[09.08.07] Expected Project Start Date: Sept. 16th

[09.16.07] Project Started
Author: 

5PM - Backup, BIOS Settings, and preparation.
The time has finally come for me to come out and take one for the team.  Goodbye faithful and productive Windows XP, hello slow and unstable Windows Vista 64 bit.

Lets start off with my system Specs:
- Lian Li PC-7B Plus Case w/ Silverstone ST60F 600w Power Supply
- eVGA 680i SLI AR Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.4 GHz w/ Scythe Mine Heatsink
- 4GB* Crucial PC2-8500 Ram [5-5-5-15 2T]
- eVGA 768MB Gforce 8800GTX @ 625/2000
- Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition
- 150GB Western Digital Raptor X - OS Drive
- 400GB - Data Drive
- 400GB - "Scratch" Drive

*Only 2GB installed while running Windows XP

1) First things first; I installed my favorite imaging / backup software, DriveImage XML.  Then I made an image of my entire C: drive and saved it onto the scratch drive.
2) After rebooting, I went into the BIOS and removed the overclock on all of my components and retuned the voltages to stock levels.
3) Next I downloaded the latest BIOS for the NF680i board from eVGA's website.  I burned the ISO for version "P30" and rebooted.  The computer boot from CD and I updated the BIOS using the built in utility.
4) I logged back into windows and made sure everything was backed up and that the BIOS update had not caused any instabilities.  I then shut the computer down.
5) Off came the side of the case and after a few seconds, I had installed the extra 2GB of RAM bringing the system total to 4GB

9PM - Vista Ultimate 64 bit Installation
With a long late dinner out of the way, it's time to get this shit installed.

1) Booted from Vista 64bit DVD.
2) When asked which drive to install to, I selected the advanced options and completely formatted my C: drive.
3) After the format, I chose the drive to install to and let the install do its thing.  After some time and few reboots, I was asked for my user name.  I ran through the rest of the setup and soon was staring at vista at 800x600 resolution

11PM - The Important Stuff
Time to grab a beer and get this piece to shit to look and work like XP.

Here's what I installed, and the order that I installed it in:
1) nVidia nForce Drivers 15.08
2) nVidia Forceware Drivers 163.67 BETA
3) nVidia nTune 5.05.47.00
4) Creative X-Fi Drivers 2.15.0002
5) Creative X-Fi Applications
6) All of the available Vista 64 auto updates
7) These specific Microsoft patches and updates:
- KB938194: Compatibility and Reliability
- KB938979: Performance and Reliability
- KB940105: Virtual Address Space In Vista
- KB936710: DX10 and SLI Update
8) Direct X August 2007 Web Update
9) Additional and "Recommended" Windows Updates

1:30AM - Tweaks!
Now that I have the damn thing "working" lets see what we can do to speed up this resource hog.

1) By far, the best list of tweaks on the internet is HERE (MIRROR).  I used each except for #5.
2) Adjust Vista's "Advanced Performance Options."  Remove almost all of the options that say "Animate, Fade, or Slide" as these effects simply slow down the rapid manipulation of files, folders, etc.


That's all for tonight, so far so good.  I'm surprised at the somewhat ease that this is going so far.  Hopefully me writing that didn't jinx my day tomorrow. 

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