Vista tips, tricks, and tweaks, redux

[Croak]

Since there's dozens of Vista threads now, I figured I'd start another.

Gonna use this one to consolidate some of the advice given in other threads, and add some tricks and tips that haven't been posted yet. Feel free to add to the list, and if it's worthwhile enough, maybe we can get it stickied for awhile.

I don't take credit for any of these, just stuff I've pulled off the web, mostly here.

Vista Interface​

Flip3d

WinKey+Tab opens the Flip3d task switcher, then use your mousewheel to scroll through the open programs while continuing to hold down WinKey+Tab.

WinKey+CTRL+Tab leaves the the Flip3d task switcher open after you release the keys, handy for showing off Vista or just keeping an eye on things.

RUN command

WinKey+R opens the RUN command box, which is now nested inside the All Programs menu. If you really miss it though, you can add it back to the Start Menu:

Right click on the Start button, and click “Properties”.
In the “Taskbar and Start Menu Properties” dialog, click “Customize”.
Scroll down and in the list you shall find “Run command”. Check the box next to it.
Close any open dialogs by pressing OK.

Also, typing in a program name in the Start Search box in the Start Menu and hitting ENTER will execute the program, just like the RUN command line, and even accepts switches. Try it, you might like it.

Display Windows Explorer Classic Menus

You may have a bit of a hard time adjusting to Windows Vista’s new Windows Explorer window style, which doesn’t include the menu.

There are two ways to bring it back, one is temporary and the other is more permanent:
If you want to view the menu but not have it always displayed, simply press the Alt key. The menu will fade into view.

If you want the menu to always be turned on, click the first button on Layout configuration button (first button on the top most bar in Windows Explorer). From the drop down list, check “Classic Menus”.

Desktop Icons
You can resize the large Vista desktop icons by right clicking on the Desktop, View, and selecting one of three sizes, Large, Medium, and Classic.

But wait, there's more! You can variably adjust the size of the icons by left-clicking on the desktop, then holding down the CTRL key while spinning your mouse wheel up and down. Little tip here, if you're going for small icons, you may want to bump the mousewheel up one more notch after you've hit the smallest setting. That leaves the icons at the same size, but retains things like shadows and perspective, at the absolute smallest setting the icons are "flat".

Turning off Aero
You can toggle Aero on and off by using the Ctrl+Shift+F9 keyboard shortcut.

Add another time zone to your clock

One nice addition to Windows Vista is the ability to display the time in other time zones.

Click on the clock.
Click “Date and Time Settings”.
Click on the “Additional Clocks” tab.
Check the box labelled “Additional Clock #1″, and from the drop down menu choose a time zone.
Give the clock a name, such as “Microsoft” or “Texas”.
Press OK.
You can repeat this for the second additional clock as well.

To add a location to the Places bar (left hand pane in Windows Explorer)

In Windows Vista, there is a new pane on the left hand side of Windows Explorer which contains links to items you wish to access quickly. It works a bit like the left hand pane in the Mac OS X 10.3+ Finder. In previous builds, you could not really customize the Places bar but now you can! Simply drag and drop a folder onto the plane, and voila!

Use the Search box in Windows Explorer to filter a file view

Did you know you can easily filter the list of documents and folders in a folder using the Search field in Windows Explorer? For instance if you have a folder containing a lot of folders and documents and you are specifically looking for “Vista”, all you need to do is type “Vista”, or even just part of the word, such as “Vis” to limit the list of files shown.

Performance Tweaks ​

Disable DEP / NoExecute Protection to fix Random Windows Explorer crashes

Due to the way Windows Vista’s boot editor has been created, it is now harder to disable DEP / No Execute Protection. However, after some amount of research, it would seem that some of the random Windows Explorer crashes that users are experiencing is caused by this technology. You will need to disable it and reboot, which should cure some of the crashes:

Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, right click on “Command Prompt”, and click “Run as administrator”.
If asked for permission to run Windows Command Processor, click on Allow.
At the command prompt, type in “bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff” (without the quotes).
You should receive a message saying “Operation Completed Successfully”.
Restart the computer, DEP / No Execute should now be disabled.

