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Finally Taking The Plunge Into Vista Have Some Questions Though??***HELP-Problem***

hennessy1

Golden Member
I just purchased an oem version of vista x64. Is there anything I should know before install? All my hardware has drivers I've already checked that. My system specs are in sig. My system can handle it correct? Also can I have vista connected to the same network group as my xp computers? Would there be any issues with that?
 
The Windows/PC Software forum is more about apps and software, not the OS itself, so this topic is being relocated to Operating Systems.

AnandTech Moderator
mechBgon
 
Don't activate it right away, OEM is tied to machine..play for almost 30 days, and then activate it if you are sure about it.
 
I changed my purchase to retail in order to upgrade different machines when the time is right. So I have purchased Vista Ultimate Retail. Also I have a total of 8gb of ram installed currently. I heard stories where I need to remove most of this to install vista then reinstall it. Is this true?
 
Your rig will toss VU around like a rag doll in terms of raw power. Whether you experience any problems is still pretty much a crap shoot, and based on what seems to be a fair amount of little things. I have been very "lucky" for some reason in terms of my initial install and daily operation. I've also heard about the supposed > 2gig at install problem, though I haven't seen anything definitive.

Make sure that you have as many of the needed drivers on your machine as possible before install.
 
Originally posted by: hennessy1
I changed my purchase to retail in order to upgrade different machines when the time is right. So I have purchased Vista Ultimate Retail. Also I have a total of 8gb of ram installed currently. I heard stories where I need to remove most of this to install vista then reinstall it. Is this true?

Due to a bug in the installer, MS recommends to only have 2GB of RAM installed when you perform the Vista OS install, then install the updates and fixes (for the RAM problem, among others), and then re-install the remainder of your RAM.

Only problem is, I don't recall if that issue affects only the 32-bit version of Vista, or all (including 64-bit) versions of Vista. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

I personally wish that BIOS writers would add a "limit physical RAM size" option in the BIOS, that way it could be used to get around this vista installer bug without removing your RAM, and it would allow multi-boot with Win98se, because it freaks out with more than 512MB of RAM installed.
 
Only problem is, I don't recall if that issue affects only the 32-bit version of Vista, or all (including 64-bit) versions of Vista. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

FYI I had no problems installing Vista x64 with 4GB of memory.
 
Ok thats good because I just re did the inside of my case and I have it just the way I want it and the mem is a pain in the butt to move. But just in case should I remove it and if I dont whats "the problem" that occurs in installation ?
 
One other question I have a norco esata card and a syba internal sata card. When I had these installed on win xp x64 all I had to do to install the drivers was go to device manager and right click to update driver and I clicked on to get it from MS. It downloaded the driver and everything worked fine can I still do that in vista?

Also with the retail version I am not limited to one computer so I can use it on which ever computer I own correct?
 
Originally posted by: hennessy1
One other question I have a norco esata card and a syba internal sata card. When I had these installed on win xp x64 all I had to do to install the drivers was go to device manager and right click to update driver and I clicked on to get it from MS. It downloaded the driver and everything worked fine can I still do that in vista?

Also with the retail version I am not limited to one computer so I can use it on which ever computer I own correct?

There is a very good chance that Vista will already have drivers for your devices, or will direct you to a spot to download them if the device is supported.

You can only activate Windows on ONE computer at a time, you can move it from one PC to the next or upgrade as much as you want with the retail version, but it can only be on ONE pc at a time.
 
Originally posted by: postmortemIA
Don't activate it right away, OEM is tied to machine..play for almost 30 days, and then activate it if you are sure about it.

Agreed, also how about dual boot? Just in case your one of the unlucky ones with something incompatible.
 
Hey guys just one more question before I set up vista tonight. I have 3 add in cards besides my video card.1 is an ageia physx card, 1 is a norco esata card, and the last is a syba internal sata card. With xp I just left them in during the OS install and then added the drivers later can I do this with vista or do I remove all of them before the vista install?
 
