Here are my power settings on Windows Vista or Windows 7. I find the default setting annoying or inadequate, especially the Start menu power button triggering sleep.
I found it hard to set up file transfer between Windows XP and Windows Vista using direct Ethernet connection. Sometimes, Windows Vista can see a Windows XP machine, but Windows XP somehow can't see a Windows Vista machine. I connected a PC running Windows XP and a PC running Windows Vista with a Ethernet crossover cable.
You can open the Local Area Connection Properties dialog by opening Control Panel, Choosing Network and Internet Connections category, clicking Network Connections icon, right-clicking the icon for your Ethernet connection and choosing Properties from the right-click menu.
This post describes a way to activate Windows Vista/7 with Grub and SLIC loader. In order to successfully activate Windows Vista/7, you essentially need the following 3 things.
Once these 3 things are obtained, you need a program to insert the SLIC code into memory to emulate OEM BIOS. I found an executable file called wow.exe whose job is to insert a SLIC code into BIOS. Also, GRUB.EXE is needed to find Windows partition and to boot Windows.
Because wow.exe and grub.exe are DOS executables, DOS should be booted first and run wow.exe and grub.exe in turn. grub.exe will chain-load Windows bootmgr, and then Windows will start. FreeDOS is preferred to MS-DOS because it works better with GRUB. Download a floppy image containing FreeDOS kernel and FreeCOM command processor below.
wow.exe has a SLIC table embedded in itself beginning at $A58. Start XVI32 and open wow.exe. Start another XVI32 and open a SLIC table which should be 374 bytes.
With the XVI32 window showing a SLIC.table, open the Edit menu, click the beginning of file, select Block mark from the Edit menu, go to the end of file and select Block mark again. Open the Edit menu, open the Clipboard submenu and select Copy.
With the XVI32 window showing wow.exe, go to $A58, open the Edit window, select Block <n> chars..., enter 374 and click OK. Select Block delete from the Edit menu. Then, open the Edit menu, open the Clipboard submenu, and choose Paste. Go to $A38 and select Overwrite string... and enter the new 14-character OEM identifier which should match the string starting at $A62. Save the file wow.exe.
Open the FreeDOS floppy image with WinImage. Insert wow.exe into the floppy image. Create a batch file called AUTOEXEC.BAT with a text editor and put the following contents in it.
@ECHO OFF
WOW
GRUB
Save the file AUTOEXEC.BAT and insert in into FreeDOS floppy image.
Assuming that Windows 7 is installed, open a Command Prompt as administrator. Create an arbitrary file in C:\Boot, for example, with the filename win7. This file will be used to find the Windows partition (useful in mutiple-Windows environment).
copy nul C:\Boot\win7
Then, create a new text file MENU.LST with the following contents:
timeout 0
default 0
fallback 0
hiddenmenu
title Windows 7
find --set-root /boot/win7
chainloader /bootmgr
Save the file as MENU.LST and insert it into the floppy image with WinImage. Save the floppy image and quit WinImage.
With GRUB installed into MBR, type the following GRUB commands at boot time to boot Windows with BIOS-inserted SLIC code. Assume memdisk and freedos.flp is in the (hd0,3) partition.
kernel (hd0,3)/boot/grub/memdisk
initrd (hd0,3)/boot/grub/freedos.flp
Once Windows has started, find the OEM certificate (*.xrm-ms) and 25-character Windows key that match the SLIC table just loaded into BIOS. Open a command prompt as administrator and type the following commands to activate Windows:
slmgr -ilc oemcert.xrm-ms
slmgr -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
Hopefully, Windows will be activated.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 are overly complicated pieces of software, and thus bring a bunch of boot problems with them. In preparation for such problems, it is wise to create a boot floppy for Windows Vista or Windows 7. Floppy drives are hard to find in new computers, and are being phased out in favor of USB thumb drives. If your computer doesn't have a built-in floppy drive, you can get a USB floppy drive and use it to create a boot floppy. If you don't have a floppy drive, download a floppy image from the links below and use it with a bootloader, such as GRUB.
