Aero Glass on 32 MB of video RAM with no hack in Vista 5536
I had enabled Aero Glass on my Toshiba M205 Tablet PC several builds ago, but it required some mods to the registry since the NVIDIA graphics card only has 32 MB of video memory. Vista build 5536, or pre-RC 1 became available last week to beta testers and I used it during most of the weekend…on my desktop. I just got around to installing it as the sole operating system on the M205 and found that Aero Glass can now be enabled right within the OS, even for machines that have less than the recommended 64 MB of video RAM.
As a frame of reference, I should run down the basic specs of the Toshiba, which is over 18 months old:
- Intel Pentium M processor at 1.5 GHz
- 768 MB of memory
- 60 GB hard drive
- NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 video card with 32 MB of dedicated memory
These specs don’t provide for a very high "Windows Experience Index", simply because the index is based on the lowest subscore which is a "1" for the Graphics. Aside from that, the ol’ Tosh holds up pretty well!
You can see in the Advanced System Settings under Performance that there’s an option to enable transparent glass. Previously, this checkbox did nothing for me as it appears Vista wouldn’t allow Glass on a machine with less than 64 MB of video RAM.
While running the Aero Glass interface does work, it makes for a clunky Tablet PC from a performance standpoint; not something I plan to use on a daily basis. I’ll likely run Vista on this Tablet, but I won’t run the Glass effects. I should also point out that the RC 1 build expected soon will likely impress if Pre-RC 1 is any indication. The installation is smoother, more drivers are recognized immediately and the overall experience is much more pleasant than in prior builds.
-kct
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Interesting!
Nice tip KCT.
I downloaded and installed the Pre-RC1 (build 5536) and I LOVE IT! I’m not ready to run it on my tablet pc so I’m running it on Microsoft Virtual PC 2004. It is WAY faster than the previous public beta 2. It still needs some polishing up, but MSFT is on the right path.
If MS keeps it up, they can have Vista out by Jan 2007 after all!
Aero glass is usually enabled/disabled based on the presence of a WDDM-compatible driver. The change probably is not that they changed the minimum specs required, but they probably ship with a WDDM driver for that graphics card now. That is how most ATI cards work too… the driver is just there in the OS.
Josh, you’re probably correct although my previous driver was WDDM-compatible. Looks like the driver is updated as it has a more recent date of 8/1/06. What’s concerning is that there are numerous sources claiming that 64 MB of video memory is required: http://www.zdnetasia.com/builder/program/windows/0,39045553,39393263,00.htm as an example. I’ll have to dig around Microsoft’s site for the official spec…
I’m holding out, hard as it is, for RC1.
Can you elaborate on which Toshiba utilities run on Vista?
Alright, I gave in and installed 5536. I can’t get Aero to work though, and my computer “hiccups” every few seconds, aka freezes for a split second, which I discovered in previous builds when running a WDDM-compatible video driver. I wonder what gives?
it works only on beta versions not on the real version of vista
does it work for vista build 6000???????
how did u do that on 32mb graphics?? please let me know!!