Microsoft Windows Vista now available

Discussion in 'Software' started by NICK ADSL UK, Jun 8, 2006.

  1. NICK ADSL UK

    NICK ADSL UK MajorGeeks Forum Administrator Staff Member

    Get Ready for Windows Vista
    Getting ready for Windows Vista, available in early 2007, means choosing the edition that's right for you and ensuring that you have the right PC to enjoy the experiences you want.

    Windows Vista Beta 2 Customer Preview Program
    Windows Vista Beta 2 is now available for you to install, test, and enjoy. Here's the information you need to try it now.

    Evaluate Your Current PC
    Run the Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser beta to help get your PC ready for Windows Vista.
    System Requirements
    We recommend that you consult the Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PC specifications for system requirement guidance on running the core experiences and advanced features of Windows Vista.

    Get Windows Vista Beta 2
    Windows Vista Beta 2 is available as a download or on DVD. It's time for clarity—try it now!
    Windows Vista Beta 2 Resource Centre

    Once you have installed Windows Vista Beta 2, be sure to visit the Resource Centre to download the Windows Vista Product Guide, find anti-virus software for Beta 2, and discover more information that will help you get up and running quickly.

    Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PCs
    You can confidently buy a Windows XP computer today that's ready when you are for Windows Vista. Find out more about buying a Windows Vista Capable or Premium Ready PC.

    Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser Beta
    The Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser beta will help you determine if your current PC is ready for an upgrade to Windows Vista. It will also help you to choose the edition of Windows Vista that's right for you. Download the Upgrade Adviser beta and run an analysis of your current PC and use the detailed feedback to ensure that your PC is ready for the edition of Windows Vista that you want.

    Windows Vista Editions
    From home entertainment to business productivity and everything in between, there's an edition of Windows Vista that's right for you.

    To order the DVD Kit for installing or for download then please see here. Please also note that this is a beta and will expire on June 1st 2007
    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx

    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/default.mspx
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 12, 2006
  2. Hipster Doofus

    Hipster Doofus MajorGeek

    Good stuff. A year to play with it. :D Now if only I could get the download to start. Seems MS are under load & being on dialup it is going to take a while anyways.
     
  3. hugh750

    hugh750 MajorGeek

    Some Windows vista beta 2 reviews i seen on other web sites and it has plenty of bugs, i would say don't bother with downloading it plus it's a 3 gig iso download!
     
  4. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hence the term "BETA", yes it has bugs still which will be updated in the next version of Vista, which is likely to be RC1 ( but not known if that will make its way as a public release, I'd say most likely not and RC1 RC2 etc will be testers only ), as a beta its aimed at IT pros and PC users who understand that using betas you are likely to have many problems and should not be installed on a critical daily used PC.

    Driver support is good if you have a 1yr or so old PC but older ones you may not find supported drivers, you may also find that some of your favoured software will NOT work, until the makers have updated their 3rd party software to account for UAP.
     
  5. NICK ADSL UK

    NICK ADSL UK MajorGeeks Forum Administrator Staff Member

    Update for Windows Vista Beta 2 and Windows Codename Longhorn Server Beta 2 (KB920143)
    Brief Description

    Install this update to fix application compatibility issues with Symantec Antivirus version 10.0.1.622. Note that you must save the file to your local machine before running it.
    Overview
    Install this update to fix application compatibility issues with Symantec Antivirus version 10.0.1.622. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...b9-b654-45e7-b006-e1728fe076ca&DisplayLang=en
     
  6. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    TBH I actually think Vista will be a great seller for MS, especially if the reports of the amount of users downloading the Beta2 are anything to go by.

    A min of 512mb of ram in todays modern PCs is small as average is now 1gb+ and HDs are generally in the high 200GB+ range, so 20GBs is not a vast amount in this age of large HD storage, however dont know where you got the min space needed as being 20GB as even the Vista specs page only states you need a

    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx

    and the Windows folder on a typical install is generally only 7GB, then add the installed default apps in programs folder and you get no more than 7.5GB as a default install.


    Yes I know some people cannot afford to upgrade hardware but they are not forced to as they can still use the OS they are using now.... progress does come at a price sadly and we have come along way since the days that PCs used 48kb ~ 256kb ram.


    Vista if not rushed will be good, I find that I have no issues running it on a daily basis, I have the apps I need installed and working to do a days work easily, with some really nice new tools.
     
