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"We will not leave you floating"
- DISE Support Team |
Knowledge Base
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"We will not leave you floating"
- DISE Support Team |
Knowledge Base
This guide is meant to help people setting up a PC with Windows® Vista that should be used to run as a Player using our Display Evolution (DISE) software. You can also follow this guide if you would like to setup a stable PC at home or at your company.
This guide is written using Windows Vista Ultimate as template but you may work without any problems on any other editions as well.
There are two types of installations possible. An Upgrade replaces the Windows version already on your computer with Windows Vista, and keeps settings and files from the previous version intact. The Custom type will not preserve your settings and files - a clean installation of Windows Vista.
Note: In performing the tasks of this guide, log in as an administrator. After the initial setup is completed, it is important to run as a restricted user.
Note: Do not upgrade or install any drivers from the Windows Update site without making sure that they are the latest drivers and that they are 100% compatible with your hardware (for example, integrated or laptop hardware may be recognized by Windows Update but may not be compatible or will break when using the drivers available on Windows Update.
We recommend installing the latest stable hardware drivers, download them from the manufacturer’s web-page. You could install drivers from a provided driver CD that came with the network card/motherboard but if there are new versions of the drivers on the Internet it is possible that there as been important bug fixes and upgrades. If hardware in the PC was not recognized by Windows you have to download and install the drivers for that hardware.
Note: Always restart your computer when prompted to do so.
In most cases graphic cards will run best with the latest drivers from the graphic card chip set manufacturer web page. Make sure you download the correct drivers for your platform. To find out if you are running on a 32- or 64-bit platform, type system in the start menu search box and go to the Control Panel system information, then find the information under System type.
Read more: ATI drivers
Read more: NVIDIA drivers
Read more: Matrox drivers
Read more: Intel drivers
Windows Vista has a powerful search function, allowing you to simply type the name of a task you need to perform. For the rest of this document it will be assumed this search function is used and the search term or command to reach the task will be stated.
search terms: user accounts
Select Turn User Account Control on or off and uncheck the Use User Account Control to help protect your computer. You can (and indeed should) turn it on after the initial setup is completed.
search terms: SystemPropertiesComputerName
Click the Change button to name the computer and attach it to a workgroup or domain.
search terms: Security center
On the left, select Change the way Security Center alerts me, and select It is recommended that you keep the Windows Firewall on, and add the exceptions that are needed to allow the softwares running on the PC access to the Internet.
Read more: Network and file access
search terms: SystemPropertiesHardware
Click the Windows Update Driver Settings and select No, let me choose what to do.
There has been reports on the above method not working on some versions of Windows Vista. An alternative way to do it:
search terms: gpedit.msc
Select Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation > Device Installation Restrictions. Doubleclick on Prevent Installation of Devices not described by other policy settings and set it on Enabled.
search term: SystemPropertiesAdvanced
In the Visual effects tab, uncheck all settings except for Smooth edges of screen fonts and Use visual styles
In the Advanced tab, click the Change button to setup virtual memory settings. By default windows will change the size of the page file to fit the current need, this will fragment the page file and make windows work slower. It is then better to setup a fixed page file from the beginning. Select "Custom size" and set both Initial size and Maximum size to the same value (as this will stop windows resizing the pagefile). Use at least the value listed as the Recommended size listed at the bottom. If the hard disk space is available then you could set it to an higher value.
You may change the times before boot to make the least impact if the computer should need rebooting.
search terms: SystemPropertiesRemote
Disable the remote access functions.
Read more: Remote access and administration
search terms: wuapp
If the PC is located on a network that is protected by a firewall, and the network is not open to other computers (laptops that are used at home, etc) then we recommend that you turn off automatic updates. On the other hand, if the PC could be put at risk then it is recommended to turn on automatic updates. The main reason for being a bit restrictive on this setting is that if you have automatic updates your windows installation will change, and that could introduce new features that could change how the PC operates. To turn automatic updates off, click Change settings to the left and select Never check for updates (not recommended) from the list.
search terms: SystemPropertiesProtection
In the list of drives, uncheck the box in front of a drive to disable automatic restore points for that drive. Select Turn System Restore Off when asked.
search terms: regional
To make it easier to work with the PC, make sure that you only have the input languages you want to use installed.
search terms: programs features
Uninstall any unnecessary third-party software.
search terms: optionalfeatures
Disable the following components:
search terms: system configuration
Under the Boot tab, check No GUI boot. This will remove the boot graphics during the startup.
Under the Services tab, disable any unnecessary services.
Note: Check Hide all Microsoft services to show only third-party services.
Microsoft services that may be disabled (with some caution, of course)
Under the Startup tab, remove any unnecessary startup programs. Common applications that should be removed here:
Make sure that all programs that should be started at bootup are in your Startup folder in the start menu.
search terms: power options
Select the High performance power plan.
Click Change plan settings, change all settings to Never where applicable, then click Change advanced power settings and set the Require a password on wakeup setting to No. Also, change the actions for the power button to Shut down and the Sleep button to Do nothing.
search terms: personalization
Select Change desktop icons on the left and remove all desktop icons.
Select Desktop Background and set the background image to None and select a nice color. Or set the background image to a company logo.
Select Screen Saver and (None) as screen saver.
Select Display Settings and setup the display resolutions on the different screens as close to the monitor specifications as you can.
Matrox and NVIDIA both have tools to help you with this task. And for ATI you can use the tool PowerStrip to configure custom resolutions.
Read more: PowerStrip
Make sure Cleartype is enabled by selecting Window Color and Appearance > Open classic appearance properties for more color options > Effects.
Select Sounds and the No Sounds Sound scheme to remove all start-up, shut-down and navigation sounds. Also untick the Play Windows Startup sound checkbox.
In the Sound window, select the Playback tab and make sure that the audio device you want to use is the default one.
search terms: sndvol
In the Mixer, set an appropriate default volume.
search terms: windows explorer
Select to view files with Details in an Explorer window.
Hit the Alt button and select Tools > Folder Options.
In the View tab, check:
Uncheck:
Click the Apply to Folders button to apply this setting to all your folders, this will also set the view mode that you selected earlier in the Explorer.
search terms: internet options'
Select Use Blank as home page.
search terms: netplwiz
Uncheck the option Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer and click Ok. You will be prompted to enter the current password and confirm it. After doing so, you will no longer be prompted to enter your password when logging in.
search terms: cleanup
Select the disk you want to clean and then select what you want to remove.
Even if this is just a single player setup it is recommended to create a ghost image to be able to restore the installation (without having to do all this work) if disaster strikes and you have a hard drive failure or an issue with the windows installation.
Applications that we recommend:
Read more: PING
Read more: Norton Ghost
Now everything should be up setup and running, and the computer should be more responsive and stable than the default install, which is what we want for a player machine. If you have any suggestions or tips that will make this guide more complete, please Contact support.
