Vista x64
Saturday 2nd December, 2006 12:45 Comments: 4
I'd already grabbed the ISO for the x86 version already, but couldn't get it to install under VMWare - I suspect I needed to burn it to DVD-R to make it happy with the drivers. I've also finally downloaded the x64 version of Vista RTM. Seeing as I haven't had my main machine for too long, I'm thinking of installing the 64-bit version of Vista as my CPU has EMT64 extensions (so does the Core 2 Duo machine, but I'm going to stick with 32-bit Vista on there for now) and it'll be interesting to see how much of a difference 64-bit is to the 32-bit editions. I don't have any legacy software, I also need to investigate 64-bit anti virus software, as I gather some aren't too reliable (Trend recently made Susan's box BSOD after 37 minutes, I hear good things about NOD32, which - despite the title - is meant to work well on 64-bit systems). If I do that I'll probably need to grab a screwdriver and spare hard disk (I think I have one left here) as I like to do clean installs on separate hard disks (that way if it all goes wrong, I just have to slip the old disk back in for a working system again). It'll be a bit of a hassle, but I don't have much else to do this weekend. At least I have my Core 2 Duo machine to use MSN/watch TV/check mail etc. while I'm rebuilding the other.
Robert - Saturday 2nd December, 2006 16:53 Well that didn't go quite as well as I hoped. Vista itself is fine, the install went smoothly, it picked up most of my hardware without any trouble, the Aero interface is pretty and moves about a lot.
But I don't have any sound. I've installed my SoundBlaster Live 5.1 card so can hook it up to my speaker set, but it turns out that Creative don't plan on creating Vista drivers for it! It seems I need to get an Audigy or X-Fi card (or buy a card from another manufacturer? Creative have never been that great at providing drivers).
So I decided to look into the XP x64 drivers, they do one for my 5.1 card, although IIRC the filename had the word BETA in it. I hoped that I could install them on VIsta x64, but I forgot that Vista x64 won't let you install unsigned drivers, and these beta drivers obviously aren't signed.
So I have no sound.
My screen is also too bright. The Dell one I use has a very high default brightness, and I lower it using the graphics card drivers, as I've noticed before now that I can sometimes see burn-in type effects where bright windows were against black background etc. and if I stare at it for too long my eyes start to complain about the intense shining light piercing them. It turns out I can't find anywhere to adjust the brightness settings. I may look into NVIDIA drivers for Vista that come with the control panel thingy to adjust the brightness, but seeing as there doesn't appear to be a way to quickly fix the audio problem, I've decided to switch hard disks and go back to my XP Pro setup.
I have a feeling, like when XP first came out, that I will end up waiting a few months before adopting the new OS. Purely because of 3rd party drivers. Vista itself appears to be fine, although it'll still take a while to get used to all the new things. I've tested Beta 1, Beta 2, pre-RC1, RC1 and RC2, but I've not used it on a day-to-day basis yet, or with a system that suported the Aero interface.
Hmm, maybe I'll ask for a new soundcard for Christmas!
But I don't have any sound. I've installed my SoundBlaster Live 5.1 card so can hook it up to my speaker set, but it turns out that Creative don't plan on creating Vista drivers for it! It seems I need to get an Audigy or X-Fi card (or buy a card from another manufacturer? Creative have never been that great at providing drivers).
So I decided to look into the XP x64 drivers, they do one for my 5.1 card, although IIRC the filename had the word BETA in it. I hoped that I could install them on VIsta x64, but I forgot that Vista x64 won't let you install unsigned drivers, and these beta drivers obviously aren't signed.
So I have no sound.
My screen is also too bright. The Dell one I use has a very high default brightness, and I lower it using the graphics card drivers, as I've noticed before now that I can sometimes see burn-in type effects where bright windows were against black background etc. and if I stare at it for too long my eyes start to complain about the intense shining light piercing them. It turns out I can't find anywhere to adjust the brightness settings. I may look into NVIDIA drivers for Vista that come with the control panel thingy to adjust the brightness, but seeing as there doesn't appear to be a way to quickly fix the audio problem, I've decided to switch hard disks and go back to my XP Pro setup.
I have a feeling, like when XP first came out, that I will end up waiting a few months before adopting the new OS. Purely because of 3rd party drivers. Vista itself appears to be fine, although it'll still take a while to get used to all the new things. I've tested Beta 1, Beta 2, pre-RC1, RC1 and RC2, but I've not used it on a day-to-day basis yet, or with a system that suported the Aero interface.
Hmm, maybe I'll ask for a new soundcard for Christmas!
Well I now have sound. The High Definition Audio driver was installed when I installed Vista, but it seems I had to download and install the Realtek High Definition Audio driver to replace it, and now I have sound! Okay, so it's not using my Creative SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 card with its digital output, but at least I have audio now.
I also managed to install a newer version of the NVIDIA graphics card drivers, but all it'll let me do is say how many monitors I want to support, which one is the primary display, and what 3D settings I want to go for. The control panel is a very basic version, hopefully newer versions will allow me to lower the brightness in the future.
So I'm getting there. Slowly. Painfully.
I'm never going to get my webcam to work though.
On the plus side, it seems that the volume control on my Microsoft wireless keyboard adjusts the volume in Vista, that was a real surprise.
I also managed to install a newer version of the NVIDIA graphics card drivers, but all it'll let me do is say how many monitors I want to support, which one is the primary display, and what 3D settings I want to go for. The control panel is a very basic version, hopefully newer versions will allow me to lower the brightness in the future.
