Several Questions

[Wheresatom]

I blame all of you, I really do.

I had planned on upgrading to Vista in the next couple weeks. Maybe less than one really. I have several questions, that could be divided up between several subforums, but I was kinda hoping to knock as many of them out here, being you lot are the reason why I have moved up the timetable for my upgrade anyway.

So, I built my computer about a year ago, and I am wondering what hardware I have on my computer right now, that might not be Vista Compatible. I think I have gone down the list of obvious ones, video card, keyboard, and mouse. My problem comes when I get to my wireless card.

Currently my OS is XP 64 bit, and to be honest I don't know that this hardware is overly compatible with that, but it works with the built in Windows manager. The factory drivers install, but none of the features of it work, including that bothersome "connect to a wireless network" feature. Does anyone know if Vista is going to have a similar built in solution that works with this adapter, or should I go ahead and get a new one before switching?

Another issue I would like to check on is pictured below. I asked a question a few months ago about it, and everything I was able to do was inconclusive. I do not remember changing any settings to make the My Computer menu look like it does, but I can't get it to restore either. By look like it does, I mean the lack of toolbars across the top. Luckily my mouse has a back button, so I can manage in the menus right now, but without that, I would be screwed. sfc/scannow didn't fix anything. Basically, I am asking if a total system swap from XP to Vista might change this, with a fresh start. Or, alternatively, should I be doing what I can to fix this before the changeover?

On that note, I would like any odd advice people might have about reformatting. My plan is to get a wired keyboard/mouse from work the day I do it, and have as many drivers as possible, and install files on my flash drive. This way I can just install them without having to download them. Is there anything I am leaving out? I have the little bit of data I need backed up already, although I might do a little update before i bite the bullet.

Folding Questions

One reason why I am changing to Vista is to avoid network instability throwing errors in my SMP client. From what I gather Vista insulates the SMP from these problems, so this should be a good solution to that. If not, I am not opposed to running a VM for my SMP. Is there anything special I should do to prepare myself for possibly doing this in the future?

I have a 80 gig hard drive right now. I don't do anything really with movies, or even pictures on my computer right now, but I might start playing more games soon. I notice this hard drive filling up recently, but I am wondering if much of it has to do with work units and the like. I can only imagine it does. Is the 80 going to be enough to handle Vista 64 bit and much else? Once I add office, anti virus, drivers, firefox, SMP client, etc. am I going to have much room for anything else? I have no idea how much room Vista takes.


Ok, sorry this is long. I have been bouncing this stuff around in my head for a while, and I figured you are all quite helpful, so you might be able to ease the burden of my wonderings.

 

[Charlie_D]

Vista (at least in my experience) is absolutely horrible for the SMP client. The only way I'd run SMP under Vista is with a VMware installation of Linux. Seriously, I still have nightmares. YMMV, of course.

One other Vista note; a pretty much base install will eat a 20GB hard drive, completely. In fact, with just a 20GB partition, you'll start to get low disk space warnings within a day or two. I just mention it because I see your OS partition is listed as 20GB (though you don't seem to have it installed there... maybe just storage?).

I don't mean to sound negative in regards to Vista; I have no feelings about it, good or bad honestly -- as long as the OS does what's it's supposed to do, I'm happy with it. I'm just sharing my folding experiences on it; otherwise it's a usable system, my preferences just tend to run toward linux if I have the choice.

As for the Explorer issues -- does this only happen in 'my computer'? What I mean is, do IE and Windows Explorer still have their menu bar?

 

[Wheresatom]

I had not thought to check in IE being I use firefox. It was missing it's toolbars until I pressed alt and they showed up. I then locked them in. Explorer has it's correct toolbars and looks normal. The only real problem now is my computer and the subsequent menus that follow.

 

[Pocatello]

I really like Vista and the SMP client. I have Vista running the SMP on 3 boxen with no problems. None at all. Sorry to hear about your bad experiences, Charlie.

Don't use an OS partition on your hard drive. Let Vista (or XP, for that matter) have the entire boot drive. XP and Vista do all sorts of defragging all by themselves when you are not looking ---- but only if they use the entire hard drive.

When you go to install the SMP, make sure you do the following:

Turn off UAC

(turn it back on when you are done with the SMP install)

install SMP to something besides the default folder, like this:

c:\fah

that is about it! It works great for me!

I don't use VM's because I use the machines for other purposes. Good luck.

 

[schenks]

Try and do a run down of all things if I can.....

Vista and such:

My two Vista installs are roughly 12 gigs on Ultimate 32 and 15 gigs on Business 64, so 20 gig partition will be scraping a bit low in some circumstances. Anyhow, small issue.

