What do I have to worry about with Windows 7?
By
Bright Shadow,
Posted on: 2009-12-11 08:18 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Reliability - There could be a few issues that have been pointed out with CoH and Win 7. Yes there are work arounds for them, and I have yet to see anything compatibility wise that owuld make it a deal breaker.
Performance - I have Win 7 running on my 3.5 year old HP machine (x64 version) and the performance is actually better, mostly because I did a wipe and clean install so I got rid of a lot of baggage that I had under XP. I am maxed out at 4 GB of ram and with the x64 now get to use all 4 GB instead of the 3.5 limit I had under XP.
DirectX does not affect CoH/V as far as I know. It is still an OpenGL based game.
Honestly, if you have the drive space, there are guides to creating a dual boot XP/Win 7 system out there, decide if you like it, and then switch. I took the jump headlong into Win 7 and while I was not a fan of Vista, I do like Win 7 as much as I enjoyed XP. There is a bit of a learning curve as to the new GUI interface, but again nothing major.
Hope this helps.
Defcon 0 - (D4 lvl 50),DJ Shecky Cape Radio
@Shecky
Twitter: @DJ_Shecky, @siliconshecky, @thecaperadio
When you air your dirty laundry out on a clothesline above the street, everyone is allowed to snicker at the skid marks in your underoos. - Lemur_Lad
I've had Windows 7 for several months now, and no issues with CoH.
From personal experience, I can tell you that Windows 7 is a great upgrade from XP or Vista. It's literally what Vista should've been. But as Shecky said, you could always dual boot it.
You could also install a virtual machine and drop Windows 7 on it if you wanna see how the OS works (you can't test CoH issues with VM, but you can get a feel for the OS).
On top of that, Microsoft has a "Windows XP Mode" that can be dropped onto Windows 7!
I've been running Win 7 since the beta, and I've found it reliable and stable overall. Now, that said, there have been a few issues with improperly installed drivers causing City to crash, or not to start at all. If you're going to get Win 7, and you're worried about that happening, I'd suggest that you post your specs up here in a CoH Helper report. There are a few of us now that would be happy to help you hunt down the correct drivers.
Now, on the topic of "Windows XP Mode"....it's really more cost effective for a gamer to get Home Premium, and not Pro. "Windows XP Mode" is a virtual machine running an instance of Win XP under Win 7. It doesn't run anything using the 3D capabilities of your video card, and so isn't suitable for gaming. What it's really meant for is old legacy programs that ran under Win XP, but won't run under the Win 7 environment. Most programs that have issues running under Win 7 right off of a fresh install can be run using "Compatability Mode" (which is included in all versions of Win 7), which mimics all the appropriate settings without opening up a whole new operating system instance.
I'd also suggest going for the 64-bit version of Win 7. Unless your rig is old, you're probably running a 64-bit processor, so even if you don't have more than 3.5 gigs of RAM it will better run your processor.
Happy hunting! If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!
I'm not sure if I have access to Windows 7 x64. I'd need to ask around, but from what I've seen so far, the options I have are all 32 bit (isn't that technically x86?). Are you saying there's nothing to be lost by having a 64 vs. an 86 and that the choice is a no-brainer?
Also, on the note of drivers, didn't 7 search for and download its own drivers automatically upon device detection? I've seen it touted for that in a big way, and indeed, that would make reinstalls infinitely less painful if I don't have to hunt down all the little odds and ends drivers. I don't even know half the stuff I could install drivers for. The big things are obvious - video card, sound card, LAN card, chipset drivers, but beyond that? Ugh, it seems like there's a driver for every bit of plastic stuck on in there.
I'm not sure if my processor is 64 capable, but it isn't terribly old. Beginning of this year, let's call it. Intel Core2 Quad, at a brief glance, but I'm sure the CoH Helper will reveal more. I'll post a report when I get around to compiling one. I'd actually need to know where to grab the CoH Helper, though. PlayNC Support recently asked me to use a programme called Game Advisor that seems to be designed to scan for settings pertaining to PlayNC games. Do you know anything about that?
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Article on ZDNet comparing XP vs Vista vs Windows 7 here.
