[Johnny Brown]

I say 'Hasta', I really mean 'hello' vista.

In my quest for a computer that's 'fast as fuck', whilst costing less than twenty 'fuck-alls', I've just got a new PC with Vista on it, the intention being to run the 64 bit version of Lightroom in a manner that will 'tear it a new arsehole'.

So Vista users, what do I need to know? Any bundled drivel hat needs uninstalling? Should I disable everything Microsoft a la XP? I take it I still need third-party firewalls and anti-virus?

[slackline]

I take it I still need third-party firewalls and anti-virus?

Not for much longer (assuming you trust them to get it right and not leave it like Emmental cheese)

You should always use a firewall, whether its the one with the OS or third party.  Unless you're going to connect to your computer remotely just shut everything down, then open up a port for any p2p software.

[Johnny Brown]

Ta for that. And for managing not to mention Linux...

[slackline]

Ta for that. And for managing not to mention Linux...

I'm all geeked out after getting my PS3 up and running with an "alternative operating system" over last week/weekend.

[BB]

I can't help thinking that if you want a fast PC, then windows is the wrong place to start.

[Jim]

I'm not going to tell you again

Install the router you have lying in your draw and use the firewall built into it,
this is not only a better firewall and safer but it doesn't use any of your computers resources

I will be working on a vlite custom build of vista when I get my hands on a decent retail copy of ultimate, I'll let you have a copy

also I hope you will be partitioning one of those large sata drives for your c: drive and not using that dogslow pata drive

[slackline]

Install the router you have lying in your draw and use the firewall built into it,
this is not only a better firewall and safer but it doesn't use any of your computers resources

  (no idea what router it is, but it will be very handy, won't draw much more power either etc. etc.)

[Johnny Brown]

I can't help thinking that if you want a fast PC, then windows is the wrong place to start.

You mean a mac? How much mac would I get for £282? Fuck all. I want the fuck all on the other side of the equation.

Jim, I might just do that with the router.

I'm not planning to reinstall Vista again though. Keith has given me a new SATA C: drive with it ready installed. I don't know how fast it is, but he agreed with me on keeping system and data more seperated than a partition.

[Control freak]

Id say wait about 4 weeks and then get rid of it and put Windows 7 on - RTM I think is 22 July with the retail version being available in October.

Im running the RC on all my PCs now and it is noticably faster than Vista

[GCW]

Im running the RC on all my PCs now and it is noticably faster than Vista

And no doubt slower than XP

[BB]

You mean a mac? How much mac would I get for £282? Fuck all. I want the fuck all on the other side of the equation.

The thought never entered my head. I'm talking about OS, not hardware. I'll leave slackline to advise on which flavour.

[Johnny Brown]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I'm aware only Windows and Apple OSs will run Lightroom to start with, let alone in 64 bit mode. Slackline didn't preach for good reason I asume, I like the idea of Linux but the reality would not appear to be an option for the semi-pro photographer in 2009.

CF, windows 7 sounds like a great option. If I install a beta version now I take it a full re-install would be required? After last nights epic FAIL to get it to boot (disk read error, BOOTMGR corrupt etc, any ideas?) I'd rather take my time and get it right rather than doing successive re-installs.

Has anyone in Sheff got a case they could lend me for a week or so, just so that whilst I get the thing working i don't have to rebuild every time?

[Jim]

you need to get a vista x64 repair cd, there are plenty in the ether to download and burn to CD, its only about 175mb so shouldn't take too long to download unless you going back to dialup as well.

[slackline]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I'm aware only Windows and Apple OSs will run Lightroom to start with, let alone in 64 bit mode. Slackline didn't preach for good reason I asume, I like the idea of Linux but the reality would not appear to be an option for the semi-pro photographer in 2009.

If you did want to check out GNU/Linux and still run Lightroom under 64-bit Vista then install Xubuntu (or similar) and purchase VMware to run your 64-bit Vista OS in a virtual machine (or try the opensource alternative VirtualBox).  Can't comment on performance, but I do hear that VMware is pretty shit hot. 

[BB]

  Can't comment on performance, but I do hear that VMware is pretty shit hot. 

It's very good indeed. The place i work use vmware for app servers with SAN back end for storage.

[Johnny Brown]

I'm not really interested in running the main program I use like that. It sounds possible, but a work around for occasional use, rather than routine, ie wack?

[dave]

seems to me adopting an OS that makes you jump through hoops to run any decent software sounds like it blows a dick. be like buying a diesel and then getting in converted to use petrol. windows has its failings but at least it'll run 99% of whatever you'll ever need.

[Control freak]

Im running the RC on all my PCs now and it is noticably faster than Vista

And no doubt slower than XP

I use XP at work and Windows 7 at home and to be honest I haven't noticed that much difference. I havent done any baseline tests but in general day to day work they're both much of a muchness. I run up to 6 instances of visual studio on each without too much bother.

