt for activation once online and another for automatic updates. I will tell you if you do the install from fresh make sure the time/date is current in bios before you start the install or if it rolls past the 14 day activation period once Vista boots for the first time it will not activate...That was the 1st bug I found...I had to start over with another fresh install... Once Vista loads for the 1st time you are greeted by the welcome center with the new improved look. I noticed for the test version you have alot of options but with limited choices. On the AV8 Aero was enabled by default (this is the transparent look to the open windows). I also imediately noticed the side-bar that comes with Vista is a nice feature. The thing I liked most right off the bat was not having to load all the needed drivers normaly needing to be loaded after the Install...They were already loaded during the install of the OS. Everything worked fine from the video card down to the internet connection...It was all plug and play. A few things need to be done before we get started loading programs. 1st we need to disable UAP (user account protection) via "msconfig" and then prevent Vista from requiring signed drivers. We must do this to load a program or Vista will not allow you to install it.. And it is done like this... to prevent vista from requiring signed drivers: 1. launch BCDedit: customize the start menu and enable the run command (like above) in the run command box, type "cmd" 2. Execute the following command to disable driver signature checks: bcdedit –set nointegritychecks ON OR bcdedit /set nointegritychecks ON EDIT: If anyone out there is trying to disable driver signing and its not working try replacing the -set with /set, -set didn't alway's work but /set seems to. 3. Reboot the computer Now you should be ready for some programs... I will tell you about some of my experiences here...AVG-anti-virus would not install...I got a pop-up saying there was a known compatability issue and instalation would terminate...and it did... However, Avast would install and runs fine in Vista.. One thing nice is Vista has a sort of auto compatability mode that will change setting automatically to run a program say, under windows xp environment... Now after messing around I found some nice features for the new Vista. One I found was in the control panel...Performance and ratings. I here you can check the condition of you OS and see how it's running and steps to take to improve its performance... Right away I was greeted with three things that were slowing down vista's performance. These were Avast (start-up and shut-down) and the Nvidia video card driver (start-up). After a scroll down you get a performance score...mine was 3.5. I have noticed the bigger the score the better, and it seems to heavily rely on CPU speed and HD space and then on to ram and video interface. There is also a reliabilty monitor you can use after your pc has been up and running a minimum of 24-hours. This tells you what drivers/programs and updates were installed and if they were sucessfully installed or not and what problem it may cause. There seems to be alot of nice built in trouble shooters to help you get the most out of you pc. This sure helps to take the guess work out. Also I had to activate my copy manually and the only place to fine the link was in the control panel-system...at the bottom of the page. Once activated you get the genuine label to replace the button... Visuals are nice, especially with the Aero feature. You can change the intensity of the color and clearness. Although its not completely clear it is sorta see thru or apears to be. The biggest feature I like is Internet Explorer 7. It is tabbed so you can view multiple sites in one window...but to operate the 3D-switching you need to have multiple windows open (windows key + tab). I also liked Media Player 11, although there seems to be some bugs in it. For one it rips cd slower then XP with MP-10 also the sound is glitchy when playing music and seems to happen more often under high cpu usage or sites with flashy pictures... Alot of people have this problem, myself included but not as bad as others. Another part I liked was the networking capabilities in Vista...It automaticaly senced other pc's plugged into my router and prompted me if I wanted to share music files from other pc's. I also clicked the Network button from the start menu and it took about 10 seconds and it listed all the pc's plugged in to the router and networked them all... Easy as pie The only issues I have really encountered are that I can't watch snapshots in Media Center and the sound issue other than that I really havent had any at all... I do notice the Vista seems to favor a Via chipset at the moment as people with Nvidia chipsets seem to have alot more issues from what I have read... So far this has been a real fun OS to play with and I can wait to see the final release of it. Right now just from a fresh install I was at 8gb of HD space but RC-1 promises quite abit less as they are taking the most of the drivers out of the install and letting you get them via windows update... I will try to list some sites that have some good info and tweaks available for you to also try... One thing I should also add is at the current time there is no SLI support or Raid support so you'll be out of luck at the current time... http://www.tweakvista.com/ www.nvidia.com www.planetAMD64.com I will try to answer any questions you have or anyone can feel free to add any info they have regarding there experience using Vista...Thank you
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MSI 890GXM-G65 mATX/1075t/G-Skill DDR3-1600 2x4gb /WD 640 aaks 95mb/s /XFX 5830/Zalman9700nt/ Thermaltake TP750w modular ECS P55 Black Edition/i7-860/Geil Black Dragon 2x2gb 12800-ddr3/Asus 5970X2 vid card/2x640 AALS-Raid-0/Corsair TX-850w Last edited by Statica; 06-27-2006 at 05:31 PM. |
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06-27-2006, 12:06 AM
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#2 |
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Served with Pride
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: near the left coast of Michigan
Posts: 14,538
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Avast AV will run on Vista. And ATI has new drivers you can download. Both worked on my Beta 1. Haven't loaded my Beta 2 yet. Running mine on a Pent D 950, X800GTO/16, 2Gb of XMS DDR2667 on an Asus P5WD2 Prem. Vista really likes it!