To create a Windows Vista/7 boot floppy, follow these steps:
C:\bootmgr to A:\. The file bootmgr is also located on Windows Vista/7 installer CD. You may have to unhide bootmgr before copying it if it is hidden.A:\BOOT.bcdedit /export A:\BOOT\BCD
For those who can't create their own boot floppy for lack of a floppy drive, here's my boot floppy image:
You can use it with GRUB like this:
kernel (hd0,4)/boot/grub/memdisk bigraw
initrd (hd0,4)/boot/grub/vstaboot.bin
boot
memdisk is a part of Loadlin package. Note that this image is specific to my Vista installation. You must edit it with bcdedit before using it:
bcdedit /enum /store A:\Boot\BCD
bcdedit /store A:\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:
bcdedit /store A:\Boot\BCD /set {default} device partition=C:
bcdedit /store A:\Boot\BCD /set {default} osdevice partition=C:
It is possible for Windows Vista and Windows 7 to be installed on logical partitions. Windows Vista and Windows 7 use the new bootmgr bootloader to start themselves as opposed to ntldr used by old NT-based operating systems like Windows XP. Therefore, booting Windows Vista/7 from a logical partition takes a different approach from booting Windows XP from a logical partition.
Windows Vista/7 can be installed into a logical partition at the time of first installation. However, a new primary NTFS partition will be created. This partition is about 100 MB and only contains essential bootloader files, such as bootmgr and BCD. If you intend to remove this Vista/Win7 boot partition, be sure to copy its contents (especially bootmgr and BCD) to the logical partition containing Windows Vista/7 beforehand.
After that, reboot with Vista/Win7 installer CD, choose “Repair Your Computer” and proceed to invoke the Command Prompt. Type the following commands to enable Vista/Win7 to boot from a logical partition.
C:
bcdedit /enum /store C:\Boot\BCD
bcdedit /store C:\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:
Restart your computer. Put a CD into CD-ROM that has GRUB bootloader. Most Linux install CD's use GRUB these days. When you see the Grub boot menu, press C or Esc. You are now on the GRUB command line. To find which partition is your Windows partition, type root (hd0, and then press Tab. Windows partitions are mostly type 7. For example, if your Windows partition is (hd0,5), type the following commands to boot Windows.
root (hd0,5)
chainloader +1
boot
The reason why we want to remove the boot partition is most likely because we want to free a primary partition for use by another OS, such as OpenBSD or OpenSolaris. However, in order to boot Windows from a logical partiton, you need to set up a special bootloader, for example, GRUB.
If you installed Windows Vista/7 on a primary partition and want to move it to a logical parition, we need GParted to manipulate partitions. To get GParted, I recommend you to download one of the following ISO's:
Use GParted to copy Windows Vista/7 from a primary partition to a logical partition. Then, delete the original primary partition containing Windows Vista/7. Grab your Windows Vista/7 install DVD and reboot your PC with it. Click “Repair Your Compure” option and open a Command Prompt. Type the following commands to fix the C:\Boot\BCD file.
C:
bcdedit /enum /store C:\Boot\BCD
bcdedit /store C:\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:
bcdedit /store C:\Boot\BCD /set {default} device partition=C:
bcdedit /store C:\Boot\BCD /set {default} osdevice partition=C:
Reboot. Use the following GRUB commands to start Windows Vista/7. In this example, (hd0,5) is the logical partition that has Windows Vista/7.
root (hd0,5)
chainloader +1
boot
After booting Windows Vista/7, open the System Properties dialog and make sure that the Available Disks in System Protection tab are all valid.
Toshiba NB205 comes pre-installed with Windows XP. I wiped out windows XP from the netbook and installed both Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows 7 Home Premium. I will use Windows Vista as my primary workspace and Windows 7 as my experimental workspace.
Installation of Windows Vista requires the SATA driver to be installed at the partition selection step (See the picture below). Download f6flpy3289 from Intel and unpack it onto a USB floppy or a USB thumb drive. Plug it into a USB port, click Load Driver and choose Intel(R) ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI Controller. If you don't load the SATA driver, Vista will crash after reboot. This problem doesn't happen with Windows 7.
This post serves as a journal I keep in order to keep track of the installed software and configuration. It'll ease the task of reinstalling Windows Vista or Windows 7.
If you don't want to wait for Windows to update itself, download the following service packs and hotfixes.
This post will eventually have a collection of tips for resolving issues when installing Windows Vista. Some of them are based on my own experience with Windows Vista installation, but I'm going to add useful advices I found on the Internet.
I think it's good to partition your hard drive first before going ahead with Vista installation. There are many partitioning tools, for example, GParted, Acronis DiskDirector and the forsaken PartitionMagic. My favorite is GParted. Because Vista leaves a little space at the beginning of the hard disk after installation, this may create a problem when you later move or resize your Vista partition.
