Windows 7 installation

[Greebo]

My current hard disk is on the verge of expiring, lots of error messages and chkdsk runs on boot up etc. As I'm going to have to go through all the hassle of reinstalling everything anyway I've decided to upgrade my PC with an SSD and Windows 7 Professional. I have backed everything up and read a few installation and tweak guides including the hints and tips in this forum.

Before I start I have a question. I can install either the 32 or 64 bit version of Windows 7 but I see there's this USB bug with the 64 bit version causing crashes on AH with some PCs. I like the idea of being able to use all my memory with the 64 bit version though. I have got all my USB stuff running off self-powered hubs already, so how likely am I to get this issue if I do go 64 bit?

[Skuzzy]

Should be ok.  Get all the updates for WIndows 7 as well.  It looks like one of the updates fixes a kernel crash issue with sounds as well.

We have a 64 bit system running and it seems to be stable, but we tend to sweat the details more than most.

[PuppetZ]

I'd say go ahead with x64, the known advantages greatly overcome the slim potential for mishaps.

Win7 x64 pro here and no problems thus far. I really mean none, nothing, zip, zero, nada, squat... Just be sure to have your MOBO installation discs on hand. Win 7 will not always install chipset, onboard lan adapter, usb 3.0 drivers automatically. At least didn't for me. It's been pretty stable thus far.

Hope that helped  

[DaCoon]

I'm currently running Win7 64 with an i5 dual core. The only issue I had with it is the built in GFX chip. Chip didn't support the graphics on AH. Installed an additional video card and have had no issues whatsoever.  The only settings I use in-game are detailed terrain and water (no shadows for me) and I hold 50-60 fps.

[Ardy123]

Should be ok.  Get all the updates for WIndows 7 as well.  It looks like one of the updates fixes a kernel crash issue with sounds as well.

We have a 64 bit system running and it seems to be stable, but we tend to sweat the details more than most.

any idea which update? if you have the KB number thing, I'll download it right away.

[MADe]

Hey,

I use W7 64 bit, with SSD. No issues. No usb issues at all. Game crashes occassionally, very little actually, but its happens on log in. Just try again and fly. You will like the SSD, all tho it does not really affect game performance except for loading game. Put it in your port 0 sata port, install OS with only the SSD in. Add other drives only after you have put system in and its running. If you do a lot of editing on computer, add a spin drive to store all constant changing files. SSD's have a much shorter life span than spin drives, you'll want to limit writes to drive as much as possible. Do not do excessive benchmarks.

I would suggest the 64 bit OS, so you can use more than 3 GB's of ram.

I had a lot of problems with the SP1 update and IE9, currently not using them. Your copy might have that already in it. If not, Google it up before you try it. If the install develops issues, you do not just format and start again. SSD tech is way different than spin drives, maintenance is different. No defragging, no superfetch and some other things. Look into over provisioning and partition size before install of OS. W7 disk will handle the alignment of OS all on its own. Do some research to familarize yourself before install. Altho you may not be installing an OCZ SSD, they have a good forum with some quality info on SSD OS installs and maintenance. Also check for forum with your SSD manufacturer.

luck

ps: if you use an nForce chipset, leave SSD in IDE mode in bios. n Force had issues with SSD's. If Intel chipset, your gold, set bios for AHCI before OS install. Use latest bios version for mobo as well.

[Skuzzy]

any idea which update? if you have the KB number thing, I'll download it right away.

Unfortunately, I have no idea which one fixed it.  I did a fresh install last week and did all (100+) the updates at one time.

[Greebo]

Thanks for the help guys. The old HDD finally gave up the ghost last night just after Skuzzy's first  reply to this thread.

This morning I installed the SSD and Windows 7 64 bit. Initially all went well, Win 7 installed and updated itself OK. It came with SP1 and updated to IE9. I rarely use IE though anyway. I'm going to use the SSD for OS and programs and an HDD for data (skins etc.)

However there is some sort of DNS issue which stops me connecting to websites. The hardware connection's OK since Windows Update connects to the MS site. I've Googled the problem and it seems to be a common Win 7 issue with a number of possible cures. So I've got a few things to try when I get home tonight.