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Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception of tequila and hand guns. |
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06-27-2006, 12:46 AM
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#3 |
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Member (12 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Central Arkansas
Posts: 2,170
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I have it installed on a P4 1.6 Ghz with 1.5 Mb of ram and the only 2 real problems I have are with IE 7, it seems really slow and tops my cpu to 100%. It doesn't do this all the time, just occasionally. My other problem is with WMP 11, some videos run in slow motion, while others seem to be in fast forward. Overall I like the looks and feel of it.
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Roger "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Confucius |
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06-27-2006, 12:47 AM
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#4 |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 9,231
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Nvidia has beta drivers as well.
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06-27-2006, 07:55 AM
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#5 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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I havent noticed either of the issues you mention...The only issue I get the MP-11 is the sound glitch
IE-7 runs pretty fast for me...I havent had even 1 issue with it yet...although I do have Defender turned Off and the Anti-phishing as well as the pop-up blocker...you may try that... |
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06-27-2006, 11:02 AM
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#6 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 670
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Even though we are seeing all these problems and glitches right now, they wont stay forever. I've had problems myself but its just a test version to see what people think of it and stuff. Im sure when the real copy comes out most of the problems will be fixed and tweaked like they did for windows xp when it first arrived. I really can't wait for it to appear in store!
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06-28-2006, 09:08 PM
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#7 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Seems to work fine in IE_7....
Do you think it would help if I copied and pasted to a new thread for the people who cant access this thread...? There is potential for alot more information that could be helpfull to people...thanks.. |
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06-28-2006, 09:28 PM
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#8 |
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brewer, mostly...
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Laying on the floor, in the brewery
Posts: 1,315
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I'm running the 32 bit version on an AMD Sempron 2600+, 512 RAM, 120 GB drive and VIA chipset. After a few post-install glitches it seems to be running quite nicely today. Yes, Avast works well with it. Amazing how many of us have tried to load AVG without success and immediately gone to Avast. I guess some things are universal.
I like the IE 7 as well. Seems very fast on this system. -Kev
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Symantec-free zone. To stay malware free: AVG antivirus/antispyware, Malwarebytes anti malware, Commodo Pro free firewall, ccleaner, Windows updates. or.... just install Linux Too many computers in this house to list. They are all my builds, some AMD some Intel... |
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06-30-2006, 05:21 PM
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#9 |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 9,231
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*bump* works fine on IE now.
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06-30-2006, 07:09 PM
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#10 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Statica.....
Thank you...Oh and by the way.... in the other thread pertaining to this one....I didnt mean to sound like I was giving a hard time or anything...I was merely being funny to the thread not working after I actualy did something.... A big thanks to all the PcMech'rs for a great place to be..... |
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06-30-2006, 08:55 PM
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#11 |
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Premium Member
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 9,231
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Stickied it for now
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07-01-2006, 08:19 AM
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#12 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,729
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Very good article, but one question, why disable UAP?
__________________
Better to use a Mac and be THOUGHT a fool, than to use Windows and REMOVE ALL DOUBT |
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07-01-2006, 12:56 PM
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#13 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Why Disable UAP...
