Are you always testing with the same Vista x64 disc image? x32 vs x64 could be a red herring if it's just that the x64 has a minor corruption

No, actually I have used two different versions of the X64, and on both instances I get the same issue. Last night it was installing somewhat OK, but during the proceeding reboots I would get the black screen (which I could CTRL-ALt-DEL) to get the log-off/Shutdown pop-up.

So weird...

On a side note, After all these years, I am very amazed at how gorgeous the VISTA GUI is! The glass is so shiny and everything oozes with class , and it shows the developers' boldness in trying something so radically different and innovative!

As someone said in a reddit post:
"I miss the friendliness and optimism that Windows and Microsoft had around the time, not just in Vista but in XP and 7 too. (bugs aside of course) It really made you feel like they were heading to a bright new Utopia and they were taking you along with them xD "

https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/10e … a_looks_better/

Personally, I'd take the X-Fi out for OS install and install it after.

C0deHunter wrote on 2024-06-19, 00:15:

On a side note, After all these years, I am very amazed at how gorgeous the VISTA GUI is! The glass is so shiny and everything o […]
Show full quote

On a side note, After all these years, I am very amazed at how gorgeous the VISTA GUI is! The glass is so shiny and everything oozes with class , and it shows the developers' boldness in trying something so radically different and innovative!

As someone said in a reddit post:
"I miss the friendliness and optimism that Windows and Microsoft had around the time, not just in Vista but in XP and 7 too. (bugs aside of course) It really made you feel like they were heading to a bright new Utopia and they were taking you along with them xD "

https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/10e … a_looks_better/

+1

That's how I've felt about it, too. My father had a friend with access to an early preview of Vista back then.
It was such a joy playing around with it back then.
I liked the sleek, black taskbar with the glowing Windows orb, too.
It also had new networking features and support for things like HDD-SSD hybrid drives.
Still love good old XP, though. It's so quick and easy to modify for every purpose, among other things.
That Royale/Media Center Edition Theme looked classy, too.

You are absolutely right. Windows Vista x64 has unsolvable problems when running on Intel Haswell (Core i 4XXX) and up. Even if you can install Vista, some issues will still remain. Starting from 12th generation situation is better but still not perfect.
At the same time Vista x32 works well on these CPUs as far as I know.
Try searching: „Vista on Haswell“ for more info.

Kruton 9000 wrote on 2024-06-19, 06:32:

You are absolutely right. Windows Vista x64 has unsolvable problems when running on Intel Haswell (Core i 4XXX) and up. Even if you can install Vista, some issues will still remain. Starting from 12th generation situation is better but still not perfect.
At the same time Vista x32 works well on these CPUs as far as I know.
Try searching: „Vista on Haswell“ for more info.

Thank you so much for clarifying this! It was eating me up, as I was going crazy! Now it makes sense!

Ok, my "period correct" (not really hardware-wise though!) system with multiple OS boot (XP-Vista X32-Win7x64) is now complete! I can play all the 1998-2004 games on XP, keep the Vista for its looks and Media Center capabilities, and play newer games that I couldn't run on XP or Vista, on newly installed Win7 (read Huntdown, Blazing Chrome, StarCraft 1 Remastered, etc.)

Windows Vista GUI still blows my mind, it is absolutely gorgeous. What a shame that the current Windows OS turn into a spying/eavesdropping systems with such bland and boring GUI, the glory days of Win95-Vista are all over.

It's been my opinion for many a year that Vista and Win7 were the pinnacle of Microsoft's desktop UI.
Kernel-wise, things keep on improving with every generation, but UI-wise they have been a very mixed bag.
Windows 11 finally starts to show some UI consistency, but it's not there yet, and some things have gotten even more confusing.

Vista x64 seems to run without issues on Haswell processors on single core/single thread (no HT).
Can anyone else confirm this?

In my case (i3-4170 + Gigabyte B85M-D2V + CSM + Ventoy) even the bootable vanilla Vista SP2 x64 installation didn't start on stock BIOS settings.

