Important: Problems discovered, and solutions found

[Thared33]

I posted a thread about it, and someone else did as well; it seems a few others are having trouble with this, so here is the entire ordeal with solutions included.

Concerning Vlite:

Vista would not boot with more than 4GB of ram, so I decided to integrate SP1 with Vlite to avoid having to take ram out of my system every single time I needed to format. I discovered that it isn't SP1 that fixes this, but the hotfix located at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929777 . I integrated SP1 and tried it, and it still gave me the BSOD when trying to install/boot. After this, I tried integrating SP1 and THEN the hotfix, but it kept giving me an error saying that ntoskrnl.exe could not be found.

Booting with only SP1 integrated would get me to the 'loading' screen of Vista, but only along with the BSOD because the hotfix wasn't added. After integrating SP1 and then applying the kb929777 hotfix, it gave me the 'ntoskrnl.exe could not be found' error/screen.

It is noted that you should only apply hotfixes with vlite AFTER you integrate SP1, but let me explain why this isn't always true.

Integrating SP1 only would get me further along in the install process than with the hotfix because it would go to the Vista screen with the green bar that scrolls, but it'd give me the BSOD because the 4GB hotfix wasn't applied. When I tried integrating SP1 and THEN applying the hotfix (as it says -- you should apply hotfixes only after integrating SP1), it would give me a new error saying that ntoskrnl.exe wasn't found.

I wasted a grand total of 8 or so DVDRs with tying to get this working, but the 9th one worked (and I have to mention that my 9th DVDR happened to be my very last blank DVDR ). Let's see how I did it.

After integrating SP1 and having the BSOD, I tried integrating, and then the hotfix; however, along with the hotfix -- I decided to use an unattended setup, as well as tweaks. I started thinking that maybe the tweaks/unattended setup was messing it up, so I did nothing but integrate SP1, then apply the hotfix, but still got the same error =/

I tried all kinds of methods as far as what to take out/apply to Vlite, and also integrating, closing the program, then coming back, etc -- all kinds of combinations, but none worked and it gave me the same error.

I decided to apply the Hotfix ONLY and not SP1, and to my surprise, it started working with 8GB of ram installed. Both SP1 alone was working (but BSOD because of no hotfix), and the hotfix alone was working.

I avoided applying any hotfixes whatsoever because it says in the program (also in guides) that applying hotfixes must be done AFTER SP1 is integrated, but this time it isn't so true. What I did on my last try/last DVDR was apply the 4GB hotfix to a fresh copy of Vista, and then integrate SP1, even though I had to go against what I had been hearing. I also decided to do the tweaks and an unattended setup, although I thought that might have been what was giving me the errors.

Apply the KB929777 hotfix BEFORE you integrate SP1, and make sure that when you insert it into Vlite -- click the '4GB fix' option that puts a check mark into the program so it will work when you're trying to install it as well. After this is applied, integrate SP1 and all other hotfixes, as well as any other modifications and the unattended setup.

The reason I'm making this long/a big deal out of this is because the possibilities for errors may be endless because this is only what I was experiencing -- not including the other trouble others may have. Some thoughts that come to mind is that maybe it's necessary to apply hotfixes before SP1 was out BEFORE you integrate SP1, and then hotfixes released after SP1 are ok to put on after SP1 is integrated. I think this is where my trouble came from.

I think this will be an important thread because these days -- most will want 4GB ram when installing Vista, and I think Vlite users will try to do the same method that I'm doing. Maybe some of this info should be added into the program help/the guide on the site?

Other problems not related to Vlite, but very important.

Vista doesn't like 4GB of ram when installing/booting, so the hotfix mentioned above is necessary. Taking out your ram is a pain -- especially if you format a lot, so Vlite seems like a logical option. However, there is another problem here: hang ups. I started getting random system hang ups and I had no idea why. I discovered that increasing your ram voltage solves the problem.

It seems that motherboards/Vista/etc have a hard time powering up a full 8GB of ram (because it's all 4 slots), so increasing your ram voltage is necessary with Vista if you're getting random system hangups.

Ohhh god does Vista not like ram...

After a couple of weeks and countless hours of testing/tweaking/crying in between, I finally have a fully-working system with no problems. Here's how I did it.

