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[align=center]Windows Vista RC1 Build 5600

Installation Guide


The PROnetworks Betas Team is pleased to present our Official Installation Guide for Windows Vista RC1 Build 5600.

RC1 is HERE!! The second public release of Vista is now available to everyone who registered, not just the Microsoft Beta Testers or MSDN subscribers. If you registered to have a Vista RC1 kit mailed to you, then expect it shortly, or you can download Vista RC1 from Connect or HERE!
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<center><a id="index">INDEX</a></center>

<a href="#sysreqs">Recommended and Minimum System Requirements</a>
<a href="#filenames">Official Filenames</a>
<a href="#notes">Vista RC1 Build 5600 Notes</a>
<a href="#methods">Windows Vista Installation Methods</a>
<a href="#install">Windows Vista Installation</a>
<a href="#post">Post Installation Setup</a>
<a href="#remove">Removal of Windows Vista</a>



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<a id="sysreqs">[align=center]Recommended and Minimum System Requirements[/align]</a>
[align=center]*CPU 1.5 GHz*
*RAM 512 MB*
*GPU with DirectX 9 Capabilities*
*HDD 20-40 GB NTFS Formatted*[/align]

These are the PROnetworks recommended minimum system requirements for the installation of Windows Vista RC1 Build 5600. Additional information on Vista hardware requirements can be found by viewing the Vista Hardware Requirements & Supported Hardware

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<a id="filenames">[align=center]Official Filenames[/align]</a>

These are the official file names that were released for Windows Vista RC1 build 5600 by Microsoft via the Microsoft Connect website to Beta testers, and to MSDN subscribers. Vista RC1 Build 5600 IS a public release! Along with the official file names the CRC/SHA hashes are included for users to ensure their download is not corrupted prior to burning to DVD media.

Windows Vista RC1 Build 5600

32-Bit DVD:

Connect: vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_x86fre_client-LR1CFRE_EN_DVD.iso, 2,584.25 MB
CRC: 0xB3519FCA
SHA: 0xE00B4EBBC81FB420CF047973B95A9CFB7CDF51B7


MSDN: x86

File
en_vista_rc1_5600_x86_dvd.iso

File Size
2584 MB

SHA-1 Hash
e00b4ebbc81fb420cf047973b95a9cfb7cdf51b7

64-Bit DVD:

Connect: vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_x64fre_client-LR1CxFRE_EN_DVD.iso, 3,677.22 MB
CRC: 0x59C867D0
SHA: 0x8E4DE7A72C828A3543FF1663243EB0836DA07EEA


MSDN: x64

File
en_vista_rc1_5600_x64_dvd.iso

File Size
3677 MB

SHA-1 Hash
8e4de7a72c828a3543ff1663243eb0836da07eea

NEW to RC1!! For those without a DVD drive - Not to worry! Microsoft has provided RC1 x86 as a spanned, multi ISO CD release!
NOTE: When installing from CD media from within Windows XP users should remove Disc 5 from the drive before restarting or errors may be encountered.

0xCFB16804 vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_vista_rc1_x86fre_client-LR1CFRE_en_CD1.iso

0x57469949 vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_vista_rc1_x86fre_client-LR1CFRE_en_CD2.iso

0x7C289769 vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_vista_rc1_x86fre_client-LR1CFRE_en_CD3.iso

0x63A1EF72 vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_vista_rc1_x86fre_client-LR1CFRE_en_CD4.iso

0x2D1EE0E3 vista_5600.16384.060829-2230_vista_rc1_x86fre_client-LR1CFRE_en_CD5.iso


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<a id="notes"><center>RC1 Build 5600 Notes</center></a>

IMPORTANT NOTE: Windows Vista is a BETA operating system and you should therefore be careful before attempting to use it as a primary operating system -- data loss and other problems may occur --- but starting with Windows Vista Beta 2, Vista now provides enough stability for casual users to attempt this, and both the PROnetworks Betas Team and the PROnetworks Support Team provide help and support for those attempting to use Vista as a Main OS. However, PROnetworks will continue to recommend dual boot installations, unless the installation is to take place on an independent test computer, or on a computer purposely designed for the new Windows version.

