http://www.kingston.com/flash/windowsvista.asp

If your short on memory and your board is maxed out and you are thinking of upgrading to Vista, check this out.  

The use of Flash Memory and USB drives with MS ReadyBoost is of particular interest.  A card reader and some very fast flash like x133 or better could juice up the system even more.  

I do not know the maximum rate of read and write of flash in relation to USB, but figure there is a limit to the amount of data that could be transfered, which means too fast a flash would be of little use.  Maybe the photographers out there could give a read on this. 

According to MS Vista the use of SuperFetch and ReadyBoost through USB could boost the load times of apps, but do not know how that would affect rendering in Vue.

When trying to print to wall size, say 12 feet by 7 feet, you want to have a final dpi of at least 128 dpi for a near mag view. 160 to 200 if you want a razor sharp image. Typically resizing an image in Photoshop beyond the original size at the highest and best resolution is usually 200 to 300%. That may sound like a lot but it isn’t. 

Normally when you want to resize to mural dimensions you use a third party app that can resize to such proportions. Such as Genuine Fractals or Imagener’s software. 

As an example; You create a render of 2400 x 3200 at 600 dpi using Vue. Then using Photoshop, you could safely resize to 200 dpi at a dimension of 7200 x 9600. That would translate into a size of about 48 inches wide by 36 inches tall, not exactly the overall size you are looking for. A third party app could additionally resize to about 300 to 400% more and thereby giving you the size you are looking for.  The higher the DPI and size you Render your image, the easier it is to resize latter, but will increase you Render times significantly.

Remember Dot Per Inch and you can do the math a little easier. All software has limitations when resizing resolutions and dimensions. You do not always get the results you expect because of those limitations.

I have a three pack of USB 2 512 meg USB Jump Drives I got for $24 and store extra files on them.  Plug and unplug them when I need to switch content.

I concur, the Photoshop style of dockable toolbars and palettes is a must. 

e-On is crowing about the Hollywood scene and past achievements, they better bring the app into the 20th century, or they will lose a valuable opportunity. 

Time is money in the real world!

No, Vue does not have floating toolbars, and the rendering view is default, no movement possible.

If your video card supports duel monitors, then you should be able to “Extend the Desktop” onto the Second Monitor.   One large Vue on two monitors.
 

If you have two monitors, and did not enable extended desktop, with Vue on each, they will function as two separate programs.

I have to correct myself concerning the Windows.old file.  After the Vista install, you can access your old files and folders, however you cannot start the old version of Windows.

You are right, Vista Upgrade will not install from the boot option. I tried installing from the boot option to a new partition without XP installed and was denied access and told to run the DVD from the OS. I then tried to run from the boot option with Win XP installed and was told the same to Install Vista from XP. So, you must run Vista Install from the existing OS.  No CD XP disk verification will work either, it has to be on the hard drive. 

However, built into the installer is an option to allow you to do a clean install, or nearly clean install, using the existing OS partition.  As one of the options, Vista will collect ALL of the software on the drive and move it into a Folder named Windows.old, which you can delete after install if you want.  By the way, you will not be able to open or recover files from the Windows.old folder once it is created.

If you are concerned about the viability of the partition as I was and wanted to make sure there were no bad sectors, after install, I did a complete Checksum Scan with all recovery options enabled. A good thing as I found five bad files which were recovered along with one bad sector.
Before you try the following I would make a partition backup incase I got it wrong!!!

You can install Vista into another clean partition, creating a multi-boot configuration.  Later you could reclaim the XP partition with repartitioning software. 

I have spent several days working with Vista. I have not overclocked any of my hardware and am using Vista approved WDM drivers. 

I am using a Pentium 2.8 Mhz Duel Core 915, NVIDIA DDRII 7600 GS 8X AGP v 3., and 2 gigs of DDRII 667 Mhz PC-5300 memory, with an ACPI compatible 350 Watt Power supply.  That gives me a 5.0 Performance Rating within Vista for a 32 bit setup. Note: All of my equipment is capable of 64 bit. 

After installing VUE 5 in Vista ( the clean install of the OS ) Vue crashed when I opened the app. It took several reboots of the OS and Vue before it finally opened. I unchecked the Test the Video Card attribute, and after that Vue stopped crashing and now runs fine. 

I am still waiting on the Retail version. However, Vista takes about 600 megs of memory, and is constantly running background apps for various purposes. Since Vue requires 1 gig to operate, I would suggest a minimum of 2 gigs of memory for Vista.

It took several days to sort out all of the Warnings and Errors caused by apps and the OS. After getting rid of old software and turning off services that made the system unstable, I did not need them anyway, Vista is running much better. However, I am still logging errors and warning from the operation of the OS, code tripping over code. Microsoft has more cleaning up to do. 

So, I really like the new look, but for now, unless you really need the Vista environment? Maybe the OS and Apps will have the problems sorted out by Fall.  As far as the 64 bit versions go, maybe even longer for Third Party Apps and Hardware to catchup.

About the Events Viewer.  Go back in time and look when you were using the app and see if there is a warning or error for that event, whenever it didn't work for you or crashed.  By cliking on the event you can find additonal information about which driver, or other component may have come in conflict. 

If you have ZoneAlarm it may be causing a problem with the Firewall when you start the app.  

Another problem is the incompatibility of programs with Microsfts Data Execution Prevention.  You may have to exclude the app from DEP. 

Look in Device Manager and make sure there are no disabled devices.  

Make sure there is a page file, if turned off some apps will not work. 

Another consideration is that some apps require I. E. is installed or they will not work properly.  You may have to switch browsers to use the app.  

The list of possibilities is incredible. 

Yes, three passes are usually enough to give an inidcation as to whether your memory has faults.  If you did not get any errors while running the test then you can rule out memory as a problem.

