Hi all,
I bought my (German WM, standard ROM) Shift about 4 months ago, and have spent a lot of time getting it working “just how I want it”. That’s been very successful. I’ve had a huge amount of help, both from here and in German language Shift forums, so now maybe I can give something back.
My Shift has:
Windows 7 Ultimate English
2mb memory
128gb SDD
SHAGCtrl with working buttons
Resolution changer with working buttons
EVERYTHING is working – Wi-Fi, NDIS GSM, Bluetooth. The power management (hibernate etc.) is faultless. My Shift is really fast, super useful, and I carry it at all times. I love my Shift - a machine that was discontinued before its time. HTC?
My wife likes my Shift so much I had to buy her one as well, that’s not (yet) upgraded giving me a great chance to compare side-by-side, modified and un-modified. I didn’t try to differentiate between performance changes due to upgrading to W7, upgrading memory or upgrading to the SSD, as I only wanted to dismantle my Shift once!
Using the built-in Windows 7 “Performance Information and Tools”, the standard and modded Shift were identical EXCEPT:
Memory (RAM) subscore DROPPED from 3.7 on standard to only 3.4 on modded. I don’t know why, maybe the 2gb module is slower?
Primary hard disk subscore went from 3.7 to a massive 6.1!
As far as I can tell, the SDD makes NO DIFFERENCE to battery life – it’s just a whole lot faster!
The 2gb Shift with 128gb SSD takes just 0:42 seconds from power-on to “Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete”.
The 1gb Shift with original disk takes an eternal 1:45! The modded Shift is MUCH snappier and is a pleasure to use.
I believe Windows 7 instead of Vista, 2gb instead of 1 and the SSD ALL made a difference. Of course, this was not a cheap exercise, but the resulting Shift is still a pretty unique device and it’s up to you if you want to spend so much as well.
Problems? Yes. My wife is German-speaking so I tried to install the optional German language pack. That killed SHAGCtrl completely and I haven’t found a solution yet. Also (and this is really obscure), we access a hosted Microsoft Exchange server for our emails. This connection requires you to configure a HTTP proxy in Outlook, to connect to the server. This failed on logon with an odd error message containing “cannot find TILES”! After a lot of work, I found that the Shift’s fingerprint scanner was interfering with sending the password to the Exchange server. Uninstalling the VitalKey software fixed this – I can do without the fingerprint scanner. You are unlikely to encounter this unless you too access an Exchange server from Outlook with HTTP proxy.
OK, the details.
The most useful tool you can BUY when attempting this is a copy of Acronis True Image. Take frequent images so you can go back when it all goes wrong – and this is very likely, however careful you are. Saves a huge amount of time. Note that the original recovery partition remains intact, so you can always go back to Vista, up to the point you change the disk.
Attach the Shift USB network dongle and ensure that all radio devices are enabled (Wi-Fi, GSM and Bluetooth) before starting with installation of W7. I even found a memory card and plugged that in. This is so that W7 finds and installs drivers for everything during the install.
Since my Shift initially had a working copy of (German) Vista running on it, I found a USB memory stick and installed True Image in Vista, writing a bootable copy to the Nano mentioned below, so that I could boot directly into True Image using the F10 key. I also attached a large USB hard disk to store (and restore) images. Guess you could also boot TrueImage from that, however I used a Nano 8gb USB flash drive (http://www.memorydepot.com/details.asp?id=NANOUSB-16G) for True Image as this can remain attached afterwards and the Shift still fits in its slip case. These Nano drives are available from many vendors with different names but seem to be all the same device.
I installed W7 from yet another USB stick, having first copied all the install files from the MS W7 with SP1 DVD. Creating this USB stick is well-documented elsewhere and very worthwhile as it is much faster than attaching a USB DVD drive. Mine was a clean install, not an upgrade from Vista. I could never make the upgrade route work!
Boot (F10) from the W7 installation stick and follow EXACTLY the process at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=513638. I downloaded and placed all drivers in individual folders preceded by the “a. b. etc.” to be sure of installing them in the correct order.
Once you have a working W7, SWITCH OFF AERO before going any further and certainly before installing any HTC stuff, by selecting a non-Aero screen background. Take an Acronis image at this point.
Be sure to follow the advice given in the post referred to above – install ONLY the downloaded HTC drivers, in the order given, run as administrator, with Vista compatibility mode. DON’T install any other updates or drivers yet.
I will not repeat the instructions in the post referred to above, but will just repeat, IF YOU FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY, it will work!
The parts.
I found both the memory and the SSD on eBay. Please don’t post questions like “Is this SDD XYZ suitable?” – I don’t know and won’t answer! This is what I bought and it works.
My 128gb SSD came from a vendor named “ventures_cn1”. The item description was “1.8" 128GB ZIF SSD*OQO 02/E2*DELL D420/D430 *SAMSUNG Q1”. At this date (October 2010) he’s still selling them at (ouch) $333.00. I believe small and bigger capacities are also available, correspondingly cheaper (and dearer)! The few questions I had were answered very quickly and shipping was both fast and reasonable.
