Installing Win 7 for first time -- tips?

[gyrene81]

not sure if you saw it or not but...that link you provided on the mobo has a bios tab on it...there is a bios update from 07/31/09...the list of operating systems that bios update is compatible with:
Windows  XP x86/ XP x64/ Vista x86/ Vista x64/ Server 2003 x86/ Server 2003 x64/ XP MCE/ Win7 x86/ Win7 x64

also found a bunch of drivers that apparently would be needed for win7 under the driver tab...best guess would be update the bios if you haven't already then grab all those drivers needed for win7 and hammer away at it.

[gyrene81]

Lol! Good one. You have to have a completely inept IT administration if they let you install anything on your computer yourself let alone non work specific apps!

It consumes money and resources when you have to fix workstations that have been messed up with installing all sorts of crap, half of which are probably trojaned.

ripley...right now you're at the plate with zero clue...like most end users with a little knowledge gleened from sources other than real experience.

[ink]

not sure if you saw it or not but...that link you provided on the mobo has a bios tab on it...there is a bios update from 07/31/09...the list of operating systems that bios update is compatible with:
Windows  XP x86/ XP x64/ Vista x86/ Vista x64/ Server 2003 x86/ Server 2003 x64/ XP MCE/ Win7 x86/ Win7 x64

also found a bunch of drivers that apparently would be needed for win7 under the driver tab...best guess would be update the bios if you haven't already then grab all those drivers needed for win7 and hammer away at it.

no I did not see that....so much for my reading up on it 

Ive heard that doing a BIOS update is very touchy(never done one).....also should I install the drivers first?   update BIOS first then 7? then the drivers?.....     sorry clue less here when it comes to the in depth stuff, I built the system and it works...don't ask me how but it does 

and thanx for the reply 

[gyrene81]

nothing to worry about ink...we all start somewhere...

on that bios tab there is a "bios utility" zip file dated 01/11/11 and i'm not sure whether it flashes the bios or just unlocks it so you can use the other file to flash it with...documentation is sparse if at all so download, unzip the run that first. flashing a bios can be tricky, just make sure you don't lose power to the system while it's happening.

if the bios gets updated with that utility...then proceed with downloading those win7 drivers to a flash drive or other external device of some sort...so you have them when you install win7

keep in mind once you start installing win7, there is no going back...so make sure you have good backups of the stuff on your drive...or use a different hard drive for this.

once you're sure you want to install win7...do pretty much exactly what you did for winxp...only win7 is going to work best if you clear any existing partitions and let it create new partitions.

once win7 is installed...install the drivers you downloaded...

[Ack-Ack]

Lol! Good one. You have to have a completely inept IT administration if they let you install anything on your computer yourself let alone non work specific apps!

pssst  he works for a game company   

 

But we do have an inept IT team.

ack-ack

[ink]

nothing to worry about ink...we all start somewhere...

on that bios tab there is a "bios utility" zip file dated 01/11/11 and i'm not sure whether it flashes the bios or just unlocks it so you can use the other file to flash it with...documentation is sparse if at all so download, unzip the run that first. flashing a bios can be tricky, just make sure you don't lose power to the system while it's happening.

if the bios gets updated with that utility...then proceed with downloading those win7 drivers to a flash drive or other external device of some sort...so you have them when you install win7

keep in mind once you start installing win7, there is no going back...so make sure you have good backups of the stuff on your drive...or use a different hard drive for this.

once you're sure you want to install win7...do pretty much exactly what you did for winxp...only win7 is going to work best if you clear any existing partitions and let it create new partitions.

once win7 is installed...install the drivers you downloaded...

cool man Thanx for the tips

[Skuzzy]

Well you can erase those two first things immediately. UAC is far from bad as it gives you added security. Annoying? Yes. But more secure.

As long as you install all your programs outside of the "Program Files" folder, it is fine.  The real problem with UAC is the virtual data stores where all the program data ends up being located.  As a support person, I truly hate dealing with it as it is near impossible to help someone find where those data files are located.  Then I have to listen to them blame me for creating the problem.  Afterall, why would Microsoft do soemthing so stupid?

