Month: December 2012

Update information      Edit(Dec.26)   Edit2(Dec.28)

   Yesterday, I finally had a windows8 upgrade DVD package.

   After this, I made an additional order of the Package because I found the information we would be able to have a clean install of Windows8 if we upgraded from the older 32 bit Windows to the 64 bit Windows8. I did it on Dec. 6th, Japan time, and they sent a shipping advice by email on Dec. 10th. Now, 25th. It took tooooooo long despite it was via AirMail.

   Anyway I got it, so, I wanted to have a clean install for my laptop. Of course, if you want the same thing as me, you need to know your pc supporting 64 bit or not before your installation. Probably, you can find the supporting information at your pc system property, on the manual, or on the laptop bottom label. You can’t find the information, then you could use Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Maybe, it tells you your pc supporting 64 bit or not.

   I know my laptop, an Endeavor NJ2100, supports 64 bit. But I found a severe issue. Its BIOS does not support Memory Remap Feature. The vender does not supply the newer BIOS anymore. I think its main-board probably an ASUSTeK product. But the vender, Epson Direct, never tells us about it. If I have no exact knowledge about it, to update my BIOS is very dangerous. So I gave up to install the 64 bit windows8 to my pc.

   I booted my laptop from the upgrade DVD 32 bit version.

   If you do the same thing, you can see two install options, Upgrade and Custom. You must select the option, Custom. Then, you must delete your old Windows system partition first. After that, you can go the next step of the installation. Your clean install of Windows 8 does not depend on 32 bit version or 64 bit version. You can do it for either case.

   My installation finished without hitch.

   After first login of my Windows8, I made the Safe mode entry for being on the safe side when an incident happens.

1. Start cmd.exe as an Administrator.
   bcdedit /enum /v
2. bcdedit /copy {default windows loader guid} /d “Safe Mode”
   Close cmd.exe
3. [Win]+[r] and start msconfig
   Select Boot
   Select Safe Mode
   Select safeboot minimal
   Apply
   OK
   Reboot OS

Now, I can use “Safe Mode”. Then I installed my custom drivers.

   About Ricoh xxx Host Controllers and High Definition Audio, I installed the drivers by the NJ2100 vender. For SiS Mirage 3 Graphics driver, I installed R529_Logo.zip from SiS DOWNLOAD CENTER.

   That’s it.

   By the way, you need some software to watch a DVD Video on Windows8. Until Jun.31st, you can get a Windows Media Center product key for free. You have it and can watch the DVD video on your pc. (^^)

Edit(Dec.26):
   I forgot to write.
   When I booted from the upgrade DVD, it did not start if the laptop didn’t have the older version Windows on its hard disk. The reason was only I was clumsy, or, at the boot time the DVD might have some program to check. The DVD is for a upgrade version, so, this behavior might be natural for itself, I guess.

Edit2(Dec.28):
   After upgrading Windows8, I had an issue about the sound on my laptop. When I watch a video or listen to music, my Win8 stops responding. Today I found the page (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2727113) saying about it (now already deleted – 2013.5.16). The page says “This problem is resolved in the release versions of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.”. But on my laptop, it is NOT fixed. They provide an update, but, I cannot use it for my laptop because this is only for Windows 8 Release Preview or Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate. So, I did a workaround the page says.

         Start cmd.exe as an Administrator
         bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes

   That’s all. Now, my laptop multimedia processes do not hang anymore. Happy!!

Update information      Edit(Dec.8)    Edit2(Dec.9)    Edit3(Dec.15)    Edit4(Dec.28)

   On Dec. 5th, as Windows8 has quite a reputation, I decided to upgrade my laptop OS from WindowsXP Pro to Windows8 Pro. The laptop is an Endeavor NJ2100 and my main pc. Its WindowsXP is a Downgrade version of Windows Vista. I bought it on March, 2008. The vender says nothing about Windows8 on NJ2100 though I visited its site. So, I made my preliminary preparation carefully for upgrading.

