My Vista WOW Experience.

[DX]

Hi All,

Sorry if my story goes on.....

On vistas release I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade, my current pc
was not really up for the task so I decided to build a new pc for the event.

Hardware:

Foxconn 945 7MC Series motherboard
Pentium D 3.4Ghz Dual Core
2GB Ram
250GB SATA Hard Disk.
Sony DVD Writer
My current Happague PVR 250 PCI TV Card

I originally wanted to go with Home Premium but due to the fact it did not
have remote desktop capabilities (as I remote acces alot) I had to go down
the Ultimate route.
I purchased an OEM version of Vista Ultimate whilst purchasing the hardware
for my new computer.

Finally the package arrived, I loaded the dvd into the drive and began
installation.

All went well to start until the installation got to "Completing
Installation" then the nightmare began. At this point the computer locked
up so eventually I rebooted to be informed
my installation had failed, no attempt at recovery at all (oh well, stuff
happens). So i retried the installation same thing. After about of day of
smashing my head on a wall I finally
discovered that the problem was the APIC setting in the bios, After
disabling this the installation completed. I then reenabled the APIC setting
on the bios.
Phew i thought, until I realised that vista was only using one core of the
processor, even though two processors showed in Device Manager.

After another 2 days of scratching my head, I gave up and did a complete
system backup using the new vista backup system, and loaded my retail copy
of Windows XP
onto the machine, this time I had no issues and XP detected both cores.
After running XP for a day I realised I had spent alot of money getting a
vista machine just
to do what my old pc could of done, and had done well without issue for
years.

So I bit the bullet again and did a restore of my vista (which I must say
the whole backup/restore system is top notch!) and my pc was back to where I
had left off a day ago).

After another day of messing around I finally found the "Detect HAL" check
box in MSCONFIG and selected it. On reboot the computer locked up, I reset
it and voila
I was running 2 processor cores.

Next came software install day, I had to repurchase my nero to v7.00 for it
to be vista compatible and I purchased Office 2003 Home Edition to replace
my dated Office 2000, at this
point I also found out that alot of my previous software tools would not
install, but nothing I didn't expect hay this is a new operating system
isn't it ????

Well I am at the point where I am installing each piece of software one by
one and one thing is becoming apparent I keep experiencing complete machine
lock ups when installing certain
software, a system restore brings it back to live but tracing this is
becoming time consuming to say the least (I am nearly a week into the
process)

Surely software that has been 5 years in the making could of waited a few
more weeks/months to ensure it functioned correctly before release!!!!

This is by far the buggiest operating system microsoft have released, and no
service pack due to at least xmas ???

If things continue the way they are I will have to put this down to a VERY
EXPENSIVE mistake and head back down the XP PRO ROAD

A sadened, now pennyless user!

 

[Seven]

Hi All,

Sorry if my story goes on.....

On vistas release I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade, my current pc
was not really up for the task so I decided to build a new pc for the event.

Hardware:

Foxconn 945 7MC Series motherboard
Pentium D 3.4Ghz Dual Core
2GB Ram
250GB SATA Hard Disk.
Sony DVD Writer
My current Happague PVR 250 PCI TV Card

I originally wanted to go with Home Premium but due to the fact it did not
have remote desktop capabilities (as I remote acces alot) I had to go down
the Ultimate route.
I purchased an OEM version of Vista Ultimate whilst purchasing the hardware
for my new computer.

Finally the package arrived, I loaded the dvd into the drive and began
installation.

All went well to start until the installation got to "Completing
Installation" then the nightmare began. At this point the computer locked
up so eventually I rebooted to be informed
my installation had failed, no attempt at recovery at all (oh well, stuff
happens). So i retried the installation same thing. After about of day of
smashing my head on a wall I finally
discovered that the problem was the APIC setting in the bios, After
disabling this the installation completed. I then reenabled the APIC setting
on the bios.
Phew i thought, until I realised that vista was only using one core of the
processor, even though two processors showed in Device Manager.

