Vista SP1 beta released to private beta testers today.

I think build 16659 fixes that issue.

 

I hope SP1 fixes the wireless disconnections.

 

Can any of the SP1 beta users comment on whether the (crippled) SuperFetch policy has been improved?

 

Should one do a System Restore point before they install SP1?

 

If you tell me how to check on that I'll tell you what I can.

You should do that at the very least. There might be a way to just uninstall the service pack, but I haven't checked into that. I think it would be best to do a full system back-up.

I don't think I can recommend to anyone to install this service pack at this point. I never had any trouble prior to installing the service pack. However, since installing it, it gets stuck trying to shut-down. I figured out a way to fix that issue, by doing this:

1. Press the Start Orb
2. Type 'Regedit' (without the quotes) and hit enter.
3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/ SYSTEM/ CurrentControlSet/ Control.
4. Click on the "Control" Folder. Double click "WaitToKillServiceTimeout". The default value is 20000. Set it to 10000
5. Exit when done.

That fixed the shutdown/powerdown issue. (actually this will improve everyones shutdown time)

But then I found out that it does not want to go all the way into sleep mode -> requiring a hard shut down. I don't know how to fix that.

Since I almost never use sleep (and never ever use hibernate), I suppose I will keep SP1 for a little while longer since that is the only thing I am having a problem with. I figure people should be aware of the few glitches I have found so far before you jump into this.

What is good about SP1? Well, I have noticed a less random hard drive accessing. I think my application launch times have improved. I can't believe Photoshop CS3 opens so fast. Maybe ReadyBoost has been improved upon . Overall, it seems to run smooth.

 

Well the reason I'm convinced it's a stupid policy is that I use the resource monitor to see what files are being put into ReadyBoost, and I have often seen media files which are larger than 1GB spending a long time being the only file with substantial read access while the only device with substantial write access is the ReadyBoost part of the turbo memory. Which is completely stupid because there is no way that file will fit in that cache, that file is extremely likely to be accessed in a sequential manner and at a speed which the HDD can easily handle (which means it's a stupid thing to try and cache even if it will fit).

I tried using a 2GB SD card for ReadyBoost which could fit most of those files, but I didn't see any improvement either (didn't really expect to).

So if you have an application which accesses media files (video being likely) where the file is larger than the size of the ReadyBoost cache, and you see ReadyBoost spending a lot of time reading that file, then you know it's still as smart as a sleeping ox.

I think this could have been the sort of thing Sony had in mind when they accused MS of putting a stupid SuperFetch policy out with the initial release of Vista. Sony would be pretty interested in the treatment of big media files, unless I miss my guess.

There is no "benchmark" or "test" that I can think of to measure SuperFetch; I just use the resource monitor when the machine is not doing anything resourceful for me, and see what Vista decides to do and try and make sense of it.

Oh yeah by the way: I am running a file backup now, and that has waked ReadyBoost into a frenzy of activity. I wonder if it's dumb enough to be trying to figure out whether it should prefetch every file that is being backed up.

 

I tried with build 16659, same problem. Returned to my pre-SP1 state

 

This is probably the exact reason why turbo memory actually slows down computers instead of speeding them up

 

Third day -Everything is going very smoothly. Vista SP1 works like a charm for my applications.

And there is the addition of exFAT support to flash drives. Check it out. Right click Flash drive > Format > File System > exFAT. I have not tried it yet.
EDIT- exFAT is not compatible with Readyboost, at least for now. Hope they will have suppoI rt for Readyboost

I have no issues with either sleep or hibernate for SP1 on my notebook.

 

It uses low priority I/O so it doesn't slow things down from doing stupid things like this. It just doesn't speed them up as much as it would if it is smart.

My computer is definitely quicker with turbo memory.

 

I'm still afraid to turn my turbo mem on...with having both aps and turbo off..my computer has been stable..not a single freeze or bsod...dont want to mess that up...maybe i'll attemp to turn it on after the the first sp1 is released publicly

 

Why not just back up your system, then you can do what ever you want. If something gets messed up you just restore back.

 

in order to restore incase your system gets completely messed up, do you do a clean install, and then just restore? and will it bring it back to the same exact state w/o any issues? Thanks

 

I am referring to using a utility to completely back up your system to DVDs or an external hard drive (external hard drive is preferable). I use the application that is built-in to Vista Business and Ultimate (it is not included in other versions) called complete PC Back-up and Restore. This does not involve another clean install. It only involves about 45 minutes to make the back-up (which seems like a long time, but after you make a back-up you can use it over and over to restore. restoring only takes about 15-20 minutes. I have used it several times. It works like a charm. Doing a back-up is easy, just follow the prompts. Doing a restore for the first time seemed a little tricky, but I found a nice guide. After you restore, everything will be exactly as it was when you made the back-up. The F.A.Q. in my guide includes a link that will guide you through doing a restore.

