Vista RC1 Public Version

[SnowRanger13]

Got this yesterday was downloading around 1400kb/s beating my speed record. Last speed record was on Pre-RC1 around 1250kb/s damn MS has some good servers to host those files!

[OPaul]

How do you disable the requirement for all drivers to be digitally signed?

[M118LR]

You do not need a key to install.When it asks for key,leave it blank and click next,it will then ask you to go back,say no.You will then be given the option to install any of the 8 (i may have missed number) different versions.After install is done,you will be given 14 days to try out before it needs to be activated.

To activate you will need to be a member of "Customer Preview Program (CPP)" of which ms will reopen in the coming weeks for new membership signups.

For fun i installed both ends of the spectrum (i partitioned drive before hand using a linux live distro) first partition-vista ultimate and second partition-vista starter (final release will only be for 3rd world).

I was hoping starter vista would be a real cut down in size,but it still comes in at over 6 gigs and other then some nice different wallpapers it's really not worth the time to try it out.

Ultimate vista is the way to go,if you want to try RC1 out.That being said i have still found a number of bugs (changing theme's and performance visual effects changing levels related) and the somewhat none uniform UI.

Something you forgot to say. If someone does it your way they will have a suprise and maybe you to. The CPP keys are for Ultimate only. Your Starter Vista will refuse to accept the Ultimate key. You will need a Vista Starter key to activate which you do not have. It's the same if anyone goes for Home Basic, Home Premium, or Business. You do not have those keys. All Vista DVDs are the same. It is the keys that determine what version you get.

[Registered Member]

Clarification on Availability of the Windows Vista RC1 Customer Preview Program

Wednesday, September 06, 2006 1:34 PM by nwhite

Some sites out in the community have begun posting links to the Customer Preview Program (CPP) download of Windows Vista RC1. Before you jump up to get your own download of RC1, please bear in mind these facts:

If you previously registered for the Windows Vista Beta 2 Customer Preview Program 2 and received a product key (PID), that key will work for the Windows Vista RC1 release as well. You need not re-register; you will need to download the RC1 ISO image, however. Microsoft has just today begun sending download links via email to previous Customer Preview Program participants who registered for Windows Vista Beta 2 back in June. Not all emails are being sent simultaneously, so there may be a few hours' delay in delivery of yours.

The Customer Preview Program has yet to open back up for new registrants. Therefore, if you do not already have a PID and were not part of June's Beta 2 CPP, you will need to wait until the CPP opens to the public in order to register for a PID and install RC1. I expect that this will occur in the very near future, so keep watching this blog.

In other words: if you choose to download RC1 now and weren?t part of the Beta 2 CPP in June, you must wait until the CPP is opened to the public before you'll be able acquire a PID that will enable you to install RC1.

Please be mindful of the above when making your decision to download. I must confess that while I and everyone on the team certainly appreciate your enthusiasm for downloading, registering and testing RC1, posting comments to this or any other MS blog asking for product keys won?t get them to you any faster. There's nothing I can do to accelerate the public availability of RC1; but, I can keep you informed, and pledge to do exactly that.

So, once the RC1 Customer Preview Program officially opens up to new registrations, you can expect a post here letting you know. Thanks for your patience in the inte:)m :)

Clarification on Availability of the Windows Vista RC1 Customer Preview Program[/urAbout nwhite

I'm a Product Manager at Microsoft working on the Windows Vista launch team. I also work with key influencers in our user community. This means I get to do cool stuff, play with lots of electronic toys, travel the world, and blog about it at the same time. I know you're jeal;)s ;)

[Colin-uk Veteran]

Well i seem to have got it working now, tried downloading it a little later with IE and it worked ok, got a full download :)

[JayZJay]

1) anyone have the size in bytes of the x86 and x64 isos?

2) what's a simple file hashing program that i could use to hash the iso?

Thanks!

People have mentioned Verifier, HashTab, and md5sum.

It sounds like Verifier might have a bug or two or some algorithm issues. md5sum is DOS based, which is not all bad but someone might prefer a simple Windows solution.

HashTab is a great little shell extension, but there are a couple of issues. HashTab calculates the MD5, SHA-1, and CRC32 hash... EACH & EVERY Time you go to the "File Hashes" tab it creates in properties. So, you better make it count with a large file. Also, the hashes of a large file, like the Vista RC1 ISO, take a couple of minutes, but since HashTab generates the hashes for MD5, SHA-1, and CRC32, it really takes some time. If you only want to check one of the hashes, you still have to endure it generating all the hashes.

I wanted to throw out another option that I have found that is very simple and works well. I don't remember how I stumbled across this shell extension, but I use it all the time. It's called "digestIT 2004" (not sure why they came up with that name). You can right-click on any file and Calculate or Verify that file's MD5 or SHA-1 hash. Go to http://digestit.kennethballard.com. Some screen shots are at http://digestit.kennethballard.com/screenshots.html.

BTW, when you choose to verify a hash string and it says "Enter the message digest string to verify against", it is simply saying to enter the hash string that you want it to check. It comes back and says that the file's MD5 or SHA-1 hash string matches or does NOT match.

I hope this helps some of you out there like it has me.

-JayZJay ;)

[zerolimit]

Were can I signup to get a key? could someone help me please! Thank You!