Prevent network flooding and connection drops

The new networking stack contained in Windows Vista has some issues. This build seems to like dropping connections and in rare cases, blocking all traffic on wireless routers, requiring a restart of the router itself. To fix these problems, complete the following instructions:

WARNING: Please note that this will disable IPv6 connectivity as well as the Windows Firewall security, and is not recommended unless you are experiencing these issues. This will also invalidate any network related bug reports you file against Windows Vista.

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Under “Network and Internet”, click on “View network status and tasks”.
In the left hand pane, click on “Open connections”.
Right click on your network connection (for example: Local Area Connection 3), and then click “Configure”.
If asked for permission to open Network Connections, click on Allow.
Highlight the following items and press the “Uninstall” button:

Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder

Uncheck “Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)”

Next, click on the “Configure” button under the name of your network adapter.
Click on the Power Management tab.
Disable all power management items listed on the Power Management tab.
Press OK.

To stop Windows Vista from flooding your network with traffic:

Press WinKey+R.
Type “services.msc” (without the quotes)
If asked for permission to open “Microsoft Management Console”, click Allow.
Double click on each one of the following services and change its startup type to “Disabled”.

Base Filtering Engine
IKE and AuthIP Keying Modules
IP Helper Service
IPSec
Windows Firewall
Close the Services window and restart Windows.

Enable System Restore

The System Restore service is one cause of performance issues, and for some people, it doesn’t even work and is disabled by default in this build. You may wish to enable it, as it is a very useful feature if it works for you.

Click on the “Start” button.
Hover over “Computer”, right click on it and then click “Properties”.
On the left hand side, click “Advanced Settings”.
If asked to permit the action, click on “Allow”.
Click on the “System Protection” tab.
Check any checkboxes listed for your hard drives that you wish to include
Press Apply. You can now create your first restore point.

Disable UAP

This one is controversial. UAP is undoubtedly annoying in this build, seeming to pop up even when you scratch your family jewels. But it does provide a very robust security solution, something XP and earlier versions were lacking. The good news is, MSFT will be making this MUCH less annoying in later builds.

But for the here and now, you can totally disable it (and loose almost ALL of the extra security strength offered by Vista) pretty quickly.

There are multiple ways to do this, but one of the most simple is to hit WinKey+R, type MSCONFIG, ENTER, and once MSCONFIG is open, go to the TOOLS tab, scroll down to "Disable UAP", click it and then click the Launch button. A little command prompt box will open, and that's it, it's disabled, but you'll need to restart for the change to take effect. You should also notice that the "Enable UAP" command is there also, in case you decide to turn it back on.

Disable un-needed Services

There are some services in this build that can be disabled without impacting any features (except the Security Center service, some people may find this annoying).

Disable the following:
• IIS Admin Service - if you don’t plan on using IIS, you don’t need this enabled.
• Offline Files – Disabling this helps to speed up Windows Explorer when performing network tasks.
• Peer Name Resolution Protocol
• PRNP Auto Registration
• Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) – if your computer isn’t going to be running as a mail server, you don’t need this.
• Tablet PC Input Service – If you do not use a Tablet PC or you’re on a desktop computer, you don’t need this.


Interface Performance

One of the biggest issues you may encounter with this build after is the user interface performance.

If you're experiencing performance issues with the interface, the first thing you will want to do is disable a few options. Click on the Start button, right click “Computer”, and click “Properties”. Then, click on the “Advanced” tab, and under “Performance”, click the “Settings” button.

You will need to uncheck the following items for baseline improvements:

• Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
• Fade or slide menus into view
• Fade or slide ToolTips into view
• Fade out menu items after clicking
• Show translucent selection rectangle
• Show window contents while dragging (this is up to you)
• Slide open combo boxes
• Slide taskbar buttons
• Smooth-scroll list boxes
• Use a background image for each folder type

Once you have modified these settings to your liking, press OK until you have dismissed all of the dialogs.

If you are looking to speed up Windows Explorer and are not concerned with some of Windows Vista’s new features, then you may wish to disable the new previewing capabilities. To do this, click the Start button, and then click on “Run” (alternatively, you could press the Windows Flag key + R on your keyboard). Type “control folders”, and press Enter on the keyboard or “OK” in the Run dialog.

