Vista: Hardware profiles for gaming?

[Evenkeel]

I previously posted a version of this on the OS forum, but didn't get any replies, so I thought I'd try my luck here. Pls take it easy on me--I'm an old hand at computing, but a n00b at gaming.

I imagine this has been asked before. I did search before I posted this, both the MS KB, and Googled it. MS KB no help at all (big surprise), and the Google results were all 1-2 years old.

Basically, how do you create a hardware profile when you want to game, on a system that has to do double-duty as a work machine? I know that Vista has eliminated the Hardware Profile utility that XP had, so what do you do?

The best anyone came up w/is going into Vista Services, and individually disabling Services for a logon profile. This is ridiculous, and I'm wondering if, in the intervening time, anyone has come up w/anything better. Losing the ability to create individual hardware profiles like in XP is absurd.

What I found people asking, is basically exactly what I want to do: keep my main profile for day-to-day work, and create a separate hardware profile just for all the spiffy new gaming hardware (Logitech gaming keyboard and mouse, Fang gamepad, SteelSeries headset, etc... yes, I went a little crazy w/the plastic).

The Logitech stuff usually gets along pretty well w/other hardware, but I have a MS Ergo keyboard, and MS keyboard/mouse software does not play well w/others. Also, that Fang gamepad has a major driver to use to customize the pad for different games, and I'll bet you a dollar it will hose things up if I use it on my main profile.

I've been doing this long enough to know that specialized drivers like the kind used in gaming gear stands a good chance of messing up my finely-honed system </slight sarcasm>, so I'm hoping I can get some advice here. I don't want to have to spend all that time disabling Services and unplugging hardware, just so I can plug in the gaming gear--by that time I'll be too ticked off to play.

So what are people doing about this? (Besides cursing MS, I mean.)

 

[Evenkeel]

Sorry to be a little rude a give this a bump, but I'm getting no replies on this on any forum--doesn't anyone have an idea of what exactly I should do here?

 

[Dorkenstein]

Maybe this would work?

http://alacritypc.kensalter.com/index.htm

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Maybe this would work?

http://alacritypc.kensalter.com/index.htm

What is that? Are you using it?

 

[Dorkenstein]

Yeah, I've used it before. It makes profiles for games/apps and reduces reduces the amount of resource use and stuff in the background. Never had any trouble with it. Why do you ask?

The only other program I found I am unable to download because it requires forum registration.

 

[dguy6789]

I don't know how to do hardware profiles in Vista(or if you even can) but I use my machine for both work and play and have never felt the need to have something like that set up. What differences in configuration would you have with the machine in "work" mode and "game" mode? If it's only software, could you not just close work related applications if needed?

 

[Evenkeel]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I don't know how to do hardware profiles in Vista(or if you even can) but I use my machine for both work and play and have never felt the need to have something like that set up. What differences in configuration would you have with the machine in "work" mode and "game" mode? If it's only software, could you not just close work related applications if needed?

Okay, as I said, I'm new to gaming, so bear w/me here a bit...

All of the new hardware toys I bought have their own special, gaming-specific drivers. (Even the SteelSeries headsets have a teeny CD driver disk if you want to use the USB connector, which is actually a small sound card.) The Fang gamepad installs what looks like a large complex driver that has profile maps for a lot of popular games, or allows you to map the pad yourself. There's a few other things I bought, all w/their own, gaming-specific drivers.

Now maybe I'm concerned over nothing. Freely admitted. I just wanted to consult w/you experienced guys before I jumped in blind. I've finally got my Vista x64 system running pretty smoothly, and would hate to hose it up from a bad driver. Or all the drivers might be fine by themselves, but when all of them are installed... Who knows?

Of course I'll make a good backup before I install anything, and then install each toy one at a time to see if there are conflicts. I guess what I'm trying to get to here is: Is gaming stuff--both hardware gear and their software drivers--still so specialized and "doesn't play well with others" that I need to be extra careful? (I haven't had time to game for such a long time, and it used to be that gaming software and hardware was always bleeding edge stuff that could easily screw up a perfectly good system.)

