Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta

[Guest ziporama]

FYI, prior reports seem to indicate the DX10 preview artifacts are due to the rendering engine in FSX, not the video drivers or the hardware. A new O/S patch would not be able to impact this if that is the case.Cheers,Etienne

[Guest firehawk44]

I installed it yesterday...no real issues to speak of and it works. WHY can't we get rid of the flashing runways? What exactly is the issue that causes this, and is Microsoft going to address it before FSX 11?Stan

I agree with Geof, we're not going to see a fix until at least FS11 but, to answer your question the flashing is caused by the video card drivers when DX10 Preview is turned on (this according to Phil Taylor, formerly the head developer of FSX at ACES). Phil also stated he passed the issue directly to Nvidia techs. He wrote it somewhere here in the AVSIM forums and maybe someone can find it but I don't have the time. It is caused by z-buffering or z-fighting. Here's a link to the FSInsider site about this issue: http://www.fsinsider.com/tips/Pages/SA0002.aspx. Now this article doesn't say it's a video card problem but I have to believe what Phil passed on to us. Sorry I can't be more specific.Best regards,Jim

[Dougal 165]

Can anyone tell me if SP1 must be previously installed?

[Guest firehawk44]

Can anyone tell me if SP1 must be previously installed?

Yes, definitely a requirement (I believe it states that on the download page).Jim

[Dougal 165]

Yes, definitely a requirement (I believe it states that on the download page).Jim

Thanks Jim

[David Roch 1,976]

Stan, I would say no on the flashing runways being fixed. I think the "DX 10 preview" is just that. I did install pack 2 ok on my umpc that I use in the airplane, and it seems fine, but my desktop is again impossible.

Geof,Try to re-arm you machine.To rearm, run slmgr.vbs -rearm from elevated command prompt (Admin). (Note that you can only do 3 rearms on the same Vista installation!)That might help updating Vista and installing the SP2.

[Pete S 7]

Thanks for the heads up. I have had massive problems with Vista so I am hoping it will install and fix my problems. Downloading now...

Geof, what kind of problems are you having?Is one of the problems losing the ability for Vista to download available Windows and MS updates? I have been fighting that, and other problems for a few months now. I am not sure if it is an OS problem! The problem started when I went to a Gigabyte MB and a new processor, that's why I'm inclined to think it's a HW problem and not the OS! I amd going to try the SP2 Beta also.Pete S.

[Guest Bottle]

BUMP!Is there any more opinion on how the Vista SP2 beta performs?

[Guest firehawk44]

BUMP!Is there any more opinion on how the Vista SP2 beta performs?

In my case, the beta is performing flawlessly. No issues whatsoever; however, installing the beta will NOT fix any of the issues (such as DX10 preview) with FSX. This week I received several automatic security updates to Vista SP2 so at least the Vista update program is getting the right updates.Best regards,Jim

[spilok 1,132]

The SP2 BETA was a big disaster for me TODAY.I shut down my computer (to give it a rest) for the first time since installing this Beta, and the next morning (today), it showed my time and date to be February, 2007. I tried updating with the latest Vista updates and the fun began. I tried changing the date to be correct, and I had blue screen after blue screen. Total crashes. Of course, my restore function did not go back to December 4th when I installed the Beta for some reason, and I was unable to do anything to get back to what I had. I even enlisted the help of two I.T. employees in my company, and they couldn't do anything. They suggested starting from scratch again.Long story short: I had to reinstall Vista and I'm losing everything. Luckily, I bought Carbonite which is $50 per year, and it backs up everything every day OFF SITE. So, I will have to reinstall everything, but my valuable pictures and other things in Documents and files should be there for me to reinstall. However, I have a long road to reinstall FSX and GEX and REX and planes and scenery and everything. Thankfully, I'll have some time off for the upcoming Holidays and I'll just make "lemonade out of the lemons" I have.Lesson: I will never install a BETA again. I will leave well enough alone, and FSX was running SO great. Too bad.Stan

[Guest djt01]

The SP2 BETA was a big disaster for me TODAY.Lesson: I will never install a BETA again. I will leave well enough alone, and FSX was running SO great. Too bad.Stan

Like any other service pack, beta or not, it should be installed on a fresh OS.I installed the public SP2 beta on three machines when it was first released. In addition to my two gaming machines (Vista 64 bit) I installed the SP2 beta on a Vista Ultimate 32 bit Dell XPS M1710 laptop that I use for work. All three machines had the public SP2 beta installed on freshly reformatted Vista OS

[GHD 21]

Hi Stan,I know it's a bit late for you but can I recommend Casper V5.0 from http://support.fssdev.comI have just used it to clone my existing dual boot Vista 64bit / XP Pro to a new hard drive and replaced the original drive with the clone. Everything was preserved including both operatings systems, both registries and all applications.George

[Guest Mower]

Like any other service pack, beta or not, it should be installed on a fresh OS.

LMAO...like that's gonna happen, what with all the apps and FSX mods etc...not in this lifetime. Should be fine AFAIK to just drop the SP on top of your existing OS.

[Guest djt01]

LMAO...like that's gonna happen, what with all the apps and FSX mods etc...not in this lifetime. Should be fine AFAIK to just drop the SP on top of your existing OS.

If you don