Increase your ram voltage if you have system hang ups. Mine was set at about 1.9v, so I increased it to somewhere around 2.2V, after much research. No more hang ups!

Copy your Vista files to your HD

Apply kb929777 hotfix in vlite (make sure to 'tick' the 4GB box that appears in Vlite after inserting it)

Integrate SP1 (make sure you apply hotfix kb929777 BEFORE integrating SP1)

Apply any other settings in vlite

Burn directly, make iso, etc

That should take care of it.

It took me a couple of weeks and many hours of testing/researching to figure all of this out, but it's finally done. The system hangups because of the ram voltage made me almost give up, and then getting Vlite to make a proper working version didn't help, but I got over all of it just fine.

I thought I'd leave my experiences here for everyone to see because I think it'd be useful. I'll stick around for a bit longer, but I won't be visiting the forum in the future very much since I worked out my problems =)

My system specs are below.

Intel Q6700 Quadcore

8GB Corsair Ram

Asus P5N-E SLI

2 500GB SATA HDs

Nvidia Geforce 8600GT

Windows Vista Home Premium (64bit)

Let me know if anyone has any questions.

Edited May 26, 2008 by Thared33

[Thared33]

One more misc. thought.

It is beyond me as to why MS would release an OS when KNOWING that installing Vista on a system with 4GB of ram or more would give all of us errors. Many people don't know how to get around this or aren't capable of being that computer savvy, so I'm sure all hell has been breaking loose over stuff like this

Thank god for Vlite though . I almost seriously gave up on Vista and wanted to revert back to XP, with a 4GB ram limitation =/. I need 8GB of ram because this is a recording/studio PC.

[Tomorrow]

Hmm.Im also getting random hangs few times a week(always happen when PC is idle).I come and mouse doesent move...then i see everything has hanged up again .I will increase my RAM voltage as i too have all 4 slots populated(4x512MB+they are all overclocked).I will report back if the hangups dissapeared.

Btw:Nice find on the 4GB fix .

[Thared33]

It's amazing -- how common all of these errors are.

What my system did was just hangup and there was no reviving it. It just completely froze -- everything. It's like you're looking at a picture file/a screenshot of a desktop. The mouse won't move, and audio won't work.

I increased my ram from the default setting (I'm thinking it was at 1.9V...) to somewhere around 2.2V. I had to look on forums for hours and hours and saw that increasing your ram voltage will cure it.

It would hang up on me in under one hour of being in Vista, and after I upped the voltage, no more hang ups. I can run Vista for as long as I want and it's perfect now.

I actually saw a tech that works for Corsair post on the Corsair forum; he said to up the ram voltage to another user with the same hangup problem, so that's what made me ultimately want to try it (since it came directly from a Corsair tech). I was a bit scared of doing that at first, but things are working just fine now.

Motherboards seem to have a problem with powering up fully-populated ram slots.

Edited May 26, 2008 by Thared33

[Thared33]

One last note.

The thing is -- with this, is that I don't know if this will only apply to the KB929777 hotfix, or every hotfix out there that was released before SP1. SP1 is fairly recent/new, so this might be a problem for some. I believe the KB929777 hotfix was released in late 2006 or so, and SP1 was just a few weeks ago or so.

Maybe it's in general and not just the 929777 4GB hotfix -- applying it after integrating SP1 is the problem; then again, maybe it's just that hotfix. I seriously don't want to keep testing it and waste even more DVDRs

Another note is that I'm using the 64bit version of Home Premium, and I had to use the x64 version of SP1. I'm not sure if others will have the same problem with the x86 version at all, or other specs in general. This applies to my setup only, but I'm thinking it will be more of a general thing.

I hope this clears some stuff up.

Edited May 26, 2008 by Thared33

[TranceEnergy]

Doesnt vista home premium have a ram limit that possibly interfers here? afaik ultimate can have 128gb but i believe the other version had much less.

[Tomorrow]

Doesnt vista home premium have a ram limit that possibly interfers here? afaik ultimate can have 128gb but i believe the other version had much less.

In 32bit they all have the 4GB limit but Home Premium still supports 16GB.I think the motherboard itself is a bigger issue here(most desktop mobos support 8GB max).

[anonymous_user]

So are users with only a Vista SP1 disc outta luck?

[Etz]

So are users with only a Vista SP1 disc outta luck?

