Where is the best place to buy 64-bit Vista, are there student discounts?

7/13/2008 10:50:13 AM

Windows Vista help:

Ok so I built a new computer (Quad Core Q9450) and i installed Windows XP (32-bit) until I got Vista (64-bit). I went out and bought Vista today, so I restart the computer and boot the vista DVD. It loads the files, and then brings up a green screen (the default backround of Vista) an then freezes. Any idea on how to fix this?

7/15/2008 4:11:46 PM

^^my understanding is you just buy vista, and you can get the 64 bit version from microsoft.

7/15/2008 10:49:58 PM

how?

I got a free copy of ultimate 32-bit, but I wouldn't mind trying the 64 bit version instead

7/15/2008 11:01:12 PM

you can also buy 64bit separately.

there's a small fee for ordering the 64bit edition if you bought the 32bit, just google it.

7/16/2008 3:14:09 AM

You can go 64bit for something like $10 if you have a retail version, this doesn't apply to OEM versions.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx

^^Ultimate comes with 64bit, unless its OEM.

7/16/2008 12:41:54 PM

anyone able to help me out with my problem

7/16/2008 9:22:20 PM

Yeah if you have more than 4GB of ram installed and are running Vista x64 without SP1 you'll get BSODs on install... you need to take out 2GB and install the OS then installl the patch (search for it, google is your friend).

7/18/2008 11:39:02 AM

nice first post

7/18/2008 12:03:45 PM

figured it out thanks,

Vista had SP1

7/20/2008 1:47:38 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_removed_from_Windows_Vista

7/23/2008 9:57:35 AM

just installed vista 64 on my new htpc. It's only got a Core 2 Duo 4600 2.4, 2 gigs of ram, and a 9600gt. Media center is so great. I can't wait to hook this up to a 42" tv back in raleigh with a remote.

[Edited on July 23, 2008 at 10:37 AM. Reason : .]

7/23/2008 10:34:36 AM

you probably already know this, you can get into regedit and completely customize the behavior of Media Center. Like adjusting how many seconds get skipped when you hit skip/back, how long the overlay is shown when you use the remote, etc etc. It's really nice.

7/23/2008 12:15:44 PM

I'll have to check that out. Right now i'm having issues with .MKV audio. It sounds like static. All other audio is fine.

Media center has no slider search bar thing. I found that odd.

7/23/2008 12:33:23 PM

media center blowwwwwws.

they require you have full read/write access on network shares or it takes forever to load folders

7/23/2008 2:04:16 PM

Yeah, Media Center doesn't thrill me

Remote PC + XBox works well enough

7/23/2008 2:16:15 PM

Fixed it. Vista Media Center rocks. Works great. I love how it adds thumbnails to everything.

^^i'll have to see what you mean. Although i don't really care if the shared folders have full read/write access.

I mean name any other media center software that does things as well as vista media center AND plays all the latest games.

7/23/2008 2:32:20 PM

I still can't my VMC to play xvid files for some reason. The show up fine under "videos" but when I try to play them it says it couldnt find the codec or something like that. I've got the codecs installed obviously, but for some reason VMC doesn't seem to be able to use them.

Not a huge deal but it'd be nice to be able to access everything in one place.

7/23/2008 2:47:03 PM

Is this what you installed?

http://shark007.net/

There's one install for vista 32 (version 4.7.2), and an extra one you install after that if you have 64 bit (1.5.1).

This pack will pretty much play anything, and allow anything to be played not just in MP, but in VMC.

7/23/2008 3:03:44 PM

How can I disable raid and change the sata mode for my dvd burner? I have 64-bit Home Premium SP1.

7/29/2008 6:33:55 PM

I got a copy of Vista in the mail, it's the ultimate premium top version, in both 32 and 64 bit versions.

I have a Core2Duo computer, should I install the 32 or 64 bit version? I know people didn't like XP 64 bit because of driver issues, but didn't know if this was the same for Vista.

I also have the Raid configuration (0 i think, where 2 drives act as one giant one). Do I need to re-install the Raid drivers? When I installed XP I had to put them on a floppy.

Thanks,
joen00bers

7/29/2008 6:54:14 PM

yes you will still need the floppy

and yes there are still issues with 64bit drivers

7/29/2008 6:55:47 PM

hmm that sucks. i dont think i have the floppy anymore

i'll stick with the 32-bit version. i dont know why i want to upgrade now, but i just want to play with something new.

7/29/2008 6:57:46 PM

I have had no issue with 64-bit drivers and I've read a lot of people havent either.

7/29/2008 7:05:38 PM

I called my motherboard company to see what driver i needed (didn't see the match on their website) and they told me i can use a USB flash drive instead of a floppy. That's pretty sweet if it's true.

7/29/2008 7:25:06 PM

^And pretty retarded if it isn't true. Something requiring a floppy for any reason these days should be grounds for a programmer or engineer to be flogged to death.

7/29/2008 7:27:45 PM

^^ it should work with a usb drive, but if you need a floppy drive i have one

7/29/2008 7:55:06 PM

^^^Really?!?! Hell yes, that's awesome, let us all know if it works.

7/29/2008 9:04:46 PM

IIRC they finally let you install those drivers from cd in Vista, might make sense if you could do it from floppy as well

7/29/2008 9:07:59 PM

Yea, it worked great from the flash drive. The setup went all the way to the point to where you have to choose the drive/partition you want to install windows on. Because it was the RAID it showed no drives, and there was a button to click 'Load Drivers.' It searched the floppy drive, CD ROM, and flash drive, and pulled it right in

now it's downloading 68 updates

7/29/2008 10:29:44 PM

awesome man!

7/29/2008 11:11:33 PM

ehe I mean flash, not floppy in my last post

7/29/2008 11:19:54 PM

Something I noticed was that the raid driver shows up under "safely remove hardware," which makes the icon in the system tray always there. it's annoying. i don't want to remove my hard drive

7/30/2008 8:16:22 AM

i think this was one of the first features i loved on Vista from day one of beta testing, was the ability to load drivers (RAID/SATA) via a usb drive during install

7/30/2008 12:06:21 PM

I installed the 64-bit version of Ultimate, and have 2 Gigs of RAM. At startup, this thing is taking close to 1.3-1.4 Gigs, and I'm always getting this error if I have anything more than a browser window open with a few tabs:



Do I need to go out and buy more memory? I didn't think it would take up that much

8/10/2008 7:00:48 PM

welcome to vista

[Edited on August 10, 2008 at 7:48 PM. Reason : you don't need to buy more memory, you need to go back to XP]

8/10/2008 7:48:40 PM

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/help/34955e8d-9e3b-4f68-8e7d-773c167c61e21033.mspx

The big thing you should do (and need to) is to increase the page file size. The warning/error you are getting I get every so often because I have my page file disabled, and Vista doesn't like that at all. Push the page file to 4-6gb and you should be just fine.

8/10/2008 8:04:21 PM

Quote :

"I get every so often because I have my page file disabled"

Mine was disabled also. I think I remember now that TrueCrypt did this when I installed it. I re-enabled it and said to let Windows manage the size. We'll see how that does.

Is there any reason you keep yours disabled?

Edit: Thanks Noen, the active memory used is dropping as I watch it in the task manager. I'm down from 1800MB to 750MB and it's continuing to drop.

8/10/2008 8:17:27 PM

Just started usinig it today. So far so good. I did load my computer up with ram before installing it tho. I really like alot of the features so far. I'm in love with the switch between windows feature. Works really smoothly with my Xbox 360.

8/10/2008 11:05:14 PM

running 4gb of ram on vista x64, i create a 2gb partition at the end of the disk which i dedicate to a fixed page file size...no fragmentation FTW

i know they say 1.5x memory size, but i've only ever gotten my physical memory to 79% max usage, and so i think the 2gb page file is plenty

8/11/2008 11:20:11 AM

So creating a page file on a partition is better?