[Tigger29]

From what I've seen the two biggest issues with Win7 x64 (probably Win7 in general) is driver issues.  Windows will want to install its own drivers which may seem to work at first but will be problematic.  Also later on windows will try to push updated drivers on you which might do the same thing.  As a result you want to find the specific drivers for all of your stuff (go to you motherboard's website, your video card's website, your SSD's website, etc) and download/install their specific drivers even if windows says everything is OK.

Set your windows updates to "notify but let me decide when to install" or whatever and make sure that you do not check the boxes for any drivers.  There is even the option to tell windows update to ignore that specific update.  If Windows says there is an updated driver check the websites for your devices and see if they show it too.  If so then download it manually from the websites and NOT from Windows updates.

You can also point your "my documents" shortcut to a folder that you can create on the HDD to help keep that stuff off the SSD.

Good luck!

[MADe]

Greebo,

Could you clarify your DNS issues a little more. ie can only update windows.
Trigger might be right about drivers. I would be surprised if it is a w7 issue. W7 has many stock drivers included.
Are you using a lan on the mobo or a pci lan card? If onboard lan, make sure that the lan is enabled in the mobo bios. I myself have disabled Green lan and such.
Go to mobo manufacturers site to get 64 bit lan drivers. There might be a lan diagnostic available as well.
Look at your anti virus, disable for now.
Disable UAC for now.
Disable Windows firewall for now.
If you use a router, check your router settings. Is anything a wireless component? Is your modem in bridge mode? No router check setting for modem, firewall and such.
Look at component services and make sure things are turned on and those that need auto start are. Wireless services are one of these, WLAN.........
Try an SFC /scannow?
Look at the updates that were installed, you might consider uninstalling them all and seeing if that gets you connection. I had major issues with IE9?????
If you find nothing thats obvious, you might consider something called a "Repair Install". You will use your install disk to accomplish this. It will roll back OS to a 1st install state, removing all drivers and updates and such. Many hardware drivers on hardware install disks are not ready for W7 64bit. Go to manufacturers website for latest 64 bit drivers!
If all else fails you will need to get the SSD back to factory fresh state and try installing the OS again. The SSD manufacturer will have something like "Sanitary Erase" or something similar, for thier drive to accomplish this. You must return drive to factory state before any OS install for best performance and life.

My best guess at this point is that you have incorrect or corrupted lan driver.
I would advise a repair install before starting over, if that gets you internet connect, then it was a bad driver or problem w7 update, of which I have had many issues with. If "repair install" works, use no w7 updates untill all 64 bit hardware drivers, from websites, have been added.

[Chalenge]

Actually there are some issues with W7 incorrectly intiating the Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter which you can disable and it will fix the problem. You can also adjust the network adaptors IPv4 settings to point to a specific DNS server. OpenDNS primary is 208.67.222.222 and secondary 208.67.220.220 (not the 208.67.202.202 that is incorrectly posted elsewhere).

EDIT: What Tigger said plus move any Libraries you create over also. This is actually the largest growth area with W7 due to the size of music and video files.

[Greebo]

Thanks for the suggestions guys but I figured it out once I got home and had some time to play with it. Actually it wasn't DNS at all, as I couldn't ping numerical addresses. Nothing was working online except Windows Update. Turns out I had made the mistake of setting up an internet connection with my ISP's password etc. However Windows 7 does this automatically anyway. Once I deleted my extra unneeded connection it started working. DNS was a bit erratic on auto settings though so I reset the DNS servers to the OpenDNS ones suggested above. Actually I was using these before with XP. Now it works fine.

I also managed to get AH working, no problems with it so far.

[MADe]

Its always something simple LOL
S

[Greebo]

I've got another couple of problems in Win 7 64 bit now. When AH is running I'm seeing some video corruption, bunches of small bright green squares very briefly flashing across the screen once every 10-20 seconds. The same video card in Windows XP didn't do this so I'm assuming video drivers are the culprit. The card is a GTX 260 and the drivers are 275.33. Is there a known safe driver for this card? The game has also dropped to the desktop once without warning which may be related to this.

I also found the desktop performance to be very slow at times, but disabling indexing seems to have fixed this.

[Chalenge]

That sounds like a heat issue has already begun to work down the memory.