Data corruption by Vista (or any operating system) is always a possibility (as is the case when using any Beta software), although it has become unlikely with the most recent builds. PROnetworks cannot be held responsible for any damage to your system that may occur as a result of your choosing to install Vista to your primary computer.

Burning the Vista RC1 ISO to DVD: Windows Vista uses the UDF format for the ISO file; only newer programs will be able to successfully identify and properly burn the UDF ISO into a bootable DVD, as well as successfully extract the installation files from the ISO to the user's hard drive. While not a full list, programs that are capable of burning the Vista RC1 ISO to a bootable DVD include Nero 6.6.x.x and greater, MagicISO 5.3 or greater (From within XP), and programs that will allow users to view or extract the Vista RC1 installation files include UltraISO 8 or greater and WinRAR 9 or greater. If you burn the RC1 ISO to a DVD and all you are able to "see" is the readme.txt file, then you need to reburn using a compatible program mentioned above, as the DVD in this case will not boot.

Dual/Multi Boot Scenarios: Dual booting refers to side by side installations of Windows Vista and an earlier versions of a Windows operating system; PROnetworks uses and recommends dual/multi boot installations to users without a dedicated test computer to install Windows Vista onto. The important consideration in dual/multi booting is that Windows Vista must be the LAST operating system installed, as Windows Vista takes over the boot manager duties that the boot.ini file used to in earlier versions of Windows. If Vista is installed on a system and it becomes necessary to install an earlier version of Windows (XP, 2000, 9x/ME), the Windows Vista bootloader will be overwritten and Windows Vista will no longer be accessible. Another issue to be aware of when dual or multi booting between Vista and XP/MCE is that when doing so, you will lose all Vista restore points when you boot to XP/MCE and then boot back into Vista. This is by design to protect the integrity of the Vista restore points. PROnetworks recommends using VistaBootPRO to manage the boot entries for the Vista Bootmanager; please read the VistaBootPRO guide for further information on its use.

<a id="drivenotes">DISKS & PARTITIONING</a>

IMPORTANT WARNING FOR ADVANCED USERS: Windows Vista uses a new version of the NTFS file system; therefore third-party partitioning software can, sometimes, cause serious errors when combined with Windows Vista. Hard drives including Windows Vista system partitions should NOT be partitioned using third-party XP-era partitioning software such as Partition Magic or Acronis. Native Windows XP partitioning tools should be used instead, and are accessed through the Disk Management console.

Please note that while Windows Vista does have enhanced abilities to partition and format your HDD during setup, it has been pointed out that UNALLOCATED HDD SPACE ON AN EXTENDED DRIVE will NOT be recognized by Vista and users should create a Logical drive and format this drive from within XP using the Disk Management console before continuing setup.

LOADING DRIVERS DURING SETUP

Note that drivers can be installed from floppies, USB Flash memory sticks, CD or DVD. Please restrict drivers loading at this stage to necessary SATA/RAID controllers and other essential device drivers. Other drivers can simply be installed post-setup.

A protocol has been implemented in Windows Vista x64 (only) requiring that ONLY digitally signed drivers are used with the x64 Vista Operating System, and we strongly recommend that you do NOT attempt to load any unsigned drivers during the initial setup of Windows Vista x64, although older builds of Vista included a workaround for this restriction.

[align=center]Newly released Vista RC1 manufacturer drivers:

ATI RC1 Video drivers

NVIDIA beta drivers for Windows Vista RC1

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi series Vista RC1 Beta Driver[/align]

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<a id="methods"><center>Windows Vista RC1 Installation Methods</center></a>

• Boot from DVD Installation Method - The most popular method of installing Vista. Burn the .iso file to a DVD using a program such as Nero in Windows XP (or other version of Windows) and then booting to the disc. Most failed installations are caused by a bad burn. To reduce this risk PROnetworks recommends that you set your burn program to burn the data to the DVD at a slow speed such as 2x.
  
• Run Setup from within Windows