From the final page:
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Conclusion Windows 7 performs better than Vista and is also faster than XP, although XP remains more capable for devices with limited memory and outdated graphics. |
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
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If you have a 64-bit processor you'll get better performance out of the 64-bit OS (and, as Ryan said, all boxes except the Home Basic include both the 32 and 64-bit OSs).|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I'm not sure if I have access to Windows 7 x64. I'd need to ask around, but from what I've seen so far, the options I have are all 32 bit (isn't that technically x86?). Are you saying there's nothing to be lost by having a 64 vs. an 86 and that the choice is a no-brainer?
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| Also, on the note of drivers, didn't 7 search for and download its own drivers automatically upon device detection? I've seen it touted for that in a big way, and indeed, that would make reinstalls infinitely less painful if I don't have to hunt down all the little odds and ends drivers. I don't even know half the stuff I could install drivers for. The big things are obvious - video card, sound card, LAN card, chipset drivers, but beyond that? Ugh, it seems like there's a driver for every bit of plastic stuck on in there. |
Video card is the big one...the drivers that Win Update installs for your vid card will be the most basic, and in most cases won't include any of the bells and whistles for gaming. However, 64-bit drivers for 7 are usually pretty easy to find these days, MS seems to have ridden the manufacturers hard this time around because 64-bit is starting to become the standard.
Sound card drivers, depending on the card you have, may work for gaming off of what Win Update installs, or may not...there's really no way to know until you're running it, but again...these seem to be pretty easy to find in most cases, for the same reason as vid card drivers.
The rest should run off of whatever Win Update installs.
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| I'm not sure if my processor is 64 capable, but it isn't terribly old. Beginning of this year, let's call it. Intel Core2 Quad, at a brief glance, but I'm sure the CoH Helper will reveal more. I'll post a report when I get around to compiling one. I'd actually need to know where to grab the CoH Helper, though. PlayNC Support recently asked me to use a programme called Game Advisor that seems to be designed to scan for settings pertaining to PlayNC games. Do you know anything about that? |
And, as for Game Advisor...not a clue. That's probably a new procedure...really, for the purposes of the techies here on the forums, CoH Helper is more than sufficient for relevant hardware, driver and settings reports.
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Actually, I let it auto install the vid drives on my isntalls and it was full drivers from NVidia that had been Microsoft WHQL approved. Mind you that is not always the most current drivers, but it did isntall non-generic drivers, along with the NVidia control panel.|
Originally Posted by Darkfaith
Yes and no. Windows Update will download basic, but current, drivers for pretty much all your hardware (unless you have something that isn't really standard, like a Belkin n52t gamepad). In most cases this will be sufficient, but there are a couple things where it may not be. Video card is the big one...the drivers that Win Update installs for your vid card will be the most basic, and in most cases won't include any of the bells and whistles for gaming. However, 64-bit drivers for 7 are usually pretty easy to find these days, MS seems to have ridden the manufacturers hard this time around because 64-bit is starting to become the standard. Sound card drivers, depending on the card you have, may work for gaming off of what Win Update installs, or may not...there's really no way to know until you're running it, but again...these seem to be pretty easy to find in most cases, for the same reason as vid card drivers. The rest should run off of whatever Win Update installs. |
The drawback I have found is for some hardware that initially it can't find drivers for, to get them installed is a bit of a pain, especially if you remove drivers before installing new ones, (like you should). Win 7 tends to try to auto install pretty quickly.
Defcon 0 - (D4 lvl 50),DJ Shecky Cape Radio
@Shecky
Twitter: @DJ_Shecky, @siliconshecky, @thecaperadio
When you air your dirty laundry out on a clothesline above the street, everyone is allowed to snicker at the skid marks in your underoos. - Lemur_Lad
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As has been stated, all Core 2 processors are capable of 64-bit. I also strongly recommend installing a 64-bit variation of Windows 7 as well.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I'm not sure if I have access to Windows 7 x64. I'd need to ask around, but from what I've seen so far, the options I have are all 32 bit (isn't that technically x86?). Are you saying there's nothing to be lost by having a 64 vs. an 86 and that the choice is a no-brainer?
