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jrf2027

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Everything posted by jrf2027

  1. This sounds more like an Excel issue rather than a Vista issue. Can you open the file if you open Excel using the shortcut first, then open the file from within Excel? Can you open other Excel files without needing to enter a code? Have you previously activated your version of Office? If it is a trial version, it should only prompt you that you have x numebr of days or x number of times of use left before activation is required.
  2. On a related note...my SP2c installation source disc includes KB911164 in the I386/SVCPACK directory...will I still need this update after slipstreaming SP3 into the source?
  3. Go to HP's site and download the latest version of the audio driver, install it and see if your sound works. If it does, you could try downloading the standalone installer and installing SP1 from there, and then reinstall the audio driver after SP1 install is complete...but I make no warranties about that working for you.
  4. You'll have to do it by trial and error...you need to find out what hardware you have, get the XP drivers from the vendors, and just start experimenting. I strongly recommend testing on a spare hard drive, so you don't lose a working Vista installation until you know you're ready to jump to XP.
  5. I'm guessing you may have one of the drivers MS has identified as potentially causing problems with Vista installation. Check out MS KB948343 for more information.
  6. It's not a "hack," it's just a registry edit to allow Windows to recognize the driver at boot. It's functionally no different than loading the driver from a floppy during installation.
  7. So ah, what you're trying to say is that I can't have a dual-boot system because of some downgrade rights?! Never heard of such a thing pal. Not at all...I have a dual-boot system myself. My OEM copy of Vista Home Premium came with my computer, and I purchased XP Pro later. Two valid, conforming licenses on one computer. What I was saying is...pursuant to the EULA for Vista Business OEM or Vista Ultimate OEM, if you do exercise your downgrade rights to install XP Pro, you cannot then install Vista under the same OEM license. If you purchase one license, you can run one copy. From http://www.reasonco.com/vista/vistadowngraderights.htm - emphasis added by me: Q. Can end users return to Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate software after they downgrade? A. Yes. End users who downgrade may reinstall the original software when they are ready to migrate. For example, an end user who downgrades to Windows XP Professional may later return to Windows Vista Business software provided that the end user deletes the Windows XP Professional software from the PC.
  8. Here: http://www.reasonco.com/vista/vistadowngraderights.htm http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/2...grade_chart.doc jaclaz Thanks...you beat me to it.
  9. Even if you don't plan on installing Vista right now, I'd recommend buying Vista Ultimate OEM because you then have downgrade rights to XP Pro. Of course, it's a $35 gamble - will I ever install Vista? - but cheaper overall if you do decide to install Vista later. One problem - you would probably be in violation of the EULA if you buy Ultimate OEM for its downgrade rights and then want to set up a dual-boot system. You need to completely remove XP before installing Vista in order to be in compliance with the downgrade rights in the EULA.
  10. Looks like MS has released Vista SP1 to the masses. Here's the download links for the five-language standalone installers: 32-bit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;DisplayLang=en 64-bit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;DisplayLang=en
  11. Use the Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD that came with your system, plus orev's ABR program (Activation Backup and Restore) to restore activation. Check out this post above Or Follow orev's original thread from notebookreview.com. Works like a charm on my GM5478 for reinstalling Vista. Absolutely zero Gateway-added crapware.
  12. When you say you'd like to make a backup of your copy of Vista, are you referring to a backup of a currently bootable installation DVD? If so, just use "copy disc" in any disc burning program and the resulting disc should be bootable. If you have the installation files but they aren't bootable, go the vLite route. I've done this following the instructions found here. If you want to create a bootable backup of your OS as currently installed, check out Terabyte Unlimited's Image for Windows. It allows you to burn bootable restore DVD's or CD's. If you're backing up a full Ultimate installation, be prepared to use at least two DVD's.
  13. Between this and (ahem...) other mechanical devices...the only thing women will need men to do is change the oil, open the pickle jar, and cuddle...
  14. Not to be one of those obnoxious types that replies to his own posts...but between my real job getting in the way of my fun, I haven't had time to completely assemble the guide I discussed in the start of this thread. Consequently, in order to start the discussion, or give others who stumble on this post a place to start looking, I'm going to share a message I've sent out to others that have sought information from me in the recent past. And by the way...the quad-boot XP, Vista 32-bit, Vista 64-bit, and Ubuntu 7.10 worked well...