1. I accessed the page “お得にアップグレードしましょう“, of course, the page exists for each locale you use.
2. I downloaded the file Windows8-UpgradeAssistant.exe and ran it. This gave me an information file. It said bla bla bla, I found no serious issues in it, then I made the next step forward.
3. I made a backup image file of the system drive on the pc. To stay on the safe side even if I fail to upgrade.
4. It was no need to do a clean install of Windows Vista but I thought it was good opportunity as the pc had a lot of trashes because I did not do its recovery for a long time.
   • Murmuring — According to the net surfing after my upgrade work, I found we can have a clean install of Windows8 by an upgrading DVD if the old and the new have different architectures. OOPS!

   Anyway, I did the clean install of Windows Vista.

5. I ran Windows8-UpgradeAssistant.exe again, bought the downloading file (￥3300), and installed a Windows8 Pro which needs about 16GB free space at least. I was patient for a while (^^;). Wow, it worked!
6. I logged in the Windows8. First, I updated Windows8 system files and used the tool Disk Cleanup. The tool has a new option, System files Cleanup, so you can delete the old windows files automatically and get huge free space (^^).
7. One of them I worried about is my printer which is a Canon, MP950. This vender also says they do not support the printer for Windows8. But, fortunately, Windows8 has the driver and it also worked by the driver for Windows7. Lucky!!
8. Windows8 does not have the drivers of Ricoh xxx Host Controllers (See the right image), so I used my Vista driver’s CD that I had burned drivers from the vender partition of the hard drive on the pc.
9. Now, I write this post by Windows8 on the Endeavor NJ2100 and it runs smoothly than my expectation. Happy!!

   I’ll show you my laptop specifications. Please take a look at the table below.

OS	MicroSoft Windows 8 Pro (x86)
CPU	Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T8300 @ 2.40GHz
Chipset	SiS M672 + SiS968
Memory	PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 1GBx2
Display Adapter	SiS Mirage 3 Graphics (128MBx2)
HDD	120GB S-ATA 5400rpm
BIOS	AM8-216-DG3 2008/10/27
Optical drive	MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ870QJ
Secure Boot	Non support
PAE	Support (Satisfying Windows8 requirement)
NX	Support (Satisfying Windows8 requirement)
SSE2 or later	SSE3 (Satisfying Windows8 requirement)

Edit(Dec.8):
   Today, I found I couldn’t use the stereo mixer, and at that time my High Definition Audio driver had its provider and version as the image right indicates.

   It botherd me, so, I downloaded the file Vista_Win7_Win8_R270.zip from the Realtek official site and updated my High Definition Audio driver. Now I can see my stereo mixer like this.

Edit2(Dec.9):
   After upgrading, the best resolution I’d use was 1280×800. Before that, I had used it as 1440×900. So I looked for the newer SiS Mirage 3 Graphics driver. Then, I downloaded R529_Logo.zip from SiS DOWNLOAD CENTER and updated my driver. Now I get the resolution 1440×900.

• [I accept to the above.](check) >> [Windows 7](Still now, Win 8 does not exist.) >> [IGP Graphics Drivers] >> [SiS671 & SiS672 series]

   Besides, my Windows experience index score of Graphics improved from 2.0 to 2.6. Still low, but ……

   I downed my High Definition Audio driver version from 6.0.1.6662 to 6.0.1.5506 because of having terrible noise recording after upgrading to Win8. Both of them were made by Realtek. Ver. 6.0.1.6662 is the current latest driver. Ver. 6.0.1.5506 is older and for Windows Vista driver, but it is the genuine driver of my NJ2100 vender. For a security problem the latest is best. But, for sound quality it is a complete different story. This time again, I have good result by this downing version. The noise has gone.

   After upgrading Windows8, I had an issue about the sound on my laptop. When I watch a video or listen to music, my Win8 stops responding. Today I found the page (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2727113) saying about it (now already deleted – 2013.5.16). The page says “This problem is resolved in the release versions of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.”. But on my laptop, it is NOT fixed. They provide an update, but, I cannot use it for my laptop because this is only for Windows 8 Release Preview or Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate. So, I did a workaround the page says.

         Start cmd.exe as an Administrator
         bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes

   That’s all. Now, my laptop multimedia processes do not hang anymore. Happy!!