Also, on the note of drivers, didn't 7 search for and download its own drivers automatically upon device detection? I've seen it touted for that in a big way, and indeed, that would make reinstalls infinitely less painful if I don't have to hunt down all the little odds and ends drivers. I don't even know half the stuff I could install drivers for. The big things are obvious - video card, sound card, LAN card, chipset drivers, but beyond that? Ugh, it seems like there's a driver for every bit of plastic stuck on in there. I'm not sure if my processor is 64 capable, but it isn't terribly old. Beginning of this year, let's call it. Intel Core2 Quad, at a brief glance, but I'm sure the CoH Helper will reveal more. I'll post a report when I get around to compiling one. I'd actually need to know where to grab the CoH Helper, though. PlayNC Support recently asked me to use a programme called Game Advisor that seems to be designed to scan for settings pertaining to PlayNC games. Do you know anything about that? |
Just to clarify real quick, x86 is the architecture of the system. Remember back when computers used 286, 386, 486 etc...x86 is an extension of that. The x86 architecture supports both 32 and 64 bit. The most important piece of the puzzle when moving to 64-bit is whether your processor is capable of it.
As for Game Advisor....the only "Game Advisor" I know of is Microsoft's Game Advisor. Sadly it's been discontinued and is no longer available to use.
As a suggestion, you can certainly take a look in your Device Manager before you upgrade your operating system. You will be able to find which hardware you have and if you write them down, it'll be a bit easier to find the correct drivers (Assuming Windows doesn't install the correct ones). Same with posting your CoH Helper log here. You'll get a nice view of the important hardware and work on updating your drivers off of what's listed there.
Alternatively, you can use a program called CPU-Z/CPUID and it will tell you specifically which motherboard you have (if you don't know) and then it's just a matter of visiting the manufacturer's website and downloading all of the drivers you'll require before you even do the upgrade. That way you have them on hand
We'll see....
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Really? Hmm, they've changed it then. The last time I did a fresh install (end of October), it installed the then-current nVidia drivers, but they were basic drivers only....i think they were the 191.x, but it didn't install the nVidia Control Panel, or many of the OpenGL functions...I couldn't get City working without installing the same drivers from the nVidia site. It's good to hear they've changed that, it'll make the next install much easier ^.^
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Originally Posted by DJ_Shecky
Actually, I let it auto install the vid drives on my isntalls and it was full drivers from NVidia that had been Microsoft WHQL approved. Mind you that is not always the most current drivers, but it did isntall non-generic drivers, along with the NVidia control panel.
The drawback I have found is for some hardware that initially it can't find drivers for, to get them installed is a bit of a pain, especially if you remove drivers before installing new ones, (like you should). Win 7 tends to try to auto install pretty quickly. |
<qr>
Go to 7. Do not pass "Go," pay Microsoft $100 (or whatever the rate is... wait, you got it from work.)
Been running it since beta, as well (also the 64 bit version.) It's been exceptional. My install process for the final release:
- Fresh hard drive. (Can't do a direct upgrade from XP... and I wouldn't anyway. Fresh start and all.)
- Install Windows 7.
- Install newest nVidia drivers. (Downloaded prior to install.)
- Antivirus.
- Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozbackup, restore settings.
- COH, Steam, Impulse, Openoffice. Restore games.
- Play.
Only issue in that? Steam (or was it Impulse... maybe both) doesn't like restoring games backed up on one OS to another OS. Which is a touch annoying.
I recently upgraded to 7 from XP. I love it. It is more efficient, looks nice without all the gawdy of Vista and handles my network so much better.
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Must have been impulse, I have Steam running from an External HD and when I switched to Win 7 I just ran it from that without any problem at all. | Only issue in that? Steam (or was it Impulse... maybe both) doesn't like restoring games backed up on one OS to another OS. Which is a touch annoying. |
I re-installed Impulse rather than transfer so I'd guess it to be Stardocks baby that has trouble with OS switches
I don't wanna save my soul now,
I just wanna lose control,
And even if it takes a lifetime, to learn:
I'll learn!
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Ahh... did you *run* from it, or back up then restore the games, though?
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Originally Posted by Delph
Must have been impulse, I have Steam running from an External HD and when I switched to Win 7 I just ran it from that without any problem at all.
I re-installed Impulse rather than transfer so I'd guess it to be Stardocks baby that has trouble with OS switches |
I just ran it from the folder on my hard drive, all the games I'd installed through Xp were present, correct and worked fine without any further downloading
I don't wanna save my soul now,
I just wanna lose control,
And even if it takes a lifetime, to learn:
I'll learn!