Originally posted by: hennessy1
Hey guys just one more question before I set up vista tonight. I have 3 add in cards besides my video card.1 is an ageia physx card, 1 is a norco esata card, and the last is a syba internal sata card. With xp I just left them in during the OS install and then added the drivers later can I do this with vista or do I remove all of them before the vista install?

Should be ok left in, besides Vista will detect them and hopefully install drivers for them,if not you can always install drivers manually later(providing they are available).

Btw when I installed my Vista I left everything plugged in ,that gave Vista a chance to detect everything and install drivers,when it had finished installing I only had 2 drivers missing ,which I got from the net and installed manually.
 
Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Originally posted by: hennessy1
I changed my purchase to retail in order to upgrade different machines when the time is right. So I have purchased Vista Ultimate Retail. Also I have a total of 8gb of ram installed currently. I heard stories where I need to remove most of this to install vista then reinstall it. Is this true?

Due to a bug in the installer, MS recommends to only have 2GB of RAM installed when you perform the Vista OS install, then install the updates and fixes (for the RAM problem, among others), and then re-install the remainder of your RAM.

Only problem is, I don't recall if that issue affects only the 32-bit version of Vista, or all (including 64-bit) versions of Vista. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

I personally wish that BIOS writers would add a "limit physical RAM size" option in the BIOS, that way it could be used to get around this vista installer bug without removing your RAM, and it would allow multi-boot with Win98se, because it freaks out with more than 512MB of RAM installed.

Do you have a link to that KB?
 
Should I also remove my networking cables from the computer before install? I heard that you were suppose to do this with xp but I never did and never got an attack that was why you were suppose to do it. I know that vista has increased security but hey...
 
Originally posted by: hennessy1
Should I also remove my networking cables from the computer before install? I heard that you were suppose to do this with xp but I never did and never got an attack that was why you were suppose to do it. I know that vista has increased security but hey...

Only if you're exceptionally paranoid and tend to wear a tinfoil hat.😉
 
Ok ive asked this before in a pm but I just want to check one last time when I install vista is the account I first create a admin account. I dont want to deal with giving permissions and crap like that just to delete stuff. I am only going to have one account on here and I want it to be an admin account.
 
Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Originally posted by: hennessy1
I changed my purchase to retail in order to upgrade different machines when the time is right. So I have purchased Vista Ultimate Retail. Also I have a total of 8gb of ram installed currently. I heard stories where I need to remove most of this to install vista then reinstall it. Is this true?

Due to a bug in the installer, MS recommends to only have 2GB of RAM installed when you perform the Vista OS install, then install the updates and fixes (for the RAM problem, among others), and then re-install the remainder of your RAM.

Only problem is, I don't recall if that issue affects only the 32-bit version of Vista, or all (including 64-bit) versions of Vista. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

I personally wish that BIOS writers would add a "limit physical RAM size" option in the BIOS, that way it could be used to get around this vista installer bug without removing your RAM, and it would allow multi-boot with Win98se, because it freaks out with more than 512MB of RAM installed.

Actually the issue is with more than 3gb, not 2gb (but its more common to take out to sticks and be back to 2gb). Also, its not an installer issue its a bug with the storport driver and 32bit DMA systems. It does affect both x86 and x64.
3GB Setup Hotfix
 
Originally posted by: hennessy1
Ok ive asked this before in a pm but I just want to check one last time when I install vista is the account I first create a admin account. I dont want to deal with giving permissions and crap like that just to delete stuff. I am only going to have one account on here and I want it to be an admin account.

The account you create when you install Vista is an admin account.
 
So should I install with 8gb of ram or take it down to 2gb? I ask this because some people say they had no problem but I also am trying to limit the possibility of getting an error message during first install
 
Originally posted by: hennessy1
So should I install with 8gb of ram or take it down to 2gb? I ask this because some people say they had no problem but I also am trying to limit the possibility of getting an error message during first install

Hard to say, it depends on your motherboard. The install is pretty quick, if it finishes it works, if it crashes you need to remove the memory. I'd say start with it in...
 
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