I solved this problem this way:

• BIOS: I disabled all cores except one and turned off Hyper-Threading (HT). After this the installation started on single core/single thread and setup proceeded as usual.
• After installing drivers, I installed the KB4493471 (x64 patch). This patch is originally for Windows Server 2008 and appears to fix HAL issue, so there may be some errors: explorer and some drivers may stop loading after reboot. However, after a couple of reboots, Vista starts working normally.
• BIOS: I returned all cores back and turned on HT.
• That's it. All cores and threads are working. I can't confirm 100% stability yet, but it seems all built-in apps (Vista Ultimate edition) runs without errors.

ott wrote on 2025-12-25, 13:49:

Vista x64 seems to run without issues on Haswell processors on single core/single thread (no HT). Can anyone else confirm this? […]
Show full quote

Vista x64 seems to run without issues on Haswell processors on single core/single thread (no HT).
Can anyone else confirm this?

In my case (i3-4170 + Gigabyte B85M-D2V + CSM + Ventoy) even the bootable vanilla Vista SP2 x64 installation didn't start on stock BIOS settings.

I solved this problem this way:

• BIOS: I disabled all cores except one and turned off Hyper-Threading (HT). After this the installation started on single core/single thread and setup proceeded as usual.
• After installing drivers, I installed the KB4493471 (x64 patch). This patch is originally for Windows Server 2008 and appears to fix HAL issue, so there may be some errors: explorer and some drivers may stop loading after reboot. However, after a couple of reboots, Vista starts working normally.
• BIOS: I returned all cores back and turned on HT.
• That's it. All cores and threads are working. I can't confirm 100% stability yet, but it seems all built-in apps (Vista Ultimate edition) runs without errors.

Interesting. Someone here mentioned that KB4493471 improved things but they still eventually had issues.
https://board.eclipse.cx/viewtopic.php?t=345

I will be curious to know if any of these issues return for you. I think they worked around the single-core thing by installing from a disc image had Build 6003 with that KB implemented already.

ott wrote on 2025-12-25, 13:49:

Vista x64 seems to run without issues on Haswell processors on single core/single thread (no HT).

Little update:
KB4493471 patch is unstable - sometimes drivers and their taskbar icons don't load. Also built-in apps took an incredibly long time to launch, MS Paint started in about a couple of minutes.

But if the drivers loaded correctly, then everything works as expected, and programs launch normally.

Single-core mode (without HT) also raises questions - before installing KB4493471 it seems to run much slower than it should: installing cumulative updates takes several hours (but perhaps this is acceptable for single core).

It seems there is no point in touching on this issue (Haswell vs Vista x64) any further. It works somehow, but in a very strange way.
I give up 😀

ott wrote on 2025-12-27, 10:21:

Little update: KB4493471 patch is unstable - sometimes drivers and their taskbar icons don't load. Also built-in apps took an in […]
Show full quote

ott wrote on 2025-12-25, 13:49:

Vista x64 seems to run without issues on Haswell processors on single core/single thread (no HT).

Little update:
KB4493471 patch is unstable - sometimes drivers and their taskbar icons don't load. Also built-in apps took an incredibly long time to launch, MS Paint started in about a couple of minutes.

The attachment vista-no-drivers.jpg is no longer available

But if the drivers loaded correctly, then everything works as expected, and programs launch normally.

The attachment vista-with-drivers.jpg is no longer available

Single-core mode (without HT) also raises questions - before installing KB4493471 it seems to run much slower than it should: installing cumulative updates takes several hours (but perhaps this is acceptable for single core).

It seems there is no point in touching on this issue (Haswell vs Vista x64) any further. It works somehow, but in a very strange way.
I give up 😀

Sorry to hear it didn't work out.

Honestly, this issue is brand new to me... I've never heard of this before, but then I haven't tried to install Vista since before Haswell was released. 🤣

I understand that the draw of a Haswell Vista x64 system is probably to dual boot for a crazy fast Windows XP + Vista system, but... are all future platforms affected the same way? Like, can an AMD Ryzen platform run properly on Vista using Windows 7\10 drivers?