I vaguely recall someone saying, in a long ago post on another topic, that the one good thing about Vista is that it doesn't load drivers for a piece of hardware that isn't connected. Maybe that's why MS took out hardware profiles in Vista--because it loads drivers on the fly.

I know, I'm probably worked up over nothing, but I wanted to hear from you experts that I'm a hypochondriac before I leapt in.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i've been using vista 32, then 64, for a while now. i have found no reason why any additional hardware would prevent or interfere with the normal "work" uses of a pc. i haven't found any difficulty in installing or uninstalling drivers, or devices knocking each other out. not only that, but there is no need to optimize or alter your machine for games. run work apps when it's time to work, then shut 'em off and run games when it's time for play. it really is that easy.

i have 2 mice plugged in at all times (logitech mx revolution and razer lachesis, both with drivers) and they both work fine, all of the time. when someone is using my pc, i like to screw with them by moving the other mouse

 

[dguy6789]

Nowadays, pretty much everything is compatible with everything. I don't have to change any settings or open or close any special programs to switch between doing something productive or playing a modern game.

 

[Evenkeel]

Whew! This is all good news to hear! I'll take a chill-pill and get to installing the toys. Now all I need is some good games...

 

[Arglebargle]

At least, if you are just getting into gaming, you have a lot of good games available, no matter what your interests are...

 

[Evenkeel]

Originally posted by: Arglebargle
At least, if you are just getting into gaming, you have a lot of good games available, no matter what your interests are...

Yes, I was looking at all the top-selling games on Amazon. Something a lot of the customer reviews said about several of the games troubles me:

It seems to relate to copy-protection. One game (Bioshock, I think?) had a reviewer mention that he could not completely uninstall the game--there was one or more folders that resisted even Administrator level attempts to remove. I saw similar comments on other game reviews, tho I just skimmed them, so I may not be getting it quite right.

I guess my concern is somewhat similar to what I had w/the hardware, in that these apps seem to want to take control of the system, or at least make it very hard to get rid of them if you want to. Again, I'm speaking from absolute zero experience here, so you'll need to enlighten me if I have this completely wrong.

Over the many years I've been computing, I've gotten gun-shy of programs that are so stubborn that they resist all attempts at removal. After reading the reviews, I seriously considered cloning my C: drive to a second drive, then switching the SATA power/data cables in my system to the second drive, and installing the games on the second drive... only connecting it when I want to play. (I'm still considering this...)

I realize I'm probably coming off as excessively cautious to you guys, but I've dealt w/so many problems over the years, I don't want to make more of them, just to play. And I've gotten so out of touch w/the gaming world, that I don't know which games might be more "system-friendly", and which more hostile.

Any additional guidance you can give me here is appreciated.

 

[AntisociaL]

I understand where you are coming from, but I have never came across anything I could not remove or was worried about from any game I purchased. Anything I have ever had that was being stubborn to delete, for whatever reason was taken care of by booting into safe mode and deleting it from there.

You could always setup another hard drive with XP on it and dual boot to just use it for your gaming.

 

[Evenkeel]

Originally posted by: AntisociaL
I understand where you are coming from, but I have never came across anything I could not remove or was worried about from any game I purchased. Anything I have ever had that was being stubborn to delete, for whatever reason was taken care of by booting into safe mode and deleting it from there.

You could always setup another hard drive with XP on it and dual boot to just use it for your gaming.

Not a bad idea, using XP in a dual-boot. (Never done the dual-boot thing before, but have read about it a lot. Will have to dig back thru some old PC Mag/PC World issues to see how to do it. Or you can suggest the best way... hint, hint. )

Even tho Vista has quite a few warts, it does deal w/drivers on the fly pretty well. I have one of those ASUS Eee netbooks w/XP Home on it, and it's always a bit of a shock to go from Vista w/all its eye-candy (some of it actually informative--like the graphical icons in "Computer" showing used/free space on a HD). But I've also read that gamers still prefer XP for games. I have an old XP system that I retired (and that currently won't boot, for whatever reason), so I suppose I could use that XP Pro Cd on a dual-boot system. Or would the Windows activation have a fit if I tried installing that particular license on a new system? (Since all the hardware is different.) Would I be able to use it, maybe after a call to MS to explain that my old system went belly-up (which it seems to have done)?