The Vista Hive

[CaptnKirk]

The purpose of this collector is to provide a single thread as a resource bank for data relating to the release of Vista Beta 2

Previous posts concerning Vista will be consolidated within to relieve and prevent congestion & multiple threads.

If you have a suggestion, a resource that you have successfully used, or a program that you found to work, please add it here.

OPERATING SYSTEM

Pick your poison - 32-Bit or 64-Bit.
64-bit will tend to be larger, harder to find for now, and possibly slower.
Some drivers for older devices may never be available, so there may be some functional hacks found.

*NOTE - The 64-Bit appears to be a less reliable download & ISO Burn at this time.

1) Source Download for Vista Beta2 Operating System

PRODUCT KEY IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DOWNLOAD ACCESS PAGE - SCROLL DOWN

You will have to register to obtain a copy of the DVD from Microsoft, or to access the DOWNLOAD.
This is valid for one year, expiring in June of 2007.

(Thanks to fyleow for the initial imput for this topic on 06/07/2006)

Microsoft Vista Resource Center

*NOTE: Some elements of Vista are also available for use in existing Microsoft XP Operating Systems:

ELEMENTS (Included in the Vista Beta Operating System)

A) Internet Explorer 7 Beta

B) Windows Media Player 11

C) Windows Defender

Here's a chance to check out some of the Vista (Longhorn) programs without installing the Vista Operating System.
Trial drive - take a test spin and check out the slickness.

2) Office 2007 Beta
This is valid for 8 months, through Feburary of 2007, after which it will continue to work, but at a deminished capacity.

DRIVERS

VIDEO

1) ATI Vista Beta

2a) nVidia Vista Beta - x86
2b) nVidia Vista Beta - x64
(Updated 6/15/06 - Thanks, batmanuel)

3) Via Display Drivers

Lots of work to be done here, ATI's are as glitchy as they usually are.

MASS STORAGE

PROMISE 133TX2 IDE CONTROLLER

AUDIO

1) Creative Labs

2) AC'97

3) RealTek HD
(Added 6/15/06 - Thanks, batmanuel)

LAN/NETWORK

3Com 3C905/3C902
(Added 6/15/06 - Thanks, Kaervak)

3Com 3C940
Register - Install in SAFE MODE

PRINTERS

HP 64 Beta
(Some XP-64 Driver may work, investigating)

FLASH / JAVA

Flash 8

Java (the Hut)
(yeah - corny, I know. Just couldn't resist the pun)

BROWSER

Firefox
(Works fine in x86)

* * SECURITY * *

1) Microsoft provided download links

2) eTrust CA Vista Beta

3) Avast! (32-Bit)
Works fine in the x86 version.

4) Trend PC-Cillin - Use the Microsoft Link, above, to access this download
* NOTE: Some people are not happy with this, and it cannot be uninstalled or removed, be advised.

CD Burner

ImgBurn

Mystery Meat

VistaBoot
(For what it's worth)

If I missed crediting you, I will go back and tag them as I have time to search out first post source actions.

Keep 'em coming . . .
More to come . . . much more.

 

[the cobbler]

I've found virtually nothing that doesn't work on Vista x64...what are you looking for???

mbm5
cpu-z
a64 tweaker
RivaTuner (limited)
PowerStrip (limited)
et.c
etc
etc


pretty much everything works, some proggies need to be run in compatibility mode

 

[WackyCT]

Originally posted by: the cobbler
I've found virtually nothing that doesn't work on Vista x64...what are you looking for???

mbm5
cpu-z
a64 tweaker
RivaTuner (limited)
PowerStrip (limited)
et.c
etc
etc


pretty much everything works, some proggies need to be run in compatibility mode

Under X64, what do you use for Virtual CD/DVD emulation? Neither Daemon or Alcohol seem to work.

 

[the cobbler]

??? got me

DVD player works just fine, lol

seriously, have heard neither of these are an option, period.

I've figure out how to get some 32-bit drivers/apps up and running (RivaTuner, Ideazon Zboard USB drivers, PowerStrip, etc.)

 

[Lord Banshee]

cobbler you got rivatuner to run and have ability to see drivers and change settings in your x64 vista???

 

[the cobbler]

Originally posted by: Lord Banshee
cobbler you got rivatuner to run and have ability to see drivers and change settings in your x64 vista???

install=yes
run=yes

I can get NVStrap driver, PowerUser options, Hardware Monitoring etc. but RivaTuner will not read driver information. so everything on top half=yes, everything under "drivers" = no.

PowerStrip however does read GPU/mem clocks properly and will even set overclocks, but the overclocks will not "stick". i.e. I have a Battlefield2 Application Profile set up in PowerStrip....it correctly sets all the Vsync options, Image Quality, etc. but the clocks I've set for it reset to factory instantly when BF2 loads.

imho this is probably just a nVidia display driver issue, not necessarily rivaTuner or PowerStrip

btw, to install and run properly, RivaTuner must first be extracted and the .exe changed to XP SP2 compatibility mode. then you must set the RivaTuner.exe to the same compatibility mode, and choose your default monitor. RT will then build its initial databases/registry entries and the program will start.

 

[ProviaFan]

I've found that I must use Winamp + in_flac.dll to play FLAC encoded audio files; Foobar2000 crashes, and Media Player Classic or VLC aren't built for big playlists of audio files. None of the DirectShow codecs seem to work in Vista's Windows Media Player, either.