Nope...

For me Business X86 installs just fine...

(Q6600@3,4 GHz + A-Data Extreme 2x2GB @ 2,1V)

Works...like a charm

So my guess is, that Memory Voltage is`nt the culprit here...

What I Think is some memory configurations...

For Instance...

1GB+1GB+512+512... FAIL (All was corsairs XMS series, same model, Dual channel kits)...

Removed 2x512MB Sticks... installed & worked... added 2x512MB sticks back again.. (after install) works also ... [All based from my, friends computer)

So my guess is , that "overvolting" your RAM doesn`t help...

What counts is Memory configuration it self...

EDIT:

My final opinion is that= Vista is very sensitive how do you place, your Dual channel memory...

IF all sticks are same "capacity" and Identical... problem doesnt occure... if they are somewhat different...there, will be a problem...

Edited May 29, 2008 by Etz

[FastRedPonyCar]

thanks for the tip as I've stumbled upon the NTOSKRNL error as well. Like you, I did a build with SP1 slipstream then made another one integrating the 4 gig ram fix and about 30 patches that show up after the SP1 vista install as hotfixes that have been released since SP1.

now, I'm looking at Vlite telling me that

KB937286 (patch to upgrade online help feature)

and

KB940157 (search 4.0 application - don't need it anyways)

integration failed. They both installed fine from within the OS using MS updates.

I'm by no means concerned that these 2 couldn't be integrated but it begs me to wonder if others in the future won't be able to be integrated and why this is?

[TranceEnergy]

From what i remember when i had vista installations here, i integrated whatsitname hotfix for better servicepack installations, before i slipped sp1 in, and the hotfixes.

By doing it that way install image was a bit slimmer as i recall.

[lobbie1978]

I need 8GB of ram because this is a recording/studio PC.

Maybe a little bit offtopic, but you use Windows Vista in a recording/studio environment. Do you have the same performance as with Windows XP? I ask this because I have a studio Pc myself and tried it with Vista and it gave me around 20% performance loss while using Vista in comparison with Windows XP.

[FastRedPonyCar]

I need 8GB of ram because this is a recording/studio PC.

Maybe a little bit offtopic, but you use Windows Vista in a recording/studio environment. Do you have the same performance as with Windows XP? I ask this because I have a studio Pc myself and tried it with Vista and it gave me around 20% performance loss while using Vista in comparison with Windows XP.

I do home pc recording as well and 2 of my sound cards had bad latency issues with vista but not with XP. I'm not hardcore into the recording like most studio guys are but I do my fair share and the drum software I use (EZ drummer) sucks down RAM like candy.

[lobbie1978]

I need 8GB of ram because this is a recording/studio PC.

Maybe a little bit offtopic, but you use Windows Vista in a recording/studio environment. Do you have the same performance as with Windows XP? I ask this because I have a studio Pc myself and tried it with Vista and it gave me around 20% performance loss while using Vista in comparison with Windows XP.

I do home pc recording as well and 2 of my sound cards had bad latency issues with vista but not with XP. I'm not hardcore into the recording like most studio guys are but I do my fair share and the drum software I use (EZ drummer) sucks down RAM like candy.

I see, well, in my case performance of Cubase SX and various plugins as well as the latency is 20% less than in XP. So eventually I decided to do a dualboot with Vista and XP and use XP for producing and recording... It sucks, I really wanted to use Vista for everything, but 20% less performance just is too much...

[FastRedPonyCar]

I see, well, in my case performance of Cubase SX and various plugins as well as the latency is 20% less than in XP. So eventually I decided to do a dualboot with Vista and XP and use XP for producing and recording... It sucks, I really wanted to use Vista for everything, but 20% less performance just is too much...

I use acid pro 6 and I've used reaper on and off as well.

With 2 gigs of ddr2 1066 ram and an E6600 intel CPU, it was a pig but once I upgraded my core system to an E8400 clocked up to 3.8ghz and 4 gigs of corsair XMS ddr2 800, the latency practically vanished.

But like you, I do slather on the plugins and I'll have up to 8 or 9 guitar tracks all with various eq plugins, compressor, reverbs, delays, etc.. each track is different and having to play all these tracks and process all the plugin chains simultaneously... yeah I can see how you'd need as much raw processing power as possible.