Windows Vista Modernisation Guide

[Win10-Hater]

Hello all, I present to you the ultimate Windows Vista Modernisation Guide.

I was inspired by @WinClient5270's YT video on the same and also by the Windows 2000 modernisation guide over at w2k.phreaknet.org, but I wanted to add on to the video and present the info in forum post form, and so I have created this thread.

Please note : I won't be talking very much about hardware support here.

Compatible hardware with Windows Vista : 

Pre-Install Recommendations:

This is purely a recommendation and not an order, but please try to have atleast 8 GB of RAM and a good SSD. Yes, Vista does not support native TRIM for SSDs but it can be done either through manufacturer provided SSD utilities or (if manufacturer utilities are either not available, do not support Vista or do not perform TRIM) SSD Tweaker Pro, IOBit Smart Defrag or other such utilities. Also, with an SSD, I have found performance on Vista to be slightly faster than Windows 7 on the same hardware.

Install and post-install instructions:

1) Grab your installation media and make sure your computer supports USB booting, if you wish to install via USB. Install Vista and install PC manufacturer provided drivers (if any) and make sure you have you have a driver updater app such as Driver Booster or SDI ready.

2) Install Driver Booster and update the remaining drivers. It nags you to buy the Pro edition sometimes, but it's easy to ignore.

3) Install WinCDEmu, a CD emulator that eliminates the need of burning CD's/DVD's for installing softwares such as MS Office and brings the Windows 8+ feature of mounting ISO files directly to Vista. Also, install VLC media player, Foxit Reader/SumatraPDF etc.etc. for basic functionality. Also, install any office suite of your choice. LibreOffice and OpenOffice are also fine but I recommend MS Office 2007/2010 as they have the best compatibility with .docx, .xlsx, .pptx etc. file types (more preferably 2010).

4) Install ClamWin Antivirus that still receives definition updates and actively supports Windows 95 through 10 or Avast Antivirus (these are the 2 antivirus programs that have worked well for me on Vista). If you wish, you may harden your security cover by installing Malwarebytes 3.5.1.

NOTE : I have provided the link to the Last versions of software for Vista forum thread for users' reference.

5) Update your Vista until at January 2020 to install the latest version of the extended kernel (07.25.2022) at the time of editing this post. And since Windows Update no longer works, use offline updating or update slipstreaming. I won't provide detailed info about slipstreaming. However, if you do want a detailed update slipstreaming guide, check out @asdf2345's tutorial below (NOTE: this tutorial is only applicable for slipstreaming pre-EOL updates):

One of the best tools for updating even now and beyond is DISM++, but if it is inconvenient for some users, I have another method that will work. Josh Davidson over at Youtube has created a video on how to update Windows Vista completely offline without using DISM++ or slipstreaming. Also, there is a patch available for download from MyDigitalLife that restores Windows Update on Vista. created by @abbodi1406.

Link to the video: 

Server 2008 updates can be downloaded manually.

NOTE: Here's the link to the Server 2008 updates for Vista MSFN thread.

6) Once your Vista is up to date, you may install the Vista extended kernel. Please note : Keeping in mind that @win32's extended kernel is in WIP stage at the time of writing this post, this step can be a bit risky at times if not executed with 100% precaution, it may lead to unwanted consequences and a reinstall might be needed in some rare cases. After installing the extended kernel, you can install a modern web browser for a better browsing experience.

7) If you download large files often but have trouble finding a download manager, I recommend using Xtreme Download Manager as it is very good and gets the job done. You may download the installer from retrosystemsrevival.blogspot.com .

Suggestions, additions or corrections to this guide are most welcome. I hope this becomes a valuable piece of information for Vista holdouts!

Edited October 4, 2022 by Win10-Hater
updated 04/Oct/2022

[Jaguarek62]

3 hours ago, TECHGEEK said:

Install Driver Booster and update the remaining drivers. It nags you to buy the Pro edition sometimes, but it's easy to ignore.

Definitely DO NOT!

SDI is far superior and it DOESN’T INSTALL INCOMPATIBLE DRIVERS!

I’m speaking from experience.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Jaguarek62

[Ximonite]

10 minutes ago, Jaguarek62 said:

SDI is far superior and it DOESN’T INSTALL INCOMPATIBLE DRIVERS!

SDI definitely installs incompatible drivers sometimes. I have had SDI install a wrong driver that completely bricks an install multiple times, and one of these times was on Vista.

I haven't had any issues with Driver Booster besides a few Windows 2000 specific ones.

I generally don't like IObit but Driver Booster is an actually decent program.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Ximonite

[jaclaz]

9 minutes ago, Jaguarek62 said:

I’m speaking from experience.

To be fair, you are actually SHOUTING from experience.  

jaclaz

[Jaguarek62]

2 minutes ago, Ximonite said:

SDI definitely installs incompatible drivers sometimes. I have had SDI install a wrong driver that completely bricks an install multiple times, and one of these times was on Vista.

I haven't had any issues with Driver Booster besides a few Windows 2000 specific ones.