[markwolfe Veteran]

It sounds like Verifier might have a bug or two or some algorithm issues. md5sum is DOS based, which is not all bad but someone might prefer a simple Windows solution.

A simple DOS app is a solution for a Windows PC. If you want a GUI, the OpenOffice.org site points to what seems to be a nifty Firefox extension for this.

http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/using_md5sums.html

[bfoos]

Were can I signup to get a key? could someone help me please! Thank You!

You can't yet. If you didn't sign up for the Beta 2 CPP or you did but lost your key, you're going to have to wait.

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...amp;p=587861559

[Ifikratis]

Hi all!

I had started downloading the Vista RC1 X86. It's now at 900mb and downloading at 76kb/s, great speed! However as you say, microsoft has not given keys "to the masses" yet. So, what should I do? Do you think till 14 days microsoft would give free keys? Because if not I won't have operating pc! Can' t stad the idea of formating again with XP!

[TheCrowX]

hi everyone

i wonder if i m the only one who can t download windows vista when i try with firefox i get this error " could not find the requested file on the server contact the author of the page that contains the link this download will be canceled "

and if i try with internet explorer " network error, cannot download. check connections, and try again. would you like to retry now ? " even if i retry 10000 times i get the same error

is this normal ?

[primexx]

hi everyone

i wonder if i m the only one who can t download windows vista when i try with firefox i get this error " could not find the requested file on the server contact the author of the page that contains the link this download will be canceled "

and if i try with internet explorer " network error, cannot download. check connections, and try again. would you like to retry now ? " even if i retry 10000 times i get the same error

is this normal ?

copy the download link and use a download manager

[Denis W. Veteran]

hi everyone

i wonder if i m the only one who can t download windows vista when i try with firefox i get this error " could not find the requested file on the server contact the author of the page that contains the link this download will be canceled "

and if i try with internet explorer " network error, cannot download. check connections, and try again. would you like to retry now ? " even if i retry 10000 times i get the same error

is this normal ?

The server's probably bombarded with CPP participants who just received their email. Try redownloading again (with a download manager if you want) at off-peak hours.

(edit: right now I tried clicking on the link and it appeared to download at normal download speeds.)

[ghoul2oo3]

Quick question, I'm using an Audigy 2 ZS now do the current Creative drivers for Vista work with RC1 ok? or should I wait for an updated build?

[M118LR]

hi everyone

i wonder if i m the only one who can t download windows vista when i try with firefox i get this error " could not find the requested file on the server contact the author of the page that contains the link this download will be canceled "

and if i try with internet explorer " network error, cannot download. check connections, and try again. would you like to retry now ? " even if i retry 10000 times i get the same error

is this normal ?

The link works fine. I downloaded RC1 again today just to check the download. I used IE7 RC1 without a download manager. It only took 2 1/2 hours to download.

[Xerses]

I have 5536 installed and everything works, but...

I have an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe with the nForce audio. The audio works, but I don't get 5.1 surround. Has anyone managed to get this to work? If so please tell me how.

Thank you!

[trigger_my_passion]

I found a freeware program w/ simple GUI using which we can verify the MD5 checksum. Simply drag and drop the .iso in it (or, you can right click and Send To..)

http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/winmd5sum.

The Akamai downloader version of Vista's checksum:

Signatures of the ISO files:

32-Bit

MD5 hash: 22486e815a38feffd9667317dfeec55a

SHA1 hash: e00b4ebbc81fb420cf047973b95a9cfb7cdf51b7

64-Bit

MD5 hash: f3a385aae6e4dea9226e31d9f1148b56

SHA1 hash: 8e4de7a72c828a3543ff1663243eb0836da07eea

[Ifikratis]

Please, does anyone know when microsoft will open again the customer program and give us keys? I should know, so if it is more than 14 days I would not install the rc1.

[RvXtm]

.....the site says ....next weeks .....

I have the keys from BETA 2 ....and i just reg. one key once ....the BETA 2 keys work with RC1 :)

[Ifikratis]

Weeks, weeks, How many weeks? 1,2, 10? I want to install Vista RC1 but on the other hand I am thinking what will I do if the 14 days pass and no keys have been given. I can' t understand microsoft right now, they give vista rc1 for downloading but they don't give us keys!

[Josrh]

Install went fine, I have internet connectivity, can ping sites, but for some reason a page takes about 10mins to load in both IE and Firefox.

[mad_onion]

can anyone pm me a key? i mean you can use it on up to 10 pcs so it doesnt really matter if you give one. or is that against the rules?

[Ifikratis]

can anyone pm me a key? i mean you can use it on up to 10 pcs so it doesnt really matter if you give one. or is that against the rules?

Me too. I would be exremely pleased!

[Chad.C]

Bahh can't get the wireless on my Asus M2N32-sli Mobo to work..

Anyone here running the board have any sucesss with getting the wifi to run?

I installed the Asus software using comptability mode but for some reason I seem to be missing a 1394 Net adapter connection which shows up in XP but not in Vista...bahh

[The Dark Knight]

Downloading at 500 KB/s, be done in abt 45 min!! :-)

Just one thing, i had received a product key for beta 2, but cant remember whether i activated it or not. will i be able to use the same key to install and activate RC1?