Windows 7

dent

Plan on installing the 64 bit version on my mac so I can play games. Would 50GB be enough room? Playing mainly COD4 and Left 4 Dead. Music photos etc will be on the mac partition.

5uspect

Should be fine. The min would be about 10-15 gigs.

TerrorFirmer

Just have to say I find Win7 64-bit shockingly poor. I had 32bit and it was perfect. With 64bit....firefox is a mess, continuously crashing, and nothing will burn using various applications and discs - continously fails to verify and fails to burn in some cases, apps also crash frequently despite being apparently 64bit compatiable. Quite a few games dont work either and keep crashing at specific points that were fine in Win7 32bit. Not fully mainstream games but a few recent FPS titles from budget developers.

Going back to 32bit later today.

Dardania

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Just have to say I find Win7 64-bit shockingly poor. I had 32bit and it was perfect. With 64bit....firefox is a mess, continuously crashing, and nothing will burn using various applications and discs - continously fails to verify and fails to burn in some cases, apps also crash frequently despite being apparently 64bit compatiable. Quite a few games dont work either and keep crashing at specific points that were fine in Win7 32bit. Not fully mainstream games but a few recent FPS titles from budget developers.

Going back to 32bit later today.

Does the built-in disc burning fail?

Maybe you've a bad device driver that's causing you grief here - did everything download from windows update or did you bring any drivers to the mix?

Sounds quite odd, cause I got the impression ms were really pushing 64 bit...

for all the other apps - does it make any difference to run them in compatability mode?

kenon

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Just have to say I find Win7 64-bit shockingly poor. I had 32bit and it was perfect. With 64bit....firefox is a mess, continuously crashing, and nothing will burn using various applications and discs - continously fails to verify and fails to burn in some cases, apps also crash frequently despite being apparently 64bit compatiable. Quite a few games dont work either and keep crashing at specific points that were fine in Win7 32bit. Not fully mainstream games but a few recent FPS titles from budget developers.

Going back to 32bit later today.

Are you using the RC version?

Im using the 64bit version too and i havent experienced any of the things you have.

When I used the Win 7 beta I had a few driver problems and unexplainable crashes.

Dyr

using 64 bit in work and at home since the RC was released and it's been solid, havent had any burn problems. Havent used it for gaming though, still on XP for that..

kenon

Bambi wrote: »

using 64 bit in work and at home since the RC was released and it's been solid, havent had any burn problems. Havent used it for gaming though, still on XP for that..

I'm playing ArmA II on it and I've no complaints.

NewApproach

I have a few issues with W7 if anyone might be able to help it would be much appreciated.

1. When I click the start icon and all programs, it is completely blank

2. Quite often when entering passwords on firefox and IE the computer crashes, blue screen etc. I can post details of the blue screen if required!

3. Battery isn't charging when plugged in. If I hover over the icon it just says '6% available (plugged in, not charging)'. This is the case with both batteries.

Any help on any of the above would be super!!

5uspect

What are you running it on? I guess it's a laptop.
What hardware?

NewApproach

5uspect wrote: »

What are you running it on? I guess it's a laptop.
What hardware?

Yeah laptop, Dell XPS M1530

Has an Intel core 2 duo T7250, 2GB ram.
And Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT.

The version of windows I have now is the RC, build 7100

Dardania

NewApproach wrote: »

Yeah laptop, Dell XPS M1530

Has an Intel core 2 duo T7250, 2GB ram.
And Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT.

The version of windows I have now is the RC, build 7100

clean install?

do you have anti-virus? I noticed problems on my machine a while back with avast...

Where did you get drivers from? windows update?

did you make any modifications to the laptop (ie RAM)

NewApproach

Dardania wrote: »

clean install?

do you have anti-virus? I noticed problems on my machine a while back with avast...

Where did you get drivers from? windows update?

did you make any modifications to the laptop (ie RAM)

No I did the upgrade option.

Yeah, I have kapersky anti virus, at the time I think it was the only W7 AV available to download.

Yes all drivers would have been from windows update, haven't got them myself from a certian website anyway.

No the laptop is as it was out of the box.

Thanks for the help its much appreciated!

Dardania

ahhhh...upgrade... what's possibly happening is that a few of the Dell utilities etc. have carried over from our previous installation (Vista I presume) and these aren't flly compatible with 7.

