Windows 7, episode 3

As I mentioned in episode 2, the Vista drivers for my M-Audio Audiophile 2496 are not 100% compatible with Windows 7 - they prevent me from shutting down or going into standby (without first disabling the device).

Little did I realize that the default power management settings in Windows 7 are to put the computer into standby after 30 minutes. So of course, I was arriving at my computer every so often only to find it completely off, and upon restarting I was greeted with the "Windows has recovered from an unexpected error" message.

Only after looking at the mini dump did I start to clue in:

DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (9f)
A driver is causing an inconsistent power state.
Arguments:
Arg1: 00000003, A device object has been blocking an Irp for too long a time
Arg2: 85a57640, Physical Device Object of the stack
Arg3: 82942ae0, Functional Device Object of the stack
Arg4: 85718518, The blocked IRP

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

So I've adjusted the power settings so that it will never go into standby. Hopefully that will take care of this until M-Audio releases Windows 7 drivers, or I breakdown and buy a new audio card (update: I found the Windows 7 beta drivers, check episode 5 for more info)

Meanwhile, I've been slowly reinstalling everything. I reinstalled most of my VSTs today and also copied over my contacts and Outlook data. I haven't hit any software compatibility issues at all.

So to recap, the only two issues I've encountered so far with Windows 7:

• Vista audio driver compatibility (power management issues, occasional pops & clicks)
  
• black screen at start of install process