8/11/2008 1:14:38 PM

^ before i get slammed for saying "yes", let me make it clear that i did the research in regards to XP 32-bit, so perhaps it no longer holds true for vista, but...

- hard drive space is dirt cheap, and the vast majority of people have plenty of room to spare for a small, separate partition

- a significant amount of fragmentation (the majority, i'd say) comes from a page file that does not have a set size - the OS sets aside a minimum, and then when (if) that minimum size is reached, it changes the page file size to accommodate...when the page file changes, there's a good deal of fragmentation over time

- giving the page file a static size and its own partition means that the fragmentation will be minimal (or non-existent, since the page file never changes) and it doesn't impact your OS partition

maybe i'm wrong and things have changed, but i (personally) noticed a performance gain in XP when i did this...it makes sense to me, and i don't see why anything would have changed in windows

8/11/2008 3:57:41 PM

^that's been my philosophy as well, it's worked very well for me as I haven't formatted my 32-bit XP install in almost 2 years now.

def. set your page file to custom (min/max the same) so that Windows doesn't waste CPU time resizing the page file everytime you open something memory intensive

[Edited on August 11, 2008 at 4:03 PM. Reason : .]

8/11/2008 4:02:34 PM

^^Yep you are right on.

^Good info too.

I've been doing the custom partition+manually set page file since Win98SE. Makes fragmentation on the system partition almost non-existance, and it helps out quite a bit with overal general performance.

JoeNumbers: I have mine turned off on my laptop for two reasons:
1) It has 4gb of ram installed, and it's a 12.1" ultra-light notebook. I reboot and shut it down a lot anyway, so the small performance gain is worth the annoyance I get when I've left the machine on for a week.
2) It's a laptop and disabling the page file reduces the HDD access quite a bit, which gives me peace of mind in carrying it around with me, and uses less power.

For a Vista desktop, no matter how much RAM you have, you should never disable the page file. It is utilized FAR better than previous versions of Windows.

8/11/2008 4:53:08 PM

I currently have 4 gigs of ram on my desktop. So I should create a 6 gbyte partition on the system drive? I already have a raptor dedicated to the OS, so creating a page file partition on it will reduce fragmentation? I'll have to try that out.

8/11/2008 6:17:53 PM

you dont need a 6gb page file with that much memory. Quagmire is pretty dead on IMHO with a 2gb page file as pretty standard. Unless you are using a lot of huge DV editing/compositing applications, you dont need that much. But yes, it's absolutely worth splitting off a second partition on your primary drive for it. I'm really suprised Microsoft never made this a standard practice.

8/11/2008 7:17:11 PM

Anyone have issues with Vista Media Center unpausing/playing videos? We just got our HTPC hooked up to our TV and it'll all of a sudden start to play a paused video or start a video on the main screen. Was wondering how i could mess with the configuration of MC to change a few things. I remember someone mentioning a way to switch around some settings through a configuration file other than the built in options.

8/19/2008 6:45:51 PM

^sounds like you have RF intereference if you are using the Media Remote.

I'd be very, very wary of messing around with the VMC configuration files. You can hose it extremely quickly. About the only customizing you can really do safely is changing the watched folders list, or exclude folders from it. And you do that from Windows Media Player in the Options->Library

8/19/2008 11:24:30 PM

^Figured it out. Vista MC has an issue when the screen saver goes on it unpauses anything. Turned off the screen saver and it fixed the issue.

8/19/2008 11:45:49 PM

Regarding the page file thing. I've not had the problem with it but I like the idea of reduced fragmentation.

So, what exactly are you supposed to do? I created a new partition with no drive letter or name. I did not format it. Basically, in my Computer management window, it shows as:

3.91 GB RAW
Healthy (Logical Drive)

I then went into the Performance Options and set it as:
Custom Size: 1000 Min., 3910 Max

Is that how you're supposed to set it up? At first I just did a regular partition but noticed that it set up to have page files on each drive so that led me to try this. I've never tried this before and didn't see anyone above mention what kind of partition that they used so I just guessed since I'm tired and don't feel like thinking through it all.

8/20/2008 12:10:31 AM