Windows Vista Beta 2 now available for download


On May 23rd I predicted that Microsoft would start the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program (CPP) within a few weeks, and I have been proven right. Microsoft today announced public availability of Vista Beta 2, the same build (5384) as was made available to developers at WinHEC. If you don't mind waiting for the 3.5Gb 32-bit download (4.4Gb for the 64-bit version) you might even be able to have a play yourself. Of course, this depends on a number of factors; not least whether your computer is highly specified enough to run it, and the (non) availability of suitable drivers for lots of hardware. See my earlier blog posting with regard to the real minimum system specifications for a Vista Capable PC.



More problematical would appear to be the lack of bandwidth at the Microsoft end. The official [download link](/posts/bad_link/971325?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.windowsvista.com%2Fpreview%2Fbeta2%2Fen%2Fx86%2Fdownload.htm) has been mostly unavailable ever since it was first announced. This is to be expected, although not by Microsoft which seems to have been caught out by the sheer demand for the new OS Beta. But fear not, intrepid techies, if you really want to get your hands on Vista and really can't wait then you can either Go Google for a BitTorrent version (and there are plenty out there) or maybe just go and grab it from the top secret [direct download](/posts/bad_link/971325?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.windowsvista.com%2Fdl%2Fpreview%2Fbeta2%2Fen%2Fx86%2Fiso%2Fvista_5384.4.060518-1455_winmain_beta2_x86fre_client-LB2CFRE_EN_DVD.iso) link instead. Be warned, it took me more than 4 hours to download the 32-bit ISO over a fast DSL line, so don’t expect instant gratification here!



Indeed, gratification isn't guaranteed at all: this is still a Beta remember. Personally, I'd advise against anything but an install on a secondary partition. While you can install as an upgrade to XP, you can't uninstall. To get your old OS back you would have to do a clean XP installation.



**UPDATE: 9th June, lunchtime**



It looks like Microsoft has got wise to the bloggers hitting the direct link to the ISO download of Vista Beta 2, and pulled it. Try using the URL mentioned above and it now returns an 'Access denied' message pointing you at the the [preview](/posts/bad_link/971325?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.windowsvista.com%2Fgetready%2Fpreview) page instead.



Unfortunately, if you go to the official [download](/posts/bad_link/971325?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.windowsvista.com%2Fpreview%2Fbeta2%2Fen%2Fx86%2Fdownload.htm)  link and try to get the OS using your own download manager, you get exactly the same message.



At least there's a different message if you try to grab it using the official Microsoft/Akamei download manager as recommended on that page:



Thank you for your interest in Windows Vista Beta 2.  

We are currently experiencing a high level of demand and cannot process your request at this time.  

Please check back later for availability.  

We apologize for any inconvenience.



Nice to know that Microsoft is making it as easy as possible for you to preview the new OS. Go on, grab hold of a torrent: you know it makes sense...
Don't kno if you'll see this Davey, but have ya been currently testing it? If so, whaddya think?
It seems that updating Windows 7 has become a task that tests our patience and is accompanied by many unforeseen events.
**If you have installed Windows 7 and you are not able to update it because Windows Update is constantly looking for updates, here you will find the solution.**




![image](https://technowikis.com/sites/technowikis.com/uploads/084/8408675506832124429.jpg)




The problem of the search for updates is accompanied by a high consumption of RAM and CPU that does not allow even a good use of the PC while looking for updates. The problem is with Windows Update and how Microsoft has implemented the updates.




Windows 7 does not update, it keeps looking for updates forever and finds nothing.




**The first thing you need to know is if you are installing Windows 7 32bit or 64bit.**
Once we have this information, we can begin the process.



 
Disable Windows Update to make the update process faster.



First
[we open a terminal with administrator permissions](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&depth=2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=es&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://www.vozidea.com/abrir-consola-comandos-terminal-windows&xid=17259,15700023,15700186,15700190,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265&usg=ALkJrhhqpP0r1As5JhHykWgqvcIjB7PXng)
to
**stop the Windows Update service**
with the command:
  

`net stop wuauserv`




![image](https://technowikis.com/sites/technowikis.com/uploads/133/13323206954024179447.jpg)



 
Manually install update KB3020369.



**Installing this update is an essential requirement to solve this problem.**
It is the first step and if we do not install this update first, we will not be able to follow all the steps in this tutorial.




We know that the error is generated by a Windows Update client error, which hangs when scanning new updates. Microsoft released a patch that solves the problem, but in order to install it, it requires that we download and install the KB3020369
*"April 2015 servicing stack update" update first*
:



* KB3020369 for Windows 7
**32bit**
:
<https://www.microsoft.com/es-ES/download/details.aspx?id=46827>
* KB3020369 for Windows 7
**64bit**
:
<https://www.microsoft.com/es-ES/download/details.aspx?id=46817>



Two options to finish solving the Windows Update error in Windows 7.




