Vista x64 stuff

[Tom Scruffy]

Hi, I've searched the forums pretty well and don't really see the issues I'm having. I bought the Vista Ultimate version and installed the x64 version and it's been nothing but problems from the start. When I go to use the 64 bit browser, most websites that use the adobe flash player (which is most of them), will try to get me to load the flash player which once didn't exist for the 64 bit version and then when I finally was able to get it, I still get this annoying popup that tells me to install this player when i thought it was already installed on every browser startup. I've since abandoned the 64 bit browser and now use the 32 bit browser which seems to work ok. Any thoughts?

My other issue is that when I go to put the computer into low power mode at night, when I "wake" it up it, forgets all my network settings and won't connect to the internet until I run the network diagnostics, which is a pain in the rear. I run a cable modem with two computers conected to a Netgear wired router.

I've also had all the driver issues with none of the software discs that came with the drivers working and have had to load them from the internet. My DVD player came with Nero software for the lightscribe and burning, that won't load and when I went to get it from the internet and after talking with tech support from both Nero and Samsung (who makes the player), I find out that Nero will make me pay for the software that came with the DVD drive that I just bought two months ago!

The other day when I went to turn the computer on, from low power mode, somehow it corrupted some segments in my hard drive causing me to lose my desktop and a couple of other key system files. I reloaded x64 but I'm seriously debating just reformatting with the x86 version as the x64 version seems to just be problematic. Any thoughts? I don't do any gaming.

Also does anyone know if e-mails that were on my previously corrupted system might have been stored in the Window.old folder and what folder they are in?


Thanks, Tom



I'm running a Asus P5B motherboard with an Intel E6400 processor, 2 GB of RAM, ATI Radeon x1300 video board.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
Hi, I've searched the forums pretty well and don't really see the issues I'm having. I bought the Vista Ultimate version and installed the x64 version and it's been nothing but problems from the start. When I go to use the 64 bit browser, most websites that use the adobe flash player (which is most of them), will try to get me to load the flash player which once didn't exist for the 64 bit version and then when I finally was able to get it, I still get this annoying popup that tells me to install this player when i thought it was already installed on every browser startup. I've since abandoned the 64 bit browser and now use the 32 bit browser which seems to work ok. Any thoughts?

My other issue is that when I go to put the computer into low power mode at night, when I "wake" it up it, forgets all my network settings and won't connect to the internet until I run the network diagnostics, which is a pain in the rear. I run a cable modem with two computers conected to a Netgear wired router.

I've also had all the driver issues with none of the software discs that came with the drivers working and have had to load them from the internet. My DVD player came with Nero software for the lightscribe and burning, that won't load and when I went to get it from the internet and after talking with tech support from both Nero and Samsung (who makes the player), I find out that Nero will make me pay for the software that came with the DVD drive that I just bought two months ago!

The other day when I went to turn the computer on, from low power mode, somehow it corrupted some segments in my hard drive causing me to lose my desktop and a couple of other key system files. I reloaded x64 but I'm seriously debating just reformatting with the x86 version as the x64 version seems to just be problematic. Any thoughts? I don't do any gaming.

Also does anyone know if e-mails that were on my previously corrupted system might have been stored in the Window.old folder and what folder they are in?


Thanks, Tom



I'm running a Asus P5B motherboard with an Intel E6400 processor, 2 GB of RAM, ATI Radeon x1300 video board.

I don't think its the OS,I'm using Vista x64 and its rock solid,there's no flash or java for 64 bit version at the moment so you have to use 32 bit browser if you want them,I use Firefox 32 bit version with latest java and flash etc... with 64 bit Thunderbird,latest Nero 7 version runs great with Vista x64.

As to drivers don't bother with ones on CD,I always go to their website and download the lastest Vista x64 version(I've been lucky since mine are all available).As to software be careful what you install since there are a few minor third party software that has minor problems with Vista in general..ie iTunes had some problems with Vista,however latest version does have a few fixes for Vista.


Not had any trouble with networking on my Vista x64 Home Premium,for some reason I have seen a few people having problems with Ultimate versions,now I don't know if that's because it has extra software installed that's more sensitive to third party software being installed,I may be making a mountain out of a mole hill,who knows.


Btw you should run memtest86+ to rule out any memory problems.

 

[Mem]

Btw I would do a reinstall of Vista x64 and install third party software one at a time,soon know what software may be causing the problem,do run memtest86+ or use the one in Vista,as to power down mode have you tried disabling that for now to see if stability improves,should not take you long to find what the problem is,process of elimination.

 

[lavaheadache]

I too am using Vista 64 with very little hassle. Be glad that Vista is not as buggy as the 8800 series drivers, although they are starting to shape up

 

[Tom Scruffy]

Can you run memtest86 on a 64 bit system? It won't run, but I thought hte 86 part of it meant it was for x86 systems.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
Can you run memtest86 on a 64 bit system? It won't run, but I thought hte 86 part of it meant it was for x86 systems.

