Video Drivers for Vista

[BristolBrick]

I am trying to install GPU drivers for a spare PC I have that runs Vista. It said it needed service pack 2, then I upgraded and it says I need service pack 1.

[themctipers]

Try installing a OS thats supported.. Like Windows 7 64bit or Windows 10..

[BristolBrick]

But I need some software not available on other operating systems.

[MrDrWho13]

1 minute ago, BristolBrick said:

But I need some software not available on other operating systems.

Something that can run on vista will almost certainly run in Windows 7/8/10 in compatibility mode.

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 minutes ago, BristolBrick said:

But I need some software not available on other operating systems.

How about a VM

 

Also wtf needs vista?

[BristolBrick]

Tried, doesn't work. Besides, I can't afford it.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Drivers for Windows 7 and 8 work with Vista. Drivers for Windows 10 may or may not work, but most likely do since Microsoft as far as I know didn't change the driver architecture.

[BristolBrick]

How do I install the drivers?

[MrDrWho13]

1 minute ago, BristolBrick said:

Tried, doesn't work. Besides, I can't afford it.

Well you'll need to start saving because Microsoft end support in April next year. After that, any bugs that were previously unfound could be exploited by hackers and your computer would be compromised.

[Delicieuxz]

Are you installing Nvidia or AMD drivers? I guess either way, the issue you're having is with the display driver installer, which won't run?

 

Try extracting the display driver package somewhere, and then manually installing the driver:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/graphics-drivers/000005831.html

 

That's a basic guide on how to manually install a driver. Just do that for your GPU, and select the folder that contains the extracted files from the display driver package.

[BristolBrick]

Nvidia drivers, using a spare GPU. (8800 GTS 640MB)

[sazrocks]

40 minutes ago, BristolBrick said:

Vista

 

 

But in all seriousness, you really should upgrade, for both performance and security. What software is it that needs vista?

[BristolBrick]

Just now, sazrocks said:

 

 

But in all seriousness, you really should upgrade, for both performance and security. What software is it that needs vista?

I'm just using it as a non internet connected PC. Not for gaming, I use a much more powerful Windows 7 PC for that. I don't need it to have very good performance, it has an i5 2300 and 4GB RAM. And the software, I found Vista (Ultimate Edition at least, and I'm comparing against Win 7 Ultimate) can have non-opaque selection tools in paint. (A feature I have wanted badly in Win 7 Paint) and I can make it look like Win 2000. The paint thing is especially relevant because I'm too cheap to get a non-free editing tool. And it has an older version on Movie Maker. (Current version crashes all the time)

[Delicieuxz]

I think you should be able to get a newer display driver installed via the method I mentioned earlier:

 

Try extracting the display driver package somewhere, and then manually installing the driver:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/graphics-drivers/000005831.html

 

That's a basic guide on how to manually install a driver. Just do that for your GPU, and select the folder that contains the extracted files from the display driver package.

 

If that doesn't work, then look for an old display driver version that will work with Vista.

[LogicalDrm]

3 hours ago, BristolBrick said:

Nvidia drivers, using a spare GPU. (8800 GTS 640MB)

Try looking for older drivers. From like 2011 or something.

[BristolBrick]

OK.

[Dredgy]

7 hours ago, BristolBrick said:

 And the software, I found Vista (Ultimate Edition at least, and I'm comparing against Win 7 Ultimate) can have non-opaque selection tools in paint. 

This is definitely in Windows 7 as well.

 

[BristolBrick]

3 minutes ago, Dredgy said:

This is definitely in Windows 7 as well.

 

Oh, never noticed. Anyway, I got an older version and it still didn't work.

[Delicieuxz]

Oh yeah: That message that you receive "It said it needed service pack 2, then I upgraded and it says I need service pack 1", is probably due to Windows' driver signature enforcement, and you should be able to install the driver if you disable driver signature enforcement.
 

This is regarding AMD drivers, but process should be the same with Nvidia drivers:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2335392/manually-installing-latest-amd-catalyst-drivers-windows-vista.html

 

Quote

You will notice there are several INF files. INF files
specify what device and OS a driver is compatible with and how Windows should install the driver.

Windows Vista uses a similar WDM (Windows Driver Model) as 7
and thus as far as I know all Windows Vista drivers work on 7 and many Windows 7 drivers
work on Vista. Luckily AMD display drivers are one of those that work.

The Windows NT version strings are as follows:
NT 5.0 = Windows 2000
NT 5.1 = Windows XP
NT 6.0 = Windows Vista
NT 6.1 = Windows 7
NT 6.2 = Windows 8 
NT 6.3 = Windows 8.1
NT 6.4 = Windows 10 (?) 

 

After disabling driver signature enforcement, you could still run into trouble with running the installer... but maybe not. But if you do, and can extract the installer, maybe by right clicking on it and selecting an option from the Windows context menu that appears, then you should still be able to install the driver manually, as I've already mentioned.

[BristolBrick]

Apart from this, though, I like Vista.