  7. NICK ADSL UK

    NICK ADSL UK MajorGeeks Forum Administrator Staff Member

  8. microsoft_lover

    microsoft_lover Private E-2

    Can somebody help me with this ISO download? I downloaded it the other night and couldn't get it to work after I tried to install it. I downloaded some ISO software and then it wouldn't work cause it said I needed a key or something? I also don't have a DVD Burner on my Dell 2400 Series computer. It only has a CD ROM Burner. Is there a way to still do it or not? I really wanted to preview it so I can know if its worth buying when its released or not? Please help me out, thanks!
     
  9. AbbySue

    AbbySue MajorGeeks Administrator

    You need to have a DVD burner or order the CD from MS. As for wanting to evaluate to see if it is worth buying, keep in mind that Vista has a long way to go yet before it is a final RC so if you do get it now, expect to have issues with driver support, stability, etc.
     
  10. microsoft_lover

    microsoft_lover Private E-2

    So can I order the CD? Will that work with my CD RW Burner? Just wondering. I didn't quite understand what you meant.
     
  11. AbbySue

    AbbySue MajorGeeks Administrator

    Read the first post in this thread. The information you need is in bold red font with links below the text.

    It will be an install CD just like any other install CD except it will have an expiration date. re: Will stop working on a specific date.
     
  12. TheDoug

    TheDoug MajorGeek

    Seems to me what microsoft_lover is saying is he has a CD drive and not a DVD drive. Posts in this thread, including the OP, keep referring to getting a CD from Microsoft, when in fact, what you can get is a DVD, and the only thing you can burn the ISO to is a DVD. Maybe that's the confusion.
     
  13. AbbySue

    AbbySue MajorGeeks Administrator

    Thanks for pointing that out...you are quite correct. We should have taken more care with the terminology used and I'm one of the biggest offenders where that is concerned...a disk is a disk..is not a disk:eek:...big difference between a DVD & CD.

    My apologies to microsoft_lover for any confusion I may have caused you.

    A DVD Drive is required.
     
  14. lubetek

    lubetek Private First Class


    I agree with you completely. Vista will be a great seller. Today its the norm to build or buy a pc with at least 1GB of memory. Many people have 2GB. 512mb is nothing and I feel anyone running just 512mb of ram needs to upgrade anyway. Course this is just my opinion. With the cost of hard drives these days (250Gb for $97 USD) it really makes no difference if windows needs a lot of extra space. I'm still doubtful that it would need 20GB though. I would gladly give it if needed though as it's just a small chunk out of my 300GB drive.

    as of now all I can say is Vista is quite nice. I have enjoyed playing with it and have it running very stable right now. All my hardware is working and it even plays a few of my games well enough. Though XP is much better for running games at the moment. FEAR, and DOOM3 are stable though.
     
  15. abri

    abri MajorGeek

    While on the subject, what will be required of a computer to handle Vista?

    abri
     
  16. Mada_Milty

    Mada_Milty MajorGeek

    Well, sir, I have Vista running on a Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz) with 1GB of 533MHz RAM, on a SATA drive with 8MB cache, and 1.5Gbp/s interface, and I don't think I would want it running on a system with any lower specs, unless I turned off the visual effects, which makes it look terrible.
     
  17. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    I'm running it on a AMD 64 3500+ 1gb Ram 100GB HD ATi IGP x200 graphics on my laptop, works well even with Aero ( visual effects... glass look and flip 3d )

    but to some info for you

    Current specs list.. but subject to change
    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx


    The Vista Upgrade Advisor ( beta )
    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx

    which will scan your current specs and see which version of Vista you maybe able to run or where you may have issues.
     
  18. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    Last day to get Beta 2. I run it on a AMD 64 Venice 3000, 1GB with a cheopo PCI-E ASUS vid card, N6200TC. It works perfectly well.:)
     
  19. abri

    abri MajorGeek

    Cool! Thanks everyone!
    abri
     
  20. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

    Has anyone (or everyone) else turned off User Account Controls?

    They want you to leave them on and report any problems but seriously, I can't stand them.:mad:

    Does this make me a bad person?
     
  21. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    You're not alone, what a PITA! It's supposed to get better in RC1 from what I've read. :rolleyes:
     
  22. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

    I am also perplexed by the system restore.

    I think it's now called previous versions?

    It eats up MB of free space daily and I can't seem to find a way to remove all but the last restore point like in XP. Am I overlooking a setting or a log?
     