CF, windows 7 sounds like a great option. If I install a beta version now I take it a full re-install would be required? After last nights epic FAIL to get it to boot (disk read error, BOOTMGR corrupt etc, any ideas?) I'd rather take my time and get it right rather than doing successive re-installs.

Has anyone in Sheff got a case they could lend me for a week or so, just so that whilst I get the thing working i don't have to rebuild every time?

Once the RTM is out theres a check it does in the install process for the version number of any previously installed versions. However its pretty straight forward to nobble this and upgrade from RC to RTM (have a search on Google for the instructions)

  Can't comment on performance, but I do hear that VMware is pretty shit hot. 

It's very good indeed. The place i work use vmware for app servers with SAN back end for storage.

VMWare is very good - we also use ESX and ESXi for back end servers across a fiber SAN. Tho Im guessing this is out of JBs budget 

VMware server is the one to use for desktop clients as VMware workstation doesnt allow you to create images (both are free). VMWare fusion is available for the MAC but I cant say Ive ever tried it

One advantage of using virtual images is that if you ever have to ugrade / rebuild your OS you dont have to re-install applications. Just install the VMWare app and your up and running again

In terms of your hardware - make sure you get some that is 64bit compatible. Memory costs fuck all these days and if your doing lots of image / video manipulation youll be glad of as much as you can get. A 32 bit machine limits you to just 4Gb

[slackline]

seems to me adopting an OS that makes you jump through hoops to run any decent software sounds like it blows a dick. be like buying a diesel and then getting in converted to use petrol. windows has its failings but at least it'll run 99% of whatever you'll ever need.

The Virtual Machine stuff actually has very useful applications for people who develop software or web-pages across platforms and want to check things work under multiple OS's without the hassle of having to reboot into each OS.  There are different ways of running it too, you can have a whole OS running in a separate window or you can have one app running on its own that appears to be seamlessly part of the native OS.  Software vendors who continue to ignore the growing Linux market are ultimately missing out on potential revenue (e.g. I openly concede that the GIMP is not a patch on Photoshop/Lightroom)

Besides its only familiarity with windoze that means you know how to quickly install new software and get it up and running (the jumping through hoops bit).  I could do the same under GNU/Linux in a similar amount of time, its just a case of what you're used to.

[BB]

The Virtual Machine stuff actually has very useful applications for people who develop software or web-pages across platforms

and for hiding pr0n from the missus!

[Johnny Brown]

Okay, things are going fairly well, although I have had a few epics...

Along the way I disabled the User Account Control as being the only user, it made life a lot easier. Is this likely to bite me on the arse?

I also allowed unsigned drivers which, involving F6 action during bootup, would suggest to me its not the best idea (related to the next point). Question?

Big FUCK OFF goes to Nikon, who nearly fucked the whole thing up regarding my (very expensive) scanner, which I couldn't get to work.

Nikon currently have no plans in developing a driver for Vista 64-bit (there is only a driver for 32-bit). We hope we have helped you with that information..."

Cunts. Mad props to some dude I know only as SteelChn who wrote his own driver and stuck it on the web. For Fuck's sake Nikon....

Mad props also to MozBackup for making transfering all my mail and setting flawlessly,  as well as Firefox bookmarks/ extensions. It took me a long time to google out that this was thing to use, but in the end = dynamite.

Jim etc, you'll be pleased to know my USB modem won't work under Vista, so I've got the router going. As I only have one computer in the house which is on an ethernet link, I'd like to disable the wireless. Any ideas?

[Johnny Brown]

Oh yeah, and I can't get a squeak out of the thing. In my pathetic attempts to get the speakers working, I disabled the various audio devices thinking they might be in conflict. No I can't enable them again... very confusing, music would be nice though!

[slackline]

Jim etc, you'll be pleased to know my USB modem won't work under Vista, so I've got the router going. As I only have one computer in the house which is on an ethernet link, I'd like to disable the wireless. Any ideas?

What router is it?

Most have a web-based interface where you can configure them, so once your computer is connected (by cable) point your browser at something like http://192.168.1.1 or possibly http://192.168.1.100  Once loaded it should be intuitive how to go about disabling the wireless interface.

You can likely find the manual for your router online if neither of the above work, perhaps from here and that should tell you how to get it all done.

[Jim]

I think your router is the same as mine only branded differently, does it not have a button on the front to enable/diable wireless?
Your router login should be printed on the bottom of the router, make sure your firewall is enabled and then disable the wireless in there if you don't have the button.

You will encounter the problem with the drivers a lot on a 64 bit system, its not just nikon. Only having 4gig of ram you are only really getting the disadvantages (mainly driver comatability issues but maybe some software conflicts) and none of the advatages of running a 64 bit OS seeing as your not editing video or large databases.
I think you should seriously cosider going back to a 32 bit system