Hardware compatibility for Vista, as far as I can tell, is pretty damn good. The only things I really needed to search for Vista drivers were a scanner (Canon brand surprisingly had drivers), and my ATI HDTV Wonder (windows update actually had them ). Looking at the TrendNet site for that card, they have Vista drivers, and in general, I've found most things out within the last ~2 years or so have had drivers eventually made for Vista.

As far as SMP client in Vista goes, the general things I've found are:

• Turn off UAC before installing
• Don't install to Program Files
• Follow the Stanford instructions properly

I've had SMP running in Vista before, so I dunno, results may vary.

Now, XP 64.....
I got My Computer to almost look like that by unchecking "Standard Buttons" and "Address Bar". If you still have IE6 installed, it uses the same controls. That being said, I never did get the File/Edit/etc. stuff to disappear. If you hit alt, and they pop in, see if you can enable the stuff again. Anyhow, if you're gonna install Vista anyway, you might as well just clean install the sucker for the hell of it.

 

[Charlie_D]

Okay, there are a bunch of reasons this could happen. Could be registry, or a couple corrupt files. Easiest one to check is this:

close any open explorer windows

regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar
find Explorer on the right, expand it
find ITBarLayout, if it's there delete the value

open My Computer, see if your bars are back. There are other possible fixes... but if you're installing Vista anyway, you're likely doing a fresh install? If so, it's moot.


And...

I really like Vista and the SMP client. I have Vista running the SMP on 3 boxen with no problems. None at all. Sorry to hear about your bad experiences, Charlie.
<snip>

Not a problem, I know some people have really good experiences. Mine haven't been is all Other than folding though, I don't mind Vista when a situation requires me to use it.

 

[Wharf_Rat]

I am using about 45 gb on my Vista Home Premium install. That is OS, office2k3, Steam, BF2, Nero, Adobe Reader, Trillian, AVG...etc. I did turn off the system restore, Vista really likes to use a ton of space for it.

I just set up my second Vista SMP client tonight and have had zero issues for 5 months with the computer I am typing on now in regards to SMP.
For the install I simply followed these steps:

**Prerequisite: You must have an account with a password (no blank password) that has admin privileges. You must be logged in this account at time of install.

I haven't disabled UAC on either of my Vista boxes to install. I am using Vista Home Premium 32 and Vista Home Basic 32.

Install
1. Download SMP client from http://folding.stanford.edu
2. Double click and install, changing install directory to C:\FAH
3. Goto FAH directory, right click on install.bat, choose "run as administrator:"
4. Hit enter on the account name it already has in place, enter password twice. If firewall messages prompt, choose unblock.
5. Make sure I see MPI message twice, hit enter to exit.
6. Right click on command prompt on start menu, choose "run as administrator."
7. In the command prompt type CD\ to get to the root of C:, type CD\ FAH to get to the FAH directory.
8. Type fah -configonly to set up our client. Hitting Enter at the prompts that follow will choose the default answer, which is presented in brackets. eg. [answer]
9. Enter desired username and Team 33
10. Run as service is optional, if you choose yes...see *** below for more detail. If you choose no, you will need to run fah manually after startup of computer.
11. No to use internet explorer, and if you are not using a proxy, no to proxy.
12. I choose yes to change advance options, only to change checkpoints to 30 and add yes to ignore deadlines...both of these are optional and do not make a huge impact.


*** Service Detail: If you chose to run as service you will need to make a change to the service log on account and registry to add a flag to the image path.

Service
1. Right click on my computer, choose manage. From the console that opens double click "services and applications" and then "services."
2. Scroll down and double click on FAH@C:+...
3. Goto Tab labled Log On and hit the radio switch that says "this account."
4. Enter the username and password of the same account that was used with install.bat previously.
5. You should get a message, UserName has been granted log on as a service right.
6. Close services.

Registry
1. Goto search bar on start menu and type regedit.
2. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\FAH@C:+FAH+fah.exe
3. Double click ImagePath and add -forceasm to the end so it looks like this C:\FAH\fah.exe -svcstart -forceasm
4. Close regedit and reboot.

At boot up, Fahcore should load up a process for each core. If you look in task manager your you will have to hit "Show processes from all users" to see them. CPU usage should be at 100%

If I ever need to reboot my computer, I go into services and stop the service to avoid errors...I do this in XP as well. I don't know if it is neccessary, but it has become habit.

If anyone sees any errors please let me know, Ill fix them in this post...or if you think I should word something better.

 

[relic]

I have no problems at all with Vista 64 and f@h SMP. Works great. Just follow the install guide.

I have had several issues with old wireless hardware in Vista. My advice is just get a new card that has Vista drivers.

 

[reaperr]

if you have a buttload of storage go ahead and use vista

as for me i'll stick with a modded version of xp

 

[Wheresatom]

Hey thanks everyone for the replies. I knew this was the place to go with my questions!