Because under Vista... the way it's set up you are NOT the administrstor...It does a sub-account so to speak for security... if you try to change something it wont let you hence "User Account Protection"....It's anice security feature that is supposed to help...but we'll see.. WOW...my 1st sticky..... I'll see if I can find that link and post some more stuff.... http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1974451,00.asp (flash Vista tour) http://www.vista-clarity.com/index.php?page_id=13 (more Vista drivers) http://www.seewindowsvista.com/ (another flash tour) http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...PA101_WH06.ppt (powerpoint presentation) Security Advances Windows Vista introduces an improved security model that reduces a system's vulnerability to attack while still empowering applications. In particular, it makes the new User Account Protection (UAP) the default user account, and provides an easy-to-use temporary-privilege elevation model. As a result, malware installations are reduced and more OS functionality is made safely available to non-administrators. Security is further strengthened with a trust-based validation system through Mandatory Integrity Control, and Windows Resource Protection (the follow-on to Windows File Protection) guarantees a stable, read-only view of a running operating system. Basically it says...The UAP takes the place as administrator... here is the liknk to the whole page... http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvis...t/default.aspx |
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07-01-2006, 09:57 PM
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#14 |
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Member (8 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 245
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I'll tell you what I really, really like... the parental controls. You can block out certain hours that can't be used, or allow only certain hours to be used. You can also block websites based on content, rating, see the top 10 sites your child (or whoever) visits, and even the top 10 sites they 'try' to visit but aren't allowed. Several options.
Overall, I am very please, and excited about vista so far. |
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07-02-2006, 07:47 AM
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#15 | |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,729
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Quote:
I know what UAP is, so again i'll ask, why disable it?!?!?!..... Luckily it will be enabled by default and hopefully most average users wont turn it off. Those who do will be quite irresponsible. Most people seem to forget that if they get infected they not only harm themselves they also have the potential of harming thousands of others by spreading whatever it is they have to everybody in their address book, sent mail folder etc... UAP is designed to help prevent this and IMO it's extremely poor advice to recommend people turn it off. Not so much the people who use this site as they are generally a lot more security conscious than the average user but a blanket recommendation to disable the feature is dangerous. |
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07-02-2006, 09:12 AM
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#16 | |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Quote:
As for the Beta you have to disable "driver signing" to get some programs to work.... and the only way to disable "driver signing" on some Vista installs is to disable UAP....Other wise if it's enabled you get a nice error...go ahead try it... Edit...I only recomended turning off UAP for the people who want to try Vista-Beta and want to install programs that wont work with driver signing enabled...I agree that turning off UAP on the final release version would not be a good Idea...It totally defeats the security feature it was designed to be.... Last edited by MaxRat; 07-02-2006 at 09:15 AM. |
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07-02-2006, 09:16 AM
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#17 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,729
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Nah, I doubt i'll ever get vista. I've already sold all of my XP licenses as I never used them, the only one I have now is my 2000 server which has been rock solid for years, although I never touch it and that maybe why... Will you disable UAP in the final version of Vista assuming it works as advertised?
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07-02-2006, 09:20 AM
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#18 | |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Quote:
I have Vista on my wifes rig and I have yet to disable UAP or driver signing...Because everything I have installed worked or it told me it was incompatable with Vista...so it hasnr been needed yet... But also if it's incompatable with Vista you can install a program under XP compatability... |
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07-17-2006, 12:02 PM
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#19 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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MS to release a new Vista build in a few days....
I also see here...That if you activated your copy before june 30th you'll get RC-1...I dont know how true that is...because I was told you'll only get it if you bought a copy of beta 2 from MS....so we'll see... Adding another Vista resource site.. www.pro-networks.org alot of vista info there plus a whole forum for it with almost all questions already answered... |
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08-18-2006, 01:38 AM
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#20 |
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brewer, mostly...
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Laying on the floor, in the brewery
Posts: 1,315
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UAP is not a universal solution to infections. It simply protects the idiots from themselves.
For those of us who keep a close watch on our security and run a clean machine, UAP is unneccesary. I don't need Windows checking on me to see if I really want to start a request or process. I, for one will disable it on all Vista machines I use. -Kev |
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08-30-2006, 06:59 AM
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#21 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Build # 55.36 was released yesterday....
And again...MS is only letting 100,000 downloads go...you use the same key as you did for beta-2 This one is only being released under 32-bit (x86)....just thought you'd like to know.... |
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08-30-2006, 08:41 AM
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#22 |
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Member (8 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 245
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Thanks for the heads up. Downloading it now. It appears that it will let you install it as an upgrade from Beta 2. Might try that, if only to see how well it works.
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08-30-2006, 01:45 PM
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#23 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Also...