You can either use the memory tester in Vista at bootup(where you select Vista ) or download and make a memtest86+ bootdisk.

Bootable CD version

Link to floppy version etc..

Basically it runs memory test before Vista even loads,that's why you use a memtest86+ bootdisk version.

 

[Tom Scruffy]

Yea, I've run the Windows test and it passed.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
Yea, I've run the Windows test and it passed.

Memtest86+ is more thorough so try that to be sure.

 

[Tom Scruffy]

Also, I just went to Nero to get my burning program, and it tells me I need to update my Direct x to 9.0c but I have Direct x 10, how am I updating it if it's going to a previous version? Anybody come across that before? It won't let me install it until I load 9.0c on my computer?

 

[Tom Scruffy]

I have one more question, also. I have a Maxtor 320G hard drive, when I installed Vista I partitioned the hard-drive in half and installed Vista on one half of it in case I want to put another operating system on the other drive. I do have a MaxBlast installation software CD that had come with the hard-drive but I never installed it. Is there anything on that disc that I should bother installing as the hard drive seems to work fine, is it just transfer software if you wanted to move stuff from your old drive or is there anything extra on there?

Thanks

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
Also, I just went to Nero to get my burning program, and it tells me I need to update my Direct x to 9.0c but I have Direct x 10, how am I updating it if it's going to a previous version? Anybody come across that before? It won't let me install it until I load 9.0c on my computer?

That's normal just click on yes to install DX9.0c when it asks,it does not actually install anything,apart from Nero 7.

 

[Tom Scruffy]

So I just ran that memtest86 and the memory failed twice in test 7 after about a half an hour. I then tested with only 1 stick of RAM in the front slot and both sticks passed fine after the same amount of time. I then tried each stick 1 at a time in the rear slot and they both had a failure. One on test 6 and one on test 8. The board and RAM are both almost brand new, but I had heard there might have been compatibility problems with this RAM and this board.

Anybody have any thoughts on that?


The board is an Asus P5B deluxe and the RAM is G-Skill 1GB x 2 PC6400/800 DDR2

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
So I just ran that memtest86 and the memory failed twice in test 7 after about a half an hour. I then tested with only 1 stick of RAM in the front slot and both sticks passed fine after the same amount of time. I then tried each stick 1 at a time in the rear slot and they both had a failure. One on test 6 and one on test 8. The board and RAM are both almost brand new, but I had heard there might have been compatibility problems with this RAM and this board.

Anybody have any thoughts on that?


The board is an Asus P5B deluxe and the RAM is G-Skill 1GB x 2 PC6400/800 DDR2

You can try upping the ram voltage a bit and reducing the ram timings.

 

[Tom Scruffy]

I had reduced the timings to 5 5 5 15, the sticks say 1.8 to 2.0 and the setting was on auto, should I set it to 2.0 volts?

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
I had reduced the timings to 5 5 5 15, the sticks say 1.8 to 2.0 and the setting was on auto, should I set it to 2.0 volts?

2.0v should be ok,just run memtest86+ and see what that reports error wise. You can actually run it with reduced timings for now and see if it reports any errors in memtest86+ ,if so bump voltage up to 2.0v and try again.

 

[Tom Scruffy]

So it still would have errors after running for about 30 minutes, so I decided to get some other ram and put it in. I got some PNY pc5300 4x512 and installed those and set the settings to auto and the memtest gave me all kinds of errors, does anybody know what I could try setting the timings and voltage for on those ?

I also have other issues as in http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=34&threadid=2028122]this [/url] post and am considering trashing the 64 bit vista and going to 32 bit, but I'm not sure if I'll still have memory problems.

Any thoughts?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
So it still would have errors after running for about 30 minutes, so I decided to get some other ram and put it in. I got some PNY pc5300 4x512 and installed those and set the settings to auto and the memtest gave me all kinds of errors, does anybody know what I could try setting the timings and voltage for on those ?

I also have other issues as in http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=34&threadid=2028122]this [/url] post and am considering trashing the 64 bit vista and going to 32 bit, but I'm not sure if I'll still have memory problems.

Any thoughts?

Memtest errors are a pure hardware/configuration issue. If Memtest shows you have errors, it won't matter what version of Windows (or Linux or anything else) you pick.

If it were me, I'd pick up this 2 x 1GB set. Set the VDIMM to 1.8 volts with the RAM, timings at AUTO, in the blue slots as Asus directs for a single pair, and Memtest that overnight. Success?

 

[Pabster]

Get your RAM problem fixed first. There's no point in complaining about issues with Vista x64 when your hardware is not stable.

