Switching to Vista: Advice please

[Bahger]

Hey gents, I'm about to install a new computer which will run Vista. I've been playing CMSF in XP so far.

How should I go about reinstalling CMSF? I seem to recall I downloaded it the week it came out and do not posess the program on CD-ROM. Should I simply re-download, having verified that I own the program, and then patch up? What about the Marines module? Am I supposed to copy the current installation onto a CD (will it even fit)?

Finally, will my saved games transfer to Vista? I'm battling my way through the Marines campaign and would be sad to lose my place in it.

Many thanks, as ever.

[silverstars]

First off, before you do anything else, Unlicense your game on the old computer. The Copy Protection gives you 2 licenses by default, but if you aren't going to use your old computer anymore, Unlicense them. Just go to the unlicense icon in the battlefront Start Menu (click Start, Programs, Battlefront, CMSF, Licensing). You also need to do this for your Marines Module.

[Moon]

How should I go about reinstalling CMSF? I seem to recall I downloaded it the week it came out and do not posess the program on CD-ROM. Should I simply re-download, having verified that I own the program, and then patch up?

You may be in for an unpleasent surprise because your download probably expired if you really got the game when it first came out. Downloads expire after 365 days. If you bought the game earlier than a year ago, when you enter your key into the download area it will come up as invalid. So hopefully you do have a backup copy of the setup files you downloaded.

What about the Marines module? Am I supposed to copy the current installation onto a CD (will it even fit)?

After unlicensing the previously installed copies which you don't need anymore, simply use the setup.exe files for the base game and the Marines module to reinstall the game. The only thing to keep in mind is to first install the base game, THEN install the Marines module. Then patch using the Marines patch ONLY (it patches the base game, too). Then you can launch the game and will be prompted to re-license.

Finally, will my saved games transfer to Vista? I'm battling my way through the Marines campaign and would be sad to lose my place in it.

Save games work regardless of which OS you run the game on, there is no difference.

[MeatEtr]

Just backup your saved games to a USB thumbdrive or CD. They can be found here, C:Program Files/Battlefront/CMSF/Game Files/Saved Games. While your at it, I'd also backup any mods your using too. Then just dump them into the corresponding folders when your installed and updated. Then you'll be good to go then.

CMSF runs great for me in Vista, I haven't had any problems with it.

[BlackMoria]

When installing CMSF on Vista, use the install as administrator option and specify a game directory rather than settle for the default. Some people have reported some issues with game files getting split between directories which results in some weird situations in which some scenarios and campaigns seem to 'disappear'

[Other Means]

Wait for Windows 7.

[slug88]

Wait for Windows 7.

Or, rather than waiting, just get the Release Candidate now, for free, off the Microsoft website.

[cabal23]

Vista is the equivalent of Windows Millenium. Wait for 7.

[Bahger]

Yeah, I'd rather wait for Windows 7, too, but Vista is what came with the new rig. I'm eager to see what it can do -- it's a real beast -- so I'd rather not hold off on installing games on it. And if I get in trouble with any aspect of a release candidate for W7 I'll be beta-testing the OS rather than playing games.

[Redwolf]

Don't forget to get a rope.

[Bahger]

Don't forget to get a rope.

Um...sorry but can you elaborate?

[Skinnedpuppy]

If you didn't back up the installer, copy the install folder across.(that way you keep installed mods and saves also). Worked for me

Obviously you still need to un/re license

[-E]

Wait for Windows 7.

I only install every third version of Windoze...

3.1 - Sucked

95 - Sucked

98 - Okay

ME - Sucked

2000 - Sucked

XP - Okay

Vista - Sucked

7 - should suck

8 - should be okay

I recently picked up a new rig as well... but I demanded my XP on it and saved some money by not being forced to buy an OEM Vista.

[Scipio]

Yeah, I'd rather wait for Windows 7, too, but Vista is what came with the new rig. I'm eager to see what it can do -- it's a real beast -- so I'd rather not hold off on installing games on it. And if I get in trouble with any aspect of a release candidate for W7 I'll be beta-testing the OS rather than playing games.

When you get your new computer with Vista preinstalled, the very first thing you should do is to format your HD and reinstall XP. What Vista really does is to waste your hardware resources for senseless fancy stuff & pester you with security requests til you crack up..

That's why you'll need a rope: to hang up yourself for frustration or tie your woman/girlfriend/children/pets before you mutilate and kill them after you've lost your marbles. Depends a lot on how you prefer to de-stress yourself.