This happened to me when I tried to install Windows Vista on my old computer with an LCD monitor. The screen went blank while there was no hard disk activity. However, when I punched the Caps Lock on the keyboard, the LED for Caps Lock switched on and off. So I knew the Vista DVD booted okay but Vista was'nt recognizing the monitor yet.
So I reset the PC. As soon as the Vista DVD began loading, I held down the F8 key until a black-and-white Advanced Boot Options menu appeared. I highlighted the line saying Enable low-resolution video (640x480) and pressed Enter. Then, Vista successfully booted into a nice Installation screen with large characters.
This happened to me when I tried to install Windows Vista on a hard drive that's connected to a PCI IDE controller — Promise Technology Ultra 100 TX2. Obviously, Vista couldn't recogize the IDE controller. So I had to download the driver and save it on a USB flash. Then, I plugged the flash drive in and told Vista to load the driver. After Vista successfully loaded the driver for my IDE controller, Vista could see my hard drive and install onto it.
I was researching the activation scheme behind Windows Vista OEM computers. Computers with pre-installed Windows Vista have a special license embedded in their ACPI BIOS, called SLIC table. This kind of a hardware-based activation scheme was designed to prevent software piracy. Nonetheless, there's a way to create a SLIC table in the BIOS with the help of software. This method is sometimes called SoftMod or just Vista Loader.
Using the SoftMod method, one can insert the SLIC signature of a certain hardware manufacturer into the BIOS and apply a copy of a license file (*.xrm-ms), then have Windows Vista activated. The first SLIC code that was leaked widely belongs to the (infamous) ASUS notebook manufacturer. After ASUS, more and more SLIC codes have been discovered and exploited.
Obviously, using a SLIC code that's spread and used widely makes it vulnerable to Windows updates that are designed to defeat circumventive measures against software activation. Therefore, uncommon SLIC signatures are better than the common ones. Vista Loader 3.0.0.1 includes OEM BIOS emulation codes of the following vendors:
Among these vendors, MEDION seems to be the most obscure one. Anyway, I found more vendor SLIC codes by downloading AMI_SLIC3_20080419.rar.
When the Vista Loader — also known as SoftMod or OEM BIOS emulation — is installed in a system with multiple Windows installations, Windows probably won't boot except the one in the first NTFS partition because the Grub4Dos code in the grldr file installed by the Vista Loader by default boots the first NTFS partition. In this case, you should uninstall Vista Loader from every Windows partition and then reinstall Vista Loader into a separate FAT logical partition. GRUB4DOS or pure GRUB will be used to load OEM BIOS emulation code into memory and then execute instructions in the menu.lst file to boot Windows in NTFS primary partitions.
To use multiple Windows installation, Grub4Dos and Vista Loader should be used together. This duo can be installed on a floppy or a bootable USB flash. The following is the contents of a menu.lst file used with Vista Loader.
timeout 0
default 0
fallback 1
title Vista Loader
map --mem (hd0,0)/vstaldr.img (fd0)
map --hook
chainloader (fd0)+1
rootverify (fd0)
title Windows Vista
find --set-root /bootmgr
chainloader /bootmgr
I restored a partimage backup of Windows Vista. The backup was originally made from the partition /dev/sda2, but I deleted /dev/sda1 and created a new partition at /dev/sda1 with the same size as the backed-up partition. Then I restored the backup on /dev/sda1.
Upon reboot, Windows Vista couldn't start. Instead I received an error:
A disk error occurred.
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart.
After many attempts, I finally fixed the problem. Here I show how I did it:
chkdsk C: /f
C:
bootrec /FixMBR
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /ScanOs
attrib -r -s -h c:\boot\bcd
del c:\boot\bcd
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:
1. Install your WIndows installation disk and reboot.
2. Choose your language settings, click Next
3. Choose "Repair your computer"
File: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Status: 0xc0000225
Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupted
This problem occurs when the UUID of the NTFS partition is changed after resizing or moving the Windows partition with GParted or Acronis Disk Director. This problem can be easily fixed if you have a Windows install DVD. Put the Windows install DVD in your CD-ROM and Reboot your computer. Select “Repair your computer” and cancel Automatic Repair. Open a Command Prompt and type the following commands:
C:
bcdedit /enum /store C:\Boot\BCD
bcdedit /store C:\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:
bcdedit /store C:\Boot\BCD /set {default} device partition=C:
bcdedit /store C:\Boot\BCD /set {default} osdevice partition=C:
Is Windows Vista only for fast and powerful computers? Not really. Technically, Vista can run on old computers with a CPU as slow as 800MHz. But Vista runs sluggish on old computers. For those old and slow computers, there are some ways to improve the speed of Vista, as explained below.
