Working great on Vista, all formats, plus menus!

[Shield]

I recently loaded Vista and still could not get everything working perfectly. My quick specs are:
AMD4400+
2 GB ram
HD Homerun (HD)
Nvidia DualTVMCE (Dual analog)
Asus 8600GT
Onboard realtek audio / DFI Lanparty Venus mobo
Vista Ultimate

One might think that should be sufficient to playback all file formats hardware-wise. Well, I have a mixture of file types on my pc, from h.264, matroska, HDV video (1440x1080 in mpeg-2 format). I would get some things working but not everything. Well, I will put in detail or try to later tomorrow all the headaches I went through trying to get everything working.

Let's just say for now that installing Intervideo's WinDVD Ultimate Version 8 solved everything.
I now have DVD MENUS ON VISTA! I now can play my HDV Video and it's very smooth! All my DVD's play properly with my receiver doing the decoding (the Dolby Digital and DTS lights "light up" on the reciever!) My downloaded 1080p test files now play about as good as ever.

I'm doing a complete backup of my system - it took about 2 months of fooling around with various configurations (back and forth between XP and Vista) and now I'm totally satisfied with Sage.

Thanks to all who have helped me, and feel free to ask me any questions.

Go download the trial version of WinDVD Platinum 8 if you want smooth HD in Vista. Forget the Microsoft mpeg2 decoders, and forget using the Nvidia decoders! I set everything to use Intervideo and AC3Filter.

[sleeeves]

I've been thinking of taking the Vista plunge, and thanks to your enthusiasm, I'll give it a shot! I have a copy of WinDVD Platinum 8, so I'm all set there. My specs are similar to yours (HDHomeRun, 8600gt), so that's also encouraging. Wish me luck!

[kevine]

Originally Posted by Shield

I recently loaded Vista and still could not get everything working perfectly. My quick specs are:
AMD4400+
2 GB ram
HD Homerun (HD)
Nvidia DualTVMCE (Dual analog)
Asus 8600GT
Onboard realtek audio / DFI Lanparty Venus mobo
Vista Ultimate

Curious questions because considering a similar system.
Are you overclocking the 4400?
PQ on the DualTV very clear?
Are you using extenders with Ultimate?

Thanks and good luck with it. Sounds like you have a great system.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by Shield

I recently loaded Vista and still could not get everything working perfectly. My quick specs are:
AMD4400+
2 GB ram
HD Homerun (HD)
Nvidia DualTVMCE (Dual analog)
Asus 8600GT
Onboard realtek audio / DFI Lanparty Venus mobo
Vista Ultimate

One might think that should be sufficient to playback all file formats hardware-wise. Well, I have a mixture of file types on my pc, from h.264, matroska, HDV video (1440x1080 in mpeg-2 format). I would get some things working but not everything. Well, I will put in detail or try to later tomorrow all the headaches I went through trying to get everything working.

Let's just say for now that installing Intervideo's WinDVD Ultimate Version 8 solved everything.
I now have DVD MENUS ON VISTA! I now can play my HDV Video and it's very smooth! All my DVD's play properly with my receiver doing the decoding (the Dolby Digital and DTS lights "light up" on the reciever!) My downloaded 1080p test files now play about as good as ever.

I'm doing a complete backup of my system - it took about 2 months of fooling around with various configurations (back and forth between XP and Vista) and now I'm totally satisfied with Sage.

Thanks to all who have helped me, and feel free to ask me any questions.

Go download the trial version of WinDVD Platinum 8 if you want smooth HD in Vista. Forget the Microsoft mpeg2 decoders, and forget using the Nvidia decoders! I set everything to use Intervideo and AC3Filter.

Interesting. I've not heard reports of of the windvd codec working with sage. Can you post a detailed config in this thread: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26297 as an aid to other users?

Thx
Mike

[info]

Don't bother putting it on Vista unless you have ALOT Of TIME to WASTE. I tried it and spent a couple of weeks and switched back to XP. It's not worth your time trust me:-)