My 2gb memory came from a vendor named “mem-store”. The description was “2GB DDR2 214pin Micro Dimm MicroDIMM Memory HTC SHIFT”. At this date (October 2010) he’s still selling them at (ouch again) $189.00 plus a hefty $25.99 for international UPS.
Both vendors were very responsive and I would not hesitate to buy again.
However…
CAUTION – I don’t know if the following is correct – try at your own risk! The memory module came in the usual sealed anti-static package, but with a large anti-static handling warning stuck over the original Kingston memory type label. I carefully peeled that off and that revealed a damaged Kingston type number label, which (I think) said “KTD-INSP6000B/2G”. A Google search reveals that this part number is a 200-pin SO-DIMM DDR2 667MHz module, apparently used in some Dell laptops, and available at a lot less than $189 plus $26!
Maybe some brave soul can try buying this and post the results here? TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK! I will not accept any responsibility if this does not work!
I used the guide also at XDA Developers to dismantle the Shift. This takes some care and if you are clumsy you might want someone else to tackle it. The case is eggshell thin and very easy to break, especially around the openings, particularly the air vents on the back. You need a tool to help pry apart the case – DON’T use anything metal. I used a soft pointed wooden stick stolen from the kitchen, used for Kebabs I think. Even then there were a few marks on the back of the case. Fortunately you don’t have to entirely dismantle the Shift as described in the guide, just the first few steps. In particular, be careful not to get finger grease on the adhesive tape used to secure the ZIF ribbon cable to the hard drive socket – you need to reuse that to ensure the (very fragile and hard to find) flat disk cable does not pull out of the ZIF socket a little leaving you with a “No disk” BIOS error. From memory the paper label on the SSD needs to be visible when the disk is installed, as it’s not clear which way around it should be. I tried both ways, managing to temporarily reinstall memory and battery so that I could see the new disk was recognised by the BIOS. I suggest you test in the same way, only re-attaching the tape once you are sure the disk is recognised.
Lastly, I use a Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 9000 with the Shift. This comes with a Bluetooth dongle, but that’s not needed as the mouse works fine with the Shift’s own Bluetooth. It is also small and has a nice hard carry case
OK, I think that’s about all.
If you have questions relating to the above, please ask, but please try not to ask non-related questions or dumb questions about installing W7 or Shift in general.
Richard S.
Switzerland, October 2010.
Absolutely beautiful, RSargeant. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your experience back on the forum. Great!
What about the Windows Mobile side of the Shift, what are you using over there?
All the best!
Note: the second link that you provided leads to >HTC Shift > Shift General. Was it your intention to point only to the general surface or did you want to go deeper to a particular thread (as I expected) and the link is wrong?
Thanks for that Axel. Link corrected.
On the WM side, I'm using the original German 6.1 ROM (5.2.1620, build 18125.0.4.2) (1.30.407.0 GER) which I've "soft" liberated. I'm tempted to try a hacked ROM, but ask myself what useful (to me) functionality I'd gain. GPS is seductive on that big screen, but my Eten X800 + CoPilot is already very good and there's no memory for maps. I can already surf and check my emails on the WM side whilst benefitting from the very long battery life when not running W7, so the risks don't bring me personally much benefit. I'll think about it.
That brings me to a good point. During this 4 month struggle, I had to ignore my usual urges to immediately upodate drivers as soon as Windows update announced them, especially device drivers. The Shift always worked before the update, and often didn't work afterwards. Case in point - I downloaded and installed the latest touchpad drivers. Afterwards, the ShagCTRL and Resolution buttons no longer worked. System restore... Newer drivers are not always better! Acronis and system restore are your friends!
RS
Thanks, great guide!
Will include it on [REF] Guides | Tutorials | FAQs | Stickies | Read here before posting thread
Great post
Great that you shared this experience with us, I think I now have the macho to embark on my own mod journey now.
Excellent, informative post, very well written.
I may have to dig my Shift out of the cupboard and have a play...
sir,Jimmit here...plz tell me where u bought htc shift frm?....it tht available anywhere in uk?...i cant get in our country in india...plz help...thanks
I bought mine secondhand from a local (Swiss) auction site. Shifts often appear on ebay, but take care to get the correct model. There are 2, the 9500 which is GSM and the 9501 which is the US CDMA model.
Good luck,
RS
What if W7 drivers are newer than the ones described in the W7 thread
Boot (F10) from the W7 installation stick and follow EXACTLY the process at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=513638. I downloaded and placed all drivers in individual folders preceded by the “a. b. etc.” to be sure of installing them in the correct order.
Hi, I have tried many times to get W7 working on the Shift but I have never been able to get it working flawlessly. I decided to try one more time once I saw your post. Question for you. I am using a Windows 7 Professional license that has a newer Intel VGA driver(7[1].14.10.1461) than the one included in the link quoted by you. Should I install the old driver? Did you ran into something like this?
Cheers
Hi,
My Windows 7 DVD came from Technet, so although I didn't check the VGA version, I am sure it was the very latest and probably newer than the (b) driver mentioned. However I simply didn't encounter any problems when I installed a), b) c) etc as in the post. Installing the b) VGA driver almost certainly overwrote that newer driver. I did check both ShagCTRL and res switch at each stage and made checkpoints as I went, just to be sure.
