Hi guys. Finally managed to get Win 7 up & running (on a seperate partition) Unfortunately I've had the the same problem that I experienced with server upgrade. Mobo support cd sees it as Win 6.1 MCE & will not support it. Tried it manually & the same thing happens. I hope that it doesn't turn out to be the same rollout fiasco as Vista's.

Going to try the same tip that User312 gave me for the server upgrade. However, what totally threw both my brother & I out was the desktop, we couldn't see how to get the desktop icons showing on screen - will have to play around with it a bit more, but wanted boinc running on it while playing.

Chipset drivers are usually buried in Catalyst drivers, these are beta drivers for Win se7en
http://support.ati.com/ics/support/defa ... onID=39069

Thanks Frank. Unfortunately, those drivers will work on the M3A78 Pro as it's 780G+SB700 chipset, but the M3N78 Pro is NVidia Geoforce 8300 chipset & as been proven by Ageless over at Seti, this chipset is causing numerous problems.

Have been trying all evening to get the lan driver (Realtek 8211CL) from Realtek themselves, but they only provide the Datasheet & Design plans rather than the driver itself. I found this unusaul for Realtek as I've never failed to d/l a driver direct from them so far.

Not really bothered about the chipset for Win7, just want net access so that I can use Win update.

Problem solved. I'd installed Beta 1 (Build 6801), which in my view, is total c**p. Managed to download both 32bit & 64bit Beta 2 (Build 7000).

Wow, the difference between the two is tremedous. If Microsoft improves as much again with the RTM version, I think they've finally got there. Who needs lan drivers, it picked it up straight away. The installation was a breeze with no problems whatsoever. If they keep this up, I'm pretty sure that I will upgrade all my rigs to Win7 (gonna need another big lottery win ).

I can't believe this OS. I think I like it, and I have not really liked anything from microsoft for years. I did a partition on my new I7 and the OS was up and running in less than 5 minutes. Incredible, I won't BOINC it till a non beta. It looks good, works great in Beta, even the GPU stuff is on the beta. I can't wait to see the real thing. ( That extra 1000 cores) will make Boinc a lot of fun.

I tried it on my mac on Vmware Fusion but unlike all the other operating systems it wont pick up vmwares virtual internet connection so I cant get online with it

I'm going back down to London on the 14th with my brother & will pick up a 32gb usb drive. As all my boards can boot off usb drives, I'm going to try win7 on one. There's a lot of "uuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmm's & but's" on the beta forum but I always state that you cannot please everyone at the same time. I really cannot believe the installation process - compared to all of Microsoft's O/S's since the days of DOS 3, it really is a breeze. Also going to pick up some more hard drives & will add one to my 64 rig so that I can try out the 64bit version of win7.

From what I have read on MS forums, Microsoft will not rush this one out like they did with Vista. If they stick to that & contine to improve it the way they did between the 2 beta's, Microsoft will win big time compared to the vista rollout.

Having never used VMWare Fusion (I'm not a mac guy...) I'm not sure if this applies, but check to see if VMWare Fusion has an option for a "legacy" network adaptor as well as the regular one. I know MS virtualization products supply this for sure, but it's been a year or so since I used VMWare or VirtualBox regularly and can't remember. You could always try Sun's VirtualBox for your mac to see if it works as well (http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads) - it needs OS X, but if that works fine it's free to use so you might as well give it a try.

Ooooops..........spoke too soon. It may be that either Microsoft or software vendors will have to change their code. Have found some Vista programs that will not run under Win7.

Had a problem with AVG initially but managed to resolve it. However, I use some tweaking programs & TweakVI works well under Vista but will not install under Win7. Also, found that not all mobo drivers will install. Saying that, it is only the 2nd beta.

I got windows 7 working fully now in my vmware fusion on my mac but its fighting tooth and nail with Leopard to hog the 2gb of memory I have so I think I will try it in boot camp, I must say I am well impressed with the look of it, I never really took to vista but I might change my mind with this one

I JUST FINISHED PLAYING WITH VIRTUALBOX IN XP. I TRIED OUT WIN 7 BUILD 7000 AND CONSIDERING IT WAS RUNNING VIRTUALLY WITH BARELY ENOUGH RAM FOR IT AND XP , I AM QUITE IMPRESSED. I LOOK FORWARD TO TRYING IT OUT ON A HD INSTALL.
NO DOUBT IT IS MANY TIMES BETTER THAN VISTA AND MAYBE EVEN BETTER THAN XP IN THE LONG RUN. I DID NOTICE THAT IT REMINDED ME OF A COUPLE OF LINUX DISTROS I TRIED OUT A WHILE BACK, MORE THAN A MICROSOFT PRODUCT.
SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BILLY GATES DECIDES TO RETIRE ? MICROSOFT FINALLY STARTS GETTING IT RIGHT.
AS FOR THE TALE ABOUT WIN 7 GIVING LINUX A RUN, WELL IT MAY BEAT SOME DISTROS IN PERFORMANCE BUT ...
THEN THERES THE COST COMPARED TO MOST LINUX.
IF IT WILL RUN MY FAVORITE DRIVING GAMES, PRINT AND SCAN ON MY OLD HP ALL IN ONE, I MAY REPLACE XP WHEN THIS COMES OUT.
FURTHER TESTING IS NEEDED.