[acrashb]

the very first thing you should do is to format your HD and reinstall XP.

Early Vista was awful. So bad that I recommended that my company just skip it and wait for 7 (by "recommended", I mean that it was my decision as I run the IT department).

Skipping is still a sound decision for a business, as 7 looks like it will be out and stable soon enough, the convulsive effort of an upgrade should be done as seldom as possible, and there is no compelling reason to upgrade now (potential support issues should be reviewed, but in the general case for desktops should not be an issue).

Current Vista is a different matter: it is fine for most things. It is stable, quick enough on modern hardware, runs as much memory as you can afford (in the 64 bit version, I run 12GB) and so on. For personal use, no problem. I run CMSF and a handful of other games with ease. Just leave the automatic updates turned on.

[Redwolf]

When you get your new computer with Vista preinstalled, the very first thing you should do is to format your HD and reinstall XP. What Vista really does is to waste your hardware resources for senseless fancy stuff & pester you with security requests til you crack up..

That's why you'll need a rope: to hang up yourself for frustration or tie your woman/girlfriend/children/pets before you mutilate and kill them after you've lost your marbles. Depends a lot on how you prefer to de-stress yourself.

In other words, it's a typical "do you want to be a sheep or a man?" issue

[slug88]

When you get your new computer with Vista preinstalled, the very first thing you should do is to format your HD and reinstall XP. What Vista really does is to waste your hardware resources for senseless fancy stuff & pester you with security requests til you crack up..

Except that recent benchmarks show that the current implementation of Vista offers superior performance to XP in almost every regard. And if you're using more than 2gb of ram, then sticking with XP would be *especially* senseless at this point. The 64bit implementation of XP is, and has always been, an utter disaster. Vista, on the other hand, works beautifully with a 64bit architecture, and knows how to put all that ram to good use.

[Redwolf]

Except that recent benchmarks show that the current implementation of Vista offers superior performance to XP in almost every regard. And if you're using more than 2gb of ram, then sticking with XP would be *especially* senseless at this point. The 64bit implementation of XP is, and has always been, an utter disaster. Vista, on the other hand, works beautifully with a 64bit architecture, and knows how to put all that ram to good use.

Excuse, me but even in XP SP2 and SP3 with PAE disabled by Mickeysoft the RAM limit in practice is 3.2 to 3.5 GB for most mainboards (depending on how much PCI space they reserve before 4 GB).

XP SP1 even had working PAE and hence could use 4GB in full and could use more than 4 GB, in 32 bits.

OS speed is highly overrated for gaming, you really don't do much with the OS while your rendering loop goes berserk. Some precached application data might feel great when working in MSOffice, but when gaming it just wastes even more RAM than you already wasted elsewhere in Vista.

In theory the DirectX drivers for Vista could be better. But as we all know the DX10 code path is a desaster for NVidia and the DX9 code path seems to be unchanged from the XP version of NVidia's drivers.

[Scipio]

Except that recent benchmarks show that the current implementation of Vista offers superior performance to XP in almost every regard. And if you're using more than 2gb of ram, then sticking with XP would be *especially* senseless at this point. The 64bit implementation of XP is, and has always been, an utter disaster. Vista, on the other hand, works beautifully with a 64bit architecture, and knows how to put all that ram to good use.

AFAIK it makes no difference if you have a 32bit XP or 32bit Vista in regard of Memory support - it's technically limited to 3-4GB when PAE is not supported.

[FAI]

Early Vista was awful. So bad that I recommended that my company just skip it and wait for 7 (by "recommended", I mean that it was my decision as I run the IT department).

Well, the guy running our IT department here thought Win2000 was good enough for our desktops, anyway

[Skinnedpuppy]

Well, the guy running our IT department here thought Win2000 was good enough for our desktops, anyway

If it's stable and meets what expected of it there is no need to change your OS, people who have to have the latest and greatest for all the shiny bells and whistles deserve everything they get IMO.

[__Yossarian0815[jby]]

some real world experience:

If you are getting vista64 bit, get 8GB of RAM. Makes a hell of a difference. It´s probably irrelevant for CMSF, but Crysis hums along happily with 8GB, but stutters with 4GB. I have both an XP (to be on the safe side) and vista 64 install on my system. I hardly touch XP anymore. XP is slower to start, and all apps including games are slower or the same. I´m sure windows 7 will run fine on the hardware of 2011.