What problems are you having exactly? W7 is so superior on Shift it's worth perservering. I've found that my usual habit of blindly updating to newest drivers is fatal with Shift. Rule is, when it's working, don't tinker and snapshot before all changes. Example, updating to latest touchpad controllers messed up both res switch and ShagCTRL. Only the originals from HTC restored order!
Richard
Hi Richard,
I send you a PM.
Cheers
Stephan
Related
After several failed attempts of cloning VISTA from the HTC Shift's to the my Samsung 64GB Solid State Drive using Norton Ghost (the cloned drive always blue screens at boot), I've decided to do a clean VISTA install from scratch to the SSD Drive.
With only one USB Port on the Shift, I didn't have enough ports for the Bootable USB Pen w/ Ghost on it + Drive 1 + Drive 2, so I had to stick both 1.8" ZIF drivers in USB adapter enclosures and then clone from one to the other from a desktop computer with multiple USBs (using a hub on the Shift to use the 3 devices at the same time from its single USB connector didn't work either because the drives are not detected at BIOS)
To do a clean install, are the updated VISTA drivers for the Shift posted on HTC's Support Site, all the drivers I will need? I don't seem to see certain things like the SIM Modem for example. Also how do I install the Windows Mobile Application to communicate with SnapVue, etc? I have the feeling I will be missing a ton of drivers and software by the time I have the Shift with a Retail Version of Vista, not the original system restore one with all the drivers (and clutter).
Once I get the system up and running (and tweaked), I'll post some benchmarks here and a video showing boot-up and app launch times with the Samsung SSD (currently the fastest 1.8" ZIF Drive on the market). I want to custom make VISTA as streamlined as possible with the least amount of garbage to gain maximum performance on the Shift and with the lowest possible mem usage On my dsktop my clean install is less than 1.5GB!
If you'd like a detailed post of the disassembly, drive swap and re-assembly as well as final description of all the tweaks performed, services disabled, etc., I can post them here in detail as well.
Thanks for the input of the software and drivers I will need before I start the work
VeEuzUKY said:
To do a clean install, are the updated VISTA drivers for the Shift posted on HTC's Support Site, all the drivers I will need?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, they are all you need. Windows Mobile Device Centre is included with Vista, and that deals with the connection to Snapvue. The sim card is managed by Snapvue, so wiping Vista will not affect it.
Thanks for the reply Pantaloonie
Im hoping that a Vista clean install will be a fraction of the work and time I've spent trying to install XP and Ubuntu Mobile. Both of them got "almost" to fully work but some functionality was always lost no matter my tries. Since I am "slimming" down Vista to its bare minimum, I wonder if there are components I have taken out on my desktop's clean install, that I may actually need for the Shift (Windows Mobile Device Centre being one of them that immediately comes to mind)! Is it required to upgrade to Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 on the version built-in within Vista is enough? I usually stay away as much as possible of ANY upgrades what-so-ever
By the way, what are the VistaECDrv and Extension Kit USBLan Drivers for?
VeEuzUKY said:
By the way, what are the VistaECDrv and Extension Kit USBLan Drivers for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
VistaECDDrv seems to be the Embedded Controller Driver. It is the part that manages communication between the build-in stuff such as USB and SD. It also might be the part that prohibits us from using the SD-card from the Snapvue side.
The other one seems to be the driver for the LAN adaptor... I am not sure what the "Extension Kit" signifies.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
(I actually don't really know what I am talking about )
greetz,
Pfeffa-rah
Are the drivers needed for the Shift's video camera built-in Vista? I cannot find any available drivers to download from HTC's support site
Yes, it works quite happily with the generic USB Camera drivers in Vista.
can you do a benchmark of your SSD from Samsung? ans post the picture?
http://www.hdtune.com/
I think about a Mtron 3018 32GB or 64GB SDD (April 2009) with 100/100MB/s
I Thnik there is no other faster 1,8" PATA SSD on market?
Hi!
Is there any news on the speed on your Shift when changing to the Samsung SSD?
I don´t know, but i´m shure, with Mtron 3018 SSD it is much faster then with SAmsung SSD.
BTW: in the mid of april Mtron release the 64GB Edition with 100/100 Read/write (maybe 300€)
Thanks for Looking, really desperate.
I can’t root this ^#%@ G1. Basically I can not get nesscarry rooting files flashed on my G1. I guess the short question is why does my G1 not accept files from my win7 box. Not through the preferred SD card method but, not through wifi, Bluetooth, ADB. Droid explorer, etc, etc. I’ve tried everything , every method …nill.
BUT, otherwise the phone works fine. Internet, phone, G1 crapware, etc. You can assume I’ve tried every thing I can find on the web. But if you want to read details go please do
BACKROUND:
After many, many attempts with every recipe and every set of ROMs around, I ‘ve narrowed it down to it not liking the taste of my SD cards…most of the time, For some reason I can do the initial rc29 downgrade but not much more.
1) Connecting with USB cable to PC. android shows up in “devices and printers” and so does its “removable disk (after mounted from phone). However, double clicking, rt click trying to for mat it just gives errors
2) Putting in SD card while up and running returns “unrecognizable media”
3) Now, I can format SD (yes fat 32) on the PC card reader, add files, whatever, put card in phone and turn it on , at least I don’t get an error, but I get no better acces to card.