In the “General” tab, under “Tasks”, choose “Use Windows classic folders”. Now, switch to the “View” tab, and make the following modifications:

Check
• Always show icons, never thumbnails
• Always show menu bar in Windows Explorer

Uncheck
• Automatically search for network folders and printers
• Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items
• Show rich previewers in preview pane
• Use domain folder sharing wizard

Press the OK button to dismiss the dialog.

Gaming and DWM
If you are trying to play any DirectX games under Vista with an LDDM compatible video card with Aero Glass enabled, you may notice that the game performance is slow or laggy, but you can disable DWM temporarily when the game executable has run. To do this, follow these instructions:

1. Locate the shortcut for the game you are wishing to play, or the executable file (which can usually be found somewhere within X:\Program Files, where X is the drive letter you have installed Windows Vista to. You can find the target executable file from right clicking on its shortcut and clicking “Find Target”.
2. Right click on the shortcut or the executable, and from the context menu, click on “Properties”.
3. Click on the “Compatibility” tab.
4. Under “Settings”, check “Disable the Desktop Window Manager”, and then press OK to dismiss the properties dialog.

This will temporarily disable DWM while running you game, and it should give you a performance boost with the application. Once the application or game has quit, DWM will be re-enabled.

Disable Hibernate

Due to the new Power Options control panel applet not having an option to disable the Hibernation feature, used in previous versions of Windows to store the data from RAM when the machine was put into hibernation mode, we end up with an oversized hiberfil.sys file on the root of the hard disk or partition that Windows Vista is installed on. To remove this and disable hibernation, simply click the Start button, and then click on “Run”. Type in “CMD.EXE” (without the quotes), and then click OK or press Enter.

In the command prompt window, type in the following command:

powercfg -h off

After this command has been run, you can close the command prompt window.

Reg tweaks, use at your own risk​

Forcing Aero on Non-WDDM Compatible Cards.

Have an older video card but want to play around with Aero?

WARNING: This tweak may cause a blue screen loop or constant flicker depending on your video card. Use with extreme caution, this tweak is really only here for documentary purposes only.

From the Start menu, click All Programs and then expand Accessories.
Right click on “Command Prompt” and click “Run as Administrator”.
Click on “Allow” from the Windows Security dialog.
In the Command Prompt window, type “regedit” (without the quotes) and press Enter.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM (if this key doesn’t exist, create it)
Create a new DWORD (32-bit value) of UseMachineCheck, and set its value to 0.


Limit the number of windows shown in Flip3D

If Flip3D is too slow for you or if you have too many windows open, you can easily limit the number of windows displayed in Flip3D. As you tab or scroll through them, other windows will appear.

Press WinKey+R on your keyboard.
Type “regedit.exe” without the quotes.
If asked for permission to launch the Registry Editor, click Allow.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM
Right click on the right hand side of the registry editor, and under New, click on “DWORD (32-bit)”.
Name the new DWORD value “Max3DWindows” (without the quotes)
Double click on the DWORD value and set it to the maximum number of windows you want displayed in Flip3D. A good number is 5 for low-end cards and 10 for other cards.
Click OK and exit the Registry Editor.
Press Ctrl+Shift+F9 to shut down DWM, and then press the key combination again to restart it.
Press WinKey+Tab to display Flip3D.

Internet Explorer 7​

User Agent String

If you are having issues with certain websites (especially banking and other secure websites), you might want to try this out. It fools the websites into thinking you are running Internet Explorer 6.0.
Copy and paste the following code into Notepad, and save it to your desktop as IE7UserAgent.REG.
Double-click the file to merge it into the Windows Registry, and then restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect. If UAP is turned on, permit the operation to take place.

If you are having issues with certain websites (especially banking and other secure websites), you might want to try this out. It fools the websites into thinking you are running Internet Explorer 6.0.Copy and paste the following code into Notepad, and save it to your desktop as IE7UserAgent.REG.Double-click the file to merge it into the Windows Registry, and then restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect. If UAP is turned on, permit the operation to take place.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
“Version”=”MSIE 6.0”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform]
“SV1″=-

You can easily undo this change by copying and pasting the following code into Notepad, and then saving it as IE7Undo.reg and merge it into the Windows Registry. If UAP is turned on, permit the operation to take place.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
“Version”=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform]
“SV1″=””

You can test these changes using a simple page that checks the User Agent. We recommend: http://www.fiddlertool.com/useragent.aspx.


The Favorites Center

In Internet Explorer 7, the older style Explorer bars have been replaced and the menus have been hidden by default. “What happened to my favorites, then?” you may wonder. Simple. You will notice a round orange circle with a white star in the center of it. Click on it, and all of your favorites will appear. You will also find your subscribed feeds and history are available from the Favorites Center as well. To close the Favorites Center quickly just press Esc on your keyboard.



Zoom

In previous versions of Internet Explorer, you could use Ctrl+-, Ctrl++, or Ctrl+Scroll Wheel to change the zoom and text size of a page. In Internet Explorer 7, there is a new zoom function which not only allows you to zoom text, it also zooms everything else on the page; making pages, images, and items larger for those with sight problems. To use this feature, locate the little magnifying glass in the bottom right hand corner of the Internet Explorer status bar. Click on it, and select a zoom percentage.

Quick Tabs

Internet Explorer comes with a new feature known as Tabs. Other browsers have had this for a while and now it is time for Internet Explorer to catch up. When you have multiple tabs open, instead of clicking through each tab to see what it contains, you can use Quick Tabs. To do this, you can either press the Quick Tabs button next to the Favorites Center & Add Favorite buttons, or you can press Ctrl+Q.

Installing Vista​

I'll let other folks add most of this section.

Dual booting

This only applies if you're ALREADY dual-booting with XP, and then install Vista as another OS, getting you down to just 1 boot screen.

I copied the F:\Windows\System32\winload.exe (Vista Installation) file to
C:\Windows\System32 (XP Installation)

Then I edited the boot.ini file as follows:

Original boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0 )partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partiti on(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partiti on(2)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows Longhorn"
/NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /FASTDETECT /USENEWLOADER

New Boot.ini:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0 )partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partiti on(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /USENEWLOADER
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partiti on(2)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows Longhorn"
/NOEXECUTE=ALWAYSOFF /FASTDETECT /USENEWLOADER

As you can see I just added the /USENEWLOADER switch to the XP Installation.
----------------------------------

 

[Croak]

How to make a DVD

Spawned from this thread, there seems to be some confusion about how to burn the Vista .ISO file.

The .ISO image already contains all of needed files to be bootable, so using the burning program of your choice, simply make a data DVD using the .ISO. There are too many different types of burning software out there, and too many versions of each to get into details, but the above mentioned thread does a pretty good job covering Nero.

Installing Vista​

Vista installation is fairly straightforward, but there are a few options that are getting people into trouble.

If you attempt to install Vista from within XP, please, do not do this. Burn a disk, set it to boot, and go that route. If you can't do that, at least have a real burned disk, and don't use something like Daemon Tools to mount the Vista image. This is just asking for trouble.

In addition, I STRONGLY suggest you do not select the Upgrade option, at least for a machine you NEED to be functional.

Instead, install Vista on its own partition or drive.

Install on a Partition

To install Vista on a partition, you first need an empty partition, or one you don't mind sharing with Vista. Keep in mind that Vista's idea of "sharing" is to REPLACE any previous Windows version on the partition you select.

And Vista won't load on a FAT32 drive without forcing a change to NTFS, which wipes all data...be CAREFUL.

Vista will not run on a Dynamic drive, it needs to be on a logical partition.

Tools like Partition Magic can take any free space on your hard drive and convert it to another partition, up to the limit of the free space, while keeping the data on the original partition intact.

For those wondering, there is no internal tool in XP to do this. If you attempt to create or resize a partition using XP, it will make the partitions just fine, but it will WIPE all the data on that drive in the process. So, don't use XP's disk management tools for this purpose unless you want to wipe a drive in the first place.


Installing Vista on another drive

This is probably the easiest method, if you have a spare drive.

But even with a spare drive, if you have another drive first in the physical chain, Vista WILL install a new boot loader and update the boot.ini file on that drive. This is not dangerous, but it can complicate things for people who are already dual-booting XP and another OS. See the first post in this thread on how to clean this up some.