I... Kind of forgot I posted this, but that's what thread subscription is for. You asked me for a CoH Helper report, and here it comes:
---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.8---
DxDiag gathered at Äåêåìâðè 14, 2009 19:16 (+02:00)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: HP Compaq dx7500 Microtower
BIOS: BIOS Date: 10/01/08 16:12:28 Ver: 5.05
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs)
Memory: 3584MB
.Net Memory Report: 2718MB out of 3583MB available
Page File: 4754MB (710MB currently in use)
C Drive: (ST3500418AS) 460197MB out of 476929MB (96%) free
D Drive: (ST3500620AS) 190919MB out of 476937MB (40%) free
E Drive: (TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653Q) zero-size drive
K Drive: (RGF 3STEFG96FK SCSI CdRom Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectX Diag version: 5.03.2600.5512 (32-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce 9800 GT
Video Memory: 1024.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.9562
Driver Date: 01.1.0001 ã. 00:00:00
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Driver File: t3.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.0209
Driver Date: 06.4.2009 ã. 03:23:14
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: PEGATRON CORPORATION
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: 2A84h
Motherboard Version: 1.03
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: BIOS Date: 10/01/08 16:12:28 Ver: 5.05
BIOS Version: HPQOEM - 20081001
BIOS Release: 20081001000000.000000+000
Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1280x1024
3D Resolution: 1280x1024 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes
Physics Quality: Very High
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10,000
Physics Card Enabled: No
Anti-aliasing: 4x
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: High Quality
Bloom: 1,000 (turned off)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High
World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1,000
Entity Detail Level: 2,000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 0,844
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3,000
Show Advertisements: Yes
Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 0,395
Music Sound Volume: 0,000
Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0,600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 260607 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 1600.20091102.8T3
Installation Directory: D:\GAMES\City of Heroes
Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found
---
I have... No clue what the hell I just shared, but some of it does look familiar.
As far as drivers go, I tend to use Everest Home to give me an overview of what I have bolted to the inside of my case, but the automatic driver installation ought to handle the many little niggly bits that irritate me to no end, leaving me with drivers for the big things, like video card and sound card.
Now... Sound card is where things get interesting. I hate Creative when it comes to this, because getting drivers for their hardware is always an adventure. It's really hit-and-miss affair. I always fail, and about half of the people who've tried to install drivers for me have also failed. Right now, I'm using an X-Fi Xtreme Audio card that doesn't work like it should, and after probably a week's worth of back-and-forth with Support, it came down to bad drivers. Surprise, surprise. The Support guys did a good job, but it falls to me to fix it, and I'm just not going to bother to. Their support site is so opaque I've no idea what I'm even looking for. I'm looking to swap out the ripoff Audio for a Gamer at some point, anyway, and that ought to come with driver CDs. I'll use that and be done with it. The heartburn isn't worth it.
So, basically, City of Heroes should run well, I shouldn't be facing many problems with the operating system itself, it should give me sufficient drivers for the odds and ends, like ethernet adapter, chipset and so on, and I can install the rest by myself. Would that about cover it?
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Eh, I'm reluctant to go win7 at the moment. I installed cox on a friend's machine with an 8800gts and win7x64 -- the bloom effects were overwhelmingly offputting (e.g you couldn't even read the rating on the title screen because the words were overwhelmed by the whiteout). All his other games played fine and he claimed the drivers were fine but I wasn't about to dig into it further in the timeframe that I had. 6 months, a service pack form microsoft and a few updates from nvidia before I go that road.
@Texarkana
@Thexder
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It looks like video and sound will be it ^.^ These are all 64-bit drivers.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I have... No clue what the hell I just shared, but some of it does look familiar.