I was just about to physically take the phone apart and see if there was some flotsam, corrosion, a piese of bacon making the sd connection physically corrupting the physical conectoion. THAN I remembered blue toothe behaves the same way and WI FII won’t connect at all. Seem that indicates something systremic…Radio??
Help Please?!?!
PK
BTW:
ATEMPS AT REMIDIATION:
5 different New SD cards three, 4 gig, one 6 gig, one 2 gig different meg cards
SD reformats both quick and full adnaseum
4 different USB cords including brand new top of the line.
Re set to RC29 time and time again (remarkably it is apparently reading the flash drive
try going from a non windows 7 box? a friend with vista or family member?
that way you can tell if its windows 7 or not
Ekostons, Thanks for the reply,
I considered that, my son has an xp3 laptop. I think I will give it a try.
There were some gripes and moans about win'7 USB drivers, tried the fix, loading vista usb drivers... fat Chance, dunno what they were thinkn', didn't even resemble win7 drivers.
Hard to imagine why Josegh Smoh can't plug in his new g1 to a Win7 box and share his grand canyon memories with loved ones, but...Your advice makes scence as far as my "systemic prolem" theroy goes. Worth a whirl.
Thanks again, I have a little hope, at least another angle....
Pk
If you have Windows 7 Enterprise or higher and you have a processor that supports virtualization you may use Window 7's XP Mode and give that a shot. Its always good to have a spare comp or laptop running XP when you dabble in these things. If its not beyond your scope I've also seen a few tuts on how to get everything up and running on various *nix distros. Good luck!
I read good review about Acer W500 and people installing Windows 8 on it. I just bought a used Iconia W500 with the attention to tryout W8. However the tablet package I got does not have any document or CD (restoration CD I assume) with it.
When power up, Win 7 show up, I tested a little bit and quite disappointed with the performance on both the Acer tablet and Windows 7 on it. It is far down away company to Dell Streak 5 and Samsung Galaxy S II.
Questions to the experts:
1. Should I upgrade the tablet (hardware perspective) so that it can run faster? Or just exchange with other brand name tablets, which has more power?
2. I still want to stick with Windows 7 or 8, because of the nature of my works. I need windows. What other android tablet which allow me to install windows 8 on it?
3. As for the Iconia W500 I have right now, please guide me how to back up Windows 7 first? What software do I need to make the back up the entire OS? I do have portable USB external drive about 500 GB. I also have USB portable DVD drive.
Thanks
Alpharetta
1. Should I upgrade the tablet (hardware perspective) so that it can run faster? Or just exchange with other brand name tablets, which has more power?
Upgrade
Hi, keep in mind that windows 7 and the windows 8 developer edition does not support ARM processors (windows 8 will, soon). The processor in the tablet you have now must be a x86 processor for it to be running windows 7.
Also, check the start menu for restoration media creator or something of the like. Machines nowadays do not come with restore media. But they do come with a program to create that restore media.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
I installed Win8 on my HP Mini 500 and there is a performance increase across the board.
Boot up is faster
Ribbon explorer makes it really easy for touch
Win8 has a dedicated keyboard for tablets
Less system resources used by junk processes
alpharetta said:
I read good review about Acer W500 and people installing Windows 8 on it. I just bought a used Iconia W500 with the attention to tryout W8. However the tablet package I got does not have any document or CD (restoration CD I assume) with it.
When power up, Win 7 show up, I tested a little bit and quite disappointed with the performance on both the Acer tablet and Windows 7 on it. It is far down away company to Dell Streak 5 and Samsung Galaxy S II.
Questions to the experts:
1. Should I upgrade the tablet (hardware perspective) so that it can run faster? Or just exchange with other brand name tablets, which has more power?
2. I still want to stick with Windows 7 or 8, because of the nature of my works. I need windows. What other android tablet which allow me to install windows 8 on it?
3. As for the Iconia W500 I have right now, please guide me how to back up Windows 7 first? What software do I need to make the back up the entire OS? I do have portable USB external drive about 500 GB. I also have USB portable DVD drive.
Thanks
Alpharetta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a W500 for Christmas and a 64gb hard drive. I immediately swapped out hard drives before the first boot and put Windows 8 on it. I love this machine with Windows 8. I didn't load any of the Acer bloatware and only loaded what I had to have. It is speedy and very responsive. Windows 8 dp has a lot of room for improvement, but is better than Windows 7 for this machine. Everything works as it should and I don't see any reason to put Windows 7 on it.
beartrap said:
I got a W500 for Christmas and a 64gb hard drive. I immediately swapped out hard drives before the first boot and put Windows 8 on it. I love this machine with Windows 8. I didn't load any of the Acer bloatware and only loaded what I had to have. It is speedy and very responsive. Windows 8 dp has a lot of room for improvement, but is better than Windows 7 for this machine. Everything works as it should and I don't see any reason to put Windows 7 on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is socialite working?
sruthika said:
Is socialite working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hadn't tried until I read your post. No, it is not.