Have been playing around with the RC version for nearly a week now, which was open to the public yesterday. With Vista, I had problems with many of my XP programs, but under the latest version of Win7, they become resolved.

Microsoft has included an XP Mode...XP Mode & Windows Virtual PC for those interested. With Win V-PC, it integrates seamlessly. For those with copious amounts of ram on the host, the only setting to change will be the ram as XP Mode's default is 256mb. All other settings/hardware are detected automatically. Another bonus is that MS provides a free Product Key for XP.

The XP mode download is seperate to the RC but it's intended to be part of the RTM version & if so, it looks like my little farm will be 4 cores short (2x X2 XP Pro's) - nice excuse to build another quad

Thats weird Pat I was just burning off a copy of my newly downloaded Win 7 RC disk so I could install it on my Vmware Fusion when I got this notification from the thread, I am liking what I see so from Win 7 and I am usually a Mac junkie ...

Try out the XP Mode, you will be pleasantly surprised, but don't forget to download the Windows Virtual PC. Did try XP mode first as I had installed V-PC 2007, but found that I had to setup all settings, whereas Win V-PC, does it automatically. I Like It

Ok will do, if I like it on my Vmware Fusion then I might install it on my Windows laptop to get used to it

A short time ago, I read in one of the latest PC Magazines, that Win7 runs smoothly on a netbook. later today, will try to find the mag & get more details. Will be nice if it's true.

I dont think my mrs would approve if I messed with her netbook lol, she only got hers just a week ago .....

Headache no 1.............I don't think Win V-PC likes boinc. Setup boinc to crunch while testing O/S + Apps, checked out XP Mode to make sure that all apps running ok - Won't start, kept complaining of shortage of system resources.

Headache no 2...........exited boinc & ensured that it was not running & still no XP Mode, same status. Weird.

I've run BOINC in virtualized sessions for years - MS Virtual PC, Hyper-V, QEMU, VIrtualBox, and VMWare.

So here's the question - is it XP Mode that won't start when BOINC is running? Or is it BOINC won't start within XP Mode?

Another question - are you running your Win7 virtualized? If so, you won't be able to run WinXP Mode as MS Virtual PC won't run properly within a virtualized machine (at least in my various tests) as it needs direct access to hardware.

XP mode won't run with Boinc running. So far, I haven't got round to using virtualisation regularly - either use seperate drive or partition for testing purposes. I think that it has to be boinc, as I suspended all tasks temporarily & XP Mode still would not start.

Have you tried the latest version of BOINC?

Currently using 6.6.20. Bit dubious of using their development versions as the last time I tried, it messed up my setup completely. Will install the WHS connecter later today & have it backed up first, then will give it another try with latest version.

Edit: - Installing WHS Connector now. Have Boinc running on Win 7. is it worth considering running it under XP Mode instead of Win 7?

Run unemulated if possible - there's always a performance hit in an emulated system...

Thanks for the earlier advice, User312. Backed up system & installed 6.6.28. Left it crunching & entered XP Mode. Slight problem, now resolved & it's running ok. Problem was that ram settings in XP Mode too high, reduced it to 1.5gb. However, XP seems a trifle slow. When ready to use it on a regular basis, if intending to let boinc running in the background on Win 7, will reduce ram on XP to 1gb, that should suit my XP Needs.

Test System:

Asus M3N78 Pro
AMD 9600 Phenom
2x 2gb PC6400
2x 250gb HD's
Geoforce 8400GS
Vista Business (Main)/Win 7 RC/Server 2008R2(Beta)/Solaris 10

Damn, the quicker I sell my XP rigs, the quicker I can get that 955 Phenom II AM3 rig built!

Next dream machine.....
MSI 790FX-GD70
Phenom II 955
(3rd) Coolermaster R1000
8gb DDR3
10x 2tb HD's
Advice needed on GPU (I'm not a gamer)
Win7 Ultimate?

4 GL wu's about to complete on Win7 in the background while I have been using XP Mode continously to check out it's features & to see if it makes the XP rigs redundant. It does

Can only think that 6.6.20 somehow wouldn't work with the current configuration, so thanks for the tip User312. Much appreciated.