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Vista Performance and Reliability Pack Unofficial Release

Steven Parker
30 July 2007 - 11:34
158 Comments
Liked this (4)

Thanks Nekrosoft for the news on this major update to Windows Vista that should for most of us improve the speed and reliability of Windows Vista significantly!

Please note: These fixes break all current methods of bypassing driver singing requirements except the good old F8 during boot (that you have to do every single time you start vista)

IF you are using Rivatuner, atitool and or Peerguardian on 64bit vista, you will have to use F8 every single time to disable driver signing requirements to use those two programs. x86 version is unaffected.

These updates should go official on the next patch Tuesday (in one weeks time). Please read more for the download links and information on these updates.

938979 Vista Performance and Reliability Pack
This update resolves a number of individual issues which may be affecting some computers running Windows Vista. These issues have been reported by customers using the Error Reporting service, product support, or other means. Installing this update will improve the performance and responsiveness for some scenarios and improves reliability of Windows Vista in a variety of scenarios. Some examples of the improvements contained in this update are:

  • Improves performance in resuming back to the desktop from the Photo and Windows Energy screensaver.
  • Resolves an issue where some secured web pages using advanced security technologies may not get displayed in Internet Explorer on Windows Vista.
  • Resolves an issue where a shared printer may not get installed if the printer is connected to a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 system and User Access Control is disabled on the Vista client.
  • Resolves an issue where creating AVI files on Vista may get corrupted.
  • Improves the performance in calculating the 'estimated time remaining' when copying/moving large files.
  • Improves performance in bringing up Login Screen after resuming from Hibernate.
  • Resolves an issue where synchronization of offline files to a server can get corrupted.
  • Resolves a compatibility issue with RAW images created by Canon EOS 1D/1DS Digital SLR Camera which can lead to data loss. This only affects RAW images created by these two specific camera models.
  • Resolves an issue where a computer can lose its default Gateway address when resuming from sleep mode.
  • Improves the performance when copying or moving entire directories containing large amounts of data or files.
  • Improves the performance of Vista's Memory Manager in specific customer scenarios and prevents some issues which may lead to memory corruption.
938194 Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack
This update resolves a number of individual issues which may be affecting some computers running Windows Vista. These issues have been reported by customers using the Error Reporting service, product support, or other means. Installing this update will improve the reliability and hardware compatibility of Windows Vista in a variety of scenarios. Some examples of the improvements contained in this update are:
  • Improved reliability and compatibility of Vista when used with newer graphics cards in several specific scenarios and configurations.
  • Improved reliability when working with external displays on a laptop.
  • Increased compatibility with many video drivers.
  • Improved visual appearance of games with high intensity graphics.
  • Improved quality of playback for HD-DVD and Blue-Ray disks on large monitors.
  • Improved reliability for Internet Explorer when some third party toolbars are installed on Vista.
  • Improved Vista reliability in networking configuration scenarios.
  • Improved the reliability of Windows Calendar in Vista.
  • Improved reliability of systems that were upgraded from XP to Vista.
  • Increased compatibility with many printer drivers.
  • Increased reliability and performance of Vista when entering sleep and resuming from sleep.
Link: Neowin Forum Discussion Thanks Nekrosoft
Download: Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack for x64 or x86 version

Comments (158)

  1. Chevron 7 - 30 July 2007 - 11:41

    just to make sure people understand, the following ONLY applies to vista 64bit! Those using 32bit vista will be fine.

    "These fixes break all current methods of bypassing driver singing requirements except the good old F8 during boot (that you have to do every single time you start vista)"

  2. :: Lyon :: - 30 July 2007 - 11:47

    Yay Yay!
    Downloading now

  3. excalpius - 31 July 2007 - 11:05

    This was probably what those MS leakers were talking about when they discussed "Vista SP1 beta" coming out this week. Since, for all intents and purposes this sounds like some major overhaul updates.

  4. stgeorge - 30 July 2007 - 11:48

    Sounds like a mini-SP1. I wonder why MS doesn't just abandon the idea of "Service Packs" and just release these fixes through Windows Update throughout the year. They are very easy to slipstream into a Vista install unlike in XP.