As far as drivers go, I tend to use Everest Home to give me an overview of what I have bolted to the inside of my case, but the automatic driver installation ought to handle the many little niggly bits that irritate me to no end, leaving me with drivers for the big things, like video card and sound card. Now... Sound card is where things get interesting. I hate Creative when it comes to this, because getting drivers for their hardware is always an adventure. It's really hit-and-miss affair. I always fail, and about half of the people who've tried to install drivers for me have also failed. Right now, I'm using an X-Fi Xtreme Audio card that doesn't work like it should, and after probably a week's worth of back-and-forth with Support, it came down to bad drivers. Surprise, surprise. The Support guys did a good job, but it falls to me to fix it, and I'm just not going to bother to. Their support site is so opaque I've no idea what I'm even looking for. I'm looking to swap out the ripoff Audio for a Gamer at some point, anyway, and that ought to come with driver CDs. I'll use that and be done with it. The heartburn isn't worth it. So, basically, City of Heroes should run well, I shouldn't be facing many problems with the operating system itself, it should give me sufficient drivers for the odds and ends, like ethernet adapter, chipset and so on, and I can install the rest by myself. Would that about cover it? |
You can get the most current nVidia drivers here, however those are very new drivers and I'm not sure how many people have tested those with City yet. You may want to try these instead. That's the version I've been running without issue, and I don't recall reading anywhere about issues with them.
For sound drivers, you'll want these, the top one because the Audio Pack utilities aren't really all that useful, I've found. I've actually got the very same sound card, so I can vouch for those drivers too ^.^
The only other thing I can think of that you may need is if you have any sort of Logitech advanced keyboard...Setpoint is kinda funny about installing if you don't have the right ones. If you need that, I can point you towards those too. Hope that helps! If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!
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That definitely sounds like it could be a bad driver install, despite it running fine with other games. It could also be his settings.|
Originally Posted by Texarkana
Eh, I'm reluctant to go win7 at the moment. I installed cox on a friend's machine with an 8800gts and win7x64 -- the bloom effects were overwhelmingly offputting (e.g you couldn't even read the rating on the title screen because the words were overwhelmed by the whiteout). All his other games played fine and he claimed the drivers were fine but I wasn't about to dig into it further in the timeframe that I had. 6 months, a service pack form microsoft and a few updates from nvidia before I go that road.
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Overall, Win 7 is pretty stable, and performs well. I can understand wanting to wait though...after Vista's release condition that's not an uncommon attitude.
Everything looks gravy to me. Q6600, 9800GT, 3.5/4GB of RAM, all the hardware in that will have come out well after Windows Vista. Win 7 will fly onto it.
Also, you originally asked about DirectX 10. The short answer is, you don't have to worry about that.
The long answer, if you care, is that CoH uses OpenGL for the graphics, and DirectX for the user interface. Apparently, it's a common combination. OpenGL has its own versions as DirectX does, with OGL 2.1 roughly comparing to DX9, OGL 3 to DX10, but OpenGL is entirely independent. It may add in features that DirectX 10 and 11 cards offer, it may not, and it may go other routes altogether.
(Tangent: The group that directs where OpenGL will go is, in my opinion, a bunch of selfish bureaucrats with unwarranted self importance, pulling it this way and that, until the end product doesn't really go anywhere.)
Going Rogue appears to implement features that use OpenGL 3, but don't quote me on that! I haven't seen any official word either way. All I do know is that those shadow effects would be much harder to do on OpenGL 2. Also, because OpenGL doesn't give a whatwhichway about what version of Windows you have, you should theoretically be able to run an OGL 3 game on Windows XP.
Not that you're gonna. But it's nice to know.
Necrobond - 50 BS/Inv Scrapper made in I1
Rickar - 50 Bots/FF Mastermind
Anti-Muon - 42 Warshade
Ivory Sicarius - 45 Crab Spider
Aber ja, nat�rlich Hans nass ist, er steht unter einem Wasserfall.
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I can actually try these now and see if that won't solve my current problem (3D Sound plays at 1/8 the normal speed, for some reason, so I can't use it) and what Support ultimately advised me to do was contact Creative, basically to fix my drivers. I'm not sure if simply installing new ones will fix anything, as a lot of people seem to suggest I uninstall the old ones, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. Scratch that, I found it. "Uninstall" under the device's settings. Obvious, really. Should I?|
Originally Posted by Darkfaith
For sound drivers, you'll want these, the top one because the Audio Pack utilities aren't really all that useful, I've found. I've actually got the very same sound card, so I can vouch for those drivers too ^.^
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That's actually by far my biggest gripe with Windows 7 - abominable interface! Windows XP is butt ugly, but at least all the tools are in the right places, and I can kick it in the nads by reverting back to a Windows Classic theme. Vista, eyesore that it is, still had that option, but so far I have been completely unable to find the theme in Windows 7. I don't want colourful kindergarten pictures and fancy aero effects that flash me in the face every time I do anything. I want an operating system that works and is as simple and efficient as I can get it. I mostly want to play games on it, and I'd like to "play" the operating system as little as possible.
