Vista Problem

I have a windows 64bit, and I don't want to spend money downgrading it to a 32bit.

I was wondering if there was a patch for windows vista because alot of my friends have vista and have no known issues, they told me that there was an update today that fixed the problem, however the person I called at HP told me I already had it installed on this vista.


So the basic question I am asking is if there is a patch for vista to work with SL without the crashing, if you need a screen shot of what's happening i'll be glad to give you one because I would like this to be fixed asap, ty

I'm running 64bit Vista, and the most recent RC client, and I don't have any crashes.
Not sure what else to tell you.

EDIT: Oh! If you are using Nvidia drivers, try rolling them back one.

Yep, this problem is unrelated to Vista 64bit. I run it as well, and so do many thousand more people, no crashing.

Please instead post your system specs and maybe we can take this in another direction

I get to use a quad-core Dell with Vista some of the time, the rest of the time I'm hooked up to an older comp.

Vista generally works very well - full WindLight graphics, draw-distance set to 256m and a high frame rate. But sometimes I get a whole-computer crash and have to restart from disc.

I've got three machines here running Vista x64, and they all run SL very, very well. Whatever is causing your problem, it's not your OS itself.

The screenshot you offered would be helpful in diagnosing the problem, but more importantly, what are your system specs?

Here are a few general tips:

1. If you're running an ATI video card, turn off Vertex Buffer Objects in your SL graphics preferences (under Hardware Options). ATI doesn't like VBO's.

2. If you're running an nVidia graphics card, the 175 series drivers are better for SL than newer ones. Uninstall your current driver, and replace it with 175.xx, if there's a 175 driver available for your particular card. (There is for all but the newest of nVidia cards.)

3. If you're running integrated graphics, you may be SOL. With few exceptions, integrated graphics units are not powerful enough to run SL.

4. If you're using Aero turn it off. It's not friendly to SL or to other graphics-intensive apps. If you don't like the Vista Basic theme, download and install VistaGlazz, and then you'll be able to use third party themes.

5. How much RAM do you have? If it's less than 4GB, add more.

6. How healthy are your hard drives? Did you do a clean install of Vista, or an upgrade? If it was an upgrade, chances are your system drive is fragmented all to Hell and back right now. I recommend Diskeeper, to keep things in tip top shape, but at the very least, run Windows defrag right now, and at least once a week from here on after.

7. A lot of people seem to be reporting SL freezes, and total system lockups since the most recent server code update. I'm guessing something was changed in the way the server communicates with the client, and some computers don't like it. I actually got hit with it for the first time last night, on my main desktop, which is a VERY powerful machine. That thing hadn't crashed previously in at least a year or two, so maybe it was due, but still, it was extremely not-fun. If you're experiencing lockups right now, I'd suggest that it's just a coincidence of timing. You upgraded your OS at roughly the same time LL upgraded their server code.

If none of those things solves the problem, I'm stumped for now. I might have more suggestions after you post your system specs, and that screenshot.

Chosen has given some good pointers here including good technical ones to try.

I have run Vista 32-bit and have for close to 2 years with no issues and love it...all my friends said go back to XP...it will solve all your problems. I am like no....I like Vista...had the computer built specifically to run SL and use Vista. I never had any problems until late August/early September with freeze ups and horrid lag...and some excessive crashing at times. After trying a ton of solutions from helpful folks on the forums with no resolution, I was frustrated to say the least and threatening to switch to an iMac since SL ran fine on my macbook with OSX.

What finally solved the problem was I got rid of my 8600 GTS Nvidia card and replaced it with this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127383 suggested to me. Since I upgraded and installed this $80.00 video card (I was willing to spend a lot more) on the 8th, I have had no lag to speak of...no freezing up...no excessive crashes...I have run all the sl settings on maximum including draw distance with no issues. (Actually had to turn draw distance down so I don't have to see all my neighbors items in the air next to mine). There are still rezzing issues and chat lag especially in group chat, but that I believe is connected with SL.

I keep hearing different things about this. I've read that Aero is supposed to use the vcard gpu instead of the cpu if it is a good vcard, freeing up more cpu cycles. What's the net effect for running SL with more cpu resources and less gpu? Is it really that big a difference? Does it address only specific issues like crashes because I tried it on and off and it did not seem to make any notable difference in fps for me (although SL was having server side issues when I tried this so fps was bad generally).

Aero will utilize the GPU for desktop compositing, yes. But in doing so, it consumes graphics resources, including video memory, that would otherwise be available to games and other graphics-intensive apps. So while you probably do free up some CPU cycles, you intrude on the graphics card in ways your 3D applications won't thank you for.

The general consensus among all the graphics people I know is don't use Aero if you're gaming, 3D modeling, video editing, etc. And from personal experience with several different machines, I can tell you definitively, Aero + SL = graphics driver WILL crash.