  5. randomnut - 30 July 2007 - 12:01

    Because service packs are tested, tested again, then re-tested before release (or should be anyway). Hotfixes are thrown together in 5 mins and chucked out there.

  6. cork1958 - 30 July 2007 - 12:19

    randomnut said,
    Because service packs are tested, tested again, then re-tested before release (or should be anyway). Hotfixes are thrown together in 5 mins and chucked out there.

    I think they should be issued as single, monthly patches also instead of some massive 200MB plus service pack. Heck, a service pack is nothing much more than ALL the updates thrown together anyway and usually not tested well enough either. Just like the whole VistaMe2 OS!!

  7. MMaster23 - 30 July 2007 - 12:47

    stgeorge said,
    Sounds like a mini-SP1. I wonder why MS doesn't just abandon the idea of "Service Packs" and just release these fixes through Windows Update throughout the year. They are very easy to slipstream into a Vista install unlike in XP.

    for reference purposes ... eg costumers find it easier to compare systems marked with service packs. XP SP2 is a proven platform while XP "vanilla" sucks. I have found out that this is not the case with Vista tough. heavily tested and developed with an different business/development model.

    thus eliminating the "need" for an first SP. still vista SP1 is in people's mind a "major improvement". these days the systems run better with "hotpacks" like these.

    Just installed .. saw some improvement in explorer (copy/delete etc) performance. Dare i say with caution .. this update rocks.

  8. randomnut - 30 July 2007 - 12:51

    cork1958 said,

    I think they should be issued as single, monthly patches also instead of some massive 200MB plus service pack. Heck, a service pack is nothing much more than ALL the updates thrown together anyway and usually not tested well enough either. Just like the whole VistaMe2 OS!!

    Yeah good point, they do take far too long to fix some major issues, just because they're not 'critical security issues' etc.

  9. +Brandon Live - 30 July 2007 - 16:17

    cork1958 said,
    Heck, a service pack is nothing much more than ALL the updates thrown together anyway and usually not tested well enough either.

    Well that's just not true at all. A Service Pack goes through extremely rigorous testing (basically the same as any OS release).

  10. FloatingFatMan - 30 July 2007 - 11:52

    Umm.. This story's already been posted to the front page news...

    http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=41687

  11. Shane Pitman - 30 July 2007 - 11:57

    That was just a "heads up" and didn't actually include any downloads.

  12. lordofangels - 30 July 2007 - 12:33

    the next patch Tuesday is 2 weeks tomorrow, the 14th Aug

  13. gadean - 30 July 2007 - 12:39

    WOW. Lots of updates rolled into just two hotfixes? Excellent, glad to see some of the performance issues being addressed.

    Now I'd like to see the SD memory problem fixed.

  14. NPGMBR - 30 July 2007 - 12:50

    No doubt. I've been disappointed by the performace of Vista. I still think its a great OS but I have to reboot at least once a day because something has made the OS unstable.

    I had gotten so used to how stable XP was that I just assumed Vista would be the same. But I had also forgotten that when I was Beta testing XP it was also qutie unstable even after the official release but it got dramatically better over time.

  15. Zip - 30 July 2007 - 12:41

    thank you! finally my file transfers are xp speed!

  16. graigchq - 30 July 2007 - 12:42

    Improves the performance in calculating the ‘estimated time remaining’ when copying/moving large files.

    thats what i was looking for. Assuming this works, i'll no longer have to boot into XP just to transfer music onto my mp3 player, or copy files to my laptop.

    THat particular problem was doing my head right in.

  17. Setnom - 30 July 2007 - 12:46

    About time!! It only took... what... about 9 months...?

  18. EduardValencia - 30 July 2007 - 14:16

    I guess all that hotfixes need alot of work

    So If u were the guy coding these fixes,we would never get them! so shut up!

  19. +Chicane-UK - 30 July 2007 - 15:34

    So If u were the guy coding these fixes,we would never get them! so shut up!

    Are you a share holder in Microsoft or something? Stop defending them so much! Microsoft deserve a little criticism from time to time!

  20. InsaneNutter - 30 July 2007 - 12:44

    This might mean I can actually use sleep and hibernate on my laptop now, at the moment when ever I try to use either one the network connection does not work when the laptop resumes, the only way to fix it is by shutting down which kind of makes sleep and hibernate pointless.

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