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RC versions of Windows Vista SP1 will expire on June 30 - Uninstall Now!

Tony Mann of Microsoft Forums remind everyone who installed the Release Candidate that you must uninstall any RC builds (any build less than 6.0.6001.18000) before they expire on June 30. After this date, the kernel will stop with an END_OF_NT_EVALUATION_PERIOD error message an hour after the machine has booted. If you do wait until after June 30, just reboot your PC and start the uninstall process right away.

How do you know if you’re running a pre-release build?

If your desktop says “For Evaluation Purposes”, you are running time-limited beta/RC software and will need to uninstall. Another check is to hit the start button and type “WinVer” – if it lists an expiration date then you have a time-limited version of SP1.

How do you uninstall pre-release versions of Vista SP1?

If you installed SP1 Beta/RC as an update to an existing RTM version of Vista, you can probably uninstall it directly. For instructions on how to uninstall SP1.

If you did a full install (a.k.a clean install) of SP1 from a DVD or network share, or updated an RTM version using the DVD to do an upgrade full install, there is no uninstall method; we recommend you back up your data, reformat, and start with an RTM DVD (and then install SP1) or a final SP1 integrated install DVD. While you may be able to force upgrade using a full install upgrade, this isn’t a recommended practice over the Beta or RC version of SP1.

Installing the final build of SP1 after the uninstall of the pre-release build

If you want to install the final SP1 build after uninstall is complete, first check Windows Update. If Windows Update offers you SP1, that’s the best way to install. If Windows update does not offer SP1 your computer may have one of the problematic drivers we have documented in KB948343. If you installed the Beta or RC builds, you probably dealt with this with already and it wasn’t a major issue. If you don’t see SP1 on Windows Update, you should visit the download center to install the standalone SP.

Written by ShaDow on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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Vista SP1 Installed System Memory RAM

One of the aspects that Service Pack 1 changes for Windows Vista is the way that the operating system reports the amount of installed system memory. The way that
Vista SP1 now deals with the physical RAM impacts both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the platform and end users could experience an increase of the memory value reported. According to Microsoft, in the eventuality that physical memory was reserved for the graphics card, or if additional peripherals share the RAM via settings in the system BIOS, and also on computers with more than 3 GB of system memory, Vista SP1 will report the full resources available.

"This change occurs because Windows Vista with SP1 reports how much physical memory installed on your computer. All versions of Windows NT-based operating systems before Windows Vista Service SP1 report how much memory available to the operating system. This change in Windows Vista SP1 is a reporting change only," Microsoft informed.

Vista SP1 end users will be able to notice the increase in RAM reporting across various areas of the platform including the Welcome Center, in My Computer windows, System Properties windows as well as into the Performance Information and Tools item in Control Panel. RAM reporting evolved in Vista SP1 to include Installed Physical Memory (RAM), Total Physical Memory and Available Physical Memory in the System Information tool.

It is important to understand that not all the physical RAM is available to the operating system. Before SP1, Vista only took into account the system memory that it could use, and ignored the rest, even if it was installed. Because of BIOS and driver reservations of RAM, both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Vista RTM failed to report the full amount of memory on a system. Vista SP1 comes to resolve this problem, and will provide correct information of the hardware configuration even if the operating system has to share the RAM and can use only a portion of it.

"On computers that have a 32-bit operating system, more than 3 GB of system memory, and with a version of Windows that is earlier than Windows Vista SP1, users will see a larger difference in how much memory is reported as available to the operating system compared to how much physical memory is installed. This is because some physical address space must be reserved as I/O regions for memory mapped peripherals. These I/O regions are allocated between the 3 GB physical address and the 4 GB upper physical address limit," Microsoft added.

Windows Vista SP1 is available for download here.

Written by ShaDow on June 14th, 2008 with no comments.
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Microsoft updates Windows Vista search to version 4.0

The built-in search feature of Windows Vista is no match for the Spotlight search feature of Mac OSX which is unobtrusive when indexing, fast to find your files right off the bat and just smarter. Microsoft is playing catch-up with its search feature and with the latest update may just be getting there.

Windows Search 4.0 is available for almost every modern 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows including Vista with SP1, Windows XP SP2, Windows 2003, Windows Home Server and Windows Server 2008. The update is not available via Windows Update and must be downloaded manually from Microsoft.