 

[gizbug]

Any resources on getting bluetooth to work in vista beta 2?

 

[MikeyLSU]

I assume you want programs that don't work also?

Warcraft III audio does not work after you patch it. The sound works fine until you try to connect to Battle.net and it does the autopatch. I have heard the same thing happens with Diablo 2.

Halflife 2 and counterstrike source seems to work just fine for me.

I have a silicon Image PCI card because my MOBO does not support SATA and there are no working drivers for Vista yet, so it seems you can't get a Silicon Image SATA to work just yet.

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: gizbug
Any resources on getting bluetooth to work in vista beta 2?

I havent had any bluetooth issues on my laptop; vista detected and installed the drivers and than I paired up my bluetooth mouse (no extra work required).

 

[gizbug]

Originally posted by: spyordie007

Originally posted by: gizbug
Any resources on getting bluetooth to work in vista beta 2?

I havent had any bluetooth issues on my laptop; vista detected and installed the drivers and than I paired up my bluetooth mouse (no extra work required).

What kind of laptop do you have?
I managed to get the bluetooth drivers installed. How did you pair up your mouse to work? Don't you need to install a windows bluetooth stack so you have the bluetooth manager installed to add a new connection? Please explain.

 

[spyordie007]

I've got a Thinkpad T43 with an IBM bluetooth card (BMDC200 Rev. B).

As I recall Windows installed its Bluetooth manager automatically (I'm pretty sure I didnt do anything special).

Mouse pairing was just the normal add device process, let it detect, put in the PIN, off to the races...

Good luck,

Erik

 

[astromoose]

anyone have any general benchmarks of 32-bit vs 64-bit versions? i don't really know which one is the best to be running. running athlon 64 x2 4200+ cpu

also has anyone gotten an x-fi to work under the 64-bit beta 2.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Originally posted by: astromoose
anyone have any general benchmarks of 32-bit vs 64-bit versions? i don't really know which one is the best to be running. running athlon 64 x2 4200+ cpu

also has anyone gotten an x-fi to work under the 64-bit beta 2.

At present there appears to be a shortage of drivers for the Vista-64 edition.
That will change as parteners release their dedicated support drivers.

 

[the cobbler]

Originally posted by: astromoose
anyone have any general benchmarks of 32-bit vs 64-bit versions? i don't really know which one is the best to be running. running athlon 64 x2 4200+ cpu

also has anyone gotten an x-fi to work under the 64-bit beta 2.

I can probably help you get the X-Fi set up, got my Audigy 2 fully functional with Xp x64 driver pack and some tinkering.

btw, I have run just a few runs of SuperPi 1M and a couple runs of 3DMark05, everything at same exact overclock in both OS:

SuperPi1M:
XP 32 = 32.5s
vista x64= 32.245s

3DMark05 (@ stock GPU clocks..cannot OC GPU in Vista x64 yet):
XP 32 = 7620
Vista x64 = 7638

I was baffled to see the results initially. It is even more interesting that these scores come on an unfinished OS and just horribly rotten, god-awful display drivers with no Control Panel.

as far as other drivers/proggies...there are some tricks to get things running you can use, including running installers/applications/drivers in Compatiblity Mode. this allowed me to get my Zboard fully funcitonal, Logitech drivers for G7, etc. etc.

 

[hardcandy2]

One thing I ran into was using ULI chipset drivers (supposedly for Vista) and then it kept the ATI Radeon package from installing.

 

[inthell]

Originally posted by: astromoose
anyone have any general benchmarks of 32-bit vs 64-bit versions? i don't really know which one is the best to be running. running athlon 64 x2 4200+ cpu

also has anyone gotten an x-fi to work under the 64-bit beta 2.

btw the Vista x64 Audigy2 driver did not work for me, so i installed Vista 32bit and my sound is working. guess if you want sound do not install vista 64 until creative updates the driver.

 

[fyleow]

..

 

[Xonoahbin]

Can you try VIsta without being on XP, or is being on XP necessary?

 

[Dragon41673]

I'm having the same problem with my X-Fi Platinum as well with the x64bit Vista. Also the Microsoft link for the PC-Cillin installed, but not correctly. It would not run and when I went to uninstall it, it won't uninstall and I get error messages. Everything else seems to work but I haven't tried much past standard stuff such as web browsing, light gaming (with no sound), Yahoo Messenger works, but AIM 5.9 does not.

 

[fyleow]

..

 

[zainali]

i cant get aero glass to work.

tried installing the nvidia drivers but get some error saying this is not the correct version.

 

[astromoose]

on the creative forums there are people that have tried many many different driver sets and install procedures to no avail for x-fi on 64bit vista build 5384. creative has always had terrible driver support; their vista beta driver is 6 months old. i guess we will have to wait until creative gets it together.

any estimates on how long it will take for RC1 to be released? also how often does microsoft release new build versions to developers? do you think there will be a public build update before RC1 is ready?

 

[CrystalBay]

August 25 or something for RC1....

 

[Ryan Smith]

For those of you thinking about attempting to load any funny drivers on Vista x64, keep in mind that it requires signed drivers. You need to turn off that requirement to load unsigned stuff like Daemon Tools.

bcdedit /set nointegritychecks ON