I've just finished swapping to windows8 on my iconia w500
the first thing is It was not so easy.....I've made it from USB drive and swapped for 64bit one.
System is more responsive
Ease of use comparing to Win7 much better
I see that I need bigger HDD the 32 Giga one that it came with was already on 23.7 from 29.8 avaliable in just 3days of use!!! That was on win7
now on win8 and it is on 17.9 after updates.. so not to good not to bad.
i've already found mSATA 64gb for 83£ wich is the cheapest here in Uk
AFAIK thais the only update You can do to your Iconia W500
my opinion swap ssd and go for win8 you will like it more
Regards
I bought a refurbed W500 cheap the other day. I had W8 up and running within about an hour. I didn't bother backing it up first.
Since then, I've done lots of monkey and have learned a great deal.
W8 32 bit seems to be the best way to go. The drivers from Acers site work to get the g sensor and screen rotation stuff working. The only thing that doesn't work correctly is Firefox. You can't click on bookmarks from the touch screen.
W8 64 works but the drivers don't work. There's also no reason to have 64 bit windows running with so little ram.
BTW I installed from an external DVD. The USB method appears to work, but is seems to be more of a pain. I had to buy an external DVD drive and got a writer for $32.
I'm very impressed with the performance. W8 runs great. Almost was recognized by the OS and all I had to do was install drivers for the G Sensor etc.
The Metro stuff is silky smooth.
After an install and a fairly judicious disk cleanup, I have about 20 gb of space remaining. I disabled hibernation to get rid of the enormous hybernation file.
There are still little quirks in W8 but it's not even a beta. I have high hopes for newer builds.
This thing is the tablet I've wanted for a long time. For $368 and the cost of the external drive, I couldn't be happier.
FYI, I also have Ubuntu running on it now and still have 12 GB free.
Greg
FYI, to get the thing to boot to the dvd: Shut down, hold Windows Button and Volume Up and press Power. Took me a while to find that.
geebake said:
I bought a refurbed W500 cheap the other day. I had W8 up and running within about an hour. I didn't bother backing it up first.
Since then, I've done lots of monkey and have learned a great deal.
W8 32 bit seems to be the best way to go. The drivers from Acers site work to get the g sensor and screen rotation stuff working. The only thing that doesn't work correctly is Firefox. You can't click on bookmarks from the touch screen.
W8 64 works but the drivers don't work. There's also no reason to have 64 bit windows running with so little ram.
BTW I installed from an external DVD. The USB method appears to work, but is seems to be more of a pain. I had to buy an external DVD drive and got a writer for $32.
I'm very impressed with the performance. W8 runs great. Almost was recognized by the OS and all I had to do was install drivers for the G Sensor etc.
The Metro stuff is silky smooth.
After an install and a fairly judicious disk cleanup, I have about 20 gb of space remaining. I disabled hibernation to get rid of the enormous hybernation file.
There are still little quirks in W8 but it's not even a beta. I have high hopes for newer builds.
This thing is the tablet I've wanted for a long time. For $368 and the cost of the external drive, I couldn't be happier.
FYI, I also have Ubuntu running on it now and still have 12 GB free.
Greg
FYI, to get the thing to boot to the dvd: Shut down, hold Windows Button and Volume Up and press Power. Took me a while to find that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey when you say the drivers for 64 bit do not work can you be more specific about what drivers? I installed 64 bit on my touch screen ASUS all in one desktop and it worked, but the touch screen drivers did not work. So it was a very poor experience for me...I mean the whole point is to be more touchscreen friendly....I have not found any solution yet to this issue for my computer and I Was surprised the drivers were not easily identified and working with such a new computer....let me know what you all think. Thanks!
rockhumper said:
Hey when you say the drivers for 64 bit do not work can you be more specific about what drivers? I installed 64 bit on my touch screen ASUS all in one desktop and it worked, but the touch screen drivers did not work. So it was a very poor experience for me...I mean the whole point is to be more touchscreen friendly....I have not found any solution yet to this issue for my computer and I Was surprised the drivers were not easily identified and working with such a new computer....let me know what you all think. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the case of the W500, the G-Sensor driver is where the problem lies. It only means that the screen won't auto rotate when you flip it around. I'm sure you don't do that with your all in one desktop so it's probably not an issue common to both models.
The touch screen on the W500 works perfectly out of the box. In fact, the only driver I had to install to make it work was the G-Sensor driver.
Interestingly, I found another issue. In 32 bit W8, Firefox doesn't work completely correctly. When you open a menu (ie bookmarks) you can't use the touch screen to select anything in the menu. Works fine if you use a mouse. However, in 64 bit W8, Firefox works perfectly. So you're left with a choice. Proper screen rotation or correctly working Firefox. I'm sure this will get resolved with either a Firefox update or perhaps the full beta of W8.
I have Iconia W500 for a month now.
If you would like to keep Win7 (for any reason), connect an ext hdd and create a windows image on it, you can restore it later any time.
I installed Win8 32 bit, you will have a completely different experience - Win7 is a S##t on W500.