  15. Just to add in my two cents... From what I've seen, whatever drive Vista is installed on becomes the C: drive in Vista. It's easier to go with the system rather than fight it... For dual-booting, I've found it more convenient to keep all user data (Documents, Music, Pictures, Favorites, Downloads) on a partition completely separate from either Windows installation. That way, you can remap the drives however you want using disk management. You can use TweakUI in XP to tell it where your relocated folders are, and Vista's special folders are very easy to relocate - just edit their location in Explorer. If you're interested in being able to boot each OS independently, with its own bootloader intact, and keep all your drive assignments the same, read on... I've been successfully using GRUB (via a small Ubuntu partition) to dual-boot XP and Vista independent of each other. GRUB allows you the flexibility of hiding partitions and making partitions active on the fly. In this manner, I have all drives marked the exact same in both XP and Vista: I have my boot 320 GB (actually 298 GB) hard drive partitioned as follows: Partition 1 - XP C:, 160 GB Partition 2 - Vista C:, 120 GB Partition 3 - rest of drive, about 18 GB, set up as an extended partition, divided into two logical partitions - one for Linux swap, the other for Ubuntu. The remainder of the drives on my system are as follows: 500 GB hard drive, one contiguous partition (D:) DVD-RW (E:) DVD-RW (F:) Flash 4GB (G:) Flash 8GB (H:) Card reader (shows up as four drives, I've remapped them as P:, R:, S: and T:) By using GRUB, when booting into XP you can make the XP partition active and hide the Vista partition on the fly. You can also make the Vista partition active and hide the XP partition when booting into Vista. Plus, all my drives are the same in both Vista and XP. Of course, you do lose the ability to access your other Windows drive...which should not be a big deal if you have your data folders saved on a partition accessible from both installations. Plus, this way XP won't be able to see Vista, and Vista won't be able to see XP, meaning they can't muck each other up. It's a little tricky to get set up, but this guide helped me out (make sure to read my post at the end): http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150551
  16. Can anybody with access to SP1 confirm whether you can slipstream the SP1 bits into a Vista RTM installation disk using the -integrate switch, just like with XP?
  17. If you're lucky enough to have an OEM recovery disk that does not add all the additional crapware, you don't need those guides. You're exactly right - throw in the disk and go. However, if your OEM recovery disk is of the image variety that includes the trial versions of Office, McAfee, online games, etc., and you want a true clean install, orev's guide and using a Windows Anytime Upgrade disk is the way to go. It only requires a handful of minor steps above "throw in the DVD and reformat": 1. Before you reformat, run the ABR Backup utility and save the activation information someplace that will not be reformatted during the reinstallation, such as a flash drive. 2. Don't type in your product key when installing Vista. 3. Run the ABR Restore utility after reinstalling Vista to reactivate. Even if the OEM disk was clean I'd probably still use orev's ABRBeta program to back up my OEM activation information before reinstalling Windows.
  18. If you have a Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD, or any other clean Vista source, you can follow this guide to clean install Vista to ensure no "value-added" crapware is included: Clean Windows Vista Install - no activation needed Or check out orev's original thread from notebookreview.com: Clean Vista Install WITH NO ACTIVATION Works for all the Royalty OEM's I've run across, including Dell.
  19. The simplest method would be to get a new hard drive, create two FAT32 partitions on it, install 98, then install XP. This way, you won't toast your current XP install until you know your new install is working correctly. The "best" way, IMHO, involves mutiple partitioning and using a Linux installation with GRUB to isolate each OS. It's not for the faint at heart and definitely not for beginners, and you want some Linux experience before diving into it. I've successfully installed XP, Vista 32-bit, Vista 64-bit, and Ubuntu 7.10 all on the same system, with each Windows installation retaining its independent boot files, and unable to see any other Windows installation. You use GRUB to designate the active partition and hide the others at boot time. For the primer, check out this post from justlinux.com: A Linux way to triple boot itself, XP, and Vista Of course, I'm sure that there's about 10,000 "best" ways to do this...the truly best way is whatever works best for your particular circumstances.