 

[Tom Scruffy]

Unfortunately for me to keep on buying expensive RAM to try and solve the problem is going beyond my budget. I've already spent $400 in the last month which was all I had. Now I am inquiring to see if anybody can suggest any different settings to try for RAM timing and voltage that might be an issue. My old memory had it printed right on it and this new stuff doesn't. The new RAM is PNY technologies Optima Memory DDr2 PC25300

I also don't know if there might be an errant setting in the BIOS that could cause this, anyone know how to reset the defaults? or will this not help?

I had heard that the G-Skill RAM might have had some compatibility issues with my ASUS P5B motherboard but I'm finding it hard to believe that I have purchased $400 of bad RAM in the last month, if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it, otherwise I guess I'll have to wait for another few months to be able to afford some more and I'll be stuck with RAM that I can't use.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
Unfortunately for me to keep on buying expensive RAM to try and solve the problem is going beyond my budget. I've already spent $400 in the last month which was all I had. Now I am inquiring to see if anybody can suggest any different settings to try for RAM timing and voltage that might be an issue. My old memory had it printed right on it and this new stuff doesn't. The new RAM is PNY technologies Optima Memory DDr2 PC25300

I also don't know if there might be an errant setting in the BIOS that could cause this, anyone know how to reset the defaults? or will this not help?

I had heard that the G-Skill RAM might have had some compatibility issues with my ASUS P5B motherboard but I'm finding it hard to believe that I have purchased $400 of bad RAM in the last month, if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it, otherwise I guess I'll have to wait for another few months to be able to afford some more and I'll be stuck with RAM that I can't use.

1) reset the RAM timings to AUTO so the motherboard gets to pick them

2) set the memory voltage to 1.8 volts to start with

3) run Memtest


If it passes, call it good.

If it does not pass, test each of the four modules individually.

If they all pass individually, try one pair of modules, then the other pair of modules, in the blue slots. edit: ooops, the blue slots are yellow on this one

If each pair passes individually, then try chucking all four back in there and bring the memory voltage up 0.1 volt to 1.9 volts.

If the two pairs together still won't pass, try reducing the memory clockspeed if possible. If you're not certain how you go about reducing the memory clockspeed, LMK and I'll download the manual for the P5B Deluxe and help with that.



Also, if you have another system available that takes DDR2, consider testing the same modules in the other system's motherboard, to help determine whether the motherboard could be the culprit.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Tom Scruffy
Unfortunately for me to keep on buying expensive RAM to try and solve the problem is going beyond my budget. I've already spent $400 in the last month which was all I had. Now I am inquiring to see if anybody can suggest any different settings to try for RAM timing and voltage that might be an issue. My old memory had it printed right on it and this new stuff doesn't. The new RAM is PNY technologies Optima Memory DDr2 PC25300

I also don't know if there might be an errant setting in the BIOS that could cause this, anyone know how to reset the defaults? or will this not help?

I had heard that the G-Skill RAM might have had some compatibility issues with my ASUS P5B motherboard but I'm finding it hard to believe that I have purchased $400 of bad RAM in the last month, if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it, otherwise I guess I'll have to wait for another few months to be able to afford some more and I'll be stuck with RAM that I can't use.

My best advice is to find a friend with another motherboard who can test the RAM modules for you. At this point, I'd be inclined to believe the fault lies with the P5B. ASUS makes great boards but it is not unheard of to get a faulty one.

 

[Tom Scruffy]

So I tested all the PNY RAM that I bought yesterday and the first three tested good, I left them in for 35 minutes or so. The fourth one failed once, but I had left it in there for about 4 hours as I went to Easter dinner. I then tried putting the G-skill back in and using the two black slots instead of the yellow slots. They failed a buch of tests in the first run of test #7. I then put the G-Skill back in the yellow slots, set my timings to 4,4,4,12 , set my memory voltage at two volts (it was on 1.8 and then auto from the previous tests), and set my memory frequency to 800 MHz. It then ran through memtest one whole time and after 40 minutes it failed once on the second pass on test #7.


Now I'm wondering if it has to do with heat. While I have the whole side of the case open, I only have the CPU fan, the power supply fan and that heat-pipe thingy. I think I'm going to add a case fan and see if it's good.

To all you P5B guys! Where should I mount this fan on the P5B-Deluxe (where do you have it mounted?), and which direction should it point?

 

[mechBgon]

Make your new case fan a rear exhaust fan.

 

[Tom Scruffy]

Well the RAM passes with the new fam, but my software issues are still there. I spent over 3 hours with some Indian guy from Microsoft on their free support and they had me registering dll's and all kinds of stuff, but the problem didn't get fixed.

I ended up installing the whole OS again and all is well, now. I did notice that even after uninstalling symantec and Norton, there were all kinds of values ijn the registry and four or five services and programs that were running according to msconfig. There was also an entry that said Norton in the programs folder that could not be deleted.

Oh well, I'm running avast, now and it seems to be fine.