Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Vista & Set up Software

This is topic Vista & Set up Software in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=009964

Posted by Jonathan Worthing (Member # 803) on 06-30-2009, 11:16 AM:

I have a need to get a new laptop.

Can anyone tell me if any of the setup or monitoring software EG:Dras, CP650 Setup or the USL Software will not run with vista.

Is there is any other software for setting up equipment which dose not like vista.

Or will i need to get a copy of XP loaded

Posted by Danial Simmonds (Member # 4638) on 06-30-2009, 11:40 AM:

Well i did try a few on Vista, DRAS works fine but i get problems with the cp650 setup software where it just disconnects suddenly..

I would definitely stick to Windows XP...

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 06-30-2009, 04:47 PM:

I had to replace my trusty old laptop last year, the replacement came with Vista, and no real serial port either.

I feared the worst.

But my fears were unfounded!

Load500, WINDRAS, CP650, DMA8+, DFC100, Showplayer setup, JetiLimes (spectrophotometer), PicoScope, NA10 setup, QSC DCM setup, DTS. The list goes on and on.

They all work fine.

You'll need a USB - RS232 convertor, get a good one. USL recomend one which works fine, I got mine Pico Technologies, it works fine. I've had zero issues with it. If you can, get one which is optically isolated.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-30-2009, 08:42 PM:

If you do get stuck with Vista on the new slap top Microsoft this Friday will be selling an upgrade version at a cheapo price. $49.95 for the Home Version and $99.95 for the Pro version. Also check on your Vista because I remember there being something put in print about some Vista users getting a free Win 7 upgrade. Wondows 7 is light years ahead of Vista!!

Mark

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-30-2009, 08:56 PM:

I already ordered mine .. Win7 Pro from Costco and saved 5 bucks.

Ya for the WinDRAS, I had to get a serial to USB cable setup to get back on business.

Yet, I have an old P-266 loaded with Win98 so I also do straight serial and as well for the null modem cabling when doing DTS 6AD stuff.

-Monte

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 07-01-2009, 12:28 AM:

You can't assume that you'll just put XP on a machine which comes preloaded with Vista. You might find that there are no XP drivers for the new hardware in your machine.

I have heard some people say Vista doesn't work for them when trying to connect to some processors. And, here on Film Tech I heard it works fine for others.

You can always find an older laptop on EBay for a good price. Older meaning pre-vista era.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-01-2009, 08:41 AM:

Eric is correct! XP Drivers can be a huge issue with newer laptops that don't even support it. A friend bought an H-P laptop about a year ago and had this exact problem. We did finally get XP to work but it took two weeks of searching the net for drivers. Writing over the existing hard drive in your new puter may also void it's warranty!! So if you do this get a second hard drive and leave the factory one alone. Just get the Win. 7 release... it's actually very nice and very stable and very user friendly.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-01-2009, 02:03 PM:

Dell and Lenovo (at least) will both sell you a laptop that is pre-installed with Windows XP. Look at the business models (Latitude and T-series, respectively), not the consumer ones (which are generally not available with WinXP and which are more likely to have incompatible hardware). This is the easiest way to ensure that you won't run into driver issues.

For all intents and purposes, Windows 7 doesn't exist yet as a retail product. The pre-release version that is available now will expire at some point and require a re-install.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-02-2009, 03:44 AM:

Lately, a lot of manufacturers will have a dbl partition on the HDD: one hidden partition (close to 20gb) just for recovery which contains the original OS to do a full HDD reinstall, and the other partition for to use with that installed OS.

How one draws up that hidden partition is the recovery command in the program area if a reinstall is needed.

One can remove that partition by having an floppy with DOS on it with FDISK on the disc and using a USB floppy drive. Change boot options to boot USB to call up that boot floppy. After DOS is loaded into memory, type in FDISK, got to option 4 to see the partiton info. Both will be "non-dos" partitions since they will be NTFS partitions. you delete both partitions then exit FDISK. Reboot and change boot options to the CD drive, have the install disk in the drive and away you go for a clean install of your favorite OS. Just that you lost any chances of recovery of the previous OS, but gained that 20gb that was used for Recovery.

What's available now for Win 7 that has the cheap prices is the upgrade OS that will upgrade your system from XP or VISTA to Win 7 - either the home edition, or professional edition. This was a pre-sale offer to all who wants to do just an upgrade from either OS mentioned above.

The clean install version will be issued out in October with prices of 200 to 300 bucks respectively

-Monte

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-03-2009, 10:42 AM:

quote: Scott Norwood
The pre-release version that is available now will expire at some point and require a re-install.

Well, at least the free beta test version that we could all download from MS will expire and need to be either upgraded or completely re-installed with a fresh copy. I'm going to look into the upgrade version today since I am running the free trial beta version and don't want it to expire nor do I want to loose any files.

Mark