Windows Vista on HP notebooks (a how-to guide)

[prol91]

dont u need the sata drivers when installing?

[JadedRaverLA]

dont u need the sata drivers when installing?

Nope. Vista includes drivers for just about every onboard SATA controller available. If you for some reason need drivers for a disk controller, you can just download XP ones from the manufacturer (32-bit or 64-bit as necessary), and put them on either a blank CD or USB key in the root directory. The old F6 install disk method doesn't exist any more. Jusy click load drviers at the installation loacation screen, put in the disc or USB key and Windows should find and install the drivers on its own.

[Clusty]

Do most programs that work with XP, work with Vista?

[lappyhappy]

Appreciate the info jade. Maybe this post should be stickied.

[ThunderRiver]

Most of the drivers are installed via Windows Update in the final Vista build. Even the nVidia Geforce 7200 driver was installed via Windows Update, and Aero can then be enabled manually after reboot

The only two things that are currently messy on DV2000t are the audio driver and QuickPlay.

The default audio driver that comes with Vista doesn't have support for the built-in microphone. Worse, after suspend or hibernation, sound disappears. If you use the driver from Xp, it will work, but the microphone support is still extremely limited as the input volume is very low. People on the other end of Skype can barely hear me. It is definitely a driver issue.

For QuickPlay, don't even think about getting it to work under Vista if you did a clean install. Certainly the QP partition will not work. If you did an upgrade from Xp, QP (not partition) will work under Vista.

The best thing to do right now is stilll to wait for HP to release drivers for Vista although I myself can't wait for that and is currently typing this message under the RTM final build of Vista (Office beta tester gets final copy if he or she submits at least one bug).

[JadedRaverLA]

Do most programs that work with XP, work with Vista?

Well, this really depends on what kind of programs you use. System utilities such as antivirus, disk partition, etc. DO NOT work, unless you use a version specifically designed for Vista. Most other kinds of programs DO work however. Games are somewhat hit and miss. DirectX 9.0L is included to support legacy games, however there are some recent games that have issues running right now. Game updates should be available around the consumer release of Vista for those games which have problems.

Most of the drivers are installed via Windows Update in the final Vista build. Even the nVidia Geforce 7200 driver was installed via Windows Update, and Aero can then be enabled manually after reboot.

Thanks, I updated the original post to reflect this. Personally, I prefer modifying the latest nvidia drivers as opposed to using the Microsoft-supplied ones, but it certainly is easier to just download via Windows update.

[robneal81]

Hello,

Has anyone gotten the webcam drivers to work with Vista 32-bit? It was working on build 5770, but not well. Video through Skype was unusable. I re-installed Vista with the RTM final version and now I can't get the webcam wokring at all. Anyone else having the same problem? I have a dv2000t.

[k3l0]

The GMA950 gets a Gaming score of 3.0. (Not kidding).

[ThunderRiver]

The GMA950 gets a Gaming score of 3.0. (Not kidding).

Fantastic.... I intentionally get nVidia Geforce 7200 (to avoid GMA 950), and only got a gaming score of 2.7

jadedraverla, how do you like 64bit system so far? I can install it if I want to, but honestly, I don't see the point of it as there aren't that many apps that support 64 bit? Can Nero Burning support it? Is it really faster than 32 bit counter part? That is the question I tend to wonder. During beta testing, I am sure there is a certain number of testers use 64-bit, but my guess is that the main focus remains at 32-bit side.

[JadedRaverLA]

Hello,

Has anyone gotten the webcam drivers to work with Vista 32-bit? It was working on build 5770, but not well. Video through Skype was unusable. I re-installed Vista with the RTM final version and now I can't get the webcam wokring at all. Anyone else having the same problem? I have a dv2000t.

Well, I'm using Vista x64 final and the webcam is working fine with the included Microsoft drivers. For some reason I had to install the Sonix driver (manufacturer driver) which didn't work at all and slowed the system down substantially, then revert back to the Microsoft driver, and the webcam works great. On past builds I've not had to do this, and the Microsoft drivers have worked fine immediately after installing, so I'm not sure what was keeping the webcam from starting this time.

Fantastic.... I intentionally get nVidia Geforce 7200 (to avoid GMA 950), and only got a gaming score of 2.7

jadedraverla, how do you like 64bit system so far? I can install it if I want to, but honestly, I don't see the point of it as there aren't that many apps that support 64 bit? Can Nero Burning support it? Is it really faster than 32 bit counter part? That is the question I tend to wonder. During beta testing, I am sure there is a certain number of testers use 64-bit, but my guess is that the main focus remains at 32-bit side.

Yeah, rating the GMA950 higher than Geforce 7200 is really odd. My guess is that the nvidia drivers are still VERY immature for Vista, and I'd assume this should change as Vista's consumer release nears.

As for 64-bit, there are a certain number of issues that aren't as easy to work around. As far as I know, there are no 64-bit card reader drivers or alternate sound card drivers that avoid the annoying lose sound after resume bug. If neither of those is a deal-breaker, then the 64-bit definitely has its advantages -- increased security, protected kernel, etc. You have to make sure you have appropriate 64-bit antivirus software, but I haven't had many problems with other kinds of software. Nero works great (7.5.7.0 specifically fixes most Vista compatibility problems), iTunes works great, Daemon Tools x64 works great. Really the only program that has any issues I've noticed is Divx Player, but that's just an issue with a .dll that only effects the player itself, not the codec, so videos play fine through Media Player or other software.

Otherwise, I think most new software for Vista will start to take at least some advantage of x64 capabilities. Office 2007 already has some x64-specific files that are installed if your OS is 64-bit. I would think that when Adobe and other companies release their next big updates designed for Vista then they too will likely provide enhancements for the x64 architecture.

In the meantime, the speed definitely isn't slower, but any speed increase is at most negligible.