Once Vista starts loading, it considers the drive it is installed on the C: drive, and remaps the drive letter of the original C: drive to something else (this applies if Vista is installed on a partition too).

I suggest you make good use of Volume Labels so you can easily identify which drive is which after this shuffling.

RAID and SCSI drivers

Unlike XP/Win2k/NT, Vista does not prompt for additional drivers when it's loading. But, it can still load them...you have to keep banging on F6 once Vista starts to load from the DVD, and then you'll get a chance to load RAID drivers from a floppy.

Vista RAID internal RAID support is pretty dated, a good rule of thumb is that if you needed to use a disk for XP, you'll need it for Vista too. The good news is that most XP and XP64 RAID drivers will work with Vista.

Vista Install Times

Vista takes forever to install. An hour or more, depending on your system. The good news is that unlike XP, you don't need to babysit it during the install...once you've got it started (after entering the CD-Key), you can walk away until its done, there are no more user prompts until it's complete. It's still a good idea to peek in on the install from time to time, in case there's a stop error of some sort.

Windows Easy Transfer​

This is a good alternative to running an Upgrade installation, in that it will transfer all of your user settings, accounts, browser shortcuts, and a whole lot more. Using this will get you up and running under Vista pretty quick.

Easy Transfer is primarily meant to be used over a network or via a serial cable, but it works just fine writing to disk as well.

First, you'll need to copy the Easy Transfer files somewhere your old installation can find them. To do this, open Vista's Welcome Center (its in Accessories), Show all 12 items, and start Windows Easy Transfer. It will guide you through the basic steps, and allow you to install the Easy Transfer files so that the old OS can see them

After that is done, start up your old OS, find the Easy Transfer files you copied from Vista, and start the Easy Transfer process. The first stages can take awhile, depending on how much data you have in the old install.

You can opt just to copy Settings, which will do for most people, or you can opt for Files and Settings, which will be a HUGE transfer, basically copying EVERY data file type (.doc, mpg, etc).

You also have the option of doing a custom transfer, which will let you select/deselect what file types and directories get copied, along with what settings and accounts. I recommend you use this method. However, it WILL find some junk to transfer that you might not need in the new install, but you can clean that up later.

Easy Transfer will prompt you on how you want to transfer this data, select networked drive, and then select a drive that can be seen by your Vista install. Easy Transfer will then start copying and compressing files to add to this directory. Make sure you have enough disk space, and you may need to go back a few steps and de-select some things you were going to transfer to reduce the file size.

Once its done, fire up Vista, go to Welcome Center, Easy Transfer, and reverse the process, telling Vista where to look for the transfer files. Once this process is done (and it will take awhile), you can delete the directory where the data was stored.

Now you should have all your old shortcuts, task bar settings, etc, and Vista just got a lot more warm and fuzzy, and a lot more immediately useful for you.

One thing of note, this does not copy over your Outlook .PST, you'll need to do that manually.

Drivers​

Vista Beta 2 has a fairly good selection of device drivers, but doesn't include everything.

One thing to keep in mind is that MOST Windows XP 32bit drivers for everything but Video Cards will work under Vista. That includes most types of sound cards, keyboard and mouse drivers, printers, etc. The same MAY apply to XP-64 drivers when using Vista 64bit, but I can't verify this.

Your best bet is to try installing the latest XP version of a particular driver if Vista doesn't support it out of the box. Be prepared for multiple UAP warnings if UAP is still enabled, and be prepared for blue screens and crashes. I suggest you turn on System Restore (see first post in this thread) and setting a restore point before experimenting with XP drivers.


Multiple GPU support

There is NO Crossfire or SLI support in Vista yet, the hardware vendors and MSFT are still hammering out the details on multi-GPU support at this time. Maybe we'll see SLI/Crossfire support in a driver update, but I expect it won't come until a later Vista build.

In addition, some SLI users are experiencing strange graphical problems when trying to run Vista.

The work-around for this is to boot Vista in Safe Mode (hit F8 when Vista first starts to load, select Safe Mode), and then go into Device Manager and disable the second card. Be sure to disable both the second card and its secondary if it's a dual-display capable card.