Installing Win8 is pretty easy --> http://www.microsoftnow.com/2011/09/how-to-install-windows-8-on-acer-iconia-tab-w500.html
BTW: I faced some minor bugs in W8 but on the other hand, you have a decent windows tablet.
Go for Win8 and you will like it
Good luck.
alpharetta said:
I read good review about Acer W500 and people installing Windows 8 on it. I just bought a used Iconia W500 with the attention to tryout W8. However the tablet package I got does not have any document or CD (restoration CD I assume) with it.
When power up, Win 7 show up, I tested a little bit and quite disappointed with the performance on both the Acer tablet and Windows 7 on it. It is far down away company to Dell Streak 5 and Samsung Galaxy S II.
Questions to the experts:
1. Should I upgrade the tablet (hardware perspective) so that it can run faster? Or just exchange with other brand name tablets, which has more power?
2. I still want to stick with Windows 7 or 8, because of the nature of my works. I need windows. What other android tablet which allow me to install windows 8 on it?
3. As for the Iconia W500 I have right now, please guide me how to back up Windows 7 first? What software do I need to make the back up the entire OS? I do have portable USB external drive about 500 GB. I also have USB portable DVD drive.
Thanks
Alpharetta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like yourself I also got an acer w500 tablet because I have been reading good reviews about this tablet with windows 8. I bought mine brand new because any tablet after dec 2011 was upgraded to the amd c60 processor, tbh I love it, it is the definition of mobile computing
So to answers your questions
1 only upgrade if you want to spend 1000+ for a tablet as good as the w500
2 stick with windows 8 once you get used to it, its much faster than windows 7 in terms of productivity. And no android tablet will allow the installation of windows.
3 Google will be your best bet for that, because I got mine new, I have all the recovery disks.
Got the W500 less than 2 weeks ago and first thing I did was install Win8RP on it.
Easy as pie. Just extract the Win8ISO directly onto a fresh USB drive and boot off that.
Once Win8 is installed, you will need to install the Gsensor driver from acers site, and the Device Control app to turn on Bluetooth for the first time. (Windows will install the generic BT drivers but they are sorta wonky)
You will want to get the latest ATI Beta drivers (I like them at least) from guru3d.com (The 9.0.0 JUNE base drivers, not to be confused with the 12.X version naming), also the official Realtek drivers from their site (not the Acer ones) and the Atheros Bluetooth drivers from http://www.atheros.cz/ (Just get the DRIVER FILES ONLY download for your OS (x86/64). No need for anything outside of that. To install the BT drivers, just extract the files to a folder, and go into device manager and update all the bluetooth devices it shows by point them to the folder that has the extracted drivers. Once you do that you should be able to turn on and off the Bluetooth from the Wireless tab in Windows 8 Settings and you can delete the device control app from the system.
The Bluetooth remains a bit wonky, My guess because it isnt an official Win8 driver, but it does work for the most part. It may say it cannot turn off the BT on occasion but do it twice and then wait a second, it usually will get the radio disabled on the 2nd try lol.
IM0001 said:
Got the W500 less than 2 weeks ago and first thing I did was install Win8RP on it.
Easy as pie. Just extract the Win8ISO directly onto a fresh USB drive and boot off that.
Once Win8 is installed, you will need to install the Gsensor driver from acers site, and the Device Control app to turn on Bluetooth for the first time. (Windows will install the generic BT drivers but they are sorta wonky)
You will want to get the latest ATI Beta drivers (I like them at least) from guru3d.com (The 9.0.0 JUNE base drivers, not to be confused with the 12.X version naming), also the official Realtek drivers from their site (not the Acer ones) and the Atheros Bluetooth drivers from http://www.atheros.cz/ (Just get the DRIVER FILES ONLY download for your OS (x86/64). No need for anything outside of that. To install the BT drivers, just extract the files to a folder, and go into device manager and update all the bluetooth devices it shows by point them to the folder that has the extracted drivers. Once you do that you should be able to turn on and off the Bluetooth from the Wireless tab in Windows 8 Settings and you can delete the device control app from the system.
The Bluetooth remains a bit wonky, My guess because it isnt an official Win8 driver, but it does work for the most part. It may say it cannot turn off the BT on occasion but do it twice and then wait a second, it usually will get the radio disabled on the 2nd try lol.
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Click to collapse
i just installed the acer drivers for this tablet from acer's website, no issues with Bluetooth, rotation, graphics, audio ect. i think you just downloaded the wrong Bluetooth driver, just get the one from acer along with the device control app, it makes everything a whole lot simpler and it works like a charm, no hangs, drops, ect.
geebake said:
In the case of the W500, the G-Sensor driver is where the problem lies. It only means that the screen won't auto rotate when you flip it around. I'm sure you don't do that with your all in one desktop so it's probably not an issue common to both models.
The touch screen on the W500 works perfectly out of the box. In fact, the only driver I had to install to make it work was the G-Sensor driver.
Interestingly, I found another issue. In 32 bit W8, Firefox doesn't work completely correctly. When you open a menu (ie bookmarks) you can't use the touch screen to select anything in the menu. Works fine if you use a mouse. However, in 64 bit W8, Firefox works perfectly. So you're left with a choice. Proper screen rotation or correctly working Firefox. I'm sure this will get resolved with either a Firefox update or perhaps the full beta of W8.