I should be able to paypal the money to the guy I am buying Vista from today sometime, and he is mailing the stuff to me, so I am guessing by this time next week I will be ready to do my install. At this point I think it is a judgment call on the wireless card. I will probably just see if this one works in the mean time, and get another one after the install if that doesn't work.

Everyone's advice on SMP in Vista has been great. I am going to try that. Maybe a little down the road I will try to do the virtual machine thing, if for nothing else but to use Linux some. Fold on!

 

[onetwenty8k]

I tend to stick to the plain old console client mainly due to the fact that I can't really use the SMP client. I tried to install Vista on a 10gb partition, low disk warning from the beginning

 

[Xilikon]

Another vote for Vista... The biggest advantage of Vista compared to others is the rewritten TCP/IP stack so even if the network decided to go on a fiesta, your SMP client will still run no matter what. This is unfortunately not the case of other OS (beside Linux and even not all versions is the same, it depends on how updated the TCP/IP stack).

 

[Wheresatom]

Hey. Today or tomorrow I will be doing this upgrade. How can I move my progress on my current work unit from my old OS to the new one? Can I just put the work folder from my SMP client on my XP system on a flash drive and move it over to the Vista?

 

[Wheresatom]

I went to install the SMP in Vista. It is in it's own folder in the C drive.

When I right click to run as administrator, i get this message:


'smpd' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
'mpiexec' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
'mpiexec' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Press any key to continue . . .



When I just plain double click I can enter my password, but this is what I get:


OpenSCManager failed:
Access is denied. (error 5)
Unable to remove the previous installation, install failed.
account (domain\user) [Adam-PC\Adam]:
password:
confirm password:
Password encrypted into the Registry.
Unable to connect to 'Adam-PC:8676',
sock error: generic socket failure, error stack:
MPIDU_Sock_post_connect(1228): unable to connect to Adam-PC on port 8676, exhaus
ted all endpoints (errno -1)
MPIDU_Sock_post_connect(1275): unable to connect to Adam-PC on port 8676, No con
nection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. (errno 100
61)
Press any key to continue . . .

any clues?

 

[SmokeRngs]

I don't use the WinSMP client but from what others have said, you need to disable UAC to install the client and then re-enable it after the client is installed. If UAC is enabled it screws up the installation or something like that.

 

[Wharf_Rat]

I went to install the SMP in Vista. It is in it's own folder in the C drive.

When I right click to run as administrator, i get this message:


'smpd' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
'mpiexec' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
'mpiexec' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Press any key to continue . . .



When I just plain double click I can enter my password, but this is what I get:


OpenSCManager failed:
Access is denied. (error 5)
Unable to remove the previous installation, install failed.
account (domain\user) [Adam-PC\Adam]:
password:
confirm password:
Password encrypted into the Registry.
Unable to connect to 'Adam-PC:8676',
sock error: generic socket failure, error stack:
MPIDU_Sock_post_connect(1228): unable to connect to Adam-PC on port 8676, exhaus
ted all endpoints (errno -1)
MPIDU_Sock_post_connect(1275): unable to connect to Adam-PC on port 8676, No con
nection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. (errno 100
61)
Press any key to continue . . .

any clues?

Do you have a password on this account? It wont take blank passwords.

*edit* duh just read that you entered your password... Does the account you are using have admin rights?

It is odd that I haven't had to disable UAC yet to install on my machines. I am running Vista Home Basic on one and Premium on the other. I am using an account with admin privs though.

Another question...are you using a third party firewall on this machine? Windows will pop up asking to block/unblock, but I am not sure a third party package would.

 

[APOLLO]

if you have a buttload of storage go ahead and use vista

as for me i'll stick with a modded version of xp

How is your installation of XP modified?

 

[gnewbury]

Do you have a password on this account? It wont take blank passwords.

*edit* duh just read that you entered your password... Does the account you are using have admin rights?

It is odd that I haven't had to disable UAC yet to install on my machines. I am running Vista Home Basic on one and Premium on the other. I am using an account with admin privs though.

Another question...are you using a third party firewall on this machine? Windows will pop up asking to block/unblock, but I am not sure a third party package would.

I keep getting the same problem and it won't upload.

 

[Rebel44]

I am using about 45 gb on my Vista Home Premium install. That is OS, office2k3, Steam, BF2, Nero, Adobe Reader, Trillian, AVG...etc. I did turn off the system restore, Vista really likes to use a ton of space for it.

You can change system restore to use only xx GBs:
1. turn on system restore
2. start cmd "as admin"
3. type this: vssadmin resize shadowstorage /on=C: /for=C: /maxsize=32GB - (change 32 to whatever size you want).

You can set automatic login even if you have password:
1.Click Start, click Run, and type control userpasswords2.
2.Clear the Users must enter a username and password to use this computer check box.
3.Click Apply.
4.Enter the user name and password you wish to automatically log on with, and then click OK.
5.Click OK again and you're all done.