WIN 7 experiments

[SKColt]

 I have an old P4 machine that ran AHII well enough to play. Since it is not a primary machine I have experimented with it. I installed Windows 7 RC last weekend. I created a bootable USB flash stick, and then did a full install from the flash media.
 AH actually works well with this WIN 7 installation. The only issue I have not resolved is mic level for vox. WIN 7 apparently does not have a mic boost setting available in the GUI. I looked in the registry, and the mic boost is enabled there. However, mic level i very low, and I have to get right on the mic to be heard in the game at all.
 The sound card is a Creative Audigy gamer.
 I will post a DXDiag later. 

 This is certainly not an urgent matter. I was just curious if anyone had also tried WIN 7, and encountered the same issue. My primary machine continues to perform flawlessly, delivering 60FPS with settings maxed.

SKColt

[Skuzzy]

Vista/Windows 7 no longer have DirectSound support, which was the sound component for DirectX games.  Microsoft dropped support for it as they could not get DRM to work with it.

With the loss of DirectSound, the mic boost went away.  All you can do is adjust the gain control in the Recording panel for the operating system.

[zmeg]

  Just go to mic properties/custom

       

[Skuzzy]

Thank you zmeg <S>

I stand corrected.

[SKColt]

Been there. The mic boost option is not available in the custom properties in my machine. I located the registry entry for mic boost, and the value was "1", but I do not see the option in the microphone properties.
 I will google this extensively when I have time later. If I resolve this, I will post results here.

 This is certainly a validation of the "sane" notion of not putting beta operating systems on a primary machine.
 If I trash this test machine, I can easily put XP back on it.

[gyrene81]

LOL...I made that mistake for 2 weeks before I smacked myself in the head and did a double take...6 hours later XP Pro was back on my new system and Win7 testing got relegated to an old low end system for another month.




I'll wait for the retail version plus service pack 1...been dealing with the Microsoft poop happens philosophy since Windows 3.0.

[DCCBOSS]

Can you still run a separate sound card?

[Motherland]

I've been running Windows 7 since around the time the RC came out I think... it's great. I really haven't used XP since I installed it. Once you turn UAC off there's really no reason to. Runs Aces High superbly.

[SKColt]

WIN 7 audio problem is solved. I am using a SB Audigy SE soundcard. When I installed WIN 7 the standard XP supported driver was loaded. That driver did not give me full functionality. I was unable to engage mic boost.
  I went to the Creative site and actually found a WIN 7 driver. However, the link was broken over the weekend.
 Last night I checked the site again. I was able to download and install the Audigy  WIN 7 driver.
 The mic boost function was now available. I logged into the MA and did a mic check. I could hear myself very well. I went on range channel and several folks responded with a resounding 5X5.        

[xStrato]

Has anyone compared how the game runs on Windows 7 to Windows XP (frame rate?) This would have to be done on the same machine or identical.

Has anyone tried the TrackIR on Windows 7? How about the X52?

I want to move to Windows 7 soon so I can start learning it. But I won't move until I know for sure that all of my hardware will work on it.

[The Fugitive]

I'm in the same boat. I have access to WIN 7 but I'm afraid to make the jump. I'm a strong believer that if it ain't broke, don't fix it! 

[gyrene81]

You wanting to go 32bit or 64bit?

The 32bit will run on pretty much any P4 system with at least 2GB RAM...and thankfully they ditched most of the stupid massive graphics crap.

The 64bit version will run fairly decent on a P4 system with at least 4GB RAM...haven't tried gaming on it yet...but one of my uber geek friends has a Core2 extreme system with 6GB RAM and he's running a bunch of games on it with no issues.

Just be prepared for some serious resource hog background processes.

[TequilaChaser]

Has anyone compared how the game runs on Windows 7 to Windows XP (frame rate?) This would have to be done on the same machine or identical.

yes, I have compared them, although my WindowsXPpro SP3  is 32 bit, and I installed Windows 7 RC 64 bit version.......


the differences I experienced:

• Gained an extra 5 Hz on my Dell LCD monitor :  WinXPpro = 1280x1024 @ 70Hz ;  Windows7 64bit = 1280x1024 @ 75Hz (note* both using the 9.7 cat display drivers
• Gained same extra 5 Hz ingame in Aces High, as well as Aces High runs none stop , no drops in FR and everything fully maxed out all sliders toward max/detail
• now have the pleasure of my Win7 OS using all 4 gigs of memory, to where WinXPpro only used 3328 total , but programs only used 2048 total (2 gigs )
• I must note, this is without turning off any processes or tweaking Windows7 at all, unlike my WinXPpro that is tweaked and runs with 19 processes total while playing AH
• I have been using Windows 7 since somewhere around 7068 build beta, and using AH2 on Win7 since the RC release back in may, never had any problems with AH, ouside of the one dump from the Coral Sea Scenario, that almost everyone experienced

hope this is imformative for anyone considering........ I have had hardly any problem at all finding Windows 7 Drivers for my PC....... and my personal opinion it blows Windows XP pro away... ( but mainly because I am using the 64 bit version verses my windows XP being 32 bit )

[Tigger29]

Has anyone compared how the game runs on Windows 7 to Windows XP (frame rate?) This would have to be done on the same machine or identical.

Has anyone tried the TrackIR on Windows 7? How about the X52?

I want to move to Windows 7 soon so I can start learning it. But I won't move until I know for sure that all of my hardware will work on it.

I have a dual boot XP Pro 32bit/Win7 64bit and never even bother booting into XP anymore.  7 seems to be just as fast as XP, even with more eye-candy and all that... I'm actually starting to like the fluff just a bit.  For some reason, AH likes 59 FPS in 7 (as opposed to 60 in XP)... but it might be a bug with how it gets reported.. who knows...

X52 (and programming software) works flawlessly in win7

Track IR version 4 will lock up IF you maximize it and view the lights from within it and then close that window, but if you leave it minimized it works great.  I just recently installed version 5 and it seems to have no problems.

I do run game booster prior to running AH.. but FR seems to be about the same as with XP (although I haven't run the new version of AH in XP yet)... MS Flight Simulator X runs MUCH MUCH faster with DirectX10 in win7 that DirectX9 in XP.