  23. shonuff5

    shonuff5 Private E-2

    Hello everyone, I recently installed Vista beta 2 on my computer and now I can ONLY boot into safe mode because there are no drivers for my video card (ati radeon all in wonder 8500DV). All the vista drivers on ATI's site is only for models 9500 and higher.

    When I installed Vista I done a upgrade from windows xp. Now I would either like to find a 3rd party driver for my video card, or go back to using xp without having to reformat and lose everything. I don't know if I made a backup of xp or not, unless windows did it on it's on, I'm quite sure I didn't :(.

    Is there anything I can do to just get my computer back to the way it was? Thank you in advance.
     
  24. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

    Have you tried to Roll back your video driver?

    Also, when you installed Vista it would have made a back up of your XP.
     
  25. shonuff5

    shonuff5 Private E-2

    I haven't tried rolling back the driver yet, but how would I go about accessing the backup for my xp installation?
     
  26. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

    It will be in a folder on your C:\ Drive.

    My Computer > Local Disk C:\ > Documents and Settings > XP Backup.

    All your old Info will be there.
     
  27. shonuff5

    shonuff5 Private E-2

    Now I cannot get vista to even boot :(, and the recovery option says windows cannot repair the problem.

    File:\Windows\system32\winload.exe

    status: 0xc000000f

    Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.

    That is the message I'm receiving when I try to boot. The last thing that happened in windows was it updated my Acrobat 7.0 then rebooted, and that's when the problem started.

    Can someone please help me?
     
  28. NICK ADSL UK

    NICK ADSL UK MajorGeeks Forum Administrator Staff Member

    Just a brief note from me in that a deadline has been posted with regards the activation of the Microsoft windows vista beta. If you have downloaded it or have ordered the DVD it will pay you to activate it as soon as possible.
    http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=189800184&cid=CRNBreakingNews


    http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189800230
     
  29. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

  30. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

    I have activated my copy of Vista and key. I am curently running XP again.

    Is my copy still legal or should I wipe XP and reinstall Vista?
     
  31. shonuff5

    shonuff5 Private E-2

    How did you get windows xp back running? When I try to load xp again it hangs up at the progress bar screen.
     
  32. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    If you have activated it, I'm pretty sure you will still be elegable for the upgrade to RC1, even if you have gone back to XP... but kinda guess that defeats the opject of going through the hassles of beta testing Vista, did you not like it or did it not play nice with your PC and hardware? if Vista wasnt to your liking then their is no need to re-install for the sake of it.

    Its a legal version if you downloaded and activated it via the Beta 2 Public preview program.
     
  33. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

    Vista had a few quirks I am trying to get used to. I posted earlier in this thread about User Account Controls and the fact that Vista ate up free space at an alarming rate and I couldn't quite figure out why. Something about the System Restore I don't understand.

    In the properties of Local C:\ Drive previous versions of the system are building up and I can't find out what I've missed to turn off this feature. I can't delete them. I tried changing the Permission settings in the registry but I am still denied access to alot of the files and folders.

    Is this something set in the Beta version or will it continue?

    Also, this is a home computer and my wife says she " Doesn't Understand" :confused: how to operate Vista. Hence the change back to XP.

    I got it from Beta 2 Public preview program in ISO format. Used their download manager, got the 3 Gigs in about an hour or so.
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2006
  34. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

    To answer shonuff5 I installed Vista over XP played with it for two weeks and then installed XP over Vista.
     
  35. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    UAC, is slightly less of a hinderence in an post Beta 2 5365, interim build of version 5456 I'm using at present but its still their in parts... but is set to change as the builds enter RC1 etc

    Not noticed any loss of space due to System Restore or Previous Versions, but it can be turned off http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/4ac505e6-dd8b-4ae7-80fa-b9d77cd8104d.mspx but you loose system restore too, possible this may change and allow you like XP to allocate the amount of HD space you wish to allocate.

    Previous Versions allows you to look in effect into a restore point and recover files changed, deleted or moved without having to do a full SR.


    As to not being used to Vista, many said the same about XP when it was first released. Granted it could take a bit to get used to it in this form with the UAC popups.... but they can be turned off, but you loose that level of security.
     
  36. NICK ADSL UK

    NICK ADSL UK MajorGeeks Forum Administrator Staff Member

    Well the website has now been updated as follows

    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx
     
  37. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

    Granted it could take a bit to get used to it in this form with the UAC popups.... but they can be turned off, but you loose that level of security.[/QUOTE]

    I have them off but still denied access to some files and folders.