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Hey dude. I had a W500 for some time, but sold it, but that's not my point.
Regarding the G-sensor fix, i figured out how to fix it.
What you need to install is:
G Sensor Driver
Auto Screen Rotation Blocker
HID Monitor for acer Ring
(From http://support.acer.com/product/default.aspx?modelId=3853)
If it doesn't rotate after this, try and find the HIDmonitor.exe file on your computer, then run it and try again.
I put the file in startup to make sure it always worked. And it did
Hey guys,
I want to buy one for desktop replace. Is it good for cheap price? How's performance for browsing? Sometimes I need to open few heavy websites.
arpu26 said:
Hey guys,
I want to buy one for desktop replace. Is it good for cheap price? How's performance for browsing? Sometimes I need to open few heavy websites.
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Click to collapse
Depends what you use it for really..I haven't used my desktop since I bought this. Love it. Side note, my keyboard only pops up when I use the metro IE and touch a input box but not with the desktop IE. I have to press the keyboard icon on the taskbar for desktop browsing. Any one have any ideas why that'd be?
arpu26 said:
I need to open few heavy websites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the-wrangler said:
Depends what you use it for really..
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Click to collapse
My work is testing websites. So I will plug with hdmi to my monitor. Can it handle with second monitor with extended desktop? What max resolution can it have? Also I need to have opened 3-4 heavy websites. Have it enougt power for that?
Now I'm working with very old and laggy Athlon XP 2500+ 1,8 Ghz 512 GB RAM PC.
What is program compatability on Win8?
PLEASE DON'T THINK OF THIS AS A FOR SALE AD .. It is not .. Too many things I need to re-discover before listing.
I am in the final stages of getting ready to sell my HTC Shift. Maybe. I don't even know what to ask. It is at my office so I don't remember ALL the details. PLUS I see that people are installing Windows 8 on theirs and MAYBE I might want to try that before selling mine. I have the Windows 8 from the Developers convention Samsung Tablet and I like it .. Like it a lot !!
I guess I have come here to ask what a fair price would be for mine and should I try to install the Windows 8?? Or is that still very touch and go with the drivers etc.
It has Full windows mobile w/ the added telephone capability. Another worry. If I reformat or upgrade will I lose the telephone? I use T-Mobile and my connection is Edge. I don't know what you get with an AT&T sim card.
It is the model with the permanent case that screws on. I have taken it off because I also have the Mugen Extended Battery and the case didn't fit well with that battery on .. I still have the original battery and the screw on case as well. I don't know how long either battery is holding a charge. I don't think the life is very bad.
The Shift has also had the drive upgraded. I am thinking it is maybe 100 gigs. But I could be wrong .. something else to check.
I have upgraded the O/S to Vista or maybe Windows 7 ...See .. I can't even say for sure what operating system is installed. I haven't turned it on in months.
I am thinking that when I reformat I will MAYBE lose all the drivers etc so I may as well try installing Windows 8 .. or not . ... Maybe if and when someone buys it they will want it the way it is and they can reformat or whatever ..
Any comments on the pros or cons of Windows 8?? I am really lost .. I just know I have too many computers and too many gadgets and some of them need to go away !! Mostly I don't want my data left on the computer but I don't want the hassle of refomatting and then trying to install drivers etc. I can hardly find time to gather the necessary info and list it ..
Diane
What is wrong with you!!!!
Dear Buddy, The HTC X9500 Shift is a umpc or/and tablet!!! (Ultimate Mobile Personal Computer)This Device rocks!!!! step 1: did you custom the wm side. Step 2: did you split the partition for windows xp and windows 7 ultimate??? did you upgrade the rams to 2gb ram???
did you upgrade the hdd to at least 100gb if you did this all you shift is on fire!!!!!! speed on the internet is good!!! wifi is strong,bluetooth is strong! touch screen with a pen or fingers is good!!! allow's to a plasma or lcd monitor is good!!!! (VGA Connectors)
So what else you asking for a sam**** tablet.
Plus do you know the the ubuntu works excellent with the HTC X9500 shift???? hmmmm....
>> did you custom the wm side.
YES .. It is FULL Windows Mobile and Phone.
>> did you split the partition for windows xp and windows 7 ultimate???
NO .. Just upgraded XP to either Vista or 7 .. don't remember which
>> did you upgrade the rams to 2gb ram???
No .. Don't remember if the ram has been upgraded. I didn't work on it myself most of the time a friend did.
>> did you upgrade the hdd to at least 100gb
YES ...
>> touch screen with a pen or fingers is good!!!
Samsung Tablet (Slate) works with finger or Wacom stylus
>> Plus do you know the the ubuntu works excellent with the HTC X9500 shift???? hmmmm....
What's an ubuntu ???
Will I guess you are a average computer geek....
because Ubuntu is a linux O.S that is much more secured then windows.. Plus it is much faster then windows... Plus again, Ubuntu is the maker of android, who created it for a free open source!!!!
Just stumbled on this thread as I found my Shift at the back of a cupboard a few days ago and was wondering what it was worth. I've flashed the WM side but the other side is still Vista (ugh).
