I didn't mind Vista x64 up until i got the nvlddmkm.sys error.. now I hate Vista with a passion. I've tried 1 stick of ram, 2, single channel, dual channel, memtest, voltages, timings, i've tried OC'ing the cpu, UC'ing the cpu, Prime95, I've tried 1 card, 2 cards, SLI on, SLI off, OC/UC the GPU core/memory/shader, ATItool artifact tester, i've tried the motherboard voltages, i've tried 6 different drivers with driver cleaner tool inbetween through safemode..
....
....
My components are fine, my PSU is fine, Everything is fine. Did tests for them all, but nooo.. nvlddmkm error.. plagues my system.. XP is the only fix but unfortunately I didn't buy XP and I don't feel like pirating the thing, nor do i want to buy it because I want my full 4Gb..

Rawr.

Did you try just going into command line in setup and scanning your pc?

That error is a nvidia driver issue... well it isnt, but its more common on an nvidia platform.
The fix is a reinstall of Vista AFAIK

Tried it I get the error in Windows 7 too. Vista is too sensitive to frequencies and if 1 thing chokes even a little bit the system will reset.

Report it to NVIDIA. It has nothing to do with Windows Vista, it's a faulty driver issue. As for people downgrading to WinXP ... either don't buy a new machine or buy one with no operating systems installed and just install a copy of Windows XP with your legit keys and you're good to go. People need to think outside the box. Downgrading is not a right, it's a privilege. I for one, have no problems with Vista and Server 2008.

That is an Nvidia driver problem. A fix I read is underlocking the GPU memory by 20Mhz.

Can't really blame Microsoft for Nvidia and their crap drivers.

frivolous crap. if you wanted xp you would have bought xp.

First off - THe XP downgrade rights are very misunderstood by the consumer.

In order to understand downgrade rights, you first have to understand what the COA (Certificate of Authenticity) on the bottom or back of the machine grants you. Any machine that runs windows, and purchased via a large manufacturer like Lenovo, Dell, HP, etc requires a COA. The COA is considered the base hardware license for windows that follows that machine till it is sent to the pc graveyard.

Under typical licensing in the corporate environment, a COA has to be present even if your company has a volume license holder/Enterprise Agreement/software assurance with Microsoft. The ability for a company, school, etc to install windows with their own native install from scratch is considered an "upgrade" by Microsoft. Now, point to make - the volume licensing is cheaper per seat than a retail copy of the same OS... That's why when you buy retail XP/Vista or if you buy one of the system builder or "OEM" copies off of new egg, it has a different cost structure.

So, along comes Vista, and under standard MS licensing terms, a Volume install of XP would typically not be legit even with the Vista COA. MS amended the rules for that and made an exception for downgrading to xp and still being compliant with MS licensing terms.

This downgrade offereing was primarily and still is targeted at businesses that still want to run XP. Unfortunately, the consume felt they also fell into the same boat.

The mistake made by consumers is in assuming the the downgrade rights grant them a free copy of the XP install for that PC. It does not. A consumer who has a full retail copy of XP or system builder copy doesn't even fall into the downgrade rights category anyway as those are considered fully licensed stand alone installs based on their price structure.

So, if a consumer wants XP instead of vista, they can call the vendor they bought the system from, and that vendor will charge them for the XP recovery media, and shipping.

MS and the vendors are doing absolutely nothing wrong here. The only thing wrong is how little people understand about that dang COA.

isn't that more of an nvidia problem?

I don't mind vista really. It sucked big time when it was new, but it's not so bad now. I do occassionally have to boot 2-4 times before the ati driver stops crashing, but that is just ati fucking up like always, not really a microsoft problem. Once the system runs it'll keep running.

Downgrade premium / fee is actually called an idiot tax on MS's book.

The http://www.nvlddmkm.com/ is NOT an nVidia problem. Don't guess and blame. If you have not had this problem don't even bother commenting.

The problem is with Vista and it does NOT just happen with nVidia cards. This problem has been around since Vista first came out and has still not been addressed. It is a ridiculous problem to still be around. It has to do with how Vista communicates with hardware. Vista wants video cards to respond back to it within 2 seconds if I remember correctly. If video cards do not respond back, even if there is NO problem what so ever, then Vista automatically tries to restart the driver. This in turn causes a user's system to become crap if they do anything 3D related (I believe video viewing is also effected but I can not remember for sure). Any time a user initiates one of these programs/games the program/game crashes or hangs because of the driver restart. It is one of Vista's glamorous features that is supposed to benefit users by the way it handles hardware in an improved manner over XP.

Let me just add - I know this does not happen in every Vista system. It seems to rear its ugly head more often after a driver change or upgrade for some reason. Oddly enough, it also seems to be more prevalent in Vista 32-bit systems. I wouldn't be past saying though it could be a combination problem of hardware, drivers, and Vista. Like maybe some video cards just don't communicate back enough as it was not a necessary hardware specification prior to Vista which could answer why the problem shows up eratically for some of us lucky users. If this is true though technically it would still be Microsoft's fault and another example of them setting their own standards (that did not fit previous hardware) for something and expecting everyone else to just live with them because they did not care to see if a new "feature" was completely compatible.

My only issue with Vista32 Ultimate is that it resets my resolution every once in a while. I have it hooked up to my LCD TV and sometimes after I move away from the input which is HDMI or it hibernates, and comes back it changes the resolution to 1280x768. I guess it's just trying to tell me to buy a TV tuner card so that I don't have to keep going back and forth between tv and HDMI, but then I also have my ps3 and ps2 that I use also. Anyone know of any HDMI input cards? That would fix a lot of things except for Hibernating, which I can just turn off.

of course they are not profiting directly...they are charging the manufacturer...who is also marking it up....in all technicality they are not charging for it.....

even though everyone know this is BULLSHIT!

leave it to Micro$oft to be able to profit without getting caught

you didn't try another motherboard!!!!!!!!!

you didn't try another motherboard!!!!!!!!!
you didn't try looking for an updated bios!!!!!

or did you?

looks like the sheep are still blaming vista for there hardware problems. MS tries to improve its OS on every version if they didn't we would still be using windows 3.1. stop blaming MS for your hardware problems its the hardware vendors that are just too lazy to update its drivers for vista

as for the downgrade issue the average computer user wouldn't care what OS is on there new PC or would care but is too uninformed to do anything about it. and because of this minority they have to charge a special fee to downgrade

A new motherboard and updated bios does NOT fix the nvlddmkm.sys error. Been there, done that.

And the sheep are not blaming Vista it IS Vista. The sheep are the ones with their noses up Vista's rear end. You blaming people's hardware is like blaming webmaster's web sites for not being up to Internet Explorer's own unique Microsoft specifications when it is Microsoft themself who ignores industry standards on a regular basis because they are Microsoft and do not care. They just create their own standards when the whim strikes them. And that is a fact not speculation.

And the sheep are not blaming Vista it IS Vista. The sheep are the ones with their noses up Vista's rear end.
Ha hahahahaaa And if the sheep sits where it I mean if the shoe fits where it
Thats why I skipped buying Vista because of the way it manipulates the drivers and hardware But I gues thats what happens when you start to fully automate your computer drivers with Vista
Most computer building stores just use windows drivers and dont bother with the drivers that come with the hardware that they are installing
anyway I hope windows 7 is better

Pizza!