I need opinions: XP vs. Vista, which one!?

[Guest United]

Well, decision time. I don't need to buy another CPU. In fact I have one Intel COre 2 Duo E6400 on a P5W DH Deluxe Asus, and an Intel Pentium 4 550 Prescott on an Intel D925XCV Mobo. I have three Nvidia cards: the 8800GTS, a 7300Gt and a 7800 something. One of the reasons I switched to the 8XXX series, was the purple FSX water the 7800 caused and the 8800 fixed. I understand eliminating the 8800. I read those who have had no problems with their 8800, others that have abondoned Nvidia all together to ATI, a card that for some reason I have avoided. I think what I may do is a step wise maneuver. Move all unnecessary non-flight sim prorams to my Pentium 4 computer, retain the 8800 on the Duo Cor, stripped compleely clean of anything else (and after a total new XP Home SP2 re-install) save necessary video drivers and intall FSX up to Acceleration and go for it on the Duo. If I get blue CTDs with the 8800 under those conditions, then I'll know that the 8800 is flaky. At that point I would consider a lower non-DX10/ 8XXX series card OR have a go at an ATI. My sense of the thing is that the 8800 will work fine if I give the Duo Cor system a good scrubdown, we shall see! Are we having fun yet?Randy Jura, KPDX

[Guest United]

Nick, Thanks for that. GIven your experience, I think I 'll stick with my 8800 until it fails under pristine reinstall conditions. Where is Nick's Tweak guide? Randy Jura, KPDX

[ryanbatc 12,835]

>Randy,>>You're unlikely to have a good FSX experience because you have>a piece of problem hardware. If you search the threads on>AVSIM and elsewhere, you'll find that many FSX problems lead>to one place, and one place only:>>Your nVidia 8800 graphics adapter>>Pull that out and put it aside. Save it.LawlzzzzzWhy does everyone hate the 8800? Mine works great!

[Guest United]

Ryan, .......and that's why I'm gonna stick with my 8800 for now. I need to prove that it's the culprit before I replace it.Randy Jura, KPDX

[Virtualwombat 4]

Here's the list of links from a previous post by NickN.Recomendations: http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...=1197380641/0#2Install: w/Acel http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...=1197380641/0#1wo/Acel http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...=1197380641/0#6Update for C++ Lib: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=enx64 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=enWndows Setup: http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...197380641/15#22Dealing with more than 2GB of memory in x32: http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...197380641/15#25Drivers and Nhancer: http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...197380641/30#39Tuning FSX with UTX and add-ons: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...d=437662&page=7If you are struggling with your system and lack the time or expertise to get FSX running properly, another option is to employ a professional to sort things out for you. I used FS-GS to optimise my system for FS9:http://www.fs-gs.com/Cheers,Noel.

[Guest United]

Well, I'm up and running now, so far so good, but too soon to conclude much excpet that NickN's tweaks are working, but not the O&O defrag program. The name degrag. part ruined my entire installation and had to do over, but that's OK. I'll get what I can and go on!Randy Jura, KPDX

[Guest Nick_N]

O&O Defrag did not ruin your entire installationMICROSOFT ruined your entire installation becuase of a screwup on their part with XPSP2http://support.microsoft.com:80/kb/941715/enMicrosoft kept that screw-up QUIET for years because it did not affect everyone and they did not want to be responsible for a major duck-up on their part. 3RD party tools such as O&O, Partition Magic, etc took the heat for it instead. Sys Admin's found out real fast right after Sp2 what going on and that is why back then the net was full of warnings about NOT using the web based installer for SP2 and instead wiping things clean and installing with a fresh SP2 slipstreamed install disk.In order to use O&O and many other 3rd party disk tools without issues the Windows XpSP2 install disk MUST BE made AFTER December of 2004, OR, SLIPSTREAMED using SP2 which was posted after December of 2004. The issue is directly related to how the HAL will NOT UPGRADE correctly with the SP2 web patch unless Windows is installed CLEAN with the right ntfs.sys file, which means the install disk must have SP2 and the right ntfs.sys file in it. Any store bought XP SP2 Windows disk produced after December of 04, or, correctly slipstreamed disk includes the fix.O&O Defrag does not kill installs.. ---->Microsoft<---- kills installs, especially older Dells that have old Windows install disks

[Guest United]

Thanks for the explanation Nick, I do appreciate it. I take it that XP SP3 will avoid all that unpleasantry and allow for O&O to work properly then? Randy Jura, KPDX

[Mike T 208]

Randy:The only difference beteween XP home and XP pro is domain networking capability. There are no perfomance enhancements or magic eggs included that will give you better performance in on vs. another. So if that's your criterion for choosing, then ask yourself: do you have a home domain network? If no, then save your money.Same thing with Vista Ultimate vs Vista (x). Vista Ultimate gives you all the bells and whistles including domain support, but there is absolutely no performance to be gained through the different versions of Vista. Ask yourself: do you require the almost non-existant Vista Ultimate Extras? (I've counted a total of 5 over 2 years), do you have a home domain network, and do you wish to connect your computer to your TV since Vista Ultimate comes with Windows Media Center. If not, save your money.Now, if you compare Vista to XP there are performance differences whereas XP will perform better than Vista pound for pound. Unless you have a heavy hitting rig, you will see a performance drop (small to large depending on your rig). Now with the misconceptions out of the way, what are the specs for your rig? That will be the determining factor.

[Mace 1,909]

>>>>Pull that out and put it aside. Save it.>>Lawlzzzzz>>Why does everyone hate the 8800? Mine works great!>Actually it's not ALL 8800's...only some. And I don't share Kevin's sentiments about 8800 cards necessarily. I think those cards have gotten a bad rap, mostly because of driver issues, not the actual hardware itself.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

[Guest United]

NickOK, then, if I use the XP SP3 patch, soon upcoming, will I be able to fix the ntfs.sys problem and then use O&O? or do I need to do a complete system reinstall again?Randy Jura, KPDX

[Guest Nick_N]

Windows must be installed clean with a correct SP2 CDYou can not run any web patch and fix this issueyou must create a new install XP CD using a method called SLIPSTREAM to incorportate SP2 into the CD and then completely reinstall, clean

[Guest United]

OK, then to clarify.......I cannot wait until XPSP3 and use that? I have to use a correct version, slipstreamed, of SP2 only? If that is the case, where is the correct SP2 version? I have looked at the microsoft site.....and the only version they have (and therefore I ahve) is WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe Version 1.0 dated August 10, 2004. I thought you said there was a newer version that must be used.Randy Jura, KPDX

[Guest Nick_N]

If you meant you intend to slipstream the FULL version of SP3 which includes SP2, yes that will work.That SP was just released. I tend to shy away from committing to SP installs for a few months... in that you may wish to consider building a SP2 install disk and just installing the SP3 updates via the web if you really feel you need them. IMHO There is nothing in SP3 that is going to make Windows or FSX run better. The SP2 release date means nothing... they quietly updated that SP2 file a few times since it was originally posted. LOL

[scott967 62]

Is there a good tool for creating a bootable slipstream setup cd? I currently have roxio creator not nero on my system and haven't been able to figure out a way to create a proper boot iso of xp to burn. I have an MS XP sp1 upgrade cd. In the past I used nero to create boot cds but don't want to have to buy just for a single purpose. scott s..