It's annoying, because I know all the same menus and options still exist, it's just that the Microsoft tricksters have hidden them away such that I can never find them. The operating system is constantly rubbing some kind of new and useless shell in my face, and it kind of does some of the same things, but not really. It's like I'm an idiot who's seeing a computer for the same time, and someone's worried that I might poke my eye out with my TCP/IP settings! The whole of Microsoft's approach is like this. I went through hell and high water trying to get XP Service Pack 3, because auto-update wouldn't snatch it, and all links on the Microsoft site sent me back to auto update, because it's simpler and I'm an idiot. I eventually had to claim I'm some kind of IT professional who's going to install the thing for an entire company before the site would let me have a frikkin' self-extracing self-installer! Argh!
Ahem...
Oh, I almost forgot - if I do grab a new sound card, won't the drivers that come with the install CD do, or will I have to look for new one3s anyway?
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| The only other thing I can think of that you may need is if you have any sort of Logitech advanced keyboard...Setpoint is kinda funny about installing if you don't have the right ones. If you need that, I can point you towards those too. Hope that helps! If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask! |
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
|
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The top link on the page I linked there won't work with XP, actually, those are Vista/7 specific drivers. The bottom link, however, most definitely will. And definitely uninstall the old ones first, if you're going to give that a try.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I can actually try these now and see if that won't solve my current problem (3D Sound plays at 1/8 the normal speed, for some reason, so I can't use it) and what Support ultimately advised me to do was contact Creative, basically to fix my drivers. I'm not sure if simply installing new ones will fix anything, as a lot of people seem to suggest I uninstall the old ones, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. Scratch that, I found it. "Uninstall" under the device's settings. Obvious, really. Should I?
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| That's actually by far my biggest gripe with Windows 7 - abominable interface! Windows XP is butt ugly, but at least all the tools are in the right places, and I can kick it in the nads by reverting back to a Windows Classic theme. Vista, eyesore that it is, still had that option, but so far I have been completely unable to find the theme in Windows 7. I don't want colourful kindergarten pictures and fancy aero effects that flash me in the face every time I do anything. I want an operating system that works and is as simple and efficient as I can get it. I mostly want to play games on it, and I'd like to "play" the operating system as little as possible. |
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It's annoying, because I know all the same menus and options still exist, it's just that the Microsoft tricksters have hidden them away such that I can never find them. The operating system is constantly rubbing some kind of new and useless shell in my face, and it kind of does some of the same things, but not really. It's like I'm an idiot who's seeing a computer for the same time, and someone's worried that I might poke my eye out with my TCP/IP settings! The whole of Microsoft's approach is like this. I went through hell and high water trying to get XP Service Pack 3, because auto-update wouldn't snatch it, and all links on the Microsoft site sent me back to auto update, because it's simpler and I'm an idiot. I eventually had to claim I'm some kind of IT professional who's going to install the thing for an entire company before the site would let me have a frikkin' self-extracing self-installer! Argh! Ahem... |
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| Oh, I almost forgot - if I do grab a new sound card, won't the drivers that come with the install CD do, or will I have to look for new one3s anyway? |
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| Nah, I hate fancy keyboards. They're all... Weird in one way or another. Either they're sideways, have important keys randomly moved around the keyboard, wavy and crooked, missing buttons or having those awful "utility" keys that never let me use my F keys by design... A good old-fashioned keyboard is what I like the best, and it seems like I can only find those in PS2 format. USB keyboards are all "fancy." It's like having a steering wheel in my car that's shaped like a star and has hooks on it for me to hang my coat! So, no. No drivers or software for my keyboard. Graphics and audio mostly, and I'll see if I can't get a new audio card, anyway. That reminds me... |
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I found it on Vista, but for some reason I couldn't find it on 7. If it's there, it'll probably be in the same place.|
Originally Posted by Darkfaith
Changing to a basic, older type theme and disabling Aero is actually pretty easy >.> Right click on your desktop, click on Personalization, and then scroll down to the bottom row of theme options, under "Basic and High Contrast" themes. The one you're looking for will be "Windows Classic". If you want to change fonts/bar sizes/colors after that, click on the "Window Color" option at the bottom and it'll let you adjust it the same way you would have the old systems. About the only thing I can see that doesn't change is the way the new quickbar works, though if you mouseover it only gives you a list of open windows instead of mini pictures of them.
