You install Windows Vista before you update the basic input/output system (BIOS) to a Trusted Computing Group (TCG)-compliant version. If you do this, the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 device driver (Tpm.sys) is not loaded. Additionally, a yellow exclamation point (!) appears next to the TPM 1.2 device in Device Manager.

Note: The TPM 1.2 device remains in this state even after you update the BIOS to a TCG-compliant version.

Consider the following scenario:

• You are running a Windows Vista-based computer.
• You enter the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), and then you change the Internal wireless device setting to Hidden.
• You restart the computer.
• The computer enters hibernation.
• You resume the computer from hibernation, and then you enter the BIOS again.
• You change the Internal wireless device setting to Enabled.

When you try to restart the computer in this scenario, you receive the following error message:

*** Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity check / Memory Parity Error
*** The system has halted

You use a Windows Vista-based computer that supports High Precision Event Timer (HPET), and the computer runs for several hours. Then, you may notice that the system time differs from the BIOS time by several seconds.

When you try to restart a Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 2.0 for Windows Vista system that uses an AMD Barcelona processor and that has the Operating System Capabilities (_OSC) method enabled in the Dell BIOS, the system will continually restart. Additionally, you may receive the following Stop error message on the screen:

STOP: 0×0000007B: (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4) INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

Notes:

• The four parameters in the Stop error message vary depending on the computer’s configuration.
• Not all “Stop 0×0000007B” error messages are caused by this problem.

Through it’s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) blog, Microsoft today provided information about it’s take on the OEM BIOS activation hack. The post ends a bit abruptly, not fully delivering what they promised. Keep reading →

When you try to install Microsoft Windows Vista, you may receive the following warning message:

This computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk’s controller is enabled in the computer’s BIOS menu.

This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:

• The computer has two or more uninitialized hard disks.
• You started the computer by using Windows Vista installation media.

This error message may also indicate that the BIOS of the computer does not support starting the operating system from the selected disk.

When you click Next to continue with the Setup program, you receive the following error message:

Windows cannot find a system volume that meets requirements for installation.

Additionally, the Setupact.log file may contain an entry that resembles the following:

2006-08-08 16:21:11, Info DumpDiskInformation: Disk has no apparent ARC path

You try to upgrade the system BIOS by using the ThinkPad BIOS update utility on a Windows Vista-based Lenovo Thinkpad T60 portable computer or on a Windows Vista-based Lenovo Thinkpad T60p portable computer. However, the ThinkPad BIOS update utility stops responding.

A High Definition (HD) audio device may not play audio files after you update the BIOS on a Windows Vista-based computer.