Prepping for Vista 64bit

[bigboxes]

Howdy guys! I'm gonna be putting together a box for a friend and will be installing Vista for the first time. I do this stuff for a living, but this is my first time with Vista (everyone usually wants XP -- me too!). My friend will be using top notch parts so I am assuming that it will be able to handle Vista without a problem. Of course I know there are issues and was hoping that you guys could help me avoid the issues that are sure to arise. Any setting recommendations and downloads to have at the ready would be appreciated. Here is the component list:

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium
Case: Antec P182
PSU: Seasonic M12 SS-600HM ATX12V / EPS12V 600W
Mobo: Asus Commando LGA 775 Intel P965 Express
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield
Ram: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
VGA: MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
HSF: Thermalright Ultra-120

Like I said, I've put together a lot of WinXP machines and can do it in my sleep. I'm know that this will be a learning experience, but I'd like it to be as painless as possible. Advice suggesting WinXP is nice, but this guy wants to be able to expand to 8gb ram in the future if he wants. So, if there is anything I should change, disable or any other tweaks or preperation I'd appreciate any "education" that you guys may send my way.

Boxes

 

[surfsatwerk]

Not a comment on your hardware, but take some time and do some research on the most common Vista quirks. It'll save you hours if not days of your life wasted.

Edit: for what it's worth when you get up and running, you should be very happy with your setup.

 

[Elstupido]

Just download the appropriate 64bit drivers, antivirus software, to a flash drive or external HDD, and you are good to go. You will be surprised how easy this install will be. Install drivers and antivirus, then download all of the Windows updates and finally Sp1. Only problem I can think of is, some have had problems installing with 4gb of ram. I haven't had that problem, but if such is encountered, simply remove 2gb, and install with the remaining 2gb.

 

[TurboFool]

Seems like a good setup you've got there. Should be pretty straight forward. Assuming you don't run into oddities, and have all your ducks in a row with drivers and whatnot, you'll be surprised how smooth Vista installs can be. I've done two in the last week, first with 32-bit, and I'm finishing up a 64-bit today. Half my hardware was recognized automatically, including the network drivers, making clean-up easy on anything I missed. Only problem I had was with the audio drivers which gave me an error about being unsigned. Had to uninstall and reinstall them, then they were good to go. Knock on wood, it's been perfect since.

 

[bigboxes]

Appreciate the responses. It there anything I should disable or settings that would be optimal? Do I need any spyware/malware software or is Vista self-protected where I just need an anti-virus software?

 

[bigboxes]

And the box is for a friend, not me. I'm still happy with my dual-core winny. If I was to upgrade I think this setup is pretty sweet. Just want to avoid any big headaches when the parts arrive.

 

[Griffinhart]

Originally posted by: bigboxes
Appreciate the responses. It there anything I should disable or settings that would be optimal? Do I need any spyware/malware software or is Vista self-protected where I just need an anti-virus software?

I use AVG Free and the built in Windows Defender. That should be plenty.

I also installed Secunia's Software Inspector. I don't have it running in the back ground, but I do manually run it every week or so.
https://psi.secunia.com/

It will scan your software with its database and alert you if you are missing any important windows or 3rd party patches. It's especially good for making sure you that you have the latest versions of Java and Flash.

Do not disable anything from the default install of Vista. Make sure your friend knows that the hard drive activity is going to be very high for the first week or so while it tunes itself. Once that's done everything should be pretty zippy.

 

[Elstupido]

I don't worry about antispyware as Vistas firewall does a good job at it. Just make sure you have a decent AV program, free or not. I use Antivir as the best free, or pay for for that matter.

 

[coreyb]

I don't understand the whole anti virus thing. I havn't ran one in 5 years and have NEVER had a virus. It must be because I don't really use e-mail or something.