So Have you wondered what that “Windows Vista Capable” means? Well according to Microsoft this is what it is!. So I installed the Vista RC1 (I’m still looking for the RC2 but could not get it -any clue?) The install was pretty straight, it was getting all the drivers which was way trickier than I thought.
So you see that R2H easily qualifies what Microsoft demands. Well does it do everything that is expected of it? That’s exactly what we wanted to find out. It takes about an hour to complete the full installation. Believe it or not “Vista is way better than the Windows XP Tablet Version on this device”.
Installation:
I’m sure there is going to be a lot of you who will be doing this in the near future on your R2H. So here are some tips to get you started, More detailed step by step instructions coming soon.
- Make sure you have a USB DVD Rom or a USB External hard disk or even better just copy the installer on to the R2H using the USB Sync Cable (No.6 in the picture) that shipped with the device. (Note: The Asus R2H comes with 60GB in the US pre-partitioned in FAT 32, you may want to first Quick format the Data drive to NTFS before you start)
- Start the installation, Choose the partition (has to be NTFS and it’s a good idea not to choose upgrade; you know its Vista and its not the final release), Enter the serial number and I guess that’s it and Windows Vista Installer will take care of the rest (Tip: Vista installation screen are not designed for 800 X 480 resolution, so you might have to switch to the 1024 X 600 mode to click through the hidden buttons) Take a break, have a coffee.
- Once the installation is complete, thats when you realize that there are tones of drivers that needs to be installed and Microsoft was not able to find the drivers. You could use the drivers backup CD provided by Asus to get most of the stuff but not the Wireless LAN (which I guess should be the first thing that you might want)
In short the installation was as easy as few clicks. As I said earlier the most tricky thing was to get all the drivers installed.
I had short moments of joy with R2H - today I get it. Very nice set but big unpleasantly surprise - R2H havn’t camera. It is R2H-BH047T. I return R2H and I’ll wait.
@ Roman: Hope you’ll get the one that you want soon
Speaking of Vista, did you get the Vista upgrade coupon with the R2H?
@bigdoofus: Nope I realized it like a few days later. The Vista Express Upgrade is valid between October 26, 2006 and March 15, 2007. I guess if you are buying during this time you should get the upgrade. I bought it on 25th
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/expressupgrade.mspx
was just wondering how vista performed on the r2h? seems to be a power/memory hog?
also wondered if the r2h will take a gig chip or not? not much info out there on it. just talk.
thx….
I have Vista running on the R2H. Did you get wireless working? I see from the screenshots you are connected to the internet. Also, how did you get bluetooth to turn on? I installed the drivers and the bluetooth manager, but it does not respond to my requests to turn it on. Last question is the ASUS config utility (the bottom right button). Volume and brightness work, but not the screen resolution change.
Thanks
Speaking of wireless.. Have you noticed any problem getting and keeping a wireless connection with your R2H? I’m sitting next to a laptop that gets an excellent 54Mbps connection, but my R2H gets low connectivity and drops constantly.. I’m wondering if it’s due to the lack of antenna on the R2H. Any one else run into this?
I have the same problems with the wireless connection of the R2H, low connection and drops.
Anyone have a solution?
Question at Joe,
How dit you get the wireless installed in vista, Two weeks ago i tried vista, but coul’d not get de wireless installed.
So can you give my instrusctions, or can you tell my where i can find the drivers that will work in vista?
Thanks in advance
Patrick
I have a question for Joe,
How dit you get the wireless to work in vista. About two weeks ago i tried vista RC2 on my R2H but indeed the drivers on the cd do not work.
My R2H doesn’t have the bluetooth, webcam and has “only” a 40 GB harddrive,
but i love the R2H. And even more if i get vista to work completely with wireless lan.
So can you give my instructions or a location to the working vista drivers?
Thanks in advance
Patrick
@ Eric, Patrick and those who have the same issue: Sorry about the delay but please read this http://onlyumpc.com/news/asus-r2h-getting-the-wireless-working-on-vista
Can someone please clarify the step where he says to “quick format the drive to NTFS”?
Is this an option that is presented once Vista begins to install?
Or is this something that I am supposed to know how to do before I even insert the Vista disk I burned?
If its the latter - can someone please just give me a quick step-by-step on how to format the drive to NTFS? Would I format one of the partitions? the whole drive?
@Evan
No by default Asus ships the R2H in FAT 32. If you planning to install Vista say on the D driver and you don’t have data in it (do back it up if you have) Just right click on the drive and say “Format” (which will erase all the data and reformat it) make sure you choose “NTFS” as the file system.
I don’t remember offhand, as the R2h is at home and I’m at work… but doesn’t it have the hard drive in 2 partitions? Do I leave both partitions and just do what you explained to one of them? If so, how do I know which one? Also, does it matter if I check the “quick format” box or not?
I have no data or anything that I need to save on the R2H, its basically right out of the box… but I’d like to get vista on it.