If you need to disable "driver signing" to use programs.... You hit F8 during windows boot up.... |
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09-08-2006, 05:18 PM
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#24 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Vista RC1-5600 was out yesterday to the general public....
uses the same key code and is good til May-2007...both x86 and x64 are out this time... |
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09-08-2006, 10:33 PM
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#25 |
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Served with Pride
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: near the left coast of Michigan
Posts: 14,538
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Thanx, MaxRat. Got it.
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09-18-2006, 04:23 PM
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#26 |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Bolton. England
Posts: 99
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Installed RC1 build 5600 and seems great, only problems I find is some programs won't install Avast Updates is disabled but can be updated from main program, Divx Player just won't play, Nero 7 won't install and Media Player won't play some D/l video but sound is OK.
Regards john |
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09-28-2006, 11:12 PM
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#27 |
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Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Arlington, TN
Posts: 5,538
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RC1 seems so far to be a lot more stable than B2. A couple of things that I noticed.
-Installed from DVD over a basic build of XP. It wouldn't upgrade but it didn't seem to give me an option to format the drive. There was an option to move the existing files to a new directory. Installed much more quicker than before and after 150Mb or so of updates, I installed MS Office Pro complete. When I looked in My Computer it said that I had 52.2GB remaining of 74.4GB on a 80GB hard drive. So about 22GB! Only about 6GB was from the previous install. Basicaly it moved Program Files, Documents and Settings and Windows directories over. -Noticed that by default the defragmenter runs every night. -Some wierdness in RDP connections. When I tried to connect with it to a Windows 2003 Server, it warned me that it was not a Vista RDP and tried to talk me out of connecting. When I connected I had no option to enter the domain other than the @ . -Eye candy is pretty nice. The desktop images are quite nice. -Some nice new games, Ink Drop and Maijong.
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09-29-2006, 07:37 AM
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#28 |
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Tweak Monster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: indiana
Posts: 2,915
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Thanks for posting the info...
there are still many bugs in the RC1 but it seems better than before...still seems chipset oriented but not sure...seems like different people get different result...not consistant at all.. 5728 came out a week ago... And the warning is that it may not be as stable as RC1...but it sure seems and feels like it... The intergrated graphics drivers are alot more refined and newer and quicker than the ones posted on the manufactures sites... I also zero fill the drive and then do a fresh install of Vista...The upgrade doesnt seem to work as well as it should... I have also noticed about installing over the top seems to just use alot more space...This is why I just started zero filling it...more time but best bet for me... |
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09-29-2006, 06:36 PM
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#29 |
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Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Cardiff, Wales. UK
Posts: 5,912
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I have just installed RC1 on an old faulty harddrive that I had lying about; it is installed on my Toshiba laptop running on a P4 3.2 HT and a gig of ram. First impressions are good apart from a couple of little niggles, it seems to be running a little slow (that could be the bad harddrive), the eye candy is almost as nasty as my first impressions of XP, even my wife (totally not computer interested) says the icons look like preschool stuff.
I was disapointed that AVG7 doesn't work properly, it installed and updated but some of the options in the control center were not working, I have now installed Avast. I have had to download the ATI Mobility Radeon drivers from ATI and I was surprised to see that the download file was 74.6mb. I can see both sides of the UAP argument and for old hands like us, being prompted everytime we want to do something is a little annoying, but, for the less malware savvy out there it looks like a good feature. Setup was a "walk in the park" it was so easy, everything was installed and only my video drivers needed updating, networking and sound both worked straight off the bat so that was good. Again, first impressions are positive lets see what happens as we go, I am that happy with it, one of my suppliers has a 100gig notebook harddrive on offer at the moment and I am tempted to buy one just for Vista, I can't install it on my main machine as all my business software and files are on there, and my loaner is out on loan. 
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Niwa no niwa ni wa, niwa no niwatori wa niwaka ni wani o tabeta. Last edited by rjfvillarosa; 09-29-2006 at 06:39 PM. |
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10-01-2006, 01:55 PM
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#30 | |
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Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Cardiff, Wales. UK
Posts: 5,912
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Quote:
I am finding Avast almost as intrusive and annoying as Norton but I am going to play with that over the next few days to see if I can improve things. Despite a few minor glitches I really like it and I think non computer savvy users will benefit from a lot of the features, it is certainly very user friendly and easy to use. Last edited by rjfvillarosa; 10-01-2006 at 04:30 PM. |
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