At this point we have two options:



* **Download and manually install updates KB3172605 and KB3138612.**
Once installed, Windows Update should work correctly and we could update Windows 7 without problems.
* **Download and install the KB3125574 package released by Microsoft with all security updates until April 2016 and that allows you to update a Windows 7 installation faster.**
This package occupies more than 316MB in 32bit systems and 476.9MB in 64bit systems.



Both options work correctly, but it is true that
**downloading and installing the cumulative update KB3125574 is a more convenient and faster process, so it is the option I recommend for most users**
. Even so, I will explain both options.



 
Recommended option, download and install the KB3125574 package released by Microsoft with all security updates until April 2016.



![image](https://technowikis.com/sites/technowikis.com/uploads/171/17135527325084971355.jpg)




This update package can be found through the
[Microsoft Update Catalog](https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&depth=2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=es&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx%3Fq%3D3125574&xid=17259,15700023,15700186,15700190,15700256,15700259,15700262,15700265&usg=ALkJrhgYZAtq0r4K4ryYk_7h4_sjeQs_-A)
or you can download it directly from the following links:



* Update package for Windows 7
**32bit**
:
[windows6.1-kb3125574-v4-x86\_ba1ff5537312561795cc04db0b02fbb0a74b2cbd.msu](http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/updt/2016/05/windows6.1-kb3125574-v4-x86_ba1ff5537312561795cc04db0b02fbb0a74b2cbd.msu)
* Update package for Windows 7
**64bit**
:
[windows6.1-kb3125574-v4-x64\_2dafb1d203c8964239af3048b5dd4b1264cd93b9.msu](http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/updt/2016/05/windows6.1-kb3125574-v4-x64_2dafb1d203c8964239af3048b5dd4b1264cd93b9.msu)



Once the system is installed and restarted, we can now run Windows Update normally that will detect the remaining updates without problems.



 
Alternative option, manually download and install updates KB3172605 and KB3138612.



Next
**we download and install the KB3172605 patch**
:



* Download for Windows 7
**32bit**
:
<https://www.microsoft.com/es-ES/download/details.aspx?id=53335>
* Download for Windows 7
**64bit**
:
<https://www.microsoft.com/es-ES/download/details.aspx?id=53332>



Finally,
**we download and install the update for the Windows Update client of March 2016 (KB3138612)**
:



* For Windows 7
**32bit**
:
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=51208>
* For Windows 7
**64bit**
:
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=51212>



**Now we restart Windows 7 and rerun Windows Update to search for all available updates.**
In my case it has been a little more than 20 minutes looking for updates until it finally allowed me to install all the updates. all the info you need can be found in http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/291089-6-2-beta-release-candidate-ii-build-now-available-6-2-00797

 we strongly caution you against using the beta in production. if you hit a serious bug you may have to start from scratch! sometimes one or both of these patches help, especially if the system is showing high ram and/or cpu usage when checking updates:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3050265




https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810﻿﻿
﻿ hello [@lig](/u/lig) and welcome to the community. please read the stuff in [#start-here](/c/start-here/96) category when you have the time.

well. i think you are fine with the fact that fedora 33 is still pre-beta, so it is difficult to find support here. in addition, bugs are expected.

as a rule of thumb, you should install … http://www.aceofspades.com/forums/showthread.php?51-Ace-of-Spades-0-75-0-76-Downloads   

  

The official versions are still up but they are not posting the links.   

  

http://ace-spades.com/aos075install.msi   

http://ace-spades.com/aos076install\_rc10.msi   

  

The downloads are legal versions of the game, but the official versions from there site should be removed December 2012.   

  

The beta version is free, but when they release the official version (1.0) on steam it will probably cost $. you would need to buy a licenced copy of windows for every machine. 

linux systems are free and young folks at school would quickly adapt to a different operating system and probably learn more from using linux.

here's a link to a download of a good flavour of linux which you can burn on to a cd or dvd and install it on one of the laptops to try it yourself. 

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

it will be different but there are equivalents to all the programmes to which you're accustomed. Hello, 
  

  
Try this 1 
  

  
Click on the below hyperlink "Download" and download the file 
  

  
**Download**
  

  
First backup your registry by following the below instruction 
  

  
Click on Start --> In search box, type regedt32 and press Enter. 
  

  
"Registry Editor" will be opened. Click on File --> Export 
  

  
Now extract the downloaded file --> Double click on that file --> Click on "Yes" 
  

  
Now restart your PC 
  

  
Good Luck After doing different troubleshooting steps and at the end only finding solution that enabling UDP client off settings in local group policy , Microsoft has also confirmed that this is a known big on which Microsoft is still working and tentative date to release fix is April 2021 and till now only workaround available is to enable this setting. hi mike, thanks for bringing this to our attention, i can confirm that i’m aware of this issue and a fix is in progress. i expect the latest version to be available the debian/rpm repositories in the coming days.

one short term work around would be to download the .deb or .rpm file directly from th… Windows 7 is the operating system for your computer and it must have one to function. You have to install another operating like Windows XP or Vista and then you will be able to use the net. If you have not done this before, you should propably find someone who has to help you.