Crossfire doesn't seem to suffer from this problem, but Vista will prompt you about new hardware on every boot (wanting you enable multi-monitor support) if both cards are enabled. Same process as for SLI users, disable the extra card if you don't want to use it for driving extra displays.

Creative Drivers
If you're running Vista 32bit, Creative says this driver works with Vista. Can't verify, don't have a Creative card myself.

thats the XFi driver, if you have the Audigy2 you need driver version SBAX_PCDVTBETA_US_2_08_0002

at least it worked fine for my Audigy 2 sound card, only thing i noticed after it was working, was on one reboot a small notification came up saying the sound card driver was finishing installation and said (Not Responding), so i just ignored it, and after a few seconds it went away by itself and the sound card has worked fine since

MORE LATER...gotta walk the dog and be all domestic for a bit.

 

[abudhu]

*Hug*

Sticky this.

 

[Scotch77]

whats aero

 

[Croak]

whats aero

The 3d desktop

 

[Scotch77]

The 3d desktop

how do ya know if Ya have it or not because when I do the ctrl+shift+f9 nothing happens.

 

[abudhu]

how do ya know if Ya have it or not because when I do the ctrl+shift+f9 nothing happens.

1) If you dont see a "Glass" Theme you don't have it on (I.e. if the borders of the windows are transulecent and blur the objects behind them).
2) If you don't have a DX 9 Capable Video Card you don't have it on.
3) If you didn't install the Vista Video Card Drivers for your DX 9 Capable Video Card you don't have it on.

 

[Scotch77]

well I have a 9600XT is this a compatible graphics card. i dont see a glass theme.

 

[ozziegn]

some good info. much thanks.

 

[nobody_here]

Creative Drivers
If you're running Vista 32bit, Creative says this driver works with Vista. Can't verify, don't have a Creative card myself.

thats the XFi driver, if you have the Audigy2 you need driver version SBAX_PCDVTBETA_US_2_08_0002

at least it worked fine for my Audigy 2 sound card, only thing i noticed after it was working, was on one reboot a small notification came up saying the sound card driver was finishing installation and said (Not Responding), so i just ignored it, and after a few seconds it went away by itself and the sound card has worked fine since

 

[Croak]

thats the XFi driver, if you have the Audigy2 you need driver version SBAX_PCDVTBETA_US_2_08_0002

at least it worked fine for my Audigy 2 sound card, only thing i noticed after it was working, was on one reboot a small notification came up saying the sound card driver was finishing installation and said (Not Responding), so i just ignored it, and after a few seconds it went away by itself and the sound card has worked fine since

Added.

 

[Dapperdan]

Im having a problem getting nvidia drivers working right in vista...I done have access to the control panel and I think I just cant get it installed right.

 

[nobody_here]

Im having a problem getting nvidia drivers working right in vista...I done have access to the control panel and I think I just cant get it installed right.

video or platform drivers?

 

[Dapperdan]

video

 

[nobody_here]

video

try the BETA 88.61 driver for Vista, i got it from Nvidia's NZone site, works fine with my 7900GT

 

[MrWizard6600]

awsome thread, subbed and e-mailed to myself (so as to add to favorites when i get on the PC at home)

Edit: gonna pick up a copy on the weekend, dispite its poor performance w/ the 8800's, i guess ill dual boot for a while.

 

[nobody_here]

if someone can tell me how to turn off whatever volume limiting feature is on in WMP 11 i would be greatful......this sucks......it's automatically adjusting the volume according to the signal level.......i've checked every setting i can find

 

[Dunamis]

And Vista won't load on a FAT32 drive without forcing a change to NTFS, which wipes all data...be CAREFUL.

You can convert FAT32 to NTFS without losing the data by using 'convert.exe' (in WinXP)

Run cmd.exe (WinKey+R) and type:

CONVERT [drive]: /fs:ntfs

e.g. "convert c: /fs:ntfs"

 

[squeezee]

if someone can tell me how to turn off whatever volume limiting feature is on in WMP 11 i would be greatful......this sucks......it's automatically adjusting the volume according to the signal level.......i've checked every setting i can find

I believe what you're looking for is under View->Enhancements->Quiet Mode

 

[squeezee]

Im having a problem getting nvidia drivers working right in vista...I done have access to the control panel and I think I just cant get it installed right.