So I'm getting there. Slowly. Painfully.
I'm never going to get my webcam to work though.
On the plus side, it seems that the volume control on my Microsoft wireless keyboard adjusts the volume in Vista, that was a real surprise.
Okay, I'm starting to get used to it now. It's stable, it's smooth, and now that I've finished configuring and installing stuff, it's relatively easy to use.
Now if only I could remember the name of my outgoing mail server...
I'll probably boot into XP at some point, write down all the settings I need, then (and here's where it all gets silly) resize the XP partition, resize the Vista partition, copy the XP partition into the new space on the Vista drive, then probably merge the partitions and move the XP content into the right places on Vista, then copy the original XP drive to another spare 120GB drive (Maxtor), then copy the Vista data back from the WD drive onto the original Seagate drive. All because I want to keep my copy of XP somewhere (just in case) and because the Seagate is a much quieter drive (the WD drive is a bit whiny as it doesn't have FBD). I may just copy it onto the Maxtor 120GB drive instead, depending on how lazy I am.
Now if only I could remember the name of my outgoing mail server...
I'll probably boot into XP at some point, write down all the settings I need, then (and here's where it all gets silly) resize the XP partition, resize the Vista partition, copy the XP partition into the new space on the Vista drive, then probably merge the partitions and move the XP content into the right places on Vista, then copy the original XP drive to another spare 120GB drive (Maxtor), then copy the Vista data back from the WD drive onto the original Seagate drive. All because I want to keep my copy of XP somewhere (just in case) and because the Seagate is a much quieter drive (the WD drive is a bit whiny as it doesn't have FBD). I may just copy it onto the Maxtor 120GB drive instead, depending on how lazy I am.
I now have digital audio output, after working out that I can enable the digital output on the Realtek onboard audio, set it to the default, then plug the SPDIF connector (that used to plug into the Creative card) into the Realtek SPDIF connector. The Creative card still has the Mini DIN connector (or whatever it is) plugged into the Creative card, so I think that means I can still get audio out of it when I'm in XP (although I'm tempted to switch entirely to the onboard audio on this PC and move the Creative card into another PC).
I've also imported my existing emails into Ooutlook 2007 on here, and I'll sort out the SMTP server in aminute. I'm also trying to copy a load of stuff off the XP drive onto the Vista drive (Partition Magic 8 spotted an error on the Vista drive that I - foolishly? I did manage to get back in okay - let it correct, then it told me the drive was BAD (even though XP let me access it okay), so I gave up on the idea of mucking around resizing and merging partitions, and now I'm copying across files manually. I expected it to be painful, but whenever Vista hits a permissions problem, I can either go in via Windows Explorer and gain access with my Administrator privileges (via UAC) or on the odd occasion I'll find the Security tab and take ownership of the folder and everything below it. And then I just have to hit the "Try Again" option in Vista (IIRC, XP would just bomb out and let you pick up the pieces). My only gripe is it doesn't tell you the location of the folder that it's complaining about, just the name of hte folder).
I'm listening to Radio 1 via the Vista Sidebar Gadget (I wish you could change station without having to go through the Options, other than that it's great, the quality is pretty good), I believe the track is Boogie Tonight by Booty Luv, I think I'll have to get it sometime as it's one of the best dance tracks I've heard in ages (although I think it's a cover?).
EDIT: It's the Hed Kandi anthem Boogie 2Nite by Booty Luv featuring Nadia & Cherise (Big Brovaz). The original R&B version was a massive club hit for R&B superstar Tweet in 2002, Boogie 2Nite became an unofficial Hed Kandi anthem at their nights across the country, but it never got the full attention it deserved. Now those sensible Kandi chaps have drafted in a host of remixers, to ensure that Boogie 2Nite takes up its rightful place at the top of the charts.
http://www.ministryofsound.com/Music/Singles/BootyLuv.htm
I've also imported my existing emails into Ooutlook 2007 on here, and I'll sort out the SMTP server in aminute. I'm also trying to copy a load of stuff off the XP drive onto the Vista drive (Partition Magic 8 spotted an error on the Vista drive that I - foolishly? I did manage to get back in okay - let it correct, then it told me the drive was BAD (even though XP let me access it okay), so I gave up on the idea of mucking around resizing and merging partitions, and now I'm copying across files manually. I expected it to be painful, but whenever Vista hits a permissions problem, I can either go in via Windows Explorer and gain access with my Administrator privileges (via UAC) or on the odd occasion I'll find the Security tab and take ownership of the folder and everything below it. And then I just have to hit the "Try Again" option in Vista (IIRC, XP would just bomb out and let you pick up the pieces). My only gripe is it doesn't tell you the location of the folder that it's complaining about, just the name of hte folder).
I'm listening to Radio 1 via the Vista Sidebar Gadget (I wish you could change station without having to go through the Options, other than that it's great, the quality is pretty good), I believe the track is Boogie Tonight by Booty Luv, I think I'll have to get it sometime as it's one of the best dance tracks I've heard in ages (although I think it's a cover?).
EDIT: It's the Hed Kandi anthem Boogie 2Nite by Booty Luv featuring Nadia & Cherise (Big Brovaz). The original R&B version was a massive club hit for R&B superstar Tweet in 2002, Boogie 2Nite became an unofficial Hed Kandi anthem at their nights across the country, but it never got the full attention it deserved. Now those sensible Kandi chaps have drafted in a host of remixers, to ensure that Boogie 2Nite takes up its rightful place at the top of the charts.
http://www.ministryofsound.com/Music/Singles/BootyLuv.htm