If you don't have Vista Business or Ultimate you can use Ghost or Acronis True Image to do basically the same thing.

 

I was actually referring to the backup/restore in vista ultimate. But i chose the option to back it up to an external HD. Let's say if my system completely crashes and I am even unable to start up the computer, how can I go about restoring it from that point? Would it be able to restore straight from the external hd? I would think that I would need to do a clean install, and then restore it...are my thoughts correct?

 

You would boot using the Windows DVD and select repair. The rest would be intuitive. If memory serves no programs are restored using this method, so why not do the "Complete PC Backup" and eliminate the OS installation step.

 

No, that is not correct. I think this is confusing because when you go into Complete PC Back-up and Restore there is a button that you can click that says "Restore Computer". That button does nothing. Go ahead and click it... It will only give you some confusing dialog and will make no attempt whatsoever to actually restore your system. It just says something about needing to access complete restore from a recovery partition or an installation disk. I had to do a little research to figure out how to actually restore with this utility.

If you look at the restore guide in the link I provided, you will see that doing a restore with Complete PC Back-up and Restore FIRST involves booting from an installation disk (such as the anytime upgrade disk). And selecting the "repair" option-> then select Complete PC Back-up and Restore-> then you follow the prompts to restore from your external hard drive. It's all in the guide I provided.

So restoring this way does not involve the ability to load Vista. It happens before that. When you do a clean install it involves booting to the same disk, right? So the only thing your computer needs to be able to do is boot to disk to do a restore. If you computer is unable to boot to disk then nothing can save you. It can only mean your BIOS is messed up or you have a serous hardware failure.

If you are uncomfortable with this, I would suggest making a back-up and then turning around and doing a restore right afterwards just to see how the process goes. You can even do a little experiment... make a back-up, then type a little text file to your self and leave it on the desktop, then restore and you will see that the text file will be gone. (Because it wasn't there when you created the back-up, right?)

Good luck.

 

Oh no... EVERYTHING is restored exactly as it was when you made the back-up. This would include drivers, applications, files, trojans, viruses, whatever you have on your system will be restored using the "Back-up computer" function of Complete PC and the method I just described to restore.

I have done a restore twice. All of my applications including, Adobe Master collection, Nod32, anydvd, clonedvd, alcohol 120%, diskeeper premiere pro, and many more are all intact... everything functions just as it does when you make the back-up.

 

Oh, OK. I read your question again. When you select "repair" you are not doing this to re-install vista. You are doing this to gain access to the Complete PC restore utility that is on the installation disk.

Restoring is pretty fast. My back-up image on my external hard drive is about 25GB. It only takes about 20 minutes from the time I boot to the install disk until full restoration is complete.

 

Thanks aadadams, and stallen,

I guess i'm just a little confused...so I could backup normally while vista is loaded..right? but in order to do a restore..i would have to pop in my vista anytime upgrade disk, restart, and choose 'repair' and then access the backup and restore in order restore? and you can't do it with vista fully loaded?

 

That's right.

That's right. You can not.

Go ahead... click it.

Please read the restore guide in the link I provided earlier. When you actually try to restore it is actually quite simple.

 

thanks for clearing up my confusion stallen!...it's too bad that the mods shut that thread down of me trying to promote you as a moderator...i guess they saw you as a serious threat to their authority

 

No problem. Thanks for the complement, but I really don't think I want to be a moderator anyway. I haven't ever suggested that I wanted to be one. I suppose I might change my mind someday but for now I enjoy being here on notebookreview. If I felt like I had to be here, it would probably feel more like a chore or work.

 

I think stallen SHOULD be a moderator. He would be a good one. I guess the existing mods are scared of him! lol...

 

Duh... I feel stoopid. I just searched and found the thread you started, eyecon82. I just read it for the first time. Thanks for the compliments guys.

That's really all it's about for me. I like to help people out. I remember what it is like to ask questions and get vague or rude answers in return. Some people just forget what it is like to be frustrated and need help.

Anyway, that's enough about the moderator stuff. I feel like I contribute about as much as a moderator would anyway. What's the difference?

I am puzzled as to why they closed down that thread? I didn't see any violations of any forum rules? Somebody has got a touch of the god complex.

 

Yea..I mean if anything, that thread was showing appreciation of your efforts...I was pretty puzzled myself when they closed it down w/o explanation...oh well...just goes to show you that power means everything to certain people and a challenge to authority will result in punishment....(are we in russia or china?)

 

anyways, back on track...thanks to system64 and stallen for showing us the ups and downs of a beta sp1 vista install....i think i'll wait since I finally have a stable system...i really do hope they figure something out about the turbo/aps issue many of us are having

 

No problem!