Video cards and the drivers are usually the next big problem.  This is a very complex subject, since the make of the mobo and the drivers used and installed are important in relation to the driver version of your Video Card.  

Example and older board uses VIA mobo drivers 4.43.  VIA indicates that your mobo you should not use drivers above 4.45.  Your Video card maker uses Card Drivers compatible with 4.40.  You install a new game and the game manufacturer says download and then install the newest 5.6 drivers to get the best of the game.  Unfortunately, when you do you may find, the video card works, but now the system is unstable.  Catch 22.   

So comparing what your mobo, video card, and game require is important in addressing how stable the system is.  The next consideration is the BIOS setup.  VIA, and many other chip makers will tell you what to turn on and what to disable to make the system more stable.  Some cards can use Agp fast writes others cannot, etc.  

As I mentioned this is not an easy take to diagnose.  It takes a lot of time and patience.  Use email Tech support for all of your hardware to see if there is a fix.  Someone may have a remedy.

I haven't heard of a cure, you might check the web site of the prog.  In most cases when you get reboots a Videos card, Sound Card, or Mobo driver is at fault.  Especially if you have been overclocking.  The last and most dreaded is bad memory.  You can find out if the memory is bad by using a Memory Testing Program.  Try MemTest; http://www.memtest86.com 

You can look into the Events Viewer under Administrators Tools to see what prog or drivers are causing a problem. 

I agree, normally I do a clean OS  install, but was very curious to see how Vista was going to treat legacy devices and software.  I never saw so many redirects in so many folders you cannot open.  And, if you delete one of these folders, you just lost the pointers to files you may need.  

Actually I found Vist did an overall good install, with the exception that it failed to flag MS programs that use the old installer.  The other bugs I encounterd were again MS drivers for the most part that are not compatible, yet.  Microsoft is aware of the problem and is working on new drivers.  

So far there is no problem with Vue 5 in Vista.  However, with the new installer and its new permissions key, I am going to do a clean install now and then see how Vue will reacte when I try to uninstall the prog.  The new MS installer/uninstaller is the only program that can install and remove these registry key. So, unless someone comes up with a reg cleaner that can take care of the junk, it's going to be a headache for most.  

I do however, backup my data with Ghost on DVD's, even though it is on another drive.  As I work my drives preyty hard and it is not uncommon for one to fail from time to time.

Okay! Major surprises with Vista. The Administrator privileges are for the most part gone, and now the System owns many of the Legacy devices and software to stop errant programs. 

This is a serious implication for those who install and upgrade Vista over an Older Version of Windows that contains older software and devices. Older versions of Widows use a different version of Installer than Vista. Unfortunately Vista does not make a distinction when upgrading. This means that if you want to uninstall the old software after the upgrade, you cannot is some cases. 

Vista has a new Installer permission and you cannot delete the registry keys without the original installer which is to uninstall the remnants left in the Registry using the special permissions. Another surprise is that if you shutoff the Service and then try to hack the registry to delete these Keys you will not be able to do so in some cases. This will leave a lot of junk in your registry, which in my case is logging Warnings and Errors at the rate of hundreds per day, 1520 in the past 5 days. 

Therefore, if you are going to install Vista, then do a clean install and avoid all of this headache!!

FYI: About the installation of 32 bit and 64 bit drivers for Windows Vista; 

My parphrase; All drivers must be Vista compatible and digitally signed. If not, during install, Vista 32 bit will request you stop installation, and in some cases refuse to install the software or drivers all together. If you can ignore the warnings and install the software and or drivers, Vista 32 User Account Control will intercept the software and driver, each time you try to use the same, and ask your permission to continue using the same. 

In Vista 64 bit, all software must meet compatibility issues and drivers must be digitally signed. If they are not, the software will not install, or if you can install the software or drivers, Vista will not load the software or drivers, to maintain system stability. Once Vista has marked and disabled the software or drivers as a threat, you may find you cannot uninstall the same. 

Microsoft recommends Microsoft’s Virtual PC 2007 instead of using multi-boot configurations. This program will allow you to install any or all versions of Windows in its own Virtual Machine Environment.   “Sounds like System Commander.” 

Despite the current problems running Vista, my Plextor hard drive software is still disabled, all other issues have been settled, I would not go back to Win XP.  As one of the first users of Windows NT, many years past, I know the hassle and will wait another year for the 64 bit version to grow-up.  

I know longer have the constant crashes in Vista with Vue 5, that I had in Win XP.

Vista 32bit was designed for products, software and hardware, released in the last two years 2005 or newer. Two problems that will vex you are the new security system, User Account Control, and non-digitally signed files and drivers. A third is another problem, the use of virtual directories. If the installing software does not put it where Microsoft says or tries to access permissions denied areas, Microsoft will kill the install. All of this info is in the EULA. There is little reason to go into detail. Even if your new product is Microsoft approved, that does not mean it will function as expected. Surprise! Surprise!

This is not software for the faint of heart. The 64 bit is for the Techies, and those who know their equipment and drivers, one bad driver and your in BSOD Heaven with a broken install.

Vista was designed for the high-end computer, 2 gigs of mem, a Duo Duel-Core CPU, and a PCIe Video Card. Anything else is a joke on the user. This baby is GIGs big and a resource hog. It can be fast, if you set it up correctly by shutting down all of the fluff. My 2.8 renders in 1/3 the time my 1.6 did. I am running Vue 5 32 bit without trouble, and will get the retail Vue 6 when released.  

Vista must be installed on an existing OS, or on a drive that has an existing OS in another partition, no XP CD install disc verification will work.  This is the biggest piece of paranoia I have ever seen!

AS others state, “stay away from the 64 for the present!”