  20. I'm inclined to think this isn't a Home versus Pro issue, but rather possibly a service pack versus service pack issue...what SP was running on the computer, as opposed to the SP on the disk? With each new service pack, new drivers are added to support new devices. Maybe I'm all wet, though...when I get home I will look at the driver.cab's on both Home and Pro install disks to see if there's any difference.
  21. The general rule...if the copy of Vista came from Dell already installed on the machine, it's an OEM version tied to that computer and cannot be installed on any other machine. If, however, you purchased the full retail (not upgrade or OEM) version of Vista, you should be able to completely delete it from one machine and install it on another and not be in violation of the EULA. Here's the Microsoft licensing website: http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/useterms/ Hope this helps.
  22. Some background...I purchased a Gateway GM5478 last fall because I liked the specs (check it out here) and the price / financing was right. Well, after struggling with incompatibility issues between Vista and Nero, as well as not being completely happy with Vista overall, I decided to switch back to XP. (Actually, I ended up setting up a triple-boot between XP, Vista, and Ubuntu, and will shortly try a quadruple-boot between XP, Vista x86, Vista x64, and Ubuntu, with each Windows partition being completely independent and unaware of the existence of the others, but that's for another day...) However, as this particular computer was designed completely with Vista in mind, installing XP was not as easy as inserting the XP CD and reformatting the C:\ drive. It actually took me the better part of three weeks to assemble all the different pieces of advice from across the Internet to successfully install XP on this machine. I ran across several "how do I install XP on the GM5478" posts and pages, but no "here's how I installed XP on the GM5478" posts or pages. Consequently, I'd like to make a one-stop do-it-yourself guide on installing XP on this particular model of computer, but don't quite know where to put it...hence, I'm seeking the advice of the wise MSFNers. So where does a post like this belong? a. The Windows XP forum as its own thread? b. The Windows XP forum as the first post of a thread suggesting that people share their experiences with "hard to upgrade" newer machines? c. Somewhere else on the Web, but nowhere near MSFN? d. Lodged in my head, never to see the light of day? or e. Any other suggestions? Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks!
  23. Just a suggestion...have you checked the BIOS settings to ensure the "techsavvy" user didn't change some hard drive setting in the BIOS? Sounds an awful lot like what happens when you try to enable AHCI in the BIOS without first installing the proper drivers / registry entries. If the Windows splash screen shows up for a few seconds, I'd assume the Windows install itself may still be OK.
  24. puntoMX, Thanks for the great work! I've successfully enabled AHCI on my Gateway GM5478 (uses an OEM board from Intel, the DG33SXG2) by following your guide. Couple of tweaks to your original instructions for this particular board - may be applicable to other Intel-branded or Intel OEM boards: In Step 2 - I did not need to edit IAAHCI.INF. In Step 3 - I needed to tweak your original registry file as follows: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase\pci#ven_8086&dev_2922&cc_0106] "Service"="iaStor" "ClassGUID"="{4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStor] "Type"=dword:00000001 "Start"=dword:00000000 "Group"="SCSI miniport" "ErrorControl"=dword:00000001 "ImagePath"="system32\\drivers\\iaStor.sys" "tag"=dword:00000019 "DisplayName"="Intel AHCI Controller" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStor\Parameters] "queuePriorityEnable"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStor\Enum] "0"="PCI\\VEN_8086&DEV_2922&SUBSYS_5044107B&REV_02\\3&18d45aa6&0&FA" "Count"=dword:00000001 "NextInstance"=dword:00000001 As I have my system set up to dual boot with XP and Vista, I was able to figure out the necessary registry edits by using the same driver under Vista. Thanks again!
  25. If you're leaning towards Linux, you may want to look at a new Ubuntu branch called Mythbuntu - which is a melding of MythTV into the Ubuntu distribution. You can probably dual-boot between Mythbuntu and XP, and you may be able to view your MythTV shows on XP using VLC. If I only had a TV tuner card, I'd test it out for you...but I don't.
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