Downloading, might be fun to play around with.
[[11%]]

[100%]

Questions... How large is the file(s), and is it just a packed executable?? If it is semi-reasonable, I will try to get to the library tonight after work and dl it to my laptop to burn to a disk...

I doubt that will be doable. It's a 2.58 GB .iso. You'd not only need more than a few hours to download, but more than one disk. (Unless your library has a fast connection and a dvd burner).

Ha, the 64 bit ISO I found as a torrent is 4 gigs... but beta 2 is the Ultimate version, and the pre-RC1 thing is probably one of the home versions.
[[0.00%]] It was running all night but wasn't actually running!!! (My brother was playing xbox live and forgot to start the torrent running again)

Huh, mine seems to be stuck at 20% atm.

That's surprising. Mine finished after running for about 4 hours. What happened to those triple T3s?

Well, if nothing else, I can pass the link over to someone else, and let them dl it... He could just let it dl overnight, as he has a T1 connection set up at his house...

Windows on its own can convert a FAT(32) drive to NTFS 5 very well on it own, and I haven't had any problems with it. I would back up though first.

Since my first attempt failed, I'm trying it again.

that sucks (I had that happen with a Knoppix DVD ISO, failed and 95% of 4 gigs, and found out why, I had it going to a FAT32 partition, not an NTFS one.

Ouch, right, the filesize limit. lame.

Hmm... I thought Fat32 had like a 40gig limit(I had a 40gig external drive)

Unless... I am reading this wrong and the CD has the 4~gig limit.

Filesize Limit____________|_Filesystem limit

FAT16 = 2 gigabytes limit | FAT16 = 2 gigabytes limit
FAT32 = 4 gigabytes limit | FAT32 = 2 terabytes limit
NTFS = 16 exabytes limit | NTFS = 16 exabytes limit

You are. In addition to the filesystem size limit, each file can only be so big. On FAT32, each file can only be 4G, that's the file size limit.

I know it finished dling but on my desktop, when i right click and select properties it says that it is 26 mega bytes

damnit, I think it did mess up and they already have 100 k dls...

that sucks. I downloaded it to see what it is all about, now to try it out.

Argh, Vista doesn't support my USB. I wonder if I can find a driver for it somewhere that can run it. Otherwise it looks like I'm all set, so here goes nothing. This is reversable, right? Like if I decided I'd rather just go back to XP, I could uninstall Vista without data loss, right?

Edit: Oh, and it wanted a Product Key. WTF, I thought this was a free beta. From the best I can tell, the key isn't located in the .iso. Is there some way I can get one from Microsoft, or do I have to resort to other methods? It's funny they don't give you the key, but they let you download the software. Ugg. Stupid M$ (well, probably stupid me. I bet I overlooked something).

Edit2: Ok, I found the answer to my first question. Apparently you cannot go back to a previous operating system without data loss. Vista does not have this feature. Also, this thing expires June 1, 2007 which sucks. Oh well, I can get almost a year out of it. I still need an answer to that product key thing if anyone knows.

When I got beta 2, I had to register for the "customer preview" before I could download, and it e-mailed me a product key. Try going back to the site, and see what it says.

All it says is that they reached their quota.