Vista: Performance Hints and Tips

[Fyre]

Hey fellas.  I know that no one knows me anymore, but I'm Shuckins' son.  I recently got a new computer with Vista Home Premium on it.  My problem is that after I download a fresh install file for AH, the installation locks up at 98% completion.  Could this be caused by a problem with Vista, or is something else going on?

[humble]

I'm just playing with Vista, to be honest its not as bad as I thought it would be....but then i'm running a 6600 duo. I loaded AH no problem....so far it plays once and locks up if I try and fire it up a 2nd time. I need to boot to XP to clear. Its a different animal then XP altogeather...or so it seems. If you have less then stellar resources its a dog. I will say it runs all my business apps better then XP by a wide margin so far......(not that thats alot of stuff). I haver a dual boot with all personal stuff on XP and my business stuff locked down (hopefully) on vista with multiple backup's....

[humble]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Everyone can see my Vista machine, but no one can access it (workgroup, no domain).  I can access anyone else's share from the Vista machine (except thier 'Program Files' folder, even if it is shared).

I kinow it has to do with one of the services I have shut down.  Poasibly somehting to do with UAC.  I have not had a chance to chase this one down yet.

I encountered the same stuff, in the end I figured it out (at least for me). I could access the network storage but see nothing (Vista showed all network storage as empty)....finally realized you need to map everything like its a network drive and presto everything appears. So now my Vista box has a seperate network drive for each shared resource...

Skuzzy curious if you tried mapping all the shared resources. Tomorrow I need to migrate my database files over to Vista and see if the rest of network can access...but as of now everybosy can see and read/write to the test files....

[Skuzzy]

I have no issues getting to other shares, mapped or not, from the Vista box.  And everyone can see the Vista box and can get a list of the shares available, but no one can access those shares from an XP box.

Are you saying the XP boxes need to map my Vista shares as network drives before they will be able to access the share on my Vista box?

[humble]

I've got my stuff on an external network drive so its not on the vista box. Vista had to map the drive to see the contents (it could see the drive itself).
I'll see if my other machines can see my vista shares. BTW the network blew out my user/passwords on the shares....since its 1st cup of coffee I'm still booted to Vista....will need to see if ita Vista issue or the WRT350N router...I'll set up a share on vista and wee what it takes for evewrything else to see it.....

[Skuzzy]

The only thing I have not tried yet was adding the individual users to my box.  I had perms set to full execution for everyone.

[humble]

From what i'm reading you can only share if each user has an account on the vista box...not sure if thats right. I'm still trying to figure out how my SQL server handles network storage drives. Think i'm going to need to use IP mapping since the datbase isnt liking logical drives from different boxes (even if they're all mapped the same)

[Skuzzy]

If you have UAC (User Access Control) enabled, that is quite true.  However, you are supposed to be able to disable UAC and then have it act like any other previous version of Windows.

Does not seem to be true.

Also, in trying to install a network printer, I have had zero success.  I cannot get the installer to use my local driver on Vista.  It insists on trying to install from the remote computer, which is a Windows 2K box, and of course, fails miserably.

I also ran into an instancing issue with IE.  This one is wierd.

Open up two instances of IE.  Have both of them set to a WEB page which requires input (two different sites, which use Java)).  I can type in the input, no problem.  But when I use the mouse to try and press the button to send the input, it is ignored.  I can do anything else, but send the input.  If I shutdown the second occurance of IE, the other one will work as it should.

I have tabbing disable in IE7.

[humble]

Nothing about vista acts like anything I've seen. It almost seems counter intuitive on purpose. I'm far from an expert but i've always gotten from where I am to where I need to be. I've set up everything from lantastic to citrix for 75+ users....often faster better and more stable then the guys I pay $120/hr to handle this type of stuff. Obviously there is an awful lot of down and dirty nitty gritty in any OS....but historically the fundementals are just that. You might run into a syntax glitch or "workflow" procedure thats based on how one OS handles an instruction set vs another....I've never seen anything like vista. It seems like they "invented" stuff just because they wanted to. You turn stuff on or off and you dont get the effect you "should"....

Basically I get the sense that Gatesdom has taken the compaq/dell/gateway gremlins and standardized them so you cant possbily do anything YOU want without the permission on the resident ogre in the OS....arghh...

[Borsuk]

I'm only running Vista Home Premium so I don't have the same security as Pro but I disabled UAC after day 3 as I got fed up with hundreds of popups every time I tried to do anything. I just switched it off in the Control Panel. I've not checked the services to see if it is still running but all the warnings have stopped. I also have Windows Firewall and Defender switched off with a 3rd party security suite running and I can share my files on my home network with an XP box no probs.
If I had known they were going to extend XP licenses I would have held off buying this thing and got it with XP instead.

