"Marcus" <> wrote in message...
> Thinking on installing Vista Home Premium on my system (Abit BE7
> with PIV 3.06GB (O/C'd to 3.5GB), 1GB Ram) when it's released
> in a week or so, I have run the Vista upgrade advisor and this has said
> that my HPT372 Raid controller on my 4 year old ABit BE7 will
> not run.
Hmmm, I've installed beta Vistas on my old system which has an HPT372 on it,
so it's possible the Advisor might be giving you a bum steer there.
Anyway...
> I have had a look on the Abit and Highpoint web site and there doesn't
> seem to any Vista drivers available.
Can't have looked quite hard enough then, there are Vista compatible drivers
listed at Highpoint's site:
http://www.highpoint-tech.com/BIOS_D...ista-2.351.zip
> Also my Creative Live 5.1 soundcard is not going to have Vista drivers
> available, what's the chance of this running with Vista.
There are a number of issues with Vista and older sound devices. Think
Creative's Alchemy is supposed to be fix but not sure how complete or
effective it is.
> I know installing Vista will slow my PC down but I am planning to build
> a new PC at the end of this year or start of next so if the worst comes
> to the worst I'll just stick with XP until then but I'd like to be
> familiar with Vista before I upgrade.
Your option of course but this sounds like a load of hassle and money to no
real benefit. The only things that Vista does that XP doesn't are the Aero
Glass UI and DirectX 10 games. It sounds like your system isn't going to be
up to DX10 gaming anyway and there are addons for XP that do a Glass-like
trick, so why faff around with something that will, as you say, slow your
system up and also saddle you with a load of DRM?
> What I would like is a menu upon boot as to with OS I wish to boot to.
What is the point of dual booting Vista *and* XP? Sounds like you're
volunteering yourself for a stack of hassle here, just for the sake of being
able to say you've got Vista. When you get it, you're likely to realise that
you didn't really want it that much after all.
I'm with the other guys. If you're thinking you might stick with XP for the
time being, and aren't planning on building a new system until the end of
this year at the earliest, there is no point getting Vista now. It doesn't
give you anything worthwhile, bar bragging rights with your mates, and IMV
isn't worth the cost, either in terms of buying it or the hassle you're
likely to have getting your sound as good as it was.
If you're going to get it, the time to do so is when you're getting your new
hardware. By then you'll be able to buy a Vista DVD with SP1 already
integrated, and indeed you'll have learned enough about the OS from other
sources to decide whether you want to go with it, or stick with XP.
--
Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
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The UK's leading technology reseller
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