It isn't found under Display Settings/Advanced Settings as with windows XP. The "NVIDIA Control Panel" should be inside the regular windows control panel, if you're not using classic view its found under "Additional Options".

 

[SSlaytanic]

Impressive thread for an unimpressive OS.

 

[nobody_here]

I believe what you're looking for is under View->Enhancements->Quiet Mode

its turned off......oh well, i guess thats to be expected when using a Beta OS with a Beta driver

 

[Conano]

Anywhere i can Find Drivers for my Network Cards for vista beta 2? I have two cards to choose from. Netgear FA310TX or a Linksys LNE100TX. I cannot seem to find a compatble driver.

 

[Conano]

Also how do i disable the user accounts stuff. Hate having to select an account sinc ei'm ALWAYS in Admin mode anyhow.

 

[cu2cool]

Which antivirus programs are working with Vista? NOD32? I'm currently using a trial beta version of trend micro pc-cillin.

On another note, does anyone know how to remove the "Windows Vista (TM) Beta 2 Evaluation copy. Build 5384" label on the bottom right of the screen?

 

[Sk8erOrd]

avast works with both versions of Vista

AVG does not.

 

[bobrownik]

Alt+Tab

 

[fallguy]

So Ive got the Aero glass on the edge of windows, but I recall seeing a 3D type alt+tab (Flip 3D?) posted before, but when I do it, its not. How does that work?

 

[bobrownik]

the way it works for me .... hit and hold alt then tab , the selection window should come up within a second or so , while still holding alt keep pressing tab to switch between the apps in the window,


i dont know what to tell you if it doesnt work

 

[fallguy]

Yes, that works. Im talking about the Flip3D, where its like a rolodex. Although its not very useful, I still wanted to see it.

 

[Forthy]

It's the Windows Key and Tab, (not Alt) to get the rolodex thingy.

 

[fallguy]

Well, it aint workin for me. :/ I dont get the rolodex.

 

[Regen]

Getting this error when trying to install the Audigy 2ZS SABAX_PCDVTBETA_US_2_08_0002

I was able to get the install to go through the first time fine...then after reboot it still was not recognizing the Audigy...so I tried to do a reinstall of the drivers and get this:

 

[Elios]

oh G15 keyboard stuff works fine with the XP drivers
just use the 32 or 64 bit depending on what ver of vista your using

 

[fallguy]

oh G15 keyboard stuff works fine with the XP drivers
just use the 32 or 64 bit depending on what ver of vista your using

I thought about trying that, but then thought, "nahh, it wont work". Im in XP now, next time I boot over, Ill try it. I REALLY hope the G5 mouse drivers work, that would be great. Im so used to changing the cursor speed.. I dont know if I can go back.

 

[sprocket]

On another note, does anyone know how to remove the "Windows Vista (TM) Beta 2 Evaluation copy. Build 5384" label on the bottom right of the screen?

Right click on the desktop and go to "view".
Uncheck "show desktop icons".
The Windows version ID (along with everything else) goes away.

 

[AARGH!]

Anyone tried Vista with NForce4 chipset and using the SI Raid controller?

My plan is to ghost my C: partition, then do an upgrade install of Vista. That way if it blows up on me I should be able to restore and it will be like it never happened. OS loads is the main reason I keep all my important stuff and installed programs on my d: drive.

 

[Tutelary]

stuff floating in the quicklaunch area annoys the hell out of me. It looks far cheesier than it does on XP, probably because everything else looks half decent now.

 

[AARGH!]

Anyone get onboard Realtek audio working in surround mode? This is on an Asus P4PE

Thanks,

AARGH!

 

[BBA]

Getting this error when trying to install the Audigy 2ZS SABAX_PCDVTBETA_US_2_08_0002

I was able to get the install to go through the first time fine...then after reboot it still was not recognizing the Audigy...so I tried to do a reinstall of the drivers and get this:

Installing my X-Fi in Vista x64, got the same thing, driver gave an error on first load, then after reboot, no audio. I reloaded again, got that message you show above.

So, I found the command to disable driver integrity check, rebooted, volume control icon came up but I can not select speakers, it's stuck on digital out.

So, has anyone got the X-Fi working on Vista X64?