Don't use the Windows Sidebar. This program is unnecessary and graphics-intensive program that slows your computer down. You can easily disable it from starting.
Disabling UAC may dramatically speed up Windows Vista.
If you don't need fancy Windows themes, you can change your theme to a plain one or disable the Themes service altogether.
Taiwan is being overshadowed by the monstrously growing mainland China today. However, its cultural heritage is as rich as mainland China where it originated. The authenticity of the traditional Chinese scripts used in Taiwan and Singapore should not be overlooked in favor of the simplified Chinese used in the mainland China. If you are studying Chinese or do business with Taiwan or the mainland China, you may sometimes come across Chinese versions of Windows Vista.
I installed Taiwanese Windows Vista to see what it's like. Since I have almost no knowledge of Chinese, it was like guesswork most of the time. Often I had to rely on my experience with English Windows Vista. But as times went on, I learned the meaning of some Chinese characters naturally. It is such an enlightening expererience to use Taiwanese Windows Vista.
Due to the Korean cultural expansion and popular k-drama, there's an increasing number of people interested in learning the Korean language and Korean culture. If you are one of those people who study Korean, you may as well try Korean Windows Vista. ISO images of Korean Windows Vista DVD are available on the P2P networks with the filename X12-59647 vista.rtm.kor.iso. Once you download and install it, it's quite adventurous and fun using the Korean version of Windows Vista.
This post will eventually be a collection of tips on cleaning up and trimming Windows Vista.
Emptying the recycle bin is the easiest and most common way for people to clean up Windows. Even if you don't, Windows will automatically remove the oldest trash from the recycle bin when it fills up.
As you use your computer, Windows and applications save temporary files in the folder dedicated for temporary storage. These temporary folders are given the variable name %TEMP% or %TMP% — in most cases, %TEMP% and %TMP% are identical. Ideally, applications are supposed to remove temporary files after they finish their jobs, but sometimes they forget to remove temporary files. Thus, once in a while, you have to remove temporary files yourself.
To remove temporary files, follow the following steps:
%TEMP% and press Enter.
C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Temp. Remove any temporary files and folders existing inside that folder.With strict User Access Control (UAC) in effect, Vista places user-generated files in the VirtualStore folder when a program wants to save something in the restricted area of filesystem. Type %APPDATA% in the address bar of the Windows explorer. Then, descend to Local/VirtualStore. Note that not everything there should be deleted as some of them are user settings.
Windows updates are necessary to make Windows Vista secure and efficient. However, after updating Windows, some update files are left over and take extra space. The following steps delete these left-over update files.
Have you ever wished to have multiple Windows installed on your computer? Having a multi-boot system has many applications, such as:
In order to set up multiple installations of Windows in a single computer, you need to slice your hard drive into several partitions using a partitioning tool such as GParted. Get a GParted live CD and boot your computer with it.
Here's what you need to know about multiple Windows installation:
Once you booted GParted live CD, launch GParted.
In most case, you'll see a Windows partion (type ntfs) as the first primary partition. If you need to resize it to make space available for the second Windows partition, you can use GParted, but I recommend you to use ntfsresize.
Now hide your existing Windows partition by right-clicking it and choosing Manage Flags.
Clear the boot flag and set the hidden flag. Then click Close.
Click the unallocated area and click New on the toolbar. Create new Partition dialog appears on screen. Set the size in the New Size box, create it as a Primary Partition and make it ntfs. Click Add.
Look at the GParted window and make sure the new hard disk layout is okay. Click Apply on the toolbar.
A confirmation dialog appears. Click Apply.
If everything goes well, a dialog appears saying All operations successfully completed. Click Close.
Right-click the newly created NTFS partition and select Manage Flags from the right-click menu. In the Manage flags window, only set the boot flag and click Close.
Quit GParted. Put your Windows installation DVD into your CD-ROM and reboot.