After another 2 days of scratching my head, I gave up and did a complete
system backup using the new vista backup system, and loaded my retail copy
of Windows XP
onto the machine, this time I had no issues and XP detected both cores.
After running XP for a day I realised I had spent alot of money getting a
vista machine just
to do what my old pc could of done, and had done well without issue for
years.

So I bit the bullet again and did a restore of my vista (which I must say
the whole backup/restore system is top notch!) and my pc was back to where I
had left off a day ago).

After another day of messing around I finally found the "Detect HAL" check
box in MSCONFIG and selected it. On reboot the computer locked up, I reset
it and voila
I was running 2 processor cores.

Next came software install day, I had to repurchase my nero to v7.00 for it
to be vista compatible and I purchased Office 2003 Home Edition to replace
my dated Office 2000, at this
point I also found out that alot of my previous software tools would not
install, but nothing I didn't expect hay this is a new operating system
isn't it ????

Well I am at the point where I am installing each piece of software one by
one and one thing is becoming apparent I keep experiencing complete machine
lock ups when installing certain
software, a system restore brings it back to live but tracing this is
becoming time consuming to say the least (I am nearly a week into the
process)

Surely software that has been 5 years in the making could of waited a few
more weeks/months to ensure it functioned correctly before release!!!!

This is by far the buggiest operating system microsoft have released, and no
service pack due to at least xmas ???

If things continue the way they are I will have to put this down to a VERY
EXPENSIVE mistake and head back down the XP PRO ROAD

A sadened, now pennyless user!

Your time must not be worth much. You could have bought a Mac and had an
OS much more advanced than Vista, all your tools would have worked and
you would have been up and running, online within 5 minutes of opening
the box.

Get a Mac next time!

 

[Paul-B]

Hi All,

Sorry if my story goes on.....

On vistas release I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade, my
current pc was not really up for the task so I decided to build a new
pc for the event.

Hardware:

Foxconn 945 7MC Series motherboard
Pentium D 3.4Ghz Dual Core
2GB Ram
250GB SATA Hard Disk.
Sony DVD Writer
My current Happague PVR 250 PCI TV Card

I originally wanted to go with Home Premium but due to the fact it
did not have remote desktop capabilities (as I remote acces alot) I
had to go down the Ultimate route. I purchased an OEM version of
Vista Ultimate whilst purchasing the hardware for my new computer.

Finally the package arrived, I loaded the dvd into the drive and
began installation.

All went well to start until the installation got to "Completing
Installation" then the nightmare began. At this point the computer
locked up so eventually I rebooted to be informed my installation had
failed, no attempt at recovery at all (oh well, stuff happens). So i
retried the installation same thing. After about of day of smashing
my head on a wall I finally discovered that the problem was the APIC
setting in the bios, After disabling this the installation completed.
I then reenabled the APIC setting on the bios. Phew i thought, until
I realised that vista was only using one core of the processor, even
though two processors showed in Device Manager.

After another 2 days of scratching my head, I gave up and did a
complete system backup using the new vista backup system, and loaded
my retail copy of Windows XP onto the machine, this time I had no
issues and XP detected both cores. After running XP for a day I
realised I had spent alot of money getting a vista machine just to do
what my old pc could of done, and had done well without issue for
years.

So I bit the bullet again and did a restore of my vista (which I must
say the whole backup/restore system is top notch!) and my pc was back
to where I had left off a day ago).

After another day of messing around I finally found the "Detect HAL"
check box in MSCONFIG and selected it. On reboot the computer locked
up, I reset it and voila I was running 2 processor cores.

Next came software install day, I had to repurchase my nero to v7.00
for it to be vista compatible and I purchased Office 2003 Home
Edition to replace my dated Office 2000, at this point I also found
out that alot of my previous software tools would not install, but
nothing I didn't expect hay this is a new operating system isn't it
????

