Solution to a lot of vista driver problems...

[tomb18]

Here is a solution for alot of problems.
Most of the problems with settings not sticking or changes to 3d setting not doing anything are related to permissions on specific .xml and other files that are read only.
The profiles (3d settings) are read only in the default vista installation. So if you make changes to them they are NOT saved. Therefore, you add antialiasing and lo and behold nothing happens.

To fix this, log in as admin and do a search starting from the windows directory for all *.xml files. There are two, nvapps.xml and nvwsapps.xml in the windows\system32 directory.

Right click on each of these in turn and select the permissions tab. Then give yourself full control. (Admin accounts make no difference)
All profiles file now be savable and all changes will remain so that the games will pick them up.

Finally figured out that one.

I suspect that the same issues are occuring in ntune, specifically for the ability to let overclocks stick, as well as fan settings. If someone can figure that part out please post it here.

Thanks

[grey_1]

Thanks for posting this. I'll fire up a game soon and check it out. The more tips the better. :D

[Princess_Frosty]

Thanks for the info, I will check this one out.

[$n][pErMan]

Interesting... im so giving this a try! :D

[tomb18]

Actually, let's close this thread. Check out the other one call Small Vista Problem FAQ....

[ginfest]

Just an FYI, I just checked those 2 files in my install and they were not marked "read only"
I do have NHancer installed and use it so maybe that changes the settings of those files?
I also checked the files in both 100.65 and 101.70 unpacked (pre-install) and neither of those were marked "read only"
Now in Vista as with all my Windows installs I always go and change the hiddens system files options and show all extension in folder options, stuff like that that Windows tries to "hide" for our own good lol so maybe that's why mine is different?
Anyway, hope this helps some folks, just wanted to note what I am seeing here.

[tomb18]

Just an FYI, I just checked those 2 files in my install and they were not marked "read only"
I do have NHancer installed and use it so maybe that changes the settings of those files?
I also checked the files in both 100.65 and 101.70 unpacked (pre-install) and neither of those were marked "read only"
Now in Vista as with all my Windows installs I always go and change the hiddens system files options and show all extension in folder options, stuff like that that Windows tries to "hide" for our own good lol so maybe that's why mine is different?
Anyway, hope this helps some folks, just wanted to note what I am seeing here.

It's not that the files are marked as read only. The operating system itself prevents writing to system32 directory as part of the Vista security model.
Obviously nvidia doesn't yet know how to deal with security since any programmer knows that you cannot write in these directories without admin and UAC approval.

[Grestorn]

It's not that the files are marked as read only. The operating system itself prevents writing to system32 directory as part of the Vista security model.
Obviously nvidia doesn't yet know how to deal with security since any programmer knows that you cannot write in these directories without admin and UAC approval.

And that's exactly why nHancer is now using a service, because this way, you can write into those files.

Currently, nHancer is the only way to modify game profiles without disabling UAC.

[tomb18]

And that's exactly why nHancer is now using a service, because this way, you can write into those files.

Currently, nHancer is the only way to modify game profiles without disabling UAC.
You can also do so by just setting the permissions.
What I don't understand is why doesn't nvidia know these things??????????

[Grestorn]

You can also do so by just setting the permissions.
What I don't understand is why doesn't nvidia know these things??????????

You can change the permissions on the file but I think that's a bad idea. Files in c:\windows shouldn't be writable by any non-priviledged process.

I'm also pretty sure that most people at nVidia know this. But obviously the guy(s) working on the control panel is/are really a bit behind the schedule.

It seems, nVidia cut their budget for the driver badly. But I wonder how much work it could be... I'm pretty sure I could create a decent control panel in a couple of weeks without any serious bugs. Even without .NET.

But unfortunately, nobody is asking me :)

[tomb18]

You can change the permissions on the file but I think that's a bad idea. Files in c:\windows shouldn't be writable by any non-priviledged process.

I'm also pretty sure that most people at nVidia know this. But obviously the guy(s) working on the control panel is/are really a bit behind the schedule.

It seems, nVidia cut their budget for the driver badly. But I wonder how much work it could be... I'm pretty sure I could create a decent control panel in a couple of weeks without any serious bugs. Even without .NET.

But unfortunately, nobody is asking me :)

lol...I always thought that one of you guys that made nhancer or rivatuner etc should work for nvidia...

You're right...There is no reason that a decent programmer can't make a decent control panel in a short period of time.
My guess is that that there is so much legacy code, that nvidia doesn't have a clue what's there anymore.
They should rewrite their drivers for the 8800+ from stratch.
No kidding, it's bad to write to c:\windows\system32 but if that's the only way for now, and it's only one file, we have to do what we can.
I used to like vista, now with 2 8800GTX's in sli I hate it.

Hey, what about putting overclocking and fan control in your software?

[Grestorn]

Hey, what about putting overclocking and fan control in your software?

Well, figuring out how to OC a card (without any documentation) is not exactly trivial, especially since nVidia keeps changing things with each driver.

I would love to add OC and fan control though. But I don't have the time to reverse-engineer all that stuff currently...

[tomb18]

Well, figuring out how to OC a card (without any documentation) is not exactly trivial, especially since nVidia keeps changing things with each driver.

I would love to add OC and fan control though. But I don't have the time to reverse-engineer all that stuff currently...

What about a joint venture with the rivatuner guys???