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And, yeah, the task bar is... Really odd. On XP, it shows me an icon with as much of the window title as the box can fit, but on 7, it seems to show me just a square with a huge icon, and I've no idea what I'm actually looking at. Not only that, but I've not been able to get similar task bar buttons to group, casing me to basically tab through the options like an idiot. That said, this was on 7's default fancy theme, and the classic theme may well refer to the classic view. I'll try to stay as far away from "gadgets" and "hot bars" and whatever other bells and whistles come with the system, since more "utility" just ends up making things more complicated.
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| If you buy a new card it may come with Win 7 drivers, or it may not, depending on the age of the card. If you buy something released between October of this year and the date you buy the card, chances are good. That said, they may not be the most current drivers. If you give me a poke though, I'll be happy to hunt down what you need ^.^ |
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| Logitech has a couple of solid, normal USB keyboards out there, like this one, and there are a few other manufacturers that do too now. They're becoming more common, so it may be a little easier to find one the next time you're in the market for one. |
Seriously, I realise that the left slash is important, but it is NOT more important than either the Enter or Backspace keys. I generally don't think I need both my Shift keys to be so gosh-dang huge, and the best keyboard I've ever had had the left slash on the right side of the right shift key. I have not been able to find another keyboard like it.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I hate that =P.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Or the jerks who cut down my Backspace to the smallest button possible so I'm constantly typing slashes when I want to erase.
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Hover your mouse over that big square icon. It'll show live thumbnails of everything running. |
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I found it on Vista, but for some reason I couldn't find it on 7. If it's there, it'll probably be in the same place.
And, yeah, the task bar is... Really odd. On XP, it shows me an icon with as much of the window title as the box can fit, but on 7, it seems to show me just a square with a huge icon, and I've no idea what I'm actually looking at. |
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| Not only that, but I've not been able to get similar task bar buttons to group, casing me to basically tab through the options like an idiot. |
You won't (by default) get a separate square icon for each instance running. Instead, look to the right of it - they'll look... for lack of a better term, "stacked." For instance, I have Steam running, with my friends list and two chats going. The icon looks like:
[*]]]
where Firefox (with only one instance) looks like the regular [*] square icon.
(As a side note, Steam also provides a nice jumplist, even in the program menu.)
I'm currently running Windows XP, but seen as how that's getting deprecated these days, I'm starting to look at updating to Windows 7. That, and I just got access to a copy from work (completely legitimately), so I'm stuck now wondering if I should really go ahead and reformat. Again...
Is this really something I am guaranteed to face if I upgrade? I also remember hearing about problems with disappearing cursors, improper textures, hangups, slowdowns and so forth, though for the life of me I can't remember if this is 7 or Vista.
Now, I looked through the forum here and the stickies, and I did spot what looks like a famous crash/hang, which sort of has me worried, since the solution involves driver rollbacks and registry edits
My other question is performance. I'd have to check, but I don't think the version I have access to is x64, and even if it were, I'm already using about 3.5 out of my 4GB of RAM, and I don't currently see a prospect for upgrading that particular aspect of my system. Given that, won't upgrading to Windows 7 actually make my performance WORSE? I mean, I know it's more efficient than Vista, but it's still less efficient than XP, and I do not enjoy the prospect of dragging my performance down for dubious benefits. I an not interested in any novelty doodads, so I'll do my best to kill as much candyland garbage as I can, which starts with an axe on Aero and goes from there. Would killing those bring performance to a comparable level?
Finally, DirectX. I can't use DirectX 10, and I've even heard about DirectX 11, which I assume Windows 7 will support. On the other hand, as I hear it, City of Heroes doesn't use DirectX at all, employing OpenGL, instead. Since I'm not very well versed in these things, I have to ask if one affects the other and if switching Windows will give me some benefit in this respect. Certainly Going Rogue will have some pretty fancy graphics, and I wonder if I'll need something like 7 to even display them, like I need it to play DX10 graphics.
That's about all I can think to ask - reliability, performance, DirectX. Any insight into this would be very appreciated.