The search isn’t necessarily any smarter and in that respect is no match for Spotlight but there are a couple new features worth noting. According to ZDnet, Windows Search 4.0 improves indexing speed and support for indexing encrypted files has been added. It also supports indexing files on networked computers and drives.It seems in order for this to work on Vista, SP1 must be installed. I have updated the post to reflect this, apologies for the slight confusion.

Source : Vista.Blorge

Written by ShaDow on June 6th, 2008 with no comments.
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Download Vista Compatibility and Reliability Update Available

In the fall of 2007, the Redmond company issued two Vista compatibility, performance and reliability update packs that were essentially bits of the first service pack, but offered to Vista RTM users almost half a year ahead of SP1 via Windows Update. Following the availability of SP1, Microsoft informed that there are users who cannot implement the service pack due to a variety of issues, but mainly incompatibility problems. For them, the KB938979 and KB938194 update packages were reissued. Users of Windows Vista SP1 need neither of the packs.

According to Microsoft, KB938194 will resolve the following problems:

"The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver.
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off.
• There are stability issues with some graphics processing units (GPUs). These issues could cause GPUs to stop responding (hang).
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a "Stop 0x0000009F" error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active."

Download : 32-bit|64-bit

Via [Softpedia News]

Written by ShaDow on May 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
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Vista SP1 matches XP SP3 in gaming performance tests

While some businesses might not be seeing much incentive to move to Vista SP1, gamers might be warming up to the idea. Past game performance tests have shown that lower frame rates, lag, and crashing are the norm for Windows Vista RTM. While some switched over and found they were having no problems, the majority held onto Windows XP SP2 for dear life. The majority of the blame for this problem was laid on lack of solid video drivers.

According to data from Microsoft, the hardware company's drivers were responsible for the largest amount (28.8 percent) of Vista crashes. ATI was at 9.3 percent. It's therefore not surprising that many users were having performance troubles with their Vista gaming machines. This has been slowly changing, thanks to both new third-party and Microsoft drivers.

Most recently, the progress has hit a point where gamers have stopped complaining about Vista. My good friend, a gamer who swore he would be skipping Vista (as many gamers have), built himself a new computer and installed Vista x64 SP1. Not only did he tell me that he had made the switch, he was quite satisfied with the decision. Back in November, data showed that Vista was being adopted very slowly by gamers, and so one gamer switching over is hardly something to write home about. On the other hand, a few recently released gaming performance tests by ExtremeTech do show something that's worth mentioning.

The test machine had the following specs: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, ASUS Blitz Formula, 2GB of Corsair RAM, WD6500AAKS hard drive, and an ATI Radeon HD 3870. The rig is hardly a high-end machine, but one must remember that these tests vary slightly with every different component. The test software used included PCMark05 and 3DMark06, while the games tested included Supreme Commander, Crysis, and World in Conflict. Windows Vista SP1 significantly outperformed XP SP3 in the PCMark05 test, and all but matched SP3 in the 3DMark06 test. As for the games, Vista SP1 tied XP SP3 in Supreme Commander, slightly beat XP SP3 in the Crysis test, and also slightly beat XP SP3 in the World in Conflict test. Nowhere did Vista RTM or Vista SP1 truly stumble, which suggests that ATI has significantly improved its video drivers to match XP's.

Can the same be said for NVIDIA? The company has actually recently just rereleased the 175.16 drivers for GeForce FX, 6, 7, 8, and 9 series as they just passed the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) test: Vista x86, Vista x64, XP x86, and XP x64. Before these, the last WHQL drivers for the GeForce 6/7/8 series of cards were released released back on December 19 and 20. While there are no recent tests to show the improvements, it seems NVIDIA is getting back on track as well.

Will gamers previously set on skipping Vista begin taking the plunge?

Source : Extreme Tech via Arstechnica

Written by ShaDow on May 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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Restore Windows Search which is missing after installing Windows Vista SP1

Once you install Windows Vista SP1 the Windows Search disappears.There are certain Keyboard shortcuts which could help you out.

These shortcut will bring up Windows Search
1.Windows Key + F.

2.You can also press CTRL + ESC and then F3.

3.Click on Taskbar and press F3.

4.You can open up Start menu, Windows Explorer or Vista Desktop and hit F3.

5.Got to command prompt and type "start search-ms:" without quotes.

Microsoft has also explained in Knowledge base article KB KB941946 how can u bring up Windows Vista default Desktop search.