More toys to play with. Hoorah!
I want a Shift so much.... Any ideas on sales? (Mods dont kill me)
1saleaday has it for 199.99 today only...
The Shift Continues to impress me.
I re ghosted a fresh Windows 7 installation to get better performance out of it.
I just installed Ubunuti Wubi and linked it to my smartphone bluetooth modem for wireless internet.
And the WM side gives me an instant notepad with a decent keyboard.
Combined with a smartphone, it's a winner all round.
Hey guys, not sure if there are many people here but I'm looking for some help. I recently bought a shift off ebay because I like the cool sliding form-factor and collecting old palm tops in general. When I got it it had vista on it. It also had a lot of garbage and porn on it from the previous seller who claimed it was mint... that's another story. I ran into some problems with it and tried to reinstall vista. Then I decided to throw windows 10 on it instead thinking it would make it run better.
Unfortunately windows 10 has slowed it down to a crawl. I can't get anything done on it. It's using up a lot of processing power to the point that the device gets hot and abruptly shuts down. I don't know what I was expecting really, it only has an 800mhz proc. Have any of you guys gotten 10 to run smoothly? I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Hi,
There are a number of Windows 10 performance tips in the thread titled "[GUIDE] Installing Windows 10 Technical Preview on the HTC Shift, especially in the final couple of pages.
I'm running Windows 10 on my Shift, and despite my best efforts, it still runs very slow, but good enough for running efficient applications such as Evernote, OneDrive and Word.
My Shift gets hot but it has never suffered from overheating. Perhaps your fan is faulty. Can you hear the fan running?
Hi guys, i was always fanatic for ultra mobile pc´s, i had some vaio P, and now i bought a HTC shift, just spent 50 euros in it, so it is a bargain
I have some questions here:
1- guy who sold me told me that wifi don´t work in windows 8 ( os installed), it needs some driver to work in windows 8/10? or it´s not possible to enable wifi?
2- when i receive the shift should i format all partions and make a new install of win 10? the owner told me that hd is 60gb and have 2 partitions
3- so for what i understand, there is the windows mode and then the windows mobile mode? they are installed in diferent partitions? how does this work?
thank you
i made a clean install of win 10, win 10 is very slow for shift.... all was working less wifi, it wasn´t detecting my home network
made a clean install of win 7 home premium, all smooth and quick, fast boot time, all things are working including touchscreen and wifi
in windows 7 i cant acess 3g dont know why
another problem is that when i press windows mobile key, i only get a black screen, what is the problem?
thank you
ps. for browsing i recimend slim jet browser, really fast and smoother, and very good to use with finger
I take it by now that you have learned that only the windows side uses the HDD (and bluetooth and the SD card). The Windows Mobile side is not connected to any of these (although it is connect to Windows and so can potentially access them if Windows is running).
If 3G is not working in Windows 7, have you run the "Shift Control Centre" to ensure that "Modem" is ON?
When I installed Windows 10 on my HTC Shift from a bootable USB drive created with the "Windows Media Creator" application, I performed a new installation after first deleting all of the partitions on the hard drive. This included the factory default Vista recovery partition, which I will never need, and I'd rather have the extra Gbs of storage.
There was a 2GB RAM module you could buy for it. Also, could you put an SSD inside it to speed it up?
vinokirk said:
There was a 2GB RAM module you could buy for it. Also, could you put an SSD inside it to speed it up?
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Click to collapse
You can buy a 2gb module in eBay but they are very expensive
About SSD you can use it, dont know wich modelo, but its possible, but this laptop have slow processor and bad graphic, so, i dont recomend this investment at all
I've got two Shifts. One with liberated Snapvue, 2GB Ram and 128GB SSD.
Had Windows7 installed, but then tried Win10. The first Beta versions made shift run like a charm, but with each update it became slower. I then returned to Vista with AeroDesign and 3d gimmicks disabled. Now runs pretty good, fast enough and stable.
The second Shift also runs Vista. Unfortunately i'm not able to liberate its Mobile side, as it refuses to receive emails although 3G is working fine. Strange thing: though not liberated, Vista is able to use the 3G modem.
windows 7 runs ok in shift, for me it´s the best os
Running Windows 10 on my Shift. I disabled certain things such as background apps, superfetch, and Windows search.
I wonder how much impact the future Meltdown and Spectre mitigation updates will have on my poor stock HTC Shift...
Wow! Started reading this thread and I cant believe I fired up my Shift. Running Windows 8 on it. It took 30 minutes for Windows defender to update . Updating Windows now. ANyone know where I can find an inexpensive battery?
Thanks
try ebay
search for htc x9500 or htc shift
btw
win 7 is the best os for this machine
Battery
Search htc shift in ebay and some will appear. Not cheap cicra £20-30 but probably not a deal breaker either.
I have used kingspec 1.8 inch 128 gb ssd's in other devices and they work well. Their speed depends upon the interface required, if ide then this will be the bottleneck. As for the original hdd they are one of the slowest ever made and were redesigned for media player usage!
Slow down windows 10 on a 1 CPU 800mHz 1gb or 2gb?
Answer this question first!!!