 

With regard to the backups.....Some high end softwares have a license file that disappears after any attempt to backup using some of the methods for backing up. For example I use Mathcad for school, I've tried ghosting my hard drive to back up, but when I use the backup, Mathcad refuses to open saying that the license file is not there....................Just a caution...

 

I have had this issue with software after restore as well. I don't remember which application, but if memory serves a simple uninstall/reinstall with correct key fixed it.

 

I would consider Adobe Master Collection "High-End". I haven't had any trouble with Complete PC with any applications for far, but I suppose it is possible that certain applications have a mechanism for this built-in.

Has anyone noticed this with Complete PC, specifically?

 

I have, but I can't remember which app it was. Like I said though, a simple uninstall/reinstall fixed it for me.

Edit: After going through my installed software it was either:
AutoCAD 2008
WinSPEC32
ChemBioOffice 2008.

Sorry, I can't be more specific, but I know it was one of those.

 

ok now i am really bewildered. I had to do a restore because I ended up with another unexpected shutdown after waking up from sleep....really pissed me off

Well anyways, I did the restore...and before...i had around 102gb free out of 149....

now after restore i have 120gb free....where in the world did the extra 18gb come from?

 

Recovered system restore space, maybe....

 

my system restore info was saved on an external HD...this is really puzzling me...nothing seems to be missing; all my windows update info is gone under update history...but other than that..nothing else seems to be missing and all programs and all of my mp3's are there....a gain of 18gb is huge

 

Had you emptied the temp folders prior to restore, and are they empty now? Several installers I use unpack into temp directories and those thing can be huge.

 

The only thing I can think of is possibly the restore information from System Recovery does not get back-up. I can't check. I have System Restore feature turned off. But I could see that being the case. Since System Restore is a feature to restore from within windows, that information might not be saved using Complete PC Back-up and Restore. Since most people would be making a Back-up with Complete PC with the intentions of Restoring with Complete PC I guess there wouldn't be much sense in also backing up a bunch of System Restore information. Soooo... I would guess that when you restored you have everything intact just as before MINUS all of the System Restore information.

 

Just FYI. With SP1 beta installed, you will not be able to install any of the updates list in this article. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...xes-for-vista-released-in-advance-of-sp1.html

 

I know these are available through DL..but when can we expect them to be available through windows update?

 

I uninstalled SP1 Beta, threw in the updates and installed SP1 beta back again.

So far it is ok, except that the booting time takes slightly longer.

 

I removed SP1 last night by restoring back to my pre-SP1 back-up. I started having more problems with shut-down hanging infinitely. Seems strange. My system did not have a single problem before I installed it. After removing it all is well again. I can't help but think that there are some "pre-requisites" that need to be installed before installing the SP as I mentioned a few pages back I provided a link that states there are pre-requisites.

Oh well, I wasn't installing SP1 beta to solve any problems I was just taking it for a test drive. At this point I'll probably just wait for the final SP1 and maybe slipstream SP1 using vlite.

 

Seems like we'll need to wait for the official release. I'm still waiting for the SP3 of XP

 

What are you hoping to see from SP3. I guess I figured XP is probably about as good as it can be.

 

I would be surprised if Microsoft even bothers making an SP3 to honest, they probably don't want to encourage people...They are going to concentrate on their current product, which is Vista. They probably need to focus on fixing whatever issues Vista has so people will embrace it. Just my opinion.

 

It is confirmed that they are making SP3.

 

here's a link to XP SP3 site that supposedly has links to leaked sp3 downloads, as well as screenshots:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Wind...from-Microsoft-Leaked-Screenshots-62041.shtml

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

oops open mouth insert foot..lol

 

Hey guys, I just got SP1 beta DIRECT FROM MICROSOFT VIA WINDOWS UPDATE!!! And I'll tell you how...

But first... I am not experiencing the shutdown problems or any other problems so far with this direct from Microsoft update.

If you are interested, it's still at your own risk, but at least you know for sure that it is the REAL SP1 beta and not something that has been hacked.

As I mentioned before there are two prerequisite files that need to be installed by windows update before it downloads and installs the SP1. They are KB937287 and KB938371. Since these were installed, I think that is why I am not having any trouble this time.

Just follow this very simple hack and windows will install those two files and SP1 beta. It required several reboots. It is possible that you might get a "Windows is up to date" when you tell it to check for updates (I only got this message once), but eventually you'll get everything downloaded and installed.

This worked on my 64-Ultimate system. It works for 32-bit or 64-bit.
http://itsvista.com/2007/10/how-to-hack-windows-update-to-download-vista-sp1-beta/

 

Awesome! Thanks so much for posting this, I feel much better about getting this through Windows Update. Props!