iTechNote

Update: The setup will prompt you for product key. You cannot find any way to get it on the download page. You need to obtain it at Windows Vista GetReady. If you registered for the Customer Preview Program with the release of Windows Vista Beta 2 in June, you do not need to register again. Just use the product key for Beta 2.

So, you are eager to download and try out the Windows Vista RC2 over the weekend? After getting through the time to download the 2.49GB ISO image, you need a tool to open it if you want to take a look at what is included inside. A search in Wikipedia quickly reveals the ways to handle ISO image.

Most operating systems (including Mac OS, BSD, Linux, and Windows with Microsoft Virtual CD-ROM panel) allow these images to be mounted as if they were physical disks, making them somewhat useful as a universal archive format. For Windows user, you can just download Microsoft Virtual CD-ROM Panel to do the job. Yes, you don’t need a shareware or open-source utility. It is free without asking the authenticity of your Windows XP copy.

Here is what you need to do to install it.

1. Copy VCdRom.sys to your %systemroot%\system32\drivers folder.
2. Execute VCdControlTool.exe
3. Click “Driver control” If the “Install Driver” button is available, click it. Navigate to the %systemroot%\system32\drivers folder, select VCdRom.sys, and click Open.
4. Click “Start”
5. Click OK
6. Click “Add Drive” to add a drive to the drive list.
7. Ensure that the drive added is not a local drive. If it is, continue to click “Add Drive” until an unused drive letter is available.
8. Select an unused drive letter from the drive list and click “Mount”.
9. Navigate to the image file, select it, and click “OK”. UNC naming conventions should not be used, however mapped network drives should be OK.

You may now use the drive letter as if it were a local CD-ROM device. When you are finished you may unmount, stop, and remove the driver from memory using the driver control.

If you prefer commercial tools, Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools are the popular ones.

In order to install Windows Vista RC2 on your PC, you need to burn it using a DVD burning software. You can use the free ImgBurn or commercial product like Nero Burning ROM..

Tips: If you are using a few years old LAN card like me and it happens to be using a Intel network chip, you can easily find usable driver here by checking the PWA number on the sticker of the card. Here are a few examples. Once you get the LAN card working, you can run Windows Update to get the drivers for the rest of your system components quite easily.