The best bet with installing windows is to back up and do a clean install - despite MS telling us they'd sorted out the upgarde option in 7!

kenon

NewApproach wrote: »

No I did the upgrade option.

Yeah, I have kapersky anti virus, at the time I think it was the only W7 AV available to download.

Yes all drivers would have been from windows update, haven't got them myself from a certian website anyway.

No the laptop is as it was out of the box.

Thanks for the help its much appreciated!

The missing programs seems to be an issue with upgrading from vista or earlier os'. This chap seems to have found a fix.

The batteries problem might need a mobo driver update from dell.

Voodu Child

NewApproach wrote: »

Yeah laptop, Dell XPS M1530

Has an Intel core 2 duo T7250, 2GB ram.
And Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT.

The version of windows I have now is the RC, build 7100

Ran 32-bit and 64-bit Win7 on the same machine for a few months each. I didn't have any of the problems you described, though I did have some freezing/lockups that I couldn't narrow down.

I definitely wouldn't do an upgrade, a clean install is always the better option.

And the OS shouldn't normally affect your battery being charged, I can't think what that would be. Sounds like a hardware problem.

Ron DMC

Stephen wrote: »

I've an Eee 901 I'd like to try it on but the SSD is simply too small to make it worth even trying

Apparently it works according to this guide.

Tried doing it myself with a usb stick instead of a SD card but having trouble booting off it. Will try again during the week.

Ron DMC

Ron DMC wrote: »

Apparently it works according to this guide.

Tried doing it myself with a usb stick instead of a SD card but having trouble booting off it. Will try again during the week.

Got it working with an SD card, but messed up a few things when I tried mapping Program Files and Documents to the larger \

Gonna try again from scratch after work.

unklerosco

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Just have to say I find Win7 64-bit shockingly poor. I had 32bit and it was perfect. With 64bit....firefox is a mess, continuously crashing, and nothing will burn using various applications and discs - continously fails to verify and fails to burn in some cases, apps also crash frequently despite being apparently 64bit compatiable. Quite a few games dont work either and keep crashing at specific points that were fine in Win7 32bit. Not fully mainstream games but a few recent FPS titles from budget developers.

Going back to 32bit later today.

I'm using 64bit on my laptop n love it.. It flys along, haven't had a single problem or crash in since I installed it. Very impressed by it..

5uspect

I suffered my first BSOD when running Battlefield Heroes.
I think that was just windows berating me at my choice of game.

(BF:Heroes is a bug fest and BSODs are widely reported.)

Stephen

I've been running Win7 x64 on my home PC since the beta first went public. I've had none of the problems you've had TerrorFirmer. Its played every game I threw at it, firefox works fine, etc.

Dyr

Had my first blue screen on windows 7 too. Had recabled everything on the desk and stuck a saitek flight yoke into a USB port, think that might have blue screened it. rebooted fine though

Ron DMC

Kept getting bluescreens on my eee900 any time I did anything memory intensive (moving files, playing a video etc).

Decided that only 200mb of free space on the hdd was not a good call, so I installed it to the 16gb ssd instead. Slightly slower read/write speeds, but seems to be a lot less buggy than on the 4gb.

Now I just need to figure out how to get it to recognise the 4gb drive in Windows, otherwise I'm stuck with just the 16gb (now C:\).

Or I might put xp back on the 4gb drive and have both.

ynotdu

Worried about having to install Windows 7 on more than one computer? Sometimes copy protected programs can be awfully expensive, but thankfully Microsoft has announced its plans for a Windows 7 Family Pack, which can be installed on up to three PCs.