Well I am at the point where I am installing each piece of software
one by one and one thing is becoming apparent I keep experiencing
complete machine lock ups when installing certain software, a system
restore brings it back to live but tracing this is becoming time
consuming to say the least (I am nearly a week into the process)

Surely software that has been 5 years in the making could of waited a
few more weeks/months to ensure it functioned correctly before
release!!!!

This is by far the buggiest operating system microsoft have released,
and no service pack due to at least xmas ???

If things continue the way they are I will have to put this down to a
VERY EXPENSIVE mistake and head back down the XP PRO ROAD

A sadened, now pennyless user!

I don't pretend to be anywhere near an expert on Vista but there is a
possibility that you may have a problem with your RAM. From my limited
experience with Vista it's much more sensitive to what RAM you have in
the slots, and often what causes all sorts of errors in Vista will run
just fine with XP

Just my 2p worth...

 

[Paul-B]

Your time must not be worth much. You could have bought a Mac and had
an OS much more advanced than Vista, all your tools would have worked
and you would have been up and running, online within 5 minutes of
opening the box.

Get a Mac next time!

What a totally pointless and unhelpful reply.

 

[Adam Albright]

I don't pretend to be anywhere near an expert on Vista but there is a
possibility that you may have a problem with your RAM. From my limited
experience with Vista it's much more sensitive to what RAM you have in
the slots, and often what causes all sorts of errors in Vista will run
just fine with XP

Just my 2p worth...

I don't know if it happens during a clean install, but during my
install in place several times at reboot you see a boot manager flash
by that lets you pick between your old system,continue with setup or
test memory. This may be difficult to grab since the screen flys by
very fast and generally it isn't smart to stop a install in progress.
Its a different story if you hit a stop and a BSOD, then if given a
choice and you see a boot screen and it has a test memory option on
it, give it a shot.

 

[Guest]

DX,

Someone suggested that perhaps your RAM might be causing your problems. You
can use Windows Memory Diagnostic utility to check your RAM. It can be
downloaded freely at http://memtest86.com/

You will need to burn it to a CD because you must put the disk in your CD
drive and reboot with it in so it will function.

I don't know if User Account Control (UAC) would cause problems for software
installations but you might turn it OFF prior to software installation to
check. You will find this in the Control Panel/User Accounts - and your
account. It will be to the very bottom left.

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

Ed

Memtest86 is NOT the Windows Memory Diagnostic, which can be found here..

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

 

[DX]

Thanks for the info.

I downloaded > http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

burnt it to a disc and ran it for several passes all is clear!!!!!

guess memory aint the answer!!!

thanks anyway for responses.

I will keep trying!

 

[Guest]

He could have purchased a new PC and would have been up and running, online
within 5 minutes of opening the box, too.

Except he would have had to go out and purchase all new software.

Then he would have had to spend another $149 for the next Mac OS due out in
a month or two.

 

[Roy Coorne]

Someone suggested that perhaps your RAM might be causing your problems. You
can use Windows Memory Diagnostic utility to check your RAM. It can be
downloaded freely at http://memtest86.com/

You will need to burn it to a CD because you must put the disk in your CD
drive and reboot with it in so it will function. ...

Or extract ist to a bootable floppy disk...

Roy

 

[Guest]

It's your motherboard I believe, I too have a foxconn and it hung at the
"completing installation" point on around 50 attempts at installing, once it
was finally installed (took a week of trying different things) it hangs every
minute or 2, after searching around I've seen that it's happening eactly the
same to people with Foxconn motherboards (different models).

Foxconn answered an email of mine very rudely basically saying "tough".

The company where I bought my motherboard from have found the same problem
and have had their problem escalated to Foxconn China

 

[DX]

Hi Maff,

I found it was some drivers causing my lockups and I haven't had one for 2
days now (pc been on 24/7)
so i was suprised to read your post.

Everthing I did to get to the stage I am at is in my original post.

Hope it helps someone.