With older OS's you could setup different users with different startup settings to max performance when gaming. I tried to do this for AH so that all my normal Office and security settings could be minimised and reduce the base load to rock bottom but it seems that whatever changes I make using msconfig applies globally not just in my AH user account. Does anyone know of a good program which will allow me to define system startup options for multiple accounts.  I'm fed up everytime I get near the woods in zoom mode my graphics and audio go into slow mo, this is the only problem I have running Aces high at the moment.

[Mak333]

Skuzzy,

I just purchased PC components ONE hour ago from Newegg and my specs are similar to yours.  Here are mine:

COOLMAX 700W Power Supply (SLI Ready)
GIGABYTE Motherboard, Nvidia 650i
Intel e6600 (Conroe) 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo
eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 800 (pc6400) RAM
Seagate SATA 320GB 7200rpm Hard Drive


I'm wondering if Vista will run some graphically intense games such as Aces High II, Battlefield 2142, Armed Assault, MS Flight Sim X etc etc... games of those intensity.  I'm wondering if I can run these and expect the same results in Frames Per Second as I would in XP.  I don't care if I have to turn of Aero and go into msconfig and disable a ton of the start up options I don't need, my question is that will I be able to turn these types of games with similar frames as XP?

My reason for asking this question is that I don't have an OS.  I have purchased the parts, but am waiting until they arrive and until I build the system.

[Wayout]

Originally posted by Mak333
Skuzzy,

I just purchased PC components ONE hour ago from Newegg and my specs are similar to yours.  Here are mine:

COOLMAX 700W Power Supply (SLI Ready)
GIGABYTE Motherboard, Nvidia 650i
Intel e6600 (Conroe) 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo
eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 800 (pc6400) RAM
Seagate SATA 320GB 7200rpm Hard Drive


I'm wondering if Vista will run some graphically intense games such as Aces High II, Battlefield 2142, Armed Assault, MS Flight Sim X etc etc... games of those intensity.  I'm wondering if I can run these and expect the same results in Frames Per Second as I would in XP.  I don't care if I have to turn of Aero and go into msconfig and disable a ton of the start up options I don't need, my question is that will I be able to turn these types of games with similar frames as XP?

I have the following...

Windows Vista Home Premium
Intel Core 2CPU  6420 @ 2.13GHz
2.00 GB Ram
256MB ATI Radeon X1300PRO
Saitek x52 Pro
AT&T DSL

I get 59-65 FPS with the High RES Texture pack
Ping rate 60-65
Variance in Delay is a flat line

I'm very pleased with the results.  Personally I think the 2 GB ram and the solid DSL service make the biggest difference in preformance.

BTW - I just picked up the x52 pro. I've used CH products for years and loved them, in my opinion the x52 pro is in the same class as CH.  The reason I went with the x53 pro was the good reviews it got and the price.

[JB17]

I have the spining clipboard in Vista.  The patch sticky you have will only work for XP.  (I tried but the update kicked me out due to Vista OS).

Is there a vista solution to this problem?

HPa6030n

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core 4800+
2 gig ram
NVidia GForce 6150SE

[Skuzzy]

Originally posted by JB17
I have the spining clipboard in Vista.  The patch sticky you have will only work for XP.  (I tried but the update kicked me out due to Vista OS).

Is there a vista solution to this problem?

HPa6030n

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core 4800+
2 gig ram
NVidia GForce 6150SE

AMD has not released a Vista patch yet.  You will have to right-click on the Aces High II startup ICON, select "Properties", and set the game to run in compatibility mode.

Mak333, I cannot think of any reason to go with Vista.  Windows XP will be supported until the year 2014.  It is more stable, and runs better than Vista will ever be able to.  Vista really does not bring anything to the party but a lot more bloat and instability.

[FireOf59]

Recently bought my wife a Dell laptop and had to get the first Vista machine (Vista Home 32 Bit) for our household. My Homebuilt Desktop (Specs in Sig) will have XP til it dies.

ANYWAY, got hers with the 1 Gig of RAM that Dell recommended. Many issues with just her using AOHell and reading news. As soon as I upgraded it to 2 Gig, most  of the issues went away.

Strongly recommend a Minimum of 2 Gig RAM and 256 Meg Dedicated Video RAM.

I got an HP (I now hate DELL also) Pavilion dv9000 Laptop for travel with Vista Premium 64 Bit,  Intel Dual Core CPU, 2 Gig RAM and NVIDIA Geforce 7600 w/256 Meg Dedicated Vid Mem. Runs AHII great, even over the wireless hotel connection I was using.
....Playing AHII while on the road..... priceless

Skuzzy, Just went through your tips; Thanks VERY Much. That had to be a TON of work....