Microsoft revealed the new Win7 option late Tuesday afternoon, and the announcement has been generating plenty of buzz ever since. Unfortunately, prices for the Family Pack remain just speculation. What we do know is that the Family Pack will consists of the Windows 7 Home Premium version. (Source: cnet.com)
Family Pack Tops Consumer Wish List

The Redmond-based company, which plans to release the highly-anticipated operating system on October 22, had hinted at the possibility for something akin to the Family Pack when a test version of Windows 7 leaked onto the web a while back.
A Family Pack deal has been on consumer wish lists for a long time. Apple offers its own with the Mac OS X operating system, and has done so since 2002. However, Microsoft's last Family Pack deal, the one that came alongside Windows Vista, was only a short promotion that included three copies of Home Premium at a reduced price. It was not the solidified multi-pack option that the Windows 7 Family Pack appears to be.
RTM Code Arriving Soon

In other Win7 news, it's strongly rumored that Microsoft will be announce August 6 as its Release-to-Manufacturing (RTM) date. The RTM, which is the OS' final, completed version, will first be released to developers and other software insiders that day. It's expected that those with Software Assurance licenses will receive their Windows 7 RTM code on August 7. (Source: channelregister.co.uk)

ynotdu

It's Official: PC Makers Receive Win7 'Gold Code'




With its October release date steadily approaching, Microsoft announced today that it has released the code for its highly-anticipated operating system Windows 7 to PC manufacturers. It means the company is pacing itself well for the fall release.
Just a day after Microsoft created a stir with news of a Windows 7 Family Pack, whereby the OS can be installed on up to three computers, the company has kept the hype up with today's announcement that PC makers, including industry heavyweights Hewlett-Packard, Acer, and Dell, will now be loading Win7 on new computers. (Source: arstechnica.com)
Win7 Road to Recovery

It's good news for PC manufacturers and Microsoft, both of which need to recover from a rocky Vista release that saw underwhelming sales and less-than-satisfactory reviews. In addition, the allure of a new, powerful operating system might tempt consumers to shell out more for a top-of-the-line laptop or desktop, both of which have struggled in the shadow of the suddenly almighty netbook.

Neither Microsoft nor PC manufacturers make big bucks off those economy-priced and packaged netbooks. Many wonder if their Atom processors will be able to handle Win7, and certainly Microsoft is betting that many consumers will choose to upgrade their PCs.
Windows 7 Goes "Gold"

As for Win7's Release to Manufacturing (RTM), keep in mind that some manufacturers have been testing the OS for several months. However, this ship-out is referred to as "gold code," meaning that it's virtually identical to what we'll see in stores on October 22. (Source: reuters.com)
With just three months to go, Microsoft has managed to garner impressive pre-sales while avoiding any controversy (you'll recall that news of the infamous Windows Genuine Advantage emerged about the same time as Vista). That alone seems to be an achievement.

Blazer

Was just reading that during beat testing over 10 million people were in the Customer feedback program..that's some number and explains why Win7 is a hell of a lot better than Vista which had only about 250,000 I seem to recall.

I'm currently testing out the x86 RTM version in a virtual machine. The RAM usage is much improved over Vista, roughly 300-350MB on a clean install in Virtual PC.

They didn't even bother updating the startup and shutdown sounds. Also, the date on the default drivers is 21/06/2006; the same date as the Vista drivers. I know they're little things but it seems to prove that despite what MS claim, it really looks like Vista rehashed.

I think I'll need to install it natively to make a proper judgement on it however.

Stephen

Driver compatibility with Vista is a GOOD thing! Because you know certain vendors (I'm looking at you, Lexmark) won't bother to release new drivers for old hardware because its in their interest to get you to buy a replacement rather than keep the old stuff going with your new operating system.

I'm running Vista on a cheap HP laptop I bought here in the states for the equivalent of about €425 and while there's no real problem with it, I just know it'll be better once I get 7 on there. I was so used to using 7 on my own PC at home I had forgotten how sluggish Vista can be from time to time. Fortunately it qualifies for a free upgrade to 7 but they won't be shipping that until after the October public release.

5uspect

A friend in work installed the RC on his crappy old laptop and is convinced that it now runs better than XP. Obviously a fresh OS will always run better but things are looking good for 7.

StRiKeR

I took out the vista drive from my laptop and installed it to another hard drive, all drivers are already installed, its a Dell Studio 1735 by the way, with T9300, 4GB, 120GB C: 320GB for windows 7, it boots and shut down farely quick, but its a new install, its got to be quick I don't really like it so far, mainly lost of the classic menu, however the graphic driver is still in beta and there's a little glitch when you close or minimizing windows, very annoying to me so I took the HDD out and back to vista for now

Stephen

I've gotten so used to the Windows 7 taskbar I hate going back to the XP/Vista one