Poor experience with RC1 revisited

[Robin G]

All that follows applies to 32bit RC1:
Following from my posts of 9th. September I have attempted 2 more
installations of RC1. For the first I put an extra HD in my machine
(150GB) that I formatted NTFS and attempted to install to. Half way
through the install I got an error message saying that Windows couldn't
"prepare" the disk and the installation would be aborted. That was
followed by several "roll back" reboots that eventually became a reboot
cycle that I was only able to stop by catching the boot screen and
changing it "previous version of windows". I then removed the second HD,
cleaned up the detritus on my "C" (XP) drive and tried again using an
empty 50GB partition on my first disc. By this time I had unplugged the
card reader from my machine and removed all USB devices.
The installation went well but Vista froze about 1 minute after the
welcome screen. I then booted into safe mode and found that to work very
well indeed and I was able to turn off some of the services and install
the latest Nvidia drivers for RC1 (downloaded using XP).
Booting back into Vista I found the machine would run for a few minutes
but then freeze if I tried to do anything. It was impossible to run
windows update (which won't run in safe mode) so do not know if any
subsequent updates would improve matters. It was also impossible to
provide any significant feedback to MS from with Vista.
I note that I am not the only person with this problem and here is my
machine specification in the hope that this will find its way to MS:

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz
Speed : 3.21GHz
Performance Rating : PR4009 (estimated)
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 2 Unit(s)
Internal Data Cache : 16kB Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way set, 64 byte
line size, 2 threads sharing
L2 On-board Cache : 1MB ECC Synchronous, ATC, 8-way set, 64 byte line
size, 2 lines per sector, 2 threads sharing

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 Processor(s)
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG
System : TriGem Computer NETHERLANDS Advent Series
Mainboard : SiS-661
Total Memory : 1.5GB DDR-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : Elitegroup Computer Sys SiS661FX CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1.5GB DDR-SDRAM

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Plug and Play Monitor
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive : Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk : ST3200822A (186GB)
CD-ROM/DVD : JLMS XJ-HD166S (CD 48X Rd) (DVD 6X Rd)
CD-ROM/DVD : LITE-ON DVDRW LDW-811S (CD 40X Rd, 40X Wr) (DVD 5X Rd)

Logical Storage Devices
VOL1 (C : 47GB (25GB, 54% Free Space) (NTFS)
Hard Disk (D : 46GB (10GB, 22% Free Space) (NTFS)
Local Disc (E : 48GB (38GB, 80% Free Space) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (I : N/A
CD-ROM/DVD (J : N/A
3.5" 1.44MB (A : N/A

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 3 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : SiS PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : Generic USB Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Printing Support
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host
Controller
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : A4Tech PS/2 Port Mouse

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : Realtek AC'97 Audio
Device : Xpert DVBT 23880 Video Capture
Device : Xpert 2388x Transport Stream Capture

Communication Device(s)
Device : Conexant SoftK56 Modem(M)

Network Services
Adapter : TE100-PCBUSR 32-Bit Cardbus PC Card

Robin

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[Chupacabra]

That really sounds like hardware issues.

I've installed Beta 2, Pre-RC1, and RC1 on two different systems (Intel 865
and an Intel 915 ) with no difficulties whatsoever. Both have Nvidia cards,
6200 AGP and a 6600 PCI-e. Both are using SATA drives.

 

[Mario Rosario]

I think your troubles began from "first I put an extra HD in my machine".
Judging from what I read from your post, you are also trying to install
Vista in a multi boot machine. This is not recommended nor supported by
Microsoft.

Try installing with just one hard drive dedicated entriely to Vista in your
machine. And unplug all your accessories. And for heaven sake, break up your
paragraph into little paragraphs.

 

[Robin G]

I think your troubles began from "first I put an extra HD in my
machine".
Reason?

Judging from what I read from your post, you are also trying to install
Vista in a multi boot machine. This is not recommended nor supported by
Microsoft.

Beta2 (5384) worked fine. If MS does not support dual boot why does it
provide a boot manager that does just that?

Try installing with just one hard drive dedicated entriely to Vista in
your machine.
Why?

And unplug all your accessories.

Read the article.

And for heaven sake, break up your paragraph into little paragraphs.

What a bizarre thing to write, isn't four paragraphs enough for you? And
please follow NG etiquette by posting below the OP.

Robin
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[Chupacabra]

I think your troubles began from "first I put an extra HD in my machine".
Judging from what I read from your post, you are also trying to install
Vista in a multi boot machine. This is not recommended nor supported by
Microsoft.

FWIW, all my installs have been dual-boot with 2 hard drives, no problems...

 

[John Barnes]

Try installing with just one hard drive dedicated entriely to Vista in

Why?

It is the safest way to install. See posts by Colin Barnhorst about
problems. Of course if you
don't care about the other system, no problem. At least back up the entire
computer as Microsoft recommends.
You can hook up the other drive and clean up the booting process after a
clean install and seeing that all is well.

 

[Robin G]

It is the safest way to install. See posts by Colin Barnhorst about
problems. Of course if you
don't care about the other system, no problem. At least back up the entire
computer as Microsoft recommends.
You can hook up the other drive and clean up the booting process after a
clean install and seeing that all is well.

That is reasonable.
Personally I have never had any trouble using partitions but I do make
sure I have adequate backup (not the whole PC though! - just data,
settings and programmes).

Robin
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