Superfetch is actually very beneficial to you as it will cache programs to your free ram. It means that when you play AH your textures etc. are cached in memory and they're fetched from there with zero lag instead of starting to chug them from your harddrive.

All versions of Windows, since Windows 98, cache data and programs after the first load.  They only get unloaded when free RAM is needed to load another program.  The only thing Superfetch saves time on is when it has already loaded data needed the first time.  There is no benefit to it after that.  

The downside is the amount of time it takes to unload what is not needed, when more free RAM is required.  It can hurt game performance due to the dynamic memory requirements of games.

There is no magic way for Superfetch to give your computer better performance, once something is loaded into system RAM.  The OS is already caching that information.

It never hurts to try it and make up your own mind.  Most people will see a gain in initial load times as a performance boost.  Try this.  Turn off Superfetch.  Load an application.  Exit the application, then load it again.  Do the same with Superfetch enabled and determine what you can live with.

[Krusty]

Ink: 16GB may seem like a lot now... but in 5 years? I'll probably still be using this version of Win7 then, so I went with the next version up. I do video editing on and off and graphics stuff, I've been known to play in 3D animation/rendering, so that RAM will eventually make its way into my system. Also, when using 64-bit systems, if I recall, the minimum amount of memory is larger for any given program. Because it is 64-bit programs use more, or some such oddity (?).

Also, I believe that the RAM limit on 32-bit also included the video RAM as well.... So if you had a 1GB or 2GB video card, look out! You might find yourself recognizing only 2 GB or something.

I've got 6GB now and a 2GB video card, I've set the system up with a fresh install (win7 64). I still haven't started installing things other than to test a game or two (checkin' out the frame rates, natch). I don't know if I like the default looks but I'll figure something out. Now I just need to read up on all the services and see what I can lose and what I can keep.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

As long as you install all your programs outside of the "Program Files" folder, it is fine.  The real problem with UAC is the virtual data stores where all the program data ends up being located.  As a support person, I truly hate dealing with it as it is near impossible to help someone find where those data files are located.  Then I have to listen to them blame me for creating the problem.  Afterall, why would Microsoft do soemthing so stupid?

I know about the problem with virtual store, we had our share of the support issues with that too. Having that experience and having noticed that AH defaults installation outside program files obviously for this reason, I thought it was safe from AH point of view.

All versions of Windows, since Windows 98, cache data and programs after the first load.  They only get unloaded when free RAM is needed to load another program.  The only thing Superfetch saves time on is when it has already loaded data needed the first time.  There is no benefit to it after that.

If I recall correctly you and some others were giving advices on defragmenting drives to reduce warps when textures etc. get loaded. Those along sound etc. files are preloaded to ram by superfetch after AH usage gets profiled in it, therefore reducing issues with them. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

My personal experience has been that AH2 is working far smoother in Win7 than it does in the same box and XP.

[gyrene81]

My personal experience has been that AH2 is working far smoother in Win7 than it does in the same box and XP.

FINALLY!!! that's something we can agree on ripley... 

[Skuzzy]

I know about the problem with virtual store, we had our share of the support issues with that too. Having that experience and having noticed that AH defaults installation outside program files obviously for this reason, I thought it was safe from AH point of view.

Yes, we did, but that is only a band aid.  Once Microsoft decides to include all the folders, then we will be screwed again.  That day is coming.

If I recall correctly you and some others were giving advices on defragmenting drives to reduce warps when textures etc. get loaded. Those along sound etc. files are preloaded to ram by superfetch after AH usage gets profiled in it, therefore reducing issues with them. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

The only reason to defragment has to do with all the patches we do.  Over time the "res" files will get very, very fragmented which increases the first time to load.  Again, Superfetch only impacts the time it takes to do the first load (providing it has already done the load).  After any data is loaded, the OS will cache the data as long as there is no need to remove it from system RAM.

My personal experience has been that AH2 is working far smoother in Win7 than it does in the same box and XP.

That comparison is not a valid point in discussing the postive or negative results of using Superfetch.  Windows 7 does a lot of things very differently than Windows XP did.  XP required more effort to keep it running smoothly, but it could be made to run anything as smoothly as Windows 7, and usually faster.  My XP box, for example is about 25% faster under XP than it was when I tried Windows 7.  It also runs the game smoother.

