OS Issue : OEM Vista 64 Drivers and Windows 7

[rikmayell]

The Windows 7 x64 release candidate includes drivers for a huge variety of hardware, modern and not so modern. Some hardware drivers, in particular those for RAID, specialized mice, and external multi-function printers, include management software if sourced from the appropriate OEM. The drivers supplied with Windows 7 obviously do not include these additional features.

To achieve the same level of functionality under Windows 7 as Vista you are likely to have to use the OEM's Vista 64 driver package, unless you are fortunate enough to find they have already released a Windows 7 specific version.

Although Microsoft have stated that Windows 7 supports the Vista driver model, all three of the Vista 64 OEM driver packages I have attempted to install using 'Run As Administrator', have failed with obscure error messages.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution. Create a shortcut to the installation routine on your desktop and then via the Properties dialog, set the program to run in compatibility mode for Vista Service Pack 1. Also select the Run As Administrator option. You should now be able to successfully install the OEM driver package.

I would be interested to know if others have encountered the same issue and whether the workaround above resolved the problem.