Microsoft often releases samples of its flagship programs to its MSDN members. Among the software samples released to MSDN members are a series of Windows Vista editions. Some of these copies are leaked to P2P networks like BitTorrent or eDonkey. Below is a list of Windows Vista ISO images including those released to MSDN members:
| Language | Filename | 32-bit Links | 64-bit Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese Traditional 繁體中文 | tw windows vista x86 dvd X12-59649.iso Windows Vista x86 32位元系統繁體中文正式授權製造商裝機版.ISO (2,577,250,304 bytes) | 1 | |
| English | Windows Vista All-in-One RTM build 6000.16386.061101-2205_x86Fre_Client Lrmcfre_En_DVD.iso (2,678,614,016 bytes) | 1, 2 | |
| Windows Vista English Service Pack 2 6002.18005.090410-1830_x86fre_Client_en-us-FRTMCFRE_EN_DVD.iso | 1 | ||
| Korean 한글 | Windows Vista X86 DVD X12-59647 vista.rtm.kor.iso (2,591,459,328 bytes) | 1 |
I decided to install NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 for use with Windows Vista because the on-board graphics chip didn't work so well. Like many old video cards, Windows Vista doesn't include a driver for NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 cards. So I've tried many different versions of NVIDIA unified drivers. Finally I found the one that works perfectly with Windows Vista.
You should install NVIDIA ForceWare version 72.14 to be able to use an NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 video card with Windows Vista. Download it HERE.
This driver is not certified for Windows Vista. Therefore, you should manually install the video driver. First, download and install the NVIDIA ForceWare 72.14. You may be asked to restart the computer. Just do so.
Once your PC restarts, open the Start menu, right-click Computer, and select Manage.
In the left pane, click Device Manager. In the right pane, expand the Display adapters section, right-click Standard VGA Graphics adapter and choose Update Driver Software.
In the pop-up dialog, choose Browse My computer for driver software and indicate the folder where you unpacked the NVIDIA graphics driver. You'll get a warning that Windows can't verify the publisher of the driver. Just ignore the warning and go ahead with the installation. You may have to restart the PC again.
Voila, your NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 video card may be a bit old but it still works OK with Windows Vista!
With the default Vista power settings, pressing the Start menu power button will put the computer into a sleep mode. After newly installing Windows Vista, opening the Start menu will show the power button in amber yellow. This means clicking the power button will put the PC into the power-saving sleep mode instead of turning it off completely. The sleep mode saves the current state of the computer in memory, turns down the fans and keeps the PC quiet until you press a key or move a mouse.
But don't you find it annoying? I do. I want the PC turned off completely when I click the Power button. The following steps show you how to change Vista power settings so that clicking the Power button will turn off the PC:
I salvaged an eMachine T1742 from an e-cycling dump. Someone had pried out the memory and hard drive from the unit. So I had to plug in new ones to set up a new PC. Then, I installed Windows Vista Home Premium Lite CD.
Windows Vista didn't recognize Intel 845G/845GL graphics chipset, so installed the driver for generic Standard VGA Graphics Adapter instead. After searching the Internet, I found the driver for Intel 845G/845GL graphics that can be used with Windows Vista. Just go to the Intel website and download the latest driver for Intel 82845G Graphics Controller. This chipset is outdated and in the archived drivers section. Get the Windows XP Professional driver for Intel 82845G Graphics controller.
Download the ZIP file (win2k_xp14103.zip) instead of the .EXE installer. Unpack it somewhere on your computer. Open the Start menu, right-click Computer, and select Manage.
In the left pane, click Device Manager. In the right pane, expand the Display adapters section, right-click Standard VGA Graphics adapter, and choose Update Driver Software.
In the pop-up dialog, choose Browse My computer for driver software, and indicate the folder where you unpacked the Intel 82845G graphics driver.
If you get a warning that the driver is not digitally signed or authentic, just ignore the warning and go on with the installation. You may have to restart the PC.
One caveat with the driver is that the display may appear too bright at each boot time. Just adjust the Gamma, brightness and contrast settings in the Intel 845G control panel.
You want to try Windows Vista but you can't try it because your computer doesn't have a DVD drive. In this case, you can download a CD edition of Windows Vista with eMule or aMule. Burn the ISO file with InfraRecorder, CDBurnerXP or any other cd-burning tool. It takes less space to install and runs slightly quicker than a DVD version.
Compared to the full DVD edition, the CD edition lacks some major features. For example, it doesn't have many drivers so you'll hassle with driver installation from the start. It also lack international language support, Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery Viewer among other things. Yet, all this lack of functions makes Vista leaner and faster.
There's one critical flaw with this edition whereby you can't rename a folder. No fix or workaround has been found yet.
Once you've installed Vista, you can activate Windows Vista with Vista Loader
This blog is about current events and issues concerning general population. Thanks for visiting the blog and posting your comments.