    When I installed Vista it used about 7 Gigs of hard drive. By the end of a week it was up to 16.:eek:

    The programs I installed would cover 1-1 1/2 G of that space. that still leaves 7 G.

    The Previous Versions were using 5 G or so. There were 25 PV. There were 10 allocated to one date. It looks like every change I made created a new PV.

    When I tried to delete I had to change Permissions on all the folders in the one PV I was trying to delete. I got fed up and stopped trying. What does it sound like I am doing to create so many PV in your opinion?
     
  38. lionrampant

    lionrampant Specialist

    According to the link, the preview is closed.
     
  39. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Correct, it was only available for a limited download run.


    @BirdBath, I have an 11gb install but the build I have is not a staged build, more an interim bug fixed build from Beta 2, so maybe as I only used Beta 2 customer preview for a few weeks I didnt notice. Dont see an increase in used HD space due to RPs or PVs but like you I do see a whole bunch of PVs from the same day... yes they are created each time you move, delete files, however I have noticed that my PVs are zero byte files, need to look into this more.
     
  40. DAKz

    DAKz Corporal

    I downloaded it and burned the DVD and installed it on a seperate partition, there were a few driver problems, mostly with NVidia and the NIC card. They were solved installing software is a major problem because the major software does not recognize the OS, however if you can get it in there then from properties you can select Windows XP compatibility. All in all even though its a Beta version it's not bad and fun to play with! Special Note**Be careful what AV software you try to use, they wont work! I am using Avast as Norton, McAfee would not work at all!
     
  41. abri

    abri MajorGeek

    what does that mean? I am using Avast as Norton? I thought they were two different companies.
    abri
     
  42. DAKz

    DAKz Corporal

    Sorry mistyped, I just washed my hands and can't do a thing with them! Should read I am using Avast. As Norton, & Mcafee would not work at all!!

    Sorry about that!
     
  43. DAKz

    DAKz Corporal

    Additional note Anyone still wanting to download Vista as of last night it was still on cnet's download.com. Not sure if you could get a product key yet from M$.
     
  44. abri

    abri MajorGeek

    oh ... punctuation LOLOL
    abri
     
  45. DAKz

    DAKz Corporal

    Wonder how everyone is doing with Vista, I have ran it for a while now on an "Older" computer and I have discovered a few cool things about it, I added a router, and while I went through the usual with XP, Vista set it up instantly with no input from me. I have also noticed something really big and before I send it to M$ as a problem I wonder if anyone else has seen it, I have Vista on one partition, and XP MCE 05 on the other now if I go to My Computer in MCE and look to see how much free space I have left it tells me about 6gb difference then when I do the same in Vista's My computer. XP tells me I have 34.7gb free on Drive C and Vista tells me I have 27.9GB free on C. It also reports a different amount for the partition that Vista is installed on though the difference isn't as bad but it's still almost 2gb! Has anyone else had this problem? It's a straight partition, no shadow, etc, both formated NTFS.
     
  46. BirdBath

    BirdBath Sergeant Major

  47. DAKz

    DAKz Corporal

    I just recieved a "note" from M$ that they will be updating the existing versions of Beta 2 in the next couple of days based on the reports and fixes they have come up with. Not sure what it will have and I looked through the reports and there looks to be about a dozen things they are planning on addressing with this next update.
     
  48. DAKz

    DAKz Corporal

  49. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest


    Actually they updated it shortly after the public beta release. They just only released it to real beta testers.
     
  50. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    5472.5 went to Connect VTB users first ( notification was on Longhorn Vista IE7 beta newsgroup ) basically to give the VTBs the best bandwidth off the servers, with a broad email to go to MSDN/TAP and selected others at a later date to download locations,

    This is a bug fix version possibly the one before RC1 goes to TAP and Beta 2 Preview users.

    Since Beta 2 TechBeta 5384 their was 5456 and now as of yesterday 6pm PDT they released 5472.5.


    @Birdbath.. yes installed x64 version lastnight.... have a few bugs and missing driver reports already in and once used for a while, I will migrate to x86 version as that has better driver support for me at present, until I get my hands in Audio, PCI modem ( but thats not a major issue ) and a Mass Driver for x64.

    Install has changed somewhat and is still around 30mins, so not to bad. Fair number of Icons have changed, especially for networking and folders. If you have an Nvidia card the driver is reported to have fixed many GFX issues, notably with WMC and playback and so on.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2006

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