Tagged: windows

How to Boot Camp Windows 7 x64

My girlfriend has a 2006 MacBook, this is a pre-NVIDIA white model with a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.00GHz and 1GB of DDR2. The IGP is a crappy Intel GMA 950. It’s getting a memory upgrade soon as I just placed an order on Newegg.ca for 2x2GB DDR2 set anticipating a performance boost from the quadrupled memory capacity.

It became ironic today when I was installing a 64-bit Windows 7  via Boot Camp that the Boot Camp 3.0 drivers that came with the Snow Leopard DVD do not want to install the x64 versions on this notebook. I still managed to get it working by triggering the driver install manually by going into the DriversApple directory and running BootCampx64.msi as administrator.

Since Windows 7 does not show Run as administrator option when you right click on a .msi file. I used a little workaround by launching it from a Command Prompt that was initiated with administrator rights.

Here’s the defacto instructions to properly install Windows 7 64-bit.

  1. Run Boot Camp Assistant in Mac OS X and install the Windows 7 64-bit edition that you want.
  2. Alternatively you can use Boot Camp Utility for Windows 7 Upgrade if you already have a Boot Camp partition running Windows Vista.
  3. Note: You can only upgrade Windows Vista 32-bit to Windows 7 32-bit. You cannot upgrade from x86 to x64. Sorry.
  4. Once Windows installation complete. Insert Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard DVD, or alternatively you can download the Boot Camp 3 drivers here.
  5. When you simply run the setup.exe from the Snow Leopard DVD you will encounter an error if your Mac is an unsupported model for Windows 7 64-bit. “Boot Camp x64 is unsupported on this computer model”. However the dilemma is that if you have greater than 3GB of memory. You will want to run a 64-bit Windows. And there is no reason why you cannot besides a silly installer prerequisite.
  6. Launch a Command Prompt as administrator.
  7. Navigate to the location of the Boot Camp drivers either on the Snow Leopard DVD or the folder that you downloaded Boot Camp 3.0 to.
  8. Go to DriversApple folder and launch BootCamp64.msi.
  9. This will trigger the 64-bit installer manually with administrator rights. Your drivers should install and a prompt will come up for you to reboot your computer.
  10. Once reboot is complete, download and install the Boot Camp 3.1 update, or whatever is the latest now.

Atheros L1 network adapter fix Windows 7

I was noticing my network adapter dropping connection in midst of media streaming when I upgraded to Windows 7. At first I thought this was a bug in the new HomeGroup setup. So I didn’t pay much attention to it. But then I couldn’t make any Gmail attachments, when I attach a file it would start to upload then my adapter would drop off the network. That’s when I suspected faulty drivers.

Device Manager reported my network adapter as “Atheros L1 Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T Controller”, this NIC is built-in on my ASUS P5B-E motherboard, as well as many other ASUS boards. Windows 7 had no problems picking up a driver for the adapter and it installed version 2.4.7.172, dated 2009-06-31. At first I tried the latest drivers from Atheros’ website, they were WHQL certified version 2.4.7.27, dated 2009-06-30. These didn’t work either. So I browsed around ASUS’ support website and found the last beta they posted for Vista, version 2.4.7.4, dated 2007-08-30.

The beta 2.4.7.4 worked! My Gmail attachment that was failing on every try now attached properly, and I have yet to lose a connection. Tomorrow I will test out streaming using Windows 7′s native protocol and see if that bug has been fixed. I have no doubt the faulty driver was the root of the problem.

Interestingly WHQL is not always reliable. Although this is more of a Atheros’ fault than Microsoft’s. I still blame Microsoft for not fully testing out the latest Atheros driver (both 2.4.7.172 and 2.4.7.27) yet certifying them for Windows Update.

Update: My Xbox 360 has been streaming for over 10 minutes now. Haven’t tested the PS3 because it was in a different room but it is the same idea. I also successfully attached a 2 MB file in Gmail while the stream was going on. So I think I fixed the problem! I couldn’t get past the soliloquy of Larry David in Whatever Works before and I checked the time code, it was about 5 minutes give or take. I’m streaming a different file on the 360 (shitty media support unless I use the Media Center Extender) and it’s already past the 10 minutes mark. Hooray!

Windows 7 Upgrade on bare drive success

My Windows 7 disc finally arrived and I spent the last couple of days fiddling around with the retail code. The install was great. It was quick and hassle free. I was able to wipe my hard drive, install and activate without any problems. So here is to confirm the recent reports on the blogosphere: Windows 7 Upgrade allows for clean install onto bare hard drives.

It was really easy too. I bought Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade (god damn mouthful). Popped in the 32-bit disc. Booted with the disc and selected Custom. Highlighted my Vista installation, formatted it, and allowed the installer do its thing.

I didn’t activate on the first prompt because I was afraid that my network drivers may not have installed properly. I also did not enable Windows Update right away because some people reported outstanding updates may prevent activation. So I just let the installer reboot. Got into desktop and activated Windows there.

It went through without any complaints. I simply typed in the upgrade serial that was inside the jewel case and pressed Activate.

Make sure you load network drivers if it isn’t installed right away! I don’t have Wi-Fi on the desktop but I don’t think the connection type will matter. So long as you have an Internet connection you’re golden.

Clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media

Many, many readers report that they have been able to simply treat the Windows 7 Upgrade media as if it were Full media, and that it just works. And you know what? It doesn’t hurt to simply try this method, because if it doesn’t work, you can then try methods 2 and then 3, in order, afterwards. There is no downside to trying this.

I should have received my Windows 7 disc but I was away on vacation. I’ll probably give this a twirl tonight and if it works as claimed then I will buy a few more Windows 7 OEM Upgrades for the other computers in the house.

winsupersite.com

mrbit10′s genius observation of Windows development

I saw this YouTube video and this quote is awesome.

In other words, the new technologies deployed in Vista that conflicted with Microsoft compatibility and legacy had to be dealt with and to achieve advancement in terms of opportunity cost Vista became the whipping boy and buffer to succeeding Windows OSs.

Dude doesn’t have the greatest grammar but I understood what he meant. Vista’s advancements broke legacy support in order for future Windows versions to be good.

Now only if MS lowers that price point and stops the Home/Pro/Ultimate nonsense.