Vista 64 Premium - Issues with sound/gfx and ext.hdd

[chriswood_7]

Hey all,

Finally got round to getting Vista for my home machine. Decided to go for a fresh version rather than upgrading XP as I have heard of people having issues with the upgrade.

Basically, I wish I had spent my money on something else. I have had nothing but problems with it since I got it on Sunday afternoon. Im onto my 3rd format/fresh install and about to give it 1 final chance before I scrap it and go back to XP.

When I first installed it I formatted my C: drive ready, and the install went smooth. When I got Vista finally up and running I was very impressed by the interface. It seems much faster for surfing, but I can understand why you need a decent PC to run it. Anyway, my first problem occured after installing some of my games on Sunday night. The sound went. It didnt just go, though. It now makes a wonderful scratchy distorted howl when I click to do anything (basically anything that makes a sound on Vista), and the noise when starting up Windows is horrendous. Started my dogs barking its that bad. Then I had graphics issues. If I change any setting on the nVidia control panel, I get diagonal lines across the screen. Windows is still running, but the lines dont go away and this forces a reboot.

This was when I decided to scrap it and format, start again and see if that helps. My next install was worse. Everything I tried to install had files missing, or I would get a BSOD while installing. Im now installing Vista AGAIN to see if I can get any joy.

Basically, im concerned that its my motherboard with o/b sound, and my graphics card that is causing the problems. I have a Asus M2NE-SLI board with CM6501 ob sound, and a 256MB Gainward 7950GT golden sample. Has anyone else had similar issues? Is there any light at the end of the tunnel? Or is it worth waiting til they release SP1 on Windows Update before I bother with it.

Im now some pounds down, and a bit annoyed that I even bothered.

Thanks for listening!

[-iceblade^]

sorry mate... that sucks...

if you're a student you can go to dreamspark the website and get windows server 2003 for free???

[Stringent]

I thought Vista SP1 was already out?

I think this is the link for x64 bit

Download details: Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Five Language Standalone for x64-based Systems (KB936330)

You could try it, but I know people who have had further problems with SP1. Also make sure you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard and sound drivers.

[Taz]

Perhaps run a memory test? Reseat the DIMMs?

[dangel]

Run a memory test (overnight) - Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

Make sure you have the latest drivers for sound and graphics (try nVidia's 174.74 drivers).

It's either drivers or hardware (hopefully not the latter).

[chriswood_7]

Thanks for your help guys. Im using the latest sound and graphics drivers, and my BIOS is the latest version. I never thought of running memtest, if I keep getting BSODs I will definitely do that. Whats annoying me for now is my sound

Thanks again

[dangel]

If you can, put a fan over your memory whilst running memtest as it'll get pretty hot.

[M0nkeyb0Y]

I had that scratchy sound thingy, usually started when changing between formats or loading two games in a session (at different times). This was through SB Audigy plat pro however, not on board like yours.

I eventually fixed it by setting the speaker source in the system tray: I had a choice of SP-DIF or speaker jack and disabled the latter even though the speakers were attached through the jacks. Perfect ever since….

I doubt this will help your cause, although hope it does.