However, I am not a typical end user and I know most users will not have that same experience.  It has little to do with the operating system and more to do with the administrator/operator of the computer.  Windows 7 nannies a person more than XP did, which for most end users is a blessing.  To a power user it is a curse.

[gpwurzel]

As an aside, I've been experimenting the last few days (well, the time I've been able to get online etc) with turning off processes and seeing whether that helps with the AH/Win7 64 bit disco's. Turning everything possible off with alacritypc, I was able to fly in the BOG scenario - disco'd after 47 mins. Reupped (with turning nothing off) and discoed straight away - my isp having issues here, as losing connectivity quite a bit during the morning/evening.

Reupped again, (again with nothing turned off) and flew the rest of the scenario with no issues. Bearing in mind the flawed data (isp being the culprit) - it appears to make no difference (my machine has an asus mb, 12gb ram, dual 5770 gpu running in crossfire - onboard sound, custom sounds, hi res textures and everything turned on, shadows set to 2048)

Will (once isp stops being a pain in the neck) run with benchmarking up on a different monitor - see if I can pinpoint where/what is causing the issue with 7 64 bit.

Set some monitoring tools up to give me a dump report on the whole system when it goes next - we'll see if it gives me what I want.

Wurzel

[MrRiplEy[H]]

ripley...right now you're at the plate with zero clue...like most end users with a little knowledge gleened from sources other than real experience.

Please specify. Would you let end users install any non-corporate approved software to their workstations and if so, why? Doing that is shooting yourself in the leg.

[ink]

Ink: 16GB may seem like a lot now... but in 5 years? I'll probably still be using this version of Win7 then, so I went with the next version up. I do video editing on and off and graphics stuff, I've been known to play in 3D animation/rendering, so that RAM will eventually make its way into my system. Also, when using 64-bit systems, if I recall, the minimum amount of memory is larger for any given program. Because it is 64-bit programs use more, or some such oddity (?).

Also, I believe that the RAM limit on 32-bit also included the video RAM as well.... So if you had a 1GB or 2GB video card, look out! You might find yourself recognizing only 2 GB or something.

I've got 6GB now and a 2GB video card, I've set the system up with a fresh install (win7 64). I still haven't started installing things other than to test a game or two (checkin' out the frame rates, natch). I don't know if I like the default looks but I'll figure something out. Now I just need to read up on all the services and see what I can lose and what I can keep.

I have a 1gig GC now,  are you saying that is included in the 3.32 that XP recognizes....?  if so my 4 gigs of ram is useless, I need only 2 gigs of ram and the 1 gig card makes the full 3 gigs......now im so confused    

[gyrene81]

I have a 1gig GC now,  are you saying that is included in the 3.32 that XP recognizes....?  if so my 4 gigs of ram is useless, I need only 2 gigs of ram and the 1 gig card makes the full 3 gigs......now im so confused  

ink, standard versions of windows xp will only recognize up to 3gb of total system memory (including the video card)...without tweaking anything.

windows7 32bit will recognize up to 4gb of total system memory (including the video card)...without tweaking.

windows 7 64bit depends on the version:
Starter: 8GB
Home Basic: 8GB
Home Premium: 16GB
Professional: 192GB
Enterprise: 192GB
Ultimate: 192GB

Please specify. Would you let end users install any non-corporate approved software to their workstations and if so, why? Doing that is shooting yourself in the leg.

*sigh* i work in a university...academic departments get a standard corporate software loadout on all systems deployed to offices and classrooms...faculty members can install whatever they want/need and get "best effort" support by desktop support staff...classrooms have another 10-25 applications (mostly freeware) that get installed for "academic purposes" then the systems are locked down...
business offices get the standard loadout, plus whatever additional business applications are needed for each area...there are some offices that have full autonomy over what is installed on their systems and they get full support by my department...especially on university owned laptops...position=perks.

we have fewer incidents of malware infections than some corporations due to our network practices and the hardware/software we have in place...it would blow your mind what some of the biggest universities in the country allow on their systems...and the lack of network security they have in place...but that is the nature of academia.

corporate world is different...for the most part...and it depends on the company, as well as a person's position within that company...try telling your ceo that he can't install something he wants on his company owned computer.