I generally don't like IObit but Driver Booster is an actually decent program.

Well then I suggest to anyone looking for drivers to update them themselves. Driver booster actually kinda destroyed few of my windows installation. It absolutely does not care if it is installing chipset driver made for windows 10 on Windows 8.1.  

1 minute ago, jaclaz said:

To be fair, you are actually SHOUTING from experience.  

Yeah well sorry about that, whenever I hear about this "program" I get really mad. I just try to warn people that it can damage their operating system. One computer was left unbootable, because it replaced acpi driver.

[Jaguarek62]

Now that I think about that I only had issues with amd ryzen.

1st system that got destroyed was:

AMD Ryzen 3 1200 on Windows 7

Second was:

AMD ryzen 7 3700x on Windows 8.1

and mine computer running AMD ryzen 5 1600.

Driver booster installed windows 10 drivers on Windows 7 and 8.1 and made them broken. For some reason system restore did nothing.

[winvispixp]

5 hours ago, TECHGEEK said:

Windows Update no longer works

Well that's true but this "patch" makes it work again: https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/restore-windows-update-for-vista.82336/

I don't know if windows update will find every update it used to find let's say 3 years ago... I think a few of them got deleted after the windows update SHA-1 based endpoints got discontinued (I hope I'm wrong) in aug 2020

I still recommend using dism++ and what @greenhillmaniac provided here: 

 

Edited November 26, 2020 by winvispixp

[pridesnow]

6 hours ago, TECHGEEK said:

and make sure you have you have a very good driver updater app called Driver Booster's installer downloaded from the Internet.

Are you sure about that? Driver installer apps are not perfect and can simply take your Vista PC into BSOD because of badly installed drivers

Edited November 26, 2020 by pridesnow

[Win10-Hater]

9 hours ago, Jaguarek62 said:

Definitely DO NOT!

SDI is far superior and it DOESN’T INSTALL INCOMPATIBLE DRIVERS!

I’m speaking from experience.

What do you mean? Driver booster has updated all my Vista drivers properly and had not caused any issues for me and even I'm speaking from experience.

[Dixel]

12 hours ago, Jaguarek62 said:

Definitely DO NOT!

SDI is far superior and it DOESN’T INSTALL INCOMPATIBLE DRIVERS!

I’m speaking from experience.

And I'm speaking from my experience too. I totally agree with the others : Driver Booster is far more superior, starting from the ancient times.

[Win10-Hater]

7 hours ago, winvispixp said:

Well that's true but this "patch" makes it work again: https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/restore-windows-update-for-vista.82336/

I don't know if windows update will find every update it used to find let's say 3 years ago... I think a few of them got deleted after the windows update SHA-1 based endpoints got discontinued (I hope I'm wrong) in aug 2020

I still recommend using dism++ and what @greenhillmaniac provided here: 

 

I applied that patch but WU still does not work, probably because I have .net framework 4.6.2 installed. Any way to solve? If this can be solved, I will add it to the list

As for dism++, thanks a lot for suggesting. I totally forgot about it.

Edited November 27, 2020 by TECHGEEK
Spelling error lol

[Win10-Hater]

11 hours ago, Ximonite said:

SDI definitely installs incompatible drivers sometimes. I have had SDI install a wrong driver that completely bricks an install multiple times, and one of these times was on Vista.

I had hooked up a Dell external monitor to my secondary Vista desktop which does not have Vista drivers but SDI installed a driver, which I don't know whether to trust. But no major issues were caused.

[j7n]

Why would you need an automated program for selecting drivers anyway? Just save the half a dozen drivers that match your hardware to reinstall them as necessary. Rename the installation file so that it clearly show the version/date and supported OS versions inside. New driver versions usually improve compatibility with other new hardware/OS or games, which might be outside the capability of the old system anyway, add new device ids, but sometimes make the driver perform worse with old software (such as losing dithering in 16-bit).

[Ximonite]

3 hours ago, TECHGEEK said:

I had hooked up a Dell external monitor to my secondary Vista desktop which does not have Vista drivers but SDI installed a driver, which I don't know whether to trust. But no major issues were caused.

Monitor drivers aren't gonna cause major issues, even if installing the wrong ones. They don't need any drivers to work, the only thing you would notice when installing the wrong drivers is that the colors may be slightly off.

1 hour ago, j7n said:

Why would you need an automated program for selecting drivers anyway? Just save the half a dozen drivers that match your hardware to reinstall them as necessary.

I use Driver Booster when using a new hardware/OS combo and I save which drivers Driver Booster installs for later.

[winvispixp]

6 hours ago, TECHGEEK said:

I applied that patch but WU still does not work, probably because I have .net framework 4.6.2 installed. Any way to solve? If this can be solved, I will add it to the list

As for dism++, thanks a lot for suggesting. I totally forgot about it.

this might not work the first try.. mine worked the 4th time 

make sure you have these updates first: https://mega.nz/file/OwggEIAQ#MqNKI0OqeFZui9Ou8oYHraD1djUGZFH07rt2Bi5t5SM