Windows Vista Build 5308 (Feb/Ent CTP)

[ShepsCrook]

Vista is coming along very nicely. I just got my email for Office Live also. So I'll be playing around with that as well. All these betas to test and so few systems... I may have to just build a new computer for it... 3 isn't enough...

 

[NetRyder]

Finally got a chance to install this build on my laptop last night. Took about 40-45 mins to install (P4 2.4, 512MB, 30GB 4200rpm drive). Overall performance is noticeably better than 5270, especially after defragging the drive, but I ran into more issues this time than I did with 5270.

Firstly, drivers for the ATi Mobility Radeon 7500 are not included anymore, not even on Windows Update. I managed to install the Omega drivers for XP, and things seem to be working well. Unfortunately, the reg hack to enable Glass on this card no longer works in this build (I knew it wouldn't last very long), so I'm stuck with the boring gray UI. Glass looks sweet, but I wish a little more effort would go into polishing up Express for setups with lower-end GPUs. Again, due to the unsupported GPU/drivers, I can't even open the new Windows Movie Maker, DVD Maker, and a couple of other apps.

This build of IE 7 has some serious issues with the XP Synaptics drivers that I installed for the touchpad. After installing the drivers, I can't open IE any longer (it crashes at startup), and looking at the Event Log reveals that there's some conflict with a Synaptics DLL. Ouch.

Office 12 Beta 1 TR seems to have problems connecting to my Exchange server (had the same problem with it on XP as well), so it looks like I'll have to reinstall Office 2003.

I'm a little disappointed, but I probably shouldn't be expecting miracles on a three year old laptop with a stone-age GPU. Still waiting to get a new HDD for the desktop so I can test this with the Athlon64 4000+ and 6800GT.

 

[Admiral Michael]

Wow, vista is great.

NOT

Can't even get the stupid thing installed. BSOD when trying to load my S-ATA drivers.


EDIT: Tried via floppy and USB drive. Do they have to be vista certified?

EDIT2: Tried the Run Setup from XP approach and so far so good. But this is crazy, I hate doing it this way!

 

[NetRyder]

Well, now that you have official access to Connect, make sure you report that as a bug once you get it installed.

 

[Admiral Michael]

Will do, damn that progress bar is moving slowly :s

 

[NetRyder]

Will do, damn that progress bar is moving slowly :s

Yeah, it'll take a while. I just kept the laptop out of sight while it was installing because I was getting far too impatient watching the progress bar crawling.

I hope the final install time is significantly shorter, and that they make the installer a little more interesting, like the XP one that displayed a quick rundown of all the new features. Right now, it's far too long and far too boring.

 

[Admiral Michael]

Update:

BSOD upon reboot. Tried to report a bug but when I try to install the Microsoft Beta Client (MBC) application I get a "Error: An object that you requested, or that was needed to process your request could not be found. " message!

 

[Khayman]

Woot, got access to connect and offical beta testing majig. I'll try to install vista again (tried with the dec ctp) but i think my HD in my test box is fubar

 

[GEN3RIC]

Woot, got access to connect and offical beta testing majig. I'll try to install vista again (tried with the dec ctp) but i think my HD in my test box is fubar

Same Khayman, Im happy to finally have a key that stays active for more than 13 days. I am going for the 64-bit version, Id like to see what I can get for performance.


My perf rating of 4
http://i.pbase.com/o4/57/569157/1/57635749.performance_rating.PNG

 

[GEN3RIC]

I got the x64 version of 5308 from Connect, and I can't install the bugger in WinXP. It never occurred to me I couldnt install it through XP, what's the best way to install it otherwise? I am dual-booting, fwiw.

 

[NetRyder]

My perf rating of 4
http://i.pbase.com/o4/57/569157/1/57635749.performance_rating.PNG

Nice.
I got a "1" on my laptop. Poor thing. Still haven't installed it on my desktop. I expect it'll get a 4 or 5 then.

I got the x64 version of 5308 from Connect, and I can't install the bugger in WinXP. It never occurred to me I couldnt install it through XP, what's the best way to install it otherwise? I am dual-booting, fwiw.

It might be because you're trying to run the x64 installer from a 32-bit version of XP. Instead, boot right off the DVD and install Vista onto a separate partition. It should auto-detect the XP setup and add it to the bootloader, so you'll be able to dual-boot between XP and 5308 x64.

 

[landers]

Re: Windows Vista Beta 1 announced!


I cant get my 2200BG to work with vista.. can you help? I sent you a PM.. :-/ please, its been driving me freakin bonkers.

 

[Admiral Michael]

Ok, I think my DVD may be screwed up and I deleted the ISO

So I'm downloading it again and going to try 4x. I think my DVDRW was 4x and a firmware update added 8x, I cant remember now.

The event that made me believe it could be a bad disc is that my laptop can't seem to read the disc altho it has been a little buggy with certain discs.

 

[fitz]

Okay.. call me lazy.. But has anyone installed 5308 on the VMWare server beta? and is in a smooth install or troublesome?

 

[ShepsCrook]

Has anyone had problems installing Trillian on Vista? I know I have.

 

[Admiral Michael]

Has anyone had problems installing Trillian on Vista? I know I have.

I know there was a conflict with IE7. They released a patched dll for trillian. I'm not sure if there recent update includes that.

Found the Trillian thread topic, it seems it's to fix a IE7 beta 1 problem. But here's the link:

http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74092

I'd suggest you'd take a look at Trillian's forum:

http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/forums

 

[GEN3RIC]

Nice.
I got a "1" on my laptop. Poor thing. Still haven't installed it on my desktop. I expect it'll get a 4 or 5 then.


It might be because you're trying to run the x64 installer from a 32-bit version of XP. Instead, boot right off the DVD and install Vista onto a separate partition. It should auto-detect the XP setup and add it to the bootloader, so you'll be able to dual-boot between XP and 5308 x64.

I ask just one more question... I burned the DVD as an ISO, will it boot correctly to install? Never done it with not even once with these builds. Just checking in advance.

Ok maybe one more question! I already have 32bit 5308. Will it install directly over 32bit? Or should I make another partition? Or better yet, get rid of 32bit completely? How can I even do that..? It's tough.

 

[ShepsCrook]

I myself have been just wiping the drive and then installing a new clean version.

 

[NetRyder]

Ok, I think my DVD may be screwed up and I deleted the ISO

So I'm downloading it again and going to try 4x. I think my DVDRW was 4x and a firmware update added 8x, I cant remember now.

The event that made me believe it could be a bad disc is that my laptop can't seem to read the disc altho it has been a little buggy with certain discs.

I had serious issues with DVD reads on my laptop as well (it's a three year old drive). With the first disc, the installer died 10 minutes into the process with an error message. The second disc wouldn't even boot. Finally burned it to a Memorex 8x DVD+RW and it went through to completion.

 

[NetRyder]

Okay.. call me lazy.. But has anyone installed 5308 on the VMWare server beta? and is in a smooth install or troublesome?

Haven't tried that. I might do it at some point since I had to revert my laptop back to XP SP2 yesterday and I still haven't got an additional drive for my desktop to setup a dual-boot.

Bear in mind that even if it does install in a VM, it's going to run noticeably slower than a native install, and Aero Glass will be disabled even on supported GPUs because of VMware's emulation driver.