Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Windows Vista Beta 2 Download

CANEHDN

CANEHDN

macrumors 6502a
Dec 12, 2005
855
0
Eagle Mountain, UT
This is going to be a complete waste of money. I've just finished installing it(on a PC not my Intel iMac) and exploring it. This OS isn't any better than XP. Sure it's got a prettier UI but OS X is still better. It's got a few new features but OS X already has them. I'm very disappointed in it. All I can see that Vista is doing is sucking your precious memory. The entire layout is still the same with round cute little buttons. This is something I wouldn't recommend running on your Mac.
 
P

PatrickF

macrumors 6502
Feb 16, 2006
335
0
Blighty
balamw said:
You could probably a keyboard remapper like http://www.randyrants.com/sharpkeys/ to remap one of the F keys on the Mac KB to give you a Print Screen function. It claims to be Vista ready...

B
Click to expand...
Just to elaborate, I use Input Remapper. This will amongst other things make the function key work again and also make the "special" keys at the top of the MB(P) work again.

It also maps fn+Eject to print screen.

Edit: Forgot to link to it http://www.olofsson.info/
 
EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,730
287
San Francisco, CA
I think I may have done something wrong...
I downloaded the .iso file from Microsoft, which was then mounted as a disk to my dekstop. I just clicked and dragged all of the (11) files into a burn folder, named the DVD "Windows Vista Beta 2" and burned it at 1x (as Microsoft suggested). I got a verification error after the burn was complete that said I needed to re-burn. I thought I'd try and ignore it, but my PC couldn't recognize it as a bootable disk, and it wouldn't open in Explorer.

Did I do everything right? Should I try again and hope that was a one-time error? What can I do to make sure it burns properly?

Thanks
 
M

ManchesterTrix

macrumors 6502
Feb 24, 2005
324
0
EricNau said:
I think I may have done something wrong...
I downloaded the .iso file from Microsoft, which was then mounted as a disk to my dekstop. I just clicked and dragged all of the (11) files into a burn folder, named the DVD "Windows Vista Beta 2" and burned it at 1x (as Microsoft suggested). I got a verification error after the burn was complete that said I needed to re-burn. I thought I'd try and ignore it, but my PC couldn't recognize it as a bootable disk, and it wouldn't open in Explorer.

Did I do everything right? Should I try again and hope that was a one-time error? What can I do to make sure it burns properly?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Just open disk utility, select the image in the left-hand window and click burn. That will properly burn the ISO.
 
EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,730
287
San Francisco, CA
ManchesterTrix said:
Just open disk utility, select the image in the left-hand window and click burn. That will properly burn the ISO.
Click to expand...
It won't let me burn the disk image, should I select the .iso file itself?
 
Billy Boo Bob

Billy Boo Bob

macrumors 6502
Jun 6, 2005
493
0
Dark Side Of The Moon
EricNau said:
As a side note:
Now when I insert a DVD, it shows up on my desktop as a burn folder; I could have sworn it used to be a picture of a DVD. ...or am I loosing my mind? :confused:
Click to expand...
Your Mac has been exposed to Windows. It's your Mac that's losing it's mind. :p
 
EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,730
287
San Francisco, CA
I burned the DVD from Disk Utility but still, I cannot get my Windows PC to recognize it as a bootable disk. Plus, when I click on the DVD drive it in Explorer it still causes 'My Computer' to stop responding. I'm pretty sure the DVD is fine, so it must be the PC. The optical drive (in 'My Computer') says "CD Drive," but I know for fact it can play/read other DVD's. Could this have something to do with it?

Any thoughts? Thanks
 
Laser47

Laser47

macrumors 6502a
Jan 8, 2004
856
0
Maryland
I burnt the DVD on my iBook using toast, disk utility seams like it does not do good at burning bootable disks for PC's.
 
EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,730
287
San Francisco, CA
It just started working out of the clear blue. I didn't do anything. :confused:

Meanwhile, I was stupid and didn't check to make sure my PC notebook met the minimum system requirements (it was given to me, so I wasn't that familiar with it). I'm so close! Does anybody know how to cheat and let Vista install anyway? I have over a 1 GHz processor, but I only have 240 MB RAM with 16 MB dedicated for graphics. It said I need at least 256 MB RAM.
 
MRU

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,370
8,952
a better place
Regular-John said:
Is this Vista thing an upgrade from XP, or can I download it [without and XP license] and have it running along side OSX?
Click to expand...

When you register with microsoft, they will give you a serial key which they allow you to install Vista Beta on upto 10 computers.
 
EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,730
287
San Francisco, CA
MacRumorUser said:
When you register with microsoft, they will give you a serial key which they allow you to install Vista Beta on upto 10 computers.
Click to expand...
...which expires this time in 2007. From there you will have to buy a product key from Microsoft if you wish to keep your files (you cannot downgrade back to XP).
 
EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,730
287
San Francisco, CA
Regular-John said:
Oh I see :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I guess I should elaborate. EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) was created by intel to replace BIOS. With the switch to intel processors, Apple also adopted EFI in their computers. Unfortunately, Windows does not support EFI (big surprise). Because of this, you must delete the EFI partition (about 200 MB) on your HDD before Windows Vista will work.
 
R

Regular-John

macrumors member
Mar 3, 2006
68
0
Sheffield, England
Cheers again.

I've read that deleteing the EFI could potentially be dangerous and render your mac a very pretty piece of junk. Any truth in that?

Or can you restore the EFI [if need be] with the restore DVD?
 
EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,730
287
San Francisco, CA
Regular-John said:
Cheers again.

I've read that deleteing the EFI could potentially be dangerous and render your mac a very pretty piece of junk. Any truth in that?

Or can you restore the EFI [if need be] with the restore DVD?
Click to expand...
As always, backup your entire system before making changes as major as this. Others recommend using Carbon Copy Cloner, which makes a complete, bootable copy of your HDD